ere young and
beautiful women, none of whom could have attained the age of twenty;
yet these females had already devoted themselves to attend on the sick
and poor wherever their services might be required, for which purpose
they receive a suitable education, in an Hospital at Paris, in such
branches of medicine and surgery as may render them useful. They
are distributed throughout the kingdom to attend the hospitals and
prisons, which they do with the delicacy and attention peculiar to
their sex. Of all the classes of females who thus devote themselves to
a religious life, and to acts of charity, none are more respected, or
more truly serviceable to their fellow-creatures. Their dress consists
of a coarse brown jacket and gown, with a high linen cap, sloping down
over the shoulders, and a rosary hanging round their waist.

Quitting Beauregard we crossed the river Sart: here the Province of
Le Perche terminates, and we enter that of Normandy. For many miles,
travelling close to the Forest of Bourse, the roads are excellent,
though hilly, and the country highly cultivated in all directions. The
peasantry were getting in the hay and rye harvest, and large tracts of
wheat and barley were nearly ready for cutting.

The town of Alencon is the capital of L'Orne-sur-Sart. It stands in
the middle of a fertile plain. The lace made here is the most valuable
of any manufactured in France. The Hotel of the Prefecture is a
fine building. After dinner I went to the theatre, (formerly an old
manufactory), to see the _Hotel Garni_ and _Les deux Suisses_: both
performances were of a very moderate cast. The audience consisted
principally of the military in garrison.

On the road from Alencon to Laval, we were guarded the whole day by
two troopers of the Gendarmerie, who are quartered along the whole
line of road from the capital; they are well armed and mounted, and
keep a very vigilant guard. At every place we stopped our passports
were examined. The police of this country is observed with greater
rigor than at any former period of its history, with regard to
passports. The circumstances under which the restoration took place,
the political state of France, in regard to other powers, the
conflicting interests and opinions of various parties, probably render
it highly expedient. On the arrival of a stranger at Paris, his
passport must be presented, and inscribed in the police book.
The revision of the one under which the person has tra