The climate of Nantes is mild, and reckoned remarkably healthy: every article of life is cheap, and from its mild temperature it abounds in the finest fruits and most excellent wines. Its population is estimated at 60,000 inhabitants. The numbers that were destroyed during the Revolution, or, as the French emphatically term it, "Le régne de la Terreur," were never ascertained; but the frightful history of that bloody period would probably justify the computation at half the number of its present population, many having fallen victims to the murders that were termed "Noyades," independent of those who perished in the Vendean war.
The spot where the gallant Charette was shot, with several other leaders of the Vendean army, is shown; and in the cemetery, a large mound of earth marks the place where the bodies were thrown in, at the time of the "Fuzillades" when the infamous Carrier presided at the execution of the brave Royalists.[7] The print beneath represents this monster on the banks of the Loire directing the Noyades.
[Illustration].
[Footnote 7: Chaque nuit on venait en prendre par centaines, pour les mettre sur les bateaux. Là on liait les malheureux deux à deux, et on les poussait dans l'eau à coups de baïonette. On saisissait indistinctement tout ce qui se trouvait à l'entrepôt, tellement qu'on noya un jour l'état major d'une corvette Anglaise, qui était prisonnier de guerre. Une autre fois, Carrier, voulant donner un exemple de l'austérité des moeurs républicaines, fit enfermer trois cent filles publiques de la ville, et les malheureuses créatures furent noyées. Enfin, l'on estime qu'il a péri à l'entrepôt quinze mille personnes en un mois.--Mémoires de Madame la Marquise de Laroche-Jaquelin.]
At the end of a fine avenue of trees, on the Boulevard, is a large and splendid mansion built by that Deputy, and which is at present inhabited by a merchant. Carrier's mistress (to whom he left it, together with a very considerable fortune, amassed from the spoils of his plunder, and the murder of the innocent inhabitants) was very lately sentenced to two years' hard labour for some crime she had committed: and it is no less remarkable, that, of the remaining inhabitants known to have participated in the atrocities of that frightful period, there is not one but is reduced to poverty, and most of them in the extreme of wretchedness, shunned by all, and suffering the ignominy they have so justly merited!
CHAP. V.
COUNTRY SOUTH OF THE LOIRE.--LE BOCAGE.--CLISSON.--HISTORICAL ANECDOTES.--THE GARENNE, AND RIVER SÈVRES.
The best method of travelling in this country is on horseback: in fact, it is impossible to proceed in any other way, after quitting the main road. Having procured a guide and horses, I set out early in the morning, crossing the Loire by the Pont Rosseau, to Verton, keeping along the banks of the River Sèvres. Verton is a romantic village standing on a hill: most of the houses are in ruins, from the effect of the destructive war of La Vendée. From thence to Le Palet, most intricate narrow roads, or more properly speaking, pathways, darkened by the overhanging branches of trees, and in many parts deep with mire, from the sun's rays not being able to dry the ground, make it difficult to proceed, and we several times lost our way. It was late before we reached Le Palet, and though I had not tasted food for many hours, I could not resist stopping to view so interesting a spot, and making a hasty sketch of the ruins of the house in which Abélard was born, and in which Héloïse resided with him before their final separation. The ruins of the House of Bérenger, the father of Abélard, are close to the church of Palet, on the left of the high road, three miles distant from Clisson. Le Palet is thus described by a French author, in the history of the Province.
"Cet homme si célèbre par son savoir, ses amours, et ses infortunes, amena Héloïse au Palet lorsqu'il l'eût enlevée de chez le Chanoine Fulbert, pour la soustraire au ressentiment de cet oncle jaloux et barbare; mais, obligé de quitter cette retraite paisible pour retourner à Paris, où l'appelaient ses nombreux disciples, le soin de sa gloire et de sa fortune, Abélard confia à sa soeur sa chère Héloïse et le gage précieux qu'elle portait dans son sein. Elle accoucha au Palet d'un fils d'une si rare beauté, qu'elle le nomma Astralabe, c'est-à-dire, astre brillant; mais l'absence de celui qu'elle adorait rendait moins vifs pour elle les doux plaisirs de la maternité; son âme expansive et brûlante était livrée sans cesse à une inquiète et sombre mélancholie qu'elle ne parvenait sans doute à dissiper qu'en venant sur les bords de la Sèvres rêver à l'objet de sa tendresse, et soupirer après son retour. Sept siècles se sont écoulés depuis cette époque, et les noms d'Abélard et d'Héloïse embellissent toujours ce délicieux ravage. On interroge avec une curiosité avide ces roches éternelles et ces grottes mystérieuses qui furent les témoins discrets de leurs peines et de leurs plaisirs. On se reporte à ces temps reculés où ces amants venaient dans cette solitude enchanteresse, se confier mutuellement leur vifs inquiétudes; on croit les voir s'égarer sous ces riants ombrages, et s'abandonner à toutes les inspirations de l'éloquence, à toutes les illusions de l'amour."
I arrived at Clisson just as the sun was disappearing, and its rays were only sufficiently strong to reflect the ruined towers of the Castle in the river which runs at its foot. It will be much easier to imagine, than for me to convey the sensations I felt when I first caught a glimpse of it, with the story of La Roche-Jaquelin full in my recollection! I alighted at a small cabaret, dignified by the appellation of the Hotel de la Providence, which seemed preferable to another recommended to me by my guide,--such an one, indeed, as might be expected in a remote place like this: part of the roof was off, and, like most of the houses in the place, bore evident marks of the desolating war that had been carried on here: many are still in ruins. The descent into the town is very steep and rugged, the road being formed out of the solid rock. The master of the cabaret was sitting with his family at the door, but the appearance of his mansion was so unpromising, that I thought it best to make some agreement, and a few inquiries before dismounting;--these preliminaries being settled, and having consented to pay him fifty sous for supper and my bed, and thirty for breakfast, I entered the house: and never recollect having a keener relish for a meal, or enjoying one more heartily, for I had been sixteen hours on horseback.