A Trip to Paris in July and August 1792
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Richard Twiss >> A Trip to Paris in July and August 1792
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Here an officer of the national guard who had been present during the
whole of the battle of the 10th, said to me, "La journee a _ete un peu
forte, nous avons eu plus de quinze cens des notres de tues_," (the day
was rather warm; we have had more than fifteen hundred of our own people
killed.) This was confirmed by many more of the officers there, with
whom I had a quarter of an hour's conversation, and they all estimated
the number of the slain at above six thousand, which may probably be
accounted for in the following manner, but a demonstration is
impossible.
Some assert that there were eight hundred Swiss soldiers in the
_chateau_ of the _Tuileries_; others but five hundred: let us take the
medium of six hundred and fifty. They had, as every one allows, six and
thirty charges each, and they fired till their ammunition was expended.
This makes above three and twenty thousand shot, every one of which must
have taken place, on a mob as thick as hailstones after a shower: but
allowing for the Swiss themselves, who were killed during the
engagement, which diminishes the number of shot, and then allowing
likewise, that of two thousand persons who were in the palace, we here
say nothing of the remaining thirteen or fourteen hundred, most of whom
were firing as well as they could, perhaps it may not appear exaggerated
to say, that out of above twenty thousand shot, four thousand must have
taken place mortally; and this includes the fifteen hundred of the
national guard, which were _certainly_ known to be missing. Of the other
two thousand five hundred slain, the number could not so correctly be
ascertained, as they consisted of citizens without regimentals or
uniform, and of _sans-culottes_, none of whom were registered. All the
persons in the palace were killed; of these, few, if any, were taken
away immediately, whereas when any of the adverse party were killed,
there were people enough who were glad of the opportunity of escaping
from this slaughter, by carrying away the corpse. We must then reflect
on the number of waggons and carts employed all night in the same
offices, and then we shall see great reason to double the number of the
slain, as has been done in various publications.
No idea of this number could be formed by seeing the field of battle,
because several bodies were there lying in heaps, and of the others not
above two or three could be seen at a time, as the streets were after
the engagement filled with spectators, who walked among and over the
carcases.
Of the feelings of these spectators, I judge by my own: I might perhaps
have disliked seeing a single dead body, but the great number
immediately reconciled me to the sight.
BREECHES. PIKES. NECESSARY PASSPORTS.
ANOTHER particular relative to the _sans-culottes_ is their standard,
being an old pair of breeches, which they carry on the top of a pike,
thrust through the waistband: the _poissardes_ likewise use the same
standard, though it so happened that I never saw it. On the memorable
20th of June last, a pike-man got on the top of the Tuileries, where he
waved the ensign, or rather shook the breeches to the populace.
The pike-staves for the army are of different lengths; of six, nine, and
twelve feet: by this means three ranks of pike-bearers can use their
arms at once, with the points of the three rows of pikes evenly
extended.
The letter which I had written to the President, notwithstanding its
eventual ill success, caused several English persons jointly to write a
somewhat similar letter; in which, after having represented that their
_wives_ and children _wanted_ them, they said, they hoped their reasons
would appear _vrai-semblables_, or have the semblance of truth. The
Assembly on hearing this burst into a laugh, and passed on to the order
of the day.
On the 16th I carried a passport from _Lord Gower_ to the office of _Mr.
le Brun_, the minister for foreign affairs; here I was told to leave
it, and I should have another in its stead the next day. The next day I
applied for it, and was told, no passports could be delivered.
The matter now appeared to me to become serious, as the courier who had
carried the account of the affair of the 10th to London was not yet
returned, and that rumours were spread, that the English in Paris were
almost all _grands seigneurs & aristocrates_; so that I saw only two
probable means of safety; one of which was, to draw up a petition to the
National Assembly, in behalf of all the British subjects, to get it
signed by as many as I could find, and who might chuse to sign it, and
to carry it to the Assembly in a small body, which might have been the
means of procuring a pass; and in case this was refused, the other plan
would have been for all the British to have incorporated themselves into
a _Legion Britannique_, and offered their services according to the
exigence of the case.[32] This petition was accordingly, on the 18th,
drawn up by a member of the English Parliament; translated into French,
and carried about to be signed; when at the bankers we fortunately met
with a person who informed us, that our passes were ready at the moment,
at _Mr. Le Brun's_: thither we went; I obtained my pass at two o'clock
afternoon, the petition was torn and given to the winds; I took a
hackney coach that instant, to carry me to the _Poste aux chevaux_,
ordered the horses, and before three I was out of the barriers of Paris.
