Part 5

Lucky! lucky dog! you will exclaim, when you read the word Quimper at the head of this letter; and are farther told, that I am comfortably lodged, and seated at an English table. This welcome intelligence will, I think, soon reach you through a channel by which I shall venture to send you a packet.

We arrived here yesterday: Admiral Bligh brought with him a letter from an English lady, who accompanied Lady Anne Fitzroy, to Mademoiselle Brimaudiere, a native and inhabitant of the town; and, on presenting it, was obligingly told by her, that she had already received notice to prepare for him, from a gentleman at l’Orient, whose son-in-law, the captain of the America, was a prisoner in England; and that if he pleased to accept of such accommodations as her house, which was a hired one, afforded, they were at his service. This courteous offer, you may be sure, was immediately closed with, and we took possession of our new apartments. Here we were also welcomed by two of our countrymen, whom we found to be inmates of our house----Lieutenant Robinson, late of the Thames frigate, and Mr. Burley, of the same ship. With these gentlemen we have formed a mess. The good lady of the house condescends to market for us; our servants, assisted by the maid of the house, officiate as cooks; and we live already so much more comfortably than I ever expected to do during my captivity, that I cannot describe to you the joyful sensations I have experienced on this change.

We quitted the prison-ship on the 14th instant, to our unspeakable satisfaction. From our military acquaintances there we parted without an adieu, from our civil ones not without sentiments of esteem, For the last nine days before our departure we had separated from their mess, and lived entirely by ourselves, owing to the following circumstance:----On some English prisoners being brought on board, one of the officers of the ship, who is a Provençal, and speaks so indistinctly, that his own countrymen cannot, without difficulty, understand him, desired one of our young midshipmen to interpret for him, which request he would readily have complied with, as he had often done before, had he comprehended it; but not possessing the gift of understanding inarticulate sounds, he turned round to his companion, and said, “Monsieur -------- asks me some question, but as usual I don’t know what it was.” The other not hearing himself called upon, and not supposing the matter to be very important, smiled, and both of them, in all the gaiety and thoughtlessness of fourteen, walked away. For this enormous offence they were immediately sent for into the cabin, and, without being suffered to urge a syllable in explanation, were told, that they were not any longer to consider themselves as entitled to eat at the table of the officers. The young gentlemen communicated this to me, and I lost no time in informing the Admiral of it; who finding, on examination, that they had not committed an intentional incivility, desired me to explain the business, and to assure Monsieur-------- that the apparent slight had proceeded from misapprehension. This I attempted to do, and in return for it was honoured with several scandalous appellations, as an instigator and abettor of the offenders, although it happened that I had not been present when the crime was committed. Our two friends in the civil department also attempted to interfere in their favour, but were silenced by authority, the insult being deemed of a public nature, and striking at the dignity of the republic. Admiral Bligh now declared, that if the young gentlemen were to be thus driven from the mess, he and I should look upon ourselves as included in the expulsion. This they would willingly have prevented, and wished to draw a line of distinction; but the Admiral’s manly resolution cut short debate, and, on their refusing to yield the point, he and I directly quitted them with contempt; and with two spoons belonging to our servants, and a pocket-knife each, which constituted our whole stock of utensils, we set up our mess forthwith, demanding our rations, but refusing to receive any more _traitement_. Now was to be seen, for the first time, in a civilized enemy’s country, a British Admiral, whose seat was a trunk, and whose table was a trunk, eating a salt herring laid on a scrap of paper, from want of a plate; or supping at the same board, with a candle stuck in an ink-horn, on a second herring; or dipping his spoon in a tub that held our soup, which was part of that made for the ship’s company, sometimes of beef, and sometimes of horse-beans and oil. Breakfast, however, by having a little tea and brown sugar of our own, with the addition of some salt butter, which we had procured from the shore for our servants, was a repast of real luxury. This miserable fare, and want of common necessaries, lasted but two days, when we got leave to employ the cook to market for us, and dress our provisions. It brought me, however, perfectly acquainted with the extent of the French allowance, and likewise with the prices of different commodities on shore, which we found enormously high, and every day rising. To console us, however, the value of gold, in exchange for _assignats_, more than kept pace in its increase.----Here I take my leave of the good ship La Normandie, and her worthy inmates, in full trust that, in the course of our future correspondence, neither her name, nor theirs, will ever again pollute my paper!

My observations since I left Brest could not be numerous; but, as I feel an interest in them, they shall not be suppressed.

