1 1 2 Travels in France 



This perplexed me more and more, and I renewed my inquirie? 

 with so much eagerness that several people, I believe, though; 

 me half mad. At last I met with an ancient lady who solved rar 

 difficulty; she informed me that Tourbilly, about twelve mils 

 from La Fleche, was the place I was in search of: that it be- 

 longed to the marquis of that name who had written some boots 

 she believed; that he died twenty years ago insolvent; that tie 

 father of the present Marquis de Galway bought the estate. 

 This was sufficient for my purpose; I determined to take a 

 guide the next morning, and, as I could not visit the marquis, £t 

 least see the remains of his improvements. The news, however, 

 that he died insolvent, hurt me very much; it was a bad 

 commentary on his book, and foresaw that whoever I should 

 find at Tourbilly would be full of ridicule on a husbandry that 

 proved the loss of the estate on which it was practised. — 

 30 miles. 



2gth. This morning I executed my project; my guide was 

 a countryman with a good pair of legs, who conducted me across 

 a range of such ling wastes as the marquis speaks of in his 

 memoir. They appear boundless here; and I was told that I 

 could travel many, many days and see nothing else: what fields 

 of improvement to make, not to lose estates ! At last we arrived 

 at Tourbilly, a poor village of a few scattered houses, in a vale 

 between two rising grounds which are yet heath and waste; the 

 chateau in the mJdst, with plantations of fine poplars leading 

 to it. I cannot easily express the anxious inquisitive curiosity 

 I felt to examine every scrap of the estate ; no hedge or tree, no 

 hush but what was interesting to me ; I had read the translation 

 of the marquis's history of his improvements in Mr. Mills' 

 husbandr\% and thought it the most interesting morsel I had 

 met with, long before I procured the original Memotre sur les 

 defrichemens ; and determined that if ever I should go to 

 France to view improvements the recital of which had given 

 me such pleasure. I had neither letter nor introduction to the 

 present owner, the Marquis de Galway. I therefore stated to 

 him the plain fact that I had read Monsieur de Tourbilly's book 

 with so much pleasure that I wished much to view the improve- 

 ments described in it; he answered me directly in good English, 

 received me with such cordiaHty of politeness, and such ex- 

 pressions of regard for the purport of my travels, that he put 

 me perfectly in humour with myself and consequently with all 

 around me. He ordered breakfast a VAngloise ; gave orders 

 for a man to attend us in our walk, who I desired might be the 



