tion in the Palace of Versailles, but the view of
that once Royal Palace excites the most melancholy ideas. The furniture
was all sold by auction, & nothing is left but the walls and their
pictures. The Gardens are much neglected, & will soon, unless the Consul
again makes it a royal residence, be quite ruined. You have, I daresay,
often heard that the Morals & Society of Paris were very bad; indeed,
you have heard nothing but the truth. As for the men, they are the
dirtiest set of fellows I ever saw, and most of them, especially the
Officers, very unlike Gentlemen. The dress of the women, with few
exceptions, is highly indecent; in London, even in Drury Lane, I have
seen few near so bad. Before I left England, I had heard, but never
believed, that some Ladies paraded the streets in men's Clothes. It is
singular that in the first genteel-looking person I spoke to in Paris to
ask my way, I was answered by what I then perceived a lady in Breeches &
boots, since when I have seen several at the Theatres, at the Frascati &
fashionable lounges of the evening, & in the Streets and public walks! I
have not heard from you since I left England. Excepting the letter which
was forwarded from Grosvenor Place. I hope to hear at Geneva, where I
shall go as soon as the great Consul will permit me by shewing himself.
The Country is in the finest state possible, and their weather most
favourable. They have had a scarcity of corn lately, but the approaching
Harvest will most assuredly remove that. Adieu; I hope Mrs. Stanley has
already received a very trifling present from me; I only sent it because
it was classic wood. I mean the necklace made of Milton's mulberry-tree.
I brought the wood from Christ's College Garden, in Cambridge, where
Milton himself planted it.

Believe me,

Yours sincerely,

EDWD. STANLEY.

_From Edward Stanley to his Father and Mother._

LYONS, _July 20, 1802_.

I shall not write you a very long letter as I intend to send you a more
particular account of myself from Geneva, for which place we propose
setting out to-morrow, not by the Diligence, but by the Vetturino, a
mode of travelling which, of course, you are well acquainted with, being
the usual and almost only method practised throughout Italy unless a
person has his own carriage. I am to pay L3 10s. for ourselves and
Suite, but not including bed and provisions. South of the Alps these are
agreed for.

After every endeavour to see Buonaparte had prov