ew, or in the nearer survey of it. The situation of its ruined citadel
on a commanding and insulated rock, and its narrow valley of almost
tropical richness, surrounded by tier above tier of mountains, and
studded with villas and orange-groves, present every variety of beauty;
and there is a stateliness of proportion, and a careless elegance in its
white houses, and an airiness in their situation, which very much remind
the eye of the best parts of Naples near the Chiaja and Villa Real. The
first glance of Nice, in short, bespeaks a higher and more fashionable
tone of society than that of any French town, excepting Paris, through
which we had passed. It is impossible, nevertheless, for a person
looking beyond the mere amusement of the moment, to banish a certain
train of morbid ideas which connect themselves with the sight of this
beautiful town. There are few persons perhaps moving in good English
society, whose ears do not familiarly recognise the hopeless phrase of
"being sent to die at Nice," and many have watched the departure of the
wrecks of what was once health, strength, and beauty, consigned to this
painted sepulchre with the certainty of never returning from it. Thus
the very efficacy of the air of Nice, which has brought it into vogue
when all other resources have failed, has inseparably connected it in
the mind with despondency and decay. If such ideas occurred to us, they
were certainly not removed by the sight of a funeral which past the
windows of the inn, within an hour or two after our arrival; the corpse
laid on an open bier, the hands crossed, and ornamented with flowers,
and the monks and attendants all joining in a solemn chant. A bell was
also tolling in another quarter, the signal that a man just condemned to
the galleys was passing in procession through the town, as is customary.

"But let the stricken deer go weep,
The hart ungalled play."

The English dance and dress during an assize week, and the lively
Nissards, more naturally still, enjoy their fine climate, and elegant
town, without entering into the gloomy reflections which haunt the mind
of an Englishman on his arrival. The cafes and public walks were
swarming with company, and the whole place appeared to take its tone of
gaiety from the gaudy young officers, whose troops were quartered in the
extensive barracks; the peasants were dancing their grand round on the
quay, or fighting between jest and earnest with open hands; the nat