THE LIBRARY 
 
 OF 
 
 THE UNIVERSITY 
 
 OF CALIFORNIA 
 
 LOS ANGELES
 
 n 

 
 TOUR 
 
 THROUGH THE 
 
 WESTERN, SOUTHERN, ANa INTERIOR 
 
 PROVINCES 
 
 OF 
 
 F m A N E, 
 
 IN THE YEARS 1775, AND 1776. 
 BY 
 
 NATHL WILLM WRAXALL, ESQ. 
 
 THE THIRD EDITION^ 
 
 CORRECTED AND AUGMENTED. 
 
 LONDON: 
 
 >RINTED FOR J. MAWMAN, IN THE POULTBTfi 
 HY B. M'MILLAN, BOW STREET, COVENT GADK. 
 
 ^ 1807. 
 
 cy ci^ios (1')'^
 
 DC 
 
 THE favorable reception which ha 
 ba'ii given to the present small work, by 
 the sale of two editions, renders it unneces- 
 sary to offer any excuse for presenting it a 
 third time to the public. There is how- 
 ever another circumstance, which may 
 perhaps be thought to give it some addi- 
 tional interest in the present age. The fero- 
 cious antipathy towards Royalty, which 
 animated and characterized the republican 
 anarchists, who desolated France from 1791, 
 to 1800, has spared scarcely any monu- 
 ment of piety, art, or magnificence, thro'- 
 out that country. It would be in vain for 
 the traveller who now visits France, to 
 seek for the tomb of Laura at Avignon, for 
 that of Agnes Soreille at Loches, or for 
 those of Henry the second and Richard tlie 
 
 first
 
 Yl 
 
 first at Fontevrauld. Those savage inno- 
 vators, who in their impotent rage did not 
 respect the monuments of their own kings 
 at St. Denis ; who tore from the earth the 
 bones of Louis the tAvelfih, suvnaracd "tlie 
 " Father of his People." and threw the 
 equestrian statue of Henry the fourth into 
 the Seine ; such men could not be expected 
 to spare the monuments of antiquity scat- 
 tered profusely over France. 
 
 Even the massy fabric of tlic abbey of 
 the " Mont St. Michel," which from its 
 solidity seemed to bid defiance to their out- 
 rages; and the majestic edifice of the castle^ 
 of Blois, which presented so many affect- 
 ing objects, and awakened so many inte- 
 resting recollections ^n the beholder ; have 
 been dilapidated or deformed, in the pro- 
 gress of the Revolution. The Writer of 
 this Tour, who may be said rather to have 
 wandered, than to have travelled, over a 
 
 conside-
 
 Vll 
 
 considerable portion of France, during that 
 transitory, but happy period of the reign 
 of Louis the sixteenth, which intervened 
 between his accession, and the commence- 
 ment of the American war ; saw many beau- 
 tiful remains of past ages, which have no 
 longer any existence. 
 
 Those persons, therefore, who like to 
 contemplate such a picture, may perhaps 
 find a gratification in perusing the follow- 
 ing sheets. They convey some imperfect 
 idea of the aspect of the Western, Southern, 
 and Interior Provinces of that kingdom, as- 
 they appeared to the eye of the historian 
 and the antiquary, more than thirty years 
 ago. Some reflections have likewise found 
 their way into the present edition of the 
 work, which, it is hoped, if they do not 
 embellish, do not detract, from its origii\al 
 character. 
 
 2d Novemler, I807.
 
 4-c. 
 
 Carenten in Low Normandy, 
 Saturday, 2eth August, 1775; 
 
 XrOU shall be obeyed, mydearSir; and 
 I prepare myself with pleasure, to, 
 give you the same niiuute narration of the 
 events which diversity my present tour, as 
 I did ill ray last, round the Baltic. 
 ^ .\l landed in this kingdom, at Cherbourg, 
 <Mi Wednesday evening. The ruins of the 
 pier, which was demolished by our troops 
 in the late war, present a humiliating pic- 
 ture of devastation, as they still remain 
 exactly in the state that they were left on 
 the re-embarsation of the English in 175S. 
 ^The town itself impresses a strau^r with 
 
 B SO
 
 no high ideas of opulence or commerce. H 
 is a wretched collection of houses, crouded 
 together in a sandy valley close to the shore ; 
 dirty, mean, and irregular. Ti)e situation 
 alone, in the centre of the British channel, 
 between the , two Capes of Barfleur and La 
 Hogue, has rendered it always important in 
 the eye of policy. 
 
 If Havre de Grace has been ever esteemed 
 with reason, the key of High Normandy, 
 Cherbourg is equally so of tlie Lower. 
 During the many reigns, from William the 
 Conqueror down to John, under which it 
 was subject to the English government, our 
 princes appear to have been sensible of its 
 full value. They often landed there, when 
 called aver by the revolts of their barons, 
 or insurrections of their subjects ; and wc 
 find the Norman princes in particular, who 
 frequently resided at Winchester, usually 
 embarking for this port, in preference to 
 any other of their French dominions. A 
 very strong gairison was generally main- 
 tained in it ; and Charles the seventh, whose 
 destiny it was to restore tlie French mo- 
 narchy from the abyss of calamity, into 
 "' w hich
 
 3' 
 
 "wliich it hud been plunged duriri^ tlie in* 
 sanity of liis father; terminated his long 
 trairi'ftf victories over tlix3 timid and divided 
 'counsels of our' Henry the sixth, by this- 
 important conquest. It was re-anri^xed to 
 4:lie crown of France irt 1450. I am sur- 
 ^mzed to fiwd that the French ministry 
 have never fortified this city, which from 
 its position must alwaj'S- lie formidable. 
 Oharlas the Bad, kin^ of Navalt(*, aprifiei 
 whose criir.c^ justly merited th'e epithet at- 
 tached to liis name in history ; and into 
 whose hand^ Cherbourg was sefciuestered iii 
 the fifteenth century, surrouinled it witli 
 walls iu the (Jotliic style of defence. TheJ- 
 if mainixl till Louis the fourteehdi's reigri, 
 wfea, 'deeply inl pressed with the importance 
 of the ])lace, disimintled it, with the inten- 
 tion of fortifying it anew : but the Marquis 
 dc'Barbcsieux^ who was then the ioiinister of 
 that sovc'reign, found o(her more pressing 
 demands for the public money, in the wars 
 ithich. opened the present ccntiiry, and 
 ^hich iihook his'hiaster's throne. 
 "'About half a nnle from the town, rises a, 
 ^iff or rock of prodigious height. I as- 
 *>"^^ 2 ceiided
 
 ccnded it by a long windino^ path, across the 
 adjohiing mountain. On the top I found a 
 little convent of Benedictine monks, or her- 
 mits for so they term themselves who 
 have chosen to quit the vale below; and 
 having retired to the bleak summit, culti- 
 vite a few acres of ground, barren and 
 stony, from which they procure with diffi- 
 culty a miserable subsistence. One of fnem, 
 the Superior, after having shown me the 
 little chapel and Refectory, led me to the 
 extreme point of the clifl', on Avliicli f,(ands 
 a crucifix. '* This," said he, '* is tlie spot, 
 *< from whence John, king of England, is 
 <* said to have precipitated his m^phevv, 
 *' prince Arthur of Bretagne. Tradition 
 ** reports, that he executed the deed with 
 <* his own hand, in a tempestuous niglit; 
 and that the sea, wliich, tho' now it has 
 ** retreated to some distance, then washed 
 ** the foot of the rock, received the body 
 *< of the unhappy prince." 
 
 You remember, no doubt, this part of 
 the English history, which iKiturally leads 
 to many reflections. The unfortunate Ar- 
 thur wan un<l.uestionably, if the rights of 
 
 lineal
 
 lineal snccession, and of representation, had 
 been Iheu established or respected ; the law- 
 ful heir to the Kn<i:;lish crown, on the death 
 of his uncle, Richard the first. John, like 
 Stephen, was in fact, an Usurper, tho' we da 
 not so denominate them, or consider them. 
 But, the valor, and even the misfortunes 
 of Steplien, render him respectable. The 
 pusillaninuty, incapacity, and cruelty of 
 Jt>hn, have, in every period of time, justly 
 exposed him to detestation. His neplicw, if 
 in fact he perished in the manner related, 
 yvtis the first prince of that great family of 
 Plantagenet, wlio fell by the hands of his 
 own relations, after their accession to the 
 throne of England. It is, ho#ever, a very 
 disputable fact ; and there is scarcely any 
 illustrious death commemorated in our an- 
 nals, the circumstances of wliich are kss 
 clearly ascertainctl, than that in question. It 
 is certain thnt prince Arthur, id'ter having 
 been conducted thro' several provinces of 
 France, with ignominy, by Jiis uncle king* 
 John, finally disappeared in 1203. iiut, so 
 far are historians from positively naming the 
 time, orthenuumer ot his exit, tiiatthey dis- 
 b3 agre#
 
 Agree even in the. place of his confiueracpt, 
 previous (o that event ; and >vhether he was 
 imprisoned in the caslie of Rouen, of Fa-. 
 laise, prill thit of Cherboiir<;f, immediatelj. 
 preceding his dtath; for these three. are 
 all nanutd cannot precisely be determined. 
 There is another vestig^e of our English" 
 monarchs yet in being here, ^^hich stands, 
 however, on incontestiblf authority, and 
 can p!( a 1 more proof than mere tradition. 
 T'> t'u westward pf the town, about a mile 
 dist uit from it, a little rivulet empties itself 
 into tli.e scii, which is called the " Chan- 
 " tercine.*' In a meadow, a few paces 
 from the shore, stands a small chapel, 
 which was built by Matilda, danghter of. 
 Henry the first, and mother of Henry the 
 secorid. History relates, that in the reign 
 of Stephen, Who, as I have already observed, 
 usurped the throne, she passed over from 
 Wareiiain into Normandy, with a view to. 
 raise fre>h forces in support of hrr claim. 
 Being attacked by a violent tempest at sea, 
 sh<' had, it is said, recourse to the same 
 means which Philip the second used at St. 
 Quintin, and Pope Clement the seventh. 
 
 exerted
 
 exerted, at the sack of Rome, to avert tlie 
 danger I ineuii, pniyeis. Jt does not ap- 
 pear that Matilda, on this occasion, ad> 
 dressetl herself to the Deity, or even to 
 Jesus Christ; but, reposing her whole hope 
 in the Virgin Mary, she made avow that 
 ifshc ever should set her foot ;igain on lai-id, 
 she would sing a hymn to the V irgin, on 
 the spot where she first alighted. Her vows 
 Avere heartl ; the storm abated, and she 
 arrived happily near Clicrbonrg. The in- 
 stant that she got on shore, one of the sailors 
 reini;ided her of her promise, in these words,, 
 '* Ghante, reinc, vcchi terre!" and as the 
 \yord8 were spoken exaciiy at tlie mouth of 
 this rivulet, tliey gave rise to the name 
 which it retains to the present day. Nvt 
 content with so small a mark of her grati- 
 tude to Heaven, she erected the chapel 
 which I have mentioned, and which is 
 called "jViot re Dame du V'oeu." 1 went 
 ittjto it. Tlic story is there recorded at 
 length. The architecture bears every mark 
 oi' extreme rudeness and b:irbarism, such 
 OS characterized the age iu which it was 
 built.; Six centuries, which ht^ve elapsed 
 4 since
 
 srrt*^*<AsthrctIon, have \nhaefKd the 
 storics'^hat cotltposeit, .-ind bei^in fothronten 
 its total fleinDlition. A^ I went out, I re- 
 marked an iron box, npparenfly coeval vn'iih 
 the chapd ; Vrid over if^ on the v\;-T1^ in 
 eliaracters almost erased, A^as percept iblc 
 an inscription, siirnifjiii/jr, that it was iii- 
 trndetl for charitable donations towards re- 
 pain'no; " Oar'Ltidj^dd V ceu." 
 
 Cherbourg; pretends to very high anti- 
 jiiit_y'. it is said to hjive been originally 
 called (^fPsaVbonrg. Richard the second, 
 duke of Normandy, uncle to William the 
 f -onquerofrj built a strong castle here ; and 
 baving coiAd in person to view it, was so 
 pleased with the situation of the place, nnd 
 ifs obvious importance for the defence of 
 Iris dondiiionii, that lie exckimed in a rap- 
 lure, *' Ly cnsfet 'pst wti clicr bourg per- 
 '^dpni r' This trilling cTrciimHtance >vas thi^ 
 oHgiTi of its pjesent name. Coins of several 
 *]{onvan emperors have been dug up here at 
 different timt s ; and a gentleman shewc<\ 
 mc one, in tine preservation, of Antoninus 
 Pins, found only a few years since. Other 
 traditions coniirspi tlii tact 5 aud the beau-, 
 
 tiful
 
 tlful " Val-de-Saire," which lies in the 
 eastern part of the Coutentin, near Cape 
 Barflcnr, is said to be a corruption of " Val- 
 " de-Ceres," by Avhich name tlie Romans 
 I allwl it, in honor of that goddess, from, 
 its extraordinary fertility. 
 
 I quitted Cherbourg yesterdtiy moniing, 
 and after dining at V alognes, a considerable 
 town, arrived here last night. I would 
 have proceeded for Coutances this morn- 
 ing; but tlie marriage of Madame Clotildc, 
 the king\s eldest sister, to the pripce of 
 Piedmont, has left these provinces withuut 
 liorses, as they are ordered to Paris, ia 
 order to convey the princess and her train 
 to Turin. I am therefore under the neccs 
 sity of staying liere till tomorrow ; and, for 
 want of other amusement, 1 have wandered' 
 over this place, and its environs. 
 
 The toAvn of Carenten is sm.all, but tfie 
 ruins of the castle are very beautiful. It is 
 celebrated in the civil wars under Charles 
 the ninth, and in those of the league which- 
 followed, during the reigns of Henry the 
 third and fourth. The architecture of the 
 great church iseleg;>iit; it was built in the 
 B 5 fifteenths
 
 10 
 
 fifteenth century, when the Gothic structures 
 hnd almost attained to their highest point 
 of beauty and perfection. There Avas no- 
 thing in the inside which merited attention, 
 except an altar, and a painting dedicated 
 to St. Caecilia. The sweet saint appears 
 playing on a sort of harpsichord, herfi. gers 
 rnnamg negligently over the keys. A blue 
 mantle, loosely buckled over her shoulder, 
 exposes part of her neck to view, and her 
 fair hair floats down her back. The balls 
 of her yes are thrown up to heaven, in a 
 fine frenzy of musical enthusiasm .If there- 
 \vere many such canonized beauties in the 
 IloT))ish calendar, it would be a dangerous 
 religion The heart raise altars io them 
 Tjithout the aid of piety. 
 
 I stall continue my remarks as I proceed. 
 
 t.: 
 
 - .... J 
 
 V . 4 .' 
 
 
 rli"'^"J 
 
 
 il^>.r-'^- 
 
 ivm^'^i "'^ 
 
 -^di ! 
 
 Al^i. H-^ 

 
 11 
 
 Coutanccs, 
 Monday, 28th Aug. 1775. 
 
 It is only six leagues from Carcnten to 
 tbis city ; hut the road, even at this season 
 oltUc year, is so bad, that those of VVest- 
 pbalia and Brandenburgh are line in coni- 
 paiison. Tiie rou(Uf Low Normandy are 
 proverbially infamous beyond any in 
 France ; and 1 should never have had the 
 boldness to venture thro' them in a carriage, 
 if I had previously known how bad they 
 were. Contances has, Ijowcver, in some 
 degree, made ametuls for (he ditticubies 
 which I found in arrivirjg at it, and his 
 repaid me by the objects that it affords 
 of entertainment. It was founded by the 
 liomans, who established a h'giou here, and 
 called it " Castra Constanlia." They lor- 
 titied it with very strong walls, which re- 
 mained till Louis the elcveutii's reiga ; who 
 demolished tiiem, because the place, con- 
 stitutmg part of the domain of his brother 
 Charles, duke of Normandy, rcfusecl to 
 i B 6 admit 
 
 m
 
 admit a royal garrison. Coutanecs stands 
 on a hill, the sides of whi<;h descend with 
 prodigious rapidity. Beyond the vale, a 
 ruige of hills rises like a superb amphi- 
 theatre, and surrounds it on every side. 
 The liousps bear all the rBarks of antiquity 
 in their structure and taste, wliich is rude 
 to the greatest degree. Many of Iheni have 
 doubtless stood five or six hundred years ; 
 and on one^ the style of -which merits pecu- 
 liar attention, is the date " 1007" yd re- 
 jhainiiig in very legible characters. 
 
 On tlie summit of the hill,^ iit the centre 
 of the town, stands the cathedral. 1 have 
 passed several hours in the exaniinul^on of 
 its architecture. There is a grotesque beauty 
 spread over the whole; and the lantastic 
 crnameij(s of Gothic building, are mixed 
 ivitli' a worderlnl delicacy and elegance iji* 
 many oi its parts. It was begun in 1047 ;^ 
 and William the Conqueror, king of Eng- 
 land, assisted in person, as duke of Nor- 
 
 i- mandy, at its consecration some years after. 
 
 ^ I went up to the top of the great centre 
 glower, to enjoy one of the finest prospects 
 imaginable. The town of Granville appears 
 
 .:..V- > ' , in
 
 13 
 
 in front, sitaatc on a promontoTy siretcTiin^ 
 out into the sea, and beyond it are seen the 
 little islands, or rocks of Clmusey. Jersey^ 
 at the distance of seven leagiws to the north^ 
 forms a noble object. The country on all 
 sides, towards St. Lo, Avranclies, and 
 Curcnten, is a a^arden, rich, cultivated, and 
 shaded with woods. They say that a ceiv 
 tain barbarous monk, named St. Erepliole, 
 founded this see as early as the year 430, in 
 tlie reifjn of the emperor Theodosius the se- 
 cond ; and under the papacy of Celestine the 
 first. Henry the fifth, kin<^ of England,, 
 made himseif master of the city, on his second 
 invasion of France,, in the year 1418, after a 
 sliort siege ; but it returned to the crown of 
 France, together with the whole province 
 of Normandy, under the declining power of 
 . tiie house of Lancaster^ about the middle of 
 the fifteenth century. 
 
 Coutanees is hirge, but the convents- 
 form & considerable part of its size; and 
 the monks of dillerent orders^ )nstitute a 
 great part of its inhabitants. As it i* situ- 
 ated at two leagues distance from the sea, 
 and is not built upon aiiy niwigable river, 
 
 there
 
 14 
 
 there is little or no commerce ; but some fevT 
 provincial nobility reside in the place.- m ; > 
 I ara charmed with the Coutentin : alL 
 this part of Low Normandy is so called. 
 From Cherbourg to Valognes, it was moun-1 
 tainous and licathy ; but in general the 
 country is inferior to no part of the north of 
 Europe. Fine acclivities, clothed with 
 "wood, and rich vallies covered with har- 
 vests, form at this season a most pleasing 
 scene. There is notwithstanding, an appa- 
 rent penury in the dwellings of the people. 
 The hand of oppression is visible in tlieir 
 dress, their hovels, and their whole appear- 
 ance. I saw none of those neat and pretty 
 peasants, so common in our most secluded 
 villages. 
 
 The Coutentin has given birth to some 
 illustrious men. Those brave and romantic 
 heroes, so famous in ancient story, Tan- 
 cred, and Robert Guiscard, who, after 
 having expelled the Saracens from Apulia 
 and'! Calabria, in the eleventh century, 
 founded the kingdoms of Naples and Sicily, 
 which they transmitted to their descendants; 
 \vere originally Counts of Hauteville, a 
 '^:n little
 
 1-5 
 
 litfle town not far from Valogncs. History 
 informs us, that Robert, duke of Normandy, 
 eldest son to William the Conqueror, the 
 most generous, and tlic most necessitous 
 prince of his age, mortgaged this part of 
 his dominions to his brother Rufus,- before 
 he went to the Holy Land. The sum, if I 
 lemember right, which he received for it, 
 was' only ten thousand marks, which the 
 rapacious Rufus levied on his English sub- 
 jects. ' 
 
 Yoii see I call in history or tradition to my 
 assistance, at every moment. Indeed, it is 
 impossible to travel thro' this duchy, where 
 our ancient monarchs so frequently held 
 their residence, without being continually 
 reminded of some of those anecdotes trans* 
 mitted to us respecting them. Adieu I ^ 
 
 In the evening I proceed to Granville. 
 
 GranvHle^
 
 m 
 
 ' '! t!rrt)<_'*'!i ^ '!"'*-. ^ 
 t f... t < 
 
 Granville, 
 Wednesday, 30th Au^. 1775. 
 
 .^. -, Tj'HjpuE is pcrliaps no greater gratifica- 
 tion, than that of communicating- pleasure 
 TtQcivyi] ; and, as admiral ion is one of the 
 most interesting sources from ^vhick amus:r 
 ment can be drawn, we usually listen with 
 extreme readhiess to whateifger addresses tlnjiti 
 passion. 1 wish to prepare you for a re- 
 cital, in which the nuuvellous may seem to 
 predominate; tlio' you may do me the jus- 
 tice to believe, that it wiil e\er be under the 
 guidance of truths 
 
 Superstition, the, parent, of a. thousand 
 evils to mankind, has yet given rise to such 
 extraordinary and magnificent productions 
 of art or splendor iii eveiy age, as almost 
 incline us to pardon her crimes and follies. 
 I am just returned from the survey of one of 
 these monuments, and 1 shall endeavor to 
 address my imperfect description of it to 
 your heart and affections, as well as to your 
 understanding. / ^ 
 
 ... Ilefi
 
 17 
 
 1 left Coutances on Momhty evening,} 
 The distance (o this town is only six leagues, 
 thro' a continuation of the same agreeable 
 country which 1 have already desriiLH'd. 
 As 1 was desirous to visit tiie celebrated 
 mountain, denonninateil the *' Mont St. 
 *' Michel," I hired two horses, and kci out 
 early yesterday mornini^. It is situate about 
 twenty miles from Granville, and the road 
 lying the whole way alotjg the sea-shore, is 
 very pleasant. I got to Genet, a little vil- 
 lage, before noon, from whence it is only a 
 league to the mount ; but as the passage to 
 it is entirely across the sands, which are 
 only passable at low tide, it becomes indis* 
 pcnsibly recjuisite to procure a guide. I 
 did so, and arrived there at one in the. 
 afternoon. 
 
 This picturesque and extraordinary rockr 
 ' for such it is rises at a distance from the: 
 shore, in themiddleofthebay of Avranches. 
 Nature lias coinph^tely fortified one side, by 
 its craggy and almost jK^rpendicular ascent,' 
 >vhich renders it impracticable for courage 
 or address, however consummate, to scale or 
 mount it. The other parU are surrounded
 
 by 'frails, fenced witli semi-Timar towers in 
 the Gothic manner ; but sufficiently strong, 
 added to the advantages of its detached 
 situation, lo withstand .any sudden attack. 
 At the toot of the monniain, begins a street- 
 or town, which winding round its base,. 
 ascends to a considerable height. Above, 
 extend nuinerous chambers, in Avhich pri-- 
 soners of state are confined ; and other build- 
 ings intended for residence. On the summit 
 is built the abbey itself, occupying a pro** 
 digious space of ground, and of a strength 
 as well as solidity equal io its enormous* 
 size, since it has withstood all the rage of 
 the elements, in this elevated and expgseJ 
 situation, during many centuries. I passed 
 the whole allernoon in the different parts of 
 this extraordinary edifice ; and as the Swiss 
 who conducted me, found that he could 
 not gratify ray curiosity too minutely, Me 
 left no apartment or chamber unseen. 
 
 The " Sale de Chcvaleric," or knight's 
 hall, reminded me of that at Marienbourg 
 in Polish Prussia. It is equally spacious ; 
 but more barbarous and rude, because son)e 
 liundred. years prior in its construction, 
 X'i Hert
 
 m 
 
 Hre the knights of St. Michael used to 
 meet in solemn con vocation j' on: important 
 occasions. They were the constituted de- 
 fenders and ^yardiaiis of tliis mounlain and 
 abbey,; as those of the* Templo, and of St. 
 .Tohn of Jerusalem,' "were the |\rotectors of 
 theholy sepulchre. At one end of the room 
 Ijpings a paintina: of the archuiird, tlie pa-, 
 tron of their order; and in this hall Lois^ 
 the eleventh first instituted, the order, unctT^' 
 invested with its Insignia, the knigiits of- 
 the cross o4'iSt.iV|ich^el. 
 
 We passed on thro' several lesser rooms, 
 iuto a iong passage, on one side of which ^ 
 the Swiss opened a door; and thro' a nar- 
 row entrance, perfectly dark, he led me, 
 by a second door, into an apartment, or 
 dungeon for it rather merited the latter 
 than the former appellation in the middle 
 of which stood a large cage. It was com- 
 posed of prodigious wooden bars, fortified 
 with iron plates; the wicket which, ad-- 
 mitted persons into it, being ten or twelve 
 inches in thickness. I went into the inside: 
 the space that it comprised, was ordy abt)ut 
 twelve feet square, or fourteen, tho' it might 
 ^ - be
 
 20 
 
 be nearly (wenty feet in height. This ciir 
 gine of tyranny, the abofle of many emi- 
 ne.i* victims in former airfs, whose names^ 
 and miseries- are now farg-otton, -was per^- 
 fertly aualogoiis to the gloomy 'apartment, 
 itk'tlie centre jof which 'it' wds' pVaeetl ; an<i 
 would have awakened sentiments of horror, 
 rainj:led with indignation, in the cohh\st 
 or most insensibK' spectator. While I stood' 
 in contemplationof it, my conductor broke 
 silence. ;;. ;: , ; i . ; 
 
 " There was," sdid 'hfe, *^ foswawts the 
 '' latter lend of the Ictst centi^ry,^ a com- 
 " piler of news in HoUnnd, who had pre- 
 *^ sumed to print some very severe reflection* 
 *' on Mad-ame dc Maintenon, arnl on Lonis 
 ** the fourteenth. Some months afterwards^ 
 ** he was induced, by a person sent ex- 
 *^ pressiy for that purpose, to viiake a tour 
 ^^ into French Flanders. Th6 instant that 
 " he had quitted tjje Dutch dominions, he 
 *' was put under arrest, and imiin;diateiy, 
 '^ by his majesty's express command, con- 
 " ducted to this place. They Khnt h,im uj> 
 ** in the cage wliich you behold, where he 
 *-i lived upwards of thrce-and-t\Ycnty years ;^ 
 f^u aB(^
 
 91 
 
 >f|f.aiui wbore he, ;it length, expired. --- 
 *' During the long nights of winter," con- 
 tinned the Swiss, " neither fire nor candle 
 *' were alh)wed liim, nor was he permitted 
 *' to have any book, which might tend to 
 *' dinnuish his wretchedness. He saw no 
 " liurnan face except that of the gaoler, 
 " who came once every day to present hira, 
 " thro' a hole in the wicket, his scanty 
 " portion of bread and wine. No instru- 
 ^^ inent was pint into liis hands, with which 
 " he might find means to destroy himself; 
 " but he contrived at length to draw out a 
 " nail from the wood, with which he cut 
 " or inscrilK^d on the bars of his cage, sevc- 
 " ralilenrs de lys and coats, of arms, the 
 V ertgraving. of which formed his only em- 
 " ployment, as well as recreation." These 
 I saw, and they are indeed very curiously 
 performed, with so rude a tool. 
 
 As I stood within this instrument of des- 
 potism and cruelty, it was impossible not 
 to execra4e the vengeance of llu* sovetj^ign, 
 who> for so slight a trespass, tould inHict stf 
 disproportionate and tremendous a pni!yh>. 
 nieut J and I hastened out of this sad apnrt- 
 m mcnt,
 
 I?2 
 
 ment, impressed T?ith feelings of the most 
 painful nature* i>^i'l'4Ui -;'^;j >: jm ujii ' 
 
 " Fifteen years' ^h-arve' elapsetl," said the 
 Swiss, " .since agentieman ended his (ki_)"S 
 <*' in that cage ;; it? nasAefore the time when 
 ** I came to reside here ; but there is one in** 
 *' stance. within my Own memorj. Monsicat' 
 
 " deF ^^, a person ofrank^ was conducted 
 
 '^ here by command of the late king, and 
 *6 remained thrive years shut np in it* J fed 
 .^.him myself every daj-; but he was allowed 
 *' books' and. chndle to divert his nusejty ; 
 *' and at length, the abbot, touched with 
 f^ his doplorable calamities, requested, and 
 ^obtained for him the royal pardon. 'He 
 *<Uvas srt frtw,- and Is noW'.idive in FVance. 
 -. *^ Tho Subti^rraneail chanibers," added 
 fee,i'* in this' mountain, are so numeroiis, 
 */'that we ktwhhem not ourselves. There 
 " are certain dungeons., called " Oubliettes,'* 
 ^' intb;w*hic.tiit hey were accustomed fonnerly 
 *ft;to'letidown; maleftictors guilty of very 
 *.*'beinros- cHmos : (hey provided these 
 ^^ ^rretGlit'sKvith a loaf of bread, and a bottle 
 *>;of wiiievafler which they were totally 
 ^jforgott(^^ nd left to perish 5y-'iitinger 
 Jujiu " in
 
 f 3 
 
 " in t!ie dark vaults of the rock. This 
 *' punishment has not liowever been in- 
 *' fiicted by aily soverei<^n, in the course of 
 " the last, or the present century." 
 
 As we continued our progress thro' the 
 abbey, 'he led ine into a cliambef/ iu one 
 corner of which appeared a kind of win- 
 dow. Between it and the wall of the build- 
 ing, was a very deep space or hollow, of 
 near a hundred feet perpendicular; and at 
 the foot was another window, opening to 
 the sea. It is called *' le Troa de Mont- 
 *' gomeri" Montgonieri's hole. You may 
 recollect, that in the year 1559, Henry tlie 
 second, king of France, was unfortunately 
 killed at a tournament in Paris, by 1 lie 
 Count de Montgomeri. The act was alto- 
 gether unintentionid on the part of that 
 nobleman, who had been forced, contrary 
 to his inclination, to push the lance against 
 his sovereign, by his express command. 
 Montgomeri was a Hugonot, and having 
 escapetl the massacre of Paris, in J 572, 
 made Bead against the royal forces in Non- 
 mandy, during the civil wars that fol- 
 lowed ; being supported by our Jbllizabetb 
 
 with
 
 4 
 
 Willi arms and money. When driven from 
 his fbrlroRSCs in tliose ptjrls, he retired to a 
 rock, called the " Tombelaine." This is 
 another insulated mountain, rising in the 
 baj of Avranches, similar to the " Mont 
 ** St. Michel;" only three quarters of a 
 league distant from it, and of nearly equal 
 -dimensions. At that time there stood a castle 
 on the '* TombrlHine," which was after- 
 wards demolished, and of which scarce any 
 traces now rtimainv From th is place of se- 
 curity, only acci*ssiblc at low tides, Mont- 
 gomeri continually made excursions, and 
 annoyed the enemy, who never dared to at- 
 tack him. He even proceeded so far as to 
 coin moHjy, laid all the adjacent country 
 -under contribuiion, and rendered himself 
 'Tiniv^!>iaiiy dn^aded. Being desirous to sur- 
 1)4*iic?tl>e ** Mo9it St. Michel," and to gain 
 jjoissei^sion oif it, he found means to engage 
 in his interests one <f the monks resident in 
 the abbevV' whrt promised to give him the 
 w?nal tor Ms crtterprize, by displaying a 
 handkerchief. i^Kii the treacherous monk, 
 afK r having made the signal, betrayetl him, 
 %nd armed all. his associates, who waited 
 uy^H- Mont-
 
 Montgomcrrs arrival. The Count, attended 
 hy fifty chosen soldiers, desperate, and ca- 
 pable of any attempt, crossed the sand, 
 and having placed a scaling-ladder, they 
 mounted one by one : as they came to the 
 top, they were dispatched each in turn, 
 without noise. Montgomeri, who followed 
 last, at length discovered the perfidy, and 
 escaped, accompanied by only two of liis 
 men, with whom he regained the *' Tombc^ 
 *' laino." Tiiey still preserve with great 
 care, tlie ladders and grappling-itons used 
 on this occasion, You perhaps remember 
 the subsequent fate of the Count himself. 
 He was afterwards besieged and taken pri- 
 soner by the Marochal de Matiguon, ifi 
 1574, at Domfront in Normandy ; and 
 <3atherine of Medic is, who detested liiinf 
 for his having been, tho^ innocently, thi 
 cause of her husband's death, ordered him 
 to be immediately executed. 
 
 The church of the " Mont St. Michel'* 
 detained me a long time, and is in itself aa 
 object of great curiosity. Tlie roof is siip-' 
 ported by nine pillars of most enormous 
 dimensions, which stand upon the sroli<F 
 
 ' <? -roct.
 
 joelti. I did not measure tliem ; but, a 
 far as the glooniiucss of the place Mould' 
 admit me to form a judgincHt, I appre- 
 hend that each of them must be fivo-aud- 
 twenty feet in circumference. Ik-sidcs 
 these, there are tAvo others, of much iiife- 
 rior size, that support the centre of the 
 ^church, over wliich is liuilt tlie touer. If 
 the prodigious incumbent weight, and this 
 exposed nature of the situation is consi- 
 dered, nothing less massy could sustain 
 Ike edifice. They seem as if they were de- 
 signed to outlive the ravages of time, and 
 the convulsions of nature. i^ul, before Ave 
 enter the cliurch itself, I must inform you 
 of the absurd and legt^dary cause which 
 first produced it. 
 
 Jn the reign of Childcbert the second, 
 l<ing of France, oiu^ of tlie first, or Mfro- 
 vingian dynasty, there lived a Bishop of 
 Avranclus, namexl St. Auliert. To this 
 holy "man, the archangel Michael having 
 been pleased to appear on a certain night, 
 ordered him to repair to this rock, and 
 there construct a church. St. Aubert, Avho 
 jpeems to have been a little incredulous, 
 
 treated
 
 m 
 
 treated it as a dreJim : the anj^cl tliprefore 
 came again, repeated his injunction, and 
 not being obeyed, the third time, lie, hy 
 Tvay of impriKting it on the Bishop's me^ 
 mory, made a hole in bis skull, by touch* 
 \n^ it with his thumb. In the treasury of 
 4b(; church I saw this curious kull. It is 
 'inclosed in a little shrine of gold ; and a 
 ^irystal, which opens over the orifice, 
 "gratifies curiosity by the minutest exami- 
 'flalion of it. The hole is of a size and 
 sshapc justly proportioned to the thumb 
 supposed to have produced it ; but, whe- 
 ther it has liecn edecled with a knife, or 
 by what other means, I cannot venture 
 4o determine. The Bishop, however, upon 
 this sensible mark of ihe divine pleasure, 
 delayed no longer ; but repairing to the 
 rock, constructed a smtdl church, as Ite 
 had been commanded. Here fable ends; 
 and true history, supplying its place, in- 
 forms us, that in 906, Richard the second, 
 duke of Normandy, began to -bilild the 
 abbey. It was completed about the year 
 1070, under W illiam the Conqueror, soon 
 ^fteitliG Norman invasion; tho' many ad- 
 <i -2 ditioiw
 
 ditlons were made to it by succeediog ab- 
 bots and princes. L:Mf'<r>s fi'iu';' ! > 
 ,^.Tlie present edifice is not however by 
 any means so ancient. Early in the thir- 
 teenth century, the Bretons having made 
 themselves masters of tiie " Mont St. 
 ** Michel," demolished the original, ab- 
 bey ; which was reconstructed soon after- 
 wards in the form that it still retains, by 
 ojie of the greatest kings who has reigned 
 in France, Philip Augustus. 
 
 The treasury is crouded with innume- 
 fable relics, among which some few have 
 a real and intrinsic value, independent of 
 superstition. There is a fiise head of 
 Charles the sixth of France, cut in chrys- 
 tal, which drew my attention. They have 
 likewise got. Heaven knows by ^vhat means, 
 an arm of Edward Jhe Conft ssor - and they 
 shewed me another, of " St. Richard, 
 *' king of England." Who this samt 
 and prince was, I confess, is beyond my 
 comprehension. No king cf that name 
 occurs in our annajs, between Egbert and 
 Harold. 1 am sure they could not so 
 term Richard the fiistj unless his Crusade 
 - . > ;, . against
 
 5ff 
 
 against Saladine wiped out all his si'nsy 
 and cauotiized him. Richard the second? 
 has no better pretensions to sanctity . I do- 
 not mention him who fell al Hosworth ; 
 so that Avho tliis royal stiint was, 1 must 
 leave you to discover. As to the monks^ 
 they know nothina; abont it ; but they 
 wore positive that he was a king of Eng- 
 land. ^,\n cnonnous golden cockle-shell, 
 weighing many pound's, given by Richard 
 the second, duke ot" Normandy, when he 
 founded the abbey, is worth remarking. 
 It astonished me to see that it had escaped 
 the rapacity of more than seven hundred 
 years. 
 
 . In the middle of the choir hangs a stone, 
 rhich is said to have fallen on the head of 
 Ivouis the eleventh, at the siogc of Be!<d>.'- 
 ^on, wit ho it doing him the smallest ii;- 
 jury. This escape, he conceived, andnot 
 without rjason, must have been owing to 
 same divine interposition ; for the stone 
 weighs, I should suppose, at least ten 
 pouuds, Louis, tho' one of the greatest 
 monsters who ever filled a throne, was yetj 
 s^ we knowj at intervals,, excee Hngly 
 y c 3 pious :.
 
 I^GUs:, he liEcd to come often In pilgrim 
 iimge to the *' Mont ^t. Michel;" and he 
 tiot only ordered this stone to be suspended 
 by a chain in the ehoir, bat left the in- 
 come of certain lands to the abbey^ for thci 
 maintenance of priests, who were to say 
 Hiasses in order to commemorate his pre- 
 servation from so imminent a danger.. 
 
