Tourbilly i i 



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oldest labourer to be found of the late Marquis de Tourbilly 's. 

 I was pleased to hear that one was alive who had worked with 

 him from the beginning of his improvement. At breakfast 

 Monsieur de Gal way introduced me to his brother, who also 

 spoke English, and regretted that he could not do the same to 

 Madame de Galway, who was in the strav/: he then gave me an 

 account of his father's acquiring the estate and chateau of 

 Tourbilly. His great-grandfather came to Bretagne with King 

 James II. when he fled from the English throne; some of the 

 same family are still living in the county of Cork, particularly 

 at Lotta. His father was famous in that province for his skilP 

 in agriculture, and as a reward for an improvement he had 

 wrought on the landes, the states of the province ga\'e him a 

 waste tract in the island of Belleisle, which at present belongs 

 to his son. Hearing that the i\Iarquis de Tourbilly was totally 

 ruined and his estates in Anjou to be sold by the creditors, he- 

 viewed them, and finding the land very improvable made the 

 purchase, giving about 15,000 louis d'ors for Tourbilly, a price 

 which made the acquisition highly advantageous, notwithstanding 

 his having bought some lawsuits with the estate. It is about 

 3000 arpents, nearly contiguous, the seigneury of two parishes,, 

 with the haute justice, etc., a handsome, large, and convenient 

 chateau, offices very complete, and many plantations, the work 

 of the celebrated man concerning whom my inquiries were 

 directed. I was almost breathless on the question of so great 

 an improver being ruined! "You are unhappy that a man 

 should be ruined by an art you love so much." Precisely so. 

 But he eased me in a moment, by adding that if the marquis had' 

 done nothing but farm and improve, he had never been ruined. 

 One day as he was boring to find marl, his ill-stars discoverea 

 a vein of earth perfectly white, which on trial did not effervesce- 

 with acids. It struck him as an acquisition for porcelain— he 

 showed it to a manufacturer — it was pronounced excellent : the 

 marquis's imagination took lire, and he thought of converting 

 the poor village of Tourbilly into a town by a fabric of china — 

 he went to work on his own account — raised buildings — and got 

 together all that was necessary, except skill and capital. — In 

 fine, he made good porcelain, was cheated by his agents and 

 people, and at last ruined. A soap manufactory which he 

 established also, as well as some lawsuits relative to other 

 estates, had their share in causing his misfortunes : his creditors 

 seized the estate, but permitted him to administer it till his 

 death, when it was sold. The only part of the tale that lessened; 



