intance with the country and with its
language far exceeding that of the mere tourist, and his wife, it
appears, is a Frenchwoman, the daughter of an ex-prefet. But he makes
few allusions to any former experiences, and draws no comparisons
between the conditions of life or the characteristics of the people in
different provinces. This is perhaps to be considered a defect in the
book, though it might not have possessed the same attractiveness had
its scope been wider. It is an advantage, too, that the locality was
not one which excites curiosity by its strongly marked features or
abnormal types. Travelers often seem to imagine that they have only to
tell us about Brittany or Gascony to win our interest, whereas it is
precisely such regions that have the least novelty for us, just as
the scenery of the Scottish Highlands has been made more familiar
to Americans than that of almost any other part of Britain. Mr.
Hamerton's house, as he gives us clearly to understand, though he
suppresses names, was in the neighborhood of Autun. The situation
was a strictly rural one, but with easy access to the town and the
feasibility of reaching Paris, Lyons or Geneva in a night's journey
by rail. It had, he writes, "one very valuable characteristic in great
perfection--namely, variety. There was nothing in it very striking at
first sight, but we had a little of everything." It was in an elevated
plain about fifteen miles in diameter and nearly circular, girt by a
circus of hills rising fifteen hundred feet above the general level.
A trout stream ran through the property. There were pretty estates
around of about two hundred acres each, with houses in general of
modest dimensions and architecture, though occasionally aspiring to
the dignity of chateaux. Roman and mediaeval remains, with architecture
of different periods, were to be found in the city, as well as a
public library and art-gallery, cafes and the inevitable _cercle_. The
flora, owing to the diversities of elevation, was varied, and while
vineyards clothed the foot of the slopes and gigantic old chestnuts
looked down on them from above, the vegetation of the hill-tops
was that of Lancashire or Scotland. It follows, of course, that the
pursuits and habits of the population were correspondingly various,
and there was ample opportunity for studying the different classes of
society, from the noblesse to the peasants. The results of this study
are presented, not in the form of labor