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small volume may be considered as real information respecting the actual state of France, in those particulars to which the author has directed his more immediate attention. The date of the last noteis Boulogne, Oct. 4.; so that this tour was performed in less than three months.

ART. IX. Paris, in Eighteen hundred and Two, and Eighteen hundred and Fourteen. By the Rev. William Shepherd. Second

Edition. 8vo. Pp. 284. 78. Boards. Longman and Co.

1814.

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HE title of this volume is rather too general for its contents, and by no means agrees with its purport as stated by the author in his preface, which is only to shew how an individual, limited in point of time and property, may pleasantly and profitably spend a few weeks in Paris.' Mr. Shepherd apologizes for its publication, and represents the journal-form in which it appears as the result of his usual habit of noting down, in writing, those interesting objects and circumstances which from time to time have occurred in his journeys, whether on business or in pursuit of amusement. Though, however, the accounts of these two trips to Paris assume the easy and unpretending form of journals, we expected, from the author's reputation as a literary man, to find them more polished in point of style; and exhibiting such a comprehensive view of the subject of which they profess to treat, as would have enabled us to call the whole a tolerably fair picture of Paris. Of Mr. Shepherd's carelessness in point of language, we may give a few examples. He tells us that Mr. Denison was rich enough in all conscience' (p. 8.); that to-day the ladies made a much better figure in the use of their knives and forks than they had done yesterday' (p. 31.); that 'the cupola of the Invalids is wonderfully lightsome" (p. 70.); that the voice, ever and anon, squeaked out' (p. 92.); that this answer did not smack much of enthusiasm' (p. 144.); I touched him on the subject of the Emperor' (p. 161.); some four or five-andtwenty years ago' (p. 205.); I drove back to the Tuilleries like lightning.' (P. 208.) In contrast with these occasional vulgarisms, Mr. S. is often pompous; and, after all, the work affords neither in the first nor in the second part a satisfactory account of the French metropolis. The author has noted down, with tolerable minuteness, the places to which he went, what he saw and did, and the conversations which occurred with the people: but, though he is the great show-man of the Paris lions, he exhibits no more of them than his own convenience and amusement prescribe. Whether we attend him to the Louvre, to the Bibliothèque

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Bibliothèque Royale, to the Théatre Français, to the Boulevards, or to the Restaurateur's*, he is himself the chief actor, and his operations make the burden of the tale. If he visits the fine Gallery of Paintings, we hear only of five or six pictures which he admires, or of his 'spending a pleasant hour among the statues :' if he goes to the Royal Library, of his employment among the MSS.; and, if to a shop, that he made some purchases: but what is all this or such sort of information to the general reader? In the original journal, these memoranda were very proper for the author's private use: but, when he sent it to the press, it should have been discharged of all this egotism.

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Of the first part, we shall take no farther notice, as it contains little which has not been previously related. The second part will no doubt be useful to those who wish, with limited means, to pass a few weeks in Paris; and some of the incidents and anecdotes will be amusing to most readers. The trick of the driver of the cabriolet (pp. 146, 147.) conveys a good hint to the English who may visit France, and therefore we shall transcribe it:

At the barrier I directed him to take us to the Hôtel de France, to which he dutifully assented. We had not proceeded far before he stopped at the gate of a large building, which he said was the place of our destination, and a servant or two instantly proceeded to unstrap our baggage. Though it was almost dark, and though I had never been at Rouen before, I suspected some roguery, and asked a gentleman who was passing by, whether that was the Hôtel de France. "No," said he, "it is the Hôtel de la Marine." With great difficulty I drove the myrmidons off our luggage, and compelled our postilion to proceed. Before he started, however, I observed the interchange of a glance between him and one of the waiters, which put me on my guard. He sacre-dieued and lashed his horses, and after passing what appeared to be a very intricate route, he again stopped; and we were again surrounded by porters. On one of the most active of these I laid violent hands; and again inquiring of a passenger where we were, received for answer, "At the back front of the Hôtel de la Marine." My patience was now exhausted. tumbled the porter from off the luggage, and threatening vengeance against our varlet of a driver, once more forced him to proceed. He was now seriously frightened, and conducted us according to my directions. Being safely arrived, I alarmed him with the prospect of

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* Here Mr. S. may cater for others as well as for himself. hastened to the Palais Royal, where, on looking for a Restaurateur's, Mr. Y. and I were fortunate enough to stumble upon Beldame's, which from this day we constituted our head-quarters for dining, as we found that we were provided with an excellent dinner, consisting of soup, fish, and two plates of meat, a dessert, and a bottle of vin de Beaune, for about five shillings a head.'

