The Paris road from Bar ascends a long hill, and is very broad; on each side is a long extent of vineyards, and the summit of the hill presents a forest of fine old oaks, intersected in various directions by carriage roads and bridle paths, affording pleasant rides in summer; of which I took advantage in the heat of the day, and in these promenades frequently met with Spanish officers, this being the dépôt for the prisoners of war on parole of that nation. I often entered into conversation with them, but was generally disappointed in my hopes of deriving information from them.

On my first visit to Bar, the préfet was M. le Clerc, brother to the General who commanded at and lost St. Domingo. Although he was nearly connected with Buonaparte, by the marriage of his brother the General, with Napoleon’s sister, and though Le Clerc’s sister was married to Marshal Davoust, Prince d’Eckmuhl, yet these connections were insufficient to prevent his being dismissed from his office of préfet; for, as it was understood, not keeping up the appearance thought necessary to his elevated situation. Here I must observe, in justice to Buonaparte, that he does not unnecessarily squander the public money; nor are there in France any of those sinecure places, which in England afford the Opposition a never-failing topic of violent censure. In all professions in France, whether the army, the law, the church, or any other, every situation has its active duties, and the persons occupying it have constant employment; the salaries are not more than barely sufficient to support the respective ranks. The uniforms of the civil magistrates are extremely splendid, and consequently calculated to create respect in the lower orders. On public days, the préfet, sous-préfet, maire, and all the authorities, civil and military, appear in their dresses, covered with lace and embroidery, and attended by a guard of honour, proceed in procession to church to hear high mass, or possibly a Te Deum (by order) for a pretended victory, but which they themselves and all the world know to be a complete defeat. A procession is, however, to a Frenchman a business of joy, whatever may be its cause; and the pleasure he receives from it precludes all possibility of reflection. Thus the intentions of Government are carried into execution without a murmur. In this respect, as well as in many others, the appearance stands for the reality, and, according to the trite saying, “fine feathers make fine birds,” –– for these authorities have generally plumes of various coloured feathers in their hats.

I have often wondered at our government not obliging persons holding high and lucrative employments, to maintain an appear ance in proportion. A judge should go his circuit with the retinue adequate to his great office, which would create a respect for his person, and by a kind of reaction, a greater reverence for the laws which he comes to administer. A bishop should reflect that a portion of the considerable revenue of his diocese ought to be expended for its advantage, and in the support of his high dignity, and this, let it be remarked en passant, most particularly in Ireland; the contrary is however too often the case, the prelates in that country frequently neglecting their diocese, and considering it only, what they snugly term, a good thing, by which money may be amassed.

Monsieur Le Clerc was succeeded in the prefecture by the Comte St. Claire, of an antient noble family, near Périgueux. This gentleman was more hospitable than his predecessor, and I had the pleasure of dining with him several times. At one of these dinners, his father, the old Comte was present, and greatly pleased me by the perfect accomplishment of his manners, and the high respectability of his appearance. At this repast I sat next to the Princess Dowager of Nassau, mother to the prefect’s beautiful wife, and who resided with the latter since the decline of her fortune by the conquests of the French.

During my stay at Bar I lodged at the Cygne, the host of which was a perfect picture of the landlord of an inn. His height about five feet, his breadth nearly the same, with a small head, short arms, and singularly good humoured countenance, happily qualified him to sit for the likeness of Boniface; besides, he possessed a vast fund of dry humour, and knew every thing and every body’s history. His usual occupation was smoking on a stone bench at the inn door, and his answer to persons passing, who inquired, “Comment se porte Monsieur Taffalo?” was, “Comme vous voyez!” Which certainly conveyed abundant information; for he was ruddy health and perfect contentment personified. He quickly discovered the dispositions of his guests, and would drink to the health of those whom he found liberal, vast quantities of his own wine at their expense. To myself and party he was peculiarly partial; for he sat with us, smoking, drinking, and telling entertaining stories, until six o’clock in the morning.

This nonpareil of a landlord accompanied us one day to visit Marshal Oudinot’s (Duke of Reggio) domain, about one hundred and fifty yards from the town. The house, which seemed never to have been worthy of notice, was lately burnt down; but a large and interesting collection of antient arms, consisting of antique implements of offence and defence, bows and arrows, darts, guns, and armour, collected from various parts of the world, were fortunately preserved. The domain which belongs to the house, though small, has been appropriated to the best advantage, and the gardens are laid out with taste.

The Duke of Reggio, in order to please his master and ruin Old England, almost ruined himself by speculations in the preparation of beet-root sugar. A large and handsome range of building was constructed for this manufacture; but when I saw it, the universal ill success of the undertaking had caused it to be entirely abandoned, and the Marshal had converted the edifice to a more rational and profitable purpose, it being now filled with fine cattle of the Dutch and Flanders breed, fattening on the beet-root planted to make sugar, for which it seems to be much better calculated, and is besides said to give the meat a delicious flavour.

