Wintering at Mentone

by William Chambers

To advantageously carry out this last ordinance, Honore procured the assistance of a Frenchman named Chappon, with whom he divided profits. Established as the grand purveyor of corn, Chappon became a terror to the unfortunate community. At the very outset, there was experienced a want of mills to grind the imported corn, nor could mills be erected unless where there was water-power. The valley of the Carei at Mentone offered this convenience, but its water-privileges were all secured by olive-mills, and these necessarily had to be bought up. This was speedily accomplished. The oil-mills were forcibly purchased at certain prices; but as these prices were never paid, the transaction was nothing else than a robbery. Possessed of the mills, the next thing was to make a road to them fit for wheeled carriages. Instead of making the road at his own cost, Honore obliged the proprietors of land on the right bank of the Carei to construct a thoroughfare at their own expense, at the same time mulcting them in sums to keep it up. The road so formed, lined with plane-trees, is that now known as the Route de Turin. The construction of such a road was certainly a great improvement; and the only matter for regret is the injustice of the whole affair. Having set the mills to work, Chappon imported parcels of damaged or inferior corn, which, being ground to flour, was sold at such high prices as he was pleased to impose. This extortion was not enough. It was discovered that a good profit could be made by a monopoly in baking. The prince now became baker in general for the principality, and the baking and selling of bread, except under his authority, were declared to be penal. A cry of despair—the wail of the poor—sounded through the land. Earnest, piteous remonstrances were made to Honore. All were unheeded. There was no earthly tribunal to appeal to. The press of Europe did not hear of, or at least said nothing of these atrocities. The people, patient and forbearing, continued to suffer. One can hardly realise the fact, that within the last quarter of a century a person enjoying the rank of a Christian sovereign should have been guilty of iniquities like those here briefly referred to. The bread monopoly proved the worst of all; for, besides the dearth and bad qualities of the article, excessive penalties were incurred for attempting to bring even so much as a morsel into the territory. If a labourer went across the frontier for a day’s work, and brought back at night a portion of the bread he had had for his dinner to succour his wife and children, it was taken from him, and he might think himself well off if he escaped punishment. If a ship, on arriving at any of the small ports, had bread or biscuits on board, the whole had to be thrown into the sea, and a fresh supply procured from the prince’s baker. Driven to extremity, the people ate as little as possible of what they emphatically called the pain de douleur; but this was met by a new expedient. A register was ordered to be kept of all the bread which each family purchased, and if the quantity fell short of a certain standard, they were exposed to a prosecution for consuming too little.

Things were not yet by any means at their worst. The only fuel used was old decayed olive and fruit trees, and here was a fresh means of exaction. An ordinance was issued forbidding any tree to be cut down, or any branch removed, unless by a special license, which had to be paid for, amounting to a tax on the fuel used for warmth or the preparation of victuals. The next form of extortion was to impose a fine on any one leaving his house after ten o’clock without a lantern. A fine of three francs was also imposed on every license for a person going out of the country. Hungered in the article of bread, taxed on their oranges, taxed on their fuel, and taxed in their clothing, the people as yet were allowed to eat their own poultry, eggs, and butcher-meat. That was a great overlook, now to be remedied. A universal census was taken of oxen, sheep, goats, pigs, and other animals raised for sale or private consumption, and the amount of stock had to be rigorously accounted for. A register was kept of all births and deaths of these various animals, the sex of each being noted. The object aimed at was a tax payable for every animal slaughtered. If a person wished to kill one of his pigs, he had to intimate the fact to an officer, who attended to lay on the tax, and make the appropriate deduction from the recorded stock on hand. Woe be to any one who ate his own mutton or lamb, without being taxed, even although the animal should have died or been killed by accident. We may conclude the list of extortions, by mentioning that, to support the several monopolies, it was necessary to employ a large staff of custom-house and other officials. The douane at the frontiers was remorseless in severity. If a merchant declared the weight of his goods to be a single pound less than they actually weighed, the whole were confiscated. By all these and sundry other contrivances—one being a right to all the scrapings of the streets, for there was nothing too mean to be appropriated—Honore V. wrung an annual revenue of 320,000 francs from a small population, a large proportion of whom were people in a humble rank of life. There was folly as well as cruelty in the exaction, for more than a third of the whole amount levied went to defray the expenses of collection. Some of his schemes were disappointing. He attempted to increase his civil list by coining and putting in circulation five-franc pieces, containing thirty per cent. of alloy, but as nobody would take his bad money, this proved an unfortunate financial experiment. He was also rather luckless in his projects for taxing education. In Mentone, he set up a school to which children should be sent on paying certain fees, and at the same time it was declared to be penal to teach children at home. The result was that the school was deserted, to which melancholy fact is ascribable the general ignorance of letters among the bulk of the humbler classes past middle life.

