Pickwick abroad : or, The tour in France

Front matter

This book is due at the WALTER R. DAVIS LIBRARY on

the last date stamped under "Date Due." If not on hold, it may

be renewed by bringing it to the library.

Preface

When the publication oT this work in Monthly Numbers commenced, the greater portion of the press prophesied for it the most unequivocal success, while the smaller part condemned it to immediate extinction. Setting aside the fact that there are unfortunately many people in the world who are addicted to prophesy of the future accordingj to their own private wishes, I shall content myself with observing that the kind augurs of the favourable portion of the newspapers and periodicals have been amply fulfilled ; and while I proceed to register a few of the encouraging opinions that were passed upon the early Numbers of " Pickwick Abroad," I take the opportunity of returning my most sincere and grateful thanks to those editors who contributed to the success of the work by the record of their sentiments in respect to its merits. The following are some of the notices to which allusion is here made :

SxjN.

"If ' Pickwick Abroad' were not a work built upon another man's foundation, we should say it was one of the cleverest and most original productions of the modern British Press. We rise from the first Number with the only regret that Charles Dickens himself had not written it."

Age.

" ' Pickwick Abroad ' is so well done hy G. W. M. Reynolds, that we must warn Boz to look to his laurels."

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PREFACE.

Bell's Life in London.

" In ' Pickwick Abroad ' the fun and quaintness of the great original are admirably depicted."

Sunday Times.

" Mr. Reynolds proceeds in his striking imitation of Boz. Would it were not so. The writer has powers that may be more worthily employed in working out an original story (which, to a certain degree, this is,) in an original manner.'*

Dublin Pilot. ** If the name of G. W. M. Reynolds did not stand upon the title-page, we should be induced to believe that the identical Cid Hamet Benengeli, who introduced us to the immortal club, had taken up his pen again to chronicle their sayings and doings/

Sherwood's Monthly Miscellany Pickwick Abroad ' is one of the most faithful pictures of French manners, peculiarities, and customs, ever presented to the English reader."

Weekly Chronicle. *' * Pickwick Abroad ' is presented to us with undiminished spirit, and the variety of character and incident afforded by the sojourn of the Pickwickians at Paris keeps our attention on a perpetual quivive."

Merthyr Guardian.

" As all the world read the adventures of Mr. Pickwick in England, so will rH the world read the account of his travels in France. In these papers will be found much food for hearty laughter, and much genuine fun and frolic."

Doncaster Chronicle.

" * Pickwick Abroad ' promises to rival the celebrated * Pickwick Papers.' '*

Observer

"* Pickwick Abroad ' continues its delineations of character and recital of droll and amusing incidents. By conveying the coterie to France, the author has secured that new and vast theatre for the display of their peculiar oddities, and an opportunity of contrasting, in a mirthful way, the notions and manners of the rival nations."

PREFACE.

V

Glasgow Courier.

"'Pickwick Abroad' is an admirable continuation of Boz's famous Posthumous Papers of the Pickwick Club/ and promises to become equally popular. The characters are sustained with great spirit and fidelity j and the scenes and incidents are varied and full of life."

Revue Britannique (a French Magazine).

Monsieur G.W. M. Reynolds fait voyager en France M. Pickwick, au grand amusement de ses lecteurs. Dans cet ouvrage de M. Reynolds, on remarque avec plaisir que I'auteur tente a' accroitre les sympathies de I'Angleterre pour la France."

These are only a small sample of the favourable notices which the greater portion of the press bestow^ed upon " Pickwick Abroad/' when it first made its appearance. Many other works, in a similar strain, and advertised to be published in a similar form, were issued irom the press at about the same time : but, in spite of the announcement " that they were to be completed in twenty Numbers," they died of pure inanition one after another. A partial feeling of satisfaction and pride cannot therefore be blamed in the author of Pickwick Abroad," when he contemplates the successful termination of his labours in the Twenty Parts to which no other imitator of the "immortal Boz " has yet attained.

The spirited proprietor of the copyright also incurred, at the outset, additional expenses beyond those sustained by any other publisher of a work issued in livraisons of a similar kind. Besides the two steel engravings by an eminent artist, every Number contained two exquisite wood-cuts representing some of the public buildings or scenes of interest in Paris and its environs. These wood-cuts, which are executed in the first style of the art, alone demanded a very considerable sale of the work to defray their cost. It is however hoped that they form no inconsiderable feature in a. book, which, by their aid, and on account of the information it contains, may almost be termed a manual for English travellers in France.

vi

PREFACE.

