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Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
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( Concluded from p . 11 . ) To the Editor . Marseilles , Dec . 28 th , 1827 . October 29 th . I came from Montauban to Toulouse , which is a shabby , old-fashioned town , with high houses and narrow , ill-paved streets . I was glad to escape from it the next morning , by the passage-boat on the canal of Languedoc , which landed me at Beziers in six-and-thirty hours . This canal , which was begun and finished in the reign of Louis XIV ., is a magnificent work indeed—wide , and with trees planted on each side ; the country through which it passes not particularly interesting , though it is
but fair to take into the account , that the best season for seeing it was past Nov . 1 st . Arrived at Montpelier by the diligence at six in the morning fcfter one of the most jolting rides that I ever remember to have had . I asked a man , why the roads were not kept in better order fmieux arranyiesj f He replied , " Monsieur , le Gouvernement pourquoi n ' est-il pas mieux arrange ? " and this was accompanied by one of those shrugs of the shoulders which none but a Frenchman can give , and which expressed ,
better than all the words in the dictionary could have done , " So it is , and so it must be . " In truth , the state of this and of many other roads which I have travelled in France , is a disgrace to the government , which ought either to see that its agents do their duty , or to place these things on a totally ^ different footing . —The climate of Montpelier , as far as I could judge from the stay of three or four hours which I made there , deserves the bad character which it has lately acquired . I felt it to be peculiarly dry and cold J
hor can it be otherwise , for the town is situated on an eminence , with a wide tract of open country to the north , bounded by a ridge of hills in the distance . The town itself , though the streets are narrow , is in other respects Xvell built ; it has a delightful public walk , and an aqueduct with a double tow of one hundred and eighty arches , surpassing even that of Lisbon .
Between Montpelier and Nirnes I crossed a most singular district of country , the plain of Lunel—a wide expanse of barren-looking land , planted , as far as the eye could reach , with stunted vines , interspersed with olive-trees , the former producing an excellent wine . Across this plain was blowing that keen north wind , the mistral , which prevails so much in this part of France . As I entered Mmes , I was much struck with the Arena or Amphitheatre *
This splendid monument of Roman grandeur , and of Roman cruelty , has suffered but little from the hand of time , most of the steps or seats for the spectators remaining entire , as well as the galleries and archways by which they were approached . There are four doors to the ring or arena , —two by -which the wild beasts were introduced , a third for the gladiators , and a fourth for the criminals condemned to die . It was enough to make one's blood run cold to contemplate a spot which had formerly been the scene of so much
\ vanton and deliberate cruelty . What are we to think of the morality , or of the refinement , of a people who could take delight in such exhibitions as these , and erect buildings in which they could be seen by the greatest num-1 ber of persons ? Christianity would have done muck to deserve our gratitude , had it only abolished such practices as these . Yet , can we say that it Jias completely abolished them , wlrile cock-rfighting still remains the disgrace of our nation ?
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JOURNAL OF A tfOUR IN THE SOUTH OF FRANCK , BY THE REV , S . WOOD .
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Feb. 2, 1828, page 81, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2557/page/9/
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