Honore V. died in 1841, carrying with him to the grave the execrations of all he had misused and misgoverned. Strange to say, the people, from a hereditary sentiment of loyalty, did not embrace the opportunity of repudiating the Grimaldis. The heir of the principality was Florestan I., of whom good hopes were entertained; but he continued the former extortions and monopolies, adding the obligation, that the crushing of all the olives in his territory should take place at his own mills, under excessive penalties. This was little else than a sentence of annihilation to the olive-growers, and general ruin was in prospect. But the time had now come when the odious tyranny could be safely thrown off. The ferment of the revolution in France in 1848 spread to the principality of Monaco, and by a popular outburst of outraged feeling, the authority of the prince was denounced and rejected. Florestan appealed for help to Sardinia, but in vain. He made some overtures at conciliation. They were treated with derision, and he was ordered to quit the territory. It says not a little for the character of the people, that in carrying through their revolution, not a single personal injury was inflicted. Having rid themselves of the Grimaldis, the communes of Monaco, Roccabruna, and Mentone declared their political independence, in which condition, and unmolested, they remained for twelve years. During this period they did much to restore general concord and prosperity, and it was at this time that some improvements were effected in the various towns. Florestan died in 1856, an event which provoked no public manifestation in favour of the family. Circumstances had already made it obvious that the communes would need to unite themselves permanently either with Sardinia or France. On this point there were protracted negotiations, judiciously conducted by a patriotic citizen of Mentone, Carlo Trenca, who had been a moving spirit in promoting the revolution and preventing public excesses. Trenca died in the course of these public duties. Matters were at length matured, and in April 1860 the people were left to vote whether they would belong to Sardinia or France. The choice of the majority was wisely for France; for by this means the country was incorporated with a nation which, while advancing its material prosperity, could secure its internal peace, and protect it against aggression. Charles III., the son and heir of Florestan, protested against the union. At last, on the 2d of February 1861, he agreed to a treaty, by which he ceded all his rights and privileges over Roccabruna and Mentone for the sum of four million francs, reserving only his sovereignty over Monaco under French protection.

Since 1861, accordingly, Mentone has in all respects been part and parcel of France, and participated in its national progress. Monaco alone, consisting of a patch of territory extending three and a half miles along the coast, by a width at broadest of one mile, remains a petty dependent sovereignty under Charles III., who lives part of the year at Paris, and at other times in his palace in the town of Monaco. His son and heir-apparent, Charles-Honore, born in 1848, was recently married to a daughter of the late Duke of Hamilton.

Since it was attached to France, Mentone, with some ground in its neighbourhood, has been a commune of the Alpes Maritimes, with a mayor and council for its local administration. So smoothly are its civic affairs conducted, that one hears little or nothing of them. There is a Hôtel de Ville, but it is by no means of an obtrusive character. It is comprehended in the upper floor of a building in a lane which ascends from the main street towards the cemetery. Adjoining is the office of the police, an establishment of a very limited nature. The annual municipal revenue is 120,000 francs, derived principally from an octroi, or petty duties on articles of consumption brought into the town; and the expenditure, including outlay on schools and hospitals, is the same amount. The settled population of Mentone is 6000. Besides the few sergents de ville who act as street police, there is a small body of Gendarmerie Impériale, members of which may be seen lounging about in military costume, but ready to mount and be off on any mission appropriate to their functions. Though situated on the frontier, Mentone has no garrison worth mentioning. The only soldiers observable are a single company of one of the regiments of the line, exhilarated in their marching by three drummers and a trumpeter. To the credit of the French army, the soldiers when off duty conduct themselves with great propriety. They may be seen reading on the seats in the public promenades, or taking a walk in groups amidst the rural scenery, circumstances which may be thought to speak well for their character.

