Chapter 5

"Among the slain was _Charles de Quelleue Pontivy_, likewise called _Soubise_, because he had married _Catherine_, only daughter and heiress of _Jean de Partenay_ Baron _de Soubise_: this Lady had entered an action against him for impotence; His naked dead body being among others dragged before the _Louvre_, there were ladies curious enough to examine leisurely, if they could discover the cause or the marks of the defeat of which he had been accused."

_Brantome_, in his memoirs of _Charles IX._ says, "As soon as it was day the king looked out of the window, and seeing that many people were running away in the _fauxbourg St. Germain_, he took a large hunting _arquebuse_, and shot at them many times, but in vain, for the gun did not carry so far."[30]

[Note 30: The king was shooting from the _Louvre_, and the _Fauxbourg_ St. _Germain_ is on the other side of the river.]

"He took great pleasure in seeing floating in the river, under his windows, more than four thousand dead bodies."

A French writer, _Mr. du Laure_, in a Description of Paris, just published, says, "About thirty thousand persons were killed on that night in Paris and in the country; few of the citizens but were either assassins or assassinated. Ambition, the hatred of the great, of a woman, the feebleness and cruelty of a king, the spirit of party, the fanaticism of the people, animated those scenes of horror, which do not depose so much against the French nation, at that time governed by strangers, as against the passions of the great, and the ill-directed zeal of the religion of an ignorant populace."

A few more modern instances of female fortitude are given in a note.[31]

[Note 31: On the 28th of March, 1757, _Damiens_, who stabbed _Lewis_ XV. was executed in the _Place de Grêve_, four horses were to pull his arms and legs from his body: they were fifty minutes pulling in vain, and at last his joints were obliged to be cut: he supported these torments patiently, and expired whilst the tendons of his shoulders were cutting, though he was living after his legs and thighs had been torn from his body; his right hand had previously been cut off. I was in Paris in 1768, and then, and at various times since have been assured by eye-witnesses, that almost all the windows of the square where the execution was performed were hired by ladies, at from two to ten _louis_ each.

Mr. Thicknesse in his "_Year's journey through France and Part of Spain_," in a letter dated _Dijon_,_ in Burgundy_, 1776, mentions a man whom he saw broke alive on the wheel by, "the executioner and _his mother_, who assisted at this horrid business, these both seemed to enjoy the deadly office."

I have formerly given an account of the Spanish ladies enjoying the barbarities of the bull-fights.]

MISCELLANIES. NUMBER OF SLAIN.

ON that same Saturday morning the dead Swiss, the broken furniture of the palace, and the burning woodwork of the barracks, were all gathered together in a vast heap, and set fire to. I saw this pile at twenty or thirty yards distance, and I was told that some of the women who were spectators took out an arm or a leg that was broiling, to taste: this I did _not see_, but I see no reason for _not believing it_.

On the afternoon of this day, the coffee-houses were, as usual, filled with idle people, who amused themselves with playing at the baby-game of _domino_.

No coaches except fiacres (hackney-coaches) were now to be seen about the streets; the theatres continued on the following mornings to advertise their performances, and in the afternoon fresh advertisements were pasted over these, saying, there would be _relâche au theatre_ (respite, intermission.) A few days after, some of the theatres advertised to perform for the benefit of the families of the slain, but few persons attended the representation, through fear; because the _sans-culottes_ talked of pulling down all the theatres, which, they said, _gataient les moeurs_, (corrupted the morals) of the people.

Ever since the 10th, I knew the barriers had been guarded, to prevent any person from leaving Paris, but I now was informed that that had been the case, three days previous to that day, which may seem to imply that some apprehensions were formed, that violent measures would take place somewhere.

About this time the officers were obliged by the _sans-culottes_ to wear worsted instead of gold or silver shoulder-knots; and no more _cloudy_ carriages were to be seen in the streets.

Portraits of the king, with the body of a hog, and of the queen, with that of a tygress were engraven and publicly sold. A book was published, entitled, _Crimes of Louis_ XVI. the author of which advertised that he was then printing a book of the _Crimes of the Popes_, after which he intended to publish the crimes of all the potentates in Europe.

