written against Cardinal Richelieu was the cause of his death; a pretext, however, was necessary, and it was alleged that he had bewitched a convent of Ursuline nuns. Ignorant and superstitious women may be excited or bribed to swear on the altar that they are possessed by demons,-if the experiment were renewed at present, it might be followed with the same success; it is much more wonderful that they were believed at so recent a period, at a time when many great and good men were living in France. Although a matter of deep regret, it ought not to be concealed that clergymen perhaps suborned, certainly encouraged and confirmed such witnesses in their delusion; the same men put an innocent brother to the torture, and afterwards burnt him alive to gratify the vengeance of a minister, whose great actions were sullied by greater crimes. BOOK CXLIII. ment of Loire. The Mayenne throws itself into the Loire, and takes the Departname of the Maine after its junction with the Sarthe, hence Maine and the department has been called Maine and Loire. Manufacturing industry, the culture of corn and the vine, the working of mines, granite, marble and slate quarries are so many sources of wealth. The coal pits in the same country yield every year more than 10,000 chaldrons. The suburbs of Saumur is situated on the right bank of the Loire, and a well built bridge of twelve arches leads to the opposite bank. The quay is the most frequented walk, and the principal buildings in that part of the town are a royal riding school, spacious barracks and a theatre. A broad street leads to the declivity of a steep hill on which part of the town has been built. A strong castle rises on the summit of the same height, and it serves at present as a depot for arms and ammunition. The portal of Saint Peter's church is modern, but the rest of the building is very ancient. The town-house is a Gothic edifice at no great distance from the quay, which extends beyond the public walk, and terminates near a fine hospital on the chalky height that commands the town; the neighbouring excavations in the same hill have been converted into a lunatic asylum. Saumur is watered on the west by the Thoue, a small river on which the inhabitants erected of late years a bridge, where general Berton halted very ww BOOK CXLIII. Subprefec tures. unexpectedly at a time when he might have easily The road from Saumur to Baugé is nowise remarkable, and the latter town, although the capital of a subprefecture, might be passed over in silence, if it were not for the fine bridge that has lately been erected over the Couesnon. An English army was defeated at no great distance from Baugé in the year 1421. The same district carries on a great trade in paper; thus although Durtal is a small town of 3000 inhabitants, it possesses several paper mills, and the inhabitants manufacture linen, earthen wares and porceJain. Durtal has been admired for its situation on the banks of the Loire, and at the base of a hill commanded by two colossal towers, all that remains of an old castle, that was founded in the eleventh century. The Oudon waters Segré, which although the chief town in a subprefecture, is inferior in population and industry, to the burgh of Chateau-Neuf on the Sarthe, to Pouancé which is enriched by iron works, to Lion d'Angers, worthy of notice for its pic * Antiquaries term them peulvens from the Breton word, which signifies a pillar of stone + Crom-lech signifies literally a raised place. turesque situation, and to other burghs and towns in the same district. Angers rises on the declivity of a hill at no great distance below the confluence of the Sarthe and the Maine. The ramparts, the public walks, particularly the Turcie and the Champ de Mars, the cathedral with its two steeples rising into the air, a Gothic castle, the ancient residence of the dukes of Anjou, in which eighteen large towers form an imposing mass, may give the town an appearance of splendour that it does not possess. The streets are narrow, some of the houses are built of wood, in others the wood is concealed by a thin covering of slate. It must be confessed, however, that the modern additions made to the town, the quarter near the ramparts, and others are regularly and well built. Angers possesses a library consisting of 26,000 volumes, a valuable collection of French paintings, a museum of natural history, and two theatres. It was a place of some importance before the Roman conquest, it was then called Juliomagus, the Romans changed its name afterwards into Andecavum. has given birth to Bernier, the celebrated traveller, and to Menage, a poet and a man of letters, whom Moliere has represented in the character of Vadius.