them know what a hard day's work-twelve hours strain of eye and muscle-means. They are so light of heart; so voluble and pantomimic; their attention is so easily fixed, and so quickly diverted, that we are apt to suppose, care has not been able to get a firm grip of them. All merrily talk-each group of its own affairs. They come forth to make merry; and it is while they are merry making, that the stranger crosses their path and wonders." Returning to our hotel, the garçon lighted our candles and delivered to us the keys of our rooms. I cannot refrain from referring more particularly to this most useful member of Parisian society. For, male though he, he does everything; he is chambermaid as well as cook; shoeblack as well as chambermaid ; scullion as well as well as cook. I watched this functionary one morning making a bed, which he did with a summary sort of quickness which would astonish an English chambermaid. CHAPTER IV. "Each morning sees some task begun, Something attempted, something done, Has earned a night's repose.-LONGFELLOW. "Mid pleasures and palaces though we may roam, Saturday. Went after breakfast to the top of the Triumphal Arch, a splendid monument, the cost of which was near half-a-million. The height from the ground to the key-stone of the arch, is thirty yards. From the top we could see from one end of the city to the other. All the domes and spires stood out in bold relief. We remarked to each other on the total absence of anything like smoke, accounted for by the fact, that wood only is used as fuel. This arch, built to commemorate the victories of France, stands on an elevated plot of ground at the top of the Champs Elysées. Whilst on the summit we gathered a pretty correct idea of the topography of Paris. We saw the sun shining with beauty upon the golden cupola of the stately Invalides, beneath which lies the great Napoleon's dust. On one side was the Palace of the Tuileries, with its trees and terraces, fountains and statuary; and along the line of boulevards we could discern the glittering accoutrements of many regiments of solders, and faintly hear the "rat tat" of the drum. It is impossible fully to describe the scene from this elevation, or to gaze upon it without inhaling some portion of the spirit which it breathes-that of perfect pleasure and excitement. Descending, and "feeing" the door-keeper, we proceeded to the Tuileries, intending to see the interior of the palace. Fortunately, on our way thither, we met a lady and gentleman come from across the broad Atlantic and on entering into conversation with them, we learnt it was necessary to have an official ticket. Having got one for himself and lady-which included a family as well-he generously proposed we should go with them, so he took us as his family, though each of us was nearly as old as the gentleman himself. We passed the guard on duty, and ascended the grand staircase, whose marble steps have been many times deluged with blood, in the fearful revolutions through which France has passed, and in which this palace has shared so large and fearful a part. We saw the private apartments of the Emperor, fitted up with a splendour and gorgeousness, akin to that of which we read in the "Arabian Nights." On coming out, we entered the square formed by the Tuileries and the Louvre. It it is called the Place de Caroussel, in commemoration of a grand tournament which Louis XVI. held on it, and on which he spent £50,000. In this square Napoleon I. was accustomed to review his troops previous to despatching them on any great expedition. Crossing the place we entered. the Louvre. This immense building contains a vast collection of antique statues; cabinets of curiosities; coins; utensils of various nations; and the costly plate of royal families. But these are as nothing compared with the paintings. We walked past miles-literally miles of paintings-admiring-but with little of the critic's. eye-the various great schools, both ancient and modern which are gathered there. Henry Ward Beecher, after paying the Louvre a visit, says, "no description can impress you with the multitudinousness of this repository of art. All the streams of pictorial beauty seem, since the world began, to have flowed hither, and this is the ocean. To examine it, in one or two visits, is like trying to read an encyclopædia at one sitting. As I have just observed, we walked or ran through the rooms. To have examined them minutely would have taken us many days. The paintings alone occupy eighty saloons, one of them is a quarter of a mile in length, and we had to walk five miles to get a hasty glance of all. I There are also vast collections of engravings, drawings, statues, and relics of antiquity. When we had spent some hours I thought surely we had "done" the whole, when we immediately entered a large wing that we had not previously noticed, and which we found to consist of five rooms containing the relics of the soveriegns. took out my book and pencil to make a few notes, but soon put them away again, for I was so bewildered by the magnificence surrounding us, that the sight of black-lead pencil and paper for the purpose of making "mems," was too much to endure; for you must bear in mind, that whilst promenading this treasury of a nation's wealth of art, almost every moment something "turned up" to surprise us; the novelty, variety, and superior excellence of which, kept us in a continual state of pleasurable excitement. The first two rooms in this wing were filled with armour, worn by various kings of France. The fourth room contained amongst many curious things, the jewel box of Marie Antoinette, and the secretaire of Louis Philippe, just as he left it, when he quitted the Tuilieries in 1848. The fifth room and to us, as well as to Frenchmen, the most interesting, was completely filled with relics of the first Napoleon. We noticed the full dress clothes worn by him on state occasions, his saddles, swords, and among the latter the one he wore when first consul, the grey overcoat he wore in his campaigns, the sight of which, on many occasions, spread terror amongst the enemy. Also, the boots, etc., he wore in the campaign of 1815, the pocket handkerchief he used when on his death-bed, a locket containing his hair, and the flag he kissed when he bade adieu to Fontainebleau. Tired by this time, we went to dine at a restaurant in the Champs Elysées, and whilst discussing the merits of the potage and entrées, we had the pleasure of seeing His Imperial Majesty, Napoleon III. ride down to the Tuileries. We had many times expressed to each other a hope that we might see the ruler of this great people, and thus, quite unexpectedly, we had the good fortune, not only to see His Majesty, but his Empress also, for in the course of twenty minutes, both returned from the Tuileries on their way to St. Cloud. They were in seperate carriages, each having four horses, with postilions, and in the carriage with his Majesty, sat Prince Murat. Some six or eight outriders constituted the escort. Her Majesty, to our inexperienced judgment, was well and stylishly dressed; but neither of their Majesties are so handsome as their "carte de visites" represent them. The cares of state seem to have left their impress. this hour the Champs Elysées presented a most animated appearance. On the road a perpetual stream of carriages, loaded with the beauty and fashion of this metropolis of fashion, were making their way to the Bois or Wood of Boulogne, where outside the fortifications, and in the midst of its leafy enclosures, a delightful drive awaited them. At |