Chapter 3

Among the small plants, the _arum arisarum_, (friar's cowl) and the _ruscus aculeatus_ (butcher's broom) were the most conspicuous, this latter is a pretty ever-green shrub, and the berries were there as large as those of a common _solanum pseudo capsicum_, (Pliny's _amomum_, or winter cherry) and of a bright scarlet colour, issuing from the middle of the under surface of the leaves; I never saw any of these berries any where else. _Parkinson_, in his _Theater of Plants_, 1640, says, after describing three or four species of this genus, "They scarse beare flower, much lesse fruite, in our land." Perhaps the berries might ripen in our hot-houses.

Many _arbutus_, or strawberry-trees, grow here, but they are not equal in size and beauty to many which I saw both in Portugal and in Ireland.

In 1784, _M. J. J. de St. Germain_, a nurseryman in the _Fauxbourg St. Antoine_, published a book in 8vo of 400 pages, entitled _Manuel des Vegetaux_, or catalogue in Latin and French, of all the known plants, trees, and shrubs, in the world, arranged according to the system of _Linnæus_; those plants which grow near Paris are particularly specified, and a very copious French index is added to the Latin one. The author died a few years ago; the plants were sold, and the nursery ground is at present built upon.

DOGS AND CATS. TWO-HEADED BOY.

LION Dogs and Cats are common in Paris.

The lion-dog greatly resembles a lion in miniature; the hair of the fore part of its body is long, and curled, and the hinder part short; the nose is short, and the tail is long and tufted at the extremity; the smallest are little larger than guinea-pigs; these are natives of Malta, and are the most valuable; those which are produced in France are considerably larger, and the breed degenerates very soon. Their general colour is white; they are frequently called _Lexicons_, which word is derived, not from a dictionary, but from a French compound word of nearly the same sound, descriptive of one of their properties.

The lion-cat comes originally from _Angora_, in _Syria_. It is much larger than the common cat; its hair is very long, especially about the neck, where it forms a fine ruff, of a silvery whiteness and silky texture, that on the tail is three or four inches long; these cats frequently spread their tails on their backs, as squirrels do. The colour is generally white, but sometimes light brown; they do not catch mice. This beautiful species does not degenerate speedily, and it appears to thrive better in Paris than in any other part of Europe. The figures of both these animals are in _Buffon's Natural History_.

About the _Palais Royal_ persons are frequently found who offer for sale white mice in cages; these are pretty little animals, their fur is snow white, and their eyes are red and sparkling. Other persons carried for sale canary-birds, linnets, and two or three other sorts of small birds, perched on their fingers; these birds had been rendered so tame that they did not attempt to fly away.

But the greatest curiosity in Natural History which I saw there, was a male child with two heads and four arms; it was then three months old, the two faces were perfectly alike, the noses aquiline, the eyes blue, and the countenances pleasing; the two bodies were joined together at the chest, and the remainder was just like that of a common male child; one navel, one belly, one _penis_ one _anus_, and two legs. The two bodies were face to face, so that they could embrace and kiss each other; in their natural position they formed an angle of 65 degrees, like the letter Y. I remained above an hour with this child, it's mother and the nurse, and saw it suck at both breasts at the same time. It was tolerably strong, the skin was very soft, and almost transparent, the arms and legs were very lean, and the latter were crossed, and appeared incapable of being extended voluntarily; so that if the child should live two or three years, which I do not think probable, it is not likely it will ever be able to walk. One head would laugh while the other cried, one head would sleep whilst the other was awake; the inspiration and expiration of the breath, in each, was alternate, that is to say, one inspired while the other expired its breath. There was nothing remarkable in the mother (a peasant's wife) except her obstinacy in refusing to disencumber these two poor heads from a couple of thick quilted blue sattin caps with which they had dressed them, and which I endeavoured to convince both her and the nurse would heat the heads, so as to be the means of shortening the child's life, and consequently of curtailing the profits arising from this _unique_ exhibition.