 The Refectory, the eloislers,. the eells b(^ 
 the monks, are ail (or rather, they have 
 been). Very magnificent and spacious; but 
 a vast sum of money is now wanted to put 
 the whole structure in repair, and to re- 
 instate what the lapse of ages defaces and 
 deforms. One of the great towers in 
 cracked and'<lecayed. They have written 
 repeatedly to the ministry ;> to know Irts 
 majesty's pleasure respecting it ; but no 
 answer has been returned. It will pro- 
 bably fall soon, and must njcccssarily^ 
 from its prodigious height arul izc, draw 
 with it a considerable part of the adjoining 
 JjuihUngs. , ^ 
 
 The late king, Louis the fifteenth, se- 
 questered a large portion of the revenues of 
 the abbey, whigh were previously very: 
 
 ^ . - ample ^
 
 51 
 
 ffiwptc. A Prior is substituted instttid of 
 the Abbot, and the number of monks is 
 reduced from thirty io fourteen. Perhaps 
 a .few years move may even extinguish 
 these; and St. MLchael himself, tho' com- 
 posed of gold, may be melted down to 
 support the ex pence of a Bal pare. It is, 
 indeed, at present considered cliiefly as a 
 prison of state, and Avill probably be re- 
 paired more on that account, than from 
 motives of piety, or from "viMieration for its 
 iFcligious origin. The apartments are at^ 
 this time occupied by many illustrious 
 prisoners, ^vho have been sent here by 
 " Lettrc de cachet," for crimes of state. 
 They arc detained in more strict or easy 
 eoniinement, according to the royal man- 
 chitc. There arc at present, eight in one 
 mugc of rooms, who eat at the same table 
 , together. They are allowed each a pint of 
 wine; but neither knives nor forks are ever 
 given them, lest they should commit sui- 
 cide, in order to escape the horrors of Im- 
 prisonment. 
 
 No person is permitted to enter that divi- 
 sion of the abbey in which they live, or can 
 c 4 hold
 
 4old any conversation with tbein. Fonr of 
 those state prisoners were sent here since the 
 accession of his present majesty. There are 
 others, who enjoy the liberty of goinij; into 
 every part of tlie Mount wilhout restraint ; 
 but, to profit of this permission, they must 
 be habited as priests, and of consequencQ 
 be known to every inhabitant. To escape, 
 seems abnost impossible but, what can-^ 
 not human subtlety effect, when pushed to 
 despair ? It is only sixteen days ago, 
 
 since a Monsieur de C-- , who had been 
 
 coniSned ten months, succeeded in an 
 attempt to liberate himself. I was shewn 
 the place from whence he let himself down 
 l>y a rope: it is near a hundred feet per- 
 pendicular, lie crossed the sands immei 
 diately, while the sea was low, and it is 
 imagined that he embarked either for Jer-* 
 sey, or for England, as no intelligence has 
 been received concerning him. 
 
 Some apartments arc destined to a spr?* 
 cies ol wretches yet more deplorable I 
 mean, to lunatics. There are several here 
 who arc of high rank. In the cloisters of 
 the abbey, a person accosted m(? in very 
 
 polite
 
 33 
 
 polite terms. He appeared to be above 
 lifty years of age; his tircss was mean, and' 
 at his button-hole hung a cross of the order 
 of St. Michael, fantastically adorned with' 
 ribbands. His face, tho' brown and sickly,, 
 was noble, commanding, and engaging ; 
 his hair, of a deep black, mixed with 
 grey, hung floating upon his shoulders; 
 and over his whole person was an air of 
 dignity in ruin.. It was the Marquis do 
 R , a nobleman of Bretagne, who has- 
 been shut up here five-and-twenty years- 
 He is insane, but harmless, and observes 
 perfectly all the forms of politeness andl 
 good breeding. No others except persons 
 of quality are ever sent here on this ac- 
 count. 
 
 I thought the age of pilgrimages had 
 been nearly at an end in all European na- 
 tions, and that devotion was now content 
 with venerating its saints at home: but, 
 will you believe it, when I assure youy 
 that the number of pilgrims who corne 
 annually to pay their voavs to St. Michael 
 at this Mount, amounts to between eight 
 and ten thousand.' They are, it is true, 
 c 5 mostly
 
 54 
 
 mostly peasants, and persons in mean oc- 
 cupations ; but even among the nobility, 
 there are not wanting tbose ^vlio are in->. 
 duced to make this journey from principles 
 of piety. The little town at the foot of the 
 Mount, is sometimes so croudcd with them,^ 
 that not a bed is to be procured . I saw at 
 fcast six when I was there. Tfeey were all 
 youjig men and women. Their dress ex- 
 actly corresponded with our ideas of them, 
 as drawn from ancient ballads. Their hats 
 were laced wiih cocUe-shells round tJie 
 edges, and on the crown was a gilt co- 
 joiiet, above -^s hie h appeared the cro8S. A 
 ribband in the same form, was tied across, 
 their breast ; and all over their clothes 
 were placed little images of St. Michael, 
 vanquishing the devil. I asked them, 
 from whence they came? they said, from 
 Champagne; a very considerable distance, 
 across all France. I put several questions, 
 to them, and they would willingly have 
 ibllowed me, when I went to the top of 
 the steeple ; but the .Swiss, who was well ac- 
 customed to see these poor devotees arrive, 
 lepulficd them very roughly. " Qucdiable!" 
 
 says
 
 35 
 
 says he, *' allez, prier le bon Saint Michel, 
 " si vous voulcz ! Je nc conduis pas le 
 " menu pen pie !" The poor pilgrims re- 
 tired immediately, without a word. 
 
 It is said, that the laic Dauphin, father o 
 the present king, was here incognito, about 
 nineteen or twenty years ago ; and the old 
 man who conducted me across the sands, 
 assured me that he had the honor to be his 
 royal highness's guide, without knowing 
 at the time his rank. The character of the 
 Dauphin was that of a bigot, and I am not 
 at all surprized at such a proof of it. Near 
 the foot of the mountain, close to the waves 
 of the .'ea, is a very fine avcU of fresh water ; 
 but, as possession of it might and would 
 be undoubtedly taken by an enemy, in 
 G-'.sc of a siege, they have contrived to 
 form cisterns in the solid rock, proportion- 
 ate to every other part of the building, 
 and capable of containing many hundred 
 tuns of water : they say, more than twelve 
 hundred. Indeed, to besiege the moun- 
 tain, would be almost an act of madness ; 
 as, from the nature of its situation, a liuu- 
 dred men might defend it against ten tl)ou- 
 c Q saod
 
 $6v 
 
 ,^Yid assailants, and any number of vessels; 
 Mor could it be, if taken, converted to any 
 uprt of national benefit. 
 
 The town itself is almost as much an ob- 
 ject of curiosity, as any other part of the 
 Mount. I doubt not that there are many 
 l^ouscs in it, above five or six hundred 
 years old ; and I did not see one, which 
 ^seemed to be built since tlie time of Louis 
 the eleventh. In the chamber of the inn 
 where I took up my lodging for the night j. 
 I expected to have been devoured by the 
 Xats ; who, as soon as I had extinguished 
 iny candle, left their holes, and com-t 
 menced their nocturnal gambols. They 
 were so numerous^ and so troublesome, that 
 I was glad as soon as the day appeared, to 
 fibandon my bed, and even my room; 
 >vhich opening on the battlements of the 
 town, overhanging the sea, disrclosetj a 
 wide and picturesque view of the bay of 
 Avranches, of the coasts of Normandy and 
 pf Bretagne, as well as of the " Mont St. 
 *' Michel" itself, whose base is washed bv 
 "^he waves, 
 
 l^he whole number of persons resident
 
 in the abbej and in the town, does not ex?^ 
 coed a hundred and eighty, in time of 
 peace. A militia, composed of the inha* 
 bitanta, mounts guard, to prevent any of 
 the prisoners from escaping.. In time of 
 war, there arc five hundred soldiers com- 
 monly maintained, in garrison ; and they 
 assured me, so large and numerous are the 
 cliambers in different parts of the abbey,, 
 that thirteen thousand troops might be dis- 
 posed of there, without any sort of inconr 
 vcnience, or difficulty.. 
 
 They selljittle legendary books in the 
 town, and I have bought them all, in hopes 
 to find some historical anecdotes or tradi- 
 tions respecting; the place, and the various 
 important events or sieges which it has un-* 
 dergone \ but alas ! this is a vain attempt. 
 They are all stuffed with miracles and ab- 
 surdities, too ridiculous to repeat ; and St. 
 Michael and St. Aubert are the only heroes 
 who make any figure in these annals, j 
 would most willingly have inspected the 
 archives, which are laid up in the abbey ; 
 but this gratification is not permitted to 
 strangers. They must form a very curious 
 
 research.
 
 iesearcl'i, since it is probable Ibaf almost 
 every king of Englandj from William the 
 Conqueror down to Henry the third, must 
 have been many times here, from motivcs- 
 f devotion or of curiosity. 
 
 In the year 1090, Robert, duke of Nor- 
 mandy, and V/illiam Rufus, king of Eng- 
 land, sons of William tlie Conqueror, be- 
 sieged their younger brother Henry for ai 
 long time, in the " Mont St. Michel," It 
 must be presumed tbat they uere masters 
 of the foot of the rock ; for otherwise it 
 Svould be impraGticnble lo invest it. The 
 prince could never have been reduced to- 
 surrender from force : but he was in Avant 
 f water, and from that necessity was on 
 the point of yielding up tlie fortress ; when 
 Robert, with the benevolence and genero- 
 sity which marked his character, sent him 
 some pipes of Avine ; and this succouil. 
 (like that which Henry the fourth per- 
 mitted his troops to give the Parisians, 
 when he Ijesieged Paris), enabled Henry to 
 hold out. Rufus reproached Robert for. 
 his conduct; '* Shall Ave then," said he, 
 *' suffer our brother to die o( thirst ?" And 
 
 what
 
 39 
 
 wTiat return did Robert meet with from: 
 Henry, when the latter afterwards became 
 king of England ? An imprisonment of 
 ^twenty-eight years, in a vaulted chamber 
 of Cardiff castle, where he expired. 
 
 1 fear that I have tired you with so mi-- 
 nute a description of the mountain. I left 
 it this morning, and, being conducted by 
 the same guide across the sands, reached 
 the village of Genet at ten. Numbers of 
 people are drowned every year, in passing 
 this place. The sea comes in with a ra- 
 pidity beyond any idea which you can 
 form of it, and frequently intercepts un- 
 happy travellers,, who presume to venture 
 without a guide. I saw, in the church- 
 yard of Genet, a grave where five persons 
 were buried, wlio perished as they at- 
 tempted to pass within these few days ; and 
 similar accidents are common. It was. 
 noon when I returned to Granville, my 
 fancy entirely occupied with the extraordi- 
 nary scenes to which I had been a witness, 
 and which 1 have endeavored to describe 
 to you without study or arrangement. 
 Xhis town is situated very pleasantly on 
 
 a neck
 
 m 
 
 9i neck of land stretching into the sea. It 
 is not small ; but the buildings are scat- 
 ieroC^ mean, and irregular, extending near 
 a mile from one extremity to the other, 
 part oT the rock above, and part in thQ 
 Vftle btlow. It is open to the sea, there 
 being no bay, tho* they have constructed 
 part of a pier, in order to shelter and ]iro- 
 tect the shipping. Some small redoubts 
 ajTid batteries have likewise been erected' 
 during ihc late war, on the eminences 
 round the place, with a view to defend it 
 from invasion ; but they are of no strengthv 
 It is time to conclude this long letter.. 
 My next will probably be written front, 
 some part of Bretague. Adieu,!, 
 
 Sit. 'Msio^
 
 tl 
 
 St. Malo, 
 Tuesday, 4th Sept. 1775; 
 
 1 ARRIVED here yesterday raorningj^ 
 li was Vi ry late on Saturday night when t 
 reached Avrauches ; and liad I been a Ro- 
 man Catholic, 1 should certainly have put 
 both myself and my carriage under the 
 protection of the Virgin, or of some saint 
 who is the tutelary patron of travellers, 
 before I ventured into t^ese perilous roads. 
 The chaise once stuck fast for near an hour, 
 and 1 was obliged to employ a dozen pea- 
 sants, who, with the help of pick-axes, 
 and with infinite labour, at length lifted it 
 up by main strength. 
 
 Avranch'S detained me a few hours.. 
 The city is the meanest that I have yet 
 seen in France, but its siuation is very 
 fine. The cathedral stands on a hill, which 
 terminates abruptly, the front of the church: 
 extending to the extreme verge of it, and, 
 overhanging the precipice. Jt boars the 
 nijyks of hi^b antiquity, but the toweri^ 
 
 9X1^
 
 4f 
 
 are dccnyed in many places, tlio' i<s origi- 
 nal construction lias been \vond< rfiilly 
 strong. Wliil'e I stood contemplatiiifr it,, 
 one of the priests very politely accosted me, 
 and offered, as 1 appeared to be a stranger, 
 to give me some information respecting it. 
 
 "Tiie cathedraly" said he, " has evi- 
 ' dently been the work of different ages; 
 ** but the two western towers are supposed 
 " to be as old as the eighth century, th 
 " bishopric itself having been founded 
 *' about the year 400. One of the most 
 *' celebrated of your English kings, Henry 
 *' the second, received absolution on this 
 *^' spot, from the pnptil Nuncio, for the 
 ** murder of St^ Thomas-u-Bccket, in 
 " 1172 ; and the stone on which he knelt 
 *' during the performance of that solum nr 
 " ceremony, still exists." He carried me 
 to look at the stone. Its length is about 
 thirty inches, and the breadth twelve. It 
 stands before the norlh portal, and on it is 
 engraved a chalice,, in commemoration of 
 the event. 
 
 The ruins of the castle of Avranches are 
 tery extensive, and beneath lies a rich ex- 
 tent
 
 43 
 
 Ik'nt of country^ covered with orcharcTs,. 
 and aboundiu<ij in ffiain. 
 
 I continued my jtnirncy on Sunday at 
 Boon, and quitting Normandy, reached 
 t-lic city of Dol iu' Bretagne, the same even- 
 ing. At Pontorson the two provinces are 
 separated by the little river Coc&non, which 
 forms the boundary. Dol must dctaiii^ 
 every person who has any veneration for 
 the remains of antiquity. Except the epis-- 
 eopal palace, which is an elegant modern 
 building, there is not a house within the 
 walls, that does not seem to have been 
 built in ages the most barbarous, and re- 
 mote. The fortifications are in the same 
 style, and appear to have b^a anciently 
 very formidable. Ilistofy confirms this, 
 supposition. William the Conqueror twice 
 kid siege to Dol, and was twice repulsed,. 
 In 1075, Philip, king of France, forced 
 him to make a hasty retreat into Nor- 
 mantly ; and when he again attempted to 
 make himself master of it in 1085, Alain,, 
 duke of Bretagne, obliged him to retire 
 with some disgrace. Ilenry the second^ 
 
 raore-
 
 44 
 
 more successful, carried Del by storm iit 
 1173. 
 
 The Norman liings, who considered 
 themselves as conquerors, and tlie A n g-cvin 
 kings, -who at first regarded themselves as 
 strangers, in England ; may be said to havo 
 divided their rcKidence between the king- 
 dom which they had conquered or inhe- 
 rited, and the beautiful portion of France 
 which they possessed. William the first^ 
 and his two successors, were foreigners^ 
 So was Stephen, and Henry the second. 
 Kichard the firt-t, tho' an Englishman by 
 birth, passed almost his whole reign, either 
 in Palestine, in an Austrian prison, or ia 
 tis French doirinions. It was not 'till the 
 expulbioiv of John from Normandy, early 
 in the thirteenth ccnfury, that {\.c Angevin 
 princes began to consider Eiigland s their 
 J)rincipal residence. li must be o\vnedy 
 that Henry the second and Richard the 
 first almost divided France, with itsfiove- 
 iriw-ns of the Capetian race. 'J he English 
 provinces extended in an uninterruptcj 
 lijic^ from Gape La Hogue^ and the coasts 
 
 of
 
 of the British Channel, quite" to the Py 
 renean mountains, and the frontiers of Na- 
 varre. In climate, soil, productions, and 
 every thing that could render life desirable, 
 their English possessions <:ould enter into 
 Ro competition with those on the Seine, the 
 Loirti, and the Garoime. When we re- 
 flect on these facts, we shall not wonder at 
 the predilection which those sovereigns 
 *nanifested for their French dominions. 
 They continually visited France; which 
 Wiey loved as their native conntry, che- 
 rished as their aboriginal soil, and in whose 
 bosom they desired to repose after their de- 
 cease. But, these remarks will lead mc 
 too far. I return to Dol. 
 
 it was a beautiful autumnal evening, and 
 I walked near half a league from tl.e town, 
 to view a singular object of curiosity. la 
 the middle of a very large orchard stands a 
 single stonv, between forty and fifty feet 
 high : iis circumference near the base 
 equals its height ; the form is circular and 
 conical. It is commonly denominated, 
 " La Pierre du champ dolent." " The 
 ^^ stone of the field of kmeutation. " There? 
 
 are
 
 ^tat^o certain accounts, wlien, r on tthat 
 occasion it was originally erected ; but the 
 traditions relatiTc to it arc equally nume- 
 rous and contradictory. I had tlie plea- 
 sure to sec and to cwiverse with the gentle- 
 man on whose estate it is situated. He 
 said, the most approved opinion was, that 
 Julius Cajsar had caareed it to be erected, 
 ^s a trophy to mark the extent of his con* 
 quests, after a bloody engagement which 
 lie gained over the inhabitants of Armorica. 
 The peasants are fully persuaded that the 
 devil set it up in one of his idle hours ^ 
 *' but," added he, " I have myself caused 
 '> the earth to be removed round its base, 
 ^' to the distance of forty feet on every 
 *' side ; and 1 find that it joins to a pro- 
 *' digious rock, from which it sccuis to 
 *' have sprung ; so that I am induced to 
 *' think, notwithstanding its name, that it 
 ** may be a natural production, fashioned 
 *' into its actual shape by art or labor.'* 
 However caused, it is very extraordinary, 
 and deserves an attentive investigation. 
 
 Igot to this city, yesterday. The castle 
 of St. Malo was built by the celebrated 
 
 prui
 
 if 
 
 |jrincess, Anne of Bretagne, who anneieed' 
 the duchy to the crown of France, by hef 
 marriage with Charles the eighth in 1489, 
 It is asseried, that on being aslicd by the 
 engineer xiho constructed it, what dtsigH 
 she wouiU cl'.oose as its model; she replied, 
 '' My couch-" To a carriige, it appears 
 in fact to bear some degree of capricious 
 resemblance. A large square area within, 
 constitutes the btniy ; two small towers in 
 the fore-part, ansv/er to the fore-wheels ; as 
 iwo others of a larger size, do to the hinder 
 Qn;s : a projection in front forms the pole, 
 and aji arched niche behind, corresponds to 
 the place where the servant was used to 
 stand. Conscious, however, that poste- 
 jify might accuse her of caprice or absur* 
 dity, she has obviated their criticisms in a 
 manner truly royal, by an inscription en- 
 graved on the wall, and yery legible at this 
 liour 
 
 " Qui que gronde, telest mon plaisir!" 
 
 These words, as alluding to the whirasieal 
 chttice which she had made of a plan for 
 ihe castle, arc commonly considered as 
 
 con-
 
 ^(jntalning a proof of the fact itself^ 
 namely, that it was onstriictcd on the rtio 
 del of her coach. But, tho' the persuasion 
 here is universal, I am by no means con- 
 vinced of its truth. Coaches were not 
 known, even among sovereigns, 'till neat 
 lialf a century after the supposed period of 
 Anne of Bretagnc^s decease ; which, I 
 diink, took place about the yearJ1514. 
 The Bretons, who venerate her memory, 
 as connected with the independent sovc* 
 reignty of the duchy, before its incorpo- 
 ration with the French monarchy ; will 
 not, hoM'ever, permit a suspicion to be 
 thrown on the accuracy of the story, which 
 they conceive to be fully authenticated by 
 the inscription. 
 
 St. Malo is situated in an island, joined 
 to the continent by a narrow causeway. 
 The ancient city and bishopric were built 
 at half a league distant, upon the main 
 land; but in the year 1172, the Bishop, 
 John de la Grille, having removed his re- 
 sidence to the little island of St. Aaron, be- 
 gan the town which now exists. The 
 
 Louses
 
 49 
 
 iiouscs are in general lofty and elegant; 
 but the streets, owing to the want of suffi- 
 cient ground, and to the number of inhabi- 
 tants, are narrow, dirty, and ill pierced. 
 To-morrow 1 shall proceed to Rennes. 
 
 Nantes,
 
 50 
 
 Nante*^ 
 Saturday, 16th Sept. irr5. 
 
 I LEFT St. Malo, last Thursday se'n- 
 jiight; slept at Hede, a little town situ- 
 ated on the summit of a mountain, which 
 commands a most extensive prospect ; and 
 got to the city of Rennes next morning^. 
 Here 1 had flattered myself with the plea- 
 sure of seeing the celebrated patriot and 
 magistrate, Monsieur de la Chalotais ; 
 who, after having suffered, under Louis 
 the fifteenth, some of the severest punish- 
 ments which despotism could inflict, is 
 now returned to pass the remainder of his 
 life, in his native province of Bretagne. 
 The duke d'Aiguillon, by whose orders 
 he was committed prisoner to a fortress of 
 state, has in his turn experienced tlie muta- 
 bility of fortune. Exiled to his estate in 
 Guienne, he does not carry with him, like la 
 Chalotais, the admiration and the applauses 
 of his countrymen. It is difficult to de- 
 scribe the enthusiastic veneration felt for 
 
 la
 
 la Clialotais by the Bretons, whose rights 
 ke defended against arbitrary power. I 
 had received very particular letters to ia- 
 troduce me to his acquaintance ; but he 
 was gone to his seat at Caradeuc, the pre* 
 ceding day. To the honor of his present 
 majesty, and of the ministry, they have en- 
 deavored to make him every possible corar 
 pensation for the cruel indignities, which 
 he met with under the late reign. The king 
 has presented him with three hundred 
 thousand livres, besides a pension. He is 
 restored to his place of ^' Procureur gene- 
 " ral au parlement;" and iiis estate of Ca- 
 radeuc is to be erected into a Marquisate. 
 
 I staid near two days at Rennes, which is 
 esteemed the honorary capital of Bretagne, 
 because the states of the province are as- 
 sembled there ; l)ut, like all cities destitute 
 of commerce, it is dull and poor. Several 
 of the principal streets are nevertheless very 
 handsome; a fire that happened in the year 
 1720, which almost reduced the wliole place 
 to ashes, having obliged tlie inhabitants to 
 rebuild tliem with great regularity. In one 
 of the squares, stands a fine bronze statue 
 D 2 - of
 
 52 
 
 of Louis the fifteenth, which was erected 
 by the provuice in 1744, soon after his re- 
 covery from tliat dangerous illness in Flan- 
 ders, which obtained him the title of 
 " Bien aime." Under the figure of the 
 prince, appears on one side Hygeia, tlie 
 g( ddess of health, with her serpent and 
 Patera. On the other, is seen the Genius of 
 Brelagne, kneeling on one knee, exultation 
 and reverence finely marked in her counte- 
 nance. At the foot of the pedestal is traced 
 an inscription in Latin, which I blnshed as I 
 read, and which, from consideration for 
 the raonarcli to whom it was offered, I 
 shall not transcribe. lake his predecessor, 
 Louis the fifteenth lived to see all these 
 marks of national approbation cease; and, 
 insensible to public opinion, in the arms of 
 his mistress, a dark cloud obscured the 
 evening of a reign, which he had opened 
 with some applause, in the eyes of France 
 and of Europe. 
 
 llennes, which is situate on the little 
 tiver Vilaine, was anciently very strongly 
 fortified, but the walls are now in ruins, 
 and the ditch is nearly filled up. The siege 
 
 of
 
 5S 
 
 of the eiiy by Edward the third, kin^ of 
 KngUind, in 1312, is very celebrated in 
 history. The Ejii>lish and Breton army 
 consisted of torfy thousaml men ; and 
 nevertheless, after liaving remained before 
 it six months, were obliged to retire with- 
 out success. 
 
 I arrived here on Monday last. Nantes 
 may be esteemed a noble city, and its situa- 
 tion is equally advantageous and agreeable, 
 being built on the easy declivity of a hill, 
 descending on every side to the river. The 
 Loire itself may almost vie with the Thames, 
 in beauty and in magnitude. Exactly oppo- 
 site to the spot on which stands the town, it 
 is divided into several channels, by a num- 
 ber of small islands, most of which are 
 covered witli elegant houses. The great 
 quay is more than a mile in length ; the 
 buildings very superb, and chiefly erected 
 since the late p(^ace in 1763. As its com- 
 merce is annu;iUy increasing, the city is 
 consequently in a state of continual ira- 
 prov<"uient. The Loire is notwithstanding 
 very shallow ; and all goods are brought 
 up in large boats from Painbeuf, which is 
 D 2 ^ae
 
 54 
 
 nine leagues distant, near the mouth of tlie 
 river, at which place, Tessels of burden 
 are obliged to unload. Near the eastern 
 extremity of Nantes stands the castle, in 
 which the ancient dukes of Bretagne com- 
 monly held their residence, it was built 
 about the year 1000 ; but the duke of Mor- 
 eoeur, a prince of the family of liOrrain, 
 who during the long wars of the League, 
 in the sixteenth century, rendered himself 
 in some degree sovereign of this province, 
 made several considerable additions to it. 
 I.i the chapel, Anne, duchess of BrctagnCy" 
 widow of Charles tire eighth, married Louis 
 fhe twelfdi in 1499; confirming for ever by 
 ifi\s second union, theduchy to the crown of 
 France. They shewed me (he chaniher in 
 which the celebrated Cardiiud de Ilclz was 
 confined by order of Anne of Austria ; and 
 from wliich he made his escape by letting 
 himself down wilh a rope into a boat, 
 winch waited for him on ihe Loire. 
 
 Many of the ancient dukes of Bretagne 
 are interred in llie difibrent churclies of the 
 city. The most splendid of all the moiui- 
 raents erected to their memory, is that of 
 
 '* Francis
 
 65 
 
 Francis ilje second, who was the last. It 
 stands in the " Eglisc dcs Carmes," and wa 
 raised by filial piety, his daughter Anne 
 having caused it to be constructed, while she 
 was queen of France. Michael Columb, 
 a Breton by birth, was the artist whom she 
 employed, and it must be confessed a master- 
 piece of sculpture. The tomb is as magni- 
 ficent as any of those in tlie ablxy of St. 
 Denis ; and not content with this proof of 
 her attachment to her father's memory, 
 Anne ordered her own heart to be deposited 
 within a golden box, in the same vault. 
 The inscription near the tomb, is very cu- 
 rious. It relates that Francis the second, 
 after having been married seven years to 
 his first wife, without issue, as his last re- 
 source, made a vow to the Virgin Mary, 
 that if by her power or intercession he ob- 
 tained a child, he would dedicate to her 
 an image of his own weight in gold. Th6 
 holy V^irgin^ whether moved by the pro- 
 digious value of the present, or whether 
 touched with pity, heard the prayer very 
 favorably. The duke had a son, and per* 
 formed his vow ; tho' exigencies of states 
 n 4i. obliged
 
 obliged him some years after war Jis^ fo re- 
 tract the princely donation which he had 
 made. By his second wife, Margaret de 
 Foix, he became father to the princess- 
 Anne, afterwards queen of France, and last 
 duchess of Bretagne. 
 
 . Nantes was anciently, like almost every 
 considerable city in Europe, very strongly 
 fortified. Peter de Dreux, one of the dukes 
 of Bretagne, surrounded it with walls, wliicli 
 have only been demolished within these 
 few years. The bridge, which is an ob- 
 ject of curiosity , being near a mile and a half 
 in lengtli, is continued across ail the li(tle 
 islands in the Loire, from north to south. 
 Ther are bcsides,^^ tw^ other smaller rivers, 
 ibat unite at this city, one of wliich is 
 called the Erdre. I went up this river 
 about two leagues yesterday, to a genlle- 
 man's Chateau, where 1 dined. The Me- 
 ajider, so famous in Grecian fable, can 
 Ixiirdly exceed the J']rdre in beauty. it 
 winds between groves of chesnut, oak, and 
 poplar, which cover the Ijanks to the i^i\g<* 
 of the water, and are only broken by viiicr 
 y^rds, gafdeus, aud elegant Villas. i\bouL 
 
 half
 
 57 
 
 kalf way, stand the ruins of a celebrated 
 fortress, formerly possessed by the Hugo- 
 nots, called the castle " de la Verriere ;'* 
 and at (he distance of a mile from the house 
 where I passed the day, is seen an ancient 
 mansion surrounded with thick woods, which 
 once belonged to Peter Landais, the famous 
 and unworthy favorite of Francis the se- 
 cond. 
 
 Henry the seventh, a prince wlio founded 
 a new Dynasty in England, on the cxtinc* 
 tion of the Plautagcucts ; and who, tho' ia 
 a moral point of view, one of the worst, may 
 be considered', in many respects, as one of the 
 ablest sovereigns who have reigned over us 5 
 resided many years a fugitivje, in Bretagne. 
 Edward the fourth, always apprehensive of 
 the revival of the pretensions of the house 
 of Lancaster; pursued Henry inlo his re- 
 treat. Landais, who then governed both 
 the duchy of Bretagne, and his feeble mas- 
 ter, Francis ; corrupted by the presents of 
 Edward, agreed to deliver up the earl of 
 Richmond, as Henry was then denomi- 
 nated, into the hands of persons sent by the 
 king of England to receive him. He was 
 D 5 \a
 
 m 
 
 feet seized, and on the point of being sent 
 over to London a prisoner, when he effected 
 his escape. Landais afterwards perished 
 itk a public and ignominious manner, by 
 the orders of the Breton nobility ; who, 
 indignant at his tyranny, rose in arms 
 against their sovereign, and executed the 
 unworthy minister on a gibbet. 
 
 Bretagne appears to me by no means so 
 fertile or so cultivated a province as Nor- 
 mandy. The interior part is chiefly open 
 and heathy, but the sea -coasts are more 
 populous, and richer in soil. Round this, 
 city, and to the southward, in the " Pay* 
 '* de Retz,'^ where vines are very plentiful, 
 the/^infiake a thin, sour wine, known by the 
 nam\*|Sf " Vin Nantois." If we compare 
 the present situation of Bretagne, as consti- 
 tuting a part of the kingdom of France, 
 %ith its ancient condition as an indepen- 
 dent government, there can be no doubt 
 that the change which incorporated it with 
 thtC monarchy, has been productive of the 
 most salutary effects, "While Bretagne was 
 -onder the dominion of its native sovereigns, 
 tbe duchy presented a scene of coritiniial 
 
 war?
 
 59 
 
 war, bloodslied, and devastation. The 
 dukes of Normandy, or the kings of France^, 
 were perpetually aiming at its reduction, 
 which the fbrmer princes effected more Uiaa 
 once. The intestine commotions which- 
 were raised by the opposite pretensions o 
 John de Montfort, and of Cliarles of Elois^ 
 to the succession, in the fourteenth century, 
 left the miserable country unpeopled, deso- 
 late, and a prey to the most severe famine.. 
 Louis the eleTenth first opened the way fo?- 
 its incorporation with the crown.. Tke 
 Lady of Beaujcu, left regent at his death,, 
 in 1483, pursued her father's measures with 
 vigor : aii4 the luirrow^ parsimonious cha-* 
 lacter, as well as policy of Henry the se-* 
 venth, whose avarice prevented him from 
 lending any eff<"ctual succour to Francis the 
 second, or to. his daughter Anne, conspired, 
 to complete this important acquisition. 
 
 I do not recollect many very eminent per- 
 sons, whom this duchy has produced. Ber- 
 tram! du Guesclin, Con&table of France, so 
 distiuguisked in the wars of Edward the 
 third, and of the Black Prince, was a ;wtiv)^ 
 Ckf Btetagne . iVbelard , Helo*se 'iS wnU'i ppj 
 J?. ^ lover,
 
 l&ver, too well known by his amoars and 
 his misfortunes, was born at a village called 
 Le Palet, only ten or twelve miles from 
 Nantes, near the borders' of Poictou. He 
 lived in the twelfth century, under the reign 
 of Conan the third, duke of Bretagne. 
 (The origin of Nantes, which appears to be 
 very urtcertain, is carried back into remote 
 antiquity. The Romans doubtless had a' 
 station here. In the year 1580, among ihe 
 ruins of % tower demolished at that time,, 
 was found a stone^ which, by order of the 
 magistrates, was transferred in 1606 to the 
 ^' Hotel de Ville." The inscription on it 
 has greatly exercised the attention of anti- 
 quaries. As it is very legible, and in Rd- 
 man characters, I transcribed it.. 
 
 *''Nummib: Augustor;- 
 
 " Deo : Vol : Jano : 
 
 " M : Gemel: Secundus. et C. Sedat : Florus. 
 
 ** Actor: Vicanor. Portent. Tribunal. C. M. 
 
 " Locis ex Stipe cpnlata pesuerunt." 
 
 I cannot forbear mentioning to you one 
 ether monument equally singular. Near a 
 bridge which crosses the Loire, called 
 
 "Le
 
 at 
 
 ^'^ Le Pont de la belle CioLx," i*seen a stone 
 fixed in the wall, with the remains of a de- 
 faced inscription visible on it. The stone 
 was placed there to mark the spot, where 
 Giles, Marechal de Rctz, was burnt, under 
 the reign of Charles the seventh ; as I 
 think, about tlie year 1410. This noble- 
 man was accused, and condemned to die 
 for crimes, wliich were said to be of a na- 
 ture and description too horrible as well as 
 jQagitious to be even, mentioned. They were 
 in fact never divulged, but covered up ia 
 darkness and mystery. A very ingenious' 
 man, to whom I am ijidebted for almost alL 
 the information that I have gained here, 
 assured me tliat the Mareehal de Retz's* 
 trial is yet preserved anrong the archives 
 f the city ; but that it 1ms never been 
 opened by the magistrates, from the same 
 motives of horror and caution, which ori- 
 ginally actuated his judges. He added, 
 that the Regent duke of Orleans having- 
 heard mention made of it, and being ex- 
 i;ited by that curiosity natural to a man o 
 an ardent mind, such as he possessed ; or- 
 derid the trial to be sent up to Paris, foe
 
 - 62 
 
 his inspection. It was accordingly trans- 
 jnitted, under tlie seals which had been 
 originally affixed to it in the reign of Charles 
 the seventh ; and was opened at the " Pa- 
 lais Royal,'* abont the year 1T20. In conse- 
 quence of the inspection which it then u-nder- 
 went, the nature of the pretended crime 
 itself became known. That crime was ac- 
 curately stated to rae by the person in^ qiies- 
 lion ; and it certainly is of so inconceiva- 
 bly flagitiou-s, as well as complicated a na- 
 ture, that I am not surprized at the precau- 
 tions taken by tl> original judges, to bury 
 it in perpetual oblivion. The Regent hav- 
 ing satisfied his curiosity, caused the trial; 
 to be sealed up anew, and to be restored to* 
 the magistrates of this city. For the ho- 
 nor of human nature, it is to be hoped that 
 it will remain fox many ages, before it is 
 again inspected.. 
 
 The environs of Nantes are so- agreeable^ 
 that I should be inclined to make a longer 
 stay here, if the advanced season did not 
 induce me to hasten my journey. I shall 
 set out in two hours for Rochelle. Whe* 
 ther I shall pursue my route from theace 
 
 to
 
 63 
 
 to Bourdeaux, thro* the province of Sain-^ 
 tonge ; or may be tempted to make an ex 
 cursion by Poitiers and An^oulcsnie, I do 
 not yet know ; hut you sliall hear of me as 
 I proceed. 
 
 RocheQi^
 
 64 
 
 Rochelle, 
 ' - Wednesday, 20th Sept. 1775; 
 
 I 
 
 r SLEPT at Aigrefoille last Saturday 
 
 night, a littlb village on the southern con- 
 fines ofBrel ague, and break fasted next morn- 
 ing, at Mo'citague, the first town inPoic(oUi 
 Continuing my journey the whole day, thro*' 
 that last-mentioned pi*ovince,\vhich for the 
 space of more than three centuries, formed a- 
 portion of the En d'sh dominions ; 1 arrived, 
 as the sun set, at Morcille. The evening was- 
 so uncomraoidy beautiful, tliat I should have 
 proceeded some miles farther, if a very largo 
 convent, which stood opposite to the post- 
 house, in one of. the finest situations to be 
 conceived, had not seemed to invite my 
 attention. Having ordered horses there- 
 fore for the next morning, I walked out, to< 
 look at the monastery. The great gates, 
 which were open, admitted me into a spa- 
 cious court, or lawn, in front of the build- 
 ing. Here I met the Prior : he tvas a thin, 
 spare figure, in appearance past his fiftieth 
 ^ . . year,
 
 jear, if his monastic dress did not tend (o de- 
 ceive my judgment. He accosted me with 
 great politeness; and, oji my informing him 
 tjluit I was an English traveller, induced by 
 curiosity to visit his convent, lie conducted 
 me into the church, and thro' the apart- 
 ments. " We are," said he, *' of the 
 " Cistercian order, and owe our founda- 
 " tion to El anor of Aquitaine, queen of 
 *' England, wife to Henry the second ; 
 *' but during tiie unhappy wars of the 
 " League, under Charles the ninth, the 
 " chief scene of which lay in this part of 
 *' the kingdom, our archives were all car- 
 *' ried away, and the building itself was 
 " defaced, by the soldiers of Coligni." 
 When we had finished oar view of the 
 monastery, he insisted on ray company at 
 supper. Our repast, which was served up 
 with great elegance, was followed by a 
 desert from the gardens of the priory, whicli 
 were very extensive, and accoiupiinied with 
 excellent wine. Having staid till near 
 midnight, 1 left my generous host wilk^ 
 expressions of regrets 
 J gat ta IMarans, Monday morning ; a 
 
 raiser--
 
 06 
 
 miserable town, situate on the river Sevre, 
 whicli divides Poictou from the ** Pays 
 " d'Aunis." At a small distance from the 
 place, on the bank of the river, towards ifs 
 mouth, tradition yet points out the spot, 
 rendered celebrated by the interview of 
 Louis the eleventh of France, with his 
 brother CI ar's, duke of Guiennc. That 
 perfidious monarch, to whom crimes were 
 familiar, having exhausted in vain all his 
 treacherous policy to gain over his bro- 
 ther ; was supposed to liave had recourse 
 to noison. in order to effect his purposes. 
 Charles expired soon afterwards ; and Gui- 
 enne by his decease reverted to the crown, 
 from which it has never since been sepa^ 
 rated. 
 
