The Rhone divides into two branches just above Avignon, and these unite again a little below it, forming an island of considerable area opposite the site of the city. The smaller of these branches runs under the walls of Avignon, the larger flows at the foot of the town of Villeneuve, in Languedoc. Both these branches have changed their beds materially since ancient times; that which at present runs without the walls of Avignon, once had its channel where is now the centre of the town, and some remains of the ancient walls which were washed by the ancient river may still be traced in that locality.

The present walls are of prodigious solidity, and considered as a masterly piece of workmanship; they were raised under the pontificate of Pope Innocent VI., as a defence against a company of banditti that infested the country, and had even sworn that they would lay the pope and cardinals under contribution. So far did they execute their project, that the pope was glad to make a composition with them, and purchase the tranquillity of his city by the payment of forty thousand crowns. These marauders, called Gascons, pillaged and overran various parts of France. They were chiefly veterans disbanded from the French army, after the ever-memorable battle of Poictiers, and they continued their ravages for fifteen years before they could be effectually repressed.

Without the massive walls, and spanning the waters of the Rhone, are the ruins of a once noble bridge, an object of interest and picturesque effect, although no longer of any advantage to the inhabitants. It was in passing under this beautiful remain of the middle ages that Madame de Grignon, daughter of Madam de Sevignè, had nearly lost her life, soon after her marriage-a circumstance to which the affectionate and affrighted mother often recurs in her very elegant letters.

Of this stately structure, built some time in the twelfth century, four arches are still perfect, under one of which the road by the river-side passes. Several attempts to restore this great public convenience were made under the old regime; but, as the ferry which was substituted when the bridge became impassable, was a seigneurial right, the seigneur, who would have lost the revenue arising from it, always found means to frustrate these attempts. Under the empire, however, every right which disturbed popular liberty was unsparingly annihilated; and the ruined bridge of Avignon might have been restored before the present time, had the neighbouring provinces thought the restoration worth the expenditure.

ARCH OF TRIUMPH.

MARSEILLES.

"Fearless of Cæsar and his arms it stood,
Nor drove before the headlong rushing flood;
But while he swept whole nations in a day,
Massilia bade th' impetuous victor stay,
And clogg'd his rapid conquests with delay."

LUCAN.

THIS is that famous city of ancient Gaul which arrested the progress of the Roman conqueror, when aspiring to universal dominion; and the vast assemblage of villas scattered over the suburban plain, in the diminished form to which they are reduced, seen from the distant heights that surround the city, have the appearance of an extensive camp; and the imagination deserves indulgence which transforms the scene into the very camp of Cæsar himself. Such is the glorious prospect of Marseilles, and the amphitheatre of hills in which it is embosomed, when viewed from La Viste; but the sense and the scene change too soon, and before half the descent is accomplished, the road is enclosed between two lofty walls, excluding all prospect, to the mortification of the traveller, whose imagination, in beholding the panorama from the heights, had been led to indulge in the hope of undiminished enjoyment until the very city streets. were reached. With the exception, however, of only a furlong's length, the road continues to be enclosed to the very gate of Marseilles.

There is another approach, and another entrance, more striking and agreeablethat from Aix. Here stands the famous Arch of Triumph, forming a frame to the city view, seen so advantageously through it; the eye is carried at once through the whole length of the town, to the entrance from Toulon at the other end. The avenues that form this imposing vista are, the street of Aix, the Course, and the street of Rome-the end of the latter seems closed by a vast mountain, like Princes-street, in Edinburgh; but this is a pleasing delusion, the mountains being upwards of a mile from the town.

The design of the Arch of Triumph is neither elegant nor original. It consists of one central but no lateral arches; the centre is undecorated, and the gables are almost blank. The entablature is supported by eight handsome Corinthian columns, of Languedoc marble, and the panels are ornamented with allegorical figures and bas-reliefs, commemorative of conquest generally. The original destination of this public monument was to commemorate the successes of the French arms in the Peninsula, in 1823, but by a change of purpose it is now said to be in remembrance of "all the glories of France." It is inferior to the Arch of Marius at Orange, in decoration, design, and delicacy of proportions, but many prefer it as an imitation of the Arc du Carrousel.

S

CHURCH OF ST. SERNIN.

TOULOUSE.

"Hath not a Jew eyes? hath not a Jew hands, organs, dimensions, senses, affections, passions? fed with the same food, hurt with the same weapons, subject to the same diseases, healed by the same means, warmed and cooled by the same winter and summer, as a Christian is?"

Merchant of Venice.

SATURNIN, or Sernin, is the tutelar saint of Toulouse; and if the barbarity of his execution be admitted in estimating the value of his martyrdom, few eminent men in the calendar of the Roman church should be placed in a higher rank. It was about the middle of the third century that he preached the Gospel here, but the beautiful church which is dedicated to his honour was not raised before the eleventh.

As an architectural record, no building in France possesses greater interest; as an object of admiration, it is little less remarkable. The exterior is deficient in magnificence and design, but the interior fully compensates that omission. It is in the form of a Latin cross, and was built before the introduction of Gothic architecture into France, or rather at the precise period which marks the decay of the Roman manner. To this circumstance must be attributed the mixture of both styles, the Gothic groundplan, and the Roman principles of architecture. The round arch is introduced in every part, even the most minute details; and the pointed arches on the south side of the choir, if coeval with the foundation, evidence the transition then going forward in ecclesiastical architecture. The roof is vaulted, and the demi-dome above the high altar adorned with a Transfiguration in fresco. There is a profusion of carving and ornament around the altar, and numerous cherubim, amongst whom a figure of St. Saturnin is introduced. Beneath the eastern end of the choir, two flights of steps descend into the crypt, which is divided into cells or little chapels, where the repose of the souls of benefactors to the church is prayed for. There are besides several lateral chapels, in which reliques are preserved, and the bones of illustrious or pious persons enshrined.

The memory of St. Sernin is still much revered by the Toulounese, and in the beautiful temple dedicated in his name, worshippers are ever bending the knee, and bowing the head, and telling their beads. Offerings are frequently made before his altar, or expended in the decorations of his church, and the source whence one supply is derived is ancient and singular. A ceremony was instituted in the city of Toulouse by Charlemagne, that at Easter any Christian might give a box on the ear to a Jew, whenever he chanced to meet him, as a mark of contempt for the nation which had, at that season, crucified the Saviour of mankind. This custom, scandalous in itself, * Vide p. 53, ante.