In
Burgundy I Saw A Peasant Ploughing The Ground With A Jack-Ass, A
Lean Cow, And A He-Goat, Yoked Together.
It is generally
observed, that a great number of black cattle are bred and fed on
the mountains of Burgundy, which are the highest lands in France;
but I saw very few.
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.
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