 The distance is only twenty miles from 
 Marans to Rochelle, thro' a rich country, 
 covered with vines. This city, from which 
 I write, so famous in the sixteenth and 
 seventeenth centuries ; the refuge at that 
 time of the Hugonots, and their grand 
 barrier against the royal power ; continues 
 still to be a commercial and populous 
 '. place,
 
 67 
 
 place, flio' much declined from it*s ancient 
 lustre. The port, v-lticli docs not admit 
 v*'ssols of any considerable burden, i 
 nevertheless well calculated for trade, being 
 divided info three distinct parts; of which 
 the innermost, denominated the bason, is 
 only a quarter of a mile in circnmf rence. 
 At the entrance, stand two noble Gothic 
 towers, one on each side ; called the " Tour 
 *' de St. Nicolas," and the " Tour de la 
 *' Chaine." They are now in a state of 
 decay, but were anciently desif^ned to pro- 
 t(?ct the town and harbour. W ithoui iiiejsfe 
 towers, the *' Avant Port" extends for 
 more than a league, bounded by t',vo points 
 of land, to the north and south. Beyond 
 those limits is beheld the road, where the 
 largest ships usually anchor, protected from 
 the south-west winds by the islands of Re, 
 Olcron, and Aix, which may be said tft 
 separate it from the Atlantic. Previous to- 
 the cession of Canada to England, and of 
 New Orleans to the crov.n of Spain, the^ 
 trade of Rochelle was very lucrative, both, 
 to the river St. Laurence, and to the Missi* 
 sippi. It has again revived within these 
 
 twa
 
 ivfo last years, to the coast of Guinea,, antf 
 to the East Indies. 
 
 . ^his place cannot lay claim to any re* 
 mote antiquity. Rocliclle was only a little 
 collection of houses on tlie shore, inhabited 
 by fishermen, ^vhen William the ninth, last 
 Count of Poictou, and duke of Aqiiitaine, 
 rendered himself master of it in 1 130. From 
 Ihat prince it descended to his only daughter, 
 Eleanor ; who, after her divorce from Loui 
 ttie seventh of France, brouglit all her 
 ample dowry in marriage to Henry the 
 second of England. 
 
 Louis transgressed every rule of true poli- 
 C}', in suffering so great a princess to carry 
 her possessions into the fiimily of his vassal- 
 Henry, M ho was already too powerfiJ. The 
 charter of Eleanor, incorporating the town 
 of Rochelle, still subsists in the registers of 
 the city. She granted tl^eni many peculiar 
 privileges, which her son Richard the first 
 afterwards confirm<d. Under Joho, the 
 English affairs declined ; vvA iJio' St. Louis, 
 actuated by scruplcsofhonorand conscience, 
 restored to Henry the third nil Siuntongo, 
 and Aunis ; yet liis son, Pliilip t!ie BoUi^ 
 
 re- 
 

 
 69 
 
 Te-coit^iercd tliem agtiin some years after- 
 wards. The battle of Poitiers, which took 
 place under Edward the third, in 1356, was 
 followed by the surrender of all the adjoin- 
 ing provinces and cities to England. Ro- 
 chelle constituted part of the French domi- 
 nions given to the Black Prince by his father ; 
 but the period of his administration was very 
 short, and he lived to see them again re- 
 united to France by Charles the fifth, in 
 the latter years of Edward's reign. 
 
 The Reformed religion, which was first 
 introduced into the kingdom about 1540) 
 met with a most favourable reception here; 
 and this city became, under Charles the 
 ninth, the grand asylum of the Pro(estants. 
 The massacre of Paris was soon followed by 
 the memorable siege of Rocl-elle, which 
 began in November, 1572, and was raised 
 in June, 1573. Entliusiasm supplied the' 
 besieged with constancy and courage, which 
 rendered them superior to the assailants^ 
 and the duke of Anjou, afterwards Ilenry" 
 the third, who commanded the royal army, 
 was happy to find a pretext in his election' 
 to the crown of Poland, for withdrawing' 
 
 bis
 
 70 
 
 his sliatlcrcd troops, after Uavklg lost 
 twcnf v-two thousand men before the place. 
 This success conduced towards inspiring 
 them with resolution to withstand Louis 
 the thirteenth, in 1627 : but Richlieu's ge- 
 jiius was not to be awed into submission. 
 After liaviug precluded every source of 
 assistance by sea and land, and having in- 
 vested the place for thirteen montlis, Ro- 
 chelle surrendered to the mercy of the king. 
 The calaiiiitics which the garrison endured 
 from famine, are only to be compared with 
 those of Jerusalem under Titus, and per- 
 haps even exceeded them. It wns tlie last 
 regular cflbrt of religious opposition to the 
 Crown, and may be considered as the icra 
 which established an unlimited royal power 
 throughout the kingdom. 
 
 I went twice yesterday, to view the 
 celebrated mound or dyke erected by 
 Richlieu. When the sea retir -s, it is still 
 visible ; and I walked out upon it above 
 three hundred feet, as it extends from 
 side to side, across the wliole iiarbour, 
 nearly an English mile in length. Its 
 bn^adth is, at this time, more than one 
 
 hundred
 
 71 
 
 hundred and fiffy feet, and it \\i lens con- 
 tinually towards tlio base. No ctibrt of art 
 or rnaiinificence can impress the mind with 
 so vnst and sublime an idea of the genius 
 of Richlieu, as does this bulwark formed 
 against the Atlantic. While I stood upon 
 it, in the middle of the port, between the 
 waves which rolled on either side, and 
 contemplated its extent, as well as strength, 
 I was almost inclined to suppose this as- 
 tonishing work to be superior to human 
 poAver. A small ^opening of about two 
 hundred feet, left by Pompey Targon, the 
 engineer who constructed it, in order to 
 give entrance to vessels, was sliut up by 
 chains fixed across it from side to sid6. 
 A tower was likewise erected at each end, 
 no remains of which are now to be seen. 
 Neither the duke of Buckingham, nor 
 the earl of Lindscy, who were successively 
 sent from England to the aid of the be- 
 sieged, by Charles the first, dared to at- 
 tack this formidable barrier : they retired, 
 and left Rochelle to its fate. In all proba- 
 bility, a thousand years, aided by storms,, 
 and all the fury of the sea, will make 
 
 little
 
 litde or no impression on this mound, 
 wbtcli is designed to endure as long as the 
 fame of tlie Cardinal, it's author. 
 
 From the northern point of the harbour, 
 I enjoyed a fine view of the three islands, 
 Re, Olcron, and Aix. It was on the former 
 of these, that the duke of Buckingham 
 landed, and, after his fruitless attempt on 
 the citadel of St. Martin, was repulsed 
 with the loss of eight thousand men . This 
 IKtle island, which is only six leagues in 
 length, is separated from the main land by 
 a channel of three miles broad. It con- 
 tains, I am assured, twenty thousand in- 
 habitants, and is better cultivated than tlie 
 finest provinces of France, ; while Oleron, 
 which is more than double its size, has not 
 Bear that number of people, and is neither 
 in the same state of cultivation or of im- 
 provement. This contrast is tlie result of 
 their different political imntunities, tlu^ 
 island of Re being free, and exempt from 
 all duties or taxation. 
 
 On the southern side of the port stands 
 a convent of Minims, erected by Louis 
 the thirteentli, after the siege in 16QS, iir 
 
 pray
 
 73 
 
 pray for the souls of those who perishetj 
 before llochelle. When Charles the ninth 
 began to invest it in 1572, there were at 
 that time, seventy-two thousand persons 
 in the city. In the second siege, they had 
 diminished to twenty-eight thousand ; and 
 at present, the inhabitants are only be- 
 tween seventeen and eighteen thousand; 
 of which scarcely two tliousand are IIu- 
 gonots. Religious zeal and animosity 
 liave entirely subsided: the citizens are 
 esteemed to be as well attached to the 
 crown, as any in France; and Louis the 
 fifteenth permitted the inscriptions engraven 
 on copper, which were atfixed by Richlieii 
 on cither side the doors of the monastery I 
 mentioned, to be taken down a few years 
 since, solemnly broken, and thrown into 
 the sea. I purpose to leave Rochelle to- 
 morrow, ;muI shall take the road to Uoch- 
 fort and Snintes. 
 
 A gentleman with whom I supped last 
 eight, assured me that the family of d'Ol- 
 breuse still exists, and that they reside 
 near Chaieauneuf ujjon the Charente, in 
 the province of Angoumois. He added, 
 tjiat
 
 74 
 
 that their circumstances were narrow, al- 
 most to a degree of distress. You will per- 
 haps recollect, that this liousejs allied to 
 the blood royal of England. George- Wil- 
 liam, the last duke of Zell, married Made- 
 moiselle d'Olbreuse, at Breda, about the 
 middle of the last century. They had only 
 one daughter, the beautiful and unhappy 
 Sophia, so well known, for her confinement 
 and misfortunes, mother to his late ma- 
 jesty, George the second. 
 
 The weather here is the most serene and 
 delightful that can be imagined. The vin- 
 tage is already begun round the city, and 
 the peasants are engaged in all that happy 
 festivity, natural to the season and the em- 
 ployment. I shall have the ]5leasnre of 
 seeing this scene continued, quito to tiie foot 
 of the Pyrenees, as they do not begin their 
 vintage in Guyenne and Gascony, till the 
 middle, or end of October. 
 
 Saintes,
 
 -3^ 
 
 Saintee, 
 Sunday, ^Ith September, 177 St 
 
 The distance from Rochellc to R'oc^' 
 fort is seven leagues, the first four of ^hicif 
 are exceedingly pleasant, the road lying 
 along the sea- shore, in view of the istartds^ 
 of Olerori and Aix, which appear at a small 
 distance. It is now almost a century, since 
 Louis the fourteenth constructed Rochfort 
 in the midst of marshes, wiiich were ex- 
 pressly drained for that purpose. Colbert^ 
 who was then first minister of the finances'^ ' 
 is said to have calleil it " La Ville d'Or,'* 
 from the prodigious sums which his master 
 had expended on this enterprize. Time 
 has liowevcr fully evinced the utility of the 
 project J, the port being almost as necessary 
 and important to the crown of France, as 
 either Brest, or Toulon. It is situate<l on 
 the river Charente, about five leagues from 
 its mouth. I passed several hours, on 
 Friday morning, in the diflcrent maga* 
 S zines
 
 76 
 
 tXnes and dock-yards. Every thing appears 
 to be under admirable regulation, and the 
 several branches of naval equipment are 
 carried on with the utmost vigor and dis- 
 patch. A grand object of attention with 
 the present ministry, seems to be to restore 
 tlie navy, which was almost totally dc- 
 st^'oyed during the late war with England. 
 
 The number of workmen commonly em- 
 ployed at Rochfort, is about nine hundred, 
 and to these arc added six hundred galley 
 slaves, who are occupied in the most pain- 
 ful and laborious brancheii of service. They 
 are chained, two and two, with heavy fet- 
 ters, constantly guarded, and confined in 
 a long building erected for that purj^ose, in 
 the cientre of the yard. Some of these 
 wretches are thus detained for a term of 
 years; others, during life. The precau- 
 tions used to prevent their escaj^e are ex- 
 cellent, and improved on continually by 
 experience; yet, in spite of every obstacle, 
 they are continually eluded. 
 
 The armoury, the rope-walks, the store- 
 houses of every kind, are all in the best 
 Older, and kept with prodigious neatness. 
 
 Louis
 
 7r 
 
 Louis the fourteenth fortified ihe city, aifc 
 the time that lie constructed it ; but it 
 situation, at so considerable a distance 
 from the sea, rendering it sufficiently se- 
 cure from any hostile attack, they hav 
 therefore lately closed up the battlements, 
 and neglected the fortifications. Rochfort 
 is laid out with great beauty and elegance. 
 The streets, which are all very broad jtnd 
 strait, extend thro* the wliole place from 
 side to side ; but the buildings do not cor- 
 respond with them in this respect, being 
 mostly low and irregular. 
 
 The province of Saintonge, of which 
 the city of Saiutes is the capital, begins at 
 a small distance from Rochfort ; and the 
 antiquities which this place still contains^ 
 have chiefly detained ine here since yester- 
 day morning. It was a Roman colony^ 
 and those conquerors of the earth, who 
 polished the nations that they subdued, 
 have left behind them the traces of their 
 magnificence. In a hollow valley betweea 
 two mountains, almost adjoining to one of 
 the suburbs, arc seen the ruins of the am- 
 phitheatre. Tho' now in the last stage of- 
 3 decay,
 
 j&cay, its appearance is august and ven> 
 rable. In some parts, scarcely any ofth 
 arches are to be discerned ; but the east 
 end is still in a great degree of preserva- 
 tion. Its situation in a valley, and the ex- 
 isting ruins of an aqiieductj which convey^* 
 cd w^ter to the town from near three leagues 
 distance, have induced antiquaries to sup- 
 pose that Naumachiae were represented in it ; 
 but this opinion amounts only to conjecture. 
 A triumphal arch, on which i^ remaining 
 an inscription in Roman letters, merit* 
 li^kewise attention. Jt "vvos erected to Gcr* 
 manicus, on the news of hi& death, so uni- 
 yersally lamented thro'out the empire, and 
 vhich has beeo pathetically recorded by 
 Tacitus. 
 
 The river Charente surrounds this city^ 
 as the Severn does that of Shrewsbury^ 
 describing the form of a hor6C-shot% I 
 have been walking in the beautiful mea- 
 dows which border it, from whence the 
 buildings of the town have a tine effect. 
 Tho' the Charente canjiot compare with 
 the Loire or the Rlione, in size and depth > 
 yet the actions which have been performed 
 
 on
 
 19 - 
 
 oil its banks in diflbrent ages, ivnder it 
 immortal in history. At Taillrbourg, 
 only six miles from hence, nearer to its 
 month, wns fought the battle between 
 Henry the third of En^land and St. Louis, 
 about the middle of the thirteenth cen- 
 tnry, where the latter was conqueror. In 
 this action, Lonis, who was not less brave 
 than pious, gave proofs of undaunted in- 
 trepidity, by defending almost alone, like 
 Iloratius Codes in antiquity, tlie passage 
 of a bridge against lue English army, 
 during some minutes. 
 
 The defeat of Taillebourg has been so com- 
 ph'tely obliterated by the three victories of 
 Cressy, Poitiers, and Agincourt, that we 
 scarcely know of its existence. Every Eng- 
 lishman recollects that Henry the sixth was 
 acknowledged and crowned king of France, 
 in Paris: but, few remember that Louis the 
 eighth, in 1216, was equally recognized for 
 a short time, king of England, and crowned 
 in London. Nations, like individuals, easily 
 and willingly forget the events that wound 
 their pride, or that humiliate their vanity, 
 Francis the first, one of the greatest 
 b4: and
 
 m 
 
 and most accomplish eel princes avIio Ikis 
 reigned in France, was born in 1491, at 
 the casllc of Cognac, only seven Icagucft 
 higher up on tlie Ciiarentc. Two leagues 
 Beyond Cognac, still nearer its source, is 
 the famous plain of Jarnac, where the Hu- 
 gonots were defeated in 1.'>C9, by the duke 
 of Anjoii, afterwards Henry the third ; and 
 where the great Louis, first prince of 
 Conde, was assassinated by Montcsquiou. 
 I am told that the present Count de Jar- 
 nac has caused a monument to be erected 
 within ^hese few years, over the spot where 
 perished that magnanimous prince. J in- 
 tended to have gone along the banks of the 
 Cliarente, thro' both these last mentioned 
 places, to Angoulcsme: but the ditliculties 
 are almost in.supcrable, as there is no post 
 road yet established ; and I am tlierefore 
 obliged to pursue the strait route to Eour- 
 deaux, through Pous and lilayc. 
 
 Except the remains of Roman grandeur 
 still visible at Sainles, the place contains 
 very few objects to detain or amuse a tra- 
 veller. It is built with great irregularity ; 
 the streets are narrow and winding, the 
 
 houses
 
 *1 
 
 houses meac, and almost all of them are 
 some centuries old. The cathedral has 
 been repeatedly defaced and destroyed by 
 Normans and Hugonots, who made war 
 alike on every monument of art or piety ^ 
 One tower only has escaped their rage, 
 which is said to have been built as early 
 as the year eiglit hundred, by Charle- 
 magne. It is of an enormous magnitude, 
 both as to height and circumf^'rence. These 
 circumstances have probably conduced 
 more to its preservation, during the fury of 
 war, than any veneration for tlie memory 
 of its founder, or for the sanctity of its 
 Institution. 
 
 Tlie Reformed Religion seems to be far on 
 the decline in this province, where anciently 
 it had gained so many votaries. There is 
 now only one Protestant family, as lana 
 assured, remaining in Saintes i the reasoH 
 is evident ; the fervors of devotion, 
 warm and animated in the beginning,- are 
 nourished by persecution ; but, un'.iappily 
 become languid and extinct in an. age of 
 more mild and tolcratiiig priaciples. In- 
 terest is ever present,, ever iitimately felt 
 ,<.>s5>tMA E 5 by
 
 fty mankind. The Establislied Religion 
 ]}olds out offices and honors ; Protestan- 
 tism is barrea : her rewards are in another 
 Vorld. Can you wonder that it loses 
 
 i . > '. , f 
 
 iGitrnkanx,
 
 83 
 
 BourdeauT, 
 Friday, 7th October, 1775. 
 
 Continuing my journey from Saiiites, 
 last Sunday se'nnight, I slept at Pons, a 
 small town agreeably situated on a mount* * 
 tain. Near the summit, in the centre ot 
 the place, stands an ancient castle belong- 
 ing- to tlie Prince de Marsan, which com- 
 mands an extensive and luxuriant prospect 
 of the vales of Saintongc and Angoumois,. 
 covered with vines, and watered by twd 
 or three fine rivulets, which lose themselves, 
 after many windings, in the Charente. 1 
 entered the province of Guyenne, tlie next 
 day, and ar.ived at Blaye, on the nor-^ 
 thern baiik "of the Garonne, on Tuesday 
 morning; from whence I came up to thi^ 
 city by water; a distance of about sevett; 
 leagues. At Blaye, the river is above foiff 
 miles in breadth, but it gradually diminishes^ 
 on approaching Botfrdeaux. T)i(early half 
 way between the two places, at a spot '^ lied 
 " le Bee d'Ambez,'* I passed the month, 
 ' E*6 o
 
 84 
 
 of the river Dordogne, whicli after run- 
 ning thro' the provinces of Limousin and 
 Pcrigord, empties itself into the Garonne. 
 The prospect at the conflux of these two 
 streams, is wonderfully picturesque : more 
 cultivated and pleasing, tho' less sublime 
 and extensive, than that formed by the 
 junction of the Vistula and the Nogat, 
 near Marienbourg in Polish Prussia. 
 
 Our passage in remounting the Garonne 
 from Blaye, was long, and the sun nearly 
 sunk belov. the horizon, as Ave turned round 
 a point of land, wliich opened to us the 
 city of Bourdeaux at the distance of three 
 miles. The effect on the spectator is ex- 
 tscedingly striking. It describes the figure 
 of a crescent more than a league in lengthy 
 the buildings of which near the water-sid^ 
 are all modern, lofty, and very elegant. 
 1 have seen no prospect so superb in Eu 
 rope, except the view of Lisbon, from the 
 lower of Belem on the river Tagus ; which 
 tho' more irregular from the nature of its 
 mountainous situation > is perhaps superior 
 in point of magnificence. 
 Tie favorable impression which Bour- 
 
 deaax
 
 85 
 
 deaux cannot fail to make on a stranger at 
 his first arrival, is well confirmed by a re- 
 sidence ill it. Pleasure seems indeed to 
 l!aTe as many votaries here, as commerce ; 
 luxury and industry reign within the same 
 walls, in the most extensive degree. The 
 air of courts is naturally effeminate, se- 
 ducing, and voluptuous. Commercial 
 cities are usually marked by opposite man- 
 ners ; and the love of gain, powerful in it& 
 influence over the human heart, generally 
 obscures or absorbs the other passions^ 
 Here, however, these rules are by no 
 means verified. Luxury and dissipation 
 are more openly patronized at Bourdeaax, 
 and have made a more universal progress j, 
 tlian in many of the capitals ef Europe*: 
 At Stockholm, scarcely the shadow of them 
 is perceivable. Neither Copenhagen nor 
 Vienna are yet advanced to the same point 
 of excess, tho* aided by the presence or 
 their sovereigns, .and the pleasures which 
 naturally follow in their train. Ham-- 
 burgh, perhaps equal in size, possessing as 
 much commerce,, and as much opulence as 
 Bourdeaux; betrays no external marks of 
 
 dissolute
 
 86 
 
 dissolute manners, and punishes Ihcm with 
 extreme severity. It is natural to seek for 
 (lie reason of this extraordinary contrast. 
 We shall find it, I apprehend, chiefly ia 
 the genius of the French nation, in the 
 climate, and in the spirit of the govern- 
 ment, ^vhich rather encourages, than re- 
 presses luxury, among all ranks of people. 
 Religion, the only engine capable of op- 
 posing the torrent, has ceased to produce 
 any eflfect in France, wliere the V irgin is 
 held in as little estimation as among u. 
 Divest mankind of the influence which re- 
 ligion, government, and decorum have 
 over them, what restraint can be affixed to 
 the gratification of their passions ? 
 
 The ancient city of Bourdeaux, tho*^ 
 considerable in point of size, was, like 
 every other city in Europe at the accession 
 f Louis the fourteenth, ill built, bai'ly 
 paved, dangerous, without police, or any 
 of those municipal regulations, indispen- 
 sibly requisite to render a city splendid or 
 elegant. It hcis entirely changed its ap- 
 pearance within these last thirty years.. 
 The public edifices are very noble, and all 
 
 the
 
 87' 
 
 the streets newly bwilf, are regular and 
 handsome. I am never tired of AvaTking 
 on the banks of the Garonne. The quays ex- 
 tend four miles in length, and the river itself 
 is considerably broader than the Thames 
 at London bridge. On the opposite side, 
 to the North, a range of hills, covered with 
 woods, vineyards, churches, and Villas, 
 extends beyond the view. 
 
 Almost in the centre of t^'e town, stands 
 a fine equestrian statue in Bronze, erected to 
 the late king in 1743. It is very rarely that I 
 am much affected by the inscriptions placed 
 under the figures of princes, which usually 
 contain only a detail of virtues and quali- 
 ties that they never possessed ; but tliere ia 
 something in this, so pathetic, so simple,, 
 and so much addressed to the heart, that 1 
 liave retained it in my memory. 
 
 ** Ludovlco quindecimo, 
 " S^epe victori, semper pacificatori; 
 ** Suos omnes, quam late regnum patet, 
 
 *' Patemo pectore gereiiti ; 
 ** Suorum in animis penitus habltanti." 
 
 The beauty of the river Garonne, and 
 
 the
 
 88 
 
 the fertility of tlic adjoining country, were 
 probably the causes which induced the 
 Romans to lay the founclations of this cify^ 
 The ruins of a very large Amphitheatre stilV 
 remain, constructed under the emperoii 
 Gallienus : it is of brick, as were most of 
 the edifices of that periotl, Avhen the em-, 
 pire was verging to its fall,^ and the arts, 
 began rapidly to decline. 
 
 During the irruptions of the barbarous 
 nations, and peculiarly in those which the 
 Normans repeatedly made, Bourdeaux was- 
 ravaged, burnt, and almost entirely de** 
 stroyed. It only began to recover again 
 tinder Henry the second of England, who- 
 liaving united it to the crown, by his mar* 
 riage w ith Eleanor of Aquitaine, rebuilt it ; 
 aad made it a principal object f his po- 
 licy, to restore tlie city again to the lustre, 
 from which it bad fallen. 
 
 The Black Prince, who received all Gny- 
 enne, Gascony, and many inferior pro- 
 vinces, in full sovereiarnty from his father, 
 Edward the third ; brought his royal cap* 
 tive, .7chn, king of Frmce, to this city, 
 after the battleUf^ Poitiers in 1556 : here the
 
 89 
 
 prince held his court and residence daring 
 eleven years. His exalted cliaraclerj his 
 uninterrupted series of good fortune, his 
 victories, liisatFabili*}', andhlsmutuficence, 
 drew strangers to Bourdeanx from every 
 part of Europe ; but all this splendor 
 soon disappeared. He lived to experience 
 the ingratitude of Pedro the Cruel, to 
 whom he had restored the kingdom of 
 Castile ; he became a prey to distempers in 
 the vigor of life; he saw his dominions 
 reunited again in many of their branches, 
 to the crown of France, by Charles the 
 fifth ; lie lost his eldest son, Edward, a 
 prince of the highest expv^ctations; and at 
 length, overcome with sorrow at this last 
 affliction, he quitted Bourdeaux, and em- 
 barked for England, tljcre to expire, a 
 memorable example of the hasty revolu- 
 tion of iiuninn greatness! 
 
 Jri 1453, Ciiarles the seventh, king of 
 France, re-entered tlic cily, and sub- 
 jected the whole province of Guyenne, 
 which had been for near three centuries 
 under the English government. Con- 
 scious of the importiuicc of such a con- 
 quest
 
 90 
 
 quest, he or'.l..rrd the " Clinteau Trom- 
 ** pette" fo be built, in order to defend the 
 passage of the river ; and Louis tlse four- 
 teenth aftcrwartls employed th(^ celebrated 
 Vauban to erect -a new fortress, in the mo- 
 dern style of military architecture, on the 
 same spot. Madame de Maiitenon,\vhora 
 fortune seemed to have chosen at different 
 periods of life, as the object of her extremcst 
 rigor, and extremcst bounty ; was removed 
 v/hen very j^oung, from the prisons of 
 Niort in Poictou, where she was born, 
 with her father the Baron d'Aubigne, to 
 this castle, where she used to play with 
 the daughter of the turnkeyj in the utmost 
 indigence. 
 
 Bourdeaux presents few remains of anti- 
 quity. The cathedral, which appears to 
 be very old, has suffered consitlerably 
 from the effects of time. Th(> unfortunate 
 Charles, duke of Guyenne, brother to Louis 
 llic eleventh, who, as the French historians 
 all agree, Mas poisoned in 1473, lies bu- 
 ried before the high altar. The adjacent 
 country, more particularly the " Pays de 
 *' Medoc," which produces the finest 
 
 Clarets,
 
 Clarets, is exceedingly pleasant : and at 
 this season, wlien the peasants are all en- 
 gaged in the vintage, forms one of the 
 most delicious landscaj.es in the world. 
 My stay here Aviil probably be prolonged 
 for some days. 
 
 Ati$d
 
 S2 
 
 Ausch ia Arraagnaf , 
 Saturday, Hth October, 177.>. 
 
 I LFf T Boiirdeaux last Tuesday morn- 
 ing, taking the road to Agcn, along the 
 southern bank of the Garonne. I crossed 
 that river at Langon, a little town plea- 
 Bantl J situated on its banks, and stopped 
 in the evening at La Rcole. It was my in- 
 tention to have proceeded further, but the 
 landlady was too eloquent : she offered to 
 send her little boy, who would conduct me 
 over the ruins of the castle, while she her- 
 self prepared a brace of partridges, and 
 the finest desert in the world, against my 
 return. I suffered myself to be persuaded, 
 and walked out while supper was getting 
 ready. The sun had set, but the sky was 
 without a cloud, and the air perfectly se- 
 rene. The castle of Jja Rcole, which over- 
 bangs the waters oi the Garonne, is re- 
 flected in its surface: lime has crumbled 
 many of the battlements into ruin, but 
 enough yet remains to shew its former 
 .' A splendor .^
 
 93 
 
 splendor. Calberine of Medicis resided 
 in it some time, during one of the jouruies 
 which she made into the southern pro- 
 vinces ; and Henry the fourth, tlien king 
 of Navarre, had here an interview with her, 
 at which he fell in love with the beautiful 
 Mndamoiselle d'Ajclle, one of her maids 
 of hoiior. 
 
 1 dined on the ensuing day at Aiguillon. 
 On the hill above the town, stands the 
 Chateau of the celebrated duke d'Aiguil- 
 lon, who has lived to experience the most 
 severe reverse of fortune. After having 
 been the minister and tlie fiivorite of Louis 
 the fifteenth, ho is now sentenced to pass 
 the remainder of his days, an exile in his 
 own house, deprived of power, and un- 
 accompanied even with that compassion 
 which often waits on illustrious persons in 
 disgrace. He has been already here some 
 months ; happy, if the royal displeasure 
 pursue him no farther, and if the stories 
 of a Fouquct, or a Marechal d'Ancre, are 
 not again renewed in him ! 
 
 I reached Agen in the afternoon. The 
 country thro' which I passed from Langon, 
 
 where
 
 94 
 
 trlierc 1 crossed the Garonne, fo the gates 
 of that city, is fertile beyond any that I 
 have seen in Europe. Tlie hills are all 
 covered with vineyards to the summit, and 
 the vallics scarcely require the industry of 
 the peasants, to produce in plenty what- 
 ever is necessary for their subsistence. 
 The climate; at this season is delicious ; 
 and no marks of the approach of winter 
 appear in any of (lie productions of nature. 
 Cherry trees, figs, acacias, poplars, and 
 lms, are in full verdure; in inany places, 
 where they border on the side of the road, 
 the vines have run up, and mixed their 
 clusters among the boughs : this is truly 
 beautiful, and picturesque. Milton, in 
 liis divine flijihts of imagination, could 
 employ our first, parents in no more de- 
 lightful occupation, even in Paradise. 
 
 " Or they led the vine 
 " To wed her elm ; she round about him throw* 
 ** Her marriageable arms ; and with her brin^ 
 *' Her dower, th' adopted clusters, to adorn 
 ** His barren leaves." 
 
 ill the midst of this charming country, 
 
 in
 
 95 
 
 yj a plain, close to the Garonne, stand* 
 the city of Agcn. Behind it, to the north, 
 rises a very high liiil, called " Le Rocher 
 " de la belle Vue." I went up lo the sum- 
 mit, on which is built a convent. The 
 chapel, and some of the adjoining cells, are 
 hollowed out of the rock. It is said that 
 these apartments are very ancient, having- 
 been made many centuries ago by hermits,, 
 who retired thither from motives of devo- 
 tion and austerity. The prospect is beau- 
 tiful, commanding over the " Condomois, 
 *' Agenois, and Armagnac:" beneath, lies 
 the city of Agen, and thro' the meadows 
 which surround it, rolls the Garonne. 
 One of the monks shewed me the apart- 
 ments of the convent ; and in tlie recesses 
 of the rock, he led me to a spring which is 
 never dry, and which he assured me had 
 been oj>ened by miracle, at the interces- 
 sion of some holy recluse in ages past. 
 Their little Refectory was hung with por- 
 traits of the same monastic heroes, among 
 which was a St. William, duke of Aqui- 
 taine ; " and at the upper end, in goldea 
 letters, was written " Silentium." 
 
 Agen,
 
 96 
 
 Agon, considered in itself, is a very mcaa 
 ai d disagreeable place; the bouses being ill 
 built, tbe streets narrow, crooked, and 
 dirt J. I saw only one building in it, whicli 
 appeared to me deserving of notice, it is a 
 chapel belonging to a nunnery of Carmelites. 
 The walls arc exquisitely painted in Chiaro 
 Oscuro, and the deception of the roof, 
 vliich is executed in the same manner, is 
 admirable. The high tiltar, which may be 
 termed magnificent, is adorned with a piece 
 of painting, the subject of which is very 
 interesting. Jt is a nun, sinking under the 
 transports of holy contemplation. 81ic 
 appears as if incapable of sup[)orting the 
 ilivine efl'ulgence of her celestial lov<r, 
 with eyes half closed, and arms expanded. 
 Above, descends a radiant figure, with 
 looks of tenderness and pleasure, surround- 
 ed with the glories of tlie skies, too strong 
 for mortal sight. If it had not been a re- 
 ligious edifice, 1 should have npposed it 
 to be the story of Jupiter and Semele, to 
 which it bears the most apt resemblance. 
 Near the piece is this inscription. 
 
 ** Quid
 
 *' Quid non conatur Amcjrt 
 
 ** Ccelos in Terns adumbrare 
 
 ' Carmeli Filis tentarunt, 
 
 " Anno salutis 
 
 1773." 
 
 Surely, you must here be struck witli 
 the justice of a remark which we have 
 often made together, on the intimate alli- 
 ance between love and devotion, when car- 
 ried to excess. The same enthusiasm, the 
 same melting language, the same over- 
 powering delights, are common to both 
 passions. Love, says Rousseau, in the. 
 extreme, borrows the language of Devo- 
 tion ; and Devotion, in her flights, adopts 
 the expressions of attachment and fondness. 
 
 We are nscd to apprehend the condition 
 of a young woman who has taken the veil, 
 to be very miserable. Where convenience,, 
 or chagrin, or melancholy, are the mo- 
 tives to this act of self-dedication, 1 fully 
 ct)ncur in that opinion ; but there are wo- 
 men, 1 doubt not, who in the gloom of a 
 convent, surrounded by shrines and cruci- 
 iixes, are yet supremely happy. Married 
 to a celestial spouse, and dedicated to the 
 F ' embraces
 
 98 
 
 
 
 embraces of a superior and invisible being, 
 Enthusiasm has ample room to exert her 
 powers, and to raise her votary above the 
 poor gratifications of earth. 
 
 . ** To sounds of heavenly harps she dies away, 
 " And melts in visions of eternal day." 
 
 But I return 
 
 Agen has anciently been fortified, and 
 the Gothic battlements and turrets yet re- 
 main almost entire round the whole place. 
 Margaret of Valois, daughter of Henry 
 the second of France, and wife to Henry 
 the fourth, so renowned for her talents, her 
 adventures, and her gallantries, kept her 
 little court for some time at this city, 
 during the jc'ivil vrars which desolated 
 France, and tlie quarrels which subsisted 
 between her husband and brothers. Tlie 
 Agenois formed part of that fine domain, 
 which by the peace of Bretigni in 1360, 
 was ceded to the crown of England ; and it 
 constituted part of the territories governed 
 by Edward, the Black Prince. It followed 
 ^e fate of Guyenne under Charles the se- 
 venth.
 
 99 
 
 Tenth, who re-conquered it, and for ever 
 re-annexed it to the dominions of France. 
 
 Continuing my journey from Agen oa 
 Thursday evening, at Layrac I once more 
 crossed the Garonne. The passage is dif- 
 ficult, and sometimes dangerous, the river 
 being very rapid, and running between high 
 banks. I stopt for a few hours yesterday 
 morning, at the city of Leytoure. As it is 
 situated on a mountain, the sides of which 
 are very steep, I left my carriage below, 
 and walked up alone. Here, from the 
 summit, 1 had the first view of the Pyre- 
 nees, at tlie distance of ninety miles ; their 
 heads lost in clouds, and covered with 
 eternal snow, ^^^hile I stood gazing on 
 these stupendous mountains, a gentleman 
 \ery politely accosted me, and observing 
 that I was a stranger, ofl'ered me his ser- 
 vices to shew me whatever objects of cu- 
 riosity the city contained. 
 
 " This place," said he, " was a Roman 
 *' colony, and called by them Lectoura^ 
 *' Many antiquities have been discovered 
 *' here; and a beautiful fountain, which 
 " springs from the side of tlte hill near tho 
 v2 " episp 
 
 \
 
 100 
 
 '* episcopal palace, is declared by imme- 
 *' morial tradition to have been consecrated 
 *' to Diana, who had a temple near tlie 
 '* spot. In succeeding ages, Lejtoure bo 
 ** longed to thie Counts of Armagnac, who 
 " were great vassals of the croAvn of 
 *' France, and sovereigns in their own tcr- 
 *' ritories. The last of these princes, John 
 *' the fifth, was put to death in this city. 
 '* His history was very singular. He bc- 
 *' gan his reign in 1450. The youngest of 
 *' his sisters, Isabella, was a princess of 
 '** uncommon beauty and accomplishments : 
 ** the Count conceived a criminal passion 
 ** for her, and, unable to repress or to ex- 
 ** tinguish it, lie deterniined, in defiance 
 '' of every obstacle, to make her his wife. 
 *^ He married her publicly ; but the reign- 
 *' ing Pope, justly oflended a< so inces- 
 *' tuous a union, denounced iigainst liim a 
 ''sentence of excommunication; which, 
 ** Charles the seventh, king of France, 
 *' prepared to enforce by the instant seizure 
 *' of his dominions. Charles dispatched the 
 '* Dauphin, afterwards Louis the eleventh, 
 ** into Armagnac, for that purpose, at the 
 
 " head
 
 101 
 
 head of a body of forces. The Count, 
 abandoned by his subjects, and incapable 
 of rosist'inre, Hod to Foiitarabia, carrying 
 with him his beloved sister. Having, 
 however, at the intercession of the Count 
 de Foix, obtained his pardon, and the 
 restoration of his possessions, he return- 
 ed to Leytoure ; leaving the beautiful and 
 unliappy Isabel in Spain, -where slio 
 died in the utmost obscurity. Louis the 
 eleventh, less generous and merciful 
 than his father, afterwards determined 
 on the Count's final destruction, from the 
 desire of uniting so ample a fief to the 
 crown of France. lie declared war 
 against John, and in 1473, an army 
 under the command of Peter de Beaujeu, 
 his son-ui-law, was sent into Armagnac. 
 John the fifth retired to Leytoure, in 
 which place he was invested. He capi- 
 tulated on very honorable terms, and 
 on the most solemn assurances of being 
 continued in the possession of his domi- 
 nions. But, while the treaty was on the 
 point of being signed, and the Count, 
 cojifiding in the honor of the king, re- 
 f3 " mitted
 
 102 
 
 *' milted liis usual vigilance, Ihe soldiers 
 **^ broke into the 4own, and he Avas himself 
 " murdered in his own palace. Louis im- 
 ** mediately seized on his possessions, as 
 " escheated to the croAvn/*^ 
 
 I listened to this aiFecting story with 
 great attention. When the gentleman had 
 concluded it, he conducted me to the brow 
 of the mountain, where are still seen the rC" 
 mains of a castle. " In this fortress," said he, 
 (renewing his discourse) " the noble and 
 " unfortunate Marechal dc Montmorenci, 
 '' grandson to the famous Constable of 
 '* France of the same name, was confined", 
 ** after thedefeat which he sustained at Cas- 
 " telnaudari, in 1632. So amiable was his 
 *' character, so general was the attachment 
 *' borne to him, and so detested was the Car- 
 *' dinal de Richlieu his enemy, that the la- 
 *' dies of the place attempted by a stratagem 
 ** to procure him his liberty. They sent 
 " him, as a present, a large pye, in which 
 ** was concealed a silken ladder of ropes. 
 ** He lost no time in endeavoring to avail 
 " himself of this instrument for his escape, 
 "** swid having fixed it on the same evening, 
 
 " to
 
 ** to the window of his apartment, he or- 
 *' tiered his valet to descend first, with in- 
 " tent to follow him ; but the servant having 
 *' unfortunately missed his hold, lell, and 
 ".in the fall broke his thigh. The centi- 
 " nels, alarmed at his cru?8, ran to the 
 *' spot, and intercepted the Marechal, who 
 " was soon after conducted to Toulouse, 
 *' and there put to death." 
 
