Part 1

A TOUR THROUGH SOME PARTS OF FRANCE, SWITZERLAND, SAVOY, GERMANY AND BELGIUM, DURING THE SUMMER AND AUTUMN OF 1814.

BY THE HON. RICHARD BOYLE BERNARD, M.P.

Majora minorane famæ! HOR. Say are they less or greater than report!

London:

PRINTED FOR LONGMAN, HURST, REES, ORME, AND BROWN. PATER NOSTER-ROW;

1815.

* * * * *

HARVARD AND FARLEY, Skinner Street, London

* * * * *

TO HIS ROYAL HIGHNESS THE PRINCE REGENT.

SIR,

Permit me to offer my most respectful thanks to Your Royal Highness, for the honor you have conferred upon me, by permitting the following pages to be inscribed to Your Royal Highness.

I beg at the same time to express my congratulations to Your Royal Highness on the late glorious events, which have distinguished Your Royal Highness's Government, which have restored to England the blessings of universal Peace, and will render the present æra ever memorable in History.

I have the Honor to be, With the highest Respect, Sir, Your Royal Highness's Obliged and most obedient Servant,

R.B. BERNARD.

* * * * *

PREFACE.

Had the following Pages required the exertion either of superior judgment, or of abstruse research, the Author is not sufficiently vain to have submitted them to the notice of the Public.

They are therefore not recommended to the perusal of the critical reader; as in fact, they contain merely the hasty observations suggested by the scenes he visited in the course of his Tour, together with a few occasional remarks, which he thought might be acceptable to the generality of readers: since notwithstanding the late increase of travellers, the numbers are still very great, who, being prevented by business, or deterred by the inconveniences of travelling, from visiting the Continent, might be disposed to pardon some inaccuracies, should they meet with a small portion either of amusement or information.

* * * * *

CONTENTS.

CHAP. I. PAGE

Introduction--On the opening of the Continent--Departure from London--Arrival in France--Different appearance of Things-Large Bonnets--Custom House and Passports--Of Travelling in France--French Dinners--Abbeville--Beauvais--Vines--Chantilly; its ruined Appearance--St. Denis and its Abbey 1

CHAP. II.

Of the Approach to Paris--General Appearance of that City--Its Bridges--Is inferior in Comfort to London--Settled at an Hotel--Population of Paris--Its Markets--Badly supplied with Water--Of its various Divisions and their Inhabitants--Palais Royal--Gamblers--Police--English Papers--Rule to find one's Way through Paris--The Tuilleries--The Louvre--Plans of Improvement 19

CHAP. III.

Visit to the Gallery of The Louvre and Museum--To the Luxemburg--To the Royal Library--To the Palais des Beaux Arts--To the Church of Notre Dame--To the Pantheon--Protestant Church and Congregation--Of the Number of English in Paris--Column in the Place Vendôme--Gobelin Manufactory--Post Office--Botanic Garden--Lady and her Dog--Story of Dr. Moore--Of the Character of the Parisians--Their Loquacity--Of the Legislative Body--Heat of the Weather--Champs Elysées--Quarter of St. Antoine--Of the Revolution--Of the Boulevards--Of the Restaurateurs--Of Ladies frequenting Coffee-houses, &c. 39

CHAP. IV.

The Invalides--Elevation of different Buildings--Buonaparte desirous of Eclat--Champ de Mars--Place de Grenelle--Of the Plan of General Mallet and his Execution--Visit to the Museum of French Monuments--Infidelity of its Promoters--Of Colbert--Gardens of Tivoli--Great Numbers of Military Officers in Public Places--Of the Capture of Paris by the Allies--View of Paris from Montmartre--Vanity of the French--Their Love of Novelty--The Emperor Alexander's Entry into Paris--Of the Establishment of M. Delacroix--At the Tuilleries--Of the King--His Regard for England--France still unsettled--Advice of Galba to Piso--Curious Glass Stair Case--Of the French Theatres, and their Italian Opera--Number of Bureau d'Ecrivains. 61

CHAP. V.

