e, in spite of the artificial
taste in which they are formed. From the warmth of the climate, the
Parisians, of all classes, live much in the open air, and frequent the
public gardens in great numbers during the continuance of the fine
weather. In the evening especially, they are filled with citizens, who
repose themselves under the shade of the lofty trees, after the heat and
the fatigues of the day; and they then present a spectacle of more than
ordinary interest and beauty. The disposition of the French suits the
character of the scene, and harmonises with the impression which the
stillness of the evening produces on the mind. There is none of that
rioting or confusion by which an assembly of the middling classes in
England is too often disgraced; no quarrelling or intoxication even
among the poorest ranks, and little appearance of that degrading want
which destroys the pleasing idea of public happiness. The people appear
all to enjoy a certain share of individual prosperity; their intercourse
is conducted with unbroken harmony, and they seem to resign themselves
to those delightful feelings which steal over the mind during the
stillness and serenity of a summer evening.

Still more beautiful perhaps, is the appearance of this scene during the
stillness of the night, when the moon throws her dubious rays over the
objects of nature. The gardens of the Thuilleries remain crowded with
people, who seem to enjoy the repose which universally prevails, and
from whom no sound is to be heard which can break the stillness or
serenity of the scene. The regularity of the forms is wholly lost in the
masses of light and shadow that are there displayed; the foliage throws
a chequered shade over the ground beneath, while the different vistas of
the Elysian Fields are seen in that soft and mellow light by which the
radiance of the moon is so peculiarly distinguished. After passing
through these favourite scenes of the French people, we frequently came
to small encampments of the allied troops in the remote parts of the
grounds. The appearance of these bivouacks, composed of Cossack
squadrons, Hungarian hussars, or Prussian artillery, in the obscurity of
moonlight, and surrounded by the gloom of forest scenery, was beyond
measure striking. The picturesque forms of the soldiers, sleeping on
their arms under the shade of the trees, or half hid by the rude huts
which they had erected for their shelter; the varied attitudes of the
horses