Where so many persons are collected, without occupation or internal resources for passing the time, it is not strange if scandal should predominate; the destruction of each others characters, indeed, formed the chief occupation of many of our countrymen, and no story, however improbable, but was well received, provided it tended to the prejudice of another. We had amongst us also a number of people, who might with great propriety be called mischief-makers, who, in pure friendship, retailed and aggravated every thing they heard in society.

The latter, from these causes, became confined to a few, who could hurt each other, and a distinction was formed between the mischief-makers and the safe persons.

Being tired with the monotonous life I was obliged to lead, I took a small cottage for the summer, in a village about six miles from Verdun, which served to vary the scene, at the same time that it afforded me an opportunity of making myself acquainted with the rural regulations, and manners of the villagers.

In one of my excursions I visited Varennes a second time, and stopped at an auberge, with the sign of the Bras d’Or, which afforded no little occasion for reflection on the vicissitude of human opinions, within the last twenty years. The sign had formerly been the Arms of France, surmounted by a crown. In the revolution the crown had been effaced, but not so completely as to prevent its being still perceptible, and the fleur de lis had been converted into a basket of eggs. Over the arms had been painted “le noble jeu de billiards;” the word noble had been also daubed over, but plainly appeared, and, as well as the crown, seemed to intimate to the people, “you may attempt to extinguish monarchy, antient order and establishments, but sufficient will still appear, in spite of you, to put you to the blush.” On this same sign the words Caffé des gardes nationales, and Caffé des amis de la Constitution, were also but partly defaced, and over them written, Bon vin de Champagne et Bourgogne, et liqueurs! The total repainting of the sign would certainly not have cost above twelve francs; and this parsimony, though it may seem a trivial fact, affords a strong picture of the character of the French, and proves with what little difficulty they change their opinions, their government, or their religion, yet cannot so easily bear to have their pockets affected.

Monsieur Drouet, the sous-préfet of Varennes, was the chief person in the arrest of Louis XVI.; he was then maître de poste. Sauce, a cooper and tallow chandler, and adjoint to the Mayor, with the innkeeper already described, and ten or twelve others, stopped the carriage, and conducted the King to Sauce’s house, which we had the curiosity to visit, but found it worthy of notice only from that circumstance. Varennes throughout seems to be greatly declining, the best houses being uninhabited and falling to ruin, and its whole appearance is gloomy and desponding, as if the vengeance of Providence had visited the people for their conduct to their King. Nor does it seem that Napoleon shews them any favour, their anti-monarchical principles not being to his present taste. The landlord of the Bras d’Or is, indeed, an example of the vengeance I have mentioned. He was one of those concerned in the King’s arrest; and he informed me that, before the revolution, having the reputation of being an excellent cook, he received a handsome salary from a convent of Benedictines, which, together with his inn, and other fruits of his industry, enabled him to amass a handsome competency, but which had been dissipated by the revolution. His eldest daughter, whom he described as all perfection, had been carried off by a decline at eighteen; his eldest son and second daughter at the same age followed her; and his remaining son and daughter, who were now approaching this fatal time, evinced every symptom of the same malady!

On my return to Verdun from this excursion, I found the commandant, the Baron de Beauchene, had received a letter from the Minister of War, stating that it was understood I acted as agent for the British government, without any authority from that of the French, and desiring me to explain myself on the subject, which I accordingly did in a letter to the Minister; and though couched in strong language, it seemed satisfactory, as I heard no more of the business. It is probable that some one had denounced me to the Minister; and in France, as formerly at Venice by the mouth of stone, the government receive every kind of denunciation, and none, however absurd, but is often acted upon, and the person denounced apprehended, without being able even to conjecture the cause.

