convicts in our States' prisons, each man having his number on his red flannel shirt, and those who have been guilty of murder (of whom there are many) wear green caps. As evening approached, I stood and inspected them as they passed on their way to the hulks where they are confined at night, and sad was it to think, that so many well-formed and athletic men, who might have been blessings to society, should, by their evil courses, have made it necessary, for the safety of others, that they should be chained and caged like beasts.. of prey. There were about 3,000 of them, but so inefficient and turbulent are they, that the policy of thus employingthem is, as a matter of profit, more than questionable.

There are in Toulon about 30,000 inhabitants, a large proportion of whom are connected with the army and navy. The hospitals are extremely neat and well arranged, being regarded as models of their kind. The military talents of. Bonaparte were first shown in driving the English and Spanish from Toulon, in 1793. They held the place for three months, and when driven out, by batteries placed high up in the surrounding mountains, a battle was fought on the: seashore, in which the French slew 18,000 of the enemy. The English Admiral, when retreating, set fire to and burn ed the arsenal and twenty-four French ships of the line.

In Toulon, as in most places where sailors and soldiers are collected in large numbers, the solicitations to vice are fre quent and undisguised. Indeed, the large standing armies which are necessary, in order to keep kings on their thrones and to carry out their ambitious designs, create a kind of ne cessity for licentiousness on a large scale. Both soldiers and seamen in Europe are, in great numbers, compelled to leave... the comparatively virtuous scenes of their early life, and, with pay so stinted as wholly to forbid their supporting a family, and with but little education or moral principle to fortify them against the seductions of vice, they are exposed, in the reckless and yielding period of youth, to the most corrupting influences and the strongest temptations, and hence, almost of course, become the victims of degrading and beastly licen tiousness. Most armies are conducted on the plan of frequently removing their several divisions from place to place," lest the officers should form such attachments, and contract such alliances in any given place, as might induce them, on being ordered to leave, to resign their commissions. In the French army, all officers below a given grade are forbid to

marry, and the result is, a kind of systematic and licensed concubinage, as directly opposed to the principles of morality as it is to the cultivation of all the higher social and domestic virtues, and the purer and more elevated affections of the heart.

In company with one of the medical officers of our ship, I made a visit to Marseilles, which is forty miles distant from Toulon. For this purpose we hired a carriage, with fine horses, and a lively pleasant lad for a driver, and, as the road was excellent, the region through which it passed peculiarly picturesque, and the weather pleasant, our ride was truly delightful. The hill-sides, from the fertile valleys at their base to their white and craggy summits, were covered with a succession of terraces, richly laden with the olive and the vine, while the scattered houses and villages, with their walls of purest white, presented a pleasing contrast to the glowing verdure of the sunny fields. About equally distant from Marseilles and Toulon, is the pass of Ollioules, where, for a mile or two, the road overhangs a foaming torrent, which rushes through a mountain gorge, while above, on either hand, wild and massive crags and cliffs rise to the height of near 1000 feet. Few mountain passes excel this in rude magnificence and grandeur.

Marseilles and the region around are enclosed by a semicircular range of calcareous hills or mountains, with a radius of from two leagues to two and a half. Some of the peaks rise to the height of more than 2000 feet above the level of the sea, and have summits of a snowy whiteness. Some of the smaller hills, which divide the territory into different valleys, are formed of pudding-stone, composed of large fragments of limestone, quartz, and jasper, alternating with beds of white clay or freestone, of the nature of quartz, while in one place near the sea there is a mass of tufa. Some traces of petrified shells are met with in the calcareous rocks. In one place there is a quarry of gypsum, or sulphate of lime, containing some specimens of native sulphur, and giving rise to a fountain of sulphureous mineral water, which has some reputation, under the name of Eau de Cambrai.

The pudding-stone contains some fragments of organized bodies, particularly lignites. In excavations made at Chapitre, rings and masses of wrought iron have been found, corroded with rust, showing that the earth in that region is of recent date. But one of the most curious facts, is the frequent oc

currence of fossil wood, partly carbonized, in beds of white clay. In the vicinity of a convent of Capuchins, in digging wells, entire trunks of trees have been found in their natural position, at a depth of eleven metres below the surface of the earth.

A variety of rare specimens in the departments of botany and entomology are to be met with in the vicinity of Marseilles, and there are coral fisheries near the islands of Riou and Maïre, at the extremity of the neighbouring gulf.