As this species of rural economy seems to have much occupied the public attention of late, I shall beg leave to offer a statement as to its mode of cultivation in France for the purpose of fattening cattle, with this observation, that it is the Beta vulgaris, or red beet, that is used there.

Manner of cultivating the Beet-root.

Deep, soft, and damp land ought to be preferred. Calcareous land is preferable to argillaceous; nevertheless the latter is good when it has been enriched during a long time, and softened by repeated turning, taking care that the last takes place before winter. Land that is dug is preferable to that which is ploughed, and that which will grow hops is always good for this purpose. When the situation is well disposed, and the atmosphere is clear and warm, in the months of April and May, you will rake your land the depth of two inches, making trenches at the distance of eighteen or twenty inches from each other, in which you drop your seed three or four inches from each other, but nearer, if you doubt the quality of it. As each grain of seed gives generally many plants, you must transplant them the distance of eighteen inches from each other, when you conceive them sufficiently strong.

If it should happen that your land is not prepared so as to commence sowing the beginning of spring, you may sow two acres in any land well adapted for the purpose; and instead of separating the plants eighteen inches, place them at six inches, and be not sparing of the seed. When they are in some measure grown, you will take care to separate them, so as to preserve a sufficient quantity to transplant, taking care in digging them up to transplant them to another land in the beginning of May or June. The land destined to receive the plants should be prepared one or two days before you transplant. As soon as the plant has taken, or three weeks or a month after being transplanted, you must rake the land around them twice, particularly after a slight rain, or before.

Expense of Beet-root.

Francs.

One hectare, or nearly an acre of land, proper for the plantation of beet-root, will cost for its cultivation 140
Twenty loads of dung, at four francs each 80
For plants or seeds 10
For the different cultivation of the plants 15
For digging plants and bringing home 15

Produce  160

An hectare, or nearly an acre, will contain thirty thousand plants; each plant ought to weigh, at least, two or three pounds, which produces seventy thousand pounds, calculating each at two pounds and a half. To fatten oxen or feed cows, eighteen or twenty pounds for each beast, it is possible to feed ten cows during the year; but supposing you commence feeding your cattle on beet-root in the month of November until the month of May, it will be necessary to have eighteen or twenty cows to consume the produce of the said acre or hectare. The leaf which the plant produces will likewise feed pigs and cows. You may preserve them from the month of August until the frost commences; you will have sufficient for three months to feed ten cows and as many pigs. It is necessary when the cows feed on the leaves, to give them four or five pounds of hay per day.

With this provender the cow will give one-third more milk per day than when fed on twenty pounds of hay, and the milk will preserve the same sweetness as in summer.

 Francs.

To feed twenty cows on hay seven months during winter,
it will take eighty-four thousand pounds of hay, which is
the produce of nine acres or hectares of meadow land, which
you may esteem any common year at twenty francs the thousand
pounds, which is a sum of                   s              –             –            –       1680
Instead of which the acre or hectare sown with beet-root, for
the rent of the land                                                        –                –          180
                                                                                                         Total 340
Expenses attending the cultivation                                                   –           160

                                                                                                Difference 1340

The father of Marshal Oudinot was a ci-devant brewer at Bar, and the Marshal was himself bred to that trade. The former still resides at Bar, and does not arrogate any consideration from his rise; and the latter, although a parvenu of the revolution, bears a most excellent character. His military services have been distinguished, and his liberality is such, that though he might have amassed great riches in his various commands, and particularly in the Low Countries, he is said to be considerably in debt. He has received nineteen or twenty wounds, chiefly in the service of Buonaparte, yet has been latterly disgraced by him, for not doing l’impossible, when he commanded a corps of the army in the late campaign; and being ordered to attack a much superior force, his whole division was nearly annihilated. The effect of this unmerited treatment was such as to deprive him of his senses, and he arrived at Bar from the army in a melancholy state, from which it is feared he will never entirely recover. Such are the recompences to be expected from Napoleon for the most distinguished services.

At Bar is one of the establishments, latterly erected, called Dépôts of Mendicity, on the principle of our poor-houses. It is said that the labour of the persons received into it pays two-thirds of the expenses, and the other third is provided for by contributions laid on the town and neighbourhood. In the places where these dépôts have been established, no beggars are allowed. The regulations are such, that, if properly executed, the persons in them must be extremely comfortable.

During this tour we visited Dunmarsi, where there is an iron foundery and manufacture of pots, pans, and chimney tacks, belonging to Monsieur Vivaux, who resides in a handsome house with elegant gardens. This gentleman and his wife received us with the greatest hospitality, and their son-in-law, who was lieutenant of the Louveterie, accompanied us an a partie de chasse, which afforded good sport, as we killed four foxes, and saw a wolf and a roebuck, but not within shot.

