yal apartments were opened, and the Royal Family
came forth. We all stood in a long line (single file) reaching
through the two rooms, beginning and ending again at the door of
the King's apartment. The King walked down the line attended by
Lord Granville, then the Queen with the eldest Princess under her
arm, then Madame Adelaide with the other, and then the Duke of
Orleans. Aston[4] attended the Queen, and the _attaches_ the
others. They all speak to each individual, and by some strange
stretch of invention find something to say. The King is too
civil; he has a fine head, and closely resembles the pictures of
Louis XIV. The Queen is very gracious and dignified, Adelaide
very good-humoured, and the Duke of Orleans extremely princely in
his manners. This morning I went to the Tuileries by appointment,
when he received me, kept me for a quarter of an hour talking
about race-horses, and invited me to breakfast on Saturday, and
to go with him to Meudon to see his stud.

[4] [The British Secretary of Embassy, afterwards Sir
Arthur Aston.]

Then I went sight-seeing; to the Invalides, the Pantheon, and the
Madeleine. The former is very well worth seeing, and nothing is
more remarkable than the kitchen, which is the sweetest and the
cleanest I ever saw. The Chapel is fine, with no remarkable tombs
except those of Turenne and Vauban. The Pantheon is under repair;
there are the tombs of Voltaire and Rousseau. The interior of the
Madeleine is very rich, but it is inferior to the outside; the
simple grandeur of the latter is somewhat frittered away in the
minute ornaments and the numerous patches of coloured marble of
the Church. However, it will be with all its faults a magnificent
building.

[Page Head: RECEPTION AND BALL AT THE TUILERIES.]

I ended my day (the 25th) by going to a ball at the Tuileries,
one of the great balls, and a magnificent spectacle indeed. The
long line of light gleaming through the whole length of the
palace is striking as it is approached, and the interior, with
the whole suite of apartments brilliantly illuminated, and
glittering from one end to the other with diamonds and feathers
and uniforms, and dancing in all the several rooms, made a
splendid display. The supper in the theatre was the finest thing
I ever saw of the kind; all the women sup first, and afterwards
the men, the tables being renewed over and over again. There was
an array of servants in gorgeous liveries, and the