To this description an English physician, who likewise saw it, adds, "It must have had two brains, as motion and sensation were equal, and apparently perfect, in each head and chest, and in all the four arms. It had two hearts, and two sets of lungs; it had also two passages into the stomach, but, as was supposed, only one set of _abdominal viscera_, as the belly was not larger than that of a common child of that age usually is. The hearts and arteries beat more strongly than was consistent with a long continuance of health. The action of the arteries was plainly seen under the skin."

Mr. Buffon, in the Supplement to his Natural History, has given the figure and description of a monster something similar to this, part of which description I shall give in a note, as a parallel to that of the living child.[15]

[Note 15: "In 1701 there were born in Hungary two Girls who were joined together by the loins; they lived above twenty-one years. At seven years old they were shown almost all over Europe; at nine years of age a priest purchased them, and placed them in a convent at Petersburg, where they remained till their death, which happened in 1723. An account of them was found among the papers of the surgeon who attended the convent, and was sent to the Royal Society of London in 1757. In this account we are told, that one of these twins was called _Helen_, the other _Judith_. _Helen_ grew up and was very handy, _Judith_ was smaller and a little hump-backed. They were joined together by the reins, and in order to see each other they could turn their heads only. There was one common _anus_, and of course there was only one common need of going to stool, but each had her separate urinary passage, and separate wants, which occasioned quarrels, because when the weakest was obliged to evacuate, the strongest, who sometimes would not stand still, pulled her away; they perfectly agreed in every thing else, and appeared to love each other. When they were seen in front, they did not differ apparently from other women. At six years old _Judith_ lost the use of her left side by a paralytick stroke; she never was perfectly cured, and her mind remained feeble and dull; on the contrary, _Helen_ was handsome, intelligent and even witty. They had the small-pox and the measles at the same time, but all their other sicknesses indispositions happened to each separately. _Judith_ was subject to a cough and a fever, whereas _Helen_ was generally in good health. When they had almost attained the age of twenty-two _Judith_ caught a fever, fell into a lethargy and died. Poor _Helen_ was forced to follow her fate; three minutes before the death of _Judith_ she fell into an agony, and died nearly at the same time. When they were dissected it was found, that each had her own entrails perfect, and even, that each had a separate excretory conduit, which however terminated at the same _anus_." _Linnæus_ has likewise described this monster. Many figures of double children of different kinds may be seen in _Licetus de Monstris_, 4to. 1665; and in the _Medical Miscellanies_, which were printed in Latin at Leipzig, in several quarto volumes, in 1673.]

I went several times to the National Assembly; the _Tribunes_, or _Galleries_, (of which there are three) entered warmly, by applauses and by murmurs and hisses, into the affairs which were treated of.

Letters are franked by the assembly as far as the frontiers, by being stamped with red printers ink, _Ass. Nationale._

About this time many hundreds of folio volumes of heraldry, and of the registers of the nobility, were publicly burnt in _la Place Vendôme_, after due notice had been given of the time and place by advertisements pasted against the walls. A wicked wag observed, that it was a pity all their books of divinity, and almost all those of law and physic, were not added to the pile but he comforted himself with reflecting that _ça viendra_.

All the coats of arms which formerly decorated the gates of _Hôtels_ are taken away, and even seals are at present engraven with cyphers only.

_The Chevaliers de St. Louis_ still continue to wear the cross, or the ribband, at the button-hole; all other orders of knighthood are abolished. No liveries are worn by servants, that badge of slavery is likewise abolished; and also all corporation companies, as well as every other monopolizing society; and there are no longer any _Royal_ tobacco nor salt shops.

I went once to the _Café de la Regence_,[16] with the intention of playing a game at chess, but I found the chess-men so very little different in colour, that I could not distinguish them sufficiently to be able to play. It seems it is the fashion for chess-men at present to be made of box-wood, and all nearly of the same colour. I then went to another coffee-house frequented by chess-players, and here the matter was worse; they had, in addition to the above-mentioned fashion, substituted the _cavalier_, or _knight_, for the _fou_, or _bishop_, and the _bishop_ for the _knight_, so that I left them to fight their own battles.

