Part 3 (1/2)
Old tottering ruins and dismantled Towers may of themselves under many circ.u.mstances be justly deemed very picturesque objects, and merit to be valued accordingly, but to preserve and venerate _all_ solely for their historical a.s.sociations, which at best, are but too frequently the dark and ignominious doings of a clandestine and barbarous age, would seem to argue a morbid sensibility, more befitting the devoted and infatuated antiquarian, than the true and enlightened philosopher who sees language in stones and G.o.d in everything.
There are a few other ancient Chateaux and some inconsiderable architectural remains in the arrondis.e.m.e.nt, but as they present few or no features of general interest, it would be a work of supererogation to particularize them; we cannot however close these brief notices without particularly adverting to a very laudable and attractive modern inst.i.tution, situated at the pretty sequestered village of Mettray, about three miles from Tours. And this we shall do with the more pleasure, as its philanthropic object, judicious development of its practical plans, moral and religious administration, would do honor to any nation in the world.
The purport of this Inst.i.tution, which is denominated an ”Agricultural Colony”, is to reform juvenile delinquents; and by the inculcation of moral and religious principles, aided by sober methodical and industrious habits, to effect the great work of penitentiary reform. The founders and devoted benefactors of the colony are Mr de Metz and viscount de Bretigneres. These benevolent gentlemen took the sublime idea of such a project from the reform colony founded by the worthy and excellent Hickerr, at Horn near Hambourg in 1834. And they have so zealously and skilfully executed their designs, as to have already realized in all essential particulars, a beautiful model of their admirable prototype.
The colony is composed of a certain number of uniformly built houses;--Each house contains forty children, divided into two sections, and forming one family, headed by a chief, who has subject to his orders two under teachers.
The first Sunday of each month, a colonist is elected in the respective sections, who takes the t.i.tle of elder Brother; and serves as mediator between the masters and the pupils. The houses are erected (30 feet) distant from each other, and are united by sheds. The ground floor of the ”Maison de la Ville de Paris” occupied by the family A,--is organized like the work shops at Horn, it contains work rooms of tailors, shoemakers, saddlers, etc., and the rest are arranged in nearly the same manner. The house of Count d'Aurches on the ground floor contains six prison cells on the first story, the director's room, and that of the agent of the agricultural works. On the second story, the office and the lodging room of the accountable agent,--a forge and a braziers work shop for the service of the house, are established under the fourth shed. The adjacent large building is intended for a cla.s.s of 300 scholars; the chaplain and the professor of gymnastics occupy the house opposite those of the colonists. A handsome chapel has recently been added to the establishment.
The instruction given to the colonists is regulated by the station they are likely to fill in the world.
For the suppression of vice, a tribunal composed of the colonists inscribed on the honourable list, is deputed to try serious offences, the directors reserving to themselves the right of softening those judgments which may be too severe.
The heads of each family (young men of irreproachable conduct, selected on the formation of the colony from poor but respectable familyies) conduct their children to the fields, and the work rooms, which are separated into several divisions by a part.i.tion of a yard in height; by the manner of which distribution a single chief can at the same time overlook the works of the whole. After the ordinary occupations of the day, the children return to their respective families, where it is sought to instil in their hardened minds those affections and good feelings which the carelessness or depravity of their parents had blighted.
When a fresh pupil arrives at the establishment, he is placed under the peculiar care of an intelligent person who studies his disposition, and who each day gives to the director an account of the results of his observations; after a certain period of trial, the child is admitted in a family, where is performed a religious ceremony, and a sermon preached to prove the blessing of finding a safe asylum after many temptations;--it is then the new comer is reinstated in the eyes of the colony and its directors; who take it on themselves, if he conducts himself well, to place him, and to appoint him a zealous patron who enjoys public esteem.
Such is the philanthropic nature of the system adopted in this admirable inst.i.tution, already productive of the happiest results; and so judiciously and efficaciously have the economical and industrial departments been conducted, that it is confidently expected, the colony will in two years support itself.
The visitor will he highly gratified by a trip to this establishment, the _tout ensemble_ of which on a fine summer's day, particularly, is one of surpa.s.sing loveliness. Its pretty white Swisslike buildings are completely environed by woods, groves, vineyards, and tastefully decorated pleasure grounds, which, viewed as the hallowed precincts of practical humanity and piety, are highly calculated to inspire the reflective mind with the most pleasing thoughts and emotions.
