from the insults of those who were dissatisfied with the eatholic religion. At the elevation of the host, the military commanding offieer gave the word in a tone of voice which echoed through the vaulted roof of the church. At this signal the drums beat, and the swell of the organ mingled with the war-note. The soldiers, on one knee, fixed the butt end of their muskets on the pavement, and continued in that attitude till, on the cessation of the sound of drum and After the organ, the word of command was given, and they rose. procession had made the circuit of the inside of the church, the chief priests advanced to the high altar and performed the masstheir voices being occasionally assisted by the organ. At various intervals voluntaries were played upon this instrument, some of which were absolutely jigs. On the whole, our visit to Notre-Dame presented to us a strange mixture of religious solemnity, military state, and levity. In the course of the service, two collections of money occurred; the first for the benefit of the church, the second for the relief of the poor. Of the multitudes assembled to-day in this vast edifice, I do not believe that more than 200 repaired thither who for religious purposes;-the rest were composed only of were attracted by motives of curiosity." P. 58-61. persons There is nothing more striking in the observations suggested by Mr. Shepherd's first visit to Paris, than the disrepute into which republicanism, and every thing connected with it, had fallen, although it was long before Bonaparte's power was fully established, and he could have exerted his influence in putting down the democracy, upon the ruins of which he built his despotism. At the theatre, every where a good exponent of popular feelings, but in Paris by far the best, he found unlimited applause bestowed on all passages disparaging to popular institutions. There he saw, at the Comedie Française, the Cinna of Corneille, which abounds in sentiments of political tendency, and applicable to the circumstances of the day. "One solitary plebeian made a few attempts to excite applause of the democratic sentiments; but he was indignantly silenced by the rest of the audience. On the contrary, the following lines were received with a thunder of ap probation. 'Mais quand le peuple est maître on n'agit qu'en tumulte, Les honneurs sont vendus aux plus ambitieux, L'autorité livrée aux plus seditieux : Ces petits souverains qu'il fait pour une année, Voyant d'un temps si court leur puissance bornée, Comme ils ont peu de part au bien dont ils ordonnent, Assurés que chacun leur pardonne aisement, Le pire des états c'est l'état populaire.'" P. 81-82. We are sorry to find that a similar experiment on popular feeling, which our author made in the same place this year, was very far from giving a result equally favourable to the existing government. The minority was far from insignificant-notwithstanding Bonaparte's recent downfall--the eclat of a new dynasty, or still more seductive restoration--the return of wished for peace, and the presence of powerful armies. The two parties, on the contrary, seemed to be pretty nearly balanced:-but of this in its proper place. We anticipate it here in order to show that the theatre does not reflect merely the sentiments favoured by the ruling powers; and that, of consequence, the observation which our author there took in 1802 of the new government's popularity, and the discredit of republicanism, was the more to be relied on. His inference from it, as drawn and committed to paper at the time, may fairly be reckoned a just one, after the events that have confirmed it. The Parisians, he observes, seemed to be ripe for the elevation of an Augustus to the imperial throne. This was written about two years before Bonaparte declared himself emperor. We have already spoken of what are commonly termed the galleries; or the collection of old pictures, marbles, books, and medals, so well known to every one, that we should only have dwelt on any thing new and singular in our author's remarks upon them. But there is one institution connected with this subject, of a very pleasing nature, and not at all known in this country, the Musée Nationale des Monumens Français. It owes its origin to the barbarous ravages committed upon the works of art and remains of antiquity in different parts of France during the revolution. M. Lenoir obtained permission from the convention to collect their fragments, and restore them as nearly as possible to their primitive state, depositing them in a large convent which was set apart for their reception. By his industry and ingenuity upwards of five hundred French monuments are there arranged in excellent order and preservation. They are classed according to their respective ages, and thus afford the best history of the progress of sculpture in different stages of the art. The more ancient stones are properly placed in the gloomy parts of the building; while the splendours of the modern workmanship is advantageously exhibited in the light halls; and the garden contains many tombstones, among others those of Abelard and Eloisa. The windows are enriched with the superb painted glass assembled from a thousand churches, and which could only thus be saved from the destroying fanaticism of the day. The scientific reader will naturally desire to know the particulars of a sitting of the national institute; and our author has detailed them with great spirit-underrating, however, we must remark, the effects even of the mummery which he describes, inasmuch as it depends altogether on its adaptation to the persons concerned, whether it may not afford just as powerful a stimulant to exertion as a graver or more sober method of proceeding. "The hall in which this society assembles is a noble apartment, the sides of which are ornamented with two beautiful pillars of the corinthian order; between the columns are marble statues of the celebrated French statesmen and warriors. In the middle of the hall an area is railed off for the accommodation of the members. Between this rail and the wall are several rows of benches, which, on our entrance, we found so much crowded with spectators, that we experienced no small difficulty in procuring seats. While waiting I had leisure to take a survey of the company; among whom, my attention was particularly directed to the famous Abdallah Menou, who sat near the president's chair. In the fat stupidity of this warrior's countenance, I thought I could discern a sufficient cause for the expulsion of the French from Egypt. Whilst meditating on the wonderful scenes which the army of Egypt had witnessed, the members of the institutes entered the hall. Their costume was very odd. It consisted of a dark green coat, richly embroidered with light green lace, a yellow waistcoat and green breeches. This attire gave them the appearance of a company of old English butlers. The president having opened the sitting by a short speech, the celebrated Lalande mounted the tribune, and read a memoir of astronomical observations, which, though I am morally certain not one of his auditors