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J () U R N A L 
 
 OP 
 
 A TOUR. 
 
LONDON 
 
 PRINTED BY E.LOWE, PLAYHOUSE YARD, BLACKIRIARS- 
 
J O U R N A I. 
 
 OF A TOUR 
 
 TO WATERLOO AND PARIS, 
 
 IN COMPANY WITH 
 
 SIR WALTER SCOTT 
 
 IN 1815, 
 
 THE LATE JOHN SCOTT, ESQ 
 
 LONDON 
 ; SAUNDERS AND 01 LEY, CONDl'IT STREET, 
 1842. 
 

 IC 
 
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 — ( 
 
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 qSSs 
 
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The Publication of t lie following Journal has 
 been delayed for a considerable time, in conse- 
 quence of the death of its lamented Author. 
 Two hundred pages had been Printed under his 
 own superintendence ; and as a comparatively 
 small Part remained in Manuscript, the whole 
 is now given to the Public, in the hope that 
 the circumstances under which it appears, will 
 sufficiently excuse any inaccuracies which may 
 be discovered. 
 
 247682 
 
scenes which continually presented themselves 
 to our notice. 
 
 I have only to add, that it v^^ill afford me very 
 sincere gratification, could I venture to hope 
 that my narrative will meet with your appro- 
 bation, and recal to you with pleasure the 
 happy and brilliant days we spent together on 
 the Continent. 
 
 Believe me, 
 
 My dear Pringle, 
 
 Very truly your's, 
 
 John Scott. 
 
 Gala Housf, 
 
 June, 1810. 
 
JOURNAL OF A TOUR, 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 Lauder — Flodden — Newcastle — York — Hull. 
 
 Shortly after the surrender of Paris to the 
 Allies in 1815, I was informed that Sir Walter 
 Scott proposed, in company with Mr. Alexander 
 Pringle the younger, of "Wliy thank, and Mr. 
 Robert Bruce, advocate, to visit Belgium and 
 France during summer ; and ha\dng had the 
 good fortune to be admitted as a party in this 
 interesting excursion, I set out with them to 
 Newcastle on the 27th of July. 
 
 No communication had been established be- 
 tween Holland and the northern part of the 
 
 B 
 
2 LAUDER. 
 
 British coast since the conclusion of hostiHties ; 
 we therefore determined to make for Kingston- 
 on-HuU, as being the nearest seaport where we 
 could hope to meet with a packet bound for the 
 Continent. 
 
 Our first halt was at Lauder, where we break- 
 fasted ; and I remember Sir Walter entering the 
 inn with a quotation, wliich he was fond of re- 
 peating on such occasions, 
 
 " Their breakfast so warm to be sure they did eat, 
 A custom in traveUers mighty discreet." 
 
 He seemed to have a kind of national par- 
 tiahty for the meal ; and we were thoroughly 
 disposed, by our early drive over Soutra Hill, to 
 yield a hearty obedience to the wholesome pre- 
 cept of the couplet. 
 
 The country in the neighbourhood of Lauder 
 was at that tune very bare and uncultivated ;* 
 
 * Lord Maitland has of late years very much improved the 
 appearance of Lauderdale by his extensive plantations at Thir- 
 lestane Castle. 
 
LAUDER. 6 
 
 and as Scott had been for two years past busily- 
 engaged with his operations at Abbotsford, he 
 noticed in passing, with the eye of an improver, 
 many a bleak hill and bank that called out, as 
 he said, " Come plant me." 
 
 But although Soutra and Lauderdale are cer- 
 tainly most dreary and uninteresting districts to 
 the traveller, they by no means proved so to us 
 during the course of our day's journey. Scott 
 was in high spirits, and the road reminded him 
 of his early expeditions to Kelso and Rosebank, 
 and of his rambles and raids with his companions 
 when he visited Crichton Castle, Borthwick, and 
 the Lammermoors. These early recollections 
 always afforded Sir "Walter the greatest satisfac- 
 tion ; and whenever he was in peculiarly high 
 spii'its, he seldom failed to recur to the days of 
 the civil law class and the Outer-House. At one 
 time we had the account of a long day's travel 
 and fishing party, or some story of his friends 
 Cranstoun or Clerk, — their practical jokes 
 against each other, or their impromptus and 
 
 b2 
 
4 LAUDER. 
 
 squibs ; as, for example, the verses on the illus- 
 trious Mr. Packwood, to whose name sundry 
 ingenious rhymes were invented, in order to 
 proclaim the vii'tues of his wonderful strop. The 
 poet expatiated on the distress produced by those 
 inefficient instruments, which, as he pathetically 
 expressed it, " haclc tvould'' and " rack icouW 
 the cheeks of unfortunate gentlemen at their 
 morning toilet, and his object was to prove that 
 the sole reliance of the sufferers was to be placed 
 on the discoveries of the infallible Pack wood. 
 
 Nor was the scenery itself without its attrac- 
 tions. AVe shortly came in sight of the distant 
 Eildons. "We passed close to the native village of 
 Thomas of Ercildo's\m, and the bonny broom of 
 the Cowdenknows,* — a very singular hill, which 
 
 * The ballad of Cowdenknows was a great favourite of Sir 
 Walter's. An invitation I received from him to attend a meet- 
 ing of the Abbotsford hunt is as follows : ** Our annual cours- 
 ing match and subsequent jollification takes place to-morrow. 
 Will you compear at half-past ten if the weather serves, and 
 bring over your dogs ? It is worth while were it but to hear 
 Capt. Ormiston sing the Bx'oom of Cowdenknows." 
 
FLODDEN. O 
 
 on one side appears to be formed into a cone 
 with mathematical accuracy ; while, on that by 
 which we passed, it assmnes an irregular and 
 totally different aspect. In the afternoon we 
 approached the border hills, and Scott pointed 
 out to us one in particular, which we had re- 
 quested he would not forget to show us when it 
 came in sight. This, it may be anticipated by 
 persons" acquainted with the locality, was Flodden 
 Edge. When we came still nearer to this part 
 of the Cheviots, had passed Branxton,* and 
 reached 
 
 The fatal field, 
 Wliere shivered was fair Scotland's spear, 
 And broken was her shield,t 
 
 Sir Walter again referred to the fondly-remem- 
 bered excursions of his early days, of which so 
 interesting a description is given in his letters to 
 Mr. Clerk and others of his Mends. 
 
 He also spoke of the visit he had paid to Flod- 
 
 * James IV. was killed in a field near Branston. 
 t Marmion, canto vi. 
 
6 NEWCASTLE — YORK — HULL. 
 
 den a year or two before, on his way to Rokeby. 
 Nor did he forget the favourite anecdote of his 
 device to persuade the landlord of the inn there 
 to have the new reading of the line fi'om the 
 poem, 
 
 " Drink, weary pilgrim, drink and pat/," 
 
 emblazoned on his sign-post, instead of the por- 
 trait of the author, with which he was anxious 
 that the board should be graced.* 
 
 In the evening we reached Newcastle, whence 
 we proceeded next morning to York. The 
 coach was quite full, and wc had not of course 
 much conversation. Scott was, I believe, chiefly 
 engaged in reading " Scott's Visit to Paris " 
 during the greater part of the way. 
 
 "We attended service in the Cathedral on Sun- 
 day ; and on arriving at Hull in the afternoon, 
 were informed, that in order to reach the ports 
 of Holland it was necessary to continue our 
 journey as far as Harwich. 
 
 * For this anecdote see Lockhart's Life, vol. iv. p. 16. 
 
CHAPTER II. 
 
 Passage-Boat from Hull to Barton — Lincoln — Peterborough — 
 Cambridge — Bury St. Edmunds — Harwich. 
 
 This circuit caused some delay, which, how- 
 ever, was not to be regretted, as it aiForded us 
 an opportunity of seeing a part of England we 
 had never visited ; and, in particular, the two 
 beautiful Cathedrals of Lincoln and Peter- 
 borough. There were no steam-boats in those 
 days, and we were detained some little time in 
 the dingy town of Hull on account of the tide. 
 
 In crossing the ferry to Barton, an incident 
 occurred which afforded us some amusement. 
 Among the passengers was a very alarming- 
 
8 PASSAGE-BOAT FROM HULL TO BARTON. 
 
 looking woman with an unfortunate child in her 
 arms, and accompanied by several others in as 
 ragged a condition as herself, and her miserable 
 helpmate, over whom she tyrannised with all 
 the severity that a violent temper could inspire, 
 aided, it would seem, by a tolerable allowance 
 of gin. 
 
 Something had occiu'rcd to offend the dame, 
 which made her turn towards her poor Jerry 
 with an air of pccuHar contempt ; and altogether 
 she so strongly reminded me of Mrs. Muckle- 
 wrath, the amiable helpmate, — the Venus of the 
 Vulcan of Cairn vrecken, that I said to Sir AV al- 
 ter — in rather a low tone, it may be supposed, 
 from our near vicinity to so formidable a per- i 
 sonage — " His bairns," as Mrs. Mucklewrath j 
 says in infinite disdain. " His bairns ; 
 
 " O gin ye were dead, gudcman, j 
 
 " And a green turf on your head, gudeman." j 
 
 I 
 
 — Sir Walter could not help laughing at the i 
 quotation. He shook his stout staff iS/erez^^iwr^, i 
 
LINCOLN. y 
 
 and finished the stanza, limping away to the end 
 of the boat in great glee. 
 
 " Then I wad ware my widowhood 
 Upon a ranting Highlandman."* 
 
 It was night when we reached Lincoln ; but 
 as we passed near the Cathedral on our way 
 through the town, we had an opportunity of 
 seeing it to great advantage by the light of a 
 very brilhant moon. 'We regretted, that owing 
 to the early hour of our departure next morning, 
 we had so imperfect a view of this noble struc- 
 ture, which, from the grandeur of its situation, 
 its magnitude and architectural beauty, has by 
 some persons been considered as the finest of 
 our English Cathedrals. 
 
 We reached Peterborough in the afternoon, 
 and entered the Cathedral just as the organ com- 
 menced the anthem. Sir Walter Scott was not 
 usually much alive to musical impressions unless 
 accompanied with poetry, which at the same 
 
 * I need scarcely remind the reader that this passage occurs 
 in Waverley, vol. iii. 
 
 b5 
 
10 PETERBOROUGH. 
 
 time excited his attention ; but on this occasion 
 the solemnity of the service and of the venera- 
 ble Minster* affected him more than I ever re- 
 collect to have observed at any other time. He 
 stopped suddenly on hearing the fii'st chords of 
 the organ, and turned aside to the aisle, where 
 he walked by himself for some little time. 
 
 It was, I believe, in the course of our drive 
 from Peterborough to Cambridge that the ab- 
 straction of Sir Walter excited the surprise of 
 
 * Mr. Dallaway, in his observations on English architec- 
 ture, has the following remarks : A French critic, says he, 
 gives it as his opinion, that in order to compose a perfect Ca- 
 thedral, he would select the west front of Rheims, the nave of 
 Amiens, the choir of Beauvais, and the spires of Chartres. In 
 reference to Englisli Cathedrals, Mr. Dallaway proposes to fix 
 on the situation of Durham, and to combine with the west 
 fi-ont of Peterborough, Lincoln or Wells, our Lady's Chapel at 
 Peterborough, the nave of Westminster, and the towers of 
 Lincoln, York or Gloucester. The great beauty of the west 
 front of Peterborough, and, indeed, the fine effect of the 
 whole building, renders it doubtful if the style of Gothic archi- 
 tecture has been improved by the changes introduced since the 
 period when it was erected. According to Britton, the nave 
 was built in 1160, and the west front in 1220. 
 
CAMBRIDGE. 1 1 
 
 his neighbour on the box, and called forth so 
 many grave looks from that important personage, 
 as related in the Life, vol. v. p. 59. 
 
 We arrived in the forenoon at Cambridge, 
 
 where we stopped all night, as Mr. P and 
 
 myself, who had been students at the Univer- 
 sity, were anxious to show the Colleges to Sir 
 Walter. A lapse of five years produces a very 
 great change in the society of such a place as 
 Cambridge, and of the acquaintances still left 
 scarcely any were to be found in College. A 
 gownsman in August would in fact be as un- 
 common a sight in Cambridge, as a fashionable 
 lounger in Bond Street in September. 
 
 We lodged at the Sun, immediately opposite 
 Trinity College, with which Scott was much 
 pleased; went through St. John's and King's 
 Chapel, and concluded the evening with a hearty 
 supper, in the course of which my fellow-student 
 and I took care that a glass of Trinity audit ale 
 and a crowning bowl of Bishoj) should on no 
 account be forgotten. 
 
12 BURY ST. EDMUNDS. 
 
 We had had a long and interesting day's 
 work, during which we had seen several of the 
 finest towns and buildings in England, and after 
 one of the merriest evenings I recollect to have 
 passed, were glad to enjoy a little rest from our 
 agreeable labours. 
 
 There was no doubt " a general complaint of 
 thirst"* next morning, and after some farther 
 inspection of the Colleges, we set out in the 
 forenoon towards Harwich by the way of Bury 
 St. Edmunds. 
 
 During the short pause we made in this an- 
 cient to^vn, we found time to pay a hasty visit to 
 its venerable remains. Of these some were well 
 calculated to interest Scott. The Abbey dedi- 
 cated to St. Edmund had for centuries been one 
 of the larofest and most celebrated in Enc^land, 
 and such was the ilunc and sanctity of the royal 
 martyr, that Richard I. on his refLirn from Pa- 
 lestine had made a pilgrimage to his shrine, in 
 order to offer up the standard of the King of 
 Cyprus. 
 
 * Lockhart's Life, vol. v. p. 58. 
 
BUKY ST. EDMUNDS. 13 
 
 Of this magnificent establishment, however, 
 there are very few remains except the Abbey- 
 gate, which is a fine specimen of castellated 
 Gothic of the 14th century.* This was erected 
 immediately after the serious attack on the Abbey 
 bv the citizens in 1327. It has double entrance 
 
 * The Abbots of Buiy possessed great powers ; and the jea- 
 lousy entertauied of their prerogatives, both in temporal and 
 spiritual affairs, gave rise to frequent quarrels with the town's- 
 people. 
 
 In the riot above mentioned, the inhabitants, headed by the 
 aldermen and burgesses, assaulted the ^.louasteiy with the ut- 
 most fury. As declared in the commission issued to justices 
 appointed to try the case, they had assailed it, vi et armis, 
 gladiis, arcubus et sagittis, aketonibus, hauberrionibus, vacci- 
 netis, placis, lanceis, gysarmis — had destroyed the gates, doors, 
 windows, — beaten and wounded the monks and servants, — 
 broken open the chests and coffers, and carried off the plate, 
 money and valuables. The prior, in the absence of the abbot, 
 with many of the monks, was compelled to sign an agreement 
 to pay ^'10,000, and engage not to proceed against the citi- 
 zens for the damage done to the Monastery. Edward III., 
 however, sent a military force to overawe the rioters ; and after 
 a long trial several of the offenders were executed, and part of 
 the damage repaid, which was estimated at .s^HOjOOO. See 
 Yates's Account of Bury St. Edmunds. 
 
14 BURT ST. EDMUNDS. 
 
 gates, a place for a portcullis, and is in fact 
 a little fortress, in wliicli every precaution is 
 taken against assault. 
 
 The Churcli gate is another fine relic of an- 
 tiquity. It was formerly used as a belfry to 
 St. James's Church, and was from that circum- 
 stance saved from destruction at the dissolution. 
 It is considered by architects as one of the best 
 examples of the Norman style of the 11th cen- 
 tury. 
 
 In the course of this day's journey, Scott's 
 spirits were uncommonly lively, and so much , 
 did he delight one of our fellow-travellers, that i 
 he could not refrain from expressing his satis- ; 
 faction in the manner related in Mr. Lockhart's [ 
 Work, vol. V. p. 59.* ' 
 
 * As we entered the town where we were to dine, a heavy, 
 
 looking man who was to stop there took occasion to thank j 
 
 Scott for the pleasure his anecdotes had aflForded him. " You | 
 have a good memory, Sir," said he. " Mayhap now you 
 
 sometimes write down what you hear or be a-reading about." ; 
 
 He answered very gravely, that he did occasionally put down a ; 
 
 few notes, if anything struck him particularly. ' 
 
HARWICH. 15 
 
 The same forenoon, also, no doubt in conse- 
 quence of the gaiety and brilliancy of his con- 
 versation, his name was discovered by a gentle- 
 man in the coach, who was not a little surprised 
 to find himself in company with so celebrated a 
 person. Scott had previously made it his par- 
 ticular request that no names should be men- 
 tioned, and, except on this occasion, I think he 
 never was found out. 
 
 We reached Harwich at a late hour. 
 
CHAPTER III. ; 
 
 A country that draws fifty feet of water, ] 
 
 In which men live as in the hold of nature ; ; 
 
 1 
 
 And when the sea does in upon them break, j 
 
 And drowns a province, does but spring a leak. \ 
 
 ***** I 
 
 A land that rides at anchor, and is moored, | 
 
 In which they do not live, but go aboard. I 
 
 Butler. j 
 
 Voyage to Helvoetsluys — Williamstadt — Bergen-op-Zoom. 
 
 Aug. 2nd. — We sailed to Helvoetsluys, which j 
 
 we hoped to reach on the ensiling morning, as i 
 
 we were assured by the captain of our packet i 
 
 that we had every prospect of a favourable j 
 
 voyage, and might certainly expect to enjoy a \ 
 
VOYAGE TO HELVOETSLrYS. 17 
 
 comfortable breakfast at the hotel there with his 
 friend Mr. Hobson. 
 
 Of the correctness of these often-repeated 
 asseverations, however, we soon began to enter- 
 tain very considerable doubts, as we could not 
 avoid remarking that they were accompanied 
 with many more demands in an under tone for 
 " a glass of porter " from John Barnes the 
 steward, than we thought hkely to conduce to 
 that happy effect. 
 
 In this latter person, however, we had more 
 confidence, as he appeared to be a steady expe- 
 rienced seaman ; and it gave us no small satis- 
 faction to perceive that he had considerable in- 
 fluence at head-quarters, both with respect to 
 the due regulation of the porter, and other mat- 
 ters no less materially connected with the safety 
 of the vessel. 
 
 Our passage, on the whole, was tedious and 
 uncomfortable. Instead of being near Holland 
 next morning, we found that we had made but 
 little way during the night ; the sea was short. 
 
18 VOYAGE TO HELVOETSLUYS. 
 
 and sickening; and we certainly, during the 
 whole day, presented pictures of four as mise- 
 rable gentlemen as ever set forth on an excursion 
 of pleasure. 
 
 Notwithstanding the wild demeanour and 
 conversation of our captain* — one of the most 
 singular persons I have ever encountered — 
 every sounding was duly made, every sailing 
 order given according to the chart with the 
 utmost skill and accuracy ; and we crossed the 
 fats, as tlie shallows near the coast of Holland 
 are called, in perfect safety. 
 
 Our breakfast at Mr. Hobson's, however, did 
 not take place till the day after that on which it 
 had been promised us, as we were prevented by 
 
 * Among other events of his life, he informed us of his 
 having been ** steered to jail" in Holland, by means of an 
 ingenious instrument used for that purpose by the authorities ; 
 which consists of a pole of wood, having a hook attached to 
 one of its extremities. This, it appears, was so contrived as 
 to secure the prisoner by a kind of spring lock ; and at the 
 same time to keep him at such a distance, as to prevent the 
 possibility of his making an attack on his captor. 
 
WILLI AMSTADT. 19 
 
 the tide from reaching Helvoet till the morning 
 of the 5th of August. 
 
 We sailed in a treckschuyt up the Maes, the 
 banks of which appeared to consist of a mere 
 thread of land, marked here and there by a few 
 mean houses and stunted trees ; and arrived at 
 Williamstadt shortly after midday. There we 
 hired a cabriolet, and proceeded to Bergen-op- 
 zoom. 
 
 The country through which we travelled was 
 composed entirely of sand ; and the chaussee 
 was so much raised above its level, as to afford a 
 good view of its general aspect. 
 
 Nothing could well be conceived less interest- 
 ing than the scenery ; but to us, who had never 
 before crossed the channel, all had the charm of 
 novelty. Our attention was continually en- 
 gaged by a succession of objects, different from 
 what we had been accustomed to, by the lan- 
 guage and attire of the people, the large ear- 
 rings and hats of the women, and countenances, 
 perhaps, not without some traits of resemblance 
 
20 BERGEN-OP-ZOOM. 
 
 to our nortliern countrymen, and yet evidently 
 not British. 
 
 We were struck with the great cleanliness of 
 the streets and houses. In our inns the floors 
 and grates were so beautifully polished, that a 
 slight speck would have been instantly per- 
 ceptible. 
 
 The remark that Holland is the paradise of 
 horses, we found fully verified. The postillions 
 spoke to their cattle in the kindest manner ; and 
 we observed that a slice of brood was frequently 
 provided for them at the end of a stage, and 
 seemed to be a perquisite which the sleek and 
 well-fed nags were quite prepared to expect. 
 
 In the afternoon we found ourselves amidst 
 extensive copse woods ; and at length observed, 
 at some distance, an insignificant spire, appa- 
 rently rising from a building sunk below the 
 level of the road on wliich we were traveUing. 
 Several smooth green banks then appeared on 
 each side of us; and in one of these we ob- 
 served a gun peeping through an embrasure. 
 
BERGEN-OP-ZOOM. 21 
 
 which was the first indication of our approach 
 to the celebrated fortress of which it was an 
 outwork. Of this, however, another decided 
 proof was very soon afforded by our passing 
 close to a house entirely destroyed and pierced 
 through with shot. 
 
 The road now took several abrupt turns, at 
 each of which we perceived bastions, with their 
 artillery pointed at us in all directions. 
 
 After crossing several drawbridges, we arrived 
 at one of the principal gates of the town, whence, 
 after a strict examination of our passports, we 
 drove to Mr. Peter's hotel. 
 
 The commandant civilly recommended us to 
 the care of the sexton of the principal church, a 
 man of Scottish parentage, though a native of 
 Bergen-op-zoom, who spoke English perfectly 
 well, and proved altogether an obliging and in- 
 telligent guide. 
 
 We walked with him to the entrance of the 
 harbour where the place was first entered, and 
 crossed the water-port itself by a narrow wooden 
 
22 BERGEN-OP-ZOOM. 
 
 bridge, along which our men had passed in 
 single file.* 
 
 Thence we proceeded to the Antwerp gate, 
 between which and the water-port gate, an 
 attack was made by the column under General 
 Cooke ; and were shown the place, near the 
 former, where Colonel Macdonald fell. A de- 
 molished garden, in which part of Cooke's divi- 
 sion had sustained severe loss, and the spot 
 where General Skerret was wounded, were also 
 pointed out to us. 
 
 While we walked along the ramparts, on 
 which we remarked several of the trees riddled 
 with musket shot, the sky was frequently illu- 
 minated with flashes of sheet lightning ; and I 
 well recollect the solemn feelings with which the 
 scene impressed us, when listening to the me- 
 lancholy details given us of tliis bold, though 
 unfortunate attempt ; " and heard," as Sir W. 
 Scott relates, " from below the hollow roll of 
 
 * See Lieut. -General Sir T. Graham's despatch, dated 
 Calmhout, March 10, 1814. 
 
 J 
 
BERGEN-OP-ZOOM.. 23 
 
 the di'ums announcing the setting of the watch, 
 and the deep and sullen ' AVer da ' of the sen- 
 tinels, as they challenged those who passed their 
 station." * 
 
 During the night the change of the guard 
 was marked by the sound, as it seemed, of 
 pieces of wood striking against each other in a 
 sort of cadence, accompanied with a watchword, 
 given in a musical strain. 
 
 The sexton informed us that at one time there 
 were above a thousand prisoners in the church. 
 To the wall of the aisle was affixed a plain mo- 
 nument of marble, on which we read the names 
 of the British officers who had fallen in the 
 assault, t 
 
 * See Paul's Letters, letter ii. 
 
 t In O'Meara's Journal may be found some observations of 
 Napoleon on this " daring attempt," as he terms it. 
 
CHAPTEE IV. 
 
 The Emperor remarked, that the scheme he had formed, 
 would have rendered Antwerp a stupendous and colossean bul- 
 wark ; and that it would have been a whole province itself. 
 ***** 
 
 Five or six places of this kind were to constitute the new 
 system of defence, which he intended to have established. 
 
 Journal of Count de Las Casas, Part VII. 
 
 Antwerp — Cathedral — Church of St. James's — House of the 
 Douanier — The Docks — Citadel — Pictures — Grand La- 
 boureur. 
 
 Aug. 6th. — We set out at an early hour to 
 Antwerp. The chaussee, as before, was carried 
 along raised dykes, and the country through 
 which we passed, no less tame and uninterest- 
 
CATHEDRAL. 25 
 
 ing, than on the previous day. The cultivation 
 \yas very partial, and on all sides were marshes 
 and sandy plains. 
 
 We observed several old-fashioned houses near 
 the road, with heavy roofs, and formal rows of 
 polUirds in front, which reminded us of the 
 pictures of the Dutch masters. 
 
 At a drawbridge close to Antwerp, we saw for 
 the first time a party of English soldiers, and 
 after the usual examination at the gate, we ar- 
 rived at the " Grand Labonreur," about noon. 
 
 We proceeded immediately to the cathedral 
 of Xotre Dame, the tower of which we had ad- 
 mired on approaching the city, as the highest 
 and most beautiful we had ever seen. 
 
 On entering this magnificent building, one is 
 struck with its breadth and spaciousness, being 
 greater than that of our English cathedrals.* 
 
 * Notre Dame is 500 feet in length, and 230 in 
 breadth. Mr. Hope considers this cathedral as ** one of the 
 largest and most regularly distributed he knows. It has three 
 
 C 
 
26 CATHEDRAL. 
 
 The pillars and arches are not, I think, so lofty 
 as those of York or Lincoln ; but the effect pro- 
 duced by the number of the aisles, and vast ex- 
 tent of the arcades, is extremely grand. It is 
 indeed 
 
 " a mighty minster of old time, 
 
 A temple shadowy with remembrances 
 Of the majestic past." * 
 
 None of the celebrated paintings by Rubens, 
 which used to adorn the churchy, had as yet been 
 restored by France. To persons, however, 
 who had not been accustomed to see pictures 
 in places of worship, the blank was not offen- 
 sive. 
 
 As in many other instances on the continent, 
 the exterior of this noble edifice is incrusted 
 with several miserable booths and shops, some- 
 complete aisles on each side, with clustered pillars. Over the 
 centre a fine octagonal lantern replaces the intended tower. 
 The part of its front not hid or defaced, is elegant, though ap- 
 pearing narrow for its height." 
 
 * The Cathedral Hymn, by Mrs. Hemans. 
 
27 
 
 what as we remarked, after the fashion of the 
 " Craims," at St. Giles's, Edinburgh, which 
 used to hold out so many attractions in our 
 youthful days. 
 
 At the altars, and in various parts of the 
 nave, several persons were kneeling in pri- 
 vate devotion, which, at a distance at least, had 
 a striking and solemn effect. Many of the con- 
 fessionals were ornamented with figures ; and 
 the carved work of the pulpit we particularly 
 admired on account of the beauty and richness 
 of the execution. 
 
 We next visited the church of St. James, 
 which contained the only picture of Kubens 
 allowed by the French to remain in any of the 
 public buildings of Antwerp. 
 
 The persons of this '^ Holy family," as it is 
 ' termed, consisting of the Virgin and child, Mary 
 i Magdalen, and another female Saint, together 
 with St. Jerome and St. George, are represented, 
 
 tas is well known, by the wives and daughters of 
 c 2 
 
28 CHURCH OF ST. JAMES's. 
 
 the painter, including also liis mistress, his 
 father and himself.* The picture is remark- 
 able for the brilliancy of its colouring, and was 
 considered by Sir Joshua Reynolds in this res- 
 pect equal to any other of the artist's works in 
 Antwerp. 
 
 The church itself is not a fine building, but 
 contains a great number of marble altars and mo- 
 numents. Among the statues there is one of 
 the patron saint, which is much admired. 
 
 Nothing can be more picturesque than the or- 
 namented gables of the houses in the Grand Place, 
 and other parts of the town, which certainly 
 appear to great advantage, when compared with 
 the style of architecture of more recent build- 
 ings. Their internal accommodation may not 
 perhaps be so convenient. AVe walked through 
 one of those old mansions, to look at a collection 
 of pictures on sale, which appeared dull and ill 
 lighted, on account of the great de23th of the 
 building, in proportion to its breadth. 
 * Rubens himself figures as St. George. 
 
THE DOCKS. 29 
 
 In the course of our circuity we crossed a 
 wooden bridge to a windmill, from which we 
 saw the point whence the town was bombarded. 
 No house seemed to have suffered so severely as 
 that of the Douanier ; the unpopularity of whose 
 profession, however, caused slight commisera- 
 tion to be manifested for the severe visitation 
 which he had experienced. 
 
 The great basins constructed by ISTapoleon, 
 in prosecution of his design to make Antwerp 
 the great arsenal in the north of his empire, 
 give an idea of the grand scale on which his 
 undertakings were planned. Immense blocks 
 of stone, brought from the quarries of Xamur, 
 lay on the quays, which have not, even now, I 
 believe, been thoroughly completed. In a com- 
 mercial point of view, however, these docks, in 
 the construction of which it is supposed that 
 the French have expended more than £2,000,000, 
 are still of great importance to the city. * 
 
 * In the Journal of Count de Las Cases, an account is 
 
30 THE CITADEL. 
 
 The citadel we found full of British troops, 
 and were conducted round the ramparts by an 
 Irish soldier, whose great object was to earn his 
 half-crown by mystifying his unwarlike ^'isito^s, 
 and extolling his own acts of bravery. 
 
 given of Buonaparte's vast schemes for the works proposed 
 to be executed at Antwerp, Flushing, and Terneuse. The 
 first, he intended to have fortified so strongly, as to render it 
 a point of attack by sea, and of national security by land, in 
 case of any disaster. The present town, he proposed, should 
 have been entirely commercial : on the opposite bank of the 
 river, facing the Tete de Flandres, he designed to have con- 
 structed a military arsenal, to be connected with the city by 
 flying bridges of a peculiar description. The basins were to 
 have been capable of containing three-decked ships. 
 
 At Flushing, the basin was to have been deepened, so as to 
 admit of vessels of 80 tons ; and to have been a winter station 
 for ships of the line. 
 
 The fortifications were to have been strengthened as much 
 as possible by additional works. 
 
 At Terneuse, about three leagues distance from the mouth 
 of the Scheldt, he proposed to have established an arsenal and 
 large basin, from which a fleet might have put to sea at any 
 season. 
 
CITADEL. 31 
 
 The environs of Antwerp were formerly cele- 
 brated for the number of fine trees with which 
 they were adorned -, but these had been cut 
 down when the defence of the place was en- 
 trusted to Carnot, in the winter of 1814. Ac- 
 cording to the military phrase, the country was 
 completely rasee. 
 
 Our guide was in the highest degree active 
 and obliging, and endeavoured to gain admission 
 for us to whatever could possibly be thought 
 worthy of observation. His anxiety respect- 
 ing the "Chapeau de paille" of E-ubens, in 
 particular, now in Sir Kobert Peel's gallery, 
 was extreme ; and we regretted that some un- 
 toward difficulty prevented us from seeing that 
 celebrated picture. 
 
 The heat of the weather, however, and the 
 variety of objects which were presented to us, 
 rendered our task of sight-seeing somewhat 
 severe. Willingly, therefore, did we accept of 
 our guide's earnest apologies for having failed 
 
32 CITADEL. 
 
 in his endeavours ; and lost no time in retiring 
 to the good fare and comfortable accommoda- 
 tions of the " Grand Laboureur/' — the " Laa- 
 borer," as it was called by a soldier of the 
 79th, whom Sir A\^alter met in his morning 
 ramble, * — certainly one of the best hotels we 
 met with on the continent. 
 
 We left Antwerp on the morning of the 7th 
 August, and stopped some little time at ISIechlin, 
 the fair, •[ as it is justly called. The Cathedral is 
 a fine building ; the tower remarkable for its 
 height, (though less, by one hundred feet, than 
 
 * See Memoirs of Major P. Gordon, vol. 2, p. 338. 
 
 f The tow-n of Flanders were anciently distinguished by 
 various epithets. Brussels was called the tiolle ; Bruges, the 
 ancient : Ghent, the great ; Antwerp, the wealthy ; Louvain, 
 the learned; Mechlin, the beautiful. In these also, were 
 Societies which used to vie with each other in the magnificence 
 with which they exhibited shows or dramatic pieces, on great 
 public occasions, as on the accession of Philip II., &c. 
 
 The society at Mechlin, was called the Peony ; at Louvain, 
 the Rose; at Brussels, the Marygold; at Antwerp, the Violet. 
 
MASS IN THE CATHEDRAL. 33 
 
 was originally intended), and still more for the 
 delicacy of the carving. 
 
 In this church, I for the first time heard 
 mass — a ceremony in which, as Scott observed, 
 when I was going to service, — " the officiating 
 clergyman might possibly, at first sight, appear 
 as if engaged in some nice process of cookery, 
 rather than in a devotional exercise." 
 
