The Old Gentleman Held Forth Likewise
In A Long Speech Respecting The Finances Of England, In Praise Of The
Sinking Fund, And When It Was Suggested To Him That England From The
Immense National Debt Must One Day Become Bankrupt:
"Non, Monsieur," (he
said),"la Caisse d'Amortissement empechera cela." In fine, the Caisse
d'Amortissement was to work miracles.
I replied that the principle of the
Caisse d'Amortissement was good, provided a constant and consistent
economy were practised; but that at present and during the whole time from
its establishment, it had been a mockery on the understanding of the
Nation, when we reflected on the profligate expenditure of public money,
occasioned by the ruinous, unjust and liberticide wars, which were entered
into and fomented by the British Government. Indeed, I said it was like the
conduct of a man who possessing an income of 200L per annum, should set
apart, in a box as a Caisse d'epargne, 20L annually, and at the same time
continue a style of living, the annual expence of which would so far exceed
his income, as to oblige him to borrow 7 or 800L every year. The old
gentleman was all amort at this comparison, which must be obvious to every
one. Nothing shows in a more glaring light the blind and superstitious
reverence paid to great names; for because this sinking fund was proposed
by Pitt, all his adherents extol it to the skies, without analysing it, and
give him besides the credit of an invention to which he had no right
whatever.
ST JEAN DE MAURIENNE.
I started from Chambery on the morning of the fourth of August, and stopped
at Montmelian to breakfast. Here begins the valley of Maurienne, and as
this valley, along which the road is cut, is extremely narrow, being hemmed
in on each side by the High Alps, Montmelian, which stands on an eminence
in the centre of the valley (the road running thro' the town), must be a
post of the utmost importance towards the defence of this pass. It was a
fortified place of great consideration in the former wars, and if the
fortifications were repaired and improved, it might be made almost
impregnable, as it would enfilade the road on each side. From the
above-mentioned features of the ground, the valley narrowing more and more
as you proceed, from the high mountains that align it and from its
sinuosities, it follows that at every angle or curve caused by these
sinuosities, you appear as if you were shut out from all the rest of the
world and could proceed no further. The river Isere runs thro' and parallel
with this valley. It rises in the mountains of Savoy and falls into the
Rhone in Dauphine. I passed the night at Aiguebelle.
From Aiguebelle to St Jean de Maurienne is twelve leagues, and I found
myself so tired with walking, and my legs from being swelled gave me so
much pain, that I determined to give up the gloriole of making the whole
journey on foot as I intended and to remain here for two days to repose and
then profit by the first conveyance that might pass to conduct me to Turin.
From Aiguebelle the valley becomes still more narrow, and there is a
continual ascent, tho' it is so gentle as scarcely to be perceptible. Every
spot of ground in this valley, which will admit of cultivation, is put to
profit by the industry of the inhabitants. Here one sees beans, indian
corn, and even wines; for the heat is very great indeed in summer and
autumn, owing to the rays of the sun being concentrated, as it were, into a
focus, in this narrow valley, and were the bed of the Isere to be deepened,
or were it less liable to overflow, from the melting of the snow in spring
and summer, much land, which is now a marsh, might be applied to
agricultural purposes. The inhabitants of this valley regret very much the
separation of Savoy from France, as during the time that Duchy was annexed
to the French Empire, each peasant possessing an ass could earn three
franks per diem in transporting merchandise across Mont-Cenis. St Jean de
Maurienne is a neat little town. I put up at the same inn, and slept in the
same bedroom which was occupied by poor Didier who was put to death at
Grenoble for having raised the standard of liberty. He was surprized here
in bed by the Carabiniere Reali of the Sardinian government, those
satellites of despotism; and according to the barbarous principles laid
down by the crowned heads, delivered over to the French authorities. I
observed a great many cretins in this valley.
SUZA, 10th August.
On the morning of the 8th August two vetturini passed by the inn at St
Jean de Maurienne, and I engaged a place in one of them, as far as Turin.
We arrived at the village of Modena in the evening. The landscape is much
the same as what we have hitherto passed, but the climate is considerably
colder, from the land being more elevated. Hitherto I had suffered much
inconvenience from the heat. The next morning we reached Lans-le-Bourg, the
last town of Savoy lying at the foot of Mount Cenis.
After breakfast we began the ascent of Mont Cenis, and I made the whole way
from Lans-le-Bourg to the Hospice of Mont Cenis, that is, the whole
ascent, a distance of twenty-five Italian miles, on foot. This chaussee
is another wonderful piece of work of Napoleon; a broad carriage road, wide
enough for three carriages to go abreast, and cut zig-zag with so gentle a
slope as to allow a heavy French diligence to pass, with the utmost ease,
across a mountain where it was formerly thought impossible a wheel could
ever run. This chaussee is passable at all seasons of the year; the
mountain is not so high as that of the Simplon and is less liable to
impediments from the snow; the obstacles from nature are less, and you can
descend in a sledge from the Hospice by gliding down the side of the
cone, and thus descending in nine or ten minutes, whereas the ascent
requires four hours' time.
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