understood, was received with thundering plaudits. He was succeeded by other Savans, who read papers like so many school boys. So rapid and indistinct was their pronunciation, that I found myself incapable of following the thread of their discourses, and their enunciation so monotonous, that it lulled me into a gentle slumber, which was only interrupted by the applauses that followed the termination of each memoir. In short, I found the proceedings of the national institute as tedious as those of the royal society of London; and I was heartily glad to escape from an assembly which, in my opinion, was chargeable with a profuse waste of time. For what benefit can be derived from the hearing of mathematical calculations, the detail of chemical experiments, and a long series of profound argumentation, the comprehension of which can only be the result of patient study in the retirement of the closet? The wight who can satisfactorily decide, whether it is more irksome to listen to an incomprehensible oration, or to harangue a listless and inattentive multitude, may solve the question, whether the orators or the auditors of the above-mentioned learned bodies, are doomed to the most disagreeable task?" P. 100-102. No other passage in the first tour needs detain us, except the description of the exquisite English garden at the Petit Trianon, the favourite retreat of the late unfortunate queen. The sketch is very short, and we transcribe it willingly. "The Jardin Anglois is laid out with exquisite taste. Here we passed through shady walks, which wind about gentle declivities, till we reached a grotto, from which a subterraneous passage conducted us to the top of an artificial mount. Descending from this, we pursued the course of a narrow streamlet, till we arrived at the Hameau, which consists of a farm-house, a mill, and a church, all constructed in the true style of elegant rusticity, enveloped in trees, and almost covered with ivy, vines, woodbines, and other species of parasitic plants. Before the Hameau is a pool of water, fringed with reeds and bulrushes. Beyond is a gentle sloping lawn; and the view is terminated by trees, which conceal the winding walks. What must have been the sensations of the late owner of this retreat, when she contrasted the voluptuous days which she had spent in its seductive seclusion, with the terrifying altitude of the temple, and the fetid dungeon of the Bicêtre? Evils are certainly heightened by contrast: and though a king is but a man, and a queen a woman, yet the woes of royalty must be attended with an anguish peculiar to themselves. The pleasure which I experienced in contemplating the delicious scenery of the Petit Trianon was intermixed with serious reflections. I left its shade, however, with reluctance." P. 112, 113. Mr. Shepherd's second visit to Paris was principally undertaken with the same views as the former; but one very prominent feature of interest, of course, consists in the change that had recently taken place; and, accordingly, the parts of the narrative which excite the greatest interest are those which record the tra veller's remarks upon the dispositions of the people towards their new government, and their feelings with respect to the master whom they had so recently gotten rid of. The candour and impartiality of the author's observations upon this delicate topic are extremely satisfactory. The general result is certainly what might have been predicted;-that the majority of the people are decidedly against Bonaparte, and friendly, though not very zealously so, to the government which has put an end to his tyranny; that the majority of the army have a leaning towards him, and a disinclination, mingled with much personal contempt, towards the restored dynasty;-that the marshals are unpopular with the soldiery on account of their conduct towards their favourite chief, and are thus likely to serve the present court faithfully. With respect to the question most important to foreign nations, and especially to ourselves, the disposition of France towards peaceable or hostile measures with her neighbours, the result of our author's observations rather disappoints the expectations which might fairly VOL. V. New Series. 2 have been indulged. He seems to think that the national pride has been too sorely wounded to let the people rest; and that, notwithstanding all they have suffered, they would derive a consolation from any convulsion which might give them the opportunity of wiping away their late stains, and taking their revenge. To deny the fact, because of its inconsistency with our previous belief in the effects of the conscription and Russian campaign, would be rash and dogmatical. It might argue, too, an inattention to two very material points-the extraordinary love of national glory which predominates in the French character, and the perversion in their natures, wrought, to a certain degree at least, by the conscription itself; for, perverted must so military a people as the French have become, before such a state of things as existed under Bonaparte could at all suit their habits and dispositions. Nevertheless, we would fain hope that the inference so unfortunate for the peace of the world, if it be well founded, rests rather upon a view of the Parisian society, in which the predominance of the military, and the lighter burdens of the conscription, must naturally diminish the horror of war. We hasten, however, to mention a few of the particulars related by Mr. Shepherd, with a reference to these most interesting topics. He travelled from Dieppe to Paris, and on his way, at a village, he met a wounded soldier, who was wandering about in search of his billet. He had been a conscript, and severely wounded at the siege of Antwerp; but he said, that if his Emperor were again set at liberty (élargé) he would serve him as faithfully as ever. At Dieppe, however, Mr. Shepherd had met four conscripts, interesting youths of eighteen or nineteen, recently taken from good families, and apparently well educated. They had served in the last campaign; but confessed their repugnance to a military life, and desire to return home. Among their most intolerable sufferings, our author justly ranks the being compelled to associate with the common run of soldiery that fill the ranks, and barracks, and tents of an army. The following passage is lively and interesting: "From Souvier we went through a rich and highly cultivated country to Vernon. Here, while dinner was preparing, I lounged into the stables, where I found a number of cavalry horses, Being struck with the beauty of one of them, I was proceeding to examine it, when I was accosted by its owner, who happened to be a captain of the Imperial Guard. We discoursed some time upon cavalry equipments. Though he was not unwilling to do justice to the powers of British cavalry, he preferred, for the details of a campaign, the lightness and activity of the French. Turning from this topic, which I did not feel myself qualified to discuss, I touched him on the subject of the emperor. This I did very gently, by observing that Napoleon |