figures, which are used for
the purpose of enlivening the solemnity of a philosophical lecture by
exciting sentiments of innocent gayety, was a little Cupid. The tiny
god, with his arrow in his hand, was insulated upon a throne of glass,
and was charged with that electric fluid which not a little resembles
the subtle spirit of his nature. The youngest daughter of Madame S----,
who accompanied us, was requested to touch it. In a moment it discharged
its penetrating spark--"Oh! how that little god has alarmed me!" said
the recoiling fair one, whose youthful countenance surprise had imbued
with new beauties; "but yet," said she, recovering herself, "_he does
not hurt_." This little sally may be considered as a specimen of that
playful sprightliness which is so much the characteristic of the french
female.

In the centre of another room, dedicated to optics, as we entered, we
saw a beautiful nosegay in a vase, which appeared to be composed of the
rarest flowers. I approached it with an intention of inhaling its
fragrance, when, lo! my hand passed through it. It was an exquisite
optical illusion. "Ah!" said my elegant and moralising companion, Madame
S----, smiling, "of such flowers has Happiness composed _her_ wreath: it
is thus she gladdens with it the eye of Hope; but the hand of
Expectation can never grasp it."

The graceful moral deserves a more lasting record than it will find in
these few and perishable pages.

In the other rooms are all sorts of apparatus for trying experiments in
the various branches of that department of science, over which Mons.
C---- so ably presides.

The merit of Mons. C---- has no rival but in his modesty. Considering
the rank and estimation which he bears in the republic, his external
appearance is singularly unassuming. I have been with him in the gardens
of the Thuilleries, when they were thronged with the fashion and gayety
of Paris, where he has appeared in a suit of plain brown cloth, an old
round hat with a little national cockade in it, under which he presented
a countenance full of character, talent and animation. In this homely
puritan garb, he excited more respectful curiosity, wherever he moved,
than some generals who paraded before us in dresses upon which the
tailor and embroiderer had long laboured, and who added to their stature
by laced hats entirely filled with gaudy buoyant plumes.

From Mons. Charles we went to the church of St. Rocque, in the Rue St.
Honore. As we e