Itinerary of Provence and the Rhone: Made During the Year 1819Hughes, John
History
Itinerary of Provence and the Rhone: Made During the Year 1819
Hughes, John
Provence (France) -- Description and travel; Rhône River (Switzerland and France)
After our horses had eaten a pound of honey with their corn, which
honest Durand considered a powerful cordial, we resumed our route, and
reached Montpelier to a late dinner, enjoying in no small degree the
coolness and quiet of Pical's house. It was indeed the love of quiet,
and the dislike to a constant ferment, which drove our landlord from
Nismes to settle in this place. The bigotry and party zeal of the former
town, in truth, appear to have been hardly exaggerated in the accounts
which have reached England, and to exist in such a degree as to render
Nismes an unsafe place for a moderate man, who is owned by neither
party. The spirit of discord and enmity is instilled by the more violent
of both parties into their children as a duty, so that it will probably
descend from generation to generation. Both parties, indeed, might adopt
as a crest and motto a boot-maker's sign in Montpelier, which is
somewhat diverting from its bombast, when merely applied as honest
Crispin meant it. A lion is represented tearing a boot, with the
inscription, "Tu peux me dechirer, mais jamais me decoudre." Construe
it, "You may cut my throat, but not alter me," and it will show the
pleasant state of party spirit at Nismes, if what we heard so near the
scene of action be true. We returned to Nismes on the 18th with
associations not so pleasant as had been created by its beautiful walks
and buildings, and the civility with which our questions were answered
by the inhabitants. We might have seen the country between Montpelier
and Nismes to greater advantage, the dust being somewhat less stifling
than before; but unluckily there was nothing worth seeing. The district
is certainly a garden, but then it is a flat uninteresting kitchen
garden, for the supply of the Lunel brandy merchants, and the rich
Nismes manufacturers, who appear too polite in their tastes to venture
into it. Hardly a single thing that can be called a gentleman's house
occurs, and that not for want of culture or opulence. The case seems to
be this; the people of Nismes, like the Bordelais, are proud of their
elegant and airy city, embellished with classical relics, and uniting
most of the advantages of town and country, and are well satisfied
without the campagne which a rich Lyonnais, carrying on his business in
a close town, considers as his paradise. Although this system of "rus in
urbe" gives but a mean and poor appearance to the environs of a town, it
produces much pleasure and convenience to such resident strangers as can
enjoy the society of Nismes, which, by all accounts, must somewhat
resemble sleeping in Exeter 'Change, the keepers, in the shape of a
strong preventive force of military, on the alert, it is true, and the
bars are well secured, but the beasts only watch their opportunity to
tear each other to pieces. How an Englishman would fare in a public
disturbance is difficult to say. It is probable that the Catholics would
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account