92 THE CARNIVAL. [CHAP. XXVI. 



sion, causing a long interruption. The crowd seemed determined 

 to allow nothing to disturb their good humor ; but although 

 many of the wealthy Protestant citizens take part in the cere 

 mony, this rude intrusion struck me as a kind of foreshadowing 

 of coming events, emblematic of the violent shock which the in 

 vasion of the Anglo-Americans is about to give to the old regime 

 of Louisiana. A gentleman told me that, being last year in 

 Rome, he had not seen so many masks at the Carnival there ; 

 and, in spite of the increase of Protestants, he thought there had 

 been quite as much &quot; flour and fun&quot; this year as usual. The 

 proportion, however, of strict Romanists is not so great as for 

 merly, and to-morrow, they say, when Lent begins, there will be 

 an end of the trade in masks ; yet the butchers will sell nearly 

 as much meat as ever. During the Carnival, the greater part 

 of the French population keep open house, especially in the 

 country. 



