the summer to pay a visit to the inheritance which the late happy
revolution has restored to him, after having undergone a sad change in
its appearance. The great stables are standing, but only serve to add to
the desolation of the scene by their vacancy, and the contrast which
they form to the small house which now only remains to the possessor of
this great domain.--St. Denis, where we soon arrived, is a small town
not far distant from Paris; it was anciently remarkable for its _abbey_,
which contained the magnificent tombs of the Kings of France. These were
mostly destroyed early in the revolution (but a few still remain, in
the museum of monuments at Paris, as I afterwards found) when the
promoters endeavoured to obliterate all traces of royalty: but when
after a long series of convulsions, Buonaparte thought his dynasty had
been firmly established on the throne of the Bourbons, he decreed that
this abbey should be restored as the burying place of the monarchs of
France; and it is probable that decree will be carried into effect,
although not in the sense which its promulgator intended.


* * * * *



CHAP. II.


The approach to Paris is certainly very striking, but considering the
vast extent of the city, its environs do not present an appearance of
any thing like that bustle and activity which marks the vicinity of the
British metropolis: nor do the villas which are to the north of Paris
display that aspect of opulence which distinguishes those streets of