ained so high a reputation, during the wars of the
revolution and the empire, that you may feel some curiosity to know its
actual condition. As the Bourbons understand that they have been
restored to the throne, by the great powers of Europe, if not in
opposition to the wishes of a majority of Frenchmen, certainly in
opposition to the wishes of the active portion of the population, and
consequently to that part of the nation which would be most likely to
oppose their interests, they have been accused of endeavouring to keep
the establishments of France so low as to put her at the mercy of any
new combination of the allies. I should think this accusation, in a
great degree, certainly unmerited; for France, at this moment, has a
large and, so far as I can judge, a well-appointed army, and one that is
charged by the liberal party with being a heavy expense to the nation,
and that, too, chiefly with the intention of keeping the people in
subjection to tyranny. But these contradictions are common in party
politics. It is not easy here to get at statistical facts accurately,
especially those which are connected with expenditure. Nominally, the
army is about 200,000 men, but it is whispered that numerous _conges_
are given, in order to divert the funds that are thus saved to other
objects. Admitting all this to be true, and it probably is so in part, I
should think France must have fully 150,000 men embodied, without
including the National Guards. Paris is pretty well garrisoned, and the
_casernes_ in the vicinity of the capital are always occupied. It
appears to me there cannot be less than 20,000 men within a day's march
of the Tuileries, and there may be half as many more.[8]

[Footnote 8: The sudden disbandment of the guards and other troops in
1830 greatly diminished the actual force of the country.]

Since our arrival there have been several great military displays, and I
have made it a point to be present at them all. The first was a _petite
guerre_,[9] on the plains of Issy, or within a mile of the walls of the
town. There may have been 15,000 men assembled for the occasion,
including troops of all arms.

[Footnote 9: Sham-fight.]

One of the first things that struck me at Paris was the careless
militia-like manner in which the French troops marched about the
streets. The disorder, irregularity, careless and indifferent style of
moving, were all exactly such as I have heard laughed at a thousand
times in our own gr