[Note 16: Rousseau used to play at chess here almost every day, which attracted such crowds of people to see him, that the _Lieutenant de Police_ was obliged to place a sentinel at the door.]

Books of all sorts are printed without any _approbation_ or _privilêge_. Many are exposed on stalls, which are very improper for the public eye. One of these was called the _Private Life of the Queen_, in two volumes, with obscene prints. The book itself is contemptible and disgusting, and might as well have been called the _Woman of Pleasure_. Of books of this sort I saw above thirty, with plates. Another was on a subject not fit even to be mentioned.

I read a small pamphlet, entitled "_le Christ-Roi_, or a Parallel of the Sufferings of Lewis XVI. &c." I can say nothing in favor of it.

I found no new deistical books, the subject has already been exhausted, and every Frenchman is a philosopher now; it may be necessary here to recollect, that there are gradations in philosophy.

Since the Revolution, monarchs and courts are not quite so respectfully mentioned in books as they were formerly. The following few examples are taken from _Mr. du Laure's_ Curiosities of Paris, in two volumes, 1791, third edition. [17] "Louis XIV. has his bust in almost every street in Paris. After the most trifling reparation of a street it was customary to place his great wig-block (_tête à perruque_) there. The saints have never obtained such multiplied statues. That bully (_Fanfaron_) as _Christina_, Queen of Sweden, used to call him, wanted to be adored even in turn-again alleys (_culs-de-Sac._") Courtiers are here termed _canaille de la cour_ (the rabble of the court;) the former aldermen of Paris (_echevins_) _machines à complimens_ (complimenting machines;) and monks _des bourreaux encapuchonnés_ (cowled executioners.)

[Note 17: The same author has likewise published, _Historical Singularities_ of Paris, in a single volume, and a Description of the Environs, in two volumes, 1790.]

All the following articles of information are taken from the same work: The colossal statue of _St. Christopher_ is no longer in the church of _Notre-Dame_; "He was, without doubt, the greatest _Saint Christopher_ in all France. This ridiculous monument of the taste and devotion of our ancestors has lately been demolished."

"The court before the porch of this church was considerably enlarged in 1748, and at the same time a fountain was destroyed, against which leaned an old statue, which had successively been judged to be that of _Esculapius_, of _Mercury_, of a Mayor, and of a Bishop of Paris, and lastly, that of J.C."

"Entering the street which leads to the _Pont-rouge_, by the cloisters of this church, the last house on the right, under the arcades, stands where the canon _Fulbert_, uncle to _Eloisa_, lived. Although it has been several times rebuilt during 600 years, there are still preserved two stone medallions, in _basso-relievo_, which are said to be the busts of _Abelard_ and _Eloisa_."

The number of inhabitants in Paris is computed at one million, one hundred and thirty thousand, (including one hundred and fifty thousand strangers) two hundred thousand of which are, through poverty, exempt from the poll-tax, and two hundred thousand others are servants.

In 1790 there were in Paris forty-eight convents of monks, containing nine hundred and nine men; the amount of their revenue was estimated at two millions, seven hundred and sixty thousand livres; five abbeys or priories, estimated at six hundred and twelve thousand livres; seventy-four convents of nuns, containing two thousand, two hundred and ninety-two women, their income two millions and twenty-eight thousand livres. When to these we add the revenue of the archbishoprick, and of the fifteen collegiate churches, of one million, six thousand and five hundred livres, we shall have a total of upwards of seven millions of livres for the former ecclesiastical revenue in Paris only.[18]

[Note 18: Almost £300,000 sterling, about a tenth part of the Church income of the whole kingdom. The establishment for the Royal Family, or Civil List, is said to have been forty millions of livres. Thus the Religion and the Monarch cost one hundred and ten millions of livres annually (about five millions sterling) the greater part of which sum is now appropriated to other uses. The convents are converted, or perverted, into secular useful buildings, and their inhabitants have been suffered to spend the remainder of their lives in their former idleness, or to marry and mix with society. Annuities have been granted to them from thirty-five to sixty louis per annum, according to their age.]

