ne. Observing us
wandering round the chateau with an air of curiosity, she politely sent
to invite us to walk in. The room in which she was sitting opened upon a
terrace, commanding a fine view down the Rhone towards Mont Pilate; and
its interior was decorated with a few specimens of magnificent old
furniture, which contrasted strongly with the air of desolation visible
throughout. Two fauteuils of rich crimson velvet, with massy gilt
frames, and two commodes inlaid and ornamented with brass, seem all the
remains of the splendour of this once royal residence. From hence we
visited Henry's apartment, which occupies the middle story of a large
turret. It commands a fine view of Lyons and its noble environs; and the
ceiling and walls bore some remains of the golden fleurs-de-lys on a
blue ground, which had once ornamented them. Nearly the whole, however,
had been white-washed during the Revolution; and on the advance of the
Austrians, in 1814, the whole building suffered more by the hands of the
combatants, than during the former sanguinary times. "Cependant il est
bien connu," as Mad. d'A. answered with a proud smile, when we expressed
our surprise at having found a well dressed person who could not direct
us to Chateau la Motte. It may claim, indeed, to be well known to every
good Frenchman, both from its former and latter history. It is singular,
that in the course of the same day we should receive attentions from two
persons, both of whom had lost their dearest friends in the carnage
which followed the siege of Lyons. While I was sketching Mont Blanc and
the course of the Rhone from the environs of Chateau Montsuy, a tall
genteel old man, looking very like a Castilian, accosted us civilly,
and, having peeped over my shoulder for a moment or two, invited us into
his garden, which commanded the same view in a much superior manner. His
sister-in-law, who was walking with him, had, he informed us, lost her
husband and son in the fusillade. Yet, perhaps, when we consider the
extent of the havoc, it would seem more singular to find a family who
had not suffered, nearly or remotely, from its consequences.

In returning over the Pont la Guillotiere, we were led to remark the
probable antiquity of its construction. The centre still retains the
drawbridge; and the whole fabric appears to have been widened, when
wheel carriages came into fashion, with a supplementary parallel slice,
riveted on to it by iron bolts. This expedient r