 We remarked several females here, as indeed 
 we had previously done at Antwerp, belonging 
 to the religious order of Les Sceurs de Charite, 
 attired in the black hoods and scarfs worn by 
 the Beguines, who in this city were at one 
 time very numerous. 
 
 The country near Mechlin is flat and rich, 
 the roads broad and well-kept, \\ath ditches and 
 rows of trees on each side. 
 
 The supply of agricultural produce was most 
 abundant. The " properans agitator aselli," 
 mentioned by Bishop Livin of Ghent, in his des- 
 cription of Flanders, who in his daily circuit 
 " Ruris delicias offert, cum lacte butyrum," 
 
 c 5 
 
34 CHATEAU DE LACKEN. 
 
 was frequently to be met with, and seemed to be 
 a no less popular and accommodating person than 
 in the days of that ancient prelate. 
 
 As harvest was begun, wc had an opportunity 
 of seeing the Flemish method of reaping corn, 
 with a short scythe in one hand, and a hooked 
 stick in the other, for the purpose of collecting 
 the grain. The process seemed expeditious, and 
 not so fatiguing as ours in Britain, chiefly from 
 the workmen not being obliged to stoop so 
 much during the operation. 
 
 We passed the Palace of Lacken, whence, it 
 may be remembered. Mere dated the proclama- 
 tions to the people of Brussels, found in the car 
 riage of Napoleon, which had been printed in 
 anticipation of his expected victory over the 
 Allies. 
 
 On a subsequent occasion, we visited this 
 fine chateau, and admired the taste displayed 
 by Josephine in the garden and furniture. The 
 tapestry was particularly fine. We arrived at 
 
CHATEAU DE LACKEN. 35 
 
 Brussels at an early hour, and took up our 
 abode at the Hotel de Flandres, in the Place 
 Koyale. 
 
CHAPTER V. 
 
 O quanto mepiace Bnisseles e questo sito. Giace in grembo 
 d' un piano al salve d' un coUe, e da quella parte, che si va 
 alzando, io feci la mia intrata : e non ho mai veduto scena piu 
 bella. II paese al intorno e amenissimo, e ora al mezzo agosto 
 ride la primavera nei prati. 
 
 Bentivoglio. 
 
 The praise bestowed by Bentivoglio on the 
 situation of Brussels, is not exaggerated ; and 
 the climate we also found no less agreeable than 
 he describes it to have been at the time of his 
 visit. 
 
 The city was in the utmost confusion and 
 bustle — troops, horses and waggons, constantly 
 moving about, and the place one vast hospital. 
 
ARRIVAL AT BRUSSELS. 37 
 
 On the day we arrived, we dined at the table 
 d' hote in the hotel, where we found ourselves 
 among persons of all nations. A young, fair- 
 haired German officer was present, who had 
 been sadly wounded in the face by two severe 
 sabre cuts, which had but recently healed. 
 These did not, however, give him any pain or 
 annoyance, for never was any one in better 
 spirits. I much regretted not being able to 
 understand his language, as he was evidently 
 describing, to an attentive circle, some of the 
 events of the glorious days. 
 
 In the evening we went to the theatre. The 
 story of the first piece represented, was unin- 
 teresting ; the acting, however, very respect- 
 able. We were much amused with an ancient 
 " tante amoureuse," who arrives at the capital 
 with her niece, on some law business. She is a 
 person of much dignity and pretended decorum, 
 and in conversing with her agent, said to him, 
 with infinite importance and gravity of deport- 
 ment, " Et vous, monsieur, s'il vous plait, vous 
 
38 THE THEATRE. 
 
 aurez la bonte de trouver pour ma niece 
 un procureur d' im age mur — et pour moi, 
 monsieur, un medecin — un jeune medecin — 
 vous comprenez, un jeune medecin." 
 
 The audience was the most curious and in- 
 teresting part of the spectacle, and consisted of 
 military men of different nations, and foreigners 
 of every description. Near us, in the parterre, 
 was a particularly fierce-looking man of war, 
 dressed in a dark green uniform, who probably 
 understood very little that was said, and cer- 
 tainly never condescended to smile, or appear the 
 least interested in any thing that was going on. 
 Scott set him down for a Bohemian — on what 
 grounds I do not exactly know, unless from the 
 great likelihood of his being a native of the 
 " desarts " spoken of by Antigonus, and " places 
 remote enough which are in Bohemia." 
 
 The day after our arrival, we went to see the 
 Hotel de Ville, remarkable for the beauty of 
 its architectural details, and its lofty and elegant 
 spire ; and thence proceeded to the cathedral, 
 
THE CATHEDRAL. 39 
 
 dedicated to the holy Vhgin St. Gudule,* a 
 venerable and massive structure, the west front 
 of which has been compared to that of Wells 
 Cathedral, although certainly of very inferior 
 merit, both in point of design and workman- 
 ship. 
 
 The pulpit is one of the finest specimens of 
 the well-known skill displayed by the Flemish 
 in the art of carving in wood. It is supported 
 by the figures of our first parents, whom the 
 angel has been commanded to expel from the 
 garden of Eden, to till the earth whence they 
 
 * The remains of St. Gudule were transferred to Brussels 
 from the \-illage of Montzell, by Charles, Duke of Lorraine. 
 The saint had been first interred at Ham, and a tree which 
 flourished near her grave followed her of its own accord to 
 Montzell, though not to Brussels, as might naturally have 
 been expected. The consecrated host was, in the 14th cen- 
 tury, stolen from this altar by certain Jews, who also wounded 
 it with their daggers. The host shed drops of blood. The 
 sacred emblem, however, was soon after recovered ; the sacri- 
 legious plunderers were detected, and burned to death, and the 
 miracle was for many years commemorated by magnificent cere- 
 monies. 
 
40 THE CATHEDRAL. 
 
 were taken. On tlie summit is the Vii'gin Mary, 
 who wounds with a spear the serpent, entwined 
 round the tree of knowledge, which is so phiced ' 
 as to form the back of the pulpit. Near Adam I 
 several animals and birds are introduced, as lions, j 
 eagles, &c., while Eve is attended by a group of [ 
 monkeys, peacocks, and paroquets. j 
 
 We then went to see the cannon taken at Wa- ; 
 terloo, amounting to 133 pieces. On these were 
 inscribed names, some of which certainly ap- 
 peared by no means applicable ; as for instance, I 
 " La celeste harmonic ; " another was named 
 " Voltaire ;" '' Lc Docteur," &c. 
 
 We were amused with the pertinacity with ' 
 which the prowess of the braves Beiges was held j 
 up at Brussels to the admiration of the world. I 
 Of their gallant Prince they certainly had every ! 
 reason to be proud ; and the Dutch troops, and ! 
 many of the Flemish regiments, shewed great ' 
 
 firmness and courage. Certain anecdotes, how- ' 
 
 I 
 I 
 ■| 
 ever, were current, which did not entirely war- { 
 
 rant the magnificent eulogiums chaunted forth j 
 
BELGIC WARRIORS. 41 
 
 by the ballad-siugers in every street, in which 
 scarcely any mention was made of the presence 
 of other combatants, as sharers in the honours 
 won by the native warriors.* This pardonable 
 vain-glory, however, did not at all interfere with 
 
 * I cannot resist mentioning here the description given by 
 Froissart of the braves Beiges of the fourteenth century. He is 
 speaking of the trainbands of Brussels, who attended the Duke 
 of Brabant to the battle of Basweiler, where he was defeated by 
 the Duke of Juliers. 
 
 " Autour du Due estoient sur les champs ses Brucellois, 
 montes les anciens a cheval, etleurs valets par derriere eux, qui 
 portoient flascons et bouteilles de vin, troussees a leurs selles; 
 et aussi parmi ce fourrage et pastes de saumons de truites et d'an- 
 guilles, envelopees de belles petites touailles, et ensognoient la 
 durement ces gens la place de leurs chevaux tant qu'on ne se 
 pouvoit aider de nul coste. Done dit Gerard de Bies au Due, 
 * Sire, commandez que la place soit vuide de ces chevaux. lis 
 nous empechent trop grandement : nous ne pouvons veoir au- 
 tour de nous, n' avoir la cognoissance de I'avant garde de vos- 
 tre Mareschal Messire Robert de Namur.' ' Je le veuil,' 
 dit le Due, et le comraanda. A done prit Gerard son glaive 
 entre ses mains, et aussi firent ses compagnons, et commencerent 
 a frapper sur les bacinets et sur les chevaux, et tantost la 
 place en fut delivrce, car nul ne vouloit volontiers veoir son 
 coursier navrer ni mehaigner." 
 
42 THE HOSPITALS. 
 
 the sincere respect and regard entertained by the 
 people for their allies. 
 
 The hospitals were filled with our gallant 
 countrymen^ the distress of many of whom 
 it was truly painful to witness. We passed 
 near the pallet of a young man, who was leaning 
 his head on his arm, evidently in great agony. 
 Another was reduced to a state of the greatest 
 debility, and seemed totally unconscious of what 
 was passing around him. V^^e had, however, 
 the comfort to believe that everything was done 
 to render the situation of the patients as com- 
 fortable as their sufferings would permit. 
 
 The citizens, both of Antwerp and Brussels, 
 had been uniformly kind and compassionate ; 
 and even when the worst anticipations were 
 abroad, never forgot their duties to their suffering 
 defenders. 
 
 Some English friends, whom we met with in 
 Brussels, had been resident during these days 
 of peril, and described with horror the appear- 
 ance of the waggon-loads of wounded men, who 
 
FRENCH PRISONERS. 43 
 
 were brought in rapid succession from the field. 
 But the doors of the inhabitants were invariably 
 opened with the utmost readiness, and all were 
 received M-ithout discrimination. 
 
 The enthusiasm of the French prisoners who 
 were brought into the town was unshaken, and 
 their ferocity unsubdued. They shouted " Vive 
 I'Empereur" at the point of death, and declared 
 they would do the whole work over again — that 
 Napoleon would be in the Chateau de Lac im- 
 mediately, and Brussels pillaged and burnt in a 
 few hours. 
 
 We listened with eagerness to the many anec- 
 dotes that were current respecting the events of 
 the campaign, and the illustrious commander 
 and his companions in arms. 
 
 Of these several were communicated by an 
 officer of rank then in Brussels, and are detailed 
 in Paul's eighth letter. 
 
CHxiPTER VI. I 
 
 i 
 
 Visit to Waterloo — Position occupied by Picton — Farm ot La , 
 
 Haye Sainte — Hougomoiit — French Position — La Belle i 
 
 Alliance — Relics — Appearance of the Field — Johnde Coster's | 
 Story — Wellington tree — Waterloo dinner at Melrose. 
 
 Jug. 9th. — We visited the field of Waterloo, 
 accompanied by Captain Campbell, aide-de-camp 
 to General Sir F. Adam, and Major Pryse Gor- 
 don, who then resided at Brussels. After a de- 
 lightful drive through the beech forest of Soigne, 
 we breakfasted in the Inn which had been the 
 head-quarters of Wellington, on the 17th of 
 June. 
 
POSITION OCCUriED BY PICTON. 45 
 
 Thence we proceeded to Mount St. Jean, 
 where we left our carriages. Scott was accom- 
 modated with a pony, and we were first con- 
 ducted by our friends to the left of the British 
 position, along the straggling hedge, which ex- 
 tends from the Charleroi road, near Mount vSt. 
 Jean, towards the hamlet of Papelotte ; and ex- 
 amined the ground which had been occupied by 
 the troops of Sir Thomas Picton, Sir Dennis 
 Packe, and Sir James Kempt. 
 
 Thence we crossed by the farm of La Haye 
 Sainte towards the right of our position, where 
 the brigade to which one of our companions 
 was attached, had been stationed during the 
 action ; and thence descended to Hougomont. 
 
 After spending some time in the wood and 
 garden of that most important and severely con- 
 tested post, we walked along the French line 
 towards La Belle Alliance, where we rested, and 
 engaged Jean de Coster to attend us. 
 
 When in the farm-house, or Hotel, as it was 
 now called, several weapons and ornaments, as 
 
46 FARM OF LA HAYE SAINTE. 
 
 pistols, eagles, &c., belonging to the French sol- 
 diery, were brought to us for sale, and also a 
 few cuirasses of coarse manufacture, one of 
 which was perforated by a bidlet. It was the 
 back part of the armour ; and from the edges of 
 'the hole being turned outwards, it appeared that 
 the shot must have penetrated the body of the 
 unfortunate wearer. It is now at Abbots- 
 ford. 
 
 The extraordinary love of relics shewn by the 
 English was a subject of no less satisfaction to 
 the cottagers who dwelt near the field, than of 
 ridicule to our military friends. One enthusiast 
 had carried oflf a brick, another one of the doors 
 of the house. Our own party did not pass over 
 the field without following the example of our 
 countrymen ; each of us, I believe, making his 
 own little collection of curiosities. The ground 
 was strewed so completely with shreds of cart- 
 ridge paper, pieces of leather, and hats, letters, 
 songs, memorandum books, &c., as to resemble. 
 
HorGOMo:NT. 47 
 
 in a great measure, the place where some vast 
 fair had been held, and where several parties of 
 gypsies had lighted fires at intervals, to cook 
 their victuals. Several of these we picked up, 
 as we walked along; and I still have in my re- 
 positories, a letter evidently drenched with rain, 
 dated April 3rd., which, from the portion still 
 legible, must have been sent from Yorkshire ; 
 and also a leaf of a jest book, entitled " The Care 
 KiUer." 
 
 At Hougomont I purchased a bullet of grape 
 shot, with which the wood in front of it had 
 been furiously assailed, as was evinced by the 
 marks visible on every tree. 
 
 The time which had elapsed since the date of 
 
 * On this are recorded an interview between a staunch veteran 
 and a manufacturer of Glasgow, and the exploits of some re- 
 doubted Fluellen, who insists on having " a suflBcient store of 
 leeks to put in hur Monmouth cap on St. Taffie's day, in me- 
 mories and honours of her prafe Taffie, who in ploody pattle in 
 Bangor, stick leek in hur cap, and cry — ' Follow, prafe boys, 
 and kill hur enemies.' " 
 
48 HOUGOMONT. 
 
 the action had taken from the scene that degree 
 of horror which it had recently presented ; but 
 the vast number of little hillocks, which were 
 scattered about in all directions, — in some places 
 mounds of greater extent, especially near the 
 chaussee above La Haye Sainte, and above all 
 the desolate appearance of Hougomont, where 
 too the smell of the charnel house tainted the air 
 to a sickening degree, gave sufficient tokens of 
 the fearful storm which had swept over this now 
 tranquil rural district. 
 
 De Coster then accompanied us to the places 
 which he described as having been the principal 
 stations of Napoleon during the day : and when 
 in the ravine, formed by the causeway between 
 La Belle Alliance and La Haye Sainte, w^hich 
 he pointed out as the spot from which he gave 
 orders for the last charge of the Imperial Guard, 
 related to us his well known history of the 
 events of the day, and the demeanour of the Em- 
 peror.* 
 
 * It occasioned at first no small degree of disappointment to 
 
 J 
 
JOHN DE coster's STORY. 49 
 
 "While listening to these details of the battle. 
 Sir "Walter remained seated on his pony near 
 
 discover from the statements which were published by Major 
 Piyse Gordon, and others, respecting this De Coster, that a 
 narrative, which at the time appeared curious and interesting, 
 should have been given on authority so little worthy of consi- 
 deration. The anecdotes of our guide might no doubt be in 
 some respects actually correct, for he was " a sagacious Wal- 
 loon," and likely to pickup the most probable intelligence ; or 
 hke the ballad of Autolj^cus, they might be " very true," cer- 
 tainly, "but a month old." At all events we must now be con- 
 tent to receive them on no better evidence than that of a per- 
 son who was " in a hiding place ten miles off, with a black- 
 smith, during the whole day." — Pryse Gordon's Mem. p. 325, 
 vol. ii. 
 
 The Fleming's stoiy was got up with much plausibility. He 
 bore testimony to the coolness displayed by Napoleon — he des- 
 cribed his manner. 
 
 " II prenoit de tabac toujours toujours, " said he; 
 " comme 9a," imitating the action ; — " et il m'en donnoit aussi. 
 II regardoit fixement la bataille:" and frequently consulted 
 his watch. 
 
 WTien from his station on the height near La Belle Alliance, 
 he first discovered the Prussians, he hastened, as our guide in- 
 I formed us, to the place where we were then standing, and re- 
 mained there until the fatal moment when he was assured of 
 the ruin of his army, and exclaimed to Bertrand, "A present 
 
 D 
 
50 scott's impressions. 
 
 the peasant, to whom, as well as to our other con- 
 ductors, he put many questions, with keen anxi- 
 ety. He then rode off by himself from the rest 
 of the party, and remained a long time gazing 
 on the field with an expression of deep atten- 
 tion. 
 
 How strong was the impression which this re- 
 markable scene produced in his mind, is proved 
 by the language in which he has himself 
 recorded the feelings with which he contem- 
 plated it. 
 
 "To recollect," says he, '^ that within a short 
 month, the man who had so long held the high- 
 est place in Europe, stood on the ground which I 
 now occupied — that right opposite was placed the 
 commander, whom the event of the day hailed 
 'Vainqueur du vainqueur de la terre,'« — that 
 
 c'est fini — Sauvons ncus." ** When he saw," said De Coster, 
 " that the guards were retreating in disorder, horse and foot, in 
 one mass of confusion, "ildevenoit pale comme un mort," and 
 said to his attendants, looking down and shaking his head, ' lis 
 sont meles ensemble.' " 
 
 J 
 
APPEARANCE OF THE FIELD. 51 
 
 the landscape, now solitary and peaceful around 
 me, presented so lately a scene of such horrid 
 magnificence- -to recollect all this, oppressed me 
 with sensations which it is impossible to des- 
 cribe." 
 
 "We then proceeded to the farm of La Haye 
 Sainte, and took our last view of the field from 
 the celebrated tree, near which the Duke had so 
 long been stationed with his attendants, and 
 which had been so repeatedly struck by the 
 enemy's artillery. 
 
 In concluding these notices of our visit to the 
 field, I cannot help mentioning one or two ob- 
 servations made by Sir Walter Scott many years 
 ■xftev, when presiding at a public dinner, which 
 for a considerable period was held annually at 
 ^ilelrose, in commemoration of the battle of Wa- 
 terloo. 
 
 In alluding to the Duke of Wellington and 
 his former services, particularly in the Peninsula, 
 he observed : — 
 
 " That in vain had the bravest and most 
 
 -n 9 
 
52 WATERLOO DINNER \ 
 
 i 
 
 experienced officers of France endeavoured j 
 
 to oppose the advance of the British and their ^ 
 
 gallant commander. ^Marshal after marshal had j 
 
 been driven from the field, and now the time \ 
 
 had arrived, when their redoubted chief himself ; 
 
 i 
 
 was compelled to acknowledge him as his supe- 
 rior." i 
 
 "When referring to the action itself, his words, j 
 as nearly as I can remember, were the follow- 
 ing :— i 
 
 " Never was a battle more remarkable, both [ 
 for the importance of its results, and for the . 
 fame and valour of the combatants. Never was 
 the honor of the British name more bravely as- , 
 serted, or the efforts of her arms crowned with j 
 a more glorious recompense. In speaking of | 
 this great contest we may justly say, in the lan- 
 guage of Shakspeare — 
 
 "Oh I such a day — 
 So fought, so followed, and so fairly won — 
 Ne'er came till now to dignify the times, 
 Since Csesar's fortunes." 
 
AT MELROSE. 53 
 
 In the evening we partook of the hospitality 
 of Major Pryse Gordon, and set off the day 
 after to Mons. 
 
CHAPTEH VIII. 
 
 " As plies the smith his clanging trade, 
 Against the cuirass rang the blade." 
 
 Field of Waterloo. 
 
 Mens — New Fortifications — Wellington's first proclamation to 
 the French — Routes of the armies — Soldier of the Rifles — 
 Enter France at Quiverain — Valenciennes — Sign of the inn 
 — Garrison of Condc — French peasant. 
 
 As Mons is situated on one of the great 
 chaussees, by which Napoleon might have 
 chosen to advance against the alHes, and 
 is the fortress next the frontier of France, 
 the defences were repaired and materially 
 strengthened during spring,* the chaussee it 
 
 * The fortresses of Ath, Ypres, and Tournay, were also 
 put into a more efficient state of defence. 
 
NE^V FORTIFI CATIONS. 55 
 
 self cut, and intrencliments and field works con- 
 structed in the neighbourhood.* 
 
 * It is remarkable that the Duke of Wellington's first pro- 
 clamation to the French people is dated from ]Malplaquet, near 
 Mons, June 21st — where, in 1709, the Duke of Marlborough 
 and Prince Eugene, after a bloody contest, defeated Marshal 
 YiUars. 
 
 To some persons it may be a matter of curiosity to compare 
 the three lines by which the French, Prussian, and British ar- 
 mies approached to Paris — they were the following : — 
 
 French Army. 
 
 The French retreated from Waterloo by the Charleroi road. 
 At the point where the road divides into two branches, some of 
 the fugitives retreated to Philippeville, others to Avesnes. At 
 Noyers, Soult collected a few thousand men, without arrjis or 
 baggage, with whom he retreated to Laon. 
 
 Grouchy and Vandamme, who commanded at Wavre, re- 
 treated to Namur, pursued by Thielman. The rearguard w-as 
 entrusted to Yandamme, and Grouchy resumed his retreat. 
 These two generals reached Rocroi and Laon with about 20,000 
 men. Thence they proceeded to Soissons. 
 
 Prussian Army. 
 
 Blucher crossed the Sambre on the 19th June, and entered 
 France at Beaumont. On the 20th he was at Avesnes, and ad- 
 vanced to Laon. Thence he advanced towards Senlis, and on the 
 
56 NEW FORTIFICATION'S. 
 
 These fortifications had been planned by an 
 officer of the engineers, with whom I was well 
 
 28th occupied Villars Coterets, La Ferte-Milon, and Crespy. 
 The Prussian army was now between the French and Paris, and 
 Grouchy and Soult attempted to break through the line by an 
 attack on their centre, at Villars Coterets. Having failed in 
 this, they made another attempt on the left of their opponents, 
 and after a contest with Bulow, succeeded in effecting a passage 
 across the jNIarne, and reached Paris by the INIeaux chaussee. 
 
 Blucher having on the 30th taken the village of AubrevUliers, 
 crossed the Seine at St. Germain. He advanced to Meudon 
 and St. Cloud, and after a contest the Prussian army was es- 
 tablished at these iioints, with the reserve at Versailles. 
 
 Excelmans attacked and succeeded in gaining possession of 
 Versailles, but was almost immediately obliged to relinquish the 
 post to the superior force of the Prussians, who advanced to 
 the village of Issy. The French, whose head quarters were at 
 the Barricre d' Enfer, attacked the Prussians at Issy on the 
 morning of the 3rd July, and were repulsed with loss. 
 
 British Army. 
 The British troops advanced, after a halt of two days, and 
 entered the French territory at Bavay, on the 20th of June. 
 The Duke's first proclamation is dated at Malplaquet, June 
 21st. On the 22nd his head quarters were at Cateau ; on the 
 25th at Foucourt; on the 28th at Orville. Sir Charles Col- 
 AiUe took Cambray on the 24th, and General Maitland entered 
 Peronne on the 26th. 
 
 i 
 
SOLDIER OF THE RIFLES. 57 
 
 acquainted, and were the first military works 
 which he had executed for the Duke. He after- 
 wards assured me that he never felt more anxiety 
 than on the morning appointed by his celebrated 
 General for the inspection of his operations. 
 After an attentive examination of the lines, 
 during which little was said, it was no small re- 
 lief to him to receive the brief but decided sen- 
 tence of approval, on which so much depended. 
 While w^alking about the street, we met a pri- 
 vate of the 95th, or rifle corps, who had been 
 
 servant to Major M . The regiment carries 
 
 its ammunition in a sort of leather purse, which 
 is strapped round the waist. This he took off, 
 and showed us the marks of two shots which for- 
 tunately had struck him on this strong belt. The 
 noise of the combat between the cuirassiers and 
 
 On the 29th and 30 the army crossed the Oise, and head- 
 quarters were at Louvres ; on July 1st at Rochebourg, and the 
 Bois de Bondy. On July 2nd and 4th, the head-quarters were 
 at Gonesse. On July Gth, the allies occupied the barriers of 
 Paris. 
 
 d5 
 
58 ENTER FRANCE. 
 
 dragoons he compared to a number of tinkers 
 " a-mending their pots and kettles." 
 
 On the 1 1 th we left Mens at an early hour, 
 entered the French territory at Quiverain, and 
 breakfasted at Valenciennes.* This fortress had 
 very recently been surrendered to the allies, but 
 not to the Bourbons, and some doubts were en- 
 tertained if we should be allowed to pass through 
 the town. For these aj^prehensions, however, 
 we were glad to find that there was no foundation, 
 nor indeed was the examination of our passports 
 at all more severe than elsewhere. 
 
 The sign of the inn where we stopped was ''la 
 Couronne RoijalcP which latter word had evi- 
 dently been of very recent insertion. The space 
 on the board was quite sufficient to contain the 
 word Imperiale. 
 
 Between Valenciennes and Peronne, we met 
 the disbanded garrison of Conde, who, as Sir 
 
 * The Governor of Valenciennes was General Rey, who 
 commanded at St. Sebastian's, when it was taken by Sir 
 Thomas Graham. 
 
THE COXDE GARRISON, 59 
 
 W. Scott says, certainly bore much resemblance 
 to that class of persons who would have little 
 scruple in saying " Stand to a true man." A 
 more dissolute and ferocious-looking . band of 
 ruffians I never beheld than this specimen of 
 the troops of Napoleon. The sort of leader 
 of the party was a tall man^ dressed in his regi- 
 mental trowsers, with his jacket and a bundle 
 suspended on a bludgeon, which he carried over 
 his shoulders — graced, too, with a mihtary stock, 
 and a large shako. When we passed the troop, this 
 worthy advanced a step or two, and called out 
 ^' Vive le Roi," very loud, and growling out his 
 additional " sacre," in a low but emphatic manner. 
 We were rather surprised to see this senti- 
 mental traveller embracing a brother cam- 
 paigner in the French style — bestowing a salute 
 on each cheek at parting with him, and other 
 companions of equal merit, at a point where the 
 road separates into two different routes. 
 
 Shortly after, a peasant came up to the car- 
 riage in great distress, whose patois and violence 
 
60 FRENCH PEASATsT. 
 
 of manner made it difficult to discover what he 
 wished us to do for him. At length, however, 
 by the aid of the postilion, we discovered that 
 his horses had been taken by an English officer 
 for the purpose of transporting part of the bag- 
 gage. We helped him on his journey for a 
 short distance, and were glad to learn, as he 
 suddenly parted from us, and struck across the 
 country, that some discovery had been made 
 which was likely to lead to the recovery of his 
 property. 
 
CHAPTER IX. 
 
 " In vengeance roused, the soldier fills his hand 
 With fire and sword, and ravages the land." 
 
 Addisox, 
 
 Peronne — State of the country — Discontent of the people — A 
 Frenchman and two soldiers of the Allies — Roye — Account 
 of Princess P. Borghese, given by the landlady — Walk on 
 the ramparts — Drums and bugles of the English regiments 
 — Singular figures in the market. 
 
 Peronne, '• la pucelle," finely situated on the 
 Somme, had surrendered to Major-general Mait- 
 land on the 26th of June, and when we passed 
 on the 17th of August was full of Belgian troops. 
 
 The people complained sadly of the requisi- 
 tions, and declared that the country could not 
 supply the demands on it a month longer. 
 
62 STATE OF THE COUNTRY. 
 
 The neighbourhood of Peronne, is well- 
 wooded and highly cultivated, though without 
 hedges or enclosures of any kind, which, to an 
 English eye, gives a character of bareness to the 
 general appearance of the landscape. The plan- 
 tations, although large and numerous, consist of 
 unbroken masses, and their effect in clothing 
 and beautifying the country is less than would 
 be produced by a smaller number of trees dis- 
 persed over it at intervals, in groves and hedge- 
 rows. 
 
 That we were now travelling through a land 
 which had been recently visited with the cala- 
 mities of war, was proved by a variety of indica- 
 tions, which could not be mistaken. 
 
 Many of the houses were either ruined or 
 deserted. Every one wore a grave and melan- 
 choly aspect. The lightness and elasticity of 
 the French character seemed entirely gone ; and 
 from the abrupt answers we occasionally received, 
 we considered it advisable to pass on our way 
 
disco:ntent of the people. G3 
 
 with as little interruption or conversation as 
 possible. 
 
 AVhen changing horses at a solitary post-house 
 near Cambray, I ventured to put some query to 
 a man standing near the door, respecting the 
 postilion, and had addressed him with the 
 words ^' Mon ami." I was favoured with no 
 verbal answer, and he merely pointed to the 
 court-yard, where some stable-men were assem- 
 bled. As I passed on I heard him say, '^ II m' 
 appelle mon ami,^^ — an epithet plainly the very 
 last he had any wish to apply in return. 
 
 Sometimes the spleen and vexation of the 
 people appeared in sufficiently ridiculous points 
 of view. In passing a small town we observed 
 an old Frenchman, seated on the step before his 
 
 I house door, as near the edge as possible, with his 
 pipe in his mouth, and the most discontented vi- 
 sage imaginable — presenting the extreme corner 
 of his shoulder to a couple of soldiers, one Hano- 
 verian, and the other Dutch, who were talking 
 
 I away in great glee, and had, I conclude, been 
 
64 ROYE. 
 
 introduced by the quarter- master as visiters to 
 their unwilling entertainer. A draughtsman 
 could not have resisted so favourable an oppor- 
 tunity of adding a sketch to his portfolio. 
 
 Our landlady at Roye may be instanced as an 
 exception to these remarks, and was indeed 
 almost the only gay, light-hearted French- 
 woman we had seen. 
 
 There was, probably, some feeling in favour 
 of the Bourbons in this part of the country, 
 which had mitigated the severity of the in- 
 vaders, as neither here nor in the neighbour- 
 hood did the inhabitants complain of the treat- 
 ment they had received so much as in many 
 other places. Our hostess informed us that the 
 Princess Pauline Borghese had been some time 
 resident at Roye ; and described her Highness 
 as being " une bonne piece de cabinet," a style 
 of speaking which certainly did not evince 
 much respect for the members of the Napoleon 
 dynasty. At Cambray also, which Louis XVIII 
 had entered on the 26th of June, after a slight 
 
WALK ON THE RAMPARTS. 65 
 
 resistance to the troops of Sir Charles Colville^ 
 he was well received by the inhabitants. Tri- 
 umphal arches were erected in the streets, and 
 from Cateau Cambresis, where the King re- 
 mained until the gates were opened for him, he 
 was accompanied to the town by a number of 
 the citizens, who went out to pay him homage. 
 
 The fortress of Roye is surrounded by a large 
 ditch, and very high walls, quite in the old style 
 of military architecture. In the evening we 
 walked round the ramparts, from which there is a 
 fine view of the surrounding country, and met 
 with several officers of the Buffs, who were quar- 
 tered in the town, and had just arrived from 
 America, too late, as some of them expressed to 
 us with regret, for the battle of Waterloo. 
 
 It is difficult to describe the singular feeling 
 produced by our finding ourselves surrounded 
 by English troops, in the centre of Picardy, and 
 to hear, when seated at supper, the orders for 
 the night sounded by the drums and bugles of 
 
66 SINGULAU FIGrRES 
 
 There was a considerable market iu the Place 
 next day, where we were amused with the 
 strange mixture of dresses of the motley groups 
 present. 
 
 We had become pretty well used to the sin- 
 gular cops, dressing-gowns, and jackets ex- 
 hibited in the various towns through which we 
 had passed — coats of a flishion that had been in 
 vogue fifty years ago, and of colours which we 
 had not been at all accustomed to. This morn- 
 ing, however, an old little gentleman came 
 forth more remarkably attired than usual. 
 His antique, single-breasted coat was of a pale 
 colour, and the buckles of his slices of an im- 
 mense size ; a long cane was in his hand, and 
 on his head a cocked hat, of such vast dimen- 
 sions, as at once to strike our attention, as form- 
 ing the principal feature in the outline. Scott 
 declared that the owner had evidently been 
 brought into the world for the very purpose of 
 wearing this identical cocked hat, and no doubt 
 the great additional importance which his spare 
 
IN THE MARKET. 67 
 
 and insignificant figure received from tliis mag- 
 nificent appendage, went far to justify the re- 
 mark. 
 
 It was, I think, in the course of this day, that 
 Sir Walter looked over some ballads which 
 had been found on the field of "Waterloo, and 
 presented to him by Mrs. Pryse Gordon. — 
 " I'll translate one/' said he, ^^pour m' amu- 
 ser." 
 
 These verses, it was afterwards discovered, 
 were composed by the Duchesse de St Leu. 
 
 * See Paul's Letters. — Let. ix. 
 
 * 
 
CHAPTER X. 
 
 A Regiment of English Dragoons — Marks of Devastation on 
 the Prussian line of March — Complaints of the Peojile not 
 confined to the Allied troops — Pont St. Maxence — Battle 
 near Senlis — Take a cross-road to Chantilly — Bad State of 
 the Road — Stables of Chantilly full of Prussians — " L' 
 aimable Prussien" — Caricatures of the English — Park of 
 Chantilly. 
 
