suis charmé de voir tant d’Anglois ici. J’espére que notre union sera de longue durée. Nous sommes les deux nations les plus puissantes et les plus civilizées de l’Europe. Il faut nous unir pour cultiver les arts, les sciences, les lettres, enfin pour faire le bonheur de l’espèce humaine[51].” Mr. Jackson made no reply, and, of course, no one else could say any thing. The first consul spoke to each individual with politeness, and inquired to what regiments those belonged who were presented in uniform. He particularly distinguished colonel Graham, an officer of great merit in our service, who, both in Italy and in Syria, had been opposed to the arms of France, when commanded in person by Bonaparte. After going round the circle, he spoke a second time to this gentleman, and paid the same compliment to the hereditary prince of Orange. The audience then closed, and we descended with the same ceremonies as in coming in, to “la Salle des Ambassadeurs,” where we waited for our carriages. The whole was conducted with great dignity; and persons used to courts, all agree, that the audience of the first consul is one of the most splendid things of the kind in Europe. The pomp of military parade with which it is attended, the beauty of the palace, the handsome uniforms and commanding figures of the soldiery, the variety of regimentals worn by the officers of different nations, the elegance of taste displayed by some foreigners (for every one not in uniform is in the full dress of the old court), the splendid stars, ribands, and orders of others, and, above all, the celebrity of Bonaparte, unite so many circumstances in its favour, that you will not be surprised at a judgment, which, to a person who has not lately seen Paris, may seem extraordinary. As to the first consul, he is as superiour in little things as in great ones; and, had he been born a sovereign, he could not possibly discharge this part of his duty with more ease, dignity, and decorum. He is also very ready in finding subjects of conversation, and opportunities of civility. He gave yesterday a proof of this; which, though I did not hear it myself, I shall venture to report on the credit of a person on whom I can rely. A prussian aid-de-camp being presented (whose name I have forgotten), Bonaparte asked, “where his general had last served?” The officer replied, “in the campaign against France.”—“I beg you a thousand pardons,” rejoined the consul; “but it is so contrary to the usual order of things (_si peu naturel_) to see the prussians and french opposed to each other, that the circumstance had entirely escaped me[52].”