96 A Century of Family Letters [CHAP, vi 



us on our way, tho' he had a walk of 2 miles back to take 

 through the rain. His sociableness and frankness are two 

 of his qualities that I delight in. I wish it could have been 

 consistent with his education for him to have taken this 

 journey with us; how he would have enjoyed it. I shall 

 not attempt to describe to you the beauties of towns and 

 countries that we have seen on our way, because you do not 

 delight in description nor I in describing, suffice it therefore 

 to say that we three and our handsome young gentleman 

 took the route of Mount Cenis, which we crossed on the 5th 

 day after leaving Geneva. Buonaparte's road over it is a 

 capital one, so little steep that horses might trot down any 

 part of it, yet it winds you by the side of the most tremen- 

 dous precipices and over the tops of some of the highest 

 moun tarns. But for yours and my distaste for description, 

 I could give you a beautiful one of this country from Susa 

 to Turin. That capital appeared very handsome to us on 

 first entering, but its excessive regularity at last became 

 tiresome. We remained from Saturday till Tuesday, which 

 time we employed in running about to see the churches, 

 palaces, &c. ; and here was the first place we discovered what 

 a beauty we were travelling with, for every man and woman 

 turned round to look at him, and his conscious and shy look 

 amused me very much. At the Cathedral, where the royal 

 family were at Mass, we heard the finest music possible; the 

 King looked good-natured and foolish, is not popular, but 

 the first thing he did was to abolish torture. At Milan we 

 found a most delightful letter from Sismondi welcoming our 

 coming into Italy, which assured us of finding such friends 

 in it in himself, his mother and sister, and expressed so much 

 joy at the thoughts of again meeting us, that this friendly 

 letter rejoiced us all. In the world we could hardly have 

 found a more thoughtful, kind and active friend than he has 

 been to us. 



Modena is a very striking town on first entering, from its 

 handsome gateway, broad streets, and gaily painted houses, 

 but nothing looks gay or alive in the streets of Italian towns ; 

 the men you see there look so shabby, and women, you 



