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THE SWEEPINGS 
 
 it 
 
 OF 
 
 MY STUDY. 
 
 BY THE COMPILER OF 
 
 THE HUNDRED WONDERS OF THE WORLD. 
 
 " The sceptre, learning, physic, must 
 
 All follow this, and come to dust." — Shakspeare. 
 
 EDINBURGH : 
 
 PUBLISHED BY 
 
 OLIVER & BOYD, TWEEDDALE-COURT ; 
 
 AND 
 
 G. & W. B. WHITTAKER, AVE-MARIA-LANE, 
 LONDON. 
 
 1824. 
 
.a i 6 £ 
 
 Gtftr 
 
 W.L. Shoemaker 
 ? S '06 . 
 
THE 
 
 SWEEPINGS OF MY STUDY. 
 
 What is all this, Sukey ? was the question I put 
 to my housekeeper, who was busied in rummag- 
 ing her wardrobe. You appear to me to have 
 made a large collection of manuscripts. — They 
 are the sweepings of your study, sir. I was con- 
 cerned, after the pains I had observed you to be- 
 stow on them, to see you tear and scatter on the 
 floor so many of your papers ; so, with the help 
 of a few wafers, I brought the pieces together as 
 well as I could, thinking they might amuse me 
 hereafter, as I perceived that the greater part of 
 them were in the anecdote way. — You are a good 
 girl, Sukey, and a sensible girl, equally prudent 
 and careful. I am thankful to you for this, as 
 for other favours. Hand me the bundle, and I 
 will see if I can find any thing that may be ac- 
 ceptable to my friends. I have neglected them for 
 a long time ; but who can guard against sickness ? 
 Unless for your tender nursing, they might never 
 have heard from me again. As it is, the sooner, 
 
% SWEEPINGS OF MY STUDY. 
 
 I think, I set about it the better ; and you shall 
 help me out with your judgment in the selec- 
 tion. 
 
 DOCTOR JOHNSON'S ALIAS. 
 The Reverend Mr Todd, Artium Magister, has 
 done his master in philology good service, by 
 striking out, in his enlarged* edition of the great 
 national dictionary, the doctor's silly sarcasm of 
 Mallet alias Malloch, than which a more 
 spiteful and pitiful attack on a pleasing poet can- 
 not well be conceived. In his time, national pre- 
 judices ran high — the different portions comprising 
 the British empire were not so nicely amalgamated 
 as at present — and a name sounding uncouthly to 
 
 * If I could have conscientiously said improved, it would have 
 been grateful to the friend, a great stickler for the reverend gentle- 
 man, with whom I take an occasional evening stroll in the pleasant 
 fields round Bayswater. He is to have an early copy of " The 
 Sweepings," although I must confess he hardly merits such a fa- 
 vour at my hands, for scolding me as he does about my pronounc- 
 ing a hay-stack, a hay-rick, [i. e. a stack of hay, a rick of hay,] 
 and so forth, in the old way, instead of accenting the first mono- 
 syllable, which is in the genitive case, and dropping, or easing off 
 softly, the second one in the nominative, as, ha'ystack, ka'yrick, 
 &c, thus reducing the two terms to a simple word. — Vide, among 
 the others, Todd's volume comprehending the letter H ; but mind 
 how you handle it, for be assured it's a weighty— I had near gone 
 the length to say, a heavy concern. 
 
SWEEPINGS OF MY STUDY. 3 
 
 the English ear was not likely to push the for- 
 tunes of one who might visit the great mart of 
 talent, whether from the Irish bogs, or Scottish 
 mountains. 
 
 In my day, I can bring to my ready recollec- 
 tion various instances, not only of the patronymic 
 but baptismal name, or perhaps both, being- 
 changed, with the most harmless, nay, in some 
 cases, laudable intention. As examples : Lucius, 
 for Luke. — Dionysius, for Dennis. — For Dennis 
 CTHurley, Dionysius Harley. — For CTFlanagan, 
 first Flanagan, and next Lanagan, which latter 
 abscission, by an easy transposition of the letters, 
 and the change of on* consonant only, brought 
 the bearer into close relationship and consanguin- 
 ity with the Spanish admiral, Don John de Lan- 
 gara, who wished that the late Lord Hood might 
 live a thousand years. Whether his Lordship 
 was or was not benefited by this most consolatory 
 of all wishes, it is certain that, like some others of 
 our illustrious naval commanders, he held out to 
 a good old age. These may be said to have been, 
 luckily for them, almost as tenacious of life as a 
 boar-cat, who is figuratively said to have nine 
 lives. 
 
 But to digress no further into the curious phy- 
 siological question of the longevity of admirals 
 and boar-cats, Macklin, the celebrated veteran- 
 actor, who played so long as to have delighted 
 
4 SWEEPINGS OF MY STUDY* 
 
 the great grand-children of the witnesses of his 
 early performances, was in Ireland Mister Mac- 
 laughlm. On his first coming to London, he 
 lodged at the house of a widow on the Surrey 
 side of Blackfriars bridge. He wrote to a friend 
 in Dublin to tell him this, and, by a neat blunder, 
 signed his name'Maclaughlin, as usual. His friend 
 arriving in town shortly after, inquired after him 
 at his address, but was told there was no such 
 gentleman there : they had, they said, a male 
 lodger from some part of Ireland, but his name 
 was Macklin. Up cauie the man himself, and 
 long he confabulated with his neighbour Pat from 
 the other side of the herring-pond. The widow 
 waited patiently until she found him solus on the 
 scene, when she abruptly gave him warning, de- 
 claring that she would no longer harbour in her 
 house a lodger who went by two names. 
 
 A veteran in literature, John Mills, Fellow of 
 the Royal Society, the learned translator of Du- 
 hamel's Agriculture, and author of several origi- 
 nal works of merit, had, when a young man, the 
 misfortune — if that can be strictly so called which 
 drew him from field-sports and rough exercises to 
 the calm enjoyments of the Study — to dislocate his 
 hip in hunting. What led him to change his 
 name, I could never fathom in the course of a 
 long intimacy ; but so it was that, after an absence 
 of several years on the continent, during which 
 
SWEEPINGS OF MY STUDY. O 
 
 he dropped all correspondence with his friends at 
 home, and even went the length of advertising his 
 own death in the continental gazettes, he as- 
 sumed, on his return to England, that of Morton. 
 
 For a considerable time, his landlady and a 
 neighbouring magistrate were the sole possessors 
 of the secret of his real name, the one having to 
 receive for him the quarterly payments of a trea- 
 sury annuity, and the other to attest his certificate. 
 It chanced, however, one morning, that another 
 F. ft. S., of about his own age, with whom he had 
 formerly been in habits of great intimacy, called 
 on the landlady, herself the sister of a deceased 
 literary character of some eminence. What was 
 his surprise when, on entering the back-parlour, 
 he saw his old associate Mills, whose death he had 
 so long deplored, seated in his arm-chair, living 
 and well. " Can it be possible that this is my 
 esteemed friend Mr Mills ?" " You are mistaken, 
 sir," said our cynic, interrupting him in a per- 
 emptory tone : " I am not your esteemed friend 
 Mr Mills, as you are pleased to call me, but Mr 
 Morton, — plain Mr Morton.' 1 Nothing the other 
 could urge, — no reminiscences of former times, 
 could beat him ©if the strong ground he had taken : 
 he was plain Mr Morton to the last. 
 
 His treasury pension, of a hundred pounds per 
 annum, had been granted him before he left Eng- 
 land, by Lord North, the then premier, as a com- 
 
O SWEEPINGS OF MY STUDY. 
 
 pensationfor the suppression of an elaborate work on 
 the commerce of Russia, the publicity of which, it 
 was thought, might be detrimental to the interests 
 of Great Britain. About that time, Dr Smollett 
 was engaged in his great undertaking of " The 
 Universal History." The doctor waited on him 
 to communicate the wish of the proprietors that he 
 should supply the article of Russia. " And pray, 
 sir, 1 '' said Mills, " what may they pay you per 
 sheet ?"— < Three guineas/— " Then, Mr Smollett, 
 I must have five." To this proposition a ready 
 assent was given. 
 
 A MOONLIGHT APPARITION. 
 Apropos of boar-cats, as they are incidentally 
 mentioned above. When I was a schoolboy, there 
 dwelt in the neighbourhood a gentleman who had 
 a strong touch of the tuhpaemania. His parterre 
 displayed the gayest specimens, the produce of 
 bulbs imported from Holland, whose illustrious 
 names might have vied with any of those that 
 would be found, if one could only get a sight of it, 
 in the late Sir Joseph Banks'* vocabulary of butter- 
 flies. But an evil-minded boar-cat often disturbed 
 his tulip-bed, and laid prostrate many a darling 
 flower of exquisite beauty. Early one morning he 
 caught my gentleman in the fact, and, laying 
 violent hands on him, not only broke every bone 
 
SWEEPINGS OF MY STUDY. 7 
 
 in his skin, but, as in his wrathful mood he was 
 led to fancy, beat out his brains. The gardener 
 buried him in a pit a foot deep, carefully treading 
 down the earth. Grimalkin was not so dead, how- 
 ever, but that he was seen the next morning crawling 
 from his hiding-place. He was now slain a second 
 time, and sunk in a pit at least three feet deep, in 
 a snug corner of the tulip-bed, it being judiciously 
 considered that his remains, in their decomposed 
 state, might add to the freshness and variety of the 
 colours next year. 
 
 One of my school-fellows, as merry a little wag 
 as ever drew breath, lived next door, and was 
 at home for the holidays. Having scrupulously 
 "watched all that had passed, he borrowed a ladder 
 of the glazier over the way, and, as soon as the 
 families were retired to rest, scaled the wall, dug 
 up Grimalkin, and, proceeding to the street, plant- 
 ed him erect on the sill of his neighbour's bed- 
 room window. Descending a few steps of the 
 ladder, he mewed most piteously. Up started the 
 tulip-fancier, and drawing aside the curtain, saw 
 with horror and dismay, by broad moonlight, his 
 old enemy the boar-coat, with saucer-eyes, staring 
 him full in the face. 
 
8 SWEEPINGS OF MY STUDY. 
 
 THE THREE WOODEN LEGS. 
 " It is very naughty to laugh, 1 '' once said a quaker 
 lady to me, in a stage-coach with six insides : — but 
 how could I help it, when a female passenger, who 
 had just stepped in, not only perfumed the vehicle 
 with vulgar gin, but preferred a silly novel to as 
 sprightly a conversation as was ever kept up by 
 travellers brought into one focus from several con- 
 vergent points ? 
 
 It is very naughty to laugh, was the reflection I 
 likewise made, when I saw a fat, lubberly butcher, 
 standing at his door, point out to the mockery and 
 derision of his rude associates, a whimsical ren- 
 contre of three wooden legs. It was at the corner, 
 or intersection by another street, of a street leading 
 to Piccadilly ; and each cripple had advanced by 
 a different route, coming unexpectedly in contact 
 with the others. One of them, with a pale and 
 emaciated visage, and having very much the air of 
 an itinerant scraper on catgut, turning round, 
 stepped up to the butcher. " Friend," said he, 
 " you seem to have been highly diverted by our 
 trio of stumps ; but if you had been overtaken by 
 a misfortune similar to the one that has befallen 
 us, you might have joined in a quartetto y which, 
 with the help of your plump, ruddy cheeks, would 
 have been still more entertaining to your unfeeling 
 companions." 
 
SWEEPINGS OF MY STUDY. \) 
 
 ROGUES IN GRAIN. 
 Some years ago, the Welch curate of the isle of 
 Grain, on the border of Kent, went stark mad 
 through the force of drink, and was sorely teased 
 by his flock, by the young fry more especially. 
 " Rogues," said the indignant Taffy, " are to be 
 found in all parishes ; but my parishioners are 
 
 ROGUES IN GRAIN. 
 
 THE BOLOGNESE EXPECTANTS. 
 A bolognese cardinal having been raised to the 
 Papal dignity, not only his relatives, but all who 
 had the slightest knowledge of him, flocked to 
 Rome from Bologna, each seeking his share of the 
 good things in his Holiness's gift. The newly- 
 elected Pope, however, was resolved to bestow his 
 favours on such only as had merit — a commodity 
 which, it seems, was with his countrymen some- 
 what scarce. A wag hit on the expedient of post- 
 ing on the walls of the capital : Sedie di ritorno 
 per Bologna. Return-chaises for Bologna. The 
 Bolognese took the hint; and Rome was soon 
 freed of their importunate presence. 
 
 THE BOTTLE-CONJURER. 
 In the heat of the contest between Great Britain 
 and her North American colonies, in the summer 
 
 a2 
 
10 SWEEPINGS OF MY STUDY. 
 
 of 1780, several men of war sailed in company from 
 New York, bound on a cruise. They had been 
 so successful as to capture, off the entrance of the 
 port, a large American privateer, called the Gene- 
 ral Reed, and a small merchant-vessel, when a sail 
 of some magnitude was descried in the offing. 
 Chase was given, and prosecuted with so much ear- 
 nestness, that one of the pursuers carried away her 
 mizen-topmast, and fell into the rear, to repair her 
 damage. While this was doing, a small skiff was 
 perceived by those on deck, approaching with a sail 
 set, and a union-jack hoisted at the stern, but with- 
 out having any hands on board. She was brought 
 alongside, when a bottle was found in the stern- 
 sheets, enclosing a paper, on which was written, in 
 
 fair characters, " This is the , Captain . 
 
 If you are friends, steer to the north-east, and I 
 will join you." — This is precisely what an enemy, 
 with the formidable odds of four to one against the 
 stranger, Avould have done. It is hardly necessary 
 to add, that the sage captain of the frigate was 
 known on the station ever after as the Bottle- 
 Conjurer. 
 
 the sweet.scented doctors. 
 At Orange, in Provence, little trouble or ex- 
 pense used to be incurred by the candidate for a 
 doctorship in medicine. Those who there sought 
 and procured this dignity, were familiarly styled 
 
SWEEPINGS OF MY STUDY. 11 
 
 docteurs a la jkur d'orange — sweet-scented doc- 
 tors. It happened, in a little village near Uzes, 
 in Languedoc, that an old, respectable practitioner 
 was grossly insulted, in the presence of one of his 
 best patients, by a young graduate in possession of 
 this attractive fragrance, which may occasionally 
 entice an invalid, as every skilful rat-catcher will 
 tell you it does vermin. It was his sweet scent, 
 he reflected, that made the young gentleman thus 
 arrogant ; so away he whipped across the Rhone, 
 by the Pont-du-Saint-E sprit, not forgetting Beau- 
 caire and Tarascon on the way, which, by the by, 
 he could not easily do, as the one is on the one 
 side of the bridge, and the other on the other, to 
 Orange, where, having paid down his cash, to the 
 amount of somewhat less than three louis\ he 
 found himself in a condition to meet his antagonist 
 on equal terms. A present, said he, on falling in 
 with him, que je suis, comme vous, Docteur a la 
 Jleur d'orange, je vous dis Jranchernent que je ne 
 soiiffrirai plus de vos impertinences. Now, Doctor, 
 that I am as sweet-scented as yourself, I tell you 
 frankly, that I will no longer put up with your 
 impertinence. 
 
 THE DELICATE RESTRAINT. 
 As I have mentioned that pleasant city Orange, 
 famous for its doctorial scent, and the salubrity of 
 
12 SWEEPINGS OF MY STUDY. 
 
 its air, I may as well, while it is fresh in my recol- 
 lection, tell what happened to me there, in the 
 autumn of 1799, to show that a delicate regard 
 for the feelings of strangers, belonging to a nation 
 at war, was then to be found among the French. 
 On stopping to dine, I was desirous, in the first 
 place, to proceed to the kitchen, as others of my 
 fellow-passengers in the Diligence had done, to 
 wash my hands. This was strenuously resisted 
 by a young Frenchman, who was joined by the 
 rest of the party. The water and other requisites 
 for that purpose were furnished to me in the 
 dining-room; but I afterwards contrived to steal 
 unobserved to the kitchen, where I saw, in con- 
 spicuous characters, over the fire-place : Guerre 
 contre les Anglais; and Guerre a mort contre 
 le Gouvernement Anglais on the side opposite. 
 
 HAMLET IN BORROWED PLUMES. 
 In the early part of the reign of George the 
 Third, of pious memory, on the occasion of a re- 
 view, an officer of dragoons, in his quality of aid- 
 de-camp, drew near to the royal presence. His 
 figure was elegant ; but his features so hideous in 
 the view of an illustrious lady, who might have 
 been then pregnant, that it was said to have been 
 intimated to him, at her express desire, to quit the 
 army. 
 
SWEEPINGS OF MY STUDY. 13 
 
 After a variety of adventures, this gentleman, 
 whose name, if my recollection serves me well, was 
 Diemar, became the manager of a company of 
 strolling-players, and, in going his annual round, 
 drew up his troop in the town where resided a 
 worthy unkle of mine, by name William, a whim- 
 fraught, humorous, facetious, and eccentric cha- 
 racter, whose drolleries, if told on paper, would 
 fill a bag of " sweepings 1 ' of a moderate size. To 
 this relative, among others of the townsfolk, he 
 paid a visit, to solicit his favour and patronage, 
 observing that the performance for that evening 
 was to be Hamlet, in which he himself was to 
 enact the part of the philosophic prince, and hoped 
 to have the honour of his presence. " How are 
 you off for a wardrobe,'" said my unkle — ? 
 4 But so so.' — " I have a new suit of black that 
 will just fit you.'" The manager bowed accept- 
 ance. 
 
 The performance, in the evening, went off with 
 great eclat, until the passage where Hamlet, in 
 expiring accents, faintly utters 
 
 " The rest is sflence," 
 
 laying himself on the boards at his full lengthy to 
 die with a better grace. Up started Nunky from 
 his seat, to the great surprise of the auditory, 
 
 bawling with lungs of brass, " You , you'll 
 
 spoil my best suit." 
 
14 SWEEPINGS OF MY STUDY. 
 
 THE ROAST-BEEF CANTATA. 
 The writer of a modern publication, " Wine and 
 Walnuts,"" was much mistaken when he ascribed 
 this cantata to David Garrick. It was the pro- 
 duction of the late Thomas Forrest, Esq., a clerk- 
 officer in Chatham dock-yard, whose close inti- 
 macy with Hogarth led to several of the scenes 
 which that painter, unrivalled in his way, has, in 
 his humorous freaks, so admirably described. They 
 were truly kindred spirits ; and in the five days' pe- 
 regrination of five quaint originals, Messrs Tothall, 
 Scott, Hogarth, Thornhill, and Forrest, the latter 
 bore a leading part. He not only kept the journal, 
 but was treasurer, and contrived to forget his Chris- 
 tian name, in which the initial E stands for T, in 
 signing the journal, and exhibiting to his compa- 
 nions the account of the expenses of the expedi- 
 tion, the vouchers for which were examined and 
 allowed, while their amount, instead of his neat 
 charge of six guineas, was five pounds, fourteen 
 shillings, and eightpence-halfpenny. 
 
 Mr C , assistant-surgeon to the Chatham 
 
 Division of Marines, and Mr T , a dock-yard 
 
 clerk, an exquisite dandy of that day, had had 
 repeated squabbles about who should take the 
 wall, in a narrow lane, until at length they came 
 to blows. On this occasion, Mr Forrest produced 
 the following impromptu : — 
 
SWEEPINGS OF MY STUDY. 15 
 
 ON A BATTLE LATELY FOUGHT BETWEEN AN 
 EMINENT SURGEON AND APOTHECARY, AND A 
 MACARONI CLERK. 
 
 Sage Gallipot, when Quill you meet, 
 
 Take not the upper hand, 
 Nor seek precedence in the street, 
 
 Where only fops command. 
 
 Your cane, though taught in physic's school, 
 To war was quite a stranger ; 
 
 Young Goosequill made your spirits cool- 
 Nay, put your wig in danger. 
 
 Take my advice. — To cure these ills 
 
 Observe what I indite : 
 You mind your boluses and pills ; 
 
 And you, sir, how to write. 
 
 UNEXPECTED ISSUE OF A COMMERCIAL 
 SPECULATION. 
 
 A young man of Marseilles having come into the 
 possession of a considerable property, fancied that 
 he could not do better than embark his capital in 
 commerce, to the details of which he was an utter 
 stranger. He tormented his mercantile friends 
 unceasingly with the question of how he could 
 best accomplish this, until at length one of them 
 thought it would not be a bad joke to recommend 
 to him to freight a brigantine with a cargo of hats 
 for Tunis, taking with him beside such other 
 
16 SWEEPINGS OF MY STUDY. 
 
 small wares as he thought might be there saleable. 
 This advice being taken to the letter, our specula- 
 tor, on his arrival at Tunis, was surprised to find 
 that not a hat was anywhere to be seen. He pre- 
 pared to seek a better market, but was not to be 
 let off so easily, the Bey having a particular in- 
 terest in the sale of each of the cargoes brought 
 into the port. 
 
 An edict was issued commanding all the Jews 
 in Tunis to appear in hats, instead of turbans, on 
 the Sabbath following, and to arrange themselves, 
 after the morning service of the synagogue, in the 
 square fronting the palace, to the end that his 
 Highness, seated in his balcony, might pass them 
 in review. Our young merchant's hats were bought 
 up with avidity, but were found so unbecoming, 
 and so much at variance with the Jewish garb, on 
 being put to this severe scrutiny, that, by a se- 
 cond edict, the Israelites were commanded to re- 
 sume their turbans. What had cost them dear, 
 they cheerfully parted with for little to the seller, 
 who returned to Marseilles with his bags filled 
 with doublons and dollars, and his hats carefully 
 re-packed. 
 
 TO OWE, A VERY DECLINABLE VERB. 
 A nobleman called on a prime minister, on 
 whose table lay a brevet, or warrant, which only 
 
SWEEPINGS OF MY STUDY. 17 
 
 awaited the royal signature. " What !" said the 
 nobleman, i( can you bestow a place of such trust 
 on a debauched fellow who is over head and ears 
 in debt ?" " He's in debt, is he ?" replied the 
 minister. " / owe, you owe, lie owes. • To owe is 
 a verb declinable in all its modes and tenses. ,,, 
 
 A GENTLEMAN NOT ALWAYS IN NEED OF A 
 PORTER. 
 
 It was a saying of the late John Wilkes, of squint- 
 ing and patriotic memory, that there are three 
 things which a gentleman may carry openly in his 
 hand, — a book, a paper of snuff, and a string of 
 fish. 
 
 A NEW TRICK OF LEGERDEMAIN. 
 Venice was anciently famed for its admirable 
 police. It happened one morning that a French 
 nobleman, in taking a few turns in the square of St 
 Mark, had his pocket picked of a valuable family 
 watch. Instantly on ascertaining his loss, he re- 
 paired to the police department, and expressed, 
 with little discretion, and in unmeasured terms, 
 his surprise that, under its so-much-vaunted regu- 
 lations, such an accident should have befallen him 
 in the middle of the day, and in so public a place. 
 " Be careful how you speak of the police of 
 Venice,"" said the Commissary to whom he address- 
 
18 SWEEPINGS OF MY STUDY. 
 
 ed himself; " your quality of foreigner will not 
 shelter you, if your invectives should run to too 
 great a length. Deposite here four zechins, and 
 repair to-morrow morning, at eleven o'clock, to 
 the spot where you lost your watch, with an assur- 
 ance that it will be restored to you. ,, The French- 
 man was punctual, and waited until two without 
 any tidings of his watch. Still more enraged than 
 before, he again presented himself to the Commis- 
 sary, venting the bitterest imprecations, and swear- 
 ing by the Blessed Virgin, the devils in hell, and 
 all the saints in Paradise, that he had been shame- 
 fully bubbled, having not only lost his watch? 
 but his zechins, together with his time, which he 
 held to be equally valuable. " Look to your 
 fob," said the Commissary ; and there, to his utter 
 astonishment, Monsieur found his watch. 
 
 " You have to learn something further of the 
 Venetian Police," added the Commissary, " for 
 which purpose here is an officer who will accom- 
 pany you." Having descended to a subterranean 
 apartment, his guide led him, by several gloomy, 
 vaulted passages, in crossing which he became 
 more and more anxious as to what was to befall 
 him, to a chamber, dimly lighted by a lamp, where, 
 in a recess, the curtain of which was drawn aside 
 for his inspection, suspended by a cord, he saw the 
 
 THIEF. 
 
SWEEPINGS OF MY STUDY. 19 
 
 A CONVENIENT BARGAIN. 
 During the latter part of the siege of Gibraltar, 
 and before succours were thrown into the place by 
 the gallant Howe, the privations of the garrison 
 were so great, that money, which had few means 
 of circulation, became comparatively of little value. 
 The bipeds known there by the name of walk- 
 ing guineas (ducks and fowls) had gradually 
 disappeared from the face of the rock, because, 
 extravagantly dear as they were, they were not 
 worth the trouble and expense of rearing; and 
 potatoes, at half a dollar per pound, were not ex- 
 actly within the reach of the subaltern, who, econo- 
 mizing on his ration-loaf, jocosely styled, on ac- 
 count of its colour, a negro's head, regaled himself, 
 on festive days, with a hard dumpling made of 
 musty flour, the only solid ingredient in its com- 
 position, bating a sprinkling of salt. 
 
 With this flour, however, and tallow drawn 
 from the ordnance store, the noble Heathfield, the 
 dauntless Cock of the Rock, treated his aids-de- 
 camp, himself setting the example, which, on a 
 hard pinch, might have been generally, and per- 
 haps not reluctantly followed. 
 
 At the sale of a deceased officer's effects, the 
 vendue-master (auctioneer) put up an umbrella, 
 the biddings on which, dollar after dollar, ran 
 high. It was of cotton ; but brought more than 
 
20 SWEEPINGS OF MY STUDY. 
 
 a fine, new, silk umbrella would cost at the dear- 
 est shop in London or Westminster. The ham- 
 mer being down, he unfurled the precious lot, 
 and displayed a long slit, or, as La Fontaine 
 somewhere calls it, an enormous solution of con- 
 tinuity. " If the gentleman,"" said he, very com- 
 posedly, " does not like his bargain, here is a hole 
 for him to creep out at." 
 
 THE TAYLOR'S VISION. 
 
 [From Aunt Martha's Diary, or, as she used to call it, Closet- 
 companion. Mem. It was known to contain better things, but 
 several leaves were torn out in the course of her last illness.] 
 
 During the high paroxysm of a fever, a taylor 
 saw, or fancied he saw, which amounts to the same 
 thing, on the wall of his bedchamber, the several 
 images of the cuts of cloth he had cabbaged from 
 his customers, distributed like the colours of the 
 rainbow, but displaying a still greater variety of 
 tints. Terrified by this awful sight, which sorely 
 smote his conscience, he came to a resolution, on 
 awaking from his delirium, to forego for the fu- 
 ture all dealings in cabbage. He accordingly 
 laid a strict injunction on his wife, that if the 
 devil should at any time tempt him to recur to 
 this vile practice, she should jog him on the elbow. 
 The opportunity was not long wanted ; for, lo I 
 
SWEEPINGS OF MY STUDY. 21 
 
 she caught him one fine morning, seated on his 
 shopboard, with uplifted shears preparing for the 
 attack. "I thank you, wife, for jogging me, 11 
 said Snip, " but my memory is good, and I pro- 
 test to you that, in my frightful vision, cloth of 
 this colour I did not see." 
 
 PUFF ! AND HE'S GONE. 
 In a village not very remote from London dwelt 
 a barber, who, if he was not an exact counterpart 
 of the " silent barber" so happily described in 
 the Arabian Nights, was not far behind him in 
 loquacity, when he could find time to entertain 
 his customers, and was beside extremely locomo- 
 tive, unceasingly shifting the scene of his wag- 
 geries and his wit A Londoner, one of those 
 who know so well how to profit by their keen 
 industry, having heard of his fame, resolved to 
 see if he could not, by some device, outwit him, 
 for which purpose he came down to the village, 
 and engaged a lodging at a public-house, saying 
 that he should stay there a few days, as he was 
 quite charmed with the fine views in that part of 
 Kent. After supper he invited the landlord to 
 take a glass of punch with him, and the barber 
 happening to turn up as one of the topics of con- 
 versation, " I think, with your help," said the 
 Londoner to the landlord, who had related divers 
 5 
 
22 SWEEPINGS OF MY STUDY. 
 
 of the barber's merry conceits and comical strata- 
 gems, " I could play him a trick that would beat 
 them all." " Could you so ?" said Boniface. "That 
 would be hard to do ; but how would you contrive 
 it?" — " If you'll send for him, I'll engage him, after 
 he has taken a glass or two of punch, in a trifling 
 bet, that he will not have the patience to-morrow 
 morning to sit for five minutes at the front-parlour 
 window, looking steadfastly at the sign — what is it ? 
 — the Harrow over the way, with a pipe in his 
 mouth, and saying, at every whiff, puff! and he's 
 gone. You shall hold the stakes ; and he shall lay 
 his watch on the table, for me to watch time. With- 
 in half a minute of its expiring, I will steal gently 
 into the back parlour, where you are to be sitting, 
 with the watch ; and you, while I hide myself, 
 shall bounce suddenly into the front room, bawling 
 out, Where's the stranger? He will turn round, 
 and so lose his bet, fancying at the same time, until 
 you undeceive him, that he has also lost his 
 watch." — The barber was obedient to the call, 
 and bit at the wherewithal, that is, at the cockney- 
 bait, in swallowing his punch, insomuch that every 
 thing was arranged to the joint satisfaction of the 
 party. 
 
 In the morning, the tonsor, with the front-par- 
 lour window thrown up, to give him a better light 
 and more air, looking full at the Harrow, was at 
 his whiffs ; while his new town-acquaintance was, 
 
SWEEPINGS OF MY STUDY. 9Z 
 
 as he supposed, steadfastly eyeing the watch. Bo- 
 niface, in the back-parlour,. thought the minutes 
 very long, until, losing his patience, he resolved to 
 take a peep in front, and see what was going on. 
 Opening the door gently, he was surprised to find 
 that the stranger had stolen off, not only with the 
 barber's silver watch, but with his own quart silver 
 tankard, the bottom of which, to make it fold the 
 more conveniently for the pocket, he had dexterously 
 cut out, and left on the table as a minute of the 
 proceeding. He was in too great a hurry, of 
 course, to look to the discharge of his bill. 
 
 TWO TO ONE AGAINST MOUNSEER. 
 
 It is a vulgar notion, that great gormandizers are 
 sure to have fat wits ; but this is not the case. A 
 Frenchman residing in a town in Sussex, met with 
 an acquaintance of mine, an Englishman, as re- 
 markable for a good swallow as two celebrated 
 statesmen long gone by, namely, Charles Fox, and 
 Lord North, the premier, afterwards Earl of Guild- . 
 ford, not to mention the late Admiral Lord Hood, 
 who, whether at home, or at the table of a friend 
 acquainted with the gastric powers of his stomach, 
 and knowing how careful he was not to overgorge 
 himself, was served at dinner with a dish of boiled 
 rice, as a damper preliminary to his attack on the 
 more substantial viands. This my acquaintance, 
 

 24 SWEEPINGS OF MY STUDY. 
 
 I say, a very intelligent and spirited fellow, al- 
 though neither a statesman nor a hero, fell in with 
 Mounseer, who very obligingly said to him, " Vil 
 you dine vid me to-day ? I have one fowl, one 
 bacon, one sprout, and vat be bettre ?" " I'll tell 
 you vat be bettre," said my old crony, who felt his 
 ordinary appetite coming fast upon him, " two 
 fowl, two bacon, two sprout." 
 
 MILITARY LOGIC. 
 
 Major Winterhausen, who commanded a de- 
 tachment of Hessians stationed at Flatbush, Long 
 Island, at an early period of the American war of 
 independence, was a FalstafF in figure, and may 
 have had his wit, although I could not understand 
 it in his lingo, when he was stuffed, not in the 
 dressing-room of a theatre, which would have been 
 unnecessary, but at the gun-room table of a British 
 ship of war, and had such a tremendous soaking of 
 port wine given him, that it required, at night-fall, 
 at least six of the ablest seamen on board to lower 
 him into the boat alongside. But he failed in com- 
 parison with the late Mr M , a principal officer 
 
 in Portsmouth Dock-yard, who was indeed a Fal- 
 staff proportionately in wit and bulk, and had a 
 circumference, below the waist, somewhat larger 
 than that of Stephen Kemble, when he visited the 
 London boards to enact the fat knight, and, 
 
 
SWEEPINGS OF MY STUDY. 25 
 
 among other whimsicalities in his address to the 
 audience, requested that, if he should fail in his 
 personification, he might be sent, " in a collier 
 back," to the north. 
 
 To return, however, to the Major, who could 
 never be at a loss for a good substantial meal, 
 while the poultry were to be seen stalking in the 
 farm-yard, or the bacon hung suspended from the 
 ceiling within doors; he delighted greatly in a 
 turkey or a chine. " If" said he, to the astound- 
 ed farmer, . " you be von Jrind to de go-vern-ment, 
 you give it ; if you be von rep-pel, me take it" 
 
 I recollect being at Flatbush with a messmate 
 or two, in the spring of the year 1777. We were 
 sharp-set after our long walk from Brooklyn Ferry, 
 and entered a farm-house, where we found a pretty 
 freckled brunette, Miss Perey, as she was called 
 by her little brother, having been christened "Ex- 
 perience. 11 6i We have nothing but sauce (to be 
 pronounced sarce, and implying vegetables) for 
 dinner to-day,'"' said the blushing girl. " But, 11 
 said we, mimicking her dialect, " there is consider- 
 able of bacon hanging up. 11 While we were eye- 
 ing it wishfully, and licking our parched lips, in 
 came the farmer, who, suspecting us to be acquaint- 
 ances of Major Winterhausen, which was truly the 
 case, and, like him, good logicians, looked very 
 shy, until we showed him our dollars, when the 
 well-cured chine descended from the ceiling, and 
 
 B 
 
26 SWEEPINGS OF MY STUDY. 
 
 the nicely-packed eggs were produced from the 
 closet. 
 
 A FIELD-OFFICER IN DISGUISE. 
 Subsequently to the above date, another Major, 
 who, as it afterwards appeared, had made a great 
 noise among the Hessians in North America, par- 
 ticularly at the spot where the battle of Trenton, 
 in the Jerseys, was fought, having escaped from 
 his captivity, passed down by the high land of 
 Neversink, to within view of the guard-ship sta- 
 tioned off the peninsula of Sandy Hook, waving a 
 handkerchief, or, to speak more seemingly, a vile 
 clout, as a token of his wish to be received on 
 board. 
 
 His reception was such as a field-officer might 
 have been led to expect : he became the guest of 
 the great cabin. His tattered regimentals, which 
 might have been assumed as a disguise, to facili- 
 tate his escape from the enemy, the coarseness of 
 his linen, and other tokens of lorn suffering, did 
 not appear to the commander, a very gentlemanly 
 man, and a still living ornament of the service, so 
 strange as the vulgarity of his manners, which 
 could not be well accounted for on a supposition 
 that he had risen rapidly from the ranks. On the 
 entrance of the steward in the morning, he did not 
 neglect to start up on his seat, from the bedding 
 
SWEEPINGS OF MY STUDY. 27 
 
 which had been spread for him on the deck, to call 
 for a class of crog, in carrying which to his lips he 
 drank to the health of King Shorge. 
 
 On the first convenient opportunity, he was for- 
 warded to Staten Island, the intermediate station, 
 where the commandant, General Stirling, paid him 
 marked attentions, and on embarking him for New 
 York, generously drew from his purse a handful of 
 half-joes, (half-doublons,) of which the Major mo- 
 destly took two, in addition to two fine shirts, and 
 the other requisites with which the General had fur- 
 nished him, to enable him to make a decent ap- 
 pearance at head-quarters. In the meantime, the 
 Hessian Commissary'at New York, having been ap- 
 prized of his expected arrival, fancied there had 
 been some mistake in his lists, by which it appear- 
 ed that all the officers of note, made prisoners at 
 the battle of Trenton, had, by a particular con- 
 vention, been sent in. This one, however, made 
 his appearance at the office, and announced himself 
 
 as THE DRUM-MAJOR OF THE GROMBACH REGIMENT. 
 
 A LOYAL EXCUSE FOR A WANTON ACT. 
 At the breaking out of the American War of In- 
 dependence, there stood, in the public squares of 
 New York, two statues, the one, in lead, of his 
 late Majesty George the Third, and the other, 
 called " Pitt's Statue,'" of the great Earl of Chat- 
 
%8 SWEEPINGS OF MY STUDY. 
 
 ham, in marble. The former of these, the co- 
 lonists, shortly after their revolt, converted into 
 bullets for the destruction of his Majesty's liege 
 subjects; while the latter stood unmolested until 
 some years after the British possession of the city, 
 where I chanced to be when a party of choice 
 spirits, wearing " the true blue that never stains, " 
 engaged in a daring frolic. One of these stands 
 high, very high, on the naval list, and carries, on 
 courtly days, his well-earned honours about him ; 
 and he, I am persuaded, will smile, if at any time, 
 peradventure, he should pick up my " Sweep- 
 ings,"" and cast his eye, in a cursory way, on this 
 anecdote.; 
 
 I might have been inlisted as a partizan, if the 
 texture of my frame had not been too tight-drawn 
 for the occasion, when they sallied forth at night- 
 fall from the coffeehouse on the quay, kept by 
 Loosely and Ems, provided with a sledge-ham- 
 mer, and the other necessary implements of mis- 
 chievous adventure. Setting at defiance, as well 
 the iron-spikes that surrounded the statue, as the 
 Hessian soldiers who guarded it, they beat off 
 Pitt's head, of almost colossal bulk, broke off one 
 of his arms, and otherwise mutilated the mute 
 semblance of the minister, who, while living, awed, 
 by his stern eloquence in debate, the host of ad- 
 miring senators, and whose 
 
 
SWEEPINGS OF MY STUDY, 29 
 
 ■*' Courage, strength, and matter 
 
 Made him a thunder-bearing speaker." 
 
 The head I saw carried with some difficulty up 
 stairs, and deposited in a trunk in the coffeehouse- 
 garret. Next morning the young blades were 
 summoned into the presence of General Robertson, 
 the commandant, who declared it to be his deter- 
 mination to inflict the awarded penalty of five 
 hundred pounds for the defacement of a statue. 
 M General,'" said the spokesman, " you know what 
 befel the statue of our Most Gracious Sovereign : 
 after such an outrage, we did not think it right to 
 leave, with the head erect, and presenting a bold 
 front, that of one of his Majesty's subjects, who 
 had, in his parliamentary speeches, favoured the 
 American cause. We therefore undertook to crop 
 this statue, that is, to make it shorter by the head, 
 but without presuming to meddle with the should- 
 ers." The General smiled, and warned them to 
 be careful how they launched out again into a si- 
 milar exploit. 
 
 COMPARISONS, HOWEVER SMART, SELDOM FAIL 
 TO BE ODIOUS. 
 
 Some forty years ago, the British naval service was* 
 in one particular, that of the externals of the sea- 
 man, very different from what it is at present At 
 the above date, so great was the jealousy enter- 
 
30 SWEEPINGS OF MY STUDY. 
 
 tained of the army, and of its discipline, in the 
 points of cleanliness and dress, by the majority 
 of the naval officers, that Jack, when he strayed 
 from his duty on board, and was on shore for his 
 recreation, or for any necessary purpose of equip- 
 ment, was almost sure to be the " Jack Nasty face" 
 of the scene ; while his clothes, of the right Pur- 
 ser's cut, and not indebted to any re-modelling 
 since they left the slop-room, hung about him as if 
 they had been snatched in the dark from the com- 
 mon heap of the contract-magazine that supplied 
 them. 
 
 It could not have been seriously thought, that, 
 in this grim and slovenly disguise, he would fight 
 better, or have his life better watched by " the 
 sweet little cherub that sits up aloft" — No, it was 
 jealousy alone — jealousy of the army — that made 
 the seaman, at his officer's call, more resemble the 
 Caliban of " The Tempest," than one who had to 
 claim a footing in a civilized community. 
 
 On a retrospect still more remote, we find, in 
 the " Roderick Random" of Smollett, who sketch- 
 ed from observation, that many of the sea-officers 
 of his day were almost as careless of costume as 
 were the crews they commanded. In this there 
 might have been a sprinkling of affectation, as it 
 was flattering to them to hear it said, agreeably to 
 the notion then vulgarly entertained, that rough 
 manners, under an uncouth garb, were a sure 
 
SWEEPINGS OF MY STUDY. 31 
 
 token of plain dealing and sincerity. How falla- 
 cious an estimate ! 
 
 To the praise of the exalted characters who have, 
 in later times, to the high advancement of the 
 national glory, given a new impulsion to the springs 
 of the nautical machinery ; as well as to that of 
 the superiors in command, of better polish, and 
 more liberal views, than their predecessors, who, in 
 watching the details, have taught their subordi- 
 nates in rank to enforce in the crews a decorum of 
 manners and dress ; — the British man-of-war's- 
 man, when on land, can now show a clean face, 
 and a becoming person, among his associates. He 
 is even distinguishable, in outward respectability, 
 by the naval connoisseur, from the merchant-sailor, 
 who is subjected to heavy tasks, superadded to his 
 seaman's duties. Beside this, he does not swear so 
 profanely, if at all ; he drinks less ; and he is in 
 other respects more moral, because he has been less 
 degraded, and more mildly treated on board.* In 
 the meantime, the establishment of " The United 
 Service Club*" may be adduced in proof of the 
 harmony now subsisting between the two services. 
 Of this salutary accord, His Most Gracious Ma- 
 
 * For this, among other excellent regulations, he is chiefly in- 
 debted to the registers of punishments transmitted by the naval 
 commanders to the Admiralty. 
 
32 SWEEPINGS OF MY STUDY. 
 
 jesty, George the Fourth — God bless him !— was 
 fully sensible, when, on his passage to Ireland, he 
 steered for Milford Haven to seek shelter from the 
 storm. Surrounded by his attendants, in either 
 uniform, on board the yacht, and smiling with 
 dignity and grace, he rubbed his hands, and gave 
 his toast. " Here's the Army and Navy, and 
 the Navy and Army, and may they always 
 pull together." 
 
 But to the point and purpose. The lady of the 
 Governor of Saint Helena, of about the time I 
 have referred to, was of a sprightly turn, or, as the 
 world of scandal has it, " a little gay," and prefer- 
 red, it may have been, overmuch, the society of a 
 smart young Ensign, who could boast, as his best 
 service, the soft dalliance of the chamber, to that 
 of her husband, weather-beaten in the field, and 
 worn by successive campaigns. She used to say, 
 that the ugliest animals to be seen crossing the 
 sands in front of the Government-House were a 
 
 SAILOR AND A BUFFALO. 
 
 THE PARIS TENNIS COURT. 
 In his youthful days, the present Monsieur, bro- 
 ther of Louis XVIII., then Count d'Artois, was 
 a great frequenter of the Tennis Court, where he 
 used to play for considerable sums. On these oc- 
 casions, spectators were admitted into a small space 
 
SWEEPINGS OF MY STUDY. 38 
 
 separated from the play-ground. He was at that 
 time not greatly beloved by the public, on account 
 of his close intimacy with the late Due d'Orleans, 
 who afterwards figured on the revolutionary scene 
 as Citizen Egalite, and fell by the axe which had, 
 chiefly by his instrumentality, been fatal to his 
 Royal Cousin, Louis XVI. 
 
 It chanced one morning that, being matched 
 against a French nobleman, His Highness lost so 
 much, and with so undeviating a constancy, as 
 entirely to lose his temper. What contributed 
 chiefly to this, were the plaudits bestowed on his 
 adversary at each successful event. " Faites sortir 
 cette canaille" — turn out that rabble — said he im- 
 periously to the master of the Tennis Court. The 
 spectators withdrew, with one exception, that of 
 the Chevalier Mallard Dubece, a naval officer of 
 a distinguished family, who, however solicited, 
 would not stir from his post. This required ex- 
 planation. " Votre Altesse" said the spirited offi- 
 cer, " a ordonne defaire sortir la canaille : comme 
 je n'en suis pas 9 je rested Your Highness has 
 ordered the rabble to be turned out : as I am not 
 of that class, I remain where I am. 
 
 The Chevalier had no sooner reached home, 
 than he made his reflections, which were far from 
 being pleasant. He consulted his friends, who 
 recommended to him unanimously, unless he was 
 anxious to be visited by a lettre de cachet, to with- 
 
 b2 
 
34 SWEEPINGS OF MY STUDY. 
 
 draw, and hide himself in a distant province, until 
 the storm should blow over. The bulletin de la 
 Coar, fait a la plume, recorded the anecdote en- 
 thusiastically ; and the tale flew about until it 
 reached the royal ear. The benevolent Louis, 
 far from being offended with the Chevalier, was 
 rejoiced to find that he had, with such firmness, 
 given so good a lesson to the Cadet, his brother, 
 whose exuberant pride he had humbled. He wish- 
 ed to see M. Mallard Dubece, and converse with 
 him ; but the latter was far from the precincts of 
 a court, the derangements of which were beyond 
 the control of that virtuous, always misused, and 
 unfortunate Sovereign. 
 
 With the above may be coupled another anecdote 
 of equal force. The Marquis de Saint Huruge 
 had murdered I know not how many of the pea- 
 sants on his estates in a southern province. On 
 these occasions it was the usage of any one of the 
 privileged class to repair to court, and, falling on 
 the knee, to obtain a pardon. The Marquis had 
 gone too great a length in his career of blood, to 
 be so easily absolved on his last saving visit to the 
 court. " I will pardon you," said Louis sternly, 
 " but with the proviso, that I will also pardon any 
 one who will undertake to kill you." I have heard 
 this blamed, as holding out, if not an encourage- 
 
SWEEPINGS OF MY STUDY. 35 
 
 ment, an impunity to murder ; but the Monarch 
 had skilfully penetrated into the base and dastard- 
 ly character of the Marquis, who never again ven- 
 tured on his southern estates. 
 
 After having, at the commencement of the 
 French Revolution, meanly profited in London, as 
 a distressed royalist whose property had been con- 
 fiscated, by a public subscription, in addition to 
 the government stipend allowed him, he went to 
 Paris, and became an infuriated jacobin ; but, like 
 Anacharsis Kloots, his exaggerations of the grand 
 regenerating cause, his known character of dupli- 
 city, and the rank he had once unworthily held in 
 society, brought him under suspicion with his 
 party ; and the monster who, in addition to the 
 cruelties he had inflicted on his vassals in general, 
 had subjected divers of them to a more painful and 
 lingering death, fell by the axe of the guillotine. 
 
 THE VENTRILOQUIST TURNED POSTUREMASTER. 
 At the time the above-mentioned subscription was 
 on foot, I was at breakfast one morning, in Derby 
 Street, May Fair, with a French gentleman who 
 had been my fellow-traveller between London and 
 Paris, when the Marquis entered, not to speak 
 about that concern, but to ask his old Parisian 
 friend to indite for him a charming love-letter to a 
 pretty English lady, who, if she should receive 
 
36 SWEEPINGS OF MY STUDY. 
 
 it condescendingly, might, as I conjectured, sha 
 with him the bounty he was soliciting from her 
 countrymen, when who should follow, close at his 
 heels, but a celebrated ventriloquist of the same 
 nation. It was a call the sequel of which afforded 
 me some diversion. 
 
 This man, who had come to London to show off 
 his rare talent, was still more unlucky than his 
 countryman Fitzjames, who succeeded him in a 
 similar attempt. I saw the latter in Paris, in the 
 year 1801, soon after the long preliminaries of the 
 short peace had been signed, at the Sieur Robert- 
 son's ; and being the only Englishman then pre- 
 sent, he submitted to me, whether, as the na- 
 tural son of the Due de Fitzjames, of the royal 
 race of Stuart, his reception in London was likely 
 to be favourable, I did not think his high birth 
 an objection ; but there may have been, in his 
 case, what the French call le dessous des cartes, to 
 subject him to the operation of the alien act, after 
 his having twice or thrice displayed, in concert 
 with the comic actor Volange, and his wife, his 
 wondrous skill in ventriloquacity,* at Dulau's, in 
 Soho Square. 
 
 I was seated at his side, when the Sieur Ro- 
 bertson, after having treated his audience with the 
 
 * Recommended to the notice of the Reverend Mr Todd. 
 
SWEEPINGS OF MY STUDY. 37 
 
 phantasmagoria, the invisible girl, &c. complained, 
 in the way of a trap for the novices at his exhibi- 
 tion, that Fitzjames, the ventriloquist, had dis- 
 appointed him, as usual. The latter, with but an 
 awkward and unpromising appearance for one of 
 his ability, rose up to say that, stranger as he 
 was, he would try to lessen the disappointment, 
 and do his humble endeavour to entertain the 
 company. Into the merits of his performances I 
 shall not enter ; but when they were over, in con- 
 versing with me, he spoke of Garrick. He had 
 heard, he said, that this celebrated actor could 
 simultaneously laugh on one side of his face, and 
 cry on the other. The words were scarcely utter- 
 ed, when, with two smart turns of the head, he 
 did precisely what had been related to him of Gar- 
 rick. — A French gentleman told me, among other 
 instances of his ventriloquial address, that he had 
 one evening planted himself in a cul-de-sac close 
 by, and, by assuming as many different voices and 
 dialects of speech, had sent off, toward the close 
 of the performances at the Theatre Feydeau, to 
 various addresses, all the hackney-coaches in wait- 
 ing to receive the company. 
 
 Now to the ventriloquist who, after his first and 
 only public exhibition in the English capital, pri- 
 vately displayed his mimic powers in Derby Street. 
 On leaving Paris, he fancied that it would be suf- 
 ficient, to secure success to his undertaking, to 
 
88 SWEEPINGS OF MY STUDY. 
 
 cross the channel with this accomplishment; but 
 on reaching London, it was hinted to him that a 
 handsome set out would also be requisite. The 
 taylor to whom he was recommended, having wit- 
 nessed an unsolicited specimen of his craft, was so 
 pleased that his pulse beat to quick time. Rich 
 dresses were provided, not only for our ventrilo- 
 quist, but for Madame, his spouse, who was to 
 sing, and play on the harp, between the acts, his 
 patron engaging himself besides for the hire of the 
 apartment, and the wax-lights. 
 
 The performances were duly announced, but the 
 company seemed shy to assemble. Snip, when a 
 boy, had learned the multiplication-table, and re- 
 flected that, at seven shillings per head, the multi- 
 plier, seven, was but a weak guarantee, at the be- 
 ginning of the career, for more than forty pounds, 
 his stake ; so he shut up the professor of hollow 
 sounds in Banco Regis, whence the latter had is- 
 sued, on a day-rule, to solicit the kind aid of his 
 friends. 
 
 The wainscot-dialogue between him and the sick 
 gentleman in the next room, who, while straining 
 and puking, vented his loud curses on the doctor, 
 for having given him a dose, not of doubtful, but 
 of double effect; that between the lady-abbess, 
 the confessor, and the nuns; the charming air 
 fingered on the plane surface of a side-table ; the 
 hounds, in full cry, whose various notes I dis- 
 
SWEEPINGS OF MY STUDY. 39 
 
 tinctly heard, on applying, at his desire, my ear to 
 his chest, while his mouth was closed : — on all 
 this, and still more, I was pondering, when he 
 bowed politely, and took a silent leave. 
 
 But he was not to quit the premises thus abruptly. 
 The door was a-jar ; and we presently heard, at the 
 extremity of the passage fronting the staircase, 
 some one calling to a person above. It was in 
 French, and to the following effect : You ungra- 
 cious rascal, said the voice below, how dare you, 
 who are so able to work, to come here, and break 
 a gentleman's repose in soliciting charity. Come 
 down, you miscreant, come down. The voice 
 above, in excuse, muttered penury and distress; 
 and we heard the footsteps of the suppliant as he 
 descended. We were listening to his plaints as he 
 crossed the passage, when the door was suddenly 
 thrown open, and a figure of hideous deformity 
 presented itself to our view. It was that of a 
 hunch-back dwarf, who could not rise above four 
 feet ; every joint was twisted and displaced ; every 
 limb seemed curved ; and the aspect of the dis- 
 torted features was ghastly ! Now, taking in an 
 instant his own figure, that of a well-built man of 
 the middle size, our Proteus, having exhibited him- 
 self in his new character of a posture-master, bow- 
 ed and departed. 
 
 Some months after, I was going up Ludgate 
 Hill, and when nearly opposite the Old Bailey, 
 
40 SWEEPINGS OF MY STUDY. 
 
 
 saw, coming toward me, an unsightly and mis- 
 shapen dwarf resembling the counterfeit one I 
 have described, wrapped in a great-coat, the skirts 
 of which swept the pavement, and surrounded by 
 a rabble of boys, while the tradesfolk were survey- 
 ing at then doors this apparently frightful cast of 
 nature's broken mould. It was my old acquaint- 
 ance, the ventriloquist, whom I soon recognized. 
 I turned, and followed as far as the obelisk oppo- 
 site Fleet-market, when he threw himself up into 
 his own shape, and with an air of unconcern, walk- 
 ed proudly on. 
 
 EL HICHO AL JDICHO HAY GRAN TRECHO. 
 
 BETWEEN THE DEED AND THE WORD THE ODDS 
 
 IS GREAT. 
 
 Being, in the year 1800, at the great fair of Beau- 
 caire, in Languedoc, which was then sufficiently 
 crowded, and where, in more peaceful times, were 
 to be seen throngs of individuals belonging to 
 every nation of continental Europe, without reck- 
 oning the Asiatic and African traffickers who pro- 
 ceeded thither, by the Gulf of Lyons, with goods 
 for barter or sale, I entered a picture-dealer's booth, 
 and there, among other curious prints of the same 
 cast, met with one representing Lord Nelson, on 
 the quarteivdeck of the flag-ship, V Orient, in the 
 act of delivering his sword to Admiral Bruix, the 
 
SWEEPINGS OF MY STUDY. 41 
 
 French commander-in-chief. This must have hap- 
 pened, agreeably to the version of the print, in an 
 early part of the battle of Aboukir, the ship being 
 described as without injury to hull, masts, sails, or 
 rigging ; or, to employ the sailor's phrase, as hav- 
 ing all standing. So far the British hero, Nelson, 
 was lucky in his disaster, as he might otherwise 
 have been at the side of his gallant adversary, 
 Bruix, when, by the explosive force of gunpowder, 
 his flag was seen floating in the ambient air. 
 
 The reader is not to be told that, after the bat- 
 tle of the 4th of June, the representative of the 
 people, Jean-Bon-Saint-Andre, landed at Brest, 
 to proclaim on his side the victory commonly ascrib- 
 ed to Lord Howe ; and he may likewise have heard, 
 that the battle of Trafalgar was followed by a like 
 gasconade. He may have yet to learn, however, 
 that this ruse de guerre is as old as the battle of 
 Oudenarde, when so signal a victory over the 
 French was gained by the confederates under the 
 great Duke of Marlborough. For this reason I 
 shall present him with an epigram, which, I have 
 good authority for saying it, now makes its first 
 appearance in print. I have also to say that, if 
 any one of the ingenious contributors to Black- 
 wood's Edinburgh Magazine will favour the nu- 
 merous readers of that valuable miscellany with an 
 English version of this epigram, I will endeavour, 
 without binding myself by an aboslute promise, to 
 
42 SWEEPINGS OF MY STUDY. 
 
 select for him, from my store of French manu- 
 scripts, at least half a dozen others, equally origi- 
 nal, and of equal point. They shall be sent to any 
 address in London or Edinburgh he may name, 
 under the signature of any one, or several, of the 
 twenty-six* letters of the English alphabet, at his 
 choice. 
 