It will be seen that there are numerous tales and legends episodically introduced into this work : it is therefore necessary to inform the reader, that they are all purely original, and were composed at the moment before the manuscript was required, save in few instances where acknowledgment is made of a foundation existing in the records of facts. Some of these tales are termed Legends of the buildings in which the principal incident or interest Ues, merely to suit a received conventional form, and not to express an adherence to some popular belief, superstition, or tradition. With regard to the numerous songs and other specimens ot poetry introduced into the work, the source of those that are not original is invariably mentioned

At page 117, there is an anecdote relative to the Duke of Wellington, which caused, at the time of its appearance in Part IV ot the monthly livraisons, a considerable sensation amongst the admirers of the illustrious warrior. The Naval and Militarj Gazette took up the subject in a very warm, but gentlemanly manner ; and in answer to a leader, which appeared in that journal upon the subject, a letter was written to the newspai)ers, from which it is my incumbent duty to re-publish here the following extract, in order that the amendment may be found in the same volume with the anecdote that occasioned it : —

"The Duke of Wellington did not purposely insult the Marshals of France by proceeding two hours too late to the place of entertainment. He had been detained by the un-anticipated length of a review ; and, in order to keep his hosts waiting as short a time as possible, hastened in his morning garb to the Hotel de Ville. Marshal Macdonald did not give his Grace time to make the necessary apology, which the Duke had commenced on his entrance into the banquetting-room, but tendered him his card as a challenge to a duel. The Enghsh officers at that period had been perpetually provoked to similar extreme measures by the French officers, whose exquisitively superior skill in the use of their weapons usually gave them the advantage ; and on this occasion did his Grace take a long-wished-for opportunity of sanctioning the refusal of a cartel upon ridiculous pretences, by rejecting one himself. Such is the concise summary of the anecdote ; and such are the amendments it was my intention to have made to the tale on a future occasion, as I assured

PREF-ACE.

VII

Mr. S , a retired British officer, who courteously addressed me upon.

the subject a few days since. Mr. S 's address is at your disposal,

should you be desirous of proving the veracity of this assertion. It is also necessary to remark, that when I first penned the aaecdote, I was of course unaware of the discrepancies just detailed."

The Preface to a work is, in the opinion of most authors, the least pleasant of all literary tasks. It is a lucubration in which the writer finds it difficult not to play the part of an egotist,— it is the stage on which one individual stands, with the painful conviction that he alone has to engage the attention of a vast audience. If it be objected to this remark, that the same situation is filled by the author in his book as well as in his Preface — a decided negative is the rejoinder ; inasmuch as the audience look only to the characters, that come and go one after another in the book; whereas in the Preface, the author is unassisted by any of those interesting creations of his fancy.

Prompted by these considerations, I shall no longer intrude upon the notice of the public in the shape of a Preface ; but shall wind up these few, but necessary observations with the hope that the contents of the ensuing pages will help to clear away from the minds of my untravelled fellow-countrymen, a few of those prejudices, in reference to the French, which are still so tenaciously adhered to, and place the character of our great and gallant neighbours — and, thank God ! present and sure allies — in a new and better light than they have ever yet been viewed in. From my own personal experience, resulting from nearly a ten years' residence amongst the French, I can answer for their hospitality, their kindness to foreigners, and the advantages which an Englishman may enjoy from procuring from the government authorised letters of domiciliation in the country : and I venture to assert, without fear of contradiction, that there is no nation in the universe where a citizen or a foreigner enjoys more real liberty than in France, provided political pursuits be not allowed to form a portion of his avocations. The English have generally formed their opinions of the French after a very suviii

PREFACE.

perficial glance at their institutions, manners, commerce, literature, morals, &c. ; but I sincerely hope, that, as international relations progress between the two nations, comparisons maybe instituted for purposes of utility and not of disparagement, and that my fellow-countrymen will learn to appreciate the value of an alliance which promises to ensure peace to Europe and an increase of civilization to the whole world.

GEORGE W. M. REYNOLDS.

London,

Contents

LIST OF THE CHAPTERS.