As I could not get out of Paris, to make any little excursions to nursery and other gardens, to _Vincennes_, to _Montreuil_, and as the inhabitants of Paris were too much alarmed to retain any relish for society, (public places out of the question,) I was desirous of getting away as soon as possible, and applied first to the usual officers for a pass, which was refused. That of _Lord Gower_ (the ambassador) was at this time of no use, but it became so afterwards, as shall be mentioned.

On the Monday (13th August) I wrote a letter of about ten lines to the President of the National Assembly, soliciting a pass. This I carried myself, and sent it in by one of the clerks. The President immediately read the letter, and the Assembly decreed a pass for me; but the next day, when I applied for it to the _comité de surveillance_, (committee of inspection) it, or they, knew nothing of the matter. I then went to the _mairie_ (mayoralty house) but in vain.

Here an officer of the national guard who had been present during the whole of the battle of the 10th, said to me, "La journeé a _eté un peu forte, nous avons eu plus de quinze cens des notres de tués_," (the day was rather warm; we have had more than fifteen hundred of our own people killed.) This was confirmed by many more of the officers there, with whom I had a quarter of an hour's conversation, and they all estimated the number of the slain at above six thousand, which may probably be accounted for in the following manner, but a demonstration is impossible.

Some assert that there were eight hundred Swiss soldiers in the _château_ of the _Tuileries_; others but five hundred: let us take the medium of six hundred and fifty. They had, as every one allows, six and thirty charges each, and they fired till their ammunition was expended. This makes above three and twenty thousand shot, every one of which must have taken place, on a mob as thick as hailstones after a shower: but allowing for the Swiss themselves, who were killed during the engagement, which diminishes the number of shot, and then allowing likewise, that of two thousand persons who were in the palace, we here say nothing of the remaining thirteen or fourteen hundred, most of whom were firing as well as they could, perhaps it may not appear exaggerated to say, that out of above twenty thousand shot, four thousand must have taken place mortally; and this includes the fifteen hundred of the national guard, which were _certainly_ known to be missing. Of the other two thousand five hundred slain, the number could not so correctly be ascertained, as they consisted of citizens without regimentals or uniform, and of _sans-culottes_, none of whom were registered. All the persons in the palace were killed; of these, few, if any, were taken away immediately, whereas when any of the adverse party were killed, there were people enough who were glad of the opportunity of escaping from this slaughter, by carrying away the corpse. We must then reflect on the number of waggons and carts employed all night in the same offices, and then we shall see great reason to double the number of the slain, as has been done in various publications.

No idea of this number could be formed by seeing the field of battle, because several bodies were there lying in heaps, and of the others not above two or three could be seen at a time, as the streets were after the engagement filled with spectators, who walked among and over the carcases.

Of the feelings of these spectators, I judge by my own: I might perhaps have disliked seeing a single dead body, but the great number immediately reconciled me to the sight.

BREECHES. PIKES. NECESSARY PASSPORTS.

ANOTHER particular relative to the _sans-culottes_ is their standard, being an old pair of breeches, which they carry on the top of a pike, thrust through the waistband: the _poissardes_ likewise use the same standard, though it so happened that I never saw it. On the memorable 20th of June last, a pike-man got on the top of the Tuileries, where he waved the ensign, or rather shook the breeches to the populace.

The pike-staves for the army are of different lengths; of six, nine, and twelve feet: by this means three ranks of pike-bearers can use their arms at once, with the points of the three rows of pikes evenly extended.

The letter which I had written to the President, notwithstanding its eventual ill success, caused several English persons jointly to write a somewhat similar letter; in which, after having represented that their _wives_ and children _wanted_ them, they said, they hoped their reasons would appear _vrai-semblables_, or have the semblance of truth. The Assembly on hearing this burst into a laugh, and passed on to the order of the day.

On the 16th I carried a passport from _Lord Gower_ to the office of _Mr. le Brun_, the minister for foreign affairs; here I was told to leave it, and I should have another in its stead the next day. The next day I applied for it, and was told, no passports could be delivered.