There are about six hundred coffee-houses in Paris.

In the saloon of the _Louvre_ every other year is an exhibition of pictures, in the months of August and September.

The Pont-neuf is one hundred toises in length and twelve in breadth.[19]

[Note 19: 1020 feet by 72. Westminster-bridge is 1220 feet long, but only 44 feet wide.]

The cupola of the _Halle au Bled_, or corn and flour market, is one hundred and twenty feet in diameter; it forms a perfect half circle, whose centre is on a level with the cornice, forty feet from the ground. The vault or dome is composed merely of deal boards, four feet long, one foot broad and an inch thick.[20]

[Note 20: The inner diameter of the dome of St. Peter's, at Rome, 138 feet, which is the same size as that of the pantheon in Rome. St. Paul's in London 108. The Invalids in Paris 50.]

Describing the church of _St. John of the Minstrels_, so called, because it was founded by a couple of fidlers, in 1330. _M. du Laure_ says, "Among the figures of saints with which the great door is decorated, one is distinguished who would play very well on the fiddle, if his fiddle-stick were not broken."

There is a parcel-post as well as a letter penny-post in Paris.

The salary of the executioner was eighteen thousand livres _per annum_; [21] his office was to break criminals on the wheel, and to inflict every punishment on them which they were sentenced to undergo.

[Note 21: £750 sterling; I know not the present salary.]

There are no longer any _Espions de Police_, or spies, employed by government. "That army of thieves, of cut-throats, and rascals, kept in pay by the ancient police, was perhaps a necessary evil in the midst of the general evil of our old administration. A body of rogues and traitors could be protected by no other administration than such a one as could only subsist by crimes and perfidy. Those were the odious resources of despotism. Liberty ought to make use of simple and open means, which justice and morality will never disavow."

There is a school at the point of the isle of St. Louis, in the river _Seine_, to teach swimming; persons who chuse to learn in private pay four _louis_, those who swim among others, half that sum, or half-crown a lesson; if they are not perfect in that art in a season, (five summer months) they may attend the following season _gratis_.

DRESS. INNS.

THE common people are in general much better clothed than they were before the Revolution, which may be ascribed to their not being so grievously taxed as they were. An English Gentleman who has gone for many years annually from Calais to Paris, remarks, that they are almost as well dressed on working days at present, as they were on Sundays and holidays formerly.

All those ornaments which three years ago were worn of silver, are now of gold. All the women of the lower class, even those who sit behind green-stalls, &c. wear gold ear-rings, with large drops, some of which cost two or three _louis_, and necklaces of the same. Many of the men wear plain gold ear-rings; those worn by officers and other gentlemen are usually as large as a half-crown piece. Even children of two years old have small gold drops in their ears. The general dress of the women is white linen or muslin gowns, large caps which cover all their hair, excepting just a small triangular piece over the forehead, pomatumed, or rather plaistered and powdered, without any hats: neither do they wear any stays, but only _corsets_ (waistcoats or jumps.) Tight lacing is not known here, nor yet high and narrow heeled shoes. Because many of the ladies _ci-devant_ of quality have emigrated or ran away, and that those which remain in Paris, keep within doors, I saw no face that was painted, excepting on the stage. Most of the men wear coats made like great-coats, or in other words, long great-coats, without any coat: this in fine weather and in the middle of summer made them appear to me like invalides. There is hardly any possibility of distinguishing the rank of either man or woman by their dress at present, or rather, there are no ranks to distinguish.

The nation in general is much improved in cleanliness, and even in politeness. The French no longer look on every Englishman as a lord, but as their equal.

