I Think Myself Still Very
Fortunate, In Having Obtained Of Him A Letter Of Recommendation
To The English Consul At Nice, Together With Directions How To
Travel Through The South Of France.
I propose to begin my journey
some time next month, when the weather will be temperate to the
southward; and in the wine countries I shall have the pleasure of
seeing the vintage, which is always a season of festivity among
all ranks of people.
You have been very much mis-informed, by the person who compared
Boulogne to Wapping: he did a manifest injustice to this place
which is a large agreeable town, with broad open streets,
excellently paved; and the houses are of stone, well built and
commodious. The number of inhabitants may amount to sixteen
thousand. You know this was generally supposed to be the portus
Itius, and Gessoriacum of the antients: though it is now believed
that the portus Itius, from whence Caesar sailed to Britain, is a
place called Whitsand, about half way between this place and
Calais. Boulogne is the capital of the Boulonnois, a district
extending about twelve leagues, ruled by a governor independent
of the governor of Picardy; of which province, however, this
country forms a part. The present governor is the duc d'Aumout.
The town of Boulogne is the see of a bishop suffragan of Rheims,
whose revenue amounts to about four-and-twenty thousand livres,
or one thousand pounds sterling. It is also the seat of a
seneschal's court, from whence an appeal lies to the parliament
of Paris; and thither all condemned criminals are sent, to have
their sentence confirmed or reversed. Here is likewise a
bailiwick, and a court of admiralty. The military jurisdiction of
the city belongs to a commandant appointed by the king, a sort of
sinecure bestowed upon some old officer. His appointments are
very inconsiderable: he resides in the Upper Town, and his
garrison at present consists of a few hundreds of invalids.
Boulogne is divided into the Upper and Lower Towns. The former is
a kind of citadel, about a short mile in circumference, situated
on a rising ground, surrounded by a high wall and rampart,
planted with rows of trees, which form a delightful walk. It
commands a fine view of the country and Lower Town; and in clear
weather the coast of England, from Dover to Folkstone, appears so
plain, that one would imagine it was within four or five leagues
of the French shore. The Upper Town was formerly fortified with
outworks, which are now in ruins. Here is a square, a town-house,
the cathedral, and two or three convents of nuns; in one of which
there are several English girls, sent hither for their education.
The smallness of the expence encourages parents to send their
children abroad to these seminaries, where they learn scarce any
thing that is useful but the French language; but they never fail
to imbibe prejudices against the protestant religion, and
generally return enthusiastic converts to the religion of Rome.
This conversion always generates a contempt for, and often an
aversion to, their own country. Indeed it cannot reasonably be
expected that people of weak minds, addicted to superstition,
should either love or esteem those whom they are taught to
consider as reprobated heretics. Ten pounds a year is the usual
pension in these convents; but I have been informed by a French
lady who had her education in one of them, that nothing can be
more wretched than their entertainment.
The civil magistracy of Boulogne consists of a mayor and
echevins; and this is the case in almost all the towns of France.
The Lower Town is continued from the gate of the Upper Town, down
the slope of a hill, as far as the harbour, stretching on both
sides to a large extent, and is much more considerable than the
Upper, with respect to the beauty of the streets, the convenience
of the houses, and the number and wealth of the inhabitants.
These, however, are all merchants, or bourgeoise, for the
noblesse or gentry live all together in the Upper Town, and never
mix with the others. The harbour of Boulogne is at the mouth of
the small river, or rather rivulet Liane, which is so shallow,
that the children wade through it at low water. As the tide
makes, the sea flows in, and forms a pretty extensive harbour,
which, however, admits nothing but small vessels. It is
contracted at the mouth by two stone jetties or piers, which seem
to have been constructed by some engineer, very little acquainted
with this branch of his profession; for they are carried out in
such a manner, as to collect a bank of sand just at the entrance
of the harbour. The road is very open and unsafe, and the surf
very high when the wind blows from the sea. There is no
fortification near the harbour, except a paltry fort mounting
about twenty guns, built in the last war by the prince de Cruy,
upon a rock about a league to the eastward of Boulogne. It
appears to be situated in such a manner, that it can neither
offend, nor be offended. If the depth of water would admit a
forty or fifty gun ship to lie within cannon-shot of it, I
apprehend it might be silenced in half an hour; but, in all
probability, there will be no vestiges of it at the next rupture
between the two crowns. It is surrounded every day by the sea, at
high water; and when it blows a fresh gale towards the shore, the
waves break over the top of it, to the terror and astonishment of
the garrison, who have been often heard crying piteously for
assistance. I am persuaded, that it will one day disappear in the
twinkling of an eye. The neighbourhood of this fort, which is a
smooth sandy beach, I have chosen for my bathing place.
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