no C H A M B E R R Y . C H A M B E R R Y . I l l
/s
to enable the inhabitants to discharge a
portion of the talking fluid, which may
have accumulated to a painful excess during
the silence of the night. The Savoyards
are certainly the greatest talkers in Europe.*
Volney tells us that the French
settlers in America do not thrive, for instead
of building their houses on their
farms, to be near their work, they pack
them together for the convenience of talking:
he adds, that a Frenchman will rise
at four o’clock in the morning, in order to
go round to his neighbours, and talk about
it all the rest of the day. The shopkeepers
at Chamberry cannot be actuated
by this species of vanity, for where all do
the same, there can be nothing to boast of.
Intending to return to Chamberry, after
leaving Aix, the only objects of curiosity
we visited were Les Charmettes, and the
* P h y s i o l o g i s t s m a y , p e r h a p s , d e n y t h e e x i s t e n c e o f
s u c h a f l u i d i n t h e a n i m a l e c o n o m y , t h o u g h i t s e e m s
p r o v e d b y e x p e r i e n c e , t h a t s p e e c h i s n o t s o f r e q u e n t l y
e m p l o y e d t o c o m m u n i c a t e i d e a s , a s t o r e l i e v e t h e s p e a k e r
f r o m a c e r t a i n r e s t l e s s i r r i t a t i o n ; t h u s w e i n v a r i a b l y
f i n d , t h a t t h o s e p e r s o n s t a l k t h e m o s t , w h o h a v e t h e l e a s t
t o s a y . 1 h a v e s o m e t i m e s b e e n u t t e r l y a s t o n i s h e d a t
h e a r i n g t h e S a v o y a r d p e a s a n t r y k e e p u p a n u n i n t e r r u p t e d
f l o w o f w o r d s f o r s e v e r a l h o u r s .
house and grounds of Monsieur le Comte
de B. I shall here introduce an anecdote
connected with this gentleman, indicative
of the state of moral feeling among the
Savoyards.
Monsieur de B. is a native of Chamberry.
He went to India in a military capacity, and
entered into the service of one of the native
princes. After some years he returned
home, possessed of immense wealth, built
a handsome mansion in the environs of
Chamberry, which he has furnished in a
splendid manner, and laid out his grounds
in what is called the English style of gardening.
He has also contributed largely
to the improvement of l’Hôtel Dieu, and
other public hospitals ; has built, at his own
expence, an asylum for the support of decayed
tradesmen, and is constantly distributing
large sums in alms. But notwithstanding
his extensive charities, his name
is scarcely ever mentioned to a Savoyard,
without exciting the strongest feelings of
deep-rooted aversion and indignation. On
enquiring the cause of this, I was told that
Monsieur de B. had betrayed his trust, and
had sold Tippoo Saib to the English for an
immense sum of money. I endeavoured
r1