[Note 32: Before, and on the 10th of August, there were not above
thirty British travellers in Paris, but after that day, in less than a
week it was supposed that above two thousand had from all parts of the
kingdom resorted to the capital, in order to obtain passports to get
away.]
Here follows a copy of my passport.
At the top of the paper is an engraving of a shield, on which is
inscribed _Vivre libre ou mourir_ (live free or die,) supported by two
female figures, the _dexter_ representing _Minerva_ standing, with the
cap of liberty at the end of a pike; the _sinister_, the French
constitution personified as a woman sitting on a lion, with one hand
holding a book, on which is written _Constitution Francaise, droits de
l'homme_, and with the other supporting a crown over the shield, which
crown is effaced by a dash with a pen.
Then follows:
_La nation, la loi, le roi_; this is also obliterated
with a pen, and instead is written:
_Liberte, Egalite_
_Au nom de la nation_.
A tous officiers, civils et militaires, charges de surveiller et de
maintenir l'ordre public dans les differents departemens du Royaume, et
a tous autres qu'il appartiendra il est ordonne de laisser librement
passer _T---- anglais retournant en angleterre, porteur d'un certificat
de son ambassadeur_.[33] Sans donner ni souffrir qu'il lui soit donne
aucun empechement, le present passe-port valable pour _quinze jours_
seulement.
Donne a _Paris_ le 16 aoust l'an 4 de la liberte
_Vu a la Mairie le_ 17 _aoust_ 1792.
_L'an 4e de la liberte._
_Petion_.
[Note 33: What is here in italics is in manuscript in the original.
There is no _Monsieur_ nor _Madame_, the word _anglais_ showing the
gender of the person to whom the pass was granted, and is sufficient for
the purpose.]
Here is an impression, in red wax, of the arms of Paris, which are
_gules_, a three-mast ship in full sail, a chief _azur_, _seme_ with
_fleurs de lis, or_, the shield environed with oak branches and the cap
of liberty as a crest. The inscription underneath is _Mairie de Paris_,
1789. On one side of this seal is an escutcheon with the arms of France,
crowned, and over the crown there is a dash with a pen. And underneath,
Gratis. Le ministre des affaires etrangeres.
_Vu passer Abbeville en Le Brun_.
_Conseil permanent le_ 20
_Aoust_ 1792.
Signed by a municipal officer.
And on the back of the passport,
_Vu au comite de la section poissonniere_ _ce 18 aoust_ 1792.
Signed by two commissaries at the barriers of St. Denis, at Paris.
_Permis d'embarquer a Calais le 22 aoust_ 1792.
Signed by a Secretary.
MISCELLANIES. DANCING. POULTRY. TAVERNS. WIG.
SOME days before the demolition of the statue of _Henri_ IV. on the
_Pont-neuf_, there was a flag placed near that statue, on which was
painted _citoyens la Patrie est en danger_; (citizens, the
mother-country is in danger) and it still remained there when I came
away.
On the Monday after _the_ Friday, I saw a paper on the walls, among
those published by authority, wherein a person acquainted the public,
that on the preceding Saturday, in consequence of some suspicions which
had been entertained of his principles, his house had been visited by
above thirty thousand persons;[34] and that notwithstanding masons and
smiths had been employed in pulling down, breaking open and
scrutinizing, the people had _found nothing_ to criminate him, and he
had _found nothing_ missing in consequence of their scrutiny. I had the
pleasure of reading this aloud to an assemblage of elderly ladies, not
one of whom could see to read it, as it was placed out of their _focus_,
or too high, as they said.
[Note 34: _Poco mas o menos_,(a little more or less) as the
Spaniards say when they are complimented with _Viva V. S. mil anos_ (may
you live a thousand years.)]
Before the 10th I saw several dancing parties of the _Poissardes_ and
_sans-culottes_ in the beer-houses, on the _Quai des Ormes_ and the
_Quai St. Paul_, and have played the favourite and animating air of _ca
ira_, on the fiddle, to eight couple of dancers; the ceiling of these
rooms (which open into the street) is not above ten feet high, and on
this ceiling (which is generally white washed) are the numbers 1 2 to 8,
in black, and the same in red, which mark the places where the ladies
and gentlemen are to stand. When the dance was concluded I requested the
ladies to salute me (_m'embrasser_) which they did, by gently touching
my cheek with their lips. But a period was put to all these amusements
by the occurrences of the 10th; after which day, most of my time was
employed in endeavouring to obtain a passport.
On the _Quai des Augustins_, at six or seven in the morning, may be seen
a market of above a quarter of a mile long, well stocked with fowls,
pigeons, ducks, geese and turkies: these birds are all termed
_Volaille_. Rabbits are likewise sold in this market. I also saw here a
few live pheasants, red-legged partridges and quails in cages, for
sale.