 My conductor quittinj^ me, I continued 
 my walk round the city. Lcytoure covers a 
 level space of more than half a mile in cir- 
 cumference, occupying the summit of the 
 mountain. The fortifications in many parts 
 are yet entire ; and the situation, admirably- 
 calculated for defence, was probably the 
 motive which induced the Romans there to 
 construct a city. 
 
 1 left Lcytoure at noon, and arrived here 
 last night, the distance being only tive- 
 and-twen<y miles. This place, which is 
 the capital of Armagnac, like Leytoure, 
 lies on the summit and declivity of a very 
 sleep hill, which is surrounded by other 
 hills that rise at a small distance. Thro' 
 tte vale below runs a rivulet, called the 
 F 4 Gersr
 
 104 
 
 fers. The inhabitants of Auscli are about 
 six thousand ; the buildings, modern and 
 el<^ant ; the streets, tho' in general nar- 
 row, yet are clean and well paved. In the 
 centre of the city stands the cathedral, 
 Vi'hich is one of the most magniiicent in 
 France, both as to its construction, and 
 the internal decorations. The painted 
 irindows are only inferior to tiiose of Gouda 
 in Holland ; and the chapels, which arc 
 of equal beauty, are ornamented at a pro- 
 digious expcnce. 
 
 The revinues of the sec of Ausch, ^hicli 
 l archiepiscopal, amount annually to three 
 htmdred thousand livres. The palace cor- 
 responds with these ample possessions, and 
 ifs a very handsoine building. The apart- 
 ments are furnished with a voluptuous 
 splendor, rather becoming a temporal, thari 
 a spiritual prince; and in the chamber 
 where the archbishop himself sleeps, I 
 could not help smiling at a number of holy 
 relics, which he has dis[)osed round a bed, 
 on which Heliogal)alus might havereposod. 
 The library is very ample, and adorned 
 with some portraits. Among these, a titie 
 .>'-' ' ^ head
 
 105 
 
 Iiead of the Cardinal de Polignac, who was 
 archbishop of Ausch, drew my attention. 
 There is genius marked in the counte- 
 nance. A pale face ; the contour, oval ; 
 an aquiline nose, and an eye that seems to 
 look forward into futurity. Over his 
 scarlet robe hangs the cross of the Holy 
 Ghost, on his breast. He was one of 
 the many illustrious men who will for 
 ever immortalize the age of Louis the four- 
 teenth. 
 
 The country thro' which I have passed, 
 to the south of the Garonne, is much 
 more hilly, or rather mountainous, than 
 that on the northern side of the river. It 
 is not, however, less fertile or agre<;able. 
 Tho' I am assured that every article q 
 life is more than doubled in price within 
 these last ten years, yet this province is 
 still accounted one of the cheapest in the 
 kingdom. The common wine of Arma- 
 gnac is at present only five farthings a 
 bottle : hares, partridges, and every kind 
 of game, are found in vast abundance. 
 Add to these advantages, a happy climate, 
 and a people polite as well as gay from na- 
 f5 tural
 
 106 
 
 iaral <5Isposition, and you will allow thafr 
 a man must be very spleneticj who would*- 
 die here of ennui. 
 
 xo-morrow I shall continue my journey 
 thra' Tarbes, to Pan, tlie capital of Bgarn*, 
 
 Ortkc
 
 107 
 
 Orthez in Beam, 
 Saturday, 21st October, 1775. 
 
 Armagnac is a hilly and romantiog 
 country, abounding in beautiful prospects^ 
 whcr-c rudeness and cultivation are finely 
 blended. At Rabastcins, a little town, I 
 entered tlie province of Bigorrc, and got 
 the same evening to Tarbcs, which is the 
 capitaK My intention was to have visited 
 Barege, so fmuous for its medicinal baths ; 
 but its situation in the. midst of the Pyre- 
 nees, where the winter has already begun^ 
 and wliicli are covered at this time with 
 snow^.has induced me to relinquish my de* 
 sign . 1 stayed a day at Bagneres dc Bigorre, 
 a place hardly less celebrated than Barege. 
 It is only about twelve miles distant from 
 Tarbes, and the road lies tJirough a rich 
 vale, at the end of which, immediately 
 under the Pyrenean mountains, stands tho 
 town. Bagneres has been croaded with 
 company during the summer, who are now 
 forsaking it.. Nothing can exceed the 
 F 6 environs
 
 108 
 
 environs in. beauty. Even at this ad- 
 vanced season, when nature is on her de- 
 cline, and the leaves begin to take the hue 
 of autumn, the country yet retains a thou- 
 sand charms. The Pyrenees, which rise 
 ikbovethetoAvn, and whose craggy summits, 
 afe lost in clouds, form an object the most 
 magnificent that can be imagined ; while 
 on the other side appear fertile vallios co~ 
 Tered with vines, and inlerspcrsed with 
 bamlets. Tlwre are many sp/rii>gs near 
 Bagnercs, both warm and cold, which issue 
 out of the mountains, hikI are of different 
 virtues. Those called " Les bains de- 
 " salut,"^ are the principal ; they are about 
 half a mile from the town, and the walk to 
 them, between the hills, is equally agree- 
 able and romantic. 
 
 I cannot help regretting that the year i 
 too far advanced, io permit me to pass some 
 weeks among the Pyrenees. An admirer of 
 nature must find ample subject for re- 
 flexion, and the greatest sources of enter- 
 tainment, amidst the extraordinary scenes 
 which present themselves in* this chain of 
 xotks, stretching from the Atlantic to the 
 
 Medi-
 
 100 
 
 Mediterranean. They seem as if designed 
 to form a barrier between France and 
 Spain, which no union of blood or policy 
 can ever effectually surmount, notwith- 
 standing the celebrated words of Louis the 
 fourteenth to his grandson Philip, when 
 ready to set out for Madrid " Mon fils^ 
 " il n*y a plus des Pyrenees." 
 
 I left Tarbes on Wednesday last, and 
 got to Pau in six hours, the distance not 
 exceeding thirty miles. The province of 
 Beam begins about a league from Tarbes, 
 at the ascent of a very steep and lofty 
 mountain, which divides it from Kigorre. 
 The city of Pau will be for ever memorable 
 in history, shice it was the birth-place of 
 Henry the fourth. Tiiat immortal prince 
 was born in the castle, then the usual resi- 
 dence of the kings of Navarre. \'ou will 
 not doubt that I visited it with equal plea- 
 sure and attention. It stands on one of tlie 
 most romantic and singular spots that I 
 have ever seen, at the west end of the 
 town, upon the brow of a rock which ter- 
 minates perpendicularly. Below, runs the 
 Gave, a river, or rather a torrent, which 
 
 rises
 
 110 
 
 rises in the Pyrenees, and empties itself 
 into the Adour. On the other side, about 
 two miles off", is a ridge of hills, covered 
 with vineyards, which produce the famous, 
 " V in de Joren9on,^" so much admired ;. 
 and beyond all, at tlie distance of nine 
 leagues, appear the Pyrenees themselves,, 
 covering the horizon from east to west, and 
 bouudiii^' tlie prospect. Tlie castle,^ tho' 
 now in a state of decay, is. stiM habitable;, 
 and the apartments are hung with tapestry,, 
 said to be the work of Jane,, queen of Na- 
 - va.rrc, mother of Henry the fourth. Gatoa 
 the fourth,. Count de Foix., who married 
 l/eonora, heiress of the crown of Navarre,, 
 began the ediiice in 14G4 ; but liis succes- 
 sor, Henry d'Albret, completed and en- 
 larged it,, about the year 1519, when he 
 made choice of the city of Pau.for his resi- 
 dence; where,, during the remainder of his 
 reign, he held his little court. 
 
 In a chamber, which by its size Avas for- 
 merly a room of state,, hangs a fine whole' 
 lengih portrait of tliat Jane, queen of Na-f 
 vaire, Avhom I have just mentioned. Her, 
 dress,,which is very splendid, resembles those 
 
 in
 
 Ill 
 
 lit wFiich our Elizabeth is usually painted- 
 Her head-dress is adorned with pearls ', 
 round her neck she wears a ruff r and her 
 arms, wlrich are Hke^vise covered with 
 pearls, are concealed by her habit, quite 
 down to the wrist. At her waist hangs by 
 a chain, a mimature portrait. The fingers 
 of her right hand play on the strings of a 
 guittar ; and in her left hhe holds an em- 
 bjoidered handkerchief. The painter has 
 drawn her as young, yet not in the first 
 bloom of youth. Her features are regular ,^ 
 &er countenance thin, but rather inclining 
 to long ; the eyes hazel, aad the-eye-browa 
 finely arched. Her nose is well formed, 
 tho*^ large, and her mouth pretty. She was 
 a great princess, of high spirit, and un- 
 daunted magnanimity. Her memory is not 
 revered by the French historians, because 
 she was the protectress of the Hugonots, 
 and the friend of Coligny ; but the actions 
 of her life evince her distinguished merit. 
 
 In one of the adjoining chambers, is a 
 portrait of Henry the fourth himself, when 
 a boy ; and on the second floor is the 
 apartment in which he was born. The 
 
 parti-
 
 particulars of his birth are in tlieraselvcs 
 so curious, and as relating to so great and 
 good a prince, arc so peculiarly interesting, 
 that I doubt not you will forgive my enu- 
 merating them, even tlio' you should have 
 seen them elsewlicre. His mother Jane had 
 already lost two sons, the duke de Beau- 
 mont, and the Count de Marie. They 
 both perished in their infancy ; tlie eldest 
 having been overlaid by his governess in 
 the night, Avhile still at the breast. The 
 youngest owed his death to an act of im- 
 prudence. The nurse, to whose care he 
 was contided, phiying witli liim, amused 
 herself by tossing him to and fro witli a 
 gentleman of the court. In tlie progress of 
 this pastime they let him fall ; and the 
 child, after languishing for some time, 
 died of the consequences of tlie injury that 
 he had received. Henry dMlbret, the 
 father of Jane, anxious to see an heir to his 
 dominions, enjoined her at the time wlicn she 
 accompanied her husband Anthony, duke 
 of Bourbon, to the wars of Picardy, against 
 the Spaniards ; if she should prove with 
 <)hiidj to return to Pau, and to lie-in there, 
 
 as
 
 IVJ 
 
 US he AVoulil hiinsdf saperiiitcud the edu- 
 cation of the iiifaii<, from the moment of 
 Us birth. lie threatened to disinherit licr, 
 if she failed to comply witii this injunc- 
 tion. The princess, in obedience to the 
 king's command, being in the ninth montli 
 of her pregnancy, quitted Coinpeigne in 
 the end of November, traversed all France 
 in fifteen days, and arrived at Pau, where 
 she was delivered of a son, on the thir- 
 teenth December, 1553. 
 
 She liad always been desirous to sec her 
 father's will, which he kept in a golden 
 uox ; anci ue promised to shew it to her, 
 provided that she admitted of his being pre- 
 sent at her delivery, and would, during the 
 pains of her labor, sing a song in the Bear- 
 nois language. Jane had courage enough 
 tp perform this unusual request; and the 
 king bchig called on the first news of her 
 illness, she immediately sung a Bearnois 
 song, beginning, " Notre Dame du bout 
 *' du pout, aidez moL en cette lieure." 
 An she finished it, Henry was born. The 
 king instantly performed his promise, by 
 ^viuj^ her the box, together with a golden 
 
 chaiU)
 
 114 
 
 chain,- which he tic.l about her neck ; and 
 tiikiug the infant into his own apartment, 
 began by making him swallow some drops 
 of wine, and rubbing his li})S with a root 
 jQf garlic. The manner of his being brotiglit 
 up was similar, and such as is almost un- 
 exampled among princes. He was sent to 
 the castle of Coarace in Beam, where, 
 without any regard to his quality, he used 
 to fan about with tlie children of the neigh- 
 bouring peasants, bp.re-footed and bare- 
 beaded, even in the rigors of winter. This 
 severe education formed his body to fatigue 
 und bardshiji, for the exercise of Avhich he 
 had no little occasion during his future 
 life, in the course of the long wars with 
 Henry the third, and the duke of Mayenne. 
 They still shew a tortoise shell which 
 served him for a cradle, and is preserved 
 on that account. 
 
 Several of tlje ancient sovereigns of Na- 
 varre resided and died in the castle of Pau.. 
 Francois Plioebus, who ascended the throne 
 in 1479, died here in 1483. He was only 
 sixteen years of age, his mother being re- 
 gent. Historians assert that the young
 
 115 
 
 king', wTio was very fond of music, having 
 taken up a flute, had no sooner applied it 
 to his moiith, than he felt himself aftiected 
 with poison in so violent a manner, that 
 he expired in two hours. This murder, 
 if. indeed, it can be credited, was attri- 
 buted to Ferdinand, king ofArragon; 3 
 man whose character justified the worst 
 suspicions, and who some years afterwards 
 seized on the Spanish portion of the king- 
 dom. Catherine de Foix succeeded her 
 brother Francois Phcebus. She married 
 John d'Albret, and was the last efficient 
 queen of Navarre ; little more than aa 
 empty title having remained to her sue*' 
 cessors. 
 
 In 1510, Ferdinand of Arragon availing 
 himself of a papal bull, over-ran the king- 
 dom of Navarre ; which being principally 
 situated to the south of the Pyrenees, sur- 
 rounded by Arragon, Old Castile, and 
 Biscay, was easily subjected to the Spa- 
 nish crown. Pampelona, the ancient 
 capital, ceased from that period to be 
 the residence of the titular sovereigns of 
 JVavarre. They transferred their court 
 
 to
 
 U6 
 
 <o Pan and Orlhez; towns wliicli bciiii^ 
 to the north of the Pyrenees, in the princi- 
 pality of Beam, had not been conquered 
 by Ferdinand, and admitted of protection 
 from France. But, when Jane d'Albret 
 embraced the Calvinist faith and doctrines, 
 she was so apprehensive of tlie enterprizes 
 of Philip the second, then king of Spain; 
 tliat she thought it prudent to remove to 
 the town of Nerac in Gascony, farther from 
 the Spanish frontiers. It is a fact, that 
 Pliilip had projected to s(ize on queen 
 Jane d'Albret, and to deliver lier over to 
 the Inquisition, as a heretic. Henry the 
 fourth himself, while king of Navarre, re- 
 sided as much at Nerac, as at Pau. lie 
 and his queen, Margaret of Valois, held 
 their court alternately at both places. 
 
 Catlierine de Foix is said to have died of 
 grief for the lo!-s of her dominions, which 
 was chiefly caused by the incapacity and 
 pusillanimity ofher husband, John d'Albret. 
 Her reproach to him, which is commemo- 
 rated in history, Avas very poignant : " Dom 
 *' Jean," said slie, " si nous fussions nes, 
 *' V0U5 Catherine de Foix, et raoi Dom Jean 
 
 *' d'Al-
 
 117 
 
 " tl'Albrct, nous n'aurions jamais perdu 
 "la Navarre!" 
 
 Pau is a handsome city, well built, and 
 contains near six thousan inliabiiants. It 
 is a place ot no antiquity, having owed its 
 existence entirely to the castle, and to the 
 residence of the kings of Navarre. 
 
 I pursued my journey towards Bayonnc, 
 this morning. The country from P;\u to 
 Orfhez is mostly* level, finely cnltivated, 
 and covered with vines. The, peasants 
 speak a jargon uninteTligihle even to the 
 French. Their dress tob differs very much 
 frorn that worn in Guyenne, and both their 
 habit and their complexions bear a resem- 
 blance to the Spanish. This placfc is a 
 city and a bishopric, but the meanest, 1 
 believe, in France. The cathedral is a 
 wretched edifice, very ancient, built in a 
 barbarous style, and almost in ruins. I 
 expected to have found in it some monu- 
 ments of the kings of Navarre, but have 
 been disappointed. The remains of the 
 castle of Orthez are very noble; and its 
 situation is fine, on a hill which commands 
 
 tlie
 
 118 
 
 the iovrn, and a great extent of country. 
 The people call it " Le Chateau de la 
 ** Reine Jeanne," because that queen rc- 
 sid('d in it during many years, in prefe- 
 rence to the castle of Pan. Some of the 
 apartments, the* in ruins, may still be en- 
 tered. The princess Blanclie, daughter to 
 John, king of Arragon and Navarre, was 
 shut up, and died here, in J 464. llcr 
 brother being dead, she became heiress to 
 the crown of ISavarre; but her father 
 'having delivered lier into the hands of Iter 
 younger siller Leonora, Countess of Poix, 
 ' she confined the unhappy Blanche in the 
 castle of Orthez, and after an imprison- 
 ment o two years, caused her to be poi- 
 soned 
 
 History, from its earliest commence-* 
 mcnt to the present century, presents a 
 frightful picture of massacres and crimes, 
 at which humanity recoils. We find 
 ambition and subtlety too often trium- 
 phant, while innocence and the most 
 amiable qualities, unless accompanied 
 with vigor and capacity, frequently con- 
 duct
 
 119 
 
 dtict their unfortunate possessors to violent 
 t)r ignominious ends. But it is late, and 
 I set out to-morrow for Bayonne. Pro- 
 bably from thence, I may send you i^e 
 coBcltision of this letter. 
 
 W; 
 
 ayonne,
 
 120 
 
 % ''' Bayonne, 
 
 Wednesday, 25th Oct. 1775. 
 
 I CONTINUED my journey last Sunday 
 morning. The province of Beam is a fer- 
 tile country, abounding in fine acclivities, 
 and well cultivated. 
 
 I arrived at tins city in the afternoon. 
 Its situation is one of the most agreeable in 
 France, at the conflux of two rivers, the 
 Nive and the Adour. The latter is scarcely 
 less considerable than tl)e Thames at Lam- 
 beth, and across it is constructed a wooden 
 bridge, wliich joins Bayonae to a suburb 
 called " Lel'auxbonrg du rSt. Esprit." The 
 Nive, wliich is small, and rises in the 
 Pyrenees, passes thro' the ct^ntre of the 
 city, and resembles one of the canals in 
 Holland. Advantageous as this situation 
 appears for commerce, yet the trade of 
 Bayonne is not only inconsiderable, but it 
 yearly diminishes. Tlie entrance of the 
 Adour, which is about four miles below 
 the town, is rendered both di/licult and 
 
 hazard*
 
 1^1 
 
 lia7,ardt)us from the sands, which hbvlh^ 
 collected, form a bar across iis mouth. 
 Uesides this inconvenience, the ncighbour- 
 liood of Bourdcaux attracts to that city 
 most of those articles of trade, which were 
 formerly exported from hence, ^o rapidly 
 have the commerce aud populatior) of tiii$ 
 place declined in the course of the> present 
 century, that tlie. former is rt'duced tq the 
 {shadow of ifh^t it^jnce w;as ; a^d^Jifit^J^Pi* 
 ber of, inhabitants has i^^creascd withi* 
 these last t>v<-lve years, from twcntvrod^ 
 thi)usan(l, to h ss than, tan thousand. Bay* 
 onne coiitinues to be, noiAvithstanding 
 these circiitustancei., a very agreeable place 
 of residence, ;fu^uishin]g in profpsiou aU 
 Ihc; rcqiuf^tc^ fot^ .||ipnau life. WiU fowjL , 
 is in prodigions plenty, ,4|pd the ilavof ,e.^ 
 rcetlingly iklicale. The Bay of JBisca}'^ 
 imd the river Adour, supply exccllejit fish 
 The " V in de Cap Breton," a^id the *^.yi 
 *' d'Anglet," which are made in llie adja;- 
 jcent country, iuruiitely exceed the cuisefabl^ 
 ,. Claret usually drank in this- pa^t of the 
 kingdom ; and those w ines are sold at eight 
 Soux a bottle. The tov.n i*-^ sunoundcd 
 - c with
 
 ^ilh -liirCSts,' wliicli reiuler fuel our of tlio 
 cheapest articles; ahd Ihe climate inay be 
 eonsidcred as veKv fine, tlio' the vicinity of 
 the Pyrciiean mciunlains greatly inx:reas( s 
 tile cold in winter. 
 
 V The buildings of the city are in general 
 (>f great antiquity, sotnOof the streets, like 
 those of Rochelle, liaviiig Porticoes con- 
 structed oil either side; but the " Pla-ce de 
 *' Grammont," situate on the baiiiv of tlie 
 Adour, is adorned wilh very elegavit ino- 
 flern houses and public edifices. On fm 
 vmineuce in the midst of the town, stnufls 
 the cathedral. I could gain no other intel- 
 ligence from the inhabitants respecting i(, 
 except that the l']nglish constructed it 
 iduring the time that the}^ were masters of 
 fiayonne and Ga#ony. It is a venerable 
 pile, and, to judge from the style a.tul or- 
 naments of the various parts, it must liave 
 been built as early as the year IUjO. 1 
 have made several visits to it, in hopes of 
 discovering some tombs or monuments of 
 antiquity : but there is not nuy thing de- 
 serviifg attention, except the reli<s of St. 
 heoj who was put to death here in 907, 
 
 and
 
 1^ 
 
 and \vlu;se bones are preserved in" a splen* 
 did shrine over the high altaf . 
 
 Bayonne, tho' still considered as a (ton* 
 tier city of France towards Biscay, is very 
 ill fortitied, the ramparts and fosses being 
 equally neglected. On the north side of 
 the Adour, Louis the fourteenth caused a 
 citadel to be constructed by Vauban, on a 
 hill which commands the town, and in 
 vhich there is always a garrison of about a 
 thousand soldiers. Till the year 1193, 
 this place, and a considerable territory 
 surrounding it, was governed by its own 
 Viscounts. The English having rendered 
 themselves masters of it at that time, und^r 
 tli(5 reign of Richard the first, kept pes- 
 sessiorf of l5ayonne till 1451, when Charles 
 tlie seventh's victorious arms annexed it to 
 the crown of France. It has never been re- 
 taken since, by any foreign power ; tho' Phi- 
 lip the third and Philip the foivrth of Spain 
 made, each of them, an attempt for that pur* 
 pose. The common people are called, from 
 the name of the province in which Bayonne 
 is situated, " Basques." Their dross is pe- 
 euliar to themselves. The women comb 
 2 jp
 
 12^ 
 
 up tlioir liair on llic crown of their licads, 
 and cover it with a sort of cap exactly re- 
 sembling a little turban, wliicli has no in- 
 elegant eft'ect. The complexion* of lK)lh 
 sexes are considerably darker than in Cjuy- 
 enne, and they speak a langn.tge called the 
 Basque, A\hich has scarce any alliuity 
 cither with the P'rench, Spanish, or even 
 the Gascon dialect. 
 
 I had some intention, before J arriveit 
 liere, of visiting Pampelona, capital of tlie 
 Spanish Navarre : but the advar.ced season, 
 the impedimen.t of tlie Pyrenean moun- 
 tains, wliich are very difiicult to pa.^s even 
 in the smallest two-wheeled carriage; and 
 above all, the mortality a;nong the cattle, 
 which has continued a considerable time in 
 this, and in the adjoining provinces, arc 
 such insuperable obstacles as compel me to 
 relinquish my design. 
 
 At this city, therefore, my journey to the 
 southward terminates, aiul to-morrow 1 shall 
 sot out for Toulouse. You will probably be 
 surprii'ed, when 1 inform you, tiiat 1 am 
 vjider the necessity of taking the tame route 
 by which I cauiCj as far as Ausch, there 
 m bein^
 
 1^5 
 
 hk'mg no other po^t-road leading from Bay- 
 onne to Toulouse. This country, howevei* 
 favored by nature above Englatid, and tho'' 
 well administered in many respects ; by no 
 i^ieans equals us in a variety of iniprovc- 
 inents that conduce to knowledge, c6'mii' 
 fort, or pleasure. Among these, may be 
 reckoned roads. The most remote Coun- 
 ties of England are intersected and pene- 
 trated by cross roads, made by com- 
 missioners under acts of parliament, 
 and which admit carriages to travel, 
 if Jiot always wilh expedition, at least 
 with safety. Here, the crown, which 
 solely plans, orders, and executes the roads 
 that conduct from one extremity of the 
 kirigdom to the other ; content with form- 
 ing such as the government considers to 
 be adequate to purposes of necessity, po- 
 licy, or commerce ; pays no further re- 
 gard to the wislies and local convenience 
 of the subject. Neither horses, drivers, nor 
 carriages of any description, arc in fact to 
 be procured, exc(?pt on those great roads^ 
 that lead from one city to another, in 
 consequence of this defect, for such it is, 
 G 3 France
 
 m 
 
 -France- is far less pervious than IIugtaiK?^ 
 unless by having recourse to ihe exjx'- 
 dicnt of quilting a carriage altogether, and 
 mounting on horseback ; a circuinstancc- 
 often (Jifiicult or iinpracticabk. I fchaii 
 write OJtt in J arrival at ToulpDLse. ,, >,< 
 
 Toulouse^
 
 m 
 
 TouJouse, 
 8th November, IT 75. 
 
 ^, TuK country from Utiyoujic to tliQ 
 p;issiige over tlit^ rivtJir Adour, is lu'athy, 
 >voody, and barren ; neither well-peopled 
 j^or cultivated, in comparison with the 
 greater part of the provinces of Beam and 
 Bii^orre. I <^ot to Orthcz in the evcnin<^. 
 The,!jf^tL hfvU ^ct, but, after 4he tinost day 
 imjgiiuible : i walked out, and having ^ 
 curiosity to look oijcc more at the ruins -of 
 tUecastl^, J asc!&ndccl,4he hill on which it 
 stands, and stayed a ftiw minutes withif^ 
 the walls. The gloom of night, which 
 began i^lreiidy to shade the chamber?,- 
 sprcad ati awful melancholy thro' the whol<; 
 vdifiifm. . 4^s I passed out of the greiit gate- 
 way into the road, on my return to the 
 inn, an old peasant met me, and ivit{( 
 great simplicity assured me, that it wa$ 
 already past the hour when the inhabitants 
 ventured into the castle, because the appa- 
 ^ition of a princess who had been mur- 
 G 4 dered
 
 . 128 ' .. 
 
 dttcd in it, walked at night : adding, that 
 he hinisdf Mhcn young, had seen and 
 heard things very unusual, and very terri- 
 . 5'i"f?} iJ <{' great tower. This tradition 
 ,.)f ^ murdered princess, certainly allQdes to 
 the unfortunate Blanche of Navarre, whom 
 i have already mentioned ; and Mas one of 
 those Catastroplics which naturally give 
 t)irt]), among the credulous and supersti- 
 tious multitude, to tales of spectres, and 
 their train of horrors. '" 
 
 t I- dined at Pau, iind^ passed some ti hit' in 
 Ih6 "Pare d'Henri quatre," a beautiful 
 wood, overhanging the river Gave, and 
 terminating at a point, from whence is seen 
 tin extensive and rornantic prospect. 'Ji.^ 
 l^Ienry, while lie held his court in Rearnj 
 was fond of this grove, it has retained Iris 
 Jva^ift. ' Detained by a-m.ost agreeable so- 
 ciety, I stayed four days at Tarbes, on my 
 l^ihrn. The town stands in the midst of a 
 rinety cultivated plain, but contains very 
 f^vf objects of etitertainment or iostruction. 
 <^|'Francis the first| at the marriage of his 
 ' sister, Margaret of A^alois, with Henry 
 d'Albref, king of Navarre^ bestowed on 
 Irn-ib i .'. her
 
 129 
 
 Irer the provinces of Arma^nac and Bigcrre 
 as a dowry ; and that celebrated princess, 
 so well known for her genius and lier wri- 
 tings, died at the " Chateau d'Odos," only 
 a league from Tarbes, in 1519 ; having 
 survived her brother about two years. 
 
 I crossed all Arniagnac to this city, and 
 arrived here on the third of November. 
 Toulouse is the least cheerful, as well as 
 the most ill built place that 1 have seen in 
 France. It forms a vast labyrinth, com- 
 posed of streets so crooked, narrow, and 
 winciiig, that a stranger requires a clue to 
 conduct him thro' them. No squnres, or 
 public places, adorned witli elegant budd- 
 ings, or monnmrnt* of art, are found, as 
 at Nantes or Bourdcaux, tho' it equals this 
 l;ist city in size. 1 ahnost accuse myself 
 for having remained six days in a place, 
 which presents scarcely any interesting 
 object to the eye or the understanduig ; 
 and where the imagination cannot even 
 receive that pleasing sensation, which 
 results from visiting the spot where illus- 
 trious actions have been performed in 
 past ages.. The annals of Toulouse are 
 
 - G 5 marked.
 
 130 
 
 marked with little except acts af crueliy, or 
 of superstition ; tlie death of a Montmc* 
 rejici, or the execution of a Calas. 
 
 In the court of the Hotel de Ville, was. 
 executed the Marshal de Montmorencij^ 
 who there expiated his rebellion against 
 the Cardinal de Richlieu, rather thai* 
 against Louis the thirteenth. It is not here 
 Ihat tlie Catastrophe of the unfortunate Ca- 
 fes, ^ so eloquently described by Voltaire, 
 and which electrified all Europe when it 
 look place; meets with compassion, or 
 eVen with belief. I find great numbers of 
 people who firraly persist in asserting tliat! 
 lie was guilty of the crime imputed to him,, 
 ibr which he suffered. I have visited th 
 cellar in which the younger Calas, his Bon^ 
 was found dead. And tho' my conviction 
 of the innocence of the father is by na 
 means shaken ; yet 1 cannot refuse a de- 
 gree of attention to the arguments and rea- 
 soniugs that 1 have heard during my stay 
 here. There is, and will ever remain, not- 
 withstanding the recognized bigotry of his 
 |)ersecutorSj and the cruel nature of the 
 -proceedings instituted ag;ainst the family 
 
 of
 
 131 
 
 of Calas, a great uncertainty difFused over 
 (hat whole transaction. 
 
 The cathedral of Toulouse, which is by 
 no means a splendid pile of architecture, 
 was erected by llaymoiid the sixth, about* 
 the year 1^0. You will recollect that 
 Ivaniiiiedoc was governed during several 
 centuries, by its sovereign Counts. Jane, 
 Iho diuighter and heiress of llaymond the 
 seventh, was married to Alfonso, brotliei" 
 of St. Louis. By the deaths of that prince 
 and princess without issue, who expirctl 
 within a few days of each other, at Savoni* 
 in Italy, innncdlately after St. Louis's un- 
 fortunate Crusade and siege of Tunis ; the 
 county of Toulouse was united in 1271 to 
 Ihc crown of France. 
 
 The tomb of Pibrac, wliose najne occurs 
 so often ui the annals of France, under th^ 
 reign of Henry thp third, stands in the 
 church of the " Grands Augustins." Thi|^ 
 grave magistrate, who fell violently in, 
 love with tiie second Margaret of Yalois, 
 queen of Navarre^ wifc of Henry th^ 
 fourth; sacrificed, ap history declares, at 
 the treaty of Ncrac, his public duties, tO' 
 c6 hi*
 
 132 
 
 "Ihls personal attaclim^nt for Wvii princess. 
 In a history of this city, which T procured 
 on my arrival, a curious anecdote appears 
 relating to Margaret herself. (*atherine of 
 Metlicis, says the author, after the confe- 
 rence of Nerac, retired to Toulouse, carry- 
 ing with her the queen of Nararre, who 
 was tired of her husband, and chagrined 
 at his amonrs. The court, despairing of 
 ifhe pregnancy of Louisa, queen of France, 
 who liad been married five years to TIchry 
 the third, was very anxious tiiat Margaret 
 might produce children. Catherine, her 
 mother, wlio was ever addicted <o astrology, 
 having heard (hat there resided at Castel- 
 naudari, a woman famous for her skill in 
 telling fortunes, and for her knowledge of 
 futurity, went thither with her daughter, 
 io consult this " Diseure de bonne aven- 
 " ture.'* The princess, was submitted in 
 a state of nudity, to tiie old woman's in- 
 spection,- who examined all the parts of her 
 person with- extreme accuracy. She then 
 returned this plain answer to the queen- 
 mother, with certain medicines which sh 
 iad composed. " Madame, votre fiUe esi 
 
 <'d'une-
 
 133 
 
 ** d'une tres-bonnc constitution, et je mc 
 " promets un bon succ<^s de mon remede, 
 ** pourv'u qu'elle pulsse gagner sur elle de 
 " se tenir chaste tout le terns qui est mar- 
 *' q>ie dans le regime ; car, j'apprends que 
 " vous etes mere et fille de grandes con* 
 "' reuses. ^^ li is most probable tlvat Mar- 
 garet, whose clmracter impelled her to 
 pleasure, found too great difficulty in sub- 
 mitting to a prescription, which deprived 
 her of those gratifications to which she was 
 immoderately attached. Nor could the^ 
 person consulted, have found out any bet- 
 ter means of preserving her own credit,- 
 tlian by laying her royal patient under an 
 injunction, which the knowledge she had 
 pf her disposition, rendered it very certaia 
 that she vyould infringe. 
 
 Toulouse possesses some inland com^ 
 merce, by means of the famous canal cut 
 to join the two seas ; which opening into 
 the Garonne just above the city, conveys^ 
 all the articles of trade from Cette to Bour- 
 deaux, across the provinces of Languedoc 
 and Guyenne. This communication pro- 
 duces nevertlieless little advantage to the 
 
 place^
 
 134 
 
 place, which owes its chief gaiety to th 
 parliament, and to the provincial nobility 
 who reside here in winter. 1 leave it this 
 afternoon^ and am meanwhile, 
 
 Yours, &c. 
 
 Beziers,
 
 135 
 
 Bezfery, 
 Monday^ 13th November, 177S- 
 
 Having quitted Toulouse last Thurs- 
 day, I readied Casteluaudari the same 
 uight, which is near forty miles distant ; 
 a tolerable town, situated on the " Royal 
 *' Canal," made by Louis the fourteenth, 
 to join the Mediterranean and Atlantic seas. 
 The Saracens, who conquered that part of 
 France during the decay of the Roman em- 
 pire, are said to have been its founders. In 
 a valley, about half a mile from the place, is 
 the raemotable spot where the unfortunate 
 duke of Montmorenci, covered with wounds, 
 and thrown from his horse, was taken pri- 
 soner, ill 1632. It was impossible not to 
 lament as I considered it, the fate of sa 
 heroic and so amiable a nobleman. He 
 was the Russel of France, who fell a sa- 
 crifice to the stern and unrelenting policy 
 of the Cardinal de Richlieu. The grand- 
 son of that Constable Montmorenci, who 
 expired in arms for the defence of the mo- 
 narchy,
 
 136 
 
 irarcliy, nnder Charles thenintli, at seycnfy- 
 seven years . of age ; son to Henry d'Ani- 
 ville, Constable of France under Henry 
 the fourth ; himself of a character the most 
 elevated, munificent, and benevolent ; less^ 
 guilty, even in his opposition to Louis the 
 thirteentli, than Avas Gaston, duke of Or 
 leans ; and, tho' im enemy of ihe minister,: 
 yet guiltless of intentional rebellion against 
 his sovereign : How many circnmstances- 
 to extenuate his crime ! I have ever con- 
 sidered this execution, as one of those 
 which tarnish in thehiglust degree the re- 
 putation of Richlieu, and, notwithstanding 
 the splendor of his public actions, force us 
 io detest the individual. 
 
 It is about five-and-twenty miles from 
 Castelnaudari to Carcassonne, v here 1 staid 
 the remainder of tlie ensuing day. Carcas- 
 sonne consists of two distinct cities, sepa- 
 rated by the little river Aude. The most 
 ancient of these, called " La Haute Ville," 
 stands on the summit of a hill ; tlie lower 
 town, which is situate in the plain below, 
 is the largest, and . both are surrounded 
 with Gothic walls, battlements, and turrets,. 
 
 which.
 
 1^7 
 
 wliich "still teiTlain in the rrlost petCiici 'prti- 
 siTvaifon". This place bore a considerable 
 share in that' celebrated Crusade under- 
 takt'n agijinst the' Albigeiises, in ttie begin- 
 ning dfthe^tliirtc^erttH century, Svhich'fbMiS 
 one bt'tfit^ ndbst as'ton'istiiiJgihstanc^s of Su- 
 perstition, combined with atrocious barba- 
 rity, to be found in the annals of tli^d 
 world. ji " 
 
 At a time when the tdyai power was 
 nearly anniiiilatcd, during the reigns "of 
 the liikt' feeble kings of the Catlovingikii 
 race in France ; most of t!ie cities of Lsin- 
 guedoc, shaking off their subjection to th 
 crown, erected themselves into little 'iWi 
 dependent stales, governed by their Own 
 separate princes. Carcassonne was then 
 nndt^r the immediate dominioti of Viscounts." 
 Soon after the commoncemetit of Ihe thir- 
 teenth cehtnrj^i when jiope' Innocent the 
 tliird authorized and comniaiided the pro- 
 secution of hostilities against the Albi- 
 g<'nses, for the crime of heresy ; Raymond, 
 tl)e reigning V iscoujit, was included in that 
 proscription. Siitton de Montfort, named 
 gertenil of the army oi^ (!ic church, invested 
 
 the
 
 158 
 
 the city of Carcassonne iti 1209. The ifi- 
 habituut!;, terrified at the fate of several 
 other pUiccs, whero tlie most dreadful mas- 
 sacres bad been committed, demanded 
 leave to capitulate. 3ut, this aq^. of mercy 
 was only extended to them under a condi- 
 tion, equally cruel, incredible, and uiipa- 
 ^alleled in history, if ^ve were not com- 
 pelled to believe it by the unauiiuous testi- 
 mony of all the contemporary vkriters. 
 The people found in the place, were all 
 obliged, without distinction of rank pjjsex, 
 to evacuate it in a state of nudity ; and Agnes, 
 the Viscountess, was not exempted, thu' 
 young and beautiful, from this ignominious 
 and shocking punishment. " On les fit sortir. 
 *' tout nuds de la Ville de Carcassonne (says. 
 " an ancient author) afin qu'ils receussent 
 *" <fe la honte, en montrant ces parties du. 
 *' corps que la purete de la langue u'ex- 
 *' prime point, desquelles ils avoicnt abuse, 
 *' et s'en etoient servis dans des crimes exe- 
 " crables." Jt seems by this imputation, that 
 the Albigeois were accused by their enemies, 
 of committing some enormities, probably 
 imaginary. Enormities, invented or renewed 
 
 ill
 
 in the rei;n of Philip le bel, king of France, 
 about a luuiJred years later, in order to 
 destroy the order of Knights Templars ; 
 and similar to those Av hi ch religious en- 
 mity or prejudice have attributed to the 
 followers of Zinzcnidorf, in the present cen- 
 tury ! 
 
