CXLIV. BOOK Strabo informs us that the Carnutes held their principal markets there; it was embellished by the emperor Aurelian, who gave it the name of Aurelianum. It might have been destroyed in the year 450 by Attila, had it not been for the courage of the Roman general Aetius, who drove the Huns to the plains of Champagne, where he gained a complete victory over them. It fell into the power of Clovis after the destruction of the Roman empire; it became after the death of Clovis, the capital of one of the kingdoms into which France was divided. Philip of Valois erected it into a dutchy in favour of his son; having been united to the domains of the crown at the accession of Lewis the Twelfth, it was made by Lewis the Thirteenth, the appanage of his brother Gaston, and afterwards of Philip, the brother of Lewis the Fourteenth; but the revenues were abolished during the regency, the title only has been retained. Orleans was the birthplace of king Robert, a distinguished scholar, and the author of several hymns, some of which are still sung in the churches; it was also the native town of the jesuit Petau, perhaps the most learued critic of his age, of Amelot de la Houssaye, an able commentator, and lastly of Pothier, the celebrated jurist. It stands at the extremity of a lofty plain, which terminates near the banks of the Loire, and at no great distance from a bridge that communicates with the road to Bourges. The extent of the suburbs, where the stranger enters on the road from Paris, and the number of well-built houses contained in it, indicate the opulence of a large city. The monument on the square of Martroy was completed in 1803, and dedicated to Joan d'Arc; the town has thus paid a tribute of gratitude to the heroine, who compelled the English to raise the siege in 1426. The finest street in Orleans is the one which leads from the same square to the bridge on the Loire. The cathedral was commenced by Henry the Fourth, and not continued until the reign of Lewis the Sixteenth; although still in an unfinished state, it may be considered a model of architecture. The old ramparts have been converted into broad streets. As the seat of an university, Orleans is a place of some importance; the transactions published every year by the Scientific institutions society of arts and sciences are not without merit; the bo- BOOK tanical garden contains many valuable plants; the collec- CXLIV. tion of paintings is superior to most of the same kind in the provincial towns. Although there are several rare works in the library, the total number of volumes does not exceed twenty-six thousand. The commerce of Orleans was Commerce. formerly more flourishing than at present, the sugar works yielded greater profits; a greater number of hands were employed in the shawl manufactories, but the difference in the other products of industry is less perceptible; the demand for cottons, woollen stuffs, flannels and fine cloths is at present almost as great as at any former period. Orleans was one of the first towns in France, in which steam engines were substituted for human labour in the spinning manufactories. The products of the neighbouring vineyards are converted into excellent vinegar, which forms no inconsiderable part of the Orleans trade. The situation of the town on the banks of a large river may contribute to restore it to its ancient prosperity. The present commercial decline, whatever it may be, can only be imputed to the rivalry of other places in the same branches of industry. The other towns or burghs in the same district may be shortly enumerated. Olivet on the Loiret was well known on account of an abbey, supposed to have been founded by Clovis. Francis, duke of Guise, was assassinated there, while he was making preparations for a siege against Orleans. The population of the burgh may amount at present to three thousand souls. Meun was the birthplace of John, surnamed Clopinel, on account of his lameness, he enjoyed some reputation as a poet at the court of Philip the Fair. The town contains about five thousand inhabitants, it carries on a trade in leather and in different manufactures. Beaugency, perhaps more populous than the last place, is certainly more industrious; the vineyards belonging to the town yield generous wine, it possesses besides, cloth and serge manufactories, leather works and distilleries. An old bridge of thirty-nine arches communicates with both banks of the Loire, but the town must have been more important BOOK in the twelfth century than at present, for two councils were CXLIV. held at Beaugency. Pithiviers. It might be almost unnecessary to mention Pithiviers, were it not the chief town in the district watered by the Euf, and the mart of the saffron collected in the neighbouring country, believed by many to be the best in Europe. Malesherbes, a burgh at no great distance from it, was adorned and improved by the lord of Malesherbes, Montargis. the virtuous minister of Lewis the Sixteenth. Montargis is finely situated near a forest, and at the junction of three canals, those of Briare, Orleans, and Loing; the only buildings worthy of notice are the theatre and a church that may be remarked for the boldness of its architecture. Chatillon-sur-Loing was the birthplace of admiral Coligny. Gien, the capital of the smallest district in the department, has been embellished with a modern bridge on the Loire; the trade of the inhabitants is confined to porcelain. Briare may be about three leagues on the south-east of Gien; it rises in a valley near the junction of a canal. Quality of