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diff --git a/39710-h/39710-h.htm b/39710-h/39710-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..7139664 --- /dev/null +++ b/39710-h/39710-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,13882 @@ +<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN" + "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd"> + +<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"> + <head> + <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html;charset=iso-8859-1" /> + <meta http-equiv="Content-Style-Type" content="text/css" /> + <title> + The Project Gutenberg eBook of Paris and the Parisians in 1835 (Vol. II), by Frances Trollope. + </title> + <style type="text/css"> + +body { + margin-left: 10%; + margin-right: 10%; +} + +h1 {text-align: center; + clear: both;} + +h2 {text-align: center; + margin-top: 6em; + font-size: 1.3em;} + +.ch_open {font-size: .85em; + margin-left: 1em; + text-align: center; + margin-top: 1.5em; + margin-bottom: 2.5em;} + +p { + margin-top: .75em; + text-align: left; + margin-bottom: .75em; +} + +.pagenum { + position: absolute; + left: 92%; + font-size: smaller; + text-align: right; +} +hr { + width: 33%; + margin-top: 2em; + margin-bottom: 2em; + margin-left: auto; + margin-right: auto; + clear: both; +} + +hr.l15 { + width: 15%; + margin-top: 2em; + margin-bottom: 2em; +} +hr.l30 { + width: 30%; + margin-top: 2em; + margin-bottom: 2em; +} + +.smcap {font-variant: small-caps;} + +.caption {font-weight: bold; + margin-left: 15%; + margin-right: 15%; + text-align: center; + margin-bottom: 2em;} + +.figcenter { + margin: auto; + text-align: center; +} + +.footnote {margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10%; font-size: 0.9em;} + +.footnotes {border: dashed 1px;} + +.footnote .label {position: absolute; right: 84%; text-align: right;} + +.fnanchor { + vertical-align: super; + font-size: .8em; + text-decoration: + none; +} + +.poem {font-size: 95%; margin-left: 5%; margin-right: 10%; + margin-bottom: 1em; text-align: left; } + +.poem .stanza { + margin: 1em 0em 1em 0em; +} + +.poem p { margin: 0; padding-left: 3em; text-indent: -3em; } +.poem p.i1 { margin-left: 1em; } +.poem p.i2 { margin-left: 2em; } +.poem p.i3 { margin-left: 3em; } +.poem p.i4 { margin-left: 4em; } +.poem p.i8 { margin-left: 8em; } +.poem p.o1 {margin-left: -.4em;} + +.i1 {margin-left: 1em;} +.i2 {margin-left: 2em;} +.o1 {margin-left: -.4em;} + +.left65 { + margin-left: 65%; +} + +.p2 {margin-top: 2em;} +.p4 {margin-top: 4em;} +.p6 {margin-top: 6em;} + +.b20 {font-size:2.0em;} +.b15 {font-size:1.5em;} +.b13 {font-size:1.3em;} +.s08 {font-size:.8em;} +.s05 {font-size:.5em;} + +.blockquot { + margin-left: 5%; + margin-right: 10%; + font-size: 90%; +} + +.drama { + margin-left: 10%; + margin-right: 10%; + font-size: 90%; +} +.center {text-align: center;} + +.tnbox {margin-left: auto; + margin-right: auto; + margin-bottom: 8em; + margin-top: auto; + text-align: center; + border: 1px solid; + padding: 1em; + color: black; + background-color: #f6f2f2; + width: 25em;} + +.toc h3 {text-align: center; + font-size: 1.1em; + margin-top: 2em;} + +.toc .page { + left: 70%; + position: absolute; + text-align: right; + width: 10em; + font-size: .9em;} +.toc p {margin-right: 20%} + + </style> + </head> +<body> + + +<pre> + +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Paris and the Parisians in 1835 (Vol. 2 of +2), by Frances Trollope + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org/license + + +Title: Paris and the Parisians in 1835 (Vol. 2 of 2) + +Author: Frances Trollope + +Release Date: May 16, 2012 [EBook #39710] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK PARIS AND THE PARISIANS IN 1835 (2/2) *** + + + + +Produced by Melissa McDaniel and the Online Distributed +Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was +produced from images generously made available by The +Internet Archive) + + + + + + +</pre> + +<div class="tnbox"> +<p class="center"><b>Transcriber's Note:</b></p> +<p>Obvious typographical errors have been corrected. +Inconsistent spelling and hyphenation in the original +document have been preserved.</p> + +<p>Page 46: The phrase "find out if he can any single" seems to be +missing a word.</p> + +<p>Page 384: The phrase starting "swarm _au sixième_" has no closing +quotation mark.</p> +</div> + +<p class="center p6 s08">Preparing for publication, by the same Author,<br /> +In 3 vols. post 8vo. with 15 Characteristic Engravings.</p> + +<p class="center">THE LIFE AND ADVENTURES<br /> +<span class="s05">OF</span><br /> +JONATHAN JEFFERSON WHITLAW;<br /> +<span class="s05">OR,</span><br /> +SCENES ON THE MISSISSIPPI.</p> + +<p class="center p6 b15"><span class="smcap">Paris and the Parisians,</span><br /> + +<span class="smcap">in 1835.</span></p> + +<p class="center b13">VOL. 2.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 544px;"> +<img src="images/illo002.jpg" width="544" height="500" alt="Title" /> +<p class="smcap s05">Drawn & Etched by A. Hervieu.</p> +<p class="caption">MUSEUM DES CURIOSITES HISTORIQUES<br /><br /> +LE PUBLIC EST PRIÉ DE<br /> +NE TOUCHER À AUCUN<br /> +DE CES OBJETS.</p> +</div> + +<p class="center"><span class="smcap">London</span>:</p> + +<p class="center"><span class="smcap">Richard Bentley, New Burlington Street</span>,</p> +<p class="center">Publisher in Ordinary to His Majesty.<br /> +1835.</p> + +<h1 class="p6">PARIS<br /><br /> + +AND<br /><br /> + +THE PARISIANS<br /><br /> + +IN 1835.</h1> + +<h2>BY FRANCES TROLLOPE,</h2> + +<p class="center">AUTHOR OF "DOMESTIC MANNERS OF THE AMERICANS,"<br /> +"TREMORDYN CLIFF," &c.</p> +<hr class="l15" /> + +<p class="center">"Le pire des états, c'est l'état populaire."—<span class="smcap">Corneille.</span></p> +<hr class="l15" /> +<p class="center p2">IN TWO VOLUMES.</p> + +<p class="center">VOL. II.</p> + +<p class="center p6">LONDON:<br /> + +RICHARD BENTLEY, NEW BURLINGTON STREET,<br /> + +Publisher in Ordinary to His Majesty.<br /> + +1836.</p> +<p class="center p6">LONDON:<br /> +PRINTED BY SAMUEL BENTLEY,<br /> +Dorset Street, Fleet Street.</p> + +<h2>CONTENTS<br /> +TO<br /> + +THE SECOND VOLUME.</h2> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_V" id="Page_V">v</a></span></p> + +<hr class="l15" /> + +<div class="toc"> +<h3>LETTER XLIII.</h3> + +<p>Peculiar Air of Frenchwomen.—Impossibility that an +Englishwoman should not be known for such in Paris.—Small +Shops.—Beautiful Flowers, and pretty arrangement +of them.—Native Grace.—Disappearance of Rouge.—Grey +Hair.—Every article dearer than in London.—All temptations +to smuggling removed.<span class="page">Page <a href="#Page_1">1</a></span></p> + +<h3>LETTER XLIV.</h3> + +<p>Exclusive Soirées.—Soirée Doctrinaire.—Duc de Broglie.—Soirée +Républicaine.—Soirée Royaliste.—Partie Impériale.—Military +Greatness.—Dame de l'Empire.<span class="page"><a href="#Page_11">11</a></span></p> + +<h3>LETTER XLV.</h3> + +<p>L'Abbé Lacordaire.—Various Statements respecting him.—Poetical +description of Notre Dame.—The Prophecy of a +Roman Catholic.—Les Jeunes Gens de Paris.—Their omnipotence.<span class="page"><a href="#Page_22">22</a></span></p> + +<h3>LETTER XLVI.</h3> + +<p>La Tour de Nesle.<span class="page"><a href="#Page_37">37</a></span> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_VI" id="Page_VI">vi</a></span></p> + +<h3>LETTER XLVII.</h3> + +<p>Palais Royal.—Variety of Characters.—Party of English.—Restaurant.—Galerie +d'Orléans.—Number of Loungers.—Convenient +abundance of Idle Men.—Théâtre du Vaudeville.<span class="page"><a href="#Page_49">49</a></span></p> + +<h3>LETTER XLVIII.</h3> + +<p>Literary Conversation.—Modern Novelists.—Vicomte +d'Arlincourt.—His Portrait.—Châteaubriand.—Bernardin +de Saint Pierre.—Shakspeare.—Sir Walter Scott.—French +familiarity with English Authors.—Miss Mitford.—Miss +Landon.—Parisian passion for Novelty.—Extent of general +Information.<span class="page"><a href="#Page_62">62</a></span></p> + +<h3>LETTER XLIX.</h3> + +<p>Trial by Jury.—Power of the Jury in France.—Comparative +insignificance of that vested in the Judge.—Virtual Abolition +of Capital Punishments.—Flemish Anecdote.<span class="page"><a href="#Page_75">75</a></span></p> + +<h3>LETTER L.</h3> + +<p>English Pastry-cooks.—French horror of English Pastry.—Unfortunate +experiment upon a Muffin.—The Citizen +King.<span class="page"><a href="#Page_85">85</a></span></p> + +<h3>LETTER LI.</h3> + +<p>Parisian Women.—Rousseau's failure in attempting to describe +them.—Their great influence in Society.—Their grace +in Conversation.—Difficulty of growing old.—Do the ladies +of France or those of England manage it best?<span class="page"><a href="#Page_92">92</a></span></p> + +<h3>LETTER LII.</h3> + +<p>La Sainte Chapelle.—Palais de Justice.—Traces of the +Revolution of 1830.—Unworthy use made of La Sainte +Chapelle.—Boileau.—Ancient Records.<span class="page"><a href="#Page_105">105</a></span> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_VII" id="Page_VII">vii</a></span></p> + +<h3>LETTER LIII.</h3> + +<p>French ideas of England.—Making love.—Precipitate +retreat of a young Frenchman.—Different methods of +arranging Marriages.—English Divorce.—English Restaurans.<span class="page"><a href="#Page_116">116</a></span></p> + +<h3>LETTER LIV.</h3> + +<p>Mixed Society.—Influence of the English Clergy and their +Families.—Importance of their station in Society.<span class="page"><a href="#Page_132">132</a></span></p> + +<h3>LETTER LV.</h3> + +<p>Le Grand Opéra.—Its enormous Expense.—Its Fashion.—Its +acknowledged Dulness.—'La Juive.'—Its heavy Music.—Its +exceeding Splendour.—Beautiful management of the +Scenery.—National Music.<span class="page"><a href="#Page_143">143</a></span></p> + +<h3>LETTER LVI.</h3> + +<p>The Abbé Deguerry.—His eloquence.—Excursion across +the water.—Library of Ste. Geneviève.—Copy-book of the +Dauphin.—St. Etienne du Mont.—Pantheon.<span class="page"><a href="#Page_156">156</a></span></p> + +<h3>LETTER LVII.</h3> + +<p>Little Suppers.—Great Dinners.—Affectation of Gourmandise.—Evil +effects of "dining out."—Evening Parties.—Dinners +in private under the name of Luncheons.—Late +Hours.<span class="page"><a href="#Page_166">166</a></span></p> + +<h3>LETTER LVIII.</h3> + +<p>Hôpital des Enfans Trouvés.—Its doubtful advantages.—Story +of a Child left there.<span class="page"><a href="#Page_177">177</a></span></p> + +<h3>LETTER LIX.</h3> + +<p>Procès Monstre.—Dislike of the Prisoners to the ceremony +of Trial.—Société des Droits de l'Homme.—Names given to +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_VIII" id="Page_VIII">viii</a></span> +the Sections.—Kitchen and Nursery Literature.—Anecdote +of Lagrange.—Republican Law.<span class="page"><a href="#Page_201">201</a></span></p> + +<h3>LETTER LX.</h3> + +<p>Memoirs of M. Châteaubriand.—The Readings at L'Abbaye-aux-Bois.—Account +of these in the French Newspapers +and Reviews.—Morning at the Abbaye to hear a portion of +these Memoirs.—The Visit to Prague.<span class="page"><a href="#Page_212">212</a></span></p> + +<h3>LETTER LXI.</h3> + +<p>Jardin des Plantes.—Not equal in beauty to our Zoological +Gardens.—La Salpêtrière.—Anecdote.—Les Invalides.—Difficulty +of finding English Colours there.—The Dome.<span class="page"><a href="#Page_232">232</a></span></p> + +<h3>LETTER LXII.</h3> + +<p>Expedition to Montmorency.—Rendezvous in the Passage +Delorme.—St. Denis.—Tomb prepared for Napoleon.—The +Hermitage.—Dîner sur l'herbe.<span class="page"><a href="#Page_241">241</a></span></p> + +<h3>LETTER LXIII.</h3> + +<p>George Sand.<span class="page"><a href="#Page_258">258</a></span></p> + +<h3>LETTER LXIV.</h3> + +<p>"Angelo Tyran de Padoue."—Burlesque at the Théâtre +du Vaudeville.—Mademoiselle Mars.—Madame Dorval.—Epigram.<span class="page"><a href="#Page_270">270</a></span></p> + +<h3>LETTER LXV.</h3> + +<p>Boulevard des Italiens.—Tortoni's.—Thunder-storm.—Church +of the Madeleine.—Mrs. Butler's "Journal."<span class="page"><a href="#Page_292">292</a></span> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_IX" id="Page_IX">ix</a></span></p> + +<h3>LETTER LXVI.</h3> + +<p>A pleasant Party.—Discussion between an Englishman +and a Frenchman.—National Peculiarities.<span class="page"><a href="#Page_302">302</a></span></p> + +<h3>LETTER LXVII.</h3> + +<p>Chamber of Deputies.—Punishment of Journalists.—Institute +for the Encouragement of Industry.—Men of Genius.<span class="page"><a href="#Page_313">313</a></span></p> + +<h3>LETTER LXVIII.</h3> + +<p>Walk to the Marché des Innocens.—Escape of a Canary +Bird.—A Street Orator.—Burying-place of the Victims of +July.<span class="page"><a href="#Page_323">323</a></span></p> + +<h3>LETTER LXIX.</h3> + +<p>A Philosophical Spectator.—Collection of Baron Sylvestre.—Hôtel +des Monnaies.—Musée d'Artillerie.<span class="page"><a href="#Page_335">335</a></span></p> + +<h3>LETTER LXX.</h3> + +<p>Concert in the Champs Elysées.—Horticultural Exhibition.—Forced +Flowers.—Republican Hats.—Carlist Hats—Juste-Milieu +Hats.—Popular Funeral.<span class="page"><a href="#Page_347">347</a></span></p> + +<h3>LETTER LXXI.</h3> + +<p>Minor French Novelists.<span class="page"><a href="#Page_360">360</a></span></p> + +<h3>LETTER LXXII.</h3> + +<p>Breaking-up of the Paris Season.—Soirée at Madame Récamier's.—Recitation.—Storm.—Disappointment.—Atonement.—Farewell.<span class="page"><a href="#Page_371">371</a></span></p> + +<p class="p2"><b>POSTSCRIPT</b><span class="page"><a href="#Page_379">379</a></span></p> +</div> + +<h2>EMBELLISHMENTS<br /> +TO<br /> +THE SECOND VOLUME.</h2> +<hr class="l15" /> +<div class="toc"> +<p>Soirée<span class="page"><a href="#illo20">Page 20</a></span></p> + +<p>Le Roi Citoyen<span class="page"><a href="#illo88">88</a></span></p> + +<p>Prêtres de la Jeune France<span class="page"><a href="#illo158">158</a></span></p> + +<p>Lecture à l'Abbaye-aux-Bois<span class="page"><a href="#illo228">228</a></span></p> + +<p>Boulevard des Italiens<span class="page"><a href="#illo294">294</a></span></p> + +<p>"V'là les restes de notre Révolution de Juillet"<span class="page"><a href="#illo328">328</a></span></p> +</div> + +<p class="p6 center"><span class="b20">PARIS</span><br /><br /> +<span class="b15">AND THE PARISIANS</span><br /><br /> +<span class="b13">IN 1835.</span></p> +<hr class="l15" /> + +<h2 class="p2">LETTER XLIII.</h2> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_1" id="Page_1">1</a></span></p> +<p class="ch_open"> +Peculiar Air of Frenchwomen.—Impossibility that an Englishwoman +should not be known for such in Paris.—Small +Shops.—Beautiful Flowers, and pretty arrangement of +them.—Native Grace.—Disappearance of Rouge.—Grey +Hair.—Every article dearer than in London.—All temptations +to smuggling removed. +</p> + +<p>Considering that it is a woman who writes to +you, I think you will confess that you have no +reason to complain of having been overwhelmed +with the fashions of Paris: perhaps, on the contrary, +you may feel rather disposed to grumble +because all I have hitherto said on the fertile subject +of dress has been almost wholly devoted to +the historic and fanciful costume of the republicans. +Personal appearance, and all that concerns +it, is, however, a very important feature in the +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_2" id="Page_2">2</a></span> +daily history of this showy city; and although in +this respect it has been made the model of the +whole world, it nevertheless contrives to retain +for itself a general look, air, and effect, which it +is quite in vain for any other people to attempt +imitating. Go where you will, you see French +fashions; but you must go to Paris to see how +French people wear them.</p> + +<p>The dome of the Invalides, the towers of Notre +Dame, the column in the Place Vendôme, the +windmills of Montmartre, do not come home to +the mind as more essentially belonging to Paris, +and Paris only, than does the aspect which caps, +bonnets, frills, shawls, aprons, belts, buckles, +gloves,—and above, though below, all things else—which +shoes and stockings assume, when worn by +Parisian women in the city of Paris.</p> + +<p>It is in vain that all the women of the earth +come crowding to this mart of elegance, each one +with money in her sack sufficient to cover her +from head to foot with all that is richest and best;—it +is in vain that she calls to her aid all the +<i>tailleuses</i>, <i>coiffeuses</i>, <i>modistes</i>, <i>couturières</i>, <i>cordonniers</i>, +<i>lingères</i>, and <i>friseurs</i> in the town: all she +gets for her pains is, when she has bought, and +done, and put on all and everything they have +prescribed, that, in the next shop she enters, she +hears one <i>grisette</i> behind the counter mutter to +another, "Voyez ce que désire cette dame anglaise;"—and +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_3" id="Page_3">3</a></span> +that, poor dear lady! before she +has spoken a single word to betray herself.</p> + +<p>Neither is it only the natives who find us out +so easily—that might perhaps be owing to some +little inexplicable freemasonry among themselves; +but the worst of all is, that we know one another +in a moment. "There is an Englishman,"—"That +is an Englishwoman," is felt at a glance, more +rapidly than the tongue can speak it.</p> + +<p>That manner, gait, and carriage,—that expression +of movement, and, if I may so say, of limb, +should be at once so remarkable and so impossible +to imitate, is very singular. It has nothing +to do with the national differences in eyes and +complexion, for the effect is felt perhaps more +strongly in following than in meeting a person; +but it pervades every plait and every pin, every +attitude and every gesture.</p> + +<p>Could I explain to you what it is which produces +this effect, I should go far towards removing +the impossibility of imitating it: but as this is +now, after twenty years of trial, pretty generally +allowed to be impossible, you will not expect it of +me. All I can do, is to tell you of such matters +appertaining to dress as are open and intelligible +to all, without attempting to dive into that very +occult part of the subject, the effect of it.</p> + +<p>In milliners' phrase, the ladies dress much <i>less</i> +in Paris than in London. I have no idea that +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_4" id="Page_4">4</a></span> +any Frenchwoman, after her morning dishabille is +thrown aside, would make it a practice, during +"the season," to change her dress completely four +times in the course of the day, as I have known +some ladies do in London. Nor do I believe +that the most <i>précieuses</i> in such matters among +them would deem it an insufferable breach of +good manners to her family, did she sit down to +dinner in the same apparel in which they had +seen her three hours before it.</p> + +<p>The only article of female luxury more generally +indulged in here than with us, is that of +cashmere shawls. One, at the very least, of +these dainty wrappers makes a part of every +young lady's <i>trousseau</i>, and is, I believe, exactly +that part of the <i>présent</i> which, as Miss Edgeworth +says, often makes a bride forget the <i>futur</i>.</p> + +<p>In other respects, what is necessary for the +wardrobe of a French woman of fashion, is necessary +also for that of an English one; only jewels +and trinkets of all kinds are more frequently +worn with us than with them. The dress that +a young Englishwoman would wear at a dinner +party, is very nearly the same as a Frenchwoman +would wear at any ball but a fancy one; whereas +the most elegant dinner costume in Paris is +exactly the same as would be worn at the French +Opera.</p> + +<p>There are many extremely handsome "<i>magasins +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_5" id="Page_5">5</a></span> +de nouveautés</i>" in every part of the town, +wherein may be found all that the heart of woman +can desire in the way of dress; and there are +smart <i>coiffeuses</i> and <i>modistes</i> too, who know well +how to fabricate and recommend every production +of their fascinating art: but there is no Howell +and James's wherein to assemble at a given point +all the fine ladies of Paris; no reunions of tall +footmen are to be seen lounging on benches outside +the shops, and performing to the uninitiated +the office of signs, by giving notice how many +purchasers are at that moment engaged in cheapening +the precious wares within. The shops in +general are very much smaller than ours,—or +when they stretch into great length, they have +uniformly the appearance of warehouses. A much +less quantity of goods of all kinds is displayed +for purposes of show and decoration,—unless it be +in china shops, or where or-molu ornaments, protected +by glass covers, form the principal objects: +here, or indeed wherever the articles sold can be +exhibited without any danger of loss from injury, +there is very considerable display; but, on +the whole, there is much less appearance of +large capital exhibited in the shops here than in +London.</p> + +<p>One great source of the gay and pretty appearance +of the streets, is the number and elegant arrangement +of the flowers exposed for sale. Along +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_6" id="Page_6">6</a></span> +all the Boulevards, and in every brilliant Passage +(with which latter ornamental invention Paris is +now threaded in all directions), you need only +shut your eyes in order to fancy yourself in a delicious +flower-garden; and even on opening them +again, if the delusion vanishes, you have something +almost as pretty in its place.</p> + +<p>Notwithstanding the multitudinous abominations +of their streets—the prison-like locks on the +doors of their <i>salons</i>, and the odious common stair +which must be climbed ere one can get to them—there +is an elegance of taste and love of the graceful +about these people which is certainly to be +found nowhere else. It is not confined to the +spacious hotels of the rich and great, but may +be traced through every order and class of society, +down to the very lowest.</p> + +<p>The manner in which an old barrow-woman +will tie up her sous' worth of cherries for her +urchin customers might give a lesson to the most +skilful decorator of the supper-table. A bunch of +wild violets, sold at a price that may come within +reach of the worst-paid <i>soubrette</i> in Paris, is arranged +with a grace that might make a duchess +covet them; and I have seen the paltry stock-in-trade +of a florist, whose only pavilion was a tree +and the blue heavens, set off with such felicity in +the mixture of colours, and the gradations of +shape and form, as made me stand to gaze longer +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_7" id="Page_7">7</a></span> +and more delightedly than I ever did before +Flora's own palace in the King's Road.</p> + +<p>After all, indeed, I believe that the mystical +peculiarity of dress of which I have been speaking +wholly arises from this innate and universal instinct +of good taste. There is a fitness, a propriety, +a sort of harmony in the various articles +which constitute female attire, which may be traced +as clearly amongst the cotton <i>toques</i>, with all their +variety of brilliant tints, and the 'kerchief and +apron to match, or rather to accord, as amongst +the most elegant bonnets at the Tuileries. Their +expressive phrase of approbation for a well-dressed +woman, "<i>faite à peindre</i>," may often be applied +with quite as much justice to the peasant as to +the princess; for the same unconscious sensibility +of taste will regulate them both.</p> + +<p>It is this national feeling which renders their +stage groups, their corps <i>de ballet</i>, and all the +<i>tableaux</i> business of their theatres, so greatly superior +to all others. On these occasions, a single +blunder in colour, contrast, or position, destroys +the whole harmony, and the whole charm with it: +but you see the poor little girls hired to do angels +and graces for a few sous a night, fall into the +composition of the scene with an instinct as unerring, +as that which leads a flight of wild geese +to cleave the air in a well-adjusted triangular +phalanx, instead of scattering themselves to every +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_8" id="Page_8">8</a></span> +point of the compass; as, <i>par exemple</i>, our <i>figurantes</i> +may be often seen to do, if not kept in order +by the ballet-master as carefully as a huntsman +whistles in his pack.</p> + +<p>It is quite a relief to my eyes to find how completely +rouge appears to be gone out of fashion +here. I will not undertake to say that no bright +eyes still look brighter from having a touch of red +skilfully applied beneath them: but if this be done, +it is so well done as to be invisible, excepting by +its favourable effect; which is a prodigious improvement +upon the fashion which I well remember +here, of larding cheeks both young and old to +a degree that was quite frightful.</p> + +<p>Another improvement which I very greatly +admire is, that the majority of old ladies have +left off wearing artificial hair, and arrange their +own grey locks with all the neatness and care +possible. The effect of this upon their general +appearance is extremely favourable: Nature always +arranges things for us much better than we +can do it for ourselves; and the effect of an old +face surrounded by a maze of wanton curls, black, +brown, or flaxen, is infinitely less agreeable than +when it is seen with its own "sable silvered" +about it.</p> + +<p>I have heard it observed, and with great justice, +that rouge was only advantageous to those who +did not require it: and the same may be said with +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_9" id="Page_9">9</a></span> +equal truth of false hair. Some of the towering +pinnacles of shining jet that I have seen here, +certainly have exceeded in quantity of hair the possible +growth of any one head: but when this fabric +surmounts a youthful face which seems to have a +right to all the flowing honours that the friseur's +art can contrive to arrange above it, there is nothing +incongruous or disagreeable in the effect; +though it is almost a pity, too, to mix anything +approaching to deceptive art with the native +glories of a young head. For which sentiment +<i>messieurs les fabricans</i> of false hair will not +thank me;—for having first interdicted the use of +borrowed tresses to the old ladies, I now pronounce +my disapproval of them for the young.</p> + +<p><i>Au reste</i>, all I can tell you farther respecting +dress is, that our ladies must no longer expect to +find bargains here in any article required for the +wardrobe; on the contrary, everything of the +kind is become greatly dearer than in London: +and what is at least equally against making such +purchases here is, that the fabrics of various kinds +which we used to consider as superior to our own, +particularly those of silks and gloves, are now, I +think, decidedly inferior; and such as can be purchased +at the same price as in England, if they +can be found at all, are really too bad to use.</p> + +<p>The only foreign bargains which I long to bring +home with me are in porcelain: but this our custom-house +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_10" id="Page_10">10</a></span> +tariff forbids, and very properly; as, +without such protection, our Wedgewoods and +Mortlakes would sell but few ornamental articles; +for not only are their prices higher, but both their +material and the fashioning of it are in my opinion +extremely inferior. It is really very satisfactory +to one's patriotic feelings to be able to say honestly, +that excepting in these, and a few other +ornamental superfluities, such as or-molu and alabaster +clocks, etcætera, there is nothing that we +need wish to smuggle into our own abounding +land. +</p> + +<h2>LETTER XLIV.</h2> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_11" id="Page_11">11</a></span></p> +<p class="ch_open"> +Exclusive Soirées.—Soirée Doctrinaire.—Duc de Broglie.—Soirée +Républicaine.—Soirée Royaliste.—Partie Impériale.—Military +Greatness.—Dame de l'Empire. +</p> + +<p>Though the <i>salons</i> of Paris probably show at +the present moment the most mixed society that +can be found mingled together in the world, one +occasionally finds oneself in the midst of a set evidently +of one stamp, and indeed proclaiming itself +to be so; for wherever this happens, the assembly +is considered as peculiarly chosen and select, and +as having all the dignity of exclusiveness.</p> + +<p>The picture of Paris as it is, may perhaps be +better caught at a glance at a party collected together +without any reference to politics or principles +of any kind; but I have been well pleased +to find myself on three different occasions admitted +to <i>soirées</i> of the exclusive kind.</p> + +<p>At the first of these, I was told the names of +most of the company by a kind friend who sat +near me, and thus became aware that I had the +honour of being in company with most of King +Philippe's present ministry. Three or four of these +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_12" id="Page_12">12</a></span> +gentlemen were introduced to me, and I had the +advantage of seeing <i>de près</i>, during their hours of +relaxation, the men who have perhaps at this +moment as heavy a weight of responsibility upon +their shoulders as any set of ministers ever sustained.</p> + +<p>Nevertheless, nothing like gloom, preoccupation, +or uneasiness, appeared to pervade them; and yet +that chiefest subject of anxiety, the <i>Procès Monstre</i>, +was by no means banished from their discourse. +Their manner of treating it, however, +was certainly not such as to make one believe that +they were at all likely to sink under their load, or +that they felt in any degree embarrassed or distressed +by it.</p> + +<p>Some of the extravagances of <i>les accusés</i> were +discussed gaily enough, and the general tone was +that of men who knew perfectly well what they +were about, and who found more to laugh at than +to fear in the opposition and abuse they encountered. +This light spirit however, which to me +seemed fair enough in the hours of recreation, had +better not be displayed on graver occasions, as it +naturally produces exasperation on the part of the +prisoners, which, however little dangerous it may +be to the state, is nevertheless a feeling which +should not be unnecessarily excited. In that +amusing paper or magazine—I know not which +may be its title—called the "Chronique de Paris," +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_13" id="Page_13">13</a></span> +I read some days ago a letter describing one of the +<i>séances</i> of the Chamber of Peers on this <i>procès</i>, in +which the gaiety manifested by M. de Broglie is +thus censured:—</p> + +<p>"J'ai fait moi-même partie de ce public privilégié +que les accusés ne reconnaissent pas comme un +vrai public, et j'ai pu assister jeudi à cette dramatique +audience où la voix tonnante d'un accusé +lisant une protestation, a couvert la voix du ministère +public. J'étais du nombre de ceux qui ont +eu la fièvre de cette scène, et je n'ai pu comprendre, +au milieu de l'agitation générale, qu'un homme +aussi bien élevé que M. de Broglie (je ne dis pas +qu'un ministre) trouvât seul qu'il y avait là sujet +de rire en lorgnant ce vrai Romain, comparable à +ces tribuns qui, dans les derniers temps de la +république, faisaient trembler les patriciens sur +leurs chaises curules."</p> + +<p>"<i>Ce vrai Romain</i>," however, rather deserved +to be scourged than laughed at; for never did any +criminal when brought to the bar of his country +insult its laws and its rulers more grossly than +the prisoner Beaune on this occasion. If indeed +the accounts which reach us by the daily papers +are not exaggerated, the outrageous conduct of the +accused furnishes at every sitting sufficient cause +for anger and indignation, however unworthy it +may be of inspiring anything approaching to a +feeling of alarm: and the calm, dignified, and +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_14" id="Page_14">14</a></span> +temperate manner in which the Chamber of Peers +has hitherto conducted itself may serve, I think, as +an example to many other legislative assemblies.</p> + +<p>The ministers of Louis-Philippe are very fortunate +that the mode of trial decided on by them +in this troublesome business is likely to be carried +through by the upper house in a manner so little +open to reasonable animadversion. The duty, and +a most harassing one it is, has been laid upon +them, as many think, illegally; but the task has +been imposed by an authority which it is their +duty to respect, and they have entered upon it in +a spirit that does them honour.</p> + +<p>The second exclusive party to which I was +fortunate enough to be admitted, was in all respects +quite the reverse of the first. The fair +mistress of the mansion herself assured me that +there was not a single doctrinaire present.</p> + +<p>Here, too, the eternal subject of the <i>Procès +Monstre</i> was discussed, but in a very different +tone, and with feelings as completely as possible in +opposition to those which dictated the lively and +triumphant sort of persiflage to which I had before +listened. Nevertheless, the conversation was anything +but <i>triste</i>, as the party was in truth particularly +agreeable; but, amidst flashes of wit, +sinister sounds that foreboded future revolutions +grumbled every now and then like distant thunder. +Then there was shrugging of shoulders, and shaking +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_15" id="Page_15">15</a></span> +of heads, and angry taps upon the snuff-box; +and from time to time, amid the prattle of pretty +women, and the well-turned <i>gentillesses</i> of those +they prattled to, might be heard such phrases as, +"Tout n'est pas encore fini".... "Nous verrons +... nous verrons".... "S'ils sont arbitraires!" +... and the like.</p> + +<p>The third set was as distinct as may be from +the two former. This reunion was in the quartier +St. Germain; and, if the feeling which I know +many would call prejudice does not deceive me, +the tone of first-rate good society was greatly more +conspicuous here than at either of the others. By +all the most brilliant personages who adorned the +other two <i>soirées</i> which I have described, I strongly +suspect that the most distinguished of this third +would be classed as <i>rococo</i>; but they were composed +of the real stuff that constitutes the true +patrician, for all that. Many indeed were quite +of the old régime, and many others their noble +high-minded descendants: but whether they were +old or young,—whether remarkable for having +played a distinguished part in the scenes that have +been, or for sustaining the chivalric principles of +their race, by quietly withdrawing from the scenes +that are,—in either case they had that air of inveterate +superiority which I believe nothing on +earth but gentle blood can give.</p> + +<p>There is a fourth class still, consisting of the +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_16" id="Page_16">16</a></span> +dignitaries of the Empire, which, if they ever +assemble in distinct committee, I have yet to +become acquainted with. But I suspect that this +is not the case: one may perhaps meet them more +certainly in some houses than in others; but, unless +it be around the dome of the Invalides, I do not +believe that they are to be found anywhere as a +class apart.</p> + +<p>Nothing, however, can be less difficult than to +trace them: they are as easily discerned as a +boiled lobster among a panier full of such as are +newly caught.</p> + +<p>That amusing little vaudeville called, I think, +"La Dame de l'Empire," or some such title, +contains the best portrait of a whole <i>clique</i>, under +the features of an individual character, of any +comedy I know.</p> + +<p>None of the stormy billows which have rolled +over France during the last forty years have +thrown up a race so strongly marked as those +produced by the military era of the Empire. The +influence of the enormous power which was then +in action has assuredly in some directions left +most noble vestiges. Wherever science was at +work, this power propelled it forward; and ages +yet unborn may bless for this the fostering patronage +of Napoleon: some midnight of devastation +and barbarism must fall upon the world before +what he has done of this kind can be obliterated. +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_17" id="Page_17">17</a></span></p> + +<p>But the same period, while it brought forth +from obscurity talent and enterprise which without +its influence would never have been greeted +by the light of day, brought forward at the same +time legions of men and women to whom this +light and their advanced position in society are by +no means advantageous in the eyes of a passing +looker-on.</p> + +<p>I have heard that it requires three generations +to make a gentleman. Those created by Napoleon +have not yet fairly reached a second; and, +with all respect for talent, industry, and valour +be it spoken, the necessity of this slow process +very frequently forces itself upon one's conviction +at Paris.</p> + +<p>It is probable that the great refinement of the +post-imperial aristocracy of France may be one +reason why the deficiencies of those now often +found mixed up with them is so remarkable. It +would be difficult to imagine a contrast in manner +more striking than that of a lady who would be +a fair specimen of the old Bourbon <i>noblesse</i>, and a +bouncing <i>maréchale</i> of Imperial creation. It seems +as if every particle of the whole material of which +each is formed gave evidence of the different birth +of the spirit that dwells within. The sound of +the voice is a contrast; the glance of the eye is a +contrast; the smile is a contrast; the step is a contrast. +Were every feature of a <i>dame de l'Empire</i> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_18" id="Page_18">18</a></span> +and a <i>femme noble</i> formed precisely in the same +mould, I am quite sure that the two would look +no more alike than Queen Constance and Nell +Gwyn.</p> + +<p>Nor is there at all less difference in the two +races of gentlemen. I speak not of the men of +science or of art; their rank is of another kind: +but there are still left here and there specimens +of decorated greatness which look as if they must +have been dragged out of the guard-room by main +force; huge moustached militaires, who look at +every slight rebuff as if they were ready to exclaim, +"Sacré nom de D* * *! je suis un héros, +moi! Vive l'Empereur!"</p> + +<p>A good deal is sneeringly said respecting the +parvenus fashionables of the present day: but +station, and place, and court favour, must at any +rate give something of reality to the importance +of those whom the last movement has brought to +the top; and this is vastly less offensive than the +empty, vulgar, camp-like reminiscences of Imperial +patronage which are occasionally brought forward +by those who may thank their sabre for having +cut a path for them into the salons of Paris. The +really great men of the Empire—and there are +certainly many of them—have taken care to have +other claims to distinction attached to their names +than that of having been dragged out of heaven +knows what profound obscurity by Napoleon: I +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_19" id="Page_19">19</a></span> +may say of such, in the words of the soldier in +Macbeth—</p> +<div class="poem"> +<p class="o1">"If I say sooth, I must report they were</p> +<p>As cannon overcharged with double cracks."</p> +</div> + +<p>As for the elderly ladies, who, from simple little +bourgeoises demoiselles, were in those belligerent +days sabred and trumpeted into maréchales and +duchesses, I must think that they make infinitely +worse figures in a drawing-room, than those who, +younger in years and newer in dignity, have all +their blushing honours fresh upon them. Besides, +in point of fact, the having one Bourbon prince +instead of another upon the throne, though greatly +to be lamented from the manner in which it was +accomplished, can hardly be expected to produce +so violent a convulsion among the aristocracy of +France, as must of necessity have ensued from the +reign of a soldier of fortune, though the mightiest +that ever bore arms.</p> + +<p>Many of the noblest races of France still remain +wedded to the soil that has been for ages native +to their name. Towards these it is believed that +King Louis-Philippe has no very repulsive feelings; +and should no farther changes come upon +the country—no more immortal days arise to push +all men from their stools, it is probable that the +number of these will not diminish in the court +circles.</p> + +<p>Meanwhile, the haut-ton born during the last +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_20" id="Page_20">20</a></span> +revolution must of course have an undisputed +<i>entrée</i> everywhere; and if by any external marks +they are particularly brought forward to observation, +it is only, I think, by a toilet among the ladies +more costly and less simple than that of their +high-born neighbours; and among the gentlemen, +by a general air of prosperity and satisfaction, +with an expression of eye sometimes a little triumphant, +often a little patronizing, and always a +little busy.</p> + +<p>It was a duchess, and no less, who decidedly +gave me the most perfect idea of an Imperial +parvenue that I have ever seen off the stage. +When a lady of this class attains so very elevated +a rank, the perils of her false position multiply +around her. A quiet bourgeoise turned into a +noble lady of the third or fourth degree is likely +enough to look a little awkward; but if she has +the least tact in the world, she may remain tranquil +and <i>sans ridicule</i> under the honourable shelter +of those above her. But when she becomes a +duchess, the chances are terribly against her: +"Madame la Duchesse" must be conspicuous; and +if in addition to mauvais ton she should par malheur +be a bel esprit, adding the pretension of literature +to that of station, it is likely that she will +be very remarkable indeed.</p> +<div class="figcenter p6" style="width: 415px;"><a name="illo20" id="illo20"></a> +<img src="images/illo032.jpg" width="415" height="600" alt="Soiree" /> + +<p class="smcap s05">Drawn & Etched by A. Hervieu.</p> + +<p class="caption"><span class="smcap">Soiree.</span></p> + +<p class="s05 caption">London. Published by Richard Bentley. 1835.</p> +</div> + +<p>My parvenue duchess <i>is</i> very remarkable indeed. +She steps out like a corporal carrying a message: +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_21" id="Page_21">21</a></span> +her voice is the first, the last, and almost the +only thing heard in the salon that she honours +with her presence,—except it chance, indeed, that +she lower her tone occasionally to favour with a +whisper some gallant <i>décoré</i>, military, scientific +or artistic, of the same standing as herself; and +moreover, she promenades her eyes over the company +as if she had a right to bring them all to +roll-call.</p> + +<p>Notwithstanding all this, the lady is certainly +a person of talent; and had she happily remained +in the station in which both herself and her +husband were born, she might not perhaps have +thought it necessary to speak quite so loud, and +her bons mots would have produced infinitely +greater effect. But she is so thoroughly out of +place in the grade to which she has been unkindly +elevated, that it seems as if Napoleon had +decided on her fate in a humour as spiteful as +that of Monsieur Jourdain, when he said—</p> + +<p>"Votre fille sera marquise, en dépit de tout le +monde: et si vous me mettez en colère, je la +ferai duchesse."</p> + +<h2>LETTER XLV.</h2> +<p> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_22" id="Page_22">22</a></span></p> +<p class="ch_open"> +L'Abbé Lacordaire.—Various Statements respecting him.—Poetical +description of Notre Dame.—The prophecy of a +Roman Catholic.—Les Jeunes Gens de Paris—Their omnipotence. +</p> + +<p>The great reputation of another preacher induced +us on Sunday to endure two hours more of +tedious waiting before the mass which preceded +the sermon began. It is only thus that a chair can +be hoped for when the Abbé Lacordaire mounts +the pulpit of Notre Dame. The penalty is really +heavy; but having heard this celebrated person +described as one who "appeared sent by Heaven to +restore France to Christianity"—as "a hypocrite +that set Tartuffe immeasurably in the background"—as +"a man whose talent surpassed that of any +preacher since Bossuet"—and as "a charlatan who +ought to harangue from a tub, instead of from the +<i>chaire de Notre Dame de Paris</i>,"—I determined +upon at least seeing and hearing him, however +little I might be able to decide on which of the +two sides of the prodigious chasm that yawned +between his friends and enemies the truth was +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_23" id="Page_23">23</a></span> +most likely to be found. There were, however, +several circumstances which lessened the tedium +of this long interval: I might go farther, and +confess that this period was by no means the least +profitable portion of the four hours which we +passed in the church.</p> + +<p>On entering, we found the whole of the enormous +nave railed in, as it had been on Easter +Sunday for the concert (for so in truth should +that performance be called); but upon applying at +the entrance to this enclosure, we were told that +no ladies could be admitted to that part of the +church—but that the side aisles were fully furnished +with chairs, and afforded excellent places.</p> + +<p>This arrangement astonished me in many ways:—first, +as being so perfectly un-national; for go +where you will in France, you find the best places +reserved for the women,—at least, this was the +first instance in which I ever found it otherwise. +Next, it astonished me, because at every church +I had entered, the congregations, though always +crowded, had been composed of at least twelve +women to one man. When, therefore, I looked +over the barrier upon the close-packed, well-adjusted +rows of seats prepared to receive fifteen +hundred persons, I thought that unless all the +priests in Paris came in person to do honour to +their eloquent confrère, it was very unlikely that +this uncivil arrangement should be found necessary. +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_24" id="Page_24">24</a></span> +There was no time, however, to waste in +conjecture; the crowd already came rushing in +at every door, and we hastened to secure the best +places that the side aisles afforded. We obtained +seats between the pillars immediately opposite to +the pulpit, and felt well enough contented, having +little doubt that a voice which had made itself +heard so well must have power to reach even to +the side aisles of Notre Dame.</p> + +<p>The first consolation which I found for my long +waiting, after placing myself in that attitude of +little ease which the straight-backed chair allowed, +was from the recollection that the interval +was to be passed within the venerable walls of +Notre Dame. It is a glorious old church, and +though not comparable in any way to Westminster +Abbey, or to Antwerp, or Strasburg, or Cologne, +or indeed to many others which I might +name, has enough to occupy the eye very satisfactorily +for a considerable time. The three elegant +rose-windows, throwing in their coloured +light from north, west, and south, are of themselves +a very pretty study for half an hour or so; +and besides, they brought back, notwithstanding +their miniature diameter of forty feet, the remembrance +of the magnificent circular western window +of Strasburg—the recollection of which was +almost enough to while away another long interval. +Then I employed myself, not very successfully, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_25" id="Page_25">25</a></span> +in labouring to recollect the quaint old +verses which I had fallen upon a few days before, +giving the dimensions of the church, and which I +will herewith transcribe for your use and amusement, +in case you should ever find yourself sitting +as I was, <i>bolt upright</i>, as we elegantly express +ourselves when describing this ecclesiastical-Parisian +attitude, while waiting the advent of the +Abbé Lacordaire.</p> + +<div class="poem"> +<p class="o1">"Si tu veux savoir comme est ample</p> +<p>De Notre Dame le grand temple,</p> +<p>Il y a, dans œuvre, pour le seur,</p> +<p>Dix et sept toises de hauteur,</p> +<p>Sur la largeur de vingt-quatre,</p> +<p>Et soixante-cinq, sans rebattre,</p> +<p>A de long; aux tours haut montées</p> +<p>Trente-quatre sont comptées;</p> +<p>Le tout fondé sur pilotis—</p> +<p>Aussi vrai que je te le dis."</p> +</div> + +<p>While repeating this poetical description, you +have only to remember that <i>une toise</i> is the same +as a fathom,—that is to say, six feet; and then, +as you turn your head in all directions to look +about you, you will have the satisfaction of knowing +exactly how far you can see in each.</p> + +<p>I had another source of amusement, and by no +means a trifling one, in watching the influx of +company. The whole building soon contained +as many human beings as could be crammed into +it; and the seats, which we thought, as we took +them, were very so-so places indeed, became accomodations +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_26" id="Page_26">26</a></span> +for which to be most heartily +thankful. Not a pillar but supported the backs +of as many men as could stand round it; and +not a jutting ornament, the balustrade of a side +altar, or any other "point of 'vantage," but looked +as if a swarm of bees were beginning to hang +upon it.</p> + +<p>But the sight which drew my attention most +was that displayed by the exclusive central aisle. +When told that it was reserved for gentlemen, I +imagined of course that I should see it filled by +a collection of staid-looking, middle-aged, Catholic +citizens, who were drawn together from all parts +of the town, and perhaps the country too, for +the purpose of hearing the celebrated preacher: +but, to my great astonishment, instead of this I +saw pouring in by dozens at a time, gay, gallant, +smart-looking young men, such indeed as I had +rarely seen in Paris on any other religious occasion. +Amongst these was a sprinkling of older +men; but the great majority were decidedly under +thirty. The meaning of this phenomenon I could +by no means understand; but while I was tormenting +myself to discover some method of obtaining +information respecting it, accident brought +relief to my curiosity in the shape of a communicative +neighbour.</p> + +<p>In no place in the world is it so easy, I believe, +to enter into conversation with strangers as in +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_27" id="Page_27">27</a></span> +Paris. There is a courteous inclination to welcome +every attempt at doing so which pervades +all ranks, and any one who wishes it may easily +find or make opportunities of hearing the opinions +of all classes. The present time, too, is +peculiarly favourable for this; a careless freedom +in uttering opinions of all kinds being, I think, +the most remarkable feature in the manners of +Paris at the present day.</p> + +<p>I have heard that it is difficult to get a tame, +flat, short, matter-of-fact answer from a genuine +Irishman;—from a genuine Frenchman it is impossible: +let his reply to a question which seeks +information contain as little of it as the dry Anglicism +"I don't know," it is never given without +a tone or a turn of phrase that not only relieves +its inanity, but leaves you with the agreeable +persuasion that the speaker would be more satisfactory +if he could, and moreover that he would +be extremely happy to reply to any further questions +you may wish to ask, either on the same, +or any other subject whatever.</p> + +<p>It was in consequence of my moving my chair +an inch and a half to accommodate the long +limbs of a grey-headed neighbour, that he was induced +to follow his "Milles pardons, madame!" +with an observation on the inconvenience endured +on the present occasion by the appropriation of +all the best places to the gentlemen. It was +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_28" id="Page_28">28</a></span> +quite contrary, he added, to the usual spirit of +Parisian arrangements; and yet, in fact, it was +the only means of preventing the ladies suffering +from the tremendous rush of <i>jeunes gens</i> who constantly +came to hear the Abbé Lacordaire.</p> + +<p>"I never saw so large a proportion of young +men in any congregation," said I, hoping he might +explain the mystery to me. What I heard, however, +rather startled than enlightened me.</p> + +<p>"The Catholic religion was never so likely to +be spread over the whole earth as it is at present," +he replied. "The kingdom of Ireland will +speedily become fully reconciled to the see of +Rome. Le Sieur O'Connell desires to be canonized. +Nothing, in truth, remains for that portion +of your country to do, but to follow the example +we set during our famous Three Days, and place +a prince of its own choosing upon the throne."</p> + +<p>I am persuaded that he thought we were Irish +Roman Catholics: our sitting with such exemplary +patience to wait for the preaching of this +new apostle was not, I suppose, to be otherwise accounted +for. I said nothing to undeceive him, but +wishing to bring him back to speak of the congregation +before us, I replied,</p> + +<p>"Paris at least, if we may judge from the vast +crowd collected here, is more religious than she +has been of late years."</p> + +<p>"France," replied he with energy, "as you +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_29" id="Page_29">29</a></span> +may see by looking at this throng, is no longer +the France of 1823, when her priests sang canticles +to the tune of "<i>Ça ira</i>." France is happily +become most deeply and sincerely Catholic. Her +priests are once more her orators, her magnates, +her highest dignitaries. She may yet give cardinals +to Rome—and Rome may again give a +minister to France."</p> + +<p>I knew not what to answer: my silence did +not seem to please him, and I believe he began +to suspect he had mistaken the party altogether, +for after sitting for a few minutes quite silent, he +rose from the place into which he had pushed +himself with considerable difficulty, and making +his way through the crowd behind us, disappeared; +but I saw him again, before we left the +church, standing on the steps of the pulpit.</p> + +<p>The chair he left was instantly occupied by +another gentleman, who had before found standing-room +near it. He had probably remarked +our sociable propensities, for he immediately began +talking to us.</p> + +<p>"Did you ever see anything like the fashion +which this man has obtained?" said he. "Look +at those <i>jeunes gens</i>, madame! ... might one +not fancy oneself at a première représentation?"</p> + +<p>"Those must be greatly mistaken," I replied, +"who assert that the young men of Paris are not +among her <i>fidèles</i>." +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_30" id="Page_30">30</a></span></p> + +<p>"Do you consider their appearing here a proof +that they are religious?" inquired my neighbour +with a smile.</p> + +<p>"Certainly I do, sir," I replied: "how can I +interpret it otherwise?"</p> + +<p>"Perhaps not—perhaps to a stranger it must +have this appearance; but to a man who knows +Paris...." He smiled again very expressively, +and, after a short pause, added—"Depend upon +it, that if a man of equal talent and eloquence +with this Abbé Lacordaire were to deliver a +weekly discourse in favour of atheism, these +very identical young men would be present to +hear him."</p> + +<p>"Once they might," said I, "from curiosity: +but that they should follow him, as I understand +they do, month after month, if what he uttered +were at variance with their opinions, seems almost +inconceivable."</p> + +<p>"And yet it is very certainly the fact," he replied: +"whoever can contrive to obtain the reputation +of talent at Paris, let the nature of it be +of what kind it may, is quite sure that <i>les jeunes +gens</i> will resort to hear and see him. They believe +themselves of indefeasible right the sole arbitrators +of intellectual reputation; and let the +direction in which it is shown be as foreign as +may be to their own pursuits, they come as a +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_31" id="Page_31">31</a></span> +matter of prescriptive right to put their seal upon +the aspirant's claim, or to refuse it."</p> + +<p>"Then, at least, they acknowledge that the +Abbé's words have power, or they would not grant +their suffrage to him."</p> + +<p>"They assuredly acknowledge that his words +have eloquence; but if by power, you mean power +of conviction, or conversion, I do assure you that +they acknowledge nothing like it. Not only do I +believe that these young men are themselves +sceptics, but I do not imagine that there is one +in ten of them who has the least faith in the +Abbé's own orthodoxy."</p> + +<p>"But what right have they to doubt it?... +Surely he would hardly be permitted to preach at +Notre Dame, where the archbishop himself sits in +judgment on him, were he otherwise than orthodox?"</p> + +<p>"I was at school with him," he replied: "he +was a fine sharp-witted boy, and gave very early +demonstrations of a mind not particularly given +either to credulity, or subservience to any doctrines +that he found puzzling."</p> + +<p>"I should say that this was the greatest proof +of his present sincerity. He doubted as a boy—but +as a man he believes."</p> + +<p>"That is not the way the story goes," said he. +"But hark! there is the bell: the mass is about +to commence." +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_32" id="Page_32">32</a></span></p> + +<p>He was right: the organ pealed, the fine chant +of the voices was heard above it, and in a few +minutes we saw the archbishop and his splendid +train escorting the Host to its ark upon the +altar.</p> + +<p>During the interval between the conclusion of +the mass and the arrival of the Abbé Lacordaire +in the pulpit, my sceptical neighbour again addressed +me.</p> + +<p>"Are you prepared to be very much enchanted +by what you are going to hear?" said he.</p> + +<p>"I hardly know what to expect," I replied: +"I think my idea of the preacher was higher +when I came here, than since I have heard you +speak of him."</p> + +<p>"You will find that he has a prodigious flow of +words, much vehement gesticulation, and a very +impassioned manner. This is quite sufficient to +establish his reputation for eloquence among <i>les +jeunes gens</i>."</p> + +<p>"But I presume you do not yourself subscribe +to the sentence pronounced by these young critics?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, I do,—as far, at least, as to acknowledge +that this man has not attained his reputation +without having displayed great ability. But +though all the talent of Paris has long consented +to receive its crown of laurels from the hands of +her young men, it would be hardly reasonable to +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_33" id="Page_33">33</a></span> +expect that their judgment should be as profound +as their power is great."</p> + +<p>"Your obedience to this beardless synod is certainly +very extraordinary," said I: "I cannot understand +it."</p> + +<p>"I suppose not," said he, laughing; "it is +quite a Paris fashion; but we all seem contented +that it should be so. If a new play appears, its +fate must be decided by <i>les jeunes gens</i>; if a picture +is exhibited, its rank amidst the works of +modern art can only be settled by them: does a +dancer, a singer, an actor, or a preacher appear—a +new member in the tribune, or a new prince upon +the throne,—it is still <i>les jeunes gens</i> who must +pass judgment on them all; and this judgment +is quoted with a degree of deference utterly inconceivable +to a stranger."</p> + +<p>"Chut! ... chut!" ... was at this moment +uttered by more than one voice near us: "le +voilà!" I glanced my eye towards the pulpit, +but it was still empty; and on looking round me, +I perceived that all eyes were turned in the direction +of a small door in the north aisle, almost immediately +behind us. "Il est entré là!" said a +young woman near us, in a tone that seemed to +indicate a feeling deeper than respect, and, in +truth, not far removed from adoration. Her eyes +were still earnestly fixed upon the door, and continued +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_34" id="Page_34">34</a></span> +to be so, as well as those of many others, +till it reopened and a slight young man in the +dress of a priest prepared for the <i>chaire</i> appeared +at it. A verger made way for him through the +crowd, which, thick and closely wedged as it was, +fell back on each side of him, as he proceeded to +the pulpit, with much more docility than I ever +saw produced by the clearing a passage through +the intervention of a troop of horse.</p> + +<p>Silence the most profound accompanied his progress; +I never witnessed more striking demonstrations +of respect: and yet it is said that three-fourths +of Paris believe this man to be a hypocrite.</p> + +<p>As soon as he had reached the pulpit, and while +preparing himself by silent prayer for the duty he +was about to perform, a movement became perceptible +at the upper part of the choir; and presently +the archbishop and his splendid retinue of +clergy were seen moving in a body towards that +part of the nave which is immediately in front of +the preacher. On arriving at the space reserved +for them, each noiselessly dropped into his allotted +seat according to his place and dignity, while the +whole congregation respectfully stood to watch +the ceremony, and seemed to</p> + +<p class="poem"> +"Admirer un si bel ordre, et reconnaître l'église."</p> + +<p>It is easier to describe to you everything which +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_35" id="Page_35">35</a></span> +preceded the sermon, than the sermon itself. This +was such a rush of words, such a burst and pouring +out of passionate declamation, that even before +I had heard enough to judge of the matter, I +felt disposed to prejudge the preacher, and to suspect +that his discourse would have more of the +flourish and furbelow of human rhetoric than of +the simplicity of divine truth in it.</p> + +<p>His violent action, too, disgusted me exceedingly. +The rapid and incessant movement of his +hands, sometimes of one, sometimes of both, more +resembled that of the wings of a humming-bird +than anything else I can remember: but the <i>hum</i> +proceeded from the admiring congregation. At +every pause he made, and like the claptraps of a +bad actor, they were frequent, and evidently faits +exprès: a little gentle laudatory murmur ran +through the crowd.</p> + +<p>I remember reading somewhere of a priest +nobly born, and so anxious to keep his flock in +their proper place, that they might not come "between +the wind and his nobility," that his constant +address to them when preaching was, "Canaille +Chrétienne!" This was bad—very bad, certainly; +but I protest, I doubt if the Abbé Lacordaire's +manner of addressing his congregation as +"Messieurs" was much less unlike the fitting +tone of a Christian pastor. This mundane apostrophe +was continually repeated throughout the +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_36" id="Page_36">36</a></span> +whole discourse, and, I dare say, had its share +in producing the disagreeable effect I experienced +from his eloquence. I cannot remember having +ever heard a preacher I less liked, reverenced, and +admired, than this new Parisian saint. He made +very pointed allusions to the reviving state of the +Roman Catholic Church in Ireland, and anathematized +pretty cordially all such as should oppose +it.</p> + +<p>In describing the two hours' prologue to the +mass, I forgot to mention that many young men—not +in the reserved places of the centre aisle, +but sitting near us, beguiled the tedious interval +by reading. Some of the volumes they held had +the appearance of novels from a circulating library, +and others were evidently collections of +songs, probably less spiritual than <i>spirituels</i>.</p> + +<p>The whole exhibition certainly showed me a +new page in the history of <i>Paris as it is</i>, and I +therefore do not regret the four hours it cost me: +but once is enough—I certainly will never go to +hear the Abbé Lacordaire again. +</p> + +<h2>LETTER XLVI.</h2> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_37" id="Page_37">37</a></span></p> +<p class="ch_open"> +La Tour de Nesle. +</p> + +<p>It is, I believe, nearly two years ago since the +very extraordinary drama called "La Tour de +Nesle" was sent me to read, as a specimen of the +outrageous school of dramatic extravagance which +had taken possession of all the theatres in Paris; +but I certainly did not expect that it would keep +its place as a favourite spectacle with the people +of this great and enlightened capital long enough +for me to see it, at this distance of time, still +played before a very crowded audience.</p> + +<p>That this is a national disgrace, is most certain: +but the fault is less attributable to the want of +good taste, than to the lamentable blunder which +permits every species of vice and abomination to +be enacted before the eyes of the people, without +any restraint or check whatever, under the notion +that they are thereby permitted to enjoy a desirable +privilege and a noble freedom. Yet in this +same country it is illegal to sell a deleterious drug! +There is no logic in this. +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_38" id="Page_38">38</a></span></p> + +<p>It is however an undeniable fact, as I think I +have before stated, that the best class of Parisian +society protest against this disgusting license, and +avoid—upon principle loudly proclaimed and +avowed—either reading or seeing acted these detestable +compositions. Thus, though the crowded +audiences constantly assembled whenever they are +brought forward prove but too clearly that such +persons form but a small minority, their opinion +is nevertheless sufficient, or ought to be so, to save +the country from the disgrace of admitting that +such things are good.</p> + +<p>We seem to pique ourselves greatly on the superiority +of our taste in these matters; but let +us pique ourselves rather on our theatrical censorship. +Should the clamours and shoutings of misrule +lead to the abolition of this salutary restraint, +the consequences would, I fear, be such as very +soon to rob us of our present privilege of abusing +our neighbours on this point.</p> + +<p>While things do remain as they are, however, +we may, I think, smile a little at such a judgment +as Monsieur de Saintfoix passes upon our theatrical +compositions, when comparing them to +those of France.</p> + +<p>"Les actions de nos tragédies," says he, "sont pathétiques +et terribles; celles des tragédies angloises +sont atroces. On y met sous les yeux du spectateur +les objets les plus horribles; un mari qui +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_39" id="Page_39">39</a></span> +discourt avec sa femme, qui la caresse et l'étrangle."</p> + +<p>Might one not think that the writer of this passage +had just arrived from witnessing the famous +scene in the "Monomane," only he had mistaken +it for English? But he goes on—</p> + +<p>"Une fille toute sanglante...." (Triboulet's +daughter Blanche, for instance.)—"Après l'avoir +violée...."</p> + +<p>He then proceeds to reason upon the subject, +and justly enough, I think—only we should read +England for France, and France for England.</p> + +<p>"Il n'est pas douteux que les arts agréables +ne réussissent chez un peuple qu'autant qu'ils en +prennent le génie, et qu'un auteur dramatique ne +sauroit espérer de plaire si les objets et les images +qu'il présente ne sont pas analogues au caractère, +au naturel, et au goût de la nation: on pourroit +donc conclure de la différence des deux théâtres, +que l'âme d'un <span class="smcap">Anglais</span> est sombre, féroce, sanguinaire; +et que celle d'un <span class="smcap">Français</span> est vive, +impatiente, emportée, mais généreuse même dans +sa haine; idolatrant l'honneur"—(just like Buridan +in this same drama of the Tour de Nesle—this +popular production of <i>la Jeune France</i>—<i>la +France régénérée</i>)—"idolatrant l'honneur, +et ne cessant jamais de l'apercevoir, malgré le +trouble et toute la violence des passions."</p> + +<p>Though it is impossible to read this passage +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_40" id="Page_40">40</a></span> +without a smile, at a time when it is so easy for +the English to turn the tables against this patriotic +author, one must sigh too, while reflecting +on the lamentable change which has taken place +in the moral feeling of revolutionised France since +the period at which it was written.