The matter now appeared to me to become serious, as the courier who had carried the account of the affair of the 10th to London was not yet returned, and that rumours were spread, that the English in Paris were almost all _grands seigneurs & aristocrates_; so that I saw only two probable means of safety; one of which was, to draw up a petition to the National Assembly, in behalf of all the British subjects, to get it signed by as many as I could find, and who might chuse to sign it, and to carry it to the Assembly in a small body, which might have been the means of procuring a pass; and in case this was refused, the other plan would have been for all the British to have incorporated themselves into a _Legion Britannique_, and offered their services according to the exigence of the case.[32] This petition was accordingly, on the 18th, drawn up by a member of the English Parliament; translated into French, and carried about to be signed; when at the bankers we fortunately met with a person who informed us, that our passes were ready at the moment, at _Mr. Le Brun's_: thither we went; I obtained my pass at two o'clock afternoon, the petition was torn and given to the winds; I took a hackney coach that instant, to carry me to the _Poste aux chevaux_, ordered the horses, and before three I was out of the barriers of Paris.

[Note 32: Before, and on the 10th of August, there were not above thirty British travellers in Paris, but after that day, in less than a week it was supposed that above two thousand had from all parts of the kingdom resorted to the capital, in order to obtain passports to get away.]

Here follows a copy of my passport.

At the top of the paper is an engraving of a shield, on which is inscribed _Vivre libre ou mourir_ (live free or die,) supported by two female figures, the _dexter_ representing _Minerva_ standing, with the cap of liberty at the end of a pike; the _sinister_, the French constitution personified as a woman sitting on a lion, with one hand holding a book, on which is written _Constitution Française, droits de l'homme_, and with the other supporting a crown over the shield, which crown is effaced by a dash with a pen.

Then follows:

_La nation, la loi, le roi_; this is also obliterated with a pen, and instead is written:

_Liberté, Egalité_ _Au nom de la nation_.

À tous officiers, civils et militaires, chargés de surveiller et de maintenir l'ordre public dans les differents departemens du Royaume, et à tous autres qu'il appartiendra il est ordonné de laisser librement passer _T---- anglais retournant en angleterre, porteur d'un certificat de son ambassadeur_.[33] Sans donner ni souffrir qu'il lui soit donné aucun empéchement, le present passe-port valable pour _quinze jours_ seulement.

Donné à _Paris_ le 16 aoust l'an 4 de la liberté

_Vû à la Mairie le_ 17 _aoust_ 1792.

_L'an 4e de la liberté._

_Petion_.

[Note 33: What is here in italics is in manuscript in the original. There is no _Monsieur_ nor _Madame_, the word _anglais_ showing the gender of the person to whom the pass was granted, and is sufficient for the purpose.]

Here is an impression, in red wax, of the arms of Paris, which are _gules_, a three-mast ship in full sail, a chief _azur_, _semé_ with _fleurs de lis, or_, the shield environed with oak branches and the cap of liberty as a crest. The inscription underneath is _Mairie de Paris_, 1789. On one side of this seal is an escutcheon with the arms of France, crowned, and over the crown there is a dash with a pen. And underneath,

Gratis. Le ministre des affaires etrangeres.

_Vu passer Abbeville en Le Brun_. _Conseil permanent le_ 20 _Aoust_ 1792.

Signed by a municipal officer.

And on the back of the passport,

_Vû au comité de la section poissonniere_ _ce 18 aoust_ 1792.

Signed by two commissaries at the barriers of St. Denis, at Paris.

_Permis d'embarquer à Calais le 22 aoust_ 1792.

Signed by a Secretary.

MISCELLANIES. DANCING. POULTRY. TAVERNS. WIG.

SOME days before the demolition of the statue of _Henri_ IV. on the _Pont-neuf_, there was a flag placed near that statue, on which was painted _citoyens la Patrie est en danger_; (citizens, the mother-country is in danger) and it still remained there when I came away.

On the Monday after _the_ Friday, I saw a paper on the walls, among those published by authority, wherein a person acquainted the public, that on the preceding Saturday, in consequence of some suspicions which had been entertained of his principles, his house had been visited by above thirty thousand persons;[34] and that notwithstanding masons and smiths had been employed in pulling down, breaking open and scrutinizing, the people had _found nothing_ to criminate him, and he had _found nothing_ missing in consequence of their scrutiny. I had the pleasure of reading this aloud to an assemblage of elderly ladies, not one of whom could see to read it, as it was placed out of their _focus_, or too high, as they said.

[Note 34: _Poco más o menos_,(a little more or less) as the Spaniards say when they are complimented with _Viva V. S. mil años_ (may you live a thousand years.)]

