cheers, which were reciprocated by her passengers, she went on her voyage, and we entered the great port of the Seine; and a more beautiful sight is not often witnessed than the docks and banks thronged with citizens, who were having a double gratification; they came out to see an American steamer go away, and, unexpectedly, they found a still nobler one coming in to occupy her place. Out of the vast concourse I soon singled out my friend Mr. Vesey, the recently-appointed consul at Havre, and he was the first on board to greet our arrival. It would be a happy thing for the American tourist, if at every foreign port he could meet with such a representative of his country; but this is too much to expect. It is enough to say that a more thorough gentleman and warmer-hearted man than Mr. Vesey cannot be found; and his appointment to this valuable and important post reflects honor on President Pierce's administration; while the retention of Mr. Vesey as consul at Antwerp, despite his politics, was one of the many acts which adorned the official career of that pure patriot and enlightened statesman, MILLARD FILLMORE. Mr. Vesey and our American fellow-citizens resident in Havre were much gratified at our arrival, and felt proud of their country when they saw this noble specimen of naval architecture, and the property of a private American citizen, and could point to her owner as a merchant prince, who, by the force of character and enterprise, had made his way from obscurity to a place beside the noblest and wealthiest of the old countries of Europe. We were gratified to notice a large number of noble ships bearing the starry banner of freedom. Several of their commanders soon came on board, and with them my good friend Captain Wood, of the packet-ship Germania; and his excellent wife, and their little girl. The entrance to the docks is fine, and the ઃઃ point his countrymen, and assured us that we were all right. him," said Eldridge, " and, my word for it, Wotton will come to." diction was verified, and our friends at home owed their letters to heartedness of the captain of the Franklin. "I know The pre the kind 162 HAVRE HISTORICAL ASSOCIATIONS. appearance of the old portion of the town, its vast amount of shipping, its venerable fort, and high hills off to the right, and covered with villas overhanging the town, is one not soon to be forgotten by a stranger who gazes at it. On our left was the charming Marine Hotel of Frescati, with its garden and bathing-ground directly in front. Havre is comparatively a modern city; it was established as a town by Francis I., in 1516, who built the ancient tower at the left bank of the port. The present population is about eighty thousand, and it is now in a career of rapid progress and improvement. The docks are large, finely built, and numerous. Hundreds of men are now at work on a dry dock of large dimensions. The importance of this place is at once seen by reference to the map of France, when its relations to Paris and Rouen, as a port of entry, will appear. The large number of Americans, resident and seafaring, to be met in the streets, renders it a pleasant spot to the wanderer from his own happy home in the far west. Havre is rich, too, in its historical associations. It was from this place that the Earl of Richmond sailed when he went to England to contest its crown with the hunchbacked Richard, in 1485. It was here, too, that the gallant Sir Sidney Smith, the hero of Acre, was captured by the gun-boats in 1796, when he had grounded upon a sand-bank in an effort to cut out a French frigate. In Havre was born the famous St. Pierre, who wrote the charming tale of Paul and Virginia. Havre has nine quays, The church of Notre and a vast number of public fountains. Dame is not at all remarkable, but has a fine organ, which was the gift of Cardinal Richelieu. The Palais de Justice is a plain edifice. The Ursuline Convent is a large building, and the nuns are engaged in the education of young ladies; and very often English girls are placed here, under the preposterous idea that these ignorant women can enlighten them. What Protestant, with his eyes open, would trust his daughter to the care of women who believe that there is no salvation out of the Church INGOUVILLE AMERICAN RESIDENTS. 