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, " Connecticut," quickly responded,
" 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."
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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