George Ticknor, Life, letters and journals of George Ticknor
George Hillard, Ed.

October 25. . . . . . In the evening we went to see a Miss Clarke, an English lady, living with her aged mother over in the old Abbaye aux Bois, in the Faubourg St. Germain.¹ She brought us letters lately from Mrs. Fletcher. She has lived in France a large part of her life, and keeps a little bureau d'esprit all of her own, à la Fran-çaise. Au reste, she is, I believe, an excellent person, and is a friend of Mad. Arconati, as well as of other good people.

We found there Fauriel, who is, I believe, to be seen in her salon every night, and one other Frenchman, I think Merimee. There was much talk both in English and French, which Miss Clarke seems to speak equally well. Fauriel was witty and cynical, as usual; and the lady very agreeable.

The latter part of the evening I spent at Mad. de Broglie's, where I met Pageot; Rossi,² formerly a great politician in Geneva, and now, it is said, preparing himself for a peerage in France; the Duke Decazes, so long the Minister, and the favorite of Louis XVIII.; Vieil-Castel, one of the principal employes in the Department of Foreign Affairs; Janvier, the well-known debater in the House of Deputies, on the Doctrinaire side, etc., etc. It was very agreeable.

October 26.—We drove out, in beautiful weather, this afternoon, to Vincennes, and saw the outside of the fine old castle; but as it is a military depot, we were not permitted to see the inside. The strongest recollection that now dwells on it, of course, is that connected with the death of the Duke d'enghien.

On our way back we went to the suburb, or village, of Piepus; and there, in a cemetery behind the convent of the Sacre Coeur de Jesus, saw the grave of Lafayette. This convent consisted of distinguished women, who devoted themselves to the business of education; and in its cemetery a few of the higher aristocracy had their graves. The Revolution broke it up, and made it the resort of a Jacobin club. In 1804 it was restored, and the tombstones that had been overthrown were replaced. I should think about fifty families of the higher and older aristocracy have their places of rest here, but everything looks fresh and recent.

Mad. de Lafayette was buried near some of the Noailles, and her husband desired to be placed near her. There is nothing remarkable about the two stones, except their simplicity. They are exactly alike, —no titles are given to Mad. de Lafayette, and to her husband only Major-General and Deputy; and on each gravestone is recorded the