</p> + +<p>What would Saintfoix say to the notion that +Victor Hugo had "heaved the ground from beneath +the feet of Corneille and Racine"? The +question, however, is answered by a short sentence +in his "Essais Historiques," where he thus expresses +himself:—</p> + +<p>"Je croirois que la décadence de notre nation +seroit prochaine, si les hommes de quarante ans +n'y regardoient pas <span class="smcap">Corneille</span> comme le plus +grand génie qui ait jamais été."</p> + +<p>If the spirit of the historian were to revisit the +earth, and float over the heads of a party of Parisian +critics while pronouncing sentence on his +favourite author, he might probably return to the +shades unharmed, for he would only hear "Rococo! +Rococo! Rococo!" uttered as by acclamation; +and unskilled to comprehend the new-born +eloquence, he would doubtless interpret it as a <i>refrain</i> +to express in one pithy word all reverence, +admiration, and delight.</p> + +<p>But to return to "La Tour de Nesle." The +story is taken from a passage in Brantôme's history +"des Femmes Galantes," where he says, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_41" id="Page_41">41</a></span> +"qu'une reine de France"—whom however he +does not name, but who is said to have been +Marguérite de Bourgogne, wife of Louis Dix—"se +tenoit là (à la Tour de Nesle) d'ordinaire, +laquelle fesant le guet aux passans, et ceux qui +lui revenoient et agréoient le plus, de quelque +sorte de gens que ce fussent, les fesoit appeler +et venir à soy, et après ... les fesoit précipiter +du haut de la tour en bas, en l'eau, et les fesoit +noyer. Je ne veux pas," he continues, "assurer +que cela soit vrai, mais le vulgaire, au moins la +plupart de Paris, l'affirme, et n'y a si commun +qu'en lui montrant la tour seulement, et en l'interrogeant, +que de lui-même ne le die."</p> + +<p>This story one might imagine was horrible and +disgusting enough; but MM. Gaillardet et * * * * * +(it is thus the authors announce themselves) +thought otherwise, and accordingly they have +introduced her majesty's sisters, the ladies Jeanne +and Blanche of Burgundy, who were both likewise +married to sons of Philippe-le-Bel, the brothers +of Louis Dix, to share her nocturnal orgies. +These "imaginative and powerful" scenic historians +also, according to the fashion of the day +among the theatrical writers of France, add incest +to increase the interest of the drama.</p> + +<p>This is enough, and too much, as to the plot; +and for the execution of it by the authors, I can +only say that it is about equal in literary merit +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_42" id="Page_42">42</a></span> +to the translations of an Italian opera handed +about at the Haymarket. It is in prose—and, to +my judgment, very vulgar prose; yet it is not +only constantly acted, but I am assured that the +sale of it has been prodigiously great, and still +continues to be so.</p> + +<p>That a fearful and even hateful story, dressed +up in all the attractive charm of majestic poetry, +and redeemed in some sort by the noble sentiments +of the personages brought into the scenes +of which it might be the foundation—that a +drama so formed might captivate the imagination +even while it revolted the feelings, is very +possible, very natural, and nowise disgraceful +either to the poet, or to those whom his talent +may lead captive. The classic tragedies which +long served as models to France abound in fables +of this description. Alfieri, too, has made use +of such, following with a poet's wing the steady +onward flight of remorseless destiny, yet still sublime +in pathos and in dignity, though appalling +in horror. In like manner, the great French +dramatists have triumphed by the power of their +genius, both over the disgust inspired by these +awful classic mysteries, and the unbending strictness +of the laws which their antique models +enforced for their composition.</p> + +<p>If we may herein deem the taste to have been +faulty, the grace, the majesty, the unswerving +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_43" id="Page_43">43</a></span> +dignity of the tragic march throughout the whole +action—the lofty sentiments, the bursts of noble +passion, and the fine drapery of stately verse in +which the whole was clothed, must nevertheless +raise our admiration to a degree that may perhaps +almost compete with what we feel for the +enchanting wildness and unshackled nature of +our native dramas.</p> + +<p>But what can we think of those who, having +ransacked the pages of history to discover whatever +was most revolting to the human soul, +should sit down to arrange it in action, detailed +at full length, with every hateful circumstance +exaggerated and brought out to view for the +purpose of tickling the curiosity of his countrymen +and countrywomen, and by that means beguiling +them into the contemplation of scenes +that Virtue would turn from with loathing, and +before which Innocence must perish as she gazes? +No gleam of goodness throughout the whole for +the heart to cling to,—no thought of remorseful +penitence,—no spark of noble feeling; nothing +but vice,—low, grovelling, brutal vice,—from the +moment the curtain rises to display the obscene +spectacle, to that which sees it fall between the +fictitious infamy on one side, and the real impurity +left on the other!</p> + +<p>As I looked on upon the hideous scene, and +remembered the classic horrors of the Greek tragedians, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_44" id="Page_44">44</a></span> +and of the mighty imitators who have +followed them, I could not help thinking that the +performance of MM. Gaillardet et * * * * * was +exceedingly like that of a monkey mimicking the +operations of a man. He gets hold of the same +tools, but turns the edges the wrong way; and +instead of raising a majestic fabric in honour +of human genius, he rolls the materials in mud, +begrimes his own paws in the slimy cement, and +then claws hold of every unwary passenger who +comes within his reach, and bespatters him with +the rubbish he has brought together. Such monkeys +should be chained, or they will do much +mischief.</p> + +<p>It is hardly possible that such dramas as the +"Tour de Nesle" can be composed with the intention +of producing a great tragic effect; which is +surely the only reason which can justify bringing +sin and misery before the eyes of an audience. +There is in almost every human heart a strange +love for scenes of terror and of woe. We love to +have our sympathies awakened—our deepest feelings +roused; we love to study in the magic mirror +of the scene what we ourselves might feel did such +awful visitations come upon us; and there is an +unspeakable interest inspired by looking on, and +fancying that were it so with us, we might so +act, so feel, so suffer, and so die. But is there +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_45" id="Page_45">45</a></span> +in any land a wretch so lost, so vile, as to be +capable of feeling sympathy with any sentiment +or thought expressed throughout the whole progress +of this "Tour de Nesle"? God forbid!</p> + +<p>I have heard of poets who have written under +the inspiration of brandy and laudanum—the +exhalations from which are certainly not likely +to form themselves into images of distinctness or +beauty; but the inspiration that dictated the +"Tour de Nesle" must have been something viler +still, though not less powerful. It must, I think, +have been the cruel calculation of how many +dirty francs might be expressed from the pockets +of the idle, by a spectacle new from its depth of +atrocity, and attractive from its newness.</p> + +<p>But, setting aside for a moment the sin and +the scandal of producing on a public stage such +a being as the woman to whom MM. Gaillardet +et * * * * * have chosen to give the name of Marguérite +de Bourgogne, it is an object of some +curiosity to examine the literary merits of a piece +which, both on the stage and in the study, has +been received by so many thousands—perhaps +millions—of individuals belonging to "<i>la grande +nation</i>" as a work deserving their patronage and +support—or at least as deserving their attention +and attendance for years; years, too, of hourly +progressive intellect—years during which the +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_46" id="Page_46">46</a></span> +march of mind has outdone all former marches +of human intelligence—years during which Young +France has been labouring to throw off her ancient +coat of worn-out rococoism, and to clothe +herself in new-fledged brightness. During these +years she has laid on one shelf her once-venerated +Corneille,—on another, her almost worshipped Racine. +Molière is named but as a fine antique; +and Voltaire himself, spite of his strong claims +upon their revolutionary affections, can hardly +be forgiven for having said of the two whom +Victor Hugo is declared to have overthrown, that +"Ces hommes enseignèrent à la nation, à penser, +à sentir, à s'exprimer; leurs auditeurs, instruits +par eux seuls, devinrent enfin des juges sévères +pour eux mêmes qui les avaient éclairés." Let +any one whose reason is not totally overthrown +by the fever and delirium of innovation read the +"Tour de Nesle," and find out if he can any single +scene, speech, or phrase deserving the suffrage +which Paris has accorded to it. Has the dialogue +either dignity, spirit, or truth of nature to recommend +it? Is there a single sentiment throughout +the five acts with which an honest man can +accord? Is there even an approach to grace or +beauty in the <i>tableaux</i>? or skill in the arrangement +of the scenes? or keeping of character +among the demoniacal <i>dramatis personæ</i> which +MM. Gaillardet et * * * * * have brought together? +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_47" id="Page_47">47</a></span> +or, in short, any one merit to recommend it—except +only its superlative defiance of common +decency and common sense?</p> + +<p>If there be any left among the men of France; +I speak not now of her boys, the spoilt grandchildren +of the old revolution;—but if there be +any left among her men, as I in truth believe +there are, who deprecate this eclipse of her literary +glory, is it not sad that they should be forced +to permit its toleration, for fear they should be +sent to Ham for interfering with the liberty of +the press?</p> + +<p>It is impossible to witness the representation +of one of these infamous pieces without perceiving, +as you glance your eye around the house, who +are its patrons and supporters. At no great distance +from us, when we saw the "Tour de Nesle," +were three young men who had all of them a +most thoroughly "<i>jeunes gens</i>" and republican +cast of countenance, and tournure of person and +dress. They tossed their heads and snuffed the +theatrical air of "<i>la Jeune France</i>," as if they felt +that they were, or ought to be, her masters: and +it is a positive fact that nothing pre-eminently +absurd or offensive was done or said upon the +stage, which this trio did not mark with particular +admiration and applause.</p> + +<p>There was, however, such a saucy look of determination +to do what they knew was absurd, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_48" id="Page_48">48</a></span> +that I gave them credit for being aware of the +nonsense of what they applauded, from the very +fact that they did applaud it.</p> + +<p>It is easy enough sometimes to discover "le +vrai au travers du ridicule;" and these silly boys +were not, I am persuaded, such utter blockheads +as they endeavoured to appear. It is a bad and +mischievous tone, however; and the affecting a vice +where you have it not, is quite as detestable a sort +of hypocrisy as any other.</p> + +<p>Some thousand years hence perhaps, if any +curious collectors of rare copies should contrive +among them to preserve specimens of the French +dramas of the present day, it may happen that +while the times that are gone shall continue to be +classed as the Iron, the Golden, the Dark, and the +Augustan ages, this day of ours may become familiar +in all men's mouths as the Diabolic age,—unless, +indeed, some charitable critic shall step +forward in our defence, and bestow upon it the +gentler appellation of "the Idiot era." +</p> + +<h2>LETTER XLVII.</h2> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_49" id="Page_49">49</a></span></p> +<p class="ch_open"> +Palais Royal.—Variety of Characters.—Party of English.—Restaurant.—Galerie +d'Orléans.—Number of +Loungers.—Convenient abundance of Idle Men.—Théâtre +du Vaudeville. +</p> + +<p>Though, as a lady, you may fancy yourself quite +beyond the possibility of ever feeling any interest in +the Palais Royal, its restaurans, its trinket-shops, +ribbon-shops, toy-shops &c. &c. &c. and all the +world of misery, mischief, and good cheer which +rises <i>étage</i> after <i>étage</i> above them; I must nevertheless +indulge in a little gossip respecting it, +because few things in Paris—I might, I believe, +say nothing—can show an aspect so completely un-English +in all ways as this singular region. The +palace itself is stately and imposing, though not +externally in the very best taste. Corneille, however, +says of it,—</p> + +<div class="poem"> +<p class="o1">"L'univers entier ne peut voir rien d'égal</p> +<p>Au superbe dehors du Palais Cardinal,"</p> +</div> + +<p>as it was called from having been built and inhabited +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_50" id="Page_50">50</a></span> +by the Cardinal de Richelieu. But it is +the use made of the space which was originally +the Cardinal's garden, which gives the place its +present interest.</p> + +<p>All the world—men, women and children, +gentle and simple, rich and poor,—in short, I suppose +every living soul that enters Paris, is taken +to look at the Palais Royal. But though many +strangers linger there, alas! all too long, there are +many others who, according to my notions, do not +linger there long enough. The quickest eye cannot +catch at one glance, though that glance be +in activity during a tour made round the whole +enclosure, all the national characteristic, picturesque, +and comic groups which float about there +incessantly through at least twenty hours of the +twenty-four. I know that the Palais Royal is a +study which, in its higher walks and profoundest +depths, it would be equally difficult, dangerous, +and disagreeable to pursue: but with these altitudes +and profundities I have nothing to do; +there are abundance of objects to be seen there, +calculated and intended to meet the eyes of all +men, and women too, which may furnish matter +for observation, without either diving or climbing +in pursuit of knowledge that, after all, would be +better lost than found.</p> + +<p>But one should have the talent of Hogarth to +describe the different groups, with all their varied +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_51" id="Page_51">51</a></span> +little episodes of peculiarity, which render the +Palais Royal so amusing. These groups are, to +be sure, made up only of Parisians, and of the +wanderers who visit <i>la belle ville</i> in order to see +and be seen in every part of it; yet it is in +vain that you would seek elsewhere the same +odd selection of human beings that are to be +found sans faute in every corner of the Palais +Royal.</p> + +<p>How it happens I know not, but so it is, that +almost every person you meet here furnishes food +for speculation. If it be an elegant well-appointed +man of fashion, the fancy instantly tracks him to a +<i>salon de jeu</i>; and if you are very good-natured, +your heart will ache to think how much misery he +is likely to carry home with him. If it be a low, +skulking, semi-genteel <i>moustache</i>, with large, dark, +deep-set eyes rolling about to see whom he can +devour, you are as certain that he too is making +for a salon, as that a man with a rod and line on +his shoulder is going to fish. That pretty <i>soubrette</i>, +with her neat heels and smart silk apron, +who has evidently a few francs tied up in the +corner of the handkerchief which she holds in her +hand—do we not know that she is peering through +the window of every trinket-shop to see where +she can descry the most tempting gold ear-rings, +for the purchase of which a quarter's wages are +about to be dis-kerchiefed? +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_52" id="Page_52">52</a></span></p> + +<p>We must not overlook, and indeed it would not +be easy to do so, that well-defined domestic party +of our country-folks who have just turned into the +superb Galerie d'Orléans. Father, mother, and +daughters—how easy to guess their thoughts, and +almost their words! The portly father declares that +it would make a capital Exchange: he has not yet +seen La Bourse. He looks up to its noble height—then +steps forward a pace or two, and measures +with his eye the space on all sides—then stops, +and perhaps says to the stately lady on his arm, +(whose eyes meanwhile are wandering amidst +shawls, gloves, Cologne bottles, and Sèvres china, +first on one side and then on the other,)—"This is +not badly built; it is light and lofty—and the width +is very considerable for so slight-looking a roof; +but what is it compared to Waterloo-bridge!"</p> + +<p>Two pretty girls, with bright cheeks, dove-like +eyes, and "tresses like the morn," falling in un-numbered +ringlets, so as almost to hide their curious +yet timid glances, precede the parent pair; +but, with pretty well-taught caution, pause when +they pause, and step on when they step on. But +they can hardly look at anything; for do they not +know, though their downcast eyes can hardly be +said to see it, that those youths with coal-black +hair, favoris and imperials, are spying at them +with their lorgnettes? +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_53" id="Page_53">53</a></span></p> + +<p>Here too, as at the Tuileries, are little pavilions +to supply the insatiable thirst for politics; and +here, too, we could distinguish the melancholy +champion of the elder branch of the Bourbons, +who is at least sure to find the consolation of his +faithful "Quotidienne," and the sympathy of "La +France." The sour republican stalks up, as usual, +to seize upon the "Réformateur;" while the comfortable +doctrinaire comes forth from the Café +Véry, ruminating on the "Journal des Débats," +and the chances of his bargains at Tortoni's or +La Bourse.</p> + +<p>It was in a walk taken round three sides of the +square that we marked the figures I have mentioned, +and many more too numerous to record, on +a day that we had fixed upon to gratify our +curiosity by dining—not at Véry's, or any other +far-famed artist's, but tout bonnement at a restaurant +of quarante sous par tête. Having made our +tour, we mounted au second at numéro—I forget +what, but it was where we had been especially +recommended to make this coup d'essai. The +scene we entered upon, as we followed a long +string of persons who preceded us, was as amusing +as it was new to us all.</p> + +<p>I will not say that I should like to dine three +days in the week at the Palais Royal for quarante +sous par tête; but I will say, that I should have +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_54" id="Page_54">54</a></span> +been very sorry not to have done it once, and +moreover, that I heartily hope I may do it +again.</p> + +<p>The dinner was extremely good, and as varied +as our fancy chose to make it, each person having +privilege to select three or four plats from a carte +that it would take a day to read deliberately. +But the dinner was certainly to us the least important +part of the business. The novelty of the +spectacle, the number of strange-looking people, +and the perfect amenity and good-breeding which +seemed to reign among them all, made us look +about us with a degree of interest and curiosity +that almost caused the whole party to forget the +ostensible cause of their visit.</p> + +<p>There were many English, chiefly gentlemen, +and several Germans with their wives and daughters; +but the majority of the company was French; +and from sundry little circumstances respecting +taking the places reserved for them, and different +words of intelligence between themselves and the +waiters, it was evident that many among them +were not chance visitors, but in the daily habit of +dining there. What a singular mode of existence +is this, and how utterly inconceivable to English +feelings!... Yet habit, and perhaps prejudice, +apart, it is not difficult to perceive that it has its +advantages. In the first place, there is no management +in the world, not even that of Mrs. Primrose +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_55" id="Page_55">55</a></span> +herself, which could enable a man to dine at home, +for the sum of two francs, with the same degree +of luxury as to what he eats, that he does at one +of these restaurans. Five hundred persons are +calculated upon as the daily average of company +expected; and forty pounds of ready money in +Paris, with the skilful aid of French cooks, will +furnish forth a dinner for this number, and leave +some profit besides. Add to which, the sale of +wine is, I believe, considerable. Some part of the +receipts, however, must be withdrawn as interest +upon the capital employed. The quantity of plate +is very abundant, not only in the apparently unlimited +supply of forks and spoons, but in furnishing +the multitude of grim-looking silver bowls in +which the <i>potage</i> is served.</p> + +<p>On the whole, however, I can better understand +the possibility of five hundred dinners being +furnished daily for two francs each, by one of +these innumerable establishments, than I can the +marvel of five hundred people being daily found +by each of these to eat them. Hundreds of these +houses exist in Paris, and all of them are constantly +furnished with guests. But this manner +of living, so unnatural to us, seems not only natural, +but needful to them. They do it all so well—so +pleasantly! Imagine for a moment the sort +of tone and style such a dining-room would take +in London. I do not mean, if limited to the same +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_56" id="Page_56">56</a></span> +price, but set it greatly beyond the proportion: +let us imagine an establishment where males and +females should dine at five shillings a-head—what +din, what unsocial, yet vehement clattering, would +inevitably ensue!—not to mention the utter improbability +that such a place, really and <i>bonâ fide</i> +open to the public, should continue a reputable +resort for ladies for a week after its doors were +open.</p> + +<p>But here, everything was as perfectly respectable +and well arranged as if each little table had been +placed with its separate party in a private room +at Mivart's. It is but fair, therefore, that while +we hug ourselves, as we are all apt to do, on the +refinement which renders the exclusive privacy of +our own dining-rooms necessary to our feelings of +comfort, we should allow that equal refinement, +though of another kind, must exist among those +who, when thrown thus promiscuously together, +still retain and manifest towards each other the +same deference and good-breeding which we require +of those whom we admit to our private +circle.</p> + +<p>At this restaurant, as everywhere else in Paris, +we found it easy enough to class our <i>gens</i>. I feel +quite sure that we had around us many of the +employés du gouvernement actuel—several anciens +militaires of Napoleon's—some specimens of the +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_57" id="Page_57">57</a></span> +race distinguished by Louis Dix-huit and Charles +Dix—and even, if I do not greatly mistake, a few +relics of the Convention, and of the unfortunate +monarch who was its victim.</p> + +<p>But during this hour of rest and enjoyment all +differences seem forgotten; and however discordant +may be their feelings, two Frenchmen cannot be +seated near each other at table, without exchanging +numberless civilities, and at last entering into +conversation, so well sustained and so animated, +that instead of taking them for strangers who had +never met before, we, in our stately shyness, +would be ready to pronounce that they must be +familiar friends.</p> + +<p>Whether it be this <i>causant</i>, social temper which +makes them prefer thus living in public, or that +thus living in public makes them social, I cannot +determine to my own satisfaction; but the one is +not more remarkable and more totally unlike our +own manners than the other, and I really think +that no one who has not dined thus in Paris can +have any idea how very wide, in some directions, +the line of demarcation is between the two countries.</p> + +<p>I have on former occasions dined with a party +at places of much higher price, where the object +was to observe what a very good dinner a very +good cook could produce in Paris. But this experiment +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_58" id="Page_58">58</a></span> +offered nothing to our observation at all +approaching in interest and nationality to the +dinner of quarante sous.</p> + +<p>In the first place, you are much more likely to +meet English than French society at these costly +repasts; and in the second, if you do encounter +at them a genuine native gourmet of la Grande +Nation, he will, upon this occasion, be only doing +like ourselves,—that is to say, giving himself un +repas exquis, instead of regaling himself at home +with his family—</p> + +<p class="poem">"Sur un lièvre flanqué de deux poulets étiques."</p> + +<p>But at the humble restaurant of two francs, you +have again a new page of Paris existence to study,—and +one which, while it will probably increase +your English relish for your English home, will +show you no unprofitable picture of the amiable +social qualities of France. I think that if we +could find a people composed in equal proportions +of the two natures, they would be as near to +social perfection as it is possible to imagine.</p> + +<p>The French are almost too amiable to every one +they chance to sit near. The lively smile, the +kind empressement, the ready causerie, would be +more flattering did we not know that it was all +equally at the service of the whole world. Whereas +we are more than equally wrong in the other +extreme; having the air of suspecting that every +human being who happens to be thrown into contact +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_59" id="Page_59">59</a></span> +with us, before we know his birth, parentage, +and education, is something very dangerous, and +to be guarded against with all possible care and +precaution. Query—Do not the Germans furnish +something very like this juste milieu?</p> + +<p>Having concluded our unexpensive repast with +the prescribed tasse de café noir, we again sallied +forth to take the tour of the Palais Royal, in order +to occupy the time till the opening of the Théâtre +du Vaudeville, with which, as we were so very +close to it, we determined to finish the evening.</p> + +<p>We returned, as we came, through the noble +Galerie d'Orléans, which was now crowded with +the assembled loungers of all the numerous restaurans. +It is a gay and animated scene at any +time of the day; but at this particular hour, just +before the theatres open, and just after the gay +people have all refreshed their animal spirits, Paris +itself seems typified by the aspect of the lively, +laughing, idle throng assembled there.</p> + +<p>One reason, I believe, why Paris is so much +more amusing to a looker-on than London, is, +that it contains so many more people, in proportion +to its population, who have nothing in +the world to do but to divert themselves and +others. There are so many more idle men here, +who are contented to live on incomes that with +us would be considered as hardly sufficient to supply +a lodging; small rentiers, who prefer being +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_60" id="Page_60">60</a></span> +masters of their own time and amusing themselves +with a little, to working very hard and +being very much ennuyés with a great deal of +money. I am not quite sure that this plan +answers well when youth is past—at least for the +individuals themselves: it is probable, I think, +that as the strength, and health, and spirits fade +away, something of quieter and more substantial +comfort must often be wished for, when perhaps +it is too late to obtain it; but for others—for all +those who form the circle round which the idle +man of pleasure skims thus lightly, he is a never-failing +resource. What would become of all the +parties for amusement which take place morning, +noon, and night in Paris, if this race were extinct? +Whether they are married or single, they are +equally eligible, equally necessary, equally welcome +wherever pleasure makes the business of the +hour. With us, it is only a small and highly-privileged +class who can permit themselves to go +wherever and whenever pleasure beckons; but in +France, no lady arranging a fête, let it be of what +kind it may, has need to think twice and thrice +before she can answer the important but tormenting +question of—"But what men can we +get?"</p> + +<p>The Vaudeville was very full, but we contrived +to get a good box au second, from whence we saw, +greatly to our delectation and amusement, three +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_61" id="Page_61">61</a></span> +pretty little pieces,—"Les Gants Jaunes," "Le +Premier Amour," and "Elle est Folle;" which last +was of the larmoyante school, and much less to +my taste than the lively nonsense of the two former; +yet it was admirably well played too. +But I always go to a vaudeville with the intention +of laughing; and if this purpose fail, I am +disappointed. +</p> + +<h2>LETTER XLVIII.</h2> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_62" id="Page_62">62</a></span></p> +<p class="ch_open"> +Literary Conversation.—Modern Novelists.—Vicomte d'Arlincourt.—His +Portrait.—Châteaubriand.—Bernardin de +Saint Pierre.—Shakspeare.—Sir Walter Scott.—French +familiarity with English Authors.—Miss Mitford.—Miss +Landon.—Parisian passion for Novelty.—Extent of general +Information. +</p> + +<p>We were last night at a small party where +there was neither dancing, music, cards, nor—(wonderful +to say!) politics to amuse or occupy +us: nevertheless, it was one of the most agreeable +<i>soirées</i> at which I have been present in Paris. +The conversation was completely on literary subjects, +but totally without the pretension of a literary +society. In fact, it was purely the effect of +accident; and it was just as likely that we might +have passed the evening in talking of pictures, +or music, or rocks and rivers, as of books. But +Fate decreed that so it should be; and the consequence +was, that we had the pleasure of hearing +three Frenchmen and two Frenchwomen talk for +three hours of the literature of their country. I +do not mean to assert that no other person +spoke—but the frais de la conversation were certainly +furnished by the five natives. +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_63" id="Page_63">63</a></span></p> + +<p>One of the gentlemen, and that too the oldest +man in company, was more tolerant towards +the present race of French novel-writers than +any person of his age and class that I have yet +conversed with; but nevertheless, his approval +went no farther than to declare that he thought +the present mode of following human nature with +a microscope into all the recesses to which passion, +and even vice, could lead it, was calculated +to make a better novelist than the fashion which +preceded it, of looking at all things through a +magnifying medium, and of straining and striving, +in consequence, to make that appear great, +which was by its nature essentially the reverse.</p> + +<p>The Vicomte d'Arlincourt was the author he +named to establish the truth of his proposition: +he would not admit him to be an exaggeration of +the school which has passed away, but only the perfection +of it.</p> + +<p>"I remember," said he, "to have seen at the +Louvre, many years ago, a full-length portrait of +this gentleman, which I thought at the time was +as perfect a symbol of what is called in France +le style romantique, as it was well possible to conceive. +He was standing erect on the rocky point +of a precipice, with eye inspired, and tablets in +his hand: a foaming torrent rolled its tortured +waters at his feet, whilst he, calm and sublime, +looked not 'comme une jeune beauté qu'on arrache +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_64" id="Page_64">64</a></span> +au sommeil,' but very like a young incroyable +snatched from a fashionable salon to meditate +upon the wild majesty of nature, with all the inspiring +adjuncts of tempest, wildness, and solitude. +He appeared dressed in an elegant black +coat and waistcoat, black silk stockings, and dancing +pumps. It would be lost labour," he continued, +"should I attempt to give you a more +just idea of his style of writing than the composition +of this portrait conveys. It is in vain +that M. le Vicomte places himself amidst rocks +and cataracts—he is still M. le Vicomte; and his +silk stockings and dancing pumps will remain +visible, spite of all the froth and foam he labours +to raise around him."</p> + +<p>"It was not D'Arlincourt, however," said M. de +C* * *, "who has either the honour or dishonour +of having invented this <i>style romantique</i>—but +a much greater man: it was Châteaubriand +who first broke through all that was left of +classic restraint, and permitted his imagination +to run wild among everything in heaven and +earth."</p> + +<p>"You cannot, however, accuse him of running +this wild race with his imagination en habit bourgeois," +said the third gentleman: "his style is extravagant, +but never ludicrous; Châteaubriand +really has, what D'Arlincourt affected to have, +a poetical and abounding fancy, and a fecundity +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_65" id="Page_65">65</a></span> +of imagery which has often betrayed him into bad +taste from its very richness; but there is nothing +strained, forced, and unnatural in his eloquence,—for +eloquence it is, though a soberer imagination +and a severer judgment might have kept it within +more reasonable bounds. After all that can +be said against his taste, Châteaubriand is a great +man, and his name will live among the literati +of France; but God forbid that any true prophet +should predict the same of his imitators!"</p> + +<p>"And God forbid that any true prophet should +predict the same of the school that has succeeded +them!" said Madame V* * *—a delightful +old woman, who wears her own grey hair, and +does not waltz. "I have sometimes laughed and +sometimes yawned over the productions of the +<i>école D'Arlincourt</i>," she added; "but I invariably +turn with disgust and indignation from +those of the domestic style which has succeeded +to it."</p> + +<p>"Invariably?" ... said the old gentleman interrogatively.</p> + +<p>"Yes, invariably; because, if I see any symptom +of talent, I lament it, and feel alarmed for the +possible mischief which may ensue. I can never +wish to see high mental power, which is the last +and best gift of Heaven, perverted so shamelessly."</p> + +<p>"Come, come, dear lady," replied the advocate +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_66" id="Page_66">66</a></span> +of what Goethe impressively calls 'la littérature +du désespoir,' you must not overthrow the whole +fabric because some portion of it is faulty. The +object of our tale-writers at present is, beyond all +doubt, to paint men as they are: if they succeed, +their labours cannot fail of being interesting—and +I should think they might be very useful too."</p> + +<p>"Fadaise que tout cela!" exclaimed the old lady +eagerly. "Before men can paint human nature +profitably, they must see it as it really is, my +good friend—and not as it appears to these misérables +in their baraques and greniers. We have +nothing to do with such scenes as they paint; +and they have nothing to do (God help them!) +with literary labours. Have you got Bernardin +de Saint Pierre, ma chère?" said she, addressing +the lady of the house. The little volume +was immediately handed to her from a chiffonnière +that stood behind us. "Now this," she continued, +having found the passage she sought,—"this is +what I conceive to be the legitimate object of +literature;" and she read aloud the following +passage:—</p> + +<p>"Les lettres sont un secours du Ciel. Ce sont +des rayons de cette sagesse qui gouverne l'univers, +que l'homme, inspiré par un art céleste, a appris à +fixer sur la terre.... Elles calment les passions; +elles répriment les vices; elles excitent les vertus +par les exemples augustes des gens de bien qu'elles +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_67" id="Page_67">67</a></span> +célèbrent, et dont elles nous présentent les images +toujours honorées."</p> + +<p>"Eh bien! a-t-il raison, ce Bernardin?" said +she, laying aside her spectacles and looking round +upon us. Every one admired the passage. "Is +this the use your French romancers make of +letters?" she continued, looking triumphantly at +their advocate.</p> + +<p>"Not exactly," he replied, laughing,—"or at +least not always: but I could show you passages +in Michel Raymond...."</p> + +<p>"Bah!" exclaimed the old lady, interrupting +him; "I will have nothing to do with his passages. +I think it is Chamfort who says, that +"un sot qui a un moment d'esprit, étonne et scandalise +comme des chevaux de fiacre au galop." +I don't like such unexpected jerks of sublimity—they +startle more than they please me."</p> + +<p>The conversation then rambled on to Shakspeare, +and to the mischief—such was the word—to +the mischief his example, and the passionate +admiration expressed for his writings, had done +to the classic purity of French literature. This +phrase, however, was not only cavilled at, but in +true French style was laughed to death by the +rest of the party. The word "classic" was declared +too rococo for use, and Shakspeare loudly +proclaimed to be only defective as a model because +too mighty to imitate. +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_68" id="Page_68">68</a></span></p> + +<p>I have, however, some faint misgivings as to the +perfect sincerity of this verdict,—and this chiefly +because there was but one Frenchman present +who affected to know anything about him excepting +through the medium of translation. Now, +notwithstanding that the talent shown by M. +Ducis in the translation of some passages is very +considerable, we all know that Shakspeare may +be very nearly as fairly judged from the Italian +"Otello" as the "French Hamlet." The party +were however quite sincere, I am sure, in the feeling +they expressed of reverence for the unequalled +bard, founded upon the rank he held in the estimation +of his countrymen; this being, as the +clear-headed old lady observed, the only sure +criterion, for foreigners, of the station which he +ought to hold among the poets of the earth.</p> + +<p>Then followed some keen enough observations—applicable +to any one but Shakspeare—of the +danger there might be, that in mixing tragedy +and comedy together, farce might unfortunately +be the result; or, if the "fusion," as it has +been called, of tragedy and comedy into one +were very skilfully performed, the sublime and +prodigious monster called melodrame might be +hoped for, as the happiest product that could be +expected.</p> + +<p>It being thus civilly settled that our Shakspeare +might be as wild as he chose, but that it would be +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_69" id="Page_69">69</a></span> +advisable for other people to take care how they +attempted to follow him, the party next fell into +a review, more individual and particular than I +was well able to follow, or than I can now repeat, +of many writers of verses and of novels that, I +was fain to confess, I had never heard of before. +One or two of the novel-writers were declared to +be very successful imitators of the style and manner +of Sir Walter Scott: and when this was stated, +I was, to say the truth, by no means sorry to plead +total and entire ignorance of their name and productions; +for, having, as I fear, manifested a little +national warmth on the subject of Shakspeare, I +should have been sorry to start off in another +tirade concerning Sir Walter Scott, which I might +have found it difficult to avoid, had I known exactly +what it was which they ventured to compare +to him.</p> + +<p>I do not quite understand how it happens that +the Parisians are so much better acquainted with +the generality of our light literature, than we are +with the generality of theirs. This is the more +unaccountable, from the fact so universally known, +that for one French person who reads English, +there are at least ten English who read French. +It is, however, impossible to deny that such is the +fact. I am sure I have heard the names of two +or three dozen authors, since I have been here, of +whose existence, or of that of their works, neither +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_70" id="Page_70">70</a></span> +I, nor any of my literary friends, I believe, have +had the least knowledge; and yet we have considered +ourselves quite <i>au courant du jour</i> in such +matters, having never missed any opportunity of +reading every French book that came in our way, +and moreover of sedulously consulting the Foreign +Quarterly. In canvassing this difference between +us, one of the party suggested that it might perhaps +arise from the fact that no work which was +popular in England ever escaped being reprinted +on the Continent,—that is to say, either at Paris +or Brussels. Though this is done solely as a sort +of piratical speculation, for the purpose of inducing +all the travelling English to purchase new +books for four francs here, instead of giving +thirty shillings for them at home, it is nevertheless +a natural consequence of this manœuvre, +that the names of English books are familiarly +known here even before they have been translated.</p> + +<p>Many of our lady authors have the honour apparently +of being almost as well known at Paris +as at home. I had the pleasure of hearing Miss +Mitford spoken of with enthusiasm; and one lady +told me, that, judging her from her works, she +would rather become acquainted with her than +with any author living.</p> + +<p>Miss Landon is also well known and much +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_71" id="Page_71">71</a></span> +admired. Madame Tastu told me she had translated +many of her compositions, and thought +very highly of them. In short, English literature +and English literati are at present very hospitably +treated in France.</p> + +<p>I was last night asked innumerable questions +about many books, and many people, whose <i>renommée</i> +I was surprised to find had crossed the +Channel; and having communicated pretty nearly +all the information I possessed upon the subject, I +began to question in my turn, and heard abundance +of anecdotes and criticisms, many of them +given with all the sparkling keenness of French +satire.</p> + +<p>Many of les petits ridicules that we are accustomed +to hear quizzed at home seem to exist in +the same manner, and spite of the same light +chastisement, here. The manner, for example, of +making a very little wit and wisdom go a great +way, by means of short lines and long stops, does +not appear to be in any degree peculiar to our +island. As a specimen of this, a quotation from +a new romance by Madame Girardin (ci-devant +Mademoiselle Delphine Gay) was shown me in +a newspaper. I will copy it for you as it was +printed, and I think you will allow that our +neighbours at least equal us in this ingenious +department of literary composition. +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_72" id="Page_72">72</a></span></p> + +<p>"Pensez-vous +Qu'Arthur voulût revoir Mad<sup>lle</sup> de Sommery?"</p> + +<p>"<span class="smcap">Non</span>: +Au lieu de l'aimer, +<i>Il la détestait</i>!"</p> + +<p>"<span class="smcap">Oui</span>, +Il la détestait!"</p> + +<p class="p2">I think our passion for novelty is pretty strong; +but if the information which I received last night +respecting the same imperious besoin here was +not exaggerated by the playful spirit of the party +who were amusing themselves by describing its +influence, we are patient and tame in our endurance +of old "by-gones," in comparison to the +Parisians. They have, indeed, a saying which in +few words paints this craving for novelty, as +strongly as I could do, did I torment my memory +to repeat to you every word said by my lively +friends last night:</p> + +<p class="poem"> +"Il nous faut du nouveau, n'en fût-il plus au monde."</p> + +<p>It is delightful to us to get hold of a new book +or a new song—a new preacher or a new fiddler: +it is delightful to us, but to the Parisians it is +indispensable. To meet in society and have nothing +new for the <i>causette</i>, would be worse than +remaining at home.</p> + +<p>"This fond desire, this longing after" fresh +materials for the tongue to work upon, is at least +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_73" id="Page_73">73</a></span> +as old as the days of Molière. It was this which +made Madelon address herself with such energy +to Mascarille, assuring him that she should be +"obligée de la dernière obligation" if he would but +report to her daily "les choses qu'il faut savoir de +nécessité, et qui sont de l'essence d'un bel esprit;" +for, as she truly observes, "C'est là ce qui vous fait +valoir dans les compagnies, et si l'on ignore ces +choses, je ne donnerais pas un clou de tout l'esprit +qu'on peut avoir;"—while her cousin Cathos +gives her testimony to the same truth by this impressive +declaration: "Pour moi, j'aurais toutes +les hontes du monde s'il fallait qu'on vînt à me +demander si j'aurais vu quelque chose de nouveau +que je n'aurais pas vu."</p> + +<p>I know not how it is that people who appear to +pass so few hours of every day out of sight contrive +to know so well everything that has been +written and everything that has been done in all +parts of the world. No one ever appears ignorant +on any subject. Is this tact? Or is it knowledge,—real, +genuine, substantial information respecting +all things? I suspect that it is not wholly either +the one or the other; and that many circumstances +contribute both to the general diffusion of information, +as well as to the rapid manner of receiving +and the brilliant style of displaying it.</p> + +<p>This at least is certain, that whatever they do +know is made the very most of; and though some +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_74" id="Page_74">74</a></span> +may suspect that so great display of general information +indicates rather extent than depth of +knowledge, none, I think, can refuse to acknowledge +that the manner in which a Frenchman +communicates what he has acquired is particularly +amiable, graceful, and unpedantic. +</p> + +<h2>LETTER XLIX.</h2> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_75" id="Page_75">75</a></span></p> +<p class="ch_open"> +Trial by Jury.—Power of the Jury in France.—Comparative +insignificance of that vested in the Judge.—Virtual Abolition +of Capital Punishments.—Flemish Anecdote. +</p> + +<p>Do not be terrified, my dear friend, and fancy +that I am going to exchange my idle, ambling pace, +and my babil de femme, to join the march of intellect, +and indite wisdom. I have no such ambition +in my thoughts; and yet I must retail to you part +of a conversation with which I have just been +favoured by an extremely intelligent friend, on +the very manly subject of.... Not political economy;—be +tranquil on that point; the same drowsy +dread falls upon me when those two portentous +words sound in my ears with which they seem to +have inspired Coleridge;—not political economy, +but <i>trial by jury</i>.</p> + +<p>M. V* * *, the gentleman in question, gave me +credit, I believe, for considerably more savoir than +I really possess, as to the actual and precise manner +in which this important constitutional right +works in England. My ignorance, however, +though it prevented my giving much information, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_76" id="Page_76">76</a></span> +did not prevent my receiving it; and I repeat our +conversation for the purpose of telling you in what +a very singular manner, according to his account, +it appears to work in France.</p> + +<p>I must, however, premise that my friend is a +stanch Henri-Quintist; which, though I am sure +that in his case it would not produce any exaggeration +in the statement of facts, may nevertheless +be fairly presumed to influence his feelings, and +consequently his manner of stating them.</p> + +<p>The circumstance which gave rise to this grave +discussion was a recent judgment passed here +upon a very atrocious case of murder. I am not +particularly fond of hanging; nevertheless, I was +startled at hearing that this savage and most ferocious +slayer of men was condemned to imprisonment +and travail forcé, instead of death.</p> + +<p>"It is very rarely that any one now suffers the +extreme penalty of the law in this country," said +M. V* * *, in reply to my remark on this sentence.</p> + +<p>"Is it since your last revolution," said I, "that +the punishment of death has been commuted for +that of imprisonment and labour?"</p> + +<p>"No such commutation has taken place as +an act of the legislature," he replied: "it rests +solely with the jury whether a murderer be guillotined, +or only imprisoned."</p> + +<p>I fancied that I misunderstood him, and repeated +his words,—"With the jury?"</p> + +<p>"Oui, madame—absolument." +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_77" id="Page_77">77</a></span></p> + +<p>This statement appeared to me so singular, that +I still supposed I must be blundering, and that the +words <i>le jury</i> in France did not mean the same +thing as the word jury in England.</p> + +<p>In this, as it subsequently appeared, I was not +much mistaken. Notwithstanding, my informer, +who was not only a very intelligent person, but a +lawyer to boot, continued to assure me that trial +by jury was exactly the same in both countries as +to principle, though not as to effect.</p> + +<p>"But," said I, "our juries have nothing to do +with the sentence passed on the criminal: their +business is to examine into the evidence brought +forward by the witnesses to prove the guilt of the +prisoner, and according to the impression which +this leaves on their minds, they pronounce him +'guilty,' or 'not guilty;' and here their duty +ends."</p> + +<p>"Yes, yes—I understand that perfectly," replied +M. V* * *; "and it is precisely the same thing with +us;—only, it is not in the nature of a Frenchman +to pronounce a mere dry, short, unspeculating verdict +of 'guilty,' or 'not guilty,' without exercising +the powers of his intellect upon the shades of culpability +which attach to the acts of each delinquent."</p> + +<p>This impossibility of giving a verdict without +<i>exercising the power of intellect</i> reminded me of +an assize story on record in Cornwall, respecting +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_78" id="Page_78">78</a></span> +the sentence pronounced by a jury upon a case in +which it was very satisfactorily proved that a man +had murdered his wife, but where it also appeared +from the evidence that the unhappy woman had +not conducted herself remarkably well. The jury +retired to consult, and upon re-entering their box +the foreman addressed the court in these words: +"Guilty—but sarved her right, my lord." It +was in vain that the learned judge desired them +to amend their verdict, as containing matter +wholly irrelevant to the duty they had to perform; +the intellect of the jurymen was, upon this +occasion, in a state of too great activity to permit +their returning any other answer than the identical +"Guilty—but sarved her right." I could +hardly restrain a smile as this anecdote recurred +to me; but my friend was too much in earnest in +his explanation for me to interrupt him by an ill-timed +jest, and he continued—</p> + +<p>"This frame of mind, which is certainly essentially +French, is one cause, and perhaps the most +inveterate one, which makes it impossible that the +trial by jury should ever become the same safe +and simple process with us that it is in England."</p> + +<p>"And in what manner does this activity of +intellect interfere to impede the course of justice?" +said I.</p> + +<p>"Thus," he replied. "Let us suppose the +facts of the case proved to the entire satisfaction +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_79" id="Page_79">79</a></span> +of the jury: they make up their minds among +themselves to pronounce a verdict of 'guilty;' +but their business is by no means finished,—they +have still to decide how this verdict shall be delivered +to the judge—whether with or without +the declaration that there are circumstances calculated +to extenuate the crime."</p> + +<p>"Oh yes! I understand you now," I replied. +"You mean, that when there are extenuating +circumstances, the jury assume the privilege of +recommending the criminal to mercy. Our juries +do this likewise."</p> + +<p>"But not with the same authority," said he, +smiling. "With us, the fate of the culprit is +wholly in the power of the jury; for not only do +they decide upon the question of guilty or not +guilty, but, by the use of this word <i>extenuating</i>, +they can remit by their sole will and pleasure the +capital part of the punishment, let the crime be +of what nature it may. No judge in this country +dare sentence a criminal to capital punishment +where the verdict against him has been qualified +by this extenuating clause."</p> + +<p>"It should seem then," said I, "that the duty +of judge, which is attended with such awful responsibilities +with us, is here little more than the +performance of an official ceremony?"</p> + +<p>"It is very nearly such, I assure you."</p> + +<p>"And your jurymen, according to a phrase of +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_80" id="Page_80">80</a></span> +contempt common among us, are in fact judge +and jury both?"</p> + +<p>"Beyond all contradiction they are so," he replied: +"and I conceive that criminal justice is at +this time more loosely administered in France +than in any other civilised country in the world. +In fact, our artisans have become, since the revolution +of 1830, not only judge and jury, but legislators +also. Different crimes have different +punishments assigned to them by our penal code; +but it rarely, or I might say never, occurs in our +days that the punishment inflicted has any reference +to that which is assigned by the law. That +guilt may vary even when the deed done does +not, is certain; and it is just and righteous therefore +that a judge, learned in the law of the land, +and chosen by high authority from among his fellows +as a man of wisdom and integrity,—it is +quite just and righteous that such a one should +have the power—and a tremendous power it is—of +modifying the extent of the penalty according +to his view of the individual case. The charge +too of an English judge is considered to be of +immense importance to the result of every trial. +All this is as it should be; but we have departed +most widely from the model we have professed to +follow. With us the judge has no such power—at +least not practically: with us a set of chance-met +artisans, ignorant alike of the law of the land +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_81" id="Page_81">81</a></span> +and of the philosophy of punishment, have this +tremendous power vested in them. It matters +not how clearly the crime has been proved, and +still less what penalty the law has adjudged to it; +the punishment inflicted is whatever it may please +the jury to decide, and none other."</p> + +<p>"And what is the effect which this strangely +assumed power has produced on your administration +of justice?" said I.</p> + +<p>"The virtual abolition of capital punishment," +was the reply. "When a jury," continued M. +V* * *, "delivers a verdict to the judge of 'Guilty, +but with extenuating circumstances,' the judge +dare not condemn the criminal to death, though +the law of the land assign that punishment to his +offence, and though his own mind is convinced, +by all which has come out upon the trial, that +instead of <i>extenuating circumstances</i>, the commission +of the crime has been attended with every +possible aggravation of atrocity. Such is the practical +effect of the revolution of 1830 on the administration +of criminal justice."</p> + +<p>"Does public opinion sanction this strange +abuse of the functions of jurymen?" said I.</p> + +<p>"Public opinion cannot sanction it," he replied, +"any more than it could sanction the committal +of the crime itself. The one act is, in fact, as +lawless as the other; but the populace have conceived +the idea that capital punishment is an undue +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_82" id="Page_82">82</a></span> +exercise of power, and therefore our rulers +fear to exercise it."</p> + +<p>This is a strange statement, is it not? The gentleman +who made it is, I am sure, too much a man +of honour and integrity to falsify facts; but it may +perhaps be necessary to allow something for the +colouring of party feeling. Whatever the present +government does, or permits to be done, contrary +to the system established during the period of the +restoration, is naturally offensive to the feelings of +the legitimatists, and repugnant to their judgments; +yet, in this case, the relaxation of necessary +power must so inevitably lead to evil, that +we must, I think, expect to see the reins gathered +up, and the command resumed by the proper +functionaries, as soon as the new government feels +itself seated with sufficient firmness to permit the +needful exertion of strength to be put forth with +safety.</p> + +<p>It is certain that M. V* * * supported his statement +by reciting so many strong cases in which +the most fearful crimes, substantiated by the most +unbroken chain of evidence, have been reported +by the jury to the judge as having "extenuating +circumstances" attached to them, that it is impossible, +while things remain as they are, not to +feel that such a mode of administering justice +must make the habit of perjury as familiar to +their jurymen as that of taking their oaths. +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_83" id="Page_83">83</a></span></p> + +<p>This conversation brought to my recollection +some strange stories which I had heard in Belgium +apropos of the trial by jury there. If those +stories were correct, they are about as far from +comprehending, or at least from acting upon, our +noble, equitable, and well-tried institution there, +as they appear to be here—but from causes apparently +exactly the reverse. There, I am told, +it often happens that the jury can neither read +nor write; and that when they are placed in their +box, they are, as might be expected, quite ignorant +of the nature of the duty they are to perform, +and often so greatly embarrassed by it, that they +are ready and willing—nay, thankful—to pronounce +as their verdict whatever is dictated to +them.</p> + +<p>I heard an anecdote of one man—and a thorough +honest Fleming he was—who having been duly +empannelled, entered the jury-box, and having +listened attentively to a trial that was before the +court, declared, when called upon for his verdict, +that he had not understood a single word from +the beginning to the end of it. The court endeavoured +to explain the leading points of the +question; but still the worthy burgher persisted +in declaring that the business was not in his +line, and that he could not comprehend it sufficiently +to give any opinion at all. The attempt +at explanation was repeated, but in vain; and +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_84" id="Page_84">84</a></span> +at length the conscientious Fleming paid the fine +demanded for the non-performance of the duty, +and was permitted to retire.</p> + +<p>In France, on the contrary, it appears that human +intellect has gone on so fast and so far, that +no dozen of men can be found simple-minded +enough to say 'yes' or 'no' to a question asked, +without insisting that they must legislate upon it.</p> + +<p>In this case, at least, England shows a beautiful +specimen of the <i>juste milieu</i>. +</p> + +<h2>LETTER L.</h2> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_85" id="Page_85">85</a></span></p> +<p class="ch_open"> +English Pastry-cook's.—French horror of English Pastry.—Unfortunate +experiment upon a Muffin.—The Citizen +King. +</p> + +<p>We have been on a regular shopping tour this +morning; which was finished by our going into an +English pastry-cook's to eat buns. While thus +engaged, we amused ourselves by watching the +proceedings of a French party who entered also +for the purpose of making a morning goûter upon +cakes.</p> + +<p>They had all of them more or less the air of +having fallen upon a terra incognita, showing +many indications of surprise at sight of the ultra-marine +compositions which appeared before them;—but +there was a young man of the party who, +it was evident, had made up his mind to quiz +without measure all the foreign dainties that the +shop afforded, evidently considering their introduction +as a very unjustifiable interference with +the native manufacture.</p> + +<p>"Est-il possible!" said he, with an air of grave +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_86" id="Page_86">86</a></span> +and almost indignant astonishment, as he watched +a lady of his party preparing to eat an English +bun,—"Est-il possible that you can prefer +these strange-looking comestibles à la pâtisserie +française?"</p> + +<p>"Mais goûtez-en," said the lady, presenting a +specimen of the same kind as that she was herself +eating: "ils sont excellens."</p> + +<p>"No, no! it is enough to look at them!" +said her cavalier, almost shuddering. "There is +no lightness, no elegance, no grace in any single +gâteau here."</p> + +<p>"Mais goûtez quelque chose," reiterated the +lady.</p> + +<p>"Vous le voulez absolument!" exclaimed the +young man; "quelle tyrannie! ... and what a +proof of obedience I am about to give you!... +Voyons donc!" he continued, approaching a plate +on which were piled some truly English muffins—which, +as you know, are of a somewhat mysterious +manufacture, and about as palatable if eaten +untoasted as a slice from a leathern glove. To +this <i>gâteau</i>, as he supposed it to be, the unfortunate +connoisseur in pâtisserie approached, exclaiming +with rather a theatrical air, "Voilà +donc ce que je vais faire pour vos beaux yeux!"</p> + +<p>As he spoke, he took up one of the pale, tough +things, and, to our extreme amusement, attempted +to eat it. Any one might be excused for +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_87" id="Page_87">87</a></span> +making a few grimaces on such an occasion,—and +a Frenchman's privilege in this line is well known: +but this hardy experimentalist outdid this privilege;—he +was in a perfect agony, and his spittings +and reproachings were so vehement, that +friends, strangers, boutiquier, and all, even down +to a little befloured urchin who entered at the +moment with a tray of patties, burst into uncontrollable +laughter, which the unfortunate, to do +him justice, bore with extreme good humour, only +making his fair countrywoman promise that she +would never insist upon his eating English confectionary +again.</p> + +<p>Had this scene continued a minute longer, I +should have missed seeing what I should have +been sorry not to have seen, for I certainly could +not have left the pastry-cook's shop while the +young Frenchman's sufferings lasted. Happily, +however, we reached the Boulevard des Italiens in +time to see King Louis-Philippe, en simple bourgeois, +passing on foot just before Les Bains Chinois, +but on the opposite side of the way.</p> + +<p>Excepting a small tri-coloured cockade in his +hat, he had nothing whatever in his dress to distinguish +him from any other gentleman. He is +a well-looking, portly, middle-aged man, with +something of dignity in his step which, notwithstanding +the unpretending citizen-like style of his +promenade, would have drawn attention, and betrayed +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_88" id="Page_88">88</a></span> +him as somebody out of the common way, +even without the plain-speaking <i>cocarde tricolore</i>. +There were two gentlemen a few paces behind +him, as he passed us, who, I think, stepped up +nearer to him afterwards; but there were no +other individuals near who could have been in +attendance upon him. I observed that he was +recognised by many, and some few hats were +taken off, particularly by two or three Englishmen +who met him; but his appearance excited +little emotion. I was amused, however, at the +nonchalant air with which a young man at some +distance, in full Robespierrian costume, used his +lorgnon to peruse the person of the monarch as +long as he remained in sight.</p> + +<p>The last king I saw in the streets of Paris was +Charles the Tenth returning from a visit to one of +his suburban palaces, escorted and accompanied in +kingly state and style. The contrast in the men +and in the mode was striking, and calculated to +awaken lively recollections of all the events which +had occurred to both of them since the last time +that I turned my head to look after a sovereign +of France.</p> + +<p>My fancy flew to Prague, and to the three +generations of French monarchs stationed there +almost as peaceably as if they had taken up their +quarters at St. Denis!</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 403px;"><a name="illo88" id="illo88"></a> +<img src="images/illo102.jpg" width="403" height="600" alt="Le Roi Citoyen" /> +<p class="smcap s05">Drawn & Etched by A. Hervieu.</p> +<p class="caption smcap">Le Roi Citoyen.</p> +<p class="s05 caption">London. Published by Richard Bentley. 1835.</p> +</div> + +<p>How like a series of conjurer's tricks is their +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_89" id="Page_89">89</a></span> +history! Think of this Charles the Tenth in the +flower of his youth and comeliness—the gallant, +gay, and dissolute Comte d'Artois; recall the +noble range of windows belonging to his apartments +at Versailles, and imagine him there radiant +in youth and joy—the thoughtless, thriftless +cadet of his royal race—the brother and the guest +of the good king who appeared to reign over a +willing people, by every human right, as well as +right divine! Louis Seize was king of France; +but the gay Comte d'Artois reigned sovereign of +all the pleasures of Versailles. What joyous fêtes! +... what brilliant jubilees!... Meanwhile</p> + +<p class="poem"> +"Malignant Fate sat by and smiled."</p> + +<p>Had he then been told that he should live to be +crowned king of France, and live thus many +years afterwards, would he not have thought that +a most brilliant destiny was predicted to him?</p> + +<p>Few men, perhaps, have suffered so much from +the ceaseless changes of human events as Charles +the Tenth of France. First, in the person of his +eldest brother, dethroned and foully murdered; +then in his own exile, and that of another royal +brother; and again, when Fortune seemed to +smile upon his race, and the crown of France was +not only placed upon that brother's head, but +appeared fixed in assured succession on his own +princely sons, one of those sons was murdered: +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_90" id="Page_90">90</a></span> +and lastly, having reached the throne himself, and +seen this lost son reviving in his hopeful offspring, +comes another stroke of Fate, unexpected, unprepared +for, overwhelming, which hurls him from +his throne, and drives him and his royal race once +more to exile and to civil death.... Has he +seen the last of the political earthquakes which +have so shaken his existence? or has his restless +star to rise again? Those who wish most kindly +to him cannot wish for this.</p> + +<p>But when I turned my thoughts from the dethroned +and banished king to him who stepped +on in unguarded but fearless security before me, +and thought too on the vagaries of his destiny, +I really felt as if this earth and all the people on +it were little better than so many children's toys, +changing their style and title to serve the sport +of an hour.</p> + +<p>It seemed to me at that moment as if all men +were classed in their due order only to be thrown +into greater confusion—knocked down but to be +set up again, and so eternally dashed from side to +side, so powerless in themselves, so wholly governed +by accidents, that I shrunk, humbled, from +the contemplation of human helplessness, and +turned from gazing on a monarch to meditate on +the insignificance of man. How vain are all the +efforts he can make to shape the course of his +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_91" id="Page_91">91</a></span> +own existence! There is, in truth, nothing but +trusting to surer wisdom, and to surer power, +which can enable any of us, from the highest to +the lowest, to pass on with tranquil nerves +through a world subject to such terrible convulsions. +</p> + +<h2>LETTER LI.