A Days Tour | Page 7

express the intense pleasure I have always
felt at first finding myself, after some prolonged stay in England, at the
foot of the tower of Calais Church. The large neglect, the noble
unsightliness of it, the record of its years, written so vividly, yet
without sign of weakness or decay; its stern vastness and gloom, eaten

away by the Channel winds, and overgrown with bitter sea-grass. I
cannot tell half the strange pleasures and thoughts that come about me
at the sight of the old tower.' Most interesting of all is the grim, rusted,
and gaunt watch-tower, before alluded to, which rises out of a block of
modern houses in the place itself. It can be seen afar off from the
approaching vessel, and until comparatively late times this venerable
servant had done the charity of lighthouse work for a couple of
centuries at least.
But one of the pleasantest associations connected with the town was the
old Dessein's Hotel, which had somehow an inexpressibly
old-fashioned charm, for it had a grace like some disused château.
Some of the prettiest passages in Sterne's writings are associated with
this place. We see the figures of the monk, the well-known host, the
lady and the _petit-maître_: to say nothing of the old _désobligeante_.
Even of late years it was impossible to look at the old building, which
remained unchanged, without calling up the image of Mr. Sterne, and
the curious airy conversation--sprinkled with what execrable French
both in grammar and spelling!--that took place at the gate. An air of the
old times pervaded it strongly: it was like opening an old garde de vin.
You passed out of the place and found yourself in the Rue
Royale--newly named Rue Leveux--and there, Dessein's stood before
you, with its long yellow wall, archway and spacious courts, on each
side a number of quaint gables or mansardes, sharp-roofed. Over the
wall was seen the foliage of tall and handsome trees. There is a
coloured print representing this entrance, with the meeting of the 'little
master' and the lady--painted by Leslie--and which gives a good idea of
the place. In the last century the courtyard used to be filled with
posting-carriages, and the well-known remise lay here in a corner.
Behind the house stretched large, well-stocked gardens, with which the
guests at the hotel used to be recreated; while at the bottom of the
garden, but opening into another street, was the theatre, built by the
original Dessein, belonging to the hotel, and still used. This garden was
wild and luxuriant, the birds singing, while the courtyard was dusty and
weed-grown.
This charming picture has ever been a captivating one for the traveller.

It seemed like an old country-house transferred to town. There was
something indescribable in the tranquil flavour of the place, its yellow
gamboge tint alternated with green vineries, its spacious courtyard and
handsome chambers. It was bound up with innumerable old
associations. Thackeray describes, with an almost poetical affection
and sympathy, the night he spent there. He called up the image of
Sterne in his 'black satin smalls,' and talked with him. They used to
show his room, regularly marked, as I have seen it, 'STERNES'S
ROOM, NO. 31,' with its mezzotint, after Sir Joshua, hung over the
chimney-piece. But this tradition received a shock some sixty years
since. An inquisitive and sceptical traveller fancied he saw an
inscription or date lurking behind the vine-leaves that so luxuriantly
covered the old house, and sent up a man on a ladder to clear away the
foliage. This operation led to the discovery of a tablet, dated two years
too late for the authenticity of the building in which 'Sterne's room' was.
The waiter, however, in nowise disconcerted, said the matter could be
easily 'arranged' by selecting another room in an unquestioned portion
of the building! To make up, however, there was a room labelled 'SIR
WALTER SCOTT'S ROOM,' with his portrait; and of this there could
be no reasonable question.
+------+ | AD | | 1770 | +------+
In later years it did not flourish much, but gently decayed. Everything
seemed in a state of mild sleepy abandonment and decay till about the
year 1861, when the Desseins gave over business. The town, much
straitened for room, and cramped within its fortifications, had long
been casting hungry eyes on this spacious area. Strange to say, even in
the prosaic pages of our own 'Bradshaw,' the epitaph of 'old Dessein's'
is to be read among its advertisements:
'CALAIS.
'HÔTEL DESSEIN.--L. Dessein, the proprietor, has the honour to
inform his numerous patrons, and travellers in general, that after the 1st
of January his establishment will be transferred to the Hôtel Quillacq,
which has been entirely done up, and will take the name of HÔTEL
DESSEIN. The premises of