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    A Tour of Two Cities: 18th Century London and Paris Compared
    A Tour of Two Cities: 18th Century London and Paris Compared
    A Tour of Two Cities: 18th Century London and Paris Compared
    Ebook94 pages58 minutes

    A Tour of Two Cities: 18th Century London and Paris Compared

    By Jim Chevallier

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    This new translation offers readers of English a unique look at eighteenth century London and England generally, compared to Paris and France in the same period. It was written by the sharp-tongued and observant journalist Linguet, who had moved there to start a French periodical far from French censorship. His observations range from overviews of official institutions like the Law and religion to descriptions of houses, furniture, markets. etc.

    Some samples: "Paris being approximately round, one must not be surprised to find London very long..."'; "The English chased the Monks from their island; and they have made of it a great cloister, where one finds only cells of the most tedious uniformity. All the habitations are scrupulously the same.";"The Frenchman who thus sells by small portions, limits himself to a modest profit:....The English retailer has precisely the contrary maxim: he prefers not to sell than to not gain 15, 20, sometimes 30 and 40 percent..";"the only promenade of London, St. James Park, is loaded with crude, rugged gravel, which cuts shoes, and kills the feet: one easily travels inside the city, one and two leagues of distance: a walk around the park is enough to maim the careless person who does not arm himself before risking it.";"One could cross all of London, in every direction, for a long time, before getting an idea of where the English have hidden the Thames.";"One of our greatest expenses, for we the French, is the decoration of our apartments: we are never done with the Carpenter, the Upholsterer, the Painter, the Gilder, the Cabinet-maker.";"Vegetables boiled in water, an enormous roast, and which is reused, by the family, as long as it lasts; at most on ceremonial occasions, fish cooked like the vegetables, this is what the English cooking comes down to.";"We esteem light, sweet wines, and slightly sharp seasonings; they have sauces which are bland to the point of insipidity, and wines spirited to the point of violence."

    There is far more in this new translation, based on two articles Linguet wrote soon after he arrived. Whether your interest in the English or French side of this period, you will find a rich trove of insights and observations in these page.

    An appendix also offers Linguet's widely quoted predictions for the new country of the United States - "Not having passed through the flow and almost imperceptible gradations which have marked the rise of other nations, they will find themselves on a sudden in the full possession of maturity, and this, with all the energy of a youthful constitution".

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherJim Chevallier
    Release dateJul 27, 2011
    ISBN9781465821447
    A Tour of Two Cities: 18th Century London and Paris Compared
    Author

    Jim Chevallier

    Jim Chevallier is a food historian who has been cited in "The New Yorker", "The Smithsonian" and the French newspapers "Liberation" and "Le Figaro", among other publications. CHOICE has named his "A History of the Food of Paris: From Roast Mammoth to Steak Frites" an Outstanding Academic Title for 2019. His most recent work is "Before the Baguette: The History of French Bread". He began food history with an essay on breakfast in 18th century France (in Wagner and Hassan's "Consuming Culture in the Long Nineteenth Century") in addition to researching and translating several historical works of his own. He has been both a performer and a researcher, having worked as a radio announcer (WCAS, WBUR and WBZ-FM), acted (on NBC's "Passions", and numerous smaller projects). It was as an actor that he began to write monologues for use by others, resulting in his first collection, "The Monologue Bin". This has been followed by several others over the years.

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      Book preview

      A Tour of Two Cities - Jim Chevallier

      Simon Nicolas Henri Linguet

      A Tour

      of

      Two Cities

      18th Century

      London and Paris

      Compared

      With Notes, Translations and an Introduction

      by Jim Chevallier

      Chez Jim Books • North Hollywood, CA

      Published by:

      Chez Jim Books

      To contact the editor, e-mail: jimchev@chezjim.com

      Translations and additional text copyright ｩ 2010 by Jim Chevallier

      All rights reserved, including the right of reproduction in any form.

      Although the editor and publisher have made every effort to ensure the accuracy and completeness of these translations and any additional information contained in this book, we assume no responsibility for errors, inaccuracies, omissions, or any inconsistency herein.