</h2> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_92" id="Page_92">92</a></span></p> +<p class="ch_open"> +Parisian Women.—Rousseau's failure in attempting to describe +them.—Their great influence in Society.—Their +grace in Conversation.—Difficulty of growing old.—Do +the ladies of France or those of England manage it +best? +</p> + +<p>There is perhaps no subject connected with +Paris which might give occasion to such curious +and inexhaustible observation as the character, position, +and influence of its women. But the theme, +though copious and full of interest, is not without +its difficulties; and it is no small proof of this, that +Rousseau, who rarely touched on any subject without +persuading his reader that he was fully master +of it, has nevertheless almost wholly failed on this. +In one of the letters of "La Nouvelle Héloïse," +he sketches the characters of a few very commonplace +ladies, whom he abuses unmercifully for +their bad taste in dress, and concludes his abortive +attempt at making us acquainted with the +ladies of Paris by acknowledging that they have +some goodness of heart.</p> + +<p>This is but a meagre description of this powerful +portion of the human race, and I can hardly +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_93" id="Page_93">93</a></span> +imagine a volume that I should read with greater +pleasure than one which should fully supply all +its deficiencies. Do not imagine, however, that +I mean to undertake the task. I am even less +capable of it than the sublime misanthrope +himself; for though I am of opinion that it +should be an unimpassioned spectator, and not +a lover, who should attempt to paint all the +delicate little atoms of exquisite mosaic-work +which constitute <i>une Parisienne</i>, I think it should +not be a woman.</p> + +<p>All I can do for you on this subject is to +recount the observations I have been myself led +to make in the passing glances I have now the +opportunity of giving them, supported by what +I have chanced to hear from better authority +than my own: but I am aware that I can do +little more than excite your wish to become +better acquainted with them than it is in my +power to make you.</p> + +<p>It is impossible to be admitted into French +society without immediately perceiving that the +women play a very distinguished part in it. So, +assuredly, do the women of England in their +own: yet I cannot but think that, setting aside +all cases of individual exception, the women of +France have more power and more important +influence than the women of England.</p> + +<p>I am aware that this is a very bold proposition, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_94" id="Page_94">94</a></span> +and that you may feel inclined to call me to +account for it. But be I right or wrong in this +judgment, it is at least sincere, and herein lies +its chief value; for I am by no means sure that +I shall be able to explain very satisfactorily the +grounds on which it is formed.</p> + +<p>France has been called "the paradise of women;" +and if consideration and deference be sufficient +to constitute a paradise, I think it may be +called so justly. I will not, however, allow that +Frenchmen make better husbands than Englishmen; +but I suspect they make politer husbands—</p> + +<div class="poem"> +<p class="o1">"Je ne sais pas, pour moi, si chacun me ressemble,</p> +<p>Mais j'entends là-dessous un million de mots:"</p> +</div> + +<p>and, all pleasantry apart, I am of opinion that +this more observant tone or style, or whatever +it may be termed, is very far from superficial—at +least in its effects. I should be greatly surprised +to hear from good authority that a French +gentleman had ever been heard to speak rudely +to his wife.</p> + +<p>Rousseau says, when he means to be what he +himself calls "<i>souverainement impertinent</i>," that +"il est convenu qu'un homme ne refusera rien +à aucune femme, fût-ce même la sienne." But +it is not only in refusing her nothing that a +French husband shows the superiority which I attribute +to him; I know many English husbands +who are equally indulgent; but, if I mistake +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_95" id="Page_95">95</a></span> +not, the general consideration enjoyed by Frenchwomen +has its origin not in the conjugal indulgence +they enjoy, but in the domestic respect +universally shown them. What foundation there +may be for the idea which prevails amongst us, +that there is less strictness of morality among +married women in France than in England, I +will not attempt to decide; but, judging from +the testimonies of respect shown them by fathers, +husbands, brothers, and sons, I cannot but +believe that, spite of travellers' tales, innuendoes, +and all the authority of <i>les contes moraux</i> to +boot, there must be much of genuine virtue where +there is so much genuine esteem.</p> + +<p>In a recent work on France, to which I have +before alluded, a comparison is instituted between +the conversational powers of the sex in England +and in France; and such a picture is drawn of +the frivolous inanity of the author's fair countrywomen, +as, were the work considered as one of +much authority in France, must leave the impression +with our neighbours that the ladies of +England are <i>tant soit peu Agnès</i>.</p> + +<p>Now this judgment is, I think, as little founded +in truth as that of the traveller who accused +us all of being brandy-drinkers. It is indeed +impossible to say what effect might have been +produced upon the ladies from whom this description +was drawn, by the awful consciousness +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_96" id="Page_96">96</a></span> +that they were conversing with a person of overwhelming +ability. There is such a thing as +being "blasted by excess of light;" but where +this unpleasant accident does not occur, I believe +that those who converse with educated Englishwomen +will find them capable of being as intellectual +companions as any in the world.</p> + +<p>Our countrywomen however, particularly the +younger part of them, labour under a great disadvantage. +The majority of them I believe to +be as well, or perhaps better informed than the +majority of Frenchwomen; but, unfortunately, it +frequently happens that they are terrified at the +idea of appearing too much so: the terror of +being called learned is in general much more +powerful than that of being classed as ignorant.</p> + +<p>Happily for France, there is no <i>blue</i> badge, no +stigma of any kind attached to the female possessors +of talent and information. Every Frenchwoman +brings forward with equal readiness and +grace all she knows, all she thinks, and all she +feels on every subject that may be started; +whereas with us, the dread of imputed blueism +weighs down many a bright spirit, and sallies +of wit and fancy are withheld from the fear of +betraying either the reading or the genius with +which many a fair girl is endued who would rather +be thought an idiot than a <span class="smcap">Blue</span>.</p> + +<p>This is, however, a very idle fear; and that +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_97" id="Page_97">97</a></span> +it is so, a slight glance upon society would show, +if prejudice did not interfere to blind us. It is +possible that here and there a sneer or a shrug +may follow this opprobrious epithet of "blue;" +but as the sneer and the shrug always come +from those whose suffrage is of the least importance +in society, their coming at all can hardly be +a sufficient reason for putting on a masquerade +habit of ignorance and frivolity.</p> + +<p>It is from this cause, if I mistake not, that +the conversation of the Parisian women takes a +higher tone than that to which English females +venture to soar. Even politics, that fearful +quicksand which engulfs so many of our social +hours, dividing our drawing-rooms into a committee +of men and a coterie of women,—even +politics may be handled by them without danger; +for they fearlessly mix with that untoward +subject so much lively persiflage, so much acuteness, +and such unerring tact, that many a knotty +point which may have made puzzled legislators +yawn in the Chamber, has been played with in +the salon till it became as intelligible as the light +of wit could make it.</p> + +<p>No one who is familiar with that delightful +portion of French literature contained in their +letters and memoirs, which paint the manners +and the minds of those they treat of with more +truth of graphic effect than any other biography +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_98" id="Page_98">98</a></span> +in the world,—no one acquainted with the aspect +of society as it is painted there, but must be +aware that the character of Frenchmen has undergone +a great and important change during +the last century. It has become perhaps less brilliant, +but at the same time less frivolous; and +if we are obliged to confess that no star remains +above the horizon of the same magnitude as those +which composed the constellation that blazed +during the age of Louis Quatorze and his successor, +we must allow also that it would be +difficult to find a minister of state who should +now write to his friend as the Cardinal de Retz +did to Boisrobert,—"Je me sauve à la nage dans +ma chambre, au milieu des parfums."</p> + +<p>If, however, these same minute records can be +wholly trusted, I should say that no proportionate +change has taken place among the women. I +often fancy I can trace the same "genre d'esprit" +amongst them with which Madame du Deffand +has made us so well acquainted. Fashions must +change—and their fashions have changed, not +merely in dress perhaps, but in some things which +appear to go deeper into character, or at least +into manners; but the essentials are all the same. +A petite maîtresse is a petite maîtresse still; and +female wit—female French wit—continues to be +the same dazzling, playful, and powerful thing +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_99" id="Page_99">99</a></span> +that it ever was. I really do not believe that if +Madame de Sévigné herself were permitted to +revisit the scene of her earthly brightness, and to +find herself in the midst of a Paris soirée to-morrow, +that she would find any difficulty in joining +the conversation of those she would find there, +in the same tone and style that she enjoyed so +keenly in days of yore with Madame de la Fayette, +Mademoiselle Scuderie, or any other sister +sparkler of that glorious <i>via lactea</i>—provided indeed +that she did not talk politics,—on that subject +she might not perhaps be well understood.</p> + +<p>Ladies still write romances, and still write +verses. They write memoirs too, and are moreover +quite as keen critics as ever they were; and +if they had not left off giving <i>petits soupers</i>, where +they doomed the poets of the day to oblivion or +immortality according to their will, I should say, +that in no good gifts either of nature or of art +had they degenerated from their admired great-grandmothers.</p> + +<p>It can hardly, I think, be accounted a change +in their character, that where they used to converse +respecting a new comedy of Molière, they +now discuss the project of a new law about to be +passed in the Chamber. The reason for this is +obvious: there is no longer a Molière, but there +is a Chamber; there are no longer any new comedies +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_100" id="Page_100">100</a></span> +greatly worth talking about, but there are +abundance of new laws instead.</p> + +<p>In short, though the subjects are changed, they +are canvassed in the same spirit; and however +much the marquis may be merged in the doctrinaire, +the ladies at least have not left off +being light, bright, witty, and gay, in order to +become advocates for the "positif," in opposition +to the "idéal." They still keep faithful to their +vocation of charming; and I trust they may contrive +so far to combat this growing passion for +the "positif" in their countrymen, as to prevent +their turning every salon—as they have already +turned the Boulevards before Tortoni's—into a +little Bourse.</p> + +<p>I was so much struck by the truth and elegance +of "a thought" apropos to this subject, which I +found the other day in turning over the leaves of +a French lady's album, that I transcribed it:—</p> + +<p>"Proscrire les arts agréables, et ne vouloir que +ceux qui sont absolument utiles, c'est blâmer la +Nature, qui produit les fleurs, les roses, les jasmins, +comme elle produit des fruits."</p> + +<p>This sentiment, however, simple and natural +as it is, appears in some danger of being lost sight +of while the mind is kept upon such a forced +march as it is at present: but the unnatural +oblivion cannot fall upon France while her women +remain what they are. The graces of life +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_101" id="Page_101">101</a></span> +will never be sacrificed by them to the pretended +pursuit of science; nor will a purblind examination +of political economy be ever accepted in +Paris as a beautiful specimen of light reading, +and a first-rate effort of female genius.</p> + +<p>Yet nowhere are the higher efforts of the female +mind more honoured than in France. The +memory of Madame de Staël seems enshrined in +every woman's heart, and the glory she has brought +to her country appears to shed its beams upon +every female in it. I have heard, too, the name +of Mrs. Somerville pronounced with admiration +and reverence by many who confessed themselves +unable to appreciate, or at least to follow, the +efforts of her extraordinary mind.</p> + +<p>In speaking of the women of Paris, however, +I must not confine myself to the higher classes +only; for, as we all know but too well, "les dames +de la Halle," or, as they are more familiarly styled, +"les poissardes," have made themselves important +personages in the history of Paris. It is not, +however, to the hideous part which they took in +the revolution of Ninety-three that I would allude; +the doing so would be equally disagreeable and +unnecessary, for the deeds of Alexander are hardly +better known than their infernal acts;—it is rather +to the singular sort of respect paid to them in less +stormy times that I would call your attention, because +we have nothing analogous to it with us. +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_102" id="Page_102">102</a></span> +Upon all great public occasions, such as the accession +of a king, his restoration, or the like, these +women are permitted to approach the throne by a +deputation, and kings and queens have accepted +their bouquets and listened to their harangues. +The newspapers in recording these ceremonious +visitings never name these poissardes by any +lesser title than "les dames de la Halle;" a phrase +which could only be rendered into English by +"the ladies of Billingsgate."</p> + +<p>These ladies have, too, a literature of their own, +and have found troubadours among the beaux-esprits +of France to chronicle their bons-mots and +give immortality to their adventures in that singular +species of composition known by the name +of "Chansons Grivoises."</p> + +<p>When Napoleon returned from Elba, they paid +their compliments to him at the Tuileries, and +sang "La Carmagnole" in chorus. One hundred +days after, they repeated the ceremony of a visit +to the palace; but this time the compliment was +addressed to Louis Dix-huit, and the <i>refrain</i> of +the song with which they favoured him was the +famous calembourg so much in fashion at the +time—</p> + +<p class="poem"> +"Rendez-nous notre <i>père de Gand</i>."</p> + +<p>Not only do these "dames" put themselves +forward upon all political occasions, but, if report +say true, they have, <i>parfois</i>, spite of their revolutionary +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_103" id="Page_103">103</a></span> +ferocity, taken upon themselves to act +as conservators of public morals. When Madame +la Comtesse de N* * * and her friend Madame +T* * * appeared in the garden of the Tuileries +with less drapery than they thought decency demanded, +les dames de la Halle armed themselves +with whips, and repairing in a body to the promenade, +actually flogged the audacious beauties +till they reached the shelter of their homes.</p> + +<p>The influence and authority of these women +among the men of their own rank is said to be +very great; and that through all the connexions of +life, as long as his mother lives, whatever be her +rank, a Frenchman repays her early care by affection, +deference, and even by obedience. "Consolez +ma pauvre mère!" has been reported in a +thousand instances to have been the last words +of French soldiers on the field of battle; and +whenever an aged female is found seated in the +chimney-corner, it is to her footstool that all +coaxing petitions, whether for great or small +matters, are always carried.</p> + +<p>I heard it gravely disputed the other day, whether +the old ladies of England or the old ladies +of France have the most <i>bonheur en partage</i> +amongst them. Every one seemed to agree that +it was a very difficult thing for a pretty woman +to grow old in any country—that it was terrible +to "devenir chenille après avoir <i>été</i> papillon;" +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_104" id="Page_104">104</a></span> +and that the only effectual way of avoiding this +shocking transition was, while still a few years +on the handsome side of forty, to abandon in good +earnest all pretensions to beauty, and claiming +fame and name by the perennial charm of wit +alone, to bid defiance to time and wrinkles.</p> + +<p>This is certainly the best parachute to which a +drooping beauty can trust herself on either side of +the Channel: but for one who can avail herself of +it, there are a thousand who must submit to +sink into eternal oblivion without it; and the +question still remains, which nation best understands +the art of submitting to this downfall +gracefully.</p> + +<p>There are but two ways of rationally setting +about it. The one is, to jump over the Rubicon at +once at sight of the first grey hair, and so establish +yourself betimes on a sofa, with all the comforts +of footstool and elbow-room; the other is, to +make a desperate resolution never to grow old at +all. Nous autres Anglaises generally understand +how to do the first with a respectable degree of +resignation; and the French, by means of some +invaluable secret which they wisely keep to themselves, +are enabled to approach very nearly to +equal success in the other. +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_105" id="Page_105">105</a></span></p> + +<h2>LETTER LII.</h2> + +<p class="ch_open"> +La Sainte Chapelle.—Palais de Justice.—Traces of the Revolution +of 1830.—Unworthy use made of La Sainte +Chapelle.—Boileau.—Ancient Records. +</p> + +<p>A week or two ago we made a vain and unprofitable +expedition into the City for the purpose +of seeing "La Sainte Chapelle;" sainte to all good +Catholics from its having been built by Louis +Neuf (St. Louis) expressly for the purpose of +receiving all the ultra-extra-super-holy relics +purchased by St. Louis from Baldwin Emperor of +Constantinople, and almost equally sainte to us +heretics from having been the scene of Boileau's +poem.</p> + +<p>Great was our disappointment at being assured, +by several flitting officials to whom we addressed +ourselves in and about Le Palais de Justice, that +admission was not to be obtained—that workmen +were employed upon it, and I know not what besides; +all, however, tending to prove that a long, +lingering look at its beautiful exterior was all we +had to hope for.</p> + +<p>In proportion to this disappointment was the +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_106" id="Page_106">106</a></span> +pleasure with which I received an offer from a +new acquaintance to conduct us over the Palais de +Justice, and into the sacred precints of La Sainte +Chapelle, which in fact makes a part of it. My +accidental introduction to M. J* * *, who +has not only shown us this, but many other things +which we should probably never have seen but +for his kindness, has been one of the most agreeable +circumstances which have occurred to me in +Paris. I have seldom met a man so "rempli de +toutes sortes d'intelligences" as is this new Parisian +acquaintance; and certainly never received +from any stranger so much amiable attention, +shown in so profitable a manner. I really believe +he has a passe-partout for everything that is most +interesting and least easy of access in Paris; and +as he holds a high judicial situation, the Palais de +Justice was of course open to him even to its remotest +recesses: and of all the sight-seeing mornings +I remember to have passed, the one which +showed me this interesting edifice, with the commentary +of our deeply-informed and most agreeable +companion, was decidedly one of the most +pleasant. There is but one drawback to the +pleasure of having met such a man—and this is +the fear that in losing sight of Paris we may lose +sight of him also.</p> + +<p>The Palais de Justice is from its extent alone a +very noble building; but its high antiquity, and +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_107" id="Page_107">107</a></span> +its connexion with so many points and periods of +history, render it one of the most interesting +buildings imaginable. We entered all the courts, +some of which appeared to be in full activity. +They are in general large and handsome. The +portrait of Napoleon was replaced in one of them +during the Three Days, and there it still remains: +the old chancellor d'Auguesseau hangs opposite to +him, being one of the few pictures permitted to +retain their places. The vacant spaces, and in some +instances the traces of violence with which others +have been removed, indicate plainly enough that +this venerable edifice was not held very sacred by +the patriots of 1830.</p> + +<p>The capricious fury of the sovereign people +during this reign of confusion, if not of terror, has +left vestiges in almost every part of the building. +The very interesting bas relief which I remember +on the pedestal of the fine statue of Malesherbes, +the intrepid defender of Louis Seize, has been +torn away; and the <i>brute</i> masonry which it has +left displayed, is as striking and appropriate a +memento of the spoilers, as the graphic group +they displaced was of the scene it represented. +M. J* * * told me the sculpture was not +destroyed, and would probably be replaced. I +heartily hope, for the honour of Frenchmen, that +this may happen: but if it should not, I trust +that, for the sake of historic effect, the statue and +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_108" id="Page_108">108</a></span> +its mutilated pedestal will remain as they are—both +the one and the other mark an epoch in the +history of France.</p> + +<p>But it was in the obscurer parts of the building +that I found the most interest. In order to take +a short cut to some point to which our kind guide +wished to lead us, we were twisted through one +of the old—the very old towers of this venerable +structure. It had been, I think they said, the +kitchen of St. Louis himself; and the walls, as +seen by the enormous thickness pierced for the +windows, are substantial enough to endure another +six hundred years at least.</p> + +<p>In one of the numerous rooms which we entered, +we saw an extremely curious old picture, seized +in the time of Louis Quinze from the Jesuits, as +containing proof of their treasonable disrespect +for kings: and certainly there is not wanting +evidence of the fact; very speaking portraits of +Henry the Third and Henry the Fourth are to +be found most unequivocally on their way to the +infernal regions. The whole performance is one +of the most interesting specimens of Jesuitical ingenuity +extant.</p> + +<p>Having fully indulged our curiosity in the +palace, we proceeded to the chapel. It is exquisitely +beautiful, and so perfect in its delicate proportions, +that the eye is satisfied, and dwells with +full contentment on the whole for many minutes +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_109" id="Page_109">109</a></span> +before the judgment is at leisure to examine +and criticise the different parts of it. But even +when this first effect is over, the perfect elegance +of this diminutive structure still rests upon the +mind, producing a degree of admiration which +seems disproportioned to its tiny dimensions.</p> + +<p>It was built for a shrine in which to preserve +relics; and Pierre de Montreuil, its able architect, +appears to have sought rather to render it +worthy by its richness and its grace to become +the casket for those holy treasures, than to give +it the dignity of a church. That beautiful miniature +cathedral, St. George's Chapel at Windsor, is +an enormous edifice compared to this; but less +light, less lofty in its proportions—in short, less +enchanting in its general effect, than the lovely +bijou of St. Louis.</p> + +<p>Of all the cruel profanations I have ever witnessed, +that of turning this exquisite chef-d'œuvre into +a chest for old records is the most unpardonable: +as if Paris could not furnish four walls and a +roof for this purpose, without converting this precious +<i>châsse</i> to it! It is indeed a pitiful economy; +and were I the Archbishop of Paris, I would besiege +the Tuileries with petitions that these hideous +presses might be removed; and if it might +not be restored to the use of the church, that we +might at least say of it—</p> + +<div class="poem"> +<p class="i8">—— "la Sainte Chapelle</p> +<p>Conservait du vieux tems l'oisiveté fidèle."</p> +</div> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_110" id="Page_110">110</a></span></p> + +<p>This would at least be better than seeing it converted +into a cupboard of ease to the overflowing +records of the Palais de Justice. The length of +this pretty reliquaire exactly equals its height, +which is divided by a gallery into a lower and +upper church, resembling in some degree as to its +arrangement the much older structure at Aix-la-Chapelle,—the +high minster there being represented +by the Sainte Couronne here.</p> + +<p>As we stood in the midst of the floor of the +church, M. J* * * pointed to a certain spot—</p> + +<p class="poem">"Et bientôt <span class="smcap">Le Lutrin</span> se fait voir à nos yeux."</p> + +<p>He placed me to stand where that offensive mass +of timber stood of yore; and I could not help +thinking that if the poor chantre hated the +sight of it as much as I did that of the ignoble +cases containing the old parchments, he was exceedingly +right in doing his utmost to make it +disappear.</p> + +<p>Boileau lies buried here. The spot must have +been chosen in consequence of the connexion he +had established in the minds of all men between +himself and its holy precincts. But it was surely +the most lively and light-hearted connexion that +ever was hallowed by so solemn a result. One +might fairly steal or parody Vanburgh's epitaph +for him—</p> + +<div class="poem"> +<p class="o1">"Rise graceful o'er him, roof! for he</p> +<p>Raised many a graceful verse to thee."</p> +</div> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_111" id="Page_111">111</a></span></p> + +<p>The preservation of the beautiful painted glass +of the windows through the two revolutions which +(both of them) were so busy in labours of metamorphosis +and destruction in the immediate +neighbourhood, not to mention all the ordinary +chances against the safety of so frail a treasure +during so many years, is little short of miraculous; +and, considering the extraordinary sanctity +of the place, it is probably so interpreted by +<i>les fidèles</i>.</p> + +<p>A remarkable proof of the reverence in which +this little shrine was held, in consequence, I presume, +of the relics it contained, may be found in +the dignified style of its establishment. Kings and +popes seem to have felt a holy rivalry as to which +should most distinguish it by gifts and privileges. +The wealth of its functionaries appears greatly to +have exceeded the bounds of Christian moderation; +and their pride of place was sustained, notwithstanding +the <i>petitesse</i> of their dominions, by titles +and prerogatives such as no <i>chapelains</i> ever had +before. The chief dignitary of the establishment +had the title of archichapelain; and, in 1379, +Pope Clement VII. permitted him to wear a mitre, +and to pronounce his benediction on the people +when they were assembled during any of the processions +which took place within the enclosure +of the palace. Not only, indeed, did this arch-chaplain +take the title of prelate, but in some +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_112" id="Page_112">112</a></span> +public acts he is styled "Le Pape de la Sainte +Chapelle." In return for all these riches and +honours, four out of the seven priests attached to +the establishment were obliged to pass the night +in the chapel, for the purpose of watching the +relics. Nevertheless, it appears that, in the year +1575, a portion of the <i>vraie croix</i> was stolen +in the night between the 19th and 20th of May. +The thief, however, was strongly suspected to be +no less a personage than King Henry III. himself; +who, being sorely distressed for money, and knowing +from old experience that a traffic in relics was +a right royal traffic, bethought him of a means of +extracting a little Venetian gold from this true +cross, by leaving it in pawn with the Republic of +Venice. At any rate, this much-esteemed fragment +disappeared from the Sainte Chapelle, and a +piece of the holy rood was left <i>en gage</i> with the +Venetians by Henry III.</p> + +<p>I have transcribed, for your satisfaction, the +list I find in Dulaure of the most sacred of the +articles for the reception of which this chapel was +erected:—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> +<p> +Du sang de Notre Seigneur Jésus-Christ.</p> + +<p>Les drapeaux dont Notre Sauveur fut enveloppé en son +enfance.</p> + +<p>Du sang qui miraculeusement a distillé d'une image de +Notre Seigneur, ayant été frappé d'un infidèle.</p> + +<p>La chaîne et lien de fer, en manière d'anneau, dont Notre +Seigneur fut lié.</p> + +<p>La sainte touaille, ou nappe, en un tableau. +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_113" id="Page_113">113</a></span></p> + +<p>Du lait de la Vierge.</p> + +<p>Une partie du suaire dont il fut enseveli.</p> + +<p>La verge de Moïse.</p> + +<p>Les chefs des Saints Blaise, Clément, et Simon.</p> +</div> + +<p>Is it not wonderful that the Emperor of Constantinople +could consent to part with such precious +treasures for the lucre of gain? I should +like to know what has become of them all.</p> + +<p>As late as the year 1770, the annual ceremony +of turning out devils on Good Friday, +from persons pretending to be possessed, was performed +in this chapel. The form prescribed was +very simple, and always found to answer perfectly. +As soon as it was understood that all the +demoniacs were assembled, <i>le grand chantre</i> appeared, +carrying a cross, which, spite of King +Henry's <i>supercherie</i>, was declared to enclose in its +inmost recesses a morsel of the <i>vraie croix</i>, and +in an instant all the contortions and convulsions +ceased, and the possessed became perfectly calm +and tranquil, and relieved from every species of inconvenience.</p> + +<p>Having seen all that this lovely chapel had +to show, and particularly examined the spot +where the battle of the books took place, the +passe-partout of M. J* * * caused a mysterious-looking +little door in the Sainte Couronne to open +for us; and, after a little climbing, we found ourselves +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_114" id="Page_114">114</a></span> +just under the roof of the Palais de Justice. +The enormous space of the <i>grande salle</i> below +is here divided into three galleries, each having its +entire length, and one-third of its width. The +manner in which these galleries are constructed is +extremely curious and ingenious, and well deserves +a careful examination. I certainly never +found myself in a spot of greater interest than +this. The enormous collection of records which +fill these galleries, arranged as they are in the most +exquisite order, is one of the most marvellous +spectacles I ever beheld.</p> + +<p>Amidst the archives of so many centuries, any +document that may be wished for, however remote +or however minute, is brought forward in +an instant, with as little difficulty as Dr. Dibdin +would find in putting his hand upon the best-known +treasure in Lord Spencer's library.</p> + +<p>Our kind friend obtained for us the sight of the +volume containing all the original documents +respecting the trial of poor Joan of Arc, that +most ill-used of heroines. Vice never braved danger +and met death with such steady, unwavering +courage as she displayed. We saw, too, the fatal +warrant which legalised the savage murder of this +brave and innocent fanatic.</p> + +<p>Several other death-warrants of distinguished +persons were also shown to us, some of them +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_115" id="Page_115">115</a></span> +of great antiquity; but no royal hand had signed +them. This painful duty is performed in France +by one of the superior law-officers of the crown, +but never by the hand of majesty.</p> + +<p>Another curious trial that was opened for our +satisfaction, was that of the wretched Marquise +de Brinvilliers, the famous <i>empoisonneuse</i>, who not +only destroyed father, brother, husband, at the +instigation of her lover, but appears to have used +her power of compounding fatal drugs upon many +other occasions. The murderous atrocities of this +woman seem to surpass everything on record, except +those of Marguérite de Bourgogne, the inconceivable +heroine of the "Tour de Nesle."</p> + +<p>I was amused by an anecdote which M. J* * * +told me of an Englishman to whom he, some years +ago, showed these same curious papers—among +which is the receipt used by Madame de Brinvilliers +for the composition of the poison whose +effects plunged Paris in terror.</p> + +<p>"Will you do me the favour to let me copy this +receipt?" said the Englishman.</p> + +<p>"I think that my privilege does not reach quite +so far as that," was the discreet reply; and but for +this, our countryman's love for chemical science +might by this time have spread the knowledge of +the precious secret over the whole earth.</p> + +<h2>LETTER LIII.</h2> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_116" id="Page_116">116</a></span></p> + +<p class="ch_open"> +French ideas of England.—Making love.—Precipitate retreat +of a young Frenchman.—Different methods of arranging +Marriages.—English Divorce.—English Restaurans. +</p> + +<p>It now and then happens, by a lucky chance, +that one finds oneself full gallop in a conversation +the most perfectly unreserved, without having had +the slightest idea or intention, when it began, of +either giving or receiving confidence.</p> + +<p>This occurred to me a few days ago, while +making a morning visit to a lady whom I had +never seen but twice before, and then had not exchanged +a dozen words with her. But, upon this +occasion, we found ourselves very nearly tête-à-tête, +and got, I know not how, into a most unrestrained +discussion upon the peculiarities of our +respective countries.</p> + +<p>Madame B* * * has never been in England, +but she assured me that her curiosity to visit our +country is quite as strong as the passion for investigation +which drew Robinson Crusoe from his +home to visit the...."</p> + +<p>"Savages," said I, finishing the sentence for her. +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_117" id="Page_117">117</a></span></p> + +<p>"No! no! no!... To visit all that is most +curious in the world."</p> + +<p>This phrase, "most curious," seemed to me of +doubtful meaning, and so I told her; asking +whether it referred to the museums, or the natives.</p> + +<p>She seemed doubtful for a moment whether she +should be frank or otherwise; and then, with so +pretty and playful a manner as must, I think, have +disarmed the angry nationality of the most thin-skinned +patriot alive, she answered—</p> + +<p>"Well then—the natives."</p> + +<p>"But we take such good care," I replied, "that +you should not want specimens of the race to examine +and make experiments upon, that it would +hardly be worth your while to cross the Channel +for the sake of seeing the natives. We import +ourselves in such prodigious quantities, that I can +hardly conceive you should have any curiosity left +about us."</p> + +<p>"On the contrary," she replied, "my curiosity +is only the more <i>piquée</i>: I have seen so many +delightful English persons here, that I die to see +them at home, in the midst of all those singular +customs, which they cannot bring with them, and +which we only know by the imperfect accounts of +travellers."</p> + +<p>This sounded, I thought, very much as if she +were talking of the good people of Mongo Creek, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_118" id="Page_118">118</a></span> +or Karakoo Bay; but being at least as curious to +know what her notions were concerning the English +in their remote homes, and in the midst of all +their "singular customs," as she could be to become +better acquainted with them, I did my best +to make her tell me all she had heard about us.</p> + +<p>"I will tell you," she said, "what I want to see +beyond everything else: I want to see the mode +of making love <i>tout-à-fait à l'Anglaise</i>. You +know that you are all so polite as to put on our +fashions here in every respect; but a cousin of +mine, who was some years ago attached to our +Embassy at London, has described the style of +managing love affairs as so ... so romantic, that +it perfectly enchanted me, and I would give the +world to see how it was done (<i>comment cela se +fait</i>)."</p> + +<p>"Pray tell me how he described it," said I, +"and I promise faithfully to tell you if the picture +be correct."</p> + +<p>"Oh, that is so kind!... Well then," she +continued, colouring a little, from the idea, as I +suppose, that she was going to say something +terribly atrocious, "I will tell you exactly what +happened to him. He had a letter of introduction +to a gentleman of great estate—a member of +the chamber of your parliament, who was living +with his family at his chateau in one of the provinces, +where my cousin forwarded the letter to +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_119" id="Page_119">119</a></span> +him. A most polite reply was immediately returned, +containing a pressing invitation to my +cousin to come to the chateau without delay, and +pass a month with them for the hunting season. +Nothing could be more agreeable than this invitation, +for it offered the best possible opportunity of +studying the manners of the country. Every one +can cross from Calais to Dover, and spend half +their year's income in walking or driving through +the long wide streets of London for six weeks; +but there are very few, you know, who obtain an +entrée to the chateaux of the noblesse. In short, +my cousin was enchanted, and set off immediately. +He arrived just in time to arrange his toilet before +dinner; and when he entered the salon, he was +perfectly dazzled by the exceeding beauty of the +three daughters of his host, who were all <i>décolletées</i>, +and full-dressed, he says, exactly as if they were +going to some very elegant <i>bal paré</i>. There was +no other company, and he felt a little startled at +being received in such a ceremonious style.</p> + +<p>The young ladies all performed on the piano-forte +and harp, and my cousin, who is very musical, +was in raptures. Had not his admiration been +too equally drawn to each, he assures me that before +the end of that evening he must inevitably +have been the conquest of one. The next morning, +the whole family met again at breakfast: the +young ladies were as charming as ever, but still +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_120" id="Page_120">120</a></span> +he felt in doubt as to which he admired most. +Whilst he was exerting himself to be as agreeable +as he could, and talking to them all with the timid +respect with which demoiselles are always addressed +by Frenchmen, the father of the family +startled and certainly almost alarmed my cousin +by suddenly saying,—"We cannot hunt to-day, +mon ami, for I have business which will keep me +at home; but you shall ride into the woods with +Elizabeth: she will show you my pheasants. Get +ready, Elizabeth, to attend Monsieur...!"</p> + +<p>Madame B* * * stopped short, and looked +at me as if expecting that I should make some +observation.</p> + +<p>"Well?" said I.</p> + +<p>"Well!" she repeated, laughing; "then you +really find nothing extraordinary in this proceeding—nothing +out of the common way?"</p> + +<p>"In what respect?" said I: "what is it that you +suppose was out of the common way?"</p> + +<p>"That question," said she, clasping her hands in +an ecstasy at having made the discovery—"That +question puts me more au fait than anything else +you could say to me. It is the strongest possible +proof that what happened to my cousin was in +truth nothing more than what is of every-day +occurrence in England."</p> + +<p>"What did happen to him?"</p> + +<p>"Have I not told you?... The father of +the young ladies whom he so greatly admired, selected +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_121" id="Page_121">121</a></span> +one of them and desired my cousin to +attend her on an excursion into the woods. My +dear madame ... national manners vary so +strangely.... I beseech you not to suppose that +I imagine that everything may not be exceedingly +well arranged notwithstanding. My cousin is a +very distinguished young man—excellent character—good +name—and will have his father's estate +... only the manner is so different...."</p> + +<p>"Did your cousin accompany the young lady?" +said I.</p> + +<p>"No, he did not—he returned to London immediately."</p> + +<p>This was said so gravely—so more than gravely—with +an air of so much more meaning than she +thought it civil to express, that my gravity and +politeness gave way together, and I laughed most +heartily.</p> + +<p>My amiable companion, however, did not take it +amiss—she only laughed with me; and when we +had recovered our gravity, she said, "So you find +my cousin very ridiculous for throwing up the +party?—<i>un peu timide, peut-être?</i>"</p> + +<p>"Oh no!" I replied—"only a little hasty."</p> + +<p>"Hasty!... Mais que voulez-vous? You +do not seem to comprehend his embarrassment."</p> + +<p>"Perhaps not fully; but I assure you his embarrassment +would have ceased altogether, had he +trusted himself with the young lady and her attendant +groom: I doubt not that she would have +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_122" id="Page_122">122</a></span> +led the way through one of our beautiful pheasant +preserves, which are exceedingly well worth seeing; +but most certainly she would have been +greatly astonished, and much embarrassed in her +turn, had your cousin taken it into his head to +make love to her."</p> + +<p>"You are in earnest?" said she, looking in my +face with an air of great interest.</p> + +<p>"Indeed I am," I replied; "I am very seriously +in earnest; and though I know not the persons of +whom we have been speaking, I can venture to +assure you positively, that it was only because no +gentleman so well recommended as your cousin +could be suspected of abusing the confidence reposed +in him, that this English father permitted +him to accompany the young lady in her morning +ride."</p> + +<p>"C'est donc un trait sublime!" she exclaimed: +"what noble confidence—what confiding honour! +It is enough to remind one of the <i>paladins</i> of +old."</p> + +<p>"I suspect you are quizzing our confiding simplicity," +said I; "but, at any rate, do not suspect +me of quizzing you—for I have told you nothing +more than a very simple and certain fact."</p> + +<p>"I doubt it not the least in the world," she +replied; "but you are indeed, as I observed at +first, superiorly romantic." She appeared to meditate +for a moment, and then added, "Mais dites +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_123" id="Page_123">123</a></span> +moi un peu ... is not this a little inconsistent +with the stories we read in the 'novels of fashionable +life' respecting the manner in which husbands +are acquired for the young ladies of England?... +You refuse yourselves, you know, the +privilege of disposing of your daughters in marriage +according to the mutual interests of the parties; +and therefore, as young ladies must be married, +it follows that some other means must be +resorted to by the parents. All Frenchmen know +this, and they may perhaps for that reason be +sometimes too easily induced to imagine that it is +intended to lead them into marriage by captivating +their senses. This is so natural an inference, +that you really must forgive it."</p> + +<p>"I forgive it perfectly," I replied; "but as we +have agreed not to <i>mystify</i> each other, it would +not be fair to leave you in the belief that it is the +custom, in order to 'acquire' husbands for the +young ladies, that they should be sent on love-making +expeditions into the woods with the premier +venu. But what you have said enables me to +understand a passage which I was reading the other +day in a French story, and which puzzled me +most exceedingly. It was on the subject of a +young girl who had been forsaken by her lover; +and some one, reproaching him for his conduct, +uses, I think, these words: 'Après l'avoir compromise +autant qu'il est possible de compromettre une +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_124" id="Page_124">124</a></span> +jeune miss—ce qui n'est pas une chose absolument +facile dans la bienheureuse Albion....' This puzzled +me more than I can express; because the +fact is, that we consider the compromising the +reputation of a young lady as so tremendous a +thing, that excepting in novels, where neither national +manners nor natural probabilities are permitted +to check the necessary accumulation of +misery on the head of a heroine, it <span class="smcap">NEVER</span> occurs; +and this, not because nothing can compromise +her, but because nothing that can compromise +her is ever permitted, or, I might almost say, +ever attempted. Among the lower orders, indeed, +stories of seduction are but too frequent; +but our present examination of national manners +refers only to the middle and higher classes +of society."</p> + +<p>Madame B* * * listened to me with the most +earnest attention; and after I had ceased speaking, +she remained silent, as if meditating on what +she had heard. At length she said, in a tone of +much more seriousness than she had yet used,—"I +am quite sure that every word you say is <i>parfaitement +exact</i>—your manner persuades me that you +are speaking neither with exaggeration nor in +jest: <i>cependant</i> ... I cannot conceal from you +my astonishment at your statement. The received +opinion among us is, that private and concealed +infidelities among married women are probably +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_125" id="Page_125">125</a></span> +less frequent in England than in France—because +it seems to be essentially <i>dans vos mœurs +de faire un grand scandale</i> whenever such a circumstance +occurs; and this, with the penalties +annexed to it, undoubtedly acts as a prevention. +But, on the other hand, it is universally considered +as a fact, that you are as lenient to the indiscretions +of unmarried ladies, as severe to those of the +married ones. Tell me—is there not some truth +in this idea?"</p> + +<p>"Not the least in the world, I do assure you. +On the contrary, I am persuaded that in no country +is there any race of women from whom such +undeviating purity and propriety of conduct is +demanded as from the unmarried women of England. +Slander cannot attach to them, because it +is as well known as that a Jew is not qualified to +sit in parliament, that a single woman suspected +of indiscretion immediately dies a civil death—she +sinks out of society, and is no more heard of; +and it is therefore that I have ventured to say, +that a compromised reputation among the unmarried +ladies of England <span class="smcap">NEVER</span> occurs."</p> + +<p>"Nous nous sommes singulièrement trompés +sur tout cela donc, nous autres," said Madame +B* * *. "But the single ladies no longer young?" +she continued;—"forgive me ... but is it really +supposed that they pass their entire lives without +any indiscretion at all?" +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_126" id="Page_126">126</a></span></p> + +<p>This question was asked in a tone of such utter +incredulity as to the possibility of a reply in the +affirmative, that I again lost my gravity, and +laughed heartily; but, after a moment, I assured +her very seriously that such was most undoubtedly +the case.</p> + +<p>The naïve manner in which she exclaimed in +reply, "Est-il possible!" might have made the +fortune of a young actress. There was, however, +no acting in the case; Madame B* * * was most +perfectly unaffected in her expression of surprise, +and assured me that it would be shared by all +Frenchwomen who should be so fortunate as to +find occasion, like herself, to receive such information +from indisputable authority. "Quant aux +hommes," she added, laughing, "je doute fort si +vous en trouverez de si croyans."</p> + +<p>We pursued our conversation much farther; but +were I to repeat the whole, you would only find it +contained many repetitions of the same fact—namely, +that a very strong persuasion exists in +France, among those who are not personally well +acquainted with English manners, that the mode in +which marriages are arranged, rather by the young +people themselves than by their relatives, produces +an effect upon the conduct of our unmarried females +which is not only as far as possible from the +truth, but so preposterously so, as never to have +entered into any English head to imagine. +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_127" id="Page_127">127</a></span></p> + +<p>So few opportunities for anything approaching +to intimacy between French and English women +arise, that it is not very easy for us to find out +exactly what their real opinion is concerning us. +Nothing in Madame B* * *'s manner could lead +me to suspect that any feeling of reprobation or +contempt mixed itself with her belief respecting +the extraordinary license which she supposed was +accorded to unmarried woman. Nothing could +be more indulgent than her tone of commentary +on our <i>national peculiarities</i>, as she called them. +The only theme which elicited an expression of +harshness from her was the manner in which divorces +were obtained and paid for: "Se faire +payer pour une aventure semblable! ... publier un +scandale si ridicule, si offensant pour son amour-propre—si +fortement contre les bonnes mœurs, +pour en recevoir de l'argent, was," she said, "perfectly +incomprehensible in a nation de si braves +gens que les Anglais."</p> + +<p>I did my best to defend our mode of proceeding +in such cases upon the principles of justice and +morality; but French prejudices on this point are +too inveterate to be shaken by any eloquence of +mine. We parted, however, the best friends in +the world, and mutually grateful for the information +we had received.</p> + +<p>This conversation only furnished one, among +several instances, in which I have been astonished +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_128" id="Page_128">128</a></span> +to discover the many popular errors which are +still current in France respecting England. Can +we fairly doubt that, in many cases where we consider +ourselves as perfectly well-informed, we may +be quite as much in the dark respecting them? +It is certain that the habit so general among us +of flying over to Paris for a week or two every +now and then, must have made a great number +of individuals acquainted with the external aspect +of France between Calais and Paris, and also with +all the most conspicuous objects of the capital itself—its +churches and its theatres, its little river +and its great coffee-houses: but it is an extremely +small proportion of these flying travellers who +ever enter into any society beyond what they may +encounter in public; and to all such, France can +be very little better known than England is to +those who content themselves with perusing the +descriptions we give of ourselves in our novels +and newspapers.</p> + +<p>Of the small advance made towards obtaining +information by such visits as these, I have had +many opportunities of judging for myself, both +among English and French, but never more +satisfactorily than at a dinner-party at the house +of an old widow lady, who certainly understands +our language perfectly, and appears to me to +read more English books, and to be more interested +about their authors, than almost any +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_129" id="Page_129">129</a></span> +one I ever met with. She has never crossed +the Channel, however, and has rather an overweening +degree of respect for such of her countrymen +as have enjoyed the privilege of looking at us +face to face on our own soil.</p> + +<p>The day I dined with her, one of these travelled +gentlemen was led up and presented to me +as a person well acquainted with my country. +His name was placed on the cover next to the +one destined for me at table, and it was evidently +intended that we should derive our principal +amusement from the conversation of each other. +As I never saw him before or since, as I never +expect to see him again, and as I do not even +remember his name, I think I am guilty of no +breach of confidence by repeating to you a few +of the ideas upon England which he had acquired +on his travels.</p> + +<p>His first remark after we were placed at table +was,—"You do not, I think, use table-napkins in +England;—do you not find them rather embarrassing?" +The next was,—"I observed during +my stay in England that it is not the custom +to eat soup: I hope, however, that you do not +find it disagreeable to your palate?"... "You +have, I think, no national cuisine?" was the +third observation; and upon this <i>singularity in +our manners</i> he was eloquent. "Yet, after all," +said he consolingly, "France is in fact the only +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_130" id="Page_130">130</a></span> +country which has one: Spain is too oily—Italy +too spicy. We have sent artists into Germany; +but this cannot be said to constitute <i>une cuisine +nationale</i>. Pour dire vrai, however, the rosbif of +England is hardly more scientific than the sun-dried +meat of the Tartars. A Frenchman would +be starved in England did he not light upon +one of the imported artists,—and, happily for +travellers, this is no longer difficult."</p> + +<p>"Did you dine much in private society?" +said I.</p> + +<p>"No, I did not: my time was too constantly +occupied to permit my doing so."</p> + +<p>"We have some very good hotels, however, in +London."</p> + +<p>"But no tables d'hôte!" he replied with a +shrug. "I did very well, nevertheless; for I +never permitted myself to venture anywhere for +the purpose of dining excepting to your celebrated +Leicester-square. It is the most fashionable +part of London, I believe; or, at least, the +only fashionable restaurans are to be found +there."</p> + +<p>I ventured very gently to hint that there were +other parts of London more à-la-mode, and many +hotels which had the reputation of a better cuisine +than any which could be found in Leicester-square; +but the observation appeared to displease +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_131" id="Page_131">131</a></span> +the traveller, and the belle harmonie which it was +intended should subsist between us was evidently +shaken thereby, for I heard him say in a half-whisper +to the person who sat on the other side +of him, and who had been attentively listening +to our discourse,—"Pas exact...." +</p> + +<h2>LETTER LIV.</h2> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_132" id="Page_132">132</a></span></p> + +<p class="ch_open"> +Mixed Society.—Influence of the English Clergy and their +Families.—Importance of their station in Society. +</p> + +<p>Though I am still of opinion that French +society, properly so called,—that is to say, the +society of the educated ladies and gentlemen of +France,—is the most graceful, animated, and fascinating +in the world; I think, nevertheless, that it +is not as perfect as it might be, were a little more +exclusiveness permitted in the formation of it.</p> + +<p>No one can be really well acquainted with +good society in this country without being convinced +that there are both men and women to +be found in it who to the best graces add the +best virtues of social life; but it is equally impossible +to deny, that admirable as are some individuals +of the circle, they all exercise a degree of +toleration to persons less estimable, which, when +some well-authenticated anecdotes are made known +to us, is, to say the least of it, very startling to +the feelings of those who are not to this easy +manner either born or bred.</p> + +<p>To look into the hearts of all who form either +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_133" id="Page_133">133</a></span> +a Parisian or a London lady's visiting list, in +order to discover of what stuff each individual +be made, would not perhaps be very wise, and +is luckily quite impossible. Nothing at all approaching +to such a scrutiny can be reasonably +wished or expected from those who open their +doors for the reception of company; but where +society is perfectly well ordered, no one of either +sex, I think, whose outward and visible conduct +has brought upon them the eyes of all and the +reprobation of the good, should be admitted.</p> + +<p>That such are admitted much more freely in +France than in England, cannot be denied; +and though there are many who conscientiously +keep aloof from such intercourse, and more who +mark plainly enough that there is a distance in +spirit even where there is vicinity of person, still +I think it is greatly to be regretted that such +a leven of disunion should ever be suffered to +insinuate itself into meetings which would be so +infinitely more agreeable as well as more respectable +without it.</p> + +<p>One reason, I doubt not, why there is less +exclusiveness and severity of selection in the +forming a circle here is, that there are no individuals, +or rather no class of individuals, in the +wide circle which constitutes what is called <i>en +grand</i> the society of Paris, who could step forward +with propriety and say, "<i>This may not be</i>." +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_134" id="Page_134">134</a></span></p> + +<p>With us, happily, the case is as yet different. +The clergy of England, their matronly wives and +highly-educated daughters, form a distinct caste, +to which there is nothing that answers in the +whole range of continental Europe. In this caste, +however, are mingled a portion of every other; +yet it has a dignity and aristocracy of its own: +and in this aristocracy are blended the high blood +of the noble, the learning which has in many +instances sufficed to raise to a level with it the +obscure and needy, and the piety which has +given station above either to those whose unspotted +lives have marked them out as pre-eminent +in the holy profession they have chosen.</p> + +<p>While such men as these mingle freely in +society, as they constantly do in England, and +bring with them the females who form their families, +there is little danger that notorious vice +should choose to obtrude itself.</p> + +<p>It will hardly be denied, I believe, that many +a frail fair one, who would boldly push her way +among ermine and coronets where the mitre was +not, would shrink from parading her doubtful +honours where it was: and it is equally certain, +that many a thoughtless, easy, careless giver of +fine parties has been prevented from filling up +her constellation of beauties because "It is impossible +to have Lady This, or Mrs. That, when +the bishop and his family are expected." +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_135" id="Page_135">135</a></span></p> + +<p>Nor is this wholesome influence confined to +the higher ranks alone;—the rector of the parish—nay, +even his young curate, with a smooth cheek +and almost unrazored chin, will in humbler circles +produce the same effect. In short, wherever an +English clergyman or an English clergyman's family +appears, there decency is in presence, and +the canker of known and tolerated vice is not.</p> + +<p>Whenever we find ourselves weary of this restraint, +and anxious to mix (unshackled by the +silent rebuke of such a presence) with whatever +may be most attractive to the eye or amusing +to the spirit, let the stamp of vice be as +notorious upon it as it may, whenever we reach +this state, it will be the right and proper time +to pass the Irish Church Bill.</p> + +<p>These meditations have been thrust upon me +by the reply I received in answer to a question +which I addressed to a lady of my acquaintance +at a party the other evening.</p> + +<p>"Who is that very elegant-looking woman?" +said I.</p> + +<p>"It is Madame de C* * *," was the reply. +"Have you never met her before? She is very +much in society; one sees her everywhere."</p> + +<p>I replied, that I had seen her once or twice before, +but had never learned her name; adding, +that it was not only her name I was anxious to +learn, but something about her. She looked like +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_136" id="Page_136">136</a></span> +a personage, a heroine, a sybil: in short, it was +one of those heads and busts that one seems to +have the same right to stare at, as at a fine picture +or statue; they appear a part of the decorations, +only they excite a little more interest and +curiosity.</p> + +<p>"Can you not tell me something of her character?" +said I: "I never saw so picturesque a +figure; I could fancy that the spirit of Titian +had presided at her toilet."</p> + +<p>"It was only the spirit of coquetry, I suspect," +answered my friend with a smile. "But if you +are so anxious to know her, I can give you her +character and history in very few words:—she +is rich, high-born, intellectual, political, and unchaste."</p> + +<p>I do not think I started; I should be shocked +to believe myself so unfit for a salon as to testify +surprise thus openly at anything; but my friend +looked at me and laughed.</p> + +<p>"You are astonished at seeing her here? But +I have told you that you may expect to meet +her everywhere; except, indeed, chez moi, and at +a few exceedingly rococo houses besides."</p> + +<p>As the lady I was talking to happened to be +an Englishwoman, though for many years a resident +in Paris, I ventured to hint the surprise I +felt that a person known to be what she described +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_137" id="Page_137">137</a></span> +Madame de C* * * should be so universally +received in good society.</p> + +<p>"It is very true," she replied: "it is surprising, +and more so to me perhaps than to you, +because I know thoroughly well the irreproachable +character and genuine worth of many who +receive her. I consider this," she continued, "as +one of the most singular traits in Parisian society. +If, as many travellers have most falsely insinuated, +the women of Paris were generally corrupt and +licentious, there would be nothing extraordinary +in it: but it is not so. Where neither the husband, +the relatives, the servants, nor any one +else, has any wish or intention of discovering or +exposing the frailty of a wife, it is certainly impossible +to say that it may not often exist without +being either known or suspected: but with +this, general society cannot interfere; and those +whose temper or habits of mind lead them to suspect +evil wherever it is possible that it may be +concealed, may often lose the pleasure of friendship +founded on esteem, solely because it is possible +that some hidden faults may render their +neighbour unworthy of it. That such tempers +are not often to be found in France, is certainly +no proof of the depravity of national manners; +but where notorious irregularity of conduct has +brought a woman fairly before the bar of public +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_138" id="Page_138">138</a></span> +opinion, it does appear to me very extraordinary +that such a person as our hostess, and very many +others equally irreproachable, should receive her."</p> + +<p>"I presume," said I, "that Madame de C* * * +is not the only person towards whom this remarkable +species of tolerance is exercised?"</p> + +<p>"Certainly not. There are many others whose +<i>liaisons</i> are as well known as hers, who are also +admitted into the best society. But observe—I +know no instance where such are permitted to +enter within the narrower circle of intimate domestic +friendship. No one in Paris seems to +think that they have any right to examine into +the private history of all the <i>élégantes</i> who fill its +salons; but I believe they take as good care to +know the <i>friends</i> whom they admit to the intimacy +of their private hours as we do. There, +however, this species of decorum ends; and they +would no more turn back from entering a room +where they saw Madame de C* * *, than a +London lady would drive away from the opera +because she saw the carriage of Lady —— at +the door."</p> + +<p>"There is no parallel, however, between the +cases," said I.</p> + +<p>"No, certainly," she replied; "but it is not +the less certain that the Parisians appear to think +otherwise."</p> + +<p>Now it appears evident to me, that all this +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_139" id="Page_139">139</a></span> +arises much less from general licentiousness of morals +than from general easiness of temper. <span class="smcap">Sans +Souci</span> is the darling device of the whole nation: +and how can this be adhered to, if they set about +the very arduous task of driving out of society all +those who do not deserve to be in it? But while +feeling sincerely persuaded, as I really do, that +this difference in the degree of moral toleration +practised by the two countries does not arise +from any depravity in the French character, I +cannot but think that our mode of proceeding in +this respect is infinitely better. It is more conducive, +not only to virtue, but to agreeable and +unrestrained intercourse; and for this reason, if +for no other, it is deeply our interest to uphold +with all possible reverence and dignity that class +whose presence is of itself sufficient to guarantee +at least the reputation of propriety, in every +circle in which they appear.</p> + +<p>Though not very german to Paris and the +Parisians, which I promised should make the subjects +of my letters as long as I remained among +them, I cannot help observing how utterly this +most important influence would be destroyed in +the higher circles—which will ever form the model +of those below them—if the riches, rank, and +worldly honours of this class are wrested from +them. It is indeed very certain that a clergyman, +whether bishop, priest, or deacon, may perform +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_140" id="Page_140">140</a></span> +the duty of a minister in the desk, at the +altar, or in the pulpit, though he has to walk +home afterwards to an humble dwelling and an +humble meal: he may perform this duty well, and +to the entire satisfaction of the rich and great, +though his poverty may prevent him from ever +taking his place among them; but he may not—he +can not, while such is the station allotted him, +produce that effect on society, and exert that influence +on the morals of the people, which he +would do were his temporal place and power +such as to exalt him in the eyes even of the most +worldly.</p> + +<p>Amidst all the varieties of cant to which it is +the destiny of the present age to listen, there is +none which I endure with so little patience as +that which preaches the "<i>humility of the church</i>." +Were there the shadow of reason or logic in +the arguments for the degradation of the clergy +drawn from the Scriptures, they must go the +length of showing that, in order to follow the +example of the great Master, they must all belong +to the class of carpenters and fishermen. Could +we imagine another revelation of the Divinity +accorded to man, it would be natural enough to +conceive that the rich gift of direct inspiration +should be again given to those who had neither +learning, knowledge, pride, nor power of any +kind, to combat or resist, to explain or to weaken, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_141" id="Page_141">141</a></span> +the communication which it was their duty simply +to record and spread abroad. But the eternal +word of God once delivered, does it follow +that those who are carefully instructed in all the +various learning which can assist in giving strength +and authority to the propagation of it should +alone, of all the sons of men, be for ever doomed +to the lower walks of social life in order to imitate +the humility of the Saviour of the world?