Visit to the Royal Palaces--St. Cloud--St. Cyr--Malmaison--Versailles--Its Formality--Accuracy of Pope's Description of the Old Style of Decoration--Comparison of Windsor and Versailles--City of Versailles greatly reduced--Trianon--Sèvres--Porcelain Manufactory--Barrier of Passy--Of the Harvest--Castle of Vincennes--Few private Carriages at Paris--Great Numbers of Fiacres and Cabriolets--Attend at the Foreign Office for Passports to leave Paris--Arrive at Fontainebleau--Memorable for the Abdication of Buonaparte--Reflections on the Captivity and Character of the Pope--Reflections on Buonaparte--At Montereau; Battle near the Town--Sens--Auxerre--Description of the French Diligence--Dinners, &c. 79

CHAP. VI.

At Avalon--Public Promenades--Number of Beggars--Villages and Country Houses more numerous in Vine than in Corn Countries-Farming in this District--Land Tax and Customs of Descent--Dijon--A large and handsome City--Its Public Buildings--Company in the Diligence increased by the Arrival of two French Officers--Their Political Opinions--Advantage of the Diligence--Arrival at Dole--Battle near Auxonne--Genlis--Poligny--Vin d'Arbois--Woods but without Birds--Moray--English Breakfast--Resemblance to North Wales--Magnificent View of the Lake of Geneva--Excellent Roads made by Buonaparte--Visit to Ferney--Description of Geneva--View from its Cathedral--Its Manufactures--Population--Territory--Determination to visit the Alps; and not to go into Italy 100

CHAP. VII.

Departure for Chamouny--Bonneville--Valley of Cluse--Cascade d'Arpennas--St. Martin--Extravagant Bill--Proceed on Mules--Their astonishing Safety--River Arve--Pont de Chèvres--Cascade of Chede--Extravagance of English Travellers very prejudicial--Lake of Chede--Servoy and its Mines--Visited by the Empress Maria Louisa--Glaciers des Bossons--Definition of Glacier--Of the Valley and Village of Chamouny--Guides--Politics of the Savoyards--State of Taxation--Ascent of Montanvert--Magnificent and awful Spectacle of the Mer de Glace--Height of various Mountains, compared with Mont Blanc--Simile from Pope--Return to Chamouny--Larch and Fir mixed on these vast Mountains--Their Productions--The Valley continually threatened with Avalanches 119

CHAP. VIII.

Leave Chamouny--Delightful Situation of Valorsine--Festival there--Of the Savoyard Peasants--Anecdote from M. de Saussure--Country difficult to travel through--Trient--Magnificent View from the Fourcle--The French not so much disliked in the Valais as their Cruelty deserved--Castle of la Rathia--Martigny--Unsuccessful Attempt of two English Gentlemen to ascend Mont Blanc--Less adventurous, we did not ascend Mount St. Bernard--Cascade of the Pisse Vache--Number of Idiots and Goitrous Persons in the Valais--Opinion of Mr. Coxe on the Subject--Opinion of M. de Saussure--St. Maurice--Its strong Position--Roman Bridge and Antiquities--Passports demanded here--Different Colour of the Rhone here and at Geneva. 139

CHAP. IX.

Bex--Industry of the Inhabitants of this Country--Their Cottages and Wandering Lives--Salt Springs--Aigle--Growth of Corn--Villeneuve--Agitated State of the Lake--Labours of the Inhabitants often destroyed by the Fall of Rocks--Chillon--Clarens--Vevay--Magnificent View from its Church--Of General Ludlow--Lausanne--Its singular Situation--Its Antiquity--Its Cathedral--View from the Church-yard--Population and Manufactures--French Manners prevail here--Gibbon--Pope Felix V. a singular Character--Reformation--Morges--Festivity there--Rolle--Its Spa--Country Seats--Delightful Scene from the Garden of its Castle in the Evening--Nyon--Château de Pranqui--Joseph Buonaparte--Vines--Swiss Artillery--Copet--Anecdote of Md^e. de Staël--Versoi--Return to Geneva 156

CHAP. X.