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a good discipline with a horse-whip instead of his fee. At length, however, I paid him as if nothing untoward had happened; of which I immediately repented, as from the ill-disguised smile which took the place of terror on his countenance when he handled his five franc piece, I am confident he would embrace the earliest opportunity of repeating his experiment upon the ignorance of travellers.'

Mr. Shepherd is convinced, by all that he could hear, that the French nation in general are satisfied with the return of Louis XVIII. to the throne of his ancestors; though, among some of the soldiery, he discovered a strong attachment to the deposed Emperor. Speaking at Vernon to a captain of the late Imperial Guard, Mr. S., by way of trial, praised Napoleon as a man of extraordinary genius:

On hearing (continues the journalist) his late master thus characterized, the soldier's eyes immediately glistened with pleasure; and he requested that I would do him the favour to drink a glass of his wine, which he had left to look after his horse. I told him I had not yet dined; but that if he would become my guest, I should be happy to see him. He accordingly accompanied me to our apartment. On his recurring to the subject of Bonaparte's character, I thought it my duty to qualify what I had said in commendation of his talents, by remarking that his ambition was so unbounded, that while his power lasted it was impossible for his neighbours to rest in security. This drew from my new acquaintance a vehement philippic against Talleyrand and the Senate, who, he said, had instigated Napoleon to every mischievous act which he had committed; and after involving him in difficulties had basely deserted and betrayed him. But the seizure of the sceptre of Spain?"-That was the suggestion of Talleyrand." And the expedition to Russia?" - Was suggested by Talleyrand; and after all it only failed in consequence of the premature setting in of the frost. In short, I found that Napoleon could do no wrong; and that for every error into which he had fallen, and for every crime of which he had been guilty, his minister was to be made responsible. But on the contrary Louis XVIII. could do nothing right. He had falsified, said the plain-spoken soldier, every promise he had made on his accession to the throne. He had accepted a constitution, but had violated every article of it. He had solemnly engaged to continue the constituted authorities as he found them, but he had made the most capricious changes; he had flattered the army with assurances that he had the most perfect reliance on their support, and yet he had sent the Imperial Guard away from Paris; he had diminished their privileges and appointments, and intended to revive the old establishment of the Gardes Suisses. say all in a word, he had given himself up to the guidance of " those rascally priests," whose evil counsel had brought his brother to the scaffold. He was also led into error by the returning emigrés, men who had deserted their country at a period when their services were most needful, and now had the audacity to lay claim to the most distinguished honours. With considerable humour, Monsieur le Capitaine mimicked

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mimicked the air and manner of one of these characters, an old man of seventy, whom he had lately heard declare his intention of serving under the new regime in a military capacity, under the idea that he could make his marches and even his charges in a cabriolet. He then asked me what we thought of Louis in England; to which I replied that he had lived so much in retirement, that little or nothing had been said among us of his habits or proceedings, till the late events had summoned him from his retreat. "Je vous comprends," rejoined he, "il a bien mangé et bien dormi, et voilà de grands préparatifs pour conduire les affaires d'un grand royaume." In short he was full of grief and bitterness of spirit; and on my suggesting to him the probability of his incurring peril in consequence of his freedom of speech, he said he had no fears on that head, for he spoke the sentiments of thousands, as I should find when I arrived at Paris, which city he said was very sad and very discontented. This man had undergone the horrors of the campaign of Moscow !'