 
 ELOGE DES FRANCAIS. 
 Quelqu , un fit ces vers apres la bataille d'Ouden- 
 arde en 1708, en Thonneur des Frangais. 
 
 Un Gascon, d'humeur goguenarde, 
 Arrivant du camp a Paris, 
 Apres l'affaire d'Oudenarde, 
 Se trouva, dit-on, fort surpris ; 
 C'etoit de voir que, dans les rues, 
 On faisoit partout grands feux. 
 Pour une bataille perdue, 
 Comme pour un succes heureux. 
 Ah ! Cadedis, riant sous cape, 
 Badauds, vous faites, leur dit-il, 
 Ainsi que la pierre a. fusil, 
 Plus de feu tant plus on vous frappe. 
 
 He may not disapprove of the following, as an 
 easy exercise for his pen. 
 
 * The Reverend Mr Todd contends, that there are twenty-four 
 only. But he shall hear something about this when I have a little 
 more time on my hands. 
 
 
SWEEPINGS OF MY STUDY. 43 
 
 Monsieur de Conde offered a reward of a thou- 
 sand crowns to the poet who should make the 
 finest quatrain, to be placed at the foot of the sta- 
 tue of the Great Conde. This one was the pro- 
 duction of a Gascon. 
 
 Pour celebrer tant de vertus, 
 Tant de hauts faits, et tant de gloire, 
 Mille ecus, morbleu, mille ecus, 
 Ce n'est pas un sol par victoire. 
 
 " QUOTH JOVE THEY DRINK PUNCH, THEY DRINK PUNCH 
 
 UPON EARTH, 
 WHEREBY THE MORTAL WITS FAR EXCEED US IN MIRTH." 
 
 To preserve peace and good order at the fair of 
 Beaucaire, it was customary to station there, so 
 long as it lasted, a regiment of cavalry. The 
 following ludicrous incident was related to me by 
 a French gentleman, who was himself an eye- 
 witness of the scene, as having occurred there 
 a few years before my visit to that celebrated 
 mart. The nobleman who commanded the caval- 
 ry-regiment abounded as much in whim and ec- 
 centricity as in riches. He had tormented such 
 of the fair-going people as could not find accom- 
 modations for the night in the town, by blocking 
 up the bridge (du Saint-Esprit) over the Rhone, 
 and thus obliging them, either to travel far for a 
 bed, or to sleep in the open air where they were, 
 
44 
 
 SWEEPINGS OF MY STUDY. 
 
 when a thought suddenly struck him that he could 
 not recompense them better for this hardship, than 
 by solacing them with punch drawn from a 
 well. Accordingly, all the lemons and oranges 
 in the fair were bought up, with puncheon after 
 puncheon of brandy, and as many loaves of sugar 
 as it was thought would hold out. While the 
 ingredients of the compound were thrown in on 
 the one side of the well, the punch, varying in 
 strength, was drawn up in buckets, with the 
 utmost celerity, on the other. The mirth that 
 ensued among the motley groups of males and 
 females surrounding the well, may be much 
 readier conceived than described, which my narra- 
 tor tried to do ; but he added that, toward night- 
 fall, it grew into mad riot and intemperate disor- 
 der, which required all the strength of our officer's 
 regiment of dragoons to control. 
 
 EXHIBITION OF A PRUDE. 
 
 Why, Sukey, I declare, if you had not. pointed it 
 out to me, I should have passed it over among the 
 huddled mass of " Sweepings" in hand, although 
 it refers to the bold Colonel of Dragoons whose 
 expensive frolic I have just copied for the printer. 
 You are a bitter enemy of prudes ; and that, I 
 suppose, has made you so sharp-sighted on this 
 
 occasion. 
 
SWEEPINGS OF MY STUDY. 45 
 
 The Colonel's regiment was stationed in the 
 vicinity of an agreeable city of the Cevennes, where 
 dwelt a censorious prude, hated by all her neigh- 
 bours, and suspected by most of them of being 
 " at heart a rake. 11 The Colonel knew the why 
 and the wherefore, when he introduced himself to 
 her acquaintance ; and they gradually became so 
 intimate, that she permitted him one evening to 
 leave his horse in the stable, and take a bed at her 
 house. How the sleeping-rooms were laid out, 
 and how the stratagem was in that particular 
 contrived, matters as little to the reader as it did 
 to me when I heard the story, however I may 
 have seen both the house and the lady. Early in 
 the morning, the Colonel's servant having spread 
 the rumour abroad that something curious, of his 
 waggish master's contrivance, was shortly to be 
 seen, fixed a large pannier, made expressly, to the 
 wall beneath the lady's bedchamber window. 
 The Colonel was familiar with his whistle, and 
 finding all ready without, threw up the sash. 
 
 It may here be asked, how he happened to be 
 so opportunely in Mademoiselle's apartment ; but 
 that shuns inquiry : such a hazard belongs to the 
 mystic privacy on which a Frenchman even, in a 
 lady's confidence, dares not touch. Taking the 
 prude gently in his arms, he placed her in the 
 pannier in her chemise, and secured the window 
 within-side before he made good his retreat, but 
 
46 
 
 SWEEPINGS OF MY STUDY. 
 
 not before he had sent, from the apprehension of 
 a rescue, the maid-servant on a distant errand. 
 The neighbours, both gentle and simple, gathered 
 round ; and Miss in the pannier had her tongue 
 of scandal everlastingly tied. 
 
 HOW TO SMOKE A PATIENT. 
 
 [From Aunt Martha's Diary.] 
 
 Physicians have been known to ride their hobby- 
 horses so indefatigably, and with so determined a 
 speed, that, if peradventure the over-wrought 
 animals have not broken down by the way, they 
 have seldom failed to gallop down some of their 
 patients in their blind career. Of this description 
 was one whose most productive patient, an aged 
 gentleman, wasted gradually, but perceptibly, to 
 the skeleton-form. Having dosed him, for I know 
 not how long, with Cayenne pepper, a remedy 
 which was then greatly in vogue, he sent this 
 hobby to the grass-field, and bestrid another named 
 Sal Polychreston, the salt of many virtues, or, in 
 Dutch — for the doctor had studied at Ley den — 
 Een middel tot veele ziekten, the mean, or remedy, 
 for many infirmities, which of course saved him 
 much painful thought in a dubious case. His pa- 
 tient was not a whit the better for this change, 
 but on the other hand became shrivelled and re- 
 duced to what I have heard an old nurse call a 
 
SWEEPINGS OF MY STUDY. 47 
 
 (C 
 
 natomy." " Doctor," said he, one morning, 
 with rueful face, " you ask me how I do, and I 
 would fain tell you what I think about myself. 
 I am afraid you have not looked rightly into my 
 case, which, as you may now perceive, is to be 
 seen through without the help of a candle. You 
 have, however, peppered me and salted me so 
 well, that in my opinion nothing further remains 
 for you to do but to hang me up the chimney, 
 and dry me. 1 ' 
 
 [ AND DO NOT SAY, 'TIS SUPERSTITION. 
 
 Winter's Tale. 
 
 At least, the naval officer who related to me the 
 following anecdote would have been angry if he 
 had heard the awful visitation so treated. By a 
 similar token as we are told in story that, at the 
 death of the usurper, Cromwell, 
 
 " Toss'd in a furious hurricane, 
 Did Oliver give up his reign :" 
 
 There was a raging tempest, such as had not 
 been known in the memory of man, or hardly ever 
 recorded to have been experienced in Great Bri- 
 tain ; so, with the difference of its being an early 
 portent, did that renowned warrior, whose feats 
 the genius of history has often blushed to record, 
 then General, and now Mr Whitelock, commence 
 his inauspicious rule in Spanish America, taking 
 
 5 
 
48 
 
 SWEEPINGS OF MY STUDY. 
 
 on himself a command which had been confided to 
 better hands. 
 
 In the month of April, 1806, he arrived, in the 
 Thisbe frigate, at Monte Video, in the Rio de la 
 Plata. It appears by the concurrent testimony of 
 the gentleman I have referred to, and of several 
 other naval officers who were there at that time, 
 having then passed on the station more than six 
 months, that on the particular and ill-omened day, 
 when the Thisbe, with her precious lading on 
 board, was proceeding to her anchorage, sudden 
 torrents of rain fell, accompanied by appalling peals 
 of thunder, and a succession of flashes of lightning, 
 of such intensity, and proximity to the surface of 
 the earth, as to damage the Diomede of fifty guns, 
 lying in the harbour. The calamity might have 
 been very serious on board the above ship, if the 
 most powerful flash had not struck the anchor, 
 which, as a conductor, favoured the escape of the 
 electric fluid into the water. At other times, dur- 
 ing and after the above period, not any atmosphe- 
 rical phenomena were observed, besides slight 
 flashes of lightning, with distant thunderclaps, such 
 as often occur in Great Britain during the summer 
 months. 
 
 I have said above, " and now Mr Whitelock," be- 
 cause I have reason to think, however it was little to 
 be expected that, in the case of his demise, the event 
 would be, if at all, announced with any eclat, that 
 
SWEEPINGS OF MY STUDY. 49 
 
 he is still living, but certainly not in the enjoyment 
 of the otium cum dignitate to which so early a fa- 
 vourite of fortune might have aspired. I recollect 
 having seen him many years ago, at the time he 
 was a subaltern, and his regiment encamped on 
 the lines near Chatham. This distant hint sug- 
 gested to me a strong personal resemblance, all 
 due allowances made, between the young officer I 
 then noticed, and an aged gentleman bearing the 
 same name, who was pointed out to me the other 
 day, taking his customary morning-ride in the vi- 
 cinity of Kensington Gardens, in a light chariot 
 drawn by one horse, and called, by some one in 
 my hearing, " a half-fortune,'''' under the guidance 
 of a coachman who appeared to me to have begged 
 his livery, at Marylebone workhouse, of one of the 
 overseers of that parish. 
 
 " There was that within which pass'd all show." 
 
 'TIS ALL MY EYE AND BETTY MARTIN. 
 Whether this queer saying did or did not origi- 
 nate with what I am going to relate, and which 
 happened in the year 1781, the story appears to me 
 to be worth telling. 
 
 Betty Martin, a mantuamaker of a tall, spare 
 figure, and of an immeasurable stride, resided in a 
 village in Kent. For a considerable time she 
 played the ghost very successfully, to the great 
 terror of the natives, but being at length detected, 
 
 c 
 
50 SWEEPINGS OF MY STUDY. 
 
 it became proverbial there, when what was asserted 
 did not bear the semblance of truth, or when an 
 attempt was made, according to the vulgar phrase, 
 to put a sham on any one, to say, " "'TIS al£ my 
 eye axd Betty Martin." 
 
 It was Betty's custom to sally out in the even- 
 ing, with a bundle containing the ghastly equip- 
 ments of her ghostlike disguise, on the pretext 
 that she was taking a gown, or some other article 
 of female apparel, to a country-employer, and then 
 to hide herself in an adjacent wood, where she put 
 on the array that best suited her dark intent. 
 
 One gloomy night, she stalked terrifically down 
 a lane leading to the centre of the village, and 
 faced by a cobbler's workshop, 
 
 Ci Which served him for parlour, and kitchen, and hall." 
 
 Gently drawing up the latch, with two springs she 
 not only upset the table, fronting the fire-place, at 
 which the cobbler and his wife were making a late 
 supper, but threw the poor old woman into such 
 violent hysterics, as sent her sprawling among the 
 ale-steeped remains of the bread, cheese, and 
 onions. 
 
 Her ghostly performances were all well planned 
 and enacted, but she failed in the last attempt ; 
 for it seems that two individuals, " of sex diverse," 
 belonged to a party that had been at the public- 
 house, at the corner of the wood, called " The 
 
SWEEPINGS OF MY STUDY. 51 
 
 Axe and Billet," to eat pudding-pies,* and drink 
 cyder-and, having strayed, on their return, from 
 their companions, to see if they could pick a few 
 strawberries by the nascent light of the moon in 
 her earliest quarter, or for some other innocent 
 and recreative purpose, perceived Betty, in grim 
 disguise, in a thicket, just as she had besmeared 
 her visage with a layer of moist whiting. This 
 discovery diverted the current of their inward 
 bent : they hastened to their party with the awful 
 tidings, which were speedily circulated ; and ever 
 and anon — a ghost — a ghost — was echoed through- 
 out the village, when Betty stirred abroad. She 
 had come into it a stranger a few months before, 
 and suddenly disappeared a few days after her 
 secret was divulged, without any one undertaking 
 to seek into her remote destiny. 
 
 ARTHUR MURPHY'S NOSE. 
 
 The bust of this celebrated dramatic writer was 
 executed by Turnerelli, who then resided in Greek- 
 street, Soho. A gentleman who had been long 
 intimate with the deceased, happened to look in 
 
 * A rich composition of rice, eggs, cream, currants, &c. eaten 
 during Lent, and furnishing the chief regalement of the Sunday- 
 evening parties in their rural excursions. This usage belongs ex- 
 clusively to a particular district of Kent. 
 
52 SWEEPINGS OF MY STUDY. 
 
 just as the cast, covered with a napkin, was 
 brought into the shop, the clay being still moist. 
 Being curious to see what was beneath the napkin, 
 and finding on inquiry that it concealed the fea- 
 tures of his respected friend, the covering was at 
 his request removed. The resemblance was in 
 every particular striking, except that the nose stood 
 awry. The workman had, it seems, in removing 
 it from the back premises, given it a fillip ; and 
 with a dexterous fillip, on the other side, the sculp- 
 tor, to whom this was pointed out, set it right. 
 But for this, it might have passed current, in after 
 times, among his admirers, on a view of the bust, 
 that the fine, manly features of Arthur Murphy 
 were somewhat disfigured by a wry nose. It is to 
 be lamented that the historical facts which acci- 
 dent may have distorted were not to be adjusted 
 with equal facility. 
 
 GRAN SABOR ES COMER Y NO ESCOTAR, 
 
 TO PARTAKE OF GOOD CHEER WITHOUT PAYING ONE'S SHOT, 
 TO EACH DISH GIVES A DELICATE SAVOUR, I WOT. 
 
 And so thought the poet from Hibernia's shore, 
 who was daily to be seen in the most frequented 
 streets of London a few years ago. Many must 
 still recollect a tall, meagre, squalid figure of a 
 man, dressed in a tattered suit which had once 
 been black, and whose wan countenance exhibited 
 
SWEEPINGS OF MY STUDY. 53 
 
 an air of study, blended with a dejected look that 
 seemed to intimate a long-past-by acquaintance 
 with better days. 
 
 This forlorn votary of the muses, who moved 
 compassion, lived, so far as moistening his clay 
 was to be called living, on the scraps, poetic and 
 prosaic, with which he supplied the newspapers, 
 with an occasional contribution to the magazines, 
 when a place could be found to marshal him, as 
 one of the awkward squad, in the poet's corner ; 
 but for his solid support, he depended chiefly, if 
 not exclusively, on the good-humoured compla- 
 cency of the keepers of the cheap eating-houses. 
 
 He fell quite into the humour of the Spanish 
 adage, and fared more savourily than the other 
 guests, because his disbursements were wont to 
 come, not from the pocket, or, in the sailor's dia- 
 lect, from the rarely-shotted locker, but from the 
 still-overflowing fount of his ready wit, couched 
 in the terse and felicitous phraseology of his native 
 island. This was ordinarily received as current 
 coin; while at intervals commiseration for his 
 abject state paid the reckoning : but the protesta- 
 tions he made, on his honour, that the day of 
 settlement was at hand, as they were not confided 
 in, were left unregistered. 
 
 The free horse, however, will tire at last ; and 
 so will the cook who sinks, in vain promises, what 
 has cost him, over and above his prompt expendi- 
 
54s SWEEPINGS OF MY STUDY. 
 
 ture, many a dripping care and melting sigh. 
 Among the least free of these animals, or machines, 
 who wind themselves up like a jack, in prosecut- 
 ing the daily routine of their culinary labours, was 
 one Simpson, who kept an eating-house in Salis- 
 bury Court, Fleet-street. This man verified, in 
 his swollen person, the observation of Shakspeare, 
 that 
 
 u Fat paunches have lean pates ; and dainty bits 
 Make rich the ribs, but bank'rout quite the wits." 
 
 Being as remarkable for the vacuity of his skull, 
 as was an acquaintance of his, named Price, residing 
 in Fetter Lane, for profane swearing. In passing 
 up the lane one Sunday morning, the poet was 
 summoned into the front parlour, by a tap at the 
 window. " You ragamuffin," said Simpson, " you 
 owe me eighteen-pence for three dinners, which 
 111 freely forgive you, if youll sport something 
 clever, and off-hand, about my friend Price and 
 me. 11 This was the impromptu. 
 
 When once again shall come Noah's flood ; 
 
 When Price shall cease to d his blood ; 
 
 And Simpson speak a word of sense ; 
 I'll haste to pay the eighteen-pence. 
 
 FATHER O'GARA ON HIS ROUTE FROM LONDON 
 
 TO PARIS. 
 An agreeable companion in a post-chaise is not al- 
 ways to be found on a sudden emergency ; and in 
 
SWEEPINGS OF MY STUDY. 55 
 
 entering a public vehicle, each has to take his 
 chance of company. It befel me, in transferring 
 myself from the English to the French capital, in 
 the autumn of 1785, to meet with unexceptionably 
 pleasant and amusing companions, as well in the 
 stage-coach on this side of the channel, as in the 
 diligence beyond sea. It was my first trip to 
 France, a kingdom which I have since so often 
 had occasion to visit; but the impression it has 
 left behind, however strong, would not have led 
 me to pluck its incidents from among the gathered 
 " Sweepings," had it not been for the individual 
 who is destined to animate, by his eccentricities, 
 the transient scene. 
 
 My companions in the Dover coach were what 
 were then called pass-passengers, that is, they were 
 taken up at the Black Bear in Piccadilly, to be 
 conveyed to Paris for five guineas each, their prin- 
 cipal meals on the road included. They consisted 
 of an Irish priest, who had in his charge a young 
 lad of the same nation, destined for the Irish col- 
 lege in Paris ; of a Frenchman settled in London ; 
 and of an English, or, I should have said, a Scot- 
 tish lady, who, visiting Paris for the first time, 
 without any knowledge of the French tongue, but 
 provided with letters of introduction as her only 
 and best safeguard when arrived, was in a manner 
 committed to my care at Dover, by a titled relative 
 who had come thither to meet her. 
 
56 SWEEPINGS OF MY STUDY. 
 
 We breakfasted at Rochester, and dined at 
 Canterbury, where the landlord of the inn shewed 
 his high respect for the company, by setting us 
 down to cold, lean ribs of pork, with small ale 
 served up in decanters, but so flat that it seemed 
 to me to have been watered on its passage from 
 the cellar to the dining-room. I was nettled at 
 this hard usage, and contended that, as I had not 
 entered into any contract either with the Black 
 Bear, or the White Bear, in Piccadilly, and had 
 engaged to defray my own expenses on the route, 
 I was entitled to civil treatment for my money. 
 On this remonstrance, a roast-duck was produced, 
 and shared out, as far as it would go, among the 
 company. To this treat I gallantly superadded a 
 pint of port wine, to be enabled to hand a glass to 
 the lady. Notwithstanding this extravagance, to- 
 gether with certain extras at Dover, I found, on 
 reaching the French capital, that I had the advan- 
 tage of a few shillings over the pass-passengers. 
 They, on the other hand, had, at Calais, a priority 
 of claim to the disengaged seats in the diligence — 
 a privilege which might have detained me there 
 for a day. 
 
 We reached Dover in the evening, and were told 
 we were to embark in the packet at eleven at night. 
 This interval of a few hours was productive of a 
 diverting scene between Father O'Gara, the Irish 
 priest, and Monsieur Marie, the French landlord. 
 
SWEEPINGS OP MY STUDY. 57 
 
 Whether the latter had become, by his transplan- 
 tation to the British soil, a bad and slovenly ca- 
 tholic, or in what other way he might have given 
 offence to the spiritual father who confessed him, 
 we could not learn ; but after they had been clo- 
 seted for a few minutes, the fury of the priest 
 against our host became ungovernable. The quaint 
 style of his abuse, his brogue, his gestures, every 
 thing about him was truly comic, while he followed 
 the dejected landlord from apartment to apart- 
 ment, allowing him neither shelter nor repose. 
 
 On our way to the packet he was more boister- 
 ous than the wind, which, snatching new terrors 
 from the darkness of the night, came in porten- 
 tous gusts to awe such of the passengers as had 
 not been accustomed to a sea-voyage. Marie 
 preceded us with a lantern : the pater swore vehe- 
 mently that he would duck him ; and, but for our 
 interference, would certainly have tumbled him 
 headlong from the quay while the luggage was 
 lowering down. 
 
 We had a strong breeze ; and Father O'Gara 
 was among the first to feel the qualms of sea-sick- 
 ness, to guard against the attack of which it is 
 customary to keep on deck, in the air. He did so, 
 but the giddiness, faintness, and lassitude which 
 shortly overtook him, induced him to quit his sta- 
 tion, and to seek relief in a recumbent posture be- 
 low. A vacant bed-place in the cabin presented 
 
 c 2 
 
58 SWEEPINGS OF MY STUDY. 
 
 itself to his view ; and as his case was pressing, 
 he was proceeding to step into it without cere- 
 mony, when the cabin-boy, who stood prepared 
 against every emergency, with a basin in one 
 hand and a mop in the other, protested against 
 his boots, which subjected him, he said, to a fine 
 of half-a-crown. I happened to be below, and as- 
 serted that he was justified, by the sudden sickness 
 which overpowered him, to turn in booted ; while 
 the boy, who had sagacity enough to perceive that 
 the fine, if incurred, would not be paid, insisted 
 on the contrary. 1 ' " Keep on your boots, father," 
 said I. — " Off with your boots," exclaimed the 
 boy — and in this way he was kept, like Francis, 
 the drawer, between Prince Hal and Poins, for 
 some minutes in anxious suspense. At length, 
 with a visage, depictive of grief and despair, like 
 that of Hamlet, in his interview with Ophelia, 
 
 " Pale as his shirt ; his knees knocking each other," 
 
 And with one boot off, and the other on, like the 
 representative of Hamlet encountering Polonius, 
 on a country stage, his stomach yielded to the un- 
 ruly motions of the vessel. Ah ! thought I, if 
 the gentle Marie could but see you from his inn at 
 Dover I 
 
 We landed at Calais early in the morning, and 
 having taken some refreshment at the inn, I sallied 
 forth into the town. I had before seen many 
 
SWEEPINGS OF MY STUDY. 59 
 
 strange places, but these were either transatlantic, 
 or widely remote, and the mind gradually prepar- 
 ed for the novelties they presented. Here the 
 transition was sudden, and the images of the pre- 
 ceding evening — of the objects on the opposite 
 coast— still fresh in the memory. A few hours, 
 passed in the solemnity of the night, had introduc- 
 ed me to a new world, in which whatever present- 
 ed itself to my observation differed entirely from 
 what I had so recently quitted.* 
 
 Having inspected the shops, visited the churches 
 and convents, and seen the troops paraded, my fel- 
 
 * It is the narrow strip of sea which occasions this marked dif- 
 ference. Sicily, also separated hy a strait, compared with the 
 states of Italy, has much less affinity of habits and usages than 
 have these states reciprocally :— -an observation which equally ap- 
 plies to Italy and Greece, divided by the narrow Adriatic sea, and to 
 Turkey in Europe, and Asiatic Turkey, separated by the Bospho- 
 rus. Where there is a land boundary it is otherwise : in some 
 instances, the passage from one European territory to another is 
 better known by the general face of the country, and by the more 
 or less improved state of agriculture, than by any characteristic 
 traits of the inhabitants. The Swiss on the side of France take 
 a tinge from their neighbours, which makes them differ essentially 
 from those who touch the German border. In many cases where 
 there has been a transfer of territory, however remote, the grada- 
 tion of habits, in the progress from the one state to the other is 
 scarcely sensible. Many of the natives of Alsace and Lorraine 
 not only speak the German language fluently, but are in their 
 manners almost Germans. 
 
6'0 SWEEPINGS OF MY STUDY. 
 
 low passengers and myself were led to the custom- 
 house, where our trunks were inspected by an 
 officer in full dress, with sword and bag, who con- 
 tented himself with a very slight inspection of their 
 contents, scarcely removing any one object, and 
 who, to my great surprise, refused a fee. At Dover 
 they had no such scruple, and were, for several 
 reasons, more strict in their search. 
 
 It was the custom at that time for respectable 
 English and French families residing near the 
 coast, to exchange their children with a view to 
 their acquiring the language on either side. I had 
 a commission to two young English ladies, whose 
 parents had made this kind of transfer, and who, 
 on my presenting myself, found some difficulty in 
 articulating their own language, not that they had 
 forgotten how to bring the words together, but be- 
 cause the habit they had contracted of constantly 
 speaking the French, required an effort in seeking 
 a new modulation of the organs of speech. 
 
 Between Calais and Amiens, Father CTGara 
 amused the company in the diligence by artfully 
 feigning sleep at the end of each stage, when the 
 postillions presented themselves to solicit from each 
 of the passengers the customary present of a gros 
 sol, or penny-piece. While he snored lustily, his 
 pupil paid them with " attez coucher" the only 
 two French words he had contrived to pick up on 
 the road. 
 
SWEEPINGS OF MY STUDY. 61 
 
 I had like to have involved myself with the Fa- 
 ther, in what I considered a sad scrape, at Amiens. 
 As we had some leisure before dinner, I accompa- 
 nied him to the cathedral church, where, among 
 the carved figures, was a St Anthony, whose nose 
 the worms had gnawed. I inquired of him whe- 
 ther the accident by which the most prominent 
 feature of the saint's visage was thus mutilated, 
 was comprehended among the good deeds which 
 had procured him a place in heaven. The allu- 
 sion was too plain to be lost on him ; and he 
 threatened me with what he would do on our 
 reaching Paris. If I could then have been sen- 
 sible of the profane scenes I should have to witness 
 there, I should not have dreaded his threat, which 
 kept me, however, on my guard, and made me 
 somewhat of a dissembler, when topics of religion 
 were touched, insomuch that I was on excellent 
 terms with the Father before we reached 
 
 THE FRENCH CAPITAL. 
 
 On our alighting from the diligence, the Valets de 
 Place surrounded us, and made a rude attack on 
 my fellow-traveller, the Frenchman, who was ad- 
 vanced in years, and shabbily dressed, on a sup- 
 position that he had the charge of my fair coun- 
 trywoman and myself, and would balk them of 
 the engagements they expected to make. He 
 escorted us to an elegant Hotel, les Bains de Bour- 
 
62 SWEEPINGS OF MY STUDY. 
 
 bon, in the Rue de Richlieu, where we were to 
 stay until the one could be fixed in a seminary of 
 education, and the other disposed of in the Uni- 
 versity Quarter, to prosecute his studies. 
 
 HOW TO DRIVE A BARGAIN. 
 
 Monsieur P was a franc Norman, who is 
 
 considered in France what it has been the custom 
 to regard a Yorkshireman in England, that is, as 
 one not scrupulous about overreaching when he 
 has a fair opportunity. As Paris is not likely to 
 see such days again, I shall here give an account 
 of our table-expenditure, and of his address in 
 providing for our entertainment. I accompanied 
 him to a traiteur in the Palais Royal, where, 
 from four livres per head, he beat down the un- 
 fortunate Italian cook to two livres, and that for 
 two, it having been planned by him that the lady 
 should be kept out of view in the negotiation. 
 For this moderate sum we had an excellent dinner, 
 served on silver, a dessert, and wine. The ser- 
 vant having brought to the apartment of the 
 Hotel the dishes and apparatus, was excused at- 
 tendance, and the lady called in from her chamber 
 to partake of the rich fare. It should be observed 
 that, in bargaining, it was then the custom of the 
 traiteur to inquire whether les restes, the remains 
 of the meal were to be kept, or delivered over to 
 him, as in the latter case he would be expected to 
 
SWEEPINGS OF MY STUDY. OS 
 
 make an abatement. With us they were kept, 
 and either a chicken, or some other delicacy, with 
 a bottle of wine, laid by for our supper. Two 
 meals were thus supplied to three individuals at 
 the small cost of three shillings and fourpence 
 English. 
 
 THE UNIVERSITY QUARTER. 
 
 The lodging was, however, on an extravagant 
 scale — a consideration which accelerated my views 
 on the other side of the Pont-Neuf. The direc- 
 tions given me in London led me to the Hotel 
 de Nassault, Rue de la Harpe, where I satisfied 
 the landlady that John Bull was not always the 
 dupe of his fantasies in a foreign land. The 
 apartments were of different sizes and decora- 
 tions ; and I chose the plainest, of a moderate 
 size, at fifteen livres per month. My countrymen 
 were not then so well known, either in the French 
 capital, or in the provinces, as they have recently 
 been, where the frugal notions of many among 
 them have engendered so much base suspicion of 
 those with whom they have had to deal : I was 
 therefore considered by Madame as a rara avis, 
 who had pitched on her in his flight across the 
 British channel. Unless I had hired a cabinet, 
 without a fire-place, which would have ill answer- 
 ed for the winter, I could not have been more 
 cheaply accommodated. 
 
64 SWEEPINGS OF MY STUDY. 
 
 My hair-dresser, who was to find powder and 
 pomatum, I engaged at four livres per month. 
 He was a genteel fellow ; and, having to take his 
 choice of either branch of the mixed profession, 
 occasionally asked me, to my great mortification, 
 whether he should have the honour to see me, at 
 the fixed hour, at the Ecole de Chirurgie. I had 
 brought from England several letters of intro- 
 duction to professors and others ; and one of these, 
 feeling myself indisposed, I requested a little boy, 
 the landlady's nephew, to deliver in the vicinity. 
 " Am I to say," inquired the youth, " that it is 
 from my Lor Anglais ?" a pretty Lord, thought 
 I, pent up in a chamber which costs him about 
 three English shillings per week, having each 
 morning to black either boots or shoes, according 
 as the weather holds, and rarely passing less than 
 half-an-hour, when that operation is over, in 
 rubbing and brushing from the skirts of his great 
 coat the boue de Paris, that most tingent and re- 
 fractory of all street muds ! 
 
 THE POLICE OF PARIS. 
 
 I thought I could not be more careful to lock 
 my trunks, when I prepared to sally forth to 
 breakfast, and was therefore surprised one morning 
 when the boy came running after me in great 
 haste to say that they were open. From his over- 
 eagerness, I might have suspected, on feeling in 
 
SWEEPINGS OE MY STUDY. 65 
 
 my pocket, and finding the keys there, where in 
 such a case they could not well have been, that 
 there was a trick in this, as it was easy for the 
 landlady to have kept her key of the chamber 
 safe until my return. The locks of the trunks 
 had been picked by a police-scout, in concert with 
 her, and the sudden message merely intended as a 
 blind. My effects were pretty nearly as I had 
 left them ; but still I could perceive that they had 
 been looked over. 
 
 I learned afterwards, on becoming acquainted 
 with a worthy Fleming, whose relative held a high 
 office in the Parisian police, that this sleight was 
 not uncommonly practised on strangers. Among 
 a variety of interesting anecdotes, he related to me an 
 adventure of a French gentleman, from a distant 
 province, who, on his coming to Paris, engaged at 
 hazard, as his valet, a promising youth. Being 
 married, it was of particular importance to him, 
 that his intrigue in the capital should not be 
 known ; but it so happened, that whenever he 
 paid a visit to his mistress, the lad was descried, 
 on the opposite side of the street, watching his 
 entrance. On his return to Paris a year or two 
 after, by a different route, and alighting in an op- 
 posite quarter, he was greatly surprised to find his 
 old valet in attendance, and anxious to make a 
 new engagement with him. He had ascertained, 
 in the interim, that the lady had shifted her abode ; 
 
66 SWEEPINGS OF MY STUDY. 
 
 and in seeking her address, he perceived his faith- 
 ful valet following his movements, as heretofore, 
 but at a respectful distance. 
 
 Until now he had, in his simplicity, considered 
 what had passed as purely accidental, or arising 
 from a pardonable curiosity ; but his suspicions of 
 the police were awakened. Having been disap- 
 pointed of his tete-a-tete, a plan suggested itself to 
 him, on his return home, which he thought would 
 baffle every attempt at espionage. This was to 
 send his valet the next morning with a note, re- 
 questing his correspondent, at the other extremity 
 of Paris, to confide to the bearer a particular sum 
 in crown-pieces. The lad was sent off according- 
 ly, and forth sallied his master on the old errand. 
 Being at the very threshold of his wishes, the ap- 
 parition, as he thought it, of his valet, darted on 
 him from over the way. Partly by threats, and 
 partly by enticements, the mystery was cleared up 
 to him. The note had been given to another 
 mouchard close at hand to do the errand ; and the 
 latter had procured the amount of the crown- 
 pieces, which our gallant, on his hasty return to the 
 hotel, found lying on the table in a sealed bag. 
 
 A CHEAP WARMING. 
 
 Fuel, always extravagantly dear in Paris, as well 
 as in the provinces, may be placed at the head of 
 
SWEEPINGS OF MY STUDY. 67 
 
 the articles of consumption and prime necessity, 
 which have thwarted the views of many of the 
 British who have sought a cheap asylum in France. 
 In the Palais-Royal was an exhibition of wax- work, 
 far superior to any I have seen in London, opened 
 by the Sieur Curtius, at the very moderate charge 
 of two sous, which were not paid at entrance, but 
 on quitting, the Sieur having adopted this plan, 
 because, as he said to me, those who had seen 
 the show, would be so gratified, as not only to 
 pay cheerfully, but to bestow praises on his liber- 
 ality, who could thus leave the remuneration to 
 their option, as he never pressed them on their de- 
 parture. It was thronged daily, being the resort 
 of all classes, but chiefly by the country people, 
 who used to make it an agreeable lounge of some 
 hours 1 duration, thus escaping a heavy charge for 
 firing where they had taken up a temporary abode. 
 Id on skchauffe apeu dejrais — here a cheap warm- 
 ing is to be had — said a Parisian wag, on observing a 
 group of country visitors pressing in to this exhibi- 
 tion. 
 
 THE ANGLOMANIA. 
 
 Partly through a motive of economizing on fuel, 
 and partly with the view of re-establishing, by ex- 
 ercise, a constitution shattered by hard services and 
 severe sufferings in North America, it was my cus- 
 tom to take my breakfast at the Cafe Patural, near 
 
68 SWEEPINGS OF MY STUDY. 
 
 the Palais-Royal, and then to post back to my studies. 
 But a few months before, the interior of this, as of 
 all the coffee-houses in Paris, had but a sombre look, 
 borrowed from the sable suits of the loungers by 
 whom it was frequented. The full dress, with 
 sword and bag, was now, except in a few instances, 
 thrown aside, to give place to the English cos- 
 tume, which the French ladies even began to ad- 
 mire. The worst cut coat from a slop-shop which 
 an Englishman could bring on his back to Paris, 
 was courted as a pattern, and submitted to the in- 
 spection of the Parisian tailor. So it was in other 
 particulars : I was consulted by a Frenchman, 
 who brought his unfinished teaspoons in his pocket, 
 to know whether, in London, the extremities of 
 the handles were turned upward or downward. 
 But the most ridiculous aping was in the article of 
 tea-drinking. While we, Englishmen, who had 
 deserted coffee as a pernicious breakfast, took hearty 
 sips of our strong infusion, a Frenchman would 
 begin by filling his teapot with boiling water, 
 would then throw in a pinch or two of the herb,* 
 
 * He was fearful of over-dosing himself with what he had here- 
 tofore considered as the potent ingredient of the ptisan so common - 
 ly administered in sickness. Being some years after the present 
 date in Languedoc, a French gentleman who had expressed a wish 
 to make my acquaintance, was introduced while the tea was serv- 
 ing. On a cup being handed to him — Diable ! he exclaimed, Ie 
 ne suis pas venu id pour ttre tisanni. The devil ! I am not come 
 here to be physicked. 
 
SWEEPINGS OF MY STUDY. 09 
 
 taken between his thumb and fore-finger, and, last- 
 ly, squeeze into it the juice of a lemon, sweetening 
 the liquor to his taste. 
 
 The exchange of the sword for the cane was, how- 
 ever, a happy result of the anglomania. In my even- 
 ing promenades in the Palais Royal, I have seen two 
 gallants, in dispute about a worthless mistress, as 
 furious at the onset as all Frenchmen are. Un- 
 provided with the weapon which might have been 
 of fatal issue, the momentary ebullition had no 
 sooner subsided, than the crest fell, and the white 
 feather was displayed. Each of the combatants 
 having broken his cane on his adversary's head, 
 wept like an infant, and withdrew from the contest 
 without the intervention of the Swiss Guards, 
 whose duty it was to part them, but who tranquil- 
 ly surveyed the bloodless scene. 
 
 THE ENGLISH MALADY. 
 Belonging to the collection of French manu- 
 scripts in my possession, of which I may have oc- 
 casion to speak more fully hereafter, is a corre- 
 spondence, similar to that of Diderot and Grimm, 
 addressed to the Chevalier Charles Emmanuel de 
 St Priest, then in command of the Regiment de 
 Royal Piemont, on service in various of the French 
 provinces. Those, at a distance from the capital, 
 who could afford to pay for this information, were 
 
70 SWEEPINGS OF MY STUDY. 
 
 put in possession, by a news-collector who kept his 
 emanuenses, of all the court scandals, and of what 
 was passing generally, in the way of political in- 
 trigue, and otherwise, throughout Europe ; while 
 the other subjects of the Grand Monarque were 
 kept, on these points, in the dark, nothing more 
 being allowed in print than the dry details of pub- 
 lic events about which no one seemed to care. 
 
 In this correspondence, which terminates about 
 where my immediate recollections of the French 
 capital commence, and the most interesting por- 
 tions of which I shall interweave with them, the 
 writer, in touching on the prevalence of suicide in 
 France, expresses himself to the following effect: 
 " Suicide, with which the English nation has been 
 reproached, is become very frequent in France. At 
 Paris, and even in the provinces, examples are af- 
 forded of tins weakness. A few days ago, a man 
 blew out his brains in the Champs Elysees. The 
 laws are relaxed, and no longer pursue with their 
 vengeance those who, in their rashness, are guilty 
 of these excesses. It will perhaps be found neces- 
 sary to recur to the first principles. " 
 
 In the space of a fortnight, in the summer of 
 1786, no less than seventeen noted examples 
 of the commission of this horrid crime were pri- 
 vately registered by a British officer residing in 
 Paris. The body of one of these, a Knight of St 
 Louis, who had just blown out his brains, I myself 
 
SWEEPINGS OF MY STUDY. 71 
 
 saw in the garden of the Tuilleries, and could not 
 help remarking how little the sad spectacle drew 
 the attention of the badauds, who promenaded 
 around the spot with a careless indifference. 
 
 The above officer, who was constantly on the 
 alert in the prosecution of this inquiry, daily visit- 
 ed the Morgue, where the dead bodies, either 
 dragged from the Seine, or found in the streets, 
 were exposed for the recognition of their relatives. 
 On these inspections, which required some precau- 
 tions, as many of the bodies were in a putrid state, 
 I accompanied him occasionally, and have seen, 
 lying on the paved floor, as many as five, and sel- 
 dom less than two. A portion of these had been 
 either accidentally drowned, or crushed by the 
 carriages at night in the narrow streets ; but there 
 were sufficient evidences to show that the greater 
 part of them had put a period to their existence. 
 
 On the subject of the English malady, I recol- 
 lect having been present, at Arras, in Flanders, in 
 the time of the Directory, at the representation of 
 a piece entitled le Bostonien, ou le fou raison- 
 nable. I could not well make out why the hero 
 of the drama should be a Bostonian, not having 
 heard, in the course of my Transatlantic peregri- 
 nations, that what we vulgarly call " the hip," or 
 a state bordering on melancholy madness, was en- 
 demial in that part of North America, and to be 
 met with in its exaggerated form. In treading 
 
72 
 
 SWEEPINGS OF MY STUDY. 
 
 the stage, he spoke of nothing but shooting him 
 self, and, ever and anon, drew a pistol from his 
 pocket for that purpose, being fully resolved to 
 rid himself of the perplexities of this life. Just as, 
 on his early entrance, he raises the pistol to his 
 head, in comes the tavern-boy in tears: he is on 
 the eve of losing his mistress, who is to be sacri- 
 ficed to a wealthier rival. The Bostonian gives 
 him his purse, and, in its stead, puts the pistol in 
 his pocket. In this way, one benevolent deed, 
 thwarting his desperate purpose, follows on the 
 heels of another, and the piece concludes without 
 a single shot having been fired. This was too 
 much in praise of the English character, to be re- 
 presented, without a mask, on a French demo- 
 cratic stage ; and the hypochondriac of the scene, 
 of the parent-stock, was made to figure as a native 
 of Boston. 
 
 THE ROYAL LOTTERY. 
 
 
 To the spirit of gambling, which was strongly ex- 
 cited by the frequency of the drawings of the 
 Royal Lottery, were to be ascribed many of the 
 acts of suicide committed in Paris. It was open 
 to individuals of all ranks and degrees, from the 
 humble adventurer of ten sous, to the one whose 
 rich stake was so distributed on the numbers of his 
 choice, as not to threaten ruin to the establishment, 
 
SWEEPINGS OF MY STUDY. 73 
 
 in the event of the turning up of a terne or qua- 
 terne, that is, of either three or four numbers, of 
 the five to be drawn from the wheel, named by 
 him. As to the qainte, or five numbers thus 
 named, of the ninety in the wheel, presenting 
 themselves, that was justly considered to be next 
 to an impossibility, as any one may be convinced 
 on looking into the volume of the French Ency- 
 clopaedia entitled Dictionnaire des Recreations Ma- 
 thematiques. 
 
 Beside the Royal Lottery, there were in Paris 
 divers others, such as that of Les eirfans trouves, 
 (the foundlings), for charitable purposes ; so that 
 there was scarcely a day which did not bring with 
 it its chance, to render many more wretched than 
 they already were, while it benefited the few. 
 Whether within doors or without, the lottery was 
 everywhere the theme. 
 
 I often saw, in the Palais Royal, a ci-devant 
 lackey who had burst into fortune by a lucky ad- 
 venture, and who was styled Le Chevalier Terne. 
 His new condition, which might have turned his 
 brain, fitted him well, for he was neither too for- 
 ward nor too shy. Many have been maddened by 
 a prosperous event unexpectedly overtaking them; 
 but I never heard of more than one who went mad 
 on the occasion of his neighbour's prosperity. It 
 happened' to^ me that I was poisoned, at a traiteur's 
 who dwelt at the back of the Louvre, with a pint 
 
 
74 SWEEPINGS OF MY STUDY. 
 
 of red wine, which I had strong grounds for 
 thinking contained a powerful saturnine deposition, 
 having been drawn from the bottom of the cask. 
 My nerves were shaken ; and I remained for some 
 time so feeble that I could scarcely crawl about- 
 It was recommended to me to change the air, and 
 from the Quartier St Jaques I placed myself en 
 pension at a boarding-house, where were inmates 
 of various nations, in the suburb of Chaillot. 
 
 I had there to study many characters, but the 
 one I should have most liked to see had whimsi- 
 cally disappeared some time before. He belonged 
 to a numerous sect in Paris, the members of which 
 were almost as worthless, and unprofitable to so- 
 ciety, as were the cloistered cenobites of their day. 
 These animals, priding themselves on being classed 
 among the petite noblesse of the kingdom, and 
 barely provided with what sufficed for their sup- 
 port, disdained to follow any avocation or pursuit, 
 and condemned themselves to perpetual celibacy. 
 The one in question had a hair-dresser who was so 
 lucky as to gain a terne in the lottery, the amount 
 of which, put out to interest, yielded him a yearly 
 revenue somewhat greater than that of his em- 
 ployer. That a plebeian so immediately and ser- 
 vilely connected with him should possess this ad- 
 vantage, wrought so sensibly on the imagination 
 of the latter, that, at the public table, he frequent- 
 ly declared it to be his resolution to hang himself. 
 
SWEEPINGS OF MY STUDY. 75 
 
 The Maitre de pension, judging him at length to 
 be in earnest, reasoned with him, and acquainted his 
 sister with the particulars of this strange mental 
 aberration. She likewise brought her eloquence into 
 exercise; but the impression was too strong: he 
 was found, in the Bois de Bologne, suspended from 
 the branch of a tree, a few weeks before I took up 
 my abode at Chaillot. 
 
 A coachman, in the service of a nobleman, was 
 discarded late at night for drunkenness. In stag- 
 gering homeward to his wife, and family of small 
 children, he had to pass a lottery-office, which was 
 still open. Having entered, he advanced boldly 
 to the counter, " Stand aside, fellow, with your 
 paltry adventure of twenty-four sous, while I serve 
 these gentlemen," said the lady who gave out the 
 tickets. " Mine is not to be a paltry adventure, 
 as you impertinently call it," retorted the drunken 
 man ; and on the counter he threw a bright louis- 
 d\)r, one of eleven he had just received as his 
 wages. " What are your numbers, and how do 
 you stake them ?" inquired madame, winking to 
 the gentlemen at the excellence of the joke. He 
 would have, he said, a terne sec, but as to the 
 numbers, he would leave them to her choice. 
 The billet, containing three numbers jestingly 
 written down, was delivered accordingly. 
 
 Coachey did not find his way home, and was 
 just recovered from his drowsy intoxication, when, 
 
7b SWEEPINGS OF MY STtTDY. 
 
 at a few minutes after nine in the morning, he saw, 
 placed in front of another lottery-office, the board 
 which displayed the five fortunate numbers that had 
 started from the wheel. He had a faint recollec- 
 tion of what had passed overnight, and drew from 
 his pocket the billet, which agreed, in its inscribed 
 numbers, with three of the numbers on the board. 
 He hastened back to the lucky office, and de- 
 manded the five thousand, five hundred louis" 
 which had fallen to his lot. They were paid to 
 him punctually ; but, on the other hand, the young 
 lady looked for her present, which is customary on 
 these occasions. " Not one Hard shall you have 
 from me, 11 said the lucky adventurer. " When I 
 addressed myself to you last night for a billet, I 
 was as blind as the fortune over which you pre- 
 side. To the sharpness of your sight I owe my 
 fortunate terne sec ; but you were insolent in the 
 delivery. May this teach you not to scorn in fu- 
 ture the venture of the poor man, whom misery, 
 and not a thirst after superfluous riches, may have 
 led to your office, to try his fortune.'" 
 
 The capricious goddess still favoured this man, 
 who was pointed out to me in his carriage, with a 
 modest equipage. What has intoxicated so many 
 others, had sobered him, probably for life. 
 
 " Look to number one," and " mind the main 
 chance," are of synonimous import ; but the Pari- 
 sians, both high and low, were looking anxiously 
 
 
SWEEPINGS OF MY STUDY. 77 
 
 in the summer of 1786, to number forty-five, so 
 celebrated with us in the turbulent days of Wilkes 
 and liberty. According to expectancy, and sup- 
 posing the chances alike, each of the numbers in 
 the royal lottery of France, ought, in the revolu- 
 tions of the wheel, to have been once drawn within 
 the space of nine months. This unobtrusive num- 
 ber, however, had remained undrawn for nearly 
 three years, and was, in common estimation, either 
 bewitched or plombe (leaded). Still it was to come 
 up at last ; and the government, to the end that 
 it might not be oppressed by the weight of the 
 noble metals laid on it, prudently ordained that it 
 should not be speculated on, or ridden, as was 
 once our phrase, without having other numbers, to 
 a gross amount, in its train, to bear the greater 
 part of the burden. 
 
 A LUCKY BIGAMIST. 
 
 A respectable man, aged upwards of sixty years, 
 by trade a dealer in wine, was led to the Greve to 
 receive his punishment as a bigamist. As such a 
 spectacle was rarely to be witnessed in Paris, it at- 
 tracted an immense crowd of spectators. The 
 culprit, with an iron collar about his neck, was 
 bound to a stake, and exhibited thus for two hours, 
 commencing at noon. On either side of him was 
 a distaff, and on his breast and back, a paper, on 
 
78 SWEEPINGS OF MY STUDY. 
 
 which was inscribed the word " bigamist." It was 
 lucky for him that the curiosity of the public was 
 so strongly excited, as he collected a sufficient sum 
 to enable him to pass his time comfortably, and at 
 his ease, during the nine years of his banishment 
 from the city of Paris and its dependencies. 
 
 THE MODERN DOCTORS. 
 
 This was the title of a laughable piece brought 
 out at the Theatre Italien, in ridicule of Mesmer 
 and animal magnetism. Cassander, and another 
 doctor, his confederate, swear that they will mag- 
 netise all the world, and enrich themselves at the 
 expense of their dupes. Several of the scenes were 
 rather indelicate, those more particularly of the 
 luminous crises, which might have been described 
 as having taken place behind the curtain, instead 
 of being brought forward on the stage. Among 
 the happy touches, a gascon brings his sword to 
 be magnetised, declaring it to be his resolution to 
 kill his enemies through a stone-wall, whatever 
 may be its thickness and dimensions. At the close 
 of the first representation, a call having been made 
 for the author, a performer came forward to say, 
 that he had just left the apartment of the crises, 
 and they really could not tell what was become of 
 him. 
 
 The following curious anecdote is connected with 
 
SWEEPINGS OF MY STUDY. 79 
 
 the above subject of animal magnetism. — Many 
 reports had been circulated respecting Madame de 
 St Flain. In the first place, her connexion with 
 Lord Digby had led to a supposition that she had 
 been arrested as being the entrepot of an illicit cor- 
 respondence. Here the French editor inquires, 
 " Whether England, in time of peace, could have 
 need of a spy in France ? Afterwards, as it was 
 known that she occasionally saw M. de Parades, 
 confined at Chateaudun as a state-prisoner, it was 
 still urged that she was a spy. This was, however, 
 without foundation ; and what passed at the house 
 of Madame la Rue, whom she attempted to murder, 
 was the sole occasion of her imprisonment. What 
 caused surprise was, that a young woman like her, 
 who seemed attached to her household-concerns, 
 and to her children, one of whom, aged four 
 months, she suckled, should have been led to com- 
 mit so atrocious a crime. She was instigated by 
 a motive of revenge against Madame la Rue, who 
 had, against her consent, brought about a match 
 between her brother-in-law, the brother of M. de 
 St Flain, and one of her nieces. That this little 
 woman, meagre, and as dry as a chip, had a 
 wrong head, a bad heart, and the most vio- 
 lent passions, may be partly evidenced by what 
 happened last summer. She went to M. Delon's 
 to be cured of an extensive burn in the arm. The 
 cure having been brought about, the latter inquir- 
 
80 SWEEPINGS OF MY STUDY. 
 
 ed of her how the accident had been occasioned ? 
 " It was I who did it," replied Madame de St 
 Flain ; " I burned myself expressly to know whe- 
 ther your magnetism would cure so large a wound. " 
 Her own relatives, without the knowledge of her 
 husband, took the necessary steps to protect society 
 against so dangerous a character." 
 
 A PUNNING CANDIDATE FOR AN ACADEMIC 
 CHAIR. 
 
 The Chevalier de Rimini, one of the candidates 
 for a chair which had become vacant in the French 
 academy, no longer entertaining any doubt of the 
 celebrated Abbe Maury having the preference, 
 wrote to the president, M. de Marmontel, to say 
 that he gave up all further pretensions, and con- 
 cluded his letter by the following pun: Omnia 
 vincit amor, et nos cedamus amori, [a Maury], to 
 show how deserving he was of the honour to which 
 he had aspired. 
 
 A NAME CLOSELY NICKED. 
 M. de Mercy, who made daily visits to the court 
 at Versailles, in discoursing with the unfortunate 
 Marie Antoinette, who took the highest inter- 
 est on the side of her relative the emperor, in the 
 dispute concerning the freedom of the navigation 
 of the Scheld, gave her Majesty positive assurances 
 
SWEEPINGS OF MY STUDY. 81 
 
 that all would end well, and that there would not 
 be, on either side, any hostile act committed. So 
 much the better, replied the Queen, the French 
 will no longer call me Manon VEscaut (Moll 
 Scheld). In recording this anecdote, the French 
 editor, badaud-like, expresses his surprise that this 
 sobriquet should have reached the court; as if 
 every opprobrious epithet, levelled at its inmates, 
 and in favour among the ladies of the halle,* and 
 fish women, was not sure to be reverberated against 
 the wall of the palace, and picked up by some 
 greedy slander-hunting courtier, who might find 
 an interest in its propagation. 
 
 ANECDOTE OF THE EMPEROR, JOSEPH II., AND 
 PRINCE KAULNITZ. 
 
 It is known that his Imperial Majesty seldom con- 
 sulted his ministers, and that the one most in his 
 confidence was Prince Kaulnitz. He consulted 
 him, however, at the time when, having given the 
 Dutch to understand that he was desirous to enjoy 
 the free navigation of the Scheld, he tried to ob- 
 tain possession of it by force. " We must arm a 
 few vessels,"" said the Emperor, " and make them 
 pass.'" — " But," observed Prince Kaulnitz, " they 
 
 * Market-place. The language of the low people in Paris is 
 styled — language des halles. 
 
 d2 
 
82 SWEEPINGS OF MY STUDY. 
 
 (the Dutch) will fire.'" — To this the Emperor 
 replied, " they will not fire." They entered 
 more fully into the subject-matter in dispute, but 
 always laconically, and with the same burden on 
 either side—-" they will fire ; they will not 
 fire." 
 
 The Emperor gave his orders in consequence, 
 and the vessels made a show of passing. The 
 Dutch verified the prediction of Prince Kaulnitz, 
 as is well known. The Emperor was on a jour- 
 ney when the latter received this information. He 
 wrote to his Imperial Majesty, and, without pre- 
 amble or peroration, confined himself to the words, 
 they have fired. The Emperor, on his return 
 to Vienna, sent for the Prince. " Now," said he, 
 Kaulnitz, " what is to be done ?" — " We must 
 fire." 
 
 THE LONGITUDE MISS'D ON 
 BY GOOD MASTER WHISTON, 
 WAS NO BETTER HIT ON 
 
 by good master ditton. — Dean Swift. 
 
 
 If the discovery to which the following anecdote 
 refers, had been verified, that of the longitude 
 would have been of comparatively little impor- 
 tance. M. Boutineau, an old servant in the King's 
 employment, and in that of the East-India Com- 
 pany, at the Isles of France and Bourbon, pre- 
 sented a memoir on the discovery of a philosophi- 
 
SWEEPINGS OF MY STUDY. 83 
 
 cal method of announcing ships and land at the 
 distance of a hundred and fifty leagues. The 
 proofs of this discovery were submitted by its 
 author to the judgment of several Governors, 
 Intendants, and Inspectors of the Marine, whose 
 certificates were inserted at the foot of the me- 
 moir. 
 
 It had been transmitted from the Isle of France, 
 and he followed it soon after, to reap the fruits of 
 his discovery. Agreeably to the testimony of the 
 Captain of the ship in which he took his passage, 
 he was not able to discover the land of Old France 
 when it was seen from the mast-head, and from 
 which he thought himself a hundred leagues dis- 
 tant. 
 