 0-N the 13th of August, we travelled for a 
 short time in company with a detachment of the 
 3rd dragoon guards, with some of whom we 
 conversed in passing. We were amused with 
 " a good bluff quarter-master,"* who, as Sir 
 Walter observes, " complained of the discom- 
 forts his regiment had experienced, omng to 
 
 * Paul's Letters, Let. 11th. 
 
MARKS OF DEVASTATION. 69 
 
 the miserable condition to wliicli the country 
 had been reduced by the Prussians." 
 
 It was clear :j:oni the tone of his expressions, 
 that his complaint ^Yas directed against his pre- 
 decessors, not so much for having indulged in 
 plundering the French, as for having left nothing 
 to thek faithful allies, who were to follow. 
 " Pillaged everything, sir, in the most shameful 
 manner — nothing left for W5." 
 
 The line of march of the Prussians was dis- 
 tinctly marked by the devastation they had com- 
 mitted. Many of the houses were shut up, 
 and others either burned or pillaged. The 
 country was indeed almost entirely deserted 
 by the inhabitants, and only a few "pauvres 
 miserables" were to be met with. 
 
 The tone in which the single expression 
 *^ Les Prussiens," was uttered, explained the 
 whole in the most emphatic manner. 
 
 The distress necessarily occasioned by the 
 passage of troops, even although conducted 
 with the careful discipline of the English regi- 
 
70 COMPLAINTS OF THE PEOPLE. 
 
 ments, was apparent on every side. In one 
 field a few straggling horses were to be seen, 
 enjoying themselves among the standing grain. 
 Elsewhere, a cart laden with corn was pro- 
 ceeding to head quarters under a military escort ; 
 or some unfortunate peasants were engaged in 
 executing the orders issued by their own autho- 
 rities for a requisition. 
 
 The complaints of the people, however, were 
 by no means confined to the proceedings of the 
 allied troops. AVe had, indeed, every reason to 
 behevc that the exactions of the French soldiery 
 had been fully as severe as those of their ene- 
 mies — if not more so. 
 
 At Pont St. Maxence, we observed many 
 traces of a recent conflict, which had taken place 
 between the French and the Prussians : one of 
 the arches of the bridge over the Oise itself had 
 been destroyed, in order to arrest the progress 
 of the enemy, and was replaced by a few 
 planks. The country in the neighbourhood is 
 very beautiful, and as we were afterwards in- 
 
ST. MAXEKCE. 71 
 
 formed by an officer, so strong in a military point 
 of view, that it was supposed likely to have been 
 selected as a point where some serious cpposi- 
 tion would have been made to the advance of the 
 allies. 
 
 We were advised by oar postilions at St, 
 Maxence, to diverge from the -usual route to 
 Paris, by Senlis, which, they informed us, had 
 suffered severely, in consequence of an action 
 between the troops of Blucher and Grouchy ; and 
 as we had always found these persons alert and 
 civil, we had no scruple in agreeing to their pro- 
 posal of taking a cross road to Cliantilly. 
 
 This " beau chemin par terre," however, 
 which lay through a great forest near the town, 
 became at length so abomiaables owing, as we 
 understood, to the number of cavalry and bag- 
 gage waggons which had recently passed in this 
 direction, that we very soon came to a halt, and 
 were obliged to jump out of our caleche, and give 
 aid in lifting it out of the mud, into which the 
 forcwhecl had sunk to the axle-tree. 
 
72 JOITRNEY TO CHANTILLY. 
 
 We were in the midst of one of the long nar- 
 row ridings which intersect the wood in various 
 directions ; and began to think our prospects for 
 the night rather indifferent. One or two soli- 
 tary figures were also to be seen crossing the road 
 here and there at a distance, and we were not 
 without suspicions that a plan might have been 
 laid to procure from us some little indemni- 
 fication for the damage so recently inflicted on 
 the district, by our countrymen and their 
 friends. 
 
 The postihons, however, continued to kick fu- 
 riously with their jack boots, crack their whips, 
 and jabber to their horses ; and notwithstanding 
 the ominous creaks of the wheels and springs, 
 and the pitching motion of the carriage over our 
 turf road, we arrived in safety at the Hotel de 
 Bourbon Conde. 
 
 We had eventually no reason to regret hav- 
 ing followed the advice of our guides. Our 
 quarters at Chantilly we found extremely com- 
 fortable, and we spent an agreeable evening in 
 
l'aimable prussien. 73 
 
 wandering about the park and the remains of the 
 palace, which had escaped from the fury of the 
 Revolutionists. I well recollect the expressive 
 shrugs of the Frenchman, described by Sir W. 
 Scott,* who accompanied us to the stables and 
 chateau, as we passed a number of Prussian 
 soldiers, who were lounging about, and taking 
 every opportunity to shew their contempt for the 
 country and its inhabitants. It evidently seemed 
 to afford the old man no small comfort to meet 
 with some one to whom he might give vent to 
 his indignation at the domineering insolence of 
 these northern " Barbares." 
 
 Among the sketches of " Les Troupes Stran- 
 gers," then common in Paris, none was more 
 popular than ^'L'aimable Prussien," by Pi- 
 nart. 
 
 The sanguine expression of countenance of the 
 youth who is paying his devoirs to the Elegante 
 of the Boulevards, the waist compressed to the 
 utmost degree of tightness, (whence the appella- 
 
 * Paul's Letters, Letter XI. 
 
 E 
 
74 THE ENGLISH. 
 
 tion of ^' Vespes/' so willingly bestowed by the 
 Parisians, his florid complexion, and huge light- 
 coloured mustachios, are pourtrayed with much 
 spirit and accuracy, and could not fail at once to 
 remind us of the heroes we saw at Chantilly. 
 
 I may add that it impossible to conceive a 
 greater contrast from the above, than the figures 
 of the English officers, which abounded in the 
 print shops. Here there was no military 
 swagger or foppishness — on the contrary, our 
 countrymen, as represented by the artists of 
 Paris, were the most gauche and awkward cubs 
 imaginable. Above all there was no tightness of 
 waist ; especial care was taken that perfect room 
 " and verge enough," should be allowed for that 
 amplitude of person which was supposed to 
 characterize the English soldier ; a small conical 
 shaped cap also was perched on the head of the 
 warrior, and his pantaloons were invariably put 
 on in the most slovenly manner possible. 
 
 Our Inn at Chantilly* was already a favorite 
 * The forest of Chantilly contains above 7,000 acres. From 
 
FRENCH INNS. 75 
 
 resort of tlie British, as appeared from the cards 
 of the house, which were printed in English as 
 well as French. This we found a common prac- 
 tice in Paris, as will appear from some singular 
 attempts at translation which were afterwards 
 presented to our notice. 
 
 We took care to secure our rooms against the 
 intrusion of our frolicksome northern friends, and 
 proceeded next day to the capital. 
 
 an open space in its centre, called " La table ronde," twelve 
 roads diverge in several directions to the circumference. The 
 park at Oakley in Gloucestershire, Mr. Dallaway observes, 
 was planted by Allen Lord Bathurst, in imitation of Chantilly. 
 
 E 2 
 
CHAPTER XI. 
 
 Je crois voir a la fois Athenes et Sybaris 
 Transportes dans le murs embellis par la Seine, 
 Un peuple aimable et vain, que son plaisir entraine, 
 Inipetueux, leger, et surtout inconstant, 
 Qui vole au moindre bruit, et qui tourne a tout vent : 
 y juge les guerriers, les ministres et les Princes, 
 Rit des calamites dont pleurent les provinces." 
 
 Voltaire. 
 
 Intrenchments at Montmartre — St. Denis — First view of Paris ^ 
 — Hotel de Bourbon — Visit to the Louvre — Place Vendome i 
 — Thuileries — Triumphal arch of the Carousel — Mortifica- ^ 
 tion of the French — Hall of Sculpture — Effect of first view ,, 
 — Salles des Fleuves — Picture gallery — Transfiguration — 1 
 
MONTMARTRE. 77 
 
 Restorations of the French Artists — Very's — Opera Co- 
 mique — Jean de Paris — Palais Royal — La Deesse des Mille 
 Colonnes. 
 
 When the French Chambers resolved towards 
 the end of June to attempt the defence of Paris, 
 rhe inhabitants exerted themselves with the ut- 
 most zeal and alacrity in fortifying the heights 
 of Montmartre. 
 
 These works, which they fondly imagined to 
 the very last would be sufficient to repel any 
 attack on the city, were now become one of the 
 principal strongholds of their enemies; and when 
 we passed, were occupied by a large encampment 
 jf English troops. 
 
 Through the tents we had a view of the domes 
 of St. Genevieve and the Invalides ; and when 
 we reached the crest of the hill, the coup-d'oeil 
 of the city which opened upon us was truly mag- 
 nificent. 
 
 On our arrival at the Hotel de Bourbon,^ * in 
 
 * On the card of the Hotel, alongside the French advertise- 
 
I 
 
 78 HOTEL DE BOURBON. 
 
 the E-ue de la Paix^ formerly la Eue de I'Em- 
 pereur, we met a friend who had been a short 
 time resident in Paris, and who advised us to 
 lose no time in paying a visit to the Gallery of 
 
 ment, was printed the following singular translation for the 
 
 behoof of English visitors : — 4 
 
 " Great Hotel of Bourbon, "^ 
 
 "Furnished ^ 
 
 I 
 
 " Peace's Street, No. 22. S 
 
 I 
 
 •'That Hotel, in a v\holesome air, offers great and little ap- 1| 
 
 partements, quite complets, and lays near the Boulevards, * 
 
 in the middle of the public \'\'alks, affairs and playhouses. ':: 
 
 "To be found also there great yard, stables, and coach- ■ 
 
 house." ! 
 
 I may add the circular of M. Delaistre, restaurateur, who ■■ 
 
 had an establishment at no great distance in the Rue de '■/. 
 
 Rivoli. f 
 
 J? 
 
 He " Informs the public that several changings having ; 
 
 been made on his establishment, he is able to receive particular ; 
 
 societies, and furnish repasts to bodies of officiers ; he also ' 
 
 serves for so much a disch, or so much a head." sk 
 
THE LOUVRE. 79 
 
 the Louvre. The Prussian government, as he 
 informed us, had already begun to carry into 
 effect the stipulations which had been made for 
 the restitution of their works of art ; and it was 
 believed that Holland and Belgium would also 
 before long succeed in making good their claims 
 for the valuable share of plunder to which they 
 were entitled. 
 
 Canova, too, was in Paris; and it was supposed 
 that the evasive answers of the French govern- 
 ment would not long prove of much avail in 
 preventing the restoration of the principal gems 
 of the jNIuseum to Austria, and the States of the 
 Church. 
 
 Before this odious "paying back" com- 
 menced, therefore, we made all haste to 
 visit these treasures, and proceeded imme- 
 diately to the Louvre. 
 
 On our way to the gallery, we passed through 
 the Place Vendome, and the garden of the 
 Thuileries, to the Place Carousel; I need, 
 therefore^ hardly say that our impression of the 
 
80 TRIUMPHAL ARCH ON THE CAROUSEL. 
 
 beauty and magnificence of Paris was in the 
 highest degree favourable. The spaciousness 
 of the streets, and the intermixture of pleasure- 
 ground and trees with the stately buildings of 
 the palace, give to this quarter of the capital an 
 air both of cheerfulness and grandeur, of which, 
 perhaps, no other city presents so striking an 
 example. 
 
 In passing the triumphal arch, in the Place 
 Carousel, we observed that measures had already 
 been taken by the Allies to remove the records 
 of the triumphs of the French in Germany, 
 over their less fortunate predecessors. On 
 the arch were several bas-reliefs, in which 
 were represented the battle of Austerlitz, and 
 the meeting of the Emperor of Austria with 
 the French General after that fatal defeat, at 
 a mill near the village of Nasedlowitz, — a most 
 mortifying subject, and by no means softened in 
 the design of the artist; also the capitulation of 
 Ulm, and other events no less galling to the 
 feelings of the Austrians. These were to be 
 replaced by plain slabs of marble — a proceeding 
 
 1 
 
 I 
 
HALLS OF SCULPTURE. 81 
 
 which, from the conspicuous situation of the 
 building, and the publicity of the preparations 
 necessary for the exchange, must have been 
 peculiarly mortifying to the Parisians.* 
 
 The removal of the Venetian horses from 
 the summit of the arch, which took place about a 
 month afterwards, produced, perhaps, a stronger 
 feeling of humihation than any single act of 
 retributive justice on the part of the conquerors. 
 
 We first visited the Halls of Sculpture, where 
 we observed few symptoms of preparation for 
 the removal of the statues. 
 
 * The following description of those sculptures is taken from 
 an article in the Rhenish Mercury, in which retaliation is 
 sternly demanded for the injuries inflicted by the French on 
 the States of Germany. 
 
 " On one side appears the Emperor Francis, imploring 
 peace from the proud conqueror. The Emperor is yet stand- 
 ing; but the bent knees behind him, and the hands of his 
 attendants raised in su])plication, sufficiently indicate the 
 meaning of the Corsican. On the opposite side, Rapp, in a 
 haughty posture, is presenting to his lord and master the 
 Russians taken at Austerlitz. On the left, Mack, after the 
 capitulation of Ulm, is paying his first visit to the conquejor." 
 
 e5 
 
82 HALLS OF SCULPTURE. 
 
 The view of so many great works of art was 
 at first rather bewildering. It appeared to us, 
 also, that the effect of the marbles was decidedly 
 injured by their being greatly too much crowded 
 together ; and although we could not agree with 
 Mr. Eustace in the very unfavourable descrip- 
 tion he has given of the apartments of the 
 Louvre, several of them we did not consider 
 either well-proportioned, or, from the mode in 
 which they were lighted, well calculated to dis- 
 play to advantage the treasures they contained. * 
 
 The Venus de Medicis, in particular, we 
 thought much too familiarly intruded on by the 
 inferior divinities by whom she was surrounded. 
 
 The Apollo Belvedere, on the contrary, was 
 placed at the end of a spacious saloon, and ap- 
 peared to great advantage, f 
 
 * " The French," says he, "dragging these works from their 
 temples of marble, transported them to Paris, and consigned 
 them to the dull halls, or rather stables, of the Louvre." 
 
 f The following inscription was engraved on the pedestal 
 by Buonaparte, when First Consul : — 
 
 ** La statue d'Apollon qui s'eleve sur ce piedestal trouve a 
 Antium sur la fin du XVme siecle, placee au Vatican par Jules 
 
SALLE DES FLEXJVES. 83 
 
 The Salle des Fleuves we thought one of the 
 finest of the apartments. It is ornamented with 
 columns, and contains several magnificent vases 
 and urns, which were judiciously intermingled 
 with the statues, and had a very good effect. 
 The walls were lined with grey marble, which 
 formed an excellent back-ground for the sculp- 
 tures. 
 
 These also were not so numerous as to pre- 
 vent the spectator from having sufficient space 
 and leisure to examine and enjoy the beauties 
 of each. 
 
 AVe then ascended the fine staircase designed 
 by Fontaine, which leads to the picture-gallery. 
 
 AVe paid a short visit to the first apartment, 
 in which are contained the early productions of 
 the art ; and proceeded along the great gallery, 
 like true epicures, to the farther extremity, where 
 the glories of the Italian school were dej)osited. 
 
 II, au commencement du XVIme, conquise I'an V de la re- 
 publiqueparTarmee d'ltalie, sous les ordres du General Buon- 
 aparte, a ete fixee ici le 21 Germinal, au VIII, premiere annee 
 de son consulat.' 
 
84 PICTURE-GALLERY. 
 
 We did not attempt more, at our first visit, 
 than to note a few of the principal works which 
 were pointed out as most worthy of observation, 
 or which struck ourselves as most distinguished 
 for excellence. 
 
 In my note-book I find that the following 
 were the pictures selected for our first inspec- 
 tion. I take them in the order we noticed 
 them in walking along the gallery, which was 
 divided into three compartments, containing the 
 French, Dutch, and Italian schools. 
 The Deluge, by N. Poussin. 
 The charitable occupations of St. Elizabeth, 
 daughter of Andrew III, King of Hungary, 
 and spouse of Louis, Landgrave of Thuringia ; 
 a striking, though disagreeable picture, by Mu- 
 rillo. 
 
 Cardinal Bentivoglio, Vandyke, 
 
 Descent from the Cross, Rubens. 
 
 Titian's Mistress. 
 
 Guido's Fortune. 
 
 The Pietro Martire of Titian. 
 
PICTURE-GALLERY. 85 
 
 The Communion of Saint Jerome, Domeni- 
 chino. 
 
 Marriage of Saint Catherine, Correggio. 
 
 Transfiguration, and Portrait of Leo the Tenth, 
 Raphael. 
 
 Mona Lisa, Leonardo da Vinci. 
 
 If I may venture to speak more particularly 
 regarding the comparative merits of those 
 splendid chefs-d'oeuvre, I may add that those 
 with which I was most struck, were Rubens' 
 Descent from the Cross, the Portrait of Benti- 
 voglio, Titian's Mistress, and the Pietro Mar- 
 tire. 
 
 " The figure of Christ, in the first of these," 
 says Sir Joshua Reynolds, " is one of the finest 
 ever invented. The hanging of the head on the 
 shoulder, and the falling of the body on one side, 
 give such an appearance of the heaviness of 
 death, that nothing can exceed it." The female 
 figures, also, in this picture, possess much 
 more grace and beauty of expression than is 
 commonly found in the works of Rubens. 
 
86 FREXCH ARTISTS. 
 
 The Transfiguration at first disappointed me. 
 The figure of our Saviour appeared small, and 
 not remarkable for expression. The attention 
 is distracted, in consequence of the subject of 
 the picture being divided into two parts, between 
 which (speaking of the work as a painting 
 merely) there is no very material connexion. 
 
 In the group of figures in the under part, 
 every countenance and figure is in the highest 
 degree animated. Eagerness, doubt, conviction 
 — the convulsive expression of the possessed 
 boy, whom his father supports, are depicted with 
 astonishing power. 
 
 This picture had been in some degree injured 
 by the presumptuous attempts of the French 
 artists, at what they called " restoration." 
 
 These pretenders, whose taste, it seems, was 
 shocked with the " froideurs de Raphael," as 
 they were termed, had the temerity to set about 
 correcting these supposed deficiencies, not only 
 by improper cleaning, but by painting over 
 several parts which they imagined not suffi- 
 ciently eflfective in point of colouring. 
 
 i 
 
THE OPEUA. 87 
 
 Of all tlieir proceedings, however, perhaps 
 the most extraordinary was their treatment of 
 the Pietro Martire of Titian, the panel of which 
 was planed away, in order to transfer it to can- 
 vass. The injury occasioned, though considei-- 
 able, was fortunately not so extensive as might 
 have been expected from so hazardous an ex- 
 periment. 
 
 AYe dined at Yery's, in the delightful saloon 
 at the entrance from the Rue de Eivoli to the 
 garden of the Thuilerics, and afterwards (as is 
 the fashion of all good Parisians) went to the 
 " spectacle." 
 
 The theatre we selected was the Opera Co- 
 mique, where we found a brilliant audience 
 assembled, and were well amused with the 
 favourite piece of " Jean de Paris."* 
 
 The allusions to "le fils de Philippe de Yalois, 
 I'heritier presomptif de la couronne de France," 
 were enthusiastically cheered. Several of the 
 songs of this opera were among the most popu- 
 lar of the day, particularly the duet, 
 
 * Paroles de M. St. Just ; musique de ]M. Boildeau, 
 
88 JEAN DE PARIS. 
 
 " Rester a sa gloire fidele, 
 Des dames cherir les attraits, 
 Voila, voila, ce qui s' appelle, 
 Agir en chevalier Franjais." 
 
 Also the well-known troubadour song and 
 chorus : — 
 
 " Le troubadour, 
 Fier de son esclavage, 
 
 En ce sejour 
 Vient pour te rendre hommage ; 
 Ne pour I'amour 
 II te sera fidele ; 
 AUons, ma belle, 
 Paie a son tour 
 D'un peu d' amour 
 Le troubadour." 
 
 And also the air sung by Jean himself. 
 
 " Tout a I'amour, tout a I'honneur, 
 D'un vrai Fran9ais c'est la devnse. 
 
 * * * 
 
 Je suis Franjais, (great applause) 
 
 J'ai pour devise 
 Tout a I'amour, tout a rhonneur." 
 
PALAIS ROYAL. 89 
 
 The acting was extremely spirited, and com- 
 pensated for the indifference of the singing, a 
 department of the theatrical exhibitions of 
 Paris which is, in general, so much found fault 
 with. The pieces performed at this house, how- 
 ever, for the most part contained several very 
 pleasing and popular ballads, and national airs, 
 which accorded well with the character of the 
 drama, and on the whole, gave a more favourable 
 idea of the music of the country, than the more 
 elaborate operas of the Academic Royale de 
 Musique. 
 
 AVe proceeded, " en regie," to the Palais 
 Royal, '' the capital of Paris," as it has been 
 called, which was crammed with people of all 
 ranks, and all countries ; and in the midst of the 
 throng we observed, every now and then, a file 
 of National Guards, completely armed, who 
 faithfully accompanied this gay assemblage in 
 their rounds of the Piazza. 
 
 We concluded this busy day with a visit to 
 
90 CAFE DES MILLES COLONNES. 
 
 the " Cafe des Mille Colonnes/' where we of 
 course paid our devoirs to the celebrated Deesse, 
 seated on her burnished throne, and gracefully 
 doing the honours of the establishment. She was 
 gorgeously attired, and was busily engaged in 
 reading Florian — not, however, so busily as to 
 prevent her from attending to every order that 
 was given, making sure that the wishes of the 
 guests were properly complied with, and also 
 that the cash due on each of her tiny bills was 
 punctually deposited in her golden urn, either 
 by the garcon in attendance, or by the fortunate 
 individual himself who should have courage to 
 approach the chair of state, and succeed in at- 
 tracting her notice for a few minutes. 
 
CHAPTER XII. 
 
 Duke of Wellington's Hotel— Scotch Sentry— Fete of St. 
 Louis at Notre Dame — Gardes de Corps du Roi — High 
 Mass — Sainte Chapelle. 
 
 August the 15tli. I called at the Hotel de la 
 Reyniere, in the Rue des Champs Elysees, 
 which had been selected for the Duke of 
 Wellington, to learn the address of a military 
 friend. At the gate were two soldiers belong- 
 ing to a Scotch regiment. 
 
 On informing them of the object of my visit, 
 one of them said to me, " Ou, sir, ye'll see the 
 office, if ye just gang into the coort, and turn to 
 yere left haund." 
 
92 DUKE OF Wellington's hotel. 
 
 It may be imagined, that to find myself 
 addressed in the language of my own country, 
 at the gate of the Duke of AYellington's hotel, 
 in the city of Paris, appeared, indeed, a most 
 singular event. I thanked the sentinel in his 
 own dialect, and quickly obtained the infor- 
 mation required. 
 
 I then proceeded to Notre Dame, where 
 high mass w^as to be celebrated in presence of 
 the Royal family, it being the festival of St. 
 Louis. On reaching the Cathedral, I found 
 it surrounded by numbers of military, and an 
 additional number of cannon placed on the 
 bridges leading to the " Isle de la Cite." 
 
 The 1 5th of August happened also to be the 
 birth- day of Napoleon, and it may have been 
 thought necessary to take precautions against 
 any chance of riot, which might have been 
 occasioned by that recollection. The mob, 
 however, though extremely dense, did not 
 shew any symptoms of discontent or insubor- 
 dination. 
 
GARDES DE CORPS DU ROT. 93 
 
 A double line of grenadiers was stationed 
 from the great west door to the high altar. The 
 Gardes de Corps du Eoi were dispersed in dif- 
 ferent parts of the Church. 
 
 This body of men consisted of the adherents 
 of King Louis, whose fidelity had been proved 
 by their accompanying him to Ghent, and 
 formed a remarkably fine-looking regiment. 
 Their uniform of blue and red, richly laced 
 with silver, was such as became the guards of 
 the Royal person, and they were at all times 
 civil and attentive to their duty. On approach- 
 ing the door of the side gallery, near which one 
 of them happened to be stationed, I was de- 
 sired by him to produce my ticket of admis- 
 sion. I replied that I was not aware that any 
 ticket was required, and added as an excuse 
 that I was a stranger in Paris, and an English- 
 man. 
 
 " Attendez un moment," said he ; and after a 
 short conference with his superior ofiicer, good- 
 humouredly allowed me to pass on. 
 
94 HIGH MASS. 
 
 The Dukes of Angouleme and Berri soon 
 after arrived, attended by General Maison, the 
 governor of Paris, and several of the judges, and 
 a large cortege. 
 
 On advancing to the part of the gallery near 
 the altar, I observed the King of Prussia and 
 his sons in the front seat; his Majesty as usual 
 in a very plain costume. 
 
 The band was placed in the aisle next the 
 altar, and after an introductory symphony, mass 
 was performed by the Archbishop and digni- 
 taries of tlie Cathedral. 
 
 In order to deepen the tone of the bass, several 
 of the choristers were furnished with serpents, 
 with which they uttered an occasional groan. The 
 ceremony was conducted with great magnificence ; 
 but, to my Protestant ideas at least, the effect 
 did not seem either very solemn or impressive. 
 Adjoining to the Palais de Justice, in the Isle 
 de Cite, is a very beautiful building, called " La 
 Saintc Chapelle." It was erected in the 13th 
 century, by the Royal Saint whose festival I 
 
SAI^TE CHAPELLE. 95 
 
 had seen celebrated ; and the expense of the 
 relics it was intended to preserve, and that of 
 the chapel itself, is said to have amounted to 
 a sum equivalent to nearly three millions of 
 francs. It is divided into two parts, the lower 
 and upper chapels ; and has always been es- 
 teemed by architects as a very fine specimen of 
 pointed architecture. The painted glass of the 
 windows is peculiarly brilliant. The building 
 was fortunately saved from destruction during 
 the revolution, from having been used as a 
 depot for the archives of the Court of Justice. 
 
CHAPTER XIIT. 
 
 Visit to an Officer— Hotel of the Marquis ;— Boulevards— J 
 
 Political Mendicants — Prussians in the Cafes — King of H 
 
 Prussia's Birth-day— Caricatures— Brochures— Epigrams— | 
 
 Nay's Letter. 1- 
 
 August — . I called on Colonel , who f 
 
 was quartered in the Hotel of the Marquis . j 
 
 The mansion was spacious, and the saloons jj 
 
 well proportioned, opening into a beautiful « 
 
 garden, and elegantly though plainly furnished, t 
 
 The good taste of the proprietor seemed to ; 
 
 have rejected the quantity of gilding and osten- i 
 
 tatious splendour which had been of late years \ 
 
 so fashionable in Paris. On the chimney-pieces ! 
 
BOULEVARDS. 97 
 
 were some bas-reliefs which did much credit to 
 the artists of the capital. 
 
 The Marquis was out of town, and had done 
 every thing in his power to promote the comfort 
 of my friend while in his hotel. The key of the 
 cellar was at his command, had he chosen to 
 accept of it, and he more than once visited him 
 with offers of his best services. 
 
 When we compared Colonel with some 
 
 of the militaires who frequented the ' Cafes 
 and Theatres, how fortunate did the owner 
 
 appear in having him as an inmate. 
 
 * * * * 
 
 When I returned from my visit in the after- 
 noon, the Boulevards were crowded with com- 
 pany, especially the Boulevard Italien. The 
 sellers of lemonade, with their castellated 
 turrets on their backs filled with that popular 
 beverage, were, owing to the o^:pressive heat 
 of the weather, in the gi*eatest request. ^lon- 
 sieur Polichinel was under one of the trees 
 
98 POLITICAL MENDICANTS. 
 
 actively engaged in drubbing one of his friends, 
 who exclaimed, " Ah ! c'est un mauvais coup !" 
 The hero's reply, " Voila encore un autre," 
 was received with shouts of applause. 
 
 Two females dressed in deep mourning, with 
 their faces closely veiled, and gliding about 
 with the utmost quietude and modesty of de- 
 meanour, attracted numbers of followers. These 
 interesting creatures every now and then 
 delighted their audience with a pathetic duett, 
 sung in the low tremulous tone of voice of 
 persons who were in utmost distress and agi- 
 tation, and ashamed to be obliged to appeal 
 in this humiliating way to the charity of the 
 public. 
 
 Although the trick had been often repeated, 
 there were still to be found abundance of 
 listeners, and a few persons disposed to bestow 
 a sous on these impostors, as they made their 
 rounds with " whispering humbleness," at the 
 conclusion of their song. 
 
PRUSSIANS IN THE CAFES. 99 
 
 Among the foreigners to be met with at 
 every town, we quickly recognized the com- 
 rades of the gay and gallant Prussians whom 
 we had seen at Chantilly. They were con- 
 stantly swaggering about on the Boulevards, 
 evidently quite intoxicated with success, and 
 determined to lose no opportunity of taking 
 ample revenge for the injuries which had 
 been inflicted on their country by their now 
 fallen enemies. 
 
 They lived in the cafes, theatres and gaming 
 houses, where it was truly said they repaid 
 to the city of Paris a large portion of the 
 damage they had inflicted on the French 
 territory. 
 
 The first day we dined at BeauviUiers' in 
 the Palais Eoyal, we were amused with the 
 stately manner in which an immense grenadier 
 of the Prussian guards stalked up the room, 
 to a table where his companion in-arms was 
 in waiting for him, with his bottles of Burgundy 
 
100 KING OF TRUSSIA's BIRTH-DAY. 
 
 and Champagne on each flank, in silver ice- 
 pails. Their joy at meeting was boundless, 
 and they embraced in the most affectionate 
 manner, brushing each other's tanned visage 
 with their huge shaggy mustachios. 
 
 I was afterwards informed by an officer, 
 that when orders were given for the celebra- 
 tion of the King of Prussia's birth- day in 
 the begining of August, it was proposed to 
 proceed exactly as the French had done when 
 the birth-day of Napoleon was observed in 
 Prussia. 
 
 The proclamation issued on that occa- 
 sion, when many heavy requisitions were 
 demanded, was to be copied word for word, 
 merely inserting for Napoleon Emperor of 
 the French, William King of Prussia. 
 
 I know not, however, if this scheme of 
 
 retaliation was carried into effect. 
 
 ***** 
 
 We were surprised with the number of 
 
CARICATURES. 101 
 
 caricatures of Buonaparte and his friends, 
 which were exhibited in the printshops of the 
 Boulevards and Palais Royal; and in this 
 respect w^e understood that a great difference 
 was observable from the feeling evinced by 
 the public in 1814, when there seemed no 
 disposition to insult him in his adversity. 
 
 ^lany ballads, too, were to be heard in the 
 streets, in which the Emperor was held up 
 to absolute ridicule ; and several hints thrown 
 out against his personal courage. 
 
 In one sketch, he is represented as firing 
 a small cannon in a very cautious manner, while 
 the boys of the Ecole Militaire call out '^ Gare," 
 and seemed to warn him against the dangers of 
 so formidable an explosion. 
 
 In another, called, " Entree triomphante de 
 Buonaparte dans son nouveau royaume," he 
 appears mounted on the back of a cat, imme- 
 diately after his arrival in St. Helena, the 
 inhabitants of which, represented as so many 
 
102 CARICATURES. 
 
 rats, take to flight in alarm. In vain he de- 
 clares them "peuple libre/' and adds, "Je 
 vous donne pour garantie ce serviteur fidele 
 (viz. the cat) que j'ai avec moi." The council 
 give peremptory orders to the sentinels to fire 
 on the intruders. 
 
 He was also depicted as receiving instructions 
 in deportment from Talma, who of course 
 finds him a most intractable and awkward 
 pupil. 
 
 Cambaceres, too, was a favourite subject; 
 and his Hkeness was said to be very accurately 
 taken in " le Scrmcnt des Voraces,' ' a paro- 
 dy on David's picture of " Le Serment des Ho- 
 races." 
 
 The three starved and greedy Voraces, attired 
 as chasseurs, to whom he holds up three silver 
 forks, making them vow to bring home a large 
 supply of game, are, however, in the over- 
 charged state of French caricature, which from 
 its extravagance fails to produce much effect. 
 
CARICATURES. 1 03 
 
 One would suppose that the wit, gaiety, and 
 satirical turn of the French ought to render their 
 caricatures superior to those of any other nation : 
 but on the contrary, their attempts in this way 
 are very frequently mere grotesques, with very 
 little point, and decidedly inferior to those of the 
 London print-shops. This indeed, is admitted 
 by the Parisians themselves ; and with the usual 
 dexterity of the people, the excuse assigned for 
 the greater excellence of our countrymen is, it 
 seems, our extremely coarse taste in the arts, 
 which renders us insensible to any contradictions 
 of propriety and sense, and allows the ^* Imagi- 
 nation vagabonde" of the English draughtsman 
 to run riot without restraint, and give being to 
 all descriptions of monsters. It is even asserted 
 that the French are too aimahle and good-heart- 
 ed a nation to excel in a talent which may give 
 pain to individuals. 
 
 The best sketches were those in which the 
 costumes of different countries were introduced, 
 and the barbarous taste of the wearers shewn 
 
104 CARICATURES. 
 
 by its marked inferiority to the Parisian stand- 
 ard. 
 
