Part 36

Not unlike our Kentucky farmers, who produce large droves of mules for the Southern States, the mountaineers here derive a handsome profit from the raising of these animals for the Spanish markets. In France horses are almost universally in use, while in Spain the hardy mule endures better the coarse fare of the road. In making my excursions I found myself reduced from a Spanish diligence with eight or ten mules, to a pair of horses and caleche, as the summer lines were not yet established. Another twenty hours’ ride from Pau, brought me to Bordeaux, upon the banks of the Garonne--the city most renowned in France for its wines, and having an extended commerce to all parts of the world. Bordeaux will soon be in direct connexion with Paris, by means of railroad, a distance of some three hundred and fifty miles, in ten to twelve hours. I found that the city had improved extensively since I visited it in 1847. It was then a fatiguing ride by diligence, but it will soon be a pleasant trip from Paris. Instead of returning by the same route, I descended the river by steamer to Blaze, and thence passed through the beautiful grape districts en route to Rochefort, famous for its arsenal; there, as well as at Toulon, the French marine is seen in its perfection. The town is regularly planned, with wide streets, well-paved sidewalks, and large gardens laid out in miniature, in the form of the Tuileries of Paris. The walls or ramparts are planted with shade trees, which have attained an immense size, and form beautiful promenades.

The head-gear of the peasant women is the most peculiar in France. They wear plain white or embroidered caps upon a form suited to the head, rising eighteen inches in height, the top extended like a fan; the elderly women are more moderate in their patterns, but the young girls seem to rival each other in the quantity and quality of the floating material. The next town en route is La Rochelle, in striking contrast to Rochefort for cleanliness and beauty. Its commerce consists chiefly in the exportation of brandies, as the region of country about Cogniac is almost exclusively devoted to and dependent upon the spirit trade.

From La Rochelle I proceeded to Nantes, one of the principal cities of France, situated upon the Loire. I arrived on a Sunday morning, and large preparations had been made for a church festival and procession from the cathedral. Nantes, like all other towns in France, as well as Spain, has its octroi duties, and every article of consumption pays its tribute at the gates, for the municipal support of the city. The conductor of the mail coach had carefully concealed a leg of mutton and a basket of peas for his festival dinner. His negative reply to the general question, if he had anything to declare, did not satisfy the officer, who, after a diligent search amongst the luggage, brought out the unfortunate treasure, which was put upon the scales, weighed, and taxed, much to the annoyance of its owner, as well as the detention of the passengers and mail. The houses and balconies of several streets were hung with tapestry, and adorned with garlands of natural and artificial flowers, immense altars with gold and silver tinsel ornaments occupying the angles and squares through which the procession passed, with long lines of musicians, the military, the church, and civil officers, followed by a thousand girls in white robes and veils--all got up with French delicacy and taste; it had a happy effect. At Nantes I first availed myself of the railroad, as I had made a long detour along the coast in order to visit the places named, avoiding other cities on the main route which I had formerly visited. It was with no small satisfaction that I took the express train, at the rate of forty miles per hour, for Angers, an antiquated city within, surrounded by a boulevard of noble trees upon the former rampart. It has a famous castle of immense size, built by the Roi d’Augon; it covers a large surface, and has seventeen towers. A fair was held there at the time, which attracted a large concourse of people. My next stopping point was at Amboise, where I visited the chateau which was the property of the Orleans family; it is eligibly and magnificently situated upon the banks of the Loire, and is a perfect fortress in itself. Here was shown the apartments where Abd-el Kader and his suite were confined nearly six years, as his captivity in the chateau of Henry IV., at Pau, was of short duration. The gardens and grounds, upon an elevation more than one hundred feet, are very picturesque, and here he delighted to pass most of his time. In one corner of the grounds which he occupied are seen the mounds of twenty-six out of ninety Arabs who died during their confinement. The country through which I passed was the garden of France. It was a continuous village; the cultivation was close, and the small farms abounded in products of every variety; vineyards and fruit were in profusion: cottages and farm-houses were almost within gun-shot of each other. From Amboise I continued by railroad to Tours, which contains one of the finest cathedrals in France. The fast line soon carried me to Blois, to visit its famous chateau, partly restored under the administration of Louis Philippe; the interior wood-work, painting, and gilding, are of the most choice execution. From Blois to the modern and unfinished chateau de Chambord, belonging to Henry V., the present legitimate incumbent to the French throne, is five leagues distant from the main route. I was well repaid for my ride. The structure is gigantic, the style of architecture is of varied character, and is a souvenir of monuments of different European ages, as well as Oriental styles. The buildings were never finished, but appropriations have been made by government to continue the work. The grounds inclosed occupy about eight miles square, with several villages of tenantry. Orleans, the next large city en route, has one of those mammoth Gothic cathedrals so much bepraised; but I have spoken so frequently of the works of art, that the subject must have become tiresome to you. The city was full to overflowing, and with much difficulty I procured quarters; the agricultural and horticultural fair and cattle-show produced such multitudes as we see in our own State. Finally, I was not a little rejoiced to return to Paris, after the fatigue of a somewhat protracted voyage. I might have gone into detailed accounts and filled several sheets since I last wrote you, but I desisted, as my eyes have not recovered their full force since I left the glare and dust of Madrid. I expect to leave Paris the early part of July, on my way home.

