The stranger in France : $b or, a tour from Devonshire to Paris illustrated by engravings in aqua tint of sketches taken on the spot. — John Shaqi
The stranger in France : $b or, a tour from Devonshire to Paris illustrated by engravings in aqua tint of sketches taken on the spot.Carr, John, Sir
History
The stranger in France : $b or, a tour from Devonshire to Paris illustrated by engravings in aqua tint of sketches taken on the spot.
Carr, John, Sir
France -- Description and travel; Paris (France) -- Description and travel
A sol is like our halfpenny, value one penny french, or a halfpenny
english, twenty-four of these make an english shilling.
A deux liard piece is half a sol french, or a farthing english.
A liard is a farthing french, and of the value of half a farthing
english.
NEW COIN.
A thirty sols piece, is a very beautiful and convenient coin, worth one
shilling and three pence english, having a good impression of the late
king's head on one side, and the goddess of liberty on the other; it was
struck in the early part of the revolution.
REPUBLICAN COIN.
SILVER.
A fifteen sols piece is half of the above and very convenient.
COPPER.
A six liard is a bit of copper composition, such as the fine cannon are
made of, and is worth three sols french, or a halfpenny, and a farthing
english.
A cinq centimes is worth a halfpenny and half a farthing english.
The centimes are of the value of half farthings, five of which are equal
to the last coin, they are very small and neat.
An early knowledge of these coins, is very necessary to a stranger, on
account of the dishonest advantages which french tradesmen take of their
english customers.
To return to my narrative: finding ourselves at liberty to pursue our
route, we went from the municipality to the bureau des diligences, and
secured our places in the voiture to Rouen, for the next day.
After this necessary arrangement, we proceeded to view the town, which
is composed of long and narrow streets. The fronts of the houses, which
are lofty, are deformed by the spaces between the naked intersections of
the frame work being filled up with mortar, which gives them an
appearance of being very heavy, and very mean.
The commerce formerly carried on at Havre, was very extensive. There is
here also large manufactories for lace. The theatre is very spacious,
well arranged, and as far as we could judge by day-light, handsomely
decorated. The players did not perform during our stay. In the
vegetable market place, which was much crowded, and large, we saw at
this season of the year abundance of fine apples, as fresh in appearance
as when they were first plucked from the tree.
In our way there we were accosted by a little ragged beggar boy, who
addressed himself to our compassionate dispositions, by the appellation
of "tres charitable citoyen," but finding we gave nothing, he
immediately changed it to "mon chere tres charitable monsieur."
The strange uncouth expression of citoyen is generally laid aside,
except amongst the immediate officers under government, in their
official communications, who, however, renounce it in private, for the
more civilized title of "monsieur."
The principal church is a fine handsome building, and had been opened
for worship, the Sunday before we arrived: On that day the bell of the
Sabbath first sounded, during ten years of revolution, infidelity, and
bloodshed!!!
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