ALTHOUGH placed in a part of France very remote from the capital, and unfrequented by travellers, I find in all I hear and see abundant matter of wonder and reflection; and as I advance in my enquiries, the scene continues to open upon me. To witness the meridian blaze of the revolutionary government, I am arrived six months too late; its disastrous lustre is eclipsed. When I testify emotions of astonishment, I am always cut short by the exclamation of, “Ah! if you had been here in the reign of Robespierre, or even during the first three months after his death!”
I am not upon any parole, either written or verbal, but I am cautionné, that is, the lady of the house is bound for my appearance at all times, in the sum of 3000 livres. Upon this consideration I have leave to go into all parts of the town, and have ventured to deviate, in every direction, into the surrounding country, to the distance of two or three miles, without having hitherto met with interruption.
Nothing could happen more fortunately than our coming here at the beginning of the carnival-week, during which parties meet every night at each other’s houses. The evening of our arrival the meeting was held at Mademoiselle Brimaudiere’s, and was attended by all her friends and acquaintances, who, as she is a woman well born and connected, are of the better order, though, as I found in the sequel, of very opposite political opinions. Formerly these assemblies were closed by sumptuous suppers; but in the present poverty of the times, they meet only to play at passe-dix. Into this circle I was introduced, and found the greater part of it composed of well-dressed people of both sexes, who surrounded a large table, on which the dice were rolling, and the spirit of betting as keen as it could have been at any former period; handfuls of assignats shifting their owners every moment; and even children, of not more than seven or eight years old, were encouraged to stand by, and receive lessons in this instructive seminary:—“Ma mere! dix sols pour!—Ma tante! quinze sols contre!” resounded from infant mouths on every side. Among the women were several whom I thought very agreeable in person, particularly Mademoiselle Kérvélligan, and la Marquise de Ploeuc. The latter is extremely elegant in her manners, but beams “with faded splendor.” I could not bear to hear the boorish and disgusting title of “Citoyenne” applied to a fashionable woman; and therefore, whenever I addressed myself to the marchioness, I called her “Madame la Marquise,” and the rest of the company Mademoiselle, or Monsieur. Indeed to this I had acquired a sort of right, by being myself honoured with the appellation of “Monsieur le Major,” when I was invited to play, which I at once accepted, and formed one of the circle. These good old-fashioned courtesies also fell occasionally from the rest of the company; but I observed that they were spoken in a low voice, and not without trepidation: they are, however, I am assured, fast returning into vogue.
At a play-table the common centre of union must be the stake, and to that I found here, as elsewhere, all cares anxiously directed; but, during some short cessations of the game, I remarked that the company divided into knots, which seemed jealous of each other. The operation of a more powerful passion being suspended, their political prejudices were now revived. I was among royalists, federalists, and fierce republicans one and indivisible. The fathers, mothers, brothers, and sisters of emigrants, for whose desertion they had been punished, collected with bons citoyens, and enragés. Of these last, from not mixing in their groupe, I can say nothing, except that the dress of some of them was affectedly mean, and their conversation marked by a boisterous and rude familiarity, which I knew before were leading characteristics of their party. If I find myself compelled by necessity to cultivate an acquaintance with any of this faction, while I remain at Quimper, I hope I shall not be constrained to extend to them an observation, which I was forced to pass upon their brethren on ship-board—that I never knew one man, professing to be a fierce, and flaming republican, who possessed either the manners which should distinguish a gentleman (setting aside the forms of courtesy) or that common share of probity, which is required to keep the links of society together.
In the little knot of royalists to which, you may suppose, I attached myself, I was not worse received for being an Englishman. Indeed they spoke quite undisguisedly before me, but it was in whispers. A young lady, on seeing me gaze with attention upon one of the republican phalanx, who (like all his colleagues) had worn his hat during the evening, asked me, which I liked best, the tri-coloured cockade I was surveying, or the “cocarde blanche?” “The cockade of honour, to be sure,” I answered.—“Softly, softly, for God’s sake!” said she, “or we shall be overheard and undone.”
One of the company, Monsieur Kérvélligan, is a member of the convention, and appeared to me, both on this occasion and since, to be a manly dignified character. I conversed a little with him on indifferent subjects, as he only played occasionally. He is reputed to possess a penetrating mind; and it is certain that he very early discovered the views of Robespierre, and described them faithfully to his friends here. Monsieur Kérvélligan was proscribed, with many other deputies, on the 31st of May, when the Brissotine party was overthrown, and compelled to flee before that of the Mountain. With some of his colleagues, he effected his escape into Normandy, and thence into the wildest part of this neighbourhood, where he took refuge among the peasants, by whom he was known and beloved. These poor people were well aware, that by betraying him they might make their fortunes; but they were too simple and honest to violate the duty of hospitality. He frequently ventured to come into town in disguise, and has often heard himself proclaimed a traitor, and a reward offered to whoever would bring him in, alive or dead, to the municipality. Soon after the execution of Robespierre, he emerged from his retreat, and by a late decree of the convention, is recalled, with others, to his seat in their body; and intends to set out to Paris very soon, to resume his delegation. Monsieur Kérvélligan voted against the murder of his sovereign; and has told his friends here, that in going, on the day of the question being put to the vote, to the hall of the convention, he and many other members were several times stopped, and surrounded by bodies of the lowest class of the people, who clapped pistols to their heads, threatened them, and swore they would sacrifice them on their return, if they did not vote for the death of their sovereign.