 I continued my journey on Saturday to 
 Narbonne. The country from Toulouse 
 to the gates of that city, is a vast plain^ 
 open, naked, and in many parts barren; 
 where scarcely a tree is to be seen except 
 olives, and even those are neither large nor 
 numerous. On one hand appear the Py- 
 Yenees at a considerable distance ; and on 
 the other, the chain of rocks, called the 
 Black Mountains, which divide Languedoc 
 from the province of Rouergue. The wea- 
 ther was cold, aiid I found it difficult to 
 procure a miserable fire made of vine twigs, 
 and roots of olives. The population seemed 
 to be very thin, and the appearance of the 
 country is bleak and inhospitable. I went 
 about a league out of the road near Carcas* 
 Sonne, to a little town called Trebe, where 
 the '- Royal Canal" passes over the river 
 
 Aude,
 
 mo 
 
 Aude, -aiKi atriV>etb'at 'Narboitiie in IIk* 
 afternoon. -"'' t 
 
 TLat city retains'liardl}' any marks of its 
 ancient grandeur. Narbonne, Avhich pro- 
 t(3nds to the most remote antiquity undor 
 tiie Celtic kings, in ages anterior even to 
 the Roman conquests ; which under these 
 latter masters, gave its name to all the 
 ' Gallia Narbo)iensis," and was a colony of 
 the first consideration ; is now dwindled ton 
 wretched solitary town, containing scarcely 
 eight thousand inhabitants, of whom three- 
 fourths appeared to be priests and wo- 
 xuen. The streets and buildings, arc niearj 
 and ruinous ; tho' it retains a feeble 
 comibiinication with the Mediterranean, 
 from which Narbonne is only about three 
 leagues distant, by means of a small river 
 which uitersccts the place : but their crtn- 
 merce is very limited, consislis^g chielly 
 in grain, which they export to Cette and 
 Marseilles. No marks of the Roman mag- 
 nificence remain, except several inscriptions 
 found in different parts of the city ; and if 
 the churclies did not keep employed some 
 hundred ecclesiastics, who are occupied 
 
 In
 
 ill the beneficial duties of chaudni^ Re- 
 quiems and Vespers, it would prcJjabty 
 cease in a few years to have anj existence 
 whatever. 
 
 The See of Narbonnc, which is arclii- 
 cpiscopal, is said to have been founded by 
 Charlemagne ; but tlie present cathedral is 
 far more modern, tho' only the choir re- 
 mains entire, which is built in the finest 
 style of the Gothic edifices. In the centre 
 of tl)c church, before the high altar, stands 
 the tomb of Philip the Bold, king of 
 France, soh of St. Louis. It is composed 
 of white marble, and the king is repre- 
 sented lying at full length, liis head re- 
 posing on a cushion ornamented with Fleiirs 
 do lis. His face indicates a man in the 
 prime of life, the features regular and 
 pleasing ; he has a beard on the upper lip 
 and chin, and his hair falls in great quan- 
 tity on his neck. In his right hand he 
 grasps the Dalmatique, resembling a pas- 
 toral staft^"; and in the left he holds a scep- 
 tre, and a haijid of justice. He wears a, 
 crown on his head, while his feet rest on a 
 
 lion.
 
 142 
 
 ticfil. Behiild, engraven in {[le old black 
 letier, is this inscription. 
 
 *' Sepultura bonae Memorias 
 
 " Philippi, 
 
 ** quondam Francorum Regis, 
 
 " Filii beat! Ludovici, 
 
 ** qui Perpigiiani, calida Febrt 
 
 *' ab hac Luce migravit, 
 
 ** 3 Non : Octobris, 
 
 "AnnoDnl 1285." 
 
 You may perhaps recollect thai Philip 
 died at fortj-five years of age, on his re- 
 turn from an ill-concerted and unfortunate 
 expedition against the king of Arragon. 
 The body was brought licre from Per pig- 
 nan, at which place he expired ; and the 
 bones having been separated by boiling 
 water from the flesii, were carried to St. 
 Denis, and there interred. He was neither 
 a prince of distinguished talents, nor of 
 any eminent virtues. 
 
 The distance from Narbonne to this city 
 is twenty miles. The mountain of Malpas, 
 which was cut thro', in order to admit the 
 passage of the " Royal Canal," lies only a 
 
 mile
 
 us 
 
 mile out of the road. It was impossible to 
 pass so extraordinary and celebrated a 
 work, without visiting it. The effect pro*- 
 duccd by it on the spectator, is very striking 
 ^ud sublime. Descending by a large flight 
 of steps into the excavation, I walked thro:* 
 ihe mountain along the side of the canal. 
 The length of it is exactly two hundred and 
 ten paces, or more than six hundred feci ; 
 and the perpendicular height, from the water 
 to the surface of the incumbent moun- 
 tain, exceeds two hundred feet. A great 
 parf of the arch has been vaulted at a pro- 
 digious expence, under the apprehension 
 of i<s falling in, from the pressure of the 
 arth over head ; and the annual necessary 
 repairs amount to a large sum of money. 
 The breadth of the canal itself is at least 
 twenty teat ; and notwithstanding that the 
 tlistance which is hollowed thro' the ground 
 is so considerable, yvt the light is every 
 where perfectly admitted. Tiiis mountain 
 formed the greatest obstacle to completing 
 the junction of the two seas ; and its execu- 
 tion has immortalized the famous Riquet, 
 \vhom Louis the fourteenth employed in 
 
 the
 
 ri44 
 
 the cnterpiizc, lie Avr.s made,. Count tlf 
 Caraman, mid, his desiceHda^its yc^t enjoy 
 ibe tiflow > jiix Si \A\iihh Juoii)!//- ,>li<wr 
 , I arrived Lere last nigM. Beziers is an 
 ippulent and considerable cilj, containing 
 above tAvenly thousand inhabitants, and 
 situated in a delicious country. Jt occu- 
 pies all the sides of a very steep and lofty 
 hill, on the highest point of wbicli is built 
 the cathedral. At the foot runs the river 
 Orbe. The prospect is extensive and beau- 
 tiful, bounded to the north by mountains, 
 and terminated on the south by the Mediter- 
 ranean. It is esteemed one of the most plen- 
 tiful and eligible places of residence in tlie 
 kingdom, all tiie necessaries and ilelicacies 
 of the table being procured here at the most 
 moderate prices. 
 
 Beziers is said to have been a "Static Ro- 
 *' raana," and Avas considered by the Ro- 
 mans as a military post. The siege of llie 
 city which took place during the Crusade 
 against the Albigenscs, was oneof Ihe most 
 memorable and bloody which distinguished 
 that flagitious war. The garrison defended 
 it with determined bravery ; and every 
 
 other
 
 145 
 
 other means having failed in the attempt 
 for its reduction on the part of the be- 
 siegers, a resolution was taken to storm the 
 ctty. Previous to tlie assault, the papal 
 Nuncio, assisted by Gusman the Spaniard, 
 who is bettor known in ecclesiastical his- 
 tory under the name of St. Dominic, ex- 
 horted the troops to behave with courage 
 in this pious enterprize, and promised 
 them remission on the part of Heaven, 
 from all their past oifonces. After a long 
 and obstinate struggle, Beziers was en- 
 tered by the victorious soldiery, who mas- 
 sacred in cold blood, sixty thousand of 
 tbe wretched inhabitants, without distinc- 
 tion of sex, rank, or age, and afterwards 
 reduced the city to jjslies. 
 
 I leave to your own mind to make the na- 
 tural rt'flcclioris on this catastrophe, without 
 permitting myself to comment on an event, 
 to wliich there iire but too many similar in 
 the history of the Romisli church. Any su- 
 perstition must be considered as unfavorable 
 to the happiness of the human race, Avhich 
 iiourislics in its essence the seeds of theolo- 
 gical controversy, and metaphysical sub- 
 'U tilties^
 
 146 
 
 ^ilties : disputes, wliicli however contemp- 
 tible in themselves, necessarily produce 
 that spirit of intolerance and persecution, 
 which uniform experience proves to be the 
 <;ertain consequence in modern ages, of a 
 difference in opinion on polemical subjects. 
 Happy in that respect, the Romans and the 
 jGreeks, who established no Crusades to 
 convert the jMrovinceswdiich they subdued 1 
 who massacred no people for their adherence 
 to the superstition of their ancestors, who 
 knew no points of scholastic or disputative 
 divinity i but who receivino- with open 
 ;arms the gods of the conquered nations, 
 admitted Isis and the dog Aiiubis, to a 
 place in the templt of Jupiler Capilo- 
 linus 1 
 
 In 1355, the year before the memorable 
 battle of Poitiers, Edward the Black Prince 
 laid siege to Beziers, but without success. 
 Having ravaged all this part of Langue- 
 doc, he advanced as far as Fabrigucs, a 
 little town only two leagues distant from 
 Montpelier. There he halted ; and whe- 
 ther from an apprehension of being inter- 
 ycepted in his retreat, or that his army was 
 
 satiated
 
 147 
 
 ^atiate^ with booty, he began his marcHi 
 back into Guyenne. He burnt the suburbs 
 of Narbonne and Carcassonne in his way, 
 spread terror thro' all the neighbouring 
 provinces, and re-conducted his soldiers in 
 triumph to Bourdeaux, laden with spoils. 
 The cathedral of Beziers contains no- 
 thing remarkable, except the tomb of the 
 princess Blanche of France. Philip of Va- 
 lois, her father, at the age of fifty-six, had. 
 the misfortune to fall in love with Blanche 
 d'Evreux, the most beautiful princess in 
 Europe. She was only sixteen years old ; 
 but this disproportion in their ages did 
 not prevent the completion of the nuptials. 
 The king enjoyed his bride for a very sliort 
 time ; and died in the course of the ensuing 
 year, of (he same disease which proved fatal 
 to one of his successors, Louis the twelfth, 
 king of France; as well as to Don John, 
 only son to Ferdinand and Isaljel of Spain. 
 The young queen Imving been left with 
 chilli, brought into the world some months 
 afterwards a daugliter named Blanche, 
 w ho when she had attained her twentieth 
 year, was betrothed to the Count of Bar- 
 li 2 celona,
 
 us 
 
 /telona,'but diet! at this cify^ before th.c 
 consummation of ber marriage, on her joiir- 
 ?pey into Catalonia. 
 
 I leave Beziers this afternoon, in my 
 way thro' Languedoc and Provence, to 
 Marseilles* 
 
 TarascoB
 
 149 
 
 Tarascon on tbe'Rlione^ 
 Tuesday, 21st November, 1775. 
 
 IVfoNtPELiER is a delightful place of 
 residence, which, after a stay of four days, 
 r left witli great regret. The town itself 
 i* by no means elegant, the streets being- 
 almost ail narrow, winding, and badly 
 laid out ; but nature seems to liave chosen 
 the hill on which it stands, to enrich with 
 her choicest presents. The ascent is easy 
 a;nd gradual on every side ; and the states 
 of Eanguedoc have ornamented the sum- 
 mit, denominated the "^Peyrou," at a vast 
 expence, in a manner where taste and mag- 
 irificcnce are equally blended. 
 
 The prospect from this favored spot I 
 cannot describe, tho* 1 studied it every day 
 with enthusiastic pleasure. The pencil of 
 Vernet, or of Claude Lorraine, might paint 
 it, but not even Shakespeare's powers of 
 description could do full justice to its beau- 
 tics. The vales of Langucdoc, covered 
 u-3 witJj
 
 150 
 
 with olives, or tiid out in vineyards, are 
 feidy, contrasted with rude rocks to the 
 north, and melt away into the sea to tlte- 
 south. Tho' winter has almost stripped 
 the trees of their verdure, there is nothing 
 melancholy or desart which presents itself 
 to the eye. A sky serene and unclouded, 
 an invigorating sun, a keen and wholesome 
 air, spread a gaiety over November, itsclf,^^ 
 which here is neither accompanied with 
 fogs nor rain. Montpelier has notwith- 
 standing lost, within these last thirty yearsy 
 that reputation for salubrity which con- 
 duces more to the support of a place, thap. 
 any real advantages which it may possess ; 
 and the number of strangers who visit it 
 from motives of health, is said to diminish 
 annually. Some trade is still carried on 
 from tiience,. by nK'ans of a small river 
 called the Les, which empties itself into 
 the sea at the distance of a iengue ; but the 
 Mediterranean has been retiring for these 
 three centuries, from tlie whole coast of 
 Languedoc and Provence. Frejus, wliich 
 is situated between Toulon and ^ntibes, 
 
 wliete
 
 where the cmpcior Augustus laid up his 
 giillies after the battle of Actiura, is now 
 become an inland city. 
 
 You doubtless remember in history the 
 celebrated interview between Charles the 
 fifth and Francis the first, at Aigues- 
 iuortes, in 1535. That town stands at 
 present half a league from the shore, and 
 has consequently lost all its ancient com- 
 merce, which was very extensive. This 
 event, which took place early in the last 
 century, induced the Cardinal de Ricblieu, 
 who was ever attentive to the grandeur and- 
 cmolument of the state, to construct a port 
 at AgdCj which he eft'ccted. The remedy 
 nevertheless was only temporary, as the 
 cause still subsisted ; and before the year 
 1670, the harbour of Agdej by the retreat 
 of the sea, was rendered almost as useless 
 as Aigues-raortes. Colbert, whose mind 
 was not loss active nor less enlarged than. 
 Richlieu's, then undertook to build the- 
 town of Cette ; from which place all the 
 commodities that are brought down the 
 ^ Royal Canal," might be exported, and 
 the province of Languedoc be supplied at 
 H 4 the
 
 W2 
 
 the same time with a port, of which otliet> 
 nvise it is totally destitute. I am assured, 
 that the absolute necessity of Having a ma- 
 ritime town at the mouth of the canal, has 
 alone hitherto prevented Cette from sharini^ 
 the fate of Agde, as the annual expence oC 
 clearing the harbour amouuts to a hundretl 
 thousand Livres ; and even these precau- 
 tions cannot hinder the sand from obstruct- 
 ing the entrance^ and forming a bar across, 
 it in a series of years. Montpelier owed 
 its elevation chiefly to this very circum- 
 stance, as the Episcopal see was originally 
 placed at Maguelonne, a town situate on 
 the shore of the Mediterrarican ; but that 
 place declining, on account of the retreat 
 of the sea, pope Paul the third transferred 
 it thither in 1536. 
 
 The country from Montpelier to Nismcs^ 
 may be almost termed a garden ^ level, and 
 every where cultivated. The peasants are 
 just beginning to gather the olives, which 
 are very plentiful, and the trees are planted 
 with the same regularity as our orchards in 
 England. I cannot help envying the inha- 
 bitants this genial climate and tlicse fertile 
 '* plains,
 
 155 
 
 plains, and am ready to Accuse nature of 
 jJartiality, in the infinite difference wbich 
 she has placed between the peasant of 
 Languedoc, and the boor of Sweden. Iti 
 vain will you tell me that the Amor Patriae, 
 the attachment which we naturally bear to 
 that country where we were born, renders 
 them equally happy, and supersedes or 
 extinguishes all other distinctions. 1 know 
 the force of this principle ; I feel and culti- 
 vate it with the greatest ardor : but it can- 
 not blind me to the infinite superiority with 
 which certain countries of the earth are 
 aidowcd, above other less favored latitudes 
 iHid regions. 
 
 I passed three days at Nismes, in the 
 survey of those magnificent and beautiful 
 remains of Roman greatness which yet sub- 
 sist there. They have hiien described a 
 thousand times, and it is not my intention 
 to- fatigue you Avith a repetition of them. 
 The Amphitlieatre, and the " Maison 
 " quarree," are known thro'out every king- 
 dom of Europe. The first of these edifices 
 impresses the beholder with the deepest 
 veneration j the latter excites the most re- 
 H 5 fined
 
 15t 
 
 iihed delight. Sentiments of indignation; 
 against tlie barbarians, who could violate 
 and deface these glorious monuments of 
 antiquity, will mix with the sensations of 
 every spectator. It is difficult to believe 
 that Charles Martel, from hatred^ to the 
 Roman name, had the savage fury to fill 
 the Corridores of the Amphitheatre witl^ 
 wood, to which he set iiri; Avith an intent 
 to injure, tho' it surpassed his power to 
 demolish, so vast an edifice. Yet, not- 
 withstanding these attempts of the barba 
 ions nations, notwithstanding the lapse of. 
 so many ages,, and the eii'ects of time, itsv- 
 .appearance at present is the most august 
 and majestic which can be presented to the- 
 jnind, or to the senses. TJie prodigious 
 circumference of. the Amphitheatre, the? 
 solidity, and strength of its construction, 
 the awful majesty of so vast a pile, half 
 "Sperfect, half in ruin, impress with a tu- 
 mult of sentiments which it is difficult to 
 convey by any description. ^The " Maison. 
 " quarree,'' is in the most . complete pre- 
 servation, and appears to me to be the 
 most perfect piece of Roman architecture 
 A - ^ *. now
 
 155 
 
 now existing in the world. The order is 
 the Corinthian, and all the beauties of that 
 elegant style seem to be exhausted in its 
 construction. This superb temple is now 
 converted into a chapel, dedicated to the 
 Virgin, ornamented with' gilding, and 
 other holy nnery, suitable to such an alte- 
 ration. 
 
 At a quarter of a mile from the city o^ 
 Nismes stands another temple, much de- 
 cayed, which immemorial tradition relates 
 to have been consecrated to Diana; but 
 which by antiquaries is generally supposed 
 to have been sacred to the " Dii infernales,'* 
 as it is evident that no light was admitted 
 into it; a circumstance peculiar to the 
 temples of tlie infernal Gods In the inside, 
 are deposited numbers of mutilated statues,^ 
 marbles, capitals, and inscriptions, which, 
 have been found there from time to time. 
 Close to it rises a fountain, which may vie 
 with that of Vaucluse in beauty, tho' not 
 in fame. It furnishes a great quantity oF 
 water, which never diminishes in the 
 longest droughts ; but as the cii-vuiel thro' 
 which it flows, had become obstructed in a 
 
 ^-" ' u 6 series
 
 i56 
 
 series of ages, by sand and gravel, the in- 
 habitants of Nismes undertook, some year*- 
 ago, to cleanse and restore its course. In 
 the progress of this work they discovered 
 a number of Roman coins, rings, and other 
 antiquities, several of which arc equally 
 rare and well preserved. On the summit 
 of the rock from whence the fountain issues, 
 stands a building which has much exercised 
 the opinions of the learned. It is incon- 
 testibly Roman, and is vulgarly called 
 *' La Tour magne." Its exposed situation 
 has conduced to hasten its decay ; but at 
 what time it was built, or for what pur- 
 poses it served, are now totally unknown. 
 
 Nismes is an ill-built place, containing 
 in itself nothing extraordinary or remark- 
 able. A hundred fables are related con- 
 cerning its origin, which is carried back 
 into times anterior by many centuries to 
 the Roman conquest of Gaul : it probably 
 does not occupy at present, the fourth part 
 of the ground on which it formerly stood. 
 I left Nismes this afternoon. The distance 
 is only twenty miles from this place ; but 
 the wind blew such a hurricane, as I 
 
 scarcely
 
 5r 
 
 scarcely 6ver remember. The passage 
 across the Rhone at Tarascon, which 
 divides Provence from Languedoc, is over- 
 a bridge of boats ; and I own 1 passed it 
 tvith some apprehensions, as they assure- 
 me that it is not uncommon for carriages 
 to be carried over into the river, by violent 
 gusts of wind. 
 
 The view of the Rhone here is very pic- 
 turesque. On one side, in Languedoc, stands 
 Beaucaire, a considerable town, with a 
 ruined castle overhanging a rock : on this* 
 side is situated Tarascon, with a correspon- 
 dent castle, far more considerable, and 
 washed by the waves. Tlie river here is 
 much broader tlian the Thames at London. 
 
 To-morrow 1 proceed for Aix and Mar- 
 seilles, at the latter of which places I pur- 
 pose to pass the wintei;.- 
 
 Marseilles)
 
 158 
 
 MarseiRes} 
 5th January, 1776'. 
 
 r SCARCELY ever remember even in 
 our northern climate, a colder day than 
 that on which I continued my journey 
 from Tarascon to this city. Winter seemed 
 to have taken possession^ of the face of na- 
 ture before its time. The olive-trees were 
 covered with snow which fell very fast, 
 and the " Bize" which blew in my face,. 
 coming from the summits of the Alps, ren- 
 dered the weather- extremely severe.- At. 
 St. Remi, a little town only four leagues 
 from Tarascon, I drove about a mile out 
 of the road, in order to see the remains of 
 the monuments erected by tli Consul Ma- 
 rius, as trophies of his victory gained over 
 the Gimbri and Teutones. Tho' so many 
 ages have elapsed since tlieir construction, 
 they still forcibly recall the idea of Rome, 
 the conqueror of the earth, and queen of 
 nations. 
 
 It was night when I. arrived at Aix, 
 
 where
 
 159" 
 
 wbere I staid three dajs. The city im- 
 presses with that air of silence and gloom, 
 commonly characteristic of places destitute 
 of comnrerce or industry, and forms a 
 striking contrast to Marseilles, where opu- 
 lence and population are everywhere visible. 
 The warm springs from which Aix is now 
 known and frequented, induced Sextius Cal- 
 vinus to found a Ronmn colony there, to 
 which he gave the name of "Aquae Scxtiae.'* 
 They were supposed,, probably with rea- 
 son, to possess particular virtues in cases 
 of debility ; and several altars have been- 
 dug up, sacred to E^iapus, the inscrip- 
 tions on which indicate theiir gratitude to 
 that deity, for his supposed succour and 
 assistance. 1 saw nothing in the cathedral 
 deserving attention, except the tomb of 
 harles of Anjou, last of the Angevin l^ne, 
 kings of Naples, and Counts of. Provence. 
 He died,, if 1 recollect right, in 1483, be-- 
 queathing both his real and' titular domi-r 
 nions to Louis the eleventh, king of Franqe. 
 The claims on the Neapolitan crown de- 
 rived from him, were the foundation of 
 those long and unhappy wars begun by 
 . . Charles
 
 160 
 
 CRarles tlie eighth, and continued under' 
 his two successors, Louis tile twelfth and- 
 Francis tlic first. 
 
 The distance from Aix to this city is 
 only twenty miles. There is notwithstand- 
 ing, a considerable difference in the cli- 
 mate of Marseilles, which is milder in 
 winter, and cooler during the beats of" 
 summer, from its vicinity to the Mediter-- 
 ranean. Nature seems to have marked out 
 this place for commerce, by the maritime 
 advantages which she lias bestowed on it.- 
 Tlie entrance of the harbour, which is ex- 
 tremely narrow, and surrounded by loffy 
 mountains, protects and shelters vessels 
 during the most violent storms. The port* 
 itself forms a delightful walk at this season^ 
 of the )^ar, as it is open to the southern 
 sun, and crouded with vast numbers of 
 people, not only of all the European na-- 
 tionsj but of Turks, Greeks, and natives 
 of thie coast of Batbary. The whole scene* 
 is one of the most agreeable that can be 
 imagined, if the chains of the galley slaves, 
 heard among the hum of business, did not 
 tincture it with the hateful idea of slavery; 
 
 The
 
 The gallks themselves, useless and neglect- 
 ed, rot peaceably in their resi>ective sta- 
 tions ; and it is said that no others will ever 
 be constructed to supply their place, as they 
 have long ceased to be of any utility to the 
 state, being scarcely even navigable in 
 severe weather. This circumstauce may 
 appear the more extraordinary, when we 
 reflect that .Philip the second, in the six- 
 teenth century, not only covered the Me- 
 diterranean and the Levant with his gallies ; 
 but, sent fleets of gallics as far as the islands 
 <5f tlie Azores in the Atlantic ocean. No 
 European prince, I believe, would now 
 venture on so bold an experiment. 
 
 During the short residence that I have 
 made here, I am forcibly struck with th& 
 wide dillcrence which there appears to me, 
 l>etween the genius of the Provencaux, and 
 the national character generally attributed 
 to the French. Tlve common people of Mar 
 seilles display a brutality and rudeness of 
 manners, more characteristic of a republic 
 can, than of a monarchical and absolute go- 
 vernment. Their language, so famous in an- 
 cient Romance, is a corrupt Italian, more in* 
 
 telligible
 
 162 
 
 telligiblc to a Neapolitan, than to a Parisian, 
 The women are lively, beautiful, and dis- 
 posed from their coraplexioji to gallantry. 
 A fire, an. extreme vivacity unknown to 
 the northern nations of Europe, which re- 
 sults from a penetrating- air, a genial sun, 
 and skies for ever blue, is strongly dis- 
 cernible in their eyes, their conversation, 
 the peculiar dances and music of the coun- 
 try ; in all which, a warm and impassioned 
 animation forms the predominant quality. 
 I am afraid to express how many charms 
 there appear to me in this gaiety of cltafac- 
 ter and disposition, lest you should think 
 that I mean to contrast it with the forma- 
 lity of our own country, where wc seldom 
 allow the heart to act uninflueneed by the 
 judgment. 
 
 Marseilles pretends to the most remote 
 antiquity, a colony of Phocians in ages 
 unknown, having given it birth. The 
 *' old city" is one of the most ill built of 
 . any in Europe, nor have I e-ver had cou- 
 rage enough to penetrate into its recesses, 
 which are insupportably filthy. The mo- 
 dern Marseilles, on the other hand, has 
 
 sprung/.
 
 163 
 
 jsprung up since the commencement of the 
 eighteentli century, and possesses all tliat 
 regularity, elegance,, aod? Gonveniencey 
 which distinguish the present times. I am 
 inclined to consider it as one of the most 
 eligible places of winter residence in Eu- 
 rope, and far superior, where liealth is not 
 an object of attention, to Nice, or ta 
 Montpelier. Iri the Carnival, I am as- 
 sured, that it is uncommonly gay. The 
 surroundmg country is rocky and barren, 
 hilt covered for several miles on all sides, 
 with Villas and summer-houses, >vhich 
 commerce has erecteil. ..^ 
 
 The intention vt-hich I once had of visit- 
 lag Cojsica and Htudinia, I have relij> 
 quishcd for the present, having determined 
 to remain here till the ensuing spring, when 
 I shall probably return thro' the inland 
 provinces of this kingdom, to England* 
 Meanwhile. I reraain,^ &c^ 
 
 CtermoQt^
 
 IQ-k 
 
 Ciennont, In Auvergnf, 
 jpriday, 26th of ApriJ, 1776. 
 
 After a silence of near four months, 
 J again resume my pen from among the 
 mounlains of Auvergne, at the distance of 
 more than a hundred leagues from Mar- 
 seilles. I have now exchanged the deli- 
 cious climate of Provence, its warm sun/ 
 and the shore of the Mediterranean, for a* 
 very different scene. 
 
 1 quitted Marseilles on the sixth of this 
 month, and arrived at Avignon on the even*^ 
 ing of the ensuing day. It was impossible 
 for me not to dedicate some time to the 
 view of a city so renowned in past agesy 
 the scat of the sovereign Pontiffs dnring^ 
 more than half a century, the residence of 
 Petrarch, and the birth-place of Laura, i^ 
 felt <hat pleasure which results to every 
 reflecting mind, from the consciousness of 
 being on a spot rendered famous by poetry,^ 
 or genius, or great atchievements. I com- 
 pared Avignon, as it now exists, with the 
 
 picture
 
 165 
 
 ^picture which Petrarch has drawn of it in 
 his writings ; and attempted to ascertain 
 the situation of his mistress's abode, which 
 is yet pointed out by tradition in one of 
 the suburbs. From thence I repaired to 
 the church of the Cordeliers, where rest 
 her remains. In a little dark chapel on 
 the right liand, now disused for religious 
 ceremonies, damp, cold, and unwhole- 
 some, beneath the arch which forms the 
 entrance, and under a flat, unornamented 
 stone, lies that Laura who was once so beau- 
 tiful, ajid who can never die, while her lover's 
 fame and works survive. Round the stone 
 are faintly discerned some ancient Gothic 
 characters covered with earth, and ren- 
 dered illegible by time. You will jierhaps 
 recollect that Francis the first, unquestion- 
 ably the most accomplished prince ..who 
 ever reigned in France, and wlio eminently 
 possessed the enthusiasm which usually 
 distinguishes and characterizes genius, 
 caused the tomb of Laura to be opened in 
 his own presence. A wish to pcrvaile the 
 obscurity in which Petrarch has aflected to 
 involve the name of his oiistrcss, and the 
 
 history
 
 166 
 
 iiistory of liis own unhappy passion ; 
 added to a desire of ascertaining by some 
 incontestible proof, tlie burial-place of 
 Laura ; were the motives which influenced 
 Francis to commit this seeming violation 
 of the repose of the dead. Some small 
 human bones, supposed to be her's, and a 
 , leaden box which contained a scrowl of 
 Italian verses, obscurely alluding to Pe- 
 trarch^s attachment to her, were all which 
 repaid the monarch's curiosity. It is need- 
 less to remind you, that Laura died of the 
 plague, which desolated the greater part 
 of Europe in 1347, and the following year ; 
 and of which Boccaco, in his " Decaine- 
 ^' ron," has drawn the most animated and 
 distressful pictur<', that can be pn^ented 
 to the human imagination. 
 ' It seems impossible to recognixe the situ- 
 ation, or the adjacent country of Avignon 
 as they appear at present, under the me- 
 lancholy colors with which Petrarch has 
 tihaded them. The fertile plain of the 
 " Coimtat Venaissin," in which the city 
 stands, and the rich banks of the Rhone, 
 are described by him as a frightful dcsart, 
 
 thro'
 
 16T 
 
 tliro' wliidi pours a river swept by con- 
 tiiiuai vviiuls and tempests. Ovid has ^iven 
 us the saiue picture of the coast of the 
 Black Sea ; a climate incontestibly one of 
 the mildest of the earth, and blessed with 
 an almost perpetual spring. The gloomy 
 iedium thro^ which the two poets regarded 
 every object, explains tliis extraordinary 
 fact. The Roman poet, occupied with 
 the painful recollection of the luxurious 
 pleasures wliich reigned in the court of 
 Augustus, from which he was for ever 
 banished, had become insensible to every 
 image of gaiety or delight. Petrarch, an 
 exile from Italy, his native country, always' 
 cherishing the fond idea' of re- visiting Flo- 
 rence, and despising the manners, while 
 he detested the city of Avignon, set no 
 bounds to his exclamations and complaints. 
 Neither the distinguished favor of several 
 succeeding Popes with which he was ho- 
 nored, nor the consideration due to the 
 country which gave birth to his mistress, 
 X/aura, could soften or diminish his anti- 
 pathy to Avignon. For me, who viewed 
 it impartially, and without prejudice, I 
 
 confes*
 
 confess that I was charmed with the situ- 
 ation. The prospect from the summit of 
 the rock in the centre of the city, is of un- 
 common beauty. The** Vent deBizc," which 
 blew in my face, was indeed extremely se- 
 vere: but I comforted myself with reflect- 
 ing, that tho^ piercing, it was yet whole- 
 some ; and that if Louis the eleventh, when 
 in a state of bodily debility, had ordered 
 intercessions to Heaven to avert it ; Augus- 
 tus, on the other hand, was so well con- 
 vinced of the salubrious and invigorating 
 qualities of that wind, that he erected an 
 altar to it, ami ordered it to be placed 
 among the d'ods. 
 
 The Rhone itself is a noble object, rolling 
 rapidly thro' meadows covere<l with olive 
 trees, und divided into two considerable 
 channels opposite to Avignon. Across it, 
 extend tlc ruinous and ilecayed arclus of 
 that bridge, against which Madame de 
 Grigiwm was so near being lost, and of 
 which Madame de Sevigne, iii her Corre- 
 spondence, makes terrified mention. It 
 was demolished in 1G99, by owe of the in- 
 undations common to the Rhone. When 
 
 entire,
 
 169 
 
 entire, it was not less than a quarter of a 
 mile in length ; but being so narrow as not 
 to permit two carriages to pass in any part, 
 it had previously l)ecomc almost useless ; 
 and motives of policy prevent the construc- 
 tion of a new bridge, while Avignon be- 
 longs, as it still does, to the Papal See. 
 On the farther side of the Rhone, in 
 Languedoc, stands Ville Neuve, a con- 
 siderable town, with a magnificent raonas- 
 iery of Benedict ins erected ou a rock, simi- 
 lar to that on wJiich is built the cathedral 
 of Avigiion. The liigh mountain of Ven- 
 toux, in the province of Dauphine, co- 
 vered with snow, which Petrarch has de- 
 licribcd, and to the summit of which he 
 ascended, appears to the north; while the 
 savage rocks of \'aucluse bound the view 
 to the eastward, at the distance of fifteen 
 miles. Beneath spreads an extensive vale, 
 watered by several rivulets that lose them- 
 selves in the Rhone, and which is culti- 
 vated with the utmost industry. 
 
 The city of Avignon itself is in general 
 
 ill built, irregular, .and devoid of beauty ; 
 
 but the Gothic walls and ramparts with 
 
 I which
 
 170 
 
 which it has bten surrounded by different 
 pontiffs, are well preserved, and arc an 
 object of high curiosity. I recollect none 
 so perfect in any part of France. They 
 are exceedingly picturesque, and carry the 
 spectator back, as he contemplates them, 
 to the ages Mlun Avignon constituted the 
 residence of the successors of St. Pefor. I 
 know scarcely any ci<y, wiiich involun- 
 tarily awakens so many historical, po(<ic, 
 and interesting recollections. At every sU-p 
 that I advance, in almost every clinrcli or 
 chapel that I enter, some nioniinuul aire sis 
 my attention. Several Popes and Anti- 
 popes, who during their lives shook tiie 
 Romish churcli with violence and mutual 
 altercation, now repose quietly near eaclj 
 other, in the various monasteries of the 
 place. In that of the Cordeliers, almost 
 opposite to Laura's, is seen the tomb of tlie 
 brave Grillon, so avcII known for his invin- 
 cible courage, as well as for his unshaken 
 attachment to his sovereign, Henry the 
 fourth. 
 
 You will not doubt that I vii;ited the 
 fountain of Vaucluse, immortalized by Pe- 
 trarch,
 
 171 
 
 trarch, to which he so often retired, iri 
 order to indulge his grief in solitude. It is 
 only five leagues distant from Avignon, and 
 as I set out early in the morning, I reached 
 the entrance of the valley about ten o'clock. 
 The weather being fine, I walked along the 
 banks of the Sorgue ; for so the river is 
 called which issues from the fountain. 
 Meadows of liie most lively verdure skirt 
 ils sides, above which rise abrupt and lofty 
 rocks, that seem as if designed to seclude 
 it from human view. The valley, Avhich 
 becomes gvadually nanovver toward the 
 extremity, winding continually, describes 
 the figure of a horse-shoe. The view is at 
 length terminated by an enormous mass of 
 rock, forming a barrier across it, of* a pro- 
 digious height, and absolutely perpendi- 
 cular. Thro' its vast recesses run the 
 streams which supply the fountain of Vau- 
 cluse ; and at its foot appears a bason of 
 water, several hundred feet in circumfe- 
 rence, stretched like an expanse, silent and 
 quiet. The sides are very steep, and it is 
 said that in the middle no bottom can be 
 ^scovered, Upip' attempts have been often 
 ^ i2 made
 
 172 
 
 made for that purpose ; a circumstance, if 
 true, probably resulting from the violence 
 Vfith which the springs bubble up, and 
 iptevent any weight from descending l)e- 
 yond a certain depth . 
 
 Tho' the fountain is clearer in itself than 
 crystal, yet the incumbent rock casts a 
 continual shade, approaching to black, 
 over its surface. The water escaping from 
 this state of inaction by a narrow passage, 
 is immediately precipitated in a cascade 
 down a rocky channel, where it foams over 
 a number of vast, detached st<iies, which 
 intercept and impede its progress. Tiny 
 are covered with a deep gretn moss of many 
 ages, and have probably tumbled from the 
 mountains that overhang the torrent. The 
 rocks themselves, which surround and in- 
 vest this romantic spot, are worn by time, 
 and the inclemency of the weather, into a 
 thousand extraordinary and fantastic forms, 
 to which imagination gives shape and 
 figure. On one of the pointed extremities, 
 in a situation which appears almost inac- 
 cessible, are seen the remains of an ancient 
 castle, projecting over the <*ater. The 
 
 pejisants
 
 fvcusanls call it *' 11 castello cli Petrarca/' 
 and add, with <i;rcat simplicily, that Laura 
 lived upon the opposite side of the river, 
 under tlie bed of wiiich was formed a sub- 
 terranean passage, by which the two lovers 
 visited each other. Nothing is however more 
 certain, than that these are the ruins of the 
 Chateau belonging to the lords, or Seigneurs 
 of Avignou; and the Bishop of Cavaillou 
 resided in it, during the frequent visits 
 which he used to niake to Petrarch. The 
 poet's dwelling y{^.^ 'pLu;c4l unquestionably 
 much lower down, nearer to the bauk of 
 theSorgue; as evidently appears from his 
 minute description of it, and the relatiou 
 that he gives of his quarrel with the Naiads 
 of the stream, who encroached durinsr the 
 winter on his little adjoining territory. No 
 remains of it are now to be discerned. 
 
 1 sat down on the edge of the bason, to 
 consider the scene, and to contemplate the 
 romantic assemblage of objects which pre- 
 sented themselves on every side. With a 
 mixt sensation of pleasure and of pain, I 
 surveyed the valley and the fountain, which 
 had been so often witnesses to Petrarch's 
 * ^ com-
 
 174 
 
 complaints, and hopeless passion. I at* 
 tempted to discern the cavern itself, which, 
 during the heats of summer, when theAvatera 
 of Vaucluse are lo^v, opens into the recesses 
 of the rock ; Avhere he nsed, alone, in the 
 dead of nig-ht, as he assures us, to indulge 
 hj| despair. Where is Petrarch now, 
 said I to myself involuntarily. Does his 
 spirit ever revisit these scenes, which lie 
 has immortalized I Is he permitted here 
 to v/ander on the banks of the Sorgue, as 
 tuZ .incif^ts fbled of the shades whicll 
 Avandered on those of the Styx ? Is he 
 united in other worlds, to that Laura whom 
 he so purely and ardently loved while here ? 
 May lie not say to her in the language of 
 Pope, 
 
 " oh, ever beauteous, ever friendly, tell, 
 Is it in Heaven a crime to love too well ?* 
 t 
 
 We are neither forbidden by reason, nor by 
 religion, to hope, and even to believe, that 
 the dissolution of the body is wholly uu- 
 Connected with mental or intellectual iden- 
 tity and recognition. Why then should 
 not Petrarch and Laura be invisibly present 
 at
 
 175 
 
 at this inslaul ? It is at least pleasing to 
 indulge in sticli supposidons, which carry 
 the huiuati niiiul boyoiid the objects of 
 sig]i<, and Oj3en to the imagination sources 
 of pleasure, at the same time that they 
 stamp a higher interest on the rocks, and 
 shades, and fountain of Vaucluse. 
 
