My next visit was to the Place Vendome, where stands the majestic column of the Grand Army.  To me this column is the most striking thing of its kind that I have hitherto seen.  It is of bronze and of the most beautiful workmanship, cast from the cannon taken from the Austrians in the war of 1805, and on it are figured in bas-relief the various battles and achievements, winding round and round from the base to the capital.  It is constructed after the model of the Column of Trajan in Rome.

The next place I visited was the Chamber of Deputies.  It is a fine building with a Doric facade and columns; it is peculiarly striking from its noble simplicity.  On the facade are bas-reliefs representing actions in Napoleon’s life.  The flight of steps leading to the facade is very grand, and there are colossal figures representing Prudence, Justice, Fortitude and other legislative virtues.  The Chamber itself where the Deputies hold their sittings is in the form of a Greek theatre; the arch of the semi-circle forms the gallery appropriated to the audience, and comprehends in its enclosure the seats of the deputies like the seats in a Greek theatre; on the chord of the semi-circle where the proscenium should be, is the tribune and President’s seat.  The whole is exceedingly elegant.  The Orator whose turn it is to speak leaves his seat, ascends the tribune and faces the Deputies.  The anti-rooms adjoining this Chamber are fitted up with long tables and fauteuils and are appropriated to the sittings of the various committees.  These antichambers are hung round with pictures representing the victories of the French armies; but they are covered with green baize and carefully concealed from the public eye in order to stifle recollections and prevent comparisons.

PARIS, August.

I mounted on horseback and rode out to St Cloud to breakfast, passing through the Champs Elysees, the Bois de Boulogne and the little town of Passy, and returned by the Quai, as far as the bridge of Jena, which I passed and went to visit the Hotel des Invalides, le Champ de Mars, the Pantheon or Church of St Genevieve and the Palace of the Luxembourg.  This was pretty good work for one day; and as you will expect some little account of my ideas thereon, I shall give you a precis of what most interested me.

In the Champs Elysees are quartered several English regiments who are encamped there, and this adds to the liveliness of the scene; our soldiers seem to enjoy themselves very much.  They are in the midst of places of recreation of all kinds, such as guinguettes, tennis-courts, dancing salons and cafes, and besides these (places of Elysium for English soldiers), wine and brandy shops innumerable; our soldiers seem to agree very well with the inhabitants.  In the Bois de Boulogne are Hanoverian troops as well as English.  At Passy I stopped at the house occupied by my friend, Major C. of the 33rd Regt.,[38] who