I shall never forget the impression that was made upon me the first time I visited Paris. Such a spectacle as the French capital exhibited then, will not, in all human probability come, at least for a while, under the observation of my readers; wherefore I would gladly describe it in detail, could I hope by any power of language to do justice to the subject, but that I feel to be impossible. Of the Champs Elysées, with its noble avenues, its stately trees, and its triumphal arch, I need not say any thing. They, as well as the Palace of the Tuileries, the Place de Concorde, and all the streets and squares adjacent were, I dare say, pretty much what the traveller who visits Paris in 1844 will find them. But the interminable encampments and bivouacs which overspread them--the countless rows of huts which everywhere crowded upon the eye--the unceasing noise of drums, trumpets, clarions, and other musical instruments--the hubbub of voices which assailed you, as men of all nations conversed or sported together: these things together with the passing and repassing of thousands of men and women, as if some huge ant-hill had been disturbed, and instead of ants human beings came forth from its recesses, created altogether such a scene as cannot be conceived, unless it has been seen, and is never seen twice in any man's lifetime. For myself I was perfectly astounded, and rode on, with difficulty persuading myself that the whole was other than a dream.

We found the Parisians, particularly the women, civil and even friendly, to the greatest degree. They chaffered with us, flirted with us, sold their wares, and took our money with the best grace possible, and gave us in return a plentiful supply of indifferent brandy, served out in marvellously small glasses. We never, however, had much time to spend among them; for the way was long, and our burdens of forage and provisions weighty. Still a trip to Paris became one of our favourite recreations; and I, as holding rank in my party, found more than one opportunity of going thither when not on duty. For the most part, however, my time was pretty much occupied in attending to the conduct of my men, more than one of whom, as soon as the fruit began to ripen, I caught in the act of plundering. But the Duke de Berri, to do him justice, was extremely considerate on all such occasions, so that the delinquent generally escaped with a few hours incarceration.

While employed on this service, I had more than once the satisfaction of spending a day with my friends at the cabaret near Neuilly. My regiment was quartered in that town, and as often as leisure would permit, I rode over to see them; on which occasions I never failed of meeting from the good people of the house, the most hearty and affectionate reception. Neither did fortune fail of throwing in my way new acquaintances, from whose gratitude, the means which I possessed of serving them drew forth many solid tokens of regard. I need not tell those who have visited the French capital, that the banks of the Seine, to a great extent below Paris, are covered with vineyards; and probably there will be needed no direct statement from me to make my readers in general believe, that as the fruit began to ripen, the cultivators found it no easy matter to save their harvests from the rapacious hands of the foreign soldiers that were established among them. To such a height, indeed, was the practice of marauding carried, that guards were granted to such townships as applied for them, to protect the vineyards; and even these did not always succeed in hindering serious damage from being done to the property of the industrious cultivators. It chanced, that immediately opposite to Bagatelle, though separated from the duke's grounds by the river, lay some very extensive vine-farms. Over and over again they had been invaded, and as much damage done by treading down the vines, as by carrying off the fruit, when the representatives of the village came across and entreated that I would spare some of my men for their protection. I told them, what was true, that I had detached so many in other directions that no more could be spared. But I offered to accompany them to Paris, and to become their spokesman in representing the case to the proper authorities.

To Paris we accordingly went,-- the mayor, one or two other functionaries, and myself,--and proceeding direct to the colonel's quarters, I made the circumstances of the case known, and received from him an order to detach two of my men, for the protection of the parties for whom I had interceded. This was immediately done. I went with the men, gave them their orders, namely to keep watch by turns from dawn to dark, by occupying an eminence whence the country for miles round could be reconnoitred; and to leave it to the peasants themselves to set their armed guards so soon as the night should set in. On the other hand I received from the authorities an assurance, that my men should be well cared for, plenty of good victuals provided for them, and their horses supplied with forage; while, over and above, it was intimated to me, that a cover would be laid for myself every day at the chief auberge in the place; and that whenever I felt disposed to go across, I should partake of the good things which it afforded. All this was very fair; and never once, from the beginning to the end of the harvest weeks, had I or my men the most distant occasion to complain that our villagers had grown slack in their attentions. On the contrary, as the red band effectually served its purpose, the people's gratitude grew so, that I and my people sometimes found it difficult to reject the favours which they pressed upon us.