</p> + +<p>I know not if there be more nonsense or blasphemy +in this. The taking the office of preaching +his own blessed will to man was an act of +humility in God; but the taking upon themselves +to instruct their fellow-men in the law thus solemnly +left us, is a great assumption of dignity in +men,—and where the offices it imposes are well +performed, it becomes one of the first duties of +the believers in the doctrine they have made it +their calling to expound, to honour them with +such honour as mortals can understand and value. +If any one be found who does not perform the duties +of this high calling in the best manner which his +ability enables him to do, let him be degraded as +he deserves; but while he holds it, let him not +be denied the dignity of state and station to +which all his fellow-citizens in their different +walks aspire, in order forsooth to <i>keep him humble</i>! +Humble indeed—yea, humbled to the dust, will +our long-venerated church and its insulted ministers +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_142" id="Page_142">142</a></span> +be, if its destiny and their fortune be left +at the mercy of those who have lately undertaken +to legislate for them. I often feel a sort of vapourish, +vague uncertainty of disbelief, as I read +the records of what has been passing in the House +of Commons on this subject. I cannot <i>realise</i> +it, as the Americans say, that the majority of the +English parliament should consent to be led blind-fold +upon such a point as this, by a set of low-born, +ignorant, bullying papists. I hope, when +I return to England, I shall awake and find that +it is not so.</p> + +<p>And now forgive me for this long digression: +I will write to you to-morrow upon something as +essentially French as possible, to make up for it. +</p> + +<h2>LETTER LV.</h2> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_143" id="Page_143">143</a></span></p> + +<p class="ch_open"> +Le Grand Opéra.—Its enormous Expense.—Its Fashion.—Its +acknowledged Dulness.—'La Juive'.—Its heavy Music.—Its +exceeding Splendour.—Beautiful management +of the Scenery.—National Music. +</p> + +<p>Can I better keep the promise I gave you +yesterday than by writing you a letter of and +concerning le grand opéra? Is there anything +in the world so perfectly French as this? Something +like their pretty opéra comique may exist +elsewhere; we have our comic opera, and Italy +has her buffa; the opéra Italien, too, may be +rather more than rivalled at the Haymarket: but +where out of Paris are we to look for anything +like the Académie Royale de Musique? ... le +grand opéra? ... l'opéra par excellence?—I +may safely answer, nowhere.</p> + +<p>It is an institution of which the expenses are +so enormous, that though it is more constantly +and fully attended perhaps than any other theatre +in the world, it could not be sustained without +the aid of funds supplied by the government. The +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_144" id="Page_144">144</a></span> +extraordinary partiality for this theatre seems to +have existed among the higher classes, without +any intermission from change of fashion, occasional +inferiority of the performances, or any other +cause, from the time of Louis Quatorze to the +present. That immortal monarch, whose whim +was power, and whose word was law, granted a +patent privilege to this establishment in favour of +the musical Abbé Perrin, but speedily revoked it, +to bestow one more ample still on Lulli. In this +latter act, it is ordained that "<i>tous gentilshommes +et demoiselles puissent chanter aux dites pièces et +représentations de notre dite Académie Royale sans +que pour ça ils soient censés déroger au dit titre de +noblesse et à leurs priviléges</i>."</p> + +<p>This was a droll device to exalt this pet plaything +of the fashionable world above all others. +Voltaire fell into the mode like the rest of the +fine folks, and thus expressed his sensibility to its +attractions:—</p> + +<div class="poem"> +<p class="o1">"Il faut se rendre à ce palais magique,</p> +<p>Où les beaux vers, la danse, la musique,</p> +<p>L'art de charmer les yeux par les couleurs,</p> +<p>L'art plus heureux de séduire les cœurs,</p> +<p>De cent plaisirs font un plaisir unique."</p> +</div> + +<p>But the most incomprehensible part of the business +is, that with all this enthusiasm, which certainly +rather goes on increasing than diminishing, +every one declares that he is <i>ennuyé à la mort</i> at +le grand opéra. +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_145" id="Page_145">145</a></span></p> + +<p>I do not mean that their being ennuyés is incomprehensible—Heaven +knows that I understand that +perfectly: but why, when this is avowed, they +should continue to persecute themselves by going +there two or three times in every week, I cannot +comprehend.</p> + +<p>If attendance at the opera were here, as it is +with us, a sort of criterion of the love of music +and <i>other fine arts</i>, it would be much less difficult +to understand: but this is far from being the +case, as both the Italian and the comic operas +have more perfect orchestras. The style and +manner of singing, too, are what no genuine lover +of music could ever be brought to tolerate. When +the remembrance of a German or Italian opera +comes across one while listening to the dry, heavy +recitative of the Academy, it produces a feeling of +impatience difficult to conceive by those who have +never experienced it.</p> + +<p>If, however, instead of being taken in by the +name of opera, and expecting the musical treat +which that name seems to promise, we go to this +magnificent theatre for the purpose of seeing the +most superb and the best-fancied decorations in +the world, we shall at least not be disappointed, +though before the end of the entertainment we +may probably become heartily weary of gazing at +and admiring the dazzling pageant. I told you +just now what Voltaire said of the opera, either +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_146" id="Page_146">146</a></span> +when he was particularly enchanted by some reigning +star—the adorable Sophie Arnould perhaps—or +else when he chose to be particularly à-la-mode: +but he seems more soberly in earnest, I think, when +he says afterwards, "L'opéra n'est qu'un rendezvous +publique, où l'on s'assemble à certains jours, +sans trop savoir pourquoi: c'est une maison où +tout le monde va, quoiqu'on pense mal du maître, +et qu'il soit assez ennuyeux."</p> + +<p>That little phrase, "où tout le monde va," contains, +I suspect after all, the only true solution of +the mystery. "Man is a gregarious animal," say +the philosophers; and it is therefore only in conformity +to this well-known law of his nature that +hes and shes flock by thousands to be pent up +together, in defiance of most <i>triste musique</i> and a +stifling atmosphere, within the walls of this beautiful +puppet-show.</p> + +<p>That it is beautiful, I am at this moment particularly +willing to avouch, as we have just been +regaling ourselves, or rather our eyes, with as +gorgeous a spectacle there as it ever entered into +the heart of a carpenter to <i>étaler</i> on the stage of a +theatre. This splendid show is known by the name +of "La Juive;" but it should rather have been called +"Le Cardinal," for a personage of no less dignity +is decidedly its hero. M. Halévy is the composer, +and M. Scribe the author of the "paroles."</p> + +<p>M. Scribe stands so high as a dramatic composer, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_147" id="Page_147">147</a></span> +that I suppose he may sport a little with his +fame without running much risk of doing it an +injury: but as the Académie Royale has the right +of drawing upon the Treasury for its necessities, it +is to be hoped that the author of "Bertrand et +Raton" is well paid for lending his name to the +pegs on which ermine and velvet, feathers and +flowers, cardinals' hats and emperors' mantles, are +hung up to view for the amusement of all who +may be curious in such matters. I suspect, however, +that the composition of this piece did not cost +the poet many sleepless nights: perhaps he remembered +that excellent axiom of the Barbier de +Seville,—"Ce qui ne vaut pas la peine d'être dit, +on le chante;" and under this sentence I think +such verses as the following, which strongly remind +one of the famous Lilliputian ode in the Bath +Guide, may fairly enough be condemned to music.</p> + +<div class="poem"> +<p class="o1">"Fille chère</p> +<p>Près d'un père</p> +<p class="i1">Viens mourir;</p> +<p>Et pardonne</p> +<p>Quand il donne</p> +<p>La couronne</p> +<p class="i1">Du martyr!</p> +<p>Plus de plainte—</p> +<p>Vaine crainte</p> +<p>Est éteinte</p> +<p class="i1">En mon cœur;</p> +<p>Saint délire!</p> +<p>Dieu m'inspire,</p> +<p>Et j'expire</p> +<p class="i1">Vainqueur."</p> +</div> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_148" id="Page_148">148</a></span></p> + +<p>Unhappily, however, the music is at least as +worthless as the rhymes. There is one passage, +nevertheless, that is singularly impressive and +beautiful. This is the chorus at the opening of +the second act, where a party of Jews assembled +to eat the passover chant a grace in these words:—</p> + +<div class="poem"> +<p>"Oh! Dieu de nos pères!</p> +<p>Toi qui nous éclaires,</p> +<p>Parmi nous descends!"</p> +<p class="i1">&c. &c. &c.</p> +</div> + +<p>This is very fine, but perhaps it approaches rather +too closely to the "Dieu d'Israël" in Méhul's opera +of "Joseph" to be greatly vaunted on the score of +originality.</p> + +<p>Yet, with all these "points of 'vantage" at which +it may be hostilely attacked, "La Juive" draws +thousands to gaze at its splendour every time it is +performed. Twice we attempted to get in without +having secured places, and were told on both +occasions that there was not even standing-room +for gentlemen.</p> + +<p>Among its attractions are two which are alike +new to me as belonging to an opera: one is the +performance of the "Te Deum laudamus," and the +other the entrance of Franconi's troop of horse.</p> + +<p>But, after all, it was clear enough that, whatever +may have been the original object of this institution, +with its nursery academies of music and +dancing, its royal patronage and legalised extravagance, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_149" id="Page_149">149</a></span> +its present glory rests almost wholly +on the talents of the Taglioni family, and with +the sundry MM. décorateurs who have imagined +and arranged the getting up this extraordinary +specimen of scenic magnificence, as well as the +many others of the same kind which have preceded +it.</p> + +<p>I have seen many very fine shows of the kind +in London, but certainly never anything that could +at all be compared with this. Individual scenes—as, +for instance, that of the masqued ball in "Gustavus"—may +equal, by the effect of the first coup-d'œil, +any scene in "La Juive"; but it is the extraordinary +propriety and perfection of all the accessaries +which make this part of the performance +worthy of a critical study from the beginning to the +end of it. I remember reading in some history of +Paris, that it was the fashion to be so <i>précieuse</i> as to +the correctness of the costumes of the French opera, +that the manager could not venture to bring out +"Les Trois Sultanes" without sending to Constantinople +to obtain the dresses. A very considerable +portion of the same spirit has evidently been at +work to render the appearance of a large detachment +of the court of Rome and the whole court +of the Emperor Sigismund <i>comme il faut</i> upon the +scene.</p> + +<p>But, with all a woman's weakness at my heart +in favour of velvet, satin, gold tissue, and ermine, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_150" id="Page_150">150</a></span> +I cannot but confess that these things, important +as they are, appear but secondary aids in the +magical scenic effects of "La Juive." The arrangement +and management of the scenery were +to me perfectly new. The coulisses have vanished, +side scenes are no more,—and, what is more +important still, these admirable mechanists have +found the way of throwing across the stage those +accidental masses of shadow by aid of which Nature +produces her most brilliant effects; so that, +instead of the aching eyes having to gaze upon a +blaze of reflected light, relieved only by an occasional +dip of the foot-lights and a sudden paling +of gas in order to enact night, they are now +enchanted and beguiled by exactly such a mixture +of light and shade as an able painter would give +to a picture.</p> + +<p>How this is effected, Heaven knows! There are, +I am very sure, more things at present above, +about, and underneath the opera stage, than are +dreamed of in any philosophy, excepting that of +a Parisian carpenter. In the first scene of the +"Juive," a very noble-looking church rears its sombre +front exactly in the centre of the stage, throwing +as fine, rich, deep a shadow on one side of it +as Notre Dame herself could do. In another scene, +half the stage appears to be sunk below the level +of the eye, and is totally lost sight of, a low parapet +wall marking the boundary of the seeming +river. +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_151" id="Page_151">151</a></span></p> + +<p>Our box was excellently situated, and by no +means distant from the stage; yet we often +found it impossible to determine at what point, +in different directions, the boards ended and the +scenery began. The arrangement of the groups +too, not merely in combinations of grace and +beauty, but in such bold, easy, and picturesque +variety, that one might fancy Murillo had made +the sketches for them, was another source of +wonder and admiration; and had all these pretty +sights been shown us in the course of two acts +instead of five, I am sure we should have gone +home quite delighted and in the highest possible +good-humour. But five acts of raree-show is too +much; and accordingly we yawned, and talked of +Grétry, Méhul, Nicolo, and I know not whom +beside;—in short, became as splenetic and pedantic +as possible.</p> + +<p>We indulged ourselves occasionally in this unamiable +mood by communicating our feelings to +each other, in a whisper however which could not +go beyond our own box, and with the less restraint +because we felt sure that the one stranger +gentleman who shared it with us could not understand +our language. But herein we egregiously +deceived ourselves: though in appearance he was +<i>Français jusqu'aux ongles</i>, we soon found out that +he could speak English as well as any of us; and, +with much real politeness, he had the good-nature +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_152" id="Page_152">152</a></span> +to let us know this before we had uttered anything +too profoundly John Bullish to be forgiven.</p> + +<p>Fortunately, too, it appeared that our judgments +accorded as well as if we had all been born +in the same parish. He lamented the decadence +of music in this, which ought to be its especial +theatre; but spoke with enthusiasm of the Théâtre +Italien, and its great superiority in science over +every other in Paris. This theatre, to my great +vexation, is now closed; but I well remember +that such too was my judgment of it some seven +years ago.</p> + +<p>The English and the French are generally +classed together as having neither one nor the other +any really national music of their own. We have +both of us, however, some sweet and perfectly +original airs, which will endure as long as the +modulations of sound are permitted to enchant +our mortal ears. Nevertheless, I am not going to +appeal against a sentence too often repeated not to +be universally received as truth. But, notwithstanding +this absence of any distinct school of national +music, it is impossible to doubt that the +people of both countries are fondly attached to the +science. More sacrifices are made by both to +obtain good music than the happy German and +Italian people would ever dream of making. Nor +would it, I think, be fair to argue, from the present +style of the performances at the Académie, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_153" id="Page_153">153</a></span> +that the love of music is on the decline here. The +unbounded expense bestowed upon decorations, +and the pomp and splendour of effect which results +from it, are quite enough to attract and dazzle the +eyes of a more "thinking people" than the Parisians; +and the unprecedented perfection to which +the mechanists have brought the delusion of still-life +seems to permit a relaxation in the efforts of +the manager to obtain attraction from other +sources.</p> + +<p>But this will not last. The French people +really love music, and will have it. It is more +than probable that the musical branch of this academic +establishment will soon revive; and if in +doing so it preserve its present superiority of decoration, +it will again become an amusement of +unrivalled attraction.</p> + +<p>I believe the French themselves generally consider +us as having less claim to the reputation +of musical amateurship than themselves; but, +with much respect for their judgment on such +subjects, I differ from them wholly in this. When +has France ever shown, either in her capital or out +of it, such a glorious burst of musical enthusiasm +as produced the festivals of Westminster Abbey +and of York?</p> + +<p>It was not for the sake of encouraging an English +school of music, certainly, that these extraordinary +efforts were made. They were not +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_154" id="Page_154">154</a></span> +native strains which rang along the vaulted roofs; +but it was English taste, and English feeling, +which recently, as well as in days of yore, conceived +and executed a scheme of harmony more +perfect and sublime than I can remember to have +heard of elsewhere.</p> + +<p>I doubt, too, if in any country a musical institution +can be pointed out in purer taste than +that of our ancient music concert. The style and +manner of this are wholly national, though the +compositions performed there are but partially so; +and I think no one who truly and deeply loves the +science but must feel that there is a character in +it which, considering the estimation in which +it has for so many years been held, may fairly redeem +the whole nation from any deficiency in +musical taste.</p> + +<p>There is one branch of the "gay science," if I +may so call it, which I always expect to find +in France, but respecting which I have hitherto +been always disappointed: this is in the humble +class of itinerant musicians. In Germany they +abound; and it not seldom happens that their +strains arrest the feet and enchant the ear of the +most fastidious. But whenever, in France, I +have encountered an ambulant troubadour, I confess +I have felt no inclination to linger on my +way to listen to him. I do not, however, mean +to claim much honour for ourselves on the score of +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_155" id="Page_155">155</a></span> +our travelling minstrels. If we fail to pause +in listening to those of France, we seldom fail to +run whenever our ears are overtaken by our own. +Yet still we give strong proof of our love of +music, in the more than ordinary strains which +may be occasionally heard before every coffee-house +in London, when the noise and racket of +the morning has given place to the hours of +enjoyment. I have heard that the bands of wind +instruments which nightly parade through the +streets of London receive donations which, taken +on an average throughout the year, would be sufficient +to support a theatre. This can only proceed +from a genuine propensity to being "moved +by concord of sweet sounds;" for no fashion, as is +the case at our costly operas, leads to it. On the +contrary, it is most decidedly mauvais ton to be +caught listening to this unexclusive harmony; yet +it is encouraged in a degree that clearly indicates +the popular feeling.</p> + +<p>Have I then proved to your satisfaction, as +completely as I undoubtedly have to my own, +that if without a national music, at least we +are not without a national taste for it? +</p> + +<h2>LETTER LVI.</h2> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_156" id="Page_156">156</a></span></p> + +<p class="ch_open"> +The Abbé Deguerry.—His eloquence.—Excursion across +the water.—Library of Ste. Geneviève.—Copy-book of +the Dauphin.—St. Etienne du Mont.—Pantheon. +</p> + +<p>The finest sermon I have heard since I have +been in Paris—and, I am almost inclined to think, +the finest I ever heard anywhere—was preached +yesterday by the Abbé Deguerry at St. Roch. It +was a discourse calculated to benefit all Christian +souls of every sect and denomination whatever—had +no shade of doctrinal allusion in it of any +kind, and was just such a sermon as one could +wish every soi-disant infidel might be forced to +listen to while the eyes of a Christian congregation +were fixed upon him. It would do one +good to see such a being cower and shrink, in the +midst of his impotent and petulant arrogance, to +feel how a "plain word could put him down."</p> + +<p>The Abbé Deguerry is a young man, apparently +under thirty; but nature seems to have put him at +once in possession of a talent which generally requires +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_157" id="Page_157">157</a></span> +long years to bring to perfection. He is +eloquent in the very best manner; for it is an eloquence +intended rather to benefit the hearer than +to do honour to the mere human talent of the +orator. Beautifully as his periods flowed, I felt +certain, as I listened to him, that their harmonious +rhythm was the result of no study, but purely the +effect, unconsciously displayed, of a fine ear and +an almost unbounded command of language. He +had studied his matter,—he had studied and +deeply weighed his arguments; but, for his style, +it was the free gift of Heaven.</p> + +<p>Extempore preaching has always appeared to +me to be a fearfully presumptuous exercise. +Thoughts well digested, expressions carefully +chosen, and arguments conscientiously examined, +are no more than every congregation has a right +to expect from one who addresses them with all +the authority of place on subjects of most high +importance; and rare indeed is the talent which +can produce this without cautious and deliberate +study. But in listening to the Abbé Deguerry, I +perceived it was possible that a great and peculiar +talent, joined to early and constant practice, +might enable a man to address his fellow-creatures +without presumption even though he +had not written his sermon;—yet it is probable +that I should be more correct were I to say, without +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_158" id="Page_158">158</a></span> +reading it to his congregation, for it is hardly +possible to believe that such a composition was +actually and altogether extempore.</p> + +<p>His argument, which was to show the helpless +insufficiency of man without the assistance of revelation +and religious faith, was never lost sight +of for an instant. There was no weak wordiness, +no repetition, no hacknied ornaments of rhetoric; +but it was the voice of truth, speaking in that +language of universal eloquence which all nations +and all creeds must feel; and it flowed on with +unbroken clearness, beauty, and power, to the +end.</p> + +<p>Having recently quitted Flanders, where everything +connected with the Roman Catholic worship +is sustained in a style of stately magnificence +which plainly speaks its Spanish origin, I +am continually surprised by the comparatively simple +vestments and absence of ostentatious display +in the churches of Paris. At the metropolitan +church of Notre Dame, indeed, nothing was wanting +to render its archiepiscopal dignity conspicuous; +but everywhere else, there was a great deal +less of pomp and circumstance than I expected. +But nowhere is the relaxation of clerical dignity +in the clergy of Paris so remarkable as in the +appearance of the young priests whom we occasionally +meet in the streets. The flowing curls, +the simple round hat, the pantaloons, and in some +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_159" id="Page_159">159</a></span> +cases the boots also, give them the appearance of +a race of men as unlike as possible to their stiff +and primitive predecessors. Yet they all look +flourishing, and well pleased with themselves and +the world about them: but little of mortification +or abstinence can be traced on their countenances; +and if they do fast for some portion of every +week, they may certainly say with Father Philip, +that "what they take prospers with them marvellously."</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 395px;"><a name="illo158" id="illo158"></a> +<img src="images/illo174.jpg" width="395" height="600" alt="Pretres de la Jeune France" /> + +<p class="smcap s05">Drawn & Etched by A. Hervieu.</p> + +<p class="caption"><span class="smcap">Prêtres de la Jeune France.</span></p> + +<p class="s05 caption">London. Published by Richard Bentley. 1835.</p> +</div> + +<p>We have this morning made an excursion to +the other side of the water, which always seems +like setting out upon a journey; and yet I know +not why it should be so, for as the river is not +very wide, the bridges are not very long; but so +it is, that for some reason or other, if it were not +for the magnetic Abbaye-aux-Bois, we should +very rarely find ourselves on the left bank of the +Seine.</p> + +<p>On this occasion, our object was to visit the +famous old library of Ste. Geneviève, on the invitation +of a gentleman who is one of the librarians. +Nothing can be more interesting than an expedition +of this sort, with an intelligent and obliging +cicisbeo, who knows everything concerning the +objects displayed before you, and is kindly willing +to communicate as much of his <i>savoir</i> as the time +may allow, or as may be necessary to make the +different objects examined come forth from that +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_160" id="Page_160">160</a></span> +venerable but incomprehensible accumulation of +treasures, which form the mass of all the libraries +and museums in the world, and which, be he as +innocent of curiosity as an angel, every stranger +is bound over to visit, under penalty, when honestly +reciting his adventures, of hearing exclamations +from all the friends he left at home, of—"What! +... did you not see that?... Then you have seen +nothing!"</p> + +<p>I would certainly never expose myself to this +cutting reproach, could I always secure as agreeable +a companion as the one who tempted us to +mount to the elevated repository which contains +the hundred thousand volumes of the royal library +of Ste. Geneviève. Were I a student there, I should +grumble prodigiously at the long and steep ascent +to this temple of all sorts of learning: but +once reached, the tranquil stillness, and the perfect +seclusion from the eternal hum of the great +city that surrounds it, are very delightful, and might, +I think, act as a sedative upon the most restive +and truant imagination that ever beset a student.</p> + +<p>I was sorry to hear that symptoms of decay in +the timbers of the venerable roof make it probable +that this fine old room must be given up, and +the large collection it has so long sheltered be +conveyed elsewhere. The apartment is in the +form of a cross, with a dome at the point of intersection, +painted by the elder Restout. Though +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_161" id="Page_161">161</a></span> +low, and in fact occupying only the roof of the +college, formerly the Abbaye of Sainte Geneviève, +there is something singularly graceful and pleasing +to the eye in this extensive chamber, its ornaments +and general arrangement;—something monastic, +yet not gloomy; with an air of learned +ease, and comfortable exclusion of all annoyance, +that is very enviable.</p> + +<p>The library appears to be kept up in excellent +style, and in a manner to give full effect to its +liberal regulations, which permit the use of every +volume in the collection to all the earth. The +wandering scholar at distance from his own learned +cell, and the idle reader for mere amusement, +may alike indulge their bookish propensities here, +with exactly the same facilities that are accorded +to the students of the college. The librarians or +their deputies are ready to deliver to them any +work they ask for, with the light and reasonable +condition annexed that the reader shall accompany +the person who is to find the volume or volumes +required, and assist in conveying them to the spot +which he has selected for his place of study.</p> + +<p>The long table which stretches from the centre +under the doom, across the transepts of the cross, +was crowded with young men when we were +there, who really seemed most perfectly in earnest +in their occupation—gazing on the volumes before +them "with earnest looks intent," even while +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_162" id="Page_162">162</a></span> +a large party swept past them to examine a curious +model of Rome placed at the extremity of one +of the transepts. A rigorous silence, however, is +enjoined in this portion of the apartments; so that +even the ladies were obliged to postpone their +questions and remarks till they had passed out +of it.</p> + +<p>After looking at splendid editions, rare copies, +and so forth, our friend led us to some small +rooms, fitted up with cases for the especial protection +under lock and key of the manuscripts of +the collection. Having admired the spotless vellum +of some, and the fair penmanship of others, a +thin morocco-bound volume was put into my hands, +which looked like a young lady's collection of +manuscript waltzes. This was the copy-book of +the Dauphin, father of the much-regretted Duke +de Bourgogne, and grandfather of Louis Quinze.</p> + +<p>The characters were evidently written with great +care. Each page contained a moral axiom, and +all of them more or less especially applicable to a +royal pupil. There was one of these which I +thought might be particularly useful to all such at +the present day: it was entitled, in large letters—</p> + +<p class="poem"> +SE MOQUEUR DE LIBELLES</p> + +<p>—the superfluous <span class="smcap">U</span> being erased by a dash of the +master's pen. Then followed, in extremely clear +and firm characters, these lines:— +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_163" id="Page_163">163</a></span></p> +<div class="poem"> +<p class="i2">Si de vos actions la satyre réjoue,</p> +<p class="i2">Feignez adroitement de ne la pas ouïr:</p> +<p class="i2">Qui relève une injure, il semble qu'il l'avoue;</p> +<p class="i2">Qui la scait mépriser, la fait évanouir.</p> +</div> + +<p class="i2">L <span class="smcap">Louis </span> <span class="smcap">Louis </span> <span class="smcap">Louis </span> <span class="smcap">Louis </span></p> + +<p>In one of these smaller rooms hangs the portrait +of a negress in the dress of a nun. It has +every appearance of being a very old painting, +and our friend M. C* * * told us that a legend +had been ever attached to it, importing that it was +the portrait of a daughter of Mary Queen of Scots, +born before she left France for Scotland. What +could have originated such a very disagreeable piece +of scandal, it is difficult to imagine; but I can +testify that all the internal evidence connected +with it is strong against its truth, for no human +countenance can well be conceived which +would show less family likeness to our lovely and +unfortunate northern queen than does that of +this grim sister.</p> + +<p>From the library of Ste. Geneviève, we went +under the same kind escort to look at the barbaric +but graceful vagaries of St. Etienne du +Mont. The galleries suspended as if by magic +between the pillars of the choir, and the spiral +staircases leading to them, out of all order as +they are, must nevertheless be acknowledged as +among the lightest and most fairy-like constructions +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_164" id="Page_164">164</a></span> +in the world. This singular church, capricious +in its architecture both within and without, +is in some parts of great antiquity, and was +originally built as a chapel of ease to the old +church of Ste. Geneviève, which stood close beside +it, and of which the lofty old tower still remains, +making part of the college buildings. As a proof +of the entire dependance of this pretty little church +upon its mother edifice, it was not permitted to +have any separate door of its own, the only access +to it being through the great church. This subsidiary +chapel, now dignified into a parish church, +has at different periods been enlarged and beautified, +and has again and again petitioned for +leave from its superior to have a door of its +own; but again and again it was refused, and +it was not till the beginning of the sixteenth +century that this modest request was at length +granted. The great Pascal lies buried in this +church.</p> + +<p>I was very anxious to give my children a sight +of the interior of that beautiful but versatile +building called, when I first saw it, the Pantheon—when +I last saw it, Ste. Geneviève, and +which is now again known to all the world, or +at least to that part of it which has been fortunate +enough to visit Paris since the immortal +days, as the Pantheon.</p> + +<p>We could not, however, obtain an entrance to +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_165" id="Page_165">165</a></span> +it; and it is very likely that before we shall +again find ourselves on its simple and severe, +but very graceful threshold, it will have again +changed its vocation, and be restored to the use +of the Christian church.—Ainsi soit-il! +</p> + +<h2>LETTER LVII.</h2> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_166" id="Page_166">166</a></span></p> + +<p class="ch_open"> +Little Suppers.—Great Dinners.—Affectation of Gourmandise.—Evil +effects of "dining out."—Evening Parties.—Dinners +in private under the name of Luncheons.—Late +Hours. +</p> + +<p>How I mourn for the departed petits soupers +of Paris!... and how far are her pompous +dinners from being able to atone for their loss! +For those people, and I am afraid there are +many of them, who really and literally live to +eat, I know that the word "dinner" is the +signal and symbol of earth's best, and, perhaps, +only bliss. For them the steaming vapour, the +tedious long array, the slow and solemn progress +of a dîner de quatre services, offers nothing but +joy and gladness; but what is it to those who +only eat to live?</p> + +<p>I know no case in which injustice and tyranny +are so often practised as at the dinner-table. +Perhaps twenty people sit down to dinner, of +whom sixteen would give the world to eat just +no more than they like and have done with it: +but it is known to the Amphitryon that there +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_167" id="Page_167">167</a></span> +are four heavy persons present whose souls hover +over his ragoûts like harpies over the feast of +Phinæus, and they must not be disturbed, or revilings +instead of admiration will repay the outlay +and the turmoil of the banquet.</p> + +<p>A tedious, dull play, followed by a long, noisy, +and gunpowder-scented pantomime, upon the last +scene of which your party is determined to see +the curtain fall; a heavy sermon of an hour long, +your pew being exactly in front of the preacher; +a morning visit from a lady who sends her +carriage to fetch her boys from school at Wimbleton, +and comes to entertain you with friendly +talk about her servants till it comes back;—each +of these is hard to bear and difficult to escape; +but which of them can compare in suffering to +a full-blown, stiff, stately dinner of three hours +long, where the talk is of food, and the only +relief from this talk is to eat it?... How can +you get away? How is it possible to find or +invent any device that can save you from enduring +to the end? With cheeks burning from +steam and vexation, can you plead a sudden +faintness? Still less can you dare to tell the +real truth, and confess that you are dying of +disgust and ennui. The match is so unfair between +the different parties at such a meeting +as this—the victims so utterly helpless!... And, +after all, there is no occasion for it. In London +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_168" id="Page_168">168</a></span> +there are the clubs and the Clarendon; in Paris +are Périgord's and Véry's, and a score beside, +any one of whom could furnish a more perfect +dinner than can be found at any private mansion +whatever, where sufferings are often inflicted on +the wretched lookers-on very nearly approaching +to those necessary for the production of the +<i>foie gras</i>.</p> + +<p>Think not, however, that I am inclined in the +least degree to affect indifference or dislike to an +elegant, well-spread table: on the contrary, I am +disposed to believe that the hours when mortals +meet together, all equally disposed to enjoy +themselves by refreshing the spirits, recruiting the +strength, and inspiring the wit, with the cates +and the cups most pleasing to the palate of each, +may be reckoned, without any degradation to +human pride, among the happiest hours of life. +But this no more resembles the endless crammings +of a <i>repas de quatre services</i>, than a work in four +volumes on political economy to an epigram in +four lines upon the author of it.</p> + +<p>In fact, to give you a valuable hint upon the +subject, I am persuaded that some of the most +distinguished gourmets of the age have plunged +themselves and their disciples into a most lamentable +error in this matter. They have overdone +the thing altogether. Their object is to excite +the appetite as much as possible, in order to +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_169" id="Page_169">169</a></span> +satisfy it as largely as possible; and this end is +utterly defeated by the means used. But I will +not dwell on this; neither you nor I are very particularly +interested in the success either of the +French or English eaters by profession; we will +leave them to study their own business and manage +it as well as they can.</p> + +<p>For the more philosophical enjoyers of the +goods the gods provide I feel more interest, and +I really lament the weakness which leads so +many of them to follow a fashion which must +be so contrary to all their ideas of real enjoyment; +but, unhappily, it is daily becoming more +necessary for every man who sits down at a +fashionable table to begin talking like a cook. +They surely mistake the thing altogether. This +is not the most effectual way of proving the +keenness of their gourmandise.</p> + +<p>In nine cases out of ten, I believe this inordinate +passion for good eating is pure affectation; +and I suspect that many a man, especially many +a young man, both in Paris and London, would +often be glad to eat a reasonably good dinner, and +then change the air, instead of sitting hour after +hour, while dishes are brought to his elbow till +his head aches in shaking it as a negative to the +offer of them, were it not that it would be so +dreadfully bourgeois to confess it.</p> + +<p>If, however, on the other hand, an incessant +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_170" id="Page_170">170</a></span> +and pertinacious "diner-out" should take up the +business in good earnest, and console himself for +the long sessions he endures by really eating on +from soup to ice, what a heavy penalty does he +speedily pay for it! I have lived long enough to +watch more than one svelte, graceful, elegant +young man, the glory of the drawing-room, the +pride of the Park, the hero of Almack's, growing +every year rounder and redder; the clear, well-opened +eye becoming dull and leaden—the brilliant +white teeth looking "not what they were, +but quite the reverse," till the noble-looking, animated +being, that one half the world was ready +to love, and the other to envy, sank down into +a heavy, clumsy, middle-aged gentleman, before +half his youth was fairly past; and this solely for +the satisfaction of continuing to eat every day for +some hours after he had ceased to be hungry.</p> + +<p>It is really a pity that every one beginning +this career does not set the balance of what he +will gain and what he will lose by it fairly before +him. If this were done, we should probably have +much fewer theoretical cooks and practical crammers, +but many more lively, animated table-companions, +who might oftener be witty themselves, +and less often the cause of wit in others.</p> + +<p>The fashion for assembling large parties, instead +of selecting small ones, is on all occasions a grievous +injury to social enjoyment. It began perhaps +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_171" id="Page_171">171</a></span> +in vanity: fine ladies wished to show the world +that they had "a dear five hundred friends" ready +to come at their call. But as everybody complains +of it as a bore, from Whitechapel to Belgrave-square, +and from the Faubourg St. Antoine +to the Faubourg du Roule, vanity would now be +likely enough to put a general stop to it, were it +not that a most disagreeable species of economy +prevents it. "A large party kills such a prodigious +number of birds," as I once heard a friend of +mine say, when pleading to her husband for permission +to overflow her dinner-table first, and then +her drawing-rooms, "that it is the most extravagant +thing in the world to have a small one." +Now this is terrible, because it is true: but, at least, +those blest with wealth might enjoy the extreme +luxury of having just as many people about them +as they liked, and no more; and if they would but +be so very obliging as to set the fashion, we all +know that it would speedily be followed in some +mode or other by all ranks, till it would be considered +as positively mauvais ton to have twice as +many people in your house as you have chairs for +them to sit on.</p> + +<p>The pleasantest evening parties remaining in +Paris, now that such delightful little committees +as Molière brings together after the performance +of "L'Ecole des Femmes" can meet no more, +are those assembled by an announcement made +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_172" id="Page_172">172</a></span> +by Madame une Telle to a somewhat select circle, +that she shall be at home on a certain evening in +every week, fortnight, or month, throughout the +season. This done, nothing farther is necessary; +and on these evenings a party moderately large +drop in without ceremony, and depart without +restraint. No preparation is made beyond a few +additional lights; and the albums and portfolios +in one room, with perhaps a harp or pianoforte in +another, give aid, if aid be wanted, to the conversation +going on in both. Ices, eau sucrée, +syrup of fruits, and gaufres are brought round, +and the party rarely remain together after midnight.</p> + +<p>This is very easy and agreeable,—incomparably +better, no doubt, than more crowded and more +formal assemblées. Nevertheless, I am so profoundly +rococo as to regret heartily the passing +away of the petits soupers, which used to be +the favourite scene of enjoyment, and the chosen +arena for the exhibition of wit, for all the beaux +esprits, male and female, of Paris.</p> + +<p>I was told last spring, in London, that at present +it was the parvenus only who had incomes +unscathed by the stormy times; and that, consequently, +it was rather elegant than otherwise +to <i>chanter misère</i> upon all occasions. I moreover +heard a distinguished confectioner, when in +conversation with a lady on the subject of a ball-supper, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_173" id="Page_173">173</a></span> +declare that "orders were so slack, that he +had countermanded a set of new ornaments which +he had bespoken from Paris."</p> + +<p>Such being the case, what an excellent opportunity +is the present for a little remuement in +the style of giving entertainments! Poverty and +the clubs render fine dinners at once dangerous, +difficult, and unnecessary; but does it follow that +men and women are no more to meet round a +banqueting table? "Because we are virtuous, +shall there be no more cakes and ale?"</p> + +<p>I have often dreamed, that were I a great lady, +with houses and lands, and money at will, I +would see if I could not break through the tyrannous +yoke of fashion, often so confessedly +galling to the patient wearers of it, and, in the +place of heavy, endless dinners, which often make +bankrupt the spirit and the purse, endeavour to +bring into vogue that prettiest of all inventions +for social enjoyment—a real supper-table: not a +long board, whereat aching limbs and languid +eyes may yawningly wait to receive from the +hand of Mr. Gunter what must cost the giver +more, and profit the receiver less, than any +imaginable entertainment of the kind I propose, +and which might be spread by an establishment +as simply monté as that of any gentleman in +London.</p> + +<p>Then think of the luxury of sitting down at a +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_174" id="Page_174">174</a></span> +table neither steaming with ragoûts, nor having +dyspepsia hid under every cover; where neither +malignant gout stands by, nor servants swarm and +listen to every idle word; where you may renew +the memory of the sweet strains you have just +listened to at the opera, instead of sitting upon +thorns while you know that your favourite overture +is in the very act of being played! All +should be cool and refreshing, nectarine and ambrosial,—uncrowded, +easy, intimate, and as witty +as Englishmen and Englishwomen could contrive +to make it!</p> + +<p>Till this experiment has been fairly made and +declared to fail, I will never allow that the conversational +powers of the women of England +have been fully proved and found wanting. The +wit of Mercury might be weighed to earth by the +endurance of three long, pompous courses; and +would it not require spirits lighter and brighter +than those of a Peri to sustain a woman gaily +through the solemn ceremonies of a fine dinner?</p> + +<p>In truth, the whole arrangement appears to me +strangely defective and ill-contrived. Let English +ladies be sworn to obey the laws of fashion as +faithfully as they will, they cannot live till eight +o'clock in the evening without some refreshment +more substantial than the first morning meal. In +honest truth and plain English, they all dine in +the most unequivocal manner at two or three +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_175" id="Page_175">175</a></span> +o'clock; nay, many of those who meet their +hungry brethren at dinner-parties have taken +coffee or tea before they arrive there. Then what +a distasteful, tedious farce does the fine dinner +become!</p> + +<p>Now just utter a "Passe! passe!" and, by +a little imaginative legerdemain, turn from this +needless dinner to such a petit souper as Madame +de Maintenon gave of yore. Let Fancy paint the +contrast; and let her take the gayest colours she +can find, she cannot make it too striking. You +must, however, rouse your courage, and strengthen +your nerves, that they may not quail before this +fearful word—<span class="smcap">SUPPER</span>. In truth, the sort of +shudder I have seen pass over the countenances +of some fashionable men when it is pronounced +may have been natural and unaffected enough; +for who that has been eating in despite of nature +from eight to eleven can find anything <i>appétissant</i> +in this word "supper" uttered at twelve.</p> + +<p>But if we could persuade Messieurs nos Maîtres, +instead of injuring their health by the long +fast which now precedes their dinner, during which +they walk, talk, ride, drive, read, play billiards, +yawn—nay, even sleep, to while away the time, and +to accumulate, as it were, an appetite of inordinate +dimensions;—if, instead of this, they would +for one season try the experiment of dining at five +o'clock, and condescend afterwards to permit themselves +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_176" id="Page_176">176</a></span> +to be agreeable in the drawing-room, they +would find their wit sparkle brighter than the +champagne at their supper-tables, and moreover +their mirrors would pay them the prettiest compliments +in the world before they had tried the +change for a fortnight.</p> + +<p>But, alas! all this is very idle speculation; for I +am not a great lady, and have no power whatever +to turn dull dinners into gay suppers, let me +wish it as much as I may. +</p> + +<h2>LETTER LVIII.</h2> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_177" id="Page_177">177</a></span></p> + +<p class="ch_open"> +Hôpital des Enfans Trouvés.—Its doubtful advantages.—Story +of a Child left there. +</p> + +<p>Like diligent sight-seers, as we are, we have +been to visit the hospital for les Enfans Trouvés. +I had myself gone over every part of the establishment +several years before, but to the rest of my +party it was new—and certainly there is enough +of strangeness in the spectacle to repay a drive to +the Rue d'Enfer. Our kind friend and physician, +Dr. Mojon, who by the way is one of the most +amiable men and most skilful physicians in Paris, +was the person who introduced us; and his acquaintance +with the visiting physician, who attended +us round the rooms, enabled us to obtain much +interesting information. But, alas! it seems as if +every question asked on this subject could only +elicit a painful answer. The charity itself, noble +as it is in extent, and admirable for the excellent +order which reigns throughout every department +of it, is, I fear, but a very doubtful good. If it +tend, as it doubtless must do, to prevent the unnatural +crime of infanticide, it leads directly to one +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_178" id="Page_178">178</a></span> +hardly less hateful in the perpetration, and perhaps +more cruel in its result,—namely, that of abandoning +the creature whom nature, unless very fearfully +distorted, renders dearer than life. Nor is it the +least melancholy part of the speculation to know +that one fourth of the innocent creatures, who are +deposited at the average rate of above twenty each +day, die within the first year of their lives. But +this, after all, perhaps is no very just cause of lamentation: +one of the sisters of charity who attend +at the hospital told me, in reply to an inquiry +respecting the education of these immortal but +unvalued beings, that the charity extended not +its cares beyond preserving their animal life and +health—that no education whatever was provided +for them, and that, unless some lucky and most +rare accident occurred to change their destiny, +they generally grew up in very nearly the same +state as the animals bred upon the farms which +received them.</p> + +<p>Peasants come on fixed days—two or three +times a week, I believe—to receive the children +who appear likely to live, as nurslings; and they +convey them into the country, sometimes to a +great distance from Paris, partly for the sake of +a consideration in money which they receive, but +chiefly for the value of their labour.</p> + +<p>It is a singular fact, that during the years which +immediately followed the revolution, the number +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_179" id="Page_179">179</a></span> +of children deposited at the hospital was greatly +diminished; but, among those deposited, the proportion +of deaths was still more greatly increased. +In 1797, for instance, 3,716 children were received, +3,108 of whom died.</p> + +<p>I have lately heard a story, of which a child +received at this hospital is in some sort the heroine; +and as I thought it sufficiently interesting +to insert in my note-book, I am tempted to +transcribe it for you. The circumstances occurred +during the period which immediately followed +the first revolution; but the events were +merely domestic, and took no colour from the +times.</p> + +<p>M. le Comte de G* * * was a nobleman of +quiet and retired habits, whom delicate health had +early induced to quit the service, the court, and +the town. He resided wholly at a paternal chateau +in Normandy, where his forefathers had resided +before him too usefully and too unostentatiously +to have suffered from the devastating +effects of the revolution. The neighbours, instead +of violating their property, had protected it; and +in the year 1799, when my story begins, the count +with his wife and one little daughter were as +quietly inhabiting the mansion his ancestors had +inhabited before him, as if it stood on English +soil.</p> + +<p>It happened, during that year, that the wife of a +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_180" id="Page_180">180</a></span> +peasant on his estate, who had twice before made +a journey to Paris, to take a nursling from among +the enfans trouvés, again lost a new-born baby, +and again determined upon supplying its place +from the hospital. It seemed that the poor woman +was either a bad nurse or a most unlucky +one; for not only had she lost three of her own, +but her two foster-children also.</p> + +<p>Of this excursion, however, she prophesied a +better result; for the sister of charity, when she +placed in her arms the baby now consigned to +her care, assured her it was the loveliest and most +promising child she had seen deposited during ten +years of constant attendance among the enfans +trouvés. Nor were her hopes disappointed: the +little Alexa (for such was the name pinned on +her dress) was at five years old so beautiful, so +attractive, so touching, with her large blue eyes +and dark chesnut curls, that she was known and +talked of for a league round Pont St. Jacques. +M. and Madame de G* * *, with their little girl, +never passed the cottage without entering to look +at and caress the lovely child.</p> + +<p>Isabeau de G* * * was just three years older +than the little foundling; but a most close alliance +subsisted between them. The young heiress, +with all the pride of a juvenile senior, delighted +in nothing so much as in extending her patronage +and protection to the pretty Alexa; and the forsaken +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_181" id="Page_181">181</a></span> +child gave her in return the <i>prémices</i> of her +warm heart's fondness.</p> + +<p>No Sunday evening ever passed throughout the +summer without seeing all the village assembled +under an enormous lime-tree, that grew upon a +sort of platform in front of the primitive old mansion, +with a pepper-box at each corner, dignified +with the title of Château Tourelles.</p> + +<p>The circular bench which surrounded this giant +tree afforded a resting-place for the old folks;—the +young ones danced on the green before them—and +the children rolled on the grass, and made +garlands of butter-cups, and rosaries of daisies, +to their hearts' content. On these occasions it +was of custom immemorial that M. le Comte +and Madame la Comtesse, with as many offspring +as they were blessed withal, should walk down +the strait pebbled walk which led from the +chateau to the tree exactly as the clock struck +four, there to remain for thirty minutes and no +longer, smiling, nodding, and now and then gossiping +a little, to all the poor bodies who chose +to approach them.</p> + +<p>Of late years, Mademoiselle Isabeau had established +a custom which shortened the time of her +personal appearance before the eyes of her future +tenants to somewhat less than one-sixth of the allotted +time; for five minutes never elapsed after +the little lady reached the tree, before she contrived +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_182" id="Page_182">182</a></span> +to slip her tiny hand out of her mother's, and +pounce upon the little Alexa, who, on her side, +had long learned to turn her beautiful eyes towards +the chateau the moment she reached the +ground, nor removed them till they found Isabeau's +bright face to rest upon instead. As soon +as she had got possession of her pet, the young +lady, who had not perhaps altogether escaped +spoiling, ran off with her, without asking leave of +any, and enjoyed, either in the aristocratic retirement +of her own nursery, or her own play-room +or her own garden, the love, admiration, and docile +obedience of her little favourite.</p> + +<p>But if this made a fête for Isabeau, it was +something dearer still to Alexa. It was during +these Sabbath hours that the poor child learned to +be aware that she knew a great many more wonderful +things than either Père Gautier or Mère +Françoise. She learned to read—she learned to +speak as good French as Isabeau or her Parisian +governess; she learned to love nothing so well as +the books, and the pianoforte, and the pictures, +and the flowers of her pretty patroness; and, unhappily, +she learned also to dislike nothing so +much as the dirty cottage and cross voice of +Père Gautier, who, to say truth, did little else but +scold the poor forsaken thing through every meal +of the week, and all day long on a Sunday.</p> + +<p>Things went on thus without a shadow of +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_183" id="Page_183">183</a></span> +turning till Alexa attained her tenth, and Isabeau +her thirteenth year. At this time the summer +Sunday evenings began to be often tarnished by +the tears of the foundling as she opened her heart +to her friend concerning the sufferings she endured +at home. Père Gautier scolded more than ever, +and Mère Françoise expected her to do the work +of a woman;—in short, every day that passed +made her more completely, utterly, hopelessly +wretched; and at last she threw her arms round +the neck of Isabeau, and told her so, adding, in a +voice choked with sobs, "that she wished ... that +she wished ... she could die!"</p> + +<p>They were sitting together on a small couch in +the young heiress's play-room when this passionate +avowal was made. The young lady disengaged +herself from the arms of the weeping child, +and sat for a few moments in deep meditation. +"Sit still in this place, Alexa," she said at length, +"till I return to you;" and having thus spoken, +with an air of unusual gravity she left the room.</p> + +<p>Alexa was so accustomed to show implicit obedience +to whatever her friend commanded, that +she never thought of quitting the place where she +was left, though she saw the sun set behind the +hills through a window opposite to her, and then +watched the bright horizontal beams fading into +twilight, and twilight vanishing in darkness. It +was strange, she thought, for her to be at the +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_184" id="Page_184">184</a></span> +chateau at night; but Mademoiselle Isabeau +had bade her sit there, and it must be right. +Weary with watching, however, she first dropped +her head upon the arm of the sofa, then drew her +little feet up to it, and at last fell fast asleep. +How long she lay there my story does not tell; +but when she awoke, it was suddenly and with a +violent start, for she heard the voice of Madame +de G* * * and felt the blaze of many lights +upon her eyes. In another instant, however, they +were sheltered from the painful light in the bosom +of her friend.</p> + +<p>Isabeau, her eyes sparkling with even more +than their usual brightness, her colour raised, and +out of breath with haste and eagerness, pressed +her fondly to her heart, and covered her curls +with kisses; then, having recovered the power of +speaking, she exclaimed, "Look up, my dear Alexa! +You are to be my own sister for evermore: papa +and mamma have said it. Cross Père Gautier has +consented to give you up; and Mère Françoise is +to have little Annette Morneau to live with her."</p> + +<p>How this had all been arranged it is needless +to repeat, though the eager supplication of the +daughter and the generous concessions of the +parents made a very pretty scene as I heard it +described; but I must not make my story too +long. To avoid this, I will now slide over six +years, and bring you to a fine morning in the +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_185" id="Page_185">185</a></span> +year 1811, when Isabeau and Alexa, on returning +from a ramble in the village, found Madame de +G* * * with an open letter in her hand, and +an air of unusual excitement in her manner.</p> + +<p>"Isabeau, my dear child," she said, "your +father's oldest friend, the Vicomte de C* * *, is +returned from Spain. They are come to pass a +month at V——; and this letter is to beg your +father and me to bring you to them immediately, +for they were in the house when you were born, +my child, and they love you as if you were their +own. Your father is gone to give orders about +horses for to-morrow. Alexa dear, what will you +do without us?"</p> + +<p>"Cannot Alexa go too, mamma?" said Isabeau.</p> + +<p>"Not this time, my dear: they speak of having +their chateau filled with guests."</p> + +<p>"Oh, dearest Isabeau! do not stand to talk +about me; you know I do not love strangers: let +me help you to get everything ready."</p> + +<p>The party set off the next morning, and Alexa, +for the first time since she became an inhabitant of +Château Tourelles, was left without Isabeau, and +with no other companion than their stiff governess; +but she rallied her courage, and awaited +their return with all the philosophy she could +muster.</p> + +<p>Time and the hour wear through the longest +fortnight, and at the end of this term the trio returned +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_186" id="Page_186">186</a></span> +again. The meeting of the two friends +was almost rapturous: Monsieur and Madame +had the air of being <i>parfaitement contents</i>, and +all things seemed to go on as usual. Important +changes, however, had been decided on during +this visit. The Vicomte de C. had one son. He +is the hero of my story, so believe him at once to +be a most charming personage in all ways—and +in fact he was so. A marriage between him and +Isabeau had been proposed by his father, and cordially +agreed to by hers; but it was decided between +them that the young people should see +something more of each other before this arrangement +was announced to them, for both parents +felt that the character of their children deserved +and demanded rather more deference to their inclinations +that was generally thought necessary in +family compacts of this nature.</p> + +<p>The fortnight had passed amidst much gaiety: +every evening brought waltzing and music; Isabeau +sang <i>à ravir</i>; but as there were three married +ladies at the chateau who proclaimed themselves +to be unwearying waltzers, young Jules, +who was constrained to do the honours of his +father's house, had never found an opportunity to +dance with Isabeau excepting for the last waltz, +on the last evening; and then there never were +seen two young people waltzing together with +more awkward restraint. +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_187" id="Page_187">187</a></span></p> + +<p>Madame de G* * *, however, fancied that +he had listened to Isabeau's songs with pleasure, +and moreover observed to Monsieur son Mari that +it was impossible he should not think her beautiful.</p> + +<p>Madame was quite right—Jules did think her +daughter beautiful: he thought, too, that her +voice was that of a syren, and that it would be +easy for him to listen to her till he forgot everything +else in the world.</p> + +<p>I would not be so abrupt had I more room; +but as it is necessary to hasten over the ground, I +must tell you at once that Isabeau, on her side, +was much in the same situation. But as a young +lady should never give her heart anywhere till +she is asked, and in France not before her husband +has politely expressed his wish to be loved +as he leads her to her carriage from the altar, +Isabeau took especial good care that nobody +should find out the indiscretion her feelings had +committed, and having not only a mind of considerable +power, but also great confidence and some +pride in her own strength, she felt little fear but +that she should be able both to conceal and conquer +a passion so every way unauthorised.</p> + +<p>Now it unfortunately happened that Jules de +C. was, unlike the generality of his countrymen, +extremely romantic;—but he had passed seven +years in Spain, which may in some degree excuse +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_188" id="Page_188">188</a></span> +it. His education, too, had been almost wholly +domestic: he knew little of life except from +books, and he had learned to dread, as the most +direful misfortune that could befall him, the becoming +enamoured of, and perhaps marrying, a +woman who loved him not.</p> + +<p>Soon after the departure of Isabeau and her +parents, the vicomte hinted to his son that he +thought politeness required a return of the visit of +the de G* * * family; and as both himself and +his lady were <i>un peu incommodés</i> by some malady, +real or supposititious, he conceived that it would +be right that he, Jules, should present himself at +Château Tourelles to make their excuses. The +heart of Jules gave a prodigious leap; but it +was not wholly a sensation of pleasure: he felt +afraid of Isabeau,—he was afraid of loving her,—he +remembered the cold and calm expression +of countenance with which she received his farewell—his +trembling farewell—at the door of the +carriage. Yet still he accepted the commission; +and in ten days after the return of the de G* * * +family, Jules de C. presented himself before them. +His reception by the comte and his lady was just +what may be imagined,—all kindness and cordiality +of welcome. That of Isabeau was constrained +and cold. She turned a little pale, but +then she blushed again; and the shy Jules saw nothing +but the beauty of the blush—was conscious +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_189" id="Page_189">189</a></span> +only of the ceremonious curtsy, and the cold +"Bonjour, Monsieur Jules." As for Alexa, her +only feeling was that of extreme surprise. How +could it be that Isabeau had seen a person so very +graceful, handsome and elegant, and yet never +say one word to her about him!... Isabeau +must be blind, insensible, unfeeling, not to appreciate +better such a being as that. Such was the +effect produced by the appearance of Jules on the +mind of Alexa,—the beautiful, the enthusiastic, +the impassioned Alexa. From that moment a +most cruel game of cross purposes began to be +played at Château Tourelles. Alexa commenced +by reproaching Isabeau for her coldness, and ended +by confessing that she heartily wished herself as +cold. Jules ceased not to adore Isabeau, but +every day strengthened his conviction that she +could never love him; and Isabeau, while every +passing hour showed more to love in Jules, only +drew from thence more reasons for combating +and conquering the flame that inwardly consumed +her.</p> + +<p>There could not be a greater contrast between +two girls, both good, than there was both in person +and mind between these two young friends. +Isabeau was the prettiest little brunette in France—et +c'est beaucoup dire: Alexa was, perhaps, the +loveliest blonde in the world. Isabeau, with +strong feelings, had a command over herself that +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_190" id="Page_190">190</a></span> +never failed: in a good cause, she could have +perished at the stake without a groan. Alexa +could feel, perhaps, almost as strongly as her +friend; but to combat those feelings was beyond +her power: she might have died to show her +love, but not to conceal it; and had some fearful +doom awaited her, she would not have lived to +endure it.</p> + +<p>Such being the character and position of the parties, +you will easily perceive the result. Jules soon +perceived the passion with which he had inspired +the young and beautiful Alexa, and his heart, +wounded by the uniform reserve of Isabeau, repaid +her with a warmth of gratitude, which though not +love, was easily mistaken for it by both the innocent +rivals. Poor Jules saw that it was, and already felt +his honour engaged to ratify hopes which he had +never intended to raise. Repeatedly he determined +to leave the chateau, and never to see either of its +lovely inmates more; but whenever he hinted at +such an intention, M. and Madame de G* * * +opposed it in such a manner that it seemed impossible +to persevere in it. They, good souls, +were perfectly satisfied with the aspect of affairs: +Isabeau was perhaps a little pale, but lovelier +than ever; and the eyes of Jules were so often +fixed upon her, that there could be no doubt as +to his feelings. They were very right,—yet, alas! +they were very wrong too: but the situation of +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_191" id="Page_191">191</a></span> +Alexa put her so completely out of all question +of marriage with a gentleman <i>d'une haute naissance</i>, +that they never even remembered that she +too was constantly with Jules.