I. A considerable Sensation on the Quay at Calais : its Cause ; and other particulars 'ntimately connected with certain Illustrious Characters.

II. Mr. Samuel Wcller's Opinion on Divers Matters connected with the French, and the particulars of a French Luncheon, or Dejeuner-a-la Fourchette.

Conclusion

CONTENTS. Xiii

LIST OF THE TALES.

Page

1. The Gendarme's Tale ... .46

2. The Pont Neuf . . . . .105

3. The Public Accuser . . . l6l

5. The Chevalier . . . . .232 6 The Self-Devoted

7. Rose Sevigne ..... 358

9. The Blind Beauty of Montaigle . . . .457

10. The Fair Stranger

1 1 . The History of Anastasie de Volage • . . 560 12 The Tower of St. Jacques .... 593

LIST OF THE POEMS, SONGS, Sec.

Page

1. Mr. Snodgrass's Address . . . . .54

2. La Parisienne . . . . . .92

3. Letter from Mr. Snodgrass . . . .100

4. La Marseillaise . . . . .124

5. The Origin 01 Hair Trunks . . . .133

6. Reminiscences of the Pcopie . . . .155

9. The Veteran Corporal . . . . .183

10. The Housebreaker's Song ... 223

11. The World in Miniature . . . . 249

17. Wonderful Fact ..... 370

18. Ode on the Execution of Fieschi . . , .415 xiv

CONTENTS.

Page

19. Songs of the Winds . . . . .451

22. The Prisoner's Chant . . . . .555

26. Lines on Edmund Burke .... 584

28. Before and after Marriage . . .. .616

29. Poetry by Mr. Snodgrass . . . .625

LIST OF STEEL ENGRAVINGS.

L Vignette Title. To stand first, before the Preface.

2. Mr. Pickwick's Triumphal Entry into Calais .

3. Mr. Crashem introducing himself to Mr. Pickwick

4. Mr. Crashem instructing Mr. Winkle

5. A Scene in the Tuileries .

6. Mr. Tupman and Mademoiselle Anastasie

7. Mr. Crashem's Room in St. Pelagie .

8. The Execution cf the Parricide

9. The Ambassador's Ball . . .

1 0. Mr. Pickwick and the Poet

11. The Interpreter's Donkey

12. The Public Accuser

13. A Disagreeable Encounter

14. The Gambler ....

15. Mr. Winkle in a Dilemma

16. A Denouement .

17. Mr. Pickwick's Philanthropy

18. Man, the Lord of the Creation

19 A Scene . . . .

20. The Insolvent Debtors' Court, London

21. Mr. Tupman caught in a Trap

22. Mr. Pickwick and the Letter

23. Mr. Snodgrass and the Polish Count

24. Tbp. Matrimonial Advocate

To face Page 9

CONTENTS. XV

To face Page

25. The Chastisement . . , .371

26. Mr. Tupman in Search of a Wife . . . . 390

27. Preparing for the Masquerade . . . * . 396

28. The Meeting at Beunis's Library .... 425

30. Blanche, the Blind Girl . . . . .471

31. A Scene with Prize Fighters .... 479

32. A Pic Nic Party . . . . . 484

33. Recognition of an Old Acquaintance . . . 498

34. Mr. Weller Senior in Paris . 515

35. A Scene in the Yard of the Diligence Office . . .536

36. A Police Office . . . . . .545

37. A Visit to a Prison ..... 554

38. The Sutherland Arms ..... 586

39. The Tower of St. Jacques . . . .601

40. A Night at Beauvais . . . . .612

41. A Scene at the. Ship at Dover . . . .619

LIST OF WOOD ENGRAVINGS.

1. The Chamber of Deputies

2. Front of the Palais Royal

3. English Ambassador's Residence

4. Water Works at St. Cloud

5. French Opera

6. Place Louis XV

7. Place Vendome

8. Interior of the Palais Royal

9. The Morgue

10. Church of St. Sulpice

11. Interior of the Louvre

12. Great Diligence Office

13. Hospital of Salpetriere

14. Church of St. Etienne Du Mont

15. Rue de Castiglione

16. Porte Saint Denis

17. Rue de Rivoli .

18. Cathedral of Notre Dame

19. Palace of Justice xvi

CONTENTS.