Peaceful abode! with rural beauty rife, And charms that smooth the rugged paths of life; Here human aid a.s.sumes a power divine, And _Virtue's_ fix'd her gentle, hallowed shrine; Erring, untutor'd youth, enraptur'd pause Mid wild career, to recognize her laws.
_Vice_ with her direful train abash'd retires, Nor dares to light her soul-consuming fires; _Industry_ with her sober, powerful arm, Guards the young mind, and keeps the pa.s.sions calm: While benign _religion_, with sweet controul, Gently compels, the wild and wayward soul To taste the various joys her truths impart, And kiss the rod that rectifies the heart.
The customary paved roads having in this department as in many other provinces of France been broken up, and superseded by well formed macadamized ones, trips into the surrounding country can be performed with as much ease and facility as is afforded by the unequalled highways of England.
The steam packets which navigate the river as far down as Nantes, and up to Orleans, offer every facility for agreeable excursions.
SOCIETY.
It is presumed that in closing these multifarious notices, a few words touching the social habits and condition of the little _coterie_ of English located at Tours, may prove acceptable to the general reader, as well as to persons who contemplate an abode within its interesting precincts.
The established etiquette is, for those who have resolved on a period of residence, _first_ to call upon such of the British residents as they may feel disposed to visit, which acts of courtesy, are, generally speaking, the prelude to a reciprocity of agreeable and social intercourse.
An air of high respectability, and elegance, is characteristic of the Anglo-French circle of acquaintance pervading Tours and its environs; the newly arrived man of social habits and fas.h.i.+on, may if he chooses, soon possess the happy consciousness of feeling, that, though distant from friends and native land, he has his customary social comforts, and habitual pleasures and refinements of life, completely at his command.
It is true, these enjoyments exist in a limited and circ.u.mscribed form, but for this very reason, facility of intercourse and goodfellows.h.i.+p, are distinguished by an acuteness of character, rarely to be found in the far more expansive arrondis.e.m.e.nts of English society at home.
The warm, generous heart of the Englishman, like the concentrated rays of the genial orb of day, here, glows with the greater intensity on all who come within the sphere of its vivifying influence.
Behold him seated at his hospitable board, which groans beneath the cheapened luxuries and substantial fare, alike of his native and his adopted land, and gladdened by the presence of his selected countrymen, who perhaps like himself, have quitted their native sh.o.r.es, to seek for renewed pleasure, wonted repose, health, or it may be economy, abroad.
The sparkling champagne speedily thaws the icy formula which too often envelopes and conceals the best, inherent feelings of his nature, and in the exuberance of his zeal for the universal cultivation of the _social principle_, and his lively sense of national toleration and liberality, he rises to toast, with equal sincerity, the beloved Queen of old England, or the citizen King of France.
And in what a pretty sylvan retreat has he snugly domiciled himself!--his white freestone villa, which presents a pleasing display of architectural elegance, is replete with every internal comfort; a smiling _parterre_, decked with many a fine specimen of the stately cypress, a garden stored with rare and luscious fruits, and the generous vine every where hanging in graceful festoons, are the most prominent adjuncts of his sequestered retirement.
There is in short, an exclusiveness, a completeness, s.p.a.ciousness and peacefulness, about this his foreign abode, which comports well with his native feelings, and closely a.s.similates with the home of his childhood.
Such are the brighter parts of a pleasing picture, and it would hardly appear fair, were we to recount them without a glance at its darker shades, which, circ.u.mscribed like some of the former; are also of an intense character, and in the busy workings of the ill disposed curiosity monger, often appear, as the concentrated essence of bold conjecture. In plain terms, here, as in other small communities, the condition, and character of individuals, are constantly subjected to the microscopic investigations of the vigilant, and not over scrupulous retailers of flying news, and _interesting on dits_.
The good feeling of the well-bred, and liberal minded Frenchman, is ever here, manifested towards the English, in a variety of pleasing demonstrations, const.i.tuting a series of practical ill.u.s.trations of that native politeness, for which he is pre-eminently distinguished.