The events of the tour were minutely chronicled in his letters to her, and not only in letters, but in sketch books, filled to overflowing with every strange group and figure which met the travellers on their way, through countries which had been, although so near, prohibited for such a long time that they had almost the interest of unknown lands.
Mrs. E. Stanley to Lady Maria Stanley.
Stoke, July 4, 1814.
...That my curiosity may not catch cold in the too sudden transition from exercise to inaction, the Shropshire and Cheshire Heroes have followed me down here, and I have had the pleasure of seeing and hearing of the crowds going to touch (for that is the present fashion of seeing, or, to speak philosophically, mode of perception) Lord Hill; and yesterday I met Lord Combermere and his Bride at Alderley, and a worthy Hero he is for Cheshire!
A folio from Havre just arrived. I am very noble, very virtuous, and very disinterested—pray assure me so, for nothing else can console me—it is too entertaining to send one extract.[97]
CHAPTER III
UNDER THE BOURBON FLAG
French prisoners—Oldenburg bonnets—"Fugio ut Fulgor"—Soldiers of the Empire—Paris—A French hotel—A walk through Paris—Portrait of Madame de Staël—An English ambassador—The Louvre—French tragedy—The heights of Montmartre—Cossacks in the Champs Elysées—£900 for substitute—Napoleon's legacies to his successor—A dinner at the English Embassy—Botany and mineralogy—Party at Madame de Staëls—A debate in the Corps Législatif—Malmaison—Elbowing the marshals—St Cloud and Trianon—The Catacombs.
Edward Stanley to his Wife.
Letter I.