The account of the effects of the conscription at p. 216. renders this attachment to Napoleon astonishing.-What reputation Mr. S. will acquire by his attack on the Venus de' Medici, we pretend not to say: but we suspect that some of our artists will charge him with wanting an eye of taste.

When I found this celebrated piece of sculpture, I was disappointed. My pre-conceived notions of grace and beauty were by no means fulfilled. The execution of this statue seemed to me to be so far from excellent, that I thought I had seen some copies equal to the original. And in this opinion I was confirmed by frequent sub sequent examinations. In truth, the Venus fades into insignificance when compared with the Apollo Belvidere. The former is indeed beautiful; but its beauty is terrestrial. The latter, in form, attitude, and countenance, appears to be something superhuman.'

After Mr. Shepherd's return, he takes a retrospect of his tour, and this part of his work is perhaps the most valuable portion of it:

As I slowly paced the gallery of the Louvre, my attention was occasionally abstracted from the wonders with which I was surrounded by speculations upon the probable duration of the period when an Englishman will be able to visit these repositories of taste in the character of a friend and an ally. The pursuit of these speculations leads to a wide field of thought. The solving of the problem will, in the first place, depend upon the settlement of a preliminary enquiry: Will the government of the Bourbons be stable? And from every thing that I could observe during my visit to France, I am persuaded that the stability of the Bourbon dynasty will depend entirely upon the conduct of the heads of that illustrious house, and that they have not altogether an easy game to play. The allegiance of the great body of the army is more than doubtful. The troops are generally disaffected to them. I understand also, that in consequence of their confirmation of the sales of confiscated property, the loyalty of the ancient noblesse toward them is much impaired; and with regard to

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the mass of the people, the enthusiasm in favour of Louis XVIII., of which we read so much in the Moniteur, appears merely on paper. Still, however, the mass of the people are friendly to the Bourbons. They were so oppressed by Bonaparte; and the conscription, in particular, made such inroads upon their domestic comforts, that though their joy is by no means extravagant, they are glad to see the throne filled by a monarch of a mild disposition, and a pacific character. It is to this quarter, then, that Louis must look for support. He must. cherish his people. - he must foster their arts, their commerce, and

their manufactures.'.

But the prospect of the continuance of peace is affected by another circumstance, namely, the disposition of the people of France. And I am sorry to state that I did not perceive in them any due sense of the blessings of public tranquillity. The minds of the army, both officers and privates, are bent upon violence and rapine, and they care not upon whom these are exercised. Their notions of warfare are not modified by the chivalrous spirit of modern times. They have even little regard for the welfare of their country. Plunder and promotion are the main articles of their creed; and they are ready to draw the sword without enquiring against whom. Nor are the bulk of the people chastised into wisdom by the events which have lately occurred to humble them. They cannot be persuaded that any of the ordinary occurrences of war could have exposed the French arms to disaster and defeat. Their language already begins to be lofty, and the nation at large seems to wish for an opportunity of redeeming the military credit, which, though they are too proud to acknowledge it, they are conscious they have lost. The animosity both of the army and the people is most inveterate against Austria, which power they loudly accuse of treachery and cupidity, — political vices which they, very consistently, no doubt, avow their wish to punish and restrain. On England also they look with an evil eye. They cannot bear to think of our naval power, and they contemplate with all the jealousy of rivalry our commercial prosperity. The complaints of the prisoners of war, whom we have lately dismissed in such numbers, are too readily listened to, and aggravate feelings in themselves sufficiently turbulent. Upon the whole, then, I cannot help fearing that the halcyon days, which in the imagination of so many worthy men lately followed each other in endless succession, will not be of so long duration as has been expected.'

We hope that these gloomy predictions will not be verified.

ART. X. A slight Sketch of Paris; with some Account of the French Capital in its improved State, since 1802; by a Visiter. 8vo. pp. 100. 4s. Boards. Baldwin. 1814.

A VERY striking mannerism pervades the whole of this sketch, and, by the style and species of literature which it displays, sufficiently indicates the name of this visiter; who can be no other than the Reverend Stephen Weston, generally known

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