 The EngUshman and his wife in Paris, " La 
 promenade Anglaise," by C. Vernet — in which 
 full effect was given to the long loose gaiters, 
 long waistcoats, and narrow -brimmed hats, then 
 in fashion ; as also to the long tight waists of 
 the ladies, and theii* small bonnets, -svith the 
 veil hanging down on one side like a flag in a 
 rainy day half-mast high — was exceedingly 
 clever. 
 
 The Highland soldiers in a windy day,* and 
 the interview between the Cossacks and the 
 Poissardes in the market, give very exact and 
 lively pictures of these rather barbarous, yet 
 seemingly not unpleasing admirers of Parisian 
 beauty. 
 
 * The dress of the Highlanders struck the fancy of the 
 Parisians so much, that soon after their appearance in Paris, 
 Leroi, the well-kno\NTi marchand des modes, produced a cos- 
 tume for the opera, consisting of a tartan petticoat and stock- 
 ings, a red body, and black hat with red feathers. 
 
EPIGRAMS. 
 
 105 
 
 There were pamphlets (brochures) in every 
 bookseller's, on the late campaign, and political 
 events of the day — many books of epigrams, 
 vaudevilles, &c., in which Napoleon, Ney, and 
 Grouchy, were each in their turn attacked with 
 much severity. 
 
 " Le terme d'unregne etleregne d'un terme," 
 was one of those ephemeral productions which 
 had considerable vogue. 
 
 In this a history of Napoleon during the 100 
 days, is given in a series of epigrams. On his 
 arrival from Elba, he is greeted with the follow- 
 ing chorus : — 
 
 " Vive, vive Napoleon! 
 Via le monarque 
 Qui s'embarque, 
 Vive, vive Napoleon ! — 
 Gare la conscription ! " 
 
 A warning which is several times repeated. 
 After a loyal tii-ade to " Notre bon Roi," fol- 
 lowed by an allusion to a certain " Odeur dcs 
 
 f5 
 
106 EPIGRAMS. 
 
 Violettes," that prevails in Paris, and which the 
 writer asserts the soldiers had mistaken for laurels, 
 Buonaparte's return from Waterloo is thus 
 noticed : 
 
 La d'ssus, sans chapeau, sans epee, 
 L'air effare, les yeux hagards, 
 Pour couronner son equipee, 
 L'v'la qui fuit I'roi des Cesar's. 
 C'est qu'il vole de maniere 
 Que I'vent reste en arriere, 
 II a tant fait deja 
 Ce metier la ! 
 Fondant comme une figure de cire, 
 II arrive a la ville de Laon, 
 Et dit en soufflant 
 A son commandant, 
 " Ici par hazard 
 S'il passe quelq' fuyard, 
 II faut I'epier, 
 Le faire prisonnier, 
 Et sans quartier 
 Le fusilier." 
 Oui, Sire," (lis) 
 " Mais vous etes le premier.' 
 
EPIGRAMS. 107 
 
 Then comes the following account of his re- 
 treat from Waterloo, and arrival at Paris. 
 
 *' J'arrive 
 
 Ou plutot je m'esquive 
 
 D'la bataille de Mont St. Jean. 
 L'armee (bis) 
 
 D'ardeur enflammee 
 N'pouvait pas retenir son elan, 
 Mais un terreur panique I'entraine ; 
 Eir se fait tuer en moins de rien, 
 Et j'viens pour calmer votre peine, 
 Vous dire (bis) que je me porte bien." 
 
 The whole concludes Avith these verses — 
 
 Vive, Vive Napoleon ! 
 
 Via le monarque 
 
 Qui s'rembarque. 
 
 Vive, Vive Napoleon! 
 
 Premier et dernier de son nora !" 
 
 There were several memoirs of Napoleon got 
 up for the occasion, in general secret ones, and 
 professing to give anecdotes never previously 
 known ; particularly " Les Memoires Secrets sur 
 Napoleon, ecrits par un homme qui ne Ta pas 
 
108 ney's letter. 
 
 quitte depuis quiuze ans," the author of which 
 had previously pubhshed the < " Precis Histo- 
 rique," a work which had gone through six 
 editions. 
 
 Ney's letter to the Duke of Otranto, in de- 
 fence of his conduct during the campaign, was 
 in everybody's hands. 
 
CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 Theatre Francois — Menecmes — TartufFe — Mars — Fleury — Visit 
 to M. Chevalier — St. Genevieve — Pantheon — View of Paris 
 — Tombs — Epitaph on Soufflot, by himself. 
 
 A FEW evenings after our arrival, I went to 
 see the Menecmes of Regnard, performed at the 
 Theatre Fran9ais. Comedy is always entertain- 
 ing in France, and the piece received all justice 
 from the company. It did not^ however, seem 
 to be popular, as the house was very poorly at- 
 tended. 
 
1 10 FLELRY. 
 
 On a subsequent occasion I was present at the 
 representation of " Le Tartufie/' to which I 
 always look back with the greatest pleasure, as 
 one of the most delightful theatrical exhibitions 
 I ever witnessed. The fascinating Mars looked 
 beautiful, and performed Elmire with that grace 
 and ability for whicli she was so eminently dis- 
 tinguished. Afterwards, however, I saw her 
 in parts which appeared to me better calculated 
 to shew her talents to advantage. 
 
 Fleury, the chief comic actor of the day, was 
 very eflfective in the character of Tartuife, al- 
 though I confess it seemed to me that his hypo- 
 crisy was often too barefaced to have imposed 
 even on Orgon or Madame Pernelle. The part 
 of Dorine was admirably played. The archness 
 and cleverness of the French suivante was de- 
 lightfully pourtrayed, and the performance was 
 free from the slightest tinge of coarseness or 
 vulgarity. 
 
 This, however, is an excellence for which a 
 
ST. GE^s'EYIEVE. Ill 
 
 French actress has less claim for commendation 
 than the females of other countries. In the 
 manners of the women of the middle ranks in 
 France there is in general a degree of pro- 
 priety, and even of elegance, which is to be 
 met with in no other nation. 
 
 August — . Sir W. Scott was introduced to 
 the Duke of Wellington, at an early hour, by 
 Sir John Malcolm; and afterwards accompanied 
 me on a visit to M. Chevalier, Librarian of St. 
 Genevieve,* to whom we had a letter of introduc- 
 
 * Monsieur C. is Author of the "Tableau de la plaine de 
 Troye, accompagne d'une carte levee geometriquement en 
 1785," which was published in the Transactions of the Royal 
 Society of Edinburgh, in 1794. SirW. Gell, in his "Topo- 
 graphy of Troy," frequently alludes to the opinions of M. 
 Chevalier with respect to the situation of Troy, of the tomb of 
 Achilles, and other points of controversy; and for the most part 
 expresses his assent to his conclusions. 
 
 M. Chevalier mentions a singular instance of the prejudices 
 of the people. M. Cazas had accompanied him as a draughts- 
 man, and it appears that his proceedings were looked ujjon by 
 the Emirs with very considerable suspicion. The introduction 
 of figures in his sketches gave such peculiar offence, that he 
 
112 M. CHEVALIER. 
 
 tion. M. Chevalier received us with the greatest 
 kindness and cordiality. He was, as usual, ex- 
 tremely busy with the duties of his situation, as 
 Librarian and Astronomer, and was, in fact, en- 
 gaged in taking an observation when we arrived. 
 His good humour and attention to the British, 
 rendered his circle of acquaintance with our 
 countrymen a large one ; and he had the day 
 before received a visit from a party of them, 
 who he said were the most agreeable persons in 
 the world, '^ mais qui avoicnt derange toutcs ses 
 petites affaires. II ne pouvoit ricn trouver." At 
 length, however, he succeeded in finding a set of 
 astronomical tables he was in search of, and 
 after many calculations, and a few less philoso- 
 phical ejaculations, muttered rapidly iu French, 
 he showed us, with much delight, Venus her- 
 self, through a small telescope of Dollond's. 
 This favourite instrument he kept in his room, 
 
 omitted them entirely, in order to be allowed to continue his 
 task. They declared that he would assuredly be accountable 
 to God for the creatures generated by his pencil. 
 
THE LIBRARY. 113 
 
 and as he informed us, preferred it to many 
 larger ones. He then walked with us to the 
 Library, a very noble apartment, 230 feet in 
 length, and ornamented with busts placed along 
 the walls. At a table were seated numbers of 
 persons engaged in study, and attendants were 
 in readiness to deliver to the \dsitors any books 
 required. We were next conducted to the ob- 
 servatory, from which the view of Paris is pe- 
 cuharly magnificent. 
 
 The building is a small square tower, with 
 windows on each side; and as the shutters were 
 closed when we entered, we had the advantage 
 of seeing each of the four views opened to us 
 in succession, which, of course, materially 
 tended to increase the effect of this splendid 
 panorama. The sky was Avithout a cloud, and 
 the total absence of smoke could not fail to 
 strike an inhabitant of the dark and heavy at- 
 mosphere which broods over towns in Britain. 
 There seemed, in consequence, to be a character 
 of stillness imparted to the scene, which appeared. 
 
114 THE OBSERVATORY. 
 
 at first sight, singularly at variance with the ac- 
 tual bustle and gaiety which, at that moment, 
 pervaded every part of the city. 
 
 From this observatory, M. Chevalier had dis- 
 tinctly seen the conflicts which took place at 
 Montmartre and Belleville, previous to the en- 
 try of the allied forces in the spring of 1814. 
 
 Every moment, as he informed us. he ex- 
 pected the town to have been on fire, and ex- 
 pressed his surprise that the enemy should have 
 been so imprudent as to make their attack at the 
 very points where they could most cflfcctually 
 be opposed. 
 
 The preparations of the preceding June 
 had, of course, renewed these alarms for the 
 safety of the metropolis ; although, as he de- 
 clared to us, he always comforted himself, at the 
 very worst, with the idea that the Duke of "Wel- 
 lington was too able a tactician to incur a risk 
 so unnecessary, when he had it in his power to 
 make his approaches against the city at many 
 other points which were left entirely unguarded. 
 
THE PANTHEON. 1 1 5 
 
 The movement of Blucher, on the last day of 
 June, to the other side of the Seine, put an end 
 to these alarming anticipations, and proved that 
 M. Chevalier had justly calculated on the supe- 
 rior talents of the leaders in 1815, when com- 
 pared with those of their predecessors. 
 
 From the library of St. Genevieve, we went 
 to the Pantheon, founded in 1764, by Louis XV., 
 at the suggestion of Madame de Pompadour, 
 and which it was proposed, during the revolution, 
 to appropriate as a cemetery for illustrious cha- 
 racters. 
 
 Amonsr the tombs which fii'st attracted our 
 
 o 
 
 attention, were those of Voltaire and Rousseau 
 — not certainly on account of their magnificence, 
 as they were of wood, on which a coat of oil 
 paint had been bestowed, with the vain inten- 
 tion of giving them some resemblance to marble. 
 On the frieze of the portico of the building, was 
 the inscription, in large letters — " Aux grands 
 hommes la Patrie reconnoissante," an expression 
 which contrasted strangely with the miserable 
 
116 THE PANTHEON. 
 
 monuments wliicli we had had just seen. As a 
 sort of atonement, no doubt, for their poverty, 
 we observed in the crypt a handsome statue of 
 Voltaire, which we were informed it was in- 
 tended to place in the church. 
 
 I do not recollect having noticed any effigy 
 of Rousseau. On his sarcophagus was a has 
 relief, representing a hand bearing a torch, which 
 appeared as if coming through an aperture in 
 front of it. We ascended to the top of the 
 cupola, which is the loftiest building in Paris, 
 and again admired the extensive view of the 
 city which it affords. 
 
 This fine church was designed by Soufflot, 
 whose tomb is placed in tlie crypt. The pressure 
 of the dome was found to be too great for the 
 columns on which it was erected, and for these 
 it was found necessary to substitute solid and 
 heavy masses of hewn stone, which by no means 
 harmonize with the rest of the building, and 
 considerably injure the beauty of the interior. 
 
 The construction of this dome proved fatal to 
 
THE PANTHEON. 117 
 
 the unfortunate architect, in consequence of the 
 distress and anxiety occasioned by the opposition 
 given to his designs, and the ill usage of pre- 
 tended friends. In his epitaph, written by him- 
 self, he thus alludes to the ill treatment he had 
 received from his jealous rivals : — 
 
 " Pour maitre dans son art, il n'eut que la nature, 
 II aima qu'au talent on joignoit la droiture ; 
 Plus d'un rival jaloux qui fut son ennemi, 
 S'il eut connu son coeur, eut ete son ami." 
 
CHAPTER XV. 
 
 Jardin des Plantes — Bears and Russians — Mineralogical col- 
 lection — Fossil Bones — Place of the Bastille — M. Launnais 
 — Dinner at a cabaret on the Seine — Party Spirit in France 
 and England. 
 
 Aug. 18. — We passed a very interesting day 
 in making a circuit of Paris, under the guidance 
 of M. Chevalier. We agreed to meet him in 
 the forenoon, at the menagerie in the Jardin des 
 Plantes, and while waiting for his arrival, were 
 amused with the sincere pleasure which seve- 
 ral Russians who were looking at the animals, 
 seemed to take in admiring the bears. They evi- 
 
CUVIER. 1 19 
 
 dently appeared to consider them as friends and 
 countrymen. No Zoological Gardens had been 
 established in other cities^ and no where had we 
 seen the lords of the deserts so largely and com- 
 fortably accommodated. 
 
 After inspecting the mineralogical collection 
 arranged by the Abbe Hauy, M. Chevalier 
 directed our attention to the specimens of the 
 Tertiary formation, and fossil bones, collected 
 by Baron Cuvier. 
 
 This department of the cabinet of Natural 
 History possesses much interest, both on account 
 of its extent and intrinsic value ; and still more 
 from the consideration that to the researches of 
 the great naturalist by whom it was collected, we 
 are indebted for many of the most important 
 improvements that have of late years been made 
 in geological science. 
 
 We then proceeded to the Place de la Bastille, 
 where M. Chevalier shewed us the spot where 
 he had stood when it was attacked on the 14th 
 of July 1789. He made several severe remarks 
 
120 M. LAU^^XAIS. 
 
 on the conduct of the governor, the unfor- 
 tunate Marquis de Launnais, whose indecision 
 and imprudence unquestionably tended much to 
 aggravate the horrors of the day. 
 
 The weakness of his chai'acter rendered his 
 autliority of little weight at court ;* and his re- 
 presentations with resjDect to the insufficiency of 
 the garrison, and want of provisions at the 
 Bastille, were, in consequence, totally disre- 
 garded. These, however, it appears, were by 
 no means groundless ; and had the Marquis de 
 Broglie, to whom they were communicated, 
 taken more pains to ascertain the actual condi- 
 tion of the fortress, or, what would have been 
 still better, had he followed the advice of Mens. 
 de Bcvensal, and given it in charge to a more 
 efiicient commander, the event of the contest 
 might have been very different. 
 
 We dined with INI. Chevalier, at a small caba- 
 ret on one of the quais, close to the Seine, which, 
 from the plainness of its appointments, and per- 
 
 * La Cretelle's History of France, vol. 7. 
 
 
M. CHEVALIER. 121 
 
 feet quiet, formed a curious contrast to the superb 
 and crowded apartments of Very and Beauvil- 
 liers. 
 
 M. Chevalier was somewhat of an alarmist, and 
 could not believe that matters were by any means 
 settled in Paris, notwithstanding the overwhelm- 
 ing power of the alhes, and the ruined condi- 
 tion of France. The rage of party in the coun- 
 try, he considered it impossible to subdue. 
 
 " You English," said he, " have party feel- 
 ings, which are no doubt sufficiently keen and 
 constantly in action ; but you have no idea of 
 the extent to which they are carried with us. 
 You publish placards, and you have proces- 
 sions and dinners, and you drink a great deal, 
 and make long speeches — et vous dites, ' G — d 
 d — n,' (thumping his fist on the table) — Sere — 
 et ''G — d d — n encore,' — et voila tout. En 
 France c'est different — bien — bien different." 
 
CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 Ball at the Duke of Wellington's — Hotel Reyniere — Prince of 
 Orange— Humboldt — Blucher — King of Prussia — Sir J. 
 Malcolm — Dress of Hungarian Officers — Sir W. Scott's re- 
 mark on the ball, and portrait of Napoleon — Banquet — 
 Illuminated Gardens — Grimacier and Conjurer — Tents — 
 White's ball in 181-1 compared with this Fete. 
 
 I RECEIVED, through the kindness of Col. 
 
 , an invitation to the grand ball given by 
 
 the Duke of Wellington, on the occasion of the 
 order of the Bath being bestowed on Blucher, 
 the Duke of Wirtemberg, Schwartzenberg, 
 Wrede, Barclay de Tolly, and other foreign 
 officers whose services in the campaign entitled 
 
HOTEL REYXIERE. 123 
 
 them to that honour. The British officers also, 
 who had received corresponding marks of dis- 
 tinction fi'om Austria, Russia, and Prussia, then 
 for the first time appeared with their decorations. 
 
 After considerable labour in arranging the 
 crosses and ribands according to rule, (care 
 being taken that the riband and cross of Maria 
 Teresa should be sufficiently conspicuous, as 
 being the order most prized by the wearers,) I 
 
 accompanied Col. , and his party to the 
 
 Duke's hotel. 
 
 This mansion was excellently adapted for the 
 reception of such a party. The rooms did not 
 indeed appear to me remarkably spacious, but 
 were numerous and well arranged. Several of 
 them entered through each other, as usual in 
 Parisian houses, and opened on the gardens, 
 which extend from the back of the hotel to the 
 Champs Elysees. The coup-d'ceil was indeed 
 superb. We were received in an anteroom by 
 Sir Colin Campbell and other officers, and then 
 passed on to an apartment, in which several of 
 
 g2 
 
124 THE PRINCE OF ORANGE. 
 
 the more distinguislied visitors were assembled. 
 Among these was the Prince of Orange, with 
 whose manners and appearance I was much 
 taken, while he addressed a few words to my 
 companion in English, as perfect as that of a 
 native. 
 
 We came up shortly after with Scott and Sir 
 John Malcolm, with whom Baron Humboldt 
 was in conversation, and as I was the bearer of 
 a letter of recommendation to the Baron, I had 
 the honour of being presented to him.* AVith 
 
 * The following extract from the letter, which I owed to the 
 kindness of Professor Playfair, will, I have no doubt, be read 
 with interest. 
 
 " How little did either of us think of the distresses which 
 were so soon to be poured down on Europe when I had the 
 honour to meet you in London last summer. I would fain 
 hope that there is now an end of them, and that peace and 
 mutual confidence are to be restored to the civilized world. 
 
 " I hope you received from me some months ago a letter, 
 informing you of your being elected an Honorary Member of 
 the Royal Society of Edinburgh, in January last. A review of 
 two volumes of your personal Travels will appear in the Edin- 
 burgh Review, which will be published early in the next month. 
 
HUMBOLDT. 125 
 
 the appearance of this celebrated traveller I was 
 somewhat surprised. In figure he rather re- 
 minded me of the learned professor to whom I 
 owed my introduction; but his richly laced 
 dress, probably the uniform of the Prussian 
 court, certainly gave him more the appearance 
 of a general officer than a man of science. He 
 conversed in English correctly, at least, if not 
 with readiness. 
 
 The apartments soon filled with company, 
 chiefly in military dresses; and the eye was daz- 
 zled with the variety and splendour which met 
 the view on every side. 
 
 One of the most striking figures was the ve- 
 teran Blucher, who, when I fii'st had a glimpse 
 of him through the crowd, seemed to be in the 
 liighest spirits, talking with much glee to several 
 ladies by whom he was surrounded. He was 
 
 I hoped to have visited Paris this summer, but I shall now 
 wait until all the appearances of hostility, and I hope all the 
 sentiments of it, are entirely effaced. I have, &c. 
 
 (Signed) "J. Playfair." 
 
126 KING OF PRUSSIA. 
 
 dressed in blue, and wore a splendid diamond 
 cross suspended round his neck. His fine com- 
 manding forehead and white hairs, his large 
 grey eyebrows and moustachios, formed altoge- 
 ther one of the finest subjects for a portrait I 
 have ever seen. 
 
 His master, the King of Prussia, passed fre- 
 quently, accompanied by his sons, and one or 
 two attendants. His Majesty was very plainly 
 dressed in a blue coat and riband, and when I 
 saw him, always retained the same grave ex- 
 pression of countenance which may be observed 
 in the pictures of the day. 
 
 When I was standing near Sir John ^lal- 
 colm, the Duke himself entered the apartment. 
 He came up to Sir John, and spoke a few words 
 to him, so that I had a good opportunity of 
 seeing " the observed of all observers." He 
 was attired in a Field-Marshal's uniform, the 
 breast of which was covered with stars ; though 
 in other respects his dress was rather plain. 
 Among the various costumes, I was struck with 
 the elegance of that of the Hungarian officers. 
 
SIR WALTEK SCOTT's REMARKS. 127 
 
 with one of whom I happened to have some 
 conversation ; his dress was of dark green, em- 
 broidered with lace and fur, somewhat hke that 
 of the rifle-corps in form, as well as colour ; 
 and round the neck was suspended a rich collar 
 of fihgree work, ornamented with turquoises, 
 which had a beautiful effect. 
 
 In the course of the evening I met with Sir 
 Walter, who asked me to walk with him through 
 the rooms, to look for a celebrated portrait of 
 Napoleon, which had been recently executed 
 for the Duke of Abrantes, the owner of the 
 mansion. " A singular errand indeed for us 
 travellers," said he, as he took my arm, and 
 made his way through the crowd ; " who could 
 have imagined that we should ever, by any pos- 
 sibility, have been engaged in looking out for a 
 picture of Buonaparte in the hotel of one of his 
 Marshals, while occupied by the Duke of Wel- 
 lington ?" * 
 
 * The Hotel de la Reyniere was once the residence of 
 Mons. Grimod, author of the Almanach des Gourmands, and is 
 now occupied by the Russian Ambassador. 
 
128 BANQITET. 
 
 In passing through one of the saloons, we " 
 
 observed the Duke, m company with some ] 
 
 ladies, standing at a window of a room towards i 
 
 the court of the hotel, listening to a military j 
 
 band. In this apartment several round tables I 
 
 were laid out for the banquet. One of the i 
 
 ladies advanced towards Sir Walter, and in- j 
 
 vited him to sup at the Duke's table, which was j 
 
 next the window where the band was sta- j 
 
 tioned. ! 
 
 The company shortly after an-ived to partake j 
 
 of the feast, and I had the satisfaction to see my ' 
 
 distinguished friend seated in the place of honor, i 
 
 and evidently affording that pleasure to his illus- j 
 
 trious entertainer and his friends, which his j 
 
 conversation never failed to impart, and which, I 
 
 I may add, he was always desirous that it should j 
 
 impart, whatever might be the rank or situation i 
 
 of those with whom he was in company. | 
 
 I then continued my search for the portrait of 
 
 Napoleon, which I found placed so near the I 
 
 floor as to afford an opportunity of examining j 
 
ILLUMINATED GARDENS. 129 
 
 the countenance very closely. It was a kit-cat, 
 or three quarter's picture, painted by Gerard ; * 
 the dress green, with white facings, and the 
 usual decorations worn by the original: — the 
 colour of the countenance was of a pale hue, 
 and the remarkable expression of the eye de- 
 lineated A\dth much force. It was, I believe, 
 reckoned the best likeness that had ever been 
 taken of Napoleon. 
 
 I then walked into the gardens, which were 
 splendidly illuminated. Xever was a more 
 beautiful night ; 
 
 ** The floor of heaven was thick inlaid 
 With patines of bright gold," 
 
 — and the air balmy and delightful. 
 
 There were several tents and awnings spread 
 at different points of the pleasure-ground. In 
 one was stationed a conjuror, who astonished 
 
 * Baron Gerard was even then considered as the first por- 
 trait painter in Paris. Some of his works have, I understand, 
 been sold for 15,000 francs. The portrait of Pius VII, by 
 David, however, claims for him a rank no less distinguished in 
 this branch of the art. 
 
 GO 
 
130 GRIMACIER AKD CONJUROR. 
 
 the public with his feats of legerdemain. In 
 another was the Grimacier, a favourite artist in 
 Paris, whose business it is to amaze the spec- 
 tator with a succession of grins and contortions 
 of the face and figure, accompanied with strange 
 and uncouth sounds, and aided occasionally with 
 a huge snout or trumpet, in order to increase 
 the power of his grunting recitative. 
 
 Under several of the awnings were disposed 
 tables covered with refreshments, at one of 
 which I was invited by some military friends to 
 partake of the " noble fare " of our illustrious 
 host. Altogether, this entertainment must be 
 considered as one of the most interesting and 
 magnificent of the present day. In the pre- 
 ceding summer a very brilliant ball was given, 
 in honour of the foreign Potentates then resi- 
 dent in London, by the members of "White's 
 club, at which nearly the same party was as- 
 sembled as at the hotel Reyniere. Among the 
 guests, indeed, might be enumerated one or two 
 more of kingly dignity, and of course more of 
 
131 
 
 the beauty and nobility of England, for whose 
 absence it is impossible to compensate. Wel- 
 lington^ however, was not one of the group. On 
 the present occasion, the illustrious warrior was 
 himself the giver of the fete ; and this, too, in 
 the city of Paris, after having scarcely two 
 months before achieved — in conjunction with 
 many of those who were assembled under his 
 roof — one of the most glorious and important 
 victories of ancient or modern times. 
 
CHAPTER XVII. 
 
 Britannkus of Racine, at the Theatre Fran9ais — Talma's Neron 
 — Voltaire's Remarks on the Tragedy — The Character of 
 Neron well adapted for Representation — The Catastrophe of 
 the piece defective — La Partie de Chasse d' Henri IV — 
 Talma's Henri — Mars as Catau — Reception of the Allusion? 
 to the Bourbons by the house — Translations of Hamlet, 
 Macbeth and Othello, by Ducis — Shakspeare Amoureux. 
 
 Aug. I9tli. — I \ycnt to the Theatre Fran9ais, 
 to see Talma perform the part of Xerou in Ea- 
 cine's Tragedy of Britannicus. 
 
 The piece was interesting for several reasons. 
 The principal character had long been cele- 
 brated on the stage, from the manner in which 
 it had been performed by the two most distin- 
 guished tragedians of France, Le Kain and 
 
BRITAN^^ICUS OF RACINE. 133 
 
 Talma. The latter was considered a perfect 
 model of an ancient Roman, and in feature bore 
 a strong resemblance to the busts of the Em- 
 peror. It was even supposed that Xapoleon had 
 given some hints on the delineation of the 
 character, which the actor had adopted : while, 
 on the other hand, the French ruler, it was 
 said, had modelled his own deportment accord- 
 ing to the instructions afforded by the represen- 
 tative of the Roman tyrant. 
 
 The entry of Talma certainly did not disap- 
 point my expectation. His countenance and 
 features, indeed, could not, I think, be con- 
 sidered either handsome or peculiarly striking ; 
 but his figure, dress, manner and voice, were 
 highly impressive and forcible. The abrupt 
 and decided way in which he spoke the conclud- 
 ing lines of the first scene, was very effective. 
 
 '* Je le veux, je I'ordonne, et que la fin d'un jour 
 Ne le retrouve pas en Rome — ou dans ma cour ; 
 AUez — cet ordre importe au salut de I'empire. 
 Vous — Narcisse — approchez — et vous — {aux garden) 
 qu'on se retire." 
 
134 talma's nerok. 
 
 I fancied, I know not if correctly, that the 
 expressions and manner of Napoleon would 
 have been nearly the same on the like occasion. 
 
 The scene with Junie was very powerful. In 
 the first speech occurs the favorite " Madame " 
 of French authors and actors, — 
 
 " Vous vous troublez, Madame, et changez de visage." 
 
 The expression given by Talma to the word, 
 was certainly very superior to the usual monoto- 
 nous vehemence, accompanied by a certain 
 vibratory action of the hand and outstretched 
 fingers, of the generality of French actors. 
 
 The last speech of the scene in which he 
 threatens vengeance against Britannicus, should 
 he perceive the slightest encouragement or mark 
 of afiection shewn by her during their approach- 
 ing interview, was powerfully given, — 
 
 " V^ous n'aurez point pourmoi des languages secrets; 
 J'entendrai des regards que vous croyez muets; 
 Et sa parte sera Tinfaillible salaire 
 D'un geste — ou d'un penser — echappe pour lui plaire." 
 
135 
 
 In the fourth act, the scene with Burrhus, in 
 which he attempts to awaken the tyrant's better 
 feelings, and to effect a reconciliation between 
 the brothers, was also very impressive, and con- 
 trasted well with the succeeding one, in which 
 Narcisse counteracts these good intentions of 
 his rival, and persuades him to prosecute his 
 infamous design on the life of Britannicus. 
 
 In speaking of the tragedy, Voltaire gives it 
 as his opinion " que cet estimable ouvrage," as 
 he terms it, " est un peu froid ;" and in some 
 respects, it must be owned that the justness of 
 the criticism cannot be called in question. The 
 catastrophe of the play is certainly by no means 
 striking. The interest excited in the fourth act 
 is sadly disappointed in the fifth, which is com- 
 paratively tame and cold. In the course of the 
 act itself, indeed, the spirit of the composition 
 gradually declines; and the last scene may be 
 pronounced the least effective in the tragedy. 
 Of this the author himself was probably not en- 
 tirely unaware ; as in his preface he defends the 
 
136 NERO. 
 
 scene on the score of its being necessary to the 
 winding up of the fable. " II repond," says a 
 contemporary critic, alluding to Eacine's argu- 
 ment in favour of the passage, "il repond qu'elle 
 est necessaire, et il a raison — mais elle ne peut 
 pas etre interessante, et il ne le dit pas." 
 
 In other respects, however, the play is justly 
 entitled to commendation. The character of 
 Neron is delineated with great skiU, and is well 
 adapted to display the talents of the performer 
 who is capable of exhibiting its various ti'aits. 
 
 The author has pourtrayed Nero in the first 
 years of his reign. He had not yet destroyed 
 his mother and his wife ; but he has already be- 
 come impatient of control — he is anxious to 
 throw off the yoke, and it requires all his efforts 
 to conceal the natural cruelty and mahgnity of 
 his disposition. He is a ''monstre," as Racine 
 says — " mais un naissant monstre," who does 
 not as yet fully disclose himself, and still thinks 
 it necessary so to colour his evil deeds as to gloss 
 over their enormitv. 
 
MADEMOISELLE GEORGES. 137 
 
 This design is evidently well suited to the 
 purposes of the drama, and was in many re- 
 spects admirably expressed in the representation 
 of Talma. The latent ferocity of the tyrant was 
 pourtrayed with uncommon power, — if I may 
 venture to say so, perhaps more skilfully than 
 the deep dissimulation, for which he was also 
 notorious, and which, in the scene with Agrip- 
 pina, is made a distinguishing feature of the 
 character. 
 
 Altogether, the impression left on the mind 
 by the performance was, I think, fully as deep 
 and lasting as any I have witnessed, not except- 
 ing even the AVolsey or Coriolanus of Kemble. 
 
 The part of Agrippina was performed by 
 Mademoiselle Georges, a very handsome person, 
 and an admired actress, who declaimed her long 
 speeches in a style that gave full effect to the 
 dignified character of the Empress, and fre- 
 quently called forth the applause of the house. 
 
 A few evenings after, I saw Talma personate 
 a monarch of a very different character; viz. the 
 ^ ^^^iable and gallant Henri IV. himself, in the 
 
138 LA PARTIE DE CHASSE d' HENRI IV. 
 
 very delightful comedy of "La Partie de Chasse 
 d' Henri IV.," by CoUe. 
 
 In this, too, we were struck with the dexterity 
 with which he contrived to impart to his coun- 
 tenance and figure some resemblance to the 
 hero of the drama. The manner in which he 
 performed not only the scenes at the com- 
 mencement of the piece, which were more ac- 
 cordant with his usual style of acting, but those 
 also in the cottage of the miller, in which the 
 gay good-humoured disposition of the King is 
 so agreeably displayed, deservedly received the 
 hearty applause of the audience. He was ad- 
 mirably supported by Mademoiselle Mars in the 
 part of Catau, who pourtrayed the simple co- 
 quettish country girl to the life. 
 
 The scene between Henri and the inflexible 
 Sully afforded many good points for the display 
 of Talma's powers. His annoyance at being on 
 bad terms with his minister and friend — the 
 manner in which he reads his vindication — " les 
 quatre mots," as Sully says, "que j'ai mis au 
 
THE GHOST STORY. 139 
 
 bas/' in reply to the aspersions on his character 
 
 — the heartfelt sincerity of his reconciliation, 
 
 1 were expressed with great energy. 
 
 j The following passage seemed to make great 
 
 I impression on the house : " Dans ce siecle af- 
 
 ; freux, dans de siecle de troubles^ de conspirations, 
 
 i 
 
 I de trahison, ou j'ai vu, on j'ai eprouve les plus 
 
 ' noires perfidies, de la part de ceux que j'avois 
 
 1 traites comme mes meilleurs amis, — ou j'ai pense 
 
 , etre mille fois le jouet et la victime de la scele- 
 
 I ratesse de leurs complots, tu me pardonneras 
 
 i bien, mon cher ami, ces petites echappees de de- 
 
 ' fiance : je les reparerai, Monsieur de Eosny, par 
 
 j des nouveaux bienfaits." 
 
 j This speech no doubt might admit of many 
 
 j different applications, and certainly produced 
 
 much sensation. One of the most amusing 
 
 scenes in the play was that in which Catau, while 
 
 she and her mother are waiting for the arrival 
 
 of the miller to supper, requests to be entertained 
 
 with a ghost story. The increasing alarm and 
 
 almost paleness of Mars' countenance as the tale 
 
140 TALMA. 
 
 proceeded — her saying " All ! tout mon sang se 
 fige ! — et rnon pere — eut il ben peur ?" just as 
 the knock is heard at the door of the cottage, 
 and she adds " Bonte divine ! — n'est pas la un 
 esprit ?" were delightfully comic — the action 
 always perfectly natural, never overcharged. 
 
