Young und Okey - 1915 - Travels in France and Italy during the years 1787,

Travels in France and Italy/39
and guides for persons travelling on business to Saragossa and Barcelona,
and at our request wrote to Vielle, the first Spanish town across the
mountains, for three mules and a conductor who speaks French; and
being arrived according to appointment, we set out on our expedition.
For the register of this Tour into Spain, I must refer the reader to the
Annals of Agriculture, vol. viii. p. 193.
JULY 21. Return.—Leave Jonquieres, where the countenances and
manners of the people would make one believe all the inhabitants were
smugglers. Come to a most noble road which the King of Spain is making;
it begins at the pillars that mark the boundaries of the two monarchies,
joining with the French road: it is admirably executed. Here take
leave of Spain and re-enter France: the contrast is striking. When one
crosses the sea from Dover to Calais, the preparation and circumstance
of a naval passage lead the mind by some gradation to a change: but
here, without going through a town, a barrier, or even a wall, you enter
a new world. From the natural and miserable roads of Catalonia, you
tread at once on a noble causeway, made with all the solidity and magnificence
that distinguishes the highways of France. Instead of beds of
torrents you have well built bridges; and from a country wild, desert,
and poor, we found ourselves in the midst of cultivation and improvement.
Every other circumstance spoke the same language, and told us
by signs not to be mistaken, and some great and operating cause worked
an effect too clear to be misunderstood. The more one sees, the more I
believe we shall be led to think, that there is but one all-powerful cause
that instigates mankind, and that is GOVERNMENT!—Others form exceptions,
and give shades of difference and distinction, but this acts with
permanent and universal force. The present instance is remarkable; for
Roussillon is in fact a part of Spain; the inhabitants are Spaniards in
language and in customs; but they are under a French government.
Great range of the Pyrenees at a distance. Meet shepherds that speak
the Catalan. The cabriolets we meet are Spanish. The farmers thresh
their corn like the Spaniards. The inns and the houses are the same.
Reach Perpignan; there I parted with Monsieur Lazowski. He returned
to Bagnere de Luchon, but I had planned a tour in Languedoc to fill up
the time to spare.—15 miles.
22nd. The Duke de la Rochefoucauld had given me a letter to Monsieur
Barri de Lasseuses, major of a regiment at Perpignan, and who, he
said, understood agriculture, and would be glad to converse with me on
the subject. I sallied out in the morning to find him, but being Sunday,