ase with me in Paris, having seen nothing but endless
staircases, dreary vestibules, and _gens d'armes_. The hospitality of
_le grande nation_ to the stranger is, in many respects, admirable.
Galleries, libraries, cabinets of coins, museums, are opened in the
most liberal manner to the stranger, warmed, lighted, ay, and guarded,
for him almost all days in the week; treasures of the past are at his
service; but when anything is happening in the present, the French run
quicker, glide in more adroitly, and get possession of the ground. I
find it not the most easy matter to get to places even where there is
nothing going on, there is so much tiresome fuss of getting _billets_
from one and another to be gone through; but when something is
happening it is still worse. I missed hearing M. Guizot in his speech
on the Montpensier marriage, which would have given a very good idea
of his manner, and which, like this defence of M. Dumas, was a skilful
piece of work as regards evasion of the truth. The good feeling toward
England which had been fostered with so much care and toil seems to
have been entirely dissipated by the mutual recriminations about this
marriage, and the old dislike flames up more fiercely for having been
hid awhile beneath the ashes. I saw the little Duchess, the innocent
or ignorant cause of all this disturbance, when presented at court.
She went round the circle on the arm of the Queen. Though only
fourteen, she looks twenty, but has something fresh, engaging, and
girlish about her. I fancy it will soon be rubbed out under the drill
of the royal household.

I attended not only at the presentation, but at the ball given at
the Tuileries directly after. These are fine shows, as the suite
of apartments is very handsome, brilliantly lighted, and the French
ladies surpass all others in the art of dress; indeed, it gave me
much, pleasure to see them. Certainly there are many ugly ones, but
they are so well dressed, and have such an air of graceful vivacity,
that the general effect was that of a flower-garden. As often happens,
several American women were among the most distinguished for positive
beauty; one from Philadelphia, who is by many persons considered
the prettiest ornament of the dress circle at the Italian Opera, was
especially marked by the attention of the king. However, these ladies,
even if here a long time, do not attain the air and manner of French
women; the magnetic atmosphere that envelops them i