 It was curious to see the heroic and tragical 
 Talma obeying to the letter the stage du'ection in 
 the supper scene — *'Ils paraissent manger comme 
 des gens affames, sur tout Henri, qui mange avec 
 une grande vivacite, ce qui est marque par des 
 silences." His utterance of the word " Gabriellc," 
 when the well-known ballad was sung, and 
 charmingly, by Catau, and his action when the 
 family join in the chorus of ^'Vive Henri 
 Quatre," were full of expression and feeling. 
 
 This little comedy we were peculiarly fortu- 
 nate in seeing performed, as it was, I believe, 
 the only one in which these two celebrated 
 artistes appeared together. I have often heard 
 Sir "Walter Scott, who was present at this repre- 
 
 
DEATH OF COLLE. 141 
 
 1 sentation, declare that he never received greater 
 
 pleasure from any theatrical exhibition. 
 I The piece is avowedly taken from the story 
 I of the "King and the Miller of Mansfield;" 
 I but the brilliancy of the dialogue, and excellence 
 I of the application, have rendered it a truly na- 
 I tional drama ; and it has indeed been considered 
 I as the only one in which the character of the 
 j amiable Henri has been depicted in its true co- 
 ' lours. 
 
 One learns with regret that the lively spirit of 
 
 the author was broken, in consequence of the 
 
 \ death of a beloved wife. " In losing her," says 
 
 I his biographer, " he lost the lively gaiety which 
 
 I inspired him, and fell into a profound melancholy, 
 
 which shortly after brought him to the grave. 
 
 ***** 
 
 The translations of Ducis had many years 
 before introduced the works of Shakspeare to 
 the notice of the Parisian world, and given Talma 
 an opportunity of displaying his powers in the 
 characters of Hamlet, Macbeth, and Othello. 
 
142 TRANSLATIONS S OF | 
 
 X 
 
 Of these, the first was by far the most popuLir ; i 
 
 and Madame de Stael, in her work on Ger- '; 
 
 many, bears witness to the powerful eflfect pro- ■ 
 
 duced by his delineation of the Prince of Den- \ 
 mark. 
 
 The drama has, of course, been considerably 
 
 altered by the translator, in order to adapt it to ' 
 
 the taste of a French audience. ] 
 
 Although the characters are far less poetical : 
 
 than those of the original, the interest of the ; 
 
 principal one has not certainly been diminished ; : 
 
 and so far as the conduct of the story is con- ! 
 
 cerned, the tragedy may be considered as in se- ■ 
 veral respects improved by the translator. 
 
 The Ophelia of the French play is totally dif- 
 ferent from the delightful and innocent creature 
 
 depicted by Shakspeare. She is represented ' 
 
 indeed as a noble, high-spirited princess, and is i 
 
 the daus^hter of the " treacherous, kindless vil- j 
 
 ! 
 
 lain," by whom the murder of the king was | 
 
 committed. 
 
 The situation of Hamlet with respect to Ophe- j 
 
HAMLET, ETC. 143 
 
 lia, is tlms rendered a very tragical one, and 
 
 '■ crives rise to one of the most effective scenes in 
 
 I the drama. 
 
 I That also between Hamlet and his mother — in 
 
 I 
 
 ' which the urn containing the ashes of his father 
 
 j is introduced, and on which the Prince demands 
 ' that she should swear that she is innocent of the 
 1 king's blood — has been allowed to be in the high- 
 est degree impressive. 
 
 The ghost does not appear on the scene. It 
 passes however, as Madame de Stael observes, 
 " in the countenance of Talma," and with an 
 effect that could not have been increased by the 
 presence of the apparition. 
 
 In ^lacbeth the fable is also considerably al- 
 tered. The aged Duncan, through fear of the 
 treachery of Cador and Magdonel, gives his son 
 Malcome in charge to a faithful friend Sevar, 
 by whom he is educated in ignorance of his real 
 birth. After the murder of the King, which is 
 so managed as to throw scarcely any suspicion 
 on Macbeth, Sevar brings the Prince to the 
 
144 TRA>'SLATIONS OF 
 
 royal palace, and claims for him the crown of his 
 ancestors. Fredegonde (Lady Macbeth,) re- 
 solves at once on his destruction. Macbeth, 
 however, is so conscience-stricken by his crimes, 
 that he determines to atone for them by doing 
 justice to the rightful heir, and making a pub- 
 lic confession of his guilt. His wife in vain en- 
 deavours to prevent his purpose, and makes up 
 her mind to be herself the perpetrator of the 
 additional act of blood necessary to secure the 
 sceptre. At the dead of night, however, Sevar 
 and Malcome perceive the Queen come forth 
 unexpectedly from her apartment, 
 
 " un poignard, un flambeau dans la main, s 
 
 Mais ce qui fait horreur, c'est quand son esprit veille, i 
 
 Que son corps a la fois parte, agit et sommeille." I 
 
 In this scene, as in the original, she discloses 
 the whole transaction of the murder of Duncan, 
 and at the same time her intention of destroying 
 Malcome.* 
 
 * The following stage direction in this scene is quite French: 
 
 ! 
 
MACBETH. 145 
 
 Macbeth, in the meanwhile, assembles tho 
 nobles, in order to restore the kingdom to the 
 son of Duncan, and to make a confession of his 
 crimes. Just as he has done so, Fredegonde 
 rushes in, overwhelmed with despair — " egaree, 
 echevelee," — having by mistake, imbrued her 
 hands in the blood of her own child. 
 
 Fred. — " Je vois tout, mon sommeil. — Le ciel, dans sa colere, 
 A massacre mon fils par la main de sa mere. 
 Vers Malcome croyant diriger mon chemin, 
 C'est sur mon propre fils qu'il a conduit ma main." 
 
 The weird sisters do not appear in the play as 
 it was represented. Their influence, however, 
 and especially that of their chief, Tphyctone, 
 pervades the whole drama. The author, indeed, 
 seems disposed to have introduced them on the 
 
 Fred. — Macbeth ! Malcome est la — viens ! — (croyant le voir he- 
 siter et levant les epaules de pitie), — comme il s'intimide ! 
 
 H 
 
146 TRANSLATION OF 
 
 stage, could this have been attempted with any 
 hopes of success. At the conclusion of the scene 
 between Duncan, Sevar, and Glamis, in the first 
 act, he subjoins the following note : — " On peut 
 finir cet acte en y ajoutant la scene suivante, qui 
 serviroit peut-etre a augmenter la terreur du 
 sujet." 
 
 (On entend un gemissement douloureux.) 
 
 Dtm. — Quel long gemissement ! 
 
 Glam. — Tout mon cceur se decliire. 
 
 Dun. — C'est celui d'un mortal au moment qu'il expire I 
 
 Glam. — Si c'etaient ces trois soeurs — 
 
 (Les trois Furies ou Magiciennes sont cachces derriere les 
 rochers. La premiere tient un sceptre, la seconde une poig- 
 nnrd. ct la troisieme un serpent.) 
 
 (La Magicienne qui tient un poignard.) 
 Le char me a reussi, 
 Le sang coule, on combat. Resterons nous ici ? 
 
 (La Mag. qui tient un seep t re. j 
 Non, je cours de ce pas, eblouir ma victime, 
 
 (La Mag. qui tient un poignard.) 
 Et moi, frapper la mienne. 
 
MACBETH. 147 
 
 (La Mag. qui tient un ser2)ent.) 
 Et moi, venger ton crime. 
 La Premiere. — Du Sang ! 
 La Second e. — Du Sang ! 
 La Troisieme. — Du Sang ! 
 
 (EUes sortent toutes ensemble du milieu des rochers, et ne 
 se laissent apercevoir qu'un moment, ou meme elles peuvent 
 s'echapper sans etre wl du spectateur.) 
 Sevar. — Quel presage odieux ! 
 Dun. — Separons nous, Sevar. Soumettons nous aux Dieux. 
 
 (Duncan et Glarais sortent d'lin cote, et Sevar de Fautre.) 
 
 The description given by Macbeth, of their 
 appearance to him on the heath, is mentioned 
 by Madame de Stael, as one of Talma's finest 
 efforts. 
 
 An interlude, entitled " Shakspeare Amoureux, 
 ou la piece a I'etude, par Alexander Duval," 
 was produced in 1812, in which Talma perso- 
 nated our immortal bard. It is of the slightest 
 description, and would not be worth mentioning, 
 except to shew the interest which seemed to be 
 
 H 2 
 
148 RECEIPTS OF THE THEATRES. 
 
 attached to the mere name of the poet, in 
 
 Paris.* j 
 
 * It was stated in the papers at the time, that during the ] 
 
 i 
 
 month of August, the receipts of the Theatres in Paris had ^ 
 
 amounted to 460,000 francs, or above <£20,000. The Acade- I 
 
 mie Royale had received 75,000 francs. The Theatre Fran- j 
 
 9ais 64,000. Theatre de Yarietes 50,000. Catalami's Concerts ; 
 
 48,000. I 
 
CHAPTER XVIIT. 
 
 The Band of the Emperor of Austria — The Blind Man and his 
 dog, on the Boulevards — Visit to the Bibliotheque du Roi — 
 Illuminated Manuscripts — Letters — Golden Bees found in 
 the tomb of Childeric — Bible of Charles the Bald. 
 
 As our lodgings were in the near neighbour- 
 hood of the Boulevards — a material advantage 
 in Paris — I used occasionally to walk towards 
 the hotel of the Emperor of Austria, near the 
 Place de la Madeleine, as it is now called, then of 
 the Temple of Glory, in front of which his cele- 
 brated band played almost every morning at an 
 
150 THE emperor's BAND. 
 
 early hour. In precision and harmony of exe- 
 cution, their performance surpassed that of any 
 military orchestra I ever heard. 
 
 Several very beautiful solos were introduced 
 by the clarionet and horns ; and the crescendos, 
 which give so much expression to the music, 
 were managed with peculiar skill and deli- 
 cacy. 
 
 Those who were acquainted with Sir Walter 
 Scott, will not be surprised that in the course J; 
 of our walks he should have formed a consider- | 
 iible degree of intimacy with an " honest crea- | 
 ture" of a dog ; " the only good-humoured ; 
 looking animal," as he said one day on our road | 
 from Brussels, "to be met with in the country." j 
 That in question was the conductor of a blind j 
 man, who was frequently stationed on the Bou- j 
 levard des Italiens, close to the Rue de la Paix, > 
 and whom we used to see on our way to and : 
 from our hotel. { 
 
 He pled the cause of his matter with'great 
 effect, and his simj^le and inobtrusive appeal to 
 
THE BLIND MAN AND HIS DOG. 151 
 
 the charity of the passengers, it was quite im- 
 possible to resist. When the man stopped, the 
 little rough mongrel, for such he was, took his 
 seat beside him with a wooden cup in his mouth, 
 which he continued to hold up with the utmost 
 patience and perseverance. Sir Walter never 
 could resist saying a word to him in passing, and 
 
 depositing a trifle in his dish. 
 
 ***** 
 
 Among the numerous marks of attention 
 shewn to our friend by the leading persons in 
 Paris, was an invitation which he received 
 from Lord Cathcart to an entertainment given 
 by him to the Emperor of Russia and other 
 distinguished characters. At this he hap- 
 pened to be seated near Count Platoff, from 
 whom he received much attention. " The 
 Hetman," said he, '* addressed several sentences 
 to me in his own language in a very obhging 
 manner, to which I replied in English, taking 
 care to make my answer nearly of the same 
 length as his own speech ; and with this I was 
 
152 VISIT TO THE BIBLIOTHEQUE DU ROT. 
 
 glad to perceive he was perfectly satisfied." Its 
 tenor was probably explained to him by some 
 of his friends in the neighbourhood. That the 
 Count had been pleased with Scott, appears 
 from the kind salutation he gave him a few days 
 afterwards on the Boulevards, when walking 
 with Mr. Pringle. * 
 
 ***** 
 
 We went one forenoon, about this time, to 
 visit the King's Library, a truly magnificent 
 institution, and in which every facility is af- 
 forded to those who wish to consult the books, 
 
 * See Lockhart's Life, vol. 5. In tlie Edinburgh Annual 
 Register, is an account of a dinner given at Paris to Count 
 Platoff, by Lords Percy and Kinnoul, and a jjarty of English, 
 in May 1814. 
 
 On this occasion, with the assistance of Doctors Chrichtou 
 and Wylie, he seems to have been quite able to ascertain the 
 me anin g of the speeches made by the chairman and others, 
 as was evident by the \ery appropriate replies given by him in 
 the course of the evening. In one speech he alludes to his 
 want of education — a deficiency of which he declared that his 
 son should have no reason to complain. Of this, hov/ever, 
 there is no appearance in the account given of the party. 
 
MA^'^SCRIPTS AND LETTERS. 153 
 
 or inspect the valuable engravings and anti- 
 quities it contains. 
 
 Sir A^^alter expressed a wish to examine a few 
 of the more valuable manuscripts in the collec- 
 tion ; and every thing most deserving of notice 
 was immediately shewn us with great attention 
 and civility. 
 
 Among the principal objects of interest were 
 — several letters of Henri Quatre to the fair 
 Gabrielle — some letters of Ann Boleyn — the 
 Golden Bees found in the tomb of Childeric, * 
 which served as models for those with which the 
 coronation robes of Napoleon were ornamented. 
 His object in adopting these relics, no doubt, 
 must have been to direct the attention of the 
 nation to the emblems of the more ancient 
 dynasties — or indeed to any other, rather than 
 to those of the Bourbons, f 
 
 * Childeric reigned from the year 456, to 482. 
 
 t In James's Life of Chariemagne, is the following account 
 of the contents of the tomb of Childeric, which was found 
 at Toumay in the year 1653. Besides a quantity of the bones 
 of horses, probably sacrificed on the death of the king, a great 
 
 H 5 
 
154 BIBLE OF CHARLES THE BALD. ' 
 
 i 
 
 We were shewn many splendid illuminated 1 
 
 manuscripts, of which I recollect the Bible of 1 
 
 Charles the Bald, as beins: one of the most re- 1 
 
 . i 
 
 markable. On one of the leaves was a singular ' 
 
 portrait of the monarch, seated on a chair witli a \ 
 
 high back, and attired in a loose cloak edged ! 
 
 with an embroidered border, and fastened with | 
 
 ii brooch on one shoulder. In his hand was a \ 
 
 wand, and a few attendants were stationed round 1 
 
 i 
 
 him, dressed in a Roman style. ^ 
 
 The book is in folio, and in excellent preserva- ; 
 
 tion. I 
 
 many ornaments of gold were found, together with various 5 
 
 medals, a style, the figure of a bull's head, and several other ,1 
 things manufactured in gold, as well as a number of rings, on 
 some of which appeared the effigy of Childeric, with the in- 
 scription in Latin, *' Childericus Rex." The remains also of 
 
 a tunic, a sword, and part of an axe, were discovered, as well J 
 as some tablets, on which, I believe, no writing was to be 
 
 traced. The most curious, however, of the objects in that ' 
 
 tomb, were a multiplicity of bees wrought in gold, some with ; 
 
 eyes, some without — a symbol of empire, which Childeric pro- i 
 
 bably derived from the Romans. ] 
 
CHAPTER XIX. 
 
 Pontoon at Argenteuil — Officers quartered in a Maison cle 
 campagne — Bouquet of carnations — St. Denis — The Abbey — 
 Monuments of the kings of France — Louvre — Preparations 
 for removing the statues — Theatre des Varietes — Potier as 
 Jean qui pleure. 
 
 On the 2 1st I accompanied Colonel 
 
 on horseback, to an inspection of the corps of 
 sappers and miners in the Bois de Boulogne, 
 which he was anxious should be put in a more 
 effective condition ; and thence proceeded to 
 Argenteuil, where a pontoon bridge had been 
 established across the Seine. 
 
 It may be recollected, that the Prussian army 
 
156 PONTOON AT ARGENTEUIL. 
 
 uiider Blucher crossed the river near St. Ger- 
 main's, in order to avoid the strong miUtary 
 works prepared on the north of the city at 
 Montmartre and St. Denis, and to attack it if 
 necessary from the south, which, except at St. 
 Cloud and Issy, was left almost entirely without 
 defence. The Duke of Wellington was in 
 position at Gonesse ; and the bridge to which I 
 have referred was constructed for the purpose 
 of maintaining a communication between the 
 English and Prussian forces. 
 
 I never had seen any work of the kind ; but 
 both my conductor and his chargers had been 
 well accustomed to all kinds of military commu- 
 nications, and we passed without difficulty. 
 The pontoons were moored in the direction of 
 the stream, and were connected by a platform 
 of boards, covered with rushes, without any rail. 
 The bridge heaved sHghtly with the motion of 
 the horses, but they were not in consequence at 
 all frightened or unruly while we led them 
 across. I was told, that if a few veteran leaders 
 
BOUQUET OF CARNATIONS. lo7 
 
 were sent along the pontoons, the rest of the 
 steeds followed much more resolutely and 
 quietly than one would imagine. 
 
 We then rode up the right bank of the Seine, 
 to the quarters of an officer stationed in a maison 
 de campagne, delightfully situated close to the 
 river. We there met with an '' echantillon " of 
 regard for the Emperor, which I had not pre- 
 viously had an opportunity of seeing marked so 
 decidedly. 
 
 I observed in the hand of a lively young lady 
 in the house, a bouquet of carnations, which she 
 seemed to admire and arrange ^vith much care 
 and nicety. I said, " A ce que je crois, made- 
 moiselle, vous avez des fleurs dans ce joli bou- 
 quet la, qui se trouvent dans le jardin de 
 Tempereur." — "Ah, oui, monsieur," she replied, 
 " et cela ne m' empeche pas de les admirer — 
 elles sont des belles fleurs. — Je suis Frangaise 
 d'aiUeurs." 
 
 We then went on to St. Denis, where we 
 
156 PONTOON AT ARGENTEUIL. 
 
 under Blucher crossed the river near St. Ger- 
 main's, in order to avoid the strong miUtary 
 works prepared on the north of the city at 
 Montmartre and St. Denis, and to attack it if 
 necessary from the south, which, except at St. 
 Cloud and Issy, was left almost entirely Avithout 
 defence. The Duke of Wellington was in 
 position at Gonesse ; and the bridge to which I 
 have referred was constructed for the purpose 
 of maintaining a communication between the 
 English and Prussian forces. 
 
 I never had seen any work of the kind ; but 
 both my conductor and his chargers had been 
 well accustomed to all kinds of military commu- 
 nications, and we passed without difficulty. 
 The pontoons were moored in the direction of 
 the stream, and were connected by a platform 
 of boards, covered with rushes, without any rail. 
 The bridge heaved slightly with the motion of 
 the horses, but they were not in consequence at 
 all frightened or unruly while we led them 
 across. I was told, that if a few veteran leaders 
 
BOUQUET OF CARXATIOXS'. lo7 
 
 were sent along the pontoons, the rest of the 
 steeds followed much more resolutely and 
 quietly than one would imagine. 
 
 We then rode up the right bank of the Seine, 
 to the quarters of an officer stationed in a maison 
 de campagne, delightfully situated close to the 
 river. We there met with an " echantillon '* of 
 regard for the Emperor, which I had not pre- 
 viously had an opportunity of seeing marked so 
 decidedly. 
 
 I observed in the hand of a lively young lady 
 in the house, a bouquet of carnations, which she 
 seemed to admire and arrange -vvith much care 
 and nicety. I said, " A ce que je crois, made- 
 moiselle, vous avez des fleurs dans ce joli bou- 
 quet la, qui se trouvent dans le jardin de 
 Tempereur." — "Ah, oui, monsieur," she replied, 
 " et cela ne m' empeche pas de les admirer — 
 elles sont des belles fleurs. — Je suis rran9aise 
 d' ailleurs." 
 
 We then went on to St. Denis, where we 
 
158 ST. DENIS. 
 
 observed several traces of the fortifications of the 
 cent jours, to which I have alluded. 
 
 On our return to Paris, we stopped to look at 
 the abbey, a venerable remain of antiquity, 
 although not, as we thought, remarkable for the 
 beauty of its architecture. 
 
 The tombs of the kings of France had not as 
 yet been restored to their original cemetery, 
 from the museum of the Petits Augustins. 
 When looking at the ancient fabric, we felt 
 strongly that nothing but the absolute necessity 
 of the case could justify the removal of these 
 monuments from the spot where they had been 
 enshrined for ages, to form part of an exhibition 
 
 for the entertainment of the city of Paris. 
 
 ***** 
 
 Aug. 22. — Went to the Louvre, where several 
 additional blanks were perceptible. Sir Walter 
 seemed on the whole to prefer the picture gal- 
 lery to the halls of sculpture, chiefly, as he used 
 to say, from there being few good statues to be 
 seen in England, and scarcely any in the 
 
THE LOUVRE. 159 
 
 northern part of the island. Besides those 
 master-pieces abeady mentioned, which we of 
 course seldom passed without admiring, Sir Wal- 
 ter was often, I think, attracted by the celebrated 
 picture of the AVitch of Endor, by Salvator 
 Rosa, as also by a battle-piece by "Wouver- 
 mans, representing an attack of cavalry on a 
 bridge, remarkable for its spirit and force. A 
 very finely painted dog in one of Murillo's pic- 
 tures was also a well known favourite; no less, 
 I beheve, from his afiection to the subject, than 
 from the excellence of the performance. 
 
 I recollect Scott pointing out to me, at one of 
 our last visits, a very singular picture by Tin- 
 toret, which indeed it was impossible to view 
 with gravity, although the subject must no 
 doubt have been intended by the artist to have 
 been a sad and sei'ious one. A Venetian, in 
 slavery among the Turks, had been condemned 
 to the torture. In his distress he invoked his 
 patron, St. Mark, and it appears with extraordi- 
 nary success. The instruments of torture be- 
 
162 POTIER AND BRUNET. 
 
 tears trickling down his lank face, and his asking 
 every now and then for " un autre mouchoir " 
 from his wife, who had a reticule always filled 
 with a supply for her sorrowing helpmate, were 
 highly absurd ; and no less so the lady's accom- 
 modating look of distress, evidently assumed in 
 compliment to her better half s sentimental griefs. 
 
 The excellent acting of Potier and Brunet, 
 the chief supporters of this little theatre, ren- 
 dered it one of the most attractive in Paris. 
 
 Play-goers of those days could hardly believe 
 that instead of the shouts of laughter which 
 used to echo through the house whenever Potier 
 appeared, the audience arc now nightly dissolved 
 in tears, by his touching representation of pathetic 
 pieces. 
 
CHAPTER XX. 
 
 The Academic Royale des Sciences — M. de la Place — Count 
 Lacepede and other Savants — Birthday of Louis XVIII — 
 Rejoicings in Paris — Dancing in the Gardens of the Thui- 
 leries — Illuminations — Good feeling towards the King — 
 Visit to the Thuileries — The King — Monsieur — Anecdote 
 of an English Officer — Salle des Marechaux — Portraits — 
 Description of the Apartments. 
 
 I OBTAINED admission to a seance of the 
 Royal Academy, which was attended by several 
 of the most distinguished men of science in 
 Paris. M. Delambre was president, and M. de 
 la Place, Count Lacepede, M. Biot, M. Haiiy, 
 were among the members present. No paper 
 of much interest was read at the meeting. The 
 
1G4 ROYAL ACADEMY DES SCIENCES. 
 
 principal subject discussed was a notice of some 
 astronomical observations by M. Poisson, which 
 was succeeded by a dissertation on the manufac- 
 ture of hats, and a few other subjects connected 
 with the section of mechanics. 
 
 In the vestibules of the Palais de I'lnstitut, 
 were some interesting busts, among which I was 
 struck with that of D'Alembert, as being re- 
 markable for its expression. 
 
 AVhen visiting !Monsieur — _, a few days after- 
 wards, I told him I had assisted at tliis meeting, 
 and mentioned the subjects which had been 
 treated of by the learned gentlemen of the 
 academy. On saying that the manufacture of 
 hats had formed one of the topics, he rcphed 
 ** Quoi done — absolument un chapitre des cha- 
 peaux !" The fact was that our friend was of 
 opinion that the academicians had interfered in 
 political matters much more than became men 
 of science, and was not disposed to bestow more 
 praise than he could possibly help on their 
 proceedings. 
 
BIRTH-DAY OP^ LOUIS XVIII. 1 Go 
 
 '^ They are too fond," said he, "of les salons, 
 of court dresses, and 'decorations;' it would be 
 better if they confined themselves to the studies 
 which ought to employ their time — and one 
 would think sufficiently — without engaging in 
 the brouilleries of politics." 
 
 At the seance which I attended. Count 
 Lacepede was certainly in full court-dress, and 
 was in attendance on two foreigners of rank. I 
 was afterwards informed that in consequence of 
 his interference in public matters on the re- 
 turn of Napoleon from Elba, the students of the 
 Jardin des Plantes had absented themselves 
 from his lectures. 
 
 The active part he had taken in encouraging 
 
 the conscription during the hundred days, had, 
 I 
 1 it seems, given peculiar offence. 
 
 I * # * * 
 
 I On the 25th of August, the birth-day of 
 
 I Louis the XVIII., the mass of St. Louis was per- 
 ' formed in the private chapel of the Thuileries. 
 The allied sovereigns paid visits of congratu- 
 
166 REJOICINGS IN PARIS. 
 
 lation to the King, and the city was adorned 
 with flags and festive garlands. 
 
 In the gardens of the palace, especially before 
 the Pavilion de Flore, crowds of people were 
 assembled, dancing in groups, tossing up bou- 
 quets, and insisting on the royal family coming 
 forward every now and then to the balcony. 
 Of all the dancers, the most singular were the 
 soldiers of the National Guard, whose vast 
 grenadier caps, covered with bear-skin, were 
 seen moving up and down in all sorts of figures 
 in the course of the cotillon ; while, through the 
 dense mass of loyalists, whose enthusiasm 
 seemed to have no bounds, we had an occasional 
 glimpse of the huge mustachios and grim visages 
 of the wearers. 
 
 It was said that " Vive TEmpereur," had 
 been heard, " twice or once ;" but nothing 
 could be more energetic than the display of 
 loyal feeling towards Louis, among the crowd. 
 
 A little vaut Hen had been detected calhng 
 out, " Vive I'Empereur ;" on being pursued, he 
 
ILLUMINATIONS. 167 
 
 shouted it again — " Vive I'Empereur, Alex- 
 ! andre." 
 
 There was a general illumination at night, 
 and the theatres were open to the public gratis. 
 "Vive le Koi," ''Notre bon pere de Gand/' 
 " Xotre bon Roi/' 
 
 ** Vive le Roi, 
 Ma femme et moi," 
 
 appeared in ti-ansparencies and lamps. 
 
 The King on this occasion really seemed 
 to be " Louis le Desire/' rather than " Louis 
 I'Inevitable," as he had been styled ; and it was 
 alleged that in this general fervour of loyalty, 
 Napoleon himself was not spared. In one of 
 the transparencies, we were informed that the 
 ex-Emperor was represented as undergoing the 
 operation of being shaved by the Duke of 
 "Wellington and Marshal Blucher, who carried 
 on their work in a very methodical and grave 
 manner, without paying the slightest attention 
 to the wry faces made by the patient. 
 
168 THUILERIES. 
 
 A few days after the celebration of this fete^ 
 we obtained admission to the Thuileries, when 
 
 we had a very favourable opportunity of seeing I 
 
 His Majesty, and other members of the Bourbon ^ 
 
 family? as they passed through the Salle des i 
 
 Marechaux, on their return from morning ser- I 
 
 vice in the chapel, to the private apartments of j 
 
 the palace. | 
 
 The King was extremely infirm, and walked . 
 
 with much difficulty ; his demeanour, however, ] 
 
 was calm and dignified ; and the many personal I 
 
 disadvantages under which he laboured, were j 
 
 atoned for by the benignant and intelligent ex- ■ 
 
 pression of his countenance. ■ 
 
 The deportment of Monsieur formed a com- i; 
 
 plete contrast to that of his royal brother. This • 
 
 prince still retained a considerable portion of j 
 the grace and elegance for which he had been 
 formerly celebrated, and which had rendered 
 
 him so distinguished an ornament of the court 
 
 I 
 
 of Marie Antoinette. He was all gaiety and \ 
 
 i 
 
 animation, and frequently turned round to I 
 
ILLUMINATIONS. 169 
 
 shouted it again — '' Vive I'Empereur Alex- 
 andre." 
 
 There was a general illumination at night, 
 and the theatres were open to the public gratis. 
 ''Vive le Roi," "Notre bon pere de Gand," 
 '' Notre bon Koi," 
 
 " Vive le Roi, 
 Ma fenime et moi," 
 
 appeared in transparencies and lamps. 
 
 The King on this occasion really seemed 
 to be " Louis le Desire," rather than '' Louis 
 ITnevitable," as he had been styled ; and it was 
 alleged that in this general fervour of loyalty, 
 Napoleon himself was not spared. In one of 
 the transparencies, we were informed that the 
 ex-Emperor was represented as undergoing the 
 operation of being shaved by the Duke of 
 Wellington and Marshal Blucher, who carried 
 on their work in a very methodical and grave 
 manner, without paying the slightest attention 
 t o the wry faces made by the patient. 
 
 A few days after the celebration of this fete, 
 
 I 
 
1 
 
 170 THUILERIES. 
 
 we obtained admission to the Thuilerics, when | 
 we had a very favourable opportunity of seeing l 
 his Majesty, and other members of the Bour- j 
 bon family, as they passed through the Salle ■ 
 des Marechaux, on their return from morning 'i- 
 service in the chapel, to the private apartments '"^ 
 of the palace. 
 
 The King was extremely infirm, and walked 
 with much difficulty ; his demeanour, however, "§ 
 was calm and dignified, and the many personal 
 disadvantages under wliich he laboured, were 
 atoned for by the benignant and intelligent ex- 
 pression of his countenance. 
 
 The deportment of Monsieur formed a com- 
 plete contrast to that of liis royal brother. 
 This prince still retained a considerable portion 
 of the grace and elegance for which he had 
 been formerly celebrated, and which had ren- 
 dered him so distinguished an ornament of the 
 court of Marie Antoinette. He was all gaiety 
 and animation, and frequently turned round to 
 address some lively sally to the attendants who 
 
THUILERIES. 17/ 
 
 followed in the train of the royal party; his 
 manner was certainly extremely ]3olite and en- 
 gaging, and I could not help having an im- 
 pression that it was intended to attract the 
 notice of a somewhat larger circle than that to 
 which he immediately addressed himself. 
 
 The good sense, the amiable temper and con- 
 ciliating manners of the King, appeared evi- 
 dently to have obtained for him the good wall 
 and attachment of his subjects It certainly 
 could not be supposed that the army should 
 forget their ancient attachment to their cele- 
 brated chief, and the brave officers under whom 
 they had served in many a hard-fought field ; 
 but the great mass of the nation was favourable 
 to the restored dynasty, and seemed convinced 
 that under the existing government there was a 
 greater chance of enjoying the blessings of peace 
 and public liberty, than could possibly be ex- 
 pected under that of any other sovereign. 
 
 I was informed by an officer of the Duke of 
 Wellington's Staff that when he and his com- 
 
 T 9 
 
172 THUILERIES. | 
 
 rades were presented to his Majesty by their 4 
 illustrious commander, short!}' after his resto- i 
 ration, they were much struck with that goodj 
 taste and feeling, for which it is well known his ; 
 manners were so eminently distinguished. He , 
 
 made a short address to the party in English, in j 
 
 1 
 the course of which, as my friend observed, « 
 
 there was only one slight inaccuracy, and added, \ 
 
 that nothing could be more impressive tlian the i 
 
 language, and the feeHng manner in which it j 
 
 was delivered. t 
 
 I recollect that the concludin": sentence was i 
 as follows. — "Ifelicite" (for felicitate) "you, j 
 gentlemen, on your success, and feel grateful for ''■ 
 the kindness shown by you on all occasions j 
 since you have entered the French territories, t 
 a mes enfans egares." ; 
 
 As the palace was not shewn to the pubHc | 
 except when the Court was at St. Cloud or Fon- i 
 tainbleau, we had an opportunity of seeing only j 
 a few of the apartments. ' 
 
 The Salle des Marechaux, which occupies the 
 
THUILERIES. 173 
 
 j whole of the central pavilion of the chateau, is 
 I a magnificent room, and adorned with the por- 
 I traits of the Marshals of France, amoncr which 
 i we remarked that of Macdonald, one of the 
 ! best painted of the pictures, and to us, of 
 ' course, the most interestinsf in the collection. 
 
m 
 
 CHAPTER XXI 
 
 The Grandes Eaux at Versailles — The Palace — Salle de la 
 Guerre — Gallerie de Lebrun — The Walks and Statues in the ; 
 Gardens— The Basins — The Water-works— Magnificence of ''. 
 