</p> + +<p>About three weeks had passed in this mischief-working +manner, when Isabeau, who clearly saw +traces of suffering on the handsome face of poor +Jules, believing firmly that it arose from the probable +difficulty of obtaining his high-born father's +consent to his marriage with a foundling, determined +to put every imaginable means in requisition +to assist him.</p> + +<p>Alexa had upon her breast a mark, evidently +produced by gunpowder. Her nurse, and everybody +else who had seen it, declared it to be perfectly +shapeless, and probably a failure from the +awkwardness of some one who had intended to +impress a cipher there; but Isabeau had a hundred +times examined it, and as often declared it +to be a coronet. Hitherto this notion had only +been a source of mirth to both of them, but now +it became a theme of incessant and most anxious +meditation to Isabeau. She remembered to have +heard that when a child is deposited at the +Foundling Hospital of Paris, everything, whether +clothes or token, which is left with it, is preserved +and registered, with the name and the +date of the reception, in order, if reclamation be +made within a certain time, that all assistance +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_192" id="Page_192">192</a></span> +possible shall be given for the identification. +What space this "certain time" included Isabeau +knew not, but she fancied that it could not be +less than twenty years; and with this persuasion +she determined to set about an inquiry that +might at least lead to the knowledge either that +some particular tokens had been left with Alexa, +or that there were none.</p> + +<p>With this sort of feverish dream working in +her head, Isabeau rose almost before daylight +one morning, and escaping the observation of +every one, let herself out by the door of a salon +which opened on the terrace, and hastened to +the abode of Mère Françoise. It was some time +before she could make the old woman understand +her object; but when she did, she declared herself +ready to do all and everything Mademoiselle +desired for her "dear baby," as she persisted to +call the tall, the graceful, the beautiful Alexa.</p> + +<p>As Isabeau had a good deal of trouble to make +her plans and projects clearly understood to Mère +Françoise, it will be better not to relate particularly +what passed between them: suffice it to say, +that by dint of much repetition and a tolerably +heavy purse, Françoise at last agreed to set off +for Paris on the following morning, "without +telling a living soul what for." Such were the +conditions enforced; which were the more easily +adhered to, because cross Père Gautier had +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_193" id="Page_193">193</a></span> +grumbled himself into his grave some years +before.</p> + +<p>On reaching the hospital, Françoise made her +demand, "de la part d'une grande dame," for any +token which they possessed relative to a baby +taken ... &c. &c. &c. The first answer she received +was, that the time of limitation for such +inquiries had long expired; and she was on the +point of leaving the bureau, all hope of intelligence +abandoned, when an old sister of charity +who chanced to be there for some message from +the superior, and who had listened to her inquiries +and all the particulars thus rehearsed, +stopped her by saying, that it was odd enough +two great ladies should send to the hospital with +inquiries for the same child. "But, however," +she added, "it can't much matter now to either of +them, for the baby died before it was a twelvemonth +old."</p> + +<p>"Died!" screamed Françoise: "why, I saw her +but four days ago, and a more beautiful creature +the sun never shone upon."</p> + +<p>An explanation ensued, not very clear in all +its parts, for there had evidently been some +blunder; but it plainly appeared, that within +a year after the child was sent to nurse, inquiries +had been made at the hospital for a +baby bearing the singular name of Alexa, and +stating that various articles were left with her +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_194" id="Page_194">194</a></span> +expressly to ensure the power of recognition. +An address to a peasant in the country had been +given to the persons who had made these inquiries, +and application was immediately made +to her: but she stated that the baby she had +received from the hospital at the time named +had died three months after she took it; but +what name she had received with it she could +not remember, as she called it Marie, after the +baby she had lost. It was evident from this +statement that a mistake had been made between +the two women, who had each taken a +female foundling into the country on the same +day.</p> + +<p>It was more easy, however, to hit the blunder +than to repair it. Communication was immediately +held with some of the <i>chefs</i> of the establishment; +who having put in action every imaginable +contrivance to discover any traces which +might remain of the persons who had before +inquired for the babe named Alexa, at length +got hold of a man who had often acted as commissionnaire +to the establishment, and who said +he remembered <i>about that time</i> to have taken +letters from the hospital to a fine hôtel near +the Elysée Bourbon.</p> + +<p>This man was immediately conveyed to the +Elysée Bourbon, and without hesitation pointed +out the mansion to which he had been sent. +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_195" id="Page_195">195</a></span> +It was inhabited by an English gentleman blessed +with a family of twelve children, and who +assured the gentleman entrusted with the inquiry +that he had not only never deposited any +of his children at the Enfans Trouvés, but that he +could not give them the slightest assistance in +discovering whether any of his predecessors in +that mansion had done so. Discouraged, but not +chilled in the ardour of his pursuit, the worthy +gentleman proceeded to the proprietor of the +hôtel: he had recently purchased it; from him +he repaired to the person from whom he had +bought it. He was only an agent; but at last, +by means of indefatigable exertion during three +days, he discovered that the individual who must +have inhabited the hôtel when these messages +were stated to have been sent thither from the +Enfans Trouvés was a Russian nobleman of high +rank, who, it was believed, was now residing at +St. Petersburg. His name and title, however, +were both remembered; and these, with a document +stating all that was known of the transaction, +were delivered to Mère Françoise, who, +hardly knowing if she had succeeded or failed +in her mission, returned to her young employer +within ten days of the time she left her.</p> + +<p>Isabeau, generously as her noble heart beat +at learning what she could not but consider as +a favourable report of her embassy, did feel +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_196" id="Page_196">196</a></span> +nevertheless something like a pang when she +remembered to what this success would lead. +But she mastered it, and, with all the energy +of her character, instantly set to work to pursue +her enterprise to the end. It was certainly a +relief to her when Jules, after passing a month +of utter misery in the society of the woman he +adored, took his leave. The old people were +still perfectly satisfied: it was not the young +man's business, they said, to break through the +reserve which his parents had enjoined, and a +few days would doubtless bring letters from them +which would finally settle the business.</p> + +<p>Alexa saw him depart with an aching heart; +but she believed that he was returning home +only to ask his father's consent to their union. +Isabeau fed her hopes, for she too believed that +the young man's heart was given to Alexa. +During this time Isabeau concealed her hope of +discovering the parents of the foundling from all. +Day after day wore away, and brought no tidings +from Jules. The hope of Alexa gave way before +this cruel silence. The circumstances of her birth, +which rankled at her heart more deeply than even +her friend imagined, now came before her in a +more dreadful shape than ever. Sin, shame, and +misery seemed to her the only <i>dot</i> she had to +bring in marriage, and her mind brooded over +this terrible idea till it overpowered every other; +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_197" id="Page_197">197</a></span> +her love seemed to sink before it, and, after a +sleepless night of wretched meditation, she determined +never to bring disgrace upon a husband—she +heroically determined never to marry.</p> + +<p>As she was opening her heart on this sad subject +to Isabeau, and repeating to her with great +solemnity the resolution she had taken, a courier +covered with dust galloped up to the door of the +chateau. Isabeau instantly suspected the truth, +but could only say as she kissed the fair forehead +of the foundling, "Look up, my Alexa!... +You shall be happy at least."</p> + +<p>Before any explanation of these words could +even be asked for, a splendid travelling equipage +stopped at the door, and, according to the rule +in all such cases, a beautiful lady descended from +it, handed out by a gentleman of princely rank: +in brief, for I cannot tell you one half his titles +and honours, or one quarter of the circumstances +which had led to the leaving their only child at +the Hôpital des Enfans Trouvés, Alexa was proved +to be the sole and most lawful idol and heiress +of this noble pair. The wonder and joy, and all +that, you must guess: but poor Isabeau!... O! +that all this happiness could but have fallen upon +them before she had seen Jules de C——!</p> + +<p>On the following morning, while Alexa, seated +between her parents, was telling them all she +owed to Isabeau, the door of the apartment opened +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_198" id="Page_198">198</a></span> +and the young Jules entered. This was the +moment at which the happy girl felt the value +of all she had gained with the most full and +perfect consciousness of felicity. Her bitter humiliation +was changed to triumph; but Jules saw +it not—he heard not the pompous titles of her +father as she proudly rehearsed them, but, in a +voice choking with emotion, he stammered out—"Où +donc est Isabeau?"</p> + +<p>Alexa was too happy, too gloriously happy, +to heed his want of politeness, but gaily exclaiming, +"Pardon, maman!" she left the room to seek +for her friend.</p> + +<p>Jules was indeed come on no trifling errand. +His father, having waited in vain for some expression +of his feelings respecting the charming +bride he intended for him, at last informed him +of his engagement, for the purpose of discovering +whether the young man were actually made of +ice or no. On this point he was speedily satisfied; +for the intelligence robbed the timid lover of all +control over his feelings, and the father had the +great pleasure of perceiving that his son was as +distractedly in love as he could possibly desire. +As to his doubts and his fears, the experienced +vicomte laughed them to scorn. "Only let her +see you as you look now, Jules," said the proud +father, "and she will not disobey her parents, I +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_199" id="Page_199">199</a></span> +will answer for it. Go to her, my son, and set +your heart at ease at once."</p> + +<p>With a courage almost as desperate as that +which leads a man firm and erect to the scaffold, +Jules determined to follow this advice, and arrived +at Château Tourelles without having once +thought of poor Alexa and her tell-tale eyes by +the way;—nay, even when he saw her before him, +his only sensation was that of impatient agony +that the moment which was to decide upon his +destiny was still delayed.</p> + +<p>As Alexa opened the door to seek her friend, +she appeared, and they returned together. At the +unexpected sight of Jules, Isabeau lost her self-possession, +and sank nearly fainting on a chair. +In an instant he was at her feet. "Isabeau!" he +exclaimed, in a voice at once solemn and impassioned—"Isabeau! +I adore you—speak my +fate in one word!—Isabeau! can you love me?"</p> + +<p>The noble strangers had already left the room. +They perceived that there was some knotty point +to be explained upon which their presence could +throw no light. They would have led their +daughter with them, but she lingered. "One +moment ... and I will follow you," she said. +Then turning to her almost fainting friend, she +exclaimed, "You love him, Isabeau!—and it is +I who have divided you!"... She seized a hand +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_200" id="Page_200">200</a></span> +of each, and joining them together, bent her head +upon them and kissed them both. "God for +ever bless you, perfect friend!... I am still too +happy!... Believe me, Jules,—believe me, Isabeau,—I +am happy—oh! too happy!" The arms +that were thrown round them both, relaxed as +she uttered these words, and she fell to the +ground.</p> + +<p>Alexa never spoke again. She breathed faintly +for a few hours, and then expired,—the victim of +intense feelings, too long and too severely tried.</p> + +<hr class="l30" /> + +<p>This story, almost verbally as I have repeated +it to you, was told me by a lady who assured me +that she knew all the leading facts to be true; +though she confessed that she was obliged to pass +rather slightly over some of the details, from not +remembering them perfectly. If the catastrophe +be indeed true, I think it may be doubted whether +the poor Alexa died from sorrow or from +joy. +</p> + +<h2>LETTER LIX.</h2> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_201" id="Page_201">201</a></span></p> + +<p class="ch_open"> +Procès Monstre.—Dislike of the Prisoners to the ceremony +of Trial.—Société des Droits de l'Homme.—Names given +to the Sections.—Kitchen and Nursery Literature.—Anecdote +of Lagrange.—Republican Law. +</p> + +<p>It is a long time since I have permitted a +word to escape me about the trial of trials; but +do not therefore imagine that we are as free +from it and its daily echo as I have kindly +suffered you to be.</p> + +<p>It really appears to me, after all, that this monster +trial is only monstrous because the prisoners +do not like to be tried. There may perhaps have +been some few legal incongruities in the manner +of proceeding, arising very naturally from the +difficulty of ascertaining exactly what the law +is, in a country so often subjected to revolution +as this has been. I own I have not yet made +out completely to my own satisfaction, whether +these gentry were accused in the first instance +of high treason, or whether the whole proceedings +rest upon an indictment for a breach of the peace. +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_202" id="Page_202">202</a></span> +It is however clear enough, Heaven knows, both +from evidence and from their own avowals, that +if they were not arraigned for high treason, many +of them were unquestionably guilty of it; and as +they have all repeatedly proclaimed that it was +their wish to stand or fall together, I confess that +I see nothing very monstrous in treating them all +as traitors.</p> + +<p>It is only within these few last hours that I +have been made to understand what object these +simultaneous risings in April 1834 had in view. +The document which has been now put into my +hands appeared, I believe, in all the papers; but +it was to me, at least, one of the thousand things +that the eye glances over without taking the +trouble of communicating to the mind what it +finds. I will not take it for granted, however, +that you are as ignorant or unobservant as myself, +and therefore I shall not recite to you the evidence +I have been just reading to prove that the +union calling itself "La Société des Droits de +l'Homme" was in fact the mainspring of the +whole enterprise; but in case the expressive titles +given by the central committee of this association +to its different sections should have escaped you, +I will transcribe them here,—or rather a part of +them, for they are numerous enough to exhaust +your patience, and mine too, were I to give them +all. Among them, I find as pet and endearing +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_203" id="Page_203">203</a></span> +names for their separate bands of employés the +following: Section Marat, Section Robespierre, +Section Quatre-vingt-treize, Section des Jacobins; +Section de Guerre aux Châteaux—Abolition de la +Propriété—Mort aux Tyrans—Des Piques—Canon +d'Alarme—Tocsin—Barricade St. Méri,—and +one which when it was given was only prophetic—Section +de l'Insurrection de Lyon. These speak +pretty plainly what sort of <span class="smcap">REFORM</span> these men +were preparing for France; and the trying those +belonging to them who were taken with arms in +their hands in open rebellion against the existing +government, as traitors, cannot very justly, I think, +be stigmatised as an act of tyranny, or in any +other sense as a monstrous act.</p> + +<p>The most monstrous part of the business is +their conceiving (as the most conspicuous among +them declare they do) that their refusing to plead, +or, as they are pleased to call it, "refusing to take +any part in the proceedings," was, or ought to be, +reason sufficient for immediately stopping all such +proceedings against them. These persons have +been caught, with arms in their hands, in the very +fact of enticing their fellow-citizens into overt acts +of rebellion; but because they do not choose to +answer when they are called upon, the court +ordained to try them are stigmatised as monsters +and assassins for not dismissing them untried!</p> + +<p>If this is to succeed, we shall find the fashion +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_204" id="Page_204">204</a></span> +obtain vogue amongst us, more rapidly than any +of Madame Leroy's. Where is the murderer +arraigned for his life who would not choose to +make essay of so easy a method of escaping from +the necessity of answering for his crime?</p> + +<p>The trick is well imagined, and the degree of +grave attention with which its availability is +canvassed—out of doors at least—furnishes an +excellent specimen of the confusion of intellect +likely to ensue from confusion of laws amidst a +population greatly given to the study of politics.</p> + +<p>Never was there a finer opportunity for revolution +and anarchy to take a lesson than the present. +It is, I think, impossible for a mere looker-on, unbiassed +by party or personal feelings of any kind, +to deny that the government of Louis-Philippe is +acting at this trying juncture with consummate +courage, wisdom, and justice: but it is equally +impossible not to perceive what revolution and +revolt have done towards turning lawful power +into tyranny. This is and ever must be inevitable +wherever there is a hope existing that the +government which follows the convulsion shall be +permanent.</p> + +<p>Fresh convulsions may arise—renewed tumult, +destruction of property and risk of life may ensue; +but at last it must happen that some strong hand +shall seize the helm, and keep the reeling vessel +to her stays, without heeding whether the grasp +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_205" id="Page_205">205</a></span> +he has got of her be taken in conformity to +received tactics or not.</p> + +<p>Hardly a day passes that I do not hear of some +proof of increased vigour on the part of the present +government of France; and though I, for one, am +certainly very far from approving the public acts +which have given the present dynasty its power, +I cannot but admire the strength and ability +with which it is sustained.</p> + +<p>The example, however, can avail but little to +the legitimate monarchs who still occupy the +thrones their forefathers occupied before them. +No legitimate sovereign, possessing no power beyond +what long-established law and precedent have +given him, could dare show equal boldness. A +king chosen in a rebellion is alone capable of +governing rebels: and happy is it for the hot-headed +jeunes gens of France that they have +chanced to hit upon a prince who is neither a parvenu +nor a mere soldier! The first would have had +no lingering kindness at all for the still-remembered +glories of the land; and the last, instead of +trying them by the Chamber of Peers, would have +had them up by fifties to a drum-head court +martial, and probably have ordered the most +troublesome among them to be picked off by their +comrades, as an exercise at sharp-shooting, and +as a useful example of military promptitude and +decision. +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_206" id="Page_206">206</a></span></p> + +<p>The present government has indeed many +things in its favour. The absence of every species +of weakness and pusillanimity in the advisers of +the crown is one; and the outrageous conduct of +its enemies is another.</p> + +<p>It is easy to perceive in the journals, and indeed +in all the periodical publications which have been +hitherto considered as belonging to the opposition, +a gradual giving way before the overwhelming +force of expediency. Conciliatory words come +dropping in to the steady centre from côté droit +and from côté gauche; and the louder the factious +rebels roar around them, the firmer does the +phalanx in which rests all the real strength of the +country knit itself together.</p> + +<p>The people of France are fully awakened to the +feeling which Sheridan so strongly expresses when +he says, that "the altar of liberty has been begrimed +at once with blood and mire," and they +are disposed to look towards other altars for their +protection.</p> + +<p>All the world are sick of politics in England; +and all the world are sick of politics in France. It +is the same in Spain, the same in Italy, the same in +Germany, the same in Russia. The quiet and peaceably-disposed +are wearied, worried, tormented, and +almost stunned, by the ceaseless jarring produced +by the confusion into which bad men have contrived +to throw all the elements of social life. +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_207" id="Page_207">207</a></span> +Chaos seems come again—a moral chaos, far worse +for the poor animal called man than any that a +comet's tail could lash the earth into. I assure +you I often feel the most unfeigned longing to be +out of reach of every sight and sound which must +perforce mix up questions of government with all +my womanly meditations on lesser things; but the +necessity <i>de parler politique</i> seems like an evil +spirit that follows whithersoever you go.</p> + +<p>I often think, that among all the revolutions +and rumours of revolutions which have troubled +the earth, there is not one so remarkable as that +produced on conversation within the last thirty +years. I speak not, however, only of that important +branch of it—"the polite conversation +of sensible women," but of all the talk from garret +to cellar throughout the world. Go where +you will, it is the same; every living soul seems +persuaded that it is his or her particular business +to assist in arranging the political condition of +Europe.</p> + +<p>A friend of mine entered her nursery not long +ago, and spied among her baby-linen a number of +the Westminster Quarterly Review.</p> + +<p>"What is this, Betty?" said she.</p> + +<p>"It is only a book, ma'am, that John lent me +to read," answered the maid.</p> + +<p>"Upon my word, Betty," replied her mistress, +"I think you would be much better employed in +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_208" id="Page_208">208</a></span> +nursing the child than in reading books which +you cannot understand."</p> + +<p>"It does not hinder me from nursing the child +at all," rejoined the enlightened young woman, +"for I read as the baby lies in my lap; and as for +understanding it, I don't fear about that, for +John says it is no more than what it is the duty +of everybody to understand."</p> + +<p>So political we are, and political we must be—for +John says so.</p> + +<p>Wherefore I will tell you a little anecdote apropos +of the Procès Monstre. An English friend +of mine was in the Court of Peers the other day, +when the prisoner Lagrange became so noisy and +troublesome that it was found necessary to remove +him. He had begun to utter in a loud +voice, which was evidently intended to overpower +the proceedings of the court, a pompous and +inflammatory harangue, accompanied with much +vehement action. His fellow-prisoners listened, +and gazed at him with the most unequivocal +marks of wondering admiration, while the court +vainly endeavoured to procure order and silence.</p> + +<p>"Remove the prisoner Lagrange!" was at last +spoken by the president—and the guards proceeded +to obey. The orator struggled violently, continuing, +however, all the time to pour forth his +rhapsody.</p> + +<p>"Yes!" he cried,—"yes, my countrymen! we +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_209" id="Page_209">209</a></span> +are here as a sacrifice. Behold our bosoms, tyrants! +... plunge your assassin daggers in our +breasts! we are your victims ... ay, doom us +all to death, we are ready—five hundred French +bosoms are ready to...."</p> + +<p>Here he came to a dead stop: his struggles, +too, suddenly ceased.... He had dropped his +cap,—the cap which not only performed the honourable +office of sheltering the exterior of his +patriotic head, but of bearing within its crown +the written product of that head's inspired eloquence! +It was in vain that he eagerly looked +for it beneath the feet of his guards; the cap had +been already kicked by the crowd far beyond his +reach, and the bereaved orator permitted himself +to be led away as quiet as a lamb.</p> + +<p>The gentleman who related this circumstance +to me added, that he looked into several papers +the following day, expecting to see it mentioned; +but he could not find it, and expressed his surprise +to a friend who had accompanied him into +court, and who had also seen and enjoyed the +jest, that so laughable a circumstance had not +been noticed.</p> + +<p>"That would not do at all, I assure you," replied +his friend, who was a Frenchman, and understood +the politics of the free press perfectly; +"there is hardly one of them who would not be +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_210" id="Page_210">210</a></span> +afraid of making a joke of anything respecting +<i>les prévenus d'Avril</i>."</p> + +<p>Before I take my final leave of these precious +prévenus, I must give you an extract from a +curious volume lent me by my kind friend M. +J* * *, containing a table of the law reports +inserted in the Bulletin of the Laws of the Republic. +I have found among them ordinances +more tyrannical than ever despot passed for the +purpose of depriving of all civil rights his fellow-men; +but the one I am about to give you is certainly +peculiarly applicable to the question of +allowing prisoners to choose their counsel from +among persons not belonging to the bar,—a question +which has been setting all the hot heads of +Paris in a flame.</p> +<div class="blockquot"> +<p> +"<i>Loi concernant le Tribunal Révolutionnaire du +22 Prairial, l'an deuxième de la République +Française une et indivisible.</i></p> + +<p>"La loi donne pour défenseurs aux patriotes +calomniés, (the word 'accused' was too harsh to +use in the case of these bloody patriots,)—La loi +donne pour défenseurs aux patriotes calomniés, +des jurés patriotes. Elle n'en accorde point aux +conspirateurs."</p> +</div> + +<p>What would the <span class="smcap">Liberals</span> of Europe have said +of King Louis-Philippe, had he acted upon this +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_211" id="Page_211">211</a></span> +republican principle? If he had, he might perhaps +have said fairly enough—</p> + +<p class="poem"> +"Cæsar does never wrong but with just cause,"</p> + +<p>for they have chosen to take their defence into +their own hands; but how the pure patriots of +l'an deuxième would explain the principle on +which they acted, it would require a republican +to tell. +</p> + +<h2>LETTER LX.</h2> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_212" id="Page_212">212</a></span></p> + +<p class="ch_open"> +Memoirs of M. de Châteaubriand.—The Readings at L'Abbaye-aux-Bois.—Account +of these in the French Newspapers +and Reviews.—Morning at the Abbaye to hear a +portion of these Memoirs.—The Visit to Prague. +</p> + +<p>In several visits which we have lately made to +the ever-delightful Abbaye-aux-Bois, the question +has been started, as to the possibility or impossibility +of my being permitted to be present there +"aux lectures des Mémoires de M. de Châteaubriand."</p> + +<p>The apartment of my agreeable friend and +countrywoman, Miss Clarke, also in this same +charming Abbaye, was the scene of more than +one of these anxious consultations. Against my +wishes—for I really was hardly presumptuous +enough to have hopes—was the fact that these +lectures, so closely private, yet so publicly talked +of and envied, were for the present over—nay, +even that the gentleman who had been the reader +was not in Paris. But what cannot zealous kindness +effect? Madame Récamier took my cause +in hand, and ... in a word, a day was appointed +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_213" id="Page_213">213</a></span> +for me and my daughters to enjoy this greatly-desired +indulgence.</p> + +<p>Before telling you the result of this appointment, +I must give you some particulars respecting +these Memoirs, not so much apropos of myself +and my flattering introduction to them, as from +being more interesting in the way of Paris literary +intelligence than anything I have met with.</p> + +<p>The existence of these Memoirs is of course +well known in England; but the circumstance of +their having been read <i>chez Madame Récamier</i>, +to a very select number of the noble author's +friends, is perhaps not so—at least, not generally; +and the extraordinary degree of sensation which +this produced in the literary world of Paris was +what I am quite sure you can have no idea of. +This is the more remarkable from the well-known +politics of M. de Châteaubriand not being those of +the day. The circumstances connected with the +reading of these Memoirs, and the effect produced +on the public by the peep got at them through +those who were present, have been brought together +into a very interesting volume, containing +articles from most of the literary periodicals of +France, each one giving to its readers the best account +it had been able to obtain of these "lectures +de l'Abbaye." Among the articles thus +brought together, are <i>morceaux</i> from the pens of +every political party in France; but there is not +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_214" id="Page_214">214</a></span> +one of them that does not render cordial—I might +say, fervent homage to the high reputation, both +literary and political, of the Vicomte de Châteaubriand.</p> + +<p>There is a general preface to this volume, from +the pen of M. Nisard, full of enthusiasm for the +subject, and giving an animated and animating +account of all the circumstances attending the +readings, and of the different publications respecting +them which followed.</p> + +<p>It appears that the most earnest entreaties +have been very generally addressed to M. de +Châteaubriand to induce him to publish these +Memoirs during his lifetime, but hitherto without +effect. There is something in his reasonings on +the subject equally touching and true: nevertheless, +it is impossible not to lament that one cannot +wish for a work so every way full of interest, +without wishing at the same time that one of the +most amiable men in the world should be removed +out of it. All those who are admitted to his circle +must, I am very sure, most heartily wish never +to see any more of his Memoirs than what he may +be pleased himself to show them: but he has +found out a way to make the world at large look +for his death as for a most agreeable event. Notwithstanding +all his reasonings, I think he is +wrong. Those who have seen the whole, or nearly +the whole of this work, declare it to be both +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_215" id="Page_215">215</a></span> +the most important and the most able that he +has composed; and embracing as it does the most +interesting epoch of the world's history, and coming +from the hand of one who has played so varied and +distinguished a part in it, we can hardly doubt +that it is so.</p> + +<p>Of all the different articles which compose the +volume entitled "Lectures des Mémoires de M. +de Châteaubriand," the most interesting perhaps +(always excepting some fragments from the Memoirs +themselves) are the preface of M. Nisard, +and an extract from the Revue du Midi, from the +pen of M. de Lavergne. I must indulge you with +some short extracts from both. M. Nisard says—</p> + +<p>"Depuis de longues années, M. de Châteaubriand +travaille à ses Mémoires, avec le dessein +de ne les laisser publier qu'après sa mort. Au +plus fort des affaires, quand il était ministre, ambassadeur, +il oubliait les petites et les grandes +tracasseries en écrivant quelques pages de ce livre +de prédilection."... "C'est le livre que M. de +Châteaubriand aura le plus aimé, et, chose étrange! +c'est le livre en qui M. de Châteaubriand ne veut +pas être glorifié de son vivant."</p> + +<p>He then goes on to speak of the manner in +which <i>the readings</i> commenced ... and then +says,—"Cette lecture fut un triomphe; ceux qui +avaient été de la fête nous la racontèrent, à nous +qui n'en étions pas, et qui déplorions que le salon +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_216" id="Page_216">216</a></span> +de Madame Récamier, cette femme qui s'est fait +une gloire de bonté et de grâce, ne fut pas grand +comme la plaine de Sunium. La presse littéraire +alla demander à l'illustre écrivain quelques lignes, +qu'elle encadra dans de chaudes apologies: il y eut +un moment où toute la littérature ne fut que l'annonce +et la bonne nouvelle d'un ouvrage inédit."</p> + +<p>M. Nisard, as he says, "n'était pas de la fête;" +but he was admitted to a privilege perhaps more +desirable still—namely, that of reading some portion +of this precious MS. in the deep repose of +the author's own study. He gives a very animated +picture of this visit.</p> + +<p>"... J'osai demander à M. de Châteaubriand +la grace de me recevoir quelques heures chez lui, +et là, pendant qu'il écrirait ou dicterait, de m'abandonner +son porte-feuille et de me laisser m'y +plonger à discretion ... il y consentit. Au jour +fixe, j'allai Rue d'Enfer: le cœur me battait; je +suis encore assez jeune pour sentir des mouvemens +intérieurs à l'approche d'une telle joie. M. de +Châteaubriand fit demander son manuscrit. Il +y en a trois grands porte-feuilles: <i>ceux-là, nul ne +les lui disputera</i>; ni les révolutions, ni les caprices +de roi, ne les lui peuvent donner ni reprendre.</p> + +<p>"Il eut la bonté de me lire les sommaires des +chapitres—Lequel choisir, lequel préférer? ... +je ne l'arrêtais pas dans la lecture, je ne disais rien +... enfin il en vint au voyage à Prague. Une +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_217" id="Page_217">217</a></span> +grosse et sotte interjection me trahit; du fruit +défendu c'était la partie la plus défendue. Je demandai +donc le voyage à Prague. M. de Châteaubriand +sourit, et me tendait le manuscrit.... +Je mets quelque vanité à rappeler ces détails, +bien que je tienne à ce qu'on sache bien que j'ai +été encore plus heureux que vain d'une telle faveur; +mais c'est peut-être le meilleur prix que j'ai +reçu encore de quelques habitudes de dignité littéraire, +et à ce titre il doit m'être pardonné de +m'en enorgueillir.</p> + +<p>"Quand j'eus le précieux manuscrit, je m'accoudai +sur la table, et me mis a la lecture avec une +avidité recueillie.... Quelquefois, à la fin des chapitres, +regardant par-dessus mes feuilles l'illustre +écrivain appliqué à son minutieux travail de révision, +effaçant, puis, après quelque incertitude, écrivant +avec lenteur une phrase en surcharge, et l'effaçant +à moitié écrite, je voyais l'imagination et +le sens aux prises. Quand, après mes deux heures +de délices, amusé, instruit, intéressé, transporté, +ayant passé du rire aux larmes, et des larmes au +rire, ayant vu tour à tour, dans sa plus grande +naïveté de sentimens, le poète, le diplomate, le +voyageur, le pèlerin, le philosophe, je me suis jeté +sur la main de M. de Châteaubriand, et lui ai bredouillé +quelques paroles de gratitude tendre et +profonde: ni lui ni moi n'étions gênés, je vous +jure;—moi, parce que je donnais cours à un sentiment +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_218" id="Page_218">218</a></span> +vrai; lui, parce qu'à ce moment-là il voulait +bien mesurer la valeur de mes louanges sur +leur sincérité."</p> + +<p>This is, I think, very well <i>conté</i>; and as I have +myself been <i>de la fête</i>, and heard read precisely +this same admirable <i>morceau</i>, <i>le Voyage à +Prague</i>, I can venture to say that the feeling expressed +is in no degree exaggerated.</p> + +<p>"Que puis-je dire maintenant de ces Mémoires?" +... he continues. "Sur le voyage à +Prague ma plume est gênée; je ne me crois pas +le droit de trahir le secret de M. de Châteaubriand—mais +qui est-ce qui l'ayant suivi dans tous les +actes de sa glorieuse vie, ne devine pas d'avance, +sauf les détails secrets, et les milles beautés de +rédaction, quelle peut être la pensée de cette partie +des Mémoires! Qui ne sait à merveille qu'on y +trouvera la vérité pour tout le monde, douce pour +ceux qui ont beaucoup perdu et beaucoup souffert, +dure pour les médiocrités importantes, qui +se disputent les ministères et les ambassades auprès +d'une royauté qui ne peut plus même donner +de croix d'honneur? Qui est-ce qui ne s'attend +à des lamentations sublimes sur des infortunes +inouïes, à des attendrissemens de cœur sur toutes +les misères de l'exil; sur le délabrement des palais +où gîtent les royautés déchues; sur ces longs +corridors éclairés par un quinquet à chaque bout, +comme un corps de garde, ou un cloître; sur ces +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_219" id="Page_219">219</a></span> +salles des gardes sans gardes; sur ces antichambres +sans sièges pour s'asseoir; sur ces serviteurs rares, +dont un seul fait l'étiquette qui autrefois en occupait +dix; sur les malheurs toujours plus grands +que les malheureux, qu'on plaint de loin pour +ceux qui les souffrent, et de près pour soi-même?... +Et puis après la politique vient la poésie; +après les leçons sévères, les descriptions riantes, les +observations de voyage, fines, piquantes, comme si +le voyageur n'avait pas causé la veille avec un +vieux roi d'un royaume perdu...."</p> + +<p>I have given you this passage because it describes +better than I could do myself the admirable +narrative which I had the pleasure of hearing. M. +Nisard says much more about it, and with equal +truth; but I will only add his concluding words—"Voilà +le voyage à Prague.... J'y ai été remué au +plus profond et au meilleur de mon cœur par les +choses touchantes, et j'ai pleuré sur la légitimité +tombée, quoique n'ayant jamais compris cet ordre +d'idées, et y étant resté, toute ma jeunesse, non seulement +étranger, mais hostile."</p> + +<p>I have transcribed this last observation for the +purpose of proving to you that the admiration +inspired by this work of M. de Châteaubriand's is +not the result of party feeling, but in complete +defiance of it.</p> + +<p>In the "Revue de Paris" for March 1834 is +an extremely interesting article from M. Janin, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_220" id="Page_220">220</a></span> +who was present, I presume, at the readings, and +who must have been permitted, I think, now and +then to peep over the shoulder of the reader, with +a pencil in his hand, for he gives many short but +brilliant passages from different parts of the work. +This gentlemen states, upon what authority he +does not say, that English speculators have already +purchased the work at the enormous price of +25,000 francs for each volume. It already consists +of twelve volumes, which makes the purchase +amount to £12,000 sterling,—a very large sum, +even if the acquisition could be made immediately +available; but as we must hope that many years +may elapse before it becomes so, it appears hardly +credible that this statement should be correct.</p> + +<p>Whenever these Memoirs are published, however, +there can be no doubt of the eagerness with +which they will be read. M. Janin remarks, that +"M. de Châteaubriand, en ne croyant écrire que +ses mémoires, aura écrit en effet l'histoire de son +siècle;" and adds, "D'où l'on peut prédire, que +si jamais une époque n'a été plus inabordable pour +un historien, jamais aussi une époque n'aura eu +une histoire plus complète et plus admirablement +écrite que la nôtre. Songez donc, que pendant +que M. de Châteaubriand fait ses mémoires, M. +de Talleyrand écrit aussi ses mémoires. M. de +Châteaubriand et M. de Talleyrand attelés l'un et +l'autre à la même époque!—l'un qui en représente +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_221" id="Page_221">221</a></span> +le sens poétique et royaliste, l'autre qui +en est l'expression politique et utilitaire: l'un +l'héritier de Bossuet, le conservateur du principe +religieux; l'autre l'héritier de Voltaire, et qui +ne s'est jamais prosterné que devant le doute, +cette grande certitude de l'histoire: l'un enthousiaste, +l'autre ironique; l'un éloquent partout, +l'autre éloquent dans son fauteuil, au coin de son +feu: l'un homme de génie, et qui le prouve; +l'autre qui a bien voulu laisser croire qu'il était +un homme d'esprit: celui-ci plein de l'amour +de l'humanité, celui-là moins égoïste qu'on ne +le croit; celui-ci bon, celui-là moins méchant +qu'il ne veut le paraître: celui-ci allant par sauts +et par bonds, impétueux comme un tonnerre, ou +comme une phrase de l'Ecriture; celui-là qui boite, +et qui arrive toujours le premier: celui-ci qui se +montre toujours quand l'autre se cache, qui parle +quand l'autre se tait; l'autre qui arrive toujours +quand il faut arriver, qu'on ne voit guère, qu'on +n'entend guère, qui est partout, qui voit tout, +qui sait presque tout: l'un qui a des partisans, +des enthousiastes, des admirateurs; l'autre qui n'a +que des flatteurs, des parens, et des valets: l'un +aimé, adoré, chanté; l'autre à peine redouté: l'un +toujours jeune, l'autre toujours vieux; l'un toujours +battu, l'autre toujours vainqueur; l'un victime des +causes perdues, l'autre héros des causes gagnées; +l'un qui mourra on ne sait où, l'autre qui mourra +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_222" id="Page_222">222</a></span> +prince, et dans sa maison, avec un archevêque à +son chevet; l'un grand écrivain à coup sûr, l'autre +qui est un grand écrivain sans qu'on s'en doute; +l'un qui a écrit ses mémoires pour les lire à ses +amis, l'autre qui a écrit ses mémoires pour les +cacher à ses amis; l'un qui ne les publie pas par +caprice, l'autre qui ne les publie pas, parce qu'ils ne +seront terminés que huit jours après sa mort; +l'un qui a vu de haut et de loin, l'autre qui a vu +d'en bas et de près: l'un qui a été le premier gentilhomme +de l'histoire contemporaine, qui l'a vue en +habit et toute parée; l'autre qui en a été le valet +de chambre, et qui en sait toutes les plaies cachées;—l'un +qu'on appelle Châteaubriand, l'autre qu'on +appelle le Prince de Bénévent. Tels sont les +deux hommes que le dix-neuvième siècle désigne +à l'avance comme ses deux juges les plus redoutables, +comme ses deux appréciateurs les plus dangereux, +comme les deux historiens opposés, sur +lesquels la postérité le jugera."</p> + +<p>This parallel, though rather long perhaps, is +very clever, and, à ce qu'on dit, very just.</p> + +<p>Though my extracts from this very interesting +but not widely-circulated volume have already run +to a greater length than I intended, I cannot close +it without giving you a small portion of M. de +Lavergne's animated recital of the scene at the +old Abbaye-aux-Bois;—an Abbaye, by the way, +still partly inhabited by a society of nuns, and +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_223" id="Page_223">223</a></span> +whose garden is sacred to them alone, though a +portion of the large building which overlooks it +is the property of Madame Récamier.</p> + +<p>"A une des extrémités de Paris on trouve un +monument d'une architecture simple et sévère. +La cour d'entrée est fermée par une grille, et sur +cette grille s'élève une croix. La paix monastique +règne dans les cours, dans les escaliers, dans les +corridors; mais sous les saintes voûtes de ce lieu +se cachent aussi d'élégans réduits qui s'ouvrent par +intervalle aux bruits du monde. Cette habitation +se nomme l'Abbaye-aux-Bois,—nom pittoresque +d'où s'exhale je ne sais quel parfum d'ombre et +de mystère, comme si le couvent et la forêt y confondaient +leurs paisibles harmonies. Or, dans un +des angles de cet édifice il y a un salon que je +veux décrire, moi aussi, car il reparaît bien souvent +dans mes rêves. Vous connaissez le tableau +de Corinne de Gérard: Corinne est assise au +Cap Misène, sur un rocher, sa belle tête levée vers +le ciel, son beau bras tombant vers la terre, avec +sa lyre détendue; le chant vient de finir, mais +l'inspiration illumine encore ses regards divins.... +Ce tableau couvre tout un des murs du salon, +en face la cheminée avec une glace, des girandoles, +et des fleurs.... Des deux autres murs, l'un +est percé de deux fenêtres qui laissent voir les +tranquilles jardins de l'Abbaye, l'autre disparaît +presque tout entier sous des rayons chargés de +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_224" id="Page_224">224</a></span> +livres. Des meubles élégans sont épars çà et là, +avec un gracieux désordre. Dans un des coins, +la porte qui s'entr'ouvre, et dans l'autre une harpe +qui attend.</p> + +<p>"Je vivrais des milliers d'années que je n'oublierais +jamais rien de ce que j'ai vu là.... D'autres +ont rapporté des courses de leur jeunesse le souvenir +d'un site grandiose, ou d'une ruine monumentale; +moi, je n'ai vu ni la Grèce ... etc: ... +mais il m'a été ouvert ce salon de l'Europe et du +siècle, où l'air est en quelque sorte chargé de +gloire et de génie.... Là respire encore l'âme +enthousiaste de Madame de Staël; là reparaît, à +l'imagination qui l'évoque, la figure mélancolique +et pâle de Benjamin Constant; là retentit la +parole vibrante et libre du grand Foy. Tous +ces illustres morts viennent faire cortége à celle +qui fut leur amie; car cet appartement est celui +d'une femme célèbre dont on a déjà deviné le nom. +Malgré cette pudeur de renommée qui la fait +ainsi se cacher dans le silence, Madame Récamier +appartient à l'histoire; c'est désormais un de ces +beaux noms de femme qui brillent dans la couronne +des grandes époques ainsi que des perles +sur un bandeau. Révélée au monde par sa beauté, +elle l'a charmé peut-être plus encore par les graces +de son esprit et de son cœur. Mêlée par de +hautes amitiés aux plus grands événemens de +l'époque, elle en a traversé les vicissitudes sans +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_225" id="Page_225">225</a></span> +en connaître les souillures, et, dans sa vie toute +d'idéal, le malheur même et l'exil n'ont été pour +elle que des charmes de plus. A la voir aujourd'hui +si harmonieuse et si sereine, on dirait que +les orages de la vie n'ont jamais approché de ses +jours; à la voir si simple et si bienveillante, on +dirait que sa célébrité n'est qu'un songe, et que +les plus superbes fronts de la France moderne +n'ont jamais fléchi devant elle. Aimée des poètes, +des grands, et du Ciel, c'est à-la-fois Laure, +Eléonore et Béatrix, dont Pétrarque, Tasse et le +Dante ont immortalisé les noms.</p> + +<p>"Un jour de Février dernier il y avait dans le +salon de Madame Récamier une réunion convoquée +pour une lecture. L'assemblée était bien +peu nombreuse, et il n'est pas d'homme si haut +placé par le rang ou par le génie qui n'eût été +fier de s'y trouver. A côté d'un Montmorency, +d'un Larochefoucauld, et d'un Noailles, représentans +de la vieille noblesse française, s'asseyaient +leurs égaux par la noblesse du talent, cet autre +hasard de la naissance; Saint-Beuve et Quinet, +Gerbet et Dubois, Lenormand et Ampère: vous +y étiez aussi, Ballanche!...</p> + +<p>"Il parut enfin celui dont le nom avait réuni un +tel auditoire, et toutes les têtes s'inclinèrent.... +Son front avait toute la dignité des cheveux gris, +mais ses yeux vifs brillaient de jeunesse. Il +portait à la main, comme un pèlerin ou un +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_226" id="Page_226">226</a></span> +soldat, un paquet enveloppé dans un mouchoir +de soie. Cette simplicité me parut merveilleuse +dans un pareil sujet; car ce noble vieillard, c'était +l'auteur des Martyrs, du Génie du Christianisme, +de René—ce paquet du pèlerin, c'étaient les Mémoires +de M. de Châteaubriand.... Mais quelle +doloureuse émotion dans les premiers mots—'<i>Mémoires +d'Outre-tombe!... Préface testamentaire!</i>'...</p> + +<p>"Continuez, Châteaubriand, à filer en paix votre +suaire. Aussi bien, il n'y a de calme aujourd'hui +que le dernier sommeil, il n'y a de stable que la +mort!... Vieux serviteur de la vieille monarchie! +vous n'avez pas visité sans tressaillir ces +sombres galeries du Hradschin, où se promènent +trois larves royales, avec une ombre de couronne +sur le front. Vous avez baigné de vos pleurs les +mains de ce vieillard qui emporte avec lui toute +une société, et la tête de cet enfant dont les +graces n'ont pu fléchir l'inexorable destinée qui +s'attache aux races antiques.... Filez votre +suaire de soie et d'or, Châteaubriand, et enveloppez-vous +dans votre gloire; il n'est pas de +progrès qui vous puisse ravir votre immortalité."</p> + +<p class="p2">I think that by this time you must be fully +aware, my dear friend, that this intellectual fête +to which we were invited at the Abbaye-aux-Bois +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_227" id="Page_227">227</a></span> +was a grace and a favour of which we have very +good reason to be proud. I certainly never remember +to have been more gratified in every way +than I was on this occasion. The thing itself, +and the flattering kindness which permitted me +to enjoy it, were equally the source of pleasure. +I may say with all truth, like M. de Lavergne, +"Je vivrais des milliers d'années que je ne l'oublierais +jamais."</p> + +<p>The choice of the <i>morceau</i>, too, touched me +not a little: "du fruit défendu, cette partie la plus +défendue" was most assuredly what I should have +eagerly chosen had choice been offered. M. de +Châteaubriand's journey to Prague furnishes as +interesting an historical scene as can well be +imagined; and I do not believe that any author +that ever lived, Jean-Jacques and Sir Walter +not excepted, could have recounted it better—with +more true feeling or more finished grace: +simple and unaffected to perfection in its style, +yet glowing with all the fervour of a poetical +imagination, and all the tenderness of a most +feeling heart. It is a gallery of living portraits +that he brings before the eye as if by magic. +There is no minute painting, however: the powerful, +the painfully powerful effect of the groups he +describes, is produced by the bold and unerring +touch of a master. I fancied I saw the royal +race before me, each one individual and distinct; +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_228" id="Page_228">228</a></span> +and I could have said, as one does in seeing a +clever portrait, "That is a likeness, I'll be sworn +for it." Many passages made a profound impression +on my fancy and on my memory; and +I think I could give a better account of some of +the scenes described than I should feel justified in +doing as long as the noble author chooses to keep +them from the public eye. There were touches +which made us weep abundantly; and then he +changed the key, and gave us the prettiest, the +most gracious, the most smiling picture of the +young princess and her brother, that it was possible +for pen to trace. She must be a fair and +glorious creature, and one that in days of yore +might have been likely enough to have seen her +colours floating on the helm of all the doughtiest +knights in Christendom. But chivalry is not the +fashion of the day;—there is nothing <i>positif</i>, as +the phrase goes, to be gained by it;—and I doubt +if "its ineffectual fire" burn very brightly at the +present time in any living heart, save that of M. +de Châteaubriand himself.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 409px;"><a name="illo228" id="illo228"></a> +<img src="images/illo246.jpg" width="409" height="600" alt="Lecture" /> + +<p class="smcap s05">Drawn & Etched by A. Hervieu.</p> + +<p class="caption"><span class="smcap">Lecture à l'abbaye-aux-bois.</span></p> + +<p class="caption s05">London. Published by Richard Bentley. 1835.</p> +</div> + +<p>The party assembled at Madame Récamier's on +this occasion did not, I think, exceed seventeen, +including Madame Récamier and M. de Châteaubriand. +Most of these had been present at the +former readings. The Duchesses de Larochefoucauld +and Noailles, and one or two other noble +ladies, were among them. I felt it was a proof +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_229" id="Page_229">229</a></span> +that genius is of no party, when I saw a granddaughter +of General Lafayette enter among us. +She is married to a gentleman who is said to be of +the extreme côté gauche; but I remarked that they +both listened with as much deep interest to all the +touching details of this mournful visit as the rest +of us. Who, indeed, could help it?—This lady sat +between me and Madame Récamier on one sofa; +M. Ampère the reader, and M. de Châteaubriand +himself, on another, immediately at right angles +with it,—so that I had the pleasure of watching +one of the most expressive countenances I ever +looked at, while this beautiful specimen of his +head and his heart was displayed to us. On the +other side of me was a gentleman whom I was +extremely happy to meet—the celebrated Gérard; +and before the reading commenced, I had the +pleasure of conversing with him: he is one of +those whose aspect and whose words do not disappoint +the expectations which high reputation always +gives birth to. There was no formal circle;—the +ladies approached themselves a little towards +<span class="smcap">THE</span> sofa which was placed at the feet of Corinne, +and the gentlemen stationed themselves in groups +behind them. The sun shone <i>delicately</i> into the +room through the white silk curtains—delicious +flowers scented the air—the quiet gardens of the +Abbaye, stretched to a sufficient distance beneath +the windows to guard us from every Parisian +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_230" id="Page_230">230</a></span> +sound—and, in short, the whole thing was perfect. +Can you wonder that I was delighted? or that I +have thought the occurrence worth dwelling upon +with some degree of lingering fondness?</p> + +<p>The effect this delightful morning has had on +us is, I assure you, by no means singular: it would +be easy to fill a volume with the testimonies of delight +and gratitude which have been offered from +various quarters in return for this gratification. +Madame Tastu, whom I have heard called the Mrs. +Hemans of France, was present at one or more of +the readings, and has returned thanks in some +very pretty lines, which conclude thus fervently:—</p> + +<div class="poem"> +<p class="i4">"Ma tête</p> +<p>S'incline pour saisir jusques aux moindres sons,</p> +<p>Et mon genou se ploie à demi, quand je prête,</p> +<p class="i4">Enchantée et muette,</p> +<p class="i4">L'oreille à vos leçons!"</p> +</div> + +<p>Apropos of tributary verses on this subject, I +am tempted to conclude my unmercifully long +epistle by giving you some lines which have as +yet, I believe, been scarcely seen by any one but +the person to whom they are addressed. They +are from the pen of the H. G. who so beautifully +translated the twelve first cantos of the "Frithiof +Saga," which was so favourably received in England +last spring.</p> + +<p>H. G. is an Englishwoman, but from the age +of two to seventeen she resided in the United +States of America. Did I not tell you this, you +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_231" id="Page_231">231</a></span> +would be at a loss to understand her allusion to +the distant dwelling of her youth.</p> + +<p>This address, as you will perceive, is not as an +acknowledgment for having been admitted to the +Abbaye, but an earnest prayer that she may be +so; and I heartily hope it will prove successful.</p> + +<p>TO M. LE VICOMTE DE CHATEAUBRIAND.</p> + +<div class="poem"> +<div class="stanza"> +<p>In that distant region, the land of the West,</p> +<p class="i1">Where my childhood and youth glided rapidly by,</p> +<p>Ah! why was my bosom with sorrow oppress'd?</p> +<p class="i1">Why trembled the tear-drop so oft in mine eye?</p> +</div> +<div class="stanza"> +<p>No! 'twas not that pleasures they told me alone</p> +<p class="i1">Were found in the courts where proud monarchs reside;</p> +<p>My knee could not bend at the foot of a throne,</p> +<p class="i1">My heart could not hallow an emperor's pride.</p> +</div> +<div class="stanza"> +<p>But, oh! 'twas the thought that bright genius there dwelt,</p> +<p class="i1">And breathed on a few holy spirits its flame,</p> +<p>That awaken'd the grief which in childhood I felt,</p> +<p class="i1">When, Europe! I mutter'd thy magical name.</p> +</div> +<div class="stanza"> +<p>And now that as pilgrim I visit thy shore,</p> +<p class="i1">I ask not where kings hold their pompous array;</p> +<p>But I fain would behold, and all humbly adore,</p> +<p class="i1">The wreath which thy brows, Châteaubriand! display.</p> +</div> +<div class="stanza"> +<p>My voice may well falter—unknown is my name,</p> +<p class="i1">But say, must my accents prove therefore in vain?</p> +<p>Beyond the Atlantic we boast of thy fame,</p> +<p class="i1">And repeat that thy footstep has traversed our plain.</p> +</div> +<div class="stanza"> +<p>Great bard!—then reject not the prayer that I speak</p> +<p class="i1">With trembling emotion, and offer thee now;</p> +<p>In thy eloquent page, oh! permit me to seek</p> +<p class="i1">The joys and the sorrows that genius may know.</p> +</div> + +<p><span class="left65">H. G.</span></p> +</div> + +<h2>LETTER LXI.</h2> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_232" id="Page_232">232</a></span></p> + +<p class="ch_open"> +Jardin des Plantes.—Not equal in beauty to our Zoological +Gardens.—La Salpêtrière.—Anecdote.—Les Invalides.—Difficulty +of finding English Colours there.—The Dome. +</p> + +<p>Another long morning on the other side of the +water has given us abundant amusement, and +sent us home in a very good humour with the +expedition, because, after very mature and equitable +consideration, we were enabled honestly to +decide that our Zoological Gardens are in few +points inferior, in many equal, and in some greatly +superior, to the long and deservedly celebrated +Jardin des Plantes.</p> + +<p>If considered as a museum and nursery for +botanists, we certainly cannot presume to compare +our comparatively new institution to that of Paris; +but, zoologically speaking, it is every way superior. +The collection of animals, both birds and beasts, +is, I think, better, and certainly in finer condition. +I confess that I envy them their beautiful giraffe; +but what else have they which we cannot equal? +Then as to our superiority, look at the comparative +degree of beauty of the two enclosures. "O +England!" as I once heard a linen-draper exclaim +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_233" id="Page_233">233</a></span> +in the midst of his shop, intending in his march of +mind to quote Byron—</p> + +<p class="poem"> +"O England! with all thy faults, I can't help loving thee still."</p> + +<p>And I am quite of the linen-draper's mind: I +cannot help loving those smooth-shaven lawns, +those untrimmed flowing shrubs, those meandering +walks, now seen, now lost amidst a cool green +labyrinth of shade, which are so truly English. +You have all this at the Zoological Gardens—we +have none of it in the Jardin des Plantes; and, +therefore, I like the Zoological Gardens best.</p> + +<p>We must not say a word, my friend, about the +lectures, or the free admission to them—that is +not our forte; and if the bourgeoisie go on much +longer as they do at present, becoming greater +and more powerful with every passing day, and +learning to know, as their mercantile neighbours +have long known, that it is quite necessary both +governments and individuals should turn all things +to profit;—</p> + +<div class="poem"> +<p class="o1">"Car dans le siècle où nous sommes,</p> +<p>On ne donne rien pour rien;"—</p> +</div> + +<p>if this happens, as I strongly suspect it will, then we +shall have no more lectures gratis even in Paris.</p> + +<p>From the Jardin des Plantes, we visited that +very magnificent hospital, La Salpêtrière. I will +spare you, however, all the fine things that might +be said about it, and only give you a little anecdote +which occurred while we stood looking into +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_234" id="Page_234">234</a></span> +the open court where the imbecile and the mad +are permitted to take their exercise. By the +way, without at all presuming to doubt that there +may be reasons which the managers of this establishment +conceive to be satisfactory, why these +wretched objects, in different stages of their dreadful +calamity, should be thus for ever placed before +each other's eyes, I cannot but observe, that the +effect upon the spectator is painful beyond anything +I ever witnessed.</p> + +<p>With my usual love for the terrible, I remained +immovable for above twenty minutes, watching the +manner in which they appeared to notice each +other. If fancy did not cheat me, those who +were least wildly deranged looked with a sort of +triumph and the consciousness of superiority on +those who were most so: some looked on the +mad movements of the others and laughed distractedly;—in +short, the scene is terribly full of +horror.</p> + +<p>But to return to my anecdote. A stout girl, +who looked more imbecile than mad, was playing +tricks, that a woman who appeared to have +some authority among them endeavoured to stop. +The girl evidently understood her, but with a +sort of dogged obstinacy persevered, till the nurse, +or matron, or whatever she was, took hold of her +arm, and endeavoured to lead her into the house. +Upon this the girl resisted; and it was not without +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_235" id="Page_235">235</a></span> +some degree of violence that she was at last +conquered and led away.</p> + +<p>"What dreadful cruelty!" exclaimed a woman +who like ourselves was indulging her curiosity by +watching the patients. An old crone, a very +aged and decrepid pensioner of the establishment, +was passing by on her crutches as she spoke. She +stopped in her hobbling walk, and addressing the +stranger in the gentle voice of quiet good sense, +and in a tone which made me fancy she had seen +better days, said—"<i>Dreadful cruelty, good woman?</i>... She +is preventing her from doing what +ought not to be done. If you had the charge of +her, you would think it your duty to do the same, +and then it would be right. But 'dreadful cruelty!' +is easily said, and sounds good-hearted; and those +who know not what it is to govern, generally +think it is a sin and a shame to use authority in +any way." And so saying, the old woman hobbled +on, leaving me convinced that La Salpêtrière did +not give its shelter to fools only.</p> + +<p>From this hospital we took a very long drive +to another, going almost from the extremest east +to the extremest west of Paris. The Invalides +was now our object; and its pleasant, easy, comfortable +aspect offered a very agreeable contrast +to the scene we had left. We had become taciturn +and melancholy at La Salpêtrière; but this +interesting and noble edifice revived our spirits +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_236" id="Page_236">236</a></span> +completely. Two of the party had never been +there before, and the others were eloquent in +pointing out all that their former visits had shown +them. No place can be better calculated to stimulate +conversation; there is so much to be said +about our own Greenwich and Queen Elizabeth, +versus Louis le Grand and the Invalides. Then +we had the statue of a greater than he—even of +Napoleon—upon which to gaze and moralise. +Some veteran had climbed up to it, despite a +wooden leg, or a single arm perhaps, and crowned +the still-honoured head with a fresh wreath of +bays.</p> + +<p>While we stood looking at this, the courteous +bow and promising countenance of a fine old man +arrested the whole party, and he was questioned +and chatted to, till he became the hero of his own +tale, and we soon knew exactly where he had received +his first wound, what were his most glorious +campaigns, and, above all, who was the +general best deserving the blessing of an old +soldier.</p> + +<p>Those who in listening to such chronicles in +France expect to hear any other name than that +of Napoleon will be disappointed. We may talk +of his terrible conscriptions, of poisonings at Jena +or forsakings at Moscow, as we will; the simple +fact which answers all is, that he was adored by +his soldiers when he was with them, and that his +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_237" id="Page_237">237</a></span> +memory is cherished with a tender enthusiasm to +which history records no parallel. The mere tone +of voice in which the name of "<span class="smcap">Napoleon!</span>" or the +title of "<span class="smcap">L'Empereur!</span>" is uttered by his veterans, +is of itself enough to prove what he was to +them. They stand taller by an inch when he is +named, and throw forward the chest, and snuff +the air, like an old war-horse that hears the sound +of a trumpet.</p> + +<p>But still, with all these interesting speculations +to amuse us, we did not forget what must ever be +the primary object of a stranger's visit to the Invalides—the +interior of the dome. But this is +only to be seen at particular hours; and we were +too late for the early, and too early for the late, +opening of the doors for this purpose. Four +o'clock was the hour we had to wait for—as yet +it was but three. We were invited into the hall +and into the kitchen; we were admitted, too, into +sundry little enclosures, appropriated to some +happy individuals favoured for their skill in garden +craft, who, turning their muskets into hoes +and spades, enjoy their honourable leisure ten +times more than their idle brethren. In three +out of four of these miniature domains we found +plaister Napoleons of a foot high stuck into a +box-tree or a rose-bush: one of these, too, had +a wreath of newly-gathered leaves twisted round +the cocked-hat, and all three were placed and displayed +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_238" id="Page_238">238</a></span> +with as much attention to dignity and +effect as the finest statues in the Tuileries.</p> + +<p>If the spirit of Napoleon is permitted to hover +about Paris, to indulge itself in gathering the +scattered laurels of his posthumous fame, it is +not to the lofty chambers of the Tuileries that it +should betake itself;—nor would it be greatly +soothed by listening to the peaceful counsels of +his once warlike maréchals. No—if his ghost be +well inspired, it will just glide swiftly through +the gallery of the Louvre, to compare it with his +earthly recollections; balance itself for a moment +over the statue of the Place Vendôme, and abide, +for the rest of the time allotted for this mundane +visit, among his faithful invalids. There only +would he meet a welcome that would please him. +The whole nation, it is true, dearly love to talk of +his greatness; but there is little now left in common +between them and their sometime emperor.</p> + +<p>France with a charter, and France without, +differs not by many degrees so widely as France +military, and France bourgeoise and boursière. +Under Napoleon she was the type of successful +war; under Louis-Philippe, she will, I think—if +the republicans will let her alone—become that +of prosperous peace: a sword and a feather might +be the emblem of the one—a loom and a long +purse of the other.</p> + +<hr class="l30" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_239" id="Page_239">239</a></span></p> + +<p>But still it was not four o'clock. We were +next invited to enter the chapel; and we did so, +determined to await the appointed hour reposing +ourselves on the very comfortable benches provided +for the veterans to whose use it is appropriated.