At last, however, the harvest was got in, snugly and to as good purpose, as if the foot of the stranger had never defiled the soil of France; and I had already given orders for my people to return, when a deputation from the commune waited upon me to request that I would honour them with my company at the little fête, wherewith it was their custom to celebrate their harvest-home.

I accepted the invitation, as may be supposed, and do not remember having been present, in any part of the world, at a series of entertainments which more interested or amused me. We began with a public breakfast at eight in the morning, to which about fifty persons, young and old, sat down; after which, on the green, and to the sound of their own band, the lads and lasses danced till two. Then followed a dinner, sumptuous, abundant, and well served up, over which the mayor presided, where the great subject of rivalry, among all who were present, appeared to be how we, the strangers, should be most honoured. There was no lack of excellent wine, nor any disposition to stay the bottle in its progress; indeed we did not rise from table till past five, and many well-applauded toasts had been given. But the pledge of the day was the health of the three English cavaliers, to whom the kind-hearted peasants declared that they were indebted for preservation from famine. Nor was this all: the mayor, after proposing the toast, in terms highly gratifying to us, handed to me three paper packets, which he requested me to divide with the soldiers under my command, in testimony of the high sense which was entertained in the commune of our services. It was in vain that I besought him not to press upon us favours which were far beyond both our merits and our expectations. We had done no more than our duty, and were glad that we had been instrumental in preserving the property of persons who had given such manifold proofs of their excellence. But the mayor was resolute. He showed, indeed, that my persisting in the rejection of his bounty would have occasioned to him and his townspeople serious annoyance; I was obliged, therefore, to accept the packets, which contained just sixty francs apiece.

Of the habits of the Duke of Berri I have little to record, except that he lived a life of great seclusion, and was, and knew that he was, to the last degree unpopular among his countrymen. He never went from home except at night, and always returned again with as much privacy as possible, about the same hour on the night following. Why he should have been thus distasteful to the French I cannot conjecture. He has repeatedly honoured me with a few minutes' conversation, and I always found him affable, frank, and condescending; but it is certain that the French people hated him, and that the columns of the newspapers were crowded with stories and assertions to his disadvantage. Of the fate of that unfortunate prince I need not now speak. Even at the period to which my present narrative refers, the probable occurrence of such an event might have been safely predicted; and so fully did the Duke himself appear to be convinced of the fact, that he dwelt, as I have just said, in the strictest and most guarded privacy.

In the course of this autumn there occurred for the amusement of the Allied Sovereigns several grand reviews, at all of which I was present, rather as a spectator than as an actor. It was my duty, as one of the cavalry staff, to keep the ground, or attend on the officers commanding; and the opportunities thereby afforded me of seeing all that passed were very great. I remember that on one occasion above 8000 British cavalry, and cavalry in British pay, were paraded together. I think that the whole world could produce no such imposing spectacle as they presented; and the heavy brigades in particular,--the Life Guards, the Blues, the Royals, and the Greys, drew forth bursts of spontaneous applause, even from the French populace. Yet there occurred an event which, though ludicrous in the extreme, threatened to produce some serious results, and out of which I am by no means sure that serious results did not here and there arise. The order of the day was to present the semblance of a cavalry action, in which a body of Brunswick horse were posted on one of the roads, to represent the enemy. These stood in front of as dense a crowd of civilians as Paris, and the towns and villages near, may be supposed to have sent forth, while everywhere carriages had taken up their stands, so that the whole area was thronged. The heavy brigade was ordered to dislodge them. They came on at first steadily, covered by their skirmishers; by-and-by they formed line, and the trumpets sounded to trot. Then came the signal to gallop, and to charge; and it was obeyed with such a show of vigour, as fairly upset the common sense of the Brunswickers. A panic seized them: they imagined that they were going to be ridden down; and suddenly wheeling round, they scampered off in all directions, making a way for themselves, without respect of persons, through the middle of the crowd. I defy a stoic to retain his gravity, if he had witnessed the scenes that followed. There were the people shrieking and running for their lives: there the Brunswickers spurring as if a legion of fiends had been in pursuit of them, and casting over their shoulders, from time to time, looks of the most abject terror. And, finally, there was the heavy brigade, grave as judges, till the trumpet sounded a halt, when, as if an irresistible impulse had come on them, they all burst into a roar of laughter. I never saw such a scene of mirth as that parade ground presented; and unless my memory deceive me, among the heartiest laughers of all were the Duke himself and the Emperor of Russia.