 .* the Spectacle. 
 
 The 27 til of August, as we were infonned by ] 
 La Rue, our laquais-de-place, was to be a great : 
 day at Versailles — "un jour des Grandes Eaux,"* \ 
 when we were assured there was to be expected ^ 
 " quelque chose de superbe — ma foi, quelque ! 
 chose de magnifique." Nor was the character \ 
 
 * The Grandes Eaux play on stated occasions only. The ex- ii 
 pense of each performance is saiil to be 1 0,000 francs. 
 
THE PALy\CE. 1T5 
 
 of the spectacle overrated. It was indeed su- 
 perb. We set out with a couple of military 
 friends, in a fiacre of an azure blue colour, if 1 
 mistake not, with scarlet wheels ; and arrived at 
 IMadame Rimbault's Hotel, at Versailles, about 
 one o'clock, where all Paris seemed to be as- 
 sembled. 
 
 We proceeded to the palace, and mingled 
 with the vast stream which passed through the 
 apartments. The Gallerie de Lebrun, and the 
 Salles de la Guerre, and de la Paix,* were quite 
 filled with persons of every nation in Europe. 
 
 Owing; to this dense and sinsrular crowd, it 
 was difficult to get a tolerable view of the suite 
 of rooms ; but they certainly struck me as being 
 the most magnificent we had ever seen. 
 
 On our return to the coffee-room, the uproar 
 was excessive. We begged for a petit mor9eau 
 for dinner ; and after some entreaty the gargons 
 promised to do what they could for us. We 
 
 * These three saloons, which in tact form one apartment, are 
 :^17 leet in length, and -10 in height. 
 
176 THE WATER-WORKS. 
 
 contrived to seize on two or three stools, and 
 invented an extempore table, on which we suc- 
 ceeded at length in having an entree or two | 
 secured. Our repast was got over as quickly as ] 
 possible, and we proceeded to the gardens. | 
 
 These were filled with company, in general 1 
 
 well-dressed, as it was Sunday; and nothing 1 
 
 could possibly be more gay than the spectacle. | 
 
 The broad walks and formal parterres, adorned ? 
 
 with groups of statues, the canals, and basins, J 
 
 and long vistas of the park, harmonised well ^ 
 with the stately architecture of the palace ; and 
 
 the wliole combined to form an abode in every 1 
 
 respect worthy of the Grand Monarque. j 
 
 About 5 o'clock, a signal was given that the j 
 
 w ater-works were about to commence : on wliich j 
 
 we hastened to a large basin near the gate of ! 
 
 the park, in the centre of which was a grou]) of " 
 
 statues. I 
 
 The banks of tlie lake (for such it might ■ 
 
 almost be called) formed an amphitheatre, ca- i 
 
 pable of containing many thousand persons; and ] 
 
THE WATER-WORKS. 177 
 
 this we found nearly full, from the edge of the 
 water to the summit. 
 
 Those around me were principally French, of 
 all ages; one old gentleman^ in a coUarless 
 coat, povrdered ear-locks, cocked hat and buckles, 
 must certainly have been present before the 
 revolution, and nearly in a similar costume. All 
 were eager and impatient in the extreme, and 
 as full of curiosity aud enthusiasm as if they 
 had never seen or heard of Versailles, or the 
 Grandes Eaux. 
 
 Some attendants of the palace were seen to 
 approach — all was silence ; and at length the 
 moment arrived. — "Ah!" said the old gentle- 
 man in buckles, with the utmost vehemence of 
 voice and action, " c'est le Jupiter qui com- 
 mence." In an instant the fountains shot forth 
 a thousand streams, in the most splendid style, 
 and the bronze divinities were enveloped in a 
 shroud of spray. The spectators gave a shout 
 of approbation, in which we heartily joined, and 
 sat for some time enjoying the scene. 
 
 I 5 
 
178 RETURN TO PARIS. 
 
 We returned at a slow pace, along with a 
 
 I 
 
 tram of carriages that extended a considerable =' 
 
 way towards Paris, in an atmosphere of dust, ^j 
 
 •i 
 
 which rendered a glass of ice a la Pistache, and i 
 
 Ponche a la Romaine, at a favourite Cafe on the ; 
 
 Boulevard Italien, quite indispensable, before 'l 
 
 we returned to our hotel. j 
 
 I ought to add, that the behaviour of this vast | 
 
 assemblage of persons was perfectly decorous — / 
 
 not a symptom of rudeness or ill-humour was at , 
 
 any time perceptible. j 
 
CHAPTER XXII. 
 
 The Acadeniie Royale de Musique — Wellington's box — 
 Strength of the Band — Splendour of the Ballet — L' Enfant 
 Prodigue — Band of the Odeon — Figaro — Conversation with 
 a Frenchman m English— ^'iew oi Pans from the Pont des 
 Arts, and Pont Royale 
 
 August '2,9th. — AYent to the Academie Royale 
 de Musique, where there was a brilliant assem- 
 blage of fashionables. Wellington's box on tlie 
 stage was, as usual, full of distinguished persons, 
 — Lady Castlereagh, Lady Kinnaird, General 
 Alava, &c. 
 
 The Duke himself was little seen, as he sat 
 
180 Wellington's box. 
 
 behind the pillar next the audience. Occasion- -' 
 
 ally, however, I had a glimpse of his profile, :i 
 
 as he bent forward, and once or twice turned jj 
 
 round to look at the house. In one of the -^ 
 
 centre boxes was Sir John Elley, in the full | 
 
 costume of the Blues, a truly martial and striking 'i 
 
 .■% 
 
 figure. In the boxes on the side opposite the 
 
 < 
 
 Duke's were several Austrian officers, conspi- j 
 
 cuous from their white dress ; and several Eng- J 
 
 lish, who had doubtless stationed themselves | 
 
 there in order to be gratified with a sight of ; 
 
 their great countryman. i 
 
 To the Parisians, one would have supposed, t 
 
 that the aspect of the theatre must have given 
 
 i 
 
 little satisfaction ; but in the part of the par- ] 
 
 terre where I was seated, 1 did not perceive the i 
 
 slightest symptoms of any such feeling. Every j 
 
 one seemed entirely absorbed in the splendour | 
 
 of the spectacle afforded by the house and the j 
 
 performance. \ 
 
 The orchestra at this theatre is more nu- 
 merous than at the King's Theatre in London, ' 
 
STRENGTH OF THE BAND. 181 
 
 and also differs from it. in the arrangement and 
 proportion of the instruments. The number of 
 violoncellos and double basses is considerably 
 greater, and the band is therefore more power- 
 ful. 
 
 The first coup-d'archet is very striking, and 
 the performers are many of them very distin- 
 guished artists. De Beriot sometiiiies intro- 
 duced very beautiful solos ; and Tulon's ilute 
 was remarkable for sweetness of tone, and th-e 
 tasteful execution of the performer. But the 
 sustained force of the orchestra, the want of 
 some repose in the style of execution, and of an 
 occasional increase and diminution of tone in 
 the accompaniment, rendered the effect of the 
 band less impressive than it ought to have been, 
 from the individual merit of the performers. 
 The voices of the singers were in general harsh, 
 and their style unpleasing, though their action 
 was spirited and effective. 
 
 The ballet, however, was the great object of 
 
182 l'enfant prodigue. 
 
 attraction, and certainly an exhibition of a most 
 superior description. It was entitled '' L'En- 
 fant Prodigue." The scenes representing the J 
 habitation of the parents of the unfortunate vie- ^ 
 tim, were extremely beautiful ; and their rural 
 character contrasted well with the majjnificence 1 
 of the gorgeous palaces, in which the prodigal ■■. 
 falls a prey to the blandishments of his profli- J 
 gate associates. This part of the piece, it may .: 
 be supposed, was a most faithful and attrac- 
 tive representation of refined dissipation, and 
 afforded excellent opportunities for the dis- 
 play of the talents of the danseuses of the com- j 
 pany. | 
 
 The scene in the desert, when the prodigal j 
 has been ruined, and endeavours to return to 
 his home, was one of the best theatrical exhi- 
 bitions I have ever seen. There was, in the 
 colour and light thrown on the sandy desert in 
 which he is cast away, a degree of aridness and 
 oppression, that was quite overpowering; and 
 
THE PRINCIPAL DANSEUSE. 183 
 
 the action of Yestris expressed the utmost de- 
 gree of languor and misery. His mouth seemed 
 parched with thirst — he sank down in hopeless 
 despair. I may observe that the heat of the 
 iiouse itself was intolerable, to a degree that 
 might almost be supposed to excite some sort of 
 sympathy with the wanderer. 
 
 I am not sure that the principal dancers were 
 equal to Angeoline or Les Hayes, then the first 
 performers at the English Opera House. But, 
 in the general management of the ballet, the 
 grouping of the figurantes, and the skill with 
 which it was contrived that the action of the 
 piece should never languish, and every in- 
 terval be filied up with some incident con- 
 ducive to the general effect, the arrangements 
 were very superior to those of the London 
 Theatre. 
 
 L'Epreuve Villageoise was another favorite 
 ballet. In large cities, the representation of 
 country life is for the most part extremely po- 
 
i 
 
 \ 
 
 184 BAND OF THE ODEON. 
 
 pular. The citizens seem to enjoy a village 
 scene or a fete champetre, as a sort of rural ex- 
 cursion on a holiday, when they try to have a f 
 gulp of fresh air for a few hours. The band at i 
 the Odeon* was not so large as at the Academic i 
 Royal e ; but the operas were generally Italian, '} 
 and the performances were admired by the j 
 lovers of music. The piece T saw was Figaro, ■ 
 which was well got up, although the inge- i 
 nious valet himself appeared to me somewhat ! 
 tame. ■ 
 A Frenchman next me, who seemed very j 
 anxious to show off his knowledge of English, 
 said, "He too old, et too cold." The effect of ; 
 the music, however, was delightful, after what j 
 we had been accustomed to at most of the other ; 
 theatres. It seemed also to give much satisfac- 
 tion to the audience, which was extremely ' 
 large and brilliant. The heat was excessive, i 
 
 * This Theatre was burned down in 1818, and has been re- \ 
 
 stored with great taste. i 
 
CONVERSATION WITH A FRENCHMAN. 185 
 
 and T was glad to leave the house as soon as 
 possible after the conclusion of the opera. My 
 neighbour, to whom I have alluded, seemed 
 quite overpowered as well as myself, and said to 
 me, rubbing his hands, " I am starving wid 
 heat " Of course nothing was left for me but to 
 assent -to his observation. Shortly before I 
 took my departure, his anxiety to display his 
 acquirements in English, was explained by his 
 putting into my hand a card of his terms as a 
 teacher of our language, with a request for my 
 patronage. 
 
 The view of Paris from the Pont des Arts, as 
 1 returned home, was superb ; the moon shone 
 with uncommon brilliancy, and gave a charming 
 effect to the scene. 
 
 I walked along the quais, as far as the Pont 
 Royal, from which the view of the Thuileries 
 and the fa9ade of the Louvre was indeed mag- 
 nificent. 
 
 It was impossible not to rejoice that the 
 
186 REQUEST OF MARSHAL BLUCHER. 
 
 request of Marshal Blucher for the aid of the 
 Rocket Brigade, the day before the capitula- 
 tion of Paris, had been refused by the British 
 commander. 
 
CHAPTER XXllI. 
 
 Review of the Russian Troops by the Emperor Alexander, 
 Emperor of Austria, King of Prussia, Duke of Welling- 
 ton. &c 
 
 On the 31st August, Sir Walter and I set out 
 at eight in the morning to attend a grand re- 
 \dew of the Russian troops, by the Emperor 
 Alexander, and the Allied Sovereigns. The 
 Place Louis XV. was the point where the army 
 passed before their Majesties ; and we succeeded 
 in securing a stand on one of the pedestals 
 which are placed at the angles of the inclosure. 
 The ground was kept by the Cossacks of the 
 
188 REVIEW OF THE 
 
 Guard, in general very tall and handsome men, 
 dressed in red jackets and very wide blue 
 trousers, and armed with lances. The crowd 
 was not great, and we remarked, as indeed 
 might have been expected, that very few French 
 were present. 
 
 The Cossacks kept guard with scarcely any 
 exercise of severity. For one instant, however, 
 the angry spirit broke forth in a manner that 
 afforded us some amusement. An old Jew, 
 unfortunately, chose to cross the space tliat was 
 kept clear, upon which, one of tlie guards 
 rushed after him, with a face expressive of the 
 utmost detestation and wrath. His lance was 
 raised in an instant, and witli the butt-end of 
 it the alarmed Israelite was quickly pushed back 
 like "a stranger cur" among the multitude, 
 very near where we were standing, amidst 
 shouts of laughter. 
 
 Soon after, a general officer was seen to trot 
 very quickly along the Rue des Champs Elysees. 
 His uniform was scarlet, adorned with many 
 
RUSSIAN TROOPS. 189 
 
 orders, and a pale blue ribbon ;* and attended 
 by an aide-de-camp. 
 
 This was soon ascertained to be Wellington, 
 proceeding evidently in some haste to join the 
 cortege of the monarchs. The observant eye 
 of my companion quickly recognised the hero. 
 His hat and stout staff were immediately raised 
 in the air, with a hearty cheer for Wellington. 
 Sovereigns and Generals, however, were so 
 common in Paris, that I do not think any very 
 remarkable sensation was produced even by the 
 conqueror himself. 
 
 The Emperor of Russia, together with the 
 Emperor of Austria and the King of Prussia, 
 attended by a number of officers, now appeared 
 in the broad walk of the Champs Elysees, on 
 their way from the Hotel of the Elysee Bour- 
 bon t to the Place Louis XV. 
 
 * The ribbon of the Russian order of St. Alexander Newsky. 
 
 t This Hotel is interesting from the number of remarkable 
 persons by whom it has been occupied. It was built in 1718, 
 and was purchased by Madame de Pompadour, after whose 
 death it became the property of Louis XV. It afterwards 
 
190 REVIEW OF THE 
 
 They took their station immediately opposite 
 to us, on the south side of the area. The spot 
 
 was a remarkable one : — on it, in the year 1 794, > 
 Louis XVI. was massacred by his subjects ; and 
 now, in 1815, the chiefs of the great European 
 powers were met in triumph, surrounded by the 
 countless host of enemies which the crimes and 
 
 ambition of the revolutionary party had raised / 
 
 against France. ^ 
 
 The Russian bands were soon after heard at a j 
 
 distance, and the troops began to appear in the | 
 
 broad alley, the avenue des Champs Elysees, by 5 
 
 belonged to the Duchess of Bourbon; and in 1792 became | 
 
 I 
 
 national property, when it was used as a printing-office. Next, :« 
 
 it was a public garden; and in 1804 was bought by Murat, who f 
 
 ti'ted it up with great magnificence. On his going to Naples, ^ 
 
 it was much occupied by Napoleon, whose favorite room is ^ 
 
 called the Salon de Travail. In 1814 and 1815, it was in- ^ 
 
 habited by the Emperor of Russia, and afterwards by the < 
 
 Duke of Wellington. During the 100 days, it was the resi- -i 
 
 dence of Napoleon. In 1816, it was given by the King to ' 
 
 the Duke de Berri, whose children were born in the bed-room ?j 
 
 which l)ad belonged to Maria Luuise The palace now belongs i 
 
 to the Crown. -i 
 
 J 
 
RUSSIAN TROOPS. 191 
 
 which the monarchs had approached. Regiment 
 after regiment advanced, until the whole space, 
 which is visible for a considerable distance, was 
 crowded wdth soldiers. Their bayonets were 
 fixed, and the walk was actually filled with a 
 crop of pointed steel, as thick as ears of corn 
 in a wheat field. 
 
 The slight movement occasioned by their 
 regular steady march, sufficed to make the arms 
 constantly glance in the rays of the morning sun, 
 W'hich at that early hour struck on them side- 
 ways with great brilliancy. On the approach of 
 one of the regiments to the place, the King of 
 Prussia advanced from the group, and put him- 
 self at the head of it. He rode with it till he 
 came near the Emperor of Russia, and after 
 saluting him, returned to his place in the cortege. 
 
 The number of troops review^ed, I believe, 
 amounted to 20,000. After passing the Sove- 
 reigns, they dispersed in different directions, 
 towards their several quarters, in such a manner 
 
192 REVIEW. 
 
 as not to create inconvenience, by being crowded ^ 
 into any particular part of the city. 
 
 "A magnificent spectacle for us," said Sir 
 Waltei', as we walked home to the Hotel Bour- 
 bon, "whatever the inhabitants of the good | 
 city of Paris may think of it. They have not, ^ 
 indeed, turned out in great numbers to mtness [ 
 tlie exhibition, — and no wonder. It must give 
 them, one would think, a feeling of oppression 
 extremely painful — a sort of squeezing sensa- 
 tion, as one may say— to see all those soldiers 
 parading in triumph tlu'ough the streets of the ? 
 town, and those interminable trains of artillery J 
 jolting over the stones : — sad, indeed, for la >' 
 (/hire Nationale.'" | 
 
 ) 
 
 ^ 
 
CHAPTER XXIV. 
 
 The Temple — The Fountain of the Elephant — Debure's Library 
 .-—Benedictine Collection of French Historians — The Mo- 
 nastery. 
 
 September 1st. — I accompanied Sir Walter to 
 several spots in Paris, which had been rendered 
 remarkable either by the events of late years, 
 or during the revolution.* 
 
 We visited the place where the Temple for- 
 merly stood. It is in the garden of a private 
 
 * Our friends, Mr. Pringle and Mr. Bruce, left Paris about 
 this time, on a tour to Switzerland. 
 
194 THE TEMPLE. 
 
 house, and the plan of the building was marked 
 out by cords on a grass plat. 
 
 In the house was a model of the prison, with 
 several figures, representing the members of the 
 Royal Family in France, during their confine- 
 ment in 1792, — a singular and melancholy exhi- 
 bition. 
 
 The Temple was demolished by Buonaparte 
 in 1805; it has been said, from a certain omi- 
 nous feeling, that he himself might one day 
 share the fate of the unfortunate Louis, and 
 become its inhabitant. 
 
 This precaution, perhaps, was not an impru- 
 dent one. "It at least, prevented, as I think," 
 Sir Walter observed, " the possibility of any one 
 taking a fancy to make good the presentiment." 
 We then drove to the Place de la Bastille, to 
 see Ihe model of the colossal Elephant, which 
 Napoleon intended to have placed in a grand 
 marble basin in its centre. 
 
 This was to have been cast in bronze, and to 
 
THE FOUNTAIN OF THE ELEPHANT. 195 
 
 have served as a fountain, discharging through 
 the trunk a vast jet of water. In one of the 
 legs of the animal was a turnpike stair, six feet 
 in diameter, from which an idea may be formed 
 of the dimensions of the monster.^ 
 I No one understood better than Napoleon 
 j what was best calculated to please the taste of 
 I the French people. His public works — de- 
 signed sometimes with good taste, sometimes 
 with bad — were always planned in such a man- 
 ner as was likely to flatter the national vanity, 
 I and to produce some striking eifect by their 
 j vastness or singularity ; often to divert the at- 
 I tention of the public from measures of a less 
 j palateable or harmless description. 
 
 We visited, in the course of the day, the 
 hbrary ofM. Debure, in the Rue Serpente, well 
 Ivuown as bookseller to the King and the Biblio- 
 
 * Instead of the Elephant, a Doric column has been erected, 
 which exceeds in height that in the Place Vendonie } on its 
 summit is a statue representing the Genius of Fiance. 
 
 K 2 
 
196 debure's library, 
 
 theque Royale, and to whom Sir Walter had 
 been recommended, as possessing the best col- 
 lection in Paris of works connected with the 
 history of France. We were ushered into a 
 large room, looking into the garden at the back 
 of the house ; and the proprietor ci\dlly offered 
 to show us whatever works we might consider 
 most worthy of examination. 
 
 Several of the rarer books were brought ] 
 from a smaller apartment. After inspecting f 
 
 some of the valuable specimens contained in this -^ 
 
 >■ 
 extensive store-house of learning. Sir Walter ^ 
 
 made a few purchases — including, if I recollect j 
 right, a description of Paris, in several volumes, 1 
 recommended by M. Chevalier ; an old book of | 
 legends ; together with another piece of anti- ^ 
 quity on magic, on which subject there is so re- 
 markable a collection of strange-looking tomee i-^ 
 in liis library ; also a copy of Moliere, edited i 
 by M. Bret. J 
 Among the many costly books shewn us, he ' 
 
THE MONASTERY. 197 
 
 noticed particularly tlie collection of French 
 Historians, by the Benedictine monks, in many 
 volumes, folio, with much attention ; and this 
 work I afterwards perceived in his study at 
 Abbotsford. 
 
 The reader will not be surprised, that on the 
 appearance of the Monastery, in 1821, the 
 perusal of the following passage, in the intro- 
 duction to the novel, should have immediately 
 brought to my recollection our visit to M. 
 Debure. — 
 
 The obliging and learned Captain Clutterbiick 
 is seated in the George Inn, at Kennaquhair, 
 over his glass of negus, in company with his 
 still more learned friend clad in grey — the 
 worthy Benedictine monk, who had come to 
 search for the remains of his revered ancestors, 
 the last abbot of St. Mary's. 
 
 In the course of their conversation, reference 
 is made to the habits and manners of the monks, 
 and to the injury which the order had sustained 
 
198 THE BENEDICTINES. 
 
 from the extravagance in which they had in- 
 dulged ; " * and yet,' continues the Benedictine, 
 *we have seen the revenues of convents ex- 
 pended, not only in acts of beneficence and hos- 
 pitality to individuals, but in works of general 
 and permanent advantage to the world at large. 
 The noble folio collection of French historians, 
 commenced in 1737, under the inspection, and 
 at the expense of the community of St. Maur, 
 will long show that the revenues of the Bene- 
 dictines were not always spent in self-indul- 
 gence ; and that the members of that order, 
 did not uniformly slumber in sloth and in- 
 dolence, when they had discharged the formal 
 duties of their rule.' As I knew nothing earthly 
 at the time about the community of St. Maur, 
 and their learned labours, I could only return 
 a mumbling assent to this proposition. 
 
 "I have since seen that noble work in the 
 library of a distinguished family; and I must 
 own, I am ashamed to reflect that in so wealthy 
 a country as ours, a similar digest of our his- 
 
THE BENEDICTINES. 199 
 
 torians should not be undertaken, under the pa- 
 tronage of the noble and the learned, in rivalry 
 of that which the Benedictines of Paris exe- 
 cuted at the expense of their own conventual 
 funds." 
 
CHAPTER XXV. 
 
 Baron Denon's Collection — Egyptian Antiquities — Papyrus — 
 Busts of Napoleon and King of Rome —Pictures — Medals — 
 Prints — Blucher in the Louvre. 
 
 Sept. 2nd. — We were indebted to our kind 
 friend, M. Chevalier, for an introduction to 
 Baron Denon, who showed us his valuable col- 
 lection with much politeness. We were usher- 
 ed into an apartment towards the back of the 
 house, in which were several pictures by an- 
 cient and modern artists ; and were conducted 
 by the Baron to the suite of rooms facing the 
 river, in which the greater part of his treasures 
 
EGYPTIAN ANTIQUITIES. 201 
 
 are deposited. The saloons are of various di- 
 I mensions, in general well lighted, and excel- 
 I lentlj adapted for the exhibition of his museum. 
 Probably no collector in every respect so well 
 I qualified, both by his natural good taste and 
 1 skill in antiquarian research, to take advantage 
 j of the opportunities presented to him, ever pos- 
 ■ sessed so many favourable ones as this cele- 
 \ brated connoisseur. 
 
 I shall briefly mention a few of the antiqui- 
 ties and works of art in his possession, which I 
 find I have noted as most remarkable. 
 
 The Phoenician and Egyptian antiquities, and 
 several specimens of writing on Papyrus, were, 
 I believe, in the rooms to which we were first 
 taken by the proprietor. Also, several busts ; 
 and in particular, an excellent one of Vol- 
 taire, in Terra Cotta, which struck me as being 
 no less lively and satirical in its expression, 
 than the portrait I afterwards saw of him at 
 Ferney. 
 
 There were also a small statue of Napoleon — 
 
 K o 
 
202 KING OF ROME. 
 
 a colossal bust of the same — one of tlie King of 
 Rome, by Canova. The Baron's own bust was 
 a very exact and animated likeness 
 
 Among the pictures was a Moonlight, by 
 Claude ; the only specimen of a night scene by 
 that artist I had ever seen. 
 
 In a small room was a profile of Parme- 
 giano. 
 
 The portrait of Vittore Pisani, of Verona, 
 is a very early specimen of oil painting : it is 
 hard, but expressive ; and one cannot doubt 
 for a moment that it must be an accurate re- 
 semblance. Pisani, it is well known, was the 
 restorer of the art of coining medals, and was 
 employed by Pope Clement VII. to execute 
 designs for his coins. In the advancement of 
 this branch of art, no one has of late years 
 done more than Baron Denon liimself; the 
 celebrated suite of the Napoleon medals having 
 been completed under his superintendence, by 
 M. Andrieu 
 
PICTURES AND MEDALS. 203 
 
 In the Baron's bed-room were some pictures 
 by Watteau, and various beautiful enamels of 
 himself and others. I believe, indeed, that we 
 observed in the collection no less than six or 
 seven portraits of the proprietor. 
 
 His collection of prints by Marc Antonio, 
 Rembrandt, &c. is, I believe, considered as pe- 
 culiarly valuable. 
 
 We had every reason to be gratified with 
 the attention shewn us by M. Denon, and 
 could not help sympathising in the vexation he 
 must have endured at the time of our visit to 
 Paris, in consequence of the removal of the 
 works of art. 
 
 The justice of the measure, it is impossible 
 to deny ; but to those who were more imme- 
 diately concerned, this exertion of the " droit 
 du plus fort" must have been extremely pairt- 
 ful. The laconic reply of Blucher to the claims 
 advanced by Denon for a picture, which he en- 
 deavoured to prove had not formed part of the 
 
204 BLUCHER IN THE LOUVRE. 
 
 plunder of the Dresden gallery, is well known. 
 The Marshal turned to his attendants, and 
 after a few moments' consultation, cut short the 
 argument with the simple phrase, " Tais toi — 
 otez le." 
 
CHAPTER XXVI. 
 
 Excursion to Malmaison and St. Cloud— Verses on Waterloo- 
 Josephine's Garden and Chateau— Regard entertained for 
 her — St. Cloud — Capitulation of Paris — Gardens — Scott's 
 Verses on St. Cloud. 
 
 We accompanied Lady and a party, a 
 
 few days before we left Paris, to Malmaison and 
 St. Cloud. Sir Walter and I arrived at the 
 place of rendezvous a Kttle before our time ; and 
 while we waited for the others, I had an ex- 
 ample of the remarkable powers of memory 
 with which he was gifted. An officer of rank 
 had recited to him some very elegant verses, 
 which he had composed on the events of the 
 
206 VERSES ON WATERLOO. 
 
 great day, when " the astonished Eagle" was 
 compelled to crouch beneath a superior power. 
 
 Such was the impression that the poem had 
 made on his mind, that every verse was retained 
 by him as perfectly as if he had had the book 
 before him. 
 
 At the same time he repeated to me the com- 
 mencement of the wild and imaginative poem, 
 in which the fatal choosers of the slain are sup- 
 posed to select their victims from the ranks of 
 the combatants on the night before the battle. 
 I shall never forget the tone and manner in 
 which, (wTth the low impressive voice he re- 
 cited poetry) he began: — 
 
 ** Night and moruing were at meeting 
 
 Over Waterloo ; 
 Cocks had sung their earliest greeting — 
 
 Faint and low they crew. 
 For no paly beam yet shone 
 On the heights of Mount St. John ; 
 Tempest clouds prolonged the sway 
 Of timeless darkness over day. 
 Whirlwind, thunderclap, and shower, 
 Mark'd it a predestined hour ; 
 
 
Josephine's garden and chateau. 207 
 
 Broad and frequent through the night, 
 Flash'd the sheets of levin light: 
 Musquets, glancing lightnings back, 
 Shewed the dreary bivouack, 
 
 Where the soldier lay, 
 Chill and stiff, and drenched with rain, 
 Wishing morn were come again, 
 
 Tho' death should come with day."* 
 
 The day was delightfully spent among the 
 groves of Josephine's charming villa. Great 
 taste was displayed in lapng out the walks and 
 shrubberies of her Jardin Anglais; and the 
 amiable character of the possessor, of whose 
 memory every one in the neighbourhood spoke 
 with the highest respect, gave a feeling of much 
 interest to the place of her abode. 
 
 The public rooms of the Chateau were very 
 pleasant and elegant apartments, and were or- 
 namented with several statues, placed on pedes- 
 tals in the centre of the room. Canova's Hebe, 
 one of the most fascinating efforts of modern 
 sculpture, above all attracted our attention. On 
 a table was the largest Cameo I have ever seen. 
 
 * This was first published in 1816. 
 
208 ST. CLOUD. 
 
 We remarked also an excellent bust of Denon, 
 by the great Italian artist. 
 
 We left Malmaison in the afternoon, to dine 
 at St. Cloud. 
 
 In this favoui'ite abode of Napoleon, where, 
 on the 18th and 19th of Brumaire,* those 
 events had taken place, which placed at his 
 command the destinies of France, the capitula- 
 tion of Paris had, but a few wrecks before, been 
 signed by the allied generals and the French 
 authorities. It may therefore be supposed, that 
 from the general anxiety to behold the place 
 whence had issued those "bloody instructions" 
 so fatal to the peace of Europe, but 
 
 " Which being taught, return 
 To plague the inventor ;" 
 
 and also from the picturesque beauty of the 
 environs, a great influx of \isitors was daily 
 assembled at the palace. 
 
 On the evening of our visit, the fine view from 
 the terrace was seen to great advantage, lighted 
 
 ♦ November lOih, 1799. 
 
f GARDENS. 209 
 
 as it was by a rich autumnal sunset. The na- 
 ture of the ground, however, at least according 
 
 I to English ideas, is not so well suited to the 
 formal style in which the garden near the Cha- 
 
 I teau is laid out, as the level park of Versailles. 
 
 We dined at the Hotel, and returned from 
 
 our agreeable day's excursion at a late hour. 
 
 j One of the ladies of the party was a good mu- 
 
 I sician, and favoured us with several very pleas - 
 
 I ing songs, both at Malmaison and St. Cloud. 
 
 i In the course of our walk on the Boulevards 
 next morning, when alluding to the skill of the 
 
 i fair vocalist, and the obliging manner in which 
 she had contributed to our amusement, Sir Wal- 
 
 i ter expressed the gratification he had received 
 from the society of these and other distin- 
 guished friends, in the various excursions to 
 Montmorency, Versailles^ &c., which he had 
 
 j made with them during his visit to Paris. At St. 
 
 i Cloud, he had been much struck with hearing the 
 points of war sounded by the bugles of the troops 
 stationed near it ; and repeated to me a few lines, 
 
210 GARDENS. 
 
 as he said, which had occurred to him as a sort 
 of remembrance of his evenings at St. Cloud.* 
 
 " Soft spread the southern summer night 
 Her veil of darksome blue ; 
 Ten thousand stars combined to light 
 The terrace of St. Cloud 
 
 ***** 
 
 The drum's deep roll was heard afar, 
 
 The bugle wildly blew ; 
 Good night to Hulan and Hussar, 
 
 That garrison St. Cloud." 
 
 * See Poetical Works, vol llth. 
 
CHAPTER XXVII. 
 
 Hotel of the Princess P. Borghese— French Noblesse durii^g 
 the Empire — Anecdote of Napoleon— Party at Lord Castle- 
 reagh's — Last day in Paris — Farewell Visits — Palais Royal. 
 
 On the 7tli September, we went to the Hotel 
 of the British Embassy for our passports, and 
 were introduced to the private apartments by 
 one of the secretaries. These had been superbly 
 furnished by Princess Pauline Borghese ; and 
 afforded, on the whole, a favorable example of 
 the taste that prevailed during the reign of 
 Napoleon. 
 
212 PRINCESS borghese's hotel. 
 
 1 
 
 The green velvet, and gold embroidery which '] 
 
 glittered on the walls of one apartment — the 'j 
 
 pier-glasses and enamelled clocks, in which the | 
 
 hour was indicated by the scythe of old Time | 
 
 on a sphere of enamel — all displayed that love > 
 
 of shew and extravagance in which the grandees I 
 
 of the Emperor's court endeavoured to outshine I 
 
 each other. | 
 
 Their vast incomes (the fruits of their rob- ; 
 
 beries), Napoleon wished to be laid out in ex- ; 
 
 tending as much as possible the influence of his j 
 
 partisans ; and he gave every encouragement to | 
 
 whatever might have the effect of increasing | 
 
 their popularity. A large expenditure in keep- , 
 
 iug up the splendour of the court, was evidently '<. 
 
 the best substitute that could be found for the i 
 
 influence possessed by hereditary nobility, and | 
 
 for the respect and attachment entertained for | 
 
 long established families. f 
 
 This influence, however, Buonaparte also en- 
 deavoured to obtain, whenever he could avail 
 himself of a favourable opportunity. Young 
 
FRENCH NOBLESSE. 213 
 
 persons of good family, he wished, if possible, 
 to be allied by marriage to his newly created 
 nobles, and held out every inducement to pro- 
 mote such connexions. 
 