Before the 10th I saw several dancing parties of the _Poissardes_ and _sans-culottes_ in the beer-houses, on the _Quai des Ormes_ and the _Quai St. Paul_, and have played the favourite and animating air of _ça ira_, on the fiddle, to eight couple of dancers; the ceiling of these rooms (which open into the street) is not above ten feet high, and on this ceiling (which is generally white washed) are the numbers 1 2 to 8, in black, and the same in red, which mark the places where the ladies and gentlemen are to stand. When the dance was concluded I requested the ladies to salute me (_m'embrasser_) which they did, by gently touching my cheek with their lips. But a period was put to all these amusements by the occurrences of the 10th; after which day, most of my time was employed in endeavouring to obtain a passport.

On the _Quai des Augustins_, at six or seven in the morning, may be seen a market of above a quarter of a mile long, well stocked with fowls, pigeons, ducks, geese and turkies: these birds are all termed _Volaille_. Rabbits are likewise sold in this market. I also saw here a few live pheasants, red-legged partridges and quails in cages, for sale.

I did not see a _louis d'or_ this time in Paris, it is probable that a new golden coin may be struck of a different value and name, and _without_ the name of the die-engraver.

There are few, if any, _tables d'hôte_ (ordinaries) in Paris at present, except at the inns. I have not seen any for many years, because the hour of dining at them is about one o'clock, and that is customary to be served in those coffee-houses which are kept by _restaurateurs and traiteurs_ (cooks) after the English manner, at small tables, and there are bills of fare, with the prices of the articles marked. The most celebrated of these houses is called _la Taverne de Londres_, in the garden of the _Palais-Royal_: here are large public rooms, and also many small ones, and a bill of fare printed on a folio sheet, containing almost every sort of provision, (carp, eels, and pickled salmon are the only fish I have seen there.) An Englishman may here have his beef-steak, plum-pudding, Cheshire cheese, porter and punch just as in London, and at about the same price, (half the price as the exchange then was.) Thirty-five sorts of wine are here enumerated. That of _Tokay_ is at two _livres_ for a small glass, of which a quart-bottle may contain about fifteen. _Rhenish, Mountain, Alicante, Rota,_ and red _Frontignan_ at 6 livres. _Champagne, Claret, Hermitage,_ 4 _l._ 10_f._ _Port_ 3_l._ 10_f._ _Burgundy_ 3_l._ _Porter_ 2_l._ 10_f._ Most of the dishes are of silver, and I dined at two or three other taverns where all the dishes and plates were of silver.

The barbers or hair-dressers have generally written on their sign _Ici on rajeunit: rajeunir_ means properly to colour or die the hair, but in this instance it only expresses, here people are made to look younger than they are, by having their hair dressed. I saw a peruke-maker's sign representing the fable of _the man and his two wives_, thus: A middle-aged gentleman is fitting in a magnificent apartment, between an old lady and a young one, fashionably dressed. His head is entirely bald, the old lady having just pulled out the black hairs, as the young one did the grey: and Cupid is flying over his head, holding a nice periwig ready to put on it.

EXTENT, POPULATION, &C. OF FRANCE.

THE authorities for a great part of what follows are _Mr. Rabaut's_ History of the Revolution, 1792; _Mr. du Laure's_ Paris, 1791, _Geographie de France_, 1792, second edition, and _Voyage dans les Departemens de la France_, 1792.

France is a country which extends nine degrees from North to South, and between ten and eleven from East to West, making six and twenty thousand square leagues, and containing twenty-seven millions of people. In 1790, "There were four millions of armed men in France; three of these millions wore the uniform of the nation." The number of warriors, or fighting men is very considerably increased since that time.

"In this immense population is found at least three millions of individuals of different religions, whom the present catholicks look upon with brotherly eyes. The protestant and the catholick now embrace each other on the threshold where _Coligni_ was murdered; and the disciples of _Calvin_ invoke the Eternal after their manner, within a few paces[35] of the balcony from whence _Charles IX._ shot at his subjects."

[Note 35: The church of _St. Louis du Louvre_ is at present made use of as a place of worship by protestants.

All the church lands are reverted to the nation.

