xploded, confusion would have ensued, the company would have been
alarmed, the ladies would have screamed and fled to the door and street,
where parties were in full readiness and expectations of Diamonds,
&c....

We stay over Monday, for there is a grand Review on the Boulevards. We
have seen Cuirassiers and Lancers shining in the sun and fluttering
their little banner in the air. The Bourbons, who are determined to root
out every vestige of the past, are now stripping the Troops of the
Uniform which remind the wearers of battles fought and cities won, and
re-clothing them in the white dress of the "ancien Regime," which is
wretchedly ugly. They know best what they are about, and they certainly
have a people to deal with unlike the rest of the world, but were I a
Bourbon, I should be cautious how I proceeded in demolishing everything
which reminded the people of their recent glory. Luckily the column on
the Place Vendome has as yet escaped the Goths, and its bronze basso
reliefs are still the pride of Paris.

_Edward Stanley to Louisa Stanley._

_July 13, 1816._

Days in Paris are like lumps of barley sugar, sweet to the taste and
melting rapidly away.... We have now seen theatres, shows, gardens,
museums, palaces, and prisons. Aye, Louisa, we have been immured within
the walls of La Force, and that from inclination! not necessity.

We procured an order to see Bruce,[121] and after some shuttlecock sort
of work, sending and being sent from office to office and Prefet to
Prefet, at length we received our order of admission.

In this order our persons are described; the man put me down "sourcils
gris." "Mais, Monsieur," said I, "they will never admit me with that
account." He looked at me again, "Ah! vos cheveux sont gris, mais pour
les sourcils, non pas, vous avez raison," and altering them to "noirs,"
he sent me about my business.

Bar and bolt were opened, and at length we found ourselves in the
presence of these popular prisoners--Popular, at least, amongst the
female part of the world. I have reason to believe that a few of the
Miss Stanleys had formed a romantic attachment for Michael Bruce, and
there are few of our adventures which would, I think, have given you
more pleasure than this visit. Your heart would have been torn from its
little resting-place and been imprisoned for ever. Michael Bruce! such
an eye! such a figure! such a countenance! such a voice! and so much
sense and elegance of manner, and