TOURS.

TOURS, the capital city of the province, was formerly called Cæsarodunum, and afterwards Urbs-Turones. It was, according to Gregory of Tours, the first privileged town in France-a distinction which it owed to the veneration inspired by the tomb of Saint Martin. It was also the first town which sent deputies to Henri III after the famous day of the barricades; and, in consequence of this act of loyalty, that prince transferred to Tours, in 1589, his parliament and the other superior courts of Paris. The population, at one time upwards of sixty thousand, is now little more than twenty-three thousand. In 1828, the number of resident English, attracted by considerations of climate and economy, was fifteen hundred. We had no time to inquire into the condition of our countrymen; but they appeared to us to belong to the better class of English absentees, and to lounge about the streets with somewhat less of the bitterness and prejudice which distinguishes an expatriated John Bull.

Leaving behind us the faubourg Saint-Symphorien, on the right bank of the river, we pursued our way along the levée towards Saumur. The road runs close by the side of the river, and is flanked on the right hand by a line of calcareous cliffs like those above Tours, but not so much excavated. A series of vineyards, gardens, and summerhouses continues for more than a league, till we reach the

village of La Vallière; but previously, we had crossed the river Choisille over the bridge of La Motte, between the two hamlets of the Maisons Blanches and La Guignière. Near the bridge, a road conducts to the village of Foudettes, about a league from the Loire, where are to be seen the remains of a Roman aqueduct, called, strangely enough, by the natives, the Arena.

Three leagues from Tours is the little town of Luynes, supposed by some, with little probability, to be the real Cæsarodunum, the ancient capital of the Turones. The aqueduct above mentioned, however, there is no doubt, conducted to it; and other remains of Roman antiquities, within the town itself, attest its ancient importance. At present, the most remarkable object it boasts is the Château de Chatigné, formerly called the Château de Maillé, which stands upon a height before you enter, overlooking the windings of the river. The round pointed towers of this building, with the general elegance of its Gothic architecture, produce a very delightful effect in so conspicuous a situation, although this is in some measure interrupted by the oddity of the stones of the edifice being in different colours, white and red, and disposed in checquered work.

On the opposite bank the perspective is magnificent, leading the eye through seemingly interminable woods, and relieving it by fitful glimpses of the river as it winds in the distance. The road itself runs through a continued orchard of fruit-trees, heavy with cherries, apples, pears, and walnuts.

On the way to Langeais, a very remarkable monument presents itself, called the Pile Cinq Mars. This is a quadrangular brick tower, or pillar, eighty-four feet high, and each of its sides sixteen feet broad. It is surmounted by four small columns, (a fifth, in the middle, having been