* In the neighbourhood are situated extensive slate quarries, which afford employment to three thousand workmen, and from which nearly eighty millions of slates are obtained every year. It BOOK CXLIII. Angers. Pont de Cé on the banks of the Loire, about a league Pont de Ce. distant from Angers, contains only 3000 inhabitants; it may be remarked however for its numerous bridges and embankments, forming a line more than 3000 yards in length, they communicate with different islands and the branches of the river. The remains of a Roman camp occupy a great space, they extend near the confluence of the Mayenne. Ingrande near the road to Nantes possesses glass works in which five hundred workmen are employed. Chalonne a town of 5000 inhabitants, in a district famous for its vineyards, is built near the confluence of the Layon See the comedy of the Femmes Savantes. BOOK CXLIII. Beaupreau Cholet. Depart- Soil and the depart ment. and the Loire; it fronts the Lombardiere islands, where verdant groves and romantic scenery form perhaps the finest landscape on the banks of the Loire. Coal and other mineral substances are worked in the neighbourhood. Beaupreau between the same river and the southern limits of the department, is the chief town in a fruitful and industrious district. The inhabitants manufacture linen and woollen stuffs, many of them are employed in dying cloth; they carry on besides a considerable trade in leather. The village of Mont-Jean is almost surrounded by coal mines; the prosperity of Tessouale, another village, depends on its bleach-fields. Chemillè, a small place of 4000 inhabitants, has been enriched by the same manufactures which have rendered Cholet a flourishing town. It was adorned with a fine castle, which was destroyed in common with almost all the other buildings during the war of La Vendee; but it has risen from its ruins, industry has increased, and the population has been doubled; it contains at present more than 7000 inhabitants. The improvements introduced into the manufactories, and the greater demand for their products, are the cause of so much prosperity. The romantic sites and varied landscapes watered by the Loire, have given the river a celebrity which it might not have otherwise possessed. And certainly the lower part of its course serves to confirm the general opinion, and accounts for the songs that have been made in its praise. Neat villages, picturesque vallies, hills covered with vineyards or rich meadows, may be seen on part of the road to Nantes, from Montrelais, a village enriched by its coals. and excellent wines, to the burgh of Audon, where two chains of hills bound both the banks of the Loire. The appearance of the country changes beyond the last place; the fields are no longer covered with luxuriant harvests, the traveller might suppose himself in Brittany from the ferns, buckwheat and heaths. Lastly, the cathedral of Nantes is seen from a well-cultivated plain about two leagues in length. Many rivers water the department, it is also bathed by the Ocean, the coasts are nearly twenty-five leagues long and they are continually enlarged by alluvial deposits. It may be remarked too that the salt marshes on the same coasts are very valuable. Different districts in the department are covered with rich pastures and thick forests; it is fruitful in grain, and still more so in wine, it abounds in coal and iron, the inhabitants smelt the ore, and convert the metal into different articles which are sold in many parts of France. The other products of industry in the same department are porcelain, china and different manufactures, it carries on a trade with the principal European states, it equips vessels for the herring, sardel and cod fisheries. The capital, not unworthy of the country, may be ranked among the largest towns in France. BOOK CXLIII. Nantes, after Bordeaux, the most commercial town which Nantes. communicates with the ocean, rises on the right bank of the Loire, at the place where the Erdre and the Sevre fall into the river. It occupies the site of Condivicnum, the principal city inhabited by the Namnetes; the ancient Celtic name indicates its position, for it signifies a town at the confluence of several streams. It may be admired for the regularity of the streets, the elegance of the public buildings, and the magnificence of the quays. Some quarters, those of Graslin, Feydeau and the suburbs of Fosse, may bear a comparison with the finest in Paris. The verdant banks of the river, the islands in different directions, and the natural amphitheatre above them, render Nantes in point of situation, at least equal if not superior to any other town. The Fosse or the harbour is shaded with lofty trees, and lined with large buildings that extend to the distance of half a league. The same harbour may be about twelve leagues from the ocean,although one of the most frequented in France, it has the disadvantage of being inaccessible to vessels above hundred tons, because the tide does not rise higher than six feet. The exchange appears like a monument erected to the commerce and shipping of France, it exhibits a fine front adorned with an Ionic peristyle; on the opposite side, a portico is crowned with the statues of Duguay-Trouin, Duquesne, John Bart and Cassart. The prefect's residence was the ancient court of exchequer; the front of the the |