 While I was lost in tliese reflections, the 
 clay darkened, and a sudden storm of rain, 
 from which I was completely sheltered by 
 the incum])ent mountain, issuing from a 
 Collection of black clouds overhanging ihc 
 spot, spread thro' <he whole landscape a 
 majestic and awful sublimity. When it 
 was past, I retired, tho' reluctantly, from 
 this beautiful and celebrated solitude. 
 
 Before I got into the carriage, the pea- 
 sant who had attended me to the fountain, 
 conducted me to a house situated in the 
 valley, wlierc are still preserved two por- 
 traits of the lovers, who have rendered 
 Vaucluse immortal. My chief attention 
 was directed to that of Laura. She appears 
 to be in the earliest bloom of youth, such as 
 she is described by Petrarch, on that morn- 
 ing wlien he first beheld her. An air of 
 xj ' 1 4 playful
 
 176 
 
 playful gaiety seems diiFused over Iier 
 (Countenance. Her eyes are large^ and of 
 a deep hazel, her nose justly proportioned, 
 and the contour of her face a perfect oval. 
 Her hair, the color of which approaches to 
 yellow, is confined by a fillet braided and 
 adorned with pearls : over her neck is drawn 
 a faint shade of gauze ; her robe is of a pale 
 red, and her arms are covered with a sort 
 of glove which descends half way the 
 hands. In one of them she holds an Ama- 
 ranth, the emblem of immortality. Pe- 
 trarch is painted as a man in middle life, 
 of an engaging figure, and his brows bound 
 with laurel. * 
 
 I returned to Avignon in the evening, 
 and qnitted it on the morning of the en- 
 suing day. At Oran.uo, where I break- 
 fasted,, it was impossible not to dedicate an 
 hour to tlie remains of the Roman theatre^ 
 and the triumphal arcli of Marius ; edifices 
 the most august and magnificent, tho' de- 
 faced by the lapse of near two thousand 
 years, and of which I might be tempted 
 perhaps to give you a description ^ if it had 
 not already been done by so many preced- 
 ing
 
 177 
 
 ing travellers. 1 continued my journey- 
 to Lyons, along the eastern bank of the 
 Rhone, On the other side of that river 
 appear the liigh mountains of the V^ivarais 
 covered with snow, and to the right are seea , 
 those of Dauphine, extending to the Alps, 
 with which they join. As I advanced 
 north, the weather became more sharp and 
 piercing, while the " Bize" blew with re- 
 doubled keenness, and chilled the spring 
 which was just opening. I arrived at 
 Lyons after three days' journey. My road 
 from thence to this city, lay thro' the pro- 
 vinces of Beanjolois and Forez, the first of 
 which, tho' hilly, is finely cultivated. Be 
 tween Lyons and Roanne, I passed over the 
 l)igli mountain of Tarare, so dreaded in 
 the last century. From its summit is be- 
 held a prodigious prospect, only bounded 
 towards Savoy by the Alps, which form a 
 vast barrier covered witli eternal snow^ At 
 Roanne I entered tlie Forezy a small prc^ 
 vince, barren, uncultivated, and thinly 
 inhabited. A cliain of lofty mountains ex- 
 tends quite across it ; thick forests of pine 
 aod fir, that cover the steep acclivities, 
 1 5 aflbrd
 
 178 
 
 afford refuge to wolves and wild boarsy 
 which are there found in great numbers. 
 Scarcely a hamlet is seen in the course of 
 several miles ; and the silence, the depo 
 pulation, and romantic solitudes thro" 
 which I passed, strongly reminded me of 
 Sweden or of Finland. 
 
 I arrived on Wednesday at Thiers, a 
 considerable town situated on the steep side 
 of a mountain, from whence is beheld a- 
 most delicious landscape. The country 
 extends for many leagues on all sides, in a 
 cultivated plain, terminated' by another 
 range of mountains ; and the town of Cler- 
 mont itself is distinctly discerned at the dis- 
 tance of five-and-twenty miles. This rirli 
 tract of the Auvergne, which is denominated 
 *' La Limagne," forms a bitson completely 
 surrounded by rocks and hills. The soil is 
 uncommonly fertile, inferior in that respect 
 to no part of France; while several fine* 
 streams intersecting it, add to the beauty 
 of the scene. 
 
 I got to this place yesterday. The situ- 
 ation of Clermont is agreeable, on a gentle 
 eminence, the ascent to which is gradual' 
 
 audi
 
 179 
 
 and easy. The city itself within the walls, 
 seems to have been built in an age the most 
 barbarous ; the streets being so narrow and 
 winding, that no carriage can enter them, 
 and the buildings are of correspondent an- 
 tiquity: but, to compensate for these incon- 
 veniences, the suburbs are charming, and 
 tlie houses modern and elegant. I visited 
 this morning the petrifying spring, which 
 Charles the ninth of France is said to have 
 surveyed with so much pleasure and admi- 
 ration. It is distant only a quarter of a 
 mile from the town. Jn the course of ages, 
 the spring lias formed a ridge of stone or 
 incrustation, not less than sixteen feet in 
 height, above a hundred feet long, and in 
 some parts near ten in thickness. As it im- 
 peded, and at length totally stopped the 
 current of a little rivulet which intersects 
 its course, the inhabitants were obliged to 
 dig a passage thro' it. The stream is now 
 directed into another channel, and has be- 
 gun to form a new bridge across the rivulet 
 into which it fells. 
 
 It was my intention to have penetrated 
 
 farther into tliis romantic and central pro- 
 
 I 6 vbice.
 
 vinpe^ sa rarely visited by English travel- 
 lers : but the season is too early to permit 
 tne to ascend any of the highest mountains 
 ofAuvergne. I should however certainly 
 have gone to Usson, which is only ten 
 leagues distant, if any remains of the castle 
 still existed. I scarcely need remind you 
 that Margaret of Valois, wife to Henry the 
 fourth, shut herself up in it during twenty 
 years. A gentleman who resides at Issoire, 
 near the spot, gave me this description of 
 it. 
 
 " The castle o Usson," said he, " stood 
 ** upon the summit of an almost inacces- 
 '^^ sible rock, at the foot of which flowed a 
 *' little river. The queen, by a masterly 
 ** piece of address, having expelled the 
 *' Marquis de Caniilac, to whose custody 
 ** she was confided by her brother, Henry 
 '** the third, rendered herself mistress of the 
 *^* place. It has been demolished by time, 
 *' and by the rude hands af the neighbour- 
 ** ing peasants, who have removed almost 
 '^ all the stones which composed the castle. 
 ** Some ruins of it yet remain in the last 
 ** stage of decay, which the vulgar appre- 
 
 ''^ hmd.
 
 181 
 
 *' Iiend to liave been formerly sacred to re- 
 ** ligious purposes, and which they deno- 
 " minate, ' Les Chapelles de la Rcine Mar- 
 " guerite.' It is true that they were con- 
 " structed by that queen ; but she had de- 
 ** dicated them to pleasure, not to devo- 
 * tion, and gave rendezvous in these apart- 
 *^ raents to the neighbouring nobility of 
 '* Auvergne. No other traces of Ussoa 
 ** subsist at this time." 
 
 My letter is already of an immoderate 
 length ; I shall only add to it, that 1 am 
 yours, Sac. 
 
 Bourges
 
 1S2 
 
 Bourges in Bern,. 
 CtKof May, 1776. 
 
 - '\ 1 LEFT Clermont sooner than I had 
 intended, in compliance with an invitation 
 which I could not refuse, to pass some 
 time td the Chateau de Perigeres, belong- 
 ing to the Count de Laval. The house is 
 situated in an unfrequented part of Au- 
 vergne, towards the confines of the Bour- 
 bonnois, on a rising ground, which com- 
 mands an enchanting prospect. Thro' 
 the plain below, flows the river Allier, 
 mentioned in terms of such lively admira- 
 tion by Madame de Sevigne ; on whose 
 banks, she says, might yet be discovered 
 some of the shepherds of fiction and ro- 
 mance. They have disappeared since her 
 time. 
 
 In my way from Clermont to the Cha- 
 teau de Perigeres, which lay thro' a cross 
 road, 1 stopped at a small inn ; where 
 arriving very hungry, I demanded some 
 refreshment. Entering the kitchen for the 
 f purpose
 
 183 
 
 purpose of inspecting the provisions which 
 might be found in it, I saw on a table or 
 dresser, of very ample size, in the middle 
 of the room, a spectacle of a curious kind. 
 Two immense heaps of frogs were piled up 
 at each end of the board. In one heap, lay 
 the heads, bodies, and fore- feet of the frogs; 
 which continued still alive, the mouths 
 gaping, opening, and closing from time to 
 time ; while their eyes were still wide open. 
 At the otlier extremity of this table, lay 
 another vast mound, consisting of the hind 
 quarters, that is, of the legs and thighs of 
 the same individual frogs, whose heads and 
 fore parts were lying, only a yard or twa 
 removed from their dissevered members. 
 It is to be observed, that only the hind 
 quarters of the frog, are ever eaten, or in 
 deed, contain any substance. The body 
 and fore legs are always thrown away with 
 the head. 
 
 While I was contemplating these two 
 piles of frogs, the man cook approached 
 the table with a large poile a frite, or fry- 
 ing pan in his hand. Holding it close, he 
 swept into it some fifty or sixty of the legs 
 
 of
 
 184 
 
 of the frogs, which he immediately prepared 
 and dressed with a white batter sauce; such 
 as we use in England for artichokes, and for 
 various made dishes. Tlio' I found other 
 provisions at the inn, I had not the least re- 
 pugnance to tasting the fried frogs. They 
 were as white, and I think nearly as delicate 
 as a young chicken, except that they ap- 
 peared to my palate, more tasteless and in 
 sipid. But they were admirably dressed, 
 and served up as h&t as possible. It was 
 however, impossible to forget that, like 
 Bruce in Abyssinia, I was eating the hind 
 quarters of these frogs, wliile the heads and 
 fore quarters were actually alive. 
 
 Having finished my dinner, I continued 
 my journey, accompanied, as 1 had been 
 the whole way from Clermont, by the 
 Abbe D^4rcy ; an Englishman of a noble 
 family, allied to the Earl of Ilolderness, 
 who was tutor to the Count de Laval's 
 children* Towards evening we got to 
 the Chateau de Perigeres. Monsieur de 
 Laval was not at home, but 1 was re- 
 ceived by the Countess in a manner the 
 most noble ad polite. She did me the 
 
 honor
 
 185 
 
 honor to tlctaiii mc live clays, ^vhich I 
 passed in a way never to be erased from 
 my remembrance. I would describe to you 
 her person, but that I shall give you a more 
 just idea of it, in saying that she strikingly 
 resembled the portrait of the duchess of 
 Mazarin, as drawn by the Abbe de St. 
 Real. Her other accomplishments were 
 not inferior to her beauty ; and when she 
 danced the " Bourree" (a dance peculiar 
 to Auvergne), I thought that Hortensia 
 Mancini could not have been comparable 
 to Mad;\me de Laval. I took my leave of 
 her with that reluctance, natural to a per- 
 son impressed with pleasure and admira- 
 tion. 
 
 Taking the road to Moulins, I stopped 
 at Montpensier, to view the mount where 
 formerly stood the castle, now totally de- 
 molished, which is rendered famous in his- 
 tory by the death of Louis the eighth, king 
 of France, and father of St. Louis. He died 
 tliere in 1226, on his return from the siege 
 of AvigHon ; and as was commonly, tho* 
 unjustly, supposed, of poison administered 
 to him by tlie Count de Champagne. He 
 
 was
 
 was a prince of vigor, and was sirniamcct 
 '* the Lion," from his personal coiirag'ej 
 as his contemporary Richard the first ob- 
 tained the denomination of " Lion's Heart," 
 for a similar reason. Lonis the eighth, 
 while heir to the French crown, daring the 
 life of his father, Philip Augustus, had 
 given distinguished proofs of valor and 
 ability. He was even recognized and 
 crowned king of England at London, in 
 1216 : but, the death of John, whose inca- 
 pacity and vices had rendered hivn odious 
 to his subjects, awakening the loyalty of 
 the English towards his young son, Henry 
 the third, compelled the French prince to 
 abandon his enterprize, and to return into 
 his native dominions. In 1225, he as- 
 cended the throne. During his short reign 
 of ojdy three years, he continued neverthe- 
 less successfully to prosecute the great ob- 
 ject of Philip Augustus's policy ; <he ex- 
 pulsion of the English from France. In 
 addition to Normandy and all the other 
 provinces on the Loire, which his father 
 had conquered from John ; Louis the 
 eighth regained from Henry the third, the 
 
 Limou-
 
 m 
 
 Limousin, Perigord, and various other 
 portions of the dachy of Aquitaine. It is 
 highly probable that if death had not sur- 
 prized him in the full vigor of his age, he 
 would have obtained the completest tri- 
 umph over Henry the third ; a prince less 
 wicked, but scarcely less weak than John. 
 Under these circumstances, the decease of 
 Louis the eighth is considered by Iiisto- 
 rians, as having been a great misfortune to 
 the French monarchy. 
 
 I arrived on the ensuing day at Moulins, 
 which stands in a fine plain close to the 
 river Allier, along the sides of which are 
 planted walks of elm, poplar, and aspin. 
 The city, tho* the capital of the province 
 of Bourbonnois, is mean and ill built. My 
 curiosity led me immediately on my arri- 
 val, to the church of the nur>nery of the 
 Visitation, where is constructed the Mau- 
 soleum of Henry, duke of Moiitmorenci, 
 whose defeat at Casteloaudari and execu- 
 tion, 1 have already had occasion more 
 than once to mention. The monument, 
 which was erected to his memory by the 
 duchess, his wife, Marie Felice des Ursins,
 
 fSS 
 
 is composed of tbc most beauliful and costly 
 marbles. J considered it with sensations of 
 the deepest pity for the unfortunate noble* 
 man to whom it was raised. Castelnau- 
 dari, and Leytoure, and Toulouscj all 
 crouded into my mind. The duke appears 
 in a reclining attitude, his left arm sup- 
 ported on his helmet. By him sits his wi- 
 dow, her eyes directed to heaven, and her 
 hands clasped ; while over her whole figure, 
 an expression of disconsolate sorrow is 
 strongly impressed. 
 
 It is a deiightful ride from Moulins io 
 JVevers, thro' the provinces of Bourbonnois 
 and Nivernois. In the centre of Nevers, 
 on the summit of a hill, is built the palace 
 of the ancient dukes. It appears to have 
 been constructed in the sixteenth century ; 
 and, tho' beginning to exhibit marks of 
 decay, is still a model of beauty and deli- 
 cacy in Gothic architecture. The apart- 
 ments, which are hung with tapestry of 
 two hundred years old, have an air of gro- 
 tesque and rude magnificence. 1 was de- 
 tained in one of the chambers for some mi- 
 uutcs, by a portrait of Madame dc Monte- 
 span,
 
 189 
 
 span, who appears risinsj from a superb 
 couch, the curtains of which are drawn 
 bacli, and supported by Cupids. Her at- 
 titude, half voInpUious, half contempla- 
 tive, leaves it uncertain whether she is to 
 be considered as the votarj of love, or of 
 reason; of pleasure, or of rejection. Sh<v 
 is dressed in a negli*jeiit dcsliabiUe ; her 
 hair floating down over her shoulders and 
 neck in waving ringlets. Her liead, re- 
 clined, rests on her left hand, while one of 
 her feet is concealed by her robe: the other, 
 which is naked up to the mid-leg, and on 
 which the painter, with great taste, has 
 exhausted all the efforts of his art, is placed 
 on an embroidered cushion, near Avhich her 
 slippers are carelessly thrown. It is im- 
 possible to be surprized, that with such 
 personal attractions, added to the graces, 
 wit, and accomplishments, which, as we 
 know, characterized Madame de Monte- 
 span ; she should have obtaintxl a complete 
 triumph over the gentle and tender, but, 
 less elegant and improved La Valiere. It 
 is equally natural that the violence, the ca- 
 prices, and the exactions of Madame de 
 
 Monte-
 
 190 
 
 Montespan, sliould have finally estranged 
 the affections of her lover ; and prepared 
 the way for Madame de Maintenon to be- 
 come the companion, tlie consolation, and 
 the wife of Lonis the fourteenth. These 
 events were in tlie order of nature, and can 
 excite no astonishment. 
 
 I passed the river Loire at La Charite, 
 where I entered the province of Bcrri ; the 
 distance from thence to this ci<y beiiiir 
 about twelve leagues. The country is 
 much inferior in beauty and cnltiviifion, to 
 the tract extending between Moulitis and 
 Nevers, as the far greater part consists in 
 thick woods, or barren heaths destitute of 
 inhabitants. Bourges is situated in the 
 midst of a plain, open and level as tlie sea. 
 The city is of a very considerable size, and 
 of great antiquity ; a claim, the validity of 
 "which most of the buildings evince by the 
 barbarism of tlieir construction, whicli 
 marks an age of total rudeness and igno- 
 rance of the arts of elegance, and even of 
 convenience. I have seen scarcely a house 
 which does not appear to have stood many 
 hundred years. The " Hotel de Ville" 
 
 was
 
 191 
 
 was built by the celebrated Jacques CcEur,- 
 so well known in the 1 rench history by his 
 greatness, his loy ilty, his exile, and his 
 misfortunes. Over the portal, is placed a 
 fine equestrian statue of Charles the se- 
 venth, habited in complete armour. 
 
 Jacques Coeur, who iionrishcd under his 
 reign, and rendered him the most distin- 
 guished services, maybe considered as the 
 Cosmo de Medicis of France. It he did not 
 extend the same munificent protection to let- 
 ters and science, w hich distinguished Cosmo, 
 he equalled him in commercial enterprize, 
 and in the love of his country. Coeur was 
 the richest private individual of the period 
 in which he lived, traded to every part of 
 Europe, and is said to have employed 
 three hundred factors, in the transaction or 
 superintendance of his vast concerns in fo- 
 reign countries. When Charles the se- 
 venth undertook the conquest of Normandy 
 in 1449, Cceur aided him by a loan of two 
 hundred thousand gold crowns; without 
 which assistance, that valuable province 
 could not have been regained, nor could 
 the English have been expelled. Yet, in 
 
 recom-
 
 192 
 
 recompCTise for this, and other marks of 
 affectionate loyalty, Charles shortly after- 
 wards abandoned so meritorious a servant, 
 to the persecution of his enemies, and the 
 aviditj of the courtiers. 
 
 There is a considerable degree of ob- 
 curity thrown over this portion of Coeur's 
 story: but we know that on pretexts or 
 accusations of the most doubtful or im- 
 probable nature, he was condemned. 
 Imprisoned, and his fortunes were confis- 
 cated. Having escaped from prison, by 
 the faithful attachment of some of liis 
 own factors, he repaired to Rome, where 
 he appears to have found more proteclioh 
 than among his ungrateful countrymen. 
 He died nevertheless an exile, in the Isle of 
 Chio, about 1456, under the reign of that 
 very sovereign whom lie had so deeply- 
 obliged, and by whom he was so cruelly 
 treated. Charles frequently held his court 
 at Bourges ; and you w ill probably recol- 
 lect, that during the extreme distress in 
 which his affairs were involved at the com- 
 mencement of his reign, the English, elated 
 with their victories under Henry the fifth, 
 
 bestowed
 
 193 
 
 ^)rsfo\ve(l Oil him tlie contemptuous appel- 
 lation of '* Lc petit Roi de Bourges," 
 from the loyal and constant attachment 
 which the citizens expressed towards him, 
 thro' every change of fortune. 
 
 The tower, denominated " Lagrossetour," 
 in which Louis the twelfth, king of France, 
 when only duke of Orleans, was detained 
 Vi prisoner move ihnn two years, by the 
 J^ndy of Beaujeu, regent under Charles thu 
 eigli<h, exists no longer. It was demolished 
 in 1G5I, during the majority of Louis the 
 1'our((H'nti), by onhT of Canruial M.za- 
 riu ; and a snodcrn building has f)een con- 
 structed on tiic spot, of the stones which 
 coiiipo^ed ll:;>t cditlco. 
 
 During uiy stay I'crc, I went to see the 
 tomb of .Jane of V^ahns, diiughier to Louis 
 the eleven ;h., a ad wife to Louis the twelfth^ 
 iVom whom he was divorced, in order to 
 marry Ax'.ne of BretagiK*, on liis accession 
 to the crown of France. IMie repudiated 
 princess retired to this city, and having 
 dedicated lier remaining days to piety, 
 dicil in the convent of St. Jane, which she 
 imd herself founded. One of the nuns 
 K shewed
 
 194 
 
 shewed mo, thro' i lie eratino-, her slijjpi'i-s 
 and nuptial robes, which are preserved u ilh 
 igreat care ; adding, that innumerable mi- 
 racles had been performed bj her relics and 
 intercession. 
 
 ' The cathedral of Bourges forms a most 
 magnificent edifice, tho' the external archi- 
 tecture does not correspond in beanly or 
 symmetry, with the interior of the structure. 
 The church is of prodigious dimensions, 
 far exceeding, as I think, anjcallicdral that 
 we have in England ; and the qiKintily of 
 painted glass which it contains, is scarcely 
 inferior to that in the windoi\s of the 
 church of Gouda in Holland. Jolin, duke 
 ofBerri, brotlser to Charles the fiflh, king 
 .of France, lies buried. in the sitbterrauf^an 
 chapel of this edifice, beneath a marble 
 tomb of costly workmanship, lie was a 
 weak and indolent prince, well kiiown in 
 history, under the unhappy reigji of Charles 
 the sixth, his nephew ; when thf frenzy 
 with which that unfortunate monarch v.ao 
 seized, gave full scope to <he iiilrigues and 
 ambition of his uncles. 
 
 Scarcely any other objects present then:- 
 
 .SOivC.^
 
 105 
 
 selves to the eje in lliis cify, except ruins, 
 and 1 am almost afraid, as 1 walk thro' the 
 narrow winding labyrinths, called streets, 
 that the buildings will fall upon my head. 
 3f Charles the seventh could revive, 1 am 
 persuaded that he would perfectly recog- 
 nize the place, wliich appears to have un- 
 tlergoae very lilile alteration, and to liave 
 received hardly any embellishment, durin* 
 more than three centuries which have 
 elapsed since his death. The local position 
 of Bourgcs, placed almost in ilic centre of 
 France, removed to a vast distance from 
 the sea, and destitute even of any great 
 '<;;ommunicaUon with it, by means of such 
 a river as the Loire, or the Garonne ; these 
 circumstances account f)r and explain the 
 causes of its ruinous appearance. The in- 
 habitants have neither comnicrc*^ to vivify, 
 nor intercourse with foreigners to enlighten 
 and improve tlwir city. Madrid and 
 Prague, two capitals, sindlar in situation 
 to Bourges, are, probably from their inac- 
 cessibility, and will always remain, the 
 least improved capitals in Europe. Jt is 
 the vicinity to the ocean, which in all ages 
 K 2 has
 
 19(> 
 
 ii as introduced wealth, refinement, and 
 civilization among men. 
 
 Louis the eleventh was born at Bourges, 
 and in the *' Hotel de Ville" is seen a yiaint- 
 ing descriptive of this event. Fiance, under 
 the figure of a female, appears rising from 
 her throne, to receive the medallion of 
 that monarch, which is presented to lier by 
 the Genius of Berri. It must be confessed 
 that the sentiment of afieclion towartls their 
 kings, is very ardent in this couiitry, wlien 
 they can derive any pri(^e from comnierno- 
 rating the birth of such a sovereign as 
 Louis the eleventh : a prince, A\ho for tlie 
 honor of human nature, and for ilu- felicity 
 of mankind, it Avere to be wishetl, had ex- 
 pired in the cnulle ! Ji has always ap- 
 peared to me, that our loyally, if jiot so 
 ardent as the Fnncli, is a far more ratioiial 
 and estimable principle. Me naturally 
 venerate Greenwich, because Elizabelli was 
 there born, whose reign recals images of 
 national glory and prosperity. 
 
 " We kneel, and kiss the consecrated earth, 
 *' The sacred spot that gav^ Eh'za birth." 
 
 - . J look
 
 I look with hiinil;ir respect on (lie tomb of 
 Edward J the Bhick Piiiice, in the cathedral 
 of Cuntcrbuiy ; surmounted with the spurs 
 that he earned at Cressy, and the helmet or 
 the gauntlets that he Avore at Poitiers^But, 
 I believe that it would never enter into our 
 heads, as a mark of loyalty, to commemo- 
 rate by painting or sculpture, the birth of 
 .lolui, or of king Richard the third. The 
 French, however, it is evident, think and 
 act didercntly on these subjects. 
 
 This province, tho' large, and naturally 
 fertile, is little cultivated or improved ; a 
 circumstance, no doubt, chiefly resulting 
 from the Avant of any navigable river, by 
 which the grain and other productions of 
 Berri, might be transported to different 
 quarters of the itingdom. 
 
 To-morrow morning I leave Bourges. 
 From Orleans or Blois you may expect to 
 hear of 
 
 Yours, Sec. 
 
 K3 Kois,
 
 fCS 
 
 Elois, 
 j^ Tuesday,,14th May, 1776. 
 
 I 8TA1D some hours at Mebun-siir- 
 Yeure i- Berri, to contemplate the raagni* 
 ticent remains of the castle. It is only fonr 
 leagues fclistant from Boiirges, and is ren- 
 dered fainotts in history, by the death of 
 Charles the seventh of France, who con- 
 structed it. He died there in 14G1, in cou- 
 sequettce of a voluntary abijtinence from 
 food, ca<used by the apprehension, of being^ 
 poisoncnl by h.i*owtt son, Louis the eleventh, 
 An'ti<|alty, so fcrtile in* crimes, furnishes, 
 I bel'kvo, no purallel case. It i? in vain, 
 to look for iH'.y such, even among the 
 Ca?sars. Orx* of the grcl^test and best of 
 our own priaecs, Henry the second, ex- 
 pired indeed, of a similar disease, caused- 
 by the ingratitude and disobedience of his 
 sons. But, the agitations of his mind, not 
 any dread of being poisoned by them, pro 
 duced his death. Louis the eleventh stands 
 "Uvereforc alone, remote from all comp( titiou 
 
 ins
 
 in ilns u*s[ye<it y ancietjl or mocK'ru. Even 
 Cixis-.ir liorgh, u:k1 Philip the secoriri, 
 spared their fathers. 
 
 The situatioi or" the custlc of Mehun, 
 which is not favored by nature, corre- 
 sponds ill with the grandeur of the struc- 
 tJire. It stands in a wide-extended plaii>, 
 "sheltered by deep woods ; and at its fo^i 
 flo-.vs the Ultle river Yeure, which dividing- 
 at the place into several streams, forms ;i 
 number of marshy islands covered with 
 v/iMaws. It i drlfrcuU to conceive wh;.t 
 motives could have reconrmended tiie spot 
 to Charles. Tho' the castle of Mehuu hr.s 
 been bumf by lightning, as well as greatly 
 iiijured by time, added to the depredations 
 of the neighbourin,'^ peasants, yet its ruins 
 are even noAV inexpressibly august and 
 beautiful. I visited every part of it whicli 
 was accessible. The great tower remains 
 very perfect, and three of I he apartments, 
 which appear to !iave been rooms of state, 
 iniglit ahuost be inhabited at present. The 
 t !i:iinber where, as it is said, the unhappy 
 kiiig' expired, is in one of the smaller 
 towers, the entrance into which is ob- 
 K 4 structtd
 
 2m 
 
 st-rucU'd by ihc stones tliat have iallcn IVoffk 
 ab<)V(\ '] ']'.e'^>^ hole odi lice, ^^hic!^ is com- 
 posed of a stone ueaiiy equal to niarble ia 
 ^vhkeiicss and durability, is suvroundcd by 
 a deep ditch. In the centre stands the 
 chapel, the Morkmauship and delicacy of 
 which are astonishing. The castle itself 
 appears to rac, to exhibit one of the finest 
 taonuraents now existing in Europe, of the 
 taste and style of architecture common 
 about the middle of the fifteenth century, 
 when the arts began slowly to revive from 
 their slumber of so many ages. 
 
 Charles the seventh is described by the 
 French historians, under colors similar ta 
 those, with which Pope, in his notes on 
 the Iliad, lias drawn the portrait of Paris. 
 Naturally brave, munificent, amiable, pro- 
 tecting and cultivating all tlie elegant occu- 
 pations of a liberal mind ; but, sinking con- 
 tinually into an indolent -effeminacy, and 
 sacrificing every grand or patriotic senti- 
 ment, io the fasciiiriting charms of female 
 beauty. He must nevertheless be ranked 
 among the great kings who have reigned 
 in France, The castle of Mehun appears 
 
 never
 
 201 
 
 never to have been the favorite residence of 
 any succeeding sovereign after the decease 
 of Charles; perhaps, from the nature and 
 circumstances of his death. It was ne- 
 g-lected by the immediate successors of that 
 ]irinc(S lost in the superior lustre of Fon- 
 taiableau and Chambord under Francis the 
 first, arid ultimately alienated by Louis the 
 fourteenth, to support his ruinous and ex- 
 pensive wars in the last century. 
 
 ] pursued my journey thro' the provinces 
 of l?erri and Solf)gne to Orleans, where I 
 arrived on tlic ensuiivg day. The entrance is 
 noble and striking from the south, over a 
 fine bridge thrown across the Loire, of idrje 
 arclies. Tlie city itself is in general very 
 meanly constructed, and the streets arc nar- 
 jow, one only excepted, which conducts 
 from the bridge, composed of modern, ele- 
 gant buildings. In this street stands the cele- 
 brated monument, ^v lierc Charles the seventh 
 and the Maid of Orleans are represented on 
 their knees, before the body of our Saviour, 
 which lies extended on the lap of the V irgiii. 
 It was erected by order of that monarcli in 
 1458, to perpetuate his victories over the 
 K 5 English,
 
 . , 202 
 
 Fnglish, and? their expulsion from his do- 
 minions. AH the figures are in iron. The 
 iing appears bareheaded, his behnet, which 
 is surmounted M:ith a crown, hing by him. 
 Opposite to him kneels the Maid herself, in 
 the same attitude of gTateinl devotion to 
 Heaven. It may justly be cslCt-nKxl a most 
 precio-js and invaluable historical monii- 
 ment. 
 
 TJic more that I refiect on ail (he cir- 
 cumstances of the memorable j-iege of Or- 
 leans, and its ternunation by the snddea 
 appearance of~Joaf5: d'.Vrc, tiie less am I 
 able to account for it on any coiiimon prin- 
 ciples of reason or philosophy. 1 Nveli 
 tnow that such a sentiment in the present 
 age, may expose me to criticism. 1 arft 
 aware how much ridicule Voltaire lius 
 thrown upon the Maid,, and upon every 
 part of her history, in his inimitable, but 
 profligate and licentious poem, of the 
 ** Pucelle." 1 can admit the full force of 
 enthusiasm on one side, and of terror on 
 the other, in an age of considerable barba- 
 rism and general superstition, such as was 
 the pCTiod in which she appeared. But,. 
 
 neithr.
 
 203 
 
 Hcifrlier these circumstanees, nor the asscr-^ 
 tion that she was instructed to personate 
 the part wliich she performed, and conse- 
 qtientlj v.as only ^n engifie of state policy, 
 fitted to the mdmcnt in which she was 
 feroiight forward : none of these solutions 
 cm salisfv :ny miiid on the subject. 
 
 Coi'.sitlur coolly the tacts ^ they are of 
 no conunoii kiiul. Orleuns, completely 
 invcsieJ, starved, surrounded by lines of 
 ciTcumvallaiion'^ was reduced to extremity. 
 Sir John Fastolii'e, on whom Shakespear 
 has exerted his powers of -ridicule Avitli as 
 m^ich success, as V oltaire has done on the 
 " Pucelie;" hiul just gained over the 
 French- a memorable victory, known in 
 our anuals by the nasne of the "Battle of 
 Herrings;" and Orleans was about to sur- 
 render. Ou the 29th of April, 1429, Joan 
 d'Arc appears. From that instant, the 
 English become paralyzed. They remain 
 motionless, while she enters and relieves 
 the city. In ten days more, she drives 
 them from before the Avails, and raises; 
 the siege. Far from stopping there, slie 
 eonducts the king to Rheims, from Chinon
 
 204 
 
 ht Touraine, across one half of France^. 
 On the 17th of July, that is, in seventy- 
 nine days from her first appearance be- 
 fore Orleans, Charles receives the crown, 
 "which she may, without any exaggera- 
 tion, be said to have placed on his head. 
 In a word, from the lowest and most hope- 
 less point of depression, lie becomes vic- 
 torious. 
 
 It cannot be attributed to want of mili- 
 tary talents among the English, nor to any 
 defect of civil ability and political wisdom. 
 John, duke of Bedford, Regent of Fran ce,^ 
 was a prince of consummate capacity. Ne- 
 ver perhaps, had we more generals of merit,, 
 cxi^erience, and reputation, than at that pe- 
 riod. Suflolk, \Varwici<, Talbot, Scales, 
 and many other famous comuianders, who 
 had served under Henry tlie fifth, con- 
 tinued to conquer under his infant soiu 
 That a village girl should, either from the 
 impulse of loyalty and patriotic enthusi- 
 asm, or from religions delusion and fanati- 
 cism, or as a state engine instructed for the 
 purpo;e ; restore a monarchy under such 
 circumstances, and in so short a space of 
 
 time ;
 
 205 
 
 time ; 1 repeat it, exceeds my compre- 
 hension. We must look higher, for the ex- 
 planation of the appearance and the actions^ 
 of the Maid of Orleans. 
 
 In the " Hotel de Ville" is preserved a 
 portrait of that immortal woman, which I 
 studied long and attentively. Tho' it was 
 not done till 1581, which was one hundred 
 and fifty years after her execution, it i 
 probably the oldest original picture of her, 
 that is now existing. The painter may be 
 supposed to have drawn a. flattering resem- 
 blance, and to have conferred on his he- 
 roine imaginary charms. Her face, tho' 
 long, is of exceeding interest, heightened 
 by an expression of intelligence and gran- 
 deur rarely united. Her hair falls loosely 
 down her back, and she wears on her head 
 a sort of bonnet enriched with pearls,.shaded 
 with white plumes, and tied under her chin 
 "with a string. About her neck is fastened 
 a little collar, and lower down, upon her 
 bosom, hangs a necklace composed t)f small 
 links. Her dress, which is that of a female, 
 1 find it difficult exactly to describe. It 
 fits close to the body, and is cut or slashed 
 
 at
 
 20ff 
 
 St the arms and elbows. Round lier waist 
 is bnc'uled an erabroideied girdle, and in 
 liPF Tight hand she holds the suord, vpith 
 Avliich she expelled t4)e enemies of her sove- 
 reign, and licr country. 
 
 I am not snrpri/ed at the animated and 
 eiilhiisiastic attachment, which the Frencii 
 still {'hertsh for lier memory. The critical 
 iiud desperate emergency in wliich she ap^ 
 prajed;. her sex, her youth,, aiid even the 
 \*cry obscurity of her birih; the spotless 
 and iireproachab e nature of her coiiduct, 
 during every part of her life ; the unparal- 
 leled success which crowned her enterprize; 
 the cruel and detestable sentence by which 
 s!ie wais put to death; finally, the air of the 
 marvellous spread over the whole narration, 
 increaiscd and strengthened by that venera- 
 tion which time affixes to every great event : 
 ^all these uaited causes conspire to place 
 her almost above mortality. Rome and 
 Athens would undoubtedly have ranked 
 her among their tutelary deities, and have 
 erected temples to her honor : nor can I 
 help being amazed, that among the almost 
 iniinite number of modern saiuts, who. 
 
 croud.
 
 ffmud and disgrace (heir clmrclresj noFon- 
 iiff bus been fauud to C'lnonize her, and no- 
 altar has jct boeu (.li'dicatcd to the Maid of 
 Orleans. 
 
 The envlroi'.s of Odeaus, more especially 
 Ln the province of Sologiie, to the south of 
 t!ie Loire, are very aji;reeable.. It is in 
 ueueral a level country, covered with corn 
 RHvl vines. 1 rode oij-t during my stay, to 
 " La Siuirce," a Villa rendered celebrated 
 fey the abode of licnry St. John, Lord 
 Bolingbroke, wl jo passed the chief part of 
 his exile in this retreat. Near the house,, 
 ill a hollov*' dell, is seen the spring from 
 Vihich the place has received its name, and 
 which may be -regarded as a most extraor- 
 dinary Phaenomenon. The water rises out 
 f the earth from a very narrow aperture^ 
 in a prodigious column, forming immedi- 
 ately a- considerable river called the Loiret, 
 which after winding its course about two 
 leagues, is lost in the Loire. Monsieur 
 
 B , to whom the place now belongs^ 
 
 has deformed and totally disfigured this 
 beautiful fountain, by an_ ill-judged and 
 mistaken taste. Instead of a dark and 
 
 gloomy
 
 208 
 
 gloomy IioUow, shaded by deep woods, 
 adapted to the genius of the scene, in the 
 midst of which the spring formerly rose 
 with violence out of the ground, he lias en- 
 larged the opening from whence it issues ; 
 and it now only appears to bubble up 
 scarcely above the surface of the ground, 
 in the middle of a sluiUow, nrtilicial bason. 
 No trees of any kind conceal or shelter it 
 from view, and after first passing <hro' a 
 narrow channel, it is dispersed in the form 
 of a looking-glass before the house. One 
 cannot view so ridicul;;us and isbsurd a; 
 Metaniorpliosls, without tlie greatest re- 
 gret, mixed with a ort of indignation. 
 
 Leaving Orleans on Sunday morning, 1 
 arrived here the same evening. Curiosity 
 to visit the tomb of Louis iW eleventh, 
 who is interred at " Notre Dame de 
 Clery," induccvl me to take the road 
 thro' that place, tho' less direct than the 
 ordinary route. 1 passed the bridge of 
 St. Mesrain, memorable for the assassi- 
 nation of Francis, duke of Guise, with 
 Brantome in my hand ; aid attempted, 
 from his minute and exact description, to 
 
 ascer-
 
 :209 
 
 ascertain the precise spot where tlsat illus- 
 trious person was killed by Mere Poltrot, 
 during the civil wars of France under 
 Charles the ninth. 
 