During the carnival-week there was a second party, similar to the first, at our house: and, under the auspices of our good hostess, I went also to two others, the last of which, on Sunday evening, was at Monsieur Kérvélligan’s, where the same entertainment was provided, and pursued with the same avidity. Mademoiselle Kérvélligan I have already mentioned as a handsome young woman; and her mother, Madame Kérvélligan, is also very agreeable.
At one of these routs I saw a specimen of genuine democratic manners, which all who aim to become great men in the state affect to imitate. The commissary of prisoners, a man allied to nobility, liberally educated, and once an Abbé, bolted into the room where the company were assembled, humming the Carmagnole, with his hat on, which was adorned with a red, a white, and a blue feather, and his hands stuck in his breeches, not pockets. In this attitude he stood all the evening, and thrusting himself among the ladies, had the impudence to enter into familiar conversation with the Marchioness de Ploeuc, and other women of rank and delicacy, with all the airs which conscious superiority of power can instil into a reptile. This brutal manner of mingling in society, and addressing women, has become, since the revolution, the ton of republican coxcombs, and during the reign of Robespierre set decorum and the restraints of civilized life at defiance. It is now on the decline, except with those who still court the applause of the dregs of that faction. A courtier of Versailles at his toilet, surrounded by paints, patches, and perfumery, was, in the eye of reason, a ridiculous and contemptible animal; but the most effeminate essenced marquis, that ever consulted a looking-glass, was surely preferable to this indecent blockhead.
In frequenting these little circles, I see many victims of the tyranny of the government, and hear such anecdotes of it related, as make me shudder. The marchioness has been stripped of two estates, and the best house in this town, which is converted into a prison. Two ladies, who reside in our house, are but just liberated from a close confinement, under which, with many more of their sex, they languished for fourteen months. During their imprisonment, in return for the sequestration of their property, they were allowed twenty sols a day, out of which they were compelled to pay two for house-rent. Monsieur Brimaudiere, brother of the lady of this house, was capitaine des gens d’armes of this district, a post of trust and power. When the party of Brissot fell, he was seized, sent to Paris, and imprisoned for fifteen months in the Conciergerie. During the whole of his confinement he was kept in the same room, and saw, during that period, 167 persons go out of it to the guillotine, every day expecting himself to be added to the number. His fate was close at hand when Robespierre was overturned, and soon after the death of the tyrant he was liberated, and sent back hither, to resume his former situation, which he now fills. He describes almost the whole of this assembly of victims to have been so conscious of their innocence, and so reconciled to their lot, from the daily exits of their friends, that nothing but resignation, indifference, or levity, prevailed throughout the prison, death having ceased, from its familiarity, to terrify. It was customary to warn, on the preceding evening, those prisoners who were to be put on their trial the next day; and by a regulation made among themselves, the party to be tried gave a supper on that night to the whole room; and, if he was spared for the present, and remanded back, he was in return treated with a dinner at their joint expence. “Our dinner entertainments,” said my informer, “were few indeed; but Oh! the suppers without end which we partook of!”
All my days, however, have not been passed in going to routs, and listening to details of misery. I have paid a visit to two more members of the convention, and have been at church. On the afternoon of the 19th instant, the representatives Guesno and Guermeur arrived here in great state, in a coach which had once belonged to their king, drawn by eight horses, and escorted by forty hussars. “Voila l’égalité!” cried aloud some (I was told) who saw them enter in this pomp. “And,” said my informer, “as if conscious of their power, and the importance of their mission, they neither bowed to the crowd which was assembled to gaze at them, nor spread any lure to engage popular attention, like their brethren who have heretofore been among us.” They are both natives of Bretagne, and of good, though not of noble, families. In conjunction, with several more deputies, furnished with great powers, they have been delegated by the convention to treat with the inhabitants of La Vendee. Among other avowed objects of their coming hither, is an enquiry into the complaints which have been at different times made by the prisoners of war. Accordingly, two days after, Admiral Bligh, attended by Captain Kittoe and myself, went to the tavern (which once was the town-palace of the bishop of the diocese) wherein they lodged. We saw them both, and the Admiral, through Captain Kittoe and me as his interpreters, made some representations to them, which, if not quite satisfactorily answered, were at least candidly listened to by Monsieur Guermeur, who was extremely civil; but his colleague Guesno was less friendly, and more elevated, keeping his seat, with his hat on, while we remained in the room, and frequently interrupting our statements. He is said to avow publickly a hatred of our nation, which in this short conference could not be restrained. On the following day I was deputed by the Admiral to wait upon them again, with a letter from him, entreating them to give orders that the other officers of the Alexander (who are still closely locked up in the château of Brest, suffering misery and imposition) might be liberated, and permitted to join us here. Upon reaching their hotel, I found a crowd of suitors attending at the foot of the stair-case; but the landlady, on seeing me, assured me I should not wait for an audience, as an order had been given by Guermeur to admit at once all English officers who might wish to see him. I profited immediately by this flattering distinction, and marched through two rows of impatient Frenchmen, who were expecting what I had obtained. I found him alone, and was as politely received as on the preceding day. He read my dispatches with deliberation, and in answer desired me to present his compliments to the Admiral, and to assure him, that he would write to his colleagues at Brest, and beg them to comply with the request.