1854.

XCI.

MARSEILLES, _February 27, 1854_.

My apology for not writing since my departure for Europe, in November last, is of the most plausible nature. I have been under the care of two of the most scientific oculists of Paris for the past six weeks, for the relief of a species of ophthalmy, produced by the excessive glare of light, and fine dust during my journeyings in Spain last year. Finding myself partially relieved, and once again on my winding way, I will briefly state that less than a month had elapsed from the time I stepped on board the fleet and gorgeous steamer Arctic, for Liverpool, before I found myself in the great Babylon of modern times, London.

After a hasty visit to the manufacturing establishments of Manchester and Bradford, looking in upon the famous steelworks of Sanderson & Son, and the cutlery shops and depots of Joseph Rodgers & Son (both of Sheffield), spending a Sabbath in the old city of York, and enjoying the chanting of melodious voices, from a numerous choir in its much renowned Cathedral, I made an excursion to a cheese fair, where I found John Bull up to his shoulders in tons of choice Cheshire and Stilton.

The powerful agency of steam, and the perfection of the railway system, soon transported me across England to the eastern counties, the land of my ancestors, famed for its agriculture and game; thence to Yarmouth, the old town celebrated for its fisheries and sea-bathing, with its labyrinths of lanes, numbering from one to a hundred, through its very centre; only accessible for donkeys and foot passengers, impenetrable to foes without, and impracticable to home police in case of revolt. The herring fisheries were prodigious, and I recognised the cut of the Hollanders, who were attracted thither with their vessels. Providence in his wisdom had caused the ocean to yield a substitute for that which the soil this year refused, and in return for ingratitude the surplus was thrown upon the land.

Several excursions were made from the city of Norfolk to the farms of some of the branches bearing our family name, over well macadamized roads, and through highly cultivated grounds, surrounded with hawthorn hedges, inclosing herds of Devonshire, Hereford, and other famous breeds of cattle, not forgetting the flocks of Southdown and Leicester sheep, feeding from hurdles, upon the large Ruta Baga turnip; the scenery is interspersed with game forests belonging to the lords and nobility; they were delightful to the eye. But it was necessary to look further, and inquire into the working of the system. The products of the country bring high prices, but tithes and taxes reduce them. Labor is ill rewarded, and the distinction between the rich and the respectable poor is too strongly marked. The cry is for reform, and the British Parliament will be obliged to listen to it. One of the parties whom I visited pays eighty pounds, or four hundred dollars, church-tithes annually, in lieu of one-tenth part of the crop, and without the enjoyment of any of the advantages, for he is of the reformed religion, and has a small church upon his grounds.

