A Residence in France | Page 9

the scene is to follow. Fatigued with standing, we
had got chairs in a corner of the room, behind the throng, where the
discourtesy of being seated might escape notice. The King soon after
withdrew, and the company immediately began to go away.
Three-fourths, perhaps, were gone, when an aide-de-camp came up to
us and inquired if we were not the three Americans who had been
presented by General Lafayette? Being answered in the affirmative, he
begged us to accompany him. He led us near a door at the other end of
the salle, a room of great dimensions, where we found General
Lafayette in waiting. The aide, or officer of the court, whichever might
be his station, passed through the door, out of which the King

immediately came. It appeared to me as if the General was not satisfied
with our first reception, and wished to have it done over again. The
King looked grave, not to say discontented, and I saw, at a glance, that
he could have dispensed with this extra attention. Mr. M'Lane standing
next the door, he addressed a few words to him in English, which he
speaks quite readily, and without much accent: indeed he said little to
any one else, and the few words that he did utter were exceedingly
general and unmeaning. Once he got as far as T----, whom he asked if
he came from New York, and he looked hard at me, who stood farther
from the door, mumbled something, bowed to us all, and withdrew. I
was struck with his manner, which seemed vexed and unwilling, and
the whole thing appeared to me to be awkward and uncomfortable. I
thought it a bad omen for the influence of the General.
By this time the great salle was nearly empty, and we moved off
together to find our carriages. General Lafayette preceded us, of course,
and as he walked slowly, and occasionally stopped to converse, we
were among the last in the ante-chamber. In passing into the last or
outer ante-chamber, the General stopped nearly in the door to speak to
some one. Mr. M'Lane and Mr. T---- being at his side, they so nearly
stopped the way that I remained some distance in the rear, in order not
to close it entirely. My position would give an ordinary observer reason
to suppose that I did not belong to the party. A young officer of the
court (I call them aides, though, I believe, they were merely substitutes
for chamberlains, dignitaries to which this republican reign has not yet
given birth), was waiting in the outer room to pass, but appeared
unwilling to press too closely on a group of which General Lafayette
formed the principal person. He fidgeted and chafed evidently, but still
kept politely at a distance. After two or three minutes the party moved
on, but I remained stationary, watching the result. Room was no sooner
made than the officer brushed past, and gave vent to his feelings by
saying, quite loudly and distinctly, "_Adieu, l'Amérique_!"
It is a pretty safe rule to believe that in the tone of courtiers is reflected
the feeling of the monarch. The attention to General Lafayette had
appeared to me as singularly affected and forced, and the manner of the
King anything but natural; and several little occurrences during the

evening had tended to produce the impression that the real influence of
the former, at the palace, might be set down as next to nothing. I never
had any faith in a republican king from the commencement, but this
near view of the personal intercourse between the parties served to
persuade me that General Lafayette had been the dupe of his own good
faith and kind feelings.
In descending the great stairs I mentioned the occurrence just related to
Mr. M'Lane, adding, that I thought the days of our friend were
numbered, and that a few months would produce a schism between him
and Louis-Philippe. Everything, at the moment, however, looked so
smiling, and so much outward respect was lavished on General
Lafayette, that this opinion did not find favour with my listener, though,
I believe, he saw reason to think differently, after another visit to court.
We all got invitations to dine at the palace in a day or two.
* * * * *
I did not, however, touch upon the "_adieu l'Amérique_," with General
Lafayette, which I have always deemed a subject too delicate to be
mentioned.
He startled me by suddenly putting the question, whether I thought an
executive, in which there should be but one agent, as in the United
States, or an executive, in which there should be three, or five, would
best suit the condition of France? Though so well acquainted with the
boldness and steadiness