 I was informed by an officer, of a character- 
 istic instance of an attempt of the kind, in which, 
 i however, the imperial match-maker was unable 
 i to carry into effect his intentions. 
 
 The anecdote had been related to my friend 
 by the party himself. The young nobleman in 
 question, had served with the Emperor, and 
 although not of high rank in the army, had, on 
 account of his fortune and family, enjoyed a 
 I certain degree of favour at court. This kind- 
 I ness, he remarked, was by degrees more largely 
 vouchsafed ; and many opportunities were pre- 
 sented to the Marquis of becoming intimate 
 with the select party at the Thuileries. 
 » The cause of this increase of regard was 
 I soon apparent. Napoleon, one forenoon, in- 
 i formed the young gentleman, that he was now 
 ' of an age which rendered it advisable that he 
 
214 ANECDOTES OF NAPOLEON. j 
 
 should lose no time in selecting a spouse, and i 
 recommended a young lady, whom he frequently | 
 saw about the Empress, as an eligible object of * 
 affection. The Marquis, however, begged leave ] 
 to decline the proposed honour, and excused J 
 himself under the plea of a previous engage- i 
 ment. This, however, was not considered as v 
 sufficient, and several remonstrances were urged I 
 against such unnecessary scruples. When Na- % 
 poleon found that all his arguments were vain, v 
 his wrath became extreme — he lost all temper — ^4 
 he clenched his fist, and shook it in the face of | 
 the youth, saying, at the same time, — ** Quoi ! I 
 vous me refusez, done — vous me refusez, done !" ^ 
 and stormed in the most furious manner. -^ 
 
 The good blood and fortitude of the young : 
 man, however, appear to have befriended him i 
 in this emergency, and enabled him to maintain " 
 his ground. Nor, as I understood, was the I 
 anger of His Majesty attended with conse- ] 
 quences so serious as might have been expected. I 
 
 The control, however, maintained by Napo- 1 
 
 i 
 
PARTY AT LORD CASTLEREAGH's. 215 
 
 leon over the alliances of his courtiers, was 
 often extremely arbitrary. Thek vahdity, in- 
 deed, was not by any means secure, unless ex- 
 ! pressly sanctioned by the Imperial authority — 
 and many were the hungry dependants who 
 were provided for by these matrimonial con- 
 nexions. 
 
 t . -ST ^ W TT * 
 
 We bade farewell to the gaieties of Paris, 
 at an assembly given by Lady Castlereagh, w^hich 
 was attended by most of the leaders of the corps 
 j diplomatique. 
 
 j Of the many celebrated characters present, 
 I none appeared to me more distinguished for 
 elegance and dignity of deportment, than the 
 noble entertainer himself — none who gave a 
 more complete idea of the gentleman, or more 
 decidedly bore the stamp of a person 
 
 " Whom one would willingly call master." 
 
 Among the company, was the celebrated 
 Canova, whose claims in behalf of his country 
 
216 PARTY AT LORD CASTLEREAGH's. 
 
 now received more attention than had at first 
 been paid to them by Talleyrand, and other 
 French authorities. . 
 
 Prussia and the Netherlands had already suc- 
 ceeded in recovering their spoils ; and by« the 
 end of September, the treasures belonging to i 
 the Italian States were again restored to their j 
 native soil, from one which seemed little adapted | 
 to the growth of such products, and had scarcely | 
 been rendered more fertile by their intro- • 
 duction. . 
 
 The showy style in which the apartments j 
 were furnished, appeared to greater advantage I 
 when lighted up for the gaieties of the evening, | 
 than in the forenoon ; — a period of the twenty-r i 
 four hours, probably, held in slight esteem by ;: 
 the fair princess who had possession of the 
 mansion, and during which she would, in all | 
 
 likelihood, consider it as a matter of little con- >; 
 
 I 
 sequence what might be the effect of the de- J 
 
 i 
 corations. 
 
 I 
 
FAREWELL VISITS. 217 
 
 September 8th., was the last day we spent in 
 Paris, and was employed in farewell visits, and 
 preparations for our journey. One of the first, 
 of course, was to our friend M. Chevalier, of 
 whom we took leave with much gratitude for 
 the kindness and attention he had shown during 
 our stay, and to which we had been indebted 
 for admission to many interesting sights that 
 could not otherwise have been obtained. 
 
 In the course of the forenoon. Sir Walter and 
 I separated, for the purpose of saying adieu 
 to our respective acquaintances, and of executing 
 such commissions as might occur. Before long, 
 however, I confess that I found myself gradually 
 approaching to the centre of that most fascinating 
 place of resort, the Palais Royal, anxious no 
 doubt to have a last look of the shops of the 
 bijoutiers and marchands des modes, which 
 rendered it so attractive to foreigners. 
 
 While I was busily staring at one of those 
 tempting windows, I perceived my fellow- 
 
 L 
 
218 PALAIS ROYAL. 
 
 traveller at no great distance, employed exactly 
 
 in a similar manner ; and so attentive, indeed, ] 
 
 was our examination of the shops, that we were ■ 
 
 not aware of our near neighbourhood, until S 
 
 within a few yards of each other. 3 
 
 On our meeting. Sir Walter, after a hearty \ 
 
 laugh, exclaimed, ** Well, there's no use in say- \ 
 
 ing anything about the matter. Your visits j 
 
 don't seem to have occupied much more time j 
 
 than my oivn, and here we are, in the very ; 
 
 midst of temptation, like a couple of moths, as J 
 
 we are. The last day in a town like this, is \ 
 certainly a very dangerous one, without any 
 
 Palais Royal ; what must it be here, then?" ■ 
 
 On comparing notes, however, it did not, I ] 
 
 believe, appear that we had been very extrava- '; 
 
 gant; and after selecting a few souvenirs de j 
 
 Paris, we walked along the Passage Vi\ienne, J 
 
 towards the Boulevards. It was in a tobacco- j 
 
 nist's in the arcade, if I recollect right, that ; 
 
 Scott observed a snuff-box of a pattern then j 
 
 i 
 
 J 
 
 _i 
 
PALAIS ROYAL. 219 
 
 much in fashion — representing the cross-cut of a 
 small tree, in which the veins and knots were 
 j carefully imitated. On seeing it, he immediately 
 stopped, saying, "We must not forget Tom 
 Purdie, by-the-bye — this is the very thing for 
 him." 
 
 L 2 
 
CHAPTER XXVIIT. 
 
 Tal. — But ere we go, regard this dying prince, 
 The vahant Duke of Bedford. Come, my lord, 
 We will bestow you in some better place, 
 Fitter for sickness and for crazy age. 
 
 Bed Lord Talbot, do not so dishonour me ; 
 Here will I sit before the walls of Rouen, 
 And will be partner of your weal and woe. 
 
 Tal. Courageous Bedford, let us now persuade you. 
 
 Bed. Not to be gone from hence ; for once I read 
 That stout Pendragon, in his litter, sick. 
 Came to the field and vanquished his foes : 
 Methinks I should revive the soldiers' hearts 
 Because I ever found them as myself. 
 
 7a/. Undaunted spirit in a dying breast! 
 Then be it so — Heavens keep old Bedford safe ! 
 
 First Part, Henry vi. Act. hi Sc. ii. 
 Departure from Paris — Marli — St. Germain en Laye — Louviers — 
 Landlady of the Inn — French Females. 
 
DEPARTURE FROM PARIS. 221 
 
 On the 9th September, we rose at five 
 o'clock, with the view of reaching Rouen that 
 night, on our way to Dieppe ; and much were 
 we provoked to find our laquais, la Rue, had 
 tailed to secure us horses at the appointed hour. 
 The capital of Normandy was, for many reasons, 
 a place vrhere it was desirable to halt. 
 
 There are few cities in France which can be 
 compared to it, either in respect of situation, or 
 architectural beauty ; and to Scott especially 
 it presented many objects of interest. 
 
 " In this late betrayed town, 
 Great Cceur de Lion's heart was buried ;' 
 
 Here also was interred 
 
 "The noble Duke of Bedford," 
 
 the celebrated Regent of France, than whom 
 
 '•' A braver soldier never couched lance, 
 A gentler spirit never swayed in court." 
 
 The minor consideration, also, of a comfortable 
 hotel in a principal town, at a time when the 
 
222 MARLI. 
 
 multitude of troops scattered over the country | 
 
 rendered it difficult to obtain accommodation, j 
 
 was not to be overlooked. We weie aware that ) 
 
 from our delay in leaving Paris, we could not \ 
 
 get to Rouen, and must necessarily stop at some j 
 
 point where we could have little expectation of i 
 
 meeting with comfortable quarters. S 
 
 The fineness of the day, and the beauty of our 
 
 drive, however, restored our equanimity. We \ 
 
 passed through Marli* and St. Germain, where ; 
 we paused to look at the palace. I was aware 
 
 * Scott's additional words to the song, '-^^ 
 
 «- 
 
 " Bannocks of beer meal, ;f 
 
 Bannocks of barley; :^ 
 
 V 
 
 Here's to the lads ^ 
 
 That eat bannocks of barley ;" % 
 
 i 
 
 may be recollected by his friends ; I know not if they were ever ^ 
 published. 
 
 Wno is't keeps guard 
 
 At \'eraailles and at Marli? 
 
 Who but the lads 
 
 That eat bannocks of barley?" 
 
 
 i 
 
THE PALACE. 223 
 
 that we should pass this ancient abode of the 
 house of Stuart, and was of course anxious to 
 hear what the supposed author of Waverley 
 might say on the occasion. He did not entirely 
 pass over the subject, and mentioned one or two 
 well-known anecdotes respecting the family. 
 The topic, however, was evidently one to which 
 lie was unwilling to refer, and I therefore for- 
 bore to press it so much as I confess I felt i?i- 
 c lined to do. 
 
 We admired the extensive view from the 
 terrace ; and could not help wondering at the 
 preference given by Louis XIV. to the com- 
 paratively dull situation of Versailles — " the fa- 
 vourite ^vithout merit," as it was called by the 
 wits of the court. 
 
 The palace had been converted by Napoleon 
 into a military college, to which many young 
 men, of late years especially, were introduced 
 on his recommendation, without much consi- 
 deration being given to the wishes or inclination 
 of either the pupils or their friends. The build- 
 
2^4 LOUVIERS. 
 
 ing, from its heavy design and neglected state, 
 certainly bore a considerably greater resem- 
 blance to a state prison than a palace. 
 
 It was dark before we reached Louviers, 
 where we were obliged to stop ; and, as we anti- 
 cipated, the inn was poor and comfortless. We 
 resolved to start as early as possible, in order to 
 breakfast at Rouen, and ordered our bill before 
 going to bed. It was immoderate. Our " pieds 
 de coclion a la St. Menehould," to which we had 
 been treated much against our will, were charged 
 at a rate that was provoking in the extreme; and 
 Scott, not usually easily vexed, remonstrated 
 more fluently, as he himself said, than he had ever 
 done in the French language. But as usual on 
 such occasions, we had tlie worst of it, and were 
 obliged to submit to our sulky landlady. Scott's 
 revenge ended in his saying, " Eh bien, Madame, 
 vous pouvez attendre une visite des allies en pen 
 de jours. Je vous assure que \esPrussiens ne vous 
 payeront pas ainsi," " C'est possible, Monsieur," 
 was the reply of the landlady, whose impertur- 
 
 J 
 
FRENCH LANDLADY. 225 
 
 bable sang-froid it was impossible to get the 
 better of — and some hints were thrown out, 
 with much politeness of manner, that Monsieur 
 could not regret that some " petit soulage- 
 nient," should be afforded by us^ for the pro- 
 bable distresses to which he alluded. 
 
 When Madame left the room, Scott observed 
 
 how hazardous it was to attempt anything in a 
 foreign language beyond the usual routine of 
 conversation. ^' It continually happens," said 
 he, ^'that you either fail to give the intended 
 effect to what you wish to say, or not unfre- 
 quently miss the mark entirely ; in short, you 
 say not what you luish, but what you ca;?." 
 
 There was a considerable noise and some 
 quarrelling in the court-yard of the inn, to 
 which our room opened by a corridor that went 
 round the building. We had not been long 
 asleep, when we were awakened by a noise of 
 some one attempting to get into the room. 
 Our pistols were as usual in readiness, and we 
 started up, fully prepared to defend ourselves 
 
 L 5 
 
226 FRENCH FEMALES. 
 
 a I'outrance against the intruders who should 
 attempt to approach. Our peremptory demand 
 of " Qu' est ce que c'est," was replied to by a 
 gentleman, who apologised as being a stranger 
 and an Englishman, and had mistaken the 
 number of his apartment. 
 
 When we started next morning, which we 
 did at an early hour, in order to have as much 
 time as possible to bestow on Rouen, and get 
 away from our inn, we agreed that it was a 
 great pity so much good courage as we had no 
 doubt displayed, should have been thrown away 
 to so little purpose. 
 
 Our dispute with Madame must be considered 
 as an exception to our usual good fortune. 
 Whoever indeed has travelled in France, can- 
 not fail to acknowledge the charm of that natural 
 elegance, that good-humoured cheerfulness and 
 politesse de coeur for which the manners of the 
 females are so eminently distinguished. The 
 compliment so deservedly paid by Voltaire to 
 
FRENCH FEMALES. S27 
 
 the '' Dames de Paris," may, 1 believe, unques- 
 tionably admit of a more general application. 
 
 " Etudiez leurgout, vous trouverez chez eltes 
 De I'esprit sans effort des graces naturelles, 
 De Tart de converser les nai'ves douceurs, 
 L' honnete liberte qui reforma nos mceurs. 
 Et tous les agremens que souvent Polymnie, 
 Dedaigna d'accorder aux hommes de genie." 
 
CHAPTER XXIX. 
 
 Roaen— Cathedral — Tombs — French Cabarets — Dieppe —French 
 and English Passengers— The Director of the Winds — Brighton 
 — Brown Wiggiel — Dramatic Performances of Scott and his 
 Friends — Arrival in London 
 
 We had a delightful drive along the banks of 
 the Seine to Rouen, which we found full of 
 British troops, with whom Scott, as usual, im- 
 mediately entered into conversation. When we 
 reached the south transept of the Cathedral, we 
 found the space in front of it filled with people, 
 the women in their largest and loftiest cauche- 
 oises, caps, and vast ear-rings, as it was a holi- 
 
CATHETRAL. 229 
 
 day. When we entered the magnificent portal, 
 we found the service was going on in presence 
 of the Cardinal Archbishop. The interior did 
 not accord in magnificence with the outside, 
 chiefiy, however, owing to the bad taste of later 
 times rather than to that of the original archi- 
 tects. The nave and lantern are handsome, 
 and well lighted, but the introduction of an 
 Ionic colonnade in the screen, and the Grecian 
 style of the transepts, have a very bad efiect, 
 and are by no means suited to the general cha- 
 racter of the building. 
 
 It was impossible to escape from the impor- 
 tunity of guides to the Tower of Amboise,* 
 which I ascended, while Scott walked about the 
 church, and was well rewarded by the fineness 
 of the view. 
 
 * The Tour d'Amboise is, I believe, better known by the 
 name of the " Butter Tower " This it acquired from the circum- 
 stance that a portion of tlie expense of its erection was derived 
 from indulgences granted to pious persons who were anxious to 
 eat a little butter during Lent. — See Winkle's Foreign Cathe- 
 drals. 
 
230 TOMBS. 
 
 Three inscriptions on the wall behind the 
 high altar record the fact that the heart of 
 Richard I. of England was buried in the Cathe- 
 dral, and also the bodies of the Duke of Bed- 
 ford, Regent of France, and Henry, the brother 
 of the King. The first is as follows : 
 
 Cor Ricardi Regis Anglia" 
 
 Normaiiniae Ducis cor Leonis dicti 
 
 Obiit AnnoMCXCIX. 
 
 The tomb of Bedford was defaced it appears 
 by tlic Huguenots in 1470, and had been after- 
 wards replaced. To one of the pillars of the 
 church near his grave, had been affixed a brass 
 plate, on which were engraved the arms of Bed- 
 ford within a garter, having a single ostrich 
 feather on each side of it. This memorial in its 
 turn was destroyed during the Revolution, 
 when the Cathedral was insulted by the appel- 
 lation of the Temple of Reason. 
 
 We inspected the Palais de Justice, one of 
 the finest buildings in the city, and the statue 
 
FRENCH CABARETS. 231 
 
 of the celebrated Pucelli, more briefly than 
 could have been wished; but I was unwilling 
 to detain my fellow traveller, who had become 
 impatient to get home, after an absence to him 
 so unusuaL 
 
 When w^e were within a stage or two of 
 Dieppe, I recollect being struck with an in- 
 stance of the liveliness with which Scott en- 
 tered into any idea that caught his fancy. 
 ** Well," said he, all of a sudden, " 1 believe 
 here is the cottage at last," pointing to a pretty 
 little cabaret on the side of a hill we were 
 ascending. I did not at first understand what 
 he alluded to: but on the name of the venerable 
 Abbess of Andouillets being mentioned, I re- 
 collected that in passing through French Flan- 
 ders an agreement had been made to be on the 
 look-out for the little tempting cabaret de- 
 scribed in her Reverence's journey to the hot- 
 baths of Bourbon. 
 
 The following will occur to the reader as the 
 passage to which I refer: — "The day had been 
 
2S^ DIEPPE. 
 
 sultry, the evening was delicious, the wine was 
 generous, the Burgundian hill on which it grew 
 was steep ; a little tempting bush over the door 
 of a cool cottage at the foot of it, swung vibrat- 
 ing in harmony with the passions ; a gentle air 
 rustled distinctly through the leaves, ' Come, 
 come, thirsty muleteer, come in.'" 
 
 Our last evening in the territory of Belle 
 France was particularly delightful, and the 
 finely diversified country between Rouen and 
 Dieppe appeared to the greatest advantage. On 
 our arrival at that seaport, we found that a 
 packet was to sail to Brighton at a late hour in 
 the evening, and in this wc accordingly took our 
 passage. 
 
 After a short walk through the town, wc 
 went on board, and sat on deck, while several 
 parties of our fellow passengers entered the 
 vessel ; the quiet and silent manner in which 
 the English disposed of their persons and lug- 
 gage formed a strong contrast with the bustle 
 of the foreigners w^ho came on board, A young 
 
ENGLISH TRAVELLERS. 233 
 
 Frenchman was accompanied to the side of the 
 ship by several friends, who had evidently just 
 risen from table. His portmanteau was hoisted 
 up by a porter and a commissionaire, as a 
 ragged little boy was designated, with the ut- 
 most care, while the traveller himself received a 
 hundred accollades, so rapidly and vigorously 
 bestowed, that what with the bustle of depar- 
 ture and the champagne, in which success to 
 his voyage no doubt had been heartily drunk, 
 the young gentleman had altogether rather a 
 bewildered expression of countenance. Scott 
 was much amused with the group, and whis- 
 pered to me, " Our fellow passenger looks al- 
 most as if he could say with poor King John to 
 Faulconbridge, when he comes to comfort him 
 in his sickness, " Oh, cousin ! thou art come 
 to set mine eye." The shouts of adieu when he 
 got on deck were so loud, as fairly to get the 
 better of our gravity. 
 
 Our passage was beyond measure tedious, not- 
 withstanding the exertions of a crazy man on 
 
2S4f DIRECTOR OF THE WINDS. 
 
 board, who had formerly been a seaman, and 
 imagined, that like the witch in Macbeth, he 
 could " give us wind " whenever any aid of the 
 kind was required ; his plan for effecting his 
 purpose was very simple ; — he fastened a ring 
 by a screw on the covered entry to the cabin, 
 through which he directed a pair of bellows 
 exactly opposite to the main sail, and whenever 
 the sheet flapped, or any complaint was made 
 of the slowness of our rate, he began working 
 the bellows with all his might and main, until 
 he could work no more, assisting the labour 
 by occasionally blowing with his mouth against 
 the sail ; when any slight effect was visible from 
 the accidental filling of the canvass, he ex- 
 pressed the utmost delight, imputing it all to 
 his own merits ; and on the other hand, was no 
 less mortified and angry when his efforts did not 
 appear to succeed as they deserved ; — his pa- 
 tience w^as sadly tried during the voyage, but 
 his arguments and explanations of the causes of 
 failure, often shewed considerable ingenuity; 
 
BRIGHTON. 235 
 
 and one of the sailors was actually so foolish as 
 to lose his temper while disputing with this 
 viceroy of Eolus, from having rather the want 
 of it (as the company shewed by their laughter) 
 in the coui'se of the argument. 
 
 When at length we came within sight of 
 Brighton, our speed improved for a time, and 
 by some fortunate chance we succeeded in 
 reaching the shore a short time before another 
 vessel bound for the same point. This was a 
 great triumph to our friend : he appealed to Sir 
 Walter, whose good humour and kindness it 
 may be supposed had more than once been 
 shown to the poor fellow — " vous voyez, Mon- 
 sieur," pointing to the ship, " I have not, it is 
 true, for this once been successful in securing so 
 favourable a passage as could have been wished, 
 but I have evidently prevented that vessel from 
 getting before us, and I'll make sure of that ad- 
 vantage, you may depend on it ;" — on which he 
 renewed his severe labours with redoubled 
 energy, till the moment we reached our desti- 
 
2S6 BRIGHTON. 
 
 nation. This we did not succeed in accom- 
 plishing till the morning of the 12th of Sep- 
 tember, after having been nearly forty hours 
 at sea. 
 
 There was no chain pier at Brighton in those 
 days, and we were under the necessity of being 
 carried ashore on the shoulders of a couple of 
 sailors. One of the first persons we met on 
 the beach, where, as usual, a crowd of loungers 
 was collected to wntch the arrivals from France, 
 was a well-known London friend, who kindly 
 invited us to dinner ; this hospitable proposal 
 was in every respect agreeable, especially as from 
 the slender stock of provisions laid in by the 
 proprietors of the packet, our provender for 
 the last day or two had been extremely scanty, 
 consisting, I believe, chiefly of oysters and vin 
 ordinaire. 
 
 I never saw Scott in better spirits than the 
 day we arrived, it seemed to afford him the 
 greatest pleasure to find himself once more in 
 his own country, and he constantly looked 
 
BROWN WIGGIEL. 287 
 
 forward to the day when he should return to 
 Abbotslbrd. As usual, when in good spirits, 
 he recurred to the days of his youth, and re- 
 counted several anecdotes of his companions. 
 I recollect his alluding to a certain macer of the 
 court, who seemed frequently to afford a subject 
 of mirth to the young advocates, and who was 
 dignified by the title of " brown wiggiel." He 
 also described certain favourite dramatic per- 
 formances, occasionally got up by himself and 
 his friends. Clerk, Ferguson, &c., at each others 
 houses, in which so many of the party conducted 
 the business of the stage, while the rest repre- 
 sented the audience ; — Scott, himself, I think, 
 was generally engaged in the former department 
 of the exhibition, while Clerk and others figured 
 as the critics of the pit, and Ferguson enacted 
 both music and the divinities of the gallery. 
 
 Next day we reached London, where we es- 
 tablished ourselves at Long's Hotel in Bond 
 Street. 
 
CHAPTER XXX. 
 
 Pictures of Mr. C. Mathews— Visit to Lord Byron— Mr Murray's 
 — Dinner at Long's with Lord Byron, &c. — Parting of Scott and 
 Byron — Departure from London for Leamington with Mr. 
 Mathews 
 
 September 14. — I had intended to take leave 
 of my travelling companion on reaching London, 
 for the purpose of visiting some friends in the 
 neighbourhood^ but was induced, as may be 
 supposed without much difficulty, to alter this 
 intention, and accompany Scott to the north. 
 
239 
 
 He had been informed by his friend Mr. 
 Terry, in the course of the morning, that 
 Charles Mathews intended to go that very after- 
 noon to Leamington where he was to perform 
 his budget. Scott eager to get across the border, 
 expressed a wish to accompany him, and as an 
 additional inducement, proposed that we should 
 take Derbyshire in our way, instead of adhering 
 to the dull and well-known stages of the north 
 road ; we therefore called on Mr. Mathews, and 
 the arrangement was agreed on. 
 
 This celebrated comedian was then engaged 
 in forming a collection of pictures, on subjects 
 connected with theatrical affairs, and had ob- 
 tained many ciu-ious portraits of celebrated per- 
 formers by Zoffani and other well-known artists. 
 I recollect one of Garrick in Macbeth, and also 
 in Othello, in which he was habited in a single- 
 breasted coat edged with lace, an attire certainly 
 by no means suited to the taste of modern 
 times, and wliich gave him the appearance of 
 being the representative of the black servant 
 
m 
 
 240 LORD BYRON. 
 
 Mungo, in the farce, rather than of the Moor of 
 Venice. 
 
 Scott afterwards took me with him to call on 
 Lord Byron, wOiom we did not find at home, and 
 after a short visit to his lady, proceeded by her 
 direction to Albemarle Street, in hopes of 
 finding him at Mr. Murray's ; in this however we 
 were disappointed, and after a short stay at this 
 rendezvous of the learned, where we found 
 several gentlemen assembled, I left Sir Walter 
 for a time, in order to prepare for our unex- 
 pected departure. On meeting him an hour 
 or two afterwards at the hotel, where Messrs. 
 Mathews and Terry were engaged to meet us 
 at dinner, I found that Lord Byron was also 
 to be of the party. 
 
 I need not say how much I w^as struck with 
 the appearance of that celebrated individual, 
 then in the twenty-eighth year of his age, and 
 certainly one of the handsomest men I have 
 ever seen. — '' Of his face " says his biographer, 
 *' the beauty may be pronounced to have been 
 
LORD BYRON. 241 
 
 of die highest order, as combining at once re- 
 gularity of features with the most varied and 
 interesting expression." His eyes of a liglit 
 colour, fringed with dark eye lashes, though 
 keen and bright, had not, I think, a very 
 pleasing expression. Those of Scott, shrouded 
 by his large eye brows, possessed fully as much 
 power, and far more benevolence. His dark 
 hair clustered beautifully over his noble fore- 
 head, and contrasted well with the remarkable 
 paleness of his countenance ; his dress was 
 plain, but very recherche ; his neckcloth, as 
 usual, very small ; the only ornament he v»^ore 
 was a massive watch chain, an da large bunch of 
 small seals. 
 
 His demeanour was courteous and dignified, 
 worthy both of his rank and celebrity. High 
 as my expectations had been raised by the 
 common voice of fame, the impression produced 
 by his actual presence surpassed what I think 
 it was possible for any portrait or description 
 to convey. 
 
 M 
 
^42 LORD BYRON. 
 
 There were, no doubt, occasions when that 
 bitterness often too apparent in his works, was 
 sufficiently manifest, as he himself expresses it, 
 — " I fear he had some little turn for satire ;" 
 ])ut this rather gleamed forth at intervals, than 
 characterized the general style of his behaviour. 
 
 Scott, as may be supposed, was the principal 
 
 spokesman of the party, every one being natu- 
 
 rally desirous to have his account of the many \ 
 
 .1 
 remarkable scenes and persons he had so re- j 
 
 cently visited ; his distinguished friend listened j 
 
 with sincere respect and pleasure, although the •] 
 
 success of the Bourbons was not, certainly, a "; 
 
 theme in which he took much delight. Not- ^ 
 
 withstanding the glorious triumph of the British ] 
 
 armies at Waterloo, the cause in which they 
 
 had engaged was not one to which he wished j 
 
 well, and somewhat of the tone and feeling \ 
 
 afterwards expressed in the notes* to Childe i 
 
 * "The field around Mount St Jean and Huguemont," says f. 
 he, " appears to want little but a better cause, and that indefi- ■ 
 nable but impressive halo which the lapse of ages throws around ' 
 
LORD BYRON. 243 
 
 Harold, was occasionally perceptible. In any 
 individual instances of British valour and 
 prow^ess that were alluded to, he took much 
 interest, and asked many questions respecting 
 friends who had been present at the battle, or 
 were then in Paris. I perfectly remember his 
 alluding- with much feeling, to the loss of the 
 Honourable Colonel Howard, whose fate is so 
 exquisitely described in the well-known verses 
 in Childe Harold. 
 
 Yet one I would select from that proud throng, 
 Partly because they blend me with his hne, 
 And partly that I did his Sire some wrong-, 
 And partly that bright names will hallow song ; 
 And his was of the bravest, — and when showered 
 The death bolt's deadliest the thinned files along. 
 Even when the thickest of war's tempest lowered, 
 They reached no nobler breast than thine, young 
 gallant Howard. 
 
 a celebrated spot, to vie in interest with any or all these, except 
 perhaps the last mentioned (Marathon). — Notes to Childe Harold. 
 Canto III. 
 
 M 2 
 
 / 
 
244 
 
 PARTING OF SCOTT AND BYRON 
 
 In a different spirit, certainly, was the remark 
 he made on the death of an officer, for whom 
 he seemed to entertain slight respect. 
 
 I recollect, also, when I mentioned our having 
 been informed of some commotions, I believe 
 in Languedoc, connected \vith religious subjects, 
 in which blows had already been exchanged, 
 and three persons killed, he replied with a fixed 
 look, — " What, only three ?" 
 
 Scott and Byron parted, and it was for the 
 last time, evidently with much feeling of mutual 
 regard ; and I felt convinced, from the respect 
 entertained by the latter for his great contem- 
 porary, that he was of all persons the most 
 likely to have had influence in soothing the irri- 
 tated feelings of the wayward Childe, and 
 bringing his actions more under the controul of 
 his better judgment. 
 
CHAPTER XXXI. 
 
 Maii-Coach Hour — Dunstable — Mr. Mathews and the Porter — 
 The Parrot— Leamington— The Wee Wify—The Budget- 
 Imitations of Cooke, &c — Warwick Castle — Mrs. Hume — The 
 Figures in Armour animated — Sir Walter's Story of the Scotch- 
 woman and Lord M . 
 
 The party concluded much earlier than I 
 could have wished, as we were obliged to set 
 out on our hasty journey to the north. We 
 left London in company with Mr. Mathews 
 about six o'clock, and travelled till a late hour, 
 when we reached Dunstable. Our companion 
 was very amusing, and the more so as Sir Wal- 
 
246 MR. MATHEWS. 
 
 ter, with that tact and good manners which dis- 
 tinguished him, avoided anything that might 
 have the appearance of an attempt to draw out 
 his talents. Our day's exertions, however, at 
 length had begun to tell upon us, and an occa- 
 sional dose overtook most of the party some 
 time before we reached our destination for the 
 night. Just as we entered Dunstable, we were 
 aroused by a low sound of a mail-coach horn, 
 and on being more fully awakened, we found 
 that it was our companion Mathews himself 
 who was the performer, and thus gave notice 
 of our having completed our stage. Scott de- 
 clared that he had at first some idea that he 
 was actually seated in the mail. The imitation 
 was certainly perfect. 
 
 We agreed to start at an early liour in the 
 morning, as Mr. Mathews wished to reach Lea- 
 mington in sufficient time to prepare for his 
 entertainment, and were accordingly called be- 
 fore six o'clock. 
 
 The carriage was at the door, and Scott and 
 
MATHEWS AND THE PORTER. 247 
 
 myself were quite ready to set out, but no Mr. 
 Mathews appeared ; and wlien I accompanied 
 the waiter to his room, he had evidently just 
 been aroused from slumber. He was annoyed 
 at our being kept waiting, as it was on his 
 account entirely that we had risen so early, 
 and found much fault with the porter, whom, 
 he said, he had especially directed to awaken 
 him in good time, and on no account to forget 
 making plenty of noise, and using all endea- 
 vours to rouse him up. The latter injunction 
 he asserted had not been properly lulfilled, and 
 rated him for not attending to his instructions* 
 ^'I told you, my man, to make sure to have me 
 up, as I am the most sleepyheaded fellow in 
 the world." — "Well, sir, I assure you I did all 
 I could," replied the porter ; " and what is 
 more, you answered me when I called you." 
 " I dare say I did : but I might be as sound as 
 a top for all that. I am sure I gave you suHi- 
 cient warning about the matter, but it is al- 
 ways the same." He was now at the door of 
 
248 MATHEWS. 
 
 the inn, and all the people who were up stand- 
 ing round the chaise. *' This is the way they 
 waken me, say what I like. They walk up to 
 the door of my room this way,'' — he then 
 walked up to the door of the house on his tip- 
 toes as if terrified to make the least noise, — 
 " and they tap at the door thus,'' — tapping with 
 his forefinger and thumb so lightly that a mouse 
 would not have been startled with the summons 
 — " and then they run off this way," — tripping 
 away — " gingerly, as if treading on eggs, like 
 Cuddie Headrigg at the pantry window of Tillie- 
 tudlem, and that's what they call awakening a 
 man; the most provoking thing in the world. 
 I am really very sorry to have kept you so long 
 merely on my account " The surprise and 
 amusement among the postillions and chamber- 
 maids, who formed our companion's audience, 
 was prodigious. They evidently thought they 
 had a very singular and funny gentleman as 
 their lodger, though I do not believe they had 
 the slightest idea who he was. 
 