Page

20. The Bourse (Exchange) ..... 387

21. The Hotel-de-Ville . . . . .397

22. Paris from Pere la Chaise .... 436

23. The Catacombs , . , . . 446

24. The Odeon Theatre . . . . .456

25. Italian Opera House . . . . , 474

26. Boulevard des Italiens ..... 482

28. Garden of the Palais Royal . . . .515

29. Flower Market ..... 520

30. Prison of Bicetre ..... 552

32. Interior of the Chamber of Peers .... 591

33. The Tower of Saint Jacques . . . .593

OR

THE TOUR IN FRANCE :

A SERIES OF PAPERS COMPILED FROM THE PRIVATE NOTES AND MEMORANDA OP SAMUEL PICKWICK, ESQ.

TO THE READER.

The immortal " Boz" has done so much to render the public familiar with the characters and adventures of some of the most remarkable men of the present day — viz., Mr. Pickwick and his followers — that it is only with extreme diffidence a new historian has ventured to continue the lives of those extraordinary individuals. But short and to the purpose be the introduction to these Memoirs.

A few months ago I called upon Mr. Pickwick at his house in Dulwich ; and from certain circumstances — such as the appearance of a number of trunks and parcels in the hall, each bearing a label with the following words marked upon it, '* Monsieur Monsieur Pickwick, Voyageur de Paris a Londres'^ — I immediately inferred that the object of my visit was just returned from a continental tour. Nor was I mistaken in my supposition. The founder of the '* Pickwick Club," which now exists no longer, had violated the promise he had some time since made to himself, and had voluntarily deviated from that tranquil mode of life it was his intention to adopt when his first biographer, Boz," took leave of him. In fact he had, with that noble disregard for danger and difficulty, and that spirit of enterprise and perseverance, which formed such prominent traits in the character of this extraordinary man, undertaken a journey to Paris — had actually resided some time in the sovereign city of France — and, reckless of fatigue, had retraced his steps at the termination of a certain period, by means of diligence, steam-packet, and coach, to his classic abode at Dulwich.

Without fatiguing the reader with an elaborate description of the astonishment I naturally experienced at the boldness of the idea, the certainty that it had been followed up, and the uncompromising courage of him who had carried it into effect — an idea that prompted him to leave his own fire-side, and risk the perils of the ocean, the chance of being overturned in a diligence, and the probability of finding himself amongst a nation of anthropophagi in the guise of human beings— without dwelling on this subject, fearful lest the eulogies I offer to my friend might be deemed the dictates of partiality and blind adoration — I shall merely state that the note -book and the memoranda of the illustrious Pickwick were placed at my disposal, and that it has become m y happy fate to succeed the no less immortal

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Pic'kwio'ti Abroad.

*• Boz" as the biograplier of one of the most extraordinary men the present or any other age has produced.

In order to do meet justice to the memory of the individual whose adventures I am called upon to relate, I have associated with me in the delightful, though somewhat difficult task, my friend Alfred Crowquill. It is mine to edit, and his to illustrate, the biographical memoirs of which I now present the First Part to the reader, and which, according to minutest calculation, will afford sufficient materials to enable me to continue the sketches through twenty numbers of the Monthly Magazine.

In conclusion, gentle reader, allow me to remark that if the talented " Boz" have not chosen to enact the part of Mr. Pickwick's biographer in his continental tour, it is not my fault. The field was open to him who had so well and so successfully traced the progress of that great man during his travels in England ; and as it is now my destiny to compile and put in order the notes taken by him abroad, and reduce them to a systematic narrative, I cannot do otherwise than pledge myself for the sincerity and impartiality with which I shall present each Number of that important work to the public.

Chapter I

A CONSIDERABLE SENSATION ON THE QUAY AT CALAIS ; ITS CaUSE ; AND OTHER PARTICULARS INTIMATELY CONNECTED WITH CERTAIN ILLUSTRIOUS CHARACTERS.

At an unusual hour in the morning of a very foggy and disagreeable day in the month of November, 1834, a crowd of washed and unwashed — ^English and French — male and female — residents in, or visitors to, the eminently respectable town of Calais, was assembled upon the quay where the steam-vessels generally land their passengers. Had the motley group met on the Grande Place, one might have fancied that the cause of congregation was a political ebullition, or the arrival of an itinerant juggler — either of which occurrences is understood to afford an essential interest to the French in general. But on this occasion the quay was the point of rendezvous ; and as two or three hundred people seldom meet together for the purpose of gazing upon the sea, which is almost the same as gazing upon nothing, when there are no ships to attract attention, we must suppose that a more important object called them thither.

