The Stranger in France | Page 5

attended by two clergymen,
and some women, who, in their attentions to this apparently dying old
gentleman, seemed to have forgotten their own comfortless situation,

arising from so many persons being crowded in so small a space, for
our numbers above and below amounted to sixty. Upon inquiry, they
informed me, that the person whose appearance had so affected me, had
been a clergyman of great repute and esteem at Havre, that he was then
past the age of ninety five years, scarcely expected to survive our short
voyage, but was anxious to breathe his last in his own country. They
spoke of him, as a man who in other times, and in the fulness of his
faculties, had often from his pulpit, struck with terror and contrition,
the trembling souls of his auditors, by the force of his exalted
eloquence; who had embellished the society in which he moved, with
his elegant attainments; and who had relieved the unhappy, with an
enlarged heart and munificent hand--A mere mass of misery, and
helpless infirmities, remained of all these noble qualities!
During the early part of the night, we made but little way--behind, the
dark shadowy line of land faded in mist; before us, the moon spread a
stream of silver light upon the sea. The soft stillness of this repose of
nature was broken only by the rippling of the light wave against the
head and sides of the vessel, and by the whistling of the helmsman,
who, with the helm between his knees, and his arms crossed, alternately
watching the compass and the sail, thus invoked the presence of the
favouring breeze.
Leaving him, and some few of our unfortunate comrades, to whom the
motion of the sea was more novel than gratifying, we descended into
the steerage, (for our births in the cabin were completely occupied by
females). As we were going down the ladder, the appearance of so
many recumbent persons, faintly distinguishable by the light of a
solitary taper, reminded us of a floating catacomb; here, crawling under
a cot which contained two very corpulent priests, upon a spare cable,
wrapt up in our own great coats, we resigned ourselves to rest.
The next day, without having made much progress in our little voyage,
we arose, and assembled round the companion, which formed our
breakfast table; at dinner, we were enabled to spread a handsome table
of refreshments, to which we invited all our fellow passengers who
were capable of partaking of them, many of whom were preparing to

take their scanty meal, removed from us at the head of the vessel. For
this little act of common civility, we were afterwards abundantly repaid,
by the thankfulness of all, and the serviceable attentions of some of our
charming guests, when we landed; an instance of which I shall
afterwards have occasion to mention. The wind slackened during the
day, but in the evening it blew rather fresh, and about nine o'clock the
next morning, after a night passed something in the same way as the
former, we were awakened being informed that we were within in a
league of Havre; news by no means disagreeable, after the dead dulness
of a sea calm.
The appearance of the coast was high, rugged, and rocky; to use a good
marine expression, it looked ironbound all along shore. To the east,
upon an elevated point of land, are two noble light houses, of very
beautiful construction, which I shall have occasion to describe
hereafter.
At some little distance, we saw considerable flights of wild ducks. The
town and bason lie round the high western point from the lights, below
which there is a fine pebbled beach. The quays are to the right and left
within the pier, upon the latter of which there is a small round tower. It
was not the intention of our packet captain to go within the pier, for the
purpose of saving the port-anchorage dues, which amount to eight
pounds sterling, but a government boat came off, and ordered the vessel
to hawl close up to the quay, an order which was given in rather a
peremptory manner. Upon our turning the pier, we saw as we warped
up to the quay, an immense motley crowd, flocking down to view us. A
panic ran throughout our poor fellow passengers. From the noise and
confusion on shore, they expected that some recent revolution had
occurred, and that they were upon the point of experiencing all the
calamities, which they had before fled from; they looked pale and
agitated upon each other, like a timid and terrified flock of sheep, when
suddenly approached by their natural enemy the wolf. It turned out,
however, that mere curiosity, excited by the display of english colours,
had assembled this formidable rabble,