 SCENIC ARROGANCE. 
 The elder Vestris, the first, but not, in saltation, 
 the most accomplished of that numerous skipping 
 family, used to say, that there were only three 
 great men in Europe, Himself, Voltaire, and the 
 King of Prussia, (the great Frederic.) When in 
 London, he was caricatured, in the attitude of 
 Mercury, standing on one leg, with a goose at his 
 side, also holding up a limb. Underneath was 
 the following label : — " A stranger at Sparta, 
 standing for a long time on one leg, said to a La- 
 cedemonian, I do not think you can do as much. 
 True, said the other, but every goose can" 
 
84 SWEEPINGS OF MY STUDY. 
 
 When the project was first entertained of con- 
 structing, in the Palais-Royal, the Theatre en- 
 titled " Les Varietes Amusantes" the performers 
 belonging to the " Theatre Francois ^ alarmed at 
 thus seeing the rivals they despised about to be 
 installed in the very spot which had given birth 
 to their Theatre, ran to Versailles to make their 
 complaints, and to cause the fatal order to be 
 revoked ; but they were not listened to. Florence, 
 one of these mock ambassadours, said, on his re- 
 turn, " How was it to be expected that those 
 people at Versailles would pay any attention to 
 our representations, when they are altogether 
 taken up with futilities, such as the^navigation of 
 the Scheld, vessels embargoed, &c. ;" as if the 
 interests of a few Dutch traders were to be taken 
 into consideration before that of the arts, the per- 
 fection of the drama, and, above all, the glory of 
 the Theatre Frangais? 
 
 A French actress, Mademoiselle Felix, pos- 
 sessing a fine figure, and very handsome, was 
 engaged at Petersbourg, where she performed in 
 tragedy. One day, when she became the subject 
 of conversation at the table of the Empress Catha- 
 rine, the young Lans Koy, the reigning favourite, 
 spoke of her with so much warmth, and launched 
 out into such high praise of her graces, that from 
 that moment, it was noticed, the Empress no longer 
 saw her with pleasure, and forbore to command 
 
 
SWEEPINGS OF MY STUDY. 85 
 
 the pieces in which this actress might have been 
 seen with advantage. 
 
 On her side, Mademoiselle Felix felt piqued, 
 spoke with much freedom, and, what will hardly 
 be credited, between the Sovereign and the stage- 
 heroine an open warfare was at length carried on. 
 New expedients, to disgust and humble the latter, 
 were daily resorted to ; and every day the actress 
 became more firm against this persecution, at the 
 same time that her language and her sarcasms 
 often drove her enemies to despair. 
 
 It is known that at Petersbourg the distinction 
 of ranks requires that a certain number only of 
 horses should be harnessed to the carriages. 
 Mademoiselle Felix, who displayed her figure, in 
 the principal streets of the capital, like a Princess, 
 with four or six horses, received an order to ap- 
 pear with two only. Enraged at this prohibition, 
 she resolved to violate it, and even to brave the 
 Empress within the purlieus of her palace. For 
 this purpose, she demanded the equipage and car- 
 riage of Count Soltikof, her lover, whose rank 
 permitted him to drive with six horses. She was 
 now to be seen taking turns in the Park of Cazorel, 
 until she fell in with the Empress, which was what 
 she had most at heart. Enraged at the boldness 
 and audacity of this girl, the latter instantly sent 
 an order to the superintendent of the police of 
 Petersbourg, for her to quit the city within twenty- 
 
86 SWEEPINGS OF MY STUDY. 
 
 four hours, and the Imperial dominions within 
 eight days. In another State, less despotic, she 
 might have been punished with more severity. 
 The Count, her lover, was exiled to one of his 
 estates. 
 
 On her coming to Paris, after this sensible hu- 
 miliation, she displayed all her loftiness of charac- 
 ter, or, it may be said with more justice, her im- 
 pertinence ; for, having been badly received by 
 the public, in the character of Alzire, which was 
 allotted to her, and the hisses having become 
 general at the moment when she threw herself at 
 the feet of Alvares, she turned toward the audi- 
 ence, with a shrug of the shoulders, and an air of 
 contempt, such as might have been punished by a 
 residence of a few weeks in the Hotel de la Force 5 if 
 it had not been certain that she would never again 
 make her appearance on the boards of the Capital. 
 
 FATAL PRESAGE. 
 
 The death of the Count de Lastic, a Colonel in 
 the Royal Guards, and nephew of the celebrated 
 M. de Montesquieu, furnishes those who believe 
 in sympathies and presentiments with new proofs 
 in their support. He had been at the Opera in 
 perfect health, and was found dead in his bed 
 in the morning, from the bursting of a blood- 
 vessel. He had lost a younger brother six weeks 
 
SWEEPINGS OF MY STUDY. 87 
 
 before from a like casualty. Madame de Saisse- 
 val, his sister, was tormented throughout the night 
 with frightful dreams, which represented her bro- 
 ther in the utmost danger. These dreams made 
 so strong an impression on her, that, on awaking, 
 she did not lose a moment in ordering her car- 
 riage, to hasten to her brother. Fortunately, on 
 her reaching his Hotel, the porter had just re- 
 ceived an order not to permit any one to enter, 
 and to say that the Count was gone abroad. His 
 affectionate sister was quite consoled, and laughed 
 at the terrors which had beset her; but in the 
 afternoon she learned how well they were founded, 
 and that she had not been deceived by her sad 
 presentiments. 
 
 " ONE SAGE PHYSICIAN" LIKE A SKULLER PLIES, 
 AND ALL HIS ART AND ALL HIS SKILL HE TRIES ; 
 BUT TWO PHYSICIANS LIKE A PAIR OF OARS, 
 CONDUCT YOU SAFEST TO THE STYGIAN SHORES." 
 
 During the fatal illness of the Due de Choiseul, 
 who fell into disgrace after having successively 
 presided over the departments of the Marine, of 
 War, and of Foreign Affairs, several physicians 
 were called in, whose prescriptions were as much 
 at variance with each other as. their squabbles were 
 animated. It is to be suspected that he was the 
 victim of their learned disputations. He was 
 
88 SWEEPINGS OF MY STUDY. 
 
 himself fully sensible that whenever he should 
 give himself up to the doctors, his condition would 
 be but the more desperate ; for, one day, on 
 being solicited to see M. Barthes, he said, with 
 his usual gaiety, " All I know is, that I have one 
 disorder, and one physician." In his youth, he 
 had his nativity cast, and it was predicted that he 
 would perish in a sedition. The prediction was 
 accomplished. 
 
 , 
 
 WAR AGAINST THE INFIDELS. 
 The revolution which took place in the Divan, at 
 Constantinople, at the commencement of 1785, was 
 the work of the Capitan Pacha, who having been 
 several times visited by the Grand Signor during 
 his illness, regained the confidence of his master. 
 The foreign gazettes bestowed high praises on 
 Doctor Gobis, the Grand Signor's physician, for 
 the cure of the Pacha, describing him as a native 
 of Trieste, and the disciple of Vans Wichtu. 
 He was not, however, of that place, nor a pupil 
 of the celebrated physician of Leyden, but a 
 Frenchman born in a small village near Montpel- 
 lier. He studied for a long time in the University 
 of that city, but showed so little aptitude that he 
 failed in graduating. One day, he solicited M. 
 Fizd with so much earnestness, promising him that 
 he would never practise physic in Prance, that the 
 
SWEEPINGS OF MY STUDY. 89 
 
 professor became strongly interested in his fate, on 
 being satisfied that he had been invited to Con- 
 stantinople, and yielded to his solicitations. " I 
 am willing," said he, " to make you a doctor, as 
 you promise me that you will kill none but Infi- 
 dels." It was in this way that he obtained his 
 degrees ; but it was so ordered that, whatever may 
 have been the number of the victims registered on 
 his books, he had the credit of having saved the 
 second head of the Ottoman Empire. 
 
 THE FORCE OF BLOOD. 
 There have been several versions of the following 
 anecdote relating to the Pamela who afterward 
 became Lady Fitzgerald, the wife of a nobleman 
 of rebel-notoriety. This one, under the date of 
 1785, appears to be among the best authenticated. 
 " Five or six years ago Madame de Genlis had 
 sent her from England a young girl whom she 
 named Pamela. She then said that she had been 
 long in search of a female orphan, to bring her up, 
 and that this one was the daughter of an officer 
 killed in America. This infant, reared by her, is 
 now a heavenly girl ; and it has been constantly 
 observed that she has manifested, toward the child 
 of her adoption, a tenderness, and an affection, 
 which might have excited jealousy in her own 
 children. The beloved Pamela, however, has now 
 
90 SWEEPINGS OF MY STUDY. 
 
 turned out to be the daughter of Madame de 
 Genlis, and is about to be acknowledged as such. 
 The reasons that have been alleged why her 
 birth, and her name, have been thus concealed, 
 are, that the good lady wished to make experi- 
 ments on the natural sentiments which a young 
 child might feel, and on the instinct which is vul- 
 garly Called THE FORCE OF BLOOD. 
 
 " Madame de Genlis has too much good sense 
 to suppose that such an explanation would be al- 
 lowed to pass current. Be that as it may, it is 
 certain that for a long time her intimate friends, 
 on comparing the age of the young lady with the 
 Countess's absence at a particular epoch, did not 
 entertain any doubt of Pamela being her child, by 
 the Due de Chartres. Accordingly, it is rumour- 
 ed that his Highness is desirous to bestow a dowry 
 of a hundred thousand crowns (about twelve 
 thousand pounds Sterling) on the young lady, but 
 is thwarted in his intention by Madame de Genlis, 
 who claims this sum for herself, if it be required 
 that her pretended protegee, Pamela, should bear 
 her name." 
 
 
 THE MAGIC MIRRORS. 
 Beside the harmonic society, which met in the 
 Hotel of Mesmer, where, for his four louis', the 
 subscriber was instructed in all the secrets of the 
 
SWEEPINGS OF MY STUDY. 91 
 
 science of animal magnetism, and was an eye-wit- 
 ness of the prodigies of somnambulism, there 
 were secret assemblies in Paris where the visitors 
 were to be gratified with a view, either in a mir- 
 ror, or in water, of the objects they were most 
 anxious to witness, such as the beloved relatives 
 or friends they had lost, those who were distant 
 from them, &c. The mirrors were purchased at a 
 high price, and the composition of the marvellous 
 water charged extravagantly dear. On their re- 
 turn home, they ascertained the nullity of their 
 talismans, but took care to preserve silence, and 
 left other dupes to be caught in the same trap. 
 
 AN EASY TRANSIT. 
 When the celebrated Franklin was about to re- 
 turn to Philadelphia, as he could not bear the 
 motion of a carriage, it was planned that he 
 should embark on the Seine, opposite his own 
 house at Passy, to proceed to Rouen, and thence 
 to Havre, where the vessel that was to convey 
 him to America was fitting. It might thus have 
 been said, that it was not necessary for him to 
 take one single step in advance, on his route from 
 Paris to Philadelphia. 
 
92 SWEEPINGS OF MY STUDY. 
 
 TOUTES LES VERITES NE SONT PAS BONNES 
 A DIRE. 
 
 TRUTHS ARE NOT AT ALL TIMES TO BE TOLD. 
 The new regulation, of 1785, for the procurators 
 of St Domingo, and for the internal police of the 
 plantations, was near causing the greatest alarms 
 to the planters. Two gangs of negroes thought 
 proper to leave off work at eight o'clock in the 
 evening, alleging the law which exempted them from 
 labour after that hour. " This order/' the French 
 editor observes,*" is just beyond a doubt; but the 
 planters would have wished to have been alone in- 
 formed of it, because, they say, there are certain 
 objects which ought to be concealed from their 
 slaves; for, if ever they should reason, if ever 
 they should deem themselves supported in a kind 
 of independence by Him whom they call, maStre 
 a tious, maitre a vous [our master, your master,] 
 all will be lost."— This was prophetic ; but what 
 would have been, while they were still inthralled, 
 the condition of the negroes of Saint Domingo, 
 may be gathered from the occasion which led a 
 portion of them to betray symptoms of revolt. 
 If the King's benevolent view of alleviating their 
 burdens had been confided to the planters exclu- 
 sively, the latter might, in defiance of the new re- 
 gulation, have worked them by night as well as 
 by day. 
 
 
SWEEPINGS OF MY STUDY. 96 
 
 A BAD JOKE. 
 The verses which appeared in Paris on the occa- 
 sion of the lamentable death of the aeronaut, Pi- 
 latre du Rosier, were all of them detestable, more 
 particularly those which were ascribed to M. Ca- 
 racuioli, who, if he was really the author of them, 
 ought not to have indulged in a jest on so melan- 
 choly an event. 
 
 Ci-git qui perit dans les airs, 
 Et par sa mort, si peu commune, 
 Merite, aux yeux de l'univers, 
 D'avoir son tombeau dans la lune. 
 
 TRIBUTE TO THE MEMORY OF LOUIS XVI. 
 On the second of July, 1785, the Count de la 
 Pey rouse took leave of his Majesty, and on the 
 following day set off for Brest. The last confer- 
 ence he had with the King lasted for an hour and 
 a half. He had been enabled to judge, in the 
 preceding conferences, of his Majesty's skill in 
 geography; but on this latter occasion, when so 
 much leisure was afforded them, and when He 
 entered into the minutest details of an expedition 
 which He alone had ordered, M. de la Peyrouse 
 could not recover himself from his surprise. " It 
 appeared to me," said he, on leaving the cabinet, 
 " that I heard the most skilful as well as the 
 
94 SWEEPINGS OF MY STUDY. 
 
 wisest of navigators reason." This eulogy is not, 
 in point of sincerity, to be questioned; for the 
 idea of such an expedition, and the pains which 
 the King took to ensure its success, evince that 
 his Majesty knew, better than any other person in 
 his kingdom, the extent of its grandeur, impor- 
 tance, and utility. 
 
 MANY HANDS MAKE QUICK WORK. 
 In the Rue St Honore, a society of artists, at the 
 moderate charge of two louis', undertook to de- 
 liver a half-length portrait, in crayons, of the or- 
 dinary size, neatly framed and glazed, fifty ac- 
 curately engraved impressions of the same, reduced 
 to the miniature size, and the copper-plate. A snuff- 
 box, having one of these engraved portraits, his 
 own likeness, on its lid, was not an unusual pre- 
 sent among the French gentlemen. The sitting 
 lasted a few minutes only, and the whole of the 
 processes were performed in the space of two 
 hours. 
 
 PAUL HAYER, THE BANDITTI-CHIEF. 
 One of the most notorious of the brigands, in 
 a kingdom where highway robberies were so dar- 
 ing and so frequent, was Paul Hayer. The fol- 
 lowing succinct account of a few of his exploits is 
 
SWEEPINGS OF MY STUDY. 95 
 
 extracted from the " true history,"" to circulate 
 which, in the different provinces of France, twen- 
 ty-two news-hawkers were dispatched by the go- 
 vernment. 
 
 This chief, and seven of his followers, were con- 
 demned at Dreux, lower Normandy, in the diocese 
 of Chartres, to make the amende honorable in front 
 of the collegiate church of St Pierre de Dreux, 
 with a taper in the hand weighing six pounds, and 
 the head and feet bare. Having been thus ex- 
 posed, for the space of half an hour, to the view 
 of an immense concourse of people, belonging to 
 town and country, they were broken on the wheel, 
 and their bodies committed to the flames. Before 
 they were led to execution, they denounced no 
 less than sixty of their associates. 
 
 The first robbery committed by this daring 
 m brigand was at Varnueil sur Perche, on the first 
 of December 1783, at the house of the widow 
 Etienne, a milliner. To accomplish it, he pre- 
 tended that he wished to buy a cap for his wife, 
 together with half-a-dozen trimmed chemises, the 
 better to ascertain how he could get possession of 
 the till, in which were five hundred livres. On the 
 second morning after this scrutiny, at two o'clock, 
 there being a high wind, he contrived, by the 
 means of a crow, to break open the shop-door : 
 the neighbours heard the noise, but attributed it 
 to the wind, which they supposed had blown down 
 
96 SWEEPINGS OF MY STUDY. 
 
 
 a shutter. A little dog in the kitchen, however, 
 barked so incessantly, that Madame Etienne rose 
 from her bed, and looking out of the window, 
 saw Paul Hayer, who told her that he wished to 
 have a small glass of brandy for his wife, who was 
 in labour. She did not, she said, sell it, but 
 pointed out to him a liquor-shop close by. She 
 was no sooner in bed, than he found his way 
 into the premises, carried off a small box contain- 
 ing lace and silk ribbons, and emptied the till, all 
 which he did in the twinkling of an eye. 
 
 In the course of the following week, he intro- 
 duced himself, in the city of Coutance, in Nor- 
 mandy, to a young lady, whose acquaintance he 
 made, and having spoken to her of his high birth 
 and fortune, presented her with two pieces of 
 valuable lace, and a gay assortment of ribbons. 
 The lady, delighted with this present, gave him 
 an introduction to the best houses in the city, 
 which having carefully examined, he took his 
 leave of her, but not without her binding him to 
 a promise that he would return. What did Paul 
 Hayer ? He placed in ambush all his generals, 
 such as, Carpe-frite (Fried-carp) in one place, 
 Bois-joly (Fine-wood) in another, the great Glau- 
 din in another house, and Chapeau-rond (Round- 
 hat,) and Va-de-bon cceur, (Go-hearty,) together 
 with several Jews who were associated with the 
 band, in the house of the young lady. On a given 
 
 
SWEEPINGS OF MY STUDY. 97 
 
 signal, they all sallied forth from their hiding- 
 places, forced open the doors, and carried off that 
 night a booty of seventeen thousand, five hundred 
 livres, together with three gold watches, and seve- 
 ral other valuable effects, which were conveyed to 
 the magazine of their chief, situated in a place 
 called the wood of Granville, and resembling a 
 den of wild beasts. 
 
 In the village of Tironville, near Romorantin, 
 on the morning of the 25th of the February fol- 
 lowing, it being Ash-Wednesday, and the inhabi- 
 tants still in bed on account of the rejoicings of 
 the preceding evening, he attacked Francois 
 Mercer, an opulent dealer in wine and corn, whom 
 he beat most unmercifully, as well as his wife and 
 servants, binding them to a stake, to make them 
 divulge where the gold and silver were kept. The 
 key of a bureau, in which was the sum of three 
 thousand, one hundred livres, laid by for the pur- 
 chase of a small farm, having been delivered to 
 him, he took possession of the money and effected 
 his escape. 
 
 On the 15th of the following April, having 
 fallen in with a woman who was going to the 
 market of Nogent-le-Rotrou, and who wept bitter- 
 ly by the way, Paul Hayer thought that she la- 
 mented the loss of her husband. Not at all : it 
 was because a collector had made a seizure of her 
 goods to the amount of two louis', on which ac- 
 
98 SWEEPINGS OF MY STUDY. 
 
 count she was taking to the market her cow, 
 and the calf, which was only two days old. The 
 latter not being able to walk, she carried in her 
 apron. He asked the value of her cow and 
 calf. The cow she estimated at three louis 1 ; but 
 as to the calf she could not determine. Our bri- 
 gand was so moved, that he felt himself inclined 
 to do a generous act, and said to her, " I make 
 you a present of four louis 1 ; take home your cow, 
 bring up your children with care, and pray for 
 me, the wickedest of all men. 11 The good woman, 
 as was to be expected, more especially after such 
 a gift, assured him of the contrary, and declared 
 that he was the best man in the world, and that 
 she would never forget him in her prayers. She 
 determined, however, to take her cow to the mar- 
 ket, and in coming back, Paul Hayer robbed her, 
 both of the money for which she had sold it, and 
 that which he had given to her. 
 
 At Neuvy-la-Reine, on the 27th of the Decem- 
 ber following, Paul Hayer, being very much fa- 
 tigued, entered the house of an unfortunate farmer, 
 who was absorbed in grief. While he recom- 
 mended himself to the God of mercies, and to the 
 saints, his wife did nothing but scold him, instead 
 of affording him consolation. This scene wrought 
 so sensibly on the feelings of Paul, that he inquir- 
 ed particularly into the subject of his melancholy. 
 " Alas ! my good sir," said the farmer, " I owe a 
 
SWEEPINGS OF MY STUDY. 99 
 
 year and a half's rent : my corn was destroyed by 
 a hail-storm, which killed my six cows, and my 
 sheep have fallen victims to a distemper occa- 
 sioned by the bad quality of the straw, which 
 the hail had rotted. Beside this, it beat in the 
 roof of my house, which my landlord has obliged 
 me to repair ; and to be enabled to do this, of the 
 five horses that remained, I have been obliged to 
 sell two, which were the best. I have even been 
 forced to send to service my two sons, one aged 
 nineteen, the other seventeen years, whereas I had 
 formerly three men-servants. I have neither been 
 able to procure seed-corn, nor to pay the three 
 thousand, four hundred livres I owe my land- 
 lord." 
 
 On hearing this, Hayer inquired who the land- 
 lord was. " Ah !"" replied the farmer, " he is a 
 hard-hearted monster, destitute of religion, and 
 without feeling. When any one speaks to him of 
 the just God, he breaks out into the most wicked 
 imprecations. He neither bestows alms, nor has 
 the least compassion on a fellow-creature in dis- 
 tress. He is, in short, universally dreaded and 
 abhorred, even more so than either Cartouche or 
 M andrin." * 
 
 At this recital the brigand wept, and exclaimed, 
 " Send some one instantly in search of this public 
 pest, to the end that I may have a sight of him." 
 
 11 tm ■ ■ ■ ■ 
 
 * Two noted French robbers. 
 
100 SWEEPINGS OF MY STUDY. 
 
 On the arrival of the landlord, he conversed with 
 Hayer, without knowing hirn, about his tenant, 
 but in the most obdurate terms. " You must re- 
 mit, 1 ' said the latter, " the one half of what is due 
 from your honest fanner, and allow him two years 
 to pay the other half, making him an advance of 
 three hundred livres to purchase wood, as well as 
 two small horses in lieu of those he has been con- 
 strained to sell. ,, 
 
 This being said, the landlord changed counte- 
 nance, fired with rage, and declared that he would 
 not give him any quarter. " Be calm, sir," said 
 Hayer : " draw me up a receipt in full, in dis- 
 charge of the debt of your farmer, whom I have 
 never seen before, and I will pay you instantly. 
 And you, farmer, write me your promissory note 
 for the amount, to which you may add five hun- 
 dred livres which I will hand to you, and I will 
 give vou four years for the repayment." 
 
 How overjoyed was the poor farmer, who burst 
 into tears ; and what a satisfaction did the insa- 
 tiable landlord feel, when the entire sum was 
 reckoned to him ! Hayer ordered a soupe maigre 
 to be made for him, saying that in the interim he 
 would offer up his prayers to the Almighty be- 
 stower of all gifts. The landlord set forward to 
 return tranquilly to his home ; but Hayer, accom- 
 panied by Carpe-frite, by another and a shorter 
 route, overtook him, while he was thinking of aug- 
 menting his treasure with the sum he had just 
 
SWEEPINGS OF MY STUDY. 101 
 
 received, and made him pay dearly for his cruel 
 inflexibility. They fell on him, killed him, and 
 took possession of his money ; after which Carpe- 
 frite turned into a by-road to join his companions, 
 and Paul Hayer went back to eat his soup at the 
 farmers, where the promissory note was punctual- 
 ly delivered to him. 
 
 The robberies committed by Hayer and his as- 
 sociates, in the province of Normandy, and in 
 Rouen, the capital, at length became so frequent 
 that no one dared to stir abroad. The waggoners, 
 hawkers of goods, and merchants, were stopped, 
 not only on the highways, but in the small towns 
 and villages, where they could not procure lodg- 
 ings, as it was almost certain that their quarters 
 would be assailed. The persons of those who had 
 money about them were known to the robbers, 
 who contrived to obtain possession of it, either 
 by stratagem or by force. Notwithstanding seve- 
 ral brigades of the Marechaussee were in pursuit 
 of them, they had recourse to so many expedients 
 as to elude their vigilance. It was reserved for 
 the Abbe Lemoine, a priest belonging to the church 
 of St Pierre de Dreux, to come at the means of 
 discovering their haunts and artifices, the particu- 
 lars of which were concealed in their girdles. 
 
102 SWEEPINGS OF MY STUDY. 
 
 A PEDESTRIAN JOURNEY FROM LONDON TO AB- 
 ERYSTWITH, SOUTH WALES, UNDERTAKEN IN 
 THE YEAR 1791. 
 
 " It would not be amiss, sir," observed Sukey, in 
 casting her eyes on a page of copy for the press, 
 u as you have selected so much about Paris and 
 other foreign parts, if you were to introduce into 
 your book something more particular about Eng- 
 land. The other morning, in bringing in the ale, 
 you and Mr Puddlecombe the lawyer were laugh- 
 ing so heartily, that I am sure the milkwoman 
 over the way must have heard you, and when I 
 entered you were talking about Aberystwith. I 
 had some trouble in collecting the pieces belonging 
 to the note of the expenses on the journey, and on 
 looking over it just now, I was surprised at the 
 smallness of the charges."— * True, Sukey, they 
 may be considered at this time as curious, particu- 
 larly the one near Worcester, where my fellow- 
 traveller and myself were unexpectedly so well en- 
 tertained. As to the laugh you overheard, on that 
 subject I shall be silent. In the course of a long 
 life of travel and adventure, I have wasted much 
 paper in noting down the most remarkable passages 
 and incidents, and have torn much, as you must 
 have seen; but I have never had to blot that 
 which might have brought a blush on any cheek, 
 
SWEEPINGS OF MY STUDY. 103 
 
 however I may have occasionally relaxed with a 
 confidential acquaintance.' — 
 
 With the view of cheap living, which disappoint- 
 ed us in the trial, a naval acquaintance and myself 
 undertook a journey on foot, from London to 
 Aberystwith. We started from the Royal Ex- 
 change at eight in the morning of the 25th Sep- 
 tember, and supped at West Wycomb, thirty^one 
 miles from Tyburn turnpike, which we idly con- 
 sidered to be no small feat. The incidents on the 
 road were little deserving of notice until we ap- 
 proached Worcester, when hunger overpowered 
 us to such a degree, that we could not well pro- 
 ceed further without refreshment. On entering a 
 lowly public-house at the road-side, called the Gate 
 Inn, near Speechley, and within about four miles 
 of Worcester, we were agreeably surprised by the 
 sight of a loin of veal roasting at the kitchen fire, 
 with a large pot hung over it, and other symptoms 
 of good cheer. We were disappointed, however, 
 when the landlady, who did not seem well pleased on 
 our entrance, gave us to understand, that the joint 
 of veal which had so tempted us, was, with the 
 other good things, bespoken. Presently entered 
 two gentlemen, whom we were given to under- 
 stand were the village-lawyer and the village-apo- 
 thecary, both resolved to be in pudding-time. 
 Next came in a group of five or six farmers, and 
 these were speedily followed by fresh arrivals, un- 
 
104 SWEEPINGS OF MY STUDY. 
 
 til at length the inner-room, of a considerable 
 length, and having a table set out from the one ex- 
 tremity to the other, was crowded. It was a vil- 
 lage feast; and as we, the unfortunate foot-ad- 
 venturers, had not been called to it, we despaired 
 of either roasted or boiled. 
 
 Still there was a pause : some one was wanted 
 to place himself at the head of the long table, when 
 a respectable personage was announced by the 
 name of Webb, and who was no other, as I was 
 afterwards informed, than the celebrated and ec- 
 centric philanthropist about whom so much has 
 been recently said. Finding, on his entrance, 
 more persons present than could be commodiously 
 seated, and having made some inquiries about the 
 strangers in the kitchen, he requested an honest 
 farmer, my namesake, to preside there at a small 
 table, which would takeoff the superfluous guests, 
 while we also might be accommodated. Not satisfied 
 with this attention, he rose frequently from table 
 during the dinner, and paid us a visit, to inquire 
 whether he could send us any thing that would be 
 more agreeable than what was before us. 
 
 The solids, and delicacies in the way of pastry, 
 &c. which were brought from an out-building, to 
 gratify the tastes of so numerous a company, it 
 would become an epicure to describe. Nothing 
 was wanted which the country could afford, or the 
 diligent housewife prepare. What was the charge 
 
 
SWEEPINGS OF MY STUDY. 105 
 
 to us, who were so liberally entertained, will be 
 found among the items of the expenses on the road, 
 marked, by way of distinction, with three asterisms. 
 To show, that at our other halts we were not over- 
 sparing, I should remark, that both at Hundley 
 and at Leomister, we put up at the best inn we 
 could find. 
 
 My residence of a few months in South Wales 
 was, in the story of my life, nearly a blank. I 
 was not vastly fond of Welch society, nor of the 
 strong Welch ale with which a stranger, to make 
 himself agreeable in company, is expected to be 
 more than half intoxicated. But for this abuse, 
 there would perhaps be, in Wales, more instances 
 of longevity than are to be found in every part of 
 the world beside. I was told by a Welchman ad- 
 vanced in years, and of powerful stamina, who 
 went to bed almost every night fuddled with ale, 
 that nearly the one half of the male population in 
 that vicinity had, by this excess, been cut off at 
 a medium time of life. He had lived long enough 
 not to be terrified by these examples. 
 
 There are temperaments which securely bid de- 
 fiance to all the precepts of Hygeia. Being at din- 
 ner at the Talbofs Head at Aberystwith, an Eng- 
 lish gentleman, a magistrate, inquired after the 
 doctor, requesting that he might be sent for. The 
 individual so called, a barber by trade, received a 
 small salary for taking care of the keys of the 
 
 e % 
 
106 SWEEPINGS OF MY STUDY. 
 
 eastle. On his presenting himself, Mr Bonner 
 asked him if he could still shave ? As well as ever, 
 your worship, was the reply, but I must first have 
 a dram to steady my hand. He had then attained 
 his one hundred and seventeenth year, stood 
 erect, and had a ruddy complexion and unwrinkled 
 brow. I Was told that he had a son still living, 
 who looked the elder of the two. Four years be- 
 fore, he had undertaken, for a small sum of money, 
 to ride from the Talbot's Head to Mackynleth, a 
 distance of seventeen miles, and back, without rest- 
 ing, but on condition that he should be allowed 
 twenty drams before he started, and as many on 
 his return. He took them seated on his horse, and 
 felt but little fatigue from his journey. 
 
 The late landlord of the above inn had been 
 round the world with Lord Anson, in quality of 
 -quartermaster. He was as abstemious as " the 
 doctor 1 ' was disposed to run into excess ; and, like 
 most of those who have clung to this life the long- 
 est, went early to bed to repose soundly on his cup 
 of tea, and rose with the first cock-crowing. 
 
 TABLE OF EXPENSES ON THE ROUTE FROM 
 LONDON TO ABERYSTWITH. 
 
 First Day. £ s. d. 
 
 Acton. Breakfast. The tea good. A most unmerci- 
 ful consumption of bread and butter. Waiter included, 1 2 
 
 Hayes. A quart of ale, remarkably good. Mem. Bo- 
 niface very fat, - - . 4 
 
SWEEPINGS OF MY STUDY. 107 
 
 Beaconsfield. Dinner. A veal pye, a pot of ale, £ s. d. 
 two glasses of brandy and water, - 2 2 
 
 West Wycomb. Supper ; Eggs, bread, and butter. 
 Three pints of ale. Two glasses of brandy and water. 
 Beds, - ' - . - - 3 6 
 
 Second Day. 
 
 Stoken Church. Breakfast: Tea, without milk. 
 Treatment very uncivil, Is. 4d. Snuff and twopenny, 4d. 1 8 
 
 Tets worth, a pint of ale, - - 2 
 
 Forrest Hill, beyond the Quarries. A pint of ale, 2 
 
 Islip. Dinner: Mutton Chops. Haifa pint of brandy. 
 
 A quart of ale. Waiter, 2d. - - 3 2 
 
 Glimpton. Bread and ale, - - - 3 
 
 Enston. Supper : Ham and cold fowl. A quart of ale. 
 Two glasess of brandy and water. Beds. Breakfast, 
 3s. 8d. Waiters, 4d. Boots, 4d. - 4 4 
 
 Third Day. 
 
 Cross-Fosse-Way. A quart of ale. Bread and cheese, 8 
 
 Broadway. Dinner: Beefsteaks. A quart of ale. Two 
 
 glasses of brandy and water, - - 2 4 
 
 *Hundley, near Evesham. Unicorn Inn. Supper, 
 2s. 6<L ; Ale, 6d ; Beer and brandy and water, 9d. ; 
 Breakfast, Is. 6d. ; Servants, Is. ; Boots, 4d. 6 7 
 
 Fourth day. 
 
 %* The Gate Inn, near Speechley. Parish Feast : 
 
 Is. 4d. ; Five pints of ale, lOd. - 2 2 
 
 Worcester, near the Turnpike. Supper, Is. ; Two 
 quarts of beer, 8d. ; Brandy and water, 6d. ; Break- 
 fast, Is. 4d. ; Servant, 6d. ; Boots, 2d. ; Toll-gate 
 at Worcester Bridge, Id. - - 4 3 
 
 Fifth day. 
 
 B ram yard. Dinner, 2s. ; Three pints of ale, 6d. ; A 
 pint of port wine, Is. 2d. ; Waiter, 2d. ; Snuff, 2d. 4 
 
108 SWEEPINGS OF MY STUDY. 
 
 *Leominster. Unicom Inn. Supper, 2s. ; Brandy, £ s. d. 
 Is. 3d. ; Ale, lOd. ; Breakfast, Is. 6d. ; Chamber- 
 maid, Is. ; Waiter, 7d. - - 7 
 Sixth day. 
 
 Presteign, Radnor. Dinner, Is. 4d.; Ale, 4d. ; 
 
 Brandy, Is. ; Servant, 2d. - - 2 10 
 
 New Radnor. Supper, ale, brandy, and breakfast, 
 
 3s. 8d. ; Servant, 2d. - - - 3 10 
 
 Seventh Day. 
 
 Ryader. Dinner, Hare and apple pye, Is. ; Two 
 quarts of ale, 8d. ; Brandy and water, 6d. ; Servant, 
 2d. - - 2 4 
 
 Post House, near Ecomistwith Brook. Supper, beds, 
 breakfast, and three quarts of ale, 3s. 8d. ; Servant, 
 4d. - - - 4 
 
 Total expenditure of the two travellers on the road, £2 16 1] 
 
 FIVE DAYS' PEREGRINATION. 
 
 An Account of what seemed most remarkable in the Five Days 
 Peregrination of the five following Persons, viz. Messrs Tothall, 
 Scott, Hogarth, Thornhill, and Forrest. Abi tu etfac simi- 
 
 liter. 
 
 From the Copy taken by the Reverend Thomas Austin, from the 
 Original, in the Possession of Thomas Forrest, Esq. of Chatham 
 Dock-yard. 
 
 HOGARTH AND HIS MERRY COMPANIONS. 
 
 The diverting scenes described in the five days 1 
 peregrination of five eccentric characters, hinted 
 at precedently in this work, were turned into hudi- 
 brastics, which almost entirely destroyed their 
 quaint humour, and published by Mr Nicoll in his 
 
SWEEPINGS OF MY STUDY. 109 
 
 Biographical Anecdotes of Hogarth. Bad etchings 
 of the drawings were likewise put forth, with a 
 mutilated text in illustration; and these impres- 
 sions are limited to the possession of a few collec- 
 tors. In the hope that the droll adventures com- 
 prised in the original MS. will be in this manner 
 more generally circulated and preserved, the fol- 
 lowing authentic copy is here introduced, with the 
 omission of one or two passages of too coarse a tex- 
 ture for readers of this refined age. 
 
 Saturday, May 27. Set out with the morning, and 
 took our departure from the Bedford Arms Tavern, 
 in Covent Garden, to the tune of, " Why should we 
 quarrel for Riches ?" The first land we made was 
 Billingsgate, where we dropt anchor at the Dark- 
 house. There Hogarth made a caricature of a por- 
 ter, who called himself the Duke of Puddledock. 
 The drawing was, by his Grace, pasted on the cellar- 
 door. We were greatly entertained with the hu- 
 mours of the place, particularly by an explanation 
 of a Gaffer and a Gammer, a little obscene, al- 
 though in the presence of two of the fair sex. 
 Here we continued till the clock struck one, and 
 . then set sail in a Gravesend boat we had hired for 
 ourselves. Straw was our bed, and a tilt our 
 covering. The wind blew hard at S. E. and by 
 E. We had much rain, and no sleep, for about 
 three hours, At Cuckold's Point we sung Sir 
 
110 SWEEPINGS OF MY STUDY. 
 
 John — at Deptford Pishoken — and in Blackwall 
 Reach eat hung beef and biscuit, and drank 
 right Hollands. At Purfleet we had a view of 
 three men of war, from one of which we took on 
 board the pilot who brought the Tartar Pink up 
 the channel. He entertained us with the insult of 
 the Spaniards to himself, and other affairs of con- 
 sequence, which made us drowsy, and then Hogarth 
 fell asleep ; but soon awaking, was going to tell his 
 dream, but falling asleep again, when awake, had 
 forgotten he had dreamed at all. 
 
 We soon arrived at Gravesend, but found some 
 difficulty in getting ashore, by a boy's boat that 
 had intercepted the passage, and his refusing us 
 to go across his vessel. We surmounted the diffi- 
 culty, however, and happily arrived at Mother 
 Bramble's at six. [The Horn alehouse I guess. 
 T. A.] We washed hands and face, got our wigs 
 powdered, then drank coffee and tea, eat toast and 
 butter, paid our reckoning, and set out at eight. 
 We viewed the new church, the unknown person's 
 tomb and epitaph, and the market-place, and then 
 proceeded on foot to Rochester. Nothing remark- 
 able occurred, except our calling and drinking three 
 pots of beer at an evil house, as we were afterwards 
 informed, called the Dover Castle ; and some small 
 distress Mr Scott suffered in travelling through a 
 clayey ground moistened by rain. But the coun- 
 try being exceedingly pleasant, alleviated his dis- 
 
 
SWEEPINGS OF MY STUDY. Ill 
 
 tress, and made him jocund ; and about ten we 
 arrived at Rochester. 
 
 We surveyed the fine bridge, cathedral, and 
 castle, described the latter, ascended its battle- 
 ments to the top, saw a beautiful country, a fine 
 river, and the noblest ships in the world. A little 
 boy descended the deep well in the castle, by small 
 holes cut in the sides, and brought quickly up a 
 young daw taken out of a nest there. We tra- 
 versed the city, saw Watt's Hospital, viewed the 
 bas-relief figures on the front, and returned to 
 the Crown Inn at 12. The chief of the company 
 slept on chairs till dinner-time, in the dining-room. 
 From one till three we spent at dinner on soles and 
 flotmders, with crab sauce, roasted calf-head stuffed, 
 the brain fried, and the rest minced ; a leg of 
 mutton roasted, and green pease — all good and 
 well dressed — with small beer and excellent port. 
 The boy cleaned our shoes, and we went upon our 
 adventures at three. Hogarth and Scott played at 
 hop scotch [fox in the hole] under the court-hall. 
 We walked on to Chatham, bought shrimps, view- 
 ed the store-houses and dock-yard, and went on 
 board the Marlborough, the Royal Sovereign, the 
 Royal George, and Royal Anne. At six returned 
 to our inn, and spent the time agreeably till nine, 
 when, being fatigued, we went to bed. 
 
 Sunday. — Awoke at seven. Hogarth and Thorn- 
 hill told their dreams, and talked on them in bed. 
 
11£ SWEEPINGS OF MY STUDY. 
 
 We arose and missed Scott, who went to the bridge 
 and drew part of the river, (the second drawing 
 being Scragg's key), and wondered people stared 
 at him, till he recollected it was Sunday. 
 
 N. B. — The house, key, boats, and one large 
 vessel, in Indian ink; the hill above, to St Mar- 
 garets church, faintly stained with green, very 
 slight. 
 
 At nine, having breakfasted, we set out for 
 Stroud, and by the Medway's side, going through 
 the fields, we were attacked by a severe shower of 
 rain ; Scott took shelter under a hedge, and, lying 
 down, soiled the back of his coat with an ordural 
 moisture of verdant hue. Uneasy at this, and de- 
 manding immediate cleansing from the filthy daub, 
 he missed a white cambric handkerchief which his 
 wife had lent him ; he soon found it, yet feared it 
 was torn, but was convinced otherways. We pro- 
 ceeded merrily to Findsbury, viewed the church 
 and church-yard, pleasantly situated ; some bad 
 epitaphs ; and observed the list of benefactors, &c. 
 in the church. 
 
 At ten, we walked to Upnor, which we viewed. 
 Hogarth drew the castle, and Scott the shipping 
 near it. (The third drawing is the bank next the 
 water, the bushes on it, part of the towers behind, 
 the three front towers faced by pales next the 
 water). The castle described, its force, &c. Forrest 
 bought cockles of an old blind man and half-blind 
 
SWEEPINGS OF MY STUDY. 113 
 
 woman, who were in a little cock-boat on the river. 
 We made a hurry-scurry dinner at the Smack at 
 the Western-gun-battery. We had a battle royal 
 between us, with sticks, pebbles, and horse-dung : 
 Tothill the chief sufferer, and his clothes shewed 
 it some time. This caused laughter, and we march- 
 ed on to the BirdVnest-battery, keeping the river 
 and ships still in view : popped over the hill to Hoo 
 church-yard : here we found an odd epitaph on a 
 rail over a grave, made by a servant-maid on her 
 deceased master. Thus, 
 
 " And when he died. You plainly see 
 
 He freely gave . al to Sara - Passa Wee. 
 
 And in doing so . it DoTh prevail, 
 
 that I on . him . can . well . besTow this Rayel 
 
 On Year . I sarv'd, him . it is . well . none 
 
 But . Thanks be to . God . it is : all my . One. 
 
 At four we left Hoo, and the agreeable widow 
 landlady, who had buried four husbands. As 
 we travelled through this charming country, the 
 weather was exceedingly pleasant, and Scott made 
 us merry by trying to prove that a man may 
 go over, but not through the world, and, for ex- 
 ample, pointed to the earth, and asked us to go 
 through that element. Our opinion gave it that 
 his argument had less weight than his coat-pocket, 
 which happened to have been filled by us with 
 pebbles unperceived by him. He had carried them 
 for some time ; and being well fitted with ammu- 
 
114? SWEEPINGS OF MY STUDY. 
 
 nition to knock down all opponents, we acquiesced. 
 At five, viewed Stoke church, and passed through 
 the church-yard. Saw nothing worth notice, till 
 we came to a farm-house not far off : here was a 
 pole on an elm at the door, with a board and painted 
 cock on it for a vane and shuttlecock at top. This 
 variety of cocks produced us much speculation. 
 We passed through North Street, a little village. 
 Having come to a well brimful of water, we agreed 
 to quarrel and spatter one another. Being well 
 drenched in clothes and cool in courage, we tra- 
 velled to Stoke Town, (or Street), and quartered 
 at the NagVhead. At six, while supper was pre- 
 paring, we walked out to view the low lands, and 
 on an adjacent plain began another engagement, 
 in which Tothall and Scott had their clothes well 
 daubed with cow-dung. 
 
 At seven returned back, cleaned ourselves, sup- 
 ped, adjourned to the street-door, drank punch, 
 and stood and sat for our pictures, drawn by 
 Hogarth. (Drawing 3d, five figures on the beach 
 where Upnor castle was drawn.) At night drew 
 lots for one lying alone, there being but three 
 beds and no night-caps. Tothall won the single 
 bed. At eleven, we rose without candle and 
 dressed, the sheets being damp, and then laid 
 down in our clothes and slept till three, when, on 
 awaking, we bemoaned our hard fate, our eyes, 
 lips, and hands being stung and swelled by the 
 
SWEEPINGS OF MY STUDY. 115 
 
 bites of gnats. Yet Morpheus swayed us down 
 to deep slumber till six, when we arose, had our 
 shoes cleaned, beards shaved, and wigs floured by 
 a fisherman in boots and shock hair, without coat 
 or waistcoat, (drawing 4th, very humorous, in 
 Indian ink, the man shaving Thornhill, Tothall 
 shaving himself, Hogarth drawing, Forrest, in red 
 wash, in his night-cap, at breakfast on spoon meat, 
 and Scott finishing a drawing on the same table.) 
 Milk and toast was our breakfast, paid the reck- 
 oning, and set out for Sheerness at eight. 
 
 We passed down Stoke-marsh, being directed to 
 keep the road- way. Heavy walking by means of 
 the rain the preceding night ; Forrest decoyed his 
 companions over a stile, which led along a beach 
 by a creek-side, supposing it the nearest way, but 
 carried them two miles out of the road. Gaining 
 the right one, we soon entered the Isle of Grain. 
 Passing the church we stopped at the Checquer 
 alehouse, kept by Goody Hubbard ; were enter- 
 tained with salt-pork, black bread, butter and 
 buns, and good beer. There Scott left us, and 
 lost his penknife, value 5s. We here expected to 
 get a boat over to Sheerness, but the wind blow- 
 ing too hard, the ferryman refused to carry us, 
 and another sent us the same excuse ; but the 
 landlady advised us to make to the marshes next 
 the salt-houses, and hail the ships in ordinary. 
 In this way we procured a little boat, which 
 
116 SWEEPINGS OF MY STUDY. 
 
 Thornhill and Tothall brought up to us, after 
 going down to meet it, and with some difficulty 
 took us in, (drawing 5th, viz. the boat, Tothall 
 at the helm, Thornhill lending a hand to Hogarth, 
 Forrest pushing forward Scott. Sheerness, three 
 ships, one firing a gun.) 
 
 We set sail for Sheerness ; the sea ran high, 
 wind hard at S. W. by S. As we passed we had 
 the pleasure of seeing and hearing guns fired from 
 the fort and ships. Landed at twelve. Traversed 
 the fort and lines, viewed the fortifications and 
 batteries, and had a delightful prospect of the sea 
 and Sheppy Isle. At one, set out for Queen- 
 borough, and walked to it along the beach, over 
 which the spray flew in many places. Thornhill 
 fell and slightly hurt his legs, yet all merrily trot- 
 ted on, and gained Queenborough, at two. The 
 town consists of one street, on the east of a creek 
 named after it, and branching out of the Med- 
 way. The street clean and well paved, (drawing 
 6th, viz. houses on the left, clock-house and 
 church, and gateway in front, Forrest and Ho- 
 garth with the sailors.) No trade or many human 
 creatures to be seen at first, the church low and 
 ill built, few epitaphs worth note, the best was 
 
 " Henry Knight, master of a ship to Greenland, and harponeer 
 24 voyages. 
 " In Greenland I whales, sea-horse, bears did slay, 
 Though now my body is Intombe in clay." 
 
SWEEPINGS OF MY STUDY. 117 
 
 The town-house or clock-house stands in the mid- 
 dle of the street, supported by four piers which 
 form four arches, and, it being a holiday, was 
 decked with a flag bearing the corporation arms. — 
 We quartered at the Red Lion, which people here 
 called the Swans, fronting the river : a civil prat- 
 ing landlady. She having no beds, we applied to 
 a merry woman at a private house, who furnished 
 us with what we wanted. We took another walk 
 up the town, viewed the inside of the church, and 
 had a conference with the grave-digger, who told 
 us the mayor was a custom-house officer, and the 
 parson a sad dog. Although they had two mar- 
 ket-days, yet no fresh meat, poultry, nor fish, ex- 
 cept lobsters, to be got; with which, and some 
 eggs and bacon, we made our supper. — We walk- 
 ed up the hill behind the town to a well of good 
 water, over which, they said, a palace once stood, 
 built by King Ed. III. for his Queen Philippa. 
 
 While here, two sailors came and drew water 
 and drank, telling us how they and four more of 
 the crew of the Rose man-of-war, were obliged the 
 day before to attend a midshipman, General S.'s 
 son, in a yaul up the creek, and had run the boat 
 ashore ; and they were left by him without suste- 
 nance, or money to buy any thing but a few little 
 cockles to eat, he still continuing at Sheerness, 
 while they were starving. We gave them 6d., for 
 which they were thankful, and ran to town to 
 
118 SWEEPINGS OF MY STUDY. 
 
 buy them victuals for themselves and their compa- 
 nions, who were sleeping at some distance. Going 
 to view our boat, as it stuck fast in the mud, one 
 of the sailors returned hastily, and kindly pre- 
 sented us some cockles. This act of singular gra- 
 titude made us follow the fellows into town, 
 where we gave them another sixpence, and, they 
 fetching their companions, they all refreshed them- 
 selves, and became thankful and merry. 
 
 At seven we passed through the town, and had 
 a chat with several pretty women we had not ob- 
 served before. Returned to our quarters, and 
 placed Hogarth in the street. Seated in a wooden 
 chair, he made the drawing No. 6. (i. e. the afore- 
 said street and sailors.) This gathered a con- 
 course of spectators, men, women, and children, 
 to see him draw. This finished, we again walked 
 up the town, and at the mayor's door saw the 
 aforesaid sailors, and were told, with your wor- 
 ship at every word, how the midshipman had re- 
 turned, and had been seeing how the boat was 
 laid up in the creek ; and coming back had met a 
 sailor and his doxy, whom the midshipman want- 
 ed to be free with. The sailor opposed this, in- 
 sisting that she was his wife, and thus hindered 
 him from being rude. The officer, resenting this, 
 applied to the mayor for redress. An odd affair, 
 but we could not stay to see the sequel. At nine 
 we returned to our quarters; drank all friends, 
 
SWEEPINGS OF MY STUDY. 119 
 
 and emptying several cans of good flip, all sang 
 merrily ; but we were abashed by the better sing- 
 ing of the Harwich men in the next room, who 
 had bought lobsters, and were drinking. They sung 
 several sea songs so agreeably, that neither our 
 Sir John nor Pishoken could compare to them. So 
 that, finishing the evening as pleasantly as possible, 
 we went out of the house by the back-way to our 
 lodgings about eleven. Our landlady had got a 
 bed for Scott in the garrett. On his grumbling, 
 and our laughing, it provoked him to refuse lying 
 there, and Tothall, in pure [good nature, offered 
 him his own bed at the house we came from, and 
 he would take the garrett. — Scott agreed and left 
 us.— Tothall going up stairs, found he was to lye 
 in a flock-bed without curtains ; down again he 
 came directly, and ran after Scott, which made 
 us very merry, and we slept upon it till six next 
 morning. 
 
 Tuesday morning.— Hogarth called me up, and 
 told me that the woman demanded payment for 
 the bed, or to have Scott before the mayor : this 
 last we tried all we could to promote, but in vain. 
 So coming to the public-house where Scott and 
 Tothall had lain, we found the doors open, a 
 thing common in this town, and yet nobody up. 
 Hogarth roused them, and Scott told us how he 
 had been frighted ; for when he left us, and was 
 going to bed, he perceived something stir under 
 
120 SWEEPINGS OF MY STUDY. 
 
 the bed-cloathes, which, collecting courage, he re- 
 solved to feel. On this something cried out, 
 seeming frightened, and scared him out of his 
 wits ; but, on inquiry, he found it was only a lit- 
 tle boy of the house who had mistaken his bed. 
 This made us merry, and Tothall provided us a 
 breakfast. 
 
 After this we left the Swans, and went to see 
 to the washing of our shirts up town. They hav- 
 ing had no time to dry, we took them wet, and 
 got them dried and ironed at the next town. At 
 ten we left Queensborough ; the morning delight- 
 ful, the country pleasant, through which we agree- 
 ably passed up to the Minster, a little village on 
 the highest part of the island. We laboured hard 
 in climbing the hill to the church-yard, it being 
 very steep. We saw there, on a wooden rail over 
 a grave, this epitaph 
 
 " Here Interrd Geo. Anderson doth lye, 
 
 By fallen on an Anchor he did Dye 
 
 In Sheerness Yard on Good Friday, 
 
 The sixth of Aprill I Do say. 
 
 All you that read my Allegy, be 
 
 Ready for to dye.— Aged alwaies 42 Years."——— 
 
 Our landlord at the George got us the church 
 key ; we entered, and saw Lord Cheyne's monu- 
 ment, the Spanish ambassadour's, and that of Lord 
 Shoreland. (No. 1th, a horizontal figure at full 
 length, being the ambassadour's effigy, drawn by 
 
SWEEPINGS OF MY STUDY. 121 
 
 Mr Scott,) Hogarth drew Lord Shoreland. No. 
 8th, a horizontal one, face at the right, as was the 
 other at the left hand, a horse's head and a back- 
 bone at the feet.) Here is related a long story of 
 Lord Shoreland's meeting a crowd in the church- 
 yard, about a priest who refused burying a corpse 
 without payment of the fee, which provoked his 
 honour so much, that he bid the mob throw the 
 priest into the grave alive, and bury him, which 
 they did. Lord Shoreland, fearing punishment of 
 the law for this action, on Queen Elizabeth being 
 then on board ship at the Nore, when our fleet 
 went out to oppose the Spanish armada, he swam 
 to her ship, and presented a petition for pardon. 
 She read it at the ship's side, and granted it. He 
 then swam back to Shepey Island, landed, and 
 being told by an old woman that still his horse 
 should be his death, to prevent it, he drew his 
 sword and killed the poor animal ; the horse be- 
 came a skeleton, being thrown by the waves to 
 and fro the shore. Some years after, my Lord, 
 with his friends, walking on the shore, espied the 
 skull, bones, and remains of the horse, related the 
 story of the old woman, happened to kick the 
 skull, and so hurt one of his toes that it mortified, 
 and killed him. This account is so firmly believ- 
 ed here, that a very fine gilt horse's head is placed 
 as a weathercock on the church-steeple, and the 
 
 F 
 
122 SWEEPINGS OF MY STUDY. 
 
 figure of a horse on the spindle over that weather- 
 cock. 
 
 We dined at the George, stayed till four, then 
 left Minster, and walked to Sheerness, hired a 
 bumboat, and at five set sail for Gravesend. The 
 wind blew a fresh gale at E. by S. Scott grew 
 very sea-sick, and did what was natural in such 
 cases. Soon after, Hogarth grew sick and un- 
 easy, which augmented by our stopping; and 
 Tothall went on board Captain Robinson's, one of 
 the custom-house sloops, riding in Holy Haven, 
 who furnished him with some milk-punch, and 
 us with fire to light our pipes, which was greatly 
 wanted. It rained hard all the voyage. Por- 
 poises were rolling in pursuit of prey, and one got 
 so near the shore, as made us think he would stay 
 there, but he got off again. 
 
 About seven of our sick passengers being re- 
 covered, we sailed merrily and sang Sir John 
 Pishoken, and several other songs and tunes our- 
 selves, and our cockswain sung us several sailors' 
 songs. But our notes were soon changed by our 
 vessel running on the Blye sand, where she stuck 
 fast, although we were almost in the middle of 
 the channel. It was then tide of ebb, and want- 
 ing an hour of flood, which gave us some concern, 
 believing we should be forced to continue there 
 some time, and bear the beating of the winds and 
 waves. But, by the industry of the sailors, and 
 
 
SWEEPINGS OF MY STUDY. 123 
 
 TothalPs assisting skill, we got off in a short time, 
 though with some difficulty ; and the wind prov- 
 ing favourable, arrived at Gravesend at ten. We 
 supped and drank good wine, and imagined all 
 our adventures and mirth ended. It happened, 
 however, that a great-coat which Scott had bor- 
 rowed for this expedition, and left at Gravesend, 
 travelling without it, could not on our arrival be 
 found. This, which was grief to him, was sport 
 to us ; but he soon surmounted his uneasiness, 
 and grew as merry as we were. Thus we con- 
 tinued till pretty late, and then went to bed. 
 
