bashful demeanour, for in the opinion of men the modest, timid man, though he may be as honest as Fabricius, and as virtuous as Scipio, is nothing but an idiot, and they treat him accordingly. About one hundred and twenty miles from Paris, at the little village of Joncherie, I found myself without a sou, but I entered a cabaret, and called for a good dinner While eating it the mayor came in to look at my passport. Along with this was a letter which I wished him to see and on his looking at it, asked him if he knew the handwriting. I then explained that it was from the Duchess of Angoulème. He bowed and smiled. "I am," said I, "an Irishman going to the Holy Land." With which information he was so delighted, that he advised me not to leave the village until I had seen the Baroness D'Este, a religious and charitable lady. I waited upon her accordingly with the same story, had all my expenses at the inn paid, and received some coins to deposit at the sacred shrine. Here I remained for ten days, enjoying the good things of this life.
'Continuing my journey, I arrived at Rheims. The prefect of this city was a zealous Bonapartist, and I, being in want of money, wrote him a letter, in which I said I had reason to believe that the Commissariat Stores had been robbed by the English. He sent for me, and I made such a favourable impression that he at once furnished me with money and a billet, which enabled me to receive a certain sum per mile to defray my expenses, besides the service of a horse to carry me from station to station on the road. After travelling some time, I was stopped by a blustering village mayor, told I was a lazy fellow, and ordered to stretch my legs, as he would not supply me with a horse; his conduct, indeed, was so offensive that I was provoked to bestow upon him a knock on the head which made his skull ring again; but seeing the villagers coming out like a swarm of bees, armed
