DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.61284#0307
BAD MANNERS AT BATH
157
in Paris, “ to find there the delights of Capua.” Alas ! she found nothing
much to her taste in the amusements procurable at that famous city,
except on the “ mountains ” surrounding it, which she liked to climb in
the mornings. Even that “ delight ” was usually denied to her, as it was
nearly always raining. She thought the principal architectural features
of Bath in rather poor taste, but admired the general appearance of the
town from a distance, whence, she declares, “ the effect is immense.”
Even in the streets and squares she “ fancied herself in a town of the
ancient Romans,” and whatever the “ taste” of the buildings that cover
the slopes of Lansdown Hill, she admits that Bath is “ undoubtedly the
most beautiful town in the kingdom.” The air was delicious to her, if the
people pleased her not. For the public entertainments the “ Upper Room ”
and the Pump Room were either crowded to suffocation or nearly empty,
and the behaviour of some of the company seemed very disagreeable.
Of one of the suppers after a concert, for instance, to which Madame
went with her friend Madame de Beaurepaire, she writes to Etienne Vigee :
“We took our places next to some very old and very ugly Englishwomen.
I reasonably supposed that they were of the number of those who never
leave their own provincial district, where they preserve la morgue gothique;
for the grandes dames of London and the Englishwomen who have travelled
are agreeable and well-mannered, whilst our neighbours on this occasion,
as soon as we were seated, turned their backs on us with a certain air of
contempt. We had resigned ourselves to support the disdain of these
old women, when an Englishman who knew them came up, and said
something very quietly to them, which made them turn towards us at once
and show us more civility.” It is not difficult to imagine what the magic
words were. “ That French lady next you is Madame Vigee-Lebrun, the
famous portrait-painter,” was probably very nearly the remark that turned
those heads from one side to another.
It must again and always be remembered, in healing Madame Lebrun’s
criticisms on her experiences in this country, that she did not know the
language. Of course the plays, and routs, and Pump-room life of Bath
were dull to her, after her first curiosity of vision had been satisfied. She
stayed for three weeks in the town, mostly occupied indoors, waiting for
the rain to stop ! The air was autumnal, she never felt cold, and there was
foliage on many of the trees, “ which prolongs the belle saison, and gives
us the illusion of fine weather.”
In that year, 1803, Jane Austen was at Bath, living with her family
157
in Paris, “ to find there the delights of Capua.” Alas ! she found nothing
much to her taste in the amusements procurable at that famous city,
except on the “ mountains ” surrounding it, which she liked to climb in
the mornings. Even that “ delight ” was usually denied to her, as it was
nearly always raining. She thought the principal architectural features
of Bath in rather poor taste, but admired the general appearance of the
town from a distance, whence, she declares, “ the effect is immense.”
Even in the streets and squares she “ fancied herself in a town of the
ancient Romans,” and whatever the “ taste” of the buildings that cover
the slopes of Lansdown Hill, she admits that Bath is “ undoubtedly the
most beautiful town in the kingdom.” The air was delicious to her, if the
people pleased her not. For the public entertainments the “ Upper Room ”
and the Pump Room were either crowded to suffocation or nearly empty,
and the behaviour of some of the company seemed very disagreeable.
Of one of the suppers after a concert, for instance, to which Madame
went with her friend Madame de Beaurepaire, she writes to Etienne Vigee :
“We took our places next to some very old and very ugly Englishwomen.
I reasonably supposed that they were of the number of those who never
leave their own provincial district, where they preserve la morgue gothique;
for the grandes dames of London and the Englishwomen who have travelled
are agreeable and well-mannered, whilst our neighbours on this occasion,
as soon as we were seated, turned their backs on us with a certain air of
contempt. We had resigned ourselves to support the disdain of these
old women, when an Englishman who knew them came up, and said
something very quietly to them, which made them turn towards us at once
and show us more civility.” It is not difficult to imagine what the magic
words were. “ That French lady next you is Madame Vigee-Lebrun, the
famous portrait-painter,” was probably very nearly the remark that turned
those heads from one side to another.
It must again and always be remembered, in healing Madame Lebrun’s
criticisms on her experiences in this country, that she did not know the
language. Of course the plays, and routs, and Pump-room life of Bath
were dull to her, after her first curiosity of vision had been satisfied. She
stayed for three weeks in the town, mostly occupied indoors, waiting for
the rain to stop ! The air was autumnal, she never felt cold, and there was
foliage on many of the trees, “ which prolongs the belle saison, and gives
us the illusion of fine weather.”
In that year, 1803, Jane Austen was at Bath, living with her family