able rupture. The
continent, however, had been virtually shut against the English for ten
years; and now, in the first eagerness of curiosity, travellers of all
ranks, ages, and sexes poured across the Channel, to contemplate, with
their own eyes, the scenes and effects of the many wonderful deeds and
changes which had been wrought since the outbreaking of the French
Revolution. The chief object of curiosity was Napoleon himself; and
English statesmen, of the highest class, were among those who now
thronged the levees of the Tuileries. Mr. Fox, in particular, seems to
have been courted and caressed by the Chief Consul; and these two great
men parted with feelings of mutual admiration. Our countrymen, in
general, were received in Paris with extraordinary attentions and
civilities; and for a brief space, the establishment of friendly
feelings between the two nations was confidently expected.

The English were agreeably disappointed with the condition of Paris. To
their great surprise they found the consular court already arranged, in
many particulars, upon the old model of the monarchy, and daily
approximating to that example, step by step. Josephine had restored,
titles alone excepted, the old language of polite intercourse:
_Citoyenne_ had been replaced by _Madame_; and _Citoyen_ was preparing
to make way for _Monsieur_. The emigrant nobility had flocked back in
great numbers; and Buonaparte, dispensing with the awkward services of
his aides-de-camp in the interior of the palace, was now attended by
chamberlains and other officers of state--chosen for the most part, from
the highest families of the monarchy; and who studiously conducted
themselves towards the Chief Consul exactly as if the crown of Louis
XVI. had descended to him by the ordinary laws of inheritance. Napoleon
himself, if we may believe Madame de Stael, had the weakness to affect,
in many trivial matters, a close imitation of what his new attendants
reported to have been the personal demeanour of the Bourbon princes. His
behaviour as the holder of a court was never graceful. He could not, or
would not, control the natural vehemence of his temper, and ever and
anon confounded the old race of courtiers, by ebullitions which were
better suited to the camp than the saloons of the Tuileries. But
whenever he thought fit to converse with a man capable of understanding
him, the Consul failed not to create a very lively feeling in his own
favour; and, meantime, Jo