The season was cold and wet, unfavorable for a long sojourn in England. I remained some ten days in London, revisiting some of the public monuments and works of art, which I had formerly described to you; also, the famous brewery establishments of Barclay, Perkins & Co., and Henry Meux & Co., which are among the great sights of the metropolis; the former, particularly, has been visited by thousands of strangers since the expulsion of Gen. Haynau, the Austrian butcher, by Barclay & Perkins’s draymen.

These works are gigantic, covering several acres of ground, and employing millions of capital. The quantity of ale manufactured on the average is equal to a thousand barrels (of thirty-six gallons) each per day; the gross quantity is four hundred thousand barrels each per annum, which enters into ordinary consumption, as ale and porter are the general beverage of the nation, and its first source of revenue under the excise is the malt and hop-tax. It is curious to look over the stables of one hundred and fifty of their mammoth dray-horses; the name of each is lettered over the stall. A small engine is used for cutting hay and straw, and cracking the grain, for feeding.

I attended the Smithfield Cattle Show, which gave me an opportunity of seeing the finest specimens of English and Scotch fat cattle, of the choicest breeds I had ever seen, the famous heifer of Wm. H. Worrall, of Dutchess county, being the only exception for her age. Prince Albert took the first prize for the finest exhibit of pigs.

Having attended the State Fair at Saratoga last autumn, I was better enabled to judge of our Poultry Show, which certainly compared favorably with the exhibition which took place while I was in Norfolk. The drove of Kentucky cattle, after a long drive to Saratoga, will be admitted by those who saw them to have been a beautiful sight, and gratifying to American pride.

Having made a sort of pilgrimage through one branch of my ancestry, I was anxious to visit in detail the work of another branch, the Guy Hospital in London, founded by Thomas Guy, whose honored name I bear. This noble Institution, one of the most celebrated in the world for its usefulness, was founded in 1722, upon a gigantic scale, in the Borough, across London Bridge. The founder, a bachelor, who had amassed a large fortune in trade and in the South Sea Expedition, conceived the laudable project of establishing an institution for all time, for the relief of suffering humanity. The buildings are airy and spacious, the residences of the governors exceedingly comfortable. He lived to complete the work, and enjoy the pleasure of its fruits for some twenty years, leaving an endowment of two hundred thousand pounds. The grounds have been enlarged, and new structures have been added with all the recent improvements for heat as well as ventilation, and it is now capable of containing from three hundred to four hundred patients, with a degree of comfort and cleanliness almost equal to a well regulated hotel. A small lunatic asylum, separate and distinct, is within the grounds, inclosed. The museum is a collection of wax figures, for the use of medical students, portraying almost all the diseases to which the human family is liable; it is a separate building, and is equal in merit to the famed exhibitions which I had visited in Montpelier in France, and Florence and Bologna in Italy. The institution is in the most flourishing condition, thanks to the legacy of the generous Mr. Brooks, who left it his entire fortune, upwards of a million of dollars. Medicines are distributed to all who apply, which privilege is abused, as I noticed in attendance, in airy, comfortable halls, in one wing of the buildings, seated upon benches, scores of men, women, and children, many even handsomely dressed, who, through avarice, avail themselves of this charity; but the will of the testator must be observed.

