thick. This place is distinguished for the atrocious murder of the Duke
d'Enghien. I had occasion to observe, both in the streets of Paris and
on the roads in its vicinity, that there were but few _private_
carriages to be seen, and those by no means handsome; but the roads are
covered with _cabriolets_, of which there are 2,800 in Paris, besides
about 2,000 fiacres, or hackney-coaches. The fare for an hour is only
thirty sous.

As I had by this time pretty well satisfied my curiosity, in visiting
the objects in Paris that principally arrest the attention of a
traveller who has not leisure to dwell longer than is indispensable in
one place, I began to be impatient to exchange the continual bustle of
that city--its

"Fumum opes strepitumque,"

for those romantic and enlivening scenes in which Switzerland stands
without a rival, and is, as it were, by _acclamation_, allowed to
surpass the other countries of Europe.

I therefore attended at the office for foreign affairs, and obtained the
signature of the Prince of Benevento (for about ten francs) in addition
to the signature of our own distinguished minister, Lord Castlereagh. I
was told it was necessary also to have my passport visited by the police
before leaving Paris; and my landlord offered his services to arrange
that affair for me. I however recollected Dr. Franklin's maxim, "If you
would have your business clone, go; if not, send," and went accordingly
to the office myself.

These affairs being arranged, so as to permit my passing without
molestation through the interior of France, I quitted Paris without any
sensations of regret at leaving a place which, highly as I had been
pleased with many of the great objects which it contains, I cannot but
consider, when curiosity is once gratified, to be an unpleasant
residence. I took the road to Fontainbleau, distant about thirty-seven
English miles; a place formerly only remarkable for its castle, situated
in a forest of about 30,000 acres, and often visited by the Kings of
France, for the amusements of the chace; but which will hold in history
a distinguished page, and be visited in future ages as being the scene
where it pleased Providence to terminate a tyranny unexampled in the
history of the world. It is worthy of remark, that in this very castle,
in which the venerable Head of the Romish Church was so long and so
unjustly detained a captive, his once formidable oppressor was obliged
to abdicate that aut