 Wednesday at eight o^clock, arose, breakfasted, 
 walked about the town, and at ten went into a 
 boat we had hired, with a truss of clean straw, a 
 bottle of good wine, pipes, tobacco, and a match. 
 The wind favourable, a mackerel gale at S. E. 
 Our passage was very pleasant, till we came to 
 Erith reach, when Scott being without his great- 
 coat, as aforesaid, taking a drawing of some ship- 
 ping, a flurry of wind caused our vessel to ship a 
 sea which washed him from head to foot, and no 
 one else. He got up in great surprise, and draw- 
 ing the foresail of his shirt from his breeches, which 
 were also well soused with salt water, he held it 
 in both his hands to the windward, and the sun 
 shining warm, he was soon dry, and, recovering his 
 surprise, joined us in laughing at the accident. 
 
 We came merrily up the river, and quitting our 
 
124 SWEEPINGS OE MY STUDY. 
 
 boat at Billingsgate, got into a wherry, that car- 
 ried us through bridge, and landed us at Somer- 
 set water-gate, from whence we walked all to- 
 gether, and arrived at two at the Bedford Arms, 
 Covent Garden, in the same good humour as 
 when we left it to set out on this pleasant expedi- 
 tion. 
 
 I cannot conclude better, than to note that not 
 one of the company was unemployed; for Mr 
 Thornhill made a coloured map, (No. 9) ; Mr 
 Hogarth and Mr Scott all the other drawings; 
 Mr Tothall was treasurer, and, though of great 
 trust, he faithfully discharged it ; and the forego- 
 ing journal was the work of 
 
 E. Forrest. 
 
 The veracity of this MS. is attested by us, 
 William Hogarth. 
 Samuel Scott. 
 William Tothall. 
 John Thornhill. 
 
 ACCOUNT OF THE EXPENSES OF THE EXPEDITION. 
 
 
 £ 
 
 s. d. 
 
 To paid at Darkhouse, Billingsgate, 
 
 
 
 84 
 
 Pint of Geneva, 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 The Waterman to Gravesend, 
 
 
 
 5 
 
 The Barber do. - 
 
 
 
 10 
 
 Breakfast do. - 
 
 
 
 2 2 
 
 Beer on the road to Rochester, 
 
 
 
 9 
 
SWEEPINGS OF MY STUDY. 125 
 
 
 
 £ 
 
 s. 
 
 d. 
 
 To Shrimps at Chatham, 
 
 - 
 
 
 
 
 
 9 
 
 At the Gunnery and the Dock, 
 
 - 
 
 
 
 
 
 6 
 
 A Bill paid at Rochester, 
 
 - 
 
 1 
 
 7 
 
 3 
 
 At Upnor for Information, 
 
 - 
 
 
 
 
 
 3 
 
 At the Smack Alehouse, » 
 
 . 
 
 
 
 4 
 
 3 
 
 At Hoo, - 
 
 - 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 8 
 
 At Stoke, - 
 
 .. 
 
 
 
 11 
 
 6 
 
 At Mother Huhbard's at Green, 
 
 - 
 
 
 
 3 
 
 
 
 Passage over to Sheerness, 
 
 - 
 
 
 
 2 
 
 10 
 
 Lobsters at Queenborough, 
 
 - 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 6 
 
 Two Pots of Beer to the Sexton, 
 
 - 
 
 
 
 
 
 6 
 
 For Dinner, &c. 
 
 . 
 
 
 
 G 
 
 6 
 
 To the poor Sailors, 
 
 - 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 Breakfasts, - - 
 
 - 
 
 
 
 2 
 
 6 
 
 For Lodgings and Maid, 
 
 - 
 
 
 
 4 
 
 6 
 
 Washing Shirts, - 
 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 8 
 
 At Minster, - 
 
 - 
 
 
 
 9 
 
 2 
 
 At Sheerness, - 
 
 . 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 3 
 
 Boat to Gravesend, 
 
 . 
 
 
 
 7 
 
 
 
 Barber do. - - 
 
 - 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 2 
 
 Passage-boat to Somerset House, 
 
 - 
 
 
 
 5 
 
 6 
 
 £6 6 
 
 Vouchers produced, examined, and allowed. 
 
 A PUZZLED CASE HAPPILY MET. 
 
 The late Doctor Warren, when a student at Mont- 
 pellier, prosecuted his studies with so much eager- 
 ness, that, from over-application, he fell into a state 
 of deep languor. With the view of re-establishing 
 his health, he retired to a remote village, where 
 
126 SWEEPINGS OF MY STUDY. 
 
 one day, in dining off fish, it chanced that a bone 
 stuck in his throat. He did not fall suddenly, 
 and in a lifeless state, from his chair, like the little 
 Hunchback in the Arabian Nights, but his case 
 became so troublesome as to require help. There 
 not being any surgical operator in the vicinity to 
 extract the fish-bone, the peasant with whom he 
 lodged recommended to him to address himself for 
 advice to an old gentleman who, by his account, 
 had performed gratuitously many extraordinary 
 cures. To the old gentleman the doctor went, 
 and having described his case, the latter drew from 
 his desk a prescription which he very formally 
 presented to him. 
 
 A clyster for a fish-bone in the throat seemed 
 to him, on opening the paper, so ludicrous, that 
 he burst into a convulsive fit of laughter, which 
 dislodged the enemy from his seat. While he re- 
 turned thanks in his best manner for the cure 
 which had been so promptly wrought, the old 
 gentleman preserved all his gravity, without a 
 wrinkle on the cheek, or the slightest emotion. 
 " Sir," said the Doctor, " this was a happy 
 thought of yours, and I cannot but admire the 
 sagacity that prompted it. 1 "' " No such thing," 
 said the other : " it was your chance. My father 
 was a physician of great repute, and carefully pre- 
 served all his prescriptions, which descended to 
 me at his death. The ignorant people dwelling 
 
SWEEPINGS OF MY STUDY. 127 
 
 near the family mansion, fancying that I inherited 
 his knowledge, although I was not bred to physic, 
 teased me so much for advice, that I came to a re- 
 solution at length to give to each of them the first 
 of the prescriptions that came to hand. To your 
 complaint, as to theirs, I listened attentively ; but 
 not having any remedy of my own to suggest, I 
 was constrained to seek one in my desk," 
 
 About the time to which the above anecdote re- 
 fers, there dwelt at Greenwich, in Kent, an old 
 gentleman of good substance, who was famous for 
 the cure of agues, and was never so happy, as 
 when he could, without fee or reward, distribute 
 his boasted remedy. An officer of artillery, who 
 had long laboured under an obstinate intermittent, 
 which had baffled every known remedy, requested 
 Doctor Irwing, the Surgeon-General, to procure 
 him a few of the celebrated Greenwich boluses. 
 The Doctor, accordingly, waited on the old gen- 
 tleman, who happened at the time not to have any 
 of them prepared. He was desired to wait ; and 
 in so doing had occasion to step backward. In 
 passing the kitchen on his right, he was surprised 
 to witness an illumination : an abundance of can- 
 dles were lighted, and the servants engaged in 
 running to and fro to snuff them. On the boluses 
 being presented to him, the Doctor observed to 
 the donor, with thanks, that this would be his last 
 
128 SWEEPINGS OF MY STUDY. 
 
 visit, he having been so fortunate as to discover 
 his secret. Whether conceit can cure as well as 
 kill, in extreme cases, may still be doubted ; but 
 it is certain that a composition of candle-snuffs 
 and nutmegs — for such the remedy was avowed 
 to be — had wrought many cures, among which 
 that of the above officer remained to be reckoned. 
 
 THE UNION PROVERB. 
 
 WHEN SKIDDAW HAS A CAP, 
 
 CBFFFEL WOTS FULL WELL OF THAT. 
 
 This proverb, which came out immediately after 
 the union of Scotland with England, has lain by 
 so long, that it seems to have been almost forgot- 
 ten. 
 
 Skiddaw and Criffel are two neighbouring 
 mountains of considerable elevation, the one on 
 the English side, in Cumberland, and the other 
 in Annandale, in Scotland. If it happen at any 
 time that the former of these is capped with clouds, 
 or with foggy mists, it is not long ere rain falls on 
 the latter ; and thus reciprocally '. 
 
 The moral of this proverb would imply, that not 
 any misfortune can overtake either of these two 
 portions of the united kingdom, without its being 
 sensibly felt in the other ; and that the prosperity 
 of each has a like and mutual dependence. After 
 the experience of considerably more than a cen- 
 
SWEEPINGS OF MY STUDY. 129 
 
 tury, it may be boastingly said, on either side the 
 Tweed, that never was proverb more fully veri- 
 fied. 
 
 On this head, Dykes, in his moral reflections on 
 proverbs, published immediately after the Union, 
 thus concludes: — " It is to be hoped that the cruel 
 affair of Glencoe will be forgiven, and that all 
 exasperating reflections, or ignominious provoca- 
 tions, will be wholly forborn for the future. Sure- 
 ly people will now leave off jesting with the Union, 
 and not miscall it an onion to make our eyes water, 
 unless we are to weep for joy at the happy conclu- 
 sion of it; being fully satisfied that mirth, and 
 not sorrow, suffering, or trouble, will be the ever- 
 lasting consequence of our United British Es- 
 tablishment. In a word, there can be no ne- 
 cessity now for any more idle, timorous talk of 
 the Pict's-wall, or irritating tattle about Bothwell- 
 bridge. Those things, as well as the bloody mur- 
 der of the Bishop of St Andrews, must be quite 
 obliterated, in order that Great Britain may enjoy 
 an undisturbed Union, and continue in a profound 
 peace, for fear of the proverb." 
 
 NAT. LEE, THE POET OF BEDLAM. 
 
 The above writer, Dykes, quotes the following 
 lines, which I have not elsewhere met with, com- 
 posed by this unfortunate poet while under restraint 
 
 f2 
 
130 SWEEPINGS OF MY STUDY. 
 
 in Moorfields, with the observation, that he had 
 never seen a better, or more ingenious translation 
 from the Latin. Poor Lee* must have felt the 
 force of them, having been deserted by the greater 
 part of his former acquaintances. 
 
 If Fortune wrap thee warm, 
 Then friends about thee swarm 
 
 Like bees about a honey-pot : 
 But if dame Fortune frown, 
 And cast thee fairly down, 
 
 By Jove ! thou may'st lie there and rot. 
 
 To the same effect is the following distich : 
 
 When Fortune smiles, we ride in coaches, 
 But when she frowns, 'tis buenas noches. 
 
 A BENEFIT. TICKET. 
 When lotteries were first established in England, 
 the prizes were called benefit-tickets. Under the 
 
 * The untimely death of a grandson of the poet may serve to 
 show that constitutional terrors are not to be subdued unless by 
 degrees. When about eleven years of age, he was sent on board a 
 ship of war, where he showed a particular reluctance to venture 
 aloft, as is the custom in training and exercising the young gen- 
 tlemen. This, however, he was one day, sorely against his will, 
 and in despite of his most earnest entreaties, compelled to under- 
 take, when, having nearly made good his way up the mizen- 
 shrouds, he suddenly loosed his hands, fell on the deck, and was 
 so dreadfully mutilated as to survive only a few hours. 
 
SWEEPINGS OF MY STUDY. 131 
 
 head of the proverb, " Tis an ill wind that blows 
 nobody good," Dykes, in his dry, humorous way, 
 relates the following incident. " I went once to 
 see an old acquaintance, and to condole with him 
 on the loss of his wife, who had been dead about 
 
 a month." — 6 Well, man !' said he ' puff > 
 
 never trouble yourself about that : 'tis only a 
 benefit-ticket.' 
 
 LANDING OF WILLIAM III. AT BRIXHAM-QUAY, 
 TORBAY. 
 
 On the landing of King William, he was met by 
 the magistrates, headed by the mayor, whom " the 
 gods had made poetical." It had been settled that 
 the address to his Majesty should be delivered by 
 him in verse of his own composition, and it was 
 as follows : — 
 
 Please your Majestee, 
 
 You're welcome to Brixham-key, 
 
 To eat buckhorn* and drink tea, 
 
 Along with we. 
 
 So you be, 
 
 An't please your Majestee, 
 
 King "William. 
 
 * Dried haddock. 
 
132 SWEEPINGS OF MY STUDY. 
 
 A GHOST-STORY. 
 I leave to those who have made the subject of 
 apparitions — of preternatural visitations and pro- 
 vidential tokens — their close study, to reason on 
 the particulars of the following mysterious narra- 
 tive, which was frequently the ground- work of 
 scientific discussion, in the lecture-room of the 
 late Doctor Marshal, in London, but without any 
 satisfactory conclusion being elicited. 
 
 In the year 1792, the late Mr Samwell, a me- 
 dical officer belonging to the royal navy, set out 
 from London for Portsmouth, in a Diligence, to 
 join a line-of-battle ship to which he had been 
 appointed. He possessed a strong mind, was in 
 other respects intellectually gifted, and had pub- 
 lished, among various literary productions in verse 
 and prose, a well- written narrative of the death 
 of Captain Cook, with whom he had sailed on 
 his last voyage of discovery, bearing the stamp 
 of such fidelity and skill, as to have been literally 
 inserted by Doctor Kippis in his life of that cele- 
 brated circumnavigator. With such acquirements, 
 he was not likely to harbour any notions border- 
 ing on superstition. 
 
 An accident which had befallen the Diligence 
 near Lewes, in Sussex, caused a delay of several 
 hours, insomuch that the passengers, on reaching 
 Portsmouth, found the inns and other houses of 
 
SWEEPINGS OF MY STUDY. 133 
 
 entertainment shut. After wandering for a con- 
 siderable time, Mr S. perceived a light, in an ob- 
 scure quarter leading to Portsea, and entering the 
 house, inquired if he could repose there for the 
 night. Being conducted to a bedroom, he was 
 scarcely in bed, taken up with reflections about 
 joining his ship in the morning, when he distinctly 
 heard several taps at the door. Rising on his 
 seat, he saw, at the bed-side, a figure of a man, 
 wrapped in a shaggy great-coat, and wearing a 
 slouch-hat, with a lantern in his hand. Not being 
 able to procure any reply to the questions he 
 propounded as to the drift of this intrusion, he 
 sprang forward, and made a grasp at what proved 
 to be a shadow, the light suddenly disappearing, 
 while not a footstep was to be heard. From his 
 bed he crept to the door, which was bolted within- 
 side, and alarmed the house. On the arrival of 
 the inmates, whom he was careful not to admit 
 into the apartment, he provided himself with a 
 light, and searched every where within, to dis- 
 cover, if possible, a trap-door by which the in- 
 truder may have silently escaped, but without 
 success. 
 
 The woman of the house treated his story as 
 a dream, and solicited him to go to bed again ; 
 but, having dressed himself, he preferred passing 
 the night on ,the ramparts. In the morning he 
 related to several persons what had happened to 
 
154 SWEEPINGS OF MY STUDY. 
 
 him, describing the house and its position, when 
 he was told that a mystery was hanging about 
 it which Sir John Carter, the mayor, had for some 
 time anxiously endeavoured to clear up. Not one, 
 but several strangers, who had resorted thither, 
 had from time to time unaccountably disappear, 
 ed ; and what seemed to strengthen the suspicion 
 that they had been robbed and murdered was, that 
 the back part of the house hung over a mud-ditch 
 into which the bodies may have been cast without 
 causing any alarm in the vicinity. 
 
 A PROVIDENTIAL ESCAPE. 
 
 A labouring man, named Sparrow, residing at 
 Rochester, in Kent, dreamed that, by digging at 
 a particular spot, at the side of a small tree close 
 to the wall of the ancient castle, he should find a 
 pot of money. This dream, which made a strong 
 impression on him, he communicated to his wife, 
 who treated it as an absurdity, and desired him 
 to He still. Having fallen asleep, he was haunted 
 by the same dream, which wrought on his imagi- 
 nation so powerfully, that he rose at early dawn, 
 and proceeded to the castle with his spade. He 
 there dug, with great earnestness, at the spot to 
 which his dream had directed him, but without 
 coming at any treasure. Nothing was left for 
 him, but to blame himself for his folly, and to fill 
 
SWEEPINGS OF MY STUDY. 135 
 
 up the pit he had dug, which he did by lightly 
 throwing in the earth. 
 
 A little time after, several boys, among whom 
 was his eldest son, climbed the castle to seek 
 crows'-nests. When at the top, a nest presented 
 itself in such a way as to require that one of the 
 boys should be lowered, the others holding him 
 by his skirts. This boy was Sparrow's son. They 
 negligently let go their hold, and the lad fell on 
 the soft earth covering the pit, without receiving 
 the slightest injury. Tradition says that what led 
 to this almost miraculous escape from destruction 
 was solemnly attested before the mayor. 
 
 HEREDITARY ABSENCE OF MIND. 
 
 Those who are familiar with the works of Field- 
 ing, must recollect the incident of the son of 
 Parson Adams who was drawn from the pond, in 
 an inanimate state, by the humane pedlar. The 
 clergyman who was the prototype of the novelist, 
 and whose mental wanderings and abstractions he 
 has so happily described, was the Reverend Mr 
 Young, a neighbour of Fielding ; and the indivi- 
 dual whom the accident befel, in his boyish days, 
 as he himself has been often heard to declare, the 
 late Doctor Young, for several years surgeon of 
 Haslar Hospital. 
 
 It has been said that the father, when a regi- 
 
136 SWEEPINGS OF MY STUDY. 
 
 mental chaplain, being with the army in Flanders, 
 in a fit of absence, strolled one evening into the 
 enemy's camp, and was seized as a spy ; but that, 
 on the simplicity and harmlessness of his character 
 being recognised, he was blindfolded, and escorted 
 back by a trumpeter to the advanced posts. 
 
 The absences of the son, one of which it may 
 be sufficient to cite, were equally remarkable. 
 Being on the Jamaica station with his namesake, 
 the late Admiral Young, the latter gave notice to 
 the officers and crews of the squadron, that on a 
 certain day he would despatch a sloop of war for 
 England, which would afford them a good oppor- 
 tunity to write to their friends. The letters hav- 
 ing been collected, and brought into his cabin, the 
 Admiral, in making up the bag, amused himself 
 with looking over the superscriptions, but could 
 not find any one in the doctor's hand-writing. 
 Having sent for him to inquire how this could be : 
 66 Bless me," said the Doctor, " I quite forgot 
 Mrs Young." 
 
 A NEW MODE OF KEEPING A PRISONER UNDER 
 RESTRAINT. 
 
 A Frenchman, who had been several years con- 
 fined for debt in the Fleet prison, found himself 
 so much at home within its walls, and was withal 
 so harmless and inoffensive a character, that the 
 
SWEEPINGS OF MY STUDY. IS1 
 
 jailor occasionally permitted him to recreate him- 
 self by spending his evenings abroad, without any 
 apprehension of the forfeiture of his verbal en- 
 gagement. His little earnings as a jack-of-all- 
 trades enabled him to form several pot-house con- 
 nexions ; and these led him by degrees to be less 
 and less punctual in his return at the appointed 
 hour of nine. " I'll tell you what it is, Mounseer," 
 at length said the jailor to him, U you are a good 
 fellow, but I am afraid you have lately got into 
 bad company ; so I tell you once for all, that if 
 you do not keep better hours, and come back in 
 good time, I shall be under the necessity of lock- 
 ing you out altogether." 
 
 The above is not the only example of a reconcilia- 
 tion, and even an attachment, to a prison-life. The 
 Honourable Mr , the son of an Earl, was con- 
 fined, not within the rules, but within the walls, of 
 the King's Bench prison, for a debt of about 
 seventy pounds, from which he would not permit 
 himself to be released by his noble relatives, or 
 anxiously solicitous friends. For several years he 
 was to be seen in the area of the prison, at his 
 morning-amusement of rackets ; and in such pur- 
 suits he terminated his days ingloriously, instead 
 of seeking honour in the naval profession to which 
 he had been bred. 
 
138 SWEEPINGS OF MY STUDY. 
 
 A CHOICE OF EVILS. 
 Several of the American loyalists, on their com- 
 ing to London, after the great struggle of inde- 
 pendence, to lay before the British government the 
 claims which were afterwards so well satisfied, for 
 the losses they had sustained through their adher- 
 ence to the cause of the parent country, were in 
 very impoverished circumstances. One of them, 
 who resided in a small lodging near Temple-bar, 
 had three coats, the best of which was in but a 
 sorry trim. These, as he had some knowledge of 
 the Latin language, he named malus, pejor, and 
 pessimus. It was his constant- custom, before he 
 stirred abroad in the morning, to consult the wea- 
 ther, and to dress himself accordingly. One morn- 
 ing, however, having in his hurry neglected this 
 precaution, he sallied forth in the midst of a heavy 
 shower. First looking at his coat, and then at the 
 sky, he exclaimed somewhat irreverently, " Rain 
 on, and be , you can't hurt pessimus" 
 
 A STRONG MAN OF KENT. 
 " I, John Martin, have more strength than wit, 
 and that's for sartin," was the constant preamble, 
 as well as the winding-up of the narrative, when- 
 ever John recited, not only his surprising feats 
 of strength, but likewise his exploits in gluttony, 
 
SWEEPINGS OF MY STUDY. 139 
 
 his muscular and digestive powers being pretty 
 nearly on a par. Among the trashy stores with 
 which the bounty of his neighbours supplied 
 him, to appease the cravings of a stomach that 
 could never be satiated, were rotten apples, of 
 which he would devour a peck at a sitting ; but 
 this, he complained, only sharpened his appetite 
 for something more substantial. His bulimia, how- 
 ever, was not of a kind to incite him, as in other 
 examples, to have recourse to food disgusting and 
 abhorrent in its nature : his hankerings were im- 
 portunate, but not depraved. 
 
 Before the introduction of the modern contriv- 
 ances of machinery in his Majesty's dock-yards, 
 the sawyer's task was most laborious, and was di- 
 vided between the topman and the pitman, each 
 operating at an extremity of a double-handed saw. 
 Martin being engaged as a sawyer, demanded of 
 the commissioner double pay, as his earnings did 
 not more than half suffice for his support. On 
 being told that his demand was unreasonable, he 
 replied that, having enough of wit to be conscious 
 of his own strength, he would willingly undertake 
 to do the work of two men. A saw having been 
 purposely contrived, he engaged in the joint labour 
 of topman and pitman, or, in the words of Butler, 
 P tugged at both ends," and acquitted himself 
 well. This being told, it would be superfluous to 
 speak of his minor achievements, which were, how- 
 
140 SWEEPINGS OF MY STUDY. 
 
 ever, not exceeded by any that have been placed 
 on the modern and authentic records of the physi- 
 cal powers of man. 
 
 PENSIONERS' HALL. 
 Among the reminiscenses of my youthful days 
 there is one which, however it may be tinctured 
 with superstition in some of its particulars, com- 
 prises incidents that may be profitably related. 
 
 Before " the chest,'" or fund for the relief of 
 disabled seamen, was removed to Greenwich to be 
 better regulated, the pensioners who resided at a 
 great distance from the spot, and whose appear- 
 ance before the commissioners was only required at 
 remote intervals, were accustomed to sell their 
 yearly stipend to certain usurers, who accumulated 
 large properties at their expense, and of whom it 
 might have been truly said that they had " hearts 
 of flint, , ' > so great were the extortions they prac- 
 tised on these pitiable objects of national gratitude. 
 
 One of these usurers, named Durham, built, on 
 the Bank, as it is termed, which divides Roches- 
 ter from Chatham, two handsome, contiguous 
 houses, in one of which he resided, and which, on 
 account of the hapless contributors to the under- 
 taking, acquired the name of Pensioners' Hall. 
 This man had a brother in the East Indies, who 
 was reported to have there become possessed of 
 
SWEEPINGS OF MY STUDY. 141 
 
 considerable wealth. One night, Durham sudden- 
 ly alarmed his wife by telling her that he heard a 
 loud knocking- at the door. He rose from his bed, 
 and, throwing up the sash, saw, or fancied he saw, 
 by the pale light of the moon, a gentleman at the 
 door, dressed in a chocolate-colour coat, and scar- 
 let waistcoat edged with gold-lace, who described 
 himself as his brother, just arrived from India, 
 and whom he thought he could, after a separation 
 of many years, recognise as such. He descended 
 hastily to give him welcome ; but on opening the 
 street-door, no one was to be seen. 
 
 That he was heard to converse at the chamber- 
 window, apparently with some one beneath, was 
 attested by several of the neighbours who had not 
 as yet retired to rest ; but on the following day not 
 any arrival of a stranger could be traced in the vi- 
 cinity, to account for this abrupt visitation. In the 
 space of a few months the advice of the brother's 
 death arrived from India ; and this information 
 our usurer did not survive many weeks. 
 
 Among other portents, or, it may be, fables, 
 which were circulated after the death of this man, 
 whose rapacity had made him odious in the vici- 
 nity, was one of a pear-tree he had himself planted, 
 and which was said to have decayed with the pro- 
 gress of his illness, and to have perished with him. 
 This may have been fortuitous — an accident of 
 nature — but the tragical event which soon followed 
 
142 SWEEPINGS OF MY STUDY. 
 
 gave a better colour, and a firmer consistency, to 
 the imaginings which were put forth of a summary 
 and exemplary infliction of the divine wrath. 
 Within his house was comprised all that he had 
 cherished in this life, his ill-gotten wealth, heaped 
 together, and, what was next prized by him, the 
 widow he had left behind. A fire broke out in the 
 night, not on his premises, but in the adjoining 
 house, the inmates of which escaped the flames, 
 while the widow and her servant, probably in their 
 endeavour to save some part of the valuables which 
 were there concentrated, were consumed with them. 
 As if to perpetuate the remembrance of this awful 
 calamity, the ground on which the estate stood fell 
 into Chancery, and remained for several years un- 
 built on. 
 
 THE FRUITS OF GREAT BRITAIN. 
 
 It would be a subject of curious inquiry to trace 
 distinctly the countries and regions whence the 
 fruits that have thriven so well in Great Britain 
 were primitively drawn. Several of the kinds of 
 them, more particularly the Burgundy pear, when 
 in high perfection some years ago, were declared 
 by foreign and other travellers to possess a more 
 delicate flavour than on the soil from which they 
 were said to have been transplanted. Much is 
 still to be expected from the labours of the Horti- 
 
SWEEPINGS OF MY STUDY. 143 
 
 cultural Society, where both climate and soil seem 
 so congenial to the production of certain fruits. 
 Those which best flourish with us, and are not de- 
 nied a sufficient degree of heat to bring them to 
 maturity, are much superior in flavour to the same 
 kinds of fruit produced in the south of France, and 
 in the more northern parts of Italy, where the soil 
 is comparatively arid and steril. 
 
 What is known in other parts of England as the 
 Kentish cherry, is in Kent called the Flemish 
 cherry, it having been brought thither from Flan- 
 ders, as might also have been the apricot, with di- 
 vers other fruits. The latter, the malum Armeni- 
 acum vel prcecocium [Armenian, or early apple], 
 of our ordinary vocabularies, is, by Waesbergue, in 
 his Flemish Dictionary, printed in 1640, styled the 
 early peach of Troy, to which region of minor Asia 
 its origin may, on its early introduction into Europe, 
 have been traced. 
 
 Lambard, who flourished in the reign of our 
 Elizabeth, and displayed much historical learning 
 in his " Perambulation of Kent," the latest edition 
 of which (black letter) appeared in 1596, affords the 
 following curious information relative to fruits of 
 British growth. u Our honest patriot, Richard 
 Harris, fruiterer to King Henry the Eighth, plant- 
 ed, by his great cost and rare industry, the sweet 
 cherry, the temperate pippin, and the golden ren- 
 net. For this man, seeing that this realm, which 
 
144 SWEEPINGS OF MY STUDY. 
 
 wanted neither the favour of the sun, nor the fat 
 of the soil, meet for the production of good apples, 
 was nevertheless served chiefly with that fruit from 
 foreign regions, by reason that, as Virgil says, 
 
 Pomaque degenerant, succos oblHa priorcs : 
 
 And that those plants which our ancestors had 
 brought hither out of Normandy, had lost their 
 native verdure, whether vou did eat their substance, 
 or drink their juice, which we call cider ; he, I say, 
 about the year of our Lord Christ 1533, obtained 
 one hundred and five acres of good ground in Ten- 
 ham, then called the Brennet, which he divided 
 into ten parcels, and with great care, good choice, 
 and no small labour and cost, brought plants from 
 beyond the seas, and furnished this ground with 
 them so beautifully, as that they not only stand in 
 most right line, but seem to be of one sort, shape, 
 and fashion, as if they had been drawn through 
 one mould, or wrought by one and the same pat- 
 
 A RICH EYE 
 
 Is an expression which I never met with out of 
 Shakspeare,* until a few weeks ago. In passing 
 
 * To have seen much, and to have nothing, is to have rich eyes 
 and poor hands.— As You Like it. 
 
 
SWEEPINGS OF MY STUDY. 145 
 
 along Fleet Street, a young gentleman, wearing 
 spectacles, certainly one of the most conspicuous 
 figures of latter times in London, attracted general 
 notice by a stature which could not be much less, 
 if it did not rise to seven feet. " Did you ever see 
 the like, sir ?" said to me a respectable stranger 
 who appeared to be from the country. " I have 
 seen more,"" was my reply. " I recollect, when I was 
 on the North American station some years ago, 
 that a pilot came on board the flag-ship to procure 
 a passport. He looked down on us lads who were 
 walking the quarter-deck, as a live lobster would 
 look on a plate of unboiled, skipping shrimps ; so 
 we had the curiosity, in return for the compliment 
 he paid us, to take his measure, which we accom- 
 plished by placing the ship-standard on a table, 
 the height of which we had first been careful to 
 ascertain. He stood precisely eight feet five inches 
 without his shoes, and had lost several other inches 
 by an ungainly stoop, not being able to hold him- 
 self erect. Now, 1 ' I continued, " this man was from 
 the swampy grounds lying at the back of the Mas- 
 sachusets ; and these natives are, by the other North 
 Americans, denominated proper yankees. They 
 say of them, that they are like a bad cabbage, all 
 stalk and no heart."' 1 — " Sir," said the country gen- 
 tleman, smiling, and looking me full in the face, 
 " you have a rich eye ;" and off, without further 
 peroration, he whipped to the other side of the 
 street. g 
 
146 SWEEPINGS OF MY STUDY. 
 
 A HURRIED VISIT. 
 
 Several members of the distinguished Irish fa- 
 mily of O'Brien have attained a high rank in the 
 British naval service, and of these some have proud- 
 ly boasted a royal descent ; but the one I am to 
 speak of, a late admiral, was called Jack, because 
 he was not proud, and was withal a very good- 
 humoured fellow. This familiar style is in general 
 complimentary, and implies certain amiable quali- 
 ties in the individual on whom it is bestowed. An 
 old acquaintance of mine, who was a bad hand at 
 remembering baptismal names, to save trouble, 
 and without caring about what their sponsors may 
 have said for them, bestowed the appellation of 
 Peter on all his good-natured friends, and did it in 
 so pleasant a way, that the stroke rebounded on 
 himself, and, instead of Jerry, he has been Peter 
 ever since, with the better part of his connexions. 
 
 Admiral Jack O'Brien, therefore, when a lieu- 
 tenant, had the misfortune to be blown out of his 
 ship into the sea. A mixture of gunpowder and 
 salt water, it may be supposed, can make but a 
 sorry pickle ; and, having been picked up by one 
 of the boats of the squadron, Jack was taken in 
 this pickle on board the flag-ship. On his reach- 
 ing the quarter-deck, he had to apologize for his 
 appearance. He was quite ashamed, he said, to 
 be seen in such a trim, but he could assure the 
 
 
SWEEPINGS OF MY STUDY. 147 
 
 gentlemen that he had left his ship in a great 
 hurry. 
 
 HOW TO COME AT A SHY DEBTOR. 
 A CLERxin a commercial house in London, having to 
 recover various old book-debts in the country, when 
 his application for payment was left unanswered, 
 fell on the expedient of addressing the curate of the 
 parish, whom he was sure to find at his post, to 
 know whether such a person still resided there, or 
 what was become of him, &c. &c. To one of these 
 inquiries he received this 
 
 Answer to Mr B 's queries from the curate 
 
 of Ottery, St Mary, in the following heociplet. 
 
 My friend Mr B 1 
 
 What I say is all true, 
 That Josephus Trenew 
 Is quite out of view, 
 And will never pay you. 
 From the curate — Adieu ! 
 
 THE SICILIAN IMPRO VISA TORE. 
 My inquisitive housekeeper, in folding a packet, 
 asked me just now what was meant by the above 
 Italian word. She must have been very heedless 
 in looking over the rude particulars of my visit to 
 Catania, which would have furnished her, however, 
 with the right explanation ; and this surprised me, I 
 
\ 
 
 148 SWEEPINGS OF MY STUDY. 
 
 must confess, as it will also no doubt surprise the 
 reader, if he should reflect for a moment on the nice 
 taste that has been displayed, chiefly through her 
 care, in the selection of " the Sweepings," so far as 
 they have been hitherto extracted from the mass. 
 
 My Sicilian trip was a very pleasant one : I 
 shall, therefore, with the help of a few perplexed 
 notes, hastily pencilled on the route, and a pretty 
 retentive memory, try to begin at the beginning, 
 as the Welch curate of the Isle of Grain told his 
 congregation he would endeavour to do, on survey- 
 ing the blurs in the sermon he had composed over- 
 night, when he was himself non-compos, and little 
 less than half-seas-over. He could make nothing, 
 however, of any one passage that might have 
 brought him to a slovenly conclusion ; and so, leav- 
 ing him to his excuse, I proceed to my trial. 
 
 In the first place, however, I must say a few 
 words of another curate who resided in one of the 
 northern counties of England, and may not have 
 lived long enough to have benefited by the mea- 
 sures that have been recently adopted to ameliorate 
 the condition of these labourers in the vineyard of 
 grace and protestantism, whose hard earnings in 
 those days would not have excited the envy of the 
 friars mendicant of the infallible church of Rome. 
 For thirty pounds per annum, ten of which, like a 
 good son, he sent to his mamma in Yorkshire, he 
 served four parishes, to reach one of which he had 
 
SWEEPINGS OF MY STUDY. 149 
 
 to cross a ferry. The discourses to be delivered 
 to his rustic auditors were made up of disconnect- 
 ed, and often incongruous, passages from any 
 books of sermons he could borrow, and were as 
 regularly planned to last eight minutes in their 
 recital, as a carpenter measures his work before 
 he attempts to make out his bill. For this pur- 
 pose, double lines, like those of a tyro's copy- 
 book, were pencilled, to the end that the letters 
 and spaces might all be sized alike ; and thus so 
 many pages, eight lines to a page, filled up the ac- 
 count. 
 
 As I made one of his congregation occasionally, 
 I can attest that he drawled as sonorously, and 
 with as just an emphasis, as any schoolboy of eight 
 or nine years of age, which was quite as much as 
 was to be expected, at the rate of seven pounds 
 ten shillings per parish, on taking into the reckon- 
 ing the working-days' exercises of funerals, &c. 
 
 Like most of our provincial curates, he was a 
 keen sportsman, and would condescend to bring 
 down, for the table of any gentleman who would 
 supply him with powder and shot, the requisite 
 number of pheasants or partridges, which he rarely 
 missed. His skill in gunnery was often the intro- 
 duction to a good dinner, which was to him the 
 best of the sport ; and his taste for cold plum- 
 pudding, as it was known to all the farmers within 
 
150 SWEEPINGS OF MY STUDY. 
 
 his range, was pretty sure to be gratified when he 
 was sporting on his own account. 
 
 Parsons in general, I believe, are fond of plum- 
 pudding, when it is rich ; and what they like they 
 cannot forbear to fancy must be loved by others. 
 A vicar, not one of the wealthiest of his class, fel 
 desperately in love with the squire's daughter, 
 whom he very gallantly presented with a plum- 
 pudding. Miss, who was not to be caught with 
 such sweets, as they catch flies with honey, indig- 
 nantly sent it back to the parson with the following 
 distich : 
 
 Take back thy present, thou aspiring vicar, 
 
 For Nan loves pudding where the plums are thicker. 
 
 But about the Sicilian irnprovisatore ? We were 
 not in quest of him, but of any thing in the way of 
 agreeable adventure, when my companion and my- 
 self embarked at Malta, in the Ortenzia schooner, 
 in the beginning of April 1810. We were to have 
 been landed at Syracuse ; but an unlucky squall 
 overtaking us in the night, the schooner was driven, 
 in despite of every effort of seamanship, as far as 
 the ancient Taurominium. Early in the morning 
 we disembarked at the village lying at the foot of 
 that mountain, and having procured mules, set out 
 for Catania, distant about thirty English miles. 
 To Giacere, nearly midway, the country through 
 
SWEEPINGS OF MY STUDY. 151 
 
 which we passed was rich beyond what I could 
 have conceived, the valleys, in the points of culture 
 and fertility, nearly equalling the plains of Albania, 
 which I had visited the preceding autumn. The 
 villages were well peopled, and did not wear the 
 air of misery which had been represented to me to 
 prevail throughout Sicily. The vineyards and 
 corn-fields, in which the agriculturists and weeders 
 cheerfully laboured, presented on our route a smil- 
 ing picture. 
 
 Having taken refreshments at a small village 
 about four miles beyond Giacere, we set forward, 
 and early in the evening reached our destined 
 port. From this latter village, a distance of about 
 twelve miles, the country was not so luxuriant and 
 interesting as the one through which we had be- 
 fore passed. Throughout the whole of the route, 
 Monte Gibello, [Etna,] its summit clad with snow, 
 was on our right; and, owing to its stupendous 
 height, appeared close to us, at the same time that 
 our nearest approach was at Catania, distant eigh- 
 teen miles from its base, and twelve others from 
 its summit. 
 
 We alighted at the Leone (TOro, kept by Signor, 
 or, as we afterwards more commonly found him 
 described in his album, Don Francisco Abbate, 
 who gave us an excellent supper, in return for 
 which we invited him to partake of our wine. His 
 
152 SWEEPINGS OF MY STUDY. 
 
 solemn deportment, and extravagant gestures, on 
 his entrance, announced him a very original, as we 
 were not long in finding him to be. He was scarce- 
 ly seated, when he eyed us with consummate atten- 
 tion, and, without preluding, burst out, in choice 
 Sicilian strains, into high encomiums of our dignity 
 and worth. His verses, which he sung or chanted, 
 as he imjprovisoed each of us respectively, were 
 fluent and harmonious, and appeared to us, so far 
 as we could judge of the language, to display an 
 exalted poetic taste. However he may have been 
 accustomed to compliment his guests in this man- 
 ner, it was easy to perceive, by his slight occasion- 
 al pauses, and recollective efforts, that his was not 
 the parrot's language, as it had been studied to be 
 indiscriminately dealt out ; and, indeed, this was 
 manifested by the variations of style and tone he 
 bestowed on his laudatory flourishes. Of us, who 
 were utter strangers to him, he could judge alone 
 by our physiognomic traits, and general exteriors : 
 if he could discriminate happily, his penetration 
 must have been acute. 
 
 He next entertained us with a variety of pastoral 
 and other melodies, which, with some neat stories, 
 detained us till near midnight, when, overcome by 
 fatigue, we threw out a signal of distress. With 
 him it was allegro ; and he marched off according- 
 ly in full song. As an improvisatore I think I can 
 
SWEEPINGS OF MY STUDY. 15 
 
 vouch for the Signer's skill, having heard several, 
 but never one who appeared to me to possess this 
 gift in so eminent a degree. 
 
 The next morning, being Sunday, we paid a 
 visit to the British Colonel-commandant, who took 
 us to the Franciscan church, a splendid building 
 in which high mass was then performing. The 
 orchestra was large, and among the vocal perform- 
 ers were two countertenors, the sweetest pipes I 
 ever heard. Our attention was drawn to the statues 
 of the twelve apostles, which were delicately 
 wrought ; but, with the exception of two or three 
 small, insignificant ones, there were not any paint- 
 ings. 
 
 We next visited the cathedral, where a priest — 
 an orator of great celebrity — was engaged in preach- 
 ing before the bishop. Here we saw several good 
 sculptures ; and in the chancel, among other paint- 
 ings, a representation of Catania before the erup- 
 tion of Mount Etna, by which it was nearly de- 
 stroyed. The exterior of this edifice is in a very 
 fine style. 
 
 The cabinet of the Prince of Biscari afforded 
 us a high gratification. We found it rich in an- 
 tique monuments, which, with the exception of a 
 few that had been brought from the Neapolitan 
 territory, were found in Sicily. A colossal statue 
 of Ceres was especially pointed out by the cicerone, 
 and struck me as very fine. A whole-length Vi- 
 
 o2 
 
154 SWEEPINGS OF MY STUDY. 
 
 tellius; a bronze bust of Antinous, of Greek 
 workmanship, exquisite in style, and in the high- 
 est preservation, without indent or injury ; to- 
 gether with a bust of Augustus in bas-relief ; were 
 among the richest specimens of antique sculpture 
 that drew our admiration. 
 
 The mosaics were rich and numerous ; as were 
 also the vases : it would, indeed, have required a 
 week, instead of two hours spent there by us, to 
 have inspected minutely all the curious objects in 
 this very extensive collection, which the Prince 
 had the royal permission to augment, by em- 
 ploying a multitude of labourers in digging, and 
 causing researches to be made in every part of the 
 island. His dilapidations at Taormina [Tauro- 
 minium] were pointed out to us on our return; 
 and in Catania he had immarbled the warm baths, 
 &c. The other parts of the cabinet, containing 
 the natural history, &c, were on a very extensive 
 scale. 
 
 Next the cathedral, we descended by a flight of 
 steps to the warm baths, and finished our morn- 
 ing's tour by viewing the cold baths, the vestiges 
 of the amphitheatre, of the theatre, &c. In the 
 evening we took a few turns in the Prince's gar- 
 dens, which were prettily laid out. 
 
 As is London to the great fire of 1666, so is 
 Catania chiefly indebted to the calamities to which 
 it was exposed during the successive eruptions of 
 
SWEEPINGS OF MY STUDY. 155 
 
 Mount Etna towards the close of the seventeenth 
 century, for the style of elegance displayed in its 
 buildings and public edifices. Its straight and 
 wide streets, which are, as well as the avenues 
 leading to the city, curiously paved in squares, 
 lie in right angles. It is the residence of 
 many of the high Sicilian nobility; and the in- 
 habitants, who pride themselves on their superi- 
 ority over the other islanders, are in general very 
 respectable. So much cannot be said, however, 
 in favour of many who are above what is called 
 the lower class of society, and who are very filthy 
 in their habits: both here, and in the adjacent 
 villages, the vermin-hunters were engaged in full 
 pursuit at their doors, the mother lousing the 
 daughter, the sister the brother, &c. The field- 
 sports, we observed, were not so well followed 
 up, the markets being but indifferently supplied 
 with game, which is abundant throughout Sicily. 
 It being Lent, there was not any opera ; but we 
 were invited to a conversazione, where, we were 
 told, the spirit of gambling was maintained in its 
 full force. 
 
 Our supper was more tempting ; and this re- 
 past being over, Don Lorenzo was summoned with 
 his bill of charges, it being our intention to start 
 early in the morning. Instead of a bill, he 
 brought under his arm a book, which was nearly 
 filled with either real or sham testimonials of his 
 
156 SWEEPINGS OF MY STUDY. 
 
 merits, requesting us to add ours to those of the 
 other travellers, and leaving the rest to our gener- 
 osity. We could not do less than speak of him in 
 the handsomest terms; and, in return, it struck 
 me that there would not be much harm in my 
 stealing from his book a loose leaf, containing, as 
 was the case with the greater part of the certifi- 
 cates in the English language, what in his ig- 
 norance he supposed to be high encomiums, but 
 which, with the exception of the concluding sen- 
 tence, being penned in pure badinage, could be 
 of little use to him, at the same time that it may 
 for a moment amuse the reader. These are its 
 contents. 
 
 " We, the undersigned, do certify as follows. 
 " I, Parson Adams, do certify that Don Lo- 
 renzo Abbate appears to me to be a person of to- 
 lerably good morals. 
 
 " I, Doctor Parr, do certify that the above- 
 mentioned is in good health, but occasionally trou- 
 bled with bile. I therefore recommend a periodi- 
 cal dose of mercury. 
 
 " I, Mr Dorkins, do certify that Don Lorenzo 
 Abbate possesses a rare wit and fluency of lan- 
 guage ; but I have some doubts with respect to 
 the story of the lady in the well with a broken 
 leg. 
 
 " We all agree in thinking him a very good 
 
SWEEPINGS OF MY STUDY. 157 
 
 cicerone, and an obliging and reasonable alberga- 
 tore. " T. S. Adams, D. D. 
 
 " C. T. C. Parr, M. D. 
 
 " G. C. H. Dorkins." 
 In the following leaf Lorenzo Abbate is recom- 
 mended as a very good innkeeper, an excellent 
 guide, and by Jar the greatest curiosity in Ca- 
 tania. 
 
 There was something about Don Lorenzo which 
 perplexed me not a little. His person and man- 
 ners, his extravagancies even, seemed so familiar 
 to me, that I could not help fancying I had met 
 with him somewhere before. His furthest excur- 
 sion, and most elevated flight, from Catania, did 
 not exceed, however, the woody region of Mount 
 Etna ; and I had visited Sicily for the first time. 
 An old French acquaintance broke suddenly on 
 my mental view, presenting himself as one of the 
 Dromios of the scene. Whatever may be the 
 general national differences assigned by physiog- 
 nomists to the exterior of man, and however they 
 may be modified by his habits, these were here 
 sunk in the Sicilian and Gallic counterparts, who 
 seemed as if they had been cast in the same mould. 
 The same stature and portly bulk, with features 
 strongly resembling, and the same air of self-im- 
 portance and mock-heroic dignity in the bearing, 
 were to be traced in each ; while, with the excep- 
 
158 SWEEPINGS OF MY STUDY. 
 
 tion of the gift of extemporaneous versification in 
 the former, they were alike fluent of speech, hap* 
 py in the ebullitions of fancy, and jocund in song. 
 Monsieur le Noir had laboured indefatigably, 
 for several years, in the French department of a 
 large printing establishment in London, and was 
 led, by the decree in favour of artizans, to re- 
 visit his native country in the autumn of 1797. 
 He landed at Calais with nearly the bulk of his 
 savings, in gold, on his person — a fact which did 
 not escape the observation of the police. Such a 
 pigeon was well worth plucking ; and he was ac- 
 cordingly clapped into prison, as an emigrant of 
 note, and was honoured with two guards, or at- 
 tendants, to each of whom he had to pay six livres 
 per day. His meals were served to him on an 
 extravagant scale, and nothing neglected that 
 could lead to his gratification, while it lightened 
 his pockets. One morning, however, he fell on 
 the expedient of easing them of their splendid 
 contents, and artfully concealed his remaining 
 fifty louis\ On being asked what he would be 
 pleased to order for dinner, he left it, he said, 
 entirely to the kindness of the jailor to cater for 
 him, as he was without money. He was now 
 taken before the municipal authorities, who re- 
 leased him, as they ought to have done in the 
 first instance, on his exhibiting his proofs of iden- 
 
SWEEPINGS OF MY STUDY. 159 
 
 tity; and at Arras, in Flanders, I ♦ound him in 
 the summer of ninety-eight. 
 
 A misfortune, it is said, seldom comes alone. 
 On his arrival at his native place, Arras, Mon- 
 sieur le Noir found that his wife, to whom he had, 
 during his long absence, made occasional remit- 
 tances, had eloped with a gallant, carrying off with 
 her all the effects she could rake together. To 
 complete his mortification, the agent in London to 
 whom he had confided, by virtue of a power of 
 attorney, a sum which he had vested in the Eng- 
 lish funds, was shy in his responses; in other 
 words, this last remaining portion of his property 
 was lost for ever. 
 
 Nothing, it would seem, could abate his con- 
 stitutional gaiety of heart. Having established 
 himself as a teacher, instead of the lessons in form, 
 as well in the English as in the French language, 
 which he promised to his pupils, he gave them 
 songs, and tales, and jests, and still he got them 
 on with their learning. In paying his visits, it 
 was not necessary for him otherwise to announce 
 himself, as his warblings could be distinguished 
 by each pupil at a remote distance : and, in the 
 same way as he tuned his pipes on his entrance, 
 so he departed with a song. His hilarity did not 
 forsake him for a moment. 
 
 The moral which I would fain point, as well 
 from the striking personal resemblance between 
 
160 SWEEPINGS OF MY STUDY. 
 
 the above individuals, as from their congenial 
 habits and temperaments, is that the likings or 
 dislikings we are apt to entertain, on falling in 
 with strangers, may in many instances be the re- 
 sult of impressions, of which we may not be sen- 
 sible, made on us by those whom we may have 
 known, possessing similar physiognomic traits, 
 and a general personal resemblance. It has hap- 
 pened to me lately to meet oftentimes with an 
 English gentleman who eyes me with no small 
 surprise, because, on the first occasion of our en- 
 counter, I approached him with an extended hand, 
 which I as suddenly withdrew, when I recollected 
 how improbable it was that my acquaintance, if 
 not in France, where he had recently been heard 
 of, should be in a part of the kingdom which I 
 knew he had never visited, instead of being sur- 
 rounded by his friends and connexions in another 
 quarter. If my knowledge of him had been, not 
 of a recent, but of an old date, his identity might 
 have been worn out in my remembrance, while the 
 impression he might have made on the sensorium 
 would have remained sufficiently distinct to in- 
 fluence my judgment of the stranger who bore to 
 him so strong a resemblance, and whom I can 
 never meet without feeling a sensible pleasure. 
 
SWEEPINGS OF MY STUDY. 161 
 
 THE RETURN. 
 We left Catania early the next morning, and no- 
 ticed on our route, at a short distance, the large 
 tracts of the lava with which the city had been 
 overwhelmed in 1693. With portions of this lava 
 the walls at the road-sides were constructed, to- 
 gether with many of the cottage-fronts, &c. Having 
 taken refreshments at Giacere, we reached Taor- 
 mino early in the afternoon, and proceeded to view 
 the remains of the amphitheatre, which were very 
 considerable, with well-preserved columns, capi- 
 tals, &c. in marble and granite. The naumachia 
 drew much of our attention. At the house, where 
 we were hospitably entertained by an officer be- 
 longing to Dillon's corps, we noticed several fine 
 antique fragments, in alto and basso relievo, plas- 
 tered into the wall. 
 
 On our further progress to Messina, the follow- 
 ing morning, the villages through which we had to 
 pass wore an air of poverty strongly contrasting 
 with those between Taormino and Catania, the 
 latter being both neat and well inhabited. 
 
 At seven in the evening we arrived at Messina ; 
 and were taken on the following morning to an 
 elevated spot, where the British General, Camp- 
 bell, had a rural retreat. From this advantage- 
 ground, looking to the left, we discerned Scilla, 
 
! 
 
 162 SWEEPINGS OF MY STUDY. 
 
 with a large portion of the Calabrian coast ; and 
 to the right had a fine view of the port and city. 
 
 At nine the next morning, being at our break- 
 fast, two Calabrees, on their way to execution for 
 the murder of a foreign officer in the British ser- 
 vice, passed by the front of the hotel. I hold 
 myself fortunate in never having witnessed a capi- 
 tal punishment ; and on that account it probably 
 was that I felt myself the more affected by the 
 scene. They were on foot. The nearest on the 
 right was a young man, tall, and well-built. A 
 deathlike paleness overspread his dusky visage; 
 but his step was firm. With his hands he em- 
 braced the extremities of a short stick, about two 
 feet in length ; and, timing their movements to 
 his paces, seemed anxious to divert his attention 
 from the horrors of the fate that awaited him. 
 The other, , who was advanced in years, was a 
 short, thickset figure : over his shoulder was 
 thrown a bag, which, as they wore the dress of 
 criminals, yellow with red crosses, it is probable 
 contained their clothing and other effects, to be 
 distributed at the foot of the gallows. 
 
 The mind is susceptible of impressions which 
 time cannot weaken, and which nothing beside the 
 absolute decay of the faculties, preying on the 
 stores of memory, can obliterate. The view of 
 these criminals on their passage to death, carried 
 

 SWEEPINGS OF MY STUDY. 163 
 
 me back to North America, and to the year 1777. 
 I then saw, as I still see, in the mind's perspec- 
 tive, the huts of the Hessian soldiery, encamped 
 near Morris Town in New York island, together 
 with each object of the surrounding scenery, when 
 these mercenaries were drawn up in two lines, each 
 having in his right hand a small rod, or twig. 
 The punishment of the gauntlet to be inflicted on 
 the culprit, who was brought forward naked to 
 the waist, was worse than death, for on his knees 
 he supplicated the commanding-officer that he 
 might be shot. His gestures told as much, and in 
 so plain a language as not to need the interpreta- 
 tion that was afterwards afforded me. 
 
 The lifeVblood, in full stream, had rushed back 
 to its fountain. His countenance, like that of the 
 younger of the Calabrees, was of a deadly pale- 
 ness, but betraying all the agonies of wild despair. 
 Surely, the accursed Inquisition never contrived 
 such horrid tortures as those inflicted by the mili- 
 tary punishment of the rods, with which our Ger- 
 man auxiliaries in North America were at that time 
 so familiar. To have laid any stress on the ap- 
 plication of the slender instrument would have 
 been mercy to the sufferer : the sleight consisted 
 in the gentleness of the touch, and in that, and in 
 the reiteration of the strokes, lay the torments it 
 inflicted, as, in its soft ticklings, the fluid hollows 
 the stone. 
 
164 SWEEPINGS OF MY STUDY. 
 
 On our route from Messina to Malta, the schooner 
 touched at Syracuse, where we landed on the 
 evening on the 11th, and proceeded to the house 
 of the Chevalier Andolini, to take a hasty view by 
 candlelight of the antiques and other curiosities in 
 his museum. What most drew our attention was 
 the fine statue of Venus, that had been recently 
 found, and has since been placed in the public mu- 
 seum of the city. It might then have been pur- 
 chased for a few hundred dollars, and have been 
 pre-eminently displayed in the British Museum. 
 It is of large dimensions, standing about seven 
 English feet. It wants the head and the right 
 arm ; but nothing can be conceived finer than the 
 attitude of the figure, and the style of its loosely 
 flowing drapery. The old woman who acted as 
 cicerone, and held in her hand a small end of can- 
 dle, laid hold of mine without ceremony, and di- 
 rected it to the most fleshy part of the statue, to 
 satisfy me that the marble, of the finest polish, was 
 as soft as velvet to the touch. — With the Escula- 
 pius in the next apartment we were not so much 
 gratified ; and this was all we had time to see, as 
 the schooner was then getting under way. On 
 the following afternoon we were landed safely at 
 Malta. 
 
SWEEPINGS OF MY STUDY. 165 
 
 FROM MALTA TO MARSEILLES. 
 After the abdication of Bonaparte, and while he 
 was in his pleasant retirement at Elba, in 1814, it 
 became my duty to accompany to Marseilles the 
 French prisoners of war who had been held cap- 
 tives in the island of Malta. On board the trans- 
 port in which I was embarked, among other in- 
 teresting characters, was an old master of a mer- 
 chant-vessel, belonging to St Tropez, near Toulon, 
 who had long navigated the Mediterranean sea, 
 and had gathered much curious information in the 
 course of his voyages. He gave me, what has 
 long been regarded as a valuable desideratum, 
 
 A CERTAIN CURE FOR THE GOUT. 
 