The fact of the matter was, that a king's messenger, on his way to Paris, in the company of a bag full of sheets of writing-paper, with much profound diplomatic lore scribbled thereon, had informed the waiter of Dessin's Hotel the day before the one on which these memoirs commence, that an illustrious personage, accompanied by his servant and two friends, intended to cross the water on the following morning ; for which purpose he had already arrived as far as Dover, his habitual residence having lately been in the neighbourhood of London. M. Dessin's waiter, being gifted with just so much curiosity as to originate the question, enquired who the illustrious traveller might be; and when the magic name of Pickwick was breathed in his ear by the important king's messenger, he immediately communicated the intelligence to his comrades in the kitchen, whence the news

Pickwick Abroad.

forthwith spread like wildfire through the town, and inspired the conducteur of a diligence with the notable resolution of performing his journey to Paris in one hour less time than usual, in order to carry the joyful tidings to the French metropolis as early as possible.

At about ten o'clock a. m., a small boat, rowed by two stout sailors, and containing two or three other individuals seated at the stern, was seen slowly moving up the harbour against a strong tide. A great and visible agitation immediately pervaded the crowd assembled upon the port, and a few respectably dressed Englishmen, in dirty shootingjackets and battered hats, immediately exclaimed, *' Here is the immortal Pickwick!" But as the bark drew nearer to the quay, it was ascertained that it was merely a fishing-boat filled with herrmgs, and the crew, and curiosity thus remained ungratified for a short space longer.

No sooner had the excitement caused by this false alarm subsided, than it was rumoured that a courier had only a few moments back galloped into the town at a tremendous rate, his horse foaming at the mouth, and himself covered with mud ; and report moreover declared that the said courier had been despatched from Boulogne to assure the mayor and worthy inhabitants of Calais that Mr. Pickwick and his followers had landed at the port of the former town. This was, however, speedily contradicted, it being satisfactorily ascertained that the swift horseman was merely a master-butcher of Boulogne in search of a runaway apprentice.

It cannot be wondered at if these disappointments created a painful suspense, and gave a keener edge to the curiosity of the assembled multitude. It has indeed been subsequently whispered that the opportunities were eagerly sought and turned to advantage by two or three individuals, who, without being actually on the list of conveyancers, proved themselves to be very skilful ones, in the removal of sundry pocket-handkerchiefs, &c. ; and it is no less a fact calculated to startle and shame London practitioners in the inns of court, that the business was most effectually done without deed or document, and in such perfect tranquillity and secresy, that the property was duly conveyed from one individual to another unknown at the moment to the principal party concerned.

When suspense and anxiety v/ere at their utmost, the smoke of a steam-packet was perceived in the distance, sea-ward, and beyond the long range of sand-hills that skirts the coast. A momentary feeling of indescribable awe seized upon the crowd, and then a long and simultaneous shout expressed the fondness of the anticipation that was to be found in every breast. At the same moment the hats of several private individuals stationed amongst the multitude were propelled with violence over their eyes ; and this facetious display of a generally prevalent good feeling on the occasion, was considered the most beautiful and affecting portion of the welcome awaiting the arrival of him who had filled worlds with his fame. These instances of extreme hilarity were, however, objected to by certain selfish and discontented persons — a circumstance admirably calculated to illustrate the ingratitude of the world, and the jealousy existing between all truly great men.

The steam-vessel shortly hove in sight, and glided rapidly over the

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Pickwick Abroad.

still waters of the haroour " jist like a hanimal af real life," as an English gentleman, quoting Byron, and taking a short black pipe from his mouth, remarked to a friend on the occasion. The packet at length came along-side the quay, and every neck was elongated, and every eye was dilated, and every elbow was exactly fitted into the vacuum between the ribs of a neighbour, in the general excitement caused by the desire to ascertain if Mr. Pickwick were really on board tha vessel.

