The Peasants In France Are So Wretchedly
Poor, And So Much Oppressed By Their Landlords, That They Cannot
Afford To
Inclose their grounds, or give a proper respite to
their lands; or to stock their farms with a sufficient number
Of
black cattle to produce the necessary manure, without which
agriculture can never be carried to any degree of perfection.
Indeed, whatever efforts a few individuals may make for the
benefit of their own estates, husbandry in France will never be
generally improved, until the farmer is free and independent.
From the frequency of towns and villages, I should imagine this
country is very populous; yet it must be owned, that the towns
are in general thinly inhabited. I saw a good number of country
seats and plantations near tile banks of the rivers, on each
side; and a great many convents, sweetly situated, on rising
grounds, where the air is most pure, and the prospect most
agreeable. It is surprising to see how happy the founders of
those religious houses have been in their choice of situations,
all the world over.
In passing through this country, I was very much struck with the
sight of large ripe clusters of grapes, entwined with the briars
and thorns of common hedges on the wayside. The mountains of
Burgundy are covered with vines from the bottom to the top, and
seem to be raised by nature on purpose to extend the surface, and
to expose it the more advantageously to the rays of the sun. The
vandange was but just begun, and the people were employed in
gathering the grapes; but I saw no signs of festivity among them.
Perhaps their joy was a little damped by the bad prospect of
their harvest; for they complained that the weather had been so
unfavourable as to hinder the grapes from ripening. I thought,
indeed, there was something uncomfortable in seeing the vintage
thus retarded till the beginning of winter: for, in some parts, I
found the weather extremely cold; particularly at a place called
Maison-neuve, where we lay, there was a hard frost, and in the
morning the pools were covered with a thick crust of ice. My
personal adventures on the road were such as will not bear a
recital. They consisted of petty disputes with landladies, post-
masters, and postillions. The highways seem to be perfectly safe.
We did not find that any robberies were ever committed, although
we did not see one of the marechaussee from Paris to Lyons. You
know the marechaussee are a body of troopers well mounted,
maintained in France as safe-guards to the public roads. It is a
reproach upon England that some such patrol is not appointed for
the protection of travellers.
At Sens in Champagne, my servant, who had rode on before to
bespeak fresh horses, told me, that the domestic of another
company had been provided before him, altho' it was not his turn,
as he had arrived later at the post. Provoked at this partiality,
I resolved to chide the post-master, and accordingly addressed
myself to a person who stood at the door of the auberge. He was a
jolly figure, fat and fair, dressed in an odd kind of garb, with
a gold laced cap on his head, and a cambric handkerchief pinned
to his middle. The sight of such a fantastic petit maitre, in the
character of a post-master, increased my spleen. I called to him
with an air of authority, mixed with indignation, and when he
came up to the coach, asked in a peremptory tone, if he did not
understand the king's ordonnance concerning the regulation of the
posts? He laid his hand upon his breast; but before he could make
any answer, I pulled out the post-book, and began to read, with
great vociferation, the article which orders, that the traveller
who comes first shall be first served. By this time the fresh
horses being put to the carriage, and the postillions mounted,
the coach set off all of a sudden, with uncommon speed. I
imagined the post-master had given the fellows a signal to be
gone, and, in this persuasion, thrusting my head out at the
window, I bestowed some epithets upon him, which must have
sounded very harsh in the ears of a Frenchman. We stopped for a
refreshment at a little town called Joigne-ville, where (by the
bye) I was scandalously imposed upon, and even abused by a virago
of a landlady; then proceeding to the next stage, I was given to
understand we could not be supplied with fresh horses. Here I
perceived at the door of the inn, the same person whom I had
reproached at Sens. He came up to the coach, and told me, that
notwithstanding what the guides had said, I should have fresh
horses in a few minutes. I imagined he was master both of this
house and the auberge at Sens, between which he passed and
repassed occasionally; and that he was now desirous of making me
amends for the affront he had put upon me at the other place.
Observing that one of the trunks behind was a little displaced,
he assisted my servant in adjusting it: then he entered into
conversation with me, and gave me to understand, that in a post-chaise,
which we had passed, was an English gentleman on his
return from Italy. I wanted to know who he was, and when he said
he could not tell, I asked him, in a very abrupt manner, why he
had not enquired of his servant. He shrugged
up his shoulders, and retired to the inn door. Having waited
about half an hour, I beckoned to him, and when he approached,
upbraided him with having told me that I should be supplied with
fresh horses in a few minutes: he seemed shocked, and answered,
that he thought he had reason for what he said, observing, that
it was as disagreeable to him as to me to wait for a relay.
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