THE EUROPEAN JOURNALS 



337 



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King, all his men in white liveries, came driving at full 

 speed, and followed by other grandees. The King and 

 these gentry descended from their carriages and mounted 

 fine horses, which were in readiness for them ; they were 

 immediately surrounded by a brilliant staff, and the re- 

 view began, the Duchesses d' Orleans and de Berry hav- 

 ing now arrived in open carriages; from my perch I saw 

 all. The Swiss troops began, and the manoeuvres were 

 finely gone through; three times I was within twenty- 

 five yards of the King and his staff, and, as a Kentuckian 

 would say, "could have closed his eye with a rifle bullet." 

 He is a man of small stature, pale, not at all handsome, 

 and rode so bent over his horse that his appearance was 

 neither kingly nor prepossessing. He wore a three-cor- 

 nered hat, trimmed with white feathers, and had a broad 

 blue sash from the left shoulder under his right arm. 

 The Due d'Orl^ans looked uncommonly well in a hussar 

 uniform, and is a fine rider; he sat his horse like a 

 Turk. The staff was too gaudy; I like not so much gold 

 and silver. None of the ladies were connections of Venus, 

 except most distantly ; few Frenchwomen are handsome. 

 The review over, the King and his train rode off. I saw 

 a lady in a carriage point at me on the wall ; she doubt- 

 less took me for a large black Crow. The music was un- 

 commonly fine, especially that by the band belonging to 

 the Cuirassiers, which was largely composed of trumpets 

 of various kinds, and aroused my warlike feelings. The 

 Kihj, and staff being now posted at some little distance, a 

 new movement began, the cannon roared, the horses gal- 

 loped madly, the men were eftveloped in clouds of dust and 

 smoke ; this was a sham battle. No place of retreat was 

 here, no cover of dark woods, no deep swamp ; there would 

 have been no escape here. This was no battle of New 

 Orleans, nor Tippecanoe. I came down from my perch, 

 leaving behind me about thirty thousand idlers like myself, 

 and the soldiers, who must have been hot and dusty enough, 

 voui. — 22 



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