Notwithstanding the agitation of the Oriental Question, and the high price of provisions, I found Paris in the midst of its holiday festivities. The government understands so well the wants and desires of the small dealers in fancy articles, that all sorts of amusements are encouraged, whereby money is put in circulation. Several magnificent balls have been given by the Emperor at the Tuileries. The Municipality of Paris has also given grand balls at the Hotel de Ville. Masquerade balls take place weekly at the Grand Opera. The condition of my eyes prevented my joining in many of the gaieties of Paris. The evening of my presentation, however, to the Emperor and Empress, I assisted at the Court Dress Ball at the Tuileries, where were present some three thousand persons, and it was certainly the most brilliant affair I had ever seen in Europe before. We were some twenty-five persons in the saloon adjoining the imperial apartments, awaiting a special presentation; after which, following in the train of the ladies of honor to the grand saloon of the Marshals, the dense multitude opening in line, we formed ourselves in front of a sort of throne, with an orchestra for the music alone. Their Imperial Majesties being seated, were surrounded by the ex-king Jerome Bonaparte, the Grand Duchess of Baden, and other distinguished members of royalty. The Emperor opened the ball with the wife of the Ambassador of Belgium, the Empress dancing with the Minister of Austria; the quadrille was made up by the Minister of Finance, Mr. Fould, and Marshal Magnan, and their partners. The dance then became general in the vast saloons adjoining, and the music of an additional fanciful kind. Waltzing was followed by beautiful young ladies and their cavaliers, who aspired to the privilege of displaying themselves in the presence of the Imperial group. The vast gilded saloons of this immense palace were brilliantly illuminated from suspended candelabra; the great variety of uniforms, Military, Naval, Diplomatique and Civil, Turkish, Greek, and Hungarian, and others, with the rich costly robes of the ladies, certainly presented one of the most magnificent spectacles the eye could behold; diamonds, emeralds, rubies, and other precious gems, were dazzling to one’s eyes.

Mr. Mason, our Minister, appeared in court dress, notwithstanding the request of Secretary Marcy to all diplomatic functionaries to appear only in plain garb, which instruction should have been made positive, if made at all, and it would not have led to the unpleasant incidents already experienced by our representatives.

As simple citizens of the Republic, we must subscribe to the rules of foreign courts, or exclude ourselves from such festivities; consequently necessity obliged me to take my rank as aide-de-camp, with a sword and chapeau. One of the most “observed of all observers,” was a German Prince, the Duke of Brunswick, who was a burlesque on royalty. He wore a peruque with curls, thick rouge on his face, a court dress emblazoned with gold and precious stones; white doe-skins, with diamond knee-buckles; silk stockings, and pumps with diamond shoe-buckles; his epaulettes were of topaz and diamonds, the scabbard and hilt of his sword were of gold, beset with emeralds, rubies, and brilliants; his breast was covered with orders and massive gold chains, encircled with gems; even his chapeau was decorated in like manner. In a word, he was an eccentric, and in my eyes a vain and conceited personage.

The early refreshment saloons, and the two o’clock supper halls at the two extreme ends of the banquet rooms, were visited by the imperial party, after which they retired.

The entertainment was sumptuous, and what might be expected from imperial munificence, with the art and taste of the French _cuisine_.

From Paris to Chalons, by railway, eleven hours’ ride, a night’s repose, and eight hours’ descent of the Saone by steamer, through what would be a picturesque country at a more favorable feature of the year, and one finds himself at the great silk manufacturing city of Lyons.

The navigation of the Rhone was interrupted by low water. Last year I made half the distance to Avignon by steamer at the same season; now I had no recourse except a twenty-four hours’ ride in the diligence; two hours’ additional by railroad brought me to this commercial city of Marseilles for the fourth time. Of course I have nothing new to offer you.

I propose visiting two islands of the Mediterranean, which I have not seen, and of which little is known by travellers. The first, Corsica, which gave birth to Napoleon, is improving; but the other island, Sardinia, remains in a primitive state, so I shall probably meet with something that will interest you.

XCII.

AJACCIO, ISLAND OF CORSICA, _March 12, 1854_.

I wrote you from Marseilles, the great southern commercial port of France, where much activity prevailed at this season among the vessels, in consequence of the excessive imports of grain, through the failure of the French harvest. I responded to the civilities of our Consul, in dining with our Chargé d’Affaires from Naples, and embarked the following day for Porto Torres, a small seaport upon the island of Sardinia, a distance of some two hundred and fifty miles, by steamer, touching at Corsica. A heavy sea and head wind delayed us; the journey occupied some thirty hours. Thence I proceeded to the principal city, which is called Sassari, and contains a population of some twenty thousand persons.