The news published from the grand army, under the immediate command of Napoleon, began to be very contradictory about the month of February 1813, and though the articles in the Moniteur boasted of wonderful successes and prodigious advantages, it was easy to perceive their falsehood, not only from the contradictions from day to day, but from the impossibility of the armies making the rapid movements inputed to them. At length we received accounts of the death of Colonel Desiré, commanding the 11th chasseurs, and of Captain Buffon, and several other officers of the same corps; and, finally, that this regiment was intirely cut to pieces. At the same time, the French inhabitants were informed of the fate of many of their friends through circuitous channels; all direct communication being prohibited, which still more increased suspicion. At length the papers began to let out the real state of things, by accusing the Russians of treachery, in leading their army into such difficulties, when their cavalry had suffered prodigiously at first from the want of forage and water, and afterwards from the latter element being in too great a profusion, a considerable proportion of their horse having been drowned. By degrees the disasters of the army were announced in a semiofficial manner in the papers; but in such a way that, contradicting the private accounts of their losses, they met with no credit; and it was at last found necessary to state the whole truth, and the famous twenty-ninth bulletin appeared, which, as being worthy of preservation in every work that has France for its subject, I shall insert in the Appendix. [The appendix is not being included in this electronic text.]

In the spring of the year the commandant of the dépôt died, generally lamented, and particularly by the prisoners. His disease was an indigestion, and consequent inflammatory fever, produced by the too great use of rich and luxurious food, without taking sufficient exercise; and being of a full corpulent habit of body, together with the ignorance of the French physician as to the proper treatment of this disease, soon carried him off. Instead of copious bleeding, &c. they loaded his stomach with ptisan and milk whey, which, on a stomach already overcharged, is supposed to have decided his fate. The practice of the French physicians may, indeed, be compared to that of Dr. Sangrado, in having only two remedies, ptisan and lavements. The latter indeed is the universal panacea, and the instrument for administering it is a part of the furniture of even the poorest cottage, as well as of the most splendid hotel; and I have seen a bet won more than once, when laid at a venture, that this instrument would be sure to be found in the possession of any peasant, for instance; into whose head it might be supposed such an idea could never enter, and which to an Englishman is equally strange and disgusting.

In passing through Ireland I have often observed, that in no peasant’s house did I ever see a warming pan, while in England it is generally the first object that strikes you on entering a cottage. It is also universally seen in France, and thus they are here doubly armed. But to return to our deceased commandant: his funeral was attended by every Englishman in the dépôt, whose good will he had generally gained, by the marked contrast between his treatment of them and what they had experienced from the tyrannical and cheating Wirion and Courcelles. Among other institutions formed for the benefit of the prisoners, there had formerly been a seminary for the junior midshipmen of the navy, established by Captains Brenton and Woodriff, but which General Wirion had suppressed, and this class of young men were again permitted to become their own masters, and consequently ran into every species of excess. Captain Oller now again procured the permission of the Commandant to re-establish a school, which was superintended by Captain Hoffman, of the Navy; and a number of lieutenants and the young midshipmen were again drawn from the vicious and idle course they were running. I cannot quit the subject I am now on, without also paying a tribute of deserved praise to the Reverend Mr. Jorden, for his proper and impartial distribution of the funds committed to his charge for the relief of the prisoners. His attention to his clerical duties was also highly praiseworthy, and his sermons being composed and delivered in a superior manner, his church was always regularly and fully attended. This notice I owe in justice to Mr. Jorden, who, from being placed in a high public situation, was exposed to the jealousy and envy of the evil disposed and malicious.

The Commandant also knowing, that the surest means of preventing the desertion of the prisoners was granting them all the indulgencies that the nature of their situation would permit, adopted this plan in its utmost latitude, by permitting them to reside in the villages, not only within the established limits of two leagues round Verdun, but also at Bar, Clermont, St. Mihiel, and other places in the department, considerably beyond these limits; nor was there an instance of this liberty being abused, or taken advantage of to escape.

