immense crowd surrounded
the hotel, and filled the gardens of the prefecture, which were
illuminated and ornamented with allegorical transparencies in praise of
the First Consul; and each time he showed himself on the terrace of the
garden the air resounded with applause and acclamations which seemed most
gratifying to him.

The next morning, after having made on horseback the tour of the city,
and visited the grand sites by which it is surrounded, the First Consul
heard mass, which was celebrated at eleven o'clock by the archbishop in,
the chapel of the prefecture. An hour after he had to receive the
general council of the department, the council of the prefecture, the
municipal council, the clergy of Rouen, and the courts of justice, and
was obliged to listen to a half-dozen discourses, all expressed in nearly
the same terms, and to which he replied in such a manner as to give the
orators the highest opinion of their own merit. All these bodies, on
leaving the First Consul, were presented to Madame Bonaparte, who
received them with her accustomed grace, in, the evening Madame Bonaparte
held a reception for the wives of the officials, at which the First
Consul was present, of which fact some availed themselves to present to
him several emigres, who had recently returned under the act of amnesty,
and whom he received graciously.

After which followed crowds, illuminations, acclamations, all similar to
those of the evening before. Every one wore an air of rejoicing which
delighted me, and contrasted strangely, I thought, with the dreadful
wooden houses, narrow, filthy streets, and Gothic buildings which then
distinguished the town of Rouen.

Monday, Nov. 1, at seven o'clock in the morning, the First Consul mounted
his horse, and, escorted by a detachment of the young men of the city,
forming a volunteer guard, passed the bridge of boats, and reached the
Faubourg Saint-Sever. On his return from this excursion, we found the
populace awaiting him at the head of the bridge, whence they escorted him
to the hotel of the prefecture, manifesting the liveliest joy.

After breakfast, there was a high mass by the archbishop, the occasion
being the fete of All Saints; then came the learned societies, the chiefs
of administration, and justices of the peace, with their speeches, one of
which contained a remarkable sentence, in which these good magistrates,
in their enthusiasm, asked the First Consul's permission to surname him
the