Unconscious of the honours awaiting him-— calm and reflective, as was his wont — clad in the usual way — with the well-known black gaiters — the low hat — the spectacles — and the eye-glass — and near the helm — stood the great man whom hundreds had assembled to gaze upon. On his right was the sleek and well-conditioned Tracy Tupman, whose eye still loved to wander over the handsome features of the fair sex, and whose gold chain had almost entirely disappeared from the sphere of his visual rays, beneath the extensive silk waistcoat. On Mr. Pickv/ick's left hand was the young friend who had partaken of all that illustrious man's former dangers, difficulties, and perils, and who had equally shared in the renown that had attended success. But time and matrimony had done much for Nathaniel Winkle, The sporting dress was discarded, and a black coat, somewhat loose at the waist, with black trowsers and a striped silk stock, replaced the conspicuous habiliments he once had delighted in. Behind this interesting group was stationed Mr. Samuel Weller, with an open great- coat and several capes over a new suit of livery, and the same cunning smile, and air of indifference, that were the characteristics of Tony Weller's son.

No sooner did the vessel touch the quay than the captain, who was mounted on one of the paddle-boxes, cried out something to the man at the helm — ^and a sailor on board cried out something to a sailor on shore — and ropes were thrown in all directions — and the captain insisted upon turning the vessel before any one could be permitted to land — and the valve opened with a terrific noise — and a tremendous shout arose amongst the crowd — and the name of " Pickwick" was echoed far and wide, to the astonishment of a couple of gendarmes and two or three custom-house officers, who were so barbarously ignorant of civilized matters as to be entirely unacquainted with the nomenclature of one whose scientific researches and philanthropic feelings had materially benefitted mankind.

" Dear me," said Mr. Pickwick, in a species of trepidation ; " one would really have thought they mentioned my name !"

" No — did they, though ?" cried Mr. Winkle, turning very pale.

" I think so," returned Mr. Pickwick, casting an anxious glance at the motley crowd.

" And so they did. Sir," said Sam Weller, touching his hat ; " and a preshus queer set they appears to be, if von may judge by fust appearances, as the vite man said to his-self ven he got among the selvidges vich made a fire to eat him. That 'ere gen'leman in the spatterdashes and lily benjamin, vith a 'ansome castor as ain't got no crown, is a crying his-self hoarse,"

"This is very singular — very singular, indeed!" remarked Mr Pickwick.-

Pickwick Abroad.

**The French is wery notorious for their vay o' takin' leave, Sir," said Mr. Weller, again joining in the conversation, and touching his hat periodically; "and p'rhaps they isn't more partickler, as the sayin' is, in the vay in vich they velcomes a forinner to Frogland,"

"But I think — indeed, I am almost sure," suggested Mr. Pickwick, hazarding an opinion with all his native diffidence and modesty, " that there are a great many English amongst the crowd here assembled."

"Singular costumes the fish-girls have !" observed Mr. Tupman — " or else they would not be bad-looking."

" Tupman, my dear fellow," said Mr. Pickwick, sternly, " let us think of our safety for the present, and talk of — but, Winkle, my good friend, what is the matter with you — are you unwell?"

"Oh! no — not at all," returned Mr. Winkle, casting a glance of extreme horror and suspicion at the gendarmes who stood in front of the crowd.

" Beg pardon. Sir," said Sam, stepping forward and addressing himself to Mr. Pickwick, " but don't you think 'twould be adwisable to order the skipper o' this 'ere wessel to putt us down on t'other side o' the vay?"

" Oh, do!" cried Mr. Winkle, imploringly.

"Why, Sam," said Mr. Pickwick, in a tone of bland appeal, " do you really think there is any danger?"

"Do you see them 'ere Johnny Darmies, with their cock-hats and black mustashes ?" demanded Mr. Weller ; "an' if so be your wisual rays does 'appen to en-counter them gen'lemen, p'rhaps you'd also con-sider that mob, and then assure me if there isn't mischief meant, as the Hindian remarked to his friend ven they met the alligator."

"Are those soldiers French police officers, then?" enquired Mr. Pickwick, in a hurried tone of voice.

" They air. Sir," returned Mr. Weller, seriously ; " the man at the hel-em assured me that sich vos the fact ; and a French Johnny Darmy 'ould think as much o' spitting a fellow-Christian through the guts as a French sugger 'ould care about junning another through vith his bagginet."