hey must sit most comfortably. We must see them on horseback to
_have seen_ them, but we shall probably have an opportunity of seeing
them again.

_June 18, 1814._

On returning from Miss Fanshawe's we saw a royal carriage in George
Street at Madame Moreau's, and we waited to see the Emperor and the
Duchess (of Oldenburg) get into the carriage. He was in a plain blue
coat; she without her curious bonnet, so that I had a good view of her
face, which I had the satisfaction of finding exactly what I wished to
see. The extreme simplicity of her dress--she had nothing but a plain
white gown and plain straw hat, with no ornament of any sort--and her
very youthful appearance made me doubt whether it was really the
Duchess; but it was.

She is very little, and there is a strong expression of intelligence,
vivacity, and youthful, unsophisticated animation in her countenance. I
fancied I could see so much of her character in the brisk step with
which she jumped into the carriage, and the unassuming, lively smile
with which she bowed to the people.

The Emperor looks like a gentleman--but a country gentleman, not like an
Emperor. His head is very like R. Heber's. The Duchess allowed herself
to be pleased and to express her pleasure at all the sights without the
least restraint. She asks few questions, but those very pertinent. She
is impatient at being detained long over anything, but anxious to
silence those who would hence infer that she runs over everything
superficially, without gaining or retaining real knowledge.

At Woolwich she was asked if she would see the steam-engines. "No, she
had seen them already, and understood them perfectly." As they passed
the open door she turned her head to look at the machinery, and
instantly exclaimed, "Oh, that is one of Maudesley's engines," her eye
immediately catching the peculiarity of the construction.

LONDON, _June 22, 1814_.

In the middle of Edward's sermon at St. George's to-day somebody in our
pew whispered it round that there was the King of Prussia[35] in the
Gallery. I looked as directed, and fixed my eyes on a melancholy,
pensive, interesting face, exactly answering the descriptions of the
King, and immediately fell into a train of very satisfactory reflection
and conjecture on the expression of his physiognomy, for which twenty
minutes afforded me ample time. The King was the only one I had not
seen, therefore this opportunity of studying his face so completely w