CHAPTER III.

The railway from Nice to Mentone, forming part of the line from Paris and Marseilles, terminates at the frontier, where it is to be united to the line from Genoa. The Italian portion, however, is in a very backward condition, and to all appearance years may elapse before it is completed; on which account many travellers for Genoa do not trouble themselves with the railway so far as it is made, but hire carriages and horses at Nice for the whole journey. Vehicles with two, four, or sometimes five horses are seen daily passing southwards through Mentone. The railway does credit to its constructers. Piercing Cap Martin by a tunnel, it crosses the several valleys by bridges, holding close by the hills behind the town. The station, situated on the right bank of the Carei, and reached by the Route de Turin, is about a quarter of a mile northwards from the main street. Omnibuses in connection with several hotels, likewise an omnibus for the general service of the town, and the diligence for Genoa, attend the arrival of the trains. Visitors designing to remain for the season can have no difficulty in getting apartments in any of the hotels having omnibuses, until they look about them and make a choice of a dwelling.

To help them in their selection, a few general observations may be offered. Mentone, as has been shewn, is a town in two divisions, locally known as the East and West Bays. The first thing, accordingly, for a stranger to do is to make up his mind in which he prefers to reside. The two bays are very different in character from each other. The East—that which is farthest away on arriving from Nice—is reputedly the warmest, and best adapted for invalids with pulmonary or bronchial affections. Sheltered on the west by the projecting hill on which the old town is built, and on the east by Cap Murtola, and closely overhung on the north by the mountains, it is, I believe, the most sunny warm nook in the whole Riviera. So completely is it enclosed that there is only space in front for the roadway from the Quai Bonaparte. The hilly ground in the rear, clothed in olive, orange, and lemon trees, is intersected by the small and not very accessible valley of Garavan, which imparts its name to the quarter. Far up, on the bare acclivities, are seen gray, sun-dried cottages, though who live in them, or how they are reached, no one can understand. Near at hand, on the lofty cliffs to the east, is the Corniche road, pursuing its way by the Pont St Louis.

Latterly, to meet the demand for accommodation in this choice quarter, a number of houses of various kinds have been erected towards the ravine of St Louis, and it seems likely that every available site will ere long be occupied with dwellings of a class suitable for visitors. Singularly favoured in various respects, the East Bay is not without some drawbacks. If the weather be warm, the locality may be found too close, and the mosquitoes somewhat troublesome. To go into and return from town, pedestrians have to pass through a cold windy gorge at the end of the main street, and the walk by the Quai is not pleasant. The greatest defect is the want of a good public promenade near the sea-margin. No doubt visitors can hire a carriage, or they can take the omnibus which plies to and from the western extremity of the town, and so reach promenades to their liking; but all that causes trouble, and one prefers to saunter out at odd times for air and recreation when a pleasant promenade is readily at hand. This deficiency is said to be in course of remedy by the formation of a level stretch along the beach, but when it will be completed is uncertain. With all its drawbacks and limitations, there is much to fascinate in the East Bay, so quiet, so sunny is it; and the mind carries away recollections of the pretty shrubberies in front of one or two of the hotels, where, in mid-winter, you see parties seated under the elegantly drooping foliage of the pepper-tree, as if enjoying a cool shade in the heats of summer. To live at this spot is truly to winter with the swallows, for there, when the season is propitious, they resort, as if aware that in going farther they would find few such haunts, till they reach the neighbourhood of the Pyramids.