      Published by Chez Jim Books at Smashwords

      Smashwords Edition, License Notes

      This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each person you share it with. If you池e reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then you should return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

      Table of Contents

      INTRODUCTION

      RESPONSE to an impatient subscriber

      Patriotism

      Jurisprudence

      Executions

      Industry

      Honors

      Literatureandreading

      Shakespeare

      Garrick

      Eloquence

      Religion

      PARALLEL between the customs, the manners of France, and those of England

      Language

      Government-theKingandParliament

      Juries

      Tribunals

      Houses

      Streetsandshops

      Lightingandpromenades

      Water(plumbing,fountainsandrivers)

      Markets

      Carriages

      Furnishingsanddecoration

      Atthetable

      Sizeandpopulation

      Prices,wagesandqualityoflife

      Artisans

      Reputations

      Women

      APPENDIX: Linguet on America

      INTRODUCTION

      The fiery lawyer and journalist Simon Nicolas Henri Linguet was one of those contentious figures found in every period whose real brilliance was combined with an often self-defeating desire to provoke (not to mention, in Linguet's case, a tendency to nurse quarrels). Himself a lover of paradox, he inspired paradoxical reactions. Louis XVI devoured each new issue of his newspaper, but allowed him to be put in the Bastille; the Revolutionaries executed him before, years later, Karl Marx praised him.

      If he became a journalist, it was because he had so irritated his fellow lawyers that they arranged to have him disbarred. His new profession took him in turn to London, where he began his immensely popular Annales politiques, civiles et littéraires du dix-huitième siècle, safe from French censorship. Starting with the first issue, he wrote a long and often detailed comparison of England and France which, though not free of exaggeration or swipes at real or imagined enemies, provides a valuable look at both countries and at key distinctions between them. Some of what he covers is general and conceptual, some is wonderfully specific and concrete; he moves from musings on political and legal systems to descriptions of furniture and food. Though he makes observations that apply to each nation as a whole, his reference points are the capitals of each country; he has little to say about the provinces or the countryside of either.

      In presenting a new translation of this valuable material, I have largely redacted the more egregious references to other writers, etc., which, for most modern readers, will be confusing distractions. It is useful to know, however, that Linguet, who was in many ways a free-thinker, nonetheless had clashed with some of the major philosophers and other writers of his time, and some of his sharper remarks reflect that. It is worth noting too that his past as a lawyer gives particular authority to his comments on French judicial matters.

      Most of the original content was presented in two long articles, neither divided into sections. For the convenience of modern readers, this edition inclues subject headings.

      Finally, an Appendix presents some famous remarks by Linguet on the young country of America.

      RESPONSE to an impatient subscriber

      From Annales politiques, civiles et littéraires du dix-huitième siècle (I-1777:252-274)

      Linguet's first comments on England were framed as a response to a subscriber who was eager for his impressions. Perhaps because of this, the first group is somewhat more tendentious and addresses more general subjects than those presented in the second (which tend to be far more concrete both in the choice of subject and their treatment). The opening pages begin characteristically by talking of Linguet himself and his quarrels; the first section offered here begins with the end of those remarks.

      Patriotism

      I have often been taxed with paradox, with not wanting to see what others before me have seen, and to prefer a new thing, so long as I find myself the first to say it. If I risked saying what struck me at first sight, what daily experience obliges me to be persuaded of more and more, and of which I try nonetheless to disabuse myself as much as possible, the cries would redouble with more fury.

      If, for example, I said that in old Albion, in this sanctuary of patriotism, defended and fed by republican forms, there is none, but none at all; that money is the only God of this island; that the most zealous champions of the nation, are so only until the moment where the Ministry renders them mute with a gilt gag; that all the Demosthenes of Parliament find themselves stuffed up with a cold, as soon as an office, a title, or an income, comes to welcome them on behalf of the court; that finally this change is so natural, so frequent, so well-set in the spirit of the nation, that it is not in the least shaming; that when one sees the Whig orator of the day before, become an ardent Tory the day after, one shows neither surprise, nor anger; that one only seeks to know the price of his conversion, and that one holds the personage in that much more esteem, for being well paid; I would speak the truth; I could support it with a thousand examples: but people would not fail to attack me; even though these facts are too well known by the English themselves, even though their Gazettes resound with them, I would be accused in France of audacity and of ingratitude; the philosophers would cry that no sooner am I arrived in London, but I abuse the asylum I find there; and the English, echoing these murderous pronouncements, would soon find me wrong to publish things, absolutely public among them, but which people would pretend to regard as a secret, as soon as it was

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