cicerone to show the lions, and under his guidance walked through the halls, where the tables were already laid for dinner; through the dormitories, where the beds were all clean and neatly made up, and looking comfortable, &c. &c. In the officers’ dining-rooms the tables were also laid--round ones for four or six persons each--not as with us, all at one long table. A bottle of wine was here placed by the side of each man’s plate. Nothing could be more comfortable or more respectable. We then visited the church under the dome where are the tombs of Turenne and Vauban.[18] All this was not very amusing, but my guide, leading the way up several staircases, at last ushered me into a large but low room, immediately under the roof, filled with beautifully-finished models of almost all the frontier fortresses in France. Here I passed the remainder of the day most delightfully. The most interesting of these models were Chateau Trompette; Brest, with its harbours and the adjacent country for three or four miles round; Strasbourg and neighbourhood; but one of the most amusing was an exquisitely-finished model of the battle of Lodi, under a glass bell. A fine boy of about fifteen or sixteen, to whom my quondam guide had delivered me over on entering the model-room, excited my surprise, not only by the clearness with which he explained everything to me, but also by the shrewdness of his remarks, and the great knowledge he evinced of military affairs in general; quite an incipient Buonaparte, I should say--only Buonaparte was never half so handsome. I could have lingered for a week over these interesting models, but the diminution of light obliged me at last reluctantly to leave them. Whilst we were wandering from loft to loft, for there were several, we came accidentally into one where two or three Prussian officers were superintending the dismemberment and packing up of all such as had any relation to the possessions of their monarch; and my young companion told me he suspected they meant to take away Strasbourg, and that they had already packed up several which could not come under that denomination. The poor boy spoke very feelingly on the subject, and seemed heart-broken at losing his favourite models. I shall frequently visit the Invalides, unless the Prussians quite strip it of the models. It will be a delightful lounge, those lofts. Yesterday, being Sunday, our three troops assembled, under Major M’Donald, in the park, where Captain M’Donald’s troop is quartered, and had divine service. Passed the afternoon in riding about the neighbourhood, and the evening in the enjoyment of my beautiful terrace, &c. &c. To-morrow I go in search of my new troop, somewhere about St Denis. CHAPTER XX.