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.
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