CHAPTER III.

We

As the Packet passed through the glittering waves with a brisk and easy motion, my mind was suspended as it were between various sensations and ideas. We had left the proud coast of Albion to visit the regenerated kingdom of France. The long enjoyed power of the Bourbons had vanished before the irresistible course of events. were about to exchange our imaginations and opinions for certain ideas; we were to judge for ourselves; and, disencumbering our minds of the false impression unavoidably made on those distant from the theatre of a great revolution, we were to be enabled to form a just opinion of effects, and to examine and analyse causes, in the political or moral sphere of men, or, as I may now express it, of

і

Imperial France.

The awful consideration

of the torrents of blood which had been shed-the comparison between such horrors, and the tranquil calm which England had enjoyed the recollection of Empires overthrown, and of the immutability of civil and religious rights-the doubt whether the miseries of a revolution were compensated by a beneficial change in government-the confused conjecture what the future peace relations between the two nations would be, and a lively curiosity to behold Paris, the seat of a new government, and its novel order of things, pressed on the imagination, and hurried us in anxious anticipation towards the shore. The character of the warrior and statesman, who had been placed, by the force of his own genius, fortuitous circumstances, and the wishes of a harassed people, in the seat of supreme power, was also in itself a strong stimulus to our curiosity.

There is a natural desire in all men to view a celebrated person whose exploits have crowned him with glory.

examine his form and

One wishes to countenance, to

hear the voice, and observe the manner of such a man; and as we eagerly search amongst the remnants of antiquities, for any outline, medal, bust, or other demonstration of the features or appearance of a great. genius, so we have a craving wish to contemplate a living character standing high in the temple of Fame. It is a just and natural feeling and is, as it were, a tribute to one of our own species, endowed with eminent and extraor dinary qualities, which we cannot withhold, unless envy blinds, and malice hardens us.

I do not say that such were Mr. Fox's feelings respecting Buonaparte. Raised himself, as I think, upon a greater eminence, he could not, as I did, look with the same astonishment at the stupendous character of that great man; but he could not be devoid of a desire, common to us all, of seeing and hearing one of the most eminent persons of the age. He

to whom the histories of Greece and Rome were so familiar, looked with a philosophic eye upon his exaltation, and considered it as a natural and unavoidable consequence of the military cast assumed by the French

nation, and of the preponderance of its armies. I imagine, however, that there must be a certain sort of sympathy between men of unbounded genius, who, though their pursuits have been different, and their countries at times adverse and hostile, pay to one another the mutual homage of complacent respect and deference. As these various ideas passed through my mind, the vessel glided along,

αμφι δε κύμα

Στειξη πορφύριον μεγαλ' ιαχε, νηος ι8σης"

The quay

and, after a passage of about three hours, we entered the harbour of Calais. was crowded with spectators, anxious to see the great ornament of England, her most powerful orator, and her almost prophetic statesman. We landed amidst the crowd, and passed to the well known Inn at Calais, then extremely well kept by Quillac. I found myself in a new world; the language, the physiognomy, the manners, all different from those of the country I had left; and I could not but perceive a superiority in the latter respect to a considerable degree. The muni

cipal officers of Calais very speedily waited on Mr. Fox, paying him every attention, and expressing a wish to entertain him, which he politely declined, on account of his desire to proceed the following morning, without delay.

An incident occurred at Calais, which, as it excited much remark, and roused a good deal of censure at the time, I shall advert to more at length than would otherwise be necessary. It happened that Mr. Arthur O'Connor had arrived at the inn at which we stopped very shortly before. He waited on Mr. Fox, was received by him with that urbanity and openness which distinguished him, and was invited to dinner by him, which invitation he accepted of. I had never seen this gentleman before. It is well known that, after a long confinement at Fort George, he, and some other Irish gentlemen, agreed with the Irish government to expatriate themselves for life. Mr. O'Connor was now on his way to Paris accordingly; when chance brought him to Quillac's Inn, at the same time with Mr. Fox. His manners were extremely pleasing; and, without entering into