thought it best to get the advice of a publisher who was one of my
private friends. I wrote him at once to come and join me at Lusance;
and while waiting for his arrival I took my hat and cane and made
visits to the different churches of the diocese, in several of which
I knew there were certain mortuary inscriptions to be found which had
never been correctly copied.

So I left my hosts and departed my pilgrimage. Exploring the churches
and the cemeteries every day, visiting the parish priests and the
village notaries, supping at the public inns with peddlers and cattle-
dealers, sleeping at night between sheets scented with lavender, I
passed one whole week in the quiet but profound enjoyment of observing
the living engaged in their various daily occupations even while I
was thinking of the dead. As for the purpose of my researches, I
made only a few mediocre discoveries, which caused me only a mediocre
joy, and one therefore salubrious and not at all fatiguing. I copied
a few interesting epitaphs; and I added to this little collection a
few recipes for cooking country dishes, which a certain good priest
kindly gave me.

With these riches, I returned to Lusance; and I crossed the court-
of-honour with such secret satisfaction as a bourgeois fells on
entering his own home. This was the effect of the kindness of my
hosts; and the impression I received on crossing their threshold
proves, better than any reasoning could do, the excellence of their
hospitality.

I entered the great parlour without meeting anybody; and the young
chestnut-tree there spreading out its broad leaves seemed to me
like an old friend. But the next thing which I saw--on the