Autes of which are open, and through which he views, unseen, the audience and performers.

Madame Buonaparte's box is on the left side of the stage, over the door, in which the hapless queen has frequently displayed her beautiful person to the enraptured audience.

The Feydeau theatre is very elegant; and, on account of its excellent arrangements, good performers, and exquisite machinery, is much resorted to, and is in general preferred to the fourteen other dramatic spectacles which, in this dissipated city, almost every night present their tribute of pleasure to the gay and delighted Parisians. A Frenchman once observed to me, that a Sunday in London was horrible, on account of there being no playhouses open at night! The decorum and good manners which are even still observed in all the French places of public amusement, are very impressive and agreeable. Horse and foot soldiers are stationed at the avenues, to keep them clear, to prevent depredation, and to quell the first indications of popular commotion.

I was much gratified by an excursion to Versailles, which had been some time planned by the charming family of the Ss. We set off early in the morning, in one of the government carriages, and after a delightful ride, through a very rich and luxuriant country, of about twelve miles, the vast and magnificent palace of Versailles opened upon our view, at the end of a street nearly two miles long, lined on each side with noble hotels and gardens. It was on a Sunday, the day on which the palace is opened to the public. On the road we passed several hundreds of persons in carriages, cabrioles, or walking; all with merry faces, in showy clothes, and adorned with bouquets, on their route to this spot of favourite delight.

About four miles from Paris, we beheld Belle Vue, formerly the residence of Mesdames; soon afterwards we passed the noble palace and park of St. Cloud,

which was preparing for the reception of the first

consul.

At the entrance of the village of St. Cloud, on the left, after we had passed the bridge, we saw a very pretty house and grounds, belonging to a tanner, who had amassed considerable wealth by a discovery of tanning leather in twenty-four hours, so as to render it fit for the currier. Whether he possesses this power or not, I cannot from my own experience say, but I can venture to affirm, that the leather of France is very bad. In the village is a very noble porcelain manufactory, which, unfortunately, we had not time to inspect.

Whilst our horses were refreshing themselves with a little water, we were beset by the agents of the different hotels and restaurateurs of Versailles, who presented us with little cards, announcing, in a very pompous manner, the superiority of their employers' accommodations.

The stables of Versailles, to the right and left, are from the designs of Mansart, in the form of a crescent, and have the appearance of princely residences. Here the late king kept in the greatest style six hundred of the finest horses. On the left of the grand gateway is a military lodge for the accommodation of cavalry: it represents in shape an immense Turkish marquée. After we had passed the pallisades of the first court, we more distinctly saw this amazing pile of irregular buildings, which consists of the old castle, the new palaces, the houses of the ministers of state and servants, two opera houses, the chapel, military schools, museums, and the manufactory of arms, the whole of which are now consolidated, and form one palace.

The beautiful pavement of black and white marble in the court-yards, is much defaced, and their foun tains are totally destroyed.

The first place we visited was the manufactory of small arms; the resident workmen in which exceed

two thousand men. Here we saw all the ingenious process of constructing the musket, pistol, and sabre, of which there are an immense collection; and also several carbines, and swords of honour, intended as presents from the first consul to officers and soldiers of distinguished merit.

From the manufactory of small arms, we returned to the grand court, and entered a suite of rooms which contain the relics of the former valuable cabinet of curiosities. Several of those which we saw were worthy of attention. From these rooms we passed to the late king's private opera house, which surpasses, in magnificence and costly decoration, every thing of the kind I ever beheld. The facing of the whole of the inside is of carved wood, richly gilt. The dome is beautifully painted. Upon the scenery of the stage being removed, and temporory columns and galleries raised, all of which can be effected in twenty-four hours, that part of the theatre presents a counterpart of the other, and the whole forms a most splendid oblong ball-room, very deservedly considered to be the finest in Europe: it used to be illuminated by ten thousand wax-lights. The concert-rooms and retiring apartments are also very beautiful. From the opera we visited the chapel, which is very fine and costly, in which there are many large and valu able paintings. After leaving this deserted place of royal worship, we passed through the Halls of Plenty, Venus, Mars, Mercury, Apollo, and the Hall of the Billiard Table, finely painted by Houasse, le Brun, Champagne, and other eminent artists, to the grand gallery, which is seventy-two yards long, and fourteen broad, and has seventeen lofty windows on one side, which look into the gardens, and seventeen immense pier-glasses on the opposite side to correspond. In this gallery the kings of France were accustomed to receive ambassadors and ministers of state.

The bed-room of the late queen next attracted our attention, where we beheld the door which, on the

night of the 6th of October 1789, the frantic and san-s guinary mob, headed by the infamous Legendre, burst open, for the purpose of dispatching her with daggers, in her bed; this savage irruption occurred on that frightful night which preceded the return of the royal family to Paris, under the protection of the marquis de la Fayette, through an enraged multitude, which extended itself from Versailles to Paris.

The miserable queen saved herself by escaping into an adjoining apartment. Her bed was pierced through and through with poniards. The door is nailed up, but the marks of that horrible outrage still remain. In this, and in the adjoining chambers, are some very beautiful and valuable paintings. I must not omit to mention, although the sentiment which it inspires is not very pleasant, the representation of the capture of an English frigate, by la Bayonne, a French corvette, after a desperate engagement, in which victory for once decided in favour of the enemy, opposing, as on this occasion, an inferior force. This is a picture of infinite merit, and possesses a novelty of arrangement, and strength of colouring, which I never saw equalled in any other naval representation. The subject seldom admits of much variety. The French, of course, are very much pleased with it. There are here also some curious old clocks.

It was in one of these apartments, that Prior, the celebrated poet, when secretary to the earl of Portland, who was appointed ambassador to the French court, in the year 1698, made the following memorable answer:

One of the French king's household was shewing the bard the royal apartments and curiosities of this palace, and particularly pointed out to his notice the paintings of le Brun, now removed to the museum of the arts, in which the victories of Louis XIVth are described, and asked him, whether the actions of king William were to be seen in his palace? No, replied the loyal wit," the monuments of may

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master's glory are to be seen every where but in his own house."

Through the interest of Monsieur S, we were admitted into a private room below stairs, in which several portraits of the late royal family have been preserved from destruction during the late Revolution. That which represents the queen and her young family, is very fine, and displays all the bewitching beauty and vivacity of that lovely and unfortunate personage. Into this room no one was admitted with us.

When we quitted the palace, we entered upon the grand terrace, from which it makes the finest appear

ance.

This enormous pile of building is here united by a centre, and corresponding wings, of great extent and magnificence.

From this elevated spot, the beholder contemplates the different waterworks, walks, and gardens, which are very delightful and extensive.

The orangery is a beautiful specimen of Tuscan architecture, designed by le Maitre, and finished by Mausart. It is filled with lofty orange-trees in full bearing; many of which, in their tubs, measure from twenty to thirty feet high. Amongst them is an orange-tree which is upwards of four hundred years old. The cascades, fountains, and jets d'eau, are too numerous to admit of minute description. They are all very fine, and are supplied by prodigious engines at Marli, about three miles distant.

The Trianon is a little marble palace, of much beauty, and embellished with the richest decoration. It stands at the end of the great lake, in front of the palace; and was, by its late royal owners, considered as a summer-appendage to the gardens of Versailles. The whole of this vast building, and its grounds, were improved and beautified by Louis XIVth, for the well-known purpose of impressing his subjects, and particularly his courtiers, with the highest opinion of