and

antea for an occasion to avenge mgmga tain on their honour, inflicted catre rs the allies. In the Pactral niet. This occasion seemed pree vondered it, that, combined

ment to Napoleon, it led them

I veences successor, and re

(

--

1

Library. The respective collections are well arranged, and with the Library and Museum are much frequented by the middling and lower classes of the people. It is gratifying to witness their desire for knowledge. I have rarely entered a public library in France without finding it well attended; and its occupants were in general so intent on the subjects that interested them, that they seldom turned to regard the visitors. The Cathedral contains nothing worthy of notice; and the general appearance of the streets is gloomy and dull.

11th. We drove to-day to the village of Sassenage, to see the grotto to which it gives its name. Nothing can be more picturesque than the scenery of the route, which commands a fine view of the mountains on each side, and of the rivers Isère and Drave, the latter of which is very rapid, and must be crossed to arrive at Sassenage. Having reached this place, we left our carriage, and, conducted by two guides, proceeded up the mountain, by the side of a torrent. The ascent is very steep, and somewhat dangerous, but the views it commands are so beautiful that the fatigue and danger are amply repaid. After a walk of twenty minutes, we crossed the foaming torrent, on a plank brought for the purpose on the shoulders of the guides; and soon reached the cascade formed by the vast rush of water from the cavern above. This waterfall proceeds from a subterranean stream issuing rapidly through a number of less caverns, formed in the rocky mountain. On ascending still higher, we reached the opening of the grotto, which has a very grand and imposing

are proverbial, panted for an occasion to avenge and retrieve the imagined stain on their honour, inflicted by the occupation of Paris by the allies. In the return of their martial chief, this occasion seemed presented; then can it be wondered at, that, combined with their personal attachment to Napoleon, it led them to throw off their allegiance to his successor, and resume their devotion to his cause?

10th.-Saw the Palace of Justice to-day, a gothic building, in the style of architecture of the time of Francis I.; also the Library and Museum, which are beneath one roof.

The Library is of considerable extent, and is well filled. Among its curiosities may be counted some ancient MSS. in which is the poetry of the Duke of Orleans, the father of Louis XII., and Les Heures, of the sixteenth century, beautifully illuminated. Among the rare books is a French Bible, the first translated into that language, by Raoul de Preisle, Master of the Court of Requests to Charles V., named the Wise, and "Catholicon," by Guttemberges, of the fifteenth century. The Library contains the colossal busts of four celebrated natives of Grenoble: the Chevalier Bayard, (sans peur et sans reproche), the metaphysicians Condillac and Mably, and the mechanist Vaucanson.

The Museum has some good pictures; but the most esteemed are two from the pencils of Claude Lorraine and Paul Veronese. The statues are, for the most part, casts from those in the Louvre. A cabinet of antiquities, with one of natural history, adjoin the

Library. The respective collections are well arranged, and with the Library and Museum are much frequented by the middling and lower classes of the people. It is gratifying to witness their desire for knowledge. I have rarely entered a public library in France without finding it well attended; and its occupants were in general so intent on the subjects that interested them, that they seldom turned to regard the visitors. The Cathedral contains nothing worthy of notice; and the general appearance of the streets is gloomy and dull.

11th. We drove to-day to the village of Sassenage, to see the grotto to which it gives its name. Nothing can be more picturesque than the scenery of the route, which commands a fine view of the mountains on each side, and of the rivers Isère and Drave, the latter of which is very rapid, and must be crossed to arrive at Sassenage. Having reached this place, we left our carriage, and, conducted by two guides, proceeded up the mountain, by the side of a torrent. The ascent is very steep, and somewhat dangerous, but the views it commands are so beautiful that the fatigue and danger are amply repaid. After a walk of twenty minutes, we crossed the foaming torrent, on a plank brought for the purpose on the shoulders of the guides; and soon reached the cascade formed by the vast rush of water from the cavern above. This waterfall proceeds from a subterranean stream issuing rapidly through a number of less caverns, formed in the rocky mountain. On ascending still higher, we reached the opening of the grotto, which has a very grand and imposing

effect; and then entered the subterraneous gallery, preceded by our guides bearing torches. This passage is so low and narrow that we had great difficulty in groping our way through it, though nearly on our knees. We at length arrived at a point that commands a view of the foaming gulf beneath; the noise of which is perfectly appalling, as, lashed into fury, it sends its snowy spray in showers around. Having resumed the steep passage to the entrance of the grand cavern, we descended by an abrupt route, formed by large disjointed fragments of rocks; and crossed subterranean streams, winding round by the ledge of a vast rock, which having passed, we entered another grotto, through which the water rushes with a noise and rapidity truly surprising. All further access is prevented by the water, the deafening sound of which is reverberated through the corridors. The picture here presented was very sublime; the guides tossing about the torches to display the wonders of the place, their wild and haggard countenances tinged by the glare of the lights, which fell also on the dark water, giving its rushing masses a shade of lurid red. Their gestures, too, were so fantastic, as they endeavoured to point out to our observation the objects worthy of notice, (all attempt at speaking, or at least of being heard, being from the noise of the water impossible) that there was something unearthly in the appearance of the whole scene.

Every turn of the descent to the village of Sassenage presents some fresh scene of wild beauty. Waterfalls rushing from fissures in the sterile mountain ; large and isolated rocks of the most grotesque forms; trees and wild shrubs scattered between, and mountain