Preface.
v
Xavier de Maistre's next production (1811) was "Le Lépreux de la Cité d'Aoste," a very touching and gracefully written narrative. It occupies but a few pages; and, as it is to be found in almost every good anthology of French literature, is perhaps the best known of our author's works.
His other books are "Les Prisonniers du Caucase" (18 15) and"LaJeune Siberienne," both of them charming works, containing faithful pictures of domestic scenes with which we are little familiar through other sources.
From his childhood Xavier de Maistre was devoted to painting. He deservedly gained considerable reputation as a painter of miniature portraits and landscapes. Nor did he neglect science while devo-
