for it is built on ground considerably above
the ground-floor of the inn) I resolved to wait for the final departure of
the congregation, and to take a leisurely survey of the interior, while
dinner was getting ready.

The sexton was a perfect character in his way; old, shrewd, communicative,
and civil. There were several confessionals. "What--you confess here pretty
much?" "Yes, Sir; but chiefly females, and among them many widows." I had
said nothing to provoke this ungallant reply. "In respect to the
_sacrament_, what is the proportion between the communicants, as to sex?"
"Sir, there are one hundred women to twelve men." I wish I could say that
this disproportion were confined to _France_.

Quitting this heavy and ugly, but large and commodious fabric, I sought the
inn and dinner. The cook was in every respect a learned professor in his
art, and the produce of his skill was equally excellent and acceptable. I
had scarcely finished my repast, and the _Gruyere_ cheese and nuts yet
lingered upon the table, when the soft sounds of an organ, accompanied by a
youthful voice, saluted my ears in a very pleasing manner. "C'est LE
PAUVRE PETIT SAVOYARD, Monsieur"--exclaimed the waiter--"Vous allez
entendre un air touchant! Ah, le pauvre petit!"--"Comment ca?" "Monsieur,
il n'a ni pere ni mere; mais pour le chant--oh Dieu, il n'y a personne qui
chante comme le pauvre petit Savoyard!" I was well disposed to hear the
song, and to admit the truth of the waiter's observation. The little
itinerant stopped opposite the door, and sung the following air:--

_Bon jour, Bon soir_.

Je peindrai sans detour
Tout l'emploi de ma vie:
C'est de dire _bon jour_
Et _bon soir_ tour-a-tour.
_Bon Jour_ a mon amie,
Lorsque je vais la voir.
Mais au fat qui m'ennuie,
_Bon soir_.

_Bon jour_ franc troubadour,
Qui chantez la bombance;
La paix et les beaux jours;
Bacchus et les amours.
Qu'un rimeur en demence
Vienne avec vous s'asseoir,
Pour chanter la Romance,
_Bon soir_.

_Bon jour_, mon cher voisin,
Chez vous la soif m'entraine:
_Bonjour_--si votre vin
Est de Beaune ou du Rhin;
Mon gosier va sans peine
Lui servir d'entonnoir;
Mais s'il est de Surene,
_Bon soir_.

I know not how it was, but had the "petit Savoyard" possessed the
cultivated voice of a chorister, I could not have listened to his notes
with half the satisfaction with which I dw