The little vessel which conveyed us hither was extremely inconvenient, and ill-fitted for the purpose; but her commander, Monsieur Conseil, and his officers, treated us with great civility and regard. She had been a Jersey privateer, and retains her English name, the Betsy. About noon, on the day before yesterday, we anchored just within the mouth of the river that leads to Quimper, within twenty yards of the shore. After so long a residence on ship-board, amidst men of coarse and ferocious manners, I could not withdraw my eyes from the scene before me. It was a clear frosty day, but the deep snow of the winter had been melted by intervening thaws, and the fields bore that fresh and verdant hue, which is so re-animating to the human heart. The river was of a moderate breadth, and on each side stood a parish-church, surrounded by a few scattering houses. Notwithstanding the keenness of the weather, the peasantry were dancing in circles in the open air. The small space which I could see bore no trace of distress or devastation; and so transported was I with the appearance of all around me, heightened by a recollection of the past, that I was almost ready, with the shipwrecked philosopher of antiquity, to cry out to my companions, “Courage, my friends! from these marks I know we are thrown among civilized beings!”

Our commander, who was of a pleasant unsuspicious temper, begged that the Admiral would defer going up to Quimper until the next morning; and offered, if we pleased, to accompany us on shore after dinner for a walk. This was a welcome invitation, and eagerly embraced. About two o’clock we landed with our conductor, and set out for a large handsome looking house, the _château_ of the Marquis de Kersalaun, about a mile off, which we had seen in the morning, in running along-shore, before we entered the river. We passed through thick woods, and when we reached the _château_ found there an engineer, who is stationed on the coast, in the service of the republic, and is a friend of the Marquis. This gentleman is permitted to reside here, and also two of the Marquis’s old female servants. He received us very politely, and led us up large stone staircases, through various apartments lined with old tapestry, and half illumined “by rich windows, which almost exclude the light.” He shewed us also a small chapel within the house, which, though commonly kept shut up, bears marks of the fury of the times. The _château_ is long and low, with a turret, which resembles a pigeon-house, on its centre, and has a fine old avenue leading up to it from the sea-side. Before we left the house, the gentleman presented to us some excellent cyder, and lamented, with evident signs of mortification, that he possessed not a drop of either wine or brandy. From the house he took us into two large walled gardens, forming oblong squares. In the disposition of these, and the other grounds surrounding the house, no mark of taste appears, but they exhibit the hand of wealth and labour. In the centre of the largest garden stands a circular bason or fountain of considerable size, “which once,” said our civil and sensible conductor, “was thought an embellishment to the _château_. Here,” continued he, “ran the leaden pipes which supplied it, and here were fixed the plates of iron which secured it; but, as you see, all the former are dug up, and cast into bullets, and all the latter have been torn off in wantonness. Mark too the breaches in that wall, through which the cattle and pigs enter; and how the espaliers are either broken, or rooted up. No means to prevent these depredations are left in my power. The _château_ was lately converted into a temporary prison, to contain a party of Englishmen, who, under the guard of a detachment of soldiers, were sent to cut down the Marquis’s woods, for the use of the republic. I have less cause of complaint against the English than against their guards, who were to the last degree insolent and destructive. Twice did they set fire to the house by their carelessness”----(we had seen the marks on the floors and tapestry)----“I complained and remonstrated against them, in vain, to our municipality: I obtained no redress. But this evil was temporary. The fatal change which has taken place in our manners, and the wide-extended spirit of rapine, which it has introduced, has infected our peasantry. The farmers and tenants of the Marquis, who formerly pressed forward to serve him (for he was a kind and generous landlord) are now eager to promote the devastation, and to share in his spoils. This and this,” (pointing to different marks of fury and ravage) “have they committed.”----As we went homeward he made us observe, that all the trees of the avenue were marked, for the use of the republic; “and,” added he, “are all to be cut down soon, with the rest of the wood on the estate, in order to be sent to Brest, the whole being in a state of requisition.” I saw some large groupes of stately firs, many of which were felled and squared on the spot. I put some questions to him about the Marquis and his fortune. “He is,” said he, “between eighty-one and eighty-two years old, and is now at Paris, where he is obliged to reside, and, in return for stripping him of his estate, he has been _promised_ a pension. Perhaps, as matters are certainly softening among us, he may be enabled to make better terms. It is not pretended that he has committed any crime; but he suffers for those of his two sons, who have emigrated; and, at the age of fourscore years, he was thought too dangerous a person to be permitted to dwell on his hereditary estate, where he offered to remain tranquil, and submissive to the ruling powers. He was formerly _Doyen_ of the States of Bretagne. In a letter, which he lately wrote to a friend, he states himself to be in good health, and to have borne the excessive cold of the winter very well; but complains that wood was 400 livres a cord, and meat three livres a pound. The value of his estate was between sixty and seventy thousand livres _per annum_; but of this to the amount of not more than twelve thousand lies contiguous to the house. The timber, however, on this latter part was so valuable, as to be reckoned at twice the worth of the land.”----It appeared to me, indeed, to be very thickly wooded.