163 of Rome, and, if honest, must therefore take every opportunity to make proselytes of the children under their influence? We took carriages to explore the town, and, after riding through its principal streets, many of which are very good, we ascended one, which, after an ascent of half a mile, through a road which presented the noblest stone walls we ever saw of similar extent, we arrived at the Cote, where, on a vast elevation, are the exquisite residences of the wealthy. I think this part of the town is called Ingouville. Here are terraces, gardens and pleasuregrounds, laid out in the most tasteful manner. Homes of greater beauty are nowhere to be seen. I think it would be hard to meet with sweeter models for country residences; and as for the gardens, trees, shrubs and flowers, now all in gayest garniture and brightest bloom, they are types of Eden. I visited an American lady, whose house is on this paradisiacal spot, and, as I gazed on her beauteous Yankee children and saw the elegant associations of her foreign home, I rejoiced at the comforts which alleviate her absence from early friends and the haunts of childhood. Her husband met us at his gate, and we thought that, with such a home, such a family, and a prosperous business, Mr. C- -e must be a happy man. I longed to visit Harfleur, once a Roman station, and long in the possession of the English; but time forbade me. All around I could see that beauty invited me to become a wayside wanderer. I yearned to ramble over to Tancarville, on the Seine, about twenty miles off, and where I know, from the accounts of early friends, there are charming ruins and the most enchanting views. It was at Tancarville that the Meluns, the Harcourts, and the Dunois, became the worthy successors of the Chamberlaines, the fellow-warriors of Willian the Conqueror. It was a boyish notion of mine to walk through Normandy; and there are few things I would like better than to spend three or four months in such a pilgrimage, even now. These walking tours are, after all, the thing to make a man know a country, and 164 DEPARTURE FOR PARIS POISSY. remember it forever. Give me the treasures which it affords to memery, the play it gives to imagination, the illustrations it contributes to historical association, and I will let who may choose it travel by railroad speed through a land, and know nothing that is valuable, and see little that he can remember in future life. From Havre we started for Paris, and the route is upon the banks of the Seine. Of all railroad routes that I am acquainted with, I regard this as the most pleasant one I ever travelled. I cannot conceive of more rural happiness and comfort than appears to be spread over the glorious fields of Normandy, and between Havre and Rouen. The country is far more wooded than I had supposed, or had seen in other parts of France, in former travels. From Rouen to Paris we passed through many spots of interest. I must not omit to mention Poissy, where the infamous Charles IX., .and his more infamous mother, Catherine de Medici, met in conference, in 1561, with the great divines of the Catholic and Protestant churches. This town is thirty miles from Paris. Certainly the country appears to be prosperous, the farms are well cultivated, and the residences gave an idea of far more enjoyment and comfort than many of our party expected to see. Our entire party went to Paris, excepting Mr. Vanderbilt, who was indisposed, and preferred to remain for a quiet day on board the yacht. CHAPTER XII. HOTELS HON. S. G. GOODRICH · AMERICAN CLERGY IN EUROPE REVIEW -REV. ROBERT LOVETT AND HIS CHAPEL CONFERENCE OF AMERICANS METHODIST CHAPEL LOUVRE JARDIN DES PLANTES PALAIS DE HOTEL DE CLUNY ·ENGLISH FRIENDS JUSTICE-FLOWER-MARKET VERSAILLES —— GARDEN OF THE TUILLERIES AND CHAMPS ELYSÉES PONT GOBELINS-ST. DENIS NEUILLY NAND-CHAPELLE EXPIATOIRE-FONTAINEBLEAU. On reaching Paris, we found the weather as hot as it generally is in any of our Atlantic cities in August. We were soon stationed in comfortable hotels as the Hotel du Rhin, in the Place Vendome, and the Hotel d'Albion. I took up quarters at the Hotel Windsor, on the Rue Rivoli, where I put up in 1835, and afterwards in 1851. And, strange as it may appear, I have on every occasion had the same suite of rooms, so that I had here quite the home feeling. This is a capital house, and its landlord all a traveller can wish. My first business was to call on our distinguished fellow-citizen, the Hon. S. G. Goodrich, late United States Consul in Paris, and still discharging the duties of consulate till the arrival of his successor. Peter Parley is a man of whom his.country ought to be proud; he has done more for the instruction of his young countrymen than any other living man. He has been the author to whose pen every section of our land has been indebted for the reading of its children and youth. A few years ago, the State of Louisiana and the city of New Orleans paid him public honors rarely ever equalled upon our continent; and when Mr. Goodrich was sent abroad as Consul at Paris every one acknowledged the fitness of the homage |