On the Introduction of History into Tours--Early Government of Geneva--Reformation--Alliance with Berne and Zurich--A few Laws peculiar to Geneva--Theatre--Town Hall--Permission obtained to reside at Geneva--Lodging procured in Consequence--Fortifications of Geneva not devoid of Utility--Views from the Ramparts--Maintenance of the Allied Troops very expensive to Geneva--Regret of the Genevese at the Destruction of some ancient Avenues by them--Meet a Person who gives a melancholy Account of the State of Geneva under the French--State of Society--Fête de Navigation--Dress, &c.--Epigram by a Prince of Hesse--Rousseau--Voltaire--Raynal--Remarks of a Savoyard Peasant--The College of Geneva--The Library--Of Calvin--Water Works--Society of Arts--Corn Magazine--Churches, Service, &c. at Geneva. 184

CHAP. XI.

Excursion to the Perte du Rhone--Magnificent Spectacle which it affords--Rise of the Rhone--Hop Gardens--Malt Liquor badly made--Climate of Geneva--Of Switzerland in general--Opinion of Haller--Soil, Grain, and Population of Switzerland--Quantities of Cattle--Various Plants--Visit to a Watchmaker's Warehouse--Its elevated Situation--Great Ingenuity, but want of what in England would be thought good Taste--Circles of Genevese--Introduced to a French Gentleman who bad twice escaped the Guillotine--Walks and Rides--Junction of the Rhone and Arve--Coligny--Carrouge--St. Julian--Battle there--Inferiority of the Austrian Troops to the French--French Politics--Empress Maria Louisa--Lord Castlereagh at Geneva 193

CHAP. XII.

Regret at leaving Geneva--Lake of Joux--Coponex--Robbers--Lassera--Curious Separation of a Rivulet---Orbe--Face of the Country--Price of Land--Yverdun--Sea View--Spa--School--Anecdote of a Conductor--Game--Bridge of Serrier--Neufchâtel, said to resemble Naples--Description of its Territory--Anecdote respecting the Religion of Landeron--David Riri--Sketch of the History of Neufchâtel--Competitors for its Sovereignty--Lake of Bienne--Island of St. Pierre--Singular Government of Bienne--Great Change on passing the Pont de Thiel--Charge of Rapacity against the Swiss--Pleasant Travelling--Extensive View from Julemont--Agriculture--Arberg 205

CHAP. XIII.

Morat--famous for Kirschwasser--Monument commemorating the Defeat of the Burgundians removed by the French--Its Inscription--Seedorf--View of the Island of St. Pierre--Beauty of the distant View of Berne--Its Interior also handsome--Its Fortifications--Stags and Bears kept in the Trenches--Public Library--Botanic Garden--Chemists' and Bakers' Shops--Convicts chained in the Streets--Beautiful Public Walks--Government of Berne--Opinion of Pope--Excursions to Hofwyl and Hindelbanck--Extent of the Canton of Berne--Its Population, Productions, &c. &c--State of the Clergy--Departure from Berne--Village of Worb--Saw Mill--Bleach Greens--Care which the Swiss take of their Horses--Sumiswald--Little Wooden Inn--Zell--Castle of Haptalla--Irrigation--Beautiful Situation of Lucerne--Its Melancholy Interior--General Pfiffer's Model--Beautiful Lake--Mount Pilate and Rigi--Visit two Classic Spots--And the Small Canton--Gersau--Intolerance--Lake and Canton of Zug--Swiss Honey--Magnificent View of Zurich, described by Zimmerman--Considerations on the Difference between the Swiss Cantons, &c 222

CHAP. XIV.

Zurich--Its Interior not answerable to its distant Appearance--Population, Buildings, &c.--Dinner at the Table d'Hote--Excursion on the Lake--Country and Villages near Zurich--Winter there--Cascade of Lauffen--Its magnificent Effect--Cyder--Bad Vintage--Schaffhausen--Its Bridge--Population--Laws--Manufactures, &c.--View of Mount Banken--Chapsigre Cheese--Swiss Tea--Set out in the Diligence with a Doctor of Leipzig--His uncommon Love of Smoking--Civility, Dress, &c. of the Germans--Deutlingen--Pass the Danube--Taste of the Germans for Music, preferable to the political Arguments of the French--Passports--Subdivisions of Germany--Trade--Posts well conducted--Accident at Bahlingen--House of Hohenzollern 242

CHAP. XV.

