foon as the morning opened, the youth drew out a watch, by the appendage of a long and brilliant chain; but appear ing not fatisfied with its decifion, he drew forth another from his other fide, of equal richness, with a long equipage of gold feals and trinkets. I lifted up my eyes, and could not help lamenting how foon conveniency and use are diftorted into extravagance and folly. The woman, who made the fourth paffenger, was old and talkative, and, making only remarks that were frivolous and trifling, and comments that were anticipated and obvious, would frequently interrupt a converfation more agreeable. The politenefs of the men obliged them to break off a difcourfe, however interefting, when addreffed by a female, however infignificant.

"We rode through continued and pleafant rows of trees, till we reached Lifieux, where we dined.

"Normandy is divided into feven bifhoprics; namely, Bayeux, Coutances, Lifieux, Evreux, Seez, Auranches, and Rouen. It contains feven bailliages, four in the Upper, and three in the Lower Normandy, as follow; Rouën, Evreux, Caux, Gifori; Caën, Alen çon, and Coutance.

"On returning to the inn, I refumed my feat, and partook of a defert; when prefently a berlin drove into the yard, and two tall ill-looking fellows inftantly leaped out, with fwords in their hands. At once, all was mute attention; every one knew, befides myfelf, of what defcription they were; the door opened, and they entered our room. In fuch a country as this, every one has reafon to tremble for his fafety. Confternation feized upon the looks of the whole company; each trait of vivacity was fled; fear, horror, and expectation, hung upon every brow; each, though unknowing of a caufe, fearing for him felf. I inftantly caught the tremor, and felt myself a good deal alarmed, when one of them fixed his haggard looks intent upon me (I fuppofed, afterwards, from feeing me to be a foreigner). Prefently they feized on the youth I before fpoke of, and commanded him to furrender every thing he had. Guilt blushed in his face, and confcioufnefs feemed to take away every power of defence, or of excufe, and he begged

alone for mercy. They took poffeffion of his gold watches, his money, and every thing about him, and calling for the conducteur, drew a parcel from the coach, containing cash to the amount of two hundred pounds. This the wretch had that morning stolen from his father, and was making off for Paris: the chaffeurs were dispatched after him, and the procefs now was pretty fummary; they fecured him, and took him away-God knows whither.

"A little difconcerted at this adventure, we again proceeded forwards but the variety of objects, and the revolution of ideas incident thereon, foon removed the impreffion. As for the Frenchmen, they refumed at once their cheerfulness, and forgot all pity or deteftation towards their former companion, in expreffions of gallantry, pleasantry, and politeness.

Paris, Aug. 12, 1788. "Every fpot, as we approached the capital, became more and more interefting; we faw a vast number of chateaus; fome elevated high above us, fome at a distance, by the fide of the river, and others ftanding in little iflands, encircled with groves of poplars.

"At length we reached St. Germain's, which is the Windfor of Paris. In point of profpect, the comparison may poffibly hold; but the town is moft miferably inferior. We paffed the palace and gardens, but could have no tolerable view of them.

"I could not but look with indignation upon a place that ferved as a fanctuary for an English monarch, who, both throughout his reign and his exile, was a dependent on the French crown. It was here that James the First retreated, in the year 1690, after the glorious battle of the Boyne, and ever afterwards held his fervile

the driving out for an evening's

they are conftructed of every poffible uncouth and aukward fhape, and were charmingly contrafted with an English carriage or two that I had the pleasure of meeting. I was much struck at the environs, and the entrance of Paris; it was far fuperior to any thing I had a conception of. The fcene was truly beautiful; an immenfe length of road, with rows of trees, and houses on each fide, was terminated, at the point of a rifing hill, by two handfome bar-, riers, which formed a ftriking coup d'œil. After paffing them, we entered the Champs Elifées, that feemed very rightly fo named. Avenues opened on either fide of the road, and viftas of young trees were filled in every part

with company. Some were regaling

themselves at tables beneath the trees; others, under open tents; and farther in were parties walking: ladies were parading along in full drefs, with their fans in their hands; and gentlemen walking by their fides, with their hats beneath their arms: in fhort, every part was crouded; and the road was equally filled with a vaft diverfity of carriages, of the most fanciful and tawdry appear ances; fome of which were gilt all over. So new a fcene made me lofe almoft every idea of reality, and I fancied it to be enchantment, or at least that I was in China, or fome fuch remote country; our ideas of which approach towards it, as being wholly different from any thing we have ever been accustomed to.