The valley of Marseilles, exclusive of the city, contains from twenty to twenty-five thousand inhabitants, occupying fifty-six villages and hamlets, besides scattered dwellings. It is watered by the river Huveaune and three smaller streams, all of which, however, fail to supply such an amount of moisture as to impart to the soil the highest degree of fertility. Wheat and wine are produced in nearly equal quantities, measuring them by weight, and each of them excel by more than three fourths the amount of olive oil. It is a lamentable fact, that about 14,000,000, or nearly one half of the population of France, are connected with the culture of the vine, and depend upon the produce of their vineyards for support. What a vast amount of misdirected energy and toil, engaged as it is in producing an article of mere luxury, the use of which injures instead of benefiting mankind. Were all these vineyards converted into wheat fields, in what rich abundance would they furnish the staff of life to the suffering poor, and how many who now, under the influence of wine, are gay, reckless, and profligate, would be converted into sober, considerate, and virtuous members of society. We have a sad illustration of the state of morals in wine-drinking France, in the fact, that in the city of Paris, during a single year, 11,000 females were committed to prison for the crime of drunkenness. Figs, raisins, and garden fruits in general, hold but a secondary place in the agriculture of southern France.

More than 2000 families in the vicinity of Marseilles are employed in fishing, and thus supply not only the city, but all the region around for a distance of ten leagues. Scarce a day passes in which fish are not eaten by most of the inhabitants, and the common kinds are less expensive than meat, and often than even pulse.

The wealth which commerce has poured into Marseilles has done much to beautify the surrounding region, and some of the country seats of the opulent citizens have an air of

more than Oriental magnificence and beauty. The population of the city is about 150,000, and the number of houses not far from 11,000. In point of commerce, it ranks as the first city in the kingdom, Havre being the second. In 1832, the number of arrivals at Marseilles was 7,201, measuring 629,780 tons; at Havre, the same year, the arrivals were 3,596, measuring 388,551 tons, or about one half less than Marseilles. At Bordeaux the arrivals were 3,068, and their tonnage 225,348. At Nantes, 3,853 vessels, measuring 168,147 tons. The duties on imported goods received at three of the places above, in 1833, were as follows. At Marseilles, 30,877,977 francs at Havre, 24,921,080 francs: at Nantes, 11,593,793 francs. Thus it will be seen, that the foreign commerce at Havre bears a much larger proportion to the whole amount of trade there than at Marseilles, while Marseilles greatly surpasses Havre in its trade with other ports of France and the French colonies. About one fifth of the commerce of France centres at Marseilles. In 1833, the number of arrivals from the United States in all the ports of France, was 359, of which 200 entered at Havre, 90 at Marseilles, 32 at Bordeaux, 8 at Nantes, and 13 at Rochelle. Thus have we much more commerce with Havre than with Marseilles. About 30 vessels from England visit Marseilles each year, and as many more from English colonies.

The harbour of Marseilles is crowded with shipping, and hence, as in many other European ports, no fires are permitted on board vessels, for fear of accidents which might result from them. Seamen board on shore, and are commonly more exposed to temptations to vice than they otherwise would be. As vessels from almost every commercial nation in the world visit Marseilles, there is perhaps no place where more good could be done by judicious and well-directed efforts in distributing religious books by means of seamen there, in the various countries from which they come.

The streets of Marseilles are generally broad and clean, and the city itself, with its crowded quays and busy population, has much more the appearance of Boston or New York than of the old and stationary cities of Southern Europe. The streets rise as they recede from the water,' and in the upper part of the city there is a public square, shaded by lofty trees, like those to be met with in most Spanish towns. Some of the shops present a rich array of showy and costly goods. One which we visited, in its great variety of splendid

timepieces, of jewelry, and of fancy articles of household furniture, far exceeded in display any thing of the kind I have elsewhere witnessed.

Few cities in the world can compare with Marseilles in the extent and value of their manufactures. The number of manufacturing establishments in the city is 1,612; of operatives there are 11,507, and the value of the articles they manufacture each year is about 100,000,000 francs. Shoemakers, ship-carpenters, and coopers are the most numerous classes, while soap, refined sugar, and wine, leather, and various chemical products used in medicine and the arts, are among the most valuable articles of commerce which are produced.

It is an old proverb, that it is an ill wind that blows no one any good, and this was strikingly exemplified when, during Napoleon's wars, the commerce of Marseilles was ruined by the power which England gained upon the ocean, and the starving population of the city were forced to engage in manufactures for support. Thus was the foundation laid for the high commercial prosperity which Marseilles now enjoys. During the period of suffering to which I have just referred, the misery of the people was extreme. The population of the city, which had before been 140,000, of whom not more than 3,000 were poor, was reduced to 80,000, of whom one half were dependent on the charity of the other half. This fact, which may seem exaggerated, is sustained by official evidence. During the year 1812 bread was six sous a pound at Marseilles, but the stagnation of commerce leaving the lower classes without resources, they were unable to purchase it at that price. They were therefore compelled by hunger to enter the slaughter-houses, and, taking the blood of animals they mingled bran with it, and used it for food. Thus the most deadly maladies were caused. At length, with a view to aid such as were suffering, an enumeration was made of those who were in a state of complete indigence. The number reported was 36,000. The Prefect of the Department, thinking that the enumeration could not have been correct, caused another to be made by persons in whom he had perfect confidence, and the result was that 40,000 individuals were found in a condition of extreme want. A most sad and appalling illustration this of the evils so often attendant on wars of ambition and conquest.

The researches of science opened the way for again em