ch we approached it: the ancient walls, however, which
inclose its whole circumference, unbroken and perfect, and beautifully
crenated in every part, are a very remarkable feature. I know but of one
other instance of this continuity of Gothic wall, which occurs at
Valencia; but the fortifications of the Spanish town, though they far
exceed those of Avignon in dimensions and strength, fall as short of
them in beauty. We had a full opportunity of examining the merits of
the latter, as the police had unaccountably thought fit to shut up all
the entrances to the town but one or two; which obliged us, on arriving
at the foot of the walls, to add two miles more to our day's journey
before we could reach their interior. We found the Hotel de l'Europe,
kept by the widow Pierron, a superior inn in every respect, both in the
comfort and liberality of the establishment, and the cleanliness of the
servants.

[Footnote 27: Vide Cooke's Views.]

CHAP. VII.

AVIGNON--MURDER OF BRUNE--HOSPITAL DES FOUS--MISSION OF 1819.

ON the opposite side of the square in which our inn was situated, stands
the Hotel du Palais Royal, the scene of Brune's assassination. The
account which M. Jouey gives in the Hermite en Provence, of this horrible
transaction, corresponds as nearly as possible with the particulars
which we heard upon the spot. Being summoned on the restoration of Louis
to answer the charge of treason, and having stopped with his escort at
Avignon for the purpose of changing horses and refreshing himself, the
marshal was recognized by the populace as one of the supposed murderers
of the Princess de Lamballe. A ferocious mob soon assembled at the door
of the hotel, broke in by force, and after deliberately shooting him,
dragged the body to the adjoining bridge, and with every mark of
contumely threw it into the Rhone. Such is the brief outline of the
murder of a defenceless man, on a charge which, whether true or not,
should have rested between God and his conscience. Jouey may indeed be
pardoned for commenting and enlarging on this story, though the simple
facts address themselves more strongly to the mind, than when dressed up
with stage effect, and must be better adapted to produce the impression
probably desired by that author. In the detestable ruffians who
disgraced the good cause of loyalty on this occasion, we recognize the
same black and fiery blood which flowed in the veins of the Marseillois
assassins of 1793, and