In the month of September of this year I bade adieu to the château of Bagatelle, and moved with my little detachment into Paris. I got a billet on a gentleman of the name of Vandamme, an apothecary in large practice, who resided in the Rue St. Honoré, and proceeding to deliver it was informed that there was no room in the house for my accommodation. My host, however, offered terms in lieu of what the law allowed me, which I did not think that it would be judicious to refuse. He gave me five francs a day, wherewith to provide board and lodging; and the lodging being furnished with an excellent stable, in which my horse was put up, I managed, out of my daily allowance, to fare sumptuously at one of the restaurants.

I am not going to describe Paris, or its endless places of public amusement. Were the subject fresh, instead of being absolutely stale, I could not flatter myself with possessing skill enough to bring the strange picture vividly before the reader's eye; and such a picture, if not vividly painted, had better not be painted at all. Every body knows how matters are managed within the precincts of the Palais Royal,--how vice walks abroad undisguised and unblushing-how the gaming-tables are thronged, and other scenes enacted, of which even to speak in English society would cover the cheek with blushes. Again, the Louvre, with its treasures, gathered from every nation under heaven, was, in the days of which I now speak, a spectacle such as the eye of man will never, in all probability, look upon again. To be sure the splendour of this scene did not long continue after it had become to me an object of daily admiration. Each of the nations of continental Europe claimed the treasures of which the French had despoiled them; and by the Allied Sovereigns and Chiefs orders were issued to restore to the several claimants the masterpieces to the possession of which they could establish their right. The French were excessively annoyed by the promulgation of these orders; so much so, indeed, that resistance to their execution was anticipated, and an overwhelming force of all arms was warned to be in readiness, for the purpose of putting down the first movement towards sedition. But not a finger was stirred. Multitudes of anciens militaires walked to and fro about the streets, chafing and giving vent to their wrath in impotent "sacres," but the feeblest attempt to create a disturbance was never offered, and paintings and statues departed from Paris with much less of ostentation than had marked their entrance. I believe that I was John Bull enough somewhat to chuckle over this consummation of a war begun for the purpose of subjugating Old England; and yet I am not sure now that the impulse was a wise one which caused me to triumph. For the purposes of art such a variety of models can never again be collected into one place. Possibly it may be a matter to be regretted that, even for the sake of wounding the vanity of the French, they were ever dispersed again.

It is not, however, to be supposed that I, a poor non-commissioned officer, sought for amusement only in the visits which I paid to the Palais Royal and the Louvre. The theatres, one after another, were by me frequented, and many a place of public amusement besides, of which my reader, were I to attempt any thing like a description, might be apt to think that I should have acted more prudently had I held aloof from it. But I must not forget to mention that at these haunts of vice numerous quarrels sprang up between the English officers and the officers of the reduced French army. The consequences of these were almost always duels, in which many lives were lost; till, in the end, the grievance became so heavy that both the Duke of Wellington and the French government interfered to put a stop to it.

On more than one occasion during my residence in Paris, I found that my knowledge of the French language--the result of my three years' captivity--served me in excellent stead. For example, having been removed from my pleasant dependence upon Mr. Vandamme, I was introduced into the family of a silk-merchant, whose wife, by the by, was an Englishwoman, and where I was treated throughout with the most marked attention. From these good people I learned much, which I should have never known otherwise, concerning the state in which the inhabitants of the capital were kept, while as yet authentic information concerning the issues of the Waterloo campaign failed to reach them. At first, it appeared, two despatches were received from Napoleon's headquarters, which gave an account of the battle of Ligné, and the total overthrow of the Prussian army. These were greeted by a general illumination, and such displays of rejoicing, as set all the Parisians, whether of high or humble rank, agog. By and by came accounts of the affair of Quatre Bras, which described the English as totally annihilated; and stated that, in two days from the date of the communication, the emperor expected to establish his head-quarters at Brussels. Next day came a third despatch, full, as the former had been, of promise, though speaking, strangely enough, of a second meeting with the obstinate islanders. And here followed a pause, of the agonizing nature of which my informants assured me that it was impossible for human language to convey an adequate idea. After this all was trepidation, anxiety, and distrust. Hour by hour, and minute by minute, crowds assembled at the post-office, and at every point where it was supposed that information might be obtained; and when none came, their spirits sank in a degree altogether proportionate to the height to which they had previously been raised. Finally, stragglers and fugitives began to pour in: and then such a revulsion of feeling took place, as those alone can conceive who have found themselves denizens of a great city, which having seen a mighty army march forth from its walls full of dreams of conquest, find themselves suddenly bereft of all protection, and expect from one minute to another the arrival among them of a cruel and vindictive enemy, flushed with conquest, and thirsting for revenge and for plunder.

