o welcome them. Still, it was very evident that neither
their visit nor that of the King of Portugal and his brother was to tax
the ingenuity of upholsterers, carpenters, and caterers, or of the
Parisians themselves in the matter of decoration; the watchword had
apparently been given from the highest quarters to reserve their
greatest efforts for what Napoleon up till then considered "the most
glorious event of his reign." The Emperor, though he had gone to join
the Empress, who was by this time known to be enceinte, at Eaux-Bonnes
and Biarritz, returned to Paris at the end of July, and for more than a
fortnight occupied himself personally and incessantly with the smallest
details of the Queen's visit, the whole of the programme of which was
settled by him.

I was one of the few privileged persons who travelled down to Boulogne
with Louis-Napoleon, on Friday, the 17th of August, 1855. When we got to
our destination, the yacht was not in sight, but we were already
informed that, owing to its heavy tonnage, it would not be able to enter
the harbour except at high tide, which would not be until 1 p.m., on
Saturday. Shortly after that hour the vessel, accompanied by its
flotilla, appeared in the offing; but the Queen remained on board, and
we had to enjoy ourselves as best we could, which was not difficult,
seeing that the whole of the town was absolutely in the streets, and
that the latter were decidedly preferable to the stuffy attics at the
hotels, for which we were charged the moderate sum of forty francs each.
Uneventful as my life has been, it is only worth recording by reason of
the celebrity of the persons with whom I have come in contact;
nevertheless, I have travelled a good deal, and been present at a great
many festive gatherings both in England and on the Continent. Commend me
to the French hotel-proprietor for fleecing you in cold blood. The Swiss
and the Italians, no mean masters of the art, are not in it with him;
and as for the Germans, they are mere 'prentices compared with him. The
Italian despoils you, like his countryman of operatic fame, Fra-Diavolo;
the Swiss, like an English highwayman of the good old sort; the German,
like a beggar who picks your pocket while you are looking in your purse
for a coin to give him; the Frenchman, like the money-lender who is "not
working for himself, but for a hard-hearted, relentless principal."

On the Saturday, the Emperor was astir betimes, and went to the camp
oc