</p> + +<p>Here, stretched and lounging at our ease, we +challenged each other to discover English colours +among the multitude of conquered banners which +hung suspended above our heads. It is hardly +possible that some such should not be there; yet +it is a positive fact, that not all our familiar +acquaintance with the colours we sought could +enable us to discover them. There is indeed one +torn and battered relic, that it is just possible +might have been hacked and sawed from the desperately +firm grasp of an Englishman; but the +morsel of rag left is so small, that it was in fact +more from the lack of testimony than the presence +of it that we at length came to the conclusion +that this relic of a stick might once have +made part of an English standard.</p> + +<p>Not in any degree out of humour at our disappointment +in this search after our national banner, +we followed the guide who summoned us at +last to the dome, chatting and laughing as cheerily +and as noisily as if we had not been exhausting +our spirits for the last four hours by sight-seeing. +But what fatigue could not achieve, was the next +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_240" id="Page_240">240</a></span> +moment produced by wonder, admiration, and delight. +Never did muter silence fall upon a talking +group, than the sight of this matchless chapel +brought on us. Speech is certainly not the first +or most natural resource that the spirit resorts to, +when thus roused, yet chastened—enchanted, yet +subdued.</p> + +<p>I have not yet been to Rome, and know not +how I shall feel if ever I find myself under the +dome of St. Peter's. There, I conceive that it +is a sense of vastness which seizes on the mind; +here it is wholly a feeling of beauty, harmony, +and grace. I know nothing like it anywhere: +the Pantheon (ci-devant Ste. Geneviève), with all +its nobleness and majesty, is heavy, and almost +clumsy, when compared to it. Though possessing +no religious solemnity whatever, and in this +respect inferior beyond the reach of comparison +to the choir of Cologne, or King's College Chapel +at Cambridge, it nevertheless produces a stronger +effect upon the senses than either of them. This +is owing, I suspect, to the circumstance of there +being no mixture of objects: the golden tabernacle +seems to complete rather than destroy its +unity. If I could give myself a fête, it should +be, to be placed within the pure, bright, lofty loveliness +of this marble sanctuary, while a full and +finished orchestra performed the chefs-d'œuvre +of Handel or Mozart in the church. +</p> + +<h2>LETTER LXII.</h2> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_241" id="Page_241">241</a></span></p> + +<p class="ch_open"> +Expedition to Montmorency.—Rendezvous in the Passage +Delorme.—St. Denis.—Tomb prepared for Napoleon.—The +Hermitage.—Dîner sur l'herbe. +</p> + +<p>It is more than a fortnight ago, I think, that +we engaged ourselves with a very agreeable party +of twenty persons to take a long drive out of +Paris and indulge ourselves with a very gay +"dîner sur l'herbe." But it is no easy matter to +find a day on which twenty people shall all be +ready and willing to leave Paris. However, a +steadfast will can conquer most things. The whole +twenty were quite determined that they would +go to Montmorency, and to Montmorency at last +we have been. The day was really one of great +enjoyment, but yet it did not pass without disasters. +One of these which occurred at the moment +of starting very nearly overthrew the whole +scheme. The place of general rendezvous for us +and our hampers was the Galerie Delorme, and +thither one of the party who had undertaken that +branch of the business had ordered the carriages +to come. At ten o'clock precisely, the first detachment +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_242" id="Page_242">242</a></span> +of the party was deposited with their +belongings at the southern extremity of the gallery; +another and another followed till the muster-roll +was complete. Baskets were piled on +baskets; and the passers-by read our history in +these, and in our anxious eyes, which ceased not +to turn with ever-increasing anxiety the way the +carriages should come.</p> + +<p>What a <i>supplice</i>!... Every minute, every +second, brought the rolling of wheels to our ears, +but only to mock us: the wheels rolled on—no +carriages came for us, and we remained in statu +quo to look at each other and our baskets.</p> + +<p>Then came forth, as always happens on great +and trying occasions, the inward character of +each. The sturdy and firm-minded set themselves +down on the packages, determined to abide +the eyes of all rather than shrink from their intent. +The timid and more frail of purpose gently +whispered proposals that we should all go home +again; while others, yet listening to</p> + +<div class="poem"> +<p class="i3">"Hope's enchanting measure,</p> +<p>Which still promised coming pleasure,"</p> +</div> + +<p>smiled, and looked forth from the gallery, and +smiled again—though still no carriage came.</p> + +<p>It was, as I suspect, these young hopes and +smiles which saved us from final disappointment: +for the young men belonging to the cortége, suddenly +rousing themselves from their state of listless +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_243" id="Page_243">243</a></span> +watching, declared with one voice and one +spirit, that les demoiselles should not be disappointed; +and exchanging <i>consignes</i> which were +to regulate the number and species of vehicles +each was to seek—and find, too, on peril of his +reputation,—they darted forth from the gallery, +leaving us with renewed spirits and courage to +bear all the curious glances bestowed upon us.</p> + +<p>Our half-dozen aides-de-camp returned triumphantly +in a few minutes, each one in his +delta or his citadine; and the Galerie Delorme +was soon left far behind us.</p> + +<p>It is lucky for you that we had not to make a +"voyage par mer" and "retour par terre," or my +story might be as long—if resembling it in no +other way—as the immortal expedition to St. +Cloud. I shall not make a volume of it; but I +must tell you that we halted at St. Denis.</p> + +<p>The church is beautiful—a perfect bijou of true +Gothic architecture—light, lofty, elegant; and we +saw it, too, in a manner peculiarly advantageous, +for it had neither organ, altar, nor screen to distract +the eye from the great and simple beauty +of the original design. The repairs going on +here are of a right royal character—on a noble +scale and in excellent taste. Several monuments +restored from the collection made under the Empire +aux Petits Augustins are now again the +glory of St. Denis; and some of them have still +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_244" id="Page_244">244</a></span> +much remaining which may entitle them to rank +as very pure and perfect specimens of highly-antiquated +monumental sculpture. But the chiselled +treasures of a thousand years' standing cannot +be made to travel about like the scenery of +strolling players, in conformity to the will and +whim of the successive actors who play the part +of king, without great injury. In some instances +the original nooks in this venerable mausoleum +of royal bones have again received the effigies +originally carved to repose within them; but +the regal image has rarely been replaced without +showing itself in some degree way-worn. In +other cases, the monumental portrait, venerable +and almost hallowed by its high antiquity, is +made to recline on a whitened sepulchre as bright +as Parisian masonry can make it.</p> + +<p>Having fully examined the church and its +medley of old and new treasures, we called a +council as to the possibility of finding time for +descending to the crypts: but most of the party +agreeing in opinion that we ought not to lose the +opportunity of visiting what a wit amongst us +happily enough designated "le Palais Royal de la +Mort," we ordered the iron gates to be unbarred +for us, and proceeded with some solemnity of +feeling into the pompous tomb. And here the +unfortunate result of that bold spirit of change +which holds nothing sacred is still more disagreeably +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_245" id="Page_245">245</a></span> +obvious than in the church. All the royal +monuments of France that could be collected are +assembled in this magnificent vault, but with such +incongruity of dates belonging to different parts of +the same structure, as almost wholly to destroy +the imposing effect of this gorgeous grave.</p> + +<p>But if the spectator would seek farther than +his eye can carry him, and inquire where the +mortal relics of each sculptured monarch lie, the +answer he will receive must make him believe +that the royal dust of France has been scattered +to the four winds of heaven. Nothing I have +heard has sounded more strangely to me than +the naïveté with which our guide informed us +that, among all this multitude of regal tombs, +there was not one which contained a single vestige +of the mortal remains of those they commemorate.</p> + +<p>For the love of good taste and consistency, +these guardians of the royal sepulchre of France +should be taught a more poetical lesson. It is +inconceivable how, as he spoke, the solemn memorials +of the illustrious dead, near which my +foot had passed cautiously and my voice been +mute, seemed suddenly converted into something +little more sacred than the show furnishing of a +stone-mason's shop. The bathos was perfect.</p> + +<p>I could not but remember with a feeling of +national pride the contrast to this presented by +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_246" id="Page_246">246</a></span> +Westminster Abbey and St. George's Chapel. +The monuments of these two royal fanes form +a series as interesting in the history of art as of +our royal line, and no painful consciousness of +desecration mixes itself with the solemn reverence +with which we contemplate the honoured +tombs.</p> + +<p>The most interesting object in the crypts of St. +Denis, and which comes upon the moral feeling +with a force increased rather than diminished by +the incongruities which surround it, is the door +of the vault prepared by Napoleon for himself. +It is inscribed,</p> + +<p class="center">ICI REPOSENT<br /> +LES DÉPOUILLES MORTELLES<br /> +DE</p> + +<p>This inscription still remains, as well as the +massive brazen gates with their triple locks, +which were designed to close the tomb. These +rich portals are not suspended on hinges, but rest +against a wall of solid masonry, over which the +above inscription is seen. The imperial vault +thus chosen by the living despot as the sanctuary +for bones which it was our fortune to dispose of +elsewhere is greatly distinguished by its situation, +being exactly under the high altar, and in the +centre of the crypts, which follow the beautiful +curve of the Lady Chapel above. It now contains +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_247" id="Page_247">247</a></span> +the bodies of Louis Dix-huit and the Duc de +Berri, and is completely bricked up.</p> + +<p>In another vault, at one end of the circular +crypts, and perfectly excluded from the light of +day, but made visible by a single feeble lamp, +are two coffins enclosing the remains of the two +last defunct princes of the blood royal; but I forget +their names. When I inquired of our conductor +why these two coffins were thus exposed +to view, he replied, with the air of a person +giving information respecting what was as unchangeable +as the laws of the Medes and Persians, +"C'est toujours ainsi;" adding, "When another +royal corpse is interred, the one of these two +which was the first deposited will be removed, to +be placed beneath its monument; but two must +ever remain thus."</p> + +<p>"Always" and "ever" are words which can +seldom be used discreetly without some reservation; +but respecting anything connected with the +political state of France, I should think they had +better never be used at all.</p> + +<p>We returned to the carriages and pursued our +pretty drive. The latter part of the route is very +beautiful, and we all walked up one long steep +hill, as much, or more perhaps, to enjoy the glorious +view, and the fresh delicious air, as to +assist the horses.</p> + +<p>Arrived at the famous <i>Cheval Blanc</i> at Montmorency, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_248" id="Page_248">248</a></span> +(a sign painted, as the tradition says, by no +less a hand than that of Gérard, who, in a youthful +pilgrimage with his friend Isabey to this region +consecrated to romance, found himself with +no other means of defraying their bill than by +painting a sign for his host,) we quitted our +wearied and wearisome citadines, and began to +seek, amidst the multitude of horses and donkeys +which stood saddled and bridled around the door +of the inn, for twenty well-conditioned beasts, besides +a sumpter-mule or two, to carry us and our +provender to the forest.</p> + +<p>And, oh! the tumult and the din that accompanied +this selection! Multitudes of old women +and ragamuffin boys assailed us on all sides.—"Tenez, +madame; voilà mon âne! y a-t-il une autre +bête comme la mienne?..." "Non, non, non, +belles dames! Ne le croyez pas; c'est la mienne +qu'il vous faut..." "Et vous, monsieur—c'est +un cheval qui vous manque, n'est-ce pas? en +voilà un superbe...."</p> + +<p>The multitude of hoarse old voices, and shrill +young ones, joined to our own noisy mirth, produced +a din that brought out half the population +of Montmorency to stare at us: but at length we +were mounted—and, what was of infinitely more +consequence, and infinitely more difficulty also, +our hampers and baskets were mounted too.</p> + +<p>But before we could think of the greenwood +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_249" id="Page_249">249</a></span> +tree, and the gay repast to be spread under it, +we had a pilgrimage to make to the shrine which +has given the region all its fame. Hitherto we +had thought only of its beauty,—who does not +know the lovely scenery of Montmorency?—even +without the name of Rousseau to give a fanciful +interest to every path around it, there is enough +in its hills and dales, its forest and its fields, to +cheer the spirits and enchant the eye.</p> + +<p>A day stolen from the dissipation, the dust, and +the noise of a great city, is always delightful; but +when it is enjoyed in the very fullest green perfection +of the last days of May, when every new-born +leaf and blossom is fully expanded to the delicious +breeze, and not one yet fallen before it, the enjoyment +is perfect. It is like seeing a new piece +while the dresses and decorations are all fresh; +and never can the mind be in a state to taste +with less of pain, and more of pleasure, the +thoughts suggested by such a scene as <i>the Hermitage</i>. +I have, however, no intention of indulging +myself in a burst of tender feeling over the melancholy +memory of Rousseau, or of enthusiastic +gratitude at the recollection of Grétry, though +both are strongly brought before the mind's eye +by the various memorials of each so carefully +treasured in the little parlour in which they passed +so many hours: yet it is impossible to look at +the little rude table on which the first and greatest +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_250" id="Page_250">250</a></span> +of these gifted men scribbled the "Héloïse," or on +the broken and untuneable keys of the spinette +with which the eloquent visionary so often soothed +his sadness and solitude, without some feeling +tant soit peu approaching to the sentimental.</p> + +<p>Before the window of this small gloomy room, +which opens upon the garden, is a rose-tree planted +by the hand of Rousseau, which has furnished, +as they told us, cuttings enough to produce a +forest of roses. The house is as dark and dull as +may be; but the garden is pretty, and there is +something of fanciful in its arrangement which +makes me think it must be as he left it.</p> + +<p>The records of Grétry would have produced +more effect if seen elsewhere,—at least I thought +so;—yet the sweet notes of "O Richard! O +mon roi!" seemed to be sounding in my ears, too, +as I looked at his old spectacles, and several other +little domestic relics that were inscribed with his +name. But the "Rêveries du Promeneur Solitaire" +are worth all the notes that Grétry ever wrote.</p> + +<p>A marble column stands in a shady corner of +the garden, bearing an inscription which states +that her highness the Duchesse de Berri had visited +the Hermitage, and taken "le cœur de Grétry" +under her august protection, which had been unjustly +claimed by the Liégeois from his native +France. What this means, or where her highness +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_251" id="Page_251">251</a></span> +found the great composer's heart, I could not +learn.</p> + +<p>We took the objects of our expedition in most +judicious order, fasting and fatigue being decidedly +favourable to melancholy; but, even with these +aids, I cannot say that I discovered much propensity +to the tender vein in the generality of our +party. Sentiment is so completely out of fashion, +that it would require a bold spirit to confess before +twenty gay souls that you felt any touch of +it. There was one young Italian, however, of the +party whom I missed from the time we entered +the precincts of the Hermitage; nor did I see him +till some time after we were all mounted again, +and in full chase for the well-known chesnut-trees +which have thrown their shadow over so many al-fresco +repasts. When he again joined us, he had +a rose in his button-hole: I felt quite certain that +it was plucked from the tree the sad philosopher +had planted, and that he, at least, had done +homage to his shade, whoever else had failed to +do so.</p> + +<p>Whatever was felt at the Hermitage, however, +was now left behind us, and a less larmoyante +party never entered the Forest of Montmorency. +When we reached the spot on which we had fixed +by anticipation for our salle-à-manger, we descended +from our various <i>montures</i>, which were immediately +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_252" id="Page_252">252</a></span> +unsaddled and permitted to refresh themselves, +tied together in very picturesque groups, +while all the party set to work with that indescribable +air of contented confusion and happy +disorder which can only be found at a pic-nic. I +have heard a great many very sensible remarks, +and some of them really very hard to answer, +upon the extreme absurdity of leaving every accommodation +which is considered needful for the +comfort of a Christian-like dinner, for the sole +purpose of devouring this needful repast without +one of them. What can be said in defence of +such an act?... Nothing,—except perhaps that, +for some unaccountable reason or other, no dinner +throughout the year, however sumptuously served +or delicately furnished, ever does appear to produce +one half so much light-hearted enjoyment as +the cold repast round which the guests crouch +like so many gipsies, with the turf for their table +and a tree for their canopy. It is very strange—but +it is very true; and as long as men and women +continue to experience this singular accession +of good spirits and good humour from circumstances +which might be reasonably expected +to destroy both, nothing better can be done than +to let them go on performing the same extraordinary +feat as long as the fancy lasts.</p> + +<p>And so we sat upon the grass, caring little for +what the wise might say of us, for an hour and a +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_253" id="Page_253">253</a></span> +half at the very least. Our attendant old women +and boys, seated at convenient distance, were eating +as heartily and laughing as merrily as ourselves; +whilst our beasts, seen through the openings +of the thicket in which they were stabled, and +their whimsical housings piled up together at the +foot of an old thorn at its entrance, completed the +composition of our gipsy festival.</p> + +<p>At length the signal was given to rise, and the +obedient troop were on their feet in an instant. +The horses and the asses were saddled forthwith: +each one seized his and her own and mounted. A +council was then called as to whither we should +go. Sundry forest paths stretched away so invitingly +in different directions, that it was difficult +to decide which we should prefer. "Let us all +meet two hours hence at the Cheval Blanc," said +some one of brighter wit than all the rest: whereupon +we all set off, fancy-led, by twos and by +threes, to put this interval of freedom and fresh +air to the best account possible.</p> + +<p>I was strongly tempted to set off directly for +Eaubonne. Though I confess that Jean-Jacques' +descriptions (tant vantées!) of some of the scenes +which occurred there between himself and his +good friend Madame d'Houdetot, in which she +rewards his tender passion by constant assurances +of her own tender passion for Saint-Lambert, have +always appeared to me the very reverse of the +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_254" id="Page_254">254</a></span> +sublime and beautiful; yet still the place must be +redolent of the man whose "Rêveries" have made +its whole region classic ground: and go where I +will, I always love to bring the genius of the place +as near to me as possible. But my wishes were +effectually checked by the old lady whose donkey +carried me.</p> + +<p>"Oh! dame—il ne faut pas aller par là ... +ce n'est pas là le beau point de vue; laissez-moi +faire ... et vous verrez...."</p> + +<p>And then she enumerated so many charming +points of forest scenery that ought to be visited by +"tout le monde," that I and my companions decided +it would be our best course to permit the +<i>laisser faire</i> she asked for; and accordingly we +set off in the direction she chose. We had no +cause to regret it, for she knew her business well, +and, in truth, led us as beautiful a circuit as it +was well possible to imagine. If I did not invoke +Rousseau in his bosquet d'Eaubonne, or beside +the "cascade dont," as he says, "je lui avais donné +<i>l'idée</i>, et qu'elle avait fait <i>exécuter</i>,"—(Rousseau +had never seen Niagara, or he would not +have talked of his Sophie's having executed his +idea of a cascade;)—though we did not seek him +there, we certainly met him, at every step of our +beautiful forest path, in the flowers and mosses +whose study formed his best recreation at Montmorency. +"Herboriser" is a word which, I +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_255" id="Page_255">255</a></span> +think, with all possible respect for that modern +strength of intellect that has fixed its stigma upon +<i>sentiment</i>, Rousseau has in some sort consecrated. +There is something so natural, so genuine, so +delightfully true, in his expressions, when he describes +the pleasure this occupation has given him, +contrasted as it is with his sour and querulous +philosophy, and still more perhaps with the eloquent +but unrighteous bursts of ill-directed passion, +that its impression on my mind is incomparably +greater than any he has produced by other +topics.</p> + +<p>"Brillantes fleurs, émail des prés!" ... is +an exclamation a thousand times more touching, +coming from the poor solitary J.J. at sixty-five, +than any of the most passionate exclamations +which he makes St. Preux utter; and for this +reason the woods of Montmorency are more interesting +from their connexion with him than any +spot the neighbourhood of Vévay could offer.</p> + +<p>The view from the Rendezvous de Chasse is +glorious. While pausing to enjoy it, our old woman +began talking politics to us. She told us that she +had lost two sons, who both died fighting beside +"<i>notre grand Empereur</i>," who was certainly "le +plus grand homme de la terre; cependant, it was +a great comfort for poor people to have bread for +onze sous—and that was what King Louis-Philippe +had done for them." +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_256" id="Page_256">256</a></span></p> + +<p>After our halt, we turned our heads again towards +the town, and were peacefully pursuing our +deliciously cool ride under the trees, when a holla! +from behind stopped us. It proceeded from one +of the boys of our cortége, who, mounted upon a +horse that one of the party had used, was galloping +and hollaing after us with all his might. The information +he brought was extremely disagreeable: +one of the gentlemen had been thrown from his +horse and taken up for dead; and he had been +sent, as he said, to collect the party together, to +know what was to be done. The gentleman who +was with our detachment immediately accompanied +the boy to the spot; but as the unfortunate +sufferer was quite a stranger to me, and +was already surrounded by many of the party, +I and my companion decided upon returning to +Montmorency, there to await at Le Cheval Blanc +the appearance of the rest. A medical man, we +found, had been already sent for. When at length +the whole party, with the exception of this unfortunate +young man and a friend who remained with +him, were assembled, we found, upon comparing +notes together, that no less than four of our party +had been unhorsed or undonkeyed in the course +of the day; but happily three of these were accidents +followed by no alarming results. The +fourth was much more serious; but the report +from the Montmorency surgeon, which we received +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_257" id="Page_257">257</a></span> +before we left the town, assured us that no +ultimate danger was to be apprehended.</p> + +<p>One circumstance attending this disagreeable +contre-tems was very fortunate. The accident +took place at the gates of a chateau, the owners +of which, though only returned a few hours before +from a tour in Italy, received the sufferer +and his friend with the greatest kindness and +hospitality. Thus, though only eighteen of us +returned to Paris to recount the day's adventures, +we had at least the consolation of having +a very interesting, and luckily not fatal, episode +to narrate, in which a castle and most courteous +knights and dames bore a part, while the wounded +cavalier on whom their generous cares were +bestowed had not only given signs of life, but +had been pronounced, to the great joy of all the +company, quite out of danger either of life or +limb.</p> + +<p>So ended our day at Montmorency, which, +spite of our manifold disasters, was declared upon +the whole to have been one of very great enjoyment. +</p> + +<h2>LETTER LXIII.</h2> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_258" id="Page_258">258</a></span></p> + +<p class="ch_open"> +George Sand. +</p> + +<p>I have more than once mentioned to you my +observations on the reception given in Paris to +that terrible school of composition which derives +its power from displaying, with strength that +exaggerates the vices of our nature, all that is +worst and vilest in the human heart. I have +repeatedly dwelt upon the subject, because it is +one which I have so often heard treated unfairly, +or at least ignorantly, in England; and a love +of truth and justice has therefore led me to +assure you, with reiterated protestations, that +neither these mischief-doing works nor their +authors meet at all a better reception in Paris +than they would in London.</p> + +<p>It is this same love of truth and justice which +prompts me to separate from the pack one whom +nature never intended should belong to it. The +lady who writes under the signature of George +Sand cannot be set aside by the sternest guardian +of public morals without a sigh. With +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_259" id="Page_259">259</a></span> +great—perhaps, at the present moment, with unequalled +power of writing, Madame de D—— perpetually +gives indications of a heart and mind +which seem to prove that it was intended her +place should be in a very different set from that +with which she has chosen to mingle.</p> + +<p>It is impossible that she should write as she +has done without possessing some of the finest +qualities of human nature; but she is and has +been tossed about in that whirlpool of unsettled +principles, deformed taste and exaggerated feeling, +in which the distempered spirits of the day delight +to bathe and disport themselves, and she has been +stained and bruised therein. Yet she has nothing +in common with their depraved feelings and +distorted strength; and there is so much of the +divine spirit of real genius within her, that it +seems as if she could not sink in the vortex that +has engulfed her companions. She floats and +rises still; and would she make one bold effort to +free herself from this slough, she might yet become +one of the brightest ornaments of the age.</p> + +<p>Not her own country only, but all the world +have claims on her; for genius is of no nation, +but speaks in a language that can be heard and +understood by all. And is it possible that such +a mind as hers can be insensible to the glory of +enchanting the best and purest spirits in the +world?... Can she prefer the paltry plaudits of +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_260" id="Page_260">260</a></span> +the obscure herd who scorn at decency, to the +universal hymn of love and praise which she must +hear rising from the whole earth to do honour to +the holy muse of Walter Scott?</p> + +<p>The powers of this lady are of so high an +order as in fact to withdraw her totally, though +seemingly against her will, from all literary companionship +or competition with the multitude of +little authors whose moral theories appear of the +same colour as her own; and in the tribute of +admiration which justice compels me to pay her, +my memory dwells only on such passages as none +but herself could write, and which happily all the +world may read.</p> + +<p>It is sad, indeed, to be forced to read almost +by stealth volumes which contain such passages, +and to turn in silence from the lecture with one's +heart glowing with admiration of thoughts that +one might so proudly quote and boast of as +coming from the pen of a woman! But, alas! +her volumes are closed to the young and innocent, +and one may not dare to name her among +those to whom the memory clings with gratitude +as the giver of high mental enjoyment.</p> + +<p>One strong proof that the native and genuine +bent of her genius would carry her far above +and quite out of sight of the whole décousu +school is, that, with all her magical grace of +expression, she is always less herself, less original, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_261" id="Page_261">261</a></span> +a thousand times less animated and inspired, when +she sets herself to paint scenes of unchaste love, +and of unnatural and hard indifference to decorum, +than when she throws the reins upon the +neck of her own Pegasus, and starts away into +the bright region of unsoiled thoughts and purely +intellectual meditation.</p> + +<p>I should be sorry to quote the titles of any +books which ought never to have been written, +and which had better not be read, even though +there should be buried in them precious gems +of thought and expression which produce the +effect of a ray of sunshine that has entered by +a crevice into a dark chamber; but there are +some morsels by George Sand which stand apart +from the rest, and which may be cited without +mischief. "La Revue des Deux Mondes" +has more than once done good service to the +public by putting forth in its trustworthy +pages some of her shorter works. Amongst these +is a little story called "André," which if not +quite <i>faultless</i>, may yet be fairly quoted to prove +of what its author might be capable. The character +of Geneviève, the heroine of this simple, natural +little tale, is evidence enough that George +Sand knows what is good. Yet even here what +a strange perversity of purpose and of judgment +peeps out! She makes this Geneviève, whose +character is conceived in a spirit of purity and +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_262" id="Page_262">262</a></span> +delicacy that is really angelic,—she makes this +sweet and exquisitely innocent creature fall into +indiscretion with her lover before she marries +him, though the doing so neither affects the +story nor changes the catastrophe in the slightest +degree. It is an impropriety <i>à pure perte</i>, and +is in fact such a deplorable incongruity in the +character of Geneviève—so perfectly gratuitous +and unnecessary, and so utterly out of keeping +with the rest of the picture, that it really looks +as if Madame D—— <i>might not</i> publish a volume +that was not timbré with the stamp of her clique. +It would not, I suppose, pass current among them +without it.</p> + +<p>This story of "André" is still before me; and +though it is quite impossible that I should be +able to give you any idea of it by extracts, I +will transcribe a few lines to show you the tone +of thought in which its author loves to indulge.</p> + +<p>Speaking of the universal power or influence of +poetry, which certainly, like M. Jourdain's prose, +often exists in the mind sans qu'on en sache rien, +she says,—</p> + +<p>"Les idées poétiques peuvent s'ajuster à la +taille de tous les hommes. L'un porte sa poésie +sur son front, un autre dans son cœur; celui-ci +la cherche dans une promenade lente et silencieuse +au sein des plaines, celui-là la poursuit +au galop de son cheval à travers les ravins; un +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_263" id="Page_263">263</a></span> +troisième l'arrose sur sa fenêtre, dans un pot de +tulipes. Au lieu de demander où elle est, ne +devrait-on pas demander où n'est-elle pas? Si +ce n'était qu'une langue, elle pourrait se perdre; +mais c'est une essence qui se compose de deux +choses, la beauté répandue dans la nature extérieure, +et le sentiment départi à toute l'intelligence +ordinaire."</p> + +<p>Again she shows the real tone of her mind +when, speaking of a future state, she says,—</p> + +<p>"Qui sait si, dans un nouveau code de morale, +un nouveau catéchisme religieux, le dégoût et la +tristesse ne seront pas flétris comme des vices, +tandis que l'amour, l'espoir, et l'admiration seront +récompensés comme des vertus?"</p> + +<p>This is a beautiful idea of the <i>duties</i> belonging +to a happier state of existence; nay, I think that +if we were only as good as we easily might be +here, even this life would become rather an act +of thanksgiving than what it too often is—a record +of sighs.</p> + +<p>I know not where I should look in order to +find thoughts more true, or fanciful ideas more +beautifully expressed, than I have met with in +this same story, where the occupations and reveries +of its heroine are described. Geneviève is +by profession a maker of artificial flowers, and +the minute study necessary to enable her to imitate +skilfully her lovely models has led her to an +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_264" id="Page_264">264</a></span> +intimate acquaintance with them, the pleasures +of which are described, and her love and admiration +of them dwelt upon, in a strain that I am +quite persuaded none other but George Sand +could utter. It is evident, indeed, throughout all +her writings, that the works of nature are the +idols she worships. In the "Lettres d'un Voyageur,"—which +I trust are only begun, for it is here +that the author is perfect, unrivalled, and irreproachable,—she +gives a thousand proofs of a +heart and imagination which can only be truly +at home when far from "the rank city." In +writing to a friend in Paris, whom she addresses +as a person devoted to the cares and the honours +of public life, she says,—"Quand tu vois passer +un pauvre oiseau, tu envies son essor, et tu regrettes +les cieux." Then she exclaims, "Que ne +puis-je t'emmener avec moi sur l'aile des vents +inconstans, te faire respirer le grand air des solitudes +et t'apprendre le secret des poètes et des +Bohémiens!" She has learned that secret, and +the use she makes of it places her, in my estimation, +wondrously above most of the descriptive +poets that France has ever boasted. Yet her descriptions, +exquisite as they sometimes are, enchant +me less perhaps than the occasional shooting, +if I may so express it, of a bold new thought +into the regions of philosophy and metaphysics; +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_265" id="Page_265">265</a></span> +but it is done so lightly, so playfully, that it +should seem she was only jesting when she appears +to aim thus wildly at objects so much +beyond a woman's ken. "Tous les trônes de +la terre ne valent pas pour moi une petite fleur +au bord d'un lac des Alpes," she says; and then +starts off with this strange query: "Une grande +question serait celle de savoir si la Providence +a plus d'amour et de respect pour notre charpente +osseuse, que pour les pétales embaumés de +ses jasmins."</p> + +<p>She professes herself (of course) to be a republican; +but only says of it, "De toutes les +causes dont je ne me soucie pas, c'est la plus +belle;" and then adds, quite in her own vein, +"Du moins, les mots de patrie et de liberté sont +harmonieux—tandis que ceux de légitimité et +d'obéissance sont grossiers, mal-sonnans, et faits +pour des oreilles de gendarmes."... "Aduler une +bûche couronnée," is, she declares, "renoncer à +sa dignité d'homme, et se faire académicien."</p> + +<p>However, she quizzes her political friend for +being "le martyr des nobles ambitions;" adding, +"Gouvernez-moi bien tous ces vilains idiots ... +je vais chanter au soleil sur une branche, pendant +ce tems-là."</p> + +<p>In another place, she says that she is "bonne +à rien qu'à causer avec l'écho, à regarder lever la +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_266" id="Page_266">266</a></span> +lune, et à composer des chants mélancoliques ou +moqueurs pour les étudians poètes et les écoliers +amoureux."</p> + +<p>As a specimen of what this writer's powers of +description are, I will give you a few lines from +a little story called "Mattéa,"—a story, by the +way, that is beautiful, one hardly knows why,—just +to show you how she can treat a theme +worn threadbare before she was born. Is there, +in truth, any picture much less new than that +of a gondola, with a guitar in it, gliding along +the canals of Venice? But see what she makes +of it.</p> + +<p>"La guitare est un instrument qui n'a son +existence véritable qu'à Venise, la ville silencieuse +et sonore. Quand une gondole rase ce fleuve +d'encre phosphorescente, où chaque coup de rame +enfonce un éclair, tandis qu'une grêle de petites +notes légères, nettes, et folâtres, bondit et rebondit +sur les cordes que parcourt une main invisible, +on voudrait arrêter et saisir cette mélodie faible +mais distincte qui agace l'oreille des passans, et +qui fuit le long des grandes ombres des palais, +comme pour appeler les belles aux fenêtres, et +passer en leur disant—Ce n'est pas pour vous la +sérénade; et vous ne saurez ni d'où elle vient, ni +où elle va."</p> + +<p>Could Rousseau himself have chosen apter +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_267" id="Page_267">267</a></span> +words? Do they not seem an echo to the sound +she describes?</p> + +<p>The private history of an author ought never +to mix itself with a judgment of his works. Of +that of George Sand I know but little; but +divining it from the only source that the public +has any right to examine,—namely, her writings,—I +should be disposed to believe that her story +is the old one of affection either ill requited, or +in some way or other unfortunate; and there is +justice in quoting the passages which seem to +indicate this, because they are written in a spirit +that, let the circumstances be what they will, +must do her honour.</p> + +<p>In the "Lettres d'un Voyageur" already mentioned, +the supposed writer of them is clearly +identified with George Sand by this passage:—"Meure +le petit George quand Dieu voudra, le +monde n'en ira pas plus mal pour avoir ignoré sa +façon de penser. Que veux-tu que je te dise? +Il faut que je te parle encore de moi, et rien n'est +plus insipide qu'une individualité qui n'a pas encore +trouvé le mot de sa destinée. Je n'ai aucun +intérêt à formuler une opinion quelconque. Quelques +personnes qui lisent mes livres ont le tort de +croire que ma conduite est une profession de foi, +et le choix des sujets de mes historiettes une sorte +de plaidoyer contre certaines lois: bien loin de là, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_268" id="Page_268">268</a></span> +je reconnais que ma vie est pleine de fautes, et je +croirais commettre une lâcheté si je me battais +les flancs pour trouver un système d'idées qui en +autorisât l'exemple."</p> + +<p>After this, it is impossible to read, without +being touched by it, this sublime phrase used in +speaking of one who would retire into the deep +solitudes of nature from struggling with the +world:—</p> + +<p>"<i>Les astres éternels auront toujours raison</i>, et +l'homme, quelque grand qu'il soit parmi les +hommes, sera toujours saisi d'épouvante quand +il voudra interroger ce qui est au-dessus de lui. +<i>O silence effrayant, réponse éloquente et terrible +de l'éternité!</i>"</p> + +<p>In another place, speaking with less lightness +of tone than is generally mixed throughout these +charming letters with the gravest speculations, +George Sand says:—</p> + +<p>"J'ai mal vécu, j'ai mal usé des biens qui me +sont échus, j'ai négligé les œuvres de charité; j'ai +vécu dans la mollesse, dans l'ennui, dans les larmes +vaines, dans les folles amours, dans les vains +plaisirs. Je me suis prosterné devant des idoles +de chair et de sang, et j'ai laissé leur souffle enivrant +effacer les sentences austères que la sagesse +des livres avait écrites sur mon front dans ma +jeunesse.... J'avais été honnête autrefois, sais-tu +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_269" id="Page_269">269</a></span> +bien cela, Everard? C'est de notoriété bourgeoise +dans notre pays; mais il y avait peu de +mérite,—j'étais jeune, et les funestes amours +n'étaient pas éclos dans mon sein. Ils ont étouffé +bien des qualités; mais <i>je sais qu'il en est auxquelles +je n'ai pas fait la plus légère tache au +milieu des plus grands revers de ma vie, et qu'aucune +des autres n'est perdu pour moi sans retour</i>."</p> + +<p>I could go on very long quoting with pleasure +from these pages; but I cannot, I think, +conclude better than with this passage. Who +is there but must wish that all the great and +good qualities of this gifted woman (for she must +have both) should break forth from whatever +cloud sorrow or misfortune of any kind may +have thrown over her, and that the rest of her +days may pass in the tranquil developement of +her extraordinary talents, and in such a display +of them to the public as shall leave its admiration +unmixed? +</p> + +<h2>LETTER LXIV.</h2> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_270" id="Page_270">270</a></span></p> + +<p class="ch_open"> +"Angelo Tyran de Padoue."—Burlesque at the Théâtre +du Vaudeville.—Mademoiselle Mars.—Madame Dorval. +—Epigram. +</p> + +<p>We have seen and enjoyed many very pretty, +very gay little pieces at most of the theatres +since we have been here; but we never till our +last visit to the Théâtre Français enjoyed that +uncontrollable movement of merriment which, setting +all lady-like nonchalance at defiance, obliged +us to yield ourselves up to hearty, genuine laughter; +in which, however, we had the consolation +of seeing many of those around us join.</p> + +<p>And what was the piece, can you guess, which +produced this effect upon us?... It was "Angelo!" +It was the "Tyran de Padoue"—<i>pas doux</i> du +tout, as the wits of the parterre aver. But, in +truth, I ought not to assent to this verdict, for +never tyrant was so <i>doux</i> to me and mine as +this, and never was a very long play so heartily +laughed at to the end.</p> + +<p>But must I write to you in sober earnest about +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_271" id="Page_271">271</a></span> +this comic tragedy? I suppose I must; for, except +the Procès Monstre, nothing has been more +talked of in Paris than this new birth of M. +Hugo. The cause for this excitement was not +that a new play from this sufficiently well-known +hand was about to be put upon the scene, but a +circumstance which has made me angry and all +Paris curious. This tragedy, as you shall see +presently, has two heroines who run neck and +neck through every act, leaving it quite in doubt +which ought to come in prima donna. Mademoiselle +Mars was to play the part of one—but +who could venture to stand thus close beside her +in the other part?—nobody at the Français, as it +should seem: and so, wonderful to tell, and almost +impossible to believe, a lady, a certain Madame +Dorval, well known as a heroine of the +Porte St. Martin, I believe, was enlisted into the +corps of the Français to run a tilt with—Mars.</p> + +<p>This extraordinary arrangement was talked of, +and asserted, and contradicted, and believed, and +disbelieved, till the noise of it filled all Paris. +You will hardly wonder, then, that the appearance +of this drama has created much sensation, +or that the desire to see it should extend beyond +the circle of M. Hugo's young admirers.</p> + +<p>I have been told, that as soon as this arrangement +was publicly made known, the application +for boxes became very numerous. The author +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_272" id="Page_272">272</a></span> +was permitted to examine the list of all those who +had applied, and no boxes were positively promised +till he had done so. Before the night for +the first representation was finally fixed, a large +party of friends and admirers assembled at the +poet's house, and, amongst them, expunged from +this list the names of all such persons as were +either known or suspected to be hostile to him +or his school. Whatever deficiencies this exclusive +system produced in the box-book were +supplied by his particular partisans. The result +on this first night was a brilliant success.</p> + +<p>"L'auteur de Cromwell," says the Revue des +Deux Mondes, "a proclamé d'une voix dictatoriale +la fusion de la comédie et de la tragédie +dans le drame." It is for this reason, perhaps, that +M. Hugo has made his last tragedy so irresistibly +comic. The dagger and the bowl bring on the +catastrophe,—therefore, <i>sans contredire</i>, it is a +tragedy: but his playful spirit has arranged the +incidents and constructed the dialogue,—therefore, +<i>sans faute</i>, it is a comedy.</p> + +<p>In one of his exquisite prefaces, M. Hugo says, +that he would not have any audience quit the +theatre without carrying with them "quelque +moralité austère et profonde;" and I will now +make it my task to point out to you how well he +has redeemed this promise in the present instance. +In order to shake off all the old-fashioned trammels +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_273" id="Page_273">273</a></span> +which might encumber his genius, M. Hugo +has composed his "Angelo" in prose,—prose such +as old women love—(wicked old women I mean,)—lengthy, +mystical, gossiping, and mischievous. +I will give you some extracts; and to save the +trouble of describing the different characters, I +will endeavour so to select these extracts that +they shall do it for me. Angelo Tyran de Padoue +thus speaks of himself:—</p> +<div class="drama"> +<p>"Oui ... je suis le podesta que Venise met +sur Padoue.... Et savez-vous ce que c'est que +Venise?... C'est le conseil des dix. Oh! le +conseil des dix!... Souvent la nuit je me +dresse sur mon séant, j'écoute, et j'entends des +pas dans mon mur.... Oui, c'est ainsi, Tyran +de Padoue, esclave de Venise. Je suis bien surveillé, +allez. Oh! le conseil des dix!"</p> +</div> + +<p>This gentleman has a young, beautiful, and +particularly estimable wife, by name Catarina +Bragadini, (which part is enacted on the boards +of the Théâtre Français by Madame Dorval, from +the Théâtre de la Porte St. Martin,) but unfortunately +he hates her violently. He could not, +however, as he philosophically observes himself, +avoid doing so, and he shall again speak for himself +to explain this.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_274" id="Page_274">274</a></span></p> +<div class="drama"> +<p class="center">"<span class="smcap">ANGELO.</span></p> + +<p>"La haine c'est dans notre sang. Il faut toujours +qu'un Malipieri haïsse quelqu'un. Moi, +c'est cette femme que je hais. Je ne vaux pas +mieux qu'elle, c'est possible—mais il faut qu'elle +meure. C'est une nécessité—une résolution prise."</p> +</div> +<p>This necessity for hating does not, however, +prevent the Podesta from falling very violently in +love with a strolling actress called La Tisbe (personated +by Mademoiselle Mars). The Tisbe also +is a very remarkably virtuous, amiable, and high-minded +woman, who listens to the addresses of +the Tyrant pas doux, but hates him as cordially +as he hates his lady-wife, bestowing all her tenderness +and private caresses upon a travelling +gentleman, who is a prince in disguise, but whom +she passes off upon the Tyrant for her brother. +La Tisbe, too, shall give you her own account of +herself.</p> +<div class="drama"> +<p class="center">"<span class="smcap">LA TISBE</span> (<i>addressing Angelo</i>).</p> + +<p>"Vous savez qui je suis? ... rien, une fille du +peuple, une comédienne.... Eh bien! si peu que +je suis, j'ai eu une mère. Savez-vous ce que c'est +que d'avoir une mère? En avez-vous eu une, vous?... +Eh bien! j'avais une mère, moi."</p> +</div> +<p>This appears to be a species of refinement upon +the old saying, "It is a wise child that knows its +own father." The charming Tisbe evidently +piques herself upon her sagacity in being quite +certain that she had a mother;—but she has not +yet finished her story.</p> +<div class="drama"> +<p>"C'était une pauvre femme sans mari qui chantait +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_275" id="Page_275">275</a></span> +des chansons dans les places publiques." (The "<i>delicate</i>" +Esmeralda again.) "Un jour, un sénateur +passa. Il regarde, il entendit," (she must have been +singing the <i>Ça ira</i> of 1549,) "et dit au capitaine qui +le suivait—A la potence cette femme! Ma mère fut +saisie sur-le-champ—elle ne dit rien ... a quoi bon? +... m'embrassa avec une grosse larme, prit son +crucifix et se laissa garrotter. Je le vois encore +ce crucifix en cuivre poli, mon nom Tisbe écrit +en bas.... Mais il y avait avec le sénateur une +jeune fille.... Elle se jeta aux pieds du sénateur +et obtint la grace de ma mère.... Quand ma +mère fut déliée, elle prit son crucifix, ma mère, et +le donna à la belle enfant, en lui disant, Madame, +gardez ce crucifix—il vous portera bonheur."</p> +</div> +<p>Imagine Mademoiselle Mars uttering this trash!... +Oh, it was grievous! And if I do not greatly +mistake, she admired her part quite as little as I +did, though she exerted all her power to make it +endurable,—and there were passages, certainly, in +which she succeeded in making one forget everything +but herself, her voice, and her action.</p> + +<p>But to proceed. On this crucifix de cuivre poli, +inscribed with the name of Tisbe, hangs all the +little plot. Catarina Bragadini, the wife of the +Tyrant, and the most ill-used and meritorious of +ladies, is introduced to us in the third scene of the +second day (new style—acts are out of fashion,) +lamenting to her confidential femme de chambre +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_276" id="Page_276">276</a></span> +the intolerable long absence of her lover. The +maid listens, as in duty bound, with the most respectful +sympathy, and then tells her that another +of her waiting-maids for whom she had inquired +was at prayers. Whereupon we have a morsel of +naïveté that is <i>impayable</i>.</p> +<div class="drama"> +<p class="center">"<span class="smcap">CATARINA.</span></p> + +<p>"Laisse-la prier.—Hélas! ... moi, cela ne me fait +rien de prier!"</p> +</div> +<p>This, I suspect, is what is called "the natural +vein," in which consists the peculiar merit of this +new style of writing. After this charming burst +of natural feeling, the Podesta's virtuous lady goes +on with her lament.</p> +<div class="drama"> +<p class="center">"<span class="smcap">CATARINA.</span></p> + +<p>"Il y a cinq semaines—cinq semaines éternelles +que je ne l'ai vu!... Je suis enfermée, gardée, +en prison. Je le voyais une heure de tems en +tems: cette heure si étroite, et si vite fermée, c'était +le seul <i>soupirail</i><a name="FNanchor_1" id="FNanchor_1" href="#Footnote_1" class="fnanchor">[1]</a> par où entrait un peu d'air +et de soleil dans ma vie. Maintenant tout est +muré.... Oh Rodolpho!... Dafné, nous avons +passé, lui et moi, de bien douces heures!... Est-ce +que c'est coupable tout ce que je dis là de lui? +Non, n'est-ce pas?"</p> +</div> +<p class="p2">Now you must know, that this Signor Rodolpho +plays the part of gallant to both these ladies, and, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_277" id="Page_277">277</a></span> +though intended by the author for another of his +estimable personages, is certainly, by his own showing, +as great a rascal as can well be imagined. +He loves only the wife, and not the mistress of +Angelo; and though he permits her par complaisance +to be his mistress too, he addresses her upon +one occasion, when she is giving way to a fit of +immoderate fondness, with great sincerity.</p> +<div class="drama"> +<p class="center">"<span class="smcap">RODOLPHO.</span></p> + +<p>"Prenez garde, Tisbe, ma famille est une famille +fatale. Il y a sur nous une prédiction, une +destinée qui s'accomplit presque inévitablement de +père en fils. Nous tuons qui nous aime."</p> +</div> + +<p>From this passage, and one before quoted, it +should seem, I think, that notwithstanding all the +innovations of M. Hugo, he has still a lingering +reverence for the immutable power of destiny +which overhangs the classic drama. How otherwise +can he explain these two mystic sentences?—"Ma +famille est une famille fatale. Il y a sur nous +une destinée qui s'accomplit de père en fils." And +this other: "La haine c'est dans notre sang: il +faut toujours qu'un Malipieri haïsse quelqu'un."</p> + +<p>The only other character of importance is a very +mysterious one called Homodei; and I think I +may best describe him in the words of the excellent +burlesque which has already been brought +out upon this "Angelo" at the Vaudeville. There +they make one of the dramatis personæ, when +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_278" id="Page_278">278</a></span> +describing this very incomprehensible Homodei, +say of him,—</p> + +<p class="poem"> +"C'est le plus grand dormeur de France et de Navarre."</p> + +<p>In effect, he far out-sleeps the dozing sentinels +in the "Critic;" for he goes on scene after scene +sleeping apparently as sound as a top, till all +on a sudden he starts up wide awake, and gives +us to understand that he too is exceedingly in love +with Madame la Podesta, but that he has been +rejected. He therefore determines to do her as +much mischief as possible, observing that "Un +Sbire (for such is his humble rank) qui aime est +bien petit—un Sbire qui se venge est bien grand."</p> + +<p>This great but rejected Sbire, however, is not +contented with avenging himself on Catarina for +her scorn, but is pushed, by his destiny, I presume, +to set the whole company together by the ears.</p> + +<p>He first brings Rodolpho into the bed-room of +Catarina, then brings the jealous Tisbe there to +look at them, and finally contrives that the Tyrant +himself should find out his wife's little innocent +love affair—for innocent she declares it is.</p> + +<p>Fortunately, during this unaccountable reunion +in the chamber of Madame, la Tisbe discovers that +her mother the ballad-singer's crucifix is in the +possession of her rival Catarina; whereupon she +not only decides upon resigning her claim upon +the heart of Signor Rodolpho in her favour, but +determines upon saving her life from the fury of +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_279" id="Page_279">279</a></span> +her jealous husband, who has communicated to +the Tisbe, as we have seen above, his intention of +killing his wife, because "il faut toujours qu'un +Malipieri haïsse quelqu'un."</p> + +<p>Fortunately, again, it happens that the Tisbe +has communicated to her lover the Tyrant, in a +former conversation, the remarkable fact that +another lover still had once upon a time made +her a present of two phials—one black, the other +white—one containing poison, the other a narcotic. +After he has discovered Catarina's innocent weakness +for Rodolpho, he informs the Tisbe that the +time is come for him to kill his lady, and that he +intends to do it by cutting her head off privately. +The Tisbe tells him that this is a bad plan, and that +poison would do much better.</p> +<div class="drama"> +<p class="center">"<span class="smcap">ANGELO.</span></p> + +<p>"Oui! Le poison vaudrait mieux. Mais il +faudrait un poison rapide, et, <i>vous ne me croirez +pas</i>, je n'en ai pas ici.</p> + +<p class="center">"<span class="smcap">LA TISBE.</span></p> + +<p>"J'en ai, moi.</p> + +<p class="center">"<span class="smcap">ANGELO.</span></p> + +<p>"Où?</p> + +<p class="center">"<span class="smcap">LA TISBE.</span></p> + +<p>"Chez moi.</p> + +<p class="center">"<span class="smcap">ANGELO.</span></p> + +<p>"Quel poison? +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_280" id="Page_280">280</a></span></p> + +<p class="center">"<span class="smcap">LA TISBE.</span></p> + +<p>"Le poison Malispine, <i>vous savez</i>: cette boîte +que m'a envoyée le primicier de Saint Marc."</p> +</div> + +<p class="p2">After this satisfactory explanation, Angelo accepts +her offer, and she trots away home and +brings him the phial containing the narcotic.</p> + +<p>The absurdity of the scene that takes place +when Angelo and the Tisbe are endeavouring to +persuade Catarina to consent to be killed is such, +that nothing but transcribing the whole can give +you an idea of it: but it is too long for this. +Believe me, we were not the only part of the +audience that laughed at this scene <i>à gorge +déployée</i>.</p> + +<p>Angelo begins by asking if she is ready.</p> +<div class="drama"> +<p class="center">"<span class="smcap">CATARINA.</span></p> + +<p>"Prête à quoi?</p> + +<p class="center">"<span class="smcap">ANGELO.</span></p> + +<p>"A mourir.</p> + +<p class="center">"<span class="smcap">CATARINA.</span></p> + +<p>"... Mourir! Non, je ne suis pas prête. Je +ne suis pas prête. Je ne suis pas prête <i>du tout</i>, +monsieur!</p> + +<p class="center">"<span class="smcap">ANGELO.</span></p> + +<p>"Combien de temps vous faut-il pour vous +préparer?</p> + +<p class="center">"<span class="smcap">CATARINA.</span></p> + +<p>"Oh! je ne sais pas—beaucoup de temps!" +</p></div> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_281" id="Page_281">281</a></span></p> + +<p>Angelo tells her she shall have an hour, and +then leaves her alone: upon which she draws +aside a curtain and discovers a block and an axe. +She is naturally exceedingly shocked at this spectacle; +her soliloquy is sublime!</p> +<div class="drama"> +<p class="center">"<span class="smcap">CATARINA</span> (<i>replacing the curtain</i>).</p> + +<p>"Derrière moi! c'est derrière moi. Ah! vous +voyez bien que ce n'est pas un rêve, et que c'est +bien réel ce qui passe ici, puisque <i>voilà des choses +là derrière le rideau</i>!"</p> + +</div> + +<p class="p2">Corneille! Racine! Voltaire!—This is tragedy,—tragedy +played on the stage of the Théâtre Français—tragedy +which it has been declared in the +face of day shall "lift the ground from under +you!" Such is the march of mind!</p> + +<p>After this glorious soliloquy, her lover Rodolpho +pays Catarina a visit—again in her bed-room, in her +guarded palace, surrounded by spies and sentinels. +How he gets there, it is impossible to guess: but +in the burlesque at the Vaudeville they make this +matter much clearer;—for there these unaccountable +entrées are managed at one time by the falling +down of a wall; at another, by the lover's +rising through the floor like a ghost; and at another, +by his coming flying down on a wire from +an opening in the ceiling like a Cupid.</p> + +<p>The lovers have a long talk; but she does not +tell him a word about the killing, for fear it +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_282" id="Page_282">282</a></span> +should bring him into mischief,—though where +he got in, it might be easy enough for her to +get out. However, she says nothing about "<i>les +choses</i>" behind the curtain, but gives him a kiss, +and sends him away in high glee.</p> + +<p>No sooner does he disappear, than Angelo and +the Tisbe enter, and a conversation ensues between +the three on the manner of the doomed +lady's death that none but M. Victor Hugo could +have written. He would represent nature, and he +makes a high-born princess, pleading for her life +to a sovereign who is her husband, speak thus: +"Parlons simplement. Tenez ... vous êtes infâme +... et puis, comme vous mentez toujours, vous +ne me croirez pas. Tenez, vraiment je vous méprise: +vous m'avez épousée pour mon argent...."</p> + +<p>Then she makes a speech to the Tisbe in the +same exquisite tone of nature; with now and then +a phrase or expression which is quite beyond +even the fun of the Vaudeville to travestie; as +for instance—"Je suis toujours restée honnête—vous +me comprenez, vous—mais je ne puis dire +cela à mon mari. <i>Les hommes ne veulent jamais +nous croire</i>, vous savez; cependant nous leur disons +<i>quelquefois</i> des choses bien vraies...."</p> + +<p>At last the Tyrant gets out of patience.</p> +<div class="drama"> +<p class="center">"<span class="smcap">ANGELO.</span></p> + +<p>"C'en est trop! Catarina Bragadina, le crime +fait, veut un châtiment; la fosse ouverte, veut +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_283" id="Page_283">283</a></span> +un cercueil; le mari outragé, veut une femme +morte. <i>Tu perds toutes les paroles qui sortent de +ta bouche</i> (montrant le poison).</p> + +<p>"Voulez vous, madame?</p> + +<p class="center">"<span class="smcap">CATARINA.</span></p> + +<p>"Non!</p> + +<p class="center">"<span class="smcap">ANGELO.</span></p> + +<p>"Non?... J'en reviens à ma première idée +alors. Les épées! les épées! Troilo! qu'on aille +me chercher.... J'y vais!"</p> +</div> + +<p class="p2">Now we all know that his première idée was +not to stab her with one or more swords, but to +cut her head off on a block—and that <i>les choses</i> +are all hid ready for it behind the curtain. But +this "J'y vais" is part of the machinery of the +fable; for if the Tyrant did not go away, the Tisbe +could have found no opportunity of giving her +rival a hint that the poison was not so dangerous +as she believed. So when Angelo returns, +the Tisbe tells him that "elle se résigne au +poison."</p> + +<p>Catarina drinks the potion, falls into a trance, +and is buried. (Victor Hugo is always original, +they say.) The Tisbe digs her up again, and lays +her upon a bed in her own house, carefully drawing +the curtains round her. Then comes the +great catastrophe. The lover of the two ladies +uses his privilege, and enters the Tisbe's apartment, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_284" id="Page_284">284</a></span> +determined to fulfil his destiny and murder +her, because she loves him—as written in the book +of fate—and also because she has poisoned his +other and his favourite love Catarina. The Signor +Rodolpho knows that she brought the phial, because +one of the maids told him so: this is another +instance of the ingenious and skilful machinery of +the fable. Rodolpho tells the poor woman what he +is come for; adding, "Vous avez un quart d'heure +pour vous préparer à la mort, madame!"</p> + +<p>There is something in this which shows that +M. Hugo, notwithstanding he has some odd décousu +notions, is aware of the respect which +ought to be paid to married ladies, beyond what +is due to those who are not so. When the Podesta +announced the same intention to his wife, he says—"Vous +avez devant vous une heure, madame." +At the Vaudeville, however, they give another turn +to this variation in the time allowed under circumstances +so similar: they say—</p> + +<div class="poem"> +<p class="o1">"Catarina eut une heure au moins de son mari:</p> +<p>Le tems depuis tantôt est donc bien renchéri."</p> +</div> + +<p>The unfortunate Tisbe, on receiving this communication +from her dear Rodolpho, exclaims— +"Ah! vous me tuez! Ah! c'est la première idée +qui vous vient?"</p> + +<p>Some farther conversation takes place between +them. On one occasion he says—like a prince +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_285" id="Page_285">285</a></span> +as he is—"Mentez un peu, voyons!"—and then +he assures her that he never cared a farthing for +her, repeating very often, because, as he says, it +is her <i>supplice</i> to hear it, that he never loved anybody +but Catarina. During the whole scene she +ceases not, however, to reiterate her passionate +protestations of love to him, and at last the dialogue +ends by Rodolpho's stabbing her to the +heart.</p> + +<p>I never beheld anything on the stage so utterly +disgusting as this scene. That Mademoiselle Mars +felt weighed down by the part, I am quite certain;—it +was like watching the painful efforts of a beautiful +racer pushed beyond its power—distressed, +yet showing its noble nature to the last. But +even her exquisite acting made the matter worse: +to hear the voice of Mars uttering expressions +of love, while the ruffian she addresses grows +more murderous as she grows more tender, produced +an effect at once so hateful and so absurd, +that one knows not whether to laugh or storm +at it. But, what was the most terrible of all, was +to see Mars exerting her matchless powers to +draw forth tears, and then to look round the +house and see that she was rewarded by—a +smile!</p> + +<p>After Tisbe is stabbed, Catarina of course comes +to life; and the whole farce concludes by the +dying Tisbe's telling the lovers that she had ordered +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_286" id="Page_286">286</a></span> +horses for them; adding tenderly, "Elle est +déliée—(how?)—morte pour le podesta, vivante +pour toi. Trouves-tu cela bien arrangé ainsi?" +Then Rodolpho says to Catarina, "Par qui as-tu +été sauvée?"</p> +<div class="drama"> +<p class="center">"<span class="smcap">LA TISBE</span> (<i>in reply</i>).</p> + +<p>"Par moi, pour toi!"</p> +</div> + +<p>M. Hugo, in a note at the end of the piece, +apologises for not concluding with these words—"Par +moi, pour toi," which he seems to think +particularly effective: nevertheless, for some reason +which he does not very clearly explain, he +concludes thus;—</p> +<div class="drama"> +<p class="center">"<span class="smcap">LA TISBE.</span></p> + +<p>"Madame, permettez-moi de lui dire encore +une fois, Mon Rodolpho. Adieu, mon Rodolpho! +partez vite à présent. Je meurs. Vivez. Je te +bénis!"</p> +</div> +<p class="p2">It is impossible in thus running through the +piece to give you any adequate idea of the loose, +weak, trumpery style in which it is written. It +really seems as if the author were determined +to try how low he might go before the boys and +grisettes who form the chorus of his admirers +shall find out that he is quizzing them. One +peculiarity in the plot of "this fine tragedy" is, +that the hero Angelo never appears, nor is even +alluded to, after the scene in which he commissions +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_287" id="Page_287">287</a></span> +la Tisbe to administer the poison to Madame. +His sudden disappearance is thus commented +upon at the Vaudeville. The Tyrant +there makes his appearance after it is all over, +exclaiming—</p> + +<div class="poem"> +<p class="o1">"Je veux en être, moi ... l'on osera peut-être</p> +<p>Finir un mélodrame en absence du traître?</p> +<p>Suis-je un hors-d'œuvre, un inutile article,</p> +<p>Une cinquième roue ajoutée au tricycle?"</p> +</div> + +<p>In the preface to this immortal performance +there is this passage:—</p> + +<p>"Dans l'état où sont aujourd'hui toutes ces questions +profondes qui touchent aux racines même de +la société, il semblait depuis long-tems à l'auteur +de ce drame qu'il pourrait y avoir utilité et grandeur" +(utilité et grandeur!) "à développer sur le +théâtre quelque chose de pareil à l'idée que +voici...."</p> + +<p>And then follows what he calls his idea: but +this preface must be read from beginning to end, +if you wish to see what sort of stuff it is that +humbug and impudence can induce the noisiest +part of a population to pronounce "fine!" But +you must hear one sentence more of this precious +preface, for fear "the work" may not fall into +your hands.</p> + +<p>"Le drame, comme l'auteur de cet ouvrage le +voudrait faire, doit donner à la foule une philosophie; +aux idées, une formule; à la poésie, des +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_288" id="Page_288">288</a></span> +muscles, du sang, et de la vie; à ceux qui pense, +une explication désintéressée; aux âmes altérées +un breuvage, aux plaies secrètes un baume—à +chacun un conseil, à tous une loi." (!!!!)