housand obstacles. As our horses grew tired,
we had to seek for others; and hours were wasted, while we exhausted our
artifices to allure some of these enfranchised slaves of man to resume the
yoke; or as we went from stable to stable through the towns, hoping to find
some who had not forgotten the shelter of their native stalls. Our ill
success in procuring them, obliged us continually to leave some one of our
companions behind; and on the first of February, Adrian and I entered
Paris, wholly unaccompanied. The serene morning had dawned when we arrived
at Saint Denis, and the sun was high, when the clamour of voices, and the
clash, as we feared, of weapons, guided us to where our countrymen had
assembled on the Place Vendome. We passed a knot of Frenchmen, who were
talking earnestly of the madness of the insular invaders, and then coming
by a sudden turn upon the Place, we saw the sun glitter on drawn swords and
fixed bayonets, while yells and clamours rent the air. It was a scene of
unaccustomed confusion in these days of depopulation. Roused by fancied
wrongs, and insulting scoffs, the opposite parties had rushed to attack
each other; while the elect, drawn up apart, seemed to wait an opportunity
to fall with better advantage on their foes, when they should have mutually
weakened each other. A merciful power interposed, and no blood was shed;
for, while the insane mob were in the very act of attack, the females,
wives, mothers and daughters, rushed between; they seized the bridles; they
embraced the knees of the horsemen, and hung on the necks, or enweaponed
arms of their enraged relatives; the shrill female scream was mingled with
the manly shout, and formed the wild clamour that welcomed us on our
arrival.

Our voices could not be heard in the tumult; Adrian however was eminent for
the white charger he rode; spurring him, he dashed into the midst of the
throng: he was recognized, and a loud cry raised for England and the
Protector. The late adversaries, warmed to affection at the sight of him,
joined in heedless confusion, and surrounded him; the women kissed his
hands, and the edges of his garments; nay, his horse received tribute of
their embraces; some wept their welcome; he appeared an angel of peace
descended among them; and the only danger was, that his mortal nature would
be demonstrated, by his suffocation from the kindness of his friends. His
voice was at length heard, and obeyed; the crowd fell back; the ch