On this page
- Departments (1)
-
Text (3)
-
Untitled Article
-
Untitled Article
-
EXTRACTS FROM NEW PUBLICATIONS.
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
-
-
Transcript
-
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
Additionally, when viewing full transcripts, extracted text may not be in the same order as the original document.
Untitled Article
State of France . [ From " Notes on a Journey through Fran " ce from Dieppe through Paris and Lyons to the Pyrennees , and back through Thoulouse , 1814 . By Morris Birkbeck . 8 vo . ] f 11 HE approach to Rouen is noble : JL . every object denotes prosperity and comfort . Since I entered the
country 1 have been looking in all directions for the ruins of France ; for the horrible effects of the Revol ution , of which so much is said on our side of the water : but instead of a ruined country 1 see fields highly cultivated , and towns full of inhabitants . No
houses tumbling down , or empty ; no ragged , wretched-looking people . I have inquired , and every body assures me that agriculture has been improviug rapidly for the last twentyfive years ; that the riches and comforts of the cultivators of the soil have
been doub led during that period ; and that vast improvement has taken place in the condition and character of the common people . Iri the early part of the revolution , more was done
in promoting the instruction of the lower orders than the sinister policy of the late Emperor was able to destroy : and , though much remains to be desired on this point , enough has been effected to shew that a
well-educated commonalty would not be wanting in industry or subordination . On my first landing I was struck with the respectable appearance of the labouring class ; I see the same marks of comfort and plenty every where as I proceed . I ask for the
wretched peasantry , of whom I have heard and read so much ; but I am always referred to the Revolution : it seems they vanished , then . July 16 . —Corn market , Rouen :
— A retail business chiefly . Wheat about 34 s . per quarter , coarse and light j oats good , 13 s . 6 d . per quarter ; vetches for pigeons and fowls , 24 s . per quarter ; oil cake 4 d . for 61 b . 12 , oz . English weight .
Formerly there were , in Rouen , forty convents . These buildings are mostly now the property of individuals , and are applied to a variety of useful purposes : a few remain unsold , as public warehouses , barracks , &c .
Untitled Article
That of the Benedictines , a noble structure , is the Hotel de Ville . The libraries of the other convents have been collected , and deposited in this building for public use . It is open five days in the week . A splendid
gallery of pictures , collected in the same manner , is also open ( and really open ) to the public . The garden , formerly belonging to this convent , is kept in good order , and forms an agreeable promenade , which is much frequented by the citizens .
Gypsum , in large quantities , is brought down the Seine from the neighbourhood of Paris . It is used in the interior of buildings ; and for manure on clover , after the first crop . July 17 . —Visited a small farmer a few miles from Rouen . Labourers '
wages lOd . per day , and board ; 20 d , per day without board . As all provisions , every article of expenditure , may be taken at something under half the English price , by doubling their wages , we may find the proportion they bear to our's . Great numbers
of turkeys are kept here , and fowls of all descriptions . Poultry is an important object of French farming : it is a question whether there is more weight of mutton consumed than of poultry . The daughters of this farmer were both notable and polite : and the ploughman and boy were eating an omelet with silver forks .
On a sheep-walk above De ville , a man was collecting fresh sheep dung , which he sold at three farthings per lb . It is used in dyeing cotton red . I note this trifle because it may be worth knowing ; but especially as an
instance of the danger of observing superficially . I thought that he must of course be a wretched pauper , who was collecting sheep dung to sell as manure : this excited ray curiosity , which was agreeably relieved by the above information . At a very poor
inn in a remote village , where we stopped on our morning ' s ride , the landlady kept a child's school , and her daughter was weaving cotton check ; her sister kept a little shop ,
and was reading a translation oi Youngs Night Thoughts . This was more than we should have expected in a village alehouse in England .
Untitled Article
( 7 * )
Extracts From New Publications.
EXTRACTS FROM NEW PUBLICATIONS .
-
-
Citation
-
Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Feb. 2, 1815, page 72, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1757/page/8/
-