At one
end the roof projects beyond the gable four or five feet, in order to
protect a door-way and ladder or staircase that leads to it; and this
elevation has a very picturesque effect. A series of villages, composed
of cottages of this description, mixed with large manufactories and
extensive bleaching grounds, comprise all that is to be remarked in the
remainder of the ride; a journey that would be as interesting to a
traveller in quest of statistical information, as it would be the
contrary to you or to me.
Poverty, the inseparable companion of a manufacturing population, shews
itself in the number of beggars that infest this road as well as that
from Calais to Paris. They station themselves by the side of every hill,
as regularly as the mendicants of Rome were wont to do upon the bridges.
Sometimes a small nosegay thrown into your carriage announces the
petition in language, which, though mute, is more likely to prove
efficacious than the loudest prayer. Most commonly, however, there is no
lack of words; and, after a plaintive voice has repeatedly assailed you
with "une petite charite, s'il vous plait, Messieurs et Dames," an
appeal is generally made to your devotion, by their gabbling over the
Lord's Prayer and the Creed with the greatest possible velocity.
Pages:
122
123
124
125
126
127
128
129
130
131
132
133
134
135
136
137
138
139
140
141
142
143
144
145
146