We met another wolf on our return, which stopped close to us on the road, and after regarding us for some time, trotted on. These animals are extremely numerous in this part of the country, and considerable premiums are given for their heads, as was formerly done in England and Wales. In the winter they become extremely ferocious, and daring instances have occurred of their committing depredations even in the town of Bar. In the summer they are not much less dangerous, from the great numbers of them that run mad.

Soon after my return from this town, I was called on at Verdun by Monsieur Crochard, whom I have had so often occasion to mention in the preceding pages. He invited me to spend a few days at his residence, not far from Verdun, and to partake of a partie de chasse on St. Hubert’s day, the patron Saint of the Chase. This I accepted, but the day being very wet and windy we had but little sport. The commandant and sous-préfet of Montmedy were invited to meet me, and I spent three very pleasant days in this society; some of whom were first-rate amateur musicians, so that we had evening concerts. On the day of my departure, the commandant pressed me to stay dinner with him, and as an inducement, recapitulated all the good things he had prepared for me. On my assuring him that my being at Verdun that day was indispensable, he said that, at all events, they should not be lost, and that we should have them for breakfast: they were accordingly served up; and certainly such a breakfast for five people has seldom been put on a table. In the centre was a two-thirds grown pig, roasted whole; at one end a roasted turkey-cock of prodigious size, and at the other a roasted hare, while cutlets, pasties, and a variety of made dishes, garnished the sides and corners. This was, however, only the first course, and the second was almost as substantial. The commandant seemed to think I could never eat enough, and was determined to fulfil the French expression, il y avoit de quoi manger. The outward appearance of the commandant was that of a hearty, open, good natured fellow; but such is the power of money over a Frenchman, that he was after my visit, accused and convicted of defrauding the miserable Spanish priests of a proportion of their wretched pittance, for which he was sentenced to be sent to the galleys for life.

Towards the end of October, the accounts of the military operations in the North and South were very satisfactory; and though the newspapers, as usual, pretended to make light of the disasters of the French, private accounts left us in no doubt of their extent, and at last the official document from Mayence appeared, which, as a companion to the 29th bulletin, I have preserved in the appendix. [The appendix is not included in this electronic text.] Shortly after, Napoleon again quitted his army, and went through Verdun incognito in the night.

Many detachments of the Russian and Austrian prisoners, taken in the battle of Dresden, passed through the town, and several of their officers dined with me. Among them was a Colonel of the Don Cossacks, who on being helped to one of the French dishes, made such grimaces, that perceiving he did not relish it, I made signs to him to send away his plate, and helped him to a solid wedge of fat bacon, at which he stroked down his stomach, and shewed all the marks of perfect satisfaction. I helped him again and again to pieces of the same dimensions, and he devoured a quantity of solid fat, that the stomach of nothing but a Cossack could support. I recollect being at Leghorn once with a detachment of the Russian army, when the chandlers were obliged to shut their shops, to prevent all their soap and candles being devoured by the Russian soldiers; and afterwards I had occasion to observe the same partiality for grease when I was for some time at Suwaroff’s head quarters at Augsbourg.

One of these officers speaking French, I asked his opinion of the French troops? To which he replied by a sign that shewed he did not think much of them; “but,” said he, “the cuirassiers at first puzzled us, by the cuirass resisting our lances, which difficulty we soon learned to obviate, for when the cuirassier lifted his arm, we watched the moment, and struck him in the armpit.” This manœuvre he described with such gestures and animation, that I fancied I beheld him in the very act. He had a servant of a most singularly striking appearance, whom I shall never forget; his penetrating and intelligent eye traversed in all directions, while his countenance expressed an extraordinary mixture of ferocious courage and good nature, that no attempt, even of Guido himself, could delineate.

On the departure of these officers I hired a carriage to forward them on, and made each a present of a handsome pipe and a quantity of tobacco, besides supplying them with money on account of the government. My friend the Cossack pressed his pipe to his heart, saying he would keep it as an everlasting remembrance, and when dead, it should be buried in his grave. In this his gratitude exceeded the intrinsic value of the gift; and, however melancholy the acknowledgment, it must be confessed that gratitude is a virtue rather to be met with in a people emerging from barbarism, than among those who have arrived at a high state of civilization.

Shortly after the head quarters of the grand army were established at Metz, and the sick and wounded were removed from Mayence, &c. towards Verdun and the interior. For six weeks the roads were crowded with waggons, and all the public buildings at Verdun were converted into hospitals. At the same time an hospital fever prevailed at Mayence, and was conveyed to Metz and Nancy, in which latter place Colonel de Bernière of the 9th regiment fell a victim to it, universally regretted. From thence the disease spread to Verdun and the surrounding villages. So that it appeared as though the Almighty had visited the country with a scourge, in punishment for the calamities which France had inflicted on Europe for the last twenty-four years.