Part 10

The matter now appeared to me to become serious, as the courier who had carried the account of the affair of the 10th to London was not yet returned, and that rumours were spread, that the English in Paris were almost all grands seigneurs & aristocrates; so that I saw only two probable means of safety; one of which was, to draw up a petition to the National Assembly, in behalf of all the British subjects, to get it signed by as many as I could find, and who might chuse to sign it, and to carry it to the Assembly in a small body, which might have been the means of procuring a pass; and in case this was refused, the other plan would have been for all the British to have incorporated themselves into a Legion Britannique, and offered their services according to the exigence of the case. This petition was accordingly, on the 18th, drawn up by a member of the English Parliament; translated into French, and carried about to be signed; when at the bankers we fortunately met with a person who informed us, that our passes were ready at the moment, at Mr. Le Brun's: thither we went; I obtained my pass at two o'clock afternoon, the petition was torn and given to the winds; I took a hackney coach that instant, to carry me to the Poste aux chevaux, ordered the horses, and before three I was out of the barriers of Paris.

Here follows a copy of my passport.

At the top of the paper is an engraving of a shield, on which is inscribed Vivre libre ou mourir (live free or die,) supported by two female figures, the dexter representing Minerva standing, with the cap of liberty at the end of a pike; the sinister, the French constitution personified as a woman sitting on a lion, with one hand holding a book, on which is written Constitution Francaise, droits de l'homme, and with the other supporting a crown over the shield, which crown is effaced by a dash with a pen.

Then follows:

La nation, la loi, le roi; this is also obliterated with a pen, and instead is written:

Liberte, Egalite Au nom de la nation.

A tous officiers, civils et militaires, charges de surveiller et de maintenir l'ordre public dans les differents departemens du Royaume, et a tous autres qu'il appartiendra il est ordonne de laisser librement passer T---- anglais retournant en angleterre, porteur d'un certificat de son ambassadeur. Sans donner ni souffrir qu'il lui soit donne aucun empechement, le present passe-port valable pour quinze jours seulement.

Donne a Paris le 16 aoust l'an 4 de la liberte

Vu a la Mairie le 17 aoust 1792.

L'an 4e de la liberte.

Petion.

Here is an impression, in red wax, of the arms of Paris, which are gules, a three-mast ship in full sail, a chief azur, seme with fleurs de lis, or, the shield environed with oak branches and the cap of liberty as a crest. The inscription underneath is Mairie de Paris, 1789. On one side of this seal is an escutcheon with the arms of France, crowned, and over the crown there is a dash with a pen. And underneath,

Gratis. Le ministre des affaires etrangeres.

Vu passer Abbeville en Le Brun. Conseil permanent le 20 Aoust 1792.

Signed by a municipal officer.

And on the back of the passport,

Vu au comite de la section poissonniere ce 18 aoust 1792.

Signed by two commissaries at the barriers of St. Denis, at Paris.

Permis d'embarquer a Calais le 22 aoust 1792.

Signed by a Secretary.

MISCELLANIES. DANCING. POULTRY. TAVERNS. WIG.

SOME days before the demolition of the statue of Henri IV. on the Pont-neuf, there was a flag placed near that statue, on which was painted citoyens la Patrie est en danger; (citizens, the mother-country is in danger) and it still remained there when I came away.

On the Monday after the Friday, I saw a paper on the walls, among those published by authority, wherein a person acquainted the public, that on the preceding Saturday, in consequence of some suspicions which had been entertained of his principles, his house had been visited by above thirty thousand persons; and that notwithstanding masons and smiths had been employed in pulling down, breaking open and scrutinizing, the people had found nothing to criminate him, and he had found nothing missing in consequence of their scrutiny. I had the pleasure of reading this aloud to an assemblage of elderly ladies, not one of whom could see to read it, as it was placed out of their focus, or too high, as they said.

Before the 10th I saw several dancing parties of the Poissardes and sans-culottes in the beer-houses, on the Quai des Ormes and the Quai St. Paul, and have played the favourite and animating air of ca ira, on the fiddle, to eight couple of dancers; the ceiling of these rooms (which open into the street) is not above ten feet high, and on this ceiling (which is generally white washed) are the numbers 1 2 to 8, in black, and the same in red, which mark the places where the ladies and gentlemen are to stand. When the dance was concluded I requested the ladies to salute me (m'embrasser) which they did, by gently touching my cheek with their lips. But a period was put to all these amusements by the occurrences of the 10th; after which day, most of my time was employed in endeavouring to obtain a passport.

On the Quai des Augustins, at six or seven in the morning, may be seen a market of above a quarter of a mile long, well stocked with fowls, pigeons, ducks, geese and turkies: these birds are all termed Volaille. Rabbits are likewise sold in this market. I also saw here a few live pheasants, red-legged partridges and quails in cages, for sale.

I did not see a louis d'or this time in Paris, it is probable that a new golden coin may be struck of a different value and name, and without the name of the die-engraver.

There are few, if any, tables d'hote (ordinaries) in Paris at present, except at the inns. I have not seen any for many years, because the hour of dining at them is about one o'clock, and that is customary to be served in those coffee-houses which are kept by restaurateurs and traiteurs (cooks) after the English manner, at small tables, and there are bills of fare, with the prices of the articles marked. The most celebrated of these houses is called la Taverne de Londres, in the garden of the Palais-Royal: here are large public rooms, and also many small ones, and a bill of fare printed on a folio sheet, containing almost every sort of provision, (carp, eels, and pickled salmon are the only fish I have seen there.) An Englishman may here have his beef-steak, plum-pudding, Cheshire cheese, porter and punch just as in London, and at about the same price, (half the price as the exchange then was.) Thirty-five sorts of wine are here enumerated. That of Tokay is at two livres for a small glass, of which a quart-bottle may contain about fifteen. Rhenish, Mountain, Alicante, Rota, and red Frontignan at 6 livres. Champagne, Claret, Hermitage, 4 l. 10f. Port 3l. 10f. Burgundy 3l. Porter 2l. 10f. Most of the dishes are of silver, and I dined at two or three other taverns where all the dishes and plates were of silver.

The barbers or hair-dressers have generally written on their sign Ici on rajeunit: rajeunir means properly to colour or die the hair, but in this instance it only expresses, here people are made to look younger than they are, by having their hair dressed. I saw a peruke-maker's sign representing the fable of the man and his two wives, thus: A middle-aged gentleman is fitting in a magnificent apartment, between an old lady and a young one, fashionably dressed. His head is entirely bald, the old lady having just pulled out the black hairs, as the young one did the grey: and Cupid is flying over his head, holding a nice periwig ready to put on it.