Page:Pleasant Memories of Pleasant Lands.djvu/298

 LOUIS PHILIPPE S RECOLLECTIONS. 273

To tell it here, that many a leading belle Of fashion and nobility in France Abjure the corset, and maintain a form Erect and graceful, without busk or cord, Ambitious to bequeathe a name, unstained By suicide. Would that my friends at home, Those sweet young blossoms on my country s stem, Might credit the report, and give their lungs And heart fair play, and earn a hope to reach The dignity of threescore years and ten, Free from the taint of self-derived disease.

��Louis Philippe s recollections of his travels in the United States, of their geographical peculiarities, and even the names of individuals whom he there met, are remarkably vivid. lie is thought to have a fine tact in addressing appropriate remarks to those with whom he converses. When it came my turn to be spoken to, having been told, at introduction, that I was a native of New England, he inquired in which of the States I raided, and at the answer, &quot; Connecticut,&quot; quickly responded,

&quot; Ah ! I have been there. It has a fine river, of the same name. I have been at Norwich and New London, at New Haven and Hartford. They are all pleasant places.&quot;

In observing the florid complexion and animated manner of the king, it is difficult to realize that he has numbered almost threescore years and ten. He is 18

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