Observations and Reflections Made in the Course of a Journey through France, Italy, and Germany, Vo | Page 9

bed-chamber are wonderfully executed; the design elegant, the
colouring brilliant: A screen too for the Grand Signor is finely finished
here; he would, I trust, have been contented with magnificence in the
choice of his furniture, but Mr. Pernon has added taste to it, and
contrived in appearance to sink an urn or vase of crimson velvet in a
back ground of gold tissue with surprising ingenuity.
It is observable, that the further people advance in elegance, the less
they value splendour; distinction being at last the positive thing which
mortals elevated above competency naturally pant after. Necessity must
first be supplied we know, convenience then requires to be contented;
but as soon as men can find means after that period to make themselves
eminent for taste, they learn to despise those paltry distinctions which
riches alone can bestow.
Talking of Taste leads one to speak of gardening; and having passed
yesterday between two villas belonging to some of the most opulent
merchants of Lyons, I gained an opportunity of observing the disposal
of those grounds that are appropriated to pleasure; where the shade of
straight long-drawn alleys, formed by a close junction of ancient elm
trees, kept a dazzling sun from incommoding our sight, and rendering
the turf so mossy and comfortable to one's tread, that my heart never
felt one longing wish for the beauties of a lawn and shrubbery--though
I should certainly think such a manner of laying out a Lancashire
gentleman's seat in the north of England a mad one, where the heat of
the sun ought to be invited in, not shut out; and where a large lake of
water is wanted for his beams to sparkle upon, instead of a fountain to
trickle and to murmur, and to refresh one with the idea of coolness

which it excites. Here, however, where the Rhone is navigable up to the
very house, I see not but it is rational enough to form jet d'eaux of the
superfluous water, and to content one's self with a Bird Cage Walk,
when we are sure at the end of it to find ourselves surrounded by an
horizon, of extent enough to give the eye full employment, and of a
bright colouring which affords it but little relief. That among the gems
of Europe our island holds the rank of an emerald, was once suggested
to me, and I could never part with the idea; surely France must in the
same scale be rated as the _ruby_; for here is no grass, no verdure to
repose the sight upon, except that of high forest trees, the vineyards
being short cut, and supported by white sticks, the size of those which
in our flower gardens support a favourite carnation; and these placed
close together by thousands on a hill rather perplex than please a
spectator of the country, who must wait till he recollects the superiority
of their produce, before he prefers them to a Herefordshire orchard or a
Kentish hop-ground.
Well! well! it is better to waste no more words on places however,
where the people have done so much to engage and to deserve our
attention.
Such was the hospitality I have here been witness to, and such the
luxuries of the Lyonnois at table, that I counted six and thirty dishes
where we dined, and twenty-four where we supped. Every thing was
served up in silver at both places, and all was uniformly magnificent,
except the linen, which might have been finer. We were not a very
numerous company--from eighteen to twenty-two, as I remember,
morning and evening; but the ladies played upon the pedal harp, the
gentlemen sung gaily, if not sweetly after supper: I never received more
kindness for my own part in any fortnight of my life, nor ever heard
that kindness more pleasingly or less coarsely expressed. These are
merchants, I am told, with whom I have been living; and perhaps my
heart more readily receives and repays their caresses for having heard
so. Let princes dispute, and soldiers reciprocally support their quarrels;
but let the wealthy traders of every nation unite to pour the oil of
commerce over the too agitated ocean of human life, and smooth down
those asperities which obstruct fraternal concord.

The Duke and Duchess of Cumberland lodge here at our hotel; I saw
them treated with distinguished respect to-night at the theatre, where _a
force de danser_[Footnote: By dint of dancing alone], I actually was
moved to shed many tears over the distresses of Sophie de Brabant.
Surely these pantomimes will very soon supplant all poetry, when, as
Gratiano says, "Our words will suddenly become superfluous, and
discourse grow commendable in none but parrots."
Some conversation here, however, struck me as curious; the more so as
I had heard the subject