 The church of Cicry was built by Louis 
 the eleventh, who entertained always a sin- 
 gular and capricious devotion for the Vir- 
 gin Mary, to whom it is dedicated. He 
 always denominated her " Ma bonne notre 
 " Dame de Clery." From a similar super- 
 stition, he ordered his body to be interred 
 there, under a monument, which he had 
 himself erected. The llugonots, in the 
 civil wars under Catherine of Medicis, 
 having broken open his tomb, scattered 
 the bones about the church with savage 
 ferocity. A similar fate attended the re- 
 mains of some of our own kings, at the 
 period of the Reformation under Henry 
 the eighth. The bones of Henry the first, 
 who was buried in the abbey of Reading ; 
 and those of Stephen, his successor, who 
 was interred at Feversham, were treated 
 with the same barbarous indignity, by the 
 first Reformers. Louis the thirteenth caused 
 iiie prcscut monument to be coaistructed in 
 
 1622,
 
 It)22, SaIiu:]] is composed of wliitc niarhfr^ 
 and -well PXcciiled. Tiie king is repre- 
 sented 0!i his knees, in an attitude of 
 prayer, his hands raised to Ilea vert. His 
 queen, Charlotte of Sa\^oy, was originally 
 buried in the same tomb, and Charles the 
 eighth caused his own heart to be deposited 
 (here^ near his father's remains. 
 
 Jldving crossed tlie Loire again at Beau- 
 g^eucy, I passed the %vhole afternoon in the 
 gardens and groves of Menars. This -vvas 
 the seat of the celebrated Madame de Pora- 
 pudonr, who occupied so high a place 
 vnder the late reign. She began to iiii- 
 prove ity amd at her death bequcatlied it to 
 the Bfarquis de Marigny, her oidy brother. 
 '* The situation, which is on a high range of 
 hills overhangirjg the Loire, is of unparal- 
 leled beauty ; from whence ihc eye is con- 
 tinually entertained on every side, with a; 
 prospect the most extensive, delicious, and 
 'cultivated. Towns, and palaces, anct 
 castles, intermixed wish forests, hamlets,. 
 abbeys*, and virieyarus, are spread below ;, 
 while a noble river pouring ti'iro' the plain,, 
 diffusis plenty and fritUit y iu its progress.. 
 
 The-
 
 21 f 
 
 The gardens arc laid out with great ele- 
 gance, and adorned with a number of 
 statues, chiefly presented to tlie Marquis 
 by his late majesly, Louis the fifteenth, 
 A " Pasiphae,'' lamenting, Phaeton, and 
 be^-inninii: to take root, detained me for 
 some minutes ; but I quitted this figure, to 
 observe an "Atlas," than Avhich nothing can 
 be more perfect. The statue is larger than 
 Ihe life, and as Atlas is represented in the 
 act of attempting to tear, himself from the 
 rock into which he is about to be trans^ 
 farmed, all his muscles are necessarily in the 
 most violent state of exertion. The artist 
 has found means to give a sort of suction to 
 the stone, which makes it appear to draw 
 in the limbs of Adas, and in some parts 
 to have taken poRs^ ssion of them. It is 
 a masterly production of sculpture. Mon- 
 sieur de Marigny has prodigiously im- 
 proved the place, since the Marchioness of 
 Pompadour's decease. The terrace does 
 not yield to that of Windsor, or of St 
 Germain ; and the wt)ods, tliro' which 
 winds a murmuring rivnlct, arc of the 
 mast s;.'.'luded solitude, in the midst of 
 
 thcra*
 
 them, concealed iiiuler a thick cover of 
 trees, appears a Cupid, \vho seems as 
 if just alighted on a pedestal covered 
 with roses. Nothing can exceed the 
 archness of his looks, which make one 
 tremble ; but he has his finger on his 
 lips. 
 
 To-morrow you shall hear more. 1 am 
 fatio-uedj but it is the fatigue of pleti&ure. 
 
 ETois
 
 215 
 
 Blois, 
 Wednesday, 15th May, 1776. 
 
 It appears to me impovssible fdr any 
 person to be destitute of some emotions of 
 pleasure, at the view of a place so distin- 
 firuished in history, as the city from which 
 i write. Judgt; then wliat 1 experience, 
 who cannot contemphite the spot where 
 any great acliii vcment has been performed 
 in agTs past, without feeling the liveliest 
 enthusiasm ; when I look upon the castle, 
 wliere Louis the twelfth, jtfstly surnamert 
 the father of his people, was born : in 
 which were solemnized the nuptials of Mar- 
 garet of Valois, sister of Francis the firs^ 
 witli Henry d'Albret, king of Navarre; 
 where Isabella of Bavaria, and Mary of 
 Medicis, both queens of France, were im- 
 prisoned by their own sons ! within whose 
 walls, Henry, duke of Guise, and the Cardi- 
 nal, his brother, wfere sacrificed to the ven- 
 geance of Henry the third ! where died 
 Valentina of Milan, duchess ot Orleans.; 
 
 where
 
 >2U 
 
 ^liere Anne of BrctagiK^, and CLuulc, livi 
 daughter, successively queens of France, 
 likewise expired : and <() close this auguist 
 series of princes, Avlure Catherine of Ivledi- 
 cJs, so renowned for her talents and h^r 
 primes, finished her memorable career ! 
 
 I tread with reverence over the ground, 
 .rendered in son.e degree sacred, and view 
 with a melancholy satisfaction, tlie towers 
 once inhabited by queens and nionarchs, 
 now fending to decay, or covered witli ivy, 
 which spreads a twdight tliro' the aparl- 
 ments :at noon-d;iy. Ad air of tleparted 
 greatness is strongly diffused tlno' the ^\]i()le 
 palace, and increased by the silence which 
 reigjis universally. The eyplievs and de- 
 vices of succeeding princes, are faintly 
 discerned on tlie front of the edifice, or 
 iraced over tlie gateways. I distingui^Ti 
 the '^ Porcupine" of I/ouis the twelfth, thq 
 ^* Salamander" of Francis the first, and the 
 amorous " Crescent'* of his son Henry the 
 second. I follow the remains of the gal- 
 lery constructed by Henry the fourth, and 
 wander in the avenue of elms planted by 
 Catherine of Medicis; or survey with re-
 
 -grot tli.c superb and unfiiiiilicil cdiQcc be- 
 gun by Gaston, dulic of OrIins. You 
 must pardon these uncoiniccted cxelania- 
 tions, Avhicli liave escaped me in spite of 
 myself. I will now endeavor to give you 
 some more methodical and intelligible de* 
 scription of the place. 
 
 Tlic castle of Blois, wliich stands on a 
 rock immediately above tlie Loire, com- > 
 mands a view, hardly, if at all inferior to 
 tlie !{)rospcct seen from Menars. The an- 
 cient Counts of Blois, who lield their con- 
 ^tant re^idciice here, constructed the ori- 
 ginal castle, of which no remains cow sub- 
 sist, except (me large round towej:. Guy, 
 the last Count of the house of Chatillon, 
 alienated rt to Louis, didie of Orleans, 
 brother lo Cliailes the sixlh of Frajice, 
 who was iifter wards nairdered in the " Rue 
 '' Barbette" at Paris, in 1407; and from 
 whom it d(Mice))d<'d to Louis the twelftli, 
 his grandson. The casttTH and southern 
 sides, as they now subsist, were princi- 
 pallj- built by that king; and over the grand 
 gateway that conducts into the court of the 
 < astle, stands an ctjuestrian statue of Louis, 
 
 habited
 
 habited in a coa< of mail. Tliestvlc of arclii* 
 lecture, whicii is cliaractcristic of the begin- 
 ning of the sixt(*cntli century, merits great 
 attention : but some of the figures which 
 support the "windows, are of a nature so 
 'isingularly indecent, that in the state of re- 
 finement to -vvhicli modern manners liarc 
 attained, it excites onr surprize how a 
 prince so virtuous as Louiis l!ie twelfth is 
 represented to have been, or a woman so 
 correct and so reserved in licr mnimers as 
 Anne of Brelagne, his queen, eonki ever 
 have permitted (hem to be placed in t!ic 
 most conspicuous part of a royal ])alace. 
 Our astonishment is however diminished, 
 when we consider that even in edifices con- 
 secrated to piety : in churches, cloisters, 
 and' chapter houses; anionf2: jnoid<s and 
 nuns, bound to tlie most rigorous obser- 
 vanca of vows of chastity; the same, or 
 even grosser violations of decency are found 
 among the figures that support the roofs,, 
 or adorn the capitals. li is a striking 
 proof of the simple, but coarse and unpo- 
 lished manners of that period ; when the 
 quality which we denominate delicacy, 
 
 WcUi
 
 217 
 
 was unknowH ; and when neither the ma- 
 jesty of the throne, nor the sanctity of the 
 priesthood, imposed any restraint on the 
 ebullitions of the sculptor, or the archi- 
 tect. 
 
 The northern front of the castle was con- 
 structed by Francis the first, about the year 
 1520, soon after his accession to the throne of 
 France. A more splendid style, a workman- 
 ship approaching in delicacy and elegance 
 to tlie Greek and Roman architecture, discri- 
 minates it from the portion built by Louis 
 the twelfth ; and we evidently trace the ad- 
 vancement in the arts made by a more re- 
 fined age^ The apartments arc all spacious 
 and magnificent, tho"* now dismantled and 
 neglected. I was sliewn the celebrated 
 chamber, and the precise spot, on which 
 Henry, duke of Guise, was assassinated in 
 1588, by order of Henry the third. The 
 stones'which were tinged with his blood, 
 have been almost scraped away by the cu- 
 riosity of successive travellers. As I stood 
 between the two doors, at one of which the 
 duke had just entered ; and the piece of ta- 
 pestry that covered the other of whicli, he 
 1. was
 
 SIS 
 
 Was in'th^ act of raising, as we know from 
 Davila, when he was put to death ; I could 
 not help being carried back in imagination, 
 to that scene and period. Here, said I to 
 myself, fell that audacious and ambitious 
 prince, who, neither a sovereign nor a sub- 
 ject, presumed to set his foot upon the throne, 
 and upon the neck of his master. Here he 
 expiated his criminal projects, covered with 
 wounds, like Caesar in the senate house. His 
 body, disfigured and bloody, was extended 
 on this Hoor, where 1 am standing; and it 
 was 'here that Henry tlie third, contem- 
 plating his corpse, still impressive even in 
 death, exclaimed, " Ah ! qu'il etoit grand ! 
 *' 11 paroit plus grand, mort, que vivant!" 
 ^ At the western extremity of tlie biiild- 
 ins: stands a tower, denominated " La Tour 
 *' de Chateau-Regnaud," famous for hav- 
 ing been the scene of the murder of Louis, 
 Cardinal of Guise, brother to the duke. 1 
 went down into the dungeon where that 
 turbulent and unfortunate prelate passed 
 the night previous to his execution, with 
 his companion, the archbishop of Lyons. 
 Two doors of massy iron open into a 
 
 gloomy
 
 219 
 
 gloomy chamber, vaulted, into which the 
 light is only admitted by one small window 
 closed wilh iron bars. The figure of the 
 room, which is irregular, may be about 20 
 fcet in diameter every way. In the middle 
 is perforated a circular hole, suiliciently 
 large to receive the body of a man, which 
 communicates with a room below; and under 
 it are said to be three ranges of dungeons, 
 one beneath the oUier. The Cardinal him- 
 self was put to death in a sort of recess hol- 
 lowed into the wall, on the day follov/ing 
 tJiat of his brother, the duke of Guise. 
 The guards of Henry execnled the order 
 with their halberds. It must be admitted 
 that they both perished the just martyrs of 
 their inonlinafe ambition ; and this assassi- 
 jiation is, 1 believe, the only one recorded 
 in history, for Avhich, if possible, the cir- 
 cumstances seem almost to plead a full ex- 
 culpation. 
 
 At the eastern termination of the northern 
 
 .front, stands the " Salle des Etats," where 
 
 Henry the third assmnbled the States-general 
 
 of France twice, during his distracted reign. 
 
 It is a vast hall, now disused, and almost 
 
 l2 ^ in
 
 220 
 
 in ruins. In the chimney, the bodies of 
 the duke and cardinal of Guise, after their 
 assassination, are said to have been con- 
 sumed to ashes. You wiil perhaps recol- 
 lect the animated Apostrophe of their mo- 
 ther, the duchess of Guise, addressed to the 
 equestrian statue of Louis the twelfth, on 
 her receiving the intelligence of the death 
 of lier two children, ^e was daughter to 
 Renee of France, duchess of Ferrara, and 
 as suck, was herself grand-daughter to that 
 monarch. Henry the third sent her a cap- 
 tive to the castle of Aniboise, after tlie exe- 
 cution of her sons. Having embarked upon 
 the Loire, she turned towards the palace 
 of Blois, and invoking with lifted arms the 
 shade of her royal ancestor, whose statue 
 was over the portal, "Ah! grand Roi," 
 exclaimed she, " avez vous fait batir ce 
 *' chateau, pour y faire mourir les cnfans 
 " dc votre petite fille !" 
 
 The western front is the work of Gaston, 
 duke of Orleans, son of Henry tlie fourth, 
 and brother to Louis the thirteenth. It is 
 a beautiful and magnificent edifice, but 
 was unhappily left incomplete by his 
 Hi - , death.
 
 221 
 
 death, in 1659. Mansard was the archi- 
 tect whom he employed in its construc- 
 tion ; and nwre tluin three hundred tliou- 
 sand Ijivres were uselessly expended on this 
 sumptuous building, which is uninha- 
 bitable, and already far gone in decay. 
 Gaston himself, who foresaw the future 
 state of neo-lect and ruin in which it would 
 
 CD 
 
 be left ; under that conviction exclaimed 
 as he lay expiring, " Domus mea, domns 
 *' desolation is in eternum !" All the other 
 designs and plans of alteration which he 
 had begun, were laid aside at his de- 
 cease. 
 
 The gardens of the castle, which were 
 formerly very extensive, are now converted 
 into private property ; and the superb gril- 
 Icry, which was constructed by Henry the 
 fourth, to divide tiie upper and lower gar- 
 dens, is only to be traced in it& ruins, as it 
 was demolished about thirteen years ago, 
 by order of the court. The walk of Catlie- 
 rine of Medicis, however, still subsists; it 
 is of a prodigious length, extending to the 
 forest of Blois, and forming an avenue to 
 the castle truly royal. 
 
 L 3 Durinjr
 
 S22 
 
 During the whole of the sixteenth ceri* 
 tury, and even for a considerable part of 
 the seventeenth, this palace mia^ht be con* 
 .sidered as one of the most frequent, as well 
 as favorite residences of the French mo- 
 narchs. Its distance from the capital of 
 the kingdom, more than any otiier cause, 
 has probably conduced to deprive it of the 
 distinction which it had so long enjoyed . 
 The situation, the beauty of the surroundr 
 ing country, together with the Loire itself, 
 render the position such as it is difficult to 
 exccc^, either in France, or in any other 
 part of iuirope. 
 
 I went yesterday to visit Ghnmbord, the 
 famtms palacx' of Francis the first, which is 
 abont four leagjics from hence, on the 
 southern side of the Loire. It stands low, 
 in the midst of deep woods, and has all the 
 appearance of one of Tasso's or Ariosto's 
 enchanted castles, raised out of the earth 
 by magic powers. The^magnitude of the 
 whole structure, together with the nume- 
 rous turrets, pinnacles, domes, and towers 
 that crawn it, over which tiie lapse of two 
 <^uturies bcghis to throw an air of decay, 
 
 ' 'J t aad
 
 523 
 
 And waning splendor, produce an effect on 
 the beholder, difficult to be described. 
 Thick forests surround it on all sides, and 
 in the front flows, or rather stagnates, a 
 little river called the Cousson, black, and 
 full of sedges. Never was any situation 
 less favorexl by nature. Even Versailles is 
 superior to Chambord in that respect. The 
 palace, conformable to the taste of the age 
 in which it was built, is moated round ; 
 but the architecture, tho' strictly Gothic, 
 is full of beauty and elegance. A grand 
 spiral stair-case, conntructed of stone, in 
 the centre of the building, leads to the dif- 
 ferent ranges of apartmetits : by a singular 
 contrivance it is rendered convolvnlar and 
 double, so that two persons may ascend or 
 descend at the same time, without ever 
 seeing or meeting each other. Tho' I can- 
 not convey to you an exact idea how th^s 
 eill'ct is producetl, yet it is curious and 
 unique in its kind. 
 
 .The chambers, which are now unfur- 
 nished, and beginning to feel the injurious 
 effects of time, are nevertheless ^still ex- 
 tremely magniidccnt. Those which were 
 L 4 occu-
 
 224 
 
 occupied by the late Marechal Saxe, are 
 not entirely destitute of furniture, and have 
 been in some degree modernized. In many 
 of them, the beams which are stretched 
 across from side to side, in order to support 
 the ceilings, exceedingly deform the ap-^ 
 pearance of the rooms. Catherine of Me- 
 dicis, who had been informed by an astro* 
 Ibger, that she was in danger of being 
 crushed under the ruins of a house, eiused 
 them to be placed in this manner, to secure 
 her from the fatal consequences of the pre- 
 dict i 
 
 I inquired after the pane of glass, on: 
 which were formerly seen the two line 
 "written with a diamond, by the hand of 
 Franci* the first. They were in a little 
 closet communicating with the cliapel, but 
 are now lost by some accident, or have 
 probably been carried away. The line* 
 Veie these : 
 
 ** Toute Femme varie. 
 
 " Mai habil qui s'y fie !" 
 
 Some amorous vexation, caused by liis mis 
 tress's caprice or iuconstancy, probably gave 
 
 occa-
 
 225 
 
 occasion to this severe sarcasm on a sex, to 
 which he had been devoted during his 
 whole life, and his fatal attachment ta 
 which produced his premature death. 
 
 Immense sums of money were expended 
 by Francis the first in the construction of 
 Chambord, eighteen hundred workmen 
 having been employed during twelve years 
 in its completion. There are said to be 
 twelve hundred large, and foujr hundred 
 smaller apartments in the palace. It was 
 here that Francis entertained the emperor 
 Charles the fifth, with his accustomed 
 magnificence, during the visit which that 
 prince paid him on the rebellion of the 
 inhabit.ants of Ghent, in 1540. Henry the 
 second made some additions to the palace. 
 His father's device, a *' Salamander in the 
 *' flames," is seen in almost every part of 
 the building. On one small tower only, I 
 discovered those of Henry himself, a " Cres 
 " cent, with the letter H." 
 
 After having passed some hours in th 
 
 different galleries or apartments, I sat down 
 
 on the bank of the rivulet, in front of the 
 
 palace, to contemplate it at leisure. I 
 
 i> 5 spread
 
 226 
 
 spread my cold provisions on tlie grass, 
 under the shade of two ancient elms ; and 
 after having dined, resigned myself to ail- 
 that train of reflection, naturally excited by 
 the view of so magnificent a iStnictnre. 
 
 Since the decease of Marechal Saxe^ 
 about twenty-six years ago, Chumbord is 
 going fast to decay. Louis the fourteenth 
 made several visits to it, to enjoy the plea- 
 sure of hunting ; but his successor, the 
 late king, totally neglected it, and many 
 Tiundred thousand livres must now be ex- 
 pended on the palace, before it could be 
 rendered fit to lodge and receive a sove- 
 reign. Its immense magnitude, which 
 makes it require continual repairs, will ne- 
 cessarily hasten its downfall, and motives 
 of economy will probably produce in some 
 future time, its entire demolition. 
 
 The city of Blois is meanly built, and 
 many of the houses are of equal antiquity 
 with the castle itself. It lies on the decli- 
 vity of the hill along the northern bank of 
 the river, and is joined to a considerable 
 suburb on the opposite side of the Loire, 
 by a modern bridge. The inhabitants have 
 
 always
 
 227 
 
 always been distinguished in modern times, 
 by the amenity of their manners, and the 
 purity of their language: circumstances 
 \vhich unquestionably arose from the resi- 
 dence, which during near two centuries, 
 the court was accustomed to make at this 
 place, or in its vicinity. Tho' no longer 
 Visited by their kings, yet the inhabitants 
 still strongly retain these characteristic fea- 
 tures. The French spoken at Blois, like the 
 Italian spoken at Sienna, is far superior to 
 that of any other provincial city ; and it 
 forms an additional inducement to attract, 
 as well as to detain, foreigners. It appears 
 to me impossible to quit Blois and its en-^ 
 virons without regret. 
 
 No language can adequately describe the 
 beauty of the Loire, or the fertility of the 
 country thro*^ which it flows. The extreme 
 poverty and misery of the peasants, in the 
 midst of a delicious paradise, producing in 
 the greatest abundance all the necessaries 
 and elegancies of life, impresses me with 
 pity, wonder, and indignation. I see much 
 magnificence, but still more distress; one 
 princely Chateau, surrounded with a thou- 
 l6 saud
 
 228 
 
 sand wretched liamlets^ ; the most studied 
 and enervate luxury among the higher 
 orders of. society, contrasted with beggary 
 and nakedness among the people : a gaiety, 
 a softness, and an urbanity, universally 
 characteristic of every rank, to which it is 
 impossible to refuse attachment and admi- 
 ration. 
 
 To-morrow morning T continue my pro- 
 gress slowly along the Loire. 
 
 ?"i--:-1 
 
 Tours,
 
 229 
 
 Tours, 
 Tuesday, 2 1 st of May, , 1 776. 
 
 TkE country from Blois to this city is 
 one of the most agreeable in France, the 
 whole road lying along the bank of the 
 river Loire- Hills, whose sides are co- 
 vered with vines; forests, among which 
 appear spires and villas ; or wide plains 
 cultivated with the greatest industry, con- 
 tinually diversify and enliven the scene ; 
 almost every part of which has been digni- 
 fied and immortalized by history. 
 
 I stopped during more than two hours, 
 to view -the castle of Chaumont, which is 
 built on a high point, of land about five 
 leagues below Blois, on the southern bank 
 of the Loire, and commanding a most ex- 
 tensive prospect. The pile is Gothic, and ; 
 was constructed about the middle of the 
 fifteenth century, by the Lords of the house 
 ofAraboise. The Cardinal of that name,, 
 the virtuous and incorrupt minister of Louis 
 the twelfth, was himself born there, and 
 
 the
 
 230 
 
 lie devices of his family are yet JistinctTj 
 to be Iracixl on the grout towers of tlie 
 castle. They consist of two letters ^TP. 
 thus interwoven, and under them appears 
 a Volcano : this conceit, by a sort of pun- 
 which in that age was much admired, 
 formed the word " Chau-Mont." Henry 
 the second made a present of the castle, to 
 his mistress, Diana de Poitiers, duchess of 
 Valent;noiSj so celebrated in the annals of 
 France. She improved and enlarged it 
 very considerably, as is evinced by the 
 *' hunting-horn," one of her emblems, 
 which appears in many parts of the build- 
 ing. On the death or" her royal lover in 
 1559, Catherine of Medicis, who had long 
 envied her the possession of Chaumont, 
 rather compelled, than requested, the 
 duchess to renounce it in her favor: but, 
 by an act of generosity becoming a queen, 
 she presented Diana in return, the palace 
 of Chcnonceaux-Sur-Cher, distant only a 
 few leagues from hence. Soon after the 
 death o Catherine, which happened in 
 1588, Chaumont fell into the hands of the 
 Viscount de Sardini, a Lucqucse noble- 
 
 man
 
 231 
 
 man, who had married a lady of the house 
 of Liraeliil, distantly allied to that prin- 
 cess by blood. His descendants are now 
 extinct. Exactly opposite to it, about a 
 mile distant from the Loire, stands the 
 castle of Onzain, in which Louis, first 
 prince of Conde, who was afterwards killed 
 at Jarnac in 1569, was imprisoned by Ca^ 
 therine of Medicis after the battle of Dreux, 
 during the subsequent siege of Orleans. 
 
 Having crossed the Loire again from Chaup- 
 niont, to the northern shore, I arrived at Am- 
 boise the same evening. The town is mean 
 and ill-built, but has been rendered celebrated 
 in history, by the conspiracy of the Protest 
 tunts in 1560, which opened the fatal wars 
 of religion in France. The castle is situated 
 on a craggy rock, upon the southern bank 
 of the river, extremely difficult of access, 
 and the sides of which are almost perpendi- 
 cular^ At its foot flows the Loire, which is 
 there divided into two streams by a small 
 island. 1 am not surprized that Francis, 
 duke of Guise, when he expected an in- 
 surrection among the Hugonots, chose to 
 rcjnovc Francis the sccontl to this fortress, 
 
 as
 
 232 
 
 as <o a place of perfect security. Only 
 two detached parts of the ancient castle now 
 remain, one of which was constructed by. 
 Charles the eighth, and the other by Fran- 
 cis the first. It is perhaps unnecessary to 
 remind you, that the former of those princes 
 was born and died at Amboise. Under his- 
 reign, the castle of Amboise constituted the 
 favorite residence of the sovereign and the 
 court. I sought in vain for the " Galerie 
 ** de Haquelabac," in which Charles the 
 eighth expired of an apoplectic seizure, in 
 1498. It is now demolished. The simple 
 and affecting description which Philip de 
 Goraines has left us of that event, was pre- 
 sent to my memory and imagination, as I 
 looked round me. Fancy supplied all that- 
 time had defaced or withdrawn. The con- 
 ftision produced by the king's alarming 
 attack, among the croud of courtiers and 
 attendants ; the spectacle of the queen^ 
 Anne of Bretagne, fixed and motionless 
 with grief, at her husband's sudden death : 
 the royal body stretched on a bed of state, 
 surrounded with tapers, monks, and nobles : 
 Coraines himself at the foot of the bed, 
 
 kneeling,
 
 233 
 
 kneeling, and offering up his prayers for 
 the repose of the soul of his departed mas- 
 ter : all these images, consigned to us by 
 history, accompanied me over the moul- 
 dering towers and ruinrms apartments of 
 the castle. 
 
 Beneath the chapel, is a subterranean 
 oratory, to which I was conducted by a 
 winding staircase ; and in which lies ex- 
 tended a statue representing the body of our 
 Saviour. Drops of blood appear issuing 
 from the side, such as we may suppose when 
 taken down from the cross ; and it is caW 
 culatcd t(y make a powerful iniprcission on 
 the imagiiiatioa, when increased by the 
 gloom of the place itself in which it re- 
 poses, " This chapel," said the man who 
 accompanied me, " was peculiarly fre- 
 *^' quented by Louis the eleventh,, and the 
 '' effigy which you here see, he was accus- 
 ** tomed to hold in high veneration. Of 
 " it he asked forgiveness for the execution* 
 " which he commanded, and tlie crimes 
 " which he meditated. It has remained 
 " for near thjee hundred years, ever since 
 
 ^<^ that
 
 *' that king*s death, without alteration of 
 *< any kind." 
 
 Several large iron hooks are still to be 
 seen in the walls of the castle, on the side 
 facing the Loire. It cannot admit of a 
 doubt (hat ihey are those on which the 
 bodies of the Hugonots, killed at the time 
 of the conspiracy of Amboise, were fastened 
 by order of the Guises. In order to impress 
 the beholders with more terror, the bodies of 
 the slaughtered insurgents were exhibited 
 to general view, dressed in their clothes, 
 booted and spurred, as they fell in action. 
 *VV ho that has ever perused the account 
 which d'Aubignc! has given us of his father's 
 emotionji, on surveying the mangled remains 
 of his associates and companions, thus im- 
 paled, and abandoned to birds of prey, or 
 bleach nig in the winds ; can ever forget 
 the passage ? What so striking, as the 
 malediction which he pronounces on his 
 son, if he shall f'il to avenge the martyrs 
 of Civil and religious liberty, thus sacri^ 
 ticed and exposed before the eyes of their 
 countrymen ? The horror of such a sight, 
 
 could,
 
 235 
 
 could, indeed, only have been exceefled 
 by the ferocity of the age, that could exhi- 
 bit it to all France. Achilles dragging the 
 body of Hector at his chariot wheels, round 
 the walls of Troy, is more natural, and 
 less revolihig to the human mind. 
 
 The unfortunate Mary Stuart, destined to 
 a life of imprisonment, terminated by a scaf- 
 fold and a block, was a spectatress of the 
 vengeance exercised by her uncles, the duke 
 of Guise and Cardinal of Lorrain, on the 
 Uugonols. It was to Amboise that she was 
 conveyed, with the young king of France 
 her husband, when the intelligence of the 
 conspiracy reached the court, and coiii- 
 pelled him to repair thither for safely. Un- 
 happy pruicess, wiiose beauty and accom- 
 plish nienls were obliterated by her errors 
 and her crimes ! In this castle she passed 
 a considerable portion of that fugitive pe< 
 riod, during which she Avas queen of France: 
 happily unconscious of the still more san- 
 guinary scenes reserved for her in Scotland 
 and in England, of which she was to per- 
 form the principal part ! 
 
 Such were the reflections which presented 
 
 them-
 
 2Sd 
 
 themselves to my mind at Amboise. 1 am 
 conscious thai they have led me <oo far ; 
 but it was difficult to repress them, wliile 
 surrounded by the objects which gave 
 Ihem birth. Tlie genius of French history 
 accompanies the traveller, at every scene, 
 and at every step, as he proceeds along the 
 banks of the Loire. Those of the Seine, 
 the Rhone, and the Garonne, equally beau* 
 tiful, and often more picturesque, want 
 nevertheless this charm, which perpetually 
 carries us back to past ages, and to remote 
 times. 
 
 From the hill that rxseg behind the castle, 
 IS seen another of those cncKnnting tundi 
 scapes, which these provinces of France con- 
 tinually exhibit, wliere the eye is delighted 
 with a profusion of natural beauties. On 
 the ensuing day I went to Chanteloup, the 
 palace of the duke de Choiseul, about a 
 mile from Amboise. After having seen only 
 a few months ago, the castle of one dis- 
 graced and exiled statesman, on the banks 
 of the Garo4)ne; it was striking to visit the 
 residence of another fallen first minister, on 
 the banks of the Loire. The two dukes, of 
 
 Aiguilloxj
 
 1237 
 
 AiguUlon and of Choiseul, who success! vel/, 
 for so considerable a portion of Louis the fif- 
 teenth's reign, alternately governed France, 
 and convulsed or tranquillized Europe ; are 
 now, if not absolutely consigned to ob- 
 livion, at least reduced to personal insig- 
 nificance. They may rank with the Butes, ;\^ 
 the Rockinghams, and the Graftons of Eng- . 
 land . A far greater degree of general estima- 
 tion, and a much higher portion of national 
 respect, accompany Choiseul nevertheless, to 
 Chanteloup, than have followed Aiguillon 
 to the place of his banishment. Whatever 
 sentence posterity may pass on the mea- 
 sures, the administration, and the enter- 
 prizes of Choiseul ; it is impossible not to 
 admit the elevation of his mind, the extent 
 of his views, and the energy of his character. 
 In the duke d'Aiguillon's ministry 1 recog- 
 nize none of these qualities ; nor from Bre- 
 tagne to Languedoc, did I hear any expres- 
 sions of regret uttered for his present fate. 
 
 Neither the situation nor the exposition 
 of Chanteloup are, in my opinion, happily 
 chosen. The prospect which it commands, 
 is yory limited ; and the Loire, altho' it 
 
 flows
 
 238 - 
 
 flows at so inconsiderable a distance, is 
 scarcely seen even from the upper apart- 
 ments. The rooms Avhicli I was allowed 
 to view, tbo' splendid, were equally desti- 
 > tiite of any production of painting, or of 
 sculpture ; and fell far short of the magni- 
 ficent ideas, which I had been taught to 
 preconceive of Chanteloup. The duke has 
 notwithstanding spent immense sums on 
 this palace, and is at present employed in 
 constructing additional chambers, which 
 will surpass all those already finished, in 
 grandeur and elegance. 
 
 Continuing my journey along the Loire, 
 I arrived at this city, which is built in a 
 fine plain on its southern bank. The sur- 
 rounding country surpasses in fertility all 
 tliat I have yet seen, and every eminence 
 within several miles of Tours, is occupied 
 either by convents or villas. Among the 
 former, is the celebrated monastery of Mar- 
 moutier, from whence Isabella of Bavaria, 
 queen of Charles the sixth, who had 
 been there confined, was carried off in 
 1417, by John " Sans Peur" duke of Bur- 
 gundy. 
 
 I made
 
 239 
 
 1 made an excursion yesterday to Loches, 
 which is ten leagues distant from this phice, 
 thro' a delicious plain watered by the Cher, 
 the Indre, and a number of rivulets that 
 fertilize the meadows a'mong which they 
 wind their course. The castle of Loches, so 
 famous in the history of France, under the 
 House of Valois, constituted in former ages 
 the usual place of confinement for prisoners 
 of the highest quality. Its origin remoimts 
 to the most remote antiquity; nor, as far as 
 I can discover by inquiry, is there any 
 tradition which pretends to ascertain the 
 name of its founder, or the time of its con- 
 struction. It has been enlarged, rebuilt, 
 and fortified by successive sovereigns. 
 Charles the seventh frequently held his 
 court and residence there, during the former 
 part of liis reign ; and Rene, duke of Alen- 
 ^on, one of the princes of the blood royal, 
 was long detained there a prisoner by that 
 monarch's order, on account of his trea- 
 sonable practices, for the introduction of 
 the English into the kingdom. In one of 
 the apartments stands the iron cage, in 
 which Louis the eleventh confined the Car- 
 ' dinal
 
 no 
 
 'dinal de la Baluc, during more than nln 
 years. This inhuman engine of punishment 
 is not above eleven feet square, and consc* 
 quentlj of still narrower dimensions than 
 the cage which I saw at the Mont St. Mi- 
 chel. The Cardinal was at length released 
 in 1481, by the intercession of the reigning 
 Pope, during the long state of weakness 
 and debility, which preceded the decease 
 of that cruel and inexorable prince, Louis 
 the eleventh. 
 
 The English annals, tho' deeply stained 
 'with blood, \mder the Plantagenets and the 
 Tudors, during successive centuries, can- 
 not be reproached with presenting to our 
 view any sovereign of so atrocious a cha- 
 ^racter, as the last- mentioned king. He may 
 be said to stand alone, and to look down 
 iOn the croud of vulgar tyrants, whose 
 crimes appear small on a comparison with 
 those of Louis. John, except as the mur- 
 derer of his nephew Arthur, excites con- 
 tempt, ratlier than detestation. Edward 
 the fourth was cruel and sanguinary : but 
 he lived in cruel and sanguinary times, 
 perpetually menaced in his own person 
 
 with
 
 2ll 
 
 with the punishments that he inflicted on 
 his opponents. The murders charged to 
 the account of Richard the third, even if 
 they should be admitted to have been per- 
 petrated, which, however, is more than 
 doubtful ; 3'et were committed in order to 
 attain, or to secure the crown. As a sove- 
 reign, while seated on the throne, lie was 
 ju!t and moderate in his administration. 
 
 It is doubtless in Henry the eigiith, that 
 .we shall find the nearest upproacli to Louis 
 the eleventh. But even Henry, savage as he 
 was towards his wives and his ministers ; un- 
 just and tyrannical in almost every act, from 
 his accession to his death : from tiie exccu* 
 tion of Empson and Dudley, his father's ex- 
 tortioners, down to his concluding orders 
 for the beheading of the duke of Norfolk, 
 issued as fee lay expiring :even Henry is 
 not to be put into competition with the ty- 
 rant of France. The former, it is true, 
 employed the axe with wanton brutality. 
 But, Louis, from the dark recesses of his 
 gloomy retreat, dispersed death in every 
 direction, concealed under every form, and 
 pervading every portion of his dominions, 
 M The
 
 - ^ " 242 
 
 The concluding years of his reign and life, 
 are not to be perused without horror ; nor 
 can we J happily for the honor of human 
 nature, find any parallel to them in the his- 
 tory of England, or of France. But J re- 
 turn from this digression, info whicli I 
 have been led by the cage of the Cardinal 
 de la Balue. 
 
 .1 went to view the chamber where ihe 
 perfidious Ludovico Sforza, surnamed the 
 Moor, duke of Milan, was imprisoned by 
 Louis the twelfth, from the year 1500 to 
 1310. It is a large apartment, vaulted, 
 which in that age was considered as suitable 
 for the confinement of a sovereign prince. 
 Only one window, secured by three gratings 
 of iron, admils light into the room ; and in 
 the midst of summer the rays of iJic sun 
 enter thro' this opening, about the liour of 
 noon, for a few njiimtcs. On the wall, 
 exactly opposite to Ihe window, are dis- 
 tinctly lo be traced the remains of a dial, or 
 Meridian, upon wliicli tlie beams of the sun 
 darted ; and which, as constant tradition 
 relates, was engraven by tlic hand of Sforza, 
 to amuse himself in his hours of solitude, 
 - -, Over
 
 us 
 
 Over the chimney is seen the figure of t 
 head, supposed to be his, surmounted withe " 
 a helmet. The walls, as well as the roof, , 
 are likewise covered with characters and 
 inscriptions, now rendered illegible by the 
 lapse of time. 
 
 Ludovico Sforza, who ascended the ducal 
 throne of Milan, by the murder of his ne* 
 phew Galeazzo ; as Richard the third is sup* 
 posed to have done that of England, by the 
 murder of Edward the fifth ; such a prince 
 excites no interest, from the consideration of 
 Lis personal sufferings, which were merited, 
 and may justly be deemed the retribution due 
 to his crimes. Yet is there something in the 
 idea of captivity ; of bars, and bolts, and 
 all the apparatus of a prison, which pow- 
 erfully awakens compassion for the victim, 
 and corresponding emotions of indignation 
 against the oppressor. I forgot in some 
 measure, the usurpation and the crimes of 
 Sforzii, as I contemplated the walls and 
 roof which had re-eclioed his complaints, 
 and witnessed his^xpiring lamentations. 
 During the first six months of his confine' 
 ment at Loches, if we may believe the tes- 
 U 2 timony
 
 '24 i 
 
 4imonj of f lie French historians themselves, 
 he was shut up in a cage; but, by a subse* 
 quent mitigation of his punishment, he was 
 transferred to the room which I have already 
 described. 
 
 Quitting this chamber, I descended with 
 my guide, by the light of a torch, into the 
 ** Oubliettes,^' or subterranean dungeons of 
 the castle. They are Labyrinths hollowed 
 into the earth, of a vast extent, and totally 
 destitute of light. The air itself was so 
 moist and unwholesome, that it almost ex- 
 tinguished the flambeau. The man who 
 attended me, desired me to remark the cir- 
 cular holes perforated in many places of the 
 incumbent rock, thro' which wore formerly 
 let down the victims, destined to perish in 
 these caverns. Doors of massy iron that 
 closed up the entrance, prevented all possi- 
 bility of succour or of escape. I was glad <o 
 leave these dismal abodes of darkness .uid 
 horror, to revisit the chetrfid dny. The 
 greater part of the castle of Loches lies now 
 in ruins; but it is notwithstanding still used 
 for the confinement of persons accused of 
 crimes of state : and there is at present a 
 gentle-
 
 gentleman shut iip'tliere, the cause of whose 
 imprisonment is not known, who has beer* 
 already immured more than three years. 
 