I frequently visited St. Mihiel, a town of three thousand four hundred inhabitants, about seven leagues from Verdun, and on the banks of the Meuse. It is the seat of the criminal, and other superior courts of the department, which are held in an ancient convent of Benedictines, nearly in the middle of the town; the buildings of which are very extensive, containing, besides the courts, the common jail of the department, and a barrack for gend’armes. The library still remains tolerably perfect, and is contained in an apartment near two hundred and fifty feet long by eighty wide; the books are numerous, and among them I observed a History of England, in four volumes folio, by Lanet, considered a work of merit, and a history, with engravings, of Greek and Roman antiquities, by Grævius; tolerable editions of Herodotus Dionysius of Halicarnassus, and Xenophon; an antique and valuable history of Greece, by Georgius Palchymenes and others. Byzantium Angliæ sacra, by Henry Wharton; Monasticum Anglicanum, in which are good engravings, particularly of Christ Church College, Oxford, and the ruins of Asney Abbey, near Oxford. It has besides some valuable manuscripts. The dome of the library is handsome and perfect. I am sorry to remark, that if it were not for the care of Mr. Perrin, the librarian, the books would soon be destroyed by damp; the town allowance for their preservation being quite insufficient.

In the insignificant church of St. Etienne, in an obscure part of St. Mihiel, is a piece of sculpture worthy of the first cathedral and the best artist in Europe. It consists of a group of thirteen figures, all as large as life. In the centre is our Saviour, supported by Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimathea; the Virgin; an angel bearing the cross; St. Veronica carrying the crown of thorns; Mary Magdalen kissing Christ’s feet; the two Marys; the two Jews playing at dice for our Saviour’s garments; a herald, and St. John. Our Saviour is extended dead, after his crucifixion. The whole has inimitable expression, and is cut out of a single block of stone which has the polish of marble, and was dug from a quarry in the neighbourhood. It is the performance of an artist named Michin or Lygin Richier, a native of the little village of Dagonville, between Ligny and St. Mihiel, whose parents were originally Calvinists. Richier had so extraordinary a genius for painting and sculpture, that at fifteen he was quite a prodigy, and the celebrated Michael Angelo (who died in 1564) passing through St. Mihiel, on his way to Nancy, was so pleased with his performances, that he prevailed on his father to permit his accompanying him to Rome. Richier, on his return to St. Mihiel, painted a crucifix for the chapel of the Benedictines, which was much admired; and also executed a skeleton in white marble for the church of St. Etienne, at Bar, which is excellent. The grand piece of sculpture at St. Mihiel occupied him twenty years. It evaded the exterminating process of the revolution by the care of the good people of St. Mihiel; for, being placed in a large niche cut out of the rock, with an iron gate before it, they contrived to wall it up; so that when a deputation was sent down from Paris by Robespierre, to seek for and destroy all religious monuments, this escaped their fury. Every thing else that was capable of devastation within the church had been destroyed, except the stained glass in some elevated windows, which was beyond the immediate reach of the Vandals. This church was used as a cow-house; and indeed all the religious buildings throughout France, in that calamitous period, were put to the most degrading uses.

St. Mihiel has some manufactures of lace and table linen, and in the centre of the town is a handsome barrack for one thousand cavalry.

From St. Mihiel we pursued our tour towards Commercy, on the right: not far from the former is a Roman camp, occupying the entire circular summit of a hill, and which, even in the present advanced state of the art of war, would be considered a strong position. About a fifth of the camp is protected by the Meuse, and there remains sufficient of the works on the other sides to render the whole plan very intelligible.

From hence we proceeded over a barren country, naked and ill cultivated, and again reached a rich valley on the banks of the Meuse, where we visited the government establishment of Sampigny, for the construction of caissons, fourgons and gun carriages. It is extremely well situated for this purpose, having the advantage of water carriage, and being in the vicinity of extensive woods and large ironworks. At this time there were sufficient carriages ready here for a considerable portion of the army, and the loss of which articles had been so enormous in the late campaign, that the dépôt was now going to be cleared.* The building of this establishment has the appearance of an ancient castle: it is surrounded by a moat, cut from the Meuse and entered by a drawbridge. The vaults under it are very extensive, and some of them serve as dungeons, where the workmen guilty of any faults or negligence are confined. The extensiveness of the building admits the residence of many families, who receive their lodging gratis from the court; so that it in some measure resembles our Kensington. The gardens are also very extensive, and furnish abundance of fruit and vegetables to the residents.

