: the latter
possessed, without great beauty, all the charms and vivacity of her
countrywomen. In the evening we went to an assembly, where I had an
opportunity of seeing, and being presented to, all the respectable
families that yet remained in town; for at this season many were at
their country-seats. The ease, elegance, and good manners of the
company composing this society, I never saw excelled in any country.
It is but common justice to observe, that in Mortagne, which is the
residence of all the best families in the province, there is to be
found all the characteristic good breeding for which the French were
so long, and so deservedly celebrated.

The town of Mortagne stands on the declivity of a hill, in the
province of Le Perche, bordering on Normandy. The high road to
Bretagne passes through it. It has only one church remaining out
of seven, six having been destroyed at the Revolution. It has some
manufactories for serges and coarse cloths, and contains between five
and six thousand inhabitants, in the department of L'Orne. From its
elevated position and chalky soil, the air is pure and the situation
healthy. The inhabitants are under the necessity of supplying
themselves with water from the valley, as there are no wells on
account of the rocky height it stands on, which is attended with
inconvenience and expense; otherwise it would be a desirable residence
for those who wish to unite economy with a change of climate.

During the Vendean war, this town became, at different periods, the
victim of either party as they were successful; and it suffered
severely. The hotel kept by Gautier (Les trois Lions), which is
likewise la Poste, and le Bureau des Diligences, is the best, and
the people are very obliging; but it partakes of the same want
of cleanliness, that so invariably distinguishes all similar
establishments in this country.

CHAP. III.

FROM MORTAGNE TO RENNES, SOEURS DE LA CHARITE. ALENCON, LAVAL, VITRE,
THE RESIDENCE OF THE CELEBRATED MADAME DE SEVIGNE. RENNES.

I travelled by the diligence from Mortagne to Alencon and Laval: we
arrived at the former place to dinner, and at the latter to remain all
night. The carriage was filled with _Soeurs de la Charite_,

"Qui, pour le malheur seul connoissant la tendresse,
Aux besoins du vieil-age immollent leur jeunesse,"

on their way to different places in Bretagne, on charitable missions,
by the order of the Superior at Paris. Four of these w