Alexandria Gazette, Commercial And Political

From the Boston Daily Advertiser.
Extracts from Memoranda made in Europe 1815-16.

We made the coast of France after a passage of 50 days across the Atlantic. It was during the month of August, and a fiercer storm than then never lashed the ocean into rage. Having never relinquished the sight of land before, nor seen any country but my own, it will not appear singular, that cold philosophy, which induced me to consider all countries like my own, built with houses and inhabited with men, should yield to feelings of romance and admiration; for the scenes which awaited me seem to be prepared by enchantment.

The first vessel we spoke off the shore, hoisted the white flag of the Bourbons, and announced to us those astonishing events, Bonaparte's defeat and surrender. This also seemed to place us in a new world, a world no longer subject to his controul.

We landed at Morlaix, built with massive stone, in a mountainous and romantic country, resembling the towering heights of Wales. But abrupt heights & craggy cliffs, elegant from their thick tissure of purple heath flowers, have left ground enough for cultivation. Picturesque chateaus where flowers, shrubs, groves vie with and rival each other, but unite in adding splendour to the scene, are seated in grounds where ornamental and luxuriant agriculture have attained perfection. In the city itself, their highest cliffs are espaliered, every nook of rock which admits of earth is in cultivation, and you see gardens in the clouds peering over the loftiest buildings.

We landed in the season of harvest-- the whole population seemed turned out to greet us. The sky clear and serene, and the fields are filled with reapers, men, women, and children; on the public promenade four or five hundred of both sexes and all ages were dancing together, to the simple music of a tabor and pipe. But all this romantic scene was stale and ordinary, in comparison to the wonderful assemblage of mankind in this country. The mightiest monarchs of this world, with all the splendid pageantry of courts, and pride, pomp and circumstance of glorious war, were here. The most glorious heroes who are blazoned in history, and their triumphant armies, sublime assemblies of innumerable troops were here. All Europe and the remote confines of Asia had contributed their population, and the world appeared to be assembled to celebrate an universal jubilee.