I did not see a _louis d'or_ this time in Paris, it is probable that a
new golden coin may be struck of a different value and name, and
_without_ the name of the die-engraver.
There are few, if any, _tables d'hote_ (ordinaries) in Paris at present,
except at the inns. I have not seen any for many years, because the hour
of dining at them is about one o'clock, and that is customary to be
served in those coffee-houses which are kept by _restaurateurs and
traiteurs_ (cooks) after the English manner, at small tables, and there
are bills of fare, with the prices of the articles marked. The most
celebrated of these houses is called _la Taverne de Londres_, in the
garden of the _Palais-Royal_: here are large public rooms, and also many
small ones, and a bill of fare printed on a folio sheet, containing
almost every sort of provision, (carp, eels, and pickled salmon are the
only fish I have seen there.) An Englishman may here have his
beef-steak, plum-pudding, Cheshire cheese, porter and punch just as in
London, and at about the same price, (half the price as the exchange
then was.) Thirty-five sorts of wine are here enumerated. That of
_Tokay_ is at two _livres_ for a small glass, of which a quart-bottle
may contain about fifteen. _Rhenish, Mountain, Alicante, Rota,_ and red
_Frontignan_ at 6 livres. _Champagne, Claret, Hermitage,_ 4 _l._ 10_f._
_Port_ 3_l._ 10_f._ _Burgundy_ 3_l._ _Porter_ 2_l._ 10_f._ Most of the
dishes are of silver, and I dined at two or three other taverns where
all the dishes and plates were of silver.
The barbers or hair-dressers have generally written on their sign _Ici
on rajeunit: rajeunir_ means properly to colour or die the hair, but in
this instance it only expresses, here people are made to look younger
than they are, by having their hair dressed. I saw a peruke-maker's sign
representing the fable of _the man and his two wives_, thus: A
middle-aged gentleman is fitting in a magnificent apartment, between an
old lady and a young one, fashionably dressed. His head is entirely
bald, the old lady having just pulled out the black hairs, as the young
one did the grey: and Cupid is flying over his head, holding a nice
periwig ready to put on it.
EXTENT, POPULATION, &C. OF FRANCE.
THE authorities for a great part of what follows are _Mr. Rabaut's_
History of the Revolution, 1792; _Mr. du Laure's_ Paris, 1791,
_Geographie de France_, 1792, second edition, and _Voyage dans les
Departemens de la France_, 1792.
France is a country which extends nine degrees from North to South, and
between ten and eleven from East to West, making six and twenty thousand
square leagues, and containing twenty-seven millions of people. In 1790,
"There were four millions of armed men in France; three of these
millions wore the uniform of the nation." The number of warriors, or
fighting men is very considerably increased since that time.
"In this immense population is found at least three millions of
individuals of different religions, whom the present catholicks look
upon with brotherly eyes. The protestant and the catholick now embrace
each other on the threshold where _Coligni_ was murdered; and the
disciples of _Calvin_ invoke the Eternal after their manner, within a
few paces[35] of the balcony from whence _Charles IX._ shot at his
subjects."
[Note 35: The church of _St. Louis du Louvre_ is at present made use
of as a place of worship by protestants.
All the church lands are reverted to the nation.
In a speech which the Abbe _Maury_ made in the National Assembly, about
two years ago, he estimated the value of the property belonging to
ecclesiasticks in France at two thousand two hundred millions of livres,
_(Deux milliards deux cens millions_) near ninety-two millions sterling,
the interest or produce of which, at 3-1/4 per cent. per annum, amounts
to the three millions beforementioned.
France suffices to itself; it contains all the indigenous productions of
Europe.
The French hope, that the number of foreigners who will resort to their
country, after it shall be more settled, will abundantly compensate the
loss of the emigrants.]
The capital, when compared to London, for extent is as 264 to 195,
(nearly as 7 to 5) that is to say, according to the calculation
beforementioned (p. 28) Paris stands on 6-99/121 square miles of ground,
and London on 5-35/968.
It contains a million and 130 thousand inhabitants, which is fifty
thousand more than it did two years ago; these formerly inhabited
_Versailles_, and left it at the time the court did.
_Lyon_ contains 160 thousand persons.
_Marseille_, the most populous, in proportion to the size, of any city
in Europe, contains, in a spot of little more than three miles in
circumference, 120 thousand persons, which includes about 30,000
mariners on board of the ships in the harbour.[36]
[Note 36: I was there in 1768, and again in 1783 and 1784, above
four months. People of all nations are there seen in their proper
habits; all languages are spoken; it is a free port, and the staple of
the Levant trade, as well as of the West-Indian commerce.--There are
regular vessels which sail monthly to Constantinople.]
