Napoleon's life. The flight of steps leading to the façade 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 Elysées, the Bois de Boulogne and the little town of
Passy, and returned by the Quai, as far as the bridge of Jéna, which I
passed and went to visit the _Hôtel des Invalides, le Champ de Mars_, the
_Pantheon_ or Church of St Geneviève 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 _précis_ of what most
interested me.

In the Champs Elysées are quartered several English regiments who are
encamped there, and this adds to the liveliness of the scene; our soldiers