 An intimate acquaintance of his, likewise in the 
 command of a merchant-ship, on his route from 
 Marseilles to the island of Cyprus, was fallen in 
 with by an Algerine corsair, from which he was 
 hailed, with a peremptory order to repair on board. 
 He was at the time bound hand and foot with an 
 acute attack of gout, to violent paroxysms of which 
 he had been for several years subject. In this ex- 
 tremity, he sent his chief mate on board the cor- 
 sair ; but with his visit and apology the Algerine 
 captain was so little satisfied, that he ordered him 
 back to his vessel, protesting that, whether dead 
 
166 SWEEPINGS OE MY STUDY. 
 
 or alive, he would see his commander. The latter, 
 carefully enveloped in his bedding, which was laid 
 on a grating, was lowered into the boat, and in 
 this trim conveyed to the pirate. The Algerines 
 were not so ceremonious : they laid violent hands 
 on him, brought him to the deck, and, having 
 lashed him to one of the guns, gave him two hun- 
 dred bastinadoes on the soles of his feet, as the 
 punishment of his disobedience. In proportion as 
 the smart of the blows that had been inflicted was 
 less sensible, the arthritic symptoms became less 
 acute, and were subdued in a few days, without 
 leaving in their train any degree of lameness. 
 
 The patient on whom this happy cure was 
 wrought, lived for many years without any return 
 of his old troublesome companion ; and it remains 
 to be disputed whether the fright, or the blows so 
 dexterously applied, had most to do with the 
 prompt issue of his case, which seems to be sus- 
 ceptible of a useful application. 
 
 A DESPERATE EXPLOIT. 
 
 The flotilla of transports, under the escort of his 
 Majesty's brig Paulina, having been driven, by 
 contrary winds and boisterous weather, to seek 
 shelter in the bay of Cagliari, the capital of Sar- 
 dinia, we landed in parties, together with several 
 of the French officers, to recruit our stock, which 
 
SWEEPINGS OF MY STUDY. 167 
 
 was managed at the health-office, the vessels being 
 in quarantine. Among these officers was one 
 whose person was not familiar to me, he having, 
 during his residence at Malta, been on parole at 
 Citta Vecchia [the old city], where I had not had 
 occasion to see him. He pressed forward, within 
 the narrow space allotted to us, to give his orders, 
 with so determined an air, and without regard to 
 persons, at the same time that there was something 
 so mean and insignificant in his slender person, 
 joined to a shambling gait, that I was led to in- 
 quire particularly who this hero could be. 
 
 During the latter part of the siege of Genoa, 
 the Italian legion, between eight and nine hun- 
 dred strong, raised from foreigners in Great Bri- 
 tain, was placed in advance of the other troops. 
 The approaches became so formidable to the be- 
 sieged, that the French commandant determined to 
 attempt, in the obscurity of the night, a daring 
 coup de main, with the view of inspiring terror in 
 this foreign band, in whom little confidence was to 
 be reposed, and scattering confusion in their tents. 
 The above officer was accordingly ordered to put 
 himself at the head of thirty horsemen, and to pe- 
 netrate into the centre of the ranks, which feat was 
 by him most gallantly performed. 
 
 With the exception of himself, not one of his 
 party came living out of the affray, and he was 
 taken to the field-hospital, covered with wounds 
 
168 SWEEPINGS OF MY STUDY. 
 
 
 and weltering in his blood. There, the command- 
 ing-officer of the legion, by birth a Piedmontese, 
 thought proper to reproach him with the temerity 
 of the enterprise in which he had been engaged, and 
 which had been on either side so disastrous. " You, 
 sir," replied the Frenchman, '* are fighting in a 
 cause which is not your own, and still, I am per- 
 suaded, you are obedient to the orders you receive. 
 How, then, would you have had me, who am a 
 Frenchman, and fighting under the banners of 
 France, disobey mine ?" 
 
 
 Among the more exalted in rank of the prison- 
 ers of war, on board the transport in which I was 
 embarked, was one whose simplicity of manners 
 seemed to border on fatuity, and who afforded a 
 striking example, that men are not, any more than 
 by their looks, to be judged by their outward 
 bearing on a superficial acquaintance. He was a 
 long time at Malta, where, although decorated with 
 the cross of the legion of honour, he passed for a 
 harmless, inoffensive creature— one whom we de- 
 signate as an old woman — without spirit, and de- 
 void of professional ability, until one particular of 
 his history became known, namely, that he com- 
 manded the flotilla at Boulogne at the time of the 
 unsuccessful attack made on that place by Lord 
 Nelson. Nothing more was required than for me 
 
SWEEPINGS OF MY STUDY. 169 
 
 to touch gently on this string, to kindle him into a 
 recital of the preparations he had made, and the 
 expedients to which he had resorted, as well for 
 annoyance as for defence. This important trust, 
 it appeared to me, could not have been confided 
 to better hands. 
 
 We were but a short distance from Cagliari, in 
 prosecuting our route, when we were in the pre- 
 sence of a low, morassy part of the Sardinian coast, 
 having on its site a few scattered houses, which af- 
 forded a striking proof that, as well as man, the 
 fruits of the earth may be susceptible of the ma- 
 laria, or malignant vapours rising from the soil. 
 The figs collected at this spot, and sent to Cagliari 
 for sale, are ticketed as a precaution, and cannot 
 be eaten with safety, unless by the inhabitants of 
 that city, and by the villagers where they are 
 grown. They are so pernicious to strangers, thet 
 a Frenchman we had on board, the master of a 
 trading ship, assured me he had a few years before 
 lost a fine boy who had been inadvertently served 
 with these figs. This example may operate as a 
 caution to those who visit foreign countries, not to 
 make too free with the fruits of their growth, un- 
 til they are seasoned and habituated to their use. 
 
170 SWEEPINGS OF MY STUDY. 
 
 THE LATE GENERAL MIRANDA. 
 
 In the year 1805, this extraordinary character re- 
 sided in Grafton Street, Fitzroy Square, and I 
 was his close neighbour. A mutual -&iend of ours, 
 lately deceased, of high rank in the British naval 
 service, asked me one day if I had ever heard the 
 General give an account of his appearance before 
 the Committee of Public Safety in Paris. On my 
 replying in the negative, he told me, if I was at 
 all inquisitive on the subject, the details of which 
 would afford me a high treat, to be sure to anger 
 the General a little by some sort of contradiction, 
 and thus wind up his declamation to the right 
 pitch. 
 
 Those may talk as they please of fine actors, 
 and consummate acting, who have not seen Gene- 
 ral Miranda engaged in this, which was one of his 
 favourite topics ; but never, I think, even in the 
 days of Garrick, was such acting displayed on the 
 boards of a public theatre. By his powerful elo- 
 quence, he carried you into the very presence of 
 the miscreants by whom he was to be judged. 
 You saw them seated at the table where the death- 
 warrants of so many thousands had been signed, 
 while he stood before them, stripped to his shirt, 
 his arms and neck bared, his hair turned up, and 
 every formality observed that would precede the 
 fatal blow of the axe. With this preparation, he 
 
SWEEPINGS OF MY STUDY. 171 
 
 hurled at them the boldest defiance, and pointed 
 to the windows, intimating, by a master-stroke of 
 policy, what he knew not to be true, but which 
 they, in the panic he had inspired, were led to ap- 
 prehend, that many were assembled withoutside to 
 avenge his 'death. Of the principal personages 
 who had acted under Dumourier, at the time of his 
 defection, he alone escaped. 
 
 Professor Pauw had described the provinces of 
 South America as being overrun with barbarism, 
 and the natives incapable of culture and moral im- 
 provement. When a very young man, General 
 Miranda quitted his native place, the Caraccas, and 
 visited most of the countries of Europe. He did 
 not neglect, when the opportunity presented itself, 
 to call on the professor, who received him very 
 graciously, and was so charmed with his intelli- 
 gence, and the general information he had col- 
 lected, at an early time of life, on subjects of 
 science, that he expressed a wish to know some 
 particulars of his history. " I am," said the Gene- 
 ral, " one of the South American savages whom 
 you have honoured with a particular notice in a 
 recent publication. 1 ' The professor was abashed, 
 but tried to excuse himself by remarking, that he 
 must have acquired his accomplishments in some 
 one of the learned seminaries of Europe." " Not 
 at all," replied the General. " What you now 
 
17& SWEEPINGS OF MY STUDY. 
 
 see me, that I was when I left, for the first and 
 only time, South America and the Caraccas." 
 
 The General rarely stirred abroad in the day- 
 time, but confined himself to his study, where he 
 had every facility afforded him to add to his ex- 
 tensive and well-selected library. It was under- 
 stood that the foreign publications imported for 
 his use were liberated from the customhouse duties ; 
 and ample means were otherwise provided him to 
 gratify his taste in literature. He was then, in 
 concert with the late Mr Windham, the war mini- 
 ster, maturing his plan of liberating the Spanish 
 possessions in South America, and was promised 
 the powerful aid of Great Britain, in the event of 
 a rupture with Spain. As he knew that he was 
 closely watched by spies in the pay of the Spanish 
 ambassador, and felt the necessity of taking a 
 great deal of exercise in a little time, when he could 
 do it with apparent safety, he used to sally forth, 
 with all secrecy, in the dusk of the evening, and 
 made such powerful strides, in his rambles in the 
 fields leading to Hampstead, that a young Scotch- 
 man, who acted as his secretary, and had to accom- 
 pany him, found it very difficult to keep pace with 
 his sturdy patron. 
 
SWEEPINGS OF MY STUDY. 173 
 
 THE JESUITS' PROP. 
 When the Jesuits established themselves at Mont- 
 pelier, a house was given them opposite to that of 
 the Oratory^ or monastery belonging to the Peres 
 -de rOratoire, but in so bad a condition that it be- 
 came necessary to prop it, and to fix beams which 
 were supported by the walls of the Oratorians, 
 whose Superior made in consequence the following 
 verses, which were found after his decease : 
 
 Ne nous reprochez plus nos forces affoiblies, 
 Nous sommes bien plus forts qu* Atlas, 
 II soutenoit le monde, et ne le portoit pas, * 
 
 Mais nous soutenons ceux sous qui le monde plie. 
 
 A DESERTER OF A NOVEL CHARACTER. 
 A naval officer who held a civil employment at 
 Rhode Island, during the American war of inde- 
 pendence, and who was of a spare, skeleton-like 
 figure, was stopped by a sentinel late one night, on 
 his return from a visit, and shut up in the sentry- 
 box, the soldier declaring that he should remain 
 there until his officer came his rounds at twelve 
 
 o'clock. " My good fellow," said Mr W , 
 
 " I have told you who I am, and I really think 
 you ought to take my word.'" ' It will not do,' 
 replied the soldier : ' I am by no means satisfied.' 
 
174 SWEEPINGS OF MY STUDY. 
 
 44 Then," taking from his pocket a quarter of a 
 dollar, and presenting it, " will that satisfy you ?" 
 4 Why, yes, I think it will.' " And, now that I 
 am released, pray tell me why you detained me at 
 your post." 4 I apprehended you,' said the soldier, 
 4 as a deserter from the church-yard.' 
 
 The above officer, when a young man, and a 
 stranger to London, stopped a gentleman to ask 
 his way to the Admiralty. " Are you not mis- 
 taken in your inquiry ?" said the gentleman : "I 
 should think that your business lies with the Vic- 
 tualling Office." 
 
 
 THERE GOES FIVE : TALLY ! 
 A midshipman of the name of Dorcas was, at his 
 own particular request, landed at Boston, from the 
 Glasgow frigate, shortly after the breaking out of 
 the above war, to serve as a volunteer with the 
 British troops. In the battles of Lexington and 
 Bunker's Hill, he received no less than seventeen 
 gunshot and other wounds. Those earliest in- 
 flicted did not in any degree abate his ardour for 
 the fight. In dealing out his blows, and making 
 good his way through the throng of the American 
 soldiery, the fifth wound was dealt out to him, 
 and followed by his exclamation of, There goes 
 five : tally ! He was ever after known among 
 
SWEEPINGS OF MY STUDY. 175 
 
 the Americans, who were too brave themselves not 
 to admire this trait of heroism and cool intrepidity, 
 as Tally Doecas. 
 
 I became acquainted with this officer, at New 
 York, in the year 1779. He was crippled in his 
 gait, as may well be supposed after what he had 
 undergone ; but hejoined, to an engaging vivacity 
 of manners, an elasticity— a springiness— in his 
 movements, that showed him to be all fibre and 
 nerve. About this time, Sir Henry Clinton, the 
 commander in chief, confided to him the import- 
 ant post of Paulus Hook, in the Jerseys, opposite 
 to New York. 
 
 THE WISE MEN OF THE EAST. 
 
 [From Aunt Martha's Diary.] 
 
 A Friar belonging to the order of Saint Francis, 
 gave out a discourse for the benefit of his confra- 
 ternity. It should be remarked, that it is the con- 
 stant usage of painters to describe one of the magi 
 who were led to Bethelem, by the star in the east, 
 to present their offerings, as a sable Ethiopian. 
 Of this conception Friar Emmanuel took a plea- 
 sant advantage. Having expatiated at some length 
 on the eternal rewards attendant on pious dona- 
 tions, as well as on the peculiar claims of his order 
 on the bounty of his hearers, he proceeded to speak 
 of the wise men of the east, and of their offerings. 
 
176 SWEEPINGS OF MY STUDY. 
 
 " The first," said he, " my worthy and benevolent 
 auditors, brought *gold ; the second, frankincense 
 
 and myrrh ; and the third What did he bring ? 
 
 It is with concern I tell you that he came empty- 
 handed, on which account God turned him black. 
 You will agree with me that this was a terrible 
 punishment, but not a greater one than was merit- 
 ed by so heinous a neglect.' 1 — —This being said, 
 each pressed earnestly forward with his donation, 
 insomuch that, on their breaking up, to the great 
 joy of the Friar, who congratulated them on the 
 event, not a single blackface was to be seen in the 
 admiring crowd. 
 
 A REASONABLE PROPOSITION. 
 Whether Johnny Morehead found his way to 
 Boston, in New England, when that place was 
 comprehended in the British possessions in North 
 America, at the public expense, or otherwise, 
 matters but little : it is certain that, by the dint of 
 great assiduity, he became a popular preacher, 
 where preaching was so much in vogue. His be- 
 ginning was, however, small, and his congregation, 
 like his conventicle, of the meanest description. 
 He often lamented the want of a bell to summon 
 his flock to prayers, and at length made a propo- 
 sition to them than which nothing could be more 
 reasonable. " We cannot afford, brethren," said 
 
SWEEPINGS OF MY STUDY. 177 
 
 he, " to purchase a metal bell ; but who is there 
 among you so poor as not to be able, if willing, to 
 subscribe his copper — and if it be but a copper it 
 will be thankfully received — toward the purchase 
 of a leathern bell ? And he, I say, who shall re- 
 fuse to contribute his mite toward the purchase of 
 this leathern bell, shall not hear the sound there- 
 of." 
 
 THE ST PRIEST MSS. 
 The manuscript volumes about which you are so 
 inquisitive, Sukey, and which are on the upper 
 shelf of the closet, came into my possession, during 
 my residence at Malta, by a rather extraordinary 
 chance. In looking over the books lying on a stall 
 in front of a bookseller's shop in the Conservatory 
 Square at Valletta, I met with a MS. work of tra- 
 vels which drew my particular attention. I was 
 not long in ascertaining that it was the production 
 of a very interesting character, the Chevalier de St 
 Priest, a knight of Malta, who was perhaps better 
 known to the inhabitants, through his genius and 
 eccentricities, than any other member of that illus- 
 trious order. His work entitled " Malte par un 
 voyageur Francois," published at Valletta in the 
 year 1791, I had already seen, and found it to 
 contain, in a very small compass, more curious and 
 precise information relative to the island of Malta, 
 
 h2 
 
178 SWEEPINGS OF MY STUDY. 
 
 and its antiquities, than is to be found in Boisge- 
 lin's two clumsy quarto volumes. This stimulated 
 me to procure any other MSS. of his, or that 
 might have been in his possession ; and I succeed- 
 ed so well, when on the very eve of my departure 
 from Malta, that all which could be found among 
 the property he had left behind became mine. For 
 several years these MS. volumes exercised my 
 pen, until, becoming wearied of such pursuits, I 
 cast away the labour I had bestowed on them, 
 tearing and dismembering that which, my good 
 girl, through your zeal to prevent the loss of any 
 of the fruits of my literary application, may now 
 be of good availment. From these papers, which 
 form a great portion of what you have gathered 
 together, I have already extracted some anecdotes 
 and notices of the French capital ; and shall now 
 introduce into my volume of " Sweepings' 1 a variety 
 of amusing extracts from M. de St Priest's travels 
 in different parts of Europe, together with the his- 
 tory of the Chevalier de Courville, which, however 
 it may be disguised, is in its chief points a history 
 of his own life. These I shall follow up by some 
 interesting documents drawn by his father, the 
 Count de St Priest, the most celebrated of the 
 modern French diplomatists, from the archives of 
 the French embassy at Constantinople ; and like- 
 wise by a family correspondence, which, although 
 of ancient date, carries with it a polish of style 
 
SWEEPINGS OF MY STUDY. 179 
 
 which cannot be otherwise than admired, while the 
 events it records claim a powerful interest. 
 
 Your inquiries, Sukey, relative to that truly 
 original character, Charles Emmanuel de St Priest, 
 shall be answered. I was told at Malta that he 
 had been the very life and soul of the French 
 knights, his companions. He was a profound 
 scholar, a poet, a painter, a musician, and a play- 
 wright ; and acted as manager of the French thea- 
 tricals, which are particularly noticed in his travels. 
 On the landing of the French, under Bonaparte, 
 in the island of Malta, he effected his escape* with 
 Baron Hompesch, the Grand Master ; became a 
 general in the Russian service ; and was slain at the 
 battle of Brienne, in Champaign, in 1814. 
 
 The Chevalier embarked at Marseilles, in the 
 month of April 1776, in a merchant vessel bound 
 to the Levant, and which was to touch at Malta. 
 After a passage of thirteen days, during which 
 
 * Such was his hurry to embark, that even his own particular 
 copy of his work on Malta he left behind. Opposite the title-page 
 he has whimsically introduced his portrait ; and from all I could 
 gather of him, I should think it an admirable likeness. 
 
 PORTRAIT DE L'aUTEUR PAR LUI-MEME. 
 
 La raison me tient par l'oreille, 
 Et l'amour, je ne sais par ou ; 
 Si bien que, par rare merveille, 
 Ma tete est sage, et mon coeur fou. 
 
180 SWEEPINGS OF MY STUDY. 
 
 they had very boisterous weather, they anchored 
 in the port of Valletta. Passing by his description 
 of that port, and of the island in general, I pro- 
 ceed to the selection of a few of the more curious 
 anecdotes and notices contained in this portion of 
 his travels. 
 
 A ROWLAND FOR AN OLIVER. 
 
 The grand master, Loubert de Verdalle, having 
 been cited before the Pope's tribunal, to clear 
 himself of certain charges which the order had 
 brought against him, repaired to Rome. The 
 then reigning Pontiff was of the house of Colonna; 
 and Verdalle, on his arrival, alighted at the palace 
 of his Holiness^ nephew. The latter, in con- 
 tempt, and to show the Grand Master that his 
 fate was in the hands of his uncle, and depended 
 on the credit which he himself had with him, had 
 caused the sculptured figure of a wolf, bound by 
 a strong chain to the shaft of a column,* to be 
 fixed in the outer court of his palace, the arms of 
 the house of Verdalle being a wolf. The Grand 
 Master was sensibly piqued at this bitter sarcasm 
 of Colonna, and resolved to avenge himself in a 
 similar way. He dissembled, however, during 
 his stay at Rome ; but having freed himself from 
 
 In Italian, colonna. 
 
SWEEPINGS OF MY STUDY. 181 
 
 the accusations brought against him by his ene- 
 mies, immediately on his return to Malta, he had 
 erected, in the great square, toward one of the 
 angles of his palace, a column on which was seen 
 a wolf in an unsightly act. Every attempt to 
 have it levelled was unsuccessful : it remained 
 standing until the last Magistery, or Government 
 of the Grand Master of Malta, when it was de- 
 molished for no other reason than because it 
 threatened to fall in ruins. 
 
 THE THREE VOWS. 
 
 The vows of the Knights of Malta were three in 
 number, namely, poverty, chastity, and obedi- 
 ence ; but it rarely happened that either of them 
 was punctually observed. It was therefore custo- 
 mary to say, that these Knights made their vow 
 of poverty in the church, that of chastity at table, 
 and that of obedience in bed. 
 
 FERDINAND IV. KING OF THE TWO SICILIES. 
 
 The Maltese galleys, having on board the Knights 
 who were to perform their caravanes,* arrived at 
 
 * By caravanes were implied the early navigations of the 
 young Knights of Malta against the Turks, because it was fre- 
 quently their object to intercept the caravans which proceeded, 
 by sea, from Alexandria to Constantinople. 
 
182 SWEEPINGS OF MY STUDY. 
 
 Naples at the commencement of July. The 
 Knights were presented in a body to his Majesty 
 after his dinner. Those of the Italian nation ap- 
 proached him to kiss his hand, according to the 
 usage of their country ; but this ill-bred Prince, 
 seeing that they were very numerous, after two or 
 three only had kissed his hand, withdrew abrupt- 
 ly, exclaiming, basta, basta; cene troppo; (enough, 
 enough ; it is too much.) The queen was in- 
 finitely more polite : being obliged to follow the 
 King, she courtesied to the knights with great 
 affability, and withdrew. 
 
 Among the Italians, the court-cards are named, 
 king, (re,) woman, (donna,) and horse, (cavallo.) 
 The minister, Tonucci, a man of great talent, 
 but whom the Queen could not bear, having, at 
 her instigation, been dismissed, to make way for 
 the Marquis of Sombeica, who was absolutely 
 destitute of abilities, some one had the audacity 
 to post on the door of the antechamber the follow- 
 ing pasquinade : 
 
 II consiglio e composto di tre, 
 Donna, cavallo, e re. 
 
 Early in the morning of the 11th of July, Fer- 
 dinand being in the bay of Naples, with his flotilla 
 of galiots, went on board the General's galley by 
 appointment. He had scarcely said a few words 
 
SWEEPINGS OF MY STUDY. 183 
 
 to the General, when he took several turns on the 
 half-deck, between the banks of rowers, and con- 
 versed with the Neapolitans whom he found among 
 the forcats, (culprits sentenced to the galleys.) 
 He entered into a long conversation with the Ma- 
 jor about service, asked for a musket, and in his 
 presence went through the manual exercise. When 
 he had done, the General invited him to break- 
 fast on the poop. He accepted the invitation; 
 but before he seated himself at table, water was 
 brought him to wash his hands. This he re- 
 fused. Malvagio, said he, ci son nove anni che 
 non mi son lavato le rnani. Mischief on it ! my 
 hands have not been washed for these nine years 
 past. " A very cleanly Prince,"" whispered among 
 themselves the young knights who surrounded 
 the royal person. 
 
 One of this Sovereign's favourite amusements 
 was foot-ball, at which he played for very high 
 stakes. He was sure to be duped, as, of the three 
 noblemen of whom the party was made up, the 
 one who was on his side never failed to come to a 
 right understanding with the other two, to make 
 him lose. 
 
 Such are the notices given by the Chevalier de 
 St Priest, of the youthful days of Ferdinand the 
 Fourth, the present King of the two Sicilies, 
 
184 SWEEPINGS OF MY STUDY. 
 
 whom he describes as coarse and grovelling in his 
 amours, and is by no means disposed to flatter in 
 any particular. We will turn to what the French 
 call le revers de la medaille, and see what Doctor 
 Moore, who visited Naples about the same time, 
 says of this Sovereign, between whom and the 
 Doctor's pupil, well known in the sporting cir- 
 cles of the day, as the boxing' Duke of Hamil- 
 ton, there appears to have been a great congeni- 
 ality of spirit. It must have been soothing to the 
 latter to hear such encomiums passed on this 
 Prince of high accomplishments. 
 
 " The King of Naples is about twenty-six or 
 twenty-seven years of age. He is a Prince of 
 great activity of body, and of a good constitution, 
 and frequently indulges himself in hunting and 
 other exercises ; and, as a proof of his natural ta- 
 lents, he always succeeds in whatever he applies 
 himself to. He is very fond of reviewing his 
 troops, and is perfectly master of the whole mys- 
 tery of manual exercise. 
 
 "Asa shot he is most excellent, and his un- 
 common success at this diversion is thought to 
 have roused the jealousy of his most Catholic 
 Majesty, who also values himself much on his 
 skill as a marksman. 
 
 " A gentleman who came lately from Madrid, 
 told me that the King, on some occasion, had 
 read a letter which he had just received from his 
 
SWEEPINGS OF MY STUDY. 185 
 
 son at Naples, wherein he complained of his bad 
 success on a shooting party, having killed no 
 more than eighty birds in a day ; and, turning to 
 his courtiers, observed how happy he would think 
 himself if he could kill forty."" * 
 
 After a moral tirade, which it is unnecessary to 
 cite, the Doctor proceeds thus : — " His Neapoli- 
 tan Majesty possesses many accomplishments be- 
 sides those which have been enumerated. No 
 King in Europe is supposed to understand the 
 game of billiards better. I had the pleasure of 
 seeing him strike the most brilliant stroke that 
 perhaps ever was struck by a crowned head. 1 ' 
 
 MALTESE THEATRICALS EXTRAORDINARY. 
 On the return of the galleys to Malta, the French 
 knights, with the view of diverting the attention 
 of the Grand Master from his serious occupations, 
 gave dramatic performances on the boards of the 
 public theatre of Valletta during five consecutive 
 months. On the Sundays they regularly brought 
 out two new pieces ; and when these were success- 
 ful, a second representation followed in the course 
 
 * " What should be grave," according to Doctor Moore, the 
 Tatler, jeeringly, and most ungraciously, " turns to farce."——— 
 * St James's Coffee House, November 18^, 1709. By letters 
 from Paris of the 16th, we are informed that the French King, 
 the Princes of the blood, and the Elector of Bavaria, have lately 
 killed fifty-five pheasants.' 
 
186 SWEEPINGS OF MY STUDY. 
 
 of the week. The Italian knights entered into a 
 competition with them, but did not succeed so 
 well ; insomuch that the Grand Master, who did 
 not miss one of the performances of the French 
 knights, was rarely present at theirs. 
 
 As they were prohibited from acting with wo- 
 men, the younger knights undertook the female 
 characters, and became so adroit, after playing 
 them once or twice, that the illusion was com- 
 plete. They were so happy even in acquiring 
 the air and manners of the sex they imitated, that 
 when they were in the streets, one might have 
 sworn, on looking at them, that they were women 
 disguised as men. 
 
 A company of comedians can never subsist for 
 any length of time without squabbles ; and it so 
 happened that, among the performers themselves, 
 there arose a few which were soon pacified ; but 
 several of the knights who had been denied ad- 
 mission into the company, formed a cabal, de- 
 manded that the theatre should be partitioned off, 
 and had the audacity to hiss one of the actors. 
 From that moment the performances were discon- 
 tinued, until certain of the old Baillies* having 
 
 * In the order of Malta, the Bailli was a knight invested with 
 a dignity which bestowed on him a rank superior to that of the 
 commander, and gave him the privilege of wearing the Grand 
 Cross. 
 
SWEEPINGS OF MY STUDY. 187 
 
 become mediators, they were resumed, and the 
 caballers even admitted into the company, but not 
 without being lampooned. Among the jeux 
 cVesprit with which they were satirized was the 
 following song. 
 
 Sur Voir, connoissez-vous Monsieur PIntendant. 
 
 Sais tu que Ton va reunir 
 Les deux troupes de comedie, 
 Et que la paix va revenir 
 Par l'entremise de Thalie : 
 Mais les conditions de la paix 
 Sont qu'on interdit les sifilets. 
 
 Monspey fera le Glorieux ; 
 En femme Forget se hazarde ; 
 On ne pouvoit pas choisir mieux, 
 Car ce dernier toujours bavarde. 
 Luzi fera les sots barons, 
 Et Mirabeau les plats bouffons. 
 
 In 1785, the Chevalier was quartered with his 
 regiment, de Royal-Piedmont^ in various parts of 
 France. From this portion of his interesting 
 travels, the following curious anecdotes and no- 
 tices are extracted. 
 
 THE LEADEN SWAN. 
 
 At Nevers, a singular history is related to stran- 
 gers of a leaden swan placed on the top of a turret 
 
188 SWEEPINGS OF MY STUDY. 
 
 of the chateau. It is said that a Princess of Cleves. 
 confined in the chateau, and consequently un- 
 happy — for females cannot endure confinement — 
 not having any children, and her race being about 
 to become extinct, Heaven took pity on her, wish- 
 ing to preserve in France so illustrious a name, 
 You are assured that one day the Princess being at 
 her window, deploring her misfortune, and calling 
 to her aid all the knights-errant in Christendom, 
 was agreeably surprised by the approach of a 
 handsome youth, leading a swan by a blue ribbon 
 fastened to its neck. The gate of the chateau 
 having been opened to him, he entered her apart- 
 ment, and solaced her by his gallantries and joy- 
 ous devices. The main point was, that she fell 
 with child by him, which clearly manifested the 
 divine interposition. This being accomplished, 
 the young man disappeared, without its being 
 known what became of him. To perpetuate this 
 fortunate event, the Princess caused to be placed 
 on the turret, from the window of which she was 
 looking, the leaden swan, having its head turned 
 toward the Loire, which the handsome young man 
 had descended, to arrive at Nevers, either by the 
 coche-d'eau, as some authors assert, or on the back 
 of the swan, as I was assured, and which, in my 
 opinion, was much more probable. 
 
SWEEPINGS OF MY STUDY. 189 
 
 THE TRIUMPHAL ARCH. 
 After the battle of Fontenoy, the inhabitants of 
 Nevers erected a triumphal arch in honour of 
 Louis XV. It is placed at the extremity of one 
 of the dirtiest and narrowest streets of the city ; 
 and is in the heaviest and most unbecoming style 
 of architecture possible. Eighteen thousand francs 
 were paid to Monsieur de Voltaire for the compo- 
 sition of verses fit to adorn so fine a monument. 
 It would seem that the poet was resolved to make 
 a jest of his employers, as he sent them the follow- 
 ing lines, which were engraved in very large let- 
 ters, and approved by the magistrates, who placed 
 their names beneath, in characters still larger : 
 
 Dans ce grand monument, que leva l'abondance, 
 Reconnoissez Nevers, et jugez de la France. 
 
 THE MIRACULOUS STATUE. 
 
 In a church of Nevers, named VEglise de S. te 
 Trovee, an extraordinary miracle, nothing less 
 than the bringing of the dead to life, is wrought 
 daily. In the nave, is the statue of the Blessed 
 Virgin, attached to a pillar ; and to this statue are 
 presented the still-born infants, who are scarcely 
 there when they manifest some feeble signs of life. 
 They are baptized ; and the ceremony is no soon- 
 er at an end, than the poor little creatures die a 
 
190 SWEEPINGS OF MY STUDY. 
 
 second time, but much, more agreeably, as they go 
 straight to Paradise, from which, as we are assur- 
 ed by his Holiness the Pope, they would otherwise 
 have been excluded. 
 
 THE CHEVALIER D'EON. 
 
 The small city of Tonnerre, within the jurisdic- 
 tion of Paris, appeared to me to be very populous. 
 It is the birth-place of the famous Chevalier d'Eon, 
 whose sex, which was so long unknown, the court 
 seems to have determined, by ordering her to wear 
 the female attire ; but about which, notwithstand- 
 ing, her countrymen still have their doubts. She 
 is not now at Tonnerre, and I am sorry for it, as 
 I should have been gratified by the sight of this 
 personage, in whose praise I have heard so much 
 said, and who has excited the curiosity of all Eu- 
 rope. When she was here some time ago, the 
 strangers who had to pass through the place did 
 not fail to pay her a visit. On me prend, disoit 
 elle, apparemment pour une bete curieuse. It would 
 seem, she observed, that they take me for a curious 
 animal. These visits fatigued her much, but she 
 received them with the utmost politeness. 
 
SWEEPINGS OF MY STUDY. 191 
 
 SOJOURN AT REIMS. 
 The Sainte Ampoule !— The Sainte Ampoule ! 
 was my exclamation on awaking. I had an ex- 
 treme curiosity to see this phial which had been 
 sent from heaven ; and still I am to depart with- 
 out a sight of the Sainte Ampoule. Is not this 
 cruel ? But my confidence in the curiosity of my 
 comrades has been my misfortune : I have neither 
 seen that, nor the quaking pillar. They forced 
 me to dine in the country, and the whole of my 
 day has been lost. Of all the curiosities of Reims, 
 I can speak only of the cathedral and its trea- 
 sures. The body of the church is fine, but on too 
 limited a scale : its length is not in proportion to 
 its breadth, and its roof is much too elevated, 
 which detracts greatly from its beauty. The choir 
 does not harmonize with the nave ; and the altar 
 has not the same beautiful proportions with that of 
 the cathedral of Troye. The fagade is superb, 
 and of a light architecture. The entire edifice be- 
 longs to the twelfth century. 
 
 The treasury is inconsiderable respectively to 
 the number of pieces it contains, but precious on 
 account of their value, they having been estimated 
 at two millions of francs, [about eighty thousand 
 pounds sterling.] Here is to be seen a cup which, 
 it is said, was given by Clovis ; but the workman- 
 ship belies its antiquity. On the foot are engrav- 
 
192 SWEEPINGS OF MY STUDY. 
 
 ed several letters, which the person who showed 
 the relics told me contained an anathema against 
 him who should cause to be melted this memorial 
 of the piety and growing fervour of this first Chris- 
 tian king. It was also, he added, the only piece 
 remaining of those remote times, all the others 
 having been melted on divers urgent occasions. 
 This reminded me of an old song of the time of 
 Francis I., which concludes as follows : 
 
 Va t'en dire a. la Reyne, 
 Et au Roy Henri, mon fils, 
 Que l'on fasse battre monoye 
 Au quatre coins de Paris. 
 Si'l n'y a pas de Tor en France, 
 Que l'on aille a. Saint Denys, 
 Que Ton y prenne la Madelaine, 
 Et les bras du crucifix. 
 
 Henri III. gave to this church a superb corne- 
 lian, eight inches in length, and four in breadth, 
 which forms the body of a vessel having sculptur- 
 ed on it the story of the eleven thousand virgins. 
 
 It is customary for each sovereign to make a 
 present at his consecration. That of Louis XVI. 
 is a ciboire,* estimated at sixty thousand francs, 
 of massive gold, ornamented with superb bas-re- 
 liefs, of the workmanship of Auguste, a celebrated 
 artist. 
 
 * The sacred vessel in which are kept the holy wafers for the 
 communion of the faithful. 
 
SWEEPINGS OF MY STUDY. 193 
 
 As I have little to say unless about the cathedral, 
 I shall here relate an anecdote that was told me, 
 of the Abbe TAtteignant, who was a canon of this 
 church. It is essential to my story to say that this 
 amiable ecclesiastic was frightfully ugly. Three 
 strangers dining at the archbishopric, inquired, 
 on rising from table, whether any curiosities were 
 to be seen in the city. " Yes, gentlemen,'" replied a 
 canon, the friend of the Abbe, but who delighted 
 from time to time to play off a jest on him, " there 
 are three : the cathedral, the Abbe TAtteignant, 
 and the quaking pillar." These three things hav- 
 ing been carefully registered, from the archbish- 
 opric they drove to the cathedral. u A very fine 
 church," said they, " beautiful indeed. Now, 
 coachman, to the Abbe rAtteignant." They ar- 
 rived, the bell was rung, and a servant made his 
 appearance. " Gentlemen, my master is sorry 
 that he cannot receive you : he is sick, and has 
 taken physic to day.'" — " Not see us !" said the 
 strangers, " all we wish is to have a view of his 
 person." This reply, which was overheard by the 
 Abbe, appeared to him so curious, that, not- 
 withstanding his indisposition, he came into the 
 vestibule wrapped in a dirty bed-gown, and with 
 his nightcap awry, which made him appear still 
 uglier than he naturally was. The three gen- 
 tlemen alighted from their carriage, and, without 
 uttering a single syllable, took several turns round 
 

 194 SWEEPINGS OF MY STUDY. 
 
 him. It was of no use for him to inquire what 
 they wished, and what he could do to serve them. 
 Having preserved this dead silence, two of them 
 returned to the carriage, while the third, taking 
 the Abbe by the arm, and assuming the dialect 
 of a peasant, said to him, " Monsieur, vou > ete un 
 queruiosite, dit-on. Sir, they tell me as how you 
 be one queurosity. ,,, — " How, sir V said the Abbe ; 
 " what do you mean by that ?" — " Vous valoir pas 
 grand chose. You not be good for much. " — " Coach- 
 man, drive to the quaking pillar ;" and off they 
 went. The Abbe had his suspicions of the trick 
 his friend had played him, and laughed heartily at 
 the joke. 
 
 SOJOURN AT TROYES. 
 
 [Addressed to the Baron de Monbadon.] 
 
 I expected, my dear friend, to have heard, in the 
 church of St Stephen, on the day of the festival 
 of that saint, the history of his death, translated 
 into French from the acts of the apostles, and set 
 to music by a composer in the pay of the Counts 
 of Champagne ; but this usage was suppressed two 
 years ago, and I am sorry for it, for I am told it 
 was very curious. Two singers in the choir coun- 
 terfeited St Stephen ; the musicians in the gallery 
 [jube] acted the part of the martyrisers ; and 
 when the lapidated saint, in yielding up the ghost, 
 
SWEEPINGS OF MY STUDY. 195 
 
 breathed the expiring accents — Cuhai, cuhai — the 
 people with one accord made game of him, ex- 
 claiming uhe, uhe. A pious canon was so much 
 offended at their indulging in a laugh at the ex- 
 pense of the saint — and it was impossible to help 
 it on hearing this music, which was at once ex- 
 pressive and highly comic — that he made the pro- 
 position to suppress the reading and chanting of 
 the French epistle, which is locked up in the ar- 
 chives of the chapter, where it will rot, together 
 with the other papers belonging to these gentle- 
 men, who possess several fine manuscripts which 
 the worms are much more busied in exploring than 
 they are themselves 
 
 I am promised a copy of this epistle of St Ste- 
 phen, and as soon as it is in my possession, I have 
 some notion of having the music executed by the 
 trumpeters of the regimental band, while you, my- 
 self, and a few others, may amuse ourselves with 
 playing the text in pantomime. 
 
 They are mischievous at Troyes ; and as they 
 are likewise stupid, so are they atrocious in their 
 machinations : fortunately, however, my dear 
 friend, they are not brave there; and revenge 
 never inspires a wish to fight, unless it be among 
 the gardes-du-corps, who skirmish with each other 
 pretty freely. As to the inhabitants, they are very 
 
196 SWEEPINGS OF MY STUDY. 
 
 pacific when they have received an affront. I am 
 acquainted with one who was taxed at play with 
 being a cheat and a pitiful fellow ; and who, 
 through Christian moderation, and for fear of 
 committing himself further by a reply, took his 
 hat and left the apartment without breathing a 
 single syllable. I know of another who, after 
 having received a violent blow of the clenched fist, 
 consented to sign a billet by which the individual 
 who had struck him required an acknowledgment 
 that he had been treated according to his deserts, 
 as he avowed himself to be a cuckold and a jean- 
 sucre, [a pusillanimous fellow.] I could cite a 
 thousand other traits of this description, and could 
 easily satisfy you that there are not any people on 
 the face of the earth who have stronger claims to 
 paradise than the modem Trojans, for they pos- 
 sess two of the beatitudes : blessed are the poor in 
 spirit, and blessed are the meeJc. I do not know 
 whether they have in every particular a nice re- 
 semblance to the scripture, and whether their wives 
 have the felicity to sin seven times in the day; 
 but I can attest that the latter are very prolific, 
 and that the race of the betes champenoises will 
 not become extinct through any fault of theirs. 
 Almost all the houses swarm with little children, 
 who are ill-bred, and insupportably rude : they 
 din the stranger's ears with their clamour ; tread 
 on his toes ; and put him out of all patience. As 
 
 i 
 
SWEEPINGS OF MY STUDY. 197 
 
 soon as two or three persons reach the apartment, 
 and when the conversation can be kept up for a 
 long interval without the help of extraneous ob- 
 jects, it fortunately happens that the young fry 
 are sent to the antechamber : it is there that the 
 citizens bestow on their children the early part of 
 their education ; and you may judge whether they 
 are well brought up in the sequel. 
 
 Both men and women are as fond of play as 
 lackeys. They are forward, and very familiar ; 
 indeed so much so, that if a stranger were not to 
 assume a certain degree of self-importance, in his 
 own defence, they would come, figuratively speak- 
 ing, to eat out of his hand. So great is their cu- 
 riosity, that the moment any one arrives, all eyes 
 are upon him, and all that he says, and all that he 
 does, is known from one extremity of the city to 
 the other. He is scarcely settled, when a mistress 
 is selected for him from among the married wo- 
 men ; and as no one is to be left without a provi- 
 sion of this kind, it is said in consequence that I 
 have mine. She is, I can assure you, the hand- 
 somest woman in the place ; but I confess, to my 
 shame, that she is nothing more than my friend. 
 
 I send you, my dear friend, the memoirs of the 
 academy of Troyes. You may expect to find, in 
 these memoirs, discourses and dissertations couch- 
 
198 SWEEPINGS OF MY STUDY. 
 
 ed in the most sublime style. No such thing : no- 
 thing can be more pleasant than what you will 
 have to peruse. The production is a banter on a 
 kind of academy which seven Trojans established 
 at the Cordeliers. In the first instance, it was re- 
 solved to read a certain number of works in this 
 committee ; but it was of no use for those who 
 composed it to perplex their brains : Pegasus and 
 Urania were deaf to them ; and Messieurs the 
 seven academicians were obliged to amuse them- 
 selves with poring over the gazette, to fill up the 
 time of their sittings. The gazette, a toothpick, 
 and a glass of water ; such was the lot of these 
 savans, who, finding that it had too much the air 
 of a gasconade, and that it was unworthy of them, 
 endeavoured to exalt the lustre of their academy 
 by a weekly dinner. This arrangement subsisted 
 until the reverend fathers, the Cordeliers, who were 
 in all probability badly paid by the seven associ- 
 ated gentlemen, refused to supply them with wine- 
 The dinner was abolished ; and the academy died 
 of hunger and thirst. 
 
 The ridicule contained in the book I transmit 
 to you, which is filled with droll memoirs on a va- 
 riety of subjects, such as, " on the right every one 
 has to beat his mistress," &c, and which was 
 published under the name of the Seven Academi- 
 cians, contributed not a little to the fall of their 
 association, which was generally ridiculed and 
 
SWEEPINGS OF MY STUDY. 199 
 
 laughed to scorn. What you will find very sin- 
 gular in this production is, that, although the sub- 
 jects of the different essays it embraces are very 
 ordinary — not to say vulgar and gross — they are 
 treated in the most scientific manner. They were 
 drawn up by two or three individuals, among 
 whom was an advocate named Grosley, a man of 
 an original and sarcastic turn, who may perhaps 
 be cited as the only one at Troyes possessed of a 
 superabundant share of wit. 
 
 Reply with somewhat more exactitude than you 
 do to my letters, my dear friend. You know that 
 the pleasure of receiving yours is the greatest I 
 can have. 
 
 I have at my quarters every morning three or 
 four priests, who think me a good, pious soul, in 
 entertaining which opinion, I swear to you they 
 are all but right. The first time I saw them, I 
 took them for masqueraders, which was not sur- 
 prising ; for it is in the dress of the choir that they 
 do me the honour to pay their visits, and nothing 
 resembles the domino so much as this dress. Over 
 their cassock they throw a surplice, and over that 
 again a cloak of black cloth, which reaches nearly 
 to the ankles, overspreads the shoulders, and is 
 fastened at the collar by a silver clasp. Above all 
 this they have a capouch which covers the head, 
 
200 SWEEPINGS OF MY STUDY. 
 
 and is cut in front like a bishop's camail, termi- 
 nating behind by a point which nearly touches the 
 ground. This they call the camail. 
 
 Beneath this capouch nothing is to be seen be- 
 side the face, it being so contrived as to conceal all 
 but its oval figure ; from the forehead to the nape 
 of the neck a curved brass wire is introduced? 
 which brings it to an apex, so as to make the 
 wearer's head appear elongated, and flattened at 
 the sides. 
 
 The other day they threw over me one of these 
 camails ; and a pleasant figure it made of me. 
 You may be sure that I looked frightfully ugly ; 
 but for the greater part it is quite as unbecoming 
 to the canons. Accordingly, it was the wish of 
 the majority to throw it aside ; the elder of these 
 gentry, however, maintained that it kept them 
 warm in the choir, and got the better of their re- 
 fractory companions, insomuch, that the chapter of 
 Troyes is encapouched for a blessed eternity, 
 which I wish them, and you also, but on condition 
 that you delay for a long time entering on its eh* 
 joyment. 
 
 There are few of the class of nobility at Troyes. 
 In the societies, one meets with scarcely any be- 
 sides tradesfolk, who, after having passed the 
 whole of the morning in calculating at their desks, 
 
SWEEPINGS OF MY STUDY. 201 
 
 come to lose their money at a kind of brelan, very 
 much in fashion, called la bouillote, and relax, with 
 the cards in their hands, from their penalties and 
 fatigues. You may judge that, in the society of 
 these gentlemen, one may soon know what is the 
 value of a yard of cloth, or that of any other 
 marketable commodity. Although Troyes is a 
 commercial city, there are few individuals who are 
 excessively rich : Bankruptcy here is an epidemi- 
 cal distemper ; and one must be careful not to let 
 out the word in conversation, for wherever one may 
 chance to be, it would be like speaking of a rope 
 in a house where some one of the parentage may 
 have been hanged. I was warned of this soon 
 after my arrival ; and I have proscribed this word 
 in my vocabulary. 
 
 As they are in general very idle here, they com- 
 mence their visits to the ladies at two in the after- 
 noon, which affords time for frequenting, in the course 
 of the day, nearly almost all the houses in the city. 
 One is received every where ; and as soon as, in 
 any house, there is sufficient daylight to see to the 
 arrangement of a game of cards, it is proposed. As 
 soon as the game is finished, each takes his hat, 
 and sallies forth to carry his ennui elsewhere. In 
 the course of the week, there are several fixed as- 
 semblies, but these are rarely accompanied by a 
 supper, unless it be toward carnival-time, when 
 great entertainments, with a profusion of eatables, 
 
 i2 
 
202 SWEEPINGS OF MY STUDY. 
 
 are given every where. They are furiously fond 
 of eating at Troyes ; and that is the time of the 
 more solid pleasures. It does not appear to me 
 that the carnival of this year will be a dancing car- 
 nival; but this pleasure will be compensated at 
 the table ; and as, when there is much dancing 
 pulmonary affections are the prevailing maladies, 
 it is to be expected that this year, when there will 
 be much gormandizing, indigestions will be in 
 vogue. 
 
 As I am but a very small eater, I shall not 
 spend my carnival here, but shall very soon join 
 you, to see those famous redoubts in the praise of 
 which you speak so highly. A thousand compli- 
 ments, I beseech you, to our comrades. 
 
 Since my arrival, I had not an opportunity to 
 examine the curiosities of the city of Troyes, and 
 I should have felt great regret at quitting the 
 place without seeing them. Not having any time 
 to lose, as I am to set out to-morrow, I have em- 
 ployed the whole of this morning in rambling 
 through the streets, and visiting the churches, so 
 that I should be nearly in a condition to be your 
 cicerone, if you were to present yourself unexpect- 
 edly in this very worthy capital of Champagne. I 
 would take you to see the paintings in the church 
 of St Pantaleon. They comprise the events of the 
 
SWEEPINGS OF MY STUDY. 203 
 
 life of that saint, executed in compartments by 
 Carey, a celebrated pupil of Le Brun, and who 
 excelled more particularly in animals. The one in 
 which St Pantaleon is represented in the lions'-pit 
 is superior to the others. 
 
 We would proceed thence to admire the portico 
 of the church of St Nicholas, which is in the 
 noblest style. The jube (gallery) of the church of 
 La Madelaine is one of the boldest pieces of archi- 
 tecture that can be seen. It is absolutely flat, with- 
 out any appearance either of arch or vault, and is 
 ornamented with three culs-de-lampe* in stone, 
 which are suspended from it. 
 
 I was told of a singular epitaph which was to be 
 read in this church, but which was removed a few 
 years ago. It imported that 
 
 " La gissoit Des Essarts, Chambellan de Charles 
 VII. 9 lequel avoit Jbnde une messe qui devoit etre 
 cliquetee, dite, et chantee par un pretre moine, suf- 
 Jisant, et noil concubinaire, ou, a tout le moins, 
 secret de ses pauvres fautes? — There lay Des Es- 
 sarts, chamberlain of Charles VII., who founded 
 a mass which was to be rung, said, and sung, by a 
 monkish priest, capable, and not concubinary, or, 
 at the least, secret in his peccadilloes. 
 
 From La Magdelaine we would proceed to St 
 Remy, the parish of the celebrated Girardon, who 
 
 * Cul-de-lampe, — an architectural' ornament suspended from 
 the ceiling or vault, and which terminates in a point. 
 
204 SWEEPINGS OF MY STUDY. 
 
 presented this church with a superb Christ of his 
 workmanship. It is perhaps one of the best pro- 
 ductions of this artist. I could never be satisfied 
 with looking on it, and I remained for a long time 
 absorbed in the contemplation of its beauties. 
 
 You should afterwards accompany me to the 
 Cordeliers, to read an epitaph engraved on bronze, 
 which is so curious, that I here transcribe it. 
 
 Ci repose et git Louis Duval, Ecuyer, en son 
 vivant seigneur haut justicier moyen et has de 
 la terre et seigneurie de Fay-aux-bois, de Pou- 
 pee, et St Colombe, pres Nogent-sur-Seine : 
 lequel deceda en cette ville de Troyes le dernier 
 jour d^Octobre Van 1602, et qui, de son vivant, 
 avoit donne tous ses biens a ses jits, reservant 
 les usufruits pour lui sa vie durant. II prie tous 
 ceux qui liront cette memoire de prier Dieu four 
 lui, et qu'ils ne fassent pas comrne lui, car il s^en 
 est fort mat trouve. — Here reposes and lies Louis 
 Duval, Esquire, when living, Lord Justicer, high, 
 mean, and petty, of the land and lordship of Fay- 
 aux-Bois, of Poupee, and of St Colombe, near No- 
 gent-sur-Seine, who departed this life, in this city 
 of Troyes, on the last day of October, in the year 
 1602, and who, in his lifetime, bestowed all his 
 property on his sons, reserving unto himself the 
 usufructs during life. He beseeches all those who 
 may read this memoir to pray God for him, and 
 not to do as he has done, for in so doing, he found 
 himself very uncomfortable. 
 

 SWEEPINGS OF MY STUDY. 205 
 
 Lastly, to terminate the circuit, as I finished 
 mine yesterday, we would look in at the Hotel de 
 PArquebuse. This is a house where a company 
 of bad marksmen assemble, to amuse themselves 
 with firing at a target. In a large hall there are 
 some very valuable paintings on glass. Each window 
 has a cartouch* (cartridge) which contains some 
 event of the time of Henry IV., superbly painted by 
 Gouthier, who flourished at Troyes at the com- 
 mencement of the last (17th) century. One of these 
 cartouches presents a detailed plan of the battle of 
 Yvry, a morsel which is perhaps unique. It is in 
 good truth a shame that the gentlemen of the ar- 
 quebuse do not take more care than they seem to 
 bestow on these rich productions of art : the greater 
 part of the panes of glass are broken ; and on the 
 first high wind those that remain entire will be de- 
 molished. They would have done much better to 
 have allowed them to be purchased by the foreign- 
 ers, who, on several occasions, wished to treat with 
 them, and who proposed to cover them with gold, 
 than suffer them to perish in this manner. 
 
 Now, my dear friend, that your rambles in the 
 city of Troyes are brought to a conclusion, you 
 must feel fatigued. I therefore leave you, wishing 
 you a good night, and embracing you most cordi- 
 ally. 
 
 * A kind of ornament in sculpture or painting. 
 
SWEEPINGS OF MY STUDY. 
 
 THE DEPARTURE. 
 In the month of April 1796, the Chevalier, with 
 several companions, among whom were Counts 
 Constantin and Charles de Ludoff, left the Turk- 
 ish capital to proceed to Vienna. Their setting 
 off he thus pleasantly describes. 
 
 We were very sorrowful on quitting Pera, the 
 greater part of us having there left behind both 
 relatives and friends ; beside which Charles and 
 myself had to part from two fair ones of whom we 
 were desperately enamoured. It was not without 
 a few sighs that we bade them adieu ; and Charles 
 recited two pretty verses of Ovid, which could 
 not have been applied more happily : 
 
 Baldwin * amo ante alias, nam me discedere flevit, 
 Et longum, formose, vale inquit Carloqui. 
 
 As to myself, who am not learned in quota- 
 tions, I could not recollect any passage of an au- 
 thor that corresponded with my feelings at the 
 moment, and contented myself with saying 
 
 Adieu, ma tendre colombelle, 
 Loin de toi, toujours amoureux, 
 Je te croirai toujours fidelle, 
 Et je t' addresserai mes vceux. 
 
 Constantin did not say any thing, but I believe 
 * The daughter of the English Consul-General. 
 
SWEEPINGS OF MY STUDY. 207 
 
 he did not on that account feel the less. I had 
 perceived him paying very assiduous attentions to 
 Mademoiselle Murat, and I suspected that he was 
 deeply in love with her. His grief on quitting 
 her was mute, and had consequently need of an 
 interpreter. I undertook therefore to say, in his 
 name, 
 
 Adieu, charmante Armenienne, 
 Dans mon cceur toujours tu vivras ; 
 Fasse le ciel que je revienne 
 Trouver le bonheur dans tes bras. 
 
 THE DRUMMER. 
 At Hermanstadt, the capital of Transylvania, in 
 the belfry of one of the Lutheran churches, of 
 which there are four, there is a clock with a very 
 musical set of chimes. When these cease, the 
 hours strike, and immediately after, a small fi- 
 gure, placed in a window, beats a drum, and re- 
 peats the hours by giving an equal number of 
 strokes, after having flourished for a few seconds. 
 I was told that this figure is that of a man who, 
 at a remote period, discovered a conspiracy formed 
 by the inhabitants to massacre the garrison, which 
 might have been the more easily effected, because 
 the soldiers were quartered separately in the 
 houses of private individuals, there not being any 
 barracks. 
 
 In the above city, the culprit is freed, by a 
 

 208 SWEEPINGS OF MY STUDY. 
 
 sum of money, from the penalties that would 
 otherwise be inflicted on him for the bodily da- 
 mage done to his neighbour. All the fractures of 
 the limbs, &c. are taxed, and death even, as will 
 appear by the following tariff : 
 
 Florins. 
 