I found the people more benighted than in any of the other islands of the Mediterranean I had yet seen.

The population of the entire island is estimated at three hundred and fifty thousand; its length is one hundred and fifty miles, and it is from sixty to eighty miles in width. It belongs to the kingdom of Sardinia. The peasantry live in villages, and, not unlike those of the interior of the island of Sicily, go long distances to cultivate the soil, and may be seen at early morn in their coarse black cloaks, with hoods as substitutes for hats, and dark leggings below white cotton pants extending to the knees, trudging out with their donkeys, which bear their implements of husbandry.

The women and children, while watching their flocks of sheep and goats, have a sort of distaff in their hands, and spin with their fingers the coarse wool which serves for their rude covering.

In the mountains large numbers are found who have no habitations, and live in a state of barbarism, covering themselves with skins, bruising grain between two flat stones, and making a sort of paste which is cooked upon the ground, after the fashion of the Arabs on the desert sands.

The country is infested with bandits. Game is abundant, and fire-arms are kept by all who can afford them. Life is unsafe, and comforts are scarcely known in the cities; certainly not outside of them.

The roads are somewhat protected by gens d’armes, who are useful in pursuing the banditti. We picked up eighteen gens d’armes on the road; they say that the bandits fly at their approach, but if cornered, fight desperately.

My casual travelling companion was going to see a person under sentence of death for the murder of his brother; the culprit was in his employ and confidence, but he basely shot him in the back while they were riding their horses quietly along the road. My companion’s object was to ascertain what induced the commission of the crime. The custom is to execute the criminal, if possible, upon the spot where the assassination was committed.

The soil is fertile, but poorly cultivated, and thinly inhabited. The island has but little commerce. The olive groves look well, and furnish oil in abundance. Cork forests abound.

The town of Sassari is encircled with walls and gates; the streets are narrow, and badly paved; the houses are of stone, lofty, but filthy; the inhabitants are dirty. A very small portion of the people seem in easy circumstances. They have a theatre, which is not indifferent, as all the Italian races must have an opera. The cathedral, built in the thirteenth century, is the only respectable monument of antiquity which I found.

The clergy swarm, the profession being resorted to as a military exemption, and more profitable than that, without regard to fitness or qualification; consequently they have a bad reputation.

I could not have believed that I should have found, in such proximity to the continent, a people so behind the age, and so far below the standard even of the Corsicans under French rule.

I was not sorry to escape and get to this place, some seventy miles by water, where one finds the journals from the continent, and a much higher state of civilization, and where fire-arms are prohibited, which is producing great changes in the habits of the people.

Ajaccio is situated upon a gulf of some ten miles in depth; it has about fifteen thousand inhabitants, and contains some fine public buildings; unfortunately, however, it has but little commerce. It is the birthplace of Napoleon, who is the pride of the Corsicans. The house where the hero was born still stands in an obscure part of the old town, upon a little square called Piazza Letizia. It was in those days considered a fine edifice. The identical spot is shown, and the circumstances related of his birth, on the return of his mother from the solemnities of the mass on Assumption Day, 15th August, 1769. The property has been purchased by the present Emperor of France, who has appointed a person to guard it, and preparations are now being made for its restoration.

The family of Bonaparte was of the ancient nobility, and originated in Florence, Italy. Charles Bonaparte, the father, was appointed Deputy of the nobles of Corsica, in 1779, and died in Montpelier, France, in 1785, being only 38 years of age. His wife, Letitia Burnolino, born in 1750, gave birth to thirteen children, all born here; five died young, and the remaining eight comprised one emperor, three kings, one prince, one queen, and two princesses.

A monument has been erected in the public square, to Napoleon, by his nephew, Napoleon III., since his elevation in France.