Page:The American fugitive in Europe.djvu/90

82 Latin will see that the monument tells its own story, but to me its characters were all blank.

It would be tedious to follow the history of this old and venerated stone, which was taken from the quarry fifteen hundred and fifty years before the birth of Christ, placed in Thebes, its removal, the journey to the Nile, and down the Nile, thence to Cherbourg, and lastly its arrival in Paris on the 23d of December, 1833,—just one year before I escaped from slavery. The obelisk was raised on the spot where it now stands, on the 25th of October. 1836, in the presence of Louis Philippe, and amid the greetings of one hundred and sixty thousand persons.

Having missed my dinner, I crossed over to the Palais Royal, to a dining saloon, and can assure you that a better dinner may be had there for three francs than can be got in New York for twice that sum,—especially if the person who wants the dinner is a colored man. I found no prejudice against my complexion in the Palais Royal. Many of the rooms in this once abode of royalty are most splendidly furnished, and decorated with valuable pictures. The likenesses of Madame dc Stael, J J. Rousseau, Cromwell and Francis I., are among them.

After several unsuccessful attempts to-day, in company with R.D. Webb, Esq., to seek out the house where once resided the notorious Robespierre, I was fortunate enough to find it, but not until I had lost the company of my friend. The house is No. 396, Rue St.