Having remained here some little time, I was sent to Marli, for the purpose of protecting the royal game in the park, with which, it appeared, that both officers and men of the Allied Armies made abundantly free. I was again put in charge of a party; and at the house of the steward, a M. Perron,--a relative, and not very remote, I believe, of the famous Indian general,--I spent some weeks greatly to my own satisfaction. Nothing could exceed the liberality with which our table was served: indeed, we ate our meals every day with the family; and when seasons of rejoicing came round--such as Christmas and New-year's-day--we entered heartily into all their amusements. Of Christmas I have little to observe, for it seemed to me to be spent somewhat gravely; but New-year's-day was, in every sense of the term, a festival. Then all the domestics dined at the same table with the master and mistress; and enormous as the amount of viands was, the whole were cleared away ere the company rose. Next followed a game, somewhat similar to our Twelfth-night gambols, during which a king and queen were chosen, and treated with all conceivable deference; while waltzes, quadrilles, and dances of every kind, kept all ranks, degrees, and ages, astir till daylight. I must confess that the terms of easy yet respectful familiarity, on which the upper and lower classes in that well-regulated family lived, struck me as being delightful. Perhaps we could not, consistently with the order of our education and manners, transplant it without risk into this country; yet, I deceive myself, if any right-minded Englishman has ever looked upon a scene of the kind, without wishing that its occurrence were as habitual here as in the land where he may be sojourning as a visiter.

It is not worth while to describe the adventures which befel me while acting in the capacity of gamekeeper to the royal family of France. I have had strange meetings with men of all ranks, English as well as foreigners; and, by steadily yet respectfully doing my duty, I am not aware that I made any of them my enemies. Neither shall I speak at large of an affair which threatened at one time to lead to serious consequences, when some French park-keepers shot a dog belonging to the First Dragoon Guards, which they found one day poaching, as was his wont, in their rabbit-burrow. The dog, it appeared, belonged to no one in particular. He had followed the regiment from England,--was a prodigious favourite,--had gone through the battle of Waterloo, charging uniformly in front of the line, and, after the battle was over, made his appearance as usual beside the fire of the main-guard, where he was welcomed as a highly-favoured guest. He followed his own regiment, of course, to St. Germain's; and, being of the lurcher breed, was in the habit of running down both hares and rabbits, which he uniformly carried home for the use of the men, who fed him. I need scarcely say how furious the regiment was when intelligence of the death of poor Soldier reached them; or how, with one consent, the troopers vowed to take vengeance on the murderer, to whom, by some chance or another, they had obtained a clue. I do not know how long they might have watched for their opportunity, but at last they found it; and sure enough the unfortunate wretch was set upon in the streets, and very severely beaten. But as good fortune would have it, I happened to come up at the time. I instantly ran among them; assured them that he was not the man; got him out of their hands, though not till after he had suffered severely, and escorted him home. If I had been a favourite with the steward before this, I rose by many degrees higher in his good graces afterwards. Indeed, the whole corps of foresters treated me henceforth as a brother; and many a merry evening I spent, in consequence, at their several lodges.

Once, while I lay here, there arrived from Paris a royal shooting-party, which consisted of the Duke de Berri, the Duke d'Angouleme, Monsieur the Comte d'Artois, and about a score besides of the chief nobles and grandees of France. The order of the day's sport, though now familiar enough in this country, struck us Englishmen as being curious; for the sportsmen took no trouble, being content to post themselves in the centre of a wood, where an open space had been created by felling the trees, and towards which, from the surrounding copses, several rides or broad paths conducted. Meanwhile a multitude of beaters drove up the game all round, which, as the poor animals ran into the open space, were shot down with great diligence. I observed that the distinguished tirailleurs did not so much as take the trouble to load their own pieces: each was attended by a servant, who charged a reserve gun, and handed it to his master, so that the firing was continued, and the slaughter very great. Among other animals killed that day were two wild boars. Of the total number I can say no more than that they loaded several light waggons.