that their sufferings had been more than they could describe, but
that latterly their situation was much mended by the diminution in
the price of provisions. But I was not inclined to give much credit
to them, imagining that this language was intended to flatter us,
and coming from those who had suffered more than any of their
description in France, from the intercourse between the two
countries being stopped. It must, however, be allowed that a
general gloom seemed to prevail; and very little of that gaiety for
which this nation was formerly remarkable was to be observed. At
Amiens, I remember, the people of the inn where we supped entered
more fully and with less reserve into the detail of their
calamities. There had been a considerable manufacture of woollen
cloths in this town, in which at this time no more than two hundred
people were employed.

I profited of the opportunity which the changing horses afforded me
to see the Chateau of Chantilly. I found it totally stripped of its
furniture, and every decoration that bore the smallest reference to
armorial bearings was defaced; but otherwise the building has not
suffered much injury. The statue of the great Conde on the
principal staircase remains, but the head is cut off. The
barbarians were not content with beheading the statues of men, but
they have likewise done so to all the busts of stags placed over
the stalls in the stables. The chateau was used as a prison in the
time of Robespierre, and almost all the apartments continue still
divided into small spaces for that purpose. The gardens are totally
destroyed, but the park has met with no injury further than the
almost total destruction of the game. There is a keeper appointed
by the nation for the protection of the wood. The timber on the
opposite side of the river is chiefly cut down, the land having
been sold.

The adjacent chateau of the Duc d'Angouleme, his son, as far as the
walls, remains perfect; I had not time to see the inside of it. The
care of the chateau has lately been given in charge to one of the
former servants of the Prince de Conde.

The roads were in general in excellent condition, and the
post-horses tolerably good; but we were in several places kept some
time waiting for them. This is not to be wondered at, if w