In a speech which the Abbé _Maury_ made in the National Assembly, about two years ago, he estimated the value of the property belonging to ecclesiasticks in France at two thousand two hundred millions of livres, _(Deux milliards deux cens millions_) near ninety-two millions sterling, the interest or produce of which, at 3-1/4 per cent. per annum, amounts to the three millions beforementioned.

France suffices to itself; it contains all the indigenous productions of Europe.

The French hope, that the number of foreigners who will resort to their country, after it shall be more settled, will abundantly compensate the loss of the emigrants.]

The capital, when compared to London, for extent is as 264 to 195, (nearly as 7 to 5) that is to say, according to the calculation beforementioned (p. 28) Paris stands on 6-99/121 square miles of ground, and London on 5-35/968.

It contains a million and 130 thousand inhabitants, which is fifty thousand more than it did two years ago; these formerly inhabited _Versailles_, and left it at the time the court did.

_Lyon_ contains 160 thousand persons.

_Marseille_, the most populous, in proportion to the size, of any city in Europe, contains, in a spot of little more than three miles in circumference, 120 thousand persons, which includes about 30,000 mariners on board of the ships in the harbour.[36]

[Note 36: I was there in 1768, and again in 1783 and 1784, above four months. People of all nations are there seen in their proper habits; all languages are spoken; it is a free port, and the staple of the Levant trade, as well as of the West-Indian commerce.--There are regular vessels which sail monthly to Constantinople.]

_Bordeaux_, 100,000. The population of many more cities is given in a note,[37] besides which there are others, the number of whose inhabitants I cannot learn, such as _Toulouse, Toulon, Brest, Orange, Blois, Avignon_, &c.

[Note 37: _Thousand_ must be read after all the following figures.

_Dunkerque_ - 80|_Besançon_ - - 26|_La Rochelle_ - 16 _Rouen_ - - - 73|_Aix_- - - - - 25|_Poitiers_ - - 16 _Lille_ - - - 65|_Bourges_- - - 25|_Auxerre_ - - 16 _Nantes_- - - 60|_Tours_ - - - 22|_Perpignan_- - 16 _Nismes_- - - 50|_Arras_ - - - 22|_Chalons_ - - 15 _Strasbourg_- - 46|_Limoges_- - - 22|_Beauvais_ - - 15 _Amiens_- - - 44|_Abbeville_- - 20|_Riom_ - - - 15 _Metz_ - - - 40|_Verdun_ - - - 20|_Nevers_- - - 14 _Caen_ - - - 40|_Arles_- - - - 20|_Boulogne_ - - 12 _Orleans_ - - 40|_Dijon_- - - - 20|_Bayonne_ - - 12 _Rennes_- - - 35|_Valenciennes_ 20|_Soissons_ - - 12 _Nancy_ - - - 34|_St. Malo_ - - 18|_Angoulême_- - 11 _Montpellier_ - 32|_Beziers_- - - 18|_Pau_- - - - 11 _Reims_ - - - 30|_Sedan_- - - - 18|_Alby_ - - - 10 _Clermont_ - - 30|_Carcassonne_- 18|_Alais_ - - - 10 _Troyes_- - - 30|_Havre de Grace_18|_Grasse_- - - 10 _Grenoble_ - - 30|_Moulins_- - - 17|_Versailles_ - 10]

The nation gains five millions sterling _per annum_ by the reduction of its expences, and by not having any unnecessary clergymen to maintain,[38] and the forfeited estates of the emigrants are estimated at immense sums.[39]

[Note 38: By a decree in November, 1789, no curate is to have less salary than fifty _Louis_ per annum, not including his house and garden. Many of the French at present think that clergymen should be retained like physicians, and paid by those only who want them. By this means, they say, religious quarrels would be avoided; of all quarrels the most absurd, because nobody can understand any thing about the matter. "Personne n'y entend rien."]

[Note 39: The civil list mentioned in page 62, was according to the old establishment. In January, 1790, the king was requested to fix a sum for the civil list himself, and in June following he sent a letter to the National Assembly, demanding five and twenty millions of livres. It was decreed that instant.]

The heavy taxes on salt (_la gabelle_) and on Tobacco are suppressed, and those two articles are allowed to be objects of commerce.[40]

[Note 40: Salt, which was formerly sold at fourteen _sols_ per pound, is now at a single sol. Tobacco is permitted to be cultivated by "whoever will."]