 The toes, ... - 30 
 
 The fingers, - 40 
 
 The legs or arms, - ^Kk 
 
 The eyes, ... 40 
 
 The ears, - - 20 
 
 The tongue, - - 20 
 
 The ribs, 160 
 
 Death, - - - - 350 
 
 Simple wounds are not taxed ; and the reason 
 is, as we are told in printed books, that on a free 
 body a price cannot be put, which will appear to 
 be a remarkable inconsequence, after reading the 
 above tariff. In this city, the Walachian newly- 
 married females wear on the forehead a bandage 
 ornamented with all kinds of feathers, not ex- 
 cepting those of the peacock, which makes them 
 cut a very singular figure. From my window, I 
 saw two or three of them pass this morning, and, 
 with this strange accoutrement, they made me 
 laugh very heartily. The Jews are not allowed 
 to enter Hermanstadt unless in the time of the 
 fair. 
 
 ; 
 
SWEEPINGS OF MY STUDY. 209 
 
 - THE VIRGIN OF TEMISWAER. 
 
 The inhabitants of Temiswaer hold in high 
 devotion the Virgin whom they name Virgo 
 Serena, because her statue, during the hottest 
 part of the siege, was constantly observed to dis- 
 play a tranquil countenance, which, it must be 
 confessed, was a great miracle. Besides this, it 
 was never wet when it rained, which was a miracle 
 quite as surprising as the other. 
 
 THE COMMANDANT'S LADY. 
 To-day we dined with the Commandant. He 
 has a wife, belonging to a great family, of the 
 most repulsive figure that can be imagined, and 
 of an insupportable height. We had been fore- 
 warned that it was the custom to kiss her hand ; 
 and we armed ourselves with courage to lick, on 
 our entrance, the most beastly and disgusting 
 of all possible paws. She held it out to us on our 
 making our first reverence at the door, and spread 
 out her dirty fingers to the end that we might ad- 
 mire separately the rings with which they were 
 adorned. When she seated us, she pointed out 
 to each his place. Two or three officers came in, 
 each of whom, according to his rank, had a dis- 
 tinct seat; but two unfortunate sub-lieutenants, 
 who were the last to enter, remained standing, 
 
210 SWEEPINGS OF MY STUDY. 
 
 because, according to the lady, they had not a 
 sufficient rank to place their bottoms on her 
 chairs. 
 
 The General is a brave and honest man, and 
 one who in his time has seen good service : he 
 appears to me to be led by his wife. To establish 
 myself in the good graces of this Baroness, I made 
 the conversation fall on nobility, well knowing 
 that it was the subject which would gratify her 
 the most. In an instant, she threw on the table a 
 coarse worsted stocking she was knitting, and ex- 
 patiated, in pompous terms, on the ennui she felt 
 at Temiswaer, in not having any one of her rank 
 with whom she could associate. She told us she 
 spent her afternoons in playing at ninepins with 
 her husband, which must certainly have been high- 
 ly entertaining : luckily for us, we were unable to 
 be present at this famous match. 
 
 NOTES ON VIENNA. 
 Maiieschal de Lascy, being present at the re- 
 presentation of VAmant Jaloux (the Jealous Lover) 
 given by us at the house of M. de Clary, said to 
 the French ambassador, on hearing a duet sung in 
 which the honour of the French is vaunted, and 
 they are told to march to glory, " This is what 
 makes men of you : you sing of glory all the day 
 long, and that exalts your heads." 
 
SWEEPINGS OF MY STUDY. 211 
 
 Prince Kaunitz takes the lead of the Empress 
 and her children, and observes no ceremony un- 
 less in the presence of the Emperor. He has been 
 known frequently to make her Imperial Majesty 
 wait three or four hours in the antechamber ; and 
 never rises from his seat when he receives her 
 visits, or those of the young Princes. When the 
 Prince de Rohan was ambassador of France at 
 Vienna, he has been seen, on divers occasions, 
 after the latter has, for the amusement of his 
 Highness, played at blindmans buff with the 
 ladies, to stroke him under the chin, saying, " I 
 like this lad : it was I who formed him. 11 
 
 This Prince, it would seem, takes for his model 
 the Cardinal de Richelieu in his prepotency and 
 his pride ; but as he has neither the genius, the 
 pomp, nor the greatness of soul of that ancient 
 minister, but has, on the contrary, a very weak 
 mind, this bad living copy of a great man deceas- 
 ed is not otherwise remarkable than by its imper- 
 tinence. When he is at table,* no one presumes 
 to help himself to a dish before he has selected the 
 choicest bits. He is surrounded by a dozen plates 
 filled with eatables. When he has tasted of their 
 
 * II y a quelque temps qu'en se mettant a table, il demanda a 
 son valet-de-chambre si sa selle etoit bonne, et si la niatiere etoit 
 longue ou ronde. 
 
219, SWEEPINGS OF MY STUDY. 
 
 contents, one after the other, and has done with 
 them, he sends them to his guests, no matter whe- 
 ther males or females, and they have the folly to 
 consider this as a great favour, and to return 
 thanks to him. I think I see the adorers of Bruma 
 receive with respect the small bags filled, with his 
 excrement. When the Prince has finished his des- 
 sert, he has a mirror brought to him, and takes 
 from his pocket his toothpicks and a small piece of 
 very dirty cotton. He washes his mouth, gargles, 
 hawks, spits, and, it may be said, vomits in his 
 plates. His guests are all looking on, no one dar- 
 ing to rise from table before he has finished this 
 disgusting operation. 
 
 One day, in the presence of a large party, he 
 called to one of his attendants, and told him to 
 hold out his hand. The valet, seeing that he was 
 about to spit, wished to take out his handkerchief 
 to receive the expectoration ; but the Prince said 
 to him dryly — " Your hand :" he expectorated, 
 and looked afterwards to the quality of the phlegm. 
 —He is to the utmost degree afraid of death. No 
 one ever dares mention to him the decease of any 
 person ; and he has carried his pusillanimity so 
 far, that last winter he could not muster the reso- 
 lution to see his son, although he was supposed to 
 be at the point of death, nor even during his con- 
 valescence. He never once inquired after him ; 
 
SWEEPINGS OF MY STUDY. 213 
 
 and contented himself, when he was declared to 
 be out of danger, with addressing to him a short 
 note. 
 
 Without the city of Vienna is the ancient palace 
 of Charles the Sixth. This edifice, which more 
 resembles a monkish cloister than a royal residence, 
 is at present occupied by a college named " The 
 Theresian." Agreeably to the rules, each of the 
 students should have a tutor residing with him ; 
 but those who cannot afford the expense of main- 
 taining one, place themselves in Camerata, that is, 
 several of them assemble under the guidance of the 
 same tutor. This establishment has degenerated 
 greatly from its first institution, and will insensi- 
 bly fall into utter decay. The Emperor, who 
 dreams of nothing but what is military, has already 
 broken up a similar one founded by the house of 
 Savoy, and has converted into barracks the edifice 
 in which it was fixed. The same thing will hap- 
 pen to the Theresian college after the death of 
 his mother. 
 
 The young noblemen remain at college until the 
 age of twenty-three, and are married immediately 
 on their leaving it. Few are amiable, and many 
 of them both stupid and grossly ignorant. The 
 daughters of the nobility never bring their hus- 
 bands a greater dowry than four thousand florins, 
 insomuch that a needy family of the distinguished 
 
214 SWEEPINGS OF MY STUDY. 
 
 class can never re-establish itself by a lucrative 
 marriage. 
 
 The church of St Stephen is a fine building of 
 Gothic structure. Its steeple, in the form of a 
 needle, and very lofty, is remarkable on account 
 of the sculptures with which it is ornamented. 
 It is a singular fact, that, during the siege of 
 Vienna, the inhabitants entered into an agreement 
 with the Turks, by which the latter bound them- 
 selves not to direct their balls against this steeple, 
 on the condition that the crescent should be hoist- 
 ed at its summit, which was done accordingly. 
 
 The streets of Vienna are not in right lines, but 
 are pretty wide, and well paved. They are light- 
 ed at night by reflecting lamps placed alternately, 
 from distance to distance, on each side of the 
 streets. The suburbs are lighted by lanterns 
 placed in the same way. Formerly the commu- 
 nication between the city and the suburbs was in- 
 terrupted at night by the shutting both of the 
 gates and barriers ; but it has been latterly re-es- 
 tablished, and a free passage allowed. — Several of 
 the squares in this capital are handsome. The 
 greater part of them are ornamented with obelisks 
 in honour of saints of either sex ; but these are 
 little deserving notice. 
 
SWEEPINGS OF MY STUDY. 215 
 
 THE CHEVALIER DE COURVILLE. A TRUE 
 HISTORY UNDER FICTITIOUS NAMES. 
 
 The young Abbe de Courville possessed an agree- 
 able figure, was of a mild and conciliating disposi- 
 tion, was not devoid of intelligence, and of excel- 
 lent morals. 
 
 After having spent two years in a seminary of 
 learning, he left it provided with the testimonials 
 of his superiors, who commended his prudence and 
 good conduct. 
 
 The old Bishop of Tregueir, his unkle, a man 
 of a virtuous and zealous character, being anxious 
 to perfectionate the education of his nephew, whom 
 his father, who had been ruined by an unsuccessful 
 lawsuit, had recommended to him when dying, 
 was solicitous that he should visit the different 
 kingdoms of Europe, as well for his information, 
 as to gratify the predominant taste for travelling 
 which the young man had conceived. He gave 
 him as a companion, or travelling tutor, the Sieur 
 Lisseron, a man of merit, whom the Abbe had, 
 however, the misfortune to lose soon after he quit- 
 ted France, he having fallen a victim to a malig- 
 nant fever at Geneva. Left to his own resources, 
 and unrestrained in the prosecution of the object 
 he had most at heart, he now extended his travels 
 much farther than his unkle had projected. From 
 the Swiss Cantons, every part of which he visited, 
 
216 SWEEPINGS OF MY STUDY. 
 
 he passed into Germany, proceeding thence to 
 Turkey, and thence again, finally, to the Indies. 
 
 While in Switzerland, he threw off the clerical 
 band, and his unkle, who was a reasonable man, 
 fearful lest he should become a bad priest if he 
 should persist in making him a churchman, after 
 certain refusals, permitted him to take the secular 
 habit, and was not angry with him on that score, 
 which is what rarely happens. 
 
 The Chevalier de Courville, as he is now to be 
 called, returned to France, having taken his pas- 
 sage on board a homeward-bound English East- 
 Indiaman which put into Brest. His unkle was 
 rejoiced to see him after an absence of five years, 
 and having bestowed on him, by his tears and em- 
 braces, the testimonies of the tenderest affection, 
 he entered with him into the following conversa- 
 tion : 
 
 " My dear nephew, you are at length returned 
 from your travels." 
 
 " Yes, unkle, and with the most ardent desire 
 to engage in others as soon as your bounty will 
 enable me to plan them. 1 ' 
 
 " I am fond of you, and you cannot entertain 
 any doubt of its being my wish to contribute all 
 that I can to whatever may be both useful and 
 agreeable to you. You are sensible, however, that 
 the good which I feel myself bound to do in my 
 diocese, and which my character requires of me, 
 
SWEEPINGS OF MY STUDY. 217 
 
 consumes the greater part of my revenue, and that 
 it is only by degrees, and by the observance of 
 great parsimony, that I can supply the means of 
 satisfying your taste." 
 
 " I am fully sensible of your kindness to me, 
 unkle, and I beg you to believe that I am far from 
 wishing to deprive the poor of the alms you be- 
 stow on them, to expend their amount on my plea- 
 sures. God forbid that I should ever have enter- 
 tained such an idea, and, still more, that I should 
 suggest it to you. I swear to you, that I would 
 sacrifice, not only my superfluities, but even the 
 one half of what is necessary to my subsistence 
 to succour the needy, if I could alleviate their 
 misery." 
 
 " I am very happy, my dear nephew, to find 
 that you possess such Christian sentiments. Chari- 
 ty, mild charity, is among the best attributes of 
 our holy religion ; and it would seem that God, in 
 prescribing it to us as an obligation, has sought to 
 make us in love with our duty, seeing that he has 
 ordained it to consist in that which is so analogous 
 to the sentiments of our heart. Persist in thinking 
 in this way, and you will walk in the road of sal 
 vaticm." 
 
 " I promise you never to change my mode of 
 thinking. I presume that we ought to be a long 
 time in deciding ; but that, when once we are re- 
 solved, we should be firm and unshaken. 1 ' 
 
218 SWEEPINGS OF MY STUDY. 
 
 " You are in the right, nephew, and I perceive 
 that your principles are good. But let us talk a 
 little of the profit you have derived from your 
 travels. You have certainly come back accom- 
 plished, considering the instructions you have re- 
 ceived, the aptitude and facility with which you 
 acquire every description of learning, and your 
 taste for study. With these advantages, you must 
 have collected a great store of knowledge." 
 
 * I can assure you, I was much surprised 
 when I had seen a little of the world. The very 
 first step I made in it demonstrated to me, that 
 hitherto I had been ignorant of every thing ; that 
 I was very far from knowing mankind ; and still 
 more distant from a knowledge of myself. But I 
 afterwards learned many things : I learned to seek 
 the truth ; to subdue my own self-love, and to mis- 
 trust the light of those whose constant aim it is to 
 instruct us ; to dread prejudices ; to discern them ; 
 and, finally, I have enabled myself to profit well 
 by the new travels I may undertake." 
 
 " And is this all ? Have you not drawn up any 
 of the memoirs you ought to have brought back to 
 me, relative to the countries through which you 
 have passed; any details concerning the manners 
 of the people with whom you may have spent some 
 time ; or any reflections on the diversity of the re- 
 ligions of the various nations with whom you may 
 have maintained a more strict intercourse?" 
 
SWEEPINGS OF MY STUDY. 219 
 
 " No, unkle, and this likewise is an advantage I 
 have derived from my travels. I have been made 
 sensible that we ought not to write until we have 
 learned to think, and such is the resolution I have 
 formed. With respect to the latter question rela- 
 tive to religion, I can assure you that I have been 
 very far from making the smallest reflection on it. 
 What matters it to me, whether Luther, Calvin, or 
 the Pope, Mahomed, or Bruma, may have enjoin- 
 ed his followers to perform ablution three times in 
 the course of the day, to abstain from animal food 
 on the Friday, or to read prayers to God in the 
 vulgar or in the Latin idiom. They all alike adore 
 God, and that is sufficient for me. All those dog- 
 mas and disputes relative to the discipline of the 
 church, and, finally, what is named theology, or 
 the science of God, is nothing more than a science 
 of chicane inspired by the devil. " 
 
 " Ah, nephew, this is terrible ! Merciful God, 
 what sentiments ! So, then, it would appear that 
 you do not condemn the sects, and the instructions 
 of these false prophets, and heresiarchs ?" 
 
 " I condemn them ! I am not acquainted with 
 any other heresy beside that which is contrary to 
 good sense and reason, and there are unfortunately 
 too many individuals by whom this one is followed. 
 In my opinion, the true and only heresy, on the 
 score of religion, is materialism, and that cannot be 
 pardoned ; for who can look around him, and not 
 
220 SWEEPINGS OF MY STUDY. 
 
 recognise the eternal hand of a powerful, creative, 
 and preservative God of our universe ?" 
 
 " This is the opinion of the natural law ; but 
 the law of Jesus Christ, by whom it has been per- 
 ^ ectionated, has ordered us to believe and to teach 
 dogmas which the sectaries you have mentioned 
 have rejected. I do not speak of the Mahome- 
 dans and Indians, who, not having received bap- 
 tism, are damned to all eternity ; but I contend 
 that if the others will not admit them, they ought 
 to be culpable in our sight. 
 
 " And, wherefore, if you please ? You have 
 understood passages of scripture in one way, while 
 they have comprehended them in another. The dis- 
 putes you have had with them have turned exclu- 
 sively on the different versions of the original book, 
 which, it may be, no one rightly comprehends. 
 Each fancies he possesses the true interpretation : 
 the parties become warm, abuse is dealt out, pri- 
 vate passions envenom the dispute, and execution- 
 ers end it in favour of the strongest. Is it not 
 shocking that quarrels of such a nature should 
 have caused thousands of men to be put to death ?" 
 
 " And you do not believe that the Roman Ca- 
 tholic religion, as it is professed by real Christians, 
 is the best of all ?" 
 
 " I do not undertake to decide between the dif- 
 ferent modes of adoring God. They are, in my 
 
SWEEPINGS OF MY STUDY. 221 
 
 opinion, all of them good, when a pure, grateful, 
 and respectful heart is brought into their practice." 
 
 " What an infatuation, just Heaven ! How grie- 
 vous is the error into which you have fallen I 11 
 
 " Do not be alarmed, dear unkle, with this man- 
 ner of thinking, nor be apprehensive that I shall 
 ever be seen to change, for interest' sake, the re- 
 ligion of my forefathers, to adopt indifferently an- 
 other. As I do not admit that, in matter of wor- 
 ship, a decision can be formed between the good 
 and the bad, so I think that each ought to follow 
 the one he has been taught in the land of his nati- 
 vity, and that, as religion is, in each country, es- 
 sentially connected with the well-being of the state, 
 every one who abjures it is a bad citizen and a dis- 
 honest man." 
 
 " Truly, Chevalier, you excite my pity. You 
 are not then persuaded that the conversions to our 
 holy religion are brought about by the sentiment 
 of reason and the inspiration of the Holy Ghost ?" 
 
 " No. And if I had been born a Swiss, or a 
 Genevese, I should have considered myself dis- 
 honoured if I had had the weakness to allow my- 
 self to be persuaded by you to quit the religion of 
 my forefathers. Even although I should have 
 been indebted to you for every thing, and you had 
 dragged me from obscurity, or had been the author 
 of my existence, if I had perceived you endeavour- 
 
&2£ SWEEPINGS OF MY STUDY. 
 
 ing to convert me, I could not have forborn to call 
 you a seducer, and to detest your benefits." 
 
 " Gently, nephew ; if you proceed thus you will 
 next reproach rne with personal motives. It ap- 
 pears to me that our dispute has angered you so 
 much as to have caused you to be wanting in the re- 
 spect due to me. You may withdraw. It is my 
 intention that you should spend some time at my 
 country seat, where you will occasionally be visited 
 by an ecclesiastic, a man of probity, who will en- 
 deavour by degrees to dissipate the errors into 
 which you have fallen. If he should succeed, I 
 shall see you again with pleasure." 
 
 " Excuse my warmth, dear unkle ; and while 
 I assure you of my respect, be persuaded that your 
 will and mine will be constantly the same. How- 
 ever certain I may be that my opinion is not to be 
 changed, because I am convinced of its justness, 
 I shall see with pleasure the person you purpose 
 to send to me. I could even wish him to take 
 up his abode with me ; in which case, as we shall 
 have more frequent opportunities of seeing each 
 other, he will be better enabled to impart to me 
 his doctrinal knowledge. 
 
 The Bishop of Tregueir, chagrined at seeing his 
 nephew imbued with principles which he deemed 
 so bad, forbore to make any reply, and on the fol- 
 lowing day sent him to his country seat with M. 
 
 
SWEEPINGS OF MY STUDY. 
 
 ***, his confidential Grand Vicar, whom he regard- 
 ed as a man of the strictest piety. At the com- 
 mencement, the Chevalier and the Abbe" had seve- 
 ral long conferences, which did not lead to any 
 great and particular result. The Chevalier per- 
 sisted strenuously in defending his mode of think- 
 ing ; but the feigned zeal of the Abbe slackened 
 daily more and more, insomuch that, although 
 lodged in the same house, they at length saw each 
 other but rarely. Courville led a very retired life ; 
 but the priest, now that he was at a distance from 
 his Bishop, on whom he had constantly endeavour- 
 ed to impose by the most refined hypocrisy, was 
 under less restraint now that he ceased to pass the 
 whole of the day with his catechumen, and frequent- 
 ly went abroad to stroll about the fields. At length, 
 he was one day surprised, in a wood, with a young 
 girl, to whom he was giving lessons, not on the 
 love of God, but on the love of the creature. With 
 this the Chevalier was made acquainted ; and he 
 wrote to his unkle, complaining of the indifference 
 of M. *** in instructing him. 
 
 The Bishop recalled his Grand Vicar ; but the 
 latter employed the ascendency he had over his 
 mind, weakened by age, in exculpating himself. 
 Actuated by a ^motive of revenge, he, on another 
 hand, brought charges against the young man, 
 taxing him with irreligion and obstinacy in his 
 errors, and even throwing doubts on his virtue. 
 
224 SWEEPINGS OF MY STUDY. 
 
 Courville replied with great moderation to the 
 menaces of his unkle; but the Abbe, who was 
 fully resolved to accomplish his ruin, instilled his 
 poison into the responses, and succeeded in irritat- 
 ing M. de Treguier to such a degree against him, 
 that this Prelate wrote to him one day to say that 
 he abandoned him for ever. 
 
 The Chevalier, overwhelmed with grief, and 
 piqued at the injustice of his relative, who had had 
 the weakness to allow himself to be led blindfolded 
 by a miscreant of a priest, disappeared one morning 
 from the Bishop's house, where he was lodged, 
 without any one having since been able to discover 
 what became of him. 
 
 All that could be found was a packet, addressed 
 to to his unkle, lying on the table of his bedcham- 
 ber. It contained a kind of profession of faith, 
 which was as follows : — 
 
 " There is but one God. 
 
 u God has created the heavens and the earth. 
 He has given me my being : I adore him, and 
 shall never adore any beside him. 
 
 " He has created other men like myself, and has 
 said to me, c Love your neighbour as yourself." 
 Therefore I shall never do to him what I would 
 not wish to be done unto myself. I respect the 
 usages of the religion in which I have been brought 
 up, and shall never cease to feel disposed to follow 
 jt, because I am a citizen, and because the worship 
 
SWEEPINGS OF MY STUDY. 225 
 
 of my forefathers is become a law in the State I 
 serve, and in which I was born. 
 
 " God sees and knows the purity of my inten- 
 tions. He will judge me ; and it matters little to 
 me if bigots condemn me. They have always de- 
 scribed God to me as wicked, and armed with 
 scourges ; but I am persuaded that God is infinite- 
 ly good, and that there are in the world none be- 
 sides themselves who are infinitely wicked. ,, 
 
 AN UNKLE'S LETTERS TO HIS NIECE. 
 
 [From the St Priest MSS.] 
 
 Paris, July 6, 1741. 
 
 I did did not imagine, my dear niece, that I 
 should ever have occasion to be angry with you ; 
 but however I may feel myself disposed to love 
 you and the Viscount with the tenderest friendship, 
 you put me beside my patience. Are you per- 
 suaded, both the one and the other, of the sincerity 
 of the offers of my sister, or are you not ? If you 
 do her justice, you will accept them without cere- 
 mony, because she makes them in the sincerity of 
 her heart. She will then treat you with as little 
 ceremony as she treated M. du Theil, that is, 
 whenever she is at home you will eat her soup, 
 and whatever may be added to it, whether good or 
 bad. When she is abroad, you will have soup 
 and bouilli ; and if you are so greedy as to wish 
 
 k % 
 
SWEEPINGS OF MY STUDY. 
 
 for any thing more you will send out for it : no 
 one will be shackled in his inclinations. Should 
 you come in summer, when we may happen to 
 dine abroad, and should be desirous to drink your 
 liquors cool, if you wish for any other beside the 
 coolness of the well, you will send out to procure 
 ice. Should you come in winter, and should wish 
 to warm yourselves, whether we may be at home 
 or abroad, you will send out to purchase fire-wood. 
 Your domestics will be provided by you with money 
 for the necessary expenditures. Mademoiselle Le 
 Moine will attend on you in character of femme-de- 
 chambre. You will be supplied with a carriage ; 
 but the horses you will have to furnish. The 
 suit of apartments above, such as they are, will be 
 yours ; and you will dislodge Monsieur Du Belier 
 only. If you will come and see us on this footing, 
 we will receive you with the greatest pleasure in 
 the world ; but if you should make any ceremony, 
 we shall think that you doubt this, and you will 
 offend us. I do not even know whether, in our 
 anger, we may not offer you some gross insult, as, 
 for example, wishing you to *, which you 
 
 have neglected to do for a long time, to the great 
 regret of the Viscount. 
 
 I cannot, my dear Viscountess, say any thing 
 
 * d? alter fair e implying that the Viscountess was without 
 
 children. 
 
SWEEPINGS OF MY STUDY. 227 
 
 positive respecting my departure, although I 
 reckon that it will be in the course of the present 
 month. However, I do not know whether I shall 
 not write once again to my brother, and wait his 
 reply before I set out, because, as it is my inten- 
 tion not to remain in Germany more than four or 
 five months at the furthest, and as it is my wish to 
 see the election, it would not be advisable for me 
 to make a prolonged journey at present. 
 
 Adieu, my dear Sophia. Bestow a little of your 
 love on an unkle who bears toward you the ten- 
 derest affection. A thousand tender compliments 
 to the dear Viscount. 
 
 Frankfort, Jan. 23, 1742. Three in the afternoon. 
 
 The gates of the city are about to be shut, my 
 very dear niece, for the election, which will take 
 place to-morrow at noon. All the strangers who 
 are not under the protection of the Electors, of the 
 Electoral Ambassadors, or of the Count de Papen- 
 heim, the Hereditary Marechal of the Empire, are 
 obliged to quit ; but in this order females are not 
 comprehended. The Marechal de Bellisle, the am- 
 bassador of Spain, the nuncio, the foreign mini- 
 sters, and my brother, are all to sleep withoutside 
 the gates this night ; and although France plays a 
 conspicuous part in the election about to be made 
 here, her protection is good for nothing for the 
 next twenty-four hours. I have placed myself 
 
228 SWEEPINGS OF MY STUDY. 
 
 under that of Count Papenheim, and beneath his 
 auspices I shall not be dislodged. In the absence 
 of ministers, and of public affairs, I do not know 
 whether I ought not to take the title of " Excel- 
 lency" for twenty-four hours, since I have been 
 charged by the Marechal to give him an account 
 of whatever may pass, both at the Hotel-de-Ville, 
 and at the Cathedral, named Dome, concerning 
 the election. For this purpose I shall be constant- 
 ly at the side of Madame la Marechale, at all the 
 stations where a place may be assigned her to see 
 this ceremony. If, during these twenty-four hours, 
 I should have a certificate to give, I may follow 
 the example of Cosmo, the galley-slave, who, being 
 left at Marseilles while the galleys and their officers 
 were withoutside the port, subscribed himself, " I, 
 the undersigned, commander of the galleys in their 
 absence." In the same way, I may say, I, the 
 undersigned, charged with his Majesty's affairs 
 while they sleep. I felt yesterday that honours 
 are oftentimes the source of a good share of imper- 
 tinence ; for Madame la Marechale having said to 
 me most graciously that she was very happy to 
 have me under her protection, I put on an air of 
 dignity, and replied to her that it was her Excel- 
 lency who was under mine. 
 
 The proclamation of the King of the Romans is 
 to be made to-morrow at noon, amid a triple dis- 
 charge of the city-artillery, the ringing of bells, 
 
SWEEPINGS OF MY STUDY. 229 
 
 and the acclamation of the populace Vivat 
 
 Carolus Septimus. Count Papenheim will set 
 out at three o^lock, as a courier, to convey the 
 verbal news to the Elector of Bavaria, who is at 
 Manheim : he is despatched by the Electoral Col- 
 lege. Count d'Eltz, the nephew of the Elector of 
 Mentz, is likewise sent by his unkle ; and Prince 
 Clement, the nephew of the Elector of Bavaria, 
 will convey to him the diploma of the election : he 
 will reach Manheim on the 26th. The King of 
 the Romans will depart thence on the 27th, and on 
 the 28th will make his entry into this city, which 
 will be most superb, since, besides his equipages 
 and his retinue, the Electors of Mentz and Cologne 
 will precede him with the same retinue as at their 
 entrance, and all the Electoral Ambassadors with 
 the finest equipages of their embassies, and their 
 retinues, beside all the ceremonial of the city. 
 
 The Elector of Cologne made his entry yester- 
 day : it was of a magnificence surpassing all that 
 had been seen of a like description. All the troops 
 were under arms, and, together with the city-guard, 
 lined the streets. It commenced by eighteen led- 
 horses, belonging to the city, richly harnessed. 
 Next, four belonging to the magistracy, with four 
 valets on foot. Two deputies of the magistracy, 
 superbly dressed and mounted. Four of the city- 
 officers. Four trumpets and a kettle-drum. Three 
 companies of the city-cavalry. The provost of the 
 
230 SWEEPINGS OF MY STUDY. 
 
 empire. Eight led-horses belonging to Count 
 Papenheim. The under-harbinger of the empire. 
 The counsellor of Chancery. Two officers belong- 
 ing to Count Papenheim, in his livery, on foot. 
 A coach with six horses, in which were his son, and 
 the quarter-master of the empire. Another very 
 handsome carriage, belonging to Count Papen- 
 heim, in which was his Excellency, with a halber- 
 dier on each side, a chasseur, and his maitre-d'- 
 hotel, both richly dressed, and two officers of his 
 household. One hundred and ninety domestics, 
 or running footmen, belonging to the noblemen of 
 the retinue of the Electors, in liveries vying with 
 each other in richness, walking two and two. Forty 
 led-horses, belonging to the above noblemen, mag- 
 nificently harnessed. Two of the Elector's Swiss', 
 in a sky-blue livery trimmed with silver. A squire. 
 Seventeen coaches, drawn by six horses, belonging 
 to the Elector, and displaying his livery, in which 
 were the noblemen of his retinue. Two squires, 
 in light-grey habits trimmed with gold, and vests 
 of gold tissue. Twenty-four led-horses belonging 
 to the Elector, with blue caparisons edged with 
 silver, and rich gold-embroidered fringes. Eigh- 
 teen chamberlains on horseback, in habits covered 
 with gold embroidery. A squire. Eight carriages 
 drawn by six horses, belonging to the Elector, 
 having a valet on foot at the side of each. A large 
 carriage, having eight glasses, and the roof, of 
 
SWEEPINGS OF MY STUDY. 231 
 
 crimson velvet, surmounted by an electoral crown, 
 A very handsome berlin, and another carriage 
 having eight glasses, and the roof of green velvet, 
 covered with ornaments of or-moulu, and gold 
 tassels. Four horsemen. A kettle-drum. Six 
 trumpets covered with silver. Twenty-eight valets 
 on foot. Ten heyducks in their grand dress. 
 Another parade-carriage. Thirty-six trabans,* 
 with their halberds. Fourteen pages in a Spanish 
 dress of blue and silver. The governor, sub-go- 
 vernor, and master of the exercises, dressed in blue, 
 laced with gold. Four trumpets and a kettle- 
 drum. Seventy-six guards and their officers. Six- 
 teen led-horses. Fourteen grooms on horseback. 
 The coach in which was the Elector, and which, 
 in its elevation and magnificence, seemed a moun- 
 tain of gold. Six mules. Two carriages drawn 
 by six horses. And, lastly, four open chariots. 
 
 All the ambassadors here are about to give en- 
 tertainments. Great preparations are making at 
 the palaces of France and Spain. May God pre- 
 serve you, dear Viscount and Viscountess. Pray 
 think sometimes of one who loves you with all his 
 heart. 
 
 * In the Swiss-guards, the trabans are specially charged with 
 the personal security of the commanding officer. 
 
SWEEPINGS OF MY STUDY. 
 
 Frankfort, Feb. 13, 1742. 
 
 The Emperor's coronation took place yesterday, 
 my very dear Viscountess, with all the pomp and 
 magnificence of so august a ceremony. The gates 
 of Frankfort were shut, according to the ordinary 
 usage, and all the troops and militia were under 
 arms, as well for the safeguard of the city, as to 
 line the streets through which the ceremony was to 
 pass. At eight in the morning the Electors of 
 Mentz and Cologne, and all the Electoral Ambassa- 
 dors, with their grand retinue of nobility, in festi- 
 val dresses, on foot, their fine equipages, and their 
 households, repaired to the Emperor's residence, 
 and accompanied him to the H6tel-de-Ville. The 
 procession set out in the highest order, and formed 
 a very majestic coup-d'ceil. The Emperor, the 
 Electors, and the Ambassadors, went thus far in 
 their carriages. At ten o'clock they resumed their 
 march on horseback in habits of ceremony, and 
 constantly preceded by the whole of the grand re- 
 tinue on foot. From the Hotel-de-Ville to the ca- 
 thedral, the streets were planked, and covered with 
 cloth. A salute was fired from the guns of the 
 ramparts, and the bells rung. 
 
 At the gate of the church, the Emperor was re- 
 ceived by the Elector of Cologne, to whom the 
 Elector of Mentz had conceded the pleasure of 
 crowning his brother, with reservation of his right, 
 
SWEEPINGS OF MY STUDY. 233 
 
 not to derogate from his high function. He was 
 in pontifical habits, and accompanied by eight 
 bishops belonging to the chapter of the cathedral, 
 and the whole of the clergy. Tickets of admission 
 had been distributed ; and by the means of the or- 
 der which was observed, there was not any confu- 
 sion within the church. The entire ceremonies oc- 
 cupied five hours. 
 
 The Emperor arrived in electoral habits, and 
 was afterwards invested with the imperial orna- 
 ments, which had been brought from Nuremberg 
 to Aix-la-Chape]le. These consisted of, the im- 
 perial crown, the sceptre, the cope with the girdle, 
 the great sword of Charlemagne, the globe, the 
 buskins, the slippers, the gloves, the ring, a long 
 alb, a stole, the ordinary sword, or sabre, of Char- 
 lemagne, the book of the evangelists, and the 
 shrine, covered with diamonds, in which a few 
 drops of the blood of St Stephen are preserved. 
 The deputies of the above cities, twelve in number, 
 are the witnesses, and do not lose sight of any of 
 their ornaments. The mass, during the perform- 
 ance of which the Emperor receives the commu- 
 nion, having been said, he ascends his throne, 
 where he makes sixty knights, one of whom, by 
 right, belongs to the house of Albert, one of the 
 most considerable in Germany, and who kneels be- 
 fore the Emperor armed cap-a-pie. The Empress 
 was in a spacious gallery with all the members of 
 
234 SWEEPINGS OF MY STUDY. 
 
 the imperial family, and her court, but was con- 
 sidered as being there incognito. 
 
 I shall not detail to you, my dear Viscountess, 
 the whole of the ceremonies, nor the various func- 
 tions of the great officers, which would be too long ; 
 but shall merely say, that nothing can be conceived 
 finer and more august. The church ceremony be- 
 ing concluded, the Emperor set out on his return 
 to the H6tel-de-Ville, where the imperial banquet 
 is holden. He was on foot, beneath a canopy, and 
 preceded in the same manner as during the caval- 
 cade. It was pleasant to observe, that, in propor- 
 tion as he advanced, the cloth which covered the 
 planked-way was carried off by the populace, and 
 cut almost under the feet of the Emperor. It 
 often happened that one piece was divided into 
 twenty morsels. 
 
 Nothing could be finer than the spectacle of the 
 square, owing to the abundance of the people, as 
 well there, as on the scaffoldings, and at the win- 
 dows, which, being in a manner contiguous, re- 
 sembled so many opera-boxes. Besides the roofs, 
 which were crowded, there are individuals who, for 
 this day alone, have made by their houses upwards 
 of eight thousand livres. An hour after the Em- 
 peror had entered the H6tel-de-Ville, he presented 
 himself at the balcony in his imperial habits. The 
 exclamation of " Vivat Carolus Septimus" was 
 reiterated on all sides, and the joy seemed general, 
 
SWEEPINGS OF MY STUDY. 235 
 
 and more marked than it had been, either at his 
 election, or at his entry. Of this the Emperor ap- 
 peared to be extremely sensible, as he remained a 
 long time at the balcony, notwithstanding the pierc- 
 ing cold. 
 
 In the middle of the square was laid a large 
 heap of oats. Count Papenheim, in a Spanish 
 dress, mounted his horse at the gate of the Hotel- 
 de-Ville, rode full speed into the midst of the heap, 
 and without alighting, filled with it, in passing, 
 the silver measure he had in his hand. Having 
 raked off the superfluity with a silver slice, which 
 he threw into the heap, he proceeded with the 
 measure to the Hotel-de-Ville. The corn became 
 the lawful pillage of the populace, who filled their 
 pockets. The ambassador of Prussia, likewise in 
 the Spanish costume, came afterwards on horse- 
 back, provided with a silver ewer, and a silver 
 basin, and drew water from the fountain to pre- 
 sent to the Emperor for washing. Afterwards, 
 the Palatine ambassador, in a like costume, and 
 mounted, came with a silver terrene to seek a mor- 
 se] of roast beef. 
 
 It belongs to the ceremony to roast a whole ox, 
 which is larded with sheep, turkeys, pullets, &c. 
 For this purpose a boarded house is constructed, 
 fifty feet long, twenty-five broad, and fifty high. 
 The spit is a beam of timber, at each extremity of 
 
236 SWEEPINGS OF MY STUDY. 
 
 which is a wheel. Beneath is a dripping-pan, of 
 twenty feet dimension, in front of a large hearth. 
 The animal is roasting during three days ; and the 
 butchers are said to have gained upwards of a thou- 
 sand crowns for showing it. As soon as the Em- 
 peror's portion is carried off, the rest is, as well as 
 the wooden house, given up to the populace. This 
 occasions one of the most laughable spectacles ima- 
 ginable : in the space of a quarter of an hour there 
 no longer remains any vestige of the house : joists, 
 planks, and beams, every part is carried off. It is 
 surprising to me, that in the scramble many per- 
 sons were not crushed to death ; but I have not 
 heard of any accident, although many club-blows 
 were interchanged. 
 
 Afterwards came Count Stolbert, hereditary 
 marechal of the arch-office of treasurer, likewise 
 on horseback, and in the Spanish costume. He 
 threw among the populace a quantity of silver 
 money, and must have been very much fatigued 
 with this service, for he remained upwards of an 
 hour on the square, and you may judge of the 
 press by which he was surrounded. On another 
 hand, there were two large waggons filled with 
 small loaves, which were likewise thrown among 
 the populace ; and, on the other side of the square, 
 two fountains of wine. You may judge, my dear 
 niece, what must have been the movement which 
 
SWEEPINGS OF MY STUDY. 237 
 
 passed in this square during three hours, and the 
 spectacle it afforded to any one who saw it fully at 
 his ease. 
 
 The imperial banquet was afterwards served in 
 the great hall of the H6tel-de-Ville. At the ex- 
 tremity, in front, was the Emperor's canopy, ele- 
 vated by four steps, and beneath it his table, at 
 which he seats himself alone. On each side, 
 backed by the wall, was a buffet, arranged like an 
 altar, and illuminated from top to bottom. In one 
 of these buffets was his service in gold ; and in the 
 other, in vases or cups, whatever is most valuable 
 in his treasury, and which would require more 
 than four hours to examine with any degree of 
 nicety. Next, on the right and left, were the 
 tables of the Electors of Mentz and Cologne, 
 under a magnificent canopy, raised one step only ; 
 and, at the side, their two buffets, likewise backed 
 by the wall, containing whatever they possess of 
 the greatest beauty and rarity, and illuminated in 
 the same way from the top to the bottom. In the 
 midst of the space between the two Electors, and 
 opposite the Emperor, were the canopy, table, 
 and buffet, of Triers ; but as the Elector is not 
 present in person, his ambassador stands at the 
 side of the table, to be fed by the fumes of the 
 dishes of the Emperor and of the two Electors. 
 Next, to the right and left, were the buffets and 
 tables of Saxony, Prussia, the Palatinate, and 
 
238 SWEEPINGS OF MY STUDY. 
 
 Hanover, their ambassadors being in the same 
 posture with the one of Triers. The buffet of 
 Bavaria had also its station assigned to it, but 
 was left empty. I cannot better describe to you 
 the hall, named a church, the great altar of which 
 is the imperial platform, supporting the canopy of 
 state, and all the buffets, to the right and left of 
 the chapels, superbly ornamented and illuminated. 
 A salute was fired from the ramparts on the cup 
 of wine being first handed to the Emperor, and 
 immediately each withdrew to his own home, or 
 rather, with the exception of the Emperor and 
 the Electors, came to besiege the palace of France, 
 where there was a grand supper, and, in addition 
 to three large tables, others were laid in proportion 
 as the company, which was prodigious, entered. 
 The facade of the palace, and that of the palace 
 of Spain, which is contiguous, were illuminated 
 from the roof downward with very ingenious de- 
 vices ; and the entire facade of the square, by an 
 immense frame-work of timber, in porticoes hav- 
 ing different designs, with emblems and inscrip- 
 tions, which made a splendid illumination. To- 
 day there will be another similar one, with a grand 
 supper and a dress ball. 
 
 It appears to me, my very dear Viscountess, 
 that I have gone to a sufficient length for this day, 
 and it only remains for me to embrace you, and 
 the dear Viscount, most earnestly. 
 
SWEEPINGS OF MY STUDY. 239 
 
 Frankfort^ Feb. 23, 1742. 
 
 All the bustle of Frankfort, my dear Viscount- 
 ess, begins to subside. The closing of its bril- 
 liancy will be, I apprehend, the coronation of the 
 Empress, which is fixed for the twenty-sixth of 
 this month, if the Emperor's health should per- 
 mit. Of this, however, I have my doubts, as he 
 has had a sharp attack of the gout, which has not 
 allowed him to appear in public more than twice 
 since his coronation. His court is every thing but 
 gay, as well with reference to those who compose 
 it, as to the circumstances of the times, which are 
 not so favourable as was expected. It is hoped, 
 however, that in a little time they will change 
 their aspect. 
 
 There are few pretty women in the Empress's 
 court ; beside which their Majesties are so straitly 
 lodged, that they do not show to advantage. A 
 great number of princes, princesses, and high no- 
 bility, have quitted Frankfort ; and these depar- 
 tures take place daily, insomuch that if the coro- 
 nation of the Empress should be delayed for any 
 length of time, not the eighth part of those who 
 were here will remain, and those who are still pre- 
 sent manifest a great impatience to return to their 
 homes. Although nothing is as yet said relative 
 to the departure of the Emperor, every one asks, 
 What will become of all this in a fortnight, in a 
 month, in six weeks, &c. ? Will the ambassadors 
 
240 SWEEPINGS OF MY STUDY. 
 
 remain ? or will they separate ? Will a diet of pa- 
 cification be commenced ? and many other ques- 
 tions of this nature, which mark the incertitude 
 as to what is to be done. It is said that the Elec- 
 tor of Cologne will remain here during the whole 
 of the time of the Emperor's stay ; but he has dis- 
 missed a part of his household. The Elector of 
 Mentz sets out to-day ; and to-morrow the Mare- 
 chal de Bellisle will leave for Paris. He has already 
 made a considerable reform of officers, cooks, &c. in 
 his household, which will be reduced to the establish- 
 ment of that of an ordinary ambassador, to the great 
 regret of the Germans, who found it very agreeable 
 to assemble at the palace of France to the number 
 of five or six hundred, three hundred of whom staid 
 to make a very ample supper. Now that the Mar- 
 chioness will be alone, this will be reduced to a small 
 number of persons. With respect to the other high 
 diplomatic characters, more especially since the de- 
 parture of the ambassador of Spain, who lived 
 here in great state, they have not found much 
 employment for their cooks, beside which their 
 doors have not been open to any one unless by 
 invitation, and at this time the number of those 
 invited is so very small, that many, as the evening 
 approaches, have to pause and reflect where they 
 are to dine on the morrow. At this time there is 
 no open house beside that of the Prince of Taxis, 
 which is crowded every evening to excess. As to 
 
SWEEPINGS OF MY STUDY. 24)1 
 
 dinner, the society of the bourgeoisie, who had 
 been very much neglected, begins to be again 
 courted; and the shame of frequenting their 
 houses, which was felt a fortnight ago, yields to 
 a more pressing emotion, namely, hunger, from 
 which embroidered and laced garments do not 
 exempt the wearers, whose finances have been for 
 some time exhausted. This, my dear niece, is 
 what is now passing at Frankfort. My brother 
 is still uncertain whether he will continue here 
 during the absence of the Marechal ; but on that 
 head my opinion is affirmative. As to myself, I 
 look to how the wind blows, and to the state of 
 the weather, equally ready to depart as to stay. 
 This will depend on the good or bad thoughts I 
 may have in the course of the day, or on the good 
 or bad dreams I may have during the night. 
 There is only one thing which is stable in me, 
 and which will be always independent of every 
 event, that is, the tender friendship which I shall 
 bear all my life to the dear Viscount and Vis- 
 countess; and if they do not recompense me by 
 a slight return, they will be very unjust. 
 
 Dresden, May 5, 1742. 
 
 I wrote to you, my dear Viscountess, before my 
 departure from Frankfort, which was on the 23d 
 of the last month, at nine at night. I found the 
 roads very bad, notwithstanding which I have 
 
 L 
 
24& SWEEPINGS OF MY STUDY. 
 
 constantly travelled almost day and night, and 
 this because the accommodations are such as not 
 to tempt one to stop, it being better to remain in 
 the carriage, than to sleep on straw in filthy apart- 
 ments at the risk of catching vermin, However, 
 when the night was too obscure, I waited in the 
 carriage for the rising of the moon. Fortunately, 
 in Germany the roads and woods are pretty safe. 
 On the route I lived on milk, fresh eggs, and 
 hard eggs, which are to be easily met with every 
 where. I was in a good berlin, with a very 
 amiable fellow-traveller, a French nobleman named 
 the Baron de Lignieres, attached to the service of 
 the King of Poland. We reached Leipsic on the 
 28th in excellent health, and without any accident 
 having befallen our carriage. 
 
 Reckoning the days of our arrival and depar- 
 ture, we remained three days at Leipsic, which 
 afforded me the opportunity of seeing the place, 
 and the closing of the fair. I made an acquaint- 
 ance there with several persons of consideration, 
 friends jf M. de Lignieres. On the evening of 
 the 30th we departed thence, and reached Dres- 
 den on the following day. My companion has 
 insisted positively on my taking up my abode with 
 him, and I am here very much at my ease. As 
 he is greatly beloved and esteemed in this place, 
 he has already introduced me to the acquaintance 
 of all those who are of the highest consideration ; 
 
SWEEPINGS OF MY STUDY. 243 
 
 and his obliging manner of announcing me has 
 procured me every where infinite advantages. 
 Added to this, Count Dessaleurs, his Majesty's 
 Envoy Extraordinary, has in a manner overwhelm- 
 ed me with his politeness and friendship. The 
 day before yesterday he did me the honour to 
 present me to the King, whose reception was truly 
 gracious ; and to-day he is to present me to the 
 Prince Royal, and afterwards to the Queen, and 
 the younger branches of the Royal Family. I 
 shall thus be, from this time henceforward, an 
 animal who may be made a show of at a fair, with 
 the label : — " The King has seen him ; the Queen 
 has seen him, Sec. 1 ' 
 
 I have not as yet dined once at M. de Linieres 1 : 
 from morning until evening every day has been 
 with me a day of festivity. I supped last evening 
 at the Hotel of Count Bruil, Prime Minister, and 
 the King's favourite. He is perhaps the most 
 amiable nobleman that can be met with, and of a 
 magnificence that surpasses all imagination. In 
 short, when I tell you that his cellar alone, in 
 wines of Hungary, of the Rhine, and others, is 
 worth upwards of a million and a half of livres, 
 it will appear to you a fable, although nothing 
 can be more true. It is a great curiosity to see, 
 being on these occasions lighted by lustres and 
 wax-tapers ; and is laid out like a suit of apart- 
 ments. For his wardrobe alone, the Baron expends 
 
24)4 SWEEPINGS OF MY STUDY. 
 
 annually upwards of fifty thousand crowns. He is 
 superbly lodged; his furniture is most magnifi- 
 cent ; and his services in silver the richest that can 
 be seen: in short, every thing is in proportion, 
 and creates the expenditure of a Sovereign. He 
 possesses besides the most exalted qualities, and 
 has afforded me a striking proof of his urbanity 
 and politeness to strangers. 
 
 Dresden is a well-built city. The inhabitants 
 are a fine race, and the females uncommonly fair. 
 If you look out at the window for a quarter of an 
 hour, you will see from twenty to thirty young 
 girls, exquisitely beautiful, and from the age of 
 thirteen upward to twenty, pass beneath. One 
 must be careful, however, not to be tempted by 
 them, they being all alike hazardous ; and it will 
 be right constantly to bear in mind the Spanish 
 proverb, Mir a y no toca. I do not as yet know 
 what stay I shall make here, and whether I shall 
 undertake my journey to Berlin and Prague. 
 This will depend on circumstances, as well as on 
 the amusement I may expect to derive from such 
 a tour. Adieu, dear Viscount and Viscountess. 
 Be persuaded that I love each of you with equal 
 tenderness here, as wherever else I may have been, 
 or may chance to be hereafter. If, therefore, you 
 do not love me a little in return, you will both de- 
 serve to be hanged. Count Belgarde, of Cham- 
 bery, desires me to convey a thousand compliments 
 
SWEEPINGS OF MY STUDY. 245 
 
 to the Viscount. I dined the day before yesterday 
 with his brother. It is now a long time since I 
 heard from you. 
 
 Dresden, May 19, 1742. 
 
 I have to tell you, my very dear Viscountess, 
 that an officer, travelling as a courier, and pre- 
 ceded by eight postillions blowing their horns, has 
 just passed under my windows. This being, in 
 Germany, the usual mode of announcing good 
 news, I have just sent to make inquiries, and am 
 informed that on the 17th, at seven in the morning, 
 there was an engagement between the King of 
 Prussia and the Austrians, the latter, commanded 
 by Prince Charles, being twenty-nine thousand 
 strong, while the King of Prussia had twenty-two 
 thousand only. That the latter having quitted 
 Moravia, and directed his march toward Prague, 
 to repair to the county of Glaz, had been fol- 
 lowed by the Austrians with the design of attack- 
 ing him, and falling afterwards on Prague. That 
 the action commenced by the attack of a village 
 near Czaslau, nine miles distant from Prague, 
 where was stationed a Prussian corps. That after 
 a vigorous attack and defence, the Austrians had 
 set fire to the village, and had dislodged from it 
 the Prussians, who had returned to the charge 
 notwithstanding the fire ; and that there had been 
 an obstinate combat, which became general. That 
 
246 SWEEPINGS OF MY STUDY. 
 
 during two hours, the Austrian infantry did not 
 lose an inch of ground. And, lastly, that fortu- 
 nately victory declared for the King of Prussia, 
 who lost, however, a great number of men, and 
 many officers of distinction. The Prussian cavalry 
 broke through that of the Queen, which was rout- 
 ed and dispersed. This battle lasted from seven 
 in the morning until noon, and was very sangui- 
 nary. The King of Prussia ordered the Austrians 
 to be followed for the space of three days, and it 
 is to be hoped that he will derive great advantages 
 from his victory, ^i shall wait here for the news, 
 instead of setting out immediately for Prague, not 
 wishing to have any rencounter with the huzzars, 
 who have shown themselves within a league of this 
 city. It is true that there is a river between us, 
 and that up to this time the roads are safe ; but I 
 think I should be laughed at if I should expose 
 myself to the risk of having to make a forced jour- 
 ney to Vienna. I shall therefore begin by going 
 to Berlin, leaving all these intricacies to be clear- 
 ed up. 
 
 I have just received, my dear Viscountess, your 
 letter of the 3d of April, and see with pleasure 
 that you continue to enjoy good health. I have 
 also learned, by a letter from M. Rochechuiard, 
 that a little blue-beard has been born to him, and 
 that Madame is recovered from her accouchement, 
 
SWEEPINGS OF MY STUDY. 247 
 
 on both of which occasions I congratulate them 
 with all my heart. Do not doubt, my dear Sophia, 
 of my anxiety to see you, either in Paris or at 
 Grenoble, and to tell you and the dear Viscount 
 in person how much I love you. I embrace you 
 both very affectionately. 
 
 I continue to amuse myself greatly here. Dres- 
 den is a charming city, abounding in good com- 
 pany, and very opulent. In all Germany, the 
 Saxons are those whose manners harmonize most 
 with ours : they are extremely prepossessing, and 
 polite to strangers. 
 
 Frankfort, May 24, 1742. 
 
 I received yesterday, my very dear Viscountess, 
 your letter of the 8th of May, which, coming to 
 me direct, has reached me much sooner than the 
 others. I therefore beg that when you write to 
 me in future you will do the same, addressing your 
 letters to Frankfort until I announce to you my 
 return to Paris. 
 
 It is my intention to remain here a week or ten 
 days longer, and then to set out for Berlin. For 
 this purpose, I am now bargaining for a light and 
 tolerably convenient carriage. As it is for two 
 persons, if a pretty girl should ask me for a seat, 
 I am at a loss to know what excuse I shall make 
 in refusing her. This is what puts me out of 
 
248 SWEEPINGS OF MY STUDY. 
 
 conceit of my intended purchase ; but, for want 
 of another, I shall be obliged to put up with it. 
 
 How many fine things I have seen, my dear 
 niece, within these few days, in vases, paintings, 
 antique busts, furniture, and china, with a prodi- 
 gious quantity of porcelain of Saxony, of the most 
 variegated designs, executed in the highest perfec- 
 tion, and painted like the finest miniatures ! One 
 would not be wearied with passing a day in each 
 of the chambers ; and the building [chateau] filled 
 with these objects has three stories, besides the 
 vaults. In the royal treasury there are three 
 vaulted chambers which contain immense riches* 
 The jewels, kept in presses lined with mirrors, are 
 in such a quantity, that it appears as if all those to 
 be found in Europe had been there brought toge- 
 ther. This is an enigma the explanation of which 
 I demand daily, how a country which is not of any 
 great extent can furnish the considerable expenses 
 made by the King of Poland, who derives very 
 little from his kingdom of Poland. His court is 
 on an extraordinary footing of magnificence, and 
 all the pensions and appointments are on a great 
 scale. The King has just made a considerable 
 augmentation of his troops : they are picked, well- 
 dressed, and well-nourished. He purchases every 
 day ; and made some time ago the acquisition of a 
 green diamond, and of another extremely dear. 
 All this is paid for in ready money, and the taxes 
 
SWEEPINGS OF MY STUDY. 249 
 
 are not augmented one farthing. The country has 
 throughout an air of opulence: the peasant is 
 better dressed than the more wealthy farmers in 
 France ; and all classes appear to be very much at 
 their ease. This Prince is adored by his subjects, 
 and with reason, for he is good and just, and not 
 any private individual can be found who bears 
 more the stamp of an honest man. That he is the 
 slave of his word the following trait will show. 
 Count Solkoski, his prime minister, having been 
 disgraced, and having merited to be so a hundred 
 times, had purchased, before his disgrace, the 
 estates of King Stanislaus, in the acquisition of 
 which the King had promised him his aid. His 
 Majesty had already made him a present of consi- 
 derable sums for that purpose ; but, at the time 
 of his fall, there still remained about seven hun- 
 dred thousand livres to satisfy his claimants. The 
 King was asked what was his intention in this re- 
 spect, with the insinuation that the disgraced mini- 
 ster had rendered himself unworthy of his bounties 
 " I have promised him : it must be paid :" was the 
 King's reply ; and he even carried his generosity 
 so far p- to send him his portrait, which he had 
 tilid pained for him while in favour. It is suffi- 
 cient that any thing appears to him to be just, for 
 him to grant it without reserve. 
 
