Verpiliere 303 



' I, the underwritten, present rector of the said Lemens, 

 certify, that I have extracted this from the mortuary register of 

 the parish church of the said place, without any addition or 

 diminution whatsoever; and, having collated it, have found it 

 conformable to the original. In witness of all which, I have 

 signed the presents, at Chambery, the 24th of December, 1789. 



(Signed) A. Sachod, rector of Lemens.'" 

 — 23 miles. 



2^th. Left Chambery much dissatisfied for want of knowing 

 more of it. Rousseau gives a good character ^ of the people and 

 I wished to know them better. It was the worst day I have 

 known for months past, a cold thaw of snow and rain ; and yet 

 in this dreary season, when nature so rarely has a smile on her 

 countenance, the environs were charming. All hill and dale 

 tossed about with so much wildness that the features are bold 

 enough for the irregularity of a forest scene, and yet withal 

 softened and melted down by culture and habitation to be 

 eminently beautiful. The country enclosed to the first town in 

 France, Pont Beauvoisin, where we dined and slept. The 

 passage of Echelles cut in the rock by the sovereign of the 

 country is a noble and stupendous work. Arrive at Pont 

 Beauvoisin, once more entering this noble kingdom and meeting 

 with the cockades of libert}'', and those arms in the hands of the 

 PEOPLE which, it is to be wished, may be used only for their own 

 and Europe's peace. — 24 miles. 



26/A. Dine at Tour du Pin, and sleep at Verpiliere. This is 

 the most advantageous entrance into France in respect of beauty 

 of country. From Spain, England, Flanders, Germany, or Italy 

 by way of Antibes, all are inferior to this. It is really beau- 

 tiful and well planted, has many enclosures and mulberries, 

 with some vines. There is hardly a bad feature except the 

 houses ; which instead of being well built and white as in Italy, 

 are ugly thatched mud cabins without chimneys, the smoke 

 issuing at a hole in the roof or at the windows. Glass seems 

 unknown, and there is an air of poverty and misery about them 

 quite dissonant to the general aspect of the country. Coming 

 out of Tour du Pin we see a great common. Pass Bourgoyn, a 

 large town. Reach Verpiliere. This day's journey is a fine varia- 

 tion of hill and dale well planted with chateaux, and farms and 

 cottages spread about it. A mild lovely day of sunshine threw 



^ S'il une est petite ville au monde ou Ton goute la douceur de la vie 

 dans un commerce agr^able et sur c'est Chambery. — Author's note rom the 

 " Confessions." 



