A Bibliographical, Antiquarian and Picturesque Tour in France and Germany, Volume One | Page 5

customs of the
country, and upon the character of those who inhabit it. It is in short the
personal history of the author, throughout the whole length of his
journey. Not the smallest incident, however indifferent, but what has a
place in the letters of the Bibliographer. Thus, he mentions every Inn
where he stops: recommends or scolds the landlord--according to his
civility or exaction. Has the author passed a bad night? the reader is
sure to know it on the following morning. On the other hand, has he
had a good night's rest in a comfortable bed? [dans un lit
_comfortable_?] We are as sure to know this also, as soon as he
awakes:--and thus far we are relieved from anxiety about the health of
the traveller. Cold and heat--fine weather and bad weather--every
variation of atmosphere is scrupulously recorded.
What immediately follows, is unworthy of M. Licquet; because it not
only implies a charge of a heinous description--accusing me of an
insidious intrusion into domestic circles, a violation of confidence, and
a systematic derision of persons and things--but because the French
translator, exercising that sense and shrewdness which usually
distinguish him, MUST have known that such a charge could not have
been founded in FACT. He must have known that any gentleman,
leaving England with those letters which brought me in contact with
some of the first circles on the Continent, MUST have left it without
leaving his character behind him; and that such a character could not, in
the natural order of things--seen even through the sensitive medium of

a French critic--have been guilty of the grossness and improprieties
imputed to me by M. Licquet. I treat therefore this "damnation in
wholesale" with scorn and contempt: and hasten to impress the reader
with a more favourable opinion of my Norman translator. He will have
it that
"the English Traveller's imagination is lively and ardent--and his spirit,
that of raillery and lightness. He examines as he runs along; that is to
say, he does not give himself time to examine; he examines ill; he
deceives himself; and he subjects his readers to be deceived with him.
He traverses, at a hard trot, one of the most ancient towns in France;
puts his head out of his carriage window--and boldly decides that the
town is of the time of Francis I."![9] p. xviij.
There is pleasantry, and perhaps some little truth, in this vein of
observation; and it had been better, perhaps, for the credit of the good
taste and gentleman-like feeling of Mons. Licquet, if he had uniformly
maintained his character in these respects. I have however, in the
subsequent pages,[10] occasionally grappled with my annotator in
proving the fallacy, or the want of charity, of many of his
animadversions: and the reader probably may not be displeased, if, by
way of "avant propos," I indulge him here with a specimen of
them--taken from his preface. M. Licquet says, that I "create scenes;
arrange a drama; trace characters; imagine a dialogue, frequently in
French--and in what French--gracious God!--in assigning to postilions
a ridiculous language, and to men of the world the language of
postilions." These be sharp words:[11] but what does the Reader
imagine may be the probable "result" of the English Traveller's
inadvertencies?... A result, ("gracious Heaven!") very little anticipated
by the author. Let him ponder well upon the awful language which
ensues. "What (says M. Licquet) will quickly be the result, with us, of
such indiscretions as those of which M. Dibdin is guilty? The necessity
of SHUTTING OUR PORTS, or at least of placing a GUARD UPON
OUR LIPS!" There is some consolation however left for me, in
balancing this tremendous denunciation by M. Licquet's eulogy of my
good qualities--which a natural diffidence impels me to quote in the
original words of their author.

"A Dieu ne plaise, toutefois, que j'accuse ici LE COEUR de M. Dibdin.
Je n'ai jamais eu l'honneur de le voir: je ne le connais que par ses ecrits;
principalement par son Splendid Tour, et je ne balance pas à déclarer
que l'auteur doit être doué d'une ame honnête, et de ces qualités
fondamentales qui constituent l'homme de bien. Il préfère sa croyance;
mais il respecte la croyance des autres; son érudition parait....[12]
variée. Son amour pour les antiquités est immense; et par antiquités
j'entends ici tout ce qui est antique ou seulement ancien, quellesque
soient d'ailleurs la nature et la forme des objets." Pref. p. xv. xvij.
Once more; and to conclude with M. Licquet. After these general
observations upon the Text of the Tour, M. Licquet favours us with the
following--upon the Plates. "These plates (says he) are intended to
represent some of the principal monuments; the most beautiful
landscapes, and the most remarkable persons, comprehending even the
servants of an