We bade adieu to our obliging informer, and returned towards our ship, by a different way from that which we had come. On this road I observed three or four stone crosses, broken and thrown down. When we reached the landing-place, the peasants were again dancing, with some soldiers, sailors, and fishermen. We went close to look at them, and, except from one lady, who told us, in broken French, she did not like the English, met with neither rudeness or insult. The figure of their dance was very simple, consisting only of describing a circle, through various parts of which, with joined hands, they threaded from time to time; and notwithstanding their wooden shoes, I thought they executed it with more spirit and less awkwardness than our clowns generally perform. None of the women were handsome, but they had all healthy cheerful countenances, and were coarsely but cleanly dressed; their long white caps, which form a sort of hood behind, giving to the younger ones a very sober and matron-like appearance. A publick-house, which the dancers of both sexes frequently visited, was close by, where cyder and a small acid red wine were retailed. These people conversed entirely in the Breton language, the sound of which, had I not forcibly felt from other circumstances where I was, would have made me swear that I was in Wales. I found, upon trial, that not one in ten of the peasants could speak French, or even understood it when spoken to them. I asked if the gaiety which I saw was continual, or only occasional; and was told, that this was the week of the _carnival_, a period of festivity, which the Bretons of all ranks, notwithstanding the austerity of the times, have never failed to celebrate in revelry and dissipation.

I went into several houses. They form a medium between the neatness of an English, and the filthiness of an Irish, cottage; they are dark and gloomy like the latter, but the walls are strongly built of stone, the roofs well thatched, and none of them are without a chimney. There was a moderate quantity of necessary household utensils in all, and a good fire burning, over which, in most of them, hung large pots boiling. Here was no indication of want or distress. “Destruction to the châteaux, peace to the cottages,” is an aphorism, which has been often repeated in the convention, to instigate the poor to plunder the rich.

The church-door being open, I walked in, and found it converted into a barrack for the soldiers belonging to a small fort which stands at a little distance. There was a large fire burning in it, and it was filled by the bedding and other effects of the men; but I observed that the altar was entire. A serjeant, seeing me regard it with attention, whispered me, that it owed its preservation to him: a piece of intelligence of which I could not doubt the truth, when he carried me into a little vestry, which he unlocked with a key that he took from his pocket. There he showed me the images of our Saviour and the Virgin, which were here deposited uninjured. I commended the zeal of this honest halberdier, and we parted good friends, it being time to return on board.

Next morning after breakfast we were conveyed hither, in one of the ship’s boats. The distance is about three leagues; and a cold easterly wind blowing strongly against us, made the passage tedious and disagreeable. The river winds very much, and gradually narrows, until it becomes contracted at Quimper to a fresh-water brook, deep enough, however, to permit vessels, which do not draw more than eleven feet, to reach the town at high water. Its banks are highly picturesque, very woody, and rather wild and bold than fertile. They are besides adorned by many gentlemen’s houses, on a smaller scale than the Marquis de Kersalaun’s _château_, but built in the same taste, and surrounded by plantations of fir-trees. Like the _château_ too, they all bear marks of the unhappy state of the country, the windows being broken, the garden-walls and fences destroyed, and an air of desolation spread around them.

About one o’clock we reached Quimper, and were taken to the house of the commissary of prisoners, whose reception of us did not forebode the pleasing consequences which followed; for this man of power, when acquainted with our names and ranks, neither did us the honour to return our salute of the hat, or to ask us to sit down. However, after having given a receipt for us to the captain of the vessel, he condescended to conduct us in person to the house of Mademoiselle B-------- (to whom he is related) whose polite and obliging reception of us, soon caused us to forget the republican manners of _Citoyen_ Precini.