"In the evening I went to the grand opera, and was very much entertained. The form of the building is very handfome; and, confidering the fhortnefs of the face in which it was erected, is much to be admired. It was built in fix weeks after the former opera was burnt down, which unhappily deftroyed many of the finest dreffes and decora

tions.

"This fatal conflagration, at the time, occafioned a general horror and defpondency throughout the whole city. They tell of a circumftance, fo truly deferiptive of the characteristics of the French levity and frivolity, that I cannot avoid relating it. Whilft the remains of the decorations and fcenery were carrying away in waggons from

the ruins of the building, the whole city were affembled around, and followed the carriages, in a proceffion Similar to the funeral of the moft la mented monarch, whilft dejection hung upon every countenance, and every tongue uttered lamentations. A common fellow, who was riding upon one of the carriages, picked out, from the heap of ruins on which he was fitting, the habiliments of an opera prince, and, decking himself with the richeft ornaments he could find, rod along with the ftate of a Rinaldo. soon as this humorous feat attracted the eye of the people, the look of dejection, and the cry of forrow, were changed in a moment, and fucceeded by the meèxceffive peals of laughter.

"The palace of the Thumeries To named from having been built on a fpot formerly over-run with reeds and marfhes) adjoins to the grand gallery of the Louvre. The palace is very fuperb, and the ftatues difperfed about the gardens, exquifite. The chef d'œuvres of le Pautre, and the beautiful productions of Bouchardon, are here collected. The ftatue of Æneas carrying his father from Troy, is finely executed; and the charming piece of Arria and Petus furpaffes the power of defcrip. tion. I was fo rapt in admiration, that I wanted new powers of expreffion. The look and attitude of Petus, as he views his wife ftabbing herself, to teach him how to die, is fuch as the most impaffioned and expreffive actor would find it hard to imitate. Life, thought, paffion, and horror, are thrown into the piece; and the calmnefs and refig nation of Arria- It is not painful, Petus !' beautifully contrafted.

*

perfon who has been much in the habit of being abroad, the mode of keeping the Sunday in England, must have a great appearance of referve, and of aufterity; nor could fuch a one well reconcile himself to that total metamorphofis which is then required. The obfervance would be tedious, and the reftraint intolerable. In France, the duties of the day ceafe with thofe of the church; and between the intervals of mafs, the vacancy is moft * See this ftory in Vol. I. page 74. It is embellished with a Plate.

frequently

1

frequently filled with cards. Devotion
is here of fo portable and fo accommo-
dating a nature, that it may with equal
cafe, and at any time, be laid down or
refumed;
and after all the ardour of
religion, and the envelopement of them-
felves in zeal and mystery, a transition
may at once be made to levity, and the
moft trifling amufements. The after-
noons are univerfally spent in pleasure
and the opera, and the French and
Italian comedies for the polite, and the
petites theatres for the bourgeois, ferve
to make up for the interruption and
constraint of the morning. Although
the calls upon the people to religious
duties are frequent, in Roman-catholic
countries, they are not tirefome; their
frequency is rendered palatable, by
their toleration of, and their coalition
with, the different amufements. Fairs
are generally held in celebration of
dome faint on Sundays, and ftandings
always placed at the church doors.

Aug. 18.

"I have this day taken a view of the Jardin du Roi, which is laid out to the admiration of the French; the chief beauty of it is the botanical collection, arranged according to fpecies. On the top of a circular mount in the garden, which you afcend by a winding walk, is a fmall temple, that commands an extenfive view of Paris and its environs. This fpot is likewife polluted in being dedicated to adulation, and to vanity.

"From the Jardin du Roi, we croffed the Seine in a boat, and walked through the arfenal, at the end of which was the Baltille.

"As I looked upon the gloomy walls, my foul fhuddered within me. I beheld that trific engine of bitrary power, with horror and detestation. I feared to tread upon the ground that encircled it: all was horrible and dreary. Accurfed manfion! I exclaimed; thou haft been the dungeon and the tomb of many, whofe breasts have burned with the facred love of liberty, and whofe hearts have been warmed with the holy flame of virtue! Would that I were an enchanter! that thy ghaftly walls might tumble to the ground!

"A deep foffe furrounds it, with high walls, that mock every idea of efcape: the approach to it is defended VOL. II.

"The king's library was this day open; an opportunity I did not mifs of embracing. It comprifes two hundred thousand printed volumes, befide fix thoufand manufcripts; and is efteemed the firft in Europe. The books are contained in fix large faloons, in one of which are two immenfe globes, conftructed by Coronelli: they ftand in a hall below, and, through two large apertures, reach into the room above, from whence obfervations are to be made. Their diameter is eleven feet eleven inches: the circles for the meridian and horizon were made by an Englishman, and are eighteen feet in diameter.

