Bourbons is lost. Our poor landlord, a violent royalist,
has just been with us. He affirms that he could have predicted all this;
for when he sold the white cockades to the military, they often said,
[10]"Eh bien; c'est bon pour le moment, mais cela ne durera pas long
temps."--Poor man, he is in perfect agony, and his wife weeps all day
long. If all the people of France thought as well as those at Aix,
Napoleon would have little chance of success; but alas, I am much afraid
he will find more friends than enemies.

The whole town is still in the greatest confusion. The national guard,
amongst whom were many of our friends, were not allowed to march till
the seventh day after the landing of Napoleon. By day-break, we were
awoke by the music of the military bands, and saw, from the windows, the
different companies, headed by their officers, many of whose faces were
familiar to us, march out, seemingly in great spirits. It was a
melancholy sight to us. There was something in our own situation; placed
in a country already involved in civil commotion, finding our poor
French friends, whose life seemed before this to be nothing but one
continued scene of amusement, now weeping for the loss of their sons and
husbands and brothers, who had marched to intercept Napoleon, and
involved in uncomfortable uncertainty as to our future plans, which for
some time made every thing appear gloomy and distressing. The interval
between the 8th and the 12th has been occupied by a constant succession
of favourable and unfavourable reports; gloomy conjectures and fearful
forebodings, have, however, with most people here, formed the prevailing
tone of public opinion. The report which was, a few days ago, circulated
here, that the escape of the ex-Emperor was a premeditated plan,
invented and executed by the English, gains ground every day. It is
completely credited by the lower classes here; and such is the enmity
against the English, that we are now obliged to give up our country
walks, rather than encounter the menacing looks and insulting speeches
of the lower orders. To-day is the 8th, and we are in a state of the
most extreme anxiety, waiting for the arrival of a courier. In this
unfortunate country, owing to the imperfection of the system of posts,
public news travel very slowly; and in proportion to the scarcity of
accurate information, is the perplexing variety of unfounded reports.
The prefect of Aix has just been here to tell us that as