Tubingen--Its University--Different from ours--Agree to post to Frankfort--Of German Posting, and Dinners--Feather-beds--Stoves--Stutgard--A handsome City--Palace, its Decorations--Industry of the Queen--Council Chamber--Royal Stables--Garrison composed handsome Troops--Palace at Ludwigsburg--Waggons and Traffic on the road--Heilbron--Escape from being overturned--Sinzheim--Cossaok arrives there--Heidelberg--Its Castle--Venerable in Ruins--The Inn--Rich Country--Quantity of Potatoes--Manheim--Regularly built, but much deserted--The Palace in Decay--Walks--Darmstadt--Unfurnished and ill situated--Palace--Handsome Gardens--Frankfort a Magnificent City--Inns--Opulence of its Merchants--Population--Jews--Gates and Fortifications--Cassino--Villas--Orchards--Hochst--Inscription-- Hochheim--Rhiagau Wines--Mayence--Its Strength--Handsome only at a Distance--Its Bridge--Cathedral--Population--Exportation of Corn--Large Cabbage 258

CHAP. XVI.

Embark on the Rhine--Political Rhapsodies of two Frenchmen--Beautiful Scenery--Gulph of Bingerlock--Blighted state of the Vines--Most distressing to the Inhabitants--Boppart--'God Save the King'--Bonfires--Size of Paris and London--St. Goar--Coblentz--Royal Saxon Guards--Ruins of Ehrenbreitstein--Andernach--The Devil's House--Lowdersdorf--Linz--Bonn--Illuminations, Balls, &c.--End of the Picturesque Scenery--Boat driven on Shore--Walk to Cologne--A vast and gloomy City--Simile of Dr. Johnson's--Few Country Houses on the Rhine--Rubens--His excellence as a Painter and his great Modesty--Juliers--Aix la Chapelle--Its Antiquity--Waters--Pleasant Situation--Population not equal to its Estent--Burscheid--Manufactures of Cloth, &c.--Cathedral--Sunday ill observed--Liege--A large and extremely dirty City--Booksellers--Cutlery--Distress of the Manufacturers--Thieves--Bad Money--Expeditions Public Carriage--Axiom of Rousseau--St. Tron--Chimes--Tirlemont, its much reduced Manufactures 278

CHAP. XVII.

Population of the Netherlands--Louvain--Its Public Buildings--University--Character of the Belgians--By some represented as the worst in Europe--That Statement probably overcharged--Extortion--John Bull at Paris--French Kitchens, &c.--Breweries--Roads--Taste in Gardening--Canals not an agreeable mode of Travelling--Heavy Taxes--Unsettled Political State--Vast Numbers of English at Brussels--Its Extent, Population and Appearance--The Park--Anecdote of Peter the Great--Town House--Churches--Collections of Paintings--Anecdote of Bassano--Hotels--Table d'Hote, like the Tables at Cheltenham--Expence of Living--Houses--Jurourin--Forest of Sogne--House of Correction compared with ours--Walk round the City--Fortified Towns--Sieges of Ostend, Valenciennes, Troy and Azotus--Malines--Considerations on its Decline--Its Silk--Population--Buildings--Manner of cutting the Trees near the Roads--Antwerp, its Importance--Docks--River--Riches of Belgium--Buildings at Antwerp--Accuracy of the Flemish Painters--Appearance of the Country--The Inns not equally decorated with those in Germany--Wooden Shoes 296

CHAP. XVIII.

Ghent--Its great Size--Decreased in Populalation and Consequence--Charles V.--D'Arteville--Canals--Trade--Buildings-Prison--Land and Water Travelling--Ostend and Bruges--Derivation of Bourse--Noisy and Silent Travellers--Proficiency of Foreigners in English--Taste in Bonnets--Sportsmen without Game--Courtray--Dogs Drawing--Boundary Stone of France--Custom House--Passports, Danger of being without--Lille--Fortified by Vauban--Population--Buildings--Theatre--Society--OEconomical Residence-Remarkable View from Cassel--Berg--Fens--Canals--Dunkirk--First Impressions--The Origin of its Name--Buildings and Population--Flemish Language--Of the Union of Belgium with France--Political Consideration--Dunkirk sold by Charles II.--Lord Clarendon's House so called--Its Fortifications demolished--Gravelines---Its strong Situation--Liberty and Equality--Cheap Travelling--Calais the last English Possession in France--Contrary Winds--French Officers displeased at the Theatre--General Jealousy of England--Embark on board a French Packet--Loquacity of the French--Arrival in England--Its Superiority to other Countries 317

* * * * *

A TOUR THROUGH SOME PARTS OF FRANCE, SWITZERLAND, &c. &c.

