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by forts, ruins, or villas, and where the
sides are more sloping, they are adorned
with horse-chesnut trees, which were then in
full flower. There is a coche deau on the
Saone, that goes from Lyons to Chalons,
and returns every day in summer; and il
the scenery continues similar to that near
Lyons, it must be a most delightful excursion.
Many of the citizens go by this
conveyance to their country-houses,situated
near the banks of the river. The number
o f these houses give to the country round
Lyons much more the appearance of being
the vicinity of an opulent city,than the country
round either Paris, Dublin, or Edinburgh.
I examined the rocks on each side the
river to Port Jean ; they consist of a small
grained granite, with brilliant laminae of
mica, and in some parts it passes into
gneiss. An elderly respectable-looking
woman rowed us on the Saone; she was
plainly but neatly dressed : she told us
she had followed that occupation from
ten years of age, which had also been
the occupation of her mother. She said
she very much wished to ask me one question,
for she knew, as an Englishman, that
I could tell her the truth. On desiring her
T H E SA O N E . 287
to state her question, she enquired witii
much earnestness, “ Is the emperor really
dead? We have been told it,” she said,
“ many months, but we know not how far
we may believe what is published by the
present government.” On assuring her
that the emperor was dead, the tears rolled
down her cheeks, and she rested on her
oars to give vent to her grief She said,
“ We had hoped to see him once more in
France, for he was the man best suited to
promote our prosperity.” She had lost two
sons in the army. On passing a fort,
placed on a rock, she exclaimed, “ Ah !
there I saw the emperor for the last time ;
he mounted the rock, on his white horse,
and none of his officers had the courage to
follow him.” This feeling of attachment to
Napoleon, or rather of aversion to the present
government, appears to be general
through that part of France which I passed.
In all the coffee-houses which I entered the
liberal journals were read exclusively. That
this feeling should be general need excite
no surprise. The French have little confidence
in the present government; and
they are fully aware that it is a settled
design of the ultras to take away every
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