 In the principal church of Loches, be- 
 fore the high altar, is interred the cele- 
 brated Agnes Soreille, mistress to Charles 
 the seventh, who died in 1449. The monu- 
 ment itself is composed of black marble, on 
 which her effigy lies extended, cut in white 
 alabaster. If the figure may be supposed 
 to have resembled her person, of which it 
 is impossible to doubt, she certainly was 
 tvminine and delicate to the utmost degree 
 of which tlie human body seems to be sus- 
 ceptible. The face is perfectly correspon- 
 dent to the other parts of her frame, and 
 conveys an idea of uncommon loveliness, 
 mixwl with exquisite fragility. Her hands, 
 which appear joined in the act of prayer, 
 are models of symmetry and proportion. 
 Round her head is tied a broad tillet, stud-- 
 ded w ith pcjirls, and a sort of necklace com- 
 posed of the same ornaments, falls on her 
 bosom. She reposes upon an embroidered: 
 cushion: her dress is simple and modest, 
 concc^ding her limbs from view, aud at her/ 
 M 3 feet.
 
 2m 
 
 feet are placed two lambs, emblematical of 
 her name, Agnes. 
 
 It gave me pain to see that time has be-; 
 gun to injure and deface the figure, as well 
 as the tomb J in many parts. 1 considered 
 it with extreme satisfaction, during some 
 minutes; nor was it merely the recollection, 
 45f the personal charms which slie once pos* 
 scssed, that detained and afiected me. The 
 magnanimity which actuated her condivct, 
 and which she infused into her lover, v/hcn 
 sinking under the superior power of his ene*. 
 mies, the English, render her memory de^, 
 servedly dear to every feeling mind : uor, 
 among the many favorites of princes whose 
 names histor3^4*'^* preserved, does any one 
 appear to have been more worthy of a nior 
 narch's attachment, and of a nation's re- 
 gard, IhaJi was Agnes Soreilie. How strik- 
 ingly does her conduct towards Charles, 
 contrast with the factious and treasonable 
 machinations of the duchess d'Estampes, 
 mistress to Francis the first; who In the 
 midst of a foreign war, betrayed the interests 
 of the French monarchy to the emperor 
 Charles the fifth, in, order to gratify her in- 
 , , . ; . teresis.
 
 247 
 
 tcresfs, or her vengeance ! How unlike was 
 Agnes, to the marchioness dc V crneuil, who 
 jplotted against the life and the happiness 
 of her sovereign and her lover, Henry the* 
 fourth ! How superior was she to the 
 Montespans, the Pompadours, and the 
 Barres, of the last, and of the present cen- 
 tury ! 1 would not disgrace her by a com- 
 parison with the Clevelands, the Ports- 
 mOuths, or the Sedleys, of our own annals, 
 T^io were destitute of any title to public 
 gratitude or esteem. You will recollect, i 
 doubt not, the verses of Francis the first in 
 her honor, which particularly allude to her 
 eflbrts to inspire Charles the seventh with 
 fortitude and courage against the English, 
 the invaders of his dominions. 
 
 A thousand fables respecting her, similat- 
 to the stories related of Rosamund Clifford, 
 or of Jane Shore, among us ; are yet pre- 
 served among the inhabitants of Loches : 
 her beauty, her liberality, and her power 
 over the king, form the principal subjects 
 of these traditions. 1 listened ' to them all 
 with <lie liveliest interest, and afterwards 
 went to take a^view of the tower, which is 
 M i called
 
 called " La Tour de la belle Agnes;" in 
 "Which, as my conductor assured me with 
 great simplicity, Charles used, frorti mo" 
 lives of jealousy, to confine her when he 
 went to the chace. It is certain that she 
 resided frequently at Beaulieu, a little town 
 only divided from Lochcs by the rivet 
 Indre, where are still seen the remains of a 
 Chateau which belonged to her. As she 
 died at the castle of Mesnil, near the abbey 
 of Juniieges in Normandy, her body was 
 brought by her express command to this 
 church, which during her life-time she had 
 enriched by very ample donations. Louis 
 the eleventh, tho' he neither honored his 
 father's memory, nor respected Agnes, to 
 whom it is pretended that he once gave a 
 blow, at Chinon in Touraine, yet protected 
 her remains ; and rejected the petition of 
 the canons of the church, who by an act of 
 ingratitude towards their benefactress, had 
 requested that her tomb might be removed 
 and demolished. 
 
 I had always read and been informed, 
 that Ludovico Sforza, duke of Milan, of 
 whom 1 have already made mention, was 
 
 likewise
 
 249 
 
 likewise buried in the chancel of tbe same 
 church of Lochcs, under a plate of copper. 
 All the French writers, even their best his- 
 torians, assert it as an incontestible fact. 
 The opinion is nevertheless unfounded, 
 and it is one of those many errors which 
 have been sanctioned by long prescription. 
 The plate of copper to which 1 alhide, in- 
 deed exists ; but one of the priesls oblig* 
 ingly read to me the inscription upon it, 
 which is sacred to the memory of a private 
 faiiiUy. The portrait of a warrior kneeling 
 in the act of prayer, preserved in the church 
 of Loches, which has been always shewn as 
 Sforza's figure, the same person assured me 
 is that of the dUke d'Epernon, the cele- 
 brated favorite of Henry the third. No 
 traces of the interment of Sforza are to be 
 found among the records orthb church', 
 tho' the account of that of Agnes Soreille, 
 anterior by sixty years, yet exists. I must 
 own that this contradiction to so received an 
 opinion, may appear extraordinary ; but, 
 how many supposed facts of history might 
 be found to depend upon as erroneous a 
 foundation ! 
 
 M 5 I am
 
 250 
 
 . I am just returned from visiting the castle 
 of Plessiz-les-Tours, so famous for having 
 been the scene of the last illnesfe and death 
 of Louis the eleventh, in 1483. It is im- 
 possible tO' forget the minute and awful 
 picture of that event, given by Comines. I 
 felt a secret horror as I entered the court, 
 and surv<iyed the walls once covered with 
 iron spikes, where a continual guard of 
 archers kept watch, during the concluding 
 hours of the guilty and expiring monarch. 
 I tried to identify the scenes so stroijgly 
 described and delineated by the pen of Co- 
 mines. It was on this spot, said I, that 
 Louis, the Tiberius of PVance, terminated 
 an existence marked by crimes of every de- 
 scription ! Here^ on this turf, were as- 
 sembled the village girls who formed 
 dances, to dissipate the terrors of his ac- 
 cusing conscience, recoiling from the ap- 
 proaches of dissolution. Yonder were the 
 gates, and the wicket, that admitted en- 
 trance to the tyrant's presence. Beneath 
 that ruined wull^ he Avas accustomed to 
 shew himself to tlie few courtiers or spectators 
 whom he permitted to approach him ; ha- 
 bited
 
 251 
 
 bited in splendid robes, in order to con- 
 ceal the ravages which dis( ase had made on 
 Lis person. There were the apartments oc- 
 cupied by his favorite daughter, Anne, 
 Lady of Beaujeu, the only relative Avhom 
 he allowed to attend on him, and to whom 
 he delegated the regency at his decease. 
 Within a few paces of the spot on which 
 J am standing, he breathed liis last ; in- 
 voking vainly the aid of the Vi gin, sup- 
 plicating by turns every saint to prolong 
 his term of life, and leaving behind him a 
 name, wliich at the end of near three cen- 
 turies, is still pronounced with detesta- 
 tion. 
 
 Plessiz is situated only half a league 
 from this citj', iii a plain surrounded by 
 woods, at a little distance from the Loire. 
 The building, which is handsome, tho* 
 only composed of brick, is now converted 
 to purposes of commerce. In the chapel, 
 on the right liand of the high altar, I was 
 shewn a masterly and beautiful portrait of 
 Louis the eleventh himself, dressed m com- 
 plete armour. Within his left arm, which 
 reclines on bis. breast^ is a standard, and 
 M 6 with
 
 252 
 
 with his right hand he takes off his hdraef, 
 ill the act of salutation to the Virgin Mary 
 and her infant. His harsh and unpleasing 
 features are softened into a smile of plea- 
 sure and complacency. He seems to ex- 
 tend his left hand towards the child, whose 
 eye is fixed on his with eagerness. These 
 indications of tenderness have given room 
 to suppose, that under the figures of Mary, 
 and of our Saviour, are designed Charlotte 
 of Savoy, Louis's queen, and Charles the 
 eighth his son. Her habit, which is royal, 
 the diadem on her head, and more than all, 
 a resemblance between the infant and the 
 king, which is very striking, strongly con- 
 fiirm this supposition. 
 
 Tours, tho' situate in one of the most beau- 
 tiful parts of France, close to the Loire, 
 and offering a thousand objects of gratifica- 
 tion 1o the mind and the senses; is, neverthe- 
 less, like almost every other inland provin- 
 cial town of France which 1 have visited, 
 very ill built. Narrow streets, a bad pave- 
 ment, hou^s constructed in a barbarous 
 style, and of great antiquity ; such is the 
 aspect of the place : but it will probably 
 
 be
 
 253 
 
 be greatly changed in, the course of a few 
 years. A very noble bridge of fifteen 
 arches is already built across the river, and 
 a street is planned which will intersect the 
 whole city. These alterations will tend 
 much to its embellishment. 
 
 My journey begins now ta draw towatds 
 a termination, but you may yet hear once 
 cr twice from 
 
 Yoursj &c. 
 
 Maas,
 
 25* 
 
 Mam, 
 
 Tuesday, 28th of May, 1776. 
 
 It is with regret that I find myself at 
 a distance from the banks of the Loire,, 
 along which I liave wandered with so sen- 
 sible a pleasure. The beauty of tlie coun- 
 try on either side, the number of magnifi- 
 cent edifices, reflected in its surface, flie 
 solemn majesty of its course, at one time,^ 
 amidst islands, woods, and delicious plains, 
 at others, utjder high and hanging rocks ; 
 enhanced by the recollections which it per- 
 petually inspires ; conspire to awaken at 
 this enclianting seasou, sentiments of ex- 
 treme delight. 
 
 At Langeais, about seven leagues from 
 Tours, 1 stopped to examine the remains 
 of the castle, which are yet noble, tho' de- 
 cayed and in ruins. It is rendered cele- 
 brated in history, by the nuptials of Anne 
 of Bretagne with Charles the eighth, which 
 were solemnized there in 1488. No mar- 
 riage contracted by the kings of the Ca- 
 
 petian
 
 255 ' 
 
 petian line, either previous, or subsequent^ 
 was ever so beneficial to the FrencJi nio- 
 jiarchy, as that in question. Louis the 
 seventh, who married Eleanor of Aqui- 
 taine, in the twelfth century, acquired, it 
 is true, by liis alliance with her, still 
 greater territories. But he was so weak or so 
 impolitic, as to divoree that princess a few 
 years afterwards ; and she contracted ano<* 
 tlier marriage with our Henry the second* 
 Of all the great fiefs, Bretagne alone was- 
 re-united to the crown of France by a ma- 
 trimonial alliance. Guyenne, Gascony^ 
 Poictou, Burgundy, g,nd their dependen- 
 cies, were all subjected by the sword. So 
 was Normandy. Languedoc, Provence, . 
 Dauphine, Clrampagne, and Anjou, were 
 either bequeathed by their resj^ective princes 
 to the French crown, or devolved to it bj 
 the extinction of the reigning family. 
 
 It is not easy to calculate the magni- 
 tude or value of the benefit conferred by 
 Anne of Bretagne on France, in marrying, 
 as she did successively, two kings of that 
 country. Jf her espousals with the Arch- 
 duJie, who afterwards became tJie empe*- 
 
 ror
 
 256 
 
 ror Maximilian ; which were actually so- 
 lemnized, but were never consummated ; had 
 taken place ; if, consequently, Bretagne 
 had been in the possession of the house of 
 Aystria, by right of blood ; what conse- 
 quences might not have ensued ? We are 
 lost in the speculatioB. The want of energy, 
 or rather, the poverty of Maximilian ; added 
 to the narrow and impolitic parsimony of 
 onr Henry the seventh, whose public cares 
 never extended beyond the preservation of 
 the English crown in his own person: these 
 eircumstances enabled, and in fact com- 
 pelled Anne of Bretagne, to give htr hand 
 to Charles the eighth. But I return from 
 my political reflections. 
 
 I arrived at the city of Saumur on the 
 same evening. You may imagine that I 
 could not find myself within five leagues of 
 the abbey of Fontcvrauld, where Henry the 
 second, and Richard the first of England are 
 interred, without feeling a desire to visit the 
 place. It is situated in a valley near the 
 confines, of Anjou, on the side of Touraine. 
 Rocky hills which rise behind it, and thick 
 woods that conceal it almost entirely from 
 
 view.
 
 View, seem to mark it as a spot adapted to 
 flie genius of superstition. An air of mc 
 lancholy and silence reigns on all sidcsy 
 peculiarly cliaracteristic of, and suitable 
 to, the g^loomy devotion of monastic life. 
 As I walked under the high and venerable 
 rows of elms in the gardens of the convent, 
 it was impossible far me not to feel in some 
 degree those awful saisations, whicii are na- 
 turallj inspired by these religious solitudes. 
 The abbey was founded in the year 
 1096, by Robert d'Arbrisscl. l(s reputa- 
 tion for sanctity, and its vicinity to Chimin, 
 at which city Henry the second died, were 
 probably the causes of his being interred 
 at Fontcvrauld ; as none of his progenilorsy 
 the Counts of Anjoii, had chosen it for their 
 l)lacc of burial. You will perhaps remem- 
 ber, that sentiments of penitence and con- 
 trition for his filial disobedience, induced 
 Richard the first to order in his dying mo- 
 ments, that his body should be laid at the 
 feet of his father, Henry ; who expired be- 
 fore the high altar of (he church of Chinon, 
 imprecating maledictions on the heads of 
 his unnatural sons. Eleanor of Aquitaine, 
 
 wife
 
 wife of the one, and motlier of the other 
 prince^ lies buried in the same tomb ; as do 
 likewise Jane, queen of Sicily and Countess 
 ef Provence, daughter io Ifenry tlie second ; 
 and the beautiful Elizabeth of Angoulesme, 
 widow to John, king of England. 
 
 The figures of all these sovereigns are 
 earved in stone, upon the monument itself: 
 but as that is now enclosed within the grate, 
 in the part of the choir where the Abbess and 
 Nuns assemble for public devotion, no in- 
 terest or entreaties could possibly procure 
 me admittance into tliis sacred enclosure ; 
 and I was consequently prevented from ap 
 proaching the tomb so nearly, or from ob- 
 serving it with that minuteness and attention, 
 whicli I could have wished. Four solemn 
 Requiems and services are still said every 
 year, for the repose of the souls of these 
 princes ; and the tomb was repaired and 
 beautified in the year 1638, byt)rder of the 
 reigning Abbess, who was a natural daugh- 
 ter of Henry the fourth, king of France. 
 The abbey of Fontevrauld, besides the 
 respect derived from its atitiquity, has beeu 
 evejr considered as one of the most honor- 
 able:
 
 259 
 
 Jtble and important ecclesiastical benefiCTS 
 in France. ' Many princesses of the blood 
 liave successively governed it, and the re- 
 venues are immense. The number of reli- 
 gious of both sexes under the Abbess's 
 direction, amount to more than two hun- 
 dred, and her authority, both temporal and 
 spiritual^ is very extensive. ' 
 
 1 returned to Saumur the same evening", 
 and left it again last Saturdaj'. The town: 
 is small, but pleasantly situated on the 
 southern bank of the Loire, across wliich ex- 
 tends a long bridge, continued tluo' a num- 
 ber of islands. Saumur constituted anciently 
 a most important pass over the river, and of 
 consequence was frequently and fiercely dis-s 
 putcd by either party, during the civil wars 
 of France in the sixteenth century. The for- 
 tificatiofis A\ere of great strengtli, and Henry 
 the fourth, on the reconciliation wliich took 
 place between him and Henry t lie third near 
 Tours in 1589, demanded that Saumur 
 should be delivered over to him, as one of 
 the cities of security. The castle, which- 
 overlooks the town and river, is built on a 
 lofty eminence, and retains a venerable as welt 
 
 as.
 
 260 
 
 as magnificotit appearanct*, tho' now only 
 used as a prison of stale, w here persons of 
 rank are frequently confined. The kings 
 of Sicily and dukes of Anjou of the house 
 of Valois, who descended from John, king 
 of France, made prisoner at Poitiers, often 
 resided in the castle of Sauniur, as it con- 
 stituted a part of their Angevin dominions. 
 Tlie distance from Saumur to Angers is 
 about thirteen leagues, the greater part of 
 which road lies along the banks of the 
 Loire. Anjou, the cradle of the house of 
 riantngenel, appears tome not to yield in 
 fertility or beauty to any province of the 
 kingdom. Wines of the most delicious 
 flavor, tho' not capable of exportation, arc 
 produced in it; among which that of 
 Champigny, a little village near Fonte- 
 vrauld, is particularly admired .-I made 
 a stay of two days in Angers. The city 
 stands in a plain, and is divided into " La 
 *' haute," and " La basse ville," by (ho 
 river Mayentie, which winditig thro' mea- 
 dows, falls into the Loire five miles below 
 the place. The castle was built by St. 
 Louis, about thq middle of the thirteenth 
 
 cejitury.
 
 2()1 
 
 century. The walls, fosses, and numerous 
 lowers which yet subsist, evince its former 
 magnificence ; and its. situation in the 
 centre of the city, on a rock overhanging 
 the river, conduces to give it an imposing 
 air of grandeur, tho' at present in total de- 
 cay. It constituted the principal residence 
 of the kings of Sicily, as dukes of Anjou, 
 but is now in a state of ruin. 
 
 The cathedral of Angers is a venerable 
 structure, and altho' it has undergone many 
 alterations in the course of ages since its 
 construction, yet the architecture is sin- 
 gular, and d(>serves attention. Here lies 
 interred with her ancestors, the renowned 
 Margaret, daughter of Rene, king of Si-t 
 cily, and queen of Henry the sixth of Eng- 
 land. She expired, after her many intre- 
 pid, but ineftectnal eftbrfs to replace her 
 husband on the throne, on tlie 25th of Au- 
 gust, 1482, at iha castle of Dampierre in 
 Anjou. The English historians seem never 
 to have paid any attention to this illustrious 
 princess in her retirement and obscurity, 
 after Louis the eleventh of France had ran- 
 somed her iVom Edward the fourth, and 
 
 procured
 
 procured her release from the TovVer of Lon- 
 don, to which fortress she was committed 
 prisoner, on tlie loss of the battle of Tewks- 
 feury in 1471. She Avas the favorite child of 
 Rene, who solemnly renounced in favor of 
 the king of France, all his hereditary rights 
 to the province of Anjou, and his claims 
 on the duchy of Lorrain, in order to obi 
 tain her freedom. In his court, and under 
 hi protection, Margaret remained at.Aix 
 in Provence, the usual place of that prince's 
 residence, till his death, in 1480, obliged 
 her to return into the Angevin territories. 
 She was there received by a gentleman named 
 Vignole, who had been long in her father's 
 service, and who afforded lier an asylum. 
 
 Henry, earl of Richmond, afterwards 
 victorious at Bosworth, who was then 
 himself a fugitive in Bretagne, went from 
 Vannes, where he usually resided, to visit 
 her, and to ask her advice. She strongly 
 urged him to his attempt against the house 
 of York, which then reigned in England ; 
 but she did not survive to be a witness of 
 his success against Richard the third. 
 TUo' she breathed her last at the castle of 
 . Dam-
 
 S63 
 
 Dampierre, one of the ancient dncal resi- 
 dences of her family : jet she appears td 
 have resided principally, during the short 
 period that elapsed between her father's 
 death, and her own, at the castle of " Re*- 
 ^* culee ;'* a small retreat of the dukes of 
 Anjou, built on the banks of the river May- 
 enne<. Louis the eleventh, tho' he obtained 
 her release from captivity, yet treated her 
 with the utmost alienation ; and is said to 
 have left her without the pecuniary means 
 of sustaining her dignity. Ever attentive to 
 his own interests, he nevertheless compelled 
 her to confirm the renunciation of the ducby 
 of Anjou, made by her father Ren6, in 
 favor of the French crown. 
 
 No remains of that commanding beauty, 
 which she had once possessed, accompa- 
 nied her in the decline of life. A French 
 writer has drawn th^ portrait of Margaret 
 when near her end ; and it impresses both 
 with horror and compassion. You will 
 not recognize tlie queen described by our 
 historians in such animated language, and 
 with such flattering colors. " Son sang, 
 ^' corruinpu par taut de nojres agitations, 
 
 *' devint
 
 64 
 
 ** dcvint comme une poison qui: infccta 
 *' toutes Ics parlies qu'il dcvoit nourrir j 
 " sa pcau secba jusqu' a s'en aller en pous- 
 *' siere ; son eslomac se retrecit, ct srs 
 *' yeux, aussi crenx que sMls cussent 6t6 
 *' cnfoHiCes avec violence, perdirent tout le 
 " feu qui avoit servi si long temps d'inter- 
 '* prete aux grands sentimens deson ame." 
 
 Angers is of a very considerable size, 
 but the buildings and streets are almost as 
 mean and as old as those of Bourges. The 
 walls with which John, king of England, 
 surrounded it in J 214, tho' very inferior 
 in beauty to those of Avignon, remain 
 nearly entire, and are of a very large cir 
 cumti-rence. 
 
 I slept last night at La Flechc, a pretty 
 town on the contiries of Anjou. In the 
 church which formerly belonged to the Je- 
 suits, arc preserved the hearts of Henry 
 the fourth and Mary of Medicis, which 
 were deposited there by the express com- 
 mand of those princes. I could not help 
 reflecting, as I considered the two urns in 
 which these hearts are kept, how little 
 they were united in life, tho' thus con- 
 joined
 
 55 
 
 jjjaiied iu death. Never in fact were two 
 hearts less formed for each other, or itiore 
 dissimilar in every point. The knife of 
 Ravaillac, which intersected Henry's heart, 
 was even suspected by Mary of Medicis's 
 own son, Louis tlie thirteenth, to have been 
 not altogether undirected by his mother's 
 hand. Tho' we must acquit that weak, 
 misguided, and unfortunate princess, of any 
 participation in, or any knowledge of, Ra- 
 vaillac's design ; v*e must still consider het 
 as havhig in her whole conduct and deport- 
 ment, manifested too much indifference on> 
 the occasion of Henry's assassination. If 
 the heart of that great and amiable prince 
 was cut in two by the knife ; Mary's hea^t, 
 was broken by sorrow, poverty, and the 
 accumulation of wretchedness, under which 
 she expired at Cologne, an exile, driven, 
 out from France, and an outcast from every 
 country of Europe. Richlieu, who perse- 
 cuted her during life, and who survived 
 her only a few months, either did not, oi: 
 could not, prevent this posthumous union 
 of the hearts of tlie two sovereigns, in thQ 
 church of a little provincial town of Anjou.
 
 2C6 . 
 
 I entered the province of Maine, this 
 morning. It is ten leagues from La Fleche 
 to Mans, thro' a country much ciich)sed 
 and finely wooded. The situation of this 
 city is very pleasant, near the junction of 
 two little rivers which wind thro' a deli- 
 cious plain. I went to the top of the ca- 
 thedral, to enjoy one of the finest inlaqd 
 prospects to be imagined. ToAvards Nor- 
 mandy and Perche it is lost in clouds, al a 
 great distance ; and on the side of Bn lagnc 
 extends the forest, of Mans, tlie scene of 
 that extraordinary phantom which is said 
 to have appeared to Cimrlcs the sixth of 
 France, and which was a priniip;il cause 
 of his consequent iusanily. Gcoflroy, 
 Count of Anjou and Maine, father of 
 Henry the second, from whom descended 
 the family of Plantagenet, which for more 
 tlian three centuries reigned in England^ 
 lies buried in the choir. The city of Mans 
 is small, but preferable to Angers in ele- 
 gance and regularity. It formerly consti- 
 tuted, together with the province of Avhich 
 it is the capital, a part of our Henry the 
 ^second's hereditary dominions, which he 
 
 dded
 
 for' 
 
 ,ad(led io those devolved to him at king 
 Stephen's death, in right of his mother' 
 Matilda. In the year 1216, Philip Augns- 
 (U8 having reconquered Maine from John, 
 annexed the province io the crown of 
 France. 
 
 I shall continue my journey in the even- 
 ing io Alen^on. Adieu ! 
 
 
 
 14 2 Roufn,
 
 268 
 
 / Rouen, 
 
 Monday, 3d June, 177C. 
 
 It was already late when I left Mans, 
 and as Alen^on is twelve leagues distant, I 
 was obliged to stop at a little town named 
 " Beaumont-Le-Viscomte," situated near 
 the confines of Maine and Normandy, on 
 the side of a steep hill, at the foot of Mliicli 
 runs a rivulet, and from whence a diversi- 
 fied landscape is seen on all sides, richly 
 cultivated. I got to ^Men^on tlie (Misuing 
 morning. The ph.ice is of considerable 
 size, washed by the liitle rivw Sarle. and 
 stands in the midst of an exterisive plain. 
 I slept at Seez, an ancient ci(y,- and con- 
 tinued my route next day to L'Aiii;l(', a 
 smalltown, but well known in hisforyby 
 itsxastle, tho' scarcely any traces of it now 
 remain. Our own annals inform us that 
 William the Conqneror frequently resided 
 there, in his visits to these his Iiereditary 
 dominions ; and Charles d'Espagne de la 
 Ccrda, Constable of France in the reign of 
 
 John
 
 2(i9 
 
 ^ohii, w.Ts surprized and murdered at 
 L'Aigle in tlu* year 1354, bjj Charles the 
 Kai!, kiiiir of Navarre. 
 
 I crossed a considerable part of Norman- 
 dy, from L'Aigle to the ci^y of Evreux, 
 "which is situated in a deep valcsurrouHcied 
 witli lofty hills ; and pursuing ray journey, 
 arrived here last Friday. Roueii is too 
 well kno\vn, and too frequently visited, to 
 render any long description of it necessary. 
 Nothing can exceed the beauty of the 
 Seine, both above and below the place, 
 covered witli little islands overgrown with 
 wood, and running at the foot of a range 
 of lofty, picturesque mountains. Almost 
 every part of ilouen presents to an English- 
 man, matter of historic recollection. From 
 William the Conqueror, down to the final 
 expulsion of the lEuglish, for the space of 
 near four hundred years, Normandy was 
 at various times united with, or subject to, 
 our kings. Near the bank of the Seine, at 
 one extremity of the city, are yet seen the 
 remains of the palace which Henry the tifth 
 of Lngland began in 1419, and which was 
 N 3 com-
 
 S7(> 
 
 eomplctcd under Isis imforfunnfe son Henry 
 the sixth, ifi 1443. At a small distance 
 from it stands the tower, called " La Tonr 
 " de la Pucelle," in which John, duke of 
 Bedford, confined the Maid of Orleans pre- 
 vious (o her trial. No criminal, condemned 
 to suffer for crimes of the blackest dje, 
 could have undergone more humiliating 
 indignities, or more cruel treatment, than 
 were inflicted on that distinguished -woman 
 during her confinement. Can we reflect 
 without a degree of shame and indignation, 
 which no lapse of time can efface or extin- 
 guish ; that she was imprisoned in a cage 
 made for the purpose, of dimensions so 
 narrow, ar<l so low, that she could not 
 sland upright within it ? Heavy irons were 
 affixed about her legs and body : no wo- 
 man was allowed to attend' on her, the cus- 
 tody of lier pcPKon being entrusted to eight 
 ferocious soldiers, all Englishmen. At- 
 tempts of the most brutal kind were even 
 made on her chastity, while thus detained 
 a captive, from which the interposition of 
 the earl of Warwick could scarcely protect 
 
 her.
 
 hoi'. It Avas tliiis that slie was treated, for 
 haviris: delivered her sovereil^n and hec 
 couiitrj, from foreign invaders. 
 
 You will recollect lier subsequent con- 
 demnation and death. Her conduct on 
 that occasion, when tlie tlrui^'st ir/aid might 
 haVe been shaken, united the courage of a 
 heroine, with the resignation of a martyr. 
 There is not anything in history, ancient or 
 modern, that awnkens more admiration, or 
 excites more piiy. She herself recoiled from 
 the mode of her execution, as equally cruel, 
 painful, and ioniominious ; exclaiming in 
 the agony of her mind, when the sentence 
 was pronounced, that she had rather sub- 
 mit seven times to the axe, than to be thus 
 nsumed at the stake. But, her judges, 
 who v/ere her persecutors, did not dare to 
 modify her punishment, whicht|||^s indis- 
 pen&ibic, in order to re-inspire the English 
 troops ^yith courage. To that object she 
 was sacrificed : for it is scarcely possible 
 that the duke of Bedford should have con- 
 sidered her as criniinal in any other sense, 
 lie had too sound an understanding, and 
 too accurate a knowledge of the falsity of 
 N 4 the
 
 the pretended crimes imputed to her, to be 
 able to persuade himself of her guilt, or of 
 her moral turpitude. Even >vlieii the fire 
 was lighted, and in tlie midst of tlie flames 
 that devoured her, to the last moment of 
 her existence, she continued to give proofs 
 of her unshaken fortitude, and of her fer- 
 vent piety. ' Iler eyes were constantly fixed 
 on the cross, and her expiring lips still in- 
 voked the name of Jesus. 
 
 A statue is erected to her on the spot 
 where this inhuman sentence was executed, 
 and an inscription engraven beneath it in 
 her honor.. Who would not almost con- 
 sent to die, in order to merit two of the 
 lines which compose it ? 
 
 " Exuit flatrmis quod mortale, 
 
 " SuperiMt gloria nunquam moritura ! " - ' 
 
 W . 
 
 They exalt her above mortality, and inroll 
 I)er to the most remote posterity, witli the 
 great spirits who in different ages liave sa- 
 crificed their lives for their country. It is 
 the highest tribute which man can pay to 
 virtue. 
 
 Notwith-
 
 2t3 
 
 Notwithstanding the publicity of the 
 execjitioii of this illustrious female, who 
 suft'ered in one of the most frequented 
 places of the cit}'^ of Ilouen, in the middle 
 of the day, before an immense multitude 
 of spectators, after being exposed for a con- 
 siderable length of time, with her face un- 
 covered, upon an elevated scaffold : ^tho'' 
 the juridical inquisitions made relative to 
 her trial and death, by order of Charles the 
 seventh, after Rouen fell into his bands ; 
 place the fact of her having been burnt to 
 ashes, out of all possibility of doubt : tho' 
 the execution of Anne Bullen, or of Lady 
 Jane Grey, are not better ascertained ; yet 
 attempts have been made to call in ques- 
 tion the fact of Joan d'Arc's deatlu 
 
 Le Pere Vignicr, in the course of the last 
 century, produced some ancient manu- 
 scripts found by him in the city of Metz, 
 containing an account of the re-appearance 
 of Joan d'Arc in that place. If reliance 
 could be placed on these authorities, she 
 was not only recognized by h^r two bro- 
 thers, for the identical Jilaid of Orleans; 
 but she was afterwards married to a gentle- 
 
 maa
 
 Hi 
 
 man of Lorrarin, named Robert cles Ar- 
 moises, by whom she had chitdrei), whose' 
 descendants still existed in 16S3. Pere 
 Vignier asserts, that he found the original 
 contract of marriage between her and Ro- 
 bert dcs Armoises, among tlie archives of 
 tliat very family: but neither he, nor they, 
 ever laid it before the public. He has even 
 omitted to inform ns of the date of the mar- 
 riage contract : but lie states the arrival, or 
 appearance of Joan d'Arc at Metz, to have 
 been on the 20th of ?iay, U36 ; that is, 
 near five yea-rs after she suffered ?.t thi 
 stake, on the 14th of June, 14S1. 
 
 However curious or extraordinary this 
 account may appear; whatever momentary 
 astonishment it may produce ; and howevef 
 warmly we may wish, fw the lienor of hu- 
 man nature, and of the English nation in 
 particular, that it were true^ or even pos- 
 sible ; yet no man can for an instant doubt 
 of the absurdity, or fallacy of the story. 
 The English, who considered her as acting 
 under the influence, not of the Deity, but 
 of magical powers; and wlio hoped, by 
 reducing her to ashes, to recover their 
 /.;. former
 
 275 
 
 foriiicr ascendant over the French ; Were 
 determined on her destruction, and never 
 would have permitted her to escape, or to 
 survive. The v^oman Avho personated her, 
 can only be ranked with the impostors who 
 in all ages have appeared ; the Perkin 
 Warbecks of England, the false Sebastians 
 of Portugal, and the false Demetriuses of 
 , Russia. 
 
 I went yesterday morning to visit a little 
 Priory, called " Notre Dame de bonnes 
 " Nouvelles," situated on the southern 
 bank of the Seine, which was founded by 
 William the Conqueror, previous to his 
 successful attempt on the English crown. 
 It is said that his wife Matilda being at her 
 devotions in this church, intelligence ar-. 
 rived that the duke of Normandy had 
 gained the important battle of Hastings ; 
 and from this circumstance it obtained the 
 name which it retains at present. Matilda, 
 daughter of Henry the first, and mother of 
 Henry the second, kings of England, who, 
 herself, so long contested the crown with 
 Stephen, was buried there : but six hun- 
 dred years have totally erased the inscrip?* 
 
 tioft
 
 276 
 
 tion on her tomb, of which there are now 
 no traces discernible. This princess, as 
 being ducliess' of Normandy in her own 
 right, resided frequently at Rouen, and 
 she constructed the ancient stone bridge 
 across the Seine, of which very conside- 
 rable ruins yet remain ; tho' it began to fall 
 as early as the year 1502, and became to- 
 tally useless before the conclusion of the 
 sixteenth century. 
 
 The cathedral, which is one of <he most 
 magnificent monuments of G; thic archi- 
 
 ^ tecture to be found in France, was built 
 under William the Conqu'^ror's reign, as 
 duke of Normandy, and entirely com- 
 pleted in 10(3, tliree years previous to his 
 invasion of England. 1 tread with reve- 
 rence among the tombs of the numerous 
 kings and princes," who are interred in dif- 
 
 ferent parts of the edifice. Here lies Rolla 
 the Dane, founder of the Norman line, des- 
 thied to asceiid the EuL'-lish throne; a pira- 
 tical hero almost lost in the barbarism and 
 distance of the times in which he flourished ! 
 Two of his descendants, dukes of Nor- 
 mandy, are buried near him. The heart 
 
 of
 
 277 
 
 of .Richard the first, 'l^ing of England, 
 which, when dying, he ordered to be depo- 
 sited in the cathedral of Rouen, as a mark 
 of affection towards his Norman subjects, 
 is placed on the right hand of the high 
 altar. It was origuially preserved in a 
 shrine of massy silver ; and tho' Normandy 
 was re-conquGred from Richard's brother 
 John, only six years after the decease of 
 the former prince, in 1205 ; yet the shrine 
 appears to have been religiously respected 
 by Plulip Augustus, king of France, and by 
 his successor Louis the eighth. But during 
 the extreme distress occasioned by the want 
 of mone_^ iu the subsequent reign, to defray 
 the expenccs of St. Louis's ransom when 
 taken prisoner at Damietta in Egypt, this 
 splendid repository was applied to the ne- 
 cessities of the state. Prince Henry, the 
 elder brother of Richard, who died at the 
 castle of Martel in the province of Quercy, 
 in 1183, lies buried on the cpposilt' side. 
 Near these princes reposes John, duke of 
 Bedford, son of Henry the fourth, and 
 brother of Henry the fifth : an illustrious 
 
 name
 
 278- 
 
 name revered even by his enemies, and 
 almost wit') out a blemish, if he had not 
 Condemned to death the Maid of Orleans j 
 the deliverer of her country. 
 
 Behind tlie altar, under a monument of 
 exquisite workmanship, is interred tlje 
 great Cardinal of Amboisc, first minister 
 to Louis the twelfth, whose memory Franee 
 will honor as long as patriotism and in- 
 tegrity are cherished among men. He is 
 represented on tlic tomlj, kneeling and in 
 prayer. I stood long to consider the mo- 
 nument of Louis de Brcze, Senechal of 
 Normandy, and Count de Maulevrier, who 
 died in 1551. The figure of the Count 
 himself, extended at full leisgtli, is one or 
 the most masterly and beautiful produc- 
 tions of the chisel. On one side of the 
 dead body stands the Virgin Mary, and 
 on the other appears his widow, the cele- 
 brated Diana., de Poitiers, afterwards so 
 "well known in the French annals, as the 
 favorite mistress of Henry the second. She 
 is looking down on the body of her hus- 
 band ; grief is marked in her features, and 
 
 her
 
 79 
 
 Uer dress is that of a inourHer. Tho whole- 
 monument is ar model of beauty and deli- 
 cacy of sculpture. 
 
 Rouen, tho' large and enricbed by com- 
 merce, situated on the banks of a majestic 
 river, and in the midst of a fertile, as well 
 as charming country, yet retains many ves 
 tiges of barbarism. If we except the quay 
 which runs along the Seine, the other ' 
 streets are almost all narrow, crooked and 
 dirfy ; ^he pavement bad, tlie buildings 
 old and irregular. It was fortified by St. 
 Louis in 1253, but the walls are now de- 
 molished. The environs, more peculiarly 
 the hills which overlook tlie Seine, are won- 
 derfully a^ecable, and covered with mag- 
 nificent Villas. 
 
 My stay here will be very short, as I 
 purpose to embark at Dieppe for England, 
 and shall probably see you in a few days. 
 I have in some measure completed the de- 
 sign which I laid down at my setting out ; 
 that of visiting the unfrequented provinces 
 of France, Thro'out my whole tour I 
 have studiously endeavored to avoid the 
 ground usually trodden by the English, in 
 
 ^their
 
 280 
 
 their passnge from Calais inlo Italv, as 
 being too well known to afford you any 
 information. It only remains for me to 
 claim your candor and indulgence; on 
 that I rely, and remain, 
 
 Dear Sir, 
 
 Your's,. &c. &c. 
 
 NATHL WILLM WRAXALL. 
 
 I IMS. 
 
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