the soil in the depart ment. Department of Nievre. The country from the last town to Orleans, on the right and on the left of the Loire, is by no means fruitful; but on the north of the sterile Sologne, the hills are covered with vineyards, numerous herds are fattened on the meadows, and the fields at the approach of autumn display their waving harvests, and yield more than sufficient for the consumption of the inhabitants. A tract of country about two leagues in extent, and common to the departments of Loiret and Nievre, leads from the one to the other. The last or the ancient province of Nivernais comprehends on the cast the granite heights of Morvan, in some places covered with the lofty forests that supply the Parisians with wood and charcoal, and in others, with the rich pastures on which the oxen are reared that are sent to the capital. The Yonne, the Aron, the Nievre and the Loire compensate in some measure for the few and bad roads that traverse different parts of the country, most of which are inaccessible during part of the year. Many planks, united by flexible branches, and forming long lines, descend every year on the first of these rivers to Paris. Sandy but fruitful plains extend on the BOOK right of the Loire, which in a tract equal to sixteen leagues CXLIV. in length, bounds the department on the west. They produce enough of wheat, oats and wine for the wants of the people; the land abounds in coal and iron; wealth is thus diffused among the inhabitants, commerce and manufacturing industry are facilitated. More than fourteen hundred persons are employed in working metals, and the products of their labour represent a value almost equivalent to L.400,000. Many of the iron works are situated in the district of Cosne. Cosne; the town of the same name is the mart of the iron that is forged in the neighbourhood; it stands on the declivity of a hill, the streets are clean and well paved; the inhabitants manufacture cutlery, and carry on a considerable trade in wine. Although no remains of antiquity are left, it is certain that it was one of the seven or eight cities in Gaul, which were called Condate, a name probably signifying the junction of two or more streams; we have already had occasion to make the same remark in describing Rennes, it is applicable to other places that have not been mentioned. The Nohain throws itself at Cosne into the Loire ; public walks have been cut on the banks of the river, the view from them extends over a fruitful country to the distant hills in the department of Cher. A road from Cosne traverses the heights, which command the course of the Loire, the islands which it waters, and the romantic scenery near its banks; but the landscape becomes still finer above the descent that leads to Pouilly, or at all events, the gifts of nature appear in greater luxuriance; the hills. are covered with rich vineyards, that yield the excellent white wines to which the last place has given its name. But Pouilly does not contain more than two thousand six Pouilly. hundred inhabitants; it may be about four leagues from Cosne, and at an equal distance from La Charité, in which La Charité. the two most remarkable objects are the magnificent ruins of a Gothic church, and a well built bridge that joins the road to Bourges. Clamecy at the confluence of the Beuvron and the Clamecy. Yonne, is the metropolis of a district, and the place where CXLIV. BOOK the authorities regulate the cuttings in the forest of Morvan. It carries on a considerable trade, and possesses several cloth manufactories and porcelain works; thus, although the town is small, the inhabitants are comparatively wealthy. The suburbs of Bethlem has retained its name, because it served as an asylum to the bishop of Bethlem, after the expulsion of the Christians from Palestine. It was the native town of Marchangy, a magistrate and a man of letters. Corbigny on the small river of Anguison, which throws itself into the Yonne, has been long famous for its horses. District of Nevers. The district of Chateau-Chinon owes its wealth to forests and meadows. The small town situated at no great distance from the sources of the Yonne, stands on a hill commanded by well wooded heights. The inhabitants carry on a trade in wood, charcoal and cattle, a trade which the supply of Paris renders very lucrative. A bad road leads from the town to Nevers, the birthplace of Adam Billaut, a carpenter, whose poetry bears the stamp of genius, he is known in France by the name of the rustic Virgil. The town was called Noviodunum in Cæsar's time, who places it in the country of the Edui,* but its name was afterwards changed into Novirum, and lastly into Nevirnum. It did not become a place of any importance before the reign of Clovis. About the tenth century, William, one of its governors, rendered himself independent, Industry. and took the title of count of Nevers. It contained only seven thousand inhabitants about forty years ago, since that period the population has been more than doubled; the increase must be attributed to the effects of commerce and industry, both of which might be still much improved. Nevers has been long celebrated for enamel and different articles of jewellery, they are sold in most parts of France, and exported into different countries. The porcelain works in the same place are supposed to be the best in France; the most ancient of these works, as M. Dupin remarks, was established eight centuries ago; they furnish Cæsar de Bello Gallico. Liber VII. Forces productives et commerciales de la France, tome i. page 296. |