The Memoirs of Charles-Lewis, Baron de Pollnitz, Volume II / Being the Observations He Made in His Late Travels from Prussia Thro' Germany, Italy, France, Flanders, Holland, England, &c. in Letters to His Friend. Discovering Not Only the Present State of the Chief Cities and Towns; but the Characters of the Principal Persons at the Several Courts.

by Freiherr von Karl Ludwig Pöllnitz

to her, that her Ladyship made the Duke de Maine her Heir. Dombes has a Parliament, and Trevoux is famous for the Literary Journal printed there, which causes such frequent Disputes among the Learned.

After having pass’d Trevoux, we saw several other Towns, Villages and Mansion-houses in a Country, one of the finest Landskips that ’tis possible to imagine. We din’d very much in Haste at a Village, and went and lay at Macon, an Episcopal City, where the Canons of the Cathedral have the Title of Counts, as well as those of the Church of St. John at Lyons. This City did not seem to me to have any thing remarkable, and whether there is any good Company in it, I did not stay long enough to see.

Chalons upon the Saone is also the See of a Bishop, but did not appear to me to be one jot more considerable than Macon: I went to see the Castle, which has a full Command of the Town: There I was shew’d the Apartment where the Duchess of Maine was kept Prisoner during the Regency of the Duke of Orleans. A Person had need of all that Spirit which she is known to have, to bear up under a Disgrace equal to hers: ’Twas but a little before, that all the People of France were fond of making their Court to her; her Grandeur was not equall’d by any Princess of the Blood, and her Lodgings were perfectly superb; but on a sudden she fell from all her Splendor, and was oblig’d to live in a miserable Castle, with no Companions but the Women that are absolutely necessary to attend her[39]. I will hereafter give you a more particular

Account of this Princess; but I now proceed on my Journey.

From Chalons I went to Dijon, after having pass’d thro’ Beaune, and along by the best Vineyards in all Burgundy. To tell you frankly my Mind, I had quite another Idea of Dijon, than what I really found it to be: ’Tis an ancient City, and most of the Houses are old, and make no great Appearance, tho’ they are very convenient, and well fitted up. In the Street of Conde, which is newly built, the Houses are of equal Proportion. The lower Part consists of Shops, and over them are the Merchants Lodging-Rooms, and there are Iron Balconies at the Windows, which, if the Houses were higher, wou’d make a fine Sight. This Street leads to the Place Royale, in which there’s an Equestrian Statue of the late King Lewis XIV. which is plac’d on so high a Pedestal, that it even raises the Statue higher than the Houses that surround the Place, which moreover is by much too small to contain so great a Monument. The Houses are actually very low, and if they were to be carry’d higher, the Statue would look as if it were imprison’d in a Cage. This Mass of Copper was cast in Paris, and first carry’d by Water to Auxerre, where it remain’d a long while, it being so very heavy and large, that it was in a manner immoveable; but at last it was remov’d by Land Carriage to Dijon, but not without very great Difficulty, and as great Expence; yet it appeared to me to be one of the least Statues in the Kingdom.

This Statue faces the King’s House, where lives the Duke of Bourbon, Governor of the Province. ’Tis a very spacious Building, with two advanc’d Wings, but can only be reckon’d a very irregular Structure. I did not go to see the Apartments, because I was told, that they were not furnish’d, and not worth the Trouble of a View.

The Palace, where the Parliament meets, is very ancient, and one of the vilest in the Kingdom. Whether the Dukes of Burgundy resided there heretofore, I know not; but if they did, they were not very sumptuously accommodated.

Dijon was erected, but a few Years ago, into a Bishoprick, by the late Pope Benedict XIII. at the Request of the Duke of Bourbon; who was very glad to procure that Honour for the Capital of his Government.

The Ring at Dijon is the finest Thing about this City; which is really neither fine nor agreeable. The common People are not over and above civil, and those of Quality value themselves very much upon their Nobility. Pray read only the Letters of Bussi Rabutin, and you will know what Sort of Gentry the Burgundians are; for they are all, like him, puffed up with their Birth. The Parliament of this Province consists generally of Persons of Quality.