ct that our party
disembarked at Dieppe, and travelled from one coast to the other by
Rouen, Paris, Lyons and Aix. By travelling very slowly, never above 30
miles a-day, I had, perhaps a better opportunity than common of seeing
the country, and of conversing with the inhabitants; and I have been
more than commonly fortunate in forming acquaintance with a number of
very well informed men in the town, which we selected as the place of
our residence in the winter: This was Aix, in Provence. I have described
it before in my Journal, and have only to add, that the head court for
four departments is held there; that there is a College for the study of
Law and Divinity, and that it is remarkable for possessing a society of
men better informed, and of more liberal education, than most other
towns in France.

The inhabitants of Provence have always been marked by excesses of
affection or disaffection. They do nothing in moderation; "Les tetes
chaudes de Provence," is an expression quite common in France. In the
commencement of the revolution, the bands of Provencals, chiefly
Marseillois, were the leaders in every outrage. And when the tyrant,
Napoleon, had fallen from his power, they were among the first to cry
"Vivent les Bourbons!" They would have torn him to pieces on his way to
Frejus, had he not been at times disguised, and at other times well
protected by the troops and police in the villages through which he
passed. It will then easily be imagined that the English were received
with open arms at Aix. They heaped on us kindnesses of every
description, and our only difficulty was to limit our acquaintance. From
among the most moderate and best informed of our friends at Aix, I
attempted to collect a few traits and anecdotes of Napoleon, and with
their assistance, I shall, in the first instance, attempt giving a
sketch of his character. It would be tedious, as well as unnecessary, to
detail all the circumstances of his life; for most of these are
generally known. I shall therefore only mention such as we are not
generally acquainted with.

* * *

NAPOLEON was born at Ajaccio, in Corsica, not, as is generally supposed,
in August 1769, but in February 1768. He had a motive for thus
falsifying even the date of his birth; he conceived that it would assist
his ambitious views, if he could prove that he was born in a province of
France, and it was not till 1769 that Corsica became entitled to that
denomination. His reputed fat