New-York daily tribune., 1843-10-28

Letters from Dir. Weed -. Ne. IIEII


letter from France with French pens and French ink
We got into the docks at u O'Clock, and I set
foot on the soil Of " La Belle France amid the
chatterings of men, monkeys and parrots, all in
languages alike unintelliglbe. I feel, far more
sensibly than expected the embarrassment and
modification and reproach Of being ignorant Of
a language which has become so universal. My
first impulse was to return, instead of attempting
to travel deprived Of two of the senses-ior de-
prived am, in all that can interest OF instruct
Of the sense of hearing and of speech. The ears
and tongues of those who neither understand nor
speak French, are quite useless. We are even
worse off than mutes, for theu have a language
of signs. 1t is on such occasions as these that
we realize and lament the waste of time A very
few of the hours and days and weeks that have
squandered directed to the requirement of the
French language, would have now spared me the
modification of travelling through France virtu-
ally deaf and dumb! But these regrets, so far
as my enjoyment is concerned, are wholly
unavaling. Should others, however, read this
Letter let them be admonlshed to learn the
French language, which can always be done
without interference with other studies. With
such a knowledge Of French as may be acquired
from the Books, a few days residence in France,
to accustom the ear to its pronunciation, enables
the student to speak fluently and with ease.
There is scarcely any thing worth Travellers
attention at Havre. | am far more interested
here with the People than the place. had only
seen the French individually. Here encounter
them as Nation. We know that they arc con-
stltutionally gay, polite and amusement-seek-
ing race; but their gayetes pollteness and rlvo-
lity far exceed my expectations. You will Infer,
on landing at Havre, from the numbers of mon
keys and parrots upon the docks, that these were
the main articles of French commerce. And in
walking through the streets, from the endless va
riety Of gewgaws and frippcry displayed in shop
windows, you would suppose that the French
pie were given over to levity and lightness.-
AS for the People themselves, they seem to be
living without responsibility or care. In stroll
ing through the place. find nobody anxious or
though ghtiul-nobody miserable or even unhappy
And the few mendlcants you see, come, not with
wo-begone faces and piteous tale, but seek to
amusc you with the tricks of monkey, white
mouse young alligator, or some fantastcal con.
trlvance in mechanism.
On landing at Havre traveller begins (espe-
cally if he comes from England to experience
some of the Custom House annoyances and ex-
actions which vex and plague you throughout
Europe. Our party, fortunately, had nothing
contraband but few segars, on which they made
us pay second duty but the searching ope-
ratlons" upon others were rigid and inquisitoral
A lady from Ireland who came here to educate
her children, brought trunk full of clothcs
upon each and every article of which she was
required to pay duty amounting, in most cases.
to more than the articles would have cost her
ready made, and IN all cases, more than the ma
terial cost
Havre is spoken Of as modern town, though
founded some half century before the discovery
of America. 1t has derived most of its CONNER
ciul Importance from the trade with our country.
There are no castles or monuments here, and but
few historical associations. There are but few
hours in twenty-iour when large vessels can get
in or out of the docks, which are capable of re-
ceiving $50 ships. There are American or Eng
sh partners in most Of the shipping houses here
and the English language is more spoken here
than in any other town in France. Harre was
point of considerable interest during the early
wars between France and England. The Duke
of Richmond embarked from this port in l4S5,
with 1000 men furnished by Charles Will, and
with whom, backed by the forces which had
Joined him after he had landed at Milford Haven,
he encountered and overthrow the usurper and
tyrand Richard the Third. Shakespeare you will
barkaton of Richmond to King Richard, thus:
Most mighty Sovereign, on the western coast
Rdvth puissant Navy; to the shore
Throng many doubtful hollow hearted friends,
Uuarnl'd and unresoved, to beat them back;
lis thought that Richmond is their Admiral,
AID i,rre they hul expecting but the aid
OF Buckingham to welcome them ashore
The Hugucnots surrendered Havrc to Queen
Elizabeth in 1862, but the English, under the
l1f\ nl-
by besiegiHg army commanded by the Consta-
Bile Mentmorency. The fleet of William III.
made an Unsuccessful attempt to re-capture the
place in 1894. And in 1896 Sir Sidney Smith,
in attempting to cut out French ship from un-
der its batteries, got upon the sand-b banks, and
was himself captured by some gun. boats.
English or American travellers, on landing at
Havrc, are required to 90 personally before the
Mayor, who receives their passports and gives
them q temporary permit for Paris whittier the
originals follow them.
RocEN Aug. 30
We left Havre this morning at s o'clock in the
steamer for this place. which is about 80 miles.
There were from $50 to 275 passengers, with a
sprinkling Of monkeys, parrots and poodes.-
There is no regulation here, which prohibits
f" smoking abaft the wheel Some twenty or
thirty French gentlemen, with huge mustachoes,
are putting their segars in the faces of hundred
ladies. Such an exhibition Of bad taste and i'll
manners in America, would have furnished John
Bull with chapters for at least dozen books
but in France they pass such things by without
remark.
The day was bright and the passage up the
beautiful Seine exceedingly pleasant. The bay,
at the mouth Of the river, seven miles wide
We stopped at HoSFLEuR, zone OF the towns IN
France made classical in the Sentimental Jour
ney.'l to receive passengers. 1t is dirty looking
place, with 10000 inhabitants, whose principal
traffic is in eggs, Of which they send seven thou