</p> + +<p>He concludes thus:—</p> + +<p>"Au siècle où nous vivons, l'horizon de l'art +est bien élargi. Autrefois le poète disait, le public; +aujourd'hui le poète dit, le peuple."</p> + +<p>Is it possible to conceive affected sublimity +and genuine nonsense carried farther than this? +Let us not, however, sit down with the belief +that the capital of France is quite in the condition +he describes;—let us not receive it quite as gospel +that the raptures, the sympathy of this "foule +sympathique et éclairée," that he talks of, in his +preface to "Angelo," as coming nightly to the +theatre to do him honour, exists—or at least that +it exists beyond the very narrow limits of his own +clique. The men of France do not sympathise +with Victor Hugo, whatever the boys may do. +He has made himself a name, it is true,—but it is +not a good one; and in forming an estimate of +the present state of literature in France, we shall +greatly err if we assume as a fact that Hugo is an +admired writer.</p> + +<p>I would not be unjustly severe on any one; +but here is a gentleman who in early life showed +considerable ability;—he produced some light +pieces in verse, which are said to be written with +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_289" id="Page_289">289</a></span> +good moral feeling, and in a perfectly pure and +correct literary taste. We have therefore a right +to say that M. Hugo turned his talents thus +against his fellow-creatures, not from ignorance—not +from simple folly—but upon calculation. +For is it possible to believe that any man who +has once shown by his writings a good moral +feeling and a correct taste, can expose to the public +eye such pieces as "Lucrèce Borgia," "Le +Roi s'amuse," "Angelo," and the rest—in good +faith, believing the doing so to be, as he says, +"une tâche sainte?" Is this possible?... and +if it be not, what follows?... Why, that the +author is making a job of corrupting human +hearts and human intellects. He has found out +that the mind of man, particularly in youth, eagerly +seeks excitement of any kind: he knows +that human beings will go to see their fellows +hanged or guillotined by way of an amusement, +and on this knowledge he speculates.</p> + +<p>But as the question relates to France, we have +not hitherto treated it fairly. I am persuaded +that had our stage no censorship, and were dramas +such as those of Dumas and Victor Hugo to +be produced, they would fill the theatres at least +as much as they do here. Their very absurdity—the +horror—nay, even the disgust they inspire, +is quite enough to produce this effect; +but it would be unwise to argue thence that +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_290" id="Page_290">290</a></span> +such trash had become the prevailing taste of the +people.</p> + +<p>That the speculation, as such, has been successful, +I have no doubt. This play, for instance, +has been very generally talked of, and many have +gone to see it, not only on its own account, but in +order to behold the novel spectacle of Mademoiselle +Mars <i>en lutte</i> with an actress from La Porte St. +Martin. As for Madame Dorval, I imagine she +must be a very effective melodramatic performer +when seen in her proper place; but, however it +may have flattered her vanity, I do not think it +can have added to her fame to bring her into this +dangerous competition. As an actress, she is, I +think, to Mademoiselle Mars much what Victor +Hugo is to Racine,—and perhaps we shall hear +that she has "heaved the ground from under +her."</p> + +<p>Among various stories floating about on the +subject of the new play and its author, I heard +one which came from a gentleman who has long +been in habits of intimacy with M. Hugo. He +went, as in duty bound, to see the tragedy, and +had immediately afterwards to face his friend. +The embarrassment of the situation required to be +met by presence of mind and a <i>coup de main</i>: he +showed himself, however, equal to the exigency; +he spoke not a word, but rushing towards the +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_291" id="Page_291">291</a></span> +author, threw his arms round him, and held him +long in a close and silent embrace.</p> + +<p>Another pleasantry on the same subject reached +me in the shape of four verses, which are certainly +droll enough; but I suspect that they must +have been written in honour, not of "Angelo," but +of some one of the tragedies in verse—"Le Roi +s'amuse," perhaps, for they mimic the harmony +of some of the lines to be found there admirably.</p> + +<div class="poem"> +<p class="o1">"Où, ô Hugo! huchera-t-on ton nom?</p> +<p>Justice encore rendu, que ne t'a-t-on?</p> +<p>Quand donc au corps qu'académique on nomme,</p> +<p>Grimperas-tu de roc en roc, rare homme?"</p> +</div> + +<p>And now farewell to Victor Hugo! I promise +to trouble you with him no more; but the consequence +which has been given to his name in England, +has induced me to speak thus fully of the +estimation in which I find him held in France.</p> + +<p class="poem"> +"<span class="smcap">Rare Homme!</span>"</p> + +<h2>LETTER LXV.</h2> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_292" id="Page_292">292</a></span></p> + +<p class="ch_open"> +Boulevard des Italiens.—Tortoni's.—Thunder-storm.—Church +of the Madeleine.—Mrs. Butler's "Journal." +</p> + +<p>All the world has been complaining of the +tremendous heat of the weather here. The thermometer +stands at.... I forget what, for the +scale is not my scale; but I know that the sun +has been shining without mercy during the last +week, and that all the world declare that they are +baked. Of all the cities of the earth to be baked +in, surely Paris is the best. I have been reading +that beautiful story of George Sand's about nothing +at all, called "Lavinia," and chose for my +study the deepest shade of the Tuileries Garden. +If we could but have sat there all day, we should +have felt no inconvenience from the sun, but, on +the contrary, only have watched him from hour +to hour caressing the flowers, and trying in vain +to find entrance for one of his beams into the +delightful covert we had chosen: but there were +people to be seen, and engagements to be kept; +and so here we are at home again, looking forward +to a large party for the evening! +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_293" id="Page_293">293</a></span></p> + +<p>The Boulevard as we came along was prettier +than ever;—stands of delicious flowers tempting +one at every step—a rose, and a bud, and two +bits of mignonette, and a sprig of myrtle, for five +sous; but all arranged so elegantly, that the little +bouquet was worth a dozen tied up less tastefully. +I never saw so many sitters in a morning; the +people seemed as if they were reposing from necessity—as +if they sat because they could walk no +farther. As we passed Tortoni's, we were amused +by a group, consisting of a very pretty woman +and a very pretty man, who were seated on two +chairs close together, and flirting apparently very +much to their own satisfaction; while the third +figure in the group, a little Savoyard, who had +probably begun by asking charity, seemed spell-bound, +with his eyes fixed on the elegant pair as +if studying a scene for the <i>gaie science</i>, of which, +as he carried a mandoline, I presume he was a +disciple. We were equally entertained by the +pertinacious staring of the little minstrel, and the +utter indifference to it manifested by the objects +of his admiration.</p> + +<p>A few steps farther, our eyes were again arrested +by an exquisite, who had taken off his hat, +and was deliberately combing his coal-black curls +as he walked. In a brother beau, I doubt not he +would have condemned such a degree of <i>laisser-aller</i>; +but in himself, it only served to relever the +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_294" id="Page_294">294</a></span> +beauty of his forehead and the general grace of +his movements. I was glad that no fountain or +limpid lake opened beneath his feet,—the fate of +Narcissus would have been inevitable.</p> + +<p>Last night we had intended to make a farewell +visit to the Feydeau,—Feydeau no longer, however,—to +the Opéra Comique, I should say. But fortunately +we had not secured a box, and therefore +enjoyed the privilege of changing our minds,—a +privilege ever dear, but in such weather as this +inestimable. Instead of going to the theatre, we +remained at home till it began to grow dark and +cool—cooler at least by some degrees, but still most +heavily sultry. We then sallied forth to eat ices at +Tortoni's. All Paris seemed to be assembled upon +the Boulevard to breathe: it was like a very +crowded night at Vauxhall, and hundreds of chairs +seemed to have sprung up from the ground to +meet the exigences of the moment, for double +rows of sitters occupied each side of the pavement.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 406px;"><a name="illo294" id="illo294"></a> +<img src="images/illo314.jpg" width="406" height="600" alt="Boulevard des Italiens" /> +<p class="smcap s05">Drawn & Etched by A. Hervieu.</p> +<p class="caption"><span class="smcap">Boulevard des Italiens.</span></p> +<p class="caption s05">London. Published by Richard Bentley. 1835.</p> +</div> +<p>Frenchwomen are so very lovely in their evening +walking-dress, that I would rather see them +thus than when full-dressed at parties. A drawing-room +full of elegantly-dressed women, all looking +prepared for a bal paré, is no unusual sight for +English eyes; but truth obliges me to confess +that it would be in vain at any imaginable evening +promenade in London to look for such a spectacle +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_295" id="Page_295">295</a></span> +as the Italian Boulevard showed us last +night. It is the strangest thing in the world +that it should be so—for it is certain that neither +the bonnets, nor the pretty faces they shelter, are +in any way inferior in England to any that can +be seen elsewhere; but Frenchwomen have more +the habit and the <i>knack</i> of looking elegantly-dressed +without being full-dressed. It is impossible +to enter into detail in order to explain this—nothing +less skilful than a milliner could do +this; and I think that even the most skilful of +the profession would not find it easy: I can only +state the fact, that the general effect of an evening +promenade in Paris is more elegant than it is in +London.</p> + +<p>We were fortunate enough to secure the places +of a large party that were leaving a window in +the upper room at Tortoni's as we entered it: and +here again is a scene as totally un-English as that +of a restaurant in the Palais Royal. Both the +rooms above, as well as those below, were quite +full of gay company, each party sitting round +their own little marble table, with the large +<i>carafe</i> of ice—for so it may well be called, for +it only melts as you want it—the very sight of +which, even if you venture not to drain a draught +from the slowly yielding mass, creates a feeling of +delicious coldness. Then the incessant entrées of +party-coloured pyramids, with their accompaniment +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_296" id="Page_296">296</a></span> +of gaufres,—the brilliant light within, the +humming crowd without,—the refreshing coolness +of the delicate regale, and the light gaiety which +all the world seem to share at this pleasant hour +of perfect idleness,—all are incontestably French, +and, more incontestably still, not English.</p> + +<p>While we were still at our window, amused by +all within and all without, we were started by +some sharp flashes of lightning which began to +break through a heavy cloud of most portentous +blackness that I had been for some time admiring, +as forming a beautiful contrast to the blaze of +light on the Boulevard. No rain was as yet falling, +and I proposed to my party a walk towards +the Madeleine, which I thought would give us +some fine effects of light and darkness on such a +night as this. The proposal was eagerly accepted, +and we wandered on till we left the crowd +and the gas behind us. We walked to the end +of the Rue Royale, and then turned round slowly +and gradually to approach the church. The +effect was infinitely finer than anything I had +anticipated: the moon was only a few days past +the full; and even when hid behind the heavy +clouds that were gathering together as it seemed +from all parts of the sky, gave light enough for +us dimly, yet distinctly, to discern the vast and +beautiful proportions of the magnificent portico. +It looked like the pale spectre of a Grecian +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_297" id="Page_297">297</a></span> +temple. With one accord we all paused at the +point where it was most perfectly and most beautifully +visible; and I assure you, that with the +heavy ominous mass of black clouds above and +behind it—with the faint light of the "inconstant +moon," now for a moment brightly visible, and +now wholly hid behind a driving cloud, reflected +from its columns, it was the most beautiful object +of art that I ever looked at.</p> + +<p>It was some time before we could resolve to +leave it, quite sure as we were that it never +could be our chance to behold it in such perfection +again; and while we stayed, the storm +advanced rapidly towards us, adding the distant +rumbling of its angry voice to enhance the effect +of the spectacle. Yet still we lingered; and +were rewarded for our courage by seeing the +whole of the vast edifice burst upon our sight +in such a blaze of sudden brightness, that when +it passed away, I thought for an instant that I +was struck blind. Another flash followed—another +and another. The spectacle was glorious; +but the danger of being drenched to the +skin became every moment more imminent, and +we hastily retreated to the Boulevard. As we +emerged from the gloom of the Madeleine Boulevard +to the glaring gas-light from the cafés which +illuminated the Italian, it seemed as if we had +got into another atmosphere and another world. +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_298" id="Page_298">298</a></span> +No rain had as yet fallen; and the crowd, thicker +than ever, were still sitting and lounging about, +apparently unconscious of the watery danger which +threatened them. So great is the force of example, +that, before we got to the end of the promenade, +we seemed unconscious of it too, for we +turned with the rest. But we were soon punished +for our folly: the dark canopy burst asunder, and +let down upon us as pelting a shower as ever drove +feathers and flowers, and ribbons and gauze, to +every point of the compass in search of shelter.</p> + +<p>I have sometimes wondered at the short space +of time it required to clear a crowded theatre of +its guests; but the vanishing of the crowd from +the Boulevard was more rapid still. What became +of them all, Heaven knows; but they seemed to +melt and dissolve away as the rain fell upon them. +We took shelter in the Passage de l'Opéra; and +after a few minutes the rain ceased, and we got +safely home.</p> + +<p>In the course of our excursion we encountered +an English friend, who returned home with +us; and though it was eleven o'clock, he looked +neither shocked nor surprised when I ordered +tea, but even consented to stay and partake of it +with us. Our tea-table gossip was concerning a +book that all the world—all the English world +at least—had been long eagerly looking for, and +which we had received two days before. Our +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_299" id="Page_299">299</a></span> +English friend had made it his travelling-companion, +and having just completed the perusal +of it, could talk of nothing else. This book was +Mrs. Butler's "Journal." Happily for the tranquillity +of our tea-table, we were all perfectly well +agreed in opinion respecting it: for, by his account, +parties for and against it have been running +very strong amongst you. I confess I heard +this with astonishment; for it appears to me that +all that can be said against the book lies so completely +on the surface, that it must be equally +visible to all the world, and that nobody can fail +to perceive it. But these obvious defects once +acknowledged—and they must be acknowledged +by all, I should have thought that there was no +possibility left for much difference of opinion,—I +should have thought the genius of its author +would then have carried all before it, leaving +no one sufficiently cold-blooded and reasonable +to remember that it contained any faults at all.</p> + +<p>It is certainly possible that my familiarity with +the scenes she describes may give her spirited +sketches a charm and a value in my eyes that +they may not have for those who know not their +truth. But this is not all their merit: the glow +of feeling, the warm eloquence, the poetic fervour +with which she describes all that is beautiful, and +gives praise to all that is good, must make its +way to every heart, and inspire every imagination +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_300" id="Page_300">300</a></span> +with power to appreciate the graphic skill +of her descriptions even though they may have +no power to judge of their accuracy.</p> + +<p>I have been one among those who have deeply +regretted the loss, the bankruptcy, which the +stage has sustained in the tragic branch of its +business by the secession of this lady: but her +book, in my opinion, demonstrates such extraordinary +powers of writing, that I am willing to +flatter myself that we shall have gained eventually +rather than lost by her having forsaken +a profession too fatiguing, too exhausting to the +spirits, and necessarily occupying too much time, +to have permitted her doing what now we may +fairly hope she will do,—namely, devote herself to +literature. There are some passages of her hastily-written, +and too hastily-published journal, which +evidently indicate that her mind was at work +upon composition. She appears to judge herself +and her own efforts so severely, that, when speaking +of the scenes of an unpublished tragedy, she says +"they are not bad,"—which is, I think, the phrase +she uses: I feel quite persuaded that they are +admirable. Then again she says, "Began writing +a novel...." I would that she would finish +it too!—and as I hold it to be impossible that +such a mind as hers can remain inactive, I comfort +myself with the belief that we shall soon +again receive some token of her English recollections +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_301" id="Page_301">301</a></span> +handed to us across the Atlantic. That +her next production will be less <i>faulty</i> than her +last, none can doubt, because the blemishes are +exactly of a nature to be found in the journal of +a heedless young traveller, who having caught, +in passing, a multitude of unseemly phrases, puts +them forth in jest, unmindful—much too unmindful +certainly—of the risk she ran that they +might be fixed upon her as her own genuine +individual style of expression. But we have +only to read those passages where she certainly +is not jesting—where poetry, feeling, goodness, +and piety glow in every line—to know what her +language is <i>when she is in earnest</i>. On these +occasions her power of expression is worthy of +the thoughts of which it is the vehicle,—and I +can give it no higher praise. +</p> + +<h2>LETTER LXVI.</h2> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_302" id="Page_302">302</a></span></p> + +<p class="ch_open"> +A pleasant Party.—Discussion between an Englishman and +a Frenchman.—National Peculiarities. +</p> + +<p>I told you yesterday that, notwithstanding the +tremendous heat of the weather, we were going +to a large party in the evening. We courageously +kept the engagement; though, I assure you, +I did it in trembling. But, to our equal surprise +and satisfaction, the rooms of Mrs. M—— proved +to be deliciously cool and agreeable. Her receiving-apartment +consists of three rooms. The +first was surrounded and decorated in all possible +ways with a profusion of the most beautiful +flowers, intermixed with so many large glass +vases for gold fish, that I am sure the air was +much cooled by evaporation from the water they +contained. This room was lighted wholly by a +large lamp suspended from the ceiling, which was +enclosed in a sort of gauze globe, just sufficiently +thick to prevent any painful glare of light, but +not enough so to injure the beautiful effect always +produced by the illumination of flowers. +The large croisées were thrown open, with very +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_303" id="Page_303">303</a></span> +slight muslin curtains over them; and the whole +effect of the room—its cool atmosphere, its delicious +fragrance, and its subdued light—was so +enchanting, that it was not without difficulty we +passed on to pay our compliments to Mrs. M——, +who was in a larger but much less fascinating +apartment.</p> + +<p>There were many French persons present, but +the majority of the company was English. Having +looked about us a little, we retreated to the +fishes and the myrtles; and as there was a very +handsome man singing buffa songs in one of the +other rooms, with a score of very handsome women +looking at and listening to him, the multitude +assembled there; and we had the extreme +felicity of finding fresh air and a sofa <i>à notre disposition</i>, +with the additional satisfaction of accepting +or refusing ices every time the trays +paraded before us. You will believe that we +were not long left without companions, in a +position so every way desirable: and in truth +we soon had about us a select committee of +superlatively agreeable people; and there we sat +till considerably past midnight, with a degree of +enjoyment which rarely belongs to hours devoted +to a very large party in very hot weather.</p> + +<p>And what did we talk about?—I think it +would be easier to enumerate the subjects we +did not touch upon than those we did. Everybody +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_304" id="Page_304">304</a></span> +seemed to think that it would be too fatiguing +to run any theme far; and so, rather in +the style of idle, pampered lap-dogs, than of spirited +pointers and setters, we amused ourselves +by skittishly pursuing whatever was started, just +as it pleased us, and then turned round and reposed +till something else darted into view. The +whole circle, consisting of seven persons, were +English with the exception of one; and that one +was—he must excuse me, for I will not name +him—that one was a most exceedingly clever and +superlatively agreeable young Frenchman.</p> + +<p>As we had snarled and snapped a little here +and there in some of our gambols after the various +objects which had passed before us, this +young man suggested the possibility of his being +<i>de trop</i> in the coterie. "Are you not gênés," +said he, "by my being here to listen to all that +you and yours may be disposed to say of us +and ours?... Shall I have the amiability to +depart?"</p> + +<p>A general and decided negative was put upon +this proposition; but one of the party moved +an amendment. "Let us," said he, "agree to +say everything respecting France and the French +with as much unreserve as if you were on the +top of Notre Dame; and do you, who have been +for three months in England, treat us exactly in +the same manner; and see what we shall make +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_305" id="Page_305">305</a></span> +of each other. We are all much too languid to +suffer our patriotism to mount up to 'spirit-boil,' +and so there is no danger whatever that we +should quarrel."</p> + +<p>"I would accept the partie instantly," said the +Frenchman, "were it not so unequal. But six +to one! ... is not this too hard?"</p> + +<p>"No! ... not the least in the world, if we take +it in the quizzing vein," replied the other; "for it +is well known that a Frenchman can out-quiz six +Englishmen at any time."</p> + +<p>"Eh bien!" ... said the complaisant Parisian +with a sigh, "I will do my best. Begin, ladies, +if you please."</p> + +<p>"No! no! no!" exclaimed several female voices +in a breath; "we will have nothing to do with it; +fight it out between yourselves: we will be the +judges, and award the honours of the field to +him who hits the hardest."</p> + +<p>"This is worse and worse," cried our laughing +enemy: "if this be the arrangement of the combat, +the judgment, à coup sûr, will be given +against me. How can you expect such blind +confidence from me?"</p> + +<p>We protested against this attack upon our +justice, promised to be as impartial as Jove, and +desired the champions to enter the lists.</p> + +<p>"So then," said the Englishman, "I am to +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_306" id="Page_306">306</a></span> +enact the part of St. George ... and God defend +the right!"</p> + +<p>"And I, that of St. Denis," replied the Frenchman, +his right hand upon his breast and his left +gracefully sawing the air. "Mon bras ... non ...</p> + +<div class="poem"> +<p class="i2">'Ma <i>langue</i> à ma patrie,</p> +<p class="i2">Mon cœur à mon amie,</p> +<p>Mourir gaiement pour la gloire et l'amour,</p> +<p>C'est la devise d'un vaillant troubadour.'</p> +</div> + +<p>Allons!... Now tell me, St. George, what say you +in defence of the English mode of suffering ladies—the +ladies of Britain—the most lovely ladies in the +world, n'est-ce pas?—to rise from table, and leave +the room, and the gentlemen—alone—with downcast +eyes and timid step—without a single preux +chevalier to offer them his protection or to bear +them company on their melancholy way—banished, +turned out—exiled from the banquet-board!—I +protest to you that I have suffered martyrdom +when this has happened, and I, for my sins, been +present to witness it. Croyez-moi, I would have +joyfully submitted to make my exit à quatre +pattes, so I might but have followed them. Ah! +you know not what it is for a Frenchman to remain +still, when forced to behold such a spectacle +as this!... Alas! I felt as if I had disgraced +myself for life; but I was more than spell-bound—I +was promise-bound; the friend who accompanied +me to the party where I witnessed this +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_307" id="Page_307">307</a></span> +horror had previously told me what I should have +to endure—I did endure it—but I have not yet +forgiven myself for participating in so outrageous +a barbarism."</p> + +<p>"The gentlemen only remain to drink the fair +ladies' health," said our St. George very coolly; +"and I doubt not all ladies would tell you, did they +speak sincerely, that they were heartily glad to get +rid of you for half an hour or so. You have no +idea, my good fellow, what an agreeable interlude +this makes for them: they drink coffee, sprinkle +their fans with esprit de rose, refresh their wit, +repair their smiles, and are ready to set off again +upon a fresh campaign, certain of fresh conquests. +But what can St. Denis say in defence of a Frenchman +who makes love to three women at once—as +I positively declare I saw you do last night at the +Opera?"</p> + +<p>"You mistook the matter altogether, mon cher; +I did not make love—I only offered adoration: +we are bound to adore the whole sex, and all the +petits soins offered in public are but the ceremonies +of this our national worship.... We never +make love in public, my dear friend—<i>ce n'est +pas dans nos mœurs</i>. But will you explain to +me un peu, why Englishmen indulge themselves +in the very extraordinary habit of taking their +wives to market with that vilaine corde au cou +that it is so dreadful to mention, and there sell +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_308" id="Page_308">308</a></span> +them for the mesquine somme de trois francs?... +Ah! be very sure that were there a single Frenchman +present at your terrible Smithfield when this +happened, he would buy them all up, and give +them their liberty at once."</p> + +<p>The St. George laughed—but then replied very +gravely, that the custom was a very useful one, +as it enabled an Englishman to get rid of a wife +as soon as he found that she was not worth keeping. +"But will you tell me," he continued, "how +it is that you can be so inhuman as to take your +innocent young daughters and sisters, and dispose +of them as if they were Virginian slaves born +on your estates, to the best bidder, without asking +the charming little creatures themselves one +single word concerning their sentiments on the +subject?"</p> + +<p>"We are too careful of our young daughters +and sisters," replied the champion of France, "not +to provide them with a suitable alliance and a +proper protector before they shall have run the +risk of making a less prudent selection for themselves: +but, what can put it into the heads of +English parents to send out whole ship-loads of +young English demoiselles—si belles qu'elles sont!—to +the other side of the earth, in order to provide +them with husbands?"</p> + +<p>Our knight paused for a moment before he answered, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_309" id="Page_309">309</a></span> +and I believe we all shook for him; but at +length he replied very sententiously—</p> + +<p>"When nations spread their conquests to <i>the +other side of the earth</i>, and send forth their generals +and their judges to take and to hold possession +for them, it is fitting that their distant +honours should be shared by their fair countrywomen. +But will you explain to me why it is +that the venerable grandmothers of France think +it necessary to figure in a contre-danse—nay, even +in a waltz, as long as they think that they have +strength left to prevent their falling on their +noses?"</p> + +<p>"'Vive la bagatelle!' is the first lesson we learn +in our nurses' arms—and Heaven forbid we should +any of us live long enough to forget it!" answered +the Frenchman. "But if the question be not too indiscreet, +will you tell me, most glorious St. George, +in what school of philosophy it was that Englishmen +learned to seek satisfaction for their wounded +honour in the receipt of a sum of money from the +lovers of their wives?"</p> + +<p>"Most puissant St. Denis," replied the knight +of England, "I strongly recommend you not to +touch upon any theme connected with the marriage +state as it exists in England; because I +opine that it would take you a longer time to +comprehend it than you may have leisure to +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_310" id="Page_310">310</a></span> +give. It will not take you so long perhaps to +inform me how it happens that so gay a people +as the French, whose first lesson, as you say, is +'Vive la bagatelle!' should make so frequent a +practice as they do of inviting either a friend or +a mistress to enjoy a tête-à-tête over a pan of +charcoal, with doors, windows, and vent-holes of +all kinds carefully sealed, to prevent the least +possible chance that either should survive?"</p> + +<p>"It has arisen," replied the Frenchman, "from +our great intimacy with England—where the +month of November is passed by one half of the +population in hanging themselves, and by the other +half in cutting them down. The charcoal system +has been an attempt to improve upon your +insular mode of proceeding; and I believe it is, on +the whole, considered preferable. But may I ask +you in what reign the law was passed which permits +every Englishman to beat his wife with a stick as +large as his thumb; and also whether the law has +made any provision for the case of a man's having +the gout in that member to such a degree +as to swell it to twice its ordinary size?"</p> + +<p>"It has been decided by a jury of physicians," +said our able advocate, "that in all such cases +of gout, the decrease of strength is in exact +proportion to the increase of size in the pattern +thumb, and therefore no especial law has passed +our senate concerning its possible variation. As +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_311" id="Page_311">311</a></span> +to the law itself, there is not a woman in England +who will not tell you that it is as laudable +as it is venerable."</p> + +<p>"The women of England must be angels!" cried +the champion of France, suddenly starting from +his chair and clasping his hands together with +energy,—"angels! and nothing else, or" (looking +round him) "they could never smile as you do +now, while tyranny so terrible was discussed before +them!"</p> + +<p>What the St. Denis thus politely called a smile, +was in effect a very hearty laugh—which really +and bonâ fide seemed to puzzle him, as to the +feeling which gave rise to it. "I will tell you of +what you all remind me at this moment," said he, +reseating himself: "Did you ever see or read 'Le +Médecin malgré Lui'?"</p> + +<p>We answered in the affirmative.</p> + +<p>"Eh bien! ... do you remember a certain scene +in which a certain good man enters a house whence +have issued the cries of a woman grievously beaten +by her husband?"</p> + +<p>We all nodded assent.</p> + +<p>"Eh bien! ... and do you remember how it +is that Martine, the beaten wife, receives the intercessor?—'Et +je veux qu'il me batte, moi.' +Voyez-vous, mesdames, I am that pitying individual—that +kind-hearted M. Robert; and you—you +are every one of you most perfect Martines." +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_312" id="Page_312">312</a></span></p> + +<p>"You are positively getting angry, Sir Champion," +said one of the ladies: "and if that +happens, we shall incontestably declare you vanquished."</p> + +<p>"Nay, I am vanquished—I yield—I throw up +the partie—I see clearly that I know nothing +about the matter. What I conceived to be national +barbarisms, you evidently cling to as national privileges. +Allons! ... je me rends!"</p> + +<p>"We have not given any judgment, however," +said I. "But perhaps you are more tired than +beaten?—you only want a little repose, and you +will then be ready to start anew."</p> + +<p>"Non! absolument non!—but I will willingly +change sides, and tell you how greatly I admire +England...."</p> + +<p>The conversation then started off in another +direction, and ceased not till the number of parties +who passed us in making their exit roused us at +length to the necessity of leaving our flowery retreat, +and making ours also. +</p> + +<h2>LETTER LXVII.</h2> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_313" id="Page_313">313</a></span></p> + +<p class="ch_open"> +Chamber of Deputies.—Punishment of Journalists.—Institute +for the Encouragement of Industry.—Men of Genius. +</p> + +<p>Of all the ladies in the world, the English, I +believe, are the most anxious to enter a representative +chamber. The reason for this is sufficiently +obvious,—they are the only ones who are denied +this privilege in their own country; though I believe +that they are in general rather disposed to +consider this exclusion as a compliment, inasmuch +as it evidently manifests something like a fear +that their conversation might be found sufficiently +attractive to draw the Solons and Lycurguses from +their duty.</p> + +<p>But however well they may be disposed to +submit to the privation at home, it is a certain +fact that Englishwomen dearly love to find themselves +in a legislative assembly abroad. There +certainly is something more than commonly exciting +in the interest inspired by seeing the moral +strength of a great people collected together, and +in the act of exerting their judgment and their +power for the well-being and safety of millions. I +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_314" id="Page_314">314</a></span> +suspect, however, that the sublimity of the spectacle +would be considerably lessened by a too +great familiarity with it; and that if, instead of +being occasionally hoisted outside a lantern to +catch an uncertain sight and a broken sound of +what was passing within the temple, we were in +the constant habit of being ushered into so commodious +a tribune as we occupied yesterday at +the Chamber of Deputies, we might soon cease to +experience the sort of reverence with which we +looked down from thence upon the collected wisdom +of France.</p> + +<p>Nothing can be more agreeable than the arrangement +of this chamber for spectators. The galleries +command the whole of it perfectly; and the +orator of the hour, if he can be heard by any one, +cannot fail of being heard by those who occupy +them. Another peculiar advantage for strangers is, +that the position of every member is so distinctly +marked, that you have the satisfaction of knowing +at a glance where to find the brawling republican, +the melancholy legitimatist, and the active doctrinaire. +The ministers, too, are as much distinguished +by their place in the Chamber as in the +Red Book, (or whatever may be the distinctive +symbol of that important record here,) and by +giving a franc at the entrance, for a sort of map +that they call a "<i>Table figurative</i>" of the Chamber, +you know the name and constituency of every +member present. +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_315" id="Page_315">315</a></span></p> + +<p>This greatly increases the interest felt by a +stranger. It is very agreeable to hear a man +speak with fervour and eloquence, let him be who +he may; but it enhances the pleasure prodigiously +to know at the same time who and what he is. +If he be a minister, every word has either more or +less weight according ... to circumstances; and if +he be in opposition, one is also more au fait as to +the positive value of his sentiments from being +acquainted with the fact.</p> + +<p>The business before the house when we were +there was stirring and interesting enough. It was +on the subject of the fines and imprisonment to be +imposed on those journalists who had outraged +law and decency by their inflammatory publications +respecting the trials going on at the Luxembourg.—General +Bugeaud made an excellent speech +upon the abuse of the freedom of the press; a +subject which certainly has given birth to more +"cant," properly so called, than any other I know +of. To so strange an extent has this been carried, +that it really requires a considerable portion +of moral courage to face the question fairly and +honestly, and boldly to say, that this unrestricted +power, which has for years been dwelt upon +as the greatest blessing which can be accorded +to the people, is in truth a most fearful evil. If +this unrestricted power had been advocated only +by demagogues and malcontents, the difficulties +respecting the question would be slight indeed, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_316" id="Page_316">316</a></span> +compared to what they are at present; but so +many good men have pleaded for it, that it is only +with the greatest caution, and the strongest conviction +from the result of experience, that the law +should interfere to restrain it.</p> + +<p>Nothing, in fact, is so plausible as the sophistry +with which a young enthusiast for liberty seeks to +show that the unrestrained exercise of intellect +must not only be the birthright of every man, but +that its exercise must also of necessity be beneficial +to the whole human race. How easy is it to +talk of the loss which the ever-accumulating mass +of human knowledge must sustain from stopping +by the strong hand of power the diffusion of speculation +and experience! How very easy is it to +paint in odious colours the tyranny that would +check the divine efforts of the immortal mind!—And +yet it is as clear as the bright light of heaven, +that not all the sufferings which all the tyrants +who ever cursed the earth have brought on man +can compare to those which the malign influence +of an unchecked press is calculated to inflict upon +him.</p> + +<p>The influence of the press is unquestionably the +most awful engine that Providence has permitted +the hand of man to wield. If used for good, it has +the power of raising us higher in the intellectual +scale than Plato ever dreamed; but if employed +for evil, the Prince of Darkness may throw down +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_317" id="Page_317">317</a></span> +his arms before its unmeasured strength—he has +no weapon like it.</p> + +<p>What are the temptations—the seductions of +the world which the zealous preacher deprecates, +which the watchful parent dreads, compared to +the corruption that may glide like an envenomed +snake into the bosom of innocence from this insidious +agency? Where is the retreat that can +be secured from it? Where is the shelter that +can baffle its assaults?—Blasphemy, treason, and +debauchery are licensed by the act of the legislature +to do their worst upon the morals of every +people among whom an unrestricted press is established +by law.</p> + +<p>Surely, but perhaps slowly, will this truth +become visible to all men: and if society still +hangs together at all, our grandchildren will probably +enjoy the blessing without the curse of +knowledge. The head of the serpent has been +bruised, and therefore we may hope for this,—but +it is not yet.</p> + +<p>The discussions in the Chamber on this important +subject, not only yesterday, but on several +occasions since the question of these fines has +been started, have been very animated and very +interesting. Never was the right and the wrong +in an argument more ably brought out than by +some of the speeches on this business: and, on the +other hand, never did effrontery go farther than +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_318" id="Page_318">318</a></span> +in some of the defences which have been set up +for the accused gérans of the journals in question. +For instance, M. Raspail expresses a very +grave astonishment that the Chamber of Peers, +instead of objecting to the liberties which have +been taken with them, do not rather return +thanks for the useful lesson they have received. +He states too in this same <i>defence</i>, as he is +pleased to call it, that the conductors of the +"Réformateur" have adopted a resolution to publish +without restriction or alteration every article +addressed to them by the accused parties or their +defenders. This <i>resolution</i>, then, is to be pleaded +as an excuse for whatever their columns may +contain! The concluding argument of this defence +is put in the form of a declaration, purporting +that whoever dooms a fellow-creature to +the horrors of imprisonment ought to undergo +the same punishment for the term of twenty +years as an expiation of the crime. This is +logical.</p> + +<p>There is a tone of vulgar, insolent defiance in +all that is recorded of the manner and language +adopted by the partisans of these Lyons prisoners, +which gives what must, I think, be considered as +very satisfactory proof that the party is not one +to be greatly feared. After the vote had passed +the Chamber of Peers for bringing to account +the persons who subscribed the protest against +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_319" id="Page_319">319</a></span> +their proceedings, two individuals who were not +included in this vote of reprobation sent in a +written petition that they might be so. What +was the official answer to this piece of bravado, +or whether it received any, I know not; but +I was told that some one present proposed that +a reply should be returned as follows:—</p> + +<p>"The court regrets that the request cannot be +granted, inasmuch as the sentence has been already +passed on those whom it concerned;—but +that if the gentlemen wished it, they might perhaps +contrive to get themselves included in the +next indictment for treason."</p> + +<p class="p2">In the evening we went to the Institute for the +encouragement of Industry. The meeting was +held in the Salle St. Jean, at the Hôtel de Ville. +It was extremely full, and was altogether a display +extremely interesting to a stranger. The +speeches made by several of the members were +in excellently good taste and extremely to the purpose: +I heard nothing at all approaching to that +popular strain of eloquence which has prevailed of +late so much in England upon all similar occasions,—nothing +that looked like an attempt to +bamboozle the respectable citizens of the metropolis +into the belief that they were considered +by wise men as belonging to the first class in +society. +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_320" id="Page_320">320</a></span></p> + +<p>The speeches were admirably calculated to excite +ingenuity, emulation, and industry; and I +really believe that there was not a single word +of nonsense spoken on the occasion. Several ingenious +improvements and inventions were displayed, +and the meeting was considerably égayé +by two or three pieces exceedingly well played +on a piano-forte of an improved construction.</p> + +<p>Many prizes were bestowed, and received with +that sort of genuine pleasure which it is so agreeable +to witness;—but these were all for useful +improvements in some branch of practical mechanics, +and not, as I saw by the newspapers +had recently been the case at a similar meeting +in London, for essays! One of the prize compositions +was, as I perceived, "The best Essay +on Education," from the pen of a young bell-hanger! +Next year, perhaps, the best essay on +medicine may be produced by a young tinker, +or a gold medal be awarded to Betty the housemaid +for a digest of the laws of the land. Our +long-boasted common sense seems to have emigrated, +and taken up its abode here; for, spite +of their recent revolution, you hear of no such +stuff on this side the water;—mechanics are +mechanics still, and though they some of them +make themselves exceeding busy in politics, and +discuss their different kings with much energy +over a bottle of small wine, I have not yet heard +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_321" id="Page_321">321</a></span> +of any of the "<i>operative classes</i>" throwing aside +their files and their hammers to write essays.</p> + +<p>This queer mixture of occupations reminds me +of a conversation I listened to the other day upon +the best manner in which a nation could recompense +and encourage her literary men. One English +gentleman, with no great enthusiasm of manner +or expression, quietly observed that he thought +a moderate pension, sufficient to prevent the mind +from being painfully driven from speculative to +practical difficulties, would be the most fitting +recompense that the country could offer.</p> + +<p>"Is it possible you can really think so, my +dear sir?" replied another, who is an amateur, +and a connoisseur, and a bel esprit, and an antiquary, +and a fiddler, and a critic, and a poet. +"I own my ideas on the subject are very different. +Good God! ... what a reward for a +man of genius!... Why, what would you do for +an old nurse?"</p> + +<p>"I would give her a pension too," said the +quiet gentleman.</p> + +<p>"I thought so!" retorted the man of taste. +"And do you really feel no repugnance in placing +the immortal efforts of genius on a par with rocking +a few babies to sleep?—Fie on such philosophy!"</p> + +<p>"And what is the recompense which you would +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_322" id="Page_322">322</a></span> +propose, sir?" inquired the advocate for the +pension.</p> + +<p>"I, sir?—I would give the first offices and +the first honours of the state to our men of +genius: by so doing, a country ennobles itself in +the face of the whole earth."</p> + +<p>"Yes, sir.... But the first offices of the state +are attended with a good deal of troublesome +business, which might, I think, interfere with +the intellectual labour you wish to encourage. +I should really be very sorry to see Dr. Southey +made secretary-at-war,—and yet he deserves something +of his country too."</p> + +<p>"A man of genius, sir, deserves everything of +his country.... It is not a paltry pension can +pay him. He should be put forward in parliament +... he should be..."</p> + +<p>"I think, sir, he should be put at his ease: +depend upon it, this would suit him better than +being returned knight of the shire for any county +in England."</p> + +<p>"Good Heaven, sir!"... resumed the enthusiast; +but he looked up and his opponent was +gone. +</p> + +<h2>LETTER LXVIII.</h2> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_323" id="Page_323">323</a></span></p> + +<p class="ch_open"> +Walk to the Marché des Innocens.—Escape of a Canary +Bird.—A Street Orator.—Burying-place of the Victims +of July. +</p> + +<p>I must give you to-day an account of the adventures +I have encountered in a <i>course à pied</i> +to the Marché des Innocens. You must know that +there is at one of the corners of this said Marché +a shop sacred to the ladies, which débits all those +unclassable articles that come under the comprehensive +term of haberdashery,—a term, by the +way, which was once interpreted to me by a +celebrated etymologist of my acquaintance to +signify "<i>avoir d'acheter</i>." My magasin "à la +Mère de Famille" in the Marché des Innocens +fully deserves this description, for there are few +female wants in which it fails to "avoir d'acheter." +It was to this compendium of utilities that +I was notably proceeding when I saw before me, +exactly on a spot that I was obliged to pass, a +throng of people that at the first glance I really +thought was a prodigious mob; but at the second, +I confess that they shrank and dwindled considerably. +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_324" id="Page_324">324</a></span> +Nevertheless, it looked ominous; and as I +was alone, I felt a much stronger inclination to +turn back than to proceed. I paused to decide +which I should do; and observing, as I did so, a +very respectable-looking woman at the door of a +shop very near the tumult, I ventured to address +an inquiry to her respecting the cause of this unwonted +assembling of the people in so peaceable +a part of the town; but, unfortunately, I used a +phrase in the inquiry which brought upon me +more evident quizzing than one often gets from +the civil Parisians. My words, I think, were,—"Pourriez-vous +me dire, madame, ce que signifie +tout ce monde?... Est-ce qu'il y a quelque +mouvement?"</p> + +<p>This unfortunate word <i>mouvement</i> amused her +infinitely; for it is in fact the phrase used in +speaking of all the <i>real</i> political hubbubs that +have taken place, and was certainly on this occasion +as ridiculous as if some one, on seeing forty +or fifty people collected together around a pick-pocket +or a broken-down carriage in London, +were to gravely inquire of his neighbour if the +crowd he saw indicated a revolution.</p> + +<p>"Mouvement!" she repeated with a very speaking +smile: "est-ce que madame est effrayée?... +Mouvement ... oui, madame, il y a beaucoup +de mouvement; mais cependant c'est sans mouvement.... +C'est tout bonnement le petit serin de +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_325" id="Page_325">325</a></span> +la marchande de modes là bas qui vient de s'envoler. +Je puis vous assurer la chose," she added, +laughing, "car je l'ai vu partir."</p> + +<p>"Is that all?" said I. "Is it possible that the +escape of a bird can have brought all these people +together?"</p> + +<p>"Oui, madame, rien autre chose.... Mais regardez—voilà +les agens de police qui s'approchent +pour voir ce que c'est—ils en saisissent un, je crois.... +Ah! ils ont une manière si étonnante de reconnaître +leur monde!"</p> + +<p>This last hint quite decided my return, and +I thanked the obliging bonnetière for her communications.</p> + +<p>"Bonjour, madame," she replied with a very +mystifying sort of smile,—"bonjour; soyez tranquille—il +n'y a pas de danger d'un <i>mouvement</i>."</p> + +<p>I am quite sure she was the wife of a doctrinaire; +for nothing affronts the whole party, from +the highest to the lowest, so much as to breathe a +hint that you think it possible any riot should +arise to disturb their dear tranquillity. On this +occasion, however, I really had no such matter +in my thoughts, and sinned only by a blundering +phrase.</p> + +<p>I returned home to look for an escort; and +having enlisted one, set forth again for the Marché +des Innocens, which I reached this time without +any other adventure than being splashed twice, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_326" id="Page_326">326</a></span> +and nearly run over thrice. Having made my +purchases, I was setting my face towards home +again, when my companion proposed that we +should go across the market to look at the monuments +raised over some half-dozen or half-score +of revolutionary heroes who fell and were buried +on a spot at no great distance from the fountain, +on the 29th July 1830.</p> + +<p>When we reached the little enclosure, we remarked +a man, who looked, I thought, very much +like a printer's devil, leaning against the rail, +and haranguing a girl who stood near him with +her eyes wide open as if she were watching for, +as well as listening to, every word which should +drop from his oracular lips. A little boy, almost +equally attentive to his eloquence, occupied the +space between them, and completed the group.</p> + +<p>I felt a strong inclination to hear what he was +saying, and stationed myself doucement, doucement +at a short distance, looking, I believe, almost +as respectfully attentive as the girl for whose +particular advantage he was evidently holding +forth. He perceived our approach, but appeared +nowise annoyed by it; on the contrary, it seemed +to me that he was pleased to have an increased +audience, for he evidently threw more energy +into his manner, waved his right hand with more +dignity, and raised his voice higher.</p> + +<p>I will not attempt to give you his discourse +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_327" id="Page_327">327</a></span> +verbatim, for some of his phrases were so extraordinary, +or at least so new to me, that I cannot +recall them; but the general purport of it made +an impression both on me and my companion, +from its containing so completely the very soul +and essence of the party to which he evidently +belonged. The theme was the cruel treatment +of the amiable, patriotic, and noble-minded prisoners +at the Luxembourg. "What did we fight +for?" ... said he, pointing to the tombs within +the enclosure: "was it not to make France and +Frenchmen free?... And do they call it freedom +to be locked up in a prison ... actually +locked up?... What! can a slave be worse than +that? Slaves have got chains on ... qu'est-ce +que cela fait?... If a man is locked up, he cannot +go farther than if he was chained—c'est +clair ... it is all one, and Frenchmen are again +slaves.... This is what we have got by our +revolution...."</p> + +<p>The girl, who continued to stand looking at +him with undeviating attention, and, as I presume, +with proportionate admiration, turned every now +and then a glance our way, to see what effect it +produced on us. My attention, at least, was +quite as much riveted on the speaker as her own; +and I would willingly have remained listening +to his reasons, which were quite as "plentiful as +blackberries," why no Frenchman in the world, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_328" id="Page_328">328</a></span> +let him do what he would, (except, I suppose, +when they obey their king, like the unfortunate +victims of popular tyranny at Ham,) should ever +be restricted in his freedom—because freedom +was what they fought for—and being in prison +was not being free—and so on round and round +in his logical circle. But as his vehemence increased, +so did his audience; and as I did not +choose to be present at a second "mouvement" on +the same day, or at any rate of running the risk +of again seeing the police approaching a throng +of which I made one, I walked off. The last +words I heard from him, as he pointed piteously +to the tombs, were—"V'là les restes de notre révolution +de Juillet!" In truth, this fellow talked +treason so glibly, that I felt very glad to get quietly +away; but I was also glad to have fallen in with +such an admirable display of popular eloquence, +with so little trouble or inconvenience.</p> + +<p>We lingered long enough within reach of the +tombs, while listening to this man, for me to read +and note the inscription on one of them. The +name and description of the "victime de Juillet" +who lay beneath it was, "Hapel, du département +de la Sarthe, tué le 29 Juillet 1830."</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 402px;"><a name="illo328" id="illo328"></a> +<img src="images/illo350.jpg" width="402" height="600" alt="Les Restes de Notre Revolution" /> +<p class="smcap s05">Drawn & Etched by A. Hervieu.</p> + +<p class="caption">"<span class="smcap">V'la les Restes de notre Revolution +de Juillet</span>".</p> + +<p class="caption s05">London. Published by Richard Bentley. 1835.</p> +</div> +<p>Nothing can be more trumpery than the appearance +of this burying-place of "the immortals," +with its flags and its foppery of spears +and halberds. There is another similar to it in +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_329" id="Page_329">329</a></span> +the most eastern court of the Louvre, and, I +believe, in several other places. If it be deemed +advisable to leave memorials upon these unconsecrated +graves, it would be in better taste to +make them of such dignity as might excuse their +erection in these conspicuous situations; but at +present the effect is decidedly ludicrous. If the +bodies of those who fell are really deposited within +these fantastical enclosures, it would show +much more reverence for them and their cause +if they were all to receive Christian burial at Père +Lachaise, with all such honours, due or undue, as +might suit the feelings of the time; and over +them it would be well to record, as a matter of +historical interest, the time and manner of their +death. This would look like the result of national +feeling, and have something respectable +in it; which certainly cannot be said of the +faded flaunting flags and tassels which now +wave over them, so much in the style of decorations +in the barn of a strolling company of +comedians.</p> + +<p>As we left the spot, my attention was directed +to the Rue de la Ferronnerie, which is close to the +Marché des Innocens, and in which street Henri +Quatre lost his life by the assassin hand of Ravaillac. +It struck me as we talked of this event, +and of the many others to which the streets of +this beautiful but turbulent capital have been +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_330" id="Page_330">330</a></span> +witness, that a most interesting—and, if accompanied +by good architectural engravings, a most +beautiful—work might be compiled on the same +plan, or at least following the same idea as Mr. +Leigh Hunt has taken in his work on the interesting +localities of London. A history of the streets +of Paris might contain a mixture of tragedy, +comedy, and poetry—of history, biography, and +romance, that might furnish volumes of "entertaining +knowledge," which being the favourite +<i>genre</i> amidst the swelling mass of modern literature, +could hardly fail of meeting with success.</p> + +<p>How pleasantly might an easy writer go on +anecdotizing through century after century, as +widely and wildly as he pleased, and yet sufficiently +tied together to come legitimately under +one common title; and how wide a grasp of history +might one little spot sometimes contain! +Where some scattered traces of the stones may +still be seen that were to have been reared into +a palace for the King of Rome, once stood the +convent of the "Visitation de Sainte Marie," +founded by Henriette the beautiful and the good, +after the death of her martyred husband, our +first Charles; within whose church were enshrined +her heart, and those of her daughter, and +of James the Second of England. Where English +nuns took refuge from English protestantism, is +now—most truly English still—a manufactory for +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_331" id="Page_331">331</a></span> +spinning cotton. Where stood the most holy +altar of Le Verbe Incarné, now stands a caserne. +In short, it is almost impossible to take a single +step in Paris without discovering, if one does but +take the trouble of inquiring a little, some tradition +attached to it that might contribute information +to such a work.</p> + +<p>I have often thought that a history of the convents +of Paris during that year of barbarous profanation +1790, would make, if the materials were +well collected, one of the most interesting books +in the world. The number of nuns returned +upon the world from the convents of that city +alone amounted to many thousands; and when +one thinks of all the varieties of feeling which +this act must have occasioned, differing probably +from the brightest joy for recovered hope and +life, to the deepest desolation of wretched helplessness, +it seems extraordinary that so little of +its history has reached us.</p> + +<p>Paris is delightful enough, as every one knows, +to all who look at it, even with the superficial +glance that seeks no farther than its external +aspect at the present moment; but it would, I +imagine, be interesting beyond all other cities of +the modern world if carefully travelled through +with a consummate antiquarian who had given +enough learned attention to the subject to enable +him to do justice to it. There is something so +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_332" id="Page_332">332</a></span> +piquant in the contrasts offered by some localities +between their present and their past conditions,—such +records furnished at every corner, of the +enormous greatness of the human animal, and +his most <i>chétif</i> want of all stability—traces of +such wit and such weakness, such piety and +profanation, such bland and soft politeness, and +such ferocious barbarism,—that I do not believe +any other page of human nature could furnish +the like.</p> + +<p>I am sure, at least, that no British records +could furnish pictures of native manners and +native acts so dissimilar at different times from +each other as may be found to have existed here. +The most striking contrast that we can show is +between the effects of Oliver Cromwell's rule and +that of Charles the Second; but this was unity +and concord compared to the changes in character +which have repeatedly taken place in France. +That this contrast with us was, speaking of the +general mass of the population, little more than +the mannerism arising from adopting the style +of "the court" for the time being, is proved by +the wondrously easy transition from one tone to +the other which followed the restoration. This +was chiefly the affair of courtiers, or of public +men, who as necessarily put on the manners of +their master as a domestic servant does a livery; +but Englishmen were still in all essentials the +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_333" id="Page_333">333</a></span> +same. Not so the French when they threw +themselves headlong, from one extremity of the +country to the other, into all the desperate religious +wildness which marks the history of the +Ligue; not so the French when from the worship +of their monarchs they suddenly turned as +at one accord and flew at their throats like bloodhounds. +Were they then the same people?—did +they testify any single trait of moral affinity +to what the world thought to be their national +character one short year before? Then again +look at them under Napoleon, and look at them +under Louis-Philippe. It is a great, a powerful, +a magnificent people, let them put on what outward +seeming they will; but I doubt if there be +any nation in the world that would so completely +throw out a theorist who wished to establish the +doctrine of distinct races as the French.</p> + +<p>You will think that I have made a very circuitous +ramble from the Marché des Innocens; but +I have only given you the results of the family +speculation we fell into after returning thence, +which arose, I believe, from my narrating how I +had passed from the tombeaux of the <i>victimes de +Juillet</i> to the place where Henri Quatre received +his death. This set us to meditate on the different +political objects of the slain; and we all +agreed that it was a much easier task to define +those of the king than those of the subject. +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_334" id="Page_334">334</a></span> +There is every reason in the world to believe that +the royal Henri wished the happiness and prosperity +of France; but the guessing with any appearance +of correctness what might be the especial +wish and desire of the Sieur Hapel du département +de la Sarthe, is a matter infinitely more +difficult to decide. +</p> + +<h2>LETTER LXIX.</h2> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_335" id="Page_335">335</a></span></p> + +<p class="ch_open"> +A Philosophical Spectator.—Collection of Baron Sylvestre.—Hôtel +des Monnaies.—Musée d'Artillerie. +</p> + +<p>We have been indebted to M. J* * *, the same +obliging and amiable friend of whom I have before +spoken, for one or two more very delightful +mornings. We saw many things, and we talked +of many more.</p> + +<p>M. J* * * is inexhaustible in piquant and original +observation, and possesses such extensive +knowledge on all those subjects which are the +most intimately connected with the internal history +of France during the last eventful forty years, +as to make every word he utters not only interesting, +but really precious. When I converse with +him, I feel that I have opened a rich vein of information, +which if I had but time and opportunity +to derive from it all it could give, would +positively leave me ignorant of nothing I wish to +know respecting the country.</p> + +<p>The Memoirs of such a man as M. J* * * would +be a work of no common value. The military +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_336" id="Page_336">336</a></span> +history of the period is as familiar to all the world +as the marches of Alexander or the conquests of +Cæsar; the political history of the country during +the same interval is equally well known; its +literary history speaks for itself: but such Memoirs +as I am sure M. J* * * could write, would +furnish a picture that is yet wanting.</p> + +<p>We are not without full and minute details of +all the great events which have made France the +principal object for all Europe to stare at for the +last half-century; but these details have uniformly +proceeded from individuals who have either +been personally engaged in or nearly connected +with these stirring events; and they are accordingly +all tinctured more or less with such strong +party feeling, as to give no very impartial colouring +to every circumstance they recount. The inevitable +consequence of this is, that, with all our +extensive reading on the subject, we are still far +from having a correct impression of the internal +and domestic state of the country throughout this +period.</p> + +<p>We know a great deal about old nobles who +have laid down their titles and become men of +the people, and about new nobles who have laid +down their muskets to become men of the court,—of +ministers, ambassadors, and princes who have +dropped out of sight, and of parvenus of all sorts +who have started into it; but, meanwhile, what do +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_337" id="Page_337">337</a></span> +we know of the mass—not of the people—of them +also we know quite enough,—but of the gentlemen, +who, as each successive change came round, +felt called upon by no especial duty to quit their +honourable and peaceable professions in order to +resist or advance them? Yet of these it is certain +there must be hundreds who, on the old principle +that "lookers-on see most of the game," are more +capable of telling us what effect these momentous +changes really produced than any of those who +helped to cause them.</p> + +<p>M. J* * * is one of these; and I could not but +remark, while listening to him, how completely the +tone in which he spoke of all the public events he +had witnessed was that of a philosophical spectator. +He seemed disposed, beyond any Frenchman +I have yet conversed with, to give to each epoch +its just character, and to each individual his just +value: I never before had the good fortune to +hear any citizen of the Great Nation converse +freely, calmly, reasonably, without prejudice or +partiality, of that most marvellous individual +Napoleon.</p> + +<p>It is not necessary to attempt recalling the precise +expressions used respecting him; for the +general impression left on my mind is much more +deeply engraven than the language which conveyed +it: besides, it is possible that my inferences +may have been more conclusive and distinct than +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_338" id="Page_338">338</a></span> +I had any right to make them, and yet so sincerely +the result of the casual observations scattered +here and there in a conversation that was anything +but <i>suivie</i>, that were I to attempt to repeat +the words which conveyed them, I might be betrayed +into involuntary and unconscious exaggeration.