"The amufements here are much better conducted than in England: they are not fo long in duration, and terminate at a more early hour; fo as to leave time for a continuation of fociety after fupper, without a facrifice of the health and fpirits. The decorum and good order that is preferved in the public places, would likewise be very defirable, were it not for the idea that thofe vile guns,' and horrible Swifs the means of it. I fhould, on no acguards, ftuck up in every corner, were count, ever with to fee the foldiery prefide over, or interfere in, the amufes ments of Englishmen.

famous predicateur; but chiefly to hear and wifhed for once that I had been a a nun, celebrated for her vocal powers, pope. fing the service.

The wife of Rouffeau, I am forry to be informed, cohabits with a worthlefs fellow of a groom, that was once in the fervice of the marquis. She is now about the age of fifty, and lives at three miles diftance from Ermenonville. She is neglected by all her friends; and the marquis's family, who otherwise would have treated her with every endearment and mark of friendship, now merely contribute to her fupport; which, with a penfion of fifty pounds per apnum, generoufly beftowed as an acknowledgment of fuperior merit, by the king of England, keeps her above indigence, and beneath profperity:

were of wood, and the other parts mat-
ted with reed, and lined with hair up-
on a paper pafted on the outfide was
written;

Sabot que J. J. Rouffeau portoit habituelle-
ment, au moment de la mort, et qui fa
veuve a donne au bon Antoine Mau-
rice habitant d'Ermenonville.
Gabriel Brezard a voulu honorer fon Non en
le confecrant fur le
de l'hom-
me, que ne marcha jamais que dans
le fentier de la verité.

"The old man told me, that when the king of Sweden was here, he asked to fee them, hearing he had fuch in his poffeffion. He brought them down in a napkin, and laid them on the table where the king was at dinner. Take away the napkin,' faid the king; 'cannot I touch the fhoes of Rouffeau?' He eyed them with a look of regard; and, turning to his hoft, afked him, if thofe relics did not give him a great deal of pleature? The old man tiembled, fearing that the king would want them; and told him, that they did, more than any thing in life. The king then copied the infcription, and returned them. Many have wifhed fince to purchase them; and the old man has refused five and twenty guineas for them; the Comteffe de Poligny begged fome of the hair from them to put in a brilliant ring.

"After returning to my inn, I enquired of the inhabitants every particular refpecting Rouffeau. They all remembered Jean Jacques, as they affectionately called him. I walked into a houfe, led by an infcription, intimating that the king of Sweden had once dined there. Being Sunday, I found the miftrefs, with a party of her neighbours; fitting round a table at cards; they arofe on my entrance, and invited me to come in. I prevailed on them again to be feated, and the good man of the houfe walked out with me into his garden: 1 afked him if he remembered Rouffeau. Oh! he remembered, he faid, Jean Jacques well; he fhould never forget him: He was the best man, faid he, that ever lived! Often would he come here, and walk about the garden, and in this very fpot fit down, and watch the water as it ran along in the brook, and play with the marquis's children! I afked him if he loved the village, if the village loved him. Sir,' faid he, they loved him as a father; it was his cuf- "I mounted my nag, with no fmall tom to wander out in the fields, and degree of felf-fatisfaction; when, givwatch them at their labours, and talk ing him the whip, I difcovered that the to them about their feparate concerns, only quality he had of going, was that in the kindeft manner.' 'He did not of moving backwards, as he began to live long with you?' faid I. Only kick behind moft furiously, to the great two months!-fuch a man, faid he derangement and endangering of my with warmth, fhould have lived two perfon; being obliged to have recourte ages!' He was affected himself, and to his mane, in order to keep my feat, Law that I was also. He bade me fol- on account of the huge and ill-fhaped low him, and he would fhew me fome- wooden faddle I was mounted on. At thing that would please me. length, 1 found the only way to ma"We went within doors, and he nage him was, to let him follow brought down a pair of fhoes that Rouf- companion; the postillion then cracked feau afed to wear; the foles and heels his whip, galloped away as faft

Dieppe, Sept. 2, 1788. "On fetting off from Rouen, I found myfelf provided with a pretty little grey bidet, and a poltillion, in favour of whom I was fomewhat prepof feffed, being the fmarteft of any I had met with, dreffed in a new royal livery of blue, with red and gold, and a waistcoat, finely fringed.

D 2

as

his

he could