ious and
interesting, as presenting a picture of the state of France at that
period.

MR. TALBOT TO THE MARQUIS OF BUCKINGHAM.

Paris, Dec. 18th, 1796.
MY LORD,

Your Lordship, I trust, is aware of my motives for not having
written to you since I left England; I shall, therefore, make no
apologies for my neglect; but I must beg leave to assure your
Lordship that I am, notwithstanding the urgency of my reasons, so
much ashamed of the omission, that I now feel much embarrassed in
taking up my pen.

The only letters I have hitherto sent to England have been to Lord
Grenville, in answer to those he has done me the honour to write;
and to Mr. B. Taylor, his secretary, for some articles which I
stood in need of.

Your Lordship has without doubt received much better accounts of
the appearance and state of things in this country than it is in my
power to communicate; however, I will attempt a description of what
has struck me as worthy of notice, and rely upon your kind
indulgence for my errors.

Our first entrance into France was certainly not attended with the
reception which might have been expected, under the particular
circumstances in which we came. It is true a good many people of
all sorts were upon the quay at Calais when we arrived, but they
showed no signs of joy or any other feeling more than the arrival
of an indifferent vessel would have occasioned; and very shortly
after we had landed, and gone to the inn, the crowd was dispersed,
and everything seemed as silent as if nothing had happened. Indeed,
all those we conversed with expressed their happiness at seeing us,
and wished success to the negotiation; and all the principal
officers of the Government stationed there waited upon Lord
Malmesbury with the utmost civility; but the bulk of the
inhabitants--whether they were ignorant of the arrival of an envoy
to propose peace, or whether they were afraid to express their
satisfaction in any public manner, I cannot say--manifested not the
least sign of rejoicing.

Nothing very material occurred between this place and Paris. The
aubergistes and post-masters were almost the only persons with whom
we had any conversation, and their language uniformly was that
France was most anxiously desirous for the restoration of peace;