away to one of the gardeners. They remained for a long time, and I was constantly either in front or beside them, and on their leaving, Jane Anne * and I placed ourselves near the carriage to make our curtsies and decide the colour of Her Majesty's eyes. Strange to say, hardly one French lady curtsied; whether it is not the custom of the country I do not know, but it seemed very strange to us; however, we received very gracious bows both from Her and the Emperor, whose appearance (since I saw him at Hythe,† Hants,) certainly has improved with success; he is much stouter, has a good bright colour, and decidedly has the beauty of the men part of the family, for I never saw two such geese as "Mon Oncle" Jerome and his son. The Empress is the most beautiful woman I have ever seen; about mama's height; her features like those of a Greek bust, very slight, but with a most expressive mouth, and very mild blue eyes. She is extremely fair, with a beautiful natural colour, and brown hair, not yellow; but her voice and manner are her great charms. She was dressed in a handsome Royal Stuart tartan satin, a green and black velvet mantle, fancy straw bonnet bedecked inside and out with various coloured flowers. At Versailles their Majesties seemed to put themselves on a level with the people present, and their quiet friendly manner put every one at ease in their presence. Yesterday we saw them again at the Hippodrome; the performance was got up expressly for the Empress, and it was very magnificent. William Theed said he never saw such splendid horses in his life; they were all Arabs and English blood-horses; there was no dancing on their backs as we see in England; merely riding, driving, and chariot-racing (the lady drivers in correct antique costumes). I must say that was rather fearful, for it was not merely a feigned race, they competed in earnest. There were three chariots, each drawn by four thoroughbreds a-breast, and they went four times round the course; as they turned the corners, the twelve splendid animals vieing with each other, and the extraordinary exertions of the drivers to outstrip one another, was one of the most exciting scenes 1 ever saw. At length the last bell rang, and there was a last Miss Theed. My niece crossed with him in the steamer from Hythe to Southampton. furious rush of the horses, and the victorious lady pulled up in front of the Empress, and received from her hands a magnificent bouquet, with, I believe, something very pretty inside. There were about two thousand people present, and yet every one had abundance of room; no pushing or hunting for seats; as you entered a gendarme came up and shewed you your place. I must say I never met with any thing like the civility of the soldiers here. The other day, going to the Louvre, a tall sentry came running up to me, and said, “Mademoiselle, are you looking for the Louvre? "Yes." "You are going too far: I will go with you." He did so, and saw me into the hands of the old gardien there. Yesterday we were entering into the gate of the Louvre, when a sentry said, "The museum is shut to-day, Madame; you'll have a hot walk for nothing, and had better go somewhere else." One of the most amusing things we have done has been to sit with our work in the Tuileries gardens amongst the beautiful children and their mothers, who bring their work and sit from about one till five in the shade of the long lines of trees. I have never seen a prettier sight. The air is so beautiful, every one looks so goodtempered, and the children have such an endless variety of games. As to William Theed, he would have spent his whole time sitting there if we would have left him. The Etruscan collection at the Louvre is most curious and beautiful; and the collection of Egyptian signet-rings is very curious. We were delighted with Gericault's great picture of the Shipwreck. The effects of light and shade are wonderful (a small engraving of it was given in the Art Journal for May, 1851); but I am disappointed in his two horse pictures: the attitudes are unnatural. They won't do after Horace Vernet. I must say "Good bye" in a hurry, and hope you will be able to decipher this epistle. With love from all, I am Your affectionate C. G. S. FORSTER. LETTERS TO LEONARD WYON, ESQ. MY DEAR LEN.-I was morning on my early walk. 16 April, 1849. wishing for your company the other You may remember being surprised, when giving me the pleasure of your company on these walks in 1846, at the tameness or boldness of the crows, &c. on the roads. You may also remember a house building in the nursery grounds on the left of the Great Western Road. That house has been finished, but not inhabited. The nursery-ground has been just cleared of all the trees, shrubs, &c. and is now ploughing up for barley. In consequence, there was a strong gathering of rooks in attendance on the progress of the plough, and the furrow it opened was a living, shifting line of glossy blackness; and it was amusing to mark their serious, plodding, active march of business, prodding down on any edible, and bounding out of the crowd when anything was secured which could not be bolted instanter: and, as the plough progressed, the rearmost bird would fly up the line, and alight beyond the