at hour the temperate language of the French
papers evinced a new policy towards England. The insolent allusions of
journalists, the satirical squibs of party writers, the caricatures of
the English eccentricity, were suppressed at once; and by that magic
influence which Napoleon wielded, the whole tone of public feeling
seemed altered as regarded England and Englishmen. From the leaders
in the "Moniteur" to the shop windows of the Palace an Anglomania
prevailed; and the idea was thrown out that the two nations had divided
the world between them,--the sea being the empire of the British, the
land that of Frenchmen. Commissioners were appointed on both sides:
at first Lord Yarmouth, and then Lord Lauderdale, by England; General
Clarke and M. Champagny, on the part of France. Lord Yarmouth, at that
time a _detenu_ at Verdun, was selected by Talleyrand to proceed to
England, and learn the precise basis on which an amicable negotiation
could be founded.

Scarcely was the interchange of correspondence made public, when the
new tone of feeling and acting towards England displayed itself in every
circle and every _salon_. If a proof were wanting how thoroughly the
despotism of Napoleon had penetrated into the very core of society, here
was a striking one: not only were many of the _detenus_ liberated and
sent back to England, but were feted and entertained at the various
towns they stopped at on their way, and every expedient practised to
make them satisfied with the treatment they had received on the soil
of France. An English guest was deemed an irresistible attraction at
a dinner party, and the most absurd attempts at imitation of English
habits, dress, and language were introduced into society as the last
"mode," and extolled as the very pinnacle of fashionable excellence.

It would be easy for me here to cite some strange instances of this new
taste; but I already feel that I have wandered from my own path, and owe
an apology to my reader for invading precincts which scarce become me.
Yet may I observe here,--and the explanation will serve once for all,--I
have been more anxious in this "true history" to preserve some passing
record of the changeful features of an eventful period in Europe, than
merely to chronicle personal adventures, which, although not devoid of
vicissitudes, are still so insignificant in the great events by which
they were surrounded. The Consulate, the Empire, and the Restoration
were three great ta