_Bordeaux_, 100,000. The population of many more cities is given in a
note,[37] besides which there are others, the number of whose
inhabitants I cannot learn, such as _Toulouse, Toulon, Brest, Orange,
Blois, Avignon_, &c.
[Note 37: _Thousand_ must be read after all the following figures.
_Dunkerque_ - 80|_Besancon_ - - 26|_La Rochelle_ - 16
_Rouen_ - - - 73|_Aix_- - - - - 25|_Poitiers_ - - 16
_Lille_ - - - 65|_Bourges_- - - 25|_Auxerre_ - - 16
_Nantes_- - - 60|_Tours_ - - - 22|_Perpignan_- - 16
_Nismes_- - - 50|_Arras_ - - - 22|_Chalons_ - - 15
_Strasbourg_- - 46|_Limoges_- - - 22|_Beauvais_ - - 15
_Amiens_- - - 44|_Abbeville_- - 20|_Riom_ - - - 15
_Metz_ - - - 40|_Verdun_ - - - 20|_Nevers_- - - 14
_Caen_ - - - 40|_Arles_- - - - 20|_Boulogne_ - - 12
_Orleans_ - - 40|_Dijon_- - - - 20|_Bayonne_ - - 12
_Rennes_- - - 35|_Valenciennes_ 20|_Soissons_ - - 12
_Nancy_ - - - 34|_St. Malo_ - - 18|_Angouleme_- - 11
_Montpellier_ - 32|_Beziers_- - - 18|_Pau_- - - - 11
_Reims_ - - - 30|_Sedan_- - - - 18|_Alby_ - - - 10
_Clermont_ - - 30|_Carcassonne_- 18|_Alais_ - - - 10
_Troyes_- - - 30|_Havre de Grace_18|_Grasse_- - - 10
_Grenoble_ - - 30|_Moulins_- - - 17|_Versailles_ - 10]
The nation gains five millions sterling _per annum_ by the reduction of
its expences, and by not having any unnecessary clergymen to
maintain,[38] and the forfeited estates of the emigrants are estimated
at immense sums.[39]
[Note 38: By a decree in November, 1789, no curate is to have less
salary than fifty _Louis_ per annum, not including his house and garden.
Many of the French at present think that clergymen should be retained
like physicians, and paid by those only who want them. By this means,
they say, religious quarrels would be avoided; of all quarrels the most
absurd, because nobody can understand any thing about the matter.
"Personne n'y entend rien."]
[Note 39: The civil list mentioned in page 62, was according to the
old establishment. In January, 1790, the king was requested to fix a sum
for the civil list himself, and in June following he sent a letter to
the National Assembly, demanding five and twenty millions of livres. It
was decreed that instant.]
The heavy taxes on salt (_la gabelle_) and on Tobacco are suppressed,
and those two articles are allowed to be objects of commerce.[40]
[Note 40: Salt, which was formerly sold at fourteen _sols_ per
pound, is now at a single sol. Tobacco is permitted to be cultivated by
"whoever will."]
"No city in the world can offer such a spectacle as that of Paris,
agitated by some great passion, because in no other the communication is
so speedy, and the spirits so active. Paris contains citizens from all
the provinces, and these various characters blended together compose the
national character, which is distinguished by a wonderful impetuosity.
Whatever they will do is done." Witness the taking of the _Bastille_ in
a single day, which had formerly withstood the siege of a whole army
during three and twenty days. And witness the 10th of August.
I have been frequently told by persons in England, that a regular and
disciplined army may easily crush a herd of raw and inexperienced
rabble, such as they supposed the French were, although ten times more
numerous. This may possibly be the event in small numbers, but if we
state the case with large numbers, for instance fifty thousand men of
the greatest courage, and of the most perfect discipline, and who are
fighting for pay, without any personal motive, against five hundred
thousand men, whom we shall suppose utterly ignorant of the art of war,
but who conceive they are fighting for their liberty and their country,
for their families and their property, and then reflect on the courage
and bravery of these very men, on their impetuosity, their
_acharnement_, or desperate violence in fight, which may be compared to
the irresistible force of water-spouts, and of whirlwinds, it may not
appear too partial to conjecture, that such persons may perceive some
little reason for suspending, if not for altering, their opinion,[41]
and may now estimate the degree of danger this nation may apprehend
from the attacks of extraneous powers, _provided its own people are
unanimous_.
