Travels through the South of France and the Interior of Provinces of Provence and Languedoc in the Years 1807 and 1808Pinkney, lieutenant-colonel (Ninian)
History
Travels through the South of France and the Interior of Provinces of Provence and Languedoc in the Years 1807 and 1808
Pinkney, lieutenant-colonel (Ninian)
France -- Description and travel
We had not time to see much of the town, nor did it appear much to
deserve it. It is certainly very prettily situated on the Gere and the
Rhone, and is surrounded by hills, which give it pleasantness and
effect. It seemed to us to be comparatively a busy and thriving town--I
say comparatively, for as compared with the towns of England or America,
its trade was contemptible. There are two or three hardware
manufactories, where the steel is said to be well tempered. The town is
of great antiquity, and carries its age in its face. The streets are
irregular; the houses dark; one room in almost every house is very
large, and all the others most inconveniently small. This is the
invariable characteristic of the house architecture of towns of a
certain age.
I understood from inquiry, that, with the exception of wood for fuel,
every thing was very reasonable in Vienne. Provisions were in great
plenty, and very cheap. The town, as I have said, is dull, but the
environs, the fields, and the gardens, delightful.
On the following day we continued our journey, and having sent our
horses forward, took our seats in the carriage with the ladies. The
young conscript seemed to fill the head of Mademoiselle St. Sillery.
"These kind of adventures," said she, "are not so romantic in France as
they would be in England, and more particularly since the conscription
makes no distinction of ranks. It is reckoned an honour, or at least no
disgrace, to be a private in the conscripts. It is incredible, how great
a number of gentlemen fill the ranks of the French army. A foreigner
cannot conceive it."
Mr. Younge confirmed this remark, and imputed much of the success of the
French arms to the spirit of honour and emulation which resulted from
this constitution. "Every conscript," said he, "indeed every French
soldier, knows that all the dignities of the army are open to him, and
he may one day be himself a General, if he can render himself prominent.
The chevaliers, moreover, are not only animated by a gallant spirit
themselves, but they infuse it into the army, and give it a character
and self-esteem, the effect of which is truly wonderful."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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