The inns on the road from _Calais_ to _Paris_, are as well furnished, and the beds are as clean at present as almost any in England. At _Flixcourt_ especially, the beds are remarkably excellent, the furniture elegant, and there is a profusion of marble and of looking-glasses in this inn. The plates, dishes, and basons which I saw in cupboards, and on shelves in the kitchen, and which are not in constant use, were all of silver, to which being added the spoons and forks of the same metal, of which the landlord possesses a great number; the ladies and gentlemen who were with me there, going to and returning from Paris, estimated the value at, perhaps, a thousand pounds sterling. Now, if we allow only half this sum to be the value, it is, notwithstanding, considerable. Every inn I entered was well supplied with silver spoons, of various sizes, and with silver four pronged forks; even those petty eating-houses in Paris, which were frequented by soldiers and _sans-culottes_.

There are no beggars to be seen about the streets in Paris, and when the chaise stopped for fresh horses, only two or three old and infirm people surrounded it and solicited charity, whereas formerly the beggars used to assemble in hundreds. I did not see a single pair of _sabôts_ (wooden-shoes) in France this time. The table of the peasants is also better supplied than it was before the revolution.

ASSIGNATS.

EXCEPTING the coins which I purchased at the mint in Paris, I did not see a piece of gold or silver of any kind; a few brass sols and two sols were sometimes to be found in the coffee-houses, and likewise _Mouneron's_ tokens.

The most common _assignats_ or bills, are those of five _livres_, which are printed on sheets; each sheet containing twenty of such _assignats_, or a hundred _livres_; they are cut out occasionally, when wanted for change. I do not know that there are any of above a thousand _livres_. The lowest in value which I saw were of five _sols_, and these were of parchment. Those of five _livres_ and upwards, have the king's portrait stamped on them, like that on the coins.

Besides the national _assignats_, which are current all over France, every town has its own _assignats_, of and under, but not above five _livres_; these are only current in such town and its neighbourhood.

The _assignats_ of and above five _livres_ are printed on white paper, those which are under, are for the convenience of the lower class of people, of which few can read, printed on different coloured paper according to their value; for instance, those of ten _sols_ on blue paper, those of thirty on red, &c. though this method is not correctly adhered to.

I had projected many excursions in the neighbourhood of Paris, which were all put a stop to, in consequence of the events of the tenth of August, of which I shall give a true and impartial narrative, carefully avoiding every word which may appear to favour either party, and writing not as a politician, but as a spectator.

I had written many anecdotes, as well aristocratical as democratical, but as I was unable properly to authenticate some of them, and that others related to excesses which were inevitable, during such a time of anarchy, I thought it not proper to prejudice the mind of the public, and have accordingly expunged them all. I have only recounted facts, and the readers may form their own opinion.

Some particulars relative to the massacre in August, 1572, are inserted to corroborate the description of the similar situation of Paris, in August, 1792, though not from similar causes. The execrable massacre above-mentioned was committed by raging fanatics, cutting the throats of their defenceless fellow-creatures, merely for difference in religious opinion.

BATTLE AND MASSACRE AT THE TUILERIES.

ON Thursday, the 9th of August, the legislative body completed the general discontent of the people, (which had been raised the preceding day, by the discharge of every accusation against _la Fayette_) by appearing to protract the question relative to the king's _déchéance_ (forfeiture) at a time when there was not a moment to lose, and by not holding any assembly in the evening.

The fermentation increased every minute, in a very alarming manner. The mayor himself had declared to the representatives of the nation, that he could not answer for the tranquillity of the city after midnight. Every body knew that the people intended at that hour to ring the alarm-bell; and to go to the _château_ of the _Tuileries_, as it was suspected that the Royal Family intended to escape to Rouen, and it is said many trunks were found, packed up and ready for taking away, and that many carriages were seen that afternoon in the court-yard of the _Tuileries_.

At eight in the evening the _generale_,(a sort of beat of drum) was heard in all the sections, the _tocsin_ was likewise rung, (an alarm, by pulling the bells of the churches, so as to cause the clappers to give redoubled strokes in very quick time. Some bells were struck with large hammers.)