Immediately on the Restoration of the Bourbons it was the proper thing for every English man and woman who could afford it, to pay a visit to Paris, and a motley group, I fancy they were, a jumble of the Aristocracy, and the Cheap Tourist. Captain Gronow thus describes this "irruption of the Goths and Vandals": "Thousands of oddly dressed English flocked to Paris immediately after the war: I remember that the burden of one of the popular songs of the day was, 'All the world's in Paris;' and our countrymen and women having been so long excluded from French Modes, had adopted fashions of their own, quite as remarkable, and eccentric as those of the Parisians, and much less graceful. British beauties were dressed in long strait pelisses of various colours; the body of the dress was never of the same colour as the skirt; and the bonnet was of beehive shape, and very small. The characteristic of the dress of the gentleman was a coat of light blue, or snuff colour, with brass buttons, the tail reaching nearly to the heels; a gigantic bunch of seals dangled from his fob, whilst his pantaloons were short, and tight at the knees; and a spacious waistcoat, with a voluminous muslin cravat and a frilled shirt completed the toilette." The end of this year leaves the Congress of Vienna, which met to settle all International matters arising out of the war, still sitting, and I cannot refrain from quoting the following epigram upon it: "SISTEME DU CONGRÉS. L'Espagne est cause de tout, L'Allemagne prétend tout, La France assiste tout, L'Angleterre embrouille tout, La Hollande souffre tout, Venise consulte tout, Le Portugal écoute tout, La Suede a perdu tout, Le Danemarc craint tout, La Sardaigne trompe tout, Les Jésuites sont par tout, Le Pape bénit tout, Si Dieu ne pourvoit à tout, Le Diable emporte tout." When treating of the American War we left the Americans at the end of 1813 retiring into winter quarters. This year the fortunes of this silly war were somewhat unequal. The absurd system of reprisals was abolished, and the hostages exchanged, as other prisoners of war--altogether, things looked like coming to a close. The great feature of this year's campaign, was the Capture and burning of Washington, on 24th of August, which, virtually, ended the War. The Capitol, the Arsenal, the Dockyard, with a frigate ready to be launched, Treasury, War Office, President's Palace, the Rope Walk, and the Great bridge across the Potomac were all destroyed. [Illustration: The Fate of Washington; or, Maddy in Full Flight. (_Published October 4, 1814, by Fores._)]