The Sun.
London, England, 1827-11-09 00:00:00

NIA
ai/
As Nismes is peculiarly worth the attention
of the antiquarian,
and is on 'the high road to
Marseilles, where travellers in the South'
'
of
'France seldom fail to. direct their steps,, a state-
ment of the curiosities to be . seen..there will be
desirable, and may save 'a. loss. of 'tin*. The
monument the most striking is the ROmin Am-
phitheatre, said to have been built two thousand
years—but whether this supposition 'be.
period,
or not, it is certainly of very remote
Even the ruins which remain amply prove the
saLcthyi teient u rl
nau
ins! skill of h
4.which
hare ancients,p Ths4lthe
.4,9 d
ent 4ni7h
columns of the Tuscan arder;,Will bear. cOinPari-
son with any modern,. cotistiuctiOn?',buth for
beauty and solidity. Someofthe:stone or ,com-
position employed is so-durable;'that it presents
scarcely a sign of decay, so.'thet. it.'would:Peern
the quarries of the present 1214f,d0 not 'furnish
any material so good.. The Aniphitheap*, it is
calculated, Would contain 17,000 perionVirekon-
ing each place at 20 inches. , •
The. Maison
,Carree; situated nearly in the
centre of the' city, is a. masterpiece of architec-
tural taste, and is in good preservation. The
walls are of a peculiarly 'beautiful ivhite-stone,
about two feet thick, and the outside- is Orna-
mented with thirty Corinthian columns, the bases
of the columns will 'be much admired for their
exquisite vvorkmapshii, Nothing can be-more
beautifully executed :than the scultiturOd Aye
leaves wluelt adorn they ~plumns
It is atipp054400.644/6"
most ancient eatnewooNvosums, ,s .
rapidly mouldering to ruin; it is wortlvinspection.
-The fountain, and the 'garden in whieh it is
situated, partly of ancient and modern construe.
tion, cannot fail to excite admiration. Many
antiques are to be seen there,, and themodern
sculpture is justly the boast of the French' school.
At about ten miles north-east of Niames is
the Bridge of qard, one of the most beautiful
remains of antiquity., It is composed of., thirty-
five arches ofstone,eut with such art thaineither
mortar nor cement were. used •in . its. constructiOn.
Modern Nisnies is a very elegant town. and
an agreeable residence. It is about thirtf-five
miles from Montpellier. The only intervening
place of note on the road to Marseilles is trine!,
celebrated for its Muscatel wine, which, though
of most exquisite flavour, does not coat MOO 01an '
eighteen-pence or two-shillings a bottle on the
spot. At Nismes the Hotel de Luxembourg is
cited hy every epicure. The dinners furnished
there at half-a-crown a head, compriss wino of
very good quality, all that is. luxurious in; game,
fish, and fowl.

At Arles, twenty miles further,-there are also
several antiquities to be seen.. The amphitheatre
will perhaps excite more attention than that at
Nismes. A bas-relief was found nor long since
in the theatre, near what is ..lUpposed to.. have
been the centre of the proscenium.. It.represents
Apollo seated, leaning upon 4 lyre ;at his right
is Marsyas, hangieg: to an.oak,,and on his left,,,a.
young man sharpeninga knife. The bas,relief is
in good preservation, and the executiOnin , i.z,u,
perior style ;.thoSe curious in such mattera-rnay.
easilyh
iobtainGrecian
a nmarbsilgeh,t of
isiihvit. Tahe hneadof a
exquisite gpitl.eess
of
workmanship. . ' An' obelisk of gramte,.said tole
the only one of the kind executed.*t Of Egypt,
is also to he. seen. It is forty-Seven. feet lOng,
and five feet three inches broad at its bass; the.
pedestaLialourieen feet high.- The obelisk is
supported by four lions, and altogether it.is an
imposing and elegant monument. .
In the Museum belonging- to the Chuith of
St. Anne, there are many beautiful. antiques,but
I noticed principally the two following :—A., bas-
relief, representing the 'Muses, and. a figure
round which a serpent is folded ; the twelve signs
of the Zodiac are sculptured in the folds. There
is a sarcophagus of Cornelia Jams, which is.the
most ancient that Arles possesses. These, With
the tower erected in 1369, and the chapel of St.
Croix, in 1019, with a number of other anti-.
quities, are enough to excite the traveller's curio-
sity, but there. are many other monuments to be
visited.
Arles is a very miserable, dull town, and the
best inn, Hotel du Nord, is but tolerable, so
that after seeing the antiquities,: one is glad to
get out of it. The labouring class live almost
entirely upon bread and olives ; this year's crop
is very plentiful, and they are now three-halt
pence per pound. From the beautiful monti,
inents which the town possesses, it.was doutAt-
less very considerable
.in the time of the Rozaam,
but it is now the cture of wretcheclness,-decay,
and desolation,, The pulOon is considerable,
hut composed princi ly of " plodding artisans,"
r
so that the place holds out no incitement to the
are,
searchers after pleasure and refinement.
It is only requisite to advance thus far into
France to be convinced that the French are es-
sentially an uncleanly people,
.spite of their lux-
urious propensities. Nismes is the only suffer-
able town, to those accustomed td English
habits, on the route from Bayonne to Mar.
seilles. In every other place the streets exhale
an odour from the filth, which is heaped up in
all directions, almost capable 'of
,producing in-
fection. They take care to decorate the outsides
and doors of their houies and shops, but always
forget to clean even the most public thorough-
fares—at least, so have I remarked in every
town and village to this place.

f a
pipe.
Noshov:pcv England is
reported rr h The C
toor ohnaevre' s
originatedln i gi
ns
o
tTrfiral:inthe following
facts :—A woman in London, after she had in-
terred six husbands, found one sufficiently coup
rageous to make her a wife for the seventh time.
For a while their happiness seemed mutual,
which circumstance militated against the conduct
of her former husbands, whom she represented
as disgusting,,either by their sottishness or their
infidelity. In order to ascertain the real charac-
;h9wreepvreroa,c,pheesrsisatendd
ter of his partner, the man .began to absent him-
self from home, to return' at unseasonable hours,
and to pretend intoxication
threats were the. result._
,tethri
that
tn
she
and seemed more and/more addicted to his bottle.
One evening, when she supposed him dead
wi upon
them drunk, she unsewed a leaden weight out of the
sleeve. of her gown, and having melted it she up-
-1:r
d ef
violence o f h
ye
trhb iexn werehu
usefuls
detected,a nr discovereded gs
u
he started up, seized her, called for assist :ice
e
to secure her until the morning, then-took her
ooionulvreinniccteei,dntoofhihseerarwit,hetbkyteimmdnee_ea,
before a magistrate, who committed' her to
(plug
all, in as fares possible from
tothgeethperroof of her guilt lip-.
son.
and mmearbkos
with the crime in
,-eas condemned and executed. To des En g.
which the corpse of no person dying su, denly,
lv:nhidchisshine
dheabdtedact
fuoarl
can be interred with-
ootritf.baulnedgadleiands,pbeyetion.
gearedtheir (cdheeasdot h
strong,
oTnt