 On my return from Berlin I shall revisit Dres- 
 den, whence I shall repair to Prague, provided the 
 
 l2 
 
250 SWEEPINGS OF MY STUDY. 
 
 roads should continue to be safe, of which there is 
 every probability. We have not had any details 
 of the battle gained by the King of Prussia, unless 
 that the Austrians retreated to the mountains, 
 where the troops his Prussian Majesty had sent 
 after them did not think it prudent to pursue 
 them. 
 
 There is every prospect of there being to-morrow 
 a combat still more interesting to us — Marechal 
 Broglio set out from Pissek the day before yester- 
 day with the view of raising the siege of Fraven- 
 berg, carried on by the corps-tfarmee under M. de 
 Lobkovis, and with the resolution to give them 
 battle to-morrow, the 25th, if the enemy should 
 wait for him, or he can come up with them. He 
 is twenty-two thousand strong; but the enemy's 
 force I do not precisely know. Our troops set out 
 with an incredible joy and ardour, which is a good 
 sign. The King of Prussia's battle has determin- 
 ed the step which was so long and earnestly desir- 
 ed. A courier arrived yesterday from Prague, to 
 announce that the Marechal de Bellisle, instead of 
 visiting this place, as he had announced, set out 
 the day before yesterday, at noon, to join M. de 
 Broglio, and make one of the party in the dance. 
 Should there be an engagement, I think it will be a 
 warm on, and I hope it will be favourable to us. 
 
 I embrace you, my dear Sophia, and the dear 
 Viscount, most affectionately. 
 
SWEEPINGS OF MY STUDY. 251 
 
 Dresden, May 28, 1742. 
 
 I announced to you, my very dear Viscountess, 
 that M. de Broglio was about to quit Pissek, and 
 to go in pursuit of the enemy who were carrying 
 on the siege of Fravenberg. He set forward on 
 the 23d, and on the 26th came to the vicinity of 
 that place. The enemy drew up in order of bat- 
 tle, a portion of their army being under the cover 
 of a wood. Different movements made by them, 
 obliged us, on our side, to do the same, until at 
 length the action commenced. Our troops being 
 greatly annoyed by a battery formed of the guns 
 which had been brought up for the siege, M. de 
 Broglio marched his troops in that direction, arid 
 a warm contest of the cavalry ensued. Our horse 
 drove back that of the enemy, and our infantry 
 were equally successful, obliging the enemy to re- 
 tire behind the wood. The action was not general ; 
 and as it was seven in the evening, M. de Broglio 
 did not think proper to engage in a night encounter, 
 delaying the attack he meditated until the follow- 
 ing day. The enemy, however, retired in the 
 night, leaving us masters of the field of battle, and 
 raising the siege of Fravenberg. Unfortunately 
 the corps of cavalry commanded by M. de Cler- 
 mont was stopped in its progress by a morass, with- 
 out which there is every probability that there 
 would have been a general engagement, and a com- 
 plete victory. M. de Mirepoix, who commanded 
 
252 SWEEPINGS OF MY STUDY. 
 
 the reserve, did wonders ; and in general our troops 
 conducted themselves with infinite ardour and bra- 
 very. It is to be hoped that this earnest of suc- 
 cess will have a happy issue, more especially as 
 our troops are reinforced daily. The Marechal de 
 Bellisle was a simple volunteer in this engage- 
 ment. 
 
 A young man whom I regret very much was 
 killed in the above affair. His name was Count 
 Boroski, a Pole, a captain of cavalry in the service 
 of France, and aide-de-camp of the Marechal de 
 Bellisle. This young officer, to whom the Mare- 
 chal had given a rendezvous at Dresden, having 
 learned by accident at M. de Dessaleurs', where I 
 happened to be, that he had set out for Pissek, 
 was plunged in the deepest grief. Although sick, 
 he took infinite pains to procure houses, and was 
 much gratified by his success. He made, unfor- 
 tunately for him, the utmost diligence to reach the 
 scene of battle in time, and was slain. 
 
 In a few days, my dear niece, it is my intention 
 to set out for Berlin, and, fortunately, I have just 
 made, at M. de Dessaleurs', the acquaintance of 
 two ladies of that court, who are very amiable, 
 and who will leave in two or three days for that 
 destination. Thus it may so happen that I may 
 depart on the same day with them, which will ren- 
 der my journey more agreeable, and enable me to 
 see, with more convenience and utility, whatever 
 
SWEEPINGS OF MY STUDY. 253 
 
 is curious at Berlin, and the good society to be 
 met with in that city. 
 
 I regret infinitely that I did not accompany M. 
 Dessaleurs in the journey he has just made to the 
 frontiers of Poland, where the King has been on 
 the occasion of an assembly of the senate which 
 was held at Fraustadt. Unluckily, I did not put 
 any question to him respecting the carriage in 
 which he travelled, and he might have given me a 
 place. He has very obligingly said to me, that it 
 would have afforded him the greatest pleasure to 
 have had me with him at Fraustadt, where what 
 he witnessed on the above occasion was highly cu- 
 rious, inasmuch as the assembly enabled him to 
 form a precise idea of Poland and the Polish no- 
 bility. My regret, however, answers no purpose. 
 — Adieu, dear Viscount and Viscountess. Make 
 some return to the tender love I bear you. 
 
 Dresden, June 22, 1742. 
 
 I have written to you with confidence, my dear 
 Viscountess, being persuaded that when the news 
 are not good, you do not communicate what I tell 
 you unless to M. de St Priest and M. Baral, as I 
 should be driven to despair if I were to be cited in 
 any thing. This preamble does not prepare you 
 for very agreeable news ; and accordingly we are 
 in the most critical position imaginable. The King 
 of Prussia has, by the blackest trait, gone over to 
 
254 SWEEPINGS OF MY STUDY. 
 
 the other party, and has just made his peace with 
 the Queen of Hungary : it was signed on the 13th 
 of this month. It was expected, after his victory, 
 that he would go in pursuit of Prince Charles; 
 and it was in consequence of this that M. de Brog- 
 lio attacked the corps of M. de Lobkovis, which 
 having defeated, if he had been seconded by the 
 King of Prussia, it would have been all over with 
 the Austrain army. This Prince, however, con- 
 stantly amusing us by fine promises, kept in 
 inaction ; and at the time when M. de Broglio 
 expected at Fravenberg, whence he had driven 
 the enemy — expected, I say, the effect of his 
 fine promises, he was very much surprised to 
 find the army of Prince Charles, which he had 
 regarded as dispersed, marching on him, while on 
 his side he did not dare, in the view of the King 
 of Prussia, to quit his post at Bridweis. This 
 treachery, however, was carried into effect at the 
 time when the fullest confidence was entertained 
 in him. M. de Broglio was accordingly obliged 
 to retreat toward Pissek, and, notwithstanding 
 the surprise, his retreat was truly glorious. Prince 
 Charles, having nothing to dread from the King 
 of Prussia, followed him thither, and obliged him 
 to fall back on Prague, constantly pursued by the 
 Austrians. In these circumstances, the King of 
 Poland, an exact observer of his engagements, 
 notwithstanding the bad condition of his troops, 
 
SWEEPINGS OF MY STUDY. 9.55 
 
 which had been brought into a lamentable state 
 by the King of Prussia while he had them under 
 his command in Moravia, ordered them to join the 
 French, and would in a short time have furnished 
 thirty thousand men. Our recruits and militia 
 were advancing, insomuch that on our side we 
 should have been very strong, even without their 
 junction ; and, notwithstanding our retreat under 
 the walls of Prague, all would have been at an 
 end with the enemy, if the King of Prussia had 
 marched, because they would have been placed 
 between the two armies. Courier after courier 
 was despatched to him, and he constantly pro- 
 mised, until being at length constrained to take a 
 part, he declared that he had made his peace, 
 contrary to the most authentic faith of a treaty, 
 by which no one of the allies was to receive any 
 proposition without communicating it to the others. 
 We are accordingly beneath the walls of Prague 
 with twenty-five thousand French, in the most 
 critical position, and uncertain whether the King 
 of Poland, notwithstanding his good faith, will 
 not be obliged to come to an accommodation, 
 having the enemy at his gates. Should he have 
 the firmness not to do this, we may be able to 
 maintain ourselves, because twenty-five thousand 
 French, fifteen thousand Saxons, the troops of 
 Bavaria, who have received orders to march, our 
 militia and recruits who are advancing, and the 
 
256 SWEEPINGS OF MY STUDY. 
 
 Saxon troops who may be augmented daily.— All 
 this, I say, may not only show a bold front to the 
 enemy, but may change the posture of affairs. 
 On the other hand, it is presumable that the King 
 of Prussia will not do things by halves, and that 
 he may not be satisfied with remaining neuter. 
 It is also probable that a party has been formed 
 in alliance with the English and Dutch. I leave 
 you to draw the consequences. Every one here 
 is in great consternation, and in the utmost un- 
 certainty as to what will happen. You may judge, 
 my dear niece, that I no longer think of a journey 
 either to Prague or Berlin ; but shall leave this in 
 a day or two for Frankfort. What dreadful news 
 likewise for the Emperor, whose states are entire- 
 ly ravaged ! 
 
 I pray and beseech you, my dear niece, that 
 what I have communicated may be for you and 
 M. M. de St Priest and Baral alone. A thousand 
 compliments to them from me. I embrace you, 
 my dear Sophia, most affectionately. 
 
 Dresden, June 27, 1 742. 
 
 All my plans of travels, my dear niece, are de 
 ranged. Not but that I should much wish to un 
 dertake them ; but I adapt myself to the circum- 
 stances of the times. I should have but little 
 pleasure at Berlin, at a moment when every good 
 Frenchman must be grieved at heart at the in- 
 
 : 
 
SWEEPINGS OF MY STUDY. 257. 
 
 fidelity of the King of Prussia ; and I should find 
 myself very awkwardly situated at Prague, at 
 a time when our army is hemmed in beneath the 
 cannon of the place by the army of the enemy, 
 which is much more numerous. It is not because 
 there is any apprehension of its being forced ; but 
 the junction of the reinforcements that may reach 
 it, is both long and difficult of accomplishment. 
 We are abandoned by an ally powerful in troops, 
 whose intentions are not as yet well developed, 
 and whose first step also may lead to a suspicion of 
 still worse. There were grounds for reckoning on 
 the King of Poland ; but he is not strong in 
 troops, and his country, open on every side, gives 
 him every thing to fear from the enemy, who are 
 at his gates. Accordingly, it is to be doubted 
 whether, in such a position, his firmness will hold 
 out. Without falling into a train of reflections 
 which do not at the present juncture present an 
 agreeable image, let us hope that the denouement 
 will be more favourable than our superficial know- 
 ledge of matters of policy and warlike operations 
 may permit us to view it. 
 
 I was near yielding to the importunities and 
 obliging politeness of M. Paue, Commissary-Ge- 
 neral of provisions, who offered me a commodious 
 place in his berlin, and an apartment in his house 
 at Prague. It was lucky for me that I postponed 
 this journey, as I should otherwise have been there 
 
SWEEPINGS OF MY STUDY. 
 
 without knowing when I should be able to get 
 away. To-morrow I leave Dresden, after a stay 
 of two months, which I have passed very agree- 
 ably, to repair to Frankfort, where I purpose to 
 spend a month with my brother. I doubt whe- 
 ther I shall be able to carry into effect my journey 
 to Holland. If it should not take place I shall 
 return to Paris in the course of the month of 
 August. Be discreet, I beseech you, my dear 
 Sophia, as to the purport of my letters, for it is 
 painful to have disagreeable news to communicate. 
 I thank the dear Viscount for the letters he has 
 addressed to my sister, and for the care and 
 trouble he is pleased to take in her affairs. I em- 
 brace you both with the truest affection. 
 
 Frankfort, September 5, 1742. 
 
 The Marechal de Maillabois, my dear Viscount- 
 ess, has taken up his abode at my brother's, where 
 he has remained sixteen days; and his presence 
 has drawn to Frankfort a bevy of officers, who 
 arrive daily, such as you may picture to yourself 
 on the passage of an army of forty thousand 
 men. The service, curiosity, the necessity of pro- 
 curing supplies for their equipages, the wish to 
 make their court to the Emperor, &c. — all these 
 motives have brought to this city a prodigious 
 number of them. During three weeks, the move- 
 ment at my brother's has, as well as the expense, 
 
 I 
 
SWEEPINGS OF MY STUDY. 259 
 
 been inconceivable. He had not any need of this 
 additional tax on his finances, after all the ex- 
 penses he has been obliged to incur during eighteen 
 months past. The regular tables have been no- 
 thing : officers who were merely on their passage 
 have arrived hourly, and have come to take their 
 meals at my brother's, insomuch that the table- 
 cloth has remained spread during the whole of the 
 day. You may judge what a prodigious con- 
 sumption this has occasioned during the above 
 time ; and I am persuaded that, however dear this 
 passage may have cost my brother, they have all 
 had reason to be fully satisfied with the reception 
 he gave them. 
 
 We have had the pleasure to see the finest army 
 that could possibly be assembled. The Emperor, 
 the whole of his court, all the ministers, all Frank- 
 fort even, have been to witness the passage of the 
 four divisions, and every one was enchanted by 
 the beauty and fine equipment of the troops, as 
 well as by the ardour and gaiety with which they 
 marched to the succour of Prague, and of their 
 comrades. The admiration was general ; and 
 foreigners could not help being delighted, and 
 agreeing that there was no other beside the French 
 nation capable of such an enterprise. Luckily, 
 the fine weather has seconded them up to the pre- 
 sent time, from the first day of their march, and 
 there is every appearance of its continuance. The 
 
SWEEPINGS OF MY STUDY. 
 
 army is to reach Nuremberg on the 8th, insomuch 
 that within eight or ten days I have not any 
 doubt of the enemy coming to the resolution to 
 retire from before Prague, it not being probable 
 that they will wait the arrival of such a force. 
 They are making incredible efforts against that 
 place, but it is still better defended : it is there- 
 fore to be hoped that the bravery of the besieged 
 will have a happy issue. The communication has 
 been constantly interrupted since the 13th of the 
 last month, that being the epoch of the last news 
 received in a direct way from Prague ; but it is 
 known positively, although indirectly, that the 
 enemy, notwithstanding their efforts, advance but 
 little, and, disposed as they are to make the most 
 of the smallest advantages, when they do not pub- 
 lish them, it is a certain proof that they have not 
 obtained any. After all that I have said, you 
 may judge what the commanders and the troops 
 to whom the defence of Prague is confided, have 
 reason to expect. I am not too sanguine there- 
 fore, when I flatter myself that towards the latter 
 end of the month I shall have no other but good 
 news to communicate. 
 
 I shall not dwell on the occupations with which 
 my brother is in a manner overwhelmed : nothing 
 is to be seen besides the arrival and departure of 
 couriers night and day. Fortunately for him, his 
 health is pretty good. I have come to the resolu- 
 
SWEEPINGS OF MY STUDY. 261 
 
 tion to remain with him until affairs shall have put 
 on a more tranquil aspect. Before I can well 
 conclude this, Madame la Marechale de Bellisle 
 will quit Frankfort to return to France. I am to 
 have the honour to accompany her to the distance 
 of twenty-five leagues. She will sleep to-night at 
 Mentz at my brother's house, with a numerous 
 company who will attend her thus far on her 
 route. My brother not being able to leave, I am 
 to do the honours of his house, and shall conduct 
 her afterward to Turken, returning by Manheim, 
 a place which I am very anxious to see. I shall 
 spend a day there, to pay my court to the Elec- 
 tor, and to the Princesses, who are extremely 
 amiable, and whom I had the honour to see at 
 the election. Mine will be a journey of four days. 
 I embrace you, my dear Viscountess, and the 
 dear Viscount, together with M. and Madame 
 Baral, and the whole family. I make my compli- 
 ments to all of you on the place of minister of 
 state which the King has just bestowed on Cardi- 
 nal de Tencin. 
 
 Frankfort, October 26, 1742. 
 [Addressed to the Viscount.] 
 
 I have just received, my very dear Viscount, 
 the letter with which you have honoured me, dated 
 the 14>th of this month ; and you could not have 
 given me a more agreeable piece of intelligence 
 than that of the happy accouchement of the dear 
 
SWEEPINGS OF MY STUDY. 
 
 Viscountess. The illness by which it had been 
 preceded, and the inquietudes which torment her 
 more than any other female in this operation of 
 nature, occasioned me much anxiety on her ac- 
 count I hope, that she will henceforward enjoy 
 good health, not to abuse it, but to be careful of 
 it, having had occasion to be sensible of its full 
 value by the languid state in which she has been 
 for some time past. Say a thousand affectionate 
 things to her for me. 
 
 I am, my dear Viscount, under the influence of 
 a violent temptation, and you know as well as my- 
 self that in these cases there is not any radical 
 cure unless by giving way to it. A proposition 
 has been made to me to undertake a journey of 
 six weeks to Holland, passing by L.iege and Co- 
 logne, in the society of a man whom I love most 
 affectionately, and who also has a great friendship 
 for me. It was with him that I made the jour- 
 ney of Saxony, and at whose house I was lodged 
 at Dresden, where I can say that I owe to him 
 the greater part of the civilities I met with, he 
 being very much beloved and considered at that 
 court He is come to Frankfort expressly to see 
 me, before setting out for Holland, where he is 
 well known. I shall therefore have the advantage 
 of being with one acquainted with that country, 
 in good society, and at a much less expense than 
 I should incur with any other, or alone. I am in 
 
SWEEPINGS OF MY STUDY. 263 
 
 the proximity ; and by embarking on the Rhine, 
 I shall perform my journey commodiously. All 
 these reasons united may well determine me, for 
 there is not any prospect of such an opportunity 
 again presenting itself, and I have long been 
 tempted to undertake this journey. I shall not 
 come to a decision, however, until a few days 
 hence, because there are interesting circumstances 
 on which I would wish to collect some information 
 beforehand. 
 
 You must have heard that the Marechal de 
 Maillebois has retired on Egra, where he now is, 
 having determined not to risk the passage of the 
 long and dangerous defiles, masked as they besides 
 are by the enemy's army. His attempt, however, 
 has produced the effect which was proposed, that 
 of raising the siege of Prague, into which supplies 
 of every description have been thrown, and are 
 thrown daily. Thus has a good operation been 
 accomplished without striking a blow; and our 
 armies are entire and in a good condition. It is 
 to be hoped that the operations which are about 
 to follow will be both useful and glorious. 
 
 The Marechal de SeckendorfF has operated 
 with good effect in Bavaria, whence he has nearly 
 driven the Austrians, and is in the way of perfec- 
 tionating his plans with every prospect of success, 
 more especially since he has given out an ordi- 
 nance by which all the peasants, from the age of 
 
264 SWEEPINGS OF MY STUDY. 
 
 eighteen to fifty, are called upon to take up arms, 
 such as they can find, and to join him. This 
 junction is strengthened daily ; and the manoeu- 
 vre of M. de Maillebois will not be less useful to 
 him in completing his operations. 
 
 Madame Baral writes to me that the young 
 boarder of Montfleury wishes to take the veil, and 
 that she withdraws her for six months to subject 
 her to the trial. I am persuaded that the experi- 
 ence of the latter will render her very attentive to 
 her probation ; but can one be certain that, at the 
 age of fifteen or sixteen years, any dependence can 
 be placed on its solidity? Having seen what I 
 have seen, were I a father, I would never give my 
 consent before twenty years. 
 
 I thank you for the news you give me respect- 
 ing the Spaniards : you will oblige me by any 
 further communications on that head. I anticipate 
 the real pleasure I shall feel in embracing you at 
 the commencement of the year, when I lay my 
 account with being in Paris. My brother, who is 
 still oppressed by the weight of public affairs, 
 desires me to make a thousand compliments to 
 
 you and Madame de St Priest. 1 embrace 
 
 you, my dear Viscount, and the dear Viscountess, 
 with the most ardent affection. 
 
SWEEPINGS OF MY STUDY. Q65 
 
 ACCOUNT OF THE CORONATION OF SULTAN 
 
 SOLIMAN, ON THE 27th OF OCTOBER 1687. 
 
 Extracted from the Political Correspondence of the Ambassadors of France at 
 the Sublime Porte, by Count de St Priest. 
 
 On the 27th of October at noon, Sultan Soliman 
 repaired to the mosque of Youb, where, having re- 
 cited his prayer, and heard an exhortation, the 
 sword was delivered to him in the usual manner. 
 All those who were to precede the grand seignor 
 in the procession of his entry, had repaired to the 
 environs of the said mosque, which as soon as he 
 had reached, they began to defile by the gate of 
 Adrianople. Three hundred gebedgys, preceded 
 by six of their Serjeants on horseback, walked 
 two and two, without either arms or staves, and 
 very badly clad; while ten of their captains, 
 before whom were carried four small guns of 
 bronzed pasteboard, brought up the rear. The 
 same number of topgis, or gunners, afterwards 
 presented themselves, and in as bad an equipage, 
 having their Serjeants in front, and their officers 
 behind them on horseback. Six thousand janis- 
 saries followed, likewise without arms, some with 
 the head, others with the legs bare, and in general 
 very badly clothed, without observing the si- 
 lence so customary in Turkish ceremonies. Seve- 
 ral of their chaoux, or Serjeants, were in front of 
 them on horseback, and the others at intervals 
 between the two files. Thirty captains, well 
 
 M 
 
266 SWEEPINGS OF MY STUDY. 
 
 mounted, clad in satin, and having on the head 
 a very inconvenient covering, overcharged with an 
 infinite number of white aigrettes, followed. After 
 them came the Kiaya bey, surrounded by a hun- 
 dred janissaries on foot, well-proportioned men, 
 and well dressed ; and, lastly, the janissary aga, 
 preceded by his own company, and surrounded by 
 fifty captains on foot, clad in a similar manner, 
 and having the same head-dresses as the others. 
 The commencement of this procession displayed 
 but little pomp : the remainder, however, had a 
 somewhat grander air. The spahys, although 
 established as the prince's guard, have not any 
 particular rank assigned to them on these occa- 
 sions : twelve of their principal officers, however, 
 followed the janissaries, and after them came thirty 
 agas, or capigis, belonging to the vizir. The 
 corps"* of law and justice followed, with the mon- 
 strous turbans they wear when engaged in their 
 official duties: thirty chaoux belonging to the 
 divan, each carrying a mace, preceded them 
 as ushers. Next came Mutef aga, sixty emirs, 
 twelve of the parochial clergy or lecturers, and 
 eighty cadis, in front of whom there were also 
 thirty chaoux. The horses of the legal tribe were 
 without any other ornament than housings of red 
 cloth edged with a blue silk fringe. Afterwards 
 came twelve capigis bachis, belonging to the grand 
 seignor, wearing turbans of gold brocade, trim- 
 
SWEEPINGS OF MY STUDY. 267 
 
 med with sable fur, and mounted on horses 
 richly caparisoned. Next appeared the Nakib 
 Effendi, or chief of the race of the prophet, to 
 whom this title does not belong by birth, but by 
 the choice of the grand seignor. He is selected 
 from among the emirs, to be their judge and ma- 
 gistrate. He was followed by the two cadileskiers, 
 the one of Romelia being on the right. After 
 them came four vizirs, accompanied by a few va- 
 lets on foot, and followed by the grand vizir, hav- 
 ing the mufti on his left : they were preceded by 
 janissaries, and surrounded by thirty of their cap- 
 tains on foot. The first equerry came afterwards 
 at the head of ten led horses, covered with hous- 
 ings embroidered with pearls and other precious 
 stones, and led by equerries. The grand equerry 
 marched singly before the grand seignor, but af- 
 ter the retinue of the grand vizir. The street was 
 lined by thirty peiks, or valets, on foot, clad in stuff 
 woven with gold and silver, and wearing very high- 
 crowned red bonnets ornamented with aigrettes ; 
 and by one hundred and fifty solaks, or archers of 
 the guard, armed with bows and arrows, and hav- 
 ing likewise white aigrettes in their caps. Two 
 of the principal officers of the seraglio marched on 
 foot at the sides of his highness, and supported the 
 two skirts of his outer garment of white cloth lined 
 with sable fur, beneath which he wore a doliman 
 of green satin. His turban was ornamented by 
 
268 SWEEPINGS OF MY STUDY. 
 
 two plumes of heron's feathers hanging downward, 
 and bound by clasps formed of very large dia- 
 monds, and by a semicircle of precious stones 
 which united them, so as to form in front a kind 
 of diadem. Near to him were, his selictar, or 
 chamberlain, who carried his sword on the left 
 shoulder ; the schoadar, or cloak-bearer ; the riki- 
 abtar, who holds the stirrup when he mounts on 
 horseback ; the dalban agassy, who carries his spare 
 turban ; and the kislar aga, followed by thirty va- 
 lets on foot, who were succeeded by a hundred 
 others, belonging to the different officers who took 
 a part in the ceremony. Amid the whole of this 
 pomp there was not any sound of warlike instru- 
 ments ; neither were there any acclamations of the 
 populace : those who were on foot around his 
 highness, simply pronounced the name of God 
 from time to time; and within the houses the 
 Turks had prayers for the prosperity of the grand 
 seignor. The four officers by whom he was fol- 
 lowed threw handfuls of money among the people. 
 I asked why the grand seignor wore the two 
 heron's plumes reversed, instead of three upright 
 ones, after the example of his predecessor. I was 
 told in reply, that he does not take the third until 
 after he has obtained some conquests, nor wear the 
 two others erect unless when he sallies forth from 
 his capital to wage war. 
 
SWEEPINGS OF MY STUDY. 269 
 
 INTERESTING PARTICULARS OF THE MARCH OF 
 THE TURKISH ARMY FROM CONSTANTINOPLE, 
 COMMUNICATED BY COUNT DE ST PRIEST. 
 
 April 3, 1769. 
 
 Yesterday the grand vizir set out from his 
 camp at Davud Pacha. All the troops had filed 
 off on the preceding days. On Thursday last, the 
 ceremony commenced by the planting of the horses' 
 tails in the midst of the encampment. On the fol- 
 lowing day the arts and trades proceeded thither. 
 After each community of artizans came dervises 
 who offered up prayers; buffoons who recited 
 pleasant stories ; and even masks. Next appeared 
 a symbol of each profession, such as, for instance, 
 a plough for the cultivators ; an oven for the 
 bakers, in which bread was baked on the route, 
 &c. &c. There were seventy different classes. This 
 institution is of remote antiquity, and belongs to 
 the absolutely military origin of the Turkish na- 
 tion, in which every one being a soldier, the camp 
 became the capital. At this time each individual 
 returns to his home after the ceremony, which has 
 the air of a masquerade in the time of carnival. 
 
 On Saturday the janissaries defiled to the amount 
 of eleven thousand, several of their corps' having 
 inarched off before. These troops are neither fine 
 nor well equipped, and are without discipline 
 We find, however, in the soldiery, a determined 
 
270 SWEEPINGS OF MY STUDY. 
 
 air, which becomes them well. The Turkish wo- 
 men, covered with their veils, which conceal every 
 thing except the eyes and nose, swarmed on the 
 passage, the richest of them distributing among 
 the janissaries handkerchiefs and money, and call- 
 ing them holocausts and martyrs of the faith — 
 which compliments they received with all imagin- 
 able piety. The grand seignor sees them pass from 
 a balcony ; and it is a formality that he should 
 shed, or feign to shed, tears of compassion. 
 
 On Sunday the artillery corps, which made a 
 very indiiferent figure, set out. The guns had 
 been sent by sea. 
 
 On the fifth and last day, being Easter Monday, 
 the grand vizir, accompanied by all the officers of 
 the Porte, and by his own retinue, proceeded to 
 the seraglio, to receive from the hands of the 
 grand seignor the sangiack scherif, or standard of 
 the prophet, the custody of which belongs to the 
 Spahilar Agassy, chief of the cavalry of the Spahis. 
 After this ceremony the procession set out, and 
 had to cross the city on its way to the encamp- 
 ment. The descendants of Mahomed, who are 
 named emirs, and who are distinguished by their 
 privilege of wearing of a green colour the sary 
 which girds their kaouck, have likewise a right to 
 be next to the standard of the prophet in the pro- 
 cession. Among these emirs are many belonging 
 to the lowest class of the people ; and their num- 
 
SWEEPINGS OF MY STUDY. 271 
 
 ber is so very considerable, that it is difficult to 
 bestow credit on this prodigious fecundity of the 
 race of Mahomed. The usage on these occasions 
 is, that the standard-bearers should utter aloud an 
 imprecation against the infidels, and call for their 
 destruction, in which the people and the emirs join 
 in chorus. At this moment the pretended infidels 
 are to conceal themselves, or affect to do so. On 
 this day, however, the fanaticism was so great, that 
 all the Jews and Christians who were in the streets, 
 and who had been drawn thither by curiosity, were 
 assailed, and nearly two hundred of them either kill- 
 ed or wounded. The Imperial internuncio and his 
 family were unfortunately involved in this tumult, 
 notwithstanding the wise precautions he had taken. 
 He had demanded of the Porte a commodious 
 house from which he might see with safety, as had 
 been granted in 1736 to M. Tulman, one of his 
 predecessors. His request did not meet with the 
 smallest difficulty; and the drogoman of the 
 Porte, to whom this service was confided, was 
 even ordered to prepare a supper for him, he 
 having determined to pass the preceding night 
 at Constantinople, to the end that he might not, 
 on the following day, have to incur the risk of 
 passing through an immense assemblage of people, 
 with his lady, four daughters, and a pretty nume- 
 rous suite. He reached, without any accident, the 
 house prepared for him without the gates of the 
 
272 SWEEPINGS OF MY STUDY. 
 
 city ; but scarcely had he time to seat himself, 
 when a Turk who, as has been since found, was 
 jealous that his neighbour's house should have been 
 let in preference to his own, incited the populace 
 of the quarter to expel the infidels who had intro- 
 duced themselves into it. He himself came at the 
 head of the assemblage, to signify to the inter- 
 nuncio that he should withdraw, which he was 
 forced to do, not without some risk of his life, hav- 
 ing to make his way through an armed mob. Se- 
 veral of his suite received blows with the flat of the 
 sabre ; and eight of them, one of whom was badly 
 cut in the face, were separated from the party and 
 dispersed. The internuncio himself was, on the 
 way, obliged to distribute all the money he had 
 about him, to appease those who were most furi- 
 ously bent against him. His purse being at length 
 emptied, a band of Albanian soldiers made their 
 appearance, protected him, and conducted him to 
 the guard-house at the entrance of the city. This 
 succour was very timely, for scarcely had the 
 party reached the gate, when one of the inter- 
 nuncio's daughters, exhausted by fatigue and ter- 
 ror, fainted. During the greater part of the way 
 she had been carried in the arms of one of the se- 
 cretaries, who, sooner than abandon this young 
 lady, which she herself had exhorted him to do, 
 had the resolution to receive a great number 
 of blows of the sabre on the arm. It is true that 
 
SWEEPINGS OF MY STUDY. 
 
 not one of them penetrated ; but a cut was made 
 at him, which wounded the temple, and carried 
 away the corner of his hat. The internuncio, 
 with his family and attendants, sought refuge in a 
 house within the city, where they were hospitably 
 received by the wife of a Dutch merchant, by whom 
 it had been hired for herself and her female friends, 
 and who occupied it through the same motive of 
 curiosity. He communicated the particulars of 
 his situation to the substitute of the aga of the 
 janissaries, who sent him an officer for his securi- 
 ty, with orders that he should be placed commo- 
 diously to view the procession, and an injunction 
 to the guards that they were to be answerable for 
 the safety of his person. As a further precau- 
 tion, the internuncio withdrew from the ladies, 
 that he might not sin against the Turkish usages, 
 which do not allow a mixture of the two sexes. 
 He accordingly stationed himself, with his male 
 attendants, in another house ; the females having 
 a shop assigned to them secured with blinds. At 
 the moment when the shouts of fanaticism were 
 heard, and the outrages of the populace recom- 
 menced, he retired from the window, and ceased 
 to be a spectator of what was passing. He was 
 nevertheless equally menaced, and in great peril of 
 his life, in consequence of an old Turkish woman ex- 
 claiming, " There are the infidels," and pointing out 
 the house, which would in all probability have 
 
 m % 
 
£74 SWEEPINGS OF MY STUDY. 
 
 been forced, if the entrance had not been by a side 
 street. In the interim, the shop in which were his 
 wife and daughters was broken open, and the ladies 
 dragged by the hair of the head into the street, 
 where they were kicked, beaten with sticks, and 
 trodden under foot. One of the internuncio's 
 daughters, aged fifteen, addressed herself to a 
 young Turk of her own time of life, and squeez- 
 ing his hand, beseeched him in the Turkish dialect 
 to place her in safety. He was moved by her en- 
 treaties, and replied with tears in his eyes — Olmas 
 — this cannot be done. Other Turks were so much 
 offended by the commiseration he had shown her, 
 that they would have ill-treated him, if he had not 
 leaped out of the window. 
 
 The phrenzy of these people, both males and 
 females, was such, that they aimed at their lives. 
 One of them had his arm uplifted to plunge a knife 
 into the bosom of the internuncio's lady, who, 
 driven to despair at not seeing her daughters near 
 her, instead of shunning the blow, made a move- 
 ment to receive it : the miscreant, however, desist- 
 ed from his purpose. The Turk who had been 
 sent for their security, and whose efforts had hither- 
 to been ineffectual, now wrapped her in his mantle, 
 and conveyed her in safety, together with one of 
 the Dutch ladies, to the house of an Armenian. 
 Her four daughters, and two other females, who 
 had to undergo a similar treatment, followed her ; 
 
SWEEPINGS OF MY STUDY. 275 
 
 but the eldest, who preceded the others, was sud- 
 denly stopped by a Turk, who made a blow at her 
 bosom with his knife, which luckily did nothing 
 more than graze the skin. In this way she lost 
 sight of her mother, and wandered about, not 
 knowing which way to direct her steps, with two of 
 her sisters, until she reached a house which, fortu- 
 nately for them, was occupied by Christians, and 
 where they found an asylum. At length the fourth 
 sister, and the two female attendants, who remain 
 ed behind, met with a refuge of the same descrip- 
 tion. 
 
 It was not until after a lapse of two hours that 
 these females were assembled. It is easy to con- 
 ceive the state of the internuncio^ lady during this 
 interval, she having left her daughters in the hands 
 of such barbarians. The husband arrived shortly 
 after, and was not a little surprised on hearing of 
 the terrible scene which had passed, and of which 
 he had not entertained the smallest suspicion. His 
 wife and daughters were dishevelled ; several of 
 them covered with blood ; and all in the most ab- 
 ject and pitiable state imaginable. It was beside 
 necessary to pass the night at Constantinople, with 
 great security, it is true, owing to the guards hav- 
 ing been tripled. The next day the internuncio 
 returned with his family and retinue to the impe- 
 rial palace at Pera. This adventure made a strong 
 impression on the grand seignor, who sent a sable 
 
276 SWEEPINGS OF MY STUDY. 
 
 pelisse to the internuncio, and a diamond aigrette 
 to his lady, with a promise that all due justice 
 should be rendered them. 
 
 Several Armenians and Jews, when about to be 
 sacrificed to the fury of the populace, declared that 
 they were ready to become Turks. This was not, 
 however, permitted them, the alcoran prohibiting 
 any person from being forced to embrace the Ma- 
 homedan persuasion. 
 
 FRANCE DURING PORTIONS OF THE DIRECTO- 
 RIAL AND CONSULAR GOVERNMENTS. 
 
 I might still, in reviewing the fragments that lay 
 before me, have gone on in selecting, and filling 
 up, foreign notices from other pens, if my careful 
 housekeeper, Sukey, had not reminded me of the 
 interest with which she had perused those that re- 
 ferred to my residence in France at a time when 
 so few British, with the exception of those whose 
 misfortune it was to be held captives, could find 
 access there. She handed me the packet, as, in 
 her skilful housewifery, she had from time to time 
 assembled its torn and scattered contents ; and 
 from the data and hints these may afford, I shall 
 select such passages of this part of my eventful 
 history as may promise to be most gratifying to 
 the reader. 
 
 That consummate statesman, the late Lord 
 Melville, it is known, made a proposition, whicli 
 
SWEEPINGS OF MY STUDY. £77 
 
 was acceded to by the French directory, that each 
 government should undertake the charge and 
 maintenance of the prisoners of war belonging to 
 its nation respectively, for which purpose qualified 
 agents were on each side to be sent over. This ar- 
 rangement was equitable, and would prevent the 
 settlement of heavy balances in the event of a ces- 
 sation of hostilities, at the same time that it was of 
 temporary convenience and advantage to the Bri- 
 tish government, the French prisoners of war on 
 its side being then, in comparison with the sub- 
 jects of Great Britain detained in France, in the 
 proportion of at least eighteen to one. 
 
 The arrangements made by each government 
 were completed at the commencement of the year 
 1798, and would have been carried into immediate 
 effect if an unexpected difficulty had not arisen. 
 The British prisoners of war dispersed throughout 
 the French territory were to be gathered into four 
 depots, at each of which an agent, his clerk, and a 
 naval medical officer, were to be stationed. Mon- 
 sieur Nettement, the accredited agent of the 
 French republic in London, saw, or thought he 
 saw, on the list which was handed to him, the 
 name of a Toulon emigrant inserted as one of the 
 clerks. This, in the estimation of the directory, 
 savoured so strongly of espionage, that a prompt 
 refusal was given to receive any other than the 
 medical officers, who were, as well professional- 
 
278 SWEEPINGS OF MY STUDY. 
 
 ly, as extra-professionally, to take charge of the 
 depots. 
 
 We left London on the morning of the seventh 
 of March, and were detained at Dover several 
 days for a neutral vessel to convey us to the as- 
 signed port, Gravelines. At length, we embarked 
 in a Swede, having for our fellow-passengers seve- 
 ral Prussians, Swedes, and United Statesmen, to- 
 gether with an English lady of title, her daughter, 
 and valet. This lady had resided several years at 
 Lille, in Flanders, and having become a widow, 
 had taken a circuitous route to England, to ar- 
 range the affairs of her deceased husband. She 
 kept her bed during the passage ; and as she ap- 
 peared to us, when we could get a glimpse of her, 
 to be not only extremely corpulent, but aged and 
 infirm, we really felt for her, as the slender bark 
 was rocked by an agitated sea. 
 
 Having sailed up the canal of Gravelines, the 
 municipal officers and commandant, with a strong 
 escort of military, came on board. Our party 
 was, on landing, placed under a separate guard, 
 and strictly prohibited from holding any commu- 
 nication with the other passengers, who, in their 
 quality of neutrals, considered this as a favourable 
 omen to them. At the Commune-House we had 
 to witness a curious scene. Lady H was close- 
 ly questioned by the municipal officers as to the 
 motives which had led her to England, she hav- 
 
SWEEPINGS OF MY STUDY. 279 
 
 ing, on leaving France, procured a passport for 
 the Netherlands. Her French valet acted as in- 
 terpreter ; and, if he did not outlie him, came no- 
 thing short of the lying valet in the farce of that 
 name. He spoke 
 
 " Of moving accidents, by flood and field," 
 
 having befallen them, until they were finally 
 blown out of the port of Flushing, in a tremen- 
 dous gale, into the Downs, whence they had pro- 
 ceeded to Dover to seek another vessel to convey 
 them to Gravelines. He forgot to touch, how- 
 ever, on a good chance her ladyship had met with, 
 amid all her embarrassments, that of visiting Lon- 
 don, where she had laid in a rich cargo of mus- 
 lins, and other British manufactures. These, 
 which would have perplexed a pedlar to cram 
 into his pack, were wrapped in various artful 
 folds about her person, and made her so unwieldy 
 that, on her landing, she fell prostrate on the 
 beach. In passing through Lille, we afterwards 
 paid her a visit, and were surprised at having to 
 salute, not a portly dame, but a spare, active, 
 bustling female of a middle time of life, her stuff- 
 ing, or outer case, having given her credit for 
 more years than had fallen to her lot. In the 
 company of her daughter was a young lady, who 
 entered very agreeably into our chit-chat. On 
 my inquiring who this English lady was, she 
 
280 SWEEPINGS OF MY STUDY. 
 
 proved to be Mademoiselle du Croc, the daughter 
 of an innkeeper of Calais, and furnished the second 
 example I had met with of a native of France 
 speaking the English language without the slight- 
 est foreign accent. 
 
 We were escorted, separately from the other 
 passengers, to an inn, where we remained four 
 days under arrest, with a sentinel placed over us, 
 until the instructions came from Paris for our 
 passage into the interior. Such was at that time 
 the jealousy entertained by the French govern- 
 ment of all who came from England, that an un- 
 fortunate Frenchman, who had been liberated 
 from Norman-Cross, where he had been confined 
 for some years as a prisoner of war, was, with his 
 wife, under close surveillance at the same inn, 
 without knowing when he should be able to 
 reach the place of his nativity, and with less 
 freedom of intercourse than when in the hands 
 of his enemy, his letters even not being allowed 
 to be forwarded. 
 
 We kept close quarters for three days, but on 
 the fourth, by dint of remonstrances, were per- 
 mitted, not only to parade the town, but to ex- 
 ceed the limits of the fortifications, our trusty 
 sentinel serving us as a guide, and pointing out 
 whatever was most remarkable. This poor fel- 
 low, belonging to the corps of invalids, was an 
 example of what, with small means, can be effect- 
 
SWEEPINGS OF MY STUDY. 281 
 
 ed by rigid parsimony. His pay was five sous 
 per day, with a ration of black bread; and he 
 had managed to lay by the sum of ninety-six 
 livres (four louis) which he begged us to change 
 .into gold. Three of the louis' we furnished him 
 he stitched into his cravat, and the fourth he con- 
 cealed within the lining of his waistcoat. This, 
 he said, was a precaution in the case of his being 
 sick at the hospital, as the nurses would not 
 know of his having any other money beside the 
 single louis he might have to change. 
 
 The instructions having arrived from Paris, 
 our passports were made out for Versailles, by 
 the route of St Omer and Lille, from which, 
 agreeably to the orders to be passed by our con- 
 ductors from stage to stage, we were not to de- 
 viate one step. Before we set off, we thought we 
 could not do less than bid a kind adieu to our 
 friends, the neutrals, who assembled in the bal- 
 cony of the inn where they were lodged, under a 
 strict guard, and were both surprised and morti- 
 fied to find that we were so soon liberated, and 
 bound on our mission, while they could not ga- 
 ther one favourable sentence about themselves. 
 I learned afterwards that their stay there was long 
 procrastinated ; but they were not so unfortunate 
 as an English lady I met with subsequently at 
 Gravelines. This lady, an earl's daughter, was 
 
282 SWEEPINGS OF MY STUDY. 
 
 the widow of a French nobleman, and had been 
 to England to settle some family affairs, besides 
 which she was strongly suspected of having certain 
 delicate concerns to arrange for the British go- 
 vernment, insomuch that, after having been amus-. 
 ed by several trips between Calais and Gravelines, 
 she was, at the expiration of seven or eight months, 
 embarked at the latter port to return to England. 
 
 Our passports were demanded, not only at the 
 principal places through which we passed, but in 
 the meanest villages. A tri-colour flag, hung over 
 the door, pointed out the residence of the com- 
 missary of the executive power, who, on our 
 drawing up, quitted his shop, proudly decorated 
 with the scarf of authority. At Lille, we were 
 taken to the splendid hotel in which Lord Malmes- 
 bury was lodged at the time of his negotiation ; 
 and, as our expenditure was far from corresponding 
 with the style of magnificence that surrounded 
 us, were very scurvily treated. The landlady 
 would scarcely condescend to answer a question 
 civilly put to her, probably because she was ad- 
 dressed, not as Madame, but as Citoyenne, agree- 
 ably to the new phraseology, which was every 
 where current. The only individual we had hither- 
 to met with who had a marked distaste for it, was 
 the son of our landlord at St Omer, who had to 
 conduct us from that place to our present station. 
 
SWEEPINGS OF MY STUDY. 
 
 On our hailing him as " citoyen? he told us, point- 
 ing to them, to say that to the sheep. Dites cela 
 aux brebis. 
 
 Shortly after our arrival at Versailles, we were 
 visited by Captain Cotes, and his secretary, from 
 Paris. The places assigned for the establishment 
 of depots of prisoners of war were pointed out to 
 us ; and of these the least promising, in point of 
 comfort, fell to my lot, although the choice was 
 by seniority mine. One of my companions was de- 
 sirous to be at Versailles, because he should be 
 near Paris, a capital he had never seen, and to 
 which he might pay frequent visits. Another 
 wished to be at Fontainebleau, because Lady Rod- 
 ney, with whom he was intimate, resided there 
 with her family ; and the third, who was of a de- 
 licate constitution, was anxious to take the benefit 
 of the pure; mild air of Orleans. I should not 
 have touched on these particulars, if the station to 
 which I had to reconcile myself, at Laon, in Picar- 
 dy, had not, in its sequel, led me to " keep mov- 
 ing," which was what I always liked, and which 
 may furnish a few pleasant hints to the reader in 
 the progress of this narrative. 
 
 To have loitered in the French capital, in pro- 
 ceeding to fulfil our respective engagements, was 
 entirely against the sense of the ever-jealous Di- 
 rectory. We were, on our arrival, peremptorily 
 ordered to quit Paris within the twenty-four hours ; 
 
284 SWEEPINGS OF MY STUDY. 
 
 and as I was resolved to make the most of my 
 time, I spent the day in inquiries after several of 
 my quondam acquaintances, and passed the even- 
 ing at the opera. What a contrast between the 
 present spectacle, and what I had erst witnessed, 
 when the lovely Marie Antoinette, surrounded by 
 her court, gave additional splendour to the well- 
 harmonized scene ! In the pit, the male assemblage, 
 cropped, and in the English costume, was respect- 
 able ; but the boxes, to the lowest tier inclusively, 
 were occupied by poissardes and other female in- 
 ardyables of an equally vulgar stamp, among whose 
 gallants, the water-carriers, with their protuber- 
 ant shoulders, were readily to be distinguished 
 from the associated pimps, pick-pockets, and ex- 
 change-gamblers, [agioteurs.] The weather-beat- 
 en figures of these ladies were set off by a gaudy 
 tire of the national colours, and their coarse fin- 
 gers covered with rings to the very extremities. 
 
 The entertainments were of a purely military 
 cast, with a repetition of the favourite patriotic 
 airs, by the orchestra, at every pause. The ballet 
 turned on a trait of French heroism ; and between 
 the acts of the opera soldiers were brought for- 
 ward on the stage to go through their evolutions. 
 Taken altogether, it was to me the most tiresome 
 spectacle I ever witnessed. 
 
 The episcopal city of Laon is built on an ele- 
 vated site, commanding an extensive prospect, 
 
SWEEPINGS OF MY STUDY. 285 
 
 which, when viewed from the ramparts, is enrich- 
 ed by the vine-plantations that cover the declivi- 
 ties of the mountain. It is so difficult of ascent, 
 that the inhabitants rarely exceed their own limits, 
 to keep up a pleasurable intercourse with the neigh- 
 bouring towns and villages, and appeared to me to 
 be in general very unsocial. In its place, once 
 stood a thick forest, the recesses of which harbour- 
 ed a desperate band of robbers ; and from larron 
 [robber] it derives its name. 
 
 I alighted at an auberge, the apartments of 
 which seemed oddly distributed ; it was a convent 
 which had been thus converted, as was likewise 
 the case with a brewery in the vicinity which sup- 
 plied the beer. The prisoners of war who had 
 been collected were wretchedly lodged under a si- 
 milar roof, without the advantages enjoyed by the 
 old inmates, the enclosed space belonging to the 
 establishment having been applied to another pur- 
 pose. Mais, passe pour cela, as the French say: 
 I had to witness the profanation of more sacred 
 things. I engaged a lodging at the house of Citi- 
 zen Noiset, a glover, who had purchased national 
 domains and ecclesiastical property to the full ex- 
 tent of his ability. Next to his own dwelling, he 
 had just completed a large, handsome building, to 
 be let out in suits of apartments, the floors of which 
 were paved with sepulchral stones, without erasure 
 of their inscriptions, brought from the interior of 
 
286 SWEEPINGS OF MY STUDY. 
 
 a demolished church. The flight of steps leading 
 to the principal entrance displayed the like inscrip- 
 tions. 
 
 The dramatic entertainments were not to be seen 
 unless by entering a church, which, without the 
 touch of harlequin's wand, was changed into a 
 theatre. The better-disposed portion of the in- 
 habitants, who were, however, few in number, I 
 was told, forbore on that account to partake of 
 them ; but their example, as I had no other mode 
 of passing a cheerful hour or two, I was not so 
 scrupulous as to follow. It happened one evening 
 that I found myself beset by a large body of pa- 
 triotic electors, who had just risen from a public 
 dinner, by which, the elections having terminated, 
 they had celebrated their triumph over the aristo- 
 cratical party, and were under the double intoxi- 
 cation of wine and gladness at the event. The 
 presence of an Englishman was whispered round, 
 and I fancied myself in the wrong box, until the 
 one who sat next to me presented me with a brioche 
 (a small cake), which was graciously accepted. 
 This led to a discussion on the state of public af- 
 fairs in France ; and as not policy merely, but a 
 regard to my personal safety, made me incline to- 
 ward the stronger side, I drew general applause, 
 and was deemed a fit subject for the fraternal ac- 
 colade. 
 
 The pauvres rentiers, those unfortunate state- 
 
SWEEPINGS OF MY STUDY. 287 
 
 creditors, the prop of whose old age the revolution 
 had severed, formed a numerous class in this city, 
 which afforded them a cheap asylum, to eke out 
 the miserable pittance that had escaped the wreck 
 of their fortune. They were not to be seen abroad 
 unless toward the evening's dusk, when they crept 
 from their lurking places to breathe the pure air of 
 the ramparts, pacing their dreary steps in the 
 wooden shoes of which, according to the Vaude- 
 ville-sonnetteers, they ought not to have been 
 ashamed. 
 
 Helas ! dans ces temps deplorables, 
 Par 1* honnete homme ils sont portes ; 
 Et, c'est pour les avoir quittes, 
 Que tant de gens sont meprisables. 
 
 THE PRISONERS OF WAR. 
 But I must turn to my own affairs, which were in 
 a sad plight, and, in a prospective view, threaten- 
 ed to be in a still worse. My flock, the prisoners 
 of war, immured in their convent, were the daily 
 subjects of new vexations. The contractor by 
 whom I had been accompanied to Laon, with the 
 view of insuring to them a kindly treatment, had 
 given a handsome douceur of fifty louis' to the 
 commissary of war, who was especially charged 
 with their security. This miscreant, the cousin- 
 germain of Jean Debrie, the murderer of the 
 
SWEEPINGS OF MY STUDY. 
 
 French ministers at Rastadt, finding that he could 
 not profit by the hints for another present he 
 threw out from time to time to the agent of the con- 
 tractors, deprived them by degrees of the few com- 
 forts they had enjoyed. They were no longer to 
 be seen abroad in parties, each under the eye of a 
 surveittant, or keeper, collecting the provisions and 
 other supplies for the depot. This was to them, 
 not a task, but a recreation, as the wretch who 
 tyrannized over them well knew, and who had, be- 
 side, the cruelty to deny them free access to a well 
 withoutside the gate of their prison, to procure a 
 scanty supply of unwholesome water for culinary 
 and other purposes. Uses were studiously found for 
 the more commodious apartments of the convent, 
 and its miserable inmates confined to the cells, and 
 passages leading to them. In short, their griev- 
 ances became too complicated to be patiently borne. 
 Having learned that the citadel of Guise, in 
 which they might be commodiously lodged, and 
 where they would have an ample range of ground 
 for exercise, was unoccupied, I went thither to 
 make the necessary inquiries. My representation 
 to Captain Cotes, the principal agent in Paris, was 
 submitted to the minister of marine, who readily 
 acquiesced in the removal of the prisoners. I did 
 not think it discreet to give Commissary Debrie 
 a prominent place in the foreground of the picture 
 I drew of their sufferings, and the inconveniences 
 5 
 
SWEEPINGS OF MY STUDY. 289 
 
 to which they were subjected, but threw into its 
 mass all the strength of colouring my pencil could 
 bestow. On the 30th of May, they were gladly 
 marched to their new and spacious quarters, distant 
 about twenty English miles. 
 
 I cannot quit the city of Laon without bestow- 
 ing a meed of praise on the surveittans, who were, 
 in the proportion of one to each fifty, immediately 
 attendant on the prisoners of war ; to them they 
 were indebted for many little indulgences which 
 softened their captivity. These subaltern agents 
 received for this service the very moderate pay of 
 fifteen sous per day ; and I was therefore somewhat 
 surprised, on their being introduced to me the 
 morning after my arrival, to see one of them in the 
 uniform of a general officer. This was his story : 
 - — General Leblanc, a soldier of tried valour, was 
 promoted to the rank of captain early in the revo- 
 lution, and would cheerfully have stopped there 
 in his career, for he could neither read nor write ; 
 but, like Moliere's wood-cutter, le medecin mal- 
 gre lui, they would needs make him a general 
 against his will. A reform followed; and as he 
 was without interest, he could obtain no better 
 pension than a livre (tenpence English) per day, 
 while many officers of his rank, who had been so 
 promoted on a momentary exigency, and had 
 served less, were gratified with large pensions on 
 their retirement. Having to support a wife and 
 
 N 
 
290 SWEEPINGS OF MY STUDY. 
 
 three children, he kept a cabaret in an outskirt of 
 the town, and rinced the glasses for the peasants 
 who came to drink his bottled beer. It may be 
 conceived that his new post of surveillant was not 
 to be spurned by him. 
 
 But the story of General Moulin, whom I after- 
 wards met with in Languedoc, was still more curi- 
 ous. This man, who had been a private in the 
 gendarmerie, served with so much reputation in 
 Bonaparte's Italian campaigns, that he not only 
 became a general, but was appointed governor of 
 Milan. Prior to his exaltation, he had married a 
 blacksmith's widow at Alais ; and for this lady he 
 sent to partake of his newly-acquired dignity. The 
 nobility of Milan are the loftiest to be found in 
 Italy : etiquette required, however, that Madame 
 la Gowvernante should hold a drawing-room. I 
 have often heard the plain, simple body describe the 
 awkwardness of her feelings, when the ladies, in 
 glittering array, poured in to be successively pre- 
 sented ; she was really at a loss to know whether 
 she should rise from her chair, or keep her seat. 
 To have been exposed, bft a sultry day, to the hot- 
 test fire of her late husband's forge, would have 
 been less annoving to her than the station she then 
 filled. The husband, who furnished a rare ex- 
 ample of disinterestedness in a Frenchman, having 
 brought nothing with him beside a soldier's honour 
 from his campaigns, was equally simple in his 
 
SWEEPINGS OF MY STUDY. &91 
 
 habits. He was somewhat better pensioned than 
 his brother general at Laon, but did not disdain 
 to drive his ass with a sack of corn to the mill ; 
 while Madame, as a good housewife, kneaded its 
 produce, and took it to the bakehouse. When I 
 left that part of the country, the General was about 
 to establish himself as a tavern-keeper at Nimes. 
 Such traits of the revolution may be worth pre- 
 serving. 
 