[Note 41: I saw many thousands of these men (from my windows) on
their way to the _Tuileries_, early on _the_ Friday morning; their march
was at the rate of perhaps five miles an hour, without running or
looking aside; and this was the pace they used when they carried heads
upon pikes, and when they were in pursuit of important business, rushing
along the streets like a torrent, and attending wholly and solely to the
object they had in view. On such occasions, when I saw them approaching,
I turned into some cross street till they were passed, not that I had
any thing to apprehend, but the being swept along with the crowd, and
perhaps trampled upon. I cannot express what I felt on seeing such
immense bodies of men so vigorously actuated by the same principle. I
saw also many thousands of volunteers going to join the armies at the
frontiers, marching along the _Boulevarts_, almost at the same pace,
accompanied as far as the Barriers by their women, who were carrying
their muskets for them; some with large sausages, pieces of cold meat,
and loaves of bread, stuck on the bayonets, and all laughing, or singing
_ca ira_.
The French writers themselves say, "In all popular commotions the women
have always shown the greatest boldness."]
EMENDATIONS AND ADDITIONS. RETURN TO CALAIS.
THE paragraph at the bottom of page 11, is intended to be merely
descriptive, but not ludicrous, so that the reader is requested to
expunge the word _night_.
In the enumeration of the Bishopricks (page 14) I unaccountably omitted
the ten metropolitan sees, which are those of _Paris, Lyon, Bourdeaux,
Rouen, Reims, Besancon, Bourges, Rennes, Aix_ and _Toulouse_: Thus there
are eighty-three bishopricks, or one for each department.
After what is said (in page 89) relative to the division of the country,
there should, in justice, be added: "To the confused medley of
_Bailiwicks, Seneschal-jurisdictions, Elections, Generalities, Dioceses,
Parliaments, Governments, &c._ there succeeded a simple and uniform
division; there were no longer any provinces, but only one family, one
nation: France was the nation of eighty-three departments."
Notwithstanding this, I regret the ancient _names_ of the provinces. The
old _Atlas_ of France is become useless, as the whole of its geography
is altered. The land is at present divided into nine regions, and each
of these into nine departments; Paris and the country about ten miles
around (24 square leagues) forms one, and the Island of _Corsica_
another department. In the modern _Atlas_, after every new name, is put
_ci-devant_, and then the old name, thus: _Region du Levant, departement
de la cote d'or, ci-devant Bourgogne_. I called one day, after dining in
a tavern, for a bottle of wine of the _Departement de l'Aube, Region des
Sources,_ the landlord consulted his _Atlas_, and then brought the
bottle of _Champagne_ I required. It will be some time before foreigners
are sufficiently familiarized to the new phrases which must be used for
_Gascon, Normand, Breton, Provencal, Picard, &c._[42]
[Note 42: The author of the _Voyage de France_ says, "The actual
division of France may appear to geographers as defective as the ancient
one. Perhaps artists should have been more consulted. Then there would
not have been shown in it so much of the spirit of party, which, in
great assemblies, too often smothers the voice of reason, nor so many
effects of the ignorance of political measurers, who lightly stride over
barriers which nature has opposed to them, and who appear to have
forgotten the necessity of communications."]
The following paragraphs are taken from the new _Voyage de France_.
"During fourteen hundred years, priority in follies, in superstition, in
ignorance, in fanaticism, and in slavery, was the picture of France. It
was just, therefore, that priority in philosophy, and in knowledge,
should succeed to so many odious pre-eminences."
"The French people, to whom liberty is now new, are like the waves of
the sea, which roll long after the tempest has ceased: and of which the
agitation is necessary to depose on the shores the scum which covers
them."
"The confusion inseparable from a new order of things, has necessarily
caused Paris to swarm with vagabonds; so that far from being surprized
that some crimes have been committed, we ought rather to wonder that
they are not more frequent."
"When _Louis XVI._ was brought back to Paris (25 June, 1791) the
inhabitants of _fauxbourgs_ pasted a placard (advertisement) against the
walls, saying, 'Whoever applauds him shall be cudgelled, whoever attacks
him shall be hanged.' An awful silence was observed."
After the account of the Pantheon (p. 28) should be added: In April,
1791, the body or _Mirabeau_ was deposited here; and in July following
that of _Voltaire_. Soon after this it was decreed, that _Rousseau_ had
merited the honours due to great men, but that his ashes should remain
where they were.
To the lift of engravings of the _Maiden_ must be added another,
prefixed to a little tract, called _Gibbet-Law_.
By _premier An de l'Egalite_,(first year of Equality) it is not to be
understood that every person in France is equal, but that as they have
no sovereign, no person is above, but every person is equally under the
protection of the law. This matter has been both misunderstood and
misrepresented in England.
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