LEAMINGTON. 249 
 
 In the court-yard of tlie inn where we stopped 
 to breakfast was a parrot, an especial favourite 
 among the stable men. Mathews immediately 
 addressed his brother mimic, and uttered so 
 very strange a collection of sounds, that the 
 bird was struck dumb wdth surprise at finding 
 itself as it would seem so much exceeded 
 in its own way by everything that he did. It 
 turned first one eye to our companion, and 
 then the other, as much as to say, " What a 
 curious bird you are;" but made no attempt 
 in the way of a reply. 
 
 We arrived at Leamington at an early hour ; 
 the Bedford at that time was nearly at the edge 
 of the town: its great rival, the Regent Hotel, 
 had not risen up on the opposite side of the way, 
 and the fine trees and green fields around it, 
 rendered this hotel one of the most delightful 
 summer quarters in England. 
 
 Mr. Mathews was somewhat nervous about 
 performing in the presence of Scott,'^ especially 
 
 ♦ We had a slight instance of that sensitiveness and tendency 
 
 M 5 
 
250 MATHEWS. 
 
 with respect to the character of the " wee wee 
 hody " " The auld Scotchwoman and the mi- 
 nister wi' his three-cocked hat in the shoor of 
 rain, I know you will think nothing of it," he 
 said, *' absolutely nothing, after * John Ballan- 
 tyne ; in fact, I am ashamed of it myself, when 
 I think of his way of telling the story. " Ye'll 
 be dry eneuch there," is quite beyond me, but I 
 must attempt it." 
 
 In truth, he was rather apprehensive of not 
 having a successful evening, as, I believe, he 
 was not very well known in the place. The 
 house, however, was well filled. The auld wo- 
 man was very favourably received ; his French- 
 man we thought capital, and the Packet we felt 
 to be a -peY^ectly faithful delmeation. 
 
 On his return to supper, Mathews was in 
 high spirits, though he would not give credit to 
 
 to occasional fits of low spirits to which Mathews was saf d to be 
 subject, for a short time during next morning ; but the good- 
 humour of Scott restored him to his usual gaiety, and the cloud 
 passed over very quickly. 
 
COOKE AND INCLEDON. 251 
 
 Scott's assurance of the " wee wify" being ex- 
 cellent. He gave us several good imitations, 
 anecdotes of George Cooke and Incledon, the 
 latter of whom seemed to afford constant food 
 for the wit of his associates. His description of 
 Cooke ha\-ing on some occasion got drunk 
 while performing Petruchio, and taking a dis- 
 like to Grumio, was very well given. So severe 
 had been his castigation of the serving man 
 during the piece, that the performer threatened 
 vengeance, and the parties were with difficulty 
 prevented from settling the quarrel in their 
 stage dresses. At another time, Cooke had 
 seen some one in the pit dare to hiss him 
 during one of those explanations about his 
 hoarseness, his old complaint, as he styled it, 
 and otherwise better known by the term intoxi- 
 cation, which he was too frequently compelled 
 to make. He immediately came forward, and 
 holding up his finger, shook it at the offender 
 with that sardonic grin with which he used to 
 express more powerfully than any one else the 
 malignant hatred of Shylock or Sir Giles. 
 
252 WARWICK CASTLE. 
 
 Sept. I5th. — We* went to see "Warwick Castle 
 — " that faicest monument of ancient and chi- 
 valrous splendour which yet remains uninjured 
 by time." f Mathews contrived to give Mrs. 
 Hume, the well-known housekeeper, a private 
 hint who her visitor was, and her civility was 
 great. Several parties were in the castle, but 
 the old lady declared she " must boo'' to talerit, 
 and attend her great countryman in preference 
 to them all. Everything was shewn which she 
 thought likely to interest him, and also some 
 apartment up-stairs to whicli I was never ad- 
 mitted at any other time. Scott had fortu- 
 nately seen Lord Brooke at Paris ; her enqui- 
 ries about him, and the interest she took in the 
 faJiiily, were so hearty and sincere, that our 
 fellow traveller was quite charmed with our 
 conductor, and they soon became great friends. 
 
 * When we left Leamington, several people were gathered 
 round the door of the hotel, as it was discovered that Scott was 
 iis inhabitant. 
 
 f Kenilworth. vol. iii. 
 
SIR Walter's story. 253 
 
 The old figures in armour in the hall were 
 subjects so tempting to Mathews, that he could 
 not resist enlivening them with his singular 
 powers of voice ; and sundry strange sounds 
 were occasionally heard to issue from those an- 
 cient warriors. I do not suppose that Mrs. 
 Hume was aware that the celebrated mimic was 
 in the room, and did not think she approved 
 much of the liberty taken with these grim and 
 stately personages. 
 
 As we were sauntering down the avenue to 
 the Castle cut between the rocks, Mathews all 
 of a sudden turned up one of the skirts of his 
 coat over his right shoulder, clapped his hat 
 with the side in front well over his eyes, and 
 pushing out his under-jaw, shuffled about 
 an exact image of some cross and jealous Don 
 Lopez, with a light-headed spouse, or '' an 
 obstinate daughter," who was " the plague of 
 his life." After a hearty laugh, Scott said 
 " You put me in mind of a story which I re- 
 member to have heard from old Lord M — . 
 
254 SIR Walter's story. 
 
 When the women in Scotland go to church, 
 they have a practice of turning up their gown 
 over their head to keep their bonnets dry, and 
 their finery from being spoiled by the rain, of 
 which we have so lavish a supply in the north. 
 Lord M. met one of his acquaintances of this 
 class one chill, showery Sunday, with her gown 
 as usual in this fashion, and said to her, " Why, 
 Jenny, woman, by kilting up your clothes in 
 that way over your head, you expose almost 
 your whole body ; it's just like robbing Peter 
 to pay Paul." — " I daresay it may, my lord/' 
 replied Jenny, " but then, ye see, Peter's not 
 cauld." 
 
CHAPTER XXXII. 
 
 Kenilworth, — We cannot but add that of this lordly palace, 
 where princes feasted and heroes fought, now in the bloody 
 earnest of storm and siege, and now in the games of chivalry, 
 where beauty dealt the prize which valour won, all is now 
 desolate 
 
 The bed of tlie lake is but a rushy swamp, and the massive ruins 
 of the castle only serve to shew what their splendour once was, 
 and impress on the musing visitor the transitory value of 
 human possessions, and the happiness of those who enjoy ;i 
 humble lot in contentment. — Kenilworth^ vol. iii 
 
 Kenilworth — Ashby-de-la-Zouch— An Old Hall — Matlock — 
 Haddon Hall — Peveril of the Peak — Castleton — Devil's Cavu-n 
 — Sir Walter's Pistols — Speedwell Level — Dovedale. 
 
 From Leamin<^ton we went to Kenihvortlb 
 
^56 KENILWORTH. 
 
 where we were joined by Mr. Hall, a gentleman 
 to whom Scott had been introduced, and who 
 agreed to take part of our postchaise as far as 
 Yorkshire. 
 
 This I believe was not Scott's first visit to 
 those ruins, he examined them however very 
 minutely, alluding frequently to the extreme 
 state of decay into which they had fallen, and 
 to the vast extent of the castle of which they 
 gave evidence. 
 
 After walking over the whole circuit of tlic 
 building and its enclosures, we bade adieu to 
 our amusing companion, Mr. Mathews, and 
 proceeded towards Derbyshire. Scott had more 
 than once of late, expressed a wish to visit 
 Ashby-de-la-Zouch,* as he said, on account of an 
 old castle and tilting ground that was worth 
 seeing, and also in order to pay his respects to 
 
 * I had no idea that Ashby -de-la- Zouch was destined one d-ay 
 to become a place of fashionable resort, of which the principal ^ 
 
 attractions were to be the virtues of the Ivanhoe baths, and the 
 charming walks leading to the castle. 
 
AN OLD HALL. 257 
 
 ills friend, Mr. Thomas Moore, who he under- 
 stood lived in the neighbourhood; what objection 
 occurred to this arrangement I do not now 
 recollect; the plan, however, w^as abandoned, 
 and we proceeded without shipping to Matlock, 
 In passing through a beautiful part of the 
 country in the evening, at no great distance 
 from Derby, we came to a fine park, in which 
 was a good example of an English manor house. 
 — "Now there, "said Scott, '^is a fine specimen 
 of an ancient hall, — quite an English scene, 
 not much picturesque beauty about it, but so 
 soft and rich, with that hospitable old mansion 
 embosomed among those old woods ; — there is a 
 verse of a ballad by Meikle, that seems to me 
 to picture such a scene admirably. 
 
 The dews of summer night did fall, 
 The moon, sweet regent of the sky, 
 
 Silver'd the walls of Cumnor hall, 
 And many an oak that grew thereby. 
 
 " This stanza is an old favourite of mine, and 
 often occurs to me when I see an old place like 
 
258 MATLOCK. 
 
 that." This it may be recollected, is the verse 
 prefixed to the chapter of Kenilworth, in which 
 Cumnor is described. The nature indeed of 
 the hall to which it refers, presents anything 
 rather than a picture of comfort and hospitality. 
 Scott more than once repeated these verses, and 
 generally with a musing air, as if they sug- 
 gested ideas that afforded him pleasuie. 
 # * # * 
 
 On tlie 18th of Seplcmber we reached Mat- 
 lock, in time to join the supper party at the 
 Old Bath hotel. Scott was anxious lo see 
 Dovedale and the Peak, and above all, the 
 Duke of Rutland's old mansion of Hadden 
 Hall, on the Wye, a few miles distant from 
 Matlock, which affords an exact idea of the 
 style of architecture, and even of the furniture, 
 of the eighteenth century. 
 
 As we walked up to the gate of this singular 
 old house, at the north-west angle of the 
 building, he immediately observed the arms of 
 the Vernon family, who were the original pro- 
 
HADDON HALL. 259 
 
 prietors, with their motto of "Ver non semper 
 vivet," in the usual style of heraldic wit, carved 
 over the porch. Sir Walter examined every 
 part of the hall very attentively, and as appears 
 I'rom a note in the last edition of Peveril of the 
 Peak, borrowed the description of Lady Pe- 
 veril's sitting room in the castle, which formed 
 a convenient link " between the temporal and 
 spiritual concerns of the establishment," from 
 the disposition of the rooms at Haddon.^ 
 
 Among the apartments which we thought 
 most curious, were the hall with its dais and 
 massive table, and the long gallery,f said to be 
 floored mth a single oak which grew on the 
 
 * The ladies retired after this conference with the steward, in 
 the anti-ohamber, and were soon seated in another apartment, 
 which was peculiarly dedicated to the use of the mistress of the 
 mansion, having on the one side access to the family bed-room, 
 and on the other, to the still room, which communicated with the 
 garden. There was also a small door, which ascending a few 
 steps, led to that balcony already mentioned, that overhung the 
 kitchen, and the same passage by a separate door, admitted to 
 the principal gallery in the chapel. 
 
 f One hundred and ten feet by seventeen in breadth. 
 
260 HADDON HALL. 
 
 estate ; and to which you ascend by three or 
 four semicircular steps of a very primitive 
 character, shaped out of its branches. Ad- 
 joining the gallery is an. old bed-room, with a 
 singular cornice, representing boars' heads and 
 peacocks, furnished with faded tapestry, and 
 containing a velvet bed embroidered with pea- 
 cocks and coronets. Much of the furniture had 
 been taken to Bclvoir castle about a century 
 ago, of this, however, I believe, a portion had 
 of late years been restored, and it is to be hoped 
 that the good taste of the proprietor may in 
 future secure to this ancient hall the undisturbed 
 possession of these interesting relics of past 
 times.* 
 
 ♦ In Lyson's account of Derbyshire, there are several en- 
 gravings of the plan- and elevation of Haddon Hall. He also 
 gives a uescription of the Chrit^tmas hospitalities of the first Duke 
 of Rutland, in Queen Anne's reign, since which time the glories 
 of Haddon seem to have almost entirely ceased. A ball was 
 given in the gallery when the Duke came of age in 1802. 
 
devil's cavern. 261 
 
 We travelled over the wild district of the 
 northern part of Derbyshire, as far as Castleton, 
 in order to visit the wonders of the Peak. 
 
 A\nien we crossed the Styx, as the pool of 
 water at the entrance of the Devil's Cavern is 
 called, I recollect Scott laughing heartily at 
 being laid flat in the boat by which it is ne- 
 cessary to enter on account of the lowness of 
 the archway. 
 
 We had the usual lights put up in the chancel 
 and heard the thunder of the echo among the 
 rocks, produced by a blast of gunpowder ; Sir 
 Walter was resolved to surprise the guardian 
 of these disrnal regions in turn, by an echo he 
 was not prepared to expect, and fired the pistols 
 we had carried in our pockets, in our foreign 
 expedition, for the first and only time, deter- 
 mined, as he said, that they should not be 
 loaded for nothing. 
 
 On the summit of the steep hill above the 
 cavern, we observed the old castle, — '' Pevcril's 
 
SPEEDWELL MINE. 
 
 place in the Peak," a name which I had no idea 
 would afterwards become celebrated in romance. 
 
 At no great distance from Castleton there is 
 another of those immense cavities, " those 
 bubbles of the earth," which are frequent in 
 this singular county, called Speedwell mine. At 
 the bottom of a long stair you find a boat in 
 readiness to convey you along an arched pas- 
 sage, filled with water, which is cut through a 
 rock of lime-stone. The mass is here and there 
 penetrated by veins of lead ore, which, unfor- 
 tunately had appeared so valuable, as to tempt 
 the adventurers who opened this level, to con- 
 duct their search much fiirther than was pru- 
 dent. 
 
 After ro^^'ing for some time in darkness, we 
 arrived at a vast subterraneous cavern, across 
 which an arch is built, and a platform is so 
 placed, as to give a view of the abyss. Into 
 this bottomless pit, as it was truly called, the 
 rubbish of the mine had been thrown while 
 the works were in progress, and the super- 
 
DOVEDALE. 
 
 fluons water of the level falls into it with the 
 noise of a cataract. 
 
 After an outlay of nearly fourteen thousand 
 pounds, the speculators were obliged to give up 
 their attempt on reaching this gloomy cavern, 
 as no veins of metallic ore of sufficient value to 
 defray their expenses could be discovered. 
 Nothing can be conceived more dismal than 
 its appearance, when lighted up with torches, 
 or better calculated to feed the despair of an 
 unlucky adventurer. 
 
 We then visited Dovedale, a picturesque 
 scene, though on a small scale, which derives 
 its very pecuHar and romantic character from 
 the number of huge masses of rock scattered 
 along the valley, many of them of very singular 
 forms, beautifully fringed with ivy, and com- 
 pletely detached from the precipitous banks of 
 the stream. 
 
 It was curious to observe while Scott was 
 scrambling among the rude paths of the Dale, 
 how completely the spirit of the man overcame 
 
264 SHEFFIELD. 
 
 his physical imperfections. If he took a fancy 
 to reach any particular spot, it was no ordinary 
 difficulty that would prevent him from attain- 
 ing his object. The weakness of his limb was 
 fully compensated by the energy with which 
 he assisted himself in his ascent up the banks, 
 by seizing any piece of turf or projecting twig 
 which presented itself. 
 
 From these wild and lonely scenes we pro- 
 ceeded to Sheffield, where we slept on the 19th 
 of September. We were tempted to make a 
 few purchases in Mr. Rogers's celebrated ware- 
 room of cutlery ; and Scott selected a planter's 
 knife and a peculiar kind of instrument com- 
 bining a penknife and pair of scissors, on which 
 he desired the shopman to have his name en- 
 graved. In the Life of Scott, vol. v p. 89, may 
 be found an anecdote connected with this cir- 
 cumstance, which I often heard him refer to 
 with pleasure. 
 
 We continued our journey through Wake- 
 field, Leeds, and Ripon, where we stopped for 
 
FOUNTAINS* ABBEY. Q65 
 
 a day to visit the venerable Minster, and the 
 picturesque ruins of Fountains' Abbey, near 
 Miss liawrence's beautiful domain of Studleigh. 
 
 This building presents a fine specimen of the 
 style of Gothic architecture of the reign of 
 Henry III.;* and as no unusual acts of violence 
 had taken place here at the time of the dissolu- 
 tion, its remains aiFord a more exact picture of 
 monastic establishments than is to be met with 
 anywhere else in Britain. 
 
 It is not to be overlooked, that the venerable 
 Clerk of Copmanhurst was one of the lights of 
 this Abbey, as we find by the following note in 
 the last edition of Ivanhoe. 
 
 " Readers the least unacquainted with black 
 letter cannot fail to detect in the Clerk of Cop- 
 manhurst, Friar Tuck, the buxom confessor 
 of Robin Hood's band, the curtail Friar of 
 Fountains' Abbey." 
 
 * Fountains' Abbey was begun in 1201, and completed in less 
 than forty years. Ripon Minster was begun 1331, and finished 
 in 1494. 
 
 N 
 
2(y6 ROKEBV. 
 
 From Ripoii we crossed through an ex- 
 tremely rugged tract of country to Middleham, 
 in Yorkshire, near which Mr. Hall occasionally 
 resided when superintending the operations of 
 the workmen. After examming, under his 
 guidance, the process of smelting the lead ore, 
 with which this district abounds, one of the 
 most unwholesome occupations it is possible 
 to conceive, we parted from our fellow-tra- 
 veller, and proceeded to Rokeby, the grounds of 
 which, however, I was unluckily prevented 
 from seeing, owing to the shortness of our stay, 
 and the very unfavourable state of the weather. 
 
CHAPTER XXXIIl. 
 
 While as a livelier twilight falls, 
 Emerge proud Bernard's bannered walls, 
 High- crowned he sits in dawning pale, 
 The sovereign of the lonely vale. 
 
 Rokebif. 
 
 They led him thro' the Leddel rack, 
 And also thro' the Carlisle sands, 
 They brought him to Carlisle castell, 
 To be at my Lord Scroope's commands. 
 
 Ballad of Kinmont IVillie. 
 
 Bernard Castle — Appleby, Conntess of Dorset, &c — Penrith — 
 Carlisle — Corby — Kinmont Willie— Longtown . 
 
 We did not, of course, pass so near the an- 
 cient castle which had been lately celebrated by 
 
 N 2 
 
268 BERNARD CASTLE. 
 
 the muse of Scott, without \dsiting its pictu- 
 resque ruins. We ascended 
 
 " Brackenbury's dismal tower" 
 
 and admired the fine view from that of Baliol. 
 Scott pointed out, near one of the windows, 
 the device of the crook-backed Richard, — " the 
 bloody and usurping boar that spoiled the 
 summer fields and fruitful vines," engraved on 
 the wall of the castle, which he often made his 
 residence, in order to overawe the Lancastrian 
 party in the north. 
 
 We then proceeded to Brough and Appleby, 
 where we stopped to look at the castle. 
 
 We were now in the territories of that cele- 
 brated Lady Ann Clifford, Countess of Dorset, 
 Pembroke, and Montgomery, whose lofty spirit 
 enabled her to repel the insults both of an 
 usurper and a heartless king.* In her ancient 
 
 ♦The authenticity of her letter to the minister of Charles the 
 Second, which has been so often quoted, is d -ubted by Mr. 
 Coleridge.— See his History of the Worthies of Yorkshire. 
 
BERNARD CAbTLE. 269 
 
 castle uf Appleby, there are many curious relics 
 of the family, and in particular a suit of steel 
 armour, richly inlaid with golden fleurs-de-lis, 
 and other ornaments, which had been worn by 
 her father, the gallant George Clifford, Earl of 
 Cumberland, and is considered one of the finest 
 specimens of mail in England. This gallant 
 knight, it is well known, was honoured with 
 the especial regard of Queen Elizabeth, and 
 used to wear in his helmet a glove, which he had 
 received from her majesty, as a token of her 
 favour. 
 
 There are in the castle some portraits of the 
 CountesSi and also the manuscript of her me- 
 moirs, and diary, which she continued almost 
 to the day of her death, in March, 1676. 
 
 In this she describes her two noble husbands 
 as very worthy lords, thoug^h it was her fortune 
 to have crosses with them both. 
 
 Of herself, she says — " mine eyes were black, 
 like my father's, and the form and aspect of 
 them, quick and lively, like my mother's. The 
 
~^7() LADY ANN CLIFFORD. 
 
 hair of my head was brown, and very thick, and 
 so long, that it reached to the calf of my leg 
 when I stood upright, with a peak of hair on 
 my forehead, and a dimple on my chin ; — like 
 my father, full-cheeked ; and round-faced like 
 my mother, and an exquisite shape of body 
 like my father ; — but now time and age have 
 long since ended all these beauties, which are to 
 be compared to the grass of the field — Isaiah, 
 xl. 6, 7, 8 ; 1 Peter, i. 24. For now when 
 I caused these memorials of myself to be writ- 
 ten, I have passed the sixty-third year of my 
 age, and though I say it, the perfections of 
 my mind are much above those of my body," 
 &c. &c. 
 
 There is a portrait of tliis lady at Knowle, by 
 Mytens, which gives a favourable idea of her 
 beauty. 
 
 Sir Walter's retentive memory of course ena- 
 bled him to give several extracts from the ma- 
 nuscript of the Countess, some of them no less 
 singular than minute. 
 
APPT. RBV. 071 
 
 In the churcli of St. Lawrence, in the town 
 of Appleby, are the tombs of her mother, the 
 Countess of Cumberland, and of herself, over 
 which are inscriptions, giving an account of the 
 genealogy of the family. 
 
 The country through wliich we were now 
 passing was one in which Sir Walter took much 
 interest, and reminded him of the happy days 
 when he \asited the lakes with a gay party of 
 companions, previous to his important sojourn 
 at Gilsland, in the summer of 1797. It was 
 now also the abode of several well-known 
 and highly esteemed friends, whose names had 
 long been celebrated in the annals of literature. 
 To them it may be supposed he frequently al- 
 luded, and used occasionally to recite several of 
 their compositions. In this respect Sir Walter 
 was extremely obliging, and on being asked for 
 a story, had always one in readiness, which he 
 gave with the utmost good will. The Inch-cape 
 rock, Genevieve, Christabel,* Famine-fire, and 
 
 * I recollect his remarking of the author of Christabel, in al- 
 
272 CARLISLE. 
 
 Slaughter, &c., I recollect his repeating, when 
 reminded of these or other pieces by any casual 
 allusion to the authors that might occui* in the 
 course of conversation. 
 
 Although the scenery of Cumberland was 
 familiar to Scott, he seemed to have pleasure in 
 revisiting it, and inspected every thing that is 
 usually presented to the notice of tourists. 
 
 At Penrith we examined the Giant's Grave 
 and the Giant's Thumb, and the Roman camp in 
 its vicinity, with the traditions concerning all of 
 which he was perfectly acquainted. 
 
 '* I am always glad to visit Carlisle," said he, 
 when we were walking about the town ; — " I 
 was married here, and never spent happier days 
 than when I used to take excursions in this 
 tieighhourhoody 
 
 lusion to the singular mysticism and obscurity with wliich his 
 fine writings were not unfrequently clouded, that he reminded 
 him of Mrs. Boniface, who according to her worthy helpmate, 
 was not contented with plain wholesome beer, but was always 
 inclined to qualify the good liquor witli a dash of usquebaugh. 
 
CORBY CASTLE. 27o 
 
 He paid his usual visit to the cathedral, which 
 he seldom neglected to do when in Carlisle, and 
 we lingered for some time in the castle, and 
 " the esplanade in front of its gothic gate." 
 This of course reminded me of those melancholy 
 scenes, which, of late, had attracted such general 
 attention from the descriptions of the author of 
 Waverley. To this portion, however, of the 
 history of the castle, my companion w^as not 
 disposed to refer so particidarly as to the more 
 ancient story of " Kinmont Willie," which I 
 well remember his repeating while we saun- 
 tered about the ramparts. 
 
 From Carlisle we went to Corby castle, for- 
 merly the abode of the " fause Sakelde," and 
 now in possession of a gentleman with whom 
 Scott was well acquainted, and after a delight- 
 ful ramble among *' Corby's Banks," passed the 
 night at Longtown. 
 
 I had purchased at Carlisle a copy of a lately 
 published number of the Edinburgh Review, 
 and shewed him tlie advertisement of the 
 
274 MARMION. 
 
 ''Field of Waterloo;'— '' A\\\ have they got 
 that in already, then it's time I were at home." 
 With the exception of one or two remarks 
 made in the same slight and casual manner, and 
 also, as I formerly mentioned, when we passed 
 Flodden ; I believe Sir Walter during the whole 
 course of our journey, scarcely ever alluded to 
 his writings. On another occasion, I recollect 
 that in reply to some queries I put to him with 
 respect to Marmion, he again made several ob- 
 servations on that poem, principally in refer- 
 ence to the description of the battle in the last 
 canto, which he considered as one of his hap- 
 piest efforts. 
 
 The only traces I observed of his being en- 
 gaged in composition were at Paris, where on 
 his table I occasionally perceived sundry de- 
 tached sheets of paper scattered about, on 
 which a few lines of verse were jotted down. 
 
 Now and then, as in the instance that occurred 
 during his drive from Peterborough, I could 
 
LONGTOWN. 275 
 
 perceive him repeating passages to himself, and 
 with much energy ; but never was any one 
 less of the author than he. — " Keenly enjoying 
 literature as he did," says Mr. Morritt, "he 
 always maintained the same estimate of it, as 
 subordinate and auxiliary to the purposes of 
 life, and rather talked of men and events than 
 of books." 
 
 In the course of this evening, which was the 
 last of our excursion, I recollect Scott referring 
 to a period of his youthful days, which, from 
 his tone and manner, I have no doubt had a 
 powerful influence over his feelings. On no 
 other occasion did I ever hear him make any 
 allusion to the subject. Some years afterwards 
 I remember reading a passage in the novel of 
 Kenilworth, which appeared to me to be sug- 
 gested by a train of feelings very similar to 
 those to which he then gave utterance, and 
 which has never failed to remind me of our con- 
 versation at Longtown. 
 
216 LONGTOWN. 
 
 Tressilian has returned to the castle at a 
 time when the gay party who then inhabited it 
 had set out on a hunting expedition with the 
 queen, and is meditating, during his solitary 
 walk in the garden, on the melancholy fate of 
 the woman he had so tenderly loved. The re- 
 flexions made on his state of mind in this dis- 
 tressing situation, are as follows : — 
 
 " Nothing is perhaps more dangerous to the 
 futui'e happiness of men of deep though t and 
 retired habits, than the entertaining an early, 
 long and unfortunate attachment. It fre- 
 quently sinks so deep into the mind, that it be- 
 comes their dream by night and their vision by 
 day, mixes itself with every source of interest 
 and enjoyment, and when blighted and withered 
 by final disappointment, it seems as if the 
 springs of the spirit were dried up along with 
 it. This aching of the heart, this languishing 
 after a shadow, which has lost all the gaiety of 
 its colouring, this dwelling on the remembrance 
 
LONG TOWN. 277 
 
 of a dream from which we have been long 
 roughly awakened, is the weakness of a gentle 
 and generous heart; and it was that of Tres- 
 silian." — Kenilworthy chap. 10, vol. iii. 
 
CHAPTER XXXIV 
 
 The sun had brightened Clieviot gray, 
 The still had brightened the Carter's side, 
 And soon beneath the rising day 
 Smiled Brank^ome towers and Teviot's side 
 
 Lay of the Last Mimtrel. 
 
 " Wekum, James Boyd," said our nobil king, 
 " What foreste is Ettricke foreste frie ?" 
 Ettrick foreste is the feirest foreste 
 That ever man saw wi' his e'e 
 
 Song of the Outlaw Murray 
 
 We had now entered Scotland, at a point 
 distinguished for the picturesque beauty of the 
 scenery, and were in the vicinity of places 
 
JOHNIE ARMSTRONG. 279 
 
 which were among the first to arouse the 
 powers of Scott's imagination, and had been 
 his favourite haunts from the days of his early 
 youth. 
 
 We passed the tower of the renowned free- 
 booter Johnny Armstrong, whose descendant 
 was the hero of the last border raid in the time 
 of James I. — A fine old Peel, which the unfor- 
 tunate owiier is thus supposed to address when 
 preparing to meet his fate. 
 
 " Farewell, my bonny Gilnock hill, 
 Where on Esk side thou standest stout ; 
 Gif I had lived bat seven years mair, 
 I wad hae gilt thee round about." 
 
 A few miles farther on, Scott described the 
 place where the borderer and his companions 
 were executed by order of the inexorable king, 
 who was not to be won over by his fair pro- 
 testations. 
 
 " John was murdered at Carleurig, 
 And all his gallant companie; 
 But Scotland's heart was ne'er sae sair, 
 To see sae many brave men die " 
 
280 DOORS OF EWES. 
 
 The graves of these suflferers are still to be 
 seen in an old church-yard in the neighbour- 
 hood. 
 
 Scott pointed to the entrance to Liddesdale, 
 a well-known road, and which I hoped one day 
 to travel with him. " I should well like an- 
 other raid into Liddesdale some day ; I have 
 not seen it for these many years. Hermitage 
 is at no great distance." 
 
 He had on his finger, if I mistake not, a ring 
 which had been found in the ruins of that old 
 castle. It was of silver, and was ornamented 
 with a number of hearts placed at intervals 
 round the rim, carved in higli rehef. 
 
 The ballad of Lord Soulis, by his friend 
 Ley den, had always been a favourite of mine ; 
 and he promised to shew me " the nine stane 
 rig," and " the Skelf hill," where " that cruel 
 warden" had suflfered for his crimes, in defiance 
 of Redcap and the fiends who befriended him. 
 This project, however, we unfortunately never 
 made good. 
 
ABBOTSFUIID. 28 i 
 
 The singular pass, called the '* Doors of 
 Ewes," through which the road winds for some 
 way, following the course of a stream among a 
 confused group of green hills, that seem almost 
 to forbid any further passage to the Southron, 
 forms a remarkable and not very favourable 
 contrast to the beautifully wooded dells of the 
 Esk It is, however, a wild scene of a very 
 peculiar character ; and, as Scott said, ^* tvell 
 suited to the harder^' as a handful of men could 
 at any time defend against a force very superior 
 in numbers. 
 
 We then passed " Branxholm's lordly tow- 
 ers," and arrived at Abbotsford on the 26th of 
 September. Here a happy group was ready 
 to give him welcome. His wife and children, 
 and their friend Miss Miller, Tom Purdie, — 
 in short, the whole household, not forgetting 
 his dumb friends, were assembled at the door of 
 the cottage. 
 
 '' Sae ye hae gotten awa' frae them after a' " 
 was almost the very first remark made by Tom, 
 
282 ABBOTSFORD. 
 
 who had always entertained no small apprehen- 
 sions for the consequences of this journey to 
 foreign parts ; and now, probably for the first 
 time, was induced to give some credit to his 
 masters assertion, that there was no cause to 
 be afraid of the Frenchman now-a-days, what- 
 ever might have been the case formerly. 
 
 Some explanations were required of us, as to 
 the cause of our delay in our journey from 
 London, which l\ad much exceeded in length 
 what had been expected by the party at Ab- 
 botsford ; and I felt it incumbent on me to take 
 a considerable portion of the blame for the 
 wandering life we had been leading to myself, 
 many of the objects of our tour having, as I 
 insisted, been \'isited almost entirely on tni/ 
 account. 
 
 Very little time was allowed to elapse ere we 
 were called upon by the young people to un- 
 lock our portmanteaus, in order to exhibit our 
 souvenirs from the Boulevards, and the Palais 
 Royal, and the specimens of satin spar and 
 
ABBOTSFCRD. 2SS 
 
 blue-john from Derbyshire. Our collection of 
 caricatures, of course, afforded ample subject 
 for mirth ; and in several of the neighbours — 
 Tom Pur die and others — excited no small de- 
 gree of astonishment, as may be recollected 
 from the descriptions Sir Walter occasionally 
 gave, with such hearty glee, of their criticisms. 
 
 After spending a few days at Abbotsford, I 
 thought it right to give up my pew in the 
 chapel to some of Sir Walter's friends, as the 
 accommodations of the house were extremely 
 limited ; I therefore bade farewell to my com- 
 panion, whom I left, not as the generality of 
 observers could possibly have supposed, en- 
 gaged in pui'suits sufficient to engross the un- 
 divided attention of the most diligent student 
 from morning to night, but apparently em- 
 ployed in the common avocations of a country 
 gentleman, who spent the day in entertaining 
 his friends, superintending his plantations, and 
 the improvements on his estate. 
 
 I am conscious that I have linf?cred on my 
 
284 ABBOTSFORD. 
 
 way, and fear that I may have failed to impart 
 to my narrative such a portion of the satisfac- 
 tion I enjoyed during our brief ramble as may 
 be sufficient to apologize for the minuteness of 
 detail into w^hich I have entered respecting 
 subjects already so well known. 
 
 I trust, however, that from the remarkable 
 character of the scenes I have attempted to 
 describe, as well as from the circumstances 
 under which my companions, — who yet sur- 
 vive, and myself had the good fortune to visit 
 them, I may be pardoned for dwelling as I 
 have done on a period to which 1 must ever 
 look as one of the most interesting of my life. 
 
 THE END. 
 
 L Lowe, printer, PLAYUOtSIi YARD, BI. ACKFRIARS. 
 

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