II! '
o n fait imported from Sardinia, and fold on the king's account at four fols per pound,
o r two-pence Englifli ; tobacco, iliot, 'papier timbré' (fimilar to the Engl i i h ftamp tax) ;
alfo on butchery and bakery, which his Majefty farmed to the highcft bidder at fo much
a year; notwithilandiug which, I never knew the price of meat to cxceed five fols per
pound (twelve ounccs t o the pound), and bread two fols.
T h e dut}' o n wine imported from P rovence was likewife very p roduf t ive ; for in general
the merchants at Nicc, who received commiiTions for exportation, frequently fent for thofe
and Languedoc, which they fold for Nice w i n e : but be that as it may, I purchafed, in 1785,
moil delicious wine from St. George in Provence, for two Engliih pence per bottle, and
f o r four you might have the beil in die county, pm'chafed, by the by, of tlie peafants, w]ro
are in reality the manufa£hirei-s, for elfcwhere you woul d pay an exorbitant price. Thefe
impofls were partly farmed and partly en ' régie,' or managed, on the king's account, and
tlie p roduce depofited in the treafury, under the direftion of an intendant and vice-intendant,
fent by the royal autîiority, in cach province. The appointment of intendant
was generally given to nobles, who were accounted receivers general for the crown,
t h o u g h under the immediate infpeftion of l'intendant général of the finances, who refided
a t Turin.
Nice being a garrifon town, there was affigned to it bot h a governor and commandant;
t h e latter, during the abfence of the firft, taking the title of commandant général du pays.
T h e y wer e bot h intrufted with the military and police of the town and county; and, as the
Sardinian government is mor e military than civil, thofe poi l s were given to men of rank in
t h e army, with unlimited power to ftop, imprifon, infliéb corporal puniihment, and even
banifhment, on all they thought proper, without any refponfibility whatever.
T h e y could likewife enforce payment , or reftitution, from individual to individual, with
imprifonment in cafe of refufal , p rovided the value did not exceed a certain ilipulated fum,
for then the deciiion devolved on the fenate of Nice. This lenate, whofe province was tç>
adminifter both civil and criminal juft ice, under the fuperintendance of an avocat général,
fent hither by the king, was provided with a prefident and a certain number of fenators,
who were dift ingui ihed by their purpl e robes, ermine, and other enfigns of authority
worn at their proceffions, and when appearing in their judicial capacities. They had the
power of life and death through the whol e county ; but the criminal had a right to appeal
to the king, who had the privilege of pardoning or condemning at his pleafure. This
fenate was eilablilhed, in l6l4, by Charles Emanuel theFiril. As for the management
of the internal economy of the town, fuch as the regulation of the markets, public places,
flreets, &c. there were confuís taken from the claffes of nobles, merchants, or
bourgeois; and peafants chofen annually by the people at the Maifon de Ville, who
i n t r u i l ed with thofe regulations.
T h e r e was likewife the ' tribunal du confulat,' which was formed of a commiflion
from the fenate. Thefe magiftrates determined, ' e n dernier refort," all commercial affairs,
with full power to arreft and feize on all efPcits belonging to debtors or bankrupts, provided
they had not fettled their affairs wi thi n the t ime prefcribed by law.
W i t h refpea t o the fpkitual ilate of the country, it remained entirely wi t h the bilhop
who refided at Nice; for though there be no inquifition, yet he had the power of
p u n i i h i n g thofe who occafioned the leaft fcandal by dieir conduA or writings. The predominant
religion of the country is Catliolic; but as b y the edi(ft of Charles Emanuel the
T h i r d , king of Sardinia in 1740, the ports of Nice and Villa-Franca were made free, Proteilants
and Jews were indifcriminately allowed to refide at Nice, and even purchafc land.
His prefent Majefty of Sardinia, Viftor Amedseus the Third, had alfo granted fome
ground, in the vicinity of the harbour, to firangcrs gratis, for the conñruél ing of houfes
and magazines, with this reftriition, that they were t o be built according to a plan given
fay the engineer of the port. Tha-e are fome already finiihed on this plan, belonging to
Jews and other ftrangers.
. Proteitants," not being tolerated to have public worihip, were under the ncceifity of
affembling at private houfes, where the fervice was regularly performed every Sunday
without the leail fear or moleftation, eiúicr from the b i fhop or tlie people; for this prel
a t e had n o authority whatever over them, unlefe they happened to interfere in religious
concerns.
I rnuft not omit mentioning a cfrcumflance which oceurrcd whilft I was at Nice in
1787, which will prove how wonderfully prejudices were at tliat time thrown off, and
likewife do infinite honour to its author.
H i s excellency Dc V«** was then tlie refident biihop, a man fufficiently k n own for his
excellent charafler, purenefs of manners, and enlightened mind, laying afide his high
birth, wlüch was certaiiüy of one of tlie firil families in Piedmont . This worthy prelate
liaving learnt that an Englifii fami ly, wh o had come from Naples to Nice, where they had
refided fome time, had, in confequence of the bad ftate of their finances, having contraded
debts bej'ond their power to pay, dcfa-ted tlieir offepring, and wei-e gone to France, to