foremost, sometimes within a yard of the ploughman, or come down on two or three there, when a melee would occur, one gent. perhaps, overturned, and another affronted, and bills freely passed between the parties, more willingly offered than accepted, and with little intention, however, of accommodation of any, or for any. The whole scene impressed the idea that the soil was being upturned for the especial benefit and amusement of the gentlemen in black, and that plough, horse, and man so occupied were their working property. Their quite-at-homeativeness may have been increased by the Bill of last year, not allowing any person to possess fire-arms, &c. without a licence, which completely silenced all that class carrying on hostilities against birds not legally game, in which category our present considerees are included; and, as the great majority of birds are last year's nestlings, we may imagine that of many of this company it may be said (after Cowper),— The sound of the murdering gun They happily never had heard; Never winked at the flash that had struck And bedabbled in blood a poor bird! As the ploughman rounded the headland next the road, and stopped to speak to me, the file halted; and, when he had made some progress downwards, a wagtail, who had brought up the rear, very knowingly flitted across the space, and took ground foremost, and mightily elated the little gentleman seemed. Off he twirled at an angle, like a piece of clock-work, and as suddenly stopped, shook himself and his tail, twittered and cheeped, picked here and there, and off again at another angle, and looked about him as knowingly as might be. But his premiership was short-lived: down came Corvinus the Elder, with a flop that nearly brought him on his beam ends. Recovering his equilibrium, without reference to judge or jury, he proceeded to a summary clearance of the premises, and an ejectment of the occupying tenant (who, to say the truth, was no exception to the present class in Ireland as to non-payment of rent, and whose arithmetic is confined to the rule of subtraction); while Corvinus himself was a good practical illustration that, with the plumed as with the unplumed biped,— Might respects not Right: and, with an eager waddle, and raising his weapon of offence in a menacing attitude, he strode onwards towards our light adjutant, who looked up, "greatly discouraged at the heavy blow" most unmistakably intended for his private digestion (preparatively, perhaps, to his own digestion subsequent to spitting by Corvinus); and then he recalled to mind the saying of his mother, From danger he that flies away eyes, and the and, as he thought on his mother, a mist settled on his world darkened before him. And then, again, he also thought of the apophthegm of his father, "Discretion is the better part of valour." So he profited by the love and the wisdom of his parents, and, by another side-movement, escaped the thrust: the hostile bill was buried in the ground, and, before Corvinus recovered the shock, the wagtail had made good his retreat to the extreme rear, keeping at even a more respectful distance than before, and contenting himself with such gleanings as the black-mail marauders either overlooked or despised. And the plough proceeding on gaily (for the ground was fine garden mould), the rear rook flitted onwards over the column in file, alighting at the plough-tail; and those in succession rapidly following the example, the scene approximated to a long line of urchins released from school, and unfatiguing themselves with a continuous game of leap-frog. These observations on natural history are written for the information and delectation of Master L. Wyon, and as a relief from the weariness of an examination of the writer under a commission issued by her Majesty's High Court of Chancery in Ireland, on a subject in which he has no concern, and on which, occurring more than 20 years gone, he has little precise information to give: but for which he has received a fee of subpoena of one British shilling!!! this 16th day of April, 1849. Long live the Queen! A SKETCH ON THE MARDYKE WALK OF CORK, THE AFTERNOON OF TUESDAY, THE 5TH OF FEBRUARY, 1850, THE EVE OF THE GREAT STORM. and on a drear and stormy day of winter, when the north wind blew chill, and the clouds lowered darkly, so have I seen a cluster* of evergreen laurel trees shooting up in circle from the stump of some giant of other and past times, lofty in the nobility of nature, graceful in the symmetry of proportion, and in the continuous and combined union of their intermingling branches forming one whole, and, amid the neighbouring naked leafless skeletons of departed vegetation, presenting a body of beauty and of substance on which the eye rested with delight, relieved by its contrast with the surrounding desolation. And ever and anon the birds came flocking into its friendly covert, seeking warmth, shelter, and protection; their garrulous chirping indicating a cheerful, merry meeting, while all around was positive discomfort. and foreboding gloom. But now the coming blast disturbed the tranquillity of the topmost There are nine or ten trees in this clump of Portugal laurels, and the apex of the group is from 25 to 30 feet in height. |