* I have since had the satisfaction of knowing, that almost the whole of these carriages fell into the hands of the Allies at the disastrous retreat. from Dresden.

The nominal governor is a black man, of the name of Garting, who is in fact a state prisoner; never being permitted to quit the chateau or gardens. He is married to a cousin of the Empress Josephine; and in order to be united, both of them procured divorces from their former partners. The manners of both are those of the higher class. The daughter of Madame Garting is married to a M. de la Valette, and holds a confidential place in Josephine’s household. Mr. Garting has also a son quite black, married to a bourgeoise of Sampigny; they have three children, in whom there is this singularity, that the two boys are the colour of the father, a jet black, and the girl white. The father is employed in the payment of the workmen.

On our return to Verdun, the horse-racing again commenced, and the schemes practised to discover the speed of the various horses, by trial, without being discovered, were curious. I once saw a friend of mine up to his middle in the river, with a Frenchman’s coat and cocked baton, and a fishing rod in one hand; while in the other he held a stop watch, to ascertain the fleetness of the horse going round the course. It is probable that these ruses de guerre would not be deemed admissible at Newmarket: but at Verdun, the humour rendered them merely laughable; and as they were practised by each side, they were treated as very fair, and none had a right to complain.

Every day, indeed, at Verdun produced some new anecdote, either to feed scandal, or to create a laugh. Among others, not the least rediculous was the quiproquo of a good English lady, into whose education the speaking of French had not entered; she conceived however that by application after her arrival in France, she had acquired a competent knowledge of the language, though she mangled it in a most miserable manner, and often confounded the masculine and feminine gender, so as to make very serious contre-sens. One day she had occasion to purchase some lace, and looking in her dictionary and grammar she found the phrase, il me faut de dentelle, which she repeated to herself in her way to the shop, until somebody accosting her, it escaped her memory, and she was long puzzled to recall it; at length the exclamation from a soldier passing, of “je m’enfou,” caught her ear, and the analogy of sound immediately striking her, she cried out to her husband, “that’s the very word I have been thinking of,” and the husband, who knew less French than his wife, exclaimed, “how fortunate!” On entering the milliner’s shop, the good lady, as if proud of her French, addressed the mistress with, “Madame, il m’en fou de votre dentelle.” The woman and her apprentices were of course astonished at such an apostrophe, they stared with wondering eyes, and mouths wide open; but soon recollecting the mistakes of language so frequently made by the English, the mystery was cleared up, and the woman spread out her patterns, doubtless not forgetting to make Madame l’Angloise pay for her ignorance of the French language and customs.

An anecdote of the same kind occurs to my recollection, and may not be unworthy of being preserved. Two naval officers being made prisoners, and carried into Havre de Grace, with their schooners, after the usual forms were gone through, the French officer commanding, invited the English officers to déjeuner à la fourchette. The lieutenant, who knew not a sentence of French, inquired of his companion (who from his nautical, abilities he concluded must know every thing), “what the Frenchman said?” to which the other without hesitation replied, “that he said he had made her fast by the fore-sheet." –– “Oh, d––n my eyes,” says the lieutenant, “that’s a good one, they will not ride her long, I’ll warrant!”

During this period of my residence at Verdun, several detachments of Austrian and Russian prisoners passed through on their route to the depot at Soissons, and I invited several of the officers to dinner, with whose observations I was much amused. On inquiry of one of them, from what part of the Russian dominions he was, he described a place near Kamschatka, from whence he had been nine months on his journey, travelling day and night, to go to school. On demanding further, what kind of travelling there was? he replied, “that he found the dogs very good,” alluding to the mode of travelling in Kamschatka and some parts of Siberia, in sledges drawn by dogs. Another came from Astracan on the Caspian Sea. The third said he was from Archangel; he was evidently of Lapland origin. It was not a little singular to unite three of the subjects of the vast Russian empire, from its most opposite points, at an English table.