We have found here abundance of our countrymen, this town being the principal _depôt_ of prisoners of war in the Western departments. In this unfortunate list are Captain Kittoe, of l’Espion sloop of war, and his two lieutenants; Colonel Caldwell, who is a native of Ireland, and in the Portugueze service; with many other officers and gentlemen, and several hundred British seamen.

LETTER VII.

Quimper, 2d March, 1795.

Although placed in a part of France very remote from the capital, and unfrequented by travellers, I find in all I hear and see abundant matter of wonder and reflection; and as I advance in my enquiries, the scene continues to open upon me. To witness the meridian blaze of the revolutionary government, I am arrived six months too late; its disastrous lustre is eclipsed. When I testify emotions of astonishment, I am always cut short by the exclamation of, “Ah! if you had been here in the reign of Robespierre, or even during the first three months after his death!”

I am not upon any parole, either written or verbal, but I am _cautionné_, that is, the lady of the house is bound for my appearance at all times, in the sum of 3000 livres. Upon this consideration I have leave to go into all parts of the town, and have ventured to deviate, in every direction, into the surrounding country, to the distance of two or three miles, without having hitherto met with interruption.

Nothing could happen more fortunately than our coming here at the beginning of the carnival-week, during which parties meet every night at each other’s houses. The evening of our arrival the meeting was held at Mademoiselle Brimaudiere’s, and was attended by all her friends and acquaintances, who, as she is a woman well born and connected, are of the better order, though, as I found in the sequel, of very opposite political opinions. Formerly these assemblies were closed by sumptuous suppers; but in the present poverty of the times, they meet only to play at _passe-dix_. Into this circle I was introduced, and found the greater part of it composed of well-dressed people of both sexes, who surrounded a large table, on which the dice were rolling, and the spirit of betting as keen as it could have been at any former period; handfuls of _assignats_ shifting their owners every moment; and even children, of not more than seven or eight years old, were encouraged to stand by, and receive lessons in this instructive seminary:----“_Ma mere! dix sols pour!----Ma tante! quinze sols contre!_” resounded from infant mouths on every side. Among the women were several whom I thought very agreeable in person, particularly Mademoiselle Kérvélligan, and la Marquise de Ploeuc. The latter is extremely elegant in her manners, but beams “with faded splendor.” I could not bear to hear the boorish and disgusting title of “_Citoyenne_” applied to a fashionable woman; and therefore, whenever I addressed myself to the marchioness, I called her “_Madame la Marquise_,” and the rest of the company _Mademoiselle_, or _Monsieur_. Indeed to this I had acquired a sort of right, by being myself honoured with the appellation of “_Monsieur le Major_,” when I was invited to play, which I at once accepted, and formed one of the circle. These good old-fashioned courtesies also fell occasionally from the rest of the company; but I observed that they were spoken in a low voice, and not without trepidation: they are, however, I am assured, fast returning into vogue.

At a play-table the common centre of union must be the stake, and to that I found here, as elsewhere, all cares anxiously directed; but, during some short cessations of the game, I remarked that the company divided into knots, which seemed jealous of each other. The operation of a more powerful passion being suspended, their political prejudices were now revived. I was among royalists, federalists, and fierce republicans one and indivisible. The fathers, mothers, brothers, and sisters of emigrants, for whose desertion they had been punished, collected with _bons citoyens_, and _enragés_. Of these last, from not mixing in their groupe, I can say nothing, except that the dress of some of them was affectedly mean, and their conversation marked by a boisterous and rude familiarity, which I knew before were leading characteristics of their party. If I find myself compelled by necessity to cultivate an acquaintance with any of this faction, while I remain at Quimper, I hope I shall not be constrained to extend to them an observation, which I was forced to pass upon their brethren on ship-board----that I never knew one man, professing to be a fierce, and flaming republican, who possessed either the manners which should distinguish a gentleman (setting aside the forms of courtesy) or that common share of probity, which is required to keep the links of society together.

In the little knot of royalists to which, you may suppose, I attached myself, I was not worse received for being an Englishman. Indeed they spoke quite undisguisedly before me, but it was in whispers. A young lady, on seeing me gaze with attention upon one of the republican phalanx, who (like all his colleagues) had worn his hat during the evening, asked me, which I liked best, the tri-coloured cockade I was surveying, or the “_cocarde blanche_?” “The cockade of honour, to be sure,” I answered.----“Softly, softly, for God’s sake!” said she, “or we shall be overheard and undone.”