* * * * *

CHAP. I.

I had long been desirous of visiting the Continent, but the long continuance of the war, and the little prospect which lately appeared of its termination, seemed to afford no chance for the accomplishment of my wish. At a period, however, when that arbitrary power, which had so long held in subjection the other nations of the Continent, sought to overthrow the only monarch who dared to oppose it, and to claim for his subjects the natural rights from which they had been excluded by the "_Continental System_," it pleased Divine Providence to destroy the fetters which enslaved the nations of Europe, as if to try, whether in the school of adversity, they had learned to merit the blessings of independence. These great and glorious changes, the reality of which it was at first _difficult_ to believe, having opened to the subjects and commerce of Britain, countries from which they had been for so many successive years proscribed, it was not long before numbers of British repaired to the continent to indulge that love of roving for which they had been always distinguished (and which a long war had suppressed but not eradicated) and to claim from all true patriots, in the countries they visited, that friendly reception to which the long perseverance and vast sacrifices of England, during a struggle unexampled in history, had so justly entitled the lowest of her subjects.

The unsettled state in which most part of the Continent necessarily remained for a little time after the entrance of the Allies into Paris, did not afford the most favourable moment for the journey of one who was not a military traveller; and I did not regret that business prevented my leaving England for a few months after the opening of the Continent, as I had the gratification of being a witness, in the British metropolis, to the exultation of all ranks of men; first, at seeing the legitimate monarch of France arrive there in company with our illustrious Regent who having long contributed to lessen the afflictions of the exiled _Count de Lille_, had first the satisfaction (to which he, amongst all the sovereigns of Europe, was best entitled, by the great part, which under his government, England had performed for the cause of European liberty) of saluting him as _King of France_, amidst the cheers of applauding thousands; and, secondly, of witnessing the arrival of the magnanimous Alexander, of that too long unfortunate monarch, Frederick William, of those chiefs, Platoff and Blucher, whose exploits have ranked them amongst the first of heroes, and, at last, of seeing, in the person of a _Wellington_, a British marshal who had successively foiled the most renowned of the generals of Buonaparte, and who, like Turenne, was accustomed "_to fight without anger, to conquer without ambition, and to triumph without vanity_."

About the middle of July I left London and proceeded to Dover, a journey which, in the improved state of our roads and of our conveyances, is easily performed in one day; and often as I had before travelled the Kent road, yet I could not see without surprise, the astonishing number of public and private carriages with which it abounds, and which must have doubtless much increased within the last few months. I became acquainted on the road with a French Abbé, who, accompanied by his sister, was returning home after an absence of twenty-two years, which he had spent mostly in England, but he could by no means express himself intelligibly in English. I therefore addressed him in his own language, which pleased him extremely, and I found him an amusing companion, as well as very grateful for some little services I rendered him in arranging with the coachman respecting his baggage and that of his sister, as they took the whole of their property to France with them, including many household articles which I should not have thought worth the expence of carriage. We supped in the same apartment at Dover, but they had brought their provisions with them, which as I afterwards found was sometimes the practice in France, either from motives of comfort or economy. Such travellers, however, would not be much wished for at an English inn.

Next morning my first business was to attend at the custom-house; and the officers, after a diligent search, finding nothing illegal amongst my baggage, permitted me to purchase a sufferance for it to be embarked for France. The rest of the passengers having likewise arranged their affairs and obtained sufferances, we proceeded on board the packet, and found that it was extremely full without this last reinforcement; but I doubt whether the captain way of that opinion. I found the charge for the passage amounted to one guinea, which is the sum paid for the passage between Dublin and Holyhead, although that is nearly three times the extent of the channel between Dover and Calais. I was informed that the seeming disproportion in those prices was to be attributed to the heavy _post dues_ at Calais, which, for so small a vessel as the packet, amounted to £14 or £15, although in the year 1793 they did not exceed eighteen shillings.