which must have had a very imposing effect on those who
allow themselves to be dazzled by mere spectacle. Early in the morning
some regiments of the Allied troops occupied the north side of the
Boulevard, from the site of the old Bastille to the Place Louis XV., in
the middle of which an altar of square form was erected. Thither the
Allied sovereigns came to witness the celebration of mass according to
the rites of the Greek Church. I went to a window of the hotel of the
Minister of the Marine to see the ceremony. After I had waited from
eight in the morning till near twelve the pageant commenced by the
arrival of half a dozen Greek priests, with long beards, and as richly
dressed as the high priests who figure in the processions of the opera.
About three-quarters of an hour after this first scene the infantry,
followed by the cavalry, entered the place, which, in a few moments was
entirely covered with military. The Allied sovereigns at length
appeared, attended by brilliant staffs. They alighted from their horses
and advanced to the altar. What appeared to me most remarkable was the
profound silence of the vast multitude during the performance of the
mass. The whole spectacle had the effect of a finely-painted panorama.
For my own part, I must confess I was heartily tired of the ceremony, and
was very glad when it was over. I could not admire the foreign uniforms,
which were very inferior to ours. Many of them appeared fanciful, and
even grotesque, and nothing can be more unsoldier-like than to see a man
laced in stays till his figure resembles a wasp. The ceremony which took
place two days after, though less pompous, was much more French. In the
retinue which, on the 12th of April, momentarily increased round the
Comte d'Artos, there were at least recollections for the old, and hopes
for every one.

When, on the departure of the Commissioners whom Napoleon had sent to
Alexander to treat for the Regency, it was finally determined that the
Allied sovereigns would listen to no proposition from Napoleon and his
family, the Provisional Government thought it time to request that
Monsieur would, by his presence, give a new impulse to the partisans of
the Bourbons. The Abby de Montesquiou wrote to the Prince a letter,
which was carried to him by Viscount Sosthenes de la Rochefoucauld, one
of the individuals who, in these difficult circumstances, most zealously
served the cause of the Bourbons. On the afternoon of the 11th Mon