 On the fourth of June, the prisoners of war, who 
 might be said to have been almost at home in their 
 new quarters, celebrated the birth-day of his late 
 Majesty, of revered memory, for which purpose 
 every facility of procuring supplies, &c. was af- 
 forded them by the constituted authorities of the 
 place. They were not destitute of means, and 
 having besides expressly stored up a portion of 
 their provisions, it was their request that their ra- 
 tion of meat for that day should be given to the 
 poor of the place, and I had to superintend its 
 distribution. In the evening, groups of the inha- 
 bitants assembled beneath, to view them as they 
 paraded the ramparts, two and two, singing the 
 national anthem. ■ On this joyous occasion, the 
 volunteers who were on guard were not neglected. 
 
 They could not have been in kindlier hands 
 than those of the concierge of the chateau. This 
 man, who gave the soundest proofs of his attach- 
 ment to the English, had bestowed the baptismal 
 
292 SWEEPIKGS OF MY STUDY. 
 
 name of Pitt, not in raillery, but from principle, 
 on his little white-headed boy, who was the idol of 
 the prisoners. They were commodiously lodged 
 in the out-buildings ; but within the chateau, and 
 at its summit, he showed me the dungeon in which 
 the Due de Penthievre, the father of .the late vir- 
 tuous Duchess of Orleans, was lodged, and on the 
 boards of which he had engraved with his penknife 
 letters and dates I regret I did not copy. It 
 neither behoved me to ask, nor our worthy con- 
 cierge to tell ; but if I conjecture right, he did 
 more than soften the rigours of that venerable 
 nobleman's captivity. 
 
 ESCAPE FROM IMPRISONMENT. 
 
 The depot was shortly after thinned by an ex- 
 traordinary casualty. The sister of a pilot, mar- 
 ried to a Frenchman, and residing at Calais, con- 
 ceived the plan of liberating, not only her brother, 
 but as many others of the prisoners as could be 
 snugly extricated from their confinement. For 
 this purpose, she employed a peasant, who found 
 access to them, with a basket of butter and eggs 
 under his arm. His proposition was that, for six 
 livres per head, he would engage to conduct a cer- 
 tain number of them safely to Calais, provided 
 they could, on their side, find the means, unob- 
 served by the sentinels, to be lowered at night 
 
SWEEPINGS OF MY STUDY. 293 
 
 from the ramparts at the back of the chateau, to a 
 corn-field at a very considerable depth beneath. 
 Eight masters and mates of merchantmen, two pi- 
 lots, and a supercargo, embraced his offer ; but 
 where were they to find the cords ? The latter, 
 who spoke French, and acted as the interpreter on 
 the occasion, had frequently conversed with a vo- 
 lunteer, who sympathized in his hard lot. Ob- 
 serving him to be dull and pensive, the good fel- 
 low inquired into the cause of his dejection, and 
 was told in confidence that he had, together with a 
 few of his companions, a favourable opportunity of 
 escape, but despaired of its accomplishment. He 
 had himself, the volunteer said, been a prisoner of 
 war in Germany, and knew what it was to suffer. 
 Several of his fellow-soldiers on duty had under- 
 gone the like hardship ; and these he would try to 
 bring over. He was successful ; he provided the 
 requisite means ; and as each was lowered into the 
 corn-field, the nearer sentinels, who had posted 
 themselves expressly, repeated the ordinary watch- 
 cry ; Prenez garde a vous. One poor fellow, a 
 pilot, by birth an Irishman, was so intoxicated, 
 that he slipped from the noose, at mid-descent, and 
 fractured several of his ribs. In this lamentable 
 condition he was found the next morning, and, 
 having been cured, was conveyed to Lille, to be 
 securely locked up in the citadel there for the re- 
 mainder of the war, 
 
294 SWEEPINGS OF MY STUDY. 
 
 On this occasion, the commissary of the exe- 
 cutive power concerned himself but little. It is 
 true that he gave instructions to the gendarmerie 
 to chase the fugitives ; but either these were tardi- 
 ly executed, or their escape favoured by the plan 
 of travelling by night, and reposing in the woods 
 and coverts by day. It was not long before a let- 
 ter from the supercargo reached the depot, with a 
 postscriptum for the citizen commissary, to say 
 that all further search would be useless, as the 
 party was safely landed at Dover. 
 
 A FORCED JOURNEY TO GRAVELINES. 
 
 On the morning of the 12th of July, having to 
 bring up from Gravelines a companion who could 
 not speak one word of French, I had to solicit, at 
 the municipal administration, a visa to my passport. 
 I had observed, as well that morning, as on the 
 preceding day, frequent communications between 
 the civil authorities and the military, which led me 
 to suspect that something particular was in agita- 
 tion; but my case was so pressing that I could 
 not listen to the remonstrances of the president 
 and members of the municipal administration, 
 backed by those of the commissary of the execu- 
 tive power, they all declaring that I could not 
 venture on a journey at so inauspicious a moment. 
 A general search for returned emigrants, for 
 
BWEEPINGS OF MY STUDY. 2Q5 
 
 those who were suspected of having harboured 
 them, for requisitionary deserters, &c. &c. was, as 
 I afterwards found, to take place simultaneously 
 throughout the republic; and in my progress 
 I had to witness a few sad examples of its rigid 
 execution. 
 
 When within about half a league of Douay, 
 being alone in the diligence, I bribed the con- 
 ductor to accommodate with a seat a lame and 
 foot-sore peasant who was hobbling painfully to 
 his destination. On our reaching the outer bar- 
 rier, forth sallied from the quarter-guard a party 
 of fierce grenadiers, between two of whom, having 
 been made to alight, the ill-starred peasant and 
 myself were escorted to the police-office at the 
 other extremity of the town. Nothing fearing, 
 I could not fail to be amused by the conjectures 
 which were hazarded about my small person, as 
 we passed along: with some, I was an emigrant 
 of note, with others, a disguised priest, and so on ; 
 but all seemed to agree that my destiny would 
 soon be fixed. It was so, but in a way which baf- 
 fled their expectations, for on my presenting at the 
 police my handsome passport in folio,* signed by 
 
 * It prayed and required, &c— de laisser librenient et sure- 
 ment passer ■ ■■■ — — , sans lui donner aucun trouble ni em- 
 pechement, mais, au contraire, lui accorder, en cas de besoin, 
 
 toute aide et assistance. It was countersigned by Charles 
 
 Maurice Talleyrand, the Minister for Foreign Affairs. 
 
296 SWEEPINGS OF MY STUDY. 
 
 
 the Minister of Marine and Colonies, its aspect 
 was so different from that of the small, brown pa- 
 per concerns with which he was familiar, that it in 
 a manner overpowered the secretary while he made 
 an entry of its items in 'his register. He was not 
 satisfied with accompanying me politely to the 
 door, and wishing me a pleasant journey, but 
 ordered one of his attendants to show me the way 
 to my inn. I ventured to plead for my rustic 
 companion, who had to pay for his ride by an 
 incarceration^ which was, however, to last a few 
 days only. 
 
 My fellow-passengers in the diligence to Lille 
 were two Italian Jews, whom I found very enter- 
 taining and conversable, and who had passed 
 much of their time in England. We were joined 
 at about midway by a drunken officer of artillery, 
 a staunch republican. At this time, the army 
 destined for the invasion of England, said to be 
 more than three hundred thousand strong, was 
 encamped around the walls of the fortress. The 
 spread of tents — the marshalled display of war- 
 like engines, with their equipages, in " all their 
 pomp and circumstance"" — each sign of big pre- 
 paration struck me with dismay as we approached, 
 while our officer expatiated on the laurels he had 
 reaped, and on those he expected to gather in the 
 projected enterprise. Having told his own story > 
 with rich embellishments, he wished to know some** 
 
SWEEPINGS OF MY STUDY. 297 
 
 thing about his fellow-travellers. The Jews were 
 first questioned ; and when it came to my turn, 
 one of them, a fat, good-humoured fellow, jogged 
 me on the elbow, and very considerately under- 
 took to be my spokesman. I was, he said, a 
 native of Ghent, engaged in commerce. Any 
 other birth-place his prudence might have sug- 
 gested would have pleased me better, the captain 
 having been quartered there a few years before, 
 which led me to tell more fibs, in answer to his 
 inquiries about his vulgar Flemish acquaintances 
 dwelling in and near the market-place, than they 
 could count years. Had he known me to be an 
 Englishman, heated as he was with wine, and at 
 such a moment of popular ferment, and military 
 enthusiasm, he might have put me to some tem- 
 porary embarrassment, although he could not even- 
 tually have harmed me much. 
 
 On my arrival, I engaged a seat in the diligence 
 for Dunkerque, intending to take the cross-road 
 leading to Gravelines, at Berg- Saint- Vinox, the 
 last stage. We were eight insides, and two in the 
 cabriolet. The exhibition of passports, if we had 
 had no other source of amusement, would have been 
 quite sufficient to enliven us on the way. They 
 were every where demanded ; and mine, which I 
 was among the foremost to present, was never once 
 taken out of my hand fur inspection. This having 
 been noticed on one or two occasions — Attons, 
 
 n2 
 
£98 SWEEPING S OF MY STUDY. 
 
 Monsieur V Anglais — hatez—votre passeport — was 
 the exclamation of my fellow-travellers ever after, 
 on the vehicle drawing up, and still not any regard 
 was paid to it. An oversight of this description 
 seemed to them the more strange, as they were for 
 the greater part, inhabitants of Dunkerque, and 
 being well-known on the road, not liable to 
 suspicion. One of them, a very agreeable female, 
 the wife of a jeweller of that place, on our ap- 
 proaching Berg-Saint-Vinox, would not hear of my 
 taking the cross-road, which, she said, the late 
 rains had rendered nearly impassable. After what 
 had been seen, there could be little risk in my pro- 
 ceeding onward, although out of the direct line of 
 my route, to Dunkerque, where I might hire a con- 
 veyance that would take me to Gravelines by a 
 pleasant road along the sea- shore. 
 
 We passed the gates without molestation, there 
 being no requisition of passports, which was left to 
 the interior police, and I alighted at the Chapeau 
 Rouge. The landlady was quite charmed with 
 having an Englishman once again under her roof 
 — a pleasure that had been denied her for several 
 years — and complained bitterly of the war, which 
 had, she said, deprived her of her best custom. 
 
 On the following morning, I hired a cabriolet 
 for Gravelines, where my charge landed a few 
 hours after my arrival. It was most expedi- 
 ent, I thought, to return by the route I had 
 
SWEEPINGS OF MY STUDY. 
 
 taken ; but here I failed in my estimate of proba- 
 bilities. On our reaching the outer barrier of Dun- 
 kerque, our vehicle was arrested by the guard. 
 The commandant, on learning who I was, conduct- 
 ed me to the guard-room, where he showed me an 
 arrete prohibiting foreigners from entering the 
 place. This prohibition, of which I had not any 
 knowledge, was extended to all the principal sea- 
 ports of France, and was occasioned by the burn- 
 ing at TOrient, some time before, of a line-of-battle 
 ship, the Ca-Ira, which was suspected to have been 
 the work of foreign incendiaries. As we were not 
 fairly within the trap, being without the barrier, I 
 proposed to turn back ; but this did not at all en- 
 ter into the view of the commandant, who was with 
 some difficulty prevailed on to allow us to keep our 
 seats in the cabriolet, instead of our being escorted 
 on foot to the bureau-de-police. 
 
 Our business there was soon settled ; we were 
 permitted to take refreshments, but were to quit 
 Dunkerque before sunset, having first engaged our 
 places in the diligence, which would take us up at 
 Berg-Saint- Vinox. On entering the friendly inn, 
 I requested the landlady, who was quite enraged 
 at the treatment we had experienced, to give the 
 sentinel, as he was still to have charge of us un- 
 til we were without the gates, a good dinner, and 
 a bottle of her best burgundy. To this regale, I 
 superadded, on the way, a present of a piece of 
 
300 SWEEPINGS OF MY STUDY. 
 
 three livres, at the sight of which the poor fellow 
 ran on before, as well as his half-fuddled state 
 would allow him, to communicate to his compa- 
 nions the tidings of the Englishman's generosity. 
 Forth they sallied, with their officer at their head ; 
 and as we passed the barrier, our ears were dinned 
 with the cries of vive V Anglais ! brave Anglais / 
 bon voyage, &c. 
 
 At Berg-Saint-Vinox we put up at an inn which 
 we were assured by the female in attendance was 
 the very best in France : her master was a nonpa- 
 reil of landlords ; and there was nothing that 
 could be within the reach of travellers which we 
 might not command. To give us a savoury spice 
 of the accommodations, she conducted us to a 
 chamber, over the stabling, the chinks in the floor- 
 ing of which gave free access to the volatilized 
 steam. To each inquiry about what we could 
 have for supper, the reply was, " We have every 
 thing but that;" until, on the summing up of all 
 that was eatable and comeatable, our fare dwindled 
 to a vile hash of mutton, a bad omelet, and what 
 was called a ereme, or custard, but which was no- 
 thing more than hasty-pudding, or stir-about, 
 sweetened with treacle. The wine was of the 
 worst quality ; and our dessert consisted of rotten 
 pears and decayed walnuts. Hard-hearted com- 
 missary of police ! How different would have been 
 our entertainment at the Chateau Rouge ! 
 
SWEEPINGS OF MY STUDY. 301 
 
 In the progress of our journey, our attention 
 was drawn to two grotesque figures of animals 
 sculptured in wood, and brought thither from the 
 spoil of a Gothic edifice, placed on each side of 
 the gate of the drawbridge at the outwork of Cam- 
 bray. They did not, like the chimcera of old, vo- 
 mit flames, but had a label hanging from the mouth, 
 with the several inscriptions : — Je mange les rois 
 —Je devore les aristocrates. 
 
 NEW QUARTERS. 
 An exchange of prisoners of war having been agreed 
 on by the two governments, the depot of Guise 
 was, toward the latter end of September, trans- 
 ferred to Arras, the capital of Artois, for the con- 
 venience of embarkation. A considerable number 
 of these unfortunates had already been assembled 
 there, so that, with this augmentation, and with 
 those who were daily pouring in, the caserne 
 (barrack) in which they were confined, became 
 crowded to excess. The area, however, afforded 
 them a sufficient space for air and exercise, an ad- 
 vantage which was denied to another prisoner of 
 whom I am now to speak. 
 
 Madame Grey, of the noble family of Grey cle 
 Rivers, the lady-abbess of the English convent at 
 Calais, bending beneath the weight of years, and 
 tottering with infirmities, was lodged in the com- 
 
302 SWEEPINGS OF MY STUDY. 
 
 mon jail of Arras, destitute of every necessary, 
 and even without the means of procuring fuel at a 
 most inclement season. She was suspected of hav- 
 ing facilitated, in its transit, the correspondence 
 of the emigrants, which was then carried on, be- 
 tween Dover and Calais, by the medium of smug- 
 gling vessels. A French nun, who was strongly 
 attached to her, and had volunteered to share her 
 imprisonment, called on me to solicit my kind of- 
 fices in favour of my distressed countrywoman. 
 My visit to her was followed by an appeal in her 
 behalf at the prison-quarters, where a subscription 
 for her relief was immediately set on foot. It was 
 truly gratifying to see the ardour with which it 
 was filled, even the prisoners of the ordinary class, 
 whose sole pecuniary means were drawn from an 
 allowance of tenpence per week, granted by their 
 government for their menus plaisirs, and which, in 
 the language of the Greenwich pensioners, is styl- 
 ed tobacco-money, bringing forward, in many in* 
 stances, their mite of savings. 
 
 Thus secured against the damps and chills of a 
 winter of almost unexampled severity, and in the 
 enjoyment of a few moderate comforts, this vene- 
 rable female passed the remainder of her captivity, 
 from which she was released in early spring through 
 the solicitations of the inhabitants of Calais, back- 
 ed by the recommendation of the public authori- 
 ties — for she was beloved and respected by those 
 
SWEEPINGS OF MY STUDY. 303 
 
 even who were hostile to the establishment over 
 which she presided. 
 
 AN UNEXPECTED VISIT. 
 
 Shortly after, my maid, Madelon, came to say 
 that some one withoutside wished to speak to me 
 in private. It happened unluckily that Citizen 
 Wacheux, the commissary of war, a very good 
 fellow, but whom, nevertheless, I would not have 
 intrusted with a secret, had just made an evening 
 call to talk over some arrangements for the benefit 
 of the depot of prisoners. Until I could dismiss 
 him, the strangers, for they were two, were shown 
 into another apartment, where I was not long in 
 joining them. The spokesman, a tall man, of a 
 vigorous make, and undaunted air, after a short 
 preamble, drew from his pocket a tobacco-pouch, 
 from the centre of which, groping among the to- 
 bacco, he produced, to convince me that he was 
 not a spy, but a true man, a well-twisted roll of 
 papers, chiefly in an English character, but written 
 in French. With the signatures he pointed out to 
 me, I was fully satisfied. Having introduced to 
 me his companion, a ci-devant marquis, he told me 
 that he had undertaken, at every risk, to liberate, 
 in the course of the night, his, the marquis's bro- 
 ther, from his confinement in the chateau of Douay. 
 Unless this could be accomplished, the prisoner 
 
304< SWEEPINGS OF MY STUDY. 
 
 was to be shot on the parade the following morn- 
 ing, at ten o'clock, as a returned emigrant, and one 
 convicted of having borne arms against the repub- 
 lic. What he had to request of me, was a note 
 under my hand, which, in the case of a successful 
 issue to the enterprise, might prevent the boatmen 
 who would have to land the released nobleman at 
 Dover from being made prisoners. With this re- 
 quest, if I had even supposed that my representa- 
 tion would be available, I could not in prudence 
 comply ; but I dismissed him with the assurance 
 that, on a right understanding of the case, there 
 was little chance of their detention. 
 
 I had soon the satisfaction to learn that their 
 gallant freight had been safely landed on the Eng- 
 lish shore ; and I was likewise told how this des- 
 tined victim of republican wrath, freed from his 
 dungeon, was lowered, at three in the morning, 
 from the highest eminence of the chateau of Douay. 
 His intrepid deliverer, himself of the privileged 
 class, had to register this one among the most ad- 
 venturous of his exploits. 
 
 SIR SYDNEY SMITH. 
 
 A few days after the above interview I saw 
 Madame Grey, who told me that to the person 
 with whom I had conversed, this gallant officer, 
 and his companion Phelippeaux, were indebted for 
 
SWEEPINGS OF MY STUDY. 305 
 
 their release from the Temple. I was myself in 
 Paris, in the month of May, when this happened, 
 and well recollect the panic into which it threw a 
 certain banker who had nearly monopolized the 
 money-transactions and exchanges with England. 
 The event involved a deep mystery, which might 
 or might not be cleared up ; but in the meantime 
 suspicion could scarcely fail to light, as well on 
 him, as on the members of the establishment of 
 British agency, who seemed to be under a like 
 alarm. It was, indeed, hardly to be conceived 
 that so daring a plot could have been hatched, 
 concocted, and carried into effect in the broad face 
 of day, in a capital where the police was ever on 
 the alert, without the intervention of some indivi- 
 dual, or individuals, on the spot, possessing power- 
 ful means. They were, however, as innocent of 
 the fact as the two pretty sem stresses who fell, si- 
 multaneously, and most romantically, in love with 
 the captive knight, without betraying any symp- 
 toms of a jealous rivalry, on surveying him, wrap- 
 ped in solemn contemplation, at the grated window 
 of his cell. These grisettes were no other than 
 spies of the police, acting in concert with the jailer ; 
 and thence emanated the signals that were esta- 
 blished between the parties, the introduction into 
 the prison of the billets-doux, and, finally, that of 
 the ladies themselves at midnight, with all the ad- 
 junctives that credulity was so greedy to swallow 
 
306 SWEEPINGS OF MY STUDY. 
 
 at the time, and which might have figured hand- 
 somely in a novel, but could not so well belong to 
 an incident of real life. Without crying judge, 
 with Mr Burchell, as it would not be decent, at 
 any portion of the details, it will suffice to observe, 
 that those who are at all acquainted with Paris 
 must be satisfied of the impracticability of such an 
 intrigue having been carried on, so as to escape the 
 vigilant eye of the police, however its instruments 
 may have been hoodwinked when one of an infi- 
 nitely superior contrivance was in progress. 
 
 The late Mr Windham, when war minister, was 
 accused of lending too ready an ear to the French 
 emigrants by whom he was surrounded ; and to 
 this facility, joined with an enthusiasm by which 
 his better judgment was sometimes misled, was 
 ascribed his acquiescence in the ill-planned and un- 
 fortunate Quiberon expedition in 1795, The re- 
 lease of Sir Sydney Smith from his captivity was sug- 
 gested to him under better auspices. It would be 
 undertaken by one who had already signalized him- 
 self by similar achievements; — whose intrepid spirit 
 bid defiance to all hazards where he could promote 
 the cause he had espoused ; and who, abetted by 
 numerous friends, had hitherto ranged as freely over 
 the hostile territory of France, as if he had possessed 
 the gift of invisibility. Two thousand pounds 
 were in the first instance advanced for the enter- 
 prise ; but this sum being found insufficient, re- 
 
SWEEPINGS OF MY STUDY. 307 
 
 mittances to an equal amount were afterwards 
 made by instalments. Still a further advance was 
 requisite, insomuch that the total of the expendi- 
 ture amounted to four thousand six hundred 
 pounds, not one shilling of which, I was told, 
 went into the pocket of the disinterested adven- 
 turer. 
 
 His first care was to seek for men in whom an 
 entire confidence could be reposed, to represent 
 the personages to whom so high a trust would be 
 necessarily confided, such as the general command- 
 ing the seventeenth military division, having his 
 head-quarters in Paris, the chief commissary of 
 police, &c. With the other requisites, they were 
 to combine a semblance of personal identity, such 
 as might impose on a transient view, and were, as 
 well as the mock retinue, and the guard, to be 
 trained, disciplined, and equipped. Early in the 
 morning of the 12th of May the pageant proceed- 
 ed in due form to the Temple, where the sham 
 commissary of police presented to Boniface, the 
 jailer, the order for the transfer of the two state- 
 prisoners to the chateau of Melun. The forgery 
 of the ministerial signatures was so complete, that 
 they were delivered up to the guard without he- 
 sitation ; but still after-suspicions might arise— 
 their movements might be traced — to guard against 
 which a salutary precaution had been taken. Me- 
 lun, and the coast of Normandy, toward which 
 
308 SWEEPINGS OF MY STUDY. 
 
 the fugitives were to direct their steps, lie in op- 
 posite directions, and nothing better could be 
 imagined than a mock rescue, in the heat and tur- 
 moil of which they might steal off unperceived. 
 The Pont-Tournant was the scene of the sham- 
 fight, which being speedily terminated, the parties 
 dispersed. — I give these details as they were re- 
 lated to me, and believe them to be true in the 
 main particulars. 
 
 
 MINIATURE THEATRICALS. 
 
 During my stay at Arras, we were visited by 
 a company of juvenile performers from Paris. 
 They were styled lesjeunes eleves — the young pu- 
 pils — to distinguish them from another company 
 of larger growth — les Jewries artistes dramatiques, 
 and gave, in concert with the regular company of 
 comedians, one, and sometimes two small pieces, in 
 an evening, which drew general applause. It was 
 necessary to be told that they were infants, not to 
 be beguiled by the illusion of the scene, so perfect 
 were they in representing all ages, and that under 
 each circumstance of character. I seldom missed 
 being present at their performances. 
 
 I had occasion one morning to look in at the 
 Commune-House, and was detained there for a 
 considerable time, the municipal administration 
 having, as I was told, to decide on a question of 
 
SWEEPINGS OF MY STUDY. 309 
 
 particular importance. In pacing the ante-room, 
 my attention was drawn to a bevy of little misses 
 and masters, apparently from nine to twelve years 
 of age, whose looks and gestures bespoke much 
 anxiety of feeling. These were " the young pu- 
 pils,"" who, being on the eve of decamping, had 
 been denied, by the managerial despot to whom 
 they were apprenticed, what they considered to be 
 the just reward of their exertions for the public 
 entertainment. In other words, they had de- 
 manded of him a benefit, with the proceeds of 
 which they might purchase a regale of bonbons, 
 (sweetmeats), and had finally appealed to the mu- 
 nicipality to sanction their claim. Their tyrant 
 was at that moment pleading his cause, but with- 
 out success : the young folks carried the day, and 
 had a bumper, which enabled them, before they 
 set out on their journey, to fill their pockets with 
 sweets at the nearest confectioner's. 
 
 A SHIFT OF SCENE. 
 
 In May 1799, the exchange of prisoners of war 
 being in full operation, those at Arras were re- 
 moved to Dunkerque, there to be successively 
 embarked ; while another depot was to be esta- 
 blished at Alais, the capital of the Cevennes, in 
 Lower Languedoc, for the reception of such as 
 
310 SWEEPIXGS OF MY STUDY. 
 
 were scattered in the ports of the Mediterranean. 
 Thither it was my lot to be sent, on my release 
 from fatigues compared with which those of a long 
 journey were comparatively light. 
 
 I made some stay in Paris, and saw Frescati, 
 Tivoli, and the other places of public amusement. 
 Every where the assemblages appeared to me to 
 be much improved in decorum since my former 
 visit. At the opera, I was seated in a box adjoin- 
 ing that occupied by " the three goddesses 11 [les 
 irois deesses] Mesdames Beauharnois, the then 
 mistress of Barras, and afterwards the Empress 
 Josephine, Tallien, and Joubert. Of these reign- 
 ing toasts, two were already faded, and the latter 
 beautiful, and in her prime. 
 
 
 THE NEW NOMENCLATURE. 
 
 Having bewildered myself in a narrow street, I 
 inquired, of a cabinet-maker, standing at his door, 
 my way to the Rue de Richlieu. He told me, 
 with a sullen frown, that he knew of no such street, 
 although I was sensible that I could not be far 
 from it; and, on my urging the question, said 
 that I might, if I pleased, ask some one for the 
 Rue de la Loi. I did so, on proceeding a few 
 paces further ; but here again, to employ a homely 
 phrase, I took the wrong sow by the ear. The 
 
SWEEPINGS OF MY STUDY. 311 
 
 object of my inquiry, the Rue de Richlieu, I was 
 informed, was to the right ; and the second turn- 
 ing would lead me to it. 
 
 A MARVELLOUS ESCAPE. 
 
 I spent a pleasant day at the country-seat of a 
 gentleman whose history was very remarkable. 
 He was at that time engaged in commerce under 
 an assumed name, but had figured before the re- 
 volution as the Chevalier de St Fl , an officer 
 
 of the Royal Guards. On the memorable tenth 
 of August, he was one of the few who escaped the 
 massacre at the Louvre, where he fought in the 
 defence of his sovereign in the guise of a Swiss 
 soldier. A new disguise, and a borrowed passport, 
 facilitated his escape from the capital, by the 
 wicket which had been left open for the passage of 
 the market-people, the barriers being closed. He 
 was recognised, however, in the suburb, where a 
 crowd soon gathered, and it was resolved to hang 
 him at the nearest lamp-iron. There was some 
 delay in procuring a rope ; and in the interim, se- 
 veral of his friends mixed with the assemblage. 
 Taking advantage of the confusion it was their 
 endeavour to promote, in the act of his suspension 
 the cord was cut. Many of those who were near- 
 est the scene, were, together with the destined 
 victim, thrown down, and trodden under foot, so 
 
312 SWEEPINGS OF MY STUDY. 
 
 as to favour a deliverance which was thus far next 
 to miraculous. 
 
 When beyond the limit of the crowd, through 
 which, crawling on his hands and knees, he had 
 made his way without attracting a particular notice, 
 he ascended a hill leading to a convent. Being 
 descried, a party set forward in his pursuit : it so 
 happened, however, that an unfortunate aristocrat, 
 nearly abreast of him, but following a divergent 
 course, from self-consciousness betook himself to 
 his heels, and became the object of the chase. Our 
 officer having scaled the wall of the convent un- 
 perceived, found a refuge there until night-fall, 
 when he proceeded to the house of a friend, who, 
 deeming his passport to be of a suspicious charac- 
 ter, furnished him with his own, and with a suit- 
 able dress. Thus provided, he reached, without 
 impediment, Barege, a village at the foot of the 
 Pyrenees, but was again recognised there, and had 
 to seek his safety by a sudden flight. After ex- 
 periencing many difficulties, in traversing the thick 
 forests, he gained the Spanish territory without 
 further molestation. 
 
 Mr Matthew R -, an honest Hibernian, 
 
 the supercargo of a merchant vessel, was incarce- 
 rated, in the time of Robespierre, in the jail of 
 TOrient, where he was seized by an epidemy which 
 
SWEEPINGS OF MY STUDY. 313 
 
 had been fatal to many of the prisoners of war. 
 He was transferred to the hospital, and there 
 treated with much kindness by the Dames de la 
 Charite [the benevolent nuns of the order of St 
 Dominick], who were, however, reluctantly oblig- 
 ed to discharge him, in his early convalescence, 
 the hospital being crowded, and new patients daily 
 pouring in. The notice to quit he considered as 
 his death-warrant ; and, as if the reflections to 
 which he gave way were not sufficiently agonizing, 
 the dead-cart suddenly appeared in the fore-court, 
 to interrupt his lonely musings, and strike him 
 with new terrors. The driver, compassionating 
 his grief, made a sign to him to stow himself in 
 the cart among the dead, which he did with all di- 
 ligence, throwing himself on his face to shun ob- 
 servation. So far all was well ; but when without 
 the gate, the vehicle was taken charge of by a new 
 conductor, the former being no other than the 
 humane porter of the hospital. 
 
 Its freight was to be delivered in a field without 
 the town, where a deep pit had been dug, to serve 
 as the common receptacle of the dead. Seeing it 
 approach, several women and children assembled 
 to witness the ceremony. Our prisoner was sen- 
 sible that he had not a moment to lose, so, starting 
 up, he placed his hand on the shoulder of the 
 driver, and made a sudden spring to the earth. 
 
 o 
 
314 SWEEPINGS OF MY STUDY. 
 
 The terrified bystanders fled in every direction, 
 and left him master of the field. 
 
 Having, with the help of a tonsor, made himself 
 decent, he steered his course toward the sea-side, 
 in the hope of getting on board a neutral vessel. 
 On his way, he fell in with an old acquaintance, a 
 ship-master, who had escaped from prison, and 
 was just landed from an American ship, where he 
 had bargained for a passage to Lisbon. He was 
 now in quest of his small packages ; and the boat 
 was waiting his return. It was agreed to step 
 into a cabaret, which happened at the moment to 
 be without guests, and refresh themselves with a 
 glass of wine. They were scarcely seated, how- 
 ever, when several Frenchmen entered, and eyed 
 them with much suspicion. One of them whis- 
 pered to the others, but so as to be overheard by 
 the strangers, that he was almost certain they were 
 prisoners of war, and that it would be advisable 
 to send instantly for a commissary of police, and 
 a guard. Up started Matthew R , the super- 
 cargo, and by a sudden spring beat the door off its 
 hinges. The Frenchmen, it may be conjectured, 
 had enough to do to secure his ill-starred compa- 
 nion ; but so it was, that, having reached the boat 
 without molestation or pursuit, he took Ms place 
 in the American vessel, which was then under 
 way, and arrived safely in port. 
 
SWEEPINGS OF MY STUDY. 315 
 
 My journey to the south was devoid of any re- 
 markable incidents : I shall therefore proceed, 
 without regard to their dates, to assemble a few 
 of the more particular notices that fell under my 
 observation during my stay in Languedoc, which 
 lasted until after the signing of the preliminaries 
 of the short peace of 1802. 
 
 MATTER IN MADNESS. 
 
 Among the personages with whom I made an 
 acquaintance at Alais, was a Monsieur Faucon, 
 whose history was singularly curious* In the case 
 of the Earl of Portsmouth, it was remarked by 
 Lord Eldon, that that nobleman was of the two 
 the better mathematician, which in his mind argued 
 somewhat like sanity. Monsieur Faucon was stark 
 mad ; but at the age of seventy-five, and reckon- 
 ing forty-four years of mental aberration, he was 
 still alive to his darling pursuits of astronomy and 
 mathematical science, in which he was profound, 
 and which he cultivated with all the energy of a 
 youthful season of life. In his almanack for the year 
 1802, a MS. copy of which he presented to me, the 
 computations are made with the requisite accuracy 
 and skill, but blended with the flights of abewildered 
 imagination. He styles himself the faithful and true 
 witness, the perpetual censor of the universal church, 
 and sovereign pontiff. The 11th of November, his 
 
316 SWEEPINGS OF MY STUDY. 
 
 birth-day, he enjoins to be celebrated as a solemn 
 festival, in memory of the deliverer promised by the 
 prophets ; and signs himself Faucon of Montferat, 
 to which marquisate and sovereignty he lays claim. 
 Being in Hanover in the year 1757, a motive of 
 curiosity led him to the skirt of the enemy's en- 
 campment, where he was taken up as a spy. The 
 halter was about his neck, when he was recognised 
 by a general officer whom he had known in his 
 youth, and his punishment commuted to an im- 
 prisonment, which lasted nearly four years. So 
 deranged was his intellect by the sudden fright, 
 that he would enter into the most whimsical details 
 relative to his birth, &c. He would tell you, for 
 example, that he came into the world booted and 
 spurred, and requested his eldest sister to take 
 him by the hand, and conduct him to the temple, 
 where he lectured and edified the priests. Still, 
 however, he was to be solicited to these recitals, 
 and was otherwise a most cheerful and entertaining 
 companion. In the summer, he never stirred 
 abroad without a bouquet to present to a fair 
 lady ; and was celebrated for the gallantry which 
 belonged so peculiarly to the old school of polished 
 Frenchmen. 
 
 A CHOICE OF TITLES. 
 Bon jour, citoyen-monsieur, was the ordinary sa- 
 lutation with which I was greeted by an honest 
 
SWEEPINGS OF MY STUDY. 317 
 
 rope-maker whose walk I had to pass on my way 
 to the prison-quarters. I asked him one morning 
 what he meant by this double salute, to which he 
 replied, that, not wishing to offend me, at a time 
 when it was so hard to please, he submitted the 
 two terms to my choice. — Utrum Jiorum mavis ac- 
 jcipe. 
 
 About the time of the overthrow of the direc- 
 tory, and the establishment of the consular dy- 
 nasty, the title of " citizen'" was, in ordinary usage, 
 growing fast into disrepute, but was still of strict 
 observance in the public offices, where the notice,— 
 Id on respecte le titre de citoyen — was displayed in 
 large characters in a gilt frame. Shortly after his 
 arrival, I called at the bureau of the sub-prefect of 
 Alais, and addressed him as Monsieur. I saw that 
 he was vexed, but I still persisted, until, directing 
 his eyes to the notice, by a provoking contre coup, 
 he called me " citizen,"" which put me in such a 
 passion, that I left my tale unfinished. I after- 
 wards made his particular acquaintance, and found 
 in him a very sensible and pleasant associate. I 
 was so much in his good graces, that when he gave 
 a grand entertainment at the Maison Commune to 
 the prefect of the department, who was making his 
 rounds, I was seated next to that exalted person- 
 age. In conversing one day on the subject of our 
 early official interview, I told him that, whether 
 owing to a defect of the vocal organs, or to what- 
 
318 SWEEPINGS OF MY STUDY. 
 
 ever cause, the term " cUoyerC I could never bring 
 myself to pronounce ; on which he remarked that, 
 not to incur the charge of incivism, he was obliged 
 to be on his guard in the presence of his secretaries. 
 
 AN UNLUCKY QUI-PRO-QUO. 
 
 The mention of Citizen Dubois, the Prefect, 
 and of my defective articulation, brings to my mind 
 an incident that occurred on a journey to Nismes, 
 at the time when the elections were going on there. 
 Among those who were pushing forward to the goal, 
 I fell in with one who had more the air of a pea- 
 sant, than of a ci-devant ■" fallen from his high 
 estate.'' This man was of a sarcastic turn, and a 
 bitter enemy of the prefect, who was, from some 
 cause or other, very generally disliked. In con- 
 versing about him, my mouth being clammed, 
 and filled with dust, I pronounced his name so in- 
 distinctly, that it sounded more like de bois [of 
 wood, or wooden,] than dubois [of the wood.] My 
 gentleman seized on this lapse, if it can be so term- 
 ed, with avidity ; and, by a pleasant amplification, 
 on our arrival at Nismes, told those of his fellow- 
 electors who were in his confidence, that the Eng- 
 lishman was not surprised at every thing going 
 wrong in the Departement du Gard, it being under 
 the control of a wooden Prefect. 
 
SWEEPINGS OF MY STUDY. 319 
 
 THE MASKED BALL. 
 
 The prefect Dubois ', or Debois, as the elector 
 would needs have it, was not a man of shining 
 abilities, but was said to be skilled in what the 
 French name tours du baton,* with a part of the 
 proceeds arising from which he gave a grand mask- 
 ed ball at the theatre of Nismes. A few days be- 
 fore it took place, I was in the pit of that theatre, 
 chatting with an acquaintance, when I suddenly 
 noticed, seated in front of us, a figure in male at- 
 tire, having, both in form and feature, a whimsical 
 and grotesque air. I was told that, unless I wish- 
 ed to be challenged, I should direct my attention 
 to another quarter. This person was no other 
 
 than Madame L , a general's lady, who had 
 
 fought at the side of her husband, and acquired 
 great distinction, as an officer of hussars, in Bona- 
 parte's two Italian campaigns,-)- and had besides 
 
 * The secret and illicit profits which a functionary draws from 
 his post or employment. 
 
 ■j- A history of these campaigns was published by the General, 
 who, through extreme modesty, forbears to name himself, although 
 he acted a conspicuous part in the greater number of the battles 
 that were fought. In describing that of Lodi, where, in his estima- 
 tion, there was a needless and wanton sacrifice of the French sol- 
 diery, he gave such offence to the commander-in-chief, that, on the 
 latter becoming first Consul, the pension for his services was with- 
 drawn. It was in vain that he presented, at the levees of the ty- 
 
320 SWEEPINGS OF MY STUDY. 
 
 been engaged in several duels, chiefly in vindica- 
 tion of his (her husband's) honour. 
 
 In giving out the cards of invitation, the pre- 
 fect's lady neglected to address one to Madame 
 L , against whom she, for some reason, enter- 
 tained a private pique. The latter was resolved to 
 avenge this affront, and for that purpose hired the 
 dressing-room of a principal actress, conveying into 
 it several disguises. When the evening of the 
 ball came, she rushed past the door-keepers, in the 
 dress of an officer of cavalry, and while they were 
 seeking the bold intruder, to turn him out, busied 
 herself in the dressing-room in putting on a new 
 disguise. Mixing with the company, she stepped 
 up to Madame la Pri/etesse, and having paid her 
 a few sly compliments, which the other did not 
 strictly comprehend, inquired of her whether she 
 recollected the time when she used to empty cer- 
 tain utensils at the house of Monsieur de Male- 
 sherbes. Madame Dubois screamed aloud, and 
 called for the guard ; but the pursuit was vain : 
 her assailant had retreated to the dressing-room 
 before those who surrounded her were well re- 
 
 rant, placet after placet : the presence was finally denied him ; and 
 such was his impoverished condition, that he was glad to accept, at 
 the hands of a French officer, a chef -de-brigade, with whom I tra- 
 velled from Nismes to Paris, a loan of five louis' in aid of his im- 
 mediate wants. 
 
SWEEPINGS OF MY STUDY. 321 
 
 covered from their consternation, and, having 
 promptly shifted her disguise, was among the 
 foremost to seek the miscreant who had dared to 
 insult the lady-patroness of the ball. 
 
 TALLEYRAND, PRINCE OF BENEVENTO. 
 
 I must return again to the term " citoyen" which 
 stuck so unaccountably in my throat at the bureau 
 of the sub-prefect of Alais, to tell what happened 
 to the British agent in Paris, Captain Cotes,* 
 about the same time, and precisely on the same 
 occasion, namely, the arrete of the First Consul, 
 dated in the month of November 1799, by which 
 the maintenance of the British prisoners of war in 
 France was to be at the charge of the French go- 
 vernment, which abandoned to the care of the 
 British government those of that nation detained 
 in the united kingdom. His interview with Tal- 
 leyrand, the then minister of foreign relations, may 
 operate as a lesson, if such be needed, to British 
 diplomatists, to be shy, and sparing of their words, 
 in all discussions relating to state-polity. 
 
 The captain, a truly amiable character, but ir- 
 ritable, and that more especially in the morning, 
 
 • The French confine their signature to the nom de famille. 
 The Captain, as may be supposed, signed " James Cotes," and 
 was known in Paris as Monsieur Shamcote. 
 
 o2 
 
$22 SWEEPINGS OF MY STUDY. 
 
 was nettled by this arrangement, which laid on his 
 government the burden of by far the greater pro- 
 portion of the dead weight, and resolved to enter 
 his protest against what he conceived to be a fla- 
 grant act of injustice. He repaired accordingly to 
 the office of the minister, and opened on him a 
 brisk fire. To each argumentative broadside Tal- 
 leyrand calmly answered, Monsieur le commissaire, 
 vest la volonte du Premier Consul. Still the cap- 
 tain persisted, and, like a good naval tactician, 
 tried him on all tacks, until the patience of the 
 subtle minister was exhausted. Rising from his 
 chair, he vociferated in an angry tone, Citoyen 
 commissaire, c'est la volonte du Premier Consul, 
 and withdrew without further formality. 
 
 VISIT TO MONTPELLIER. 
 
 I had to employ my little address in a negocia- 
 tion which presented no small difficulty. The 
 prisoners of war, the officers more particularly, 
 under my care, were molested and insulted by 
 two scoundrels, one of whom had risen from the 
 ranks to the post of governor of the citadel, and 
 the other had quitted the costume of a forgot 
 (galley-slave), to figure as an officer having the 
 military charge of the depot. It was a case which 
 would not brook the delay of a correspondence 
 with Paris ; and to Montpellier I proceeded with 
 
SWEEPINGS OF MY STUDY. 
 
 all diligence, to submit the particulars to the ge- 
 neral of division, Cartaux, known before the revo- 
 lution as a barbouitteur — a vile dauber of colours — 
 and better known in the reign of terror as one of 
 Robespierre's instruments, of a keener edge than 
 the palette-knife he had laid aside. 
 
 In the antechamber I saw Madame Cartaux, 
 who was busied, with a young secretary at her 
 side, in drawing up a proclamation which was to 
 awe the disaffected. Between the emprunt Jbrce, 
 which threatened the most opulent with beggary, 
 and the still more iniquitous hi des otages, which 
 indiscriminately sentenced to imprisonment and 
 confiscation of effects the relatives of emigrants,* 
 they were now become pretty numerous. 
 
 * It is grateful to me to cite here the example of Monsieur Pig- 
 nol, a respectable landholder residing in an outskirt of Alais, be- 
 cause he was ever kind to the prisoners of war, whom it was his 
 delight to take out from the caserne in small parties, if he had no 
 other employment for them beside picking up stones in his fields, 
 to the end that he might treat them with two substantial meals, 
 and put in their pockets the day's-wages of the labourer. "When- 
 ever he heard of a detachment having reached, in the evening, the 
 last stage, Bocoiran, he was sure, the next morning, to put his 
 large kettle in requisition, and sally forth on the road to meet 
 them, resolved that they should not pass his gate, and be marched 
 into the town, with the stomach empty, and without an invigorat- 
 ing cup of his best Mejean wine. — This honest man had an un- 
 kle, an Abbe, of so vile a character as to be shunned by his nearest 
 relatives, and expelled from all decent society : and because this 
 
324 SWEEPINGS OF MY STUDY. 
 
 On my introduction to the General, I made a 
 brief but pathetic exposition of the wrongs and in- 
 juries the prisoners had sustained. I was not long 
 in perceiving that it was his wish to screen their 
 oppressors, whom he would nevertheless, from 
 prudential motives, engage to keep within more 
 decent bounds, in the exercise of their authority. 
 With this view, I was to be the bearer of a reproof 
 he would address to them ; but with this weak 
 palliative I was not content. Being aware of the 
 obstacles I should have to encounter, I had taken 
 
 unkle, with whom he had never maintained the slightest inter- 
 course, had enrolled himself in the list of emigrants, the nephew 
 was under hourly apprehension of imprisonment, and of witnessing 
 the confiscation of his property, which held out a tempting lure to 
 the miscreants in authority. If they did not, like their merciless 
 predecessors, aim directly at the personal existence of their victims, 
 the latter might have exclaimed with Shylock, 
 
 — — — — " Vou take my life, 
 
 When you do take the means whereby I live." 
 
 Among others, the cities of Lyon and Bordeaux were in a state 
 bordering on civil war, when Bonaparte unexpectedly landed at 
 Frejus, to overturn the Directory, and introduce a system of go- 
 vernment, which, however despotic, was more palatable, and of 
 more patient endurance, than theirs. The flames of discord were 
 fast spreading, and threatened the whole of the south. In the 
 struggle of parties, the fate of the prisoners of war, on which mine 
 would essentially depend, might be uncertain. As a security 
 against the worst, my worthy friend Pignol had provided for me 
 an asylum in one of the fastnessess of the Covennes Mountains. 
 
SWEEPINGS OF MY STUDY. 325 
 
 the precaution to have my passport visaed, not 
 only for Montpellier, but for Paris, although I 
 knew that I dared not proceed thither, to under- 
 take that which belonged to a superior func- 
 tionary. 
 
 Holding it in my hand, I submitted to him 
 whether I ought to repair to the French capital, to 
 lay my case before the ministers, whose instruc- 
 tions he knew to be that the prisoners of war 
 should be treated with tenderness and humanity, 
 as I should then have to complain that the redress 
 of their grievances had been denied me by the di- 
 visionary-general commanding at Montpellier. No- 
 thing short of the dismissal of the military com- 
 mandant of the depot, to be replaced by an offi- 
 cer of kindlier feelings, and a peremptory order to 
 the other miscreant to forbear to meddle with that 
 which was not, strictly speaking, within his pro- 
 vince, it being among the attributes of the muni- 
 cipal administration, could remedy the gross abuses 
 of which I complained. That " the battle is not 
 always to the strong,'" was here evidenced : my 
 point was carried ; and, ever after, the prisoners of 
 war were in a condition to sing out, after the ex- 
 ample of the English sentinel on his post — all's 
 well. If Madame Cartaux, who was said to 
 " rule the roast," had not been otherwise and more 
 seriously engaged, it is probable that my success 
 would not have been so complete. 
 
SWEEPINGS OF MY STUDY. 
 
 THE FRENCH ARMY OF EGYPT. 
 
 I was at Montpellier when a considerable portion 
 of this army, having been disembarked at Cette, 
 was assembled there. It was perhaps indiscreet 
 in a foreigner, like myself, to put questions to se- 
 veral of the soldiers, with whom the streets swarm- 
 ed, relative to the capitulation and other particu- 
 lars ; but from each of them I received a sulky 
 and ungracious reply. They could not feel other- 
 wise than sore at the result of the Egyptian cam- 
 paigns being brought hastily to their recollection. 
 
 At the table cPJwte, in the evening, an officer 
 whose thick mustache and grim features would 
 have scared a timid observer, was seated opposite 
 to me. I was not quite at my ease when I noticed 
 him, from time to time, darting his eyes on me, 
 while he conversed with another officer at his side. 
 This hero, thought I, of baffled hopes and pro- 
 spects, owes the English a grudge, because he has 
 had, in Egypt, a sensible proof of their military 
 ascendency, and is now venting his spleen on me. 
 I was determined, however, not to be among the 
 first to quit the table ; and he likewise kept his 
 seat until most of the other guests had retired. 
 Approaching me, he was glad, he said, again to 
 meet with an Englishman, for to an Englishman 
 he owed his life, and my nation he should never 
 cease to honour and respect. At the siege of Saint- 
 
SWEEPINGS OF MY STUDY. 6%i 
 
 Jean-cTAcre, he fell into the hands of a party of 
 ferocious Turks, from whose grasp he was rescued, 
 at the imminent peril of his own life, by Sir Sydney 
 Smith, at the moment when the uplifted scimetar 
 was about to inflict the fatal blow. 
 
 THE BRIGANDAGE OF THE CEVENNES. 
 
 The conscription was never urged with more se- 
 verity than at the commencement of the year 1801. 
 It was harrowing to my feelings to see youths, 
 many belonging to respectable families, chained 
 two and two, and driven on the roads, like sheep, 
 before the merciless gendarmes. If, in a family, 
 the son was missing, and the parent could not show 
 good testimony of his having joined head-quarters, 
 soldiers were placed in the house, at discretion, and 
 without restriction of numbers, at the will of a sub- 
 altern agent, wantonly to waste and consume what- 
 ever was within their reach, until the certificate of 
 service could be produced. In passing through Bo- 
 coiran, on my way to Nismes, I stopped at a house of 
 refreshment, where a poor widow, a farming- woman, 
 lay dead. In her anxiety to snatch from the ra- 
 vishers the last morsel of the bread she had laid by 
 for her fatherless babes, she had fallen a victim to 
 extreme fatigue, in returning from that city pro- 
 vided with the necessary document. 
 
 To shun the conscription, many youths had 
 
SWEEPINGS OF MY STUDY. 
 
 sought the security of theCevennes mountains ; and 
 these were joined by other malecontents of various 
 descriptions. It was the practice of these confederat- 
 ed brigands, as they were named, to lay under con- 
 tribution the farmers who had purchased the pro- 
 perty of emigrants, for the benefit of the relatives 
 of the latter, many of whom, in that vicinity, were 
 x n a starving condition. If the farmer, when call- 
 ed on, neglected to bring to the spot pointed out 
 to him the stipulated sum, among other punish- 
 ments* inflicted on him, his head was shaved. 
 Some of these refractory subjects I myself saw at 
 Alais, on market-days, in their night-caps. 
 
 A general scouring of the mountainous districts, 
 by the gendarmerie and other troops, in the month 
 of June, led to the apprehension of many indivi- 
 duals, upwards of seventy of whom were lodged in 
 the jail of Alais. In waiting their trial by a mili- 
 tary commission, the depositions were, conformably 
 
 * During the consulate, it was the fashion, in compliment to 
 Bonaparte, to wear very large tri-colour cockades, some of them of 
 the size of a cheese-plate. Two young gentlemen of Alais were 
 crossing one of the Cevennes, on their way to St Amhroise, when 
 they fell in with a party of brigands who held in durance an unfor- 
 tunate farmer, and were in the act of forcing him, on his knees, to 
 swallow his cockade. The lads brushed off as fast as their horses 
 could carry them, on the reflection that, if thereunto invited, they 
 might find their cockades, which were in the very height of the 
 mode, somewhat difficult of digestion. 
 
SWEEPINGS OF MY STUDY. 329 
 
 to the established usage, made before the Juge de 
 Paioc. I was present one morning when a young 
 peasant was challenged, by the keeper of a turn- 
 pike-gate, as one of the party of brigands by whom, 
 some time before, his gate had been pulled down 
 and burnt. The lad protested his innocence, de- 
 claring that he had never strayed to any distance 
 from his home, and that, at the time of his arrest, 
 he had merely gone abroad on an errand to his 
 father. Finally, he called on his accuser to say, 
 whether, in the confusion necessarily attendant on 
 such a scene, he could rightly distinguish persons, 
 when the other replied, with much na'ivete, that, 
 between the fright, and the obscurity of the even- 
 ing, he certainly could not. His deposition, never- 
 theless, stood on the paper. 
 
 The policy of Bonaparte was double-handed, 
 
 the sub-prefects, the mayors, their adjoints, and, 
 in short, all who entered into the composition of 
 the municipal administrations, were men of an 
 estimable character, such as might conciliate the 
 good-will of those over whom they presided in 
 their respective districts,— while the prefects of the 
 departments, the generals commanding the military 
 divisions, and, " last, though not least" in ill re- 
 port, the members of the military commissions, 
 were in general subjects who had signalized them- 
 selves in the worst times of the revolution, as the 
 willing instruments of tyranny. The former were 
 
330 SWEEPINGS OF MY STUDY. 
 
 to harmonize in watching over the details, — the 
 latter, to be called into action on the spread of in- 
 surrectionary movements influencing the gross bulk 
 of the population. 
 
 The military commission, consisting of five mem- 
 bers and the captain-reporter, reached Alais in the 
 evening. Having made an early repast, in cross- 
 ing the square fronting the episcopal palace, they 
 met with several British officers who had been 
 captured by Admiral Gantheaume's squadron. — 
 Having learned who they were, they were not 
 satisfied with insulting them grossly, but demand- 
 ed of the local authorities how it happened, that, 
 instead of being indulged with their parole, they 
 were not strictly confined with the other prisoners 
 of war. They now proceeded to the coffee-house 
 to take a few glasses of rosolio ; and, unless my 
 informant misled me strangely, when they subse- 
 quently visited the Juge de Paix to look over the 
 depositions, they were not sober. 
 
 Seventeen victims were marked down for trial. 
 It was an open court, — and I witnessed the next 
 morning the proceedings, which were as summary 
 as can well be imagined. The prisoner having 
 had the ordinary questions put to him relative to 
 the place of his nativity, parentage, &c. was led out, 
 and the court cleared. On its being again opened, 
 he was introduced to be told that he, Jaques ou 
 Pierre, having being convicted of brigandage, 
 
SWEEPINGS OF MY STUDY. 331 
 
 was sentenced to be shot. On each of the two fol- 
 lowing days, six of these victims were escorted to 
 a spot without the town, there to suffer death ; 
 and on the third day, the remaining five. Shall I 
 tell, that the young peasant whose case I have 
 particularized, was among the earliest to hear the 
 awful sentence pronounced ? 
 
 From Alais the commission proceeded to Usez, 
 where, among others, a priest belonging to one of 
 the most respectable families of the place, was con- 
 demned to death. His relatives, aware of the 
 malice of the members of the commission, peti- 
 tioned that he might be shot without the town, to 
 spare them the horror of so awful a spectacle, — 
 and, in the way of a bribe, invited them to dinner 
 on the day when the sentence was to be carried 
 into effect. They seemed to acquiesce, — but when 
 the morning came, the culprit was led to the front 
 of his brother's dwelling, and there shot. It may 
 be supposed, that the invitation to dinner was not 
 accepted. 
 
 THE BREAKING UP, OR JOYFUL TIDINGS FOR 
 THE PRISONERS OF WAR. 
 
 I n the month of October, an extraordinary courier 
 brought to Alais the hasty news of the prelimi- 
 naries of peace having been signed. Proclama- 
 tion was made, and a few hours after came the 
 
332 SWEEPINGS OF MY STUDY. 
 
 official account. It was arranged, that a grand 
 procession should start from the commune-house ; 
 and, as we were now friends in every point of view, 
 I was invited to join in the ceremony, together 
 with a certain number of the prisoners of war. — 
 Never, assuredly, was mortal man so hugged and 
 kissed as I was on joining the assemblage, — my 
 cheeks tingled with the salutes, and I was over- 
 whelmed by fraternal embraces. The sprig of 
 laurel which was offered to me I declined, but in 
 the way of compensation, I carried two olive 
 branches, the one in my hat, the other in my hand. 
 My station was between the sub-prefect and the 
 mayor ; and we were preceded by Citizen Ligou, 
 one of the adjoints, with his band of choristers, 
 singing an hymn to peace of his composition, to 
 the air of " la pipe de tabac." The gallants had 
 their pockets filled with sugar-plums, with which 
 to pelt the ladies as they surveyed us from the 
 windows and balconies. 
 
 SUKEY, GOOD NIGHT. 
 
 X u 
 
 3 9 1 
 
 EDINBURGH, 
 PRINTED BY OLIVER & BOYD. 
 
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