Remember me to our friends at A - 's. I am a little heavy-hearted
at the prospect of removing to such a distance from you.
It is a
moot point whether I shall ever return. My health is very
precarious. Adieu.
LETTER VI
PARIS, October 12, 1763.
DEAR SIR, - Of our journey from Boulogne I have little to say. The
weather was favourable, and the roads were in tolerable order. We
found good accommodation at Montreuil and Amiens; but in every
other place where we stopped, we met with abundance of dirt, and
the most flagrant imposition. I shall not pretend to describe the
cities of Abbeville and Amiens, which we saw only en passant; nor
take up your time with an account of the stables and palace of
Chantilly, belonging to the prince of Conde, which we visited the
last day of our journey; nor shall I detain you with a detail of
the Trefors de St. Denis, which, together with the tombs in the
abbey church, afforded us some amusement while our dinner was
getting ready. All these particulars are mentioned in twenty
different books of tours, travels, and directions, which you have
often perused. I shall only observe, that the abbey church is the
lightest piece of Gothic architecture I have seen, and the air
within seems perfectly free from that damp and moisture, so
perceivable in all our old cathedrals. This must be owing to the
nature of its situation. There are some fine marble statues that
adorn the tombs of certain individuals here interred; but they
are mostly in the French taste, which is quite contrary to the
simplicity of the antients. Their attitudes are affected,
unnatural, and desultory; and their draperies fantastic; or, as
one of our English artists expressed himself, they are all of a
flutter. As for the treasures, which are shewn on certain days to
the populace gratis, they are contained in a number of presses,
or armoires, and, if the stones are genuine, they must be
inestimable: but this I cannot believe. Indeed I have been told,
that what they shew as diamonds are no more than composition:
nevertheless, exclusive of these, there are some rough stones of
great value, and many curiosities worth seeing. The monk that
shewed them was the very image of our friend Hamilton, both in
his looks and manner.
I have one thing very extraordinary to observe of the French
auberges, which seems to be a remarkable deviation from the
general character of the nation. The landlords, hostesses, and
servants of the inns upon the road, have not the least dash of
complaisance in their behaviour to strangers. Instead of coming
to the door, to receive you as in England, they take no manner of
notice of you; but leave you to find or enquire your way into the
kitchen, and there you must ask several times for a chamber,
before they seem willing to conduct you up stairs.
Enter page number
PreviousNext
Page 68 of 276
Words from 34888 to 35387
of 143308