</p> + +<p>The impression, then, which I received is, that +he was a most magnificent tyrant. His projects +seem to have been conceived with the vastness +and energy of a moral giant, even when they +related to the internal regulation only of the vast +empire he had seized upon; but the mode in +which he brought them into action was uniformly +marked by barefaced, unshrinking, uncompromising +tyranny. The famous Ordonnances of Charles +Dix were no more to be compared, as an act of +arbitrary power, to the daily deeds of Napoleon, +than the action of a dainty pair of golden sugar-tongs +to that of the firmest vice that ever Vulcan +forged. But this enormous, this tremendous +power, was never wantonly employed; and the +country when under his dominion had more frequent +cause to exclaim in triumph—</p> + +<p class="poem">"'Tis excellent to have a giant's strength,"</p> + +<p>than to add in suffering,</p> + +<p class="poem">"But tyrannous to use it like a giant."</p> + +<p>It was the conviction of this—the firm belief that +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_339" id="Page_339">339</a></span> +the <span class="smcap">GLORY</span> of France was the object of her autocrat, +which consecrated and confirmed his power +while she bent her proud neck to his yoke, and +which has since and will for ever make his name +sound in the ears of her children like a pæan to +their own glory. What is there which men, +and most especially Frenchmen, will not suffer +and endure to hear that note? Had Napoleon +been granted to them in all his splendour as their +emperor for ever, they would for ever have remained +his willing slaves.</p> + +<p>When, however, he was lost to them, there is +every reason to believe that France would gladly +have knit together the severed thread of her +ancient glory with her hopes of future greatness, +had the act by which it was to be achieved been +her own: but it was the hand of an enemy that +did it—the hand of a triumphant enemy; and +though a host of powerful, valiant, noble, and +loyal-hearted Frenchmen welcomed the son of St. +Louis to his lawful throne with as deep and sincere +fidelity as ever warmed the heart of man, +there was still a national feeling of wounded pride +which gnawed the hearts of the multitude, and +even in the brightest days of the Restoration +prevented their rightful king from being in their +eyes what he would have been had they purchased +his return by the act of drawing their +swords, instead of laying them down. It was a +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_340" id="Page_340">340</a></span> +greatness that was thrust upon them—and for +that reason, and I truly believe for that reason +only, it was distasteful.</p> + +<p>In days of old, if it happened by accident that +a king was unpopular, it mattered very little to +the general prosperity of his country, and still +less to the general peace of Europe. Even if +hatred went so far as to raise the hand of an assassin +against him, the tranquillity of the rest of +the human race was but little affected thereby. +But in these times the effect is very different: +disaffection has been taught to display itself in +acts that may at one stroke overthrow the prosperity +of millions at home, and endanger the precious +blessings of peace abroad; and it becomes +therefore a matter of importance to the whole of +Europe that every throne established within her +limits should be sustained not only by its own +subjects, but by a system of mutual support that +may insure peace and security to all. To do this +where a king is rejected by the majority of the +people, is, to say the least of it, a very difficult +task; and it will probably be found that to support +power firmly and legally established, will +contribute more to the success of this system of +mutual support for the preservation of universal +tranquillity, than any crusade that could be undertaken +in any part of the world for the purpose of +substituting an exiled dynasty for a reigning one. +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_341" id="Page_341">341</a></span></p> + +<p>This is the <i>doctrine</i> to which I have now listened +so long and so often, that I have ceased all +attempts to refute it. I have, however, while +stating it, been led to wander a little from those +reminiscences respecting fair France which I +found so interesting, coming forth as they did, +as if by accident, from the rich storehouse of +my agreeable friend's memory: but I believe it +would be quite in vain were I to go back to the +point at which I deviated, for I could do justice +neither to the matter nor the manner of the conversations +which afforded me so much pleasure;—I +believe therefore that I had better spare you +any more politics just at present, and tell you +something of several things which we had the +pleasure of seeing with him.</p> + +<p>One of these was Baron Gros' magnificent +sketch, if I must so call a very finished painting, +of his fine picture of the Plague of Jaffa. A week +or two before I had seen the picture itself at the +Luxembourg, and felt persuaded then that it was +by far the finest work of the master; but this first +developement of his idea is certainly finer still. +It is a beautiful composition, and there are groups +in it that would not have lowered the reputation +of Michael Angelo. The severe simplicity of the +Emperor's figure and position is in the very purest +taste.</p> + +<p>This very admirable work was, when we saw it, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_342" id="Page_342">342</a></span> +in the possession of the Baron de Sylvestre, whose +collection, without having the dignity of a gallery, +has some beautiful things in it. Our visit to it +and its owner was one of great interest to me. I +have seldom seen any one with a more genuine +and enthusiastic love of art. He has one cabinet,—it +is, I believe, his own bed-room,—which almost +from floor to ceiling is hung with little gems, so +closely set together as to produce at first sight +the effect of almost inextricable confusion;—portraits, +landscapes, and historic sketches—pencil +crayon, water-colour and oil—with frames and +without frames, all blended together in utter defiance +of all symmetry or order whatever. But it +was a rich confusion, and many a collector would +have rejoiced at receiving permission to seize upon +a chance handful of the heterogeneous mass of +which it was composed.</p> + +<p>Curious, well-authenticated, original drawings of +the great masters, though reduced to a mere rag, +have always great interest in my eyes,—and the +Baron de Sylvestre has many such: but it was +his own air of comfortable domestic intimacy +with every scrap, however small, on the lofty +and thickly-studded walls of this room, which delighted +me;—it reminded me of Denon, who many +years ago showed me his large and very miscellaneous +collection with equal enthusiasm. I dearly +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_343" id="Page_343">343</a></span> +love to meet with people who are really and truly +in earnest.</p> + +<p>On the same morning that we made this agreeable +acquaintance, we passed an hour or two at +the Hôtel des Monnaies, which is situated on the +Quai Conti, and, I believe, on the exact spot where +the old Hôtel de Conti formerly stood. The building, +like all the public establishments in France, +is very magnificent, and we amused ourselves very +agreeably with our intelligent and amiable cicisbeo +in examining an immense collection of coins and +medals. This collection was formerly placed at +the Louvre, but transferred to this hôtel as soon +as its erection was completed. The medals, as +usual in all such examinations, occupied the +greater part of our time and attention. It is +quite a gallery of portraits, and many of them +of the highest historical interest: but perhaps +our amusement was as much derived from observing +how many ignoble heads, who had no more +business there than so many turnips, had found +place nevertheless, by the outrageous vanity either +of themselves or their friends, amidst kings, heroes, +poets, and philosophers. It is perfectly astonishing +to see how many such as these have sought a bronze +or brazen immortality at the Hôtel des Monnaies: +every medal struck in France has an impression +preserved here, and it is probably the knowledge +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_344" id="Page_344">344</a></span> +of this fact which has tempted these little people +so preposterously to distinguish themselves.</p> + +<p>On another occasion we went with the same +agreeable escort to visit the national museum of +ancient armour. This Musée d'Artillerie is not +quite so splendid a spectacle as the same species +of exhibition at the Tower; but there are a great +many beautiful things there too. Some exquisitely-finished +muskets and arquebuses of considerable +antiquity, and splendid with a profusion of +inlaid ivory, mother-of-pearl, and precious stones, +are well arranged for exhibition, as are likewise +some complete suits of armour of various dates;—among +them is one worn in battle by the unfortunate +Maid of Orleans.</p> + +<p>But this is not only a curious antiquarian exhibition,—it +is in truth a national institution wherein +military men may study the art of war from +almost its first barbarous simplicity up to its present +terrible perfection. The models of all manner +of slaughtering instruments are beautifully executed, +and must be of great interest to all who +wish to study the theory of that science which may +be proved "par raison démonstrative," as Molière +observes, to consist wholly "dans l'art de donner +et ne pas recevoir." But I believe the object +which most amused me in the exhibition, was a +written notice, repeated at intervals along all the +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_345" id="Page_345">345</a></span> +racks on which were placed the more modern and +ordinary muskets, to this effect:—</p> + +<p>"Manquant, au second rang de ce râtelier +d'armes, environ quatre-vingt carabines à rouet, +<i>ornées d'incrustation d'ivoire et de nacre, dans le +genre de celles du premier rang</i>. Toutes celles +qu'on voit ici ont servi dans les journées de Juillet, +et ont été rendues après. Les personnes qui auraient +encore celles qui manquent sont priées de +les rapporter."</p> + +<p>There is such a superlative degree of <i>bonhomie</i> +in the belief that because all the ordinary muskets +which were seized upon by the July patriots were +returned, those also adorned with "incrustations +d'ivoire et de nacre" would be returned too, that +it was quite impossible to restrain a smile at it. +Such unwearied confidence and hope deserve a +better reward than, I fear, they will meet: the +"incrustations d'ivoire et de nacre" are, I doubt +not, in very safe keeping, and have been converted, +by the patriot hands that seized them, to +other purposes, as dear to the hearts they belonged +to as that of firing at the Royal Guard over +a barricade. Our doctrinaire friend himself confessed +that he thought it was time these naïve +notices should be removed.</p> + +<p>It was, I think, in the course of this excursion +that our friend gave me an anecdote which I +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_346" id="Page_346">346</a></span> +think is curious and characteristic. Upon some +occasion which led to a private interview between +Charles Dix and himself, some desultory conversation +followed the discussion of the business which +led to the audience. The name of Malesherbes, +the intrepid defender of Louis Seize, was mentioned +by our friend. The monarch frowned.</p> + +<p>"Sire!"—was uttered almost involuntarily.</p> + +<p>"Il nous a fait beaucoup de mal," said the king +in reply to the exclamation—adding with emphasis, +"Mais il l'a payé par sa tête!" +</p> + +<h2>LETTER LXX.</h2> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_347" id="Page_347">347</a></span></p> + +<p class="ch_open"> +Concert in the Champs Elysées.—Horticultural Exhibition.—Forced +Flowers.—Republican Hats.—Carlist Hats.—Juste-Milieu +Hats.—Popular Funeral. +</p> + +<p>The advancing season begins to render the atmosphere +of the theatres insupportable, and even a +crowded soirée is not so agreeable as it has been; +so last night we sought our amusement in listening +to the concert "en plein air" in the Champs +Elysées. I hear that you too have been enjoying +this new delight of al-fresco music in London. +France and England are exceedingly like the interlocutors +of an eclogue, where first one puts +forth all his power and poetry to enchant the +world, and then the other "takes up the wondrous +tale," and does his utmost to exceed and +excel, and so go on, each straining every nerve to +outdo the other.</p> + +<p>Thus it is with the two great rivals who perform +their various feats à l'envi l'un de l'autre +on the opposite sides of the Channel. No sooner +does one burst out with some new and bright +idea which like a newly-kindled torch makes for +awhile all other lights look dim, than the other +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_348" id="Page_348">348</a></span> +catches it, finds out some ingenious way of making +it his own, and then grows as proud and as fond +of it as if it had been truly the offspring of his own +brain. But in this strife and this stealing neither +party has any right to reproach the other, for the +exchange is very nearly at par between them.</p> + +<p>A very few years ago, half a dozen scraping +fiddlers, and now and then a screaming "sirène +ambulante," furnished all the music of the Champs +Elysées; but now there is the prettiest "salon de +concert en plein air" imaginable.</p> + +<p>By the way, I confess that this phrase "salon +de concert en plein air" has something rather +paradoxical in it: nevertheless, it is perfectly correct; +the concerts of the Champs Elysées are +decidedly <i>en plein air</i>, and yet they are enclosed +within what may very fairly be called a salon. +The effect of this fanciful arrangement is really +very pretty; and if you have managed your echo +of this agreeable fantasia as skilfully, an idle London +summer evening has gained much. Shall I +tell you how it has been done in Paris?</p> + +<p>In the lower part of the Champs Elysées, a +round space is enclosed by a low rail. Within this, +to the extent of about fifteen or twenty feet, are +ranged sundry circular rows of chairs that are +sheltered by a light awning. Within these, a +troop of graceful nymphs, formed of white plaster, +but which a spectator if he be amiably disposed +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_349" id="Page_349">349</a></span> +may take for white marble, stand each one with a +lamp upon her head, forming altogether a delicate +halo, which, as daylight fades, throws a faint but +sufficient degree of illumination upon the company. +In the centre of the enclosure rises a stage, covered +by a tent-like canopy and brilliant as lamps can +make it. Here the band is stationed, which is sufficiently +good and sufficiently full to produce a very +delightful effect: it must indeed be very villanous +music which, listened to while the cool breeze +of a summer's evening refreshes the spirit, should +not be agreeable. The whole space between the +exterior awning and the centre pavilion appropriated +to the band is filled with chairs, which, +though so very literally en plein air, were all filled +with company, and the effect of the whole thing +was quite delightful.</p> + +<p>The price of entrance to all this prettiness is +one franc! This, by the bye, is a part of the arrangement +which I suspect is not rivalled in England. +Neither will you, I believe, soon learn the +easy sort of unpremeditated tone in which it is +resorted to. It is ten to one, I think, that no one—no +ladies at least—will ever go to your al-fresco +concert without arranging a party beforehand; +and there will be a question of whether it shall +be before tea or after tea, in a carriage or on +foot, &c. &c. But here it is enjoyed in the very +spirit of sans souci:—you take your evening ramble—the +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_350" id="Page_350">350</a></span> +lamps sparkle in the distance, or the +sound of the instruments reaches your ears, and +this is all the preparation required. And then, as +you may always be perfectly sure that everybody +you know in Paris is occupied as well as yourself +in seeking amusement, the chances are greatly in +your favour that you will not reach the little +bureau at the gate without encountering some +friend or friends whom you may induce to <i>promener</i> +their idleness the same way.</p> + +<p>I often marvel, as I look around me in our +walks and drives, where all the sorrow and suffering +which we know to be the lot of man contrives +to hide itself at Paris. Everywhere else you see +people looking anxious and busy at least, if not +quite woe-begone and utterly miserable: but here +the glance of every eye is a gay one; and even +though this may perhaps be only worn in the +sunshine and put on just as other people put +on their hats and bonnets, the effect is delightfully +cheering to the spirits of a wandering +stranger.</p> + +<p>It was we, I think, who set the example of an +annual public exhibition by an horticultural society. +It has been followed here, but not as yet +upon the same splendid scale as in London and +its neighbourhood. The Orangery of the Louvre +is the scene of this display, which is employed +for the purpose as soon as the royal trees that +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_351" id="Page_351">351</a></span> +pass their winters in it are taken out to the +Gardens of the Tuileries. I never on any occasion +remember having been exposed to so oppressive +a degree of heat as on the morning that +we visited this exhibition. The sun shone with +intolerable splendour upon the long range of +windows, and the place was so full of company, +that it was with the greatest difficulty we crept +on an inch at a time from one extremity of the +hall to the other. Some of the African plants +were very fine; but in general the show was +certainly not very magnificent. I suspect that +the extreme heat of the apartment had considerably +destroyed the beauty of some of the more delicate +flowering plants, for there were scarcely any +of the frail blossoms of our hothouse treasures in +perfection. The collection of geraniums was, compared +to those I have seen in England, very poor, +and so little either of novelty or splendour about +them, that I suspect the cultivation of this lovely +race, and the production of a new variety in it, is +not a matter of so great interest in France as in +England.</p> + +<p>The climate of France is perhaps more congenial +to delicate flowers than our own; and yet +it appears to me that, with some few exceptions, +such as oranges and the laurier-rose, I have seen +nothing in Paris this year equal to the specimens +found at the first-rate florists' round London. +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_352" id="Page_352">352</a></span> +Even in the decoration of rooms, though flowers +are often abundant here, they are certainly less +choice than with us; and, excepting in one or +two instances, I have observed no plants whatever +forced into premature bloom to gratify the pampered +taste of the town amateur. I do not, however, +mention this as a defect; on the contrary, +I perfectly agree in the truth of Rousseau's observation, +that such impatient science by no means +increases the sum of the year's enjoyment. "Ce +n'est pas parer l'hiver," he says,—"c'est déparer +le printemps:" and the truth of this is obvious, +not only in the indifference with which those who +are accustomed to receive this unnatural and precocious +produce welcome the abounding treasures +of that real spring-time which comes when it +pleases Heaven to send it, but also in the worthless +weakness of the untimely product itself. I +certainly know many who appear to gaze with +ecstasy on the pale hectic-looking bloom of a frail +rose-tree in the month of February, who can +walk unmoved in the spicy evenings of June +amidst thousands of rich blossoms all opening +their bright bosoms to the breeze in the sweet +healthy freshness of unforced nature: yet I will +not assert that this proceeds from affectation—indeed, +I verily believe that fine ladies do in all +sincerity think that roses at Christmas are really +much prettier and sweeter things than roses in +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_353" id="Page_353">353</a></span> +June; but, at least, I may confess that I think +otherwise.</p> + +<p>Among the numerous company assembled to +look at this display of exotics, was a figure perhaps +the most remarkably absurd that we have +yet seen in the grotesque extremity of his republican +costume. We watched him for some time +with considerable interest,—and the more so, as +we perceived that he was an object of curiosity +to many besides ourselves. In truth, his pointed +hat and enormous lapels out-Heroded Herod; and +I presume the attention he excited was occasioned +more by the extravagant excess than the unusual +style of his costume. A gentleman who was +with us at the Orangery told me an anecdote +respecting a part of this sort of symbolic attire, +which had become, he said, the foundation of a +vaudeville, but which nevertheless was the record +of a circumstance which actually occurred at +Paris.</p> + +<p>A young provincial happened to arrive in the +capital just at the time that these hieroglyphic +habiliments were first brought into use, and +having occasion for a new hat, repaired to the +magasin of a noted chapelier, where everything of +the newest invention was sure to be found. The +young man, alike innocent of politics and ignorant +of its symbols, selected a hat as high and as +pointed as that of the toughest roundhead at the +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_354" id="Page_354">354</a></span> +court of Cromwell, and sallied forth, proud of +being one of the first in a new fashion, to visit +a young relative who was en pension at an establishment +rather celebrated for its freely-proclaimed +Carlist propensities. His young cousin, he was +told, was enjoying the hour of recreation with +his schoolfellows in the play-ground behind the +mansion. He desired to be led to him; and was +accordingly shown the way to the spot, where +about fifty young legitimatists were assembled. +No sooner, however, had he and his hat obtained +the entrée to this enclosure, than the most violent +and hideous yell was heard to issue from every +part of it.</p> + +<p>At first the simple-minded provincial smiled, +from believing that this uproar, wild as it was, +might be intended to express a juvenile welcome; +and having descried his young kinsman on the +opposite side of the enclosure, he walked boldly +forward to reach him. But, before he had proceeded +half a dozen steps, he was assailed on all +sides by pebbles, tops, flying hoops, and well-directed +handfuls of mud. Startled, astounded, +and totally unable to comprehend the motives +for so violent an assault, he paused for a moment, +uncertain whether to advance boldly, or shelter +himself by flight from an attack which seemed +every moment to increase in violence. Ere he +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_355" id="Page_355">355</a></span> +had well decided what course to pursue, his bold-hearted +little relative rushed up to him, screaming, +as loud as his young voice would allow,—"Sauve-toi, +mon cousin! sauve-toi! Ôte ton +vilain chapeau!... C'est le chapeau! le méchant +chapeau!"</p> + +<p>The young man again stopped short, in the +hope of being able to comprehend the vociferations +of his little friend; but the hostile missives rang +about his ears with such effect, that he suddenly +came to the decision at which Falstaff arrived +before him, and feeling that, at least on the present +occasion, discretion was the better part of +valour, he turned round, and made his escape as +speedily as possible, muttering, however, as he +went, "Qu'est-ce que c'est donc qu'un chapeau à-la-mode +pour en faire ce vacarme de diable?"</p> + +<p>Having made good his retreat, he repaired +without delay to the hatter of whom he had purchased +this offensive article, described the scene +he had passed through, and requested an explanation +of it.</p> + +<p>"Mais, monsieur," replied the unoffending +tradesman, "c'est tout bonnement un chapeau +républicain;" adding, that if he had known monsieur's +principles were not in accordance with a +high crown, he would most certainly have pointed +out the possible inconvenience of wearing one. +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_356" id="Page_356">356</a></span> +As he spoke, he uncovered and displayed to view +one of those delicate light-coloured hats which are +known at Paris to speak the loyal principles of +the wearer.</p> + +<p>"This hat," said he, gracefully presenting it, +"may be safely worn by monsieur even if he +chose to take his seat in the extremest corner of +the côté droit."</p> + +<p>Once more the inexperienced youth walked +forth; and this time he directed his steps towards +the stupendous plaster elephant on the Place de +la Bastile, now and ever the favourite object of +country curiosity. He had taken correct instructions +for his route, and proceeded securely by the +gay succession of Boulevards towards the spot he +sought. For some time he pursued his pleasant +walk without any adventure or interruption whatever; +but as he approached the region of the +Porte St. Martin sundry little <i>sifflemens</i> became +audible, and ere he had half traversed the Boulevard +du Temple he became fully convinced that +whatever fate might have awaited his new, new +hat at the pensionnat of his little cousin, both +he and it ran great risk of being rolled in the +mud which stagnated in sullen darkness near the +spot where once stood the awful Temple.</p> + +<p>No sooner did he discover that the covering of +his unlucky head was again obnoxious, than he +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_357" id="Page_357">357</a></span> +hastened once more to the treacherous hatter, +as he now fully believed him to be, and in no measured +tone expressed his indignation of a line of +conduct which had thus twice exposed the tranquillity—nay, +perhaps the life of an unoffending +individual to the fury of the mob. The worthy +hatter with all possible respect and civility repelled +the charge, declaring that his only wish +and intention was to accommodate every gentleman +who did him the honour to enter his magasin +with exactly that species of hat which might +best accord with his taste and principles. "If, +however," he added with a modest bow, "monsieur +really intended to condescend so far as to +ask his advice as to which species of hat it was +best and safest to wear at the present time in +Paris, he should beyond the slightest shadow of +doubt respectfully recommend the <i>juste milieu</i>." +The young provincial followed his advice; and +the moral of the story is, that he walked in peace +and quietness through the streets of Paris as long +as he stayed.</p> + +<p class="p2">On our way home this morning we met a most +magnificent funeral array: I reckoned twenty carriages, +but the <i>piétons</i> were beyond counting. I +forget the name of the individual, but it was some +one who had made himself very popular among +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_358" id="Page_358">358</a></span> +the people. There was not, however, the least appearance +of riot or confusion; nor were there any +military to <i>protect the procession</i>,—a dignity which +is always accorded by this thoughtful government +to every person whose funeral is likely to be honoured +by too great a demonstration of popular +affection. Every man as it passed took off his hat; +but this they would have done had no cortége +accompanied the hearse, for no one ever meets a +funeral in France without it.</p> + +<p>But though everything had so peaceful an +air, we still felt disposed to avoid the crowd, +and to effect this, turned from the quay down +a street that led to the Palais Royal. Here +there was no pavement; and the improved cleanliness +of Paris, which I had admitted an hour before +to a <i>native</i> who had remarked upon it, now +appeared so questionable to some of my party, +that I was challenged to describe what it had +been before this improvement took place. But +notwithstanding this want of faith, which was +perhaps natural enough in the Rue des Bons Enfans, +into which we had blundered, it is nevertheless +a positive fact that Paris is greatly improved +in this respect; and if the next seven years do as +much towards its purification as the last have done, +we may reasonably hope that in process of time +it will be possible to drive—nay, even walk through +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_359" id="Page_359">359</a></span> +its crowded streets without the aid either of aromatic +vinegar or eau de Cologne. Much, however, +still remains to be done; and done it undoubtedly +will be, from one end of the "<i>belle ville</i>" to +the other, if no barricades arise to interfere with +the purifying process. But English noses must +still have a little patience. +</p> + +<h2>LETTER LXXI.</h2> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_360" id="Page_360">360</a></span></p> + +<p class="center">Minor French Novelists.</p> + +<p>It is not long since, in writing to you of modern +French works of imagination, I avowed my +great and irresistible admiration for the high talent +manifested in some of the writings published +under the signature of George Sand; and I remember +that the observations I ventured to make +respecting them swelled into such length as to +prevent my then uttering the protest which all +Christian souls are called upon to make against +the ordinary productions of the minor French +story-tellers of the day. I must therefore now +make this amende to the cause of morality and +truth, and declare to you with all sincerity, that I +believe nothing can be more contemptible, yet at +the same time more deeply dangerous to the cause +of virtue, than the productions of this unprincipled +class of writers.</p> + +<p>While conversing a short time ago on the subject +of these noxious ephemera with a gentleman +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_361" id="Page_361">361</a></span> +whose professional occupations of necessity bring +him into occasional contact with them, he struck +off for my edification a sketch which he assured +me might stand as a portrait, with wonderfully +little variation, for any individual of the fraternity. +It may lose something of its raciness by the processes +of recollecting and translating; but I flatter +myself that I shall be able to preserve enough of +the likeness to justify my giving it to you.</p> + +<p>"These authors," said their lively historian, +"swarm <i>au sixième</i> in every quarter of Paris. For +the most part, they are either idle scholars who, +having taken an aversion to the vulgar drudgery of +education, determine upon finding a short cut to the +temple of Fame; or else they are young artisans—journeymen +workers at some craft or other, which +brings them in just francs enough to sustain an honest +decent existence, but wholly insufficient to minister +to the sublime necessities of revolutionary +ambition. As perfect a sympathy appears to exist +in the politics of all these gentry as in their doctrine +of morals: they all hold themselves ready for +rebellion at the first convenient opportunity—be +it against Louis, Charles, Henri, or Philippe, it +is all one; rebellion against constituted and recognised +authority being, according to their high-minded +code, their first duty, as well as their dearest +recreation.</p> + +<p>They must wait, however, till the fitting moment +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_362" id="Page_362">362</a></span> +come; and, meanwhile, how may they better +the condition in which the tyranny of kings and +law-makers has placed them? Shall they listen +to the inward whisperings which tell them, that, +being utterly unfitted to do their duty in that +state of life to which it has pleased God to call +them, they must of necessity and by the inevitable +nature of things be fitted for some other?... +What may it be?... Treason and rapine, +of course, if time be ripe for it—but <i>en attendant</i>?</p> + +<p>To trace on an immortal page the burning +thoughts that mar their handicraft ... to teach +the world what fools the sages who have lived, +and spoken, and gone to rest, would make of them +... to cause the voice of passion to be heard high +above that of law or of gospel.... Yes ... it is thus +they will at once beguile the tedious hours that +must precede another revolution, and earn by the +noble labours of genius the luxuries denied to grovelling +industry.</p> + +<p>This sublime occupation once decided on, it +follows as a necessary result that they must begin +by awakening all those tender sympathies of nature, +which are to the imagination what oil is to +the lamp. A favourite grisette is fixed upon, and +invited to share the glory, the cabbage, the inspiration, +and the garret of the exalted journeyman +or truant scholar. It is said that the whole of +this class of authors are supposed to place particular +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_363" id="Page_363">363</a></span> +faith in that tinsel sentiment, so prettily and poetically +untrue,—</p> + +<div class="poem"> +<p class="o1">"Love, light as air, at sight of human ties,</p> +<p>Spreads his bright wings, and in a moment flies;"</p> +</div> + +<p>and the inspired young man gently insinuates his +unfettered ideas on the subject to the chosen fair +one, who, if her acquaintance has lain much +among these "fully-developed intelligences," is +not unfrequently found to be as sublime in her +notions of such subjects as himself; so the interesting +little ménage is monté on the immortal +basis of freedom.</p> + +<p>Then comes the literary labour, and its monstrous +birth—a volume of tales, glowing with +love and murder, blasphemy and treason, or +downright obscenity, affecting to clothe itself in +the playful drapery of wit. It is not difficult +to find a publisher who knows where to meet +with young customers ever ready to barter their +last sous for such commodities, and the bargain +is made.</p> + +<p>At the actual sight and at the actual touch +of the unhoped-for sum of three hundred francs, +the flood of inspiration rises higher still. More +hideous love and bloodier murders, more phrensied +blasphemy and deadlier treason, follow; and +thus the fair metropolis of France is furnished +with intellectual food for the craving appetites of +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_364" id="Page_364">364</a></span> +the most useful and productive part of its population.</p> + +<p>Can we wonder that the Morgue is seldom +untenanted?... or that the tender hand of affection +is so often seen to pillow its loved victim +where the fumes of charcoal shall soon extinguish +a life too precious to be prolonged in a +world where laws still exist, and where man +must live, and woman too, by the sweat of +their brows?</p> + +<p>It was some time after the conversation in +which I received this sketch, that I fell into +company with an Englishman who enjoys the +reputation of high cultivation and considerable +talent, and who certainly is not without that +species of power in conversation which is produced +by the belief that hyperbole is the soul +of eloquence, and the stout defence of a paradox +the highest proof of intellectual strength.</p> + +<p>To say I <i>conversed</i> with this gifted individual +would hardly be correct; but I listened to him, +and gained thereby additional confirmation of a +fact which I had repeatedly heard insisted on in +Paris, that admiration for the present French +school of décousu writing is manifested by critics +of a higher class in England than could be found +to tolerate it in France.</p> + +<p>"Have you read the works of the <i>young men</i> +of France?" was the comprehensive question by +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_365" id="Page_365">365</a></span> +which this gentleman opened the flood-gates of +the eloquence which was intended to prove, that +without having studied well the bold and sublime +compositions which have been put forth by this +class, no one had a right to form a judgment of +the existing state of human intelligence.</p> + +<p>For myself, I confess that my reading in this +line, though greatly beyond what was agreeable +to my taste, has never approached anything that +deserved the name of study; and, indeed, I should +as soon have thought of forming an estimate of +the "existing state of human intelligence" from +the height to which the boys of Paris made their +kites mount from the top of Montmartre, as +from the compositions to which he alluded: but, +nevertheless, I listened to him very attentively; +and I only wish that my memory would serve +me, that I might repeat to you all the fine things +he said in praise of a multitude of authors, of +whom, however, it is more than probable you +never heard, and of works that it is hardly possible +you should have ever seen.</p> + +<p>It would be difficult to give you any just +idea of the energy and enthusiasm which he +manifested on this subject. His eyes almost +started from his head, and the blood rushed +over his face and temples, when one of the party +hinted that the taste in which most of these +works were composed was not of the most classic +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_366" id="Page_366">366</a></span> +elegance, nor their apparent object any very high +degree of moral utility.</p> + +<p>It is a well-known fact that people are seldom +angry when they are quite in the right; and I +believe it is equally rare to see such an extremity +of vehemence as this individual displayed in asserting +the high intellectual claims of his favourites +exhibited on any question where reason and +truth are on the side espoused by the speaker. +I never saw the veins of the forehead swell in +an attempt to prove that "Hamlet" was a fine +tragedy, or that "Ivanhoe" was a fine romance; +but on this occasion most of the company shrank +into silence before the impassioned pleadings of +this advocate for ... modern French historiettes.</p> + +<p>In the course of the discussion many <i>young</i> +names were cited; and when a few very palpable +hits were made to tell on the literary reputations +of some among them, the critic seemed +suddenly determined to shake off all slighter +skirmishing, and to defend the broad battle-field +of the cause under the distinguished banner of +M. Balzac himself. And here, I confess, he had +most decidedly the advantage of me; for my +acquaintance with the writings of this gentleman +was exceedingly slight and superficial,—whereas +he appeared to have studied every line +he has ever written, with a feeling of reverence +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_367" id="Page_367">367</a></span> +that seemed almost to bear a character of religious +devotion. Among many of his works whose +names he cited with enthusiasm, that entitled +"La Peau de Chagrin" was the one which evidently +raised his spirit to the most exalted pitch. +It is difficult to imagine admiration and delight +expressed more forcibly; and as I had never +read a single line of this "Peau de Chagrin," my +preconceived notions of the merit of M. Balzac's +compositions really gave way before his enthusiasm; +and I not only made a silent resolution +to peruse this incomparable work with as little +delay as possible, but I do assure you that I +really and truly expected to find in it some very +striking traits of genius, and a perfection of natural +feeling and deep pathos which could not +fail to give me pleasure, whatever I might think +of the tone of its principles or the correctness of +its moral tendency.</p> + +<p>Early then on the following morning I sent +for "La Peau de Chagrin."... I have not the +slightest wish or intention of entering into a critical +examination of its merits; it would be hardly +possible, I think, to occupy time more unprofitably: +but as every author makes use of his +preface to speak in his own person, whatever one +finds written there assuming the form of a literary +dictum may be quoted with propriety as furnishing +the best and fairest testimony of his opinions, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_368" id="Page_368">368</a></span> +and I will therefore take the liberty of transcribing +a few short sentences from the preface +of M. Balzac, for the purpose of directing your +attention to the theory upon which it is his intention +to raise his literary reputation.</p> + +<p>The preface to "La Peau de Chagrin" appears +to be written chiefly for the purpose of excusing +the licentiousness of a former work entitled "La +Physiologie du Mariage." In speaking of this +work he says, frankly enough certainly, that it +was written as "une tentative faite pour retourner +à la littérature fine, vive, railleuse et +gaie du dix-huitième siècle, où les auteurs ne +se tenaient pas toujours droits et raides.... +L'auteur de ce livre cherche à favoriser la réaction +littéraire que préparent certains bons esprits.... +Il ne comprend pas la pruderie, l'hypocrisie +de nos mœurs, et refuse, du reste, aux gens +blasés le droit d'être difficiles."</p> + +<p>This is telling his readers fairly enough what +they have to expect; and if after this they will +persist in plunging headlong into the mud which +nearly a century of constantly-increasing refinement +has gone far to drag us out of ... why +they must.</p> + +<p>As another reason why his pen has done ... +what it has done, M. Balzac tells us that it is +absolutely necessary to have something in a <i>genre</i> +unlike anything that the public has lately been +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_369" id="Page_369">369</a></span> +familiar with. He says that the reading world +(which is in fact all the world) "est las aujourd'hui" +... of a great many different styles +of composition which he enumerates, summing up +all with ... "et l'Histoire de France, Walter-Scottée.... +Que nous reste-t-il donc?" he continues. +"Si le public condamne les efforts des +écrivains qui essaient de remettre en honneur la +littérature <i>franche</i> de nos ancêtres...."</p> + +<p>As another specimen of the theories of these +new immortals, let me also quote the following +sentence:—"Si Polyeucte n'existait pas, plus d'un +poète moderne est capable de <i>refaire</i> Corneille."</p> + +<p>Again, as a reason for going back to the tone of +literature which he has chosen, he says,—"Les +auteurs ont souvent raison dans leurs impertinences +contre le tems présent. Le monde nous +demande de belles peintures—où en seraient les +types? Vos habits mesquins—vos révolutions +manquées—vos bourgeois discoureurs—votre religion +morte—vos pouvoirs éteints—vos rois en demi-solde—sont-ils +donc si poétiques qu'il faille vous +les transfigurer?... Nous ne pouvons aujourd'hui +que nous moquer—la raillerie est toute la littérature +des sociétés expirantes."</p> + +<p>M. Balzac concludes this curious essay on modern +literature thus:—"Enfin, le tems présent +marche si vite—la vie intellectuelle déborde partout +avec tant de force, que plusieurs idées ont +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_370" id="Page_370">370</a></span> +vieilli pendant que l'auteur imprimait son ouvrage."</p> + +<p>This last phrase is admirable, and gives the +best and clearest idea of the notions of the school +on the subject of composition that I have anywhere +met with. Imagine Shakspeare and Spenser, +Swift and Pope, Voltaire and Rousseau, publishing +a work with a similar prefatory apology!... +But M. Balzac is quite right. The ideas that are +generated to-day will be old to-morrow, and dead +and buried the day after. I should indeed be +truly sorry to differ from him on this point; for +herein lies the only consolation that the wisdom of +man can suggest for the heavy calamity of witnessing +the unprecedented perversion of the human +understanding which marks the present hour. <span class="smcap">It +will not last</span>: Common Sense will reclaim her +rights, and our children will learn to laugh at +these spasmodic efforts to be great and original as +cordially as Cervantes did at the chronicles of +knight-errantry which turned his hero's brain. +</p> + +<h2>LETTER LXXII.</h2> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_371" id="Page_371">371</a></span></p> + +<p class="ch_open"> +Breaking-up of the Paris season.—Soirée at Madame +Récamier's.—Recitation.—Storm.—Disappointment.—Atonement.—Farewell. +</p> + +<p>My letters from Paris, my dear friend, must +now be brought to a close—and perhaps you will +say that it is high time it should be so. The summer +sun has in truth got so high into the heavens, +that its perpendicular beams are beginning to make +all the gay folks in Paris fret—or, at any rate, run +away. Everybody we see is preparing to be off +in some direction or other,—some to the sea, some +to philosophise under the shadow of their own +vines, and some, happier than all the rest, to visit +the enchanting watering-places of lovely Germany.</p> + +<p>We too have at length fixed the day for our +departure, and this is positively the last letter you +will receive from me dated from the beauteous +capital of the Great Nation. It is lucky for our +sensibilities, or for our love of pleasure, or for any +other feeling that goes to make up the disagreeable +emotion usually produced by saying farewell to +scenes where we have been very happy, that the +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_372" id="Page_372">372</a></span> +majority of those whose society made them delightful +are going to say farewell to them likewise: +leaving Paris a month ago would have been a +much more dismal business to us than leaving it +now.</p> + +<p>Our last soirée has been passed at the Abbaye-aux-Bois; +and often as I have taken you there +already, I must describe this last evening, because +the manner in which we passed it was more essentially +un-English than any other.</p> + +<p>About ten days before this our farewell visit, +we met, at one of Madame Récamier's delightful +reception-nights, a M. Lafond, a tragic actor of +such distinguished merit, that even in the days of +Talma he contrived, as I understand, to obtain a +high reputation in Paris, though I do not believe +his name is much known to us;—in fact, the fame +of Talma so completely overshadowed every other +in his own walk, that few actors of his day were +remembered in England when the subject of the +French drama was on the tapis.</p> + +<p>On the evening we met this gentleman at the +Abbaye-aux-Bois, he was prevailed upon by our +charming hostess (to whom I suspect that nobody +can be found tough enough to pronounce a refusal +of anything she asks) to recite a very spirited address +from the pen of Casimir Delavigne to the +people of Rouen, which M. Lafond had publicly +spoken in the theatre of that city when the statue +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_373" id="Page_373">373</a></span> +of Racine, who was native to it, was erected +there.</p> + +<p>The verses are good, full of fervour, spirit and +true poetical feeling, and the manner in which +they were spoken by M. Lafond gave them their +full effect. The whole scene was, indeed, striking +and beautiful. A circle of elegant women,—among +whom, by the way, was a niece of Napoleon's,—surrounded +the performer: the gentlemen +were stationed in groups behind them; while the +inspired figure of Gérard's Corinne, strongly brought +forward from the rest of the picture by a very +skilful arrangement of lamps concealed from the +eye of the spectator, really looked like the Genius +of Poetry standing apart in her own proper atmosphere +of golden light to listen to the honours +rendered to one of her favourite sons.</p> + +<p>I was greatly delighted; and Madame Récamier, +who perceived the pleasure which this recitation +gave me, proposed to me that I should come to her +on a future evening to hear M. Lafond read a play +of Racine's.</p> + +<p>No proposition could have been more agreeable +to us all. The party was immediately arranged; +M. Lafond promised to be punctually there at the +hour named, and we returned home well pleased +to think that the last soirée we should pass in +Paris would be occupied so delightfully.</p> + +<p>Last night was the time fixed for this engagement. +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_374" id="Page_374">374</a></span> +The morning was fair, but there was no +movement in the air, and the heat was intense. +As the day advanced, thick clouds came to shelter +us from the sun while we set forth to make some +of our last farewell calls; but they brought no coolness +with them, and their gloomy shade afforded +little relief from the heavy heat that oppressed +us: on the contrary, the sultry weight of the +atmosphere seemed to increase every moment, and +we were soon driven home by the ominous blackness +which appeared to rest on every object, giving +very intelligible notice of a violent summer-storm.</p> + +<p>It was not, however, till late in the evening +that the full fury of this threatened deluge fell +upon Paris; but about nine o'clock it really seemed +as if an ocean had broken through the dark +canopy above us, so violent were the torrents of +rain which then fell in one vast waterspout upon +her roofs.</p> + +<p>We listened to the rushing sound with very +considerable uneasiness, for our anxious thoughts +were fixed upon our promised visit to the Abbaye-aux-Bois; +and we immediately gave orders that +the porter's scout—a sturdy little personage well +known to be good at need—should be despatched +without a moment's delay for a fiacre: and you +never, I am sure, saw a more blank set of faces +than those exhibited in our drawing-room when +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_375" id="Page_375">375</a></span> +the tidings reached us that not a single voiture +could be found!</p> + +<p>After a moment's consultation, it was decided +that the experienced porter himself should be +humbly requested to run the risk of being drowned +in one direction, while his attendant satellite +again dared the same fate in another. This +prompt and spirited decision produced at length +the desired effect; and after another feverish half-hour +of expectation, we had the inexpressible +delight of finding ourselves safely enveloped in +cloaks, which rendered it highly probable we +might be able to step from the vehicle without +getting wet to the skin, and deposited in the +corners of one of those curiously-contrived swinging +machines, whose motion is such that nothing +but long practice or the most vigilant care can +enable you to endure without losing your balance, +and running a very dangerous tilt against +the head of your opposite neighbour with your +own.</p> + +<p>I never quitted the shelter of a roof in so unmerciful +a night. The rain battered the top of +our vehicle as if enraged at the opposition it presented +to its impetuous descent upon the earth. +The thunder roared loud above the rattling and +creaking of all the crazy wheels we met, as well as +the ceaseless grinding of those which carried us; +and the lightning flashed with such rapidity and +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_376" id="Page_376">376</a></span> +brightness, that the very mud we dashed through +seemed illuminated.</p> + +<p>The effect of this storm as we passed the Pont +Neuf was really beautiful. One instant our eyes +looked out upon the thickest darkness; and the +next, the old towers of Notre Dame, the pointed +roofs of the Palais de Justice, and the fine bold +elevation of St. Jacques, were "instant seen and +instant gone." One bright blue flash fell full, as +we dashed by it, on the noble figure of Henri +Quatre, and the statua gentilissima, horse and +all, looked as ghastly and as spectre-like as heart +could wish.</p> + +<p>At length we reached the lofty iron grille of +the venerable Abbaye. The ample court was +filled with carriages: we felt that we were late, +and hastening up the spacious stairs, in a moment +found ourselves in a region as different as possible +from that we had left. Instead of darkness, we +were surrounded by a flood of light; rain and +the howling blast were exchanged for smiles and +gentle greetings; and the growling thunder of the +storm, for the sweet voice of Madame Récamier, +which told us however that M. Lafond was not +yet arrived.</p> + +<p>As the party expected was a large one, it was +Miss C——'s noble saloon that received us. It +was already nearly full, but its stately monastic +doors still continued to open from time to time +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_377" id="Page_377">377</a></span> +for the reception of new arrivals—yet still M. +Lafond came not.</p> + +<p>At length, when disappointment was beginning +to take place of expectation, a note arrived from +the tragedian to Madame Récamier, stating that +the deluge of rain which had fallen rendered the +streets of Paris utterly impassable without a carriage, +and the same cause made it absolutely impossible +to procure one; ergo, we could have no +M. Lafond—no Racine.</p> + +<p>Such a contre-tems as this, however, is by +no means very difficult to bear at the Abbaye-aux-Bois. +But Madame Récamier appeared very +sorry for it, though nobody else did; and admirable +as M. Lafond's reading is known to be, I +am persuaded that the idea of her being vexed by +his failing to appear caused infinitely more regret +to every one present than the loss of a dozen tragedies +could have done. And then it was that +the spirit of genuine French <i>amabilité</i> shone forth; +and in order to chase whatever was disagreeable +in this change in the destination of our evening's +occupations, one of the gentlemen present most +good-humouredly consented to recite some verses +of his own, which, both from their own merit, and +from the graceful and amiable manner in which +they were given, were well calculated to remove +every shadow of dissatisfaction from all who heard +them. +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_378" id="Page_378">378</a></span></p> + +<p>This example was immediately followed in the +same delightful spirit by another, who in like +manner gave us more than one proof of his own +poetic power, as well as of that charming national +amenity of manner which knows so well how to +round and polish every rough and jutting corner +which untoward accidents may and must occasionally +throw across the path of life.</p> + +<p>One of the pieces thus recited was an extremely +pretty legend, called, if I mistake not, "Les +Sœurs Grises," in which there is a sweet and +touching description of a female character made +up of softness, goodness, and grace. As this description +fell trait by trait from the lips of the +poet, many an eye turned involuntarily towards +Madame Récamier; and the Duchesse d'Abrantes, +near whom I was sitting, making a slight movement +of the hand in the same direction, said in +a half whisper,—</p> + +<p>"C'est bien elle!"</p> + +<hr class="l30" /> + +<p>On the whole, therefore, our disappointment +was but lightly felt; and when we rose to quit +this delightful Abbaye-aux-Bois for the last time, +all the regret of which we were conscious arose +from recollecting how doubtful it was whether +we should ever find ourselves within its venerable +walls again. +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_379" id="Page_379">379</a></span></p> + +<h2>POSTSCRIPT.</h2> + +<p>The letters which are herewith presented to +the public contain nothing beyond passing notices +of such objects as chiefly attracted my attention +during nine very agreeable weeks passed amidst +the care-killing amusements of Paris. I hardly +know what they contain; for though I have +certainly been desirous of giving my correspondent, +as far as I was able, some idea of Paris +at the present day, I have been at least equally +anxious to avoid everything approaching to so +presumptuous an attempt as it would have been +to give a detailed history of all that was going +on there during the period of our stay.</p> + +<p>These letters, therefore, have been designedly +as unconnected as possible: I have in this been +<i>décousu</i> upon principle, and would rather have +given a regular journal, after the manner of +Lloyd's List, noting all the diligences which +have come in and gone out of "la belle ville" +during my stay there, than have attempted to +analyse and define the many unintelligible incongruities +which appeared to me to mark the +race and mark the time. +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_380" id="Page_380">380</a></span></p> + +<p>But though I felt quite incapable of philosophically +examining this copious subject, or, in +fact, of going one inch beneath the surface while +describing the outward aspect of all around me, +I cannot but confess that the very incongruity +which I dared not pretend to analyse appeared to +me by far the most remarkable feature in the present +state of the country.</p> + +<p>There has, I know, always been something of +this kind attributed to the French character. +Splendour and poverty—grace and grimace—delicacy +and filth—learning and folly—science and +frivolity, have often been observed among them +in a closeness of juxta-position quite unexampled +elsewhere; but of late it has become infinitely +more conspicuous,—or rather, perhaps, this want +of consistency has seemed to embrace objects of +more importance than formerly. Heretofore, +though it was often suspected in graver matters, +it was openly demonstrated only on points which +concerned the externals of society rather than the +vital interests of the country; but from the removal +of that restraint which old laws, old customs, +and old authority imposed upon the public +acts of the people, the unsettled temper of mind +which in time past showed itself only in what +might, comparatively speaking, be called trifles, +may in these latter days be traced without much +difficulty in affairs of much greater moment.</p> + +<p>No one of any party will now deny, I believe, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_381" id="Page_381">381</a></span> +that many things which by their very nature +appear to be incompatible have been lately seen +to exist in Paris, side by side, in a manner which +certainly resembled nothing that could be found +elsewhere.</p> + +<p>As instances of this kind pressed upon me, I +have sometimes felt as if I had got behind the +scenes of a theatre, and that all sorts of materials, +for all sorts of performances, were jumbled together +around me, that they might be ready at +a moment's notice if called for. Here a crown—there +a cap of liberty. On this peg, a mantle +embroidered with fleurs-de-lis; on that, a tri-coloured +flag. In one corner, all the paraphernalia +necessary to deck out the pomp and pageantry of +the Catholic church; and in another, all the +symbols that can be found which might enable +them to show respect and honour to Jews, Turks, +infidels, and heretics. In this department might +be seen very noble preparations to support a +grand military spectacle; and in that, all the +prettiest pageants in the world, to typify eternal +peace.</p> + +<p>I saw all these things, for it was impossible +not to see them; but as to the scene-shifters who +were to prepare the different tableaux, I in truth +knew nothing about them. Their trap-doors, +wires, and other machinery were very wisely +kept out of sight of such eyes as mine; for had +I known anything of the matter, I should most +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_382" id="Page_382">382</a></span> +assuredly have told it all, which would greatly +tend to mar the effect of the next change of +decorations.</p> + +<p>It was with this feeling, and in this spirit of +purely superficial observation, that the foregoing +letters were written; but, ere I commit them to +the press, I wish to add a few graver thoughts +which rest upon my mind as the result of all +that I saw and heard while at Paris, connected +as they now are with the eventful changes which +have occurred in the short interval that has +elapsed since I left it.</p> + +<p>"<i>The country is in a state of transition</i>," is a +phrase which I have often listened to, and often +been disposed to laugh at, as a sort of oracular +interpretation of paradoxes which, in truth, no +one could understand: but the phrase may now +be used without any Delphic obscurity. France +was indeed in a state of transition exactly at +the period of which I have been writing; but +this uncertain state is past, nearly all the puzzling +anomalies which so completely defied interpretation +have disappeared, and it may now be fairly +permitted, to simple-minded travellers who pretend +not to any conjuring skill, to guess a little +what she is about.</p> + +<p>I revisited France with that animating sensation +of pleasure which arises from the hope of +reviving old and agreeable impressions; but this +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_383" id="Page_383">383</a></span> +pleasure was nevertheless dashed with such feeling +of regret as an <i>English conservative</i> may be +supposed to feel for the popular violence which +had banished from her throne its legitimate +sovereign.</p> + +<p>As an abstract question of right and wrong, +my opinion of this act cannot change; but the +deed is done,—France has chosen to set aside +the claim of the prince who by the law of hereditary +succession has a right to the crown, in +favour of another prince of the same royal line, +whom in her policy she deems more capable of +insuring the prosperity of the country. The deed +is done; and the welfare of tens of millions who +had, perhaps, no active share in bringing it about +now hangs upon the continuance of the tranquillity +which has followed the change.</p> + +<p>However deep therefore may be the respect +felt for those who, having sworn fealty to Charles +the Tenth, continue steadfastly undeviating in +their declaration of his right, and firm in their +refusal to recognise that of any other, still a +stranger and sojourner in the land may honestly +acknowledge the belief that the prosperity of +France at the present hour depends upon her +allegiance to the king she has chosen, without +being accused of advocating the cause of revolution.</p> + +<p>To judge fairly of France as she actually exists, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_384" id="Page_384">384</a></span> +it is absolutely necessary to throw aside all memory +of the purer course she might have pursued +five years ago, by the temperate pleading of her +chartered rights, to obtain redress of such evils +as really existed. The popular clamour which +rose and did the work of revolution, though it +originated with factious demagogues and idle boys, +left the new power it had set in action in the +hands of men capable of redeeming the noble +country they were called to govern from the +state of disjointed weakness in which they found +it. The task has been one of almost unequalled +difficulty and peril; but every day gives greater +confidence to the hope, that after forty years of +blundering, blustering policy, and changes so multiplied +as to render the very name of revolution +ridiculous, this superb kingdom, so long our rival, +and now, as we firmly trust, our most assured +ally, will establish her government on a basis +firm enough to strengthen the cause of social +order and happiness throughout all Europe.</p> + +<p>The days, thank Heaven! are past when Englishmen +believed it patriotic to deny their Gallic +neighbours every faculty except those of making +a bow and of eating a frog, while they were repaid +by all the weighty satire comprised in the +two impressive words <span class="smcap">John Bull</span>. We now +know each other better—we have had a long +fight, and we shake hands across the water with +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_385" id="Page_385">385</a></span> +all the mutual good-will and respect which is +generated by a hard struggle, bravely sustained +on both sides, and finally terminated by a hearty +reconciliation.</p> + +<p>The position, the prospects, the prosperity of +France are become a subject of the deepest interest +to the English nation; and it is therefore that +the observations of any one who has been a recent +looker-on there may have some value, even +though they are professedly drawn from the surface +only. But when did ever the surface of human +affairs present an aspect so full of interest? +Now that so many of the circumstances which +have been alluded to above as puzzling and incongruous +have been interpreted by the unexpected +events which have lately crowded upon each other, +I feel aware that I have indeed been looking on +upon the dénouement of one of the most interesting +political dramas that ever was enacted. The +movements of King Philippe remind one of those +by which a bold rider settles himself in the saddle, +when he has made up his mind for a rough +ride, and is quite determined not to be thrown. +When he first mounted, indeed, he took his seat +less firmly; one groom held the stirrup, another +the reins: he felt doubtful how far he should be +likely to go—the weather looked cloudy—he +might dismount directly.... But soon the sun +burst from behind the cloud that threatened him: +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_386" id="Page_386">386</a></span> +Now for it, then! neck or nothing! He orders +his girths to be tightened, his curb to be well set, +and the reins fairly and horsemanly put into his +hands.... Now he is off! and may his ride be +prosperous!—for should he fall, it is impossible to +guess how the dust which such a catastrophe +might raise would settle itself.</p> + +<p>The interest which his situation excites is sufficiently +awakening, and produces a species of romantic +feeling, that may be compared to what +the spectators experienced in the tournaments of +old, when they sat quietly by to watch the result +of a combat <i>à outrance</i>. But greater, far greater +is the interest produced by getting a near view of +the wishes and hopes of the great people who +have placed their destinies in his hands.</p> + +<p>Nothing that is going on in Paris—in the +Chamber of Deputies, in the Chamber of Peers, or +even in the Cabinet of the King—could touch me +so much, or give me half so much pleasure to +listen to, as the tone in which I have heard some +of the most distinguished men in France speak of +the repeated changes and revolutions in her government.</p> + +<p>It is not in one or two instances only that I +have remarked this tone,—in fact, I might say +that I have met it whenever I was in the society +of those whose opinions especially deserved attention. +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_387" id="Page_387">387</a></span> +I hardly know, however, how to describe +it, for it cannot be done by repeating isolated +phrases and observations. I should say, that it +marks distinctly a consciousness that such frequent +changes are not creditable to any nation—that +they feel half ashamed to talk of them gravely, +yet more than half vexed to speak of the land +they love with anything approaching to lightness +or contempt. That the men of whom I speak do +love their country with a true, devoted, Romanlike +attachment, I am quite sure; and I never remember +to have felt the conviction that I was +listening to real patriots so strongly as when I +have heard them reason on the causes, deplore the +effects, and deprecate the recurrence of these direful +and devastating convulsions.</p> + +<p>It is, if I mistake not, this noble feeling of +wishing to preserve their country from the disgrace +of any farther demonstrations of such frail +inconstancy, which will tend to keep Louis-Philippe +on his throne as much, or even more perhaps, +than that newly-awakened energy in favour +of the <i>boutique</i> and the <i>bourse</i> of which we hear +so much.</p> + +<p>It is nowise surprising that this proud but virtuous +sentiment should yet exist, notwithstanding +all that has happened to check and to chill it. +Frenchmen have still much of which they may +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_388" id="Page_388">388</a></span> +justly boast. After a greater continuance of external +war and internal commotion than perhaps +any country was ever exposed to within the same +space of time, France is in no degree behind the +most favoured nations of Europe in any one of +the advantages which have ever been considered +as among the especial blessings of peace. Tremendous +as have been her efforts and her struggles, +the march of science has never faltered: +the fine arts have been cherished with unremitting +zeal and a most constant care, even while +every citizen was a soldier; and now, in this +breathing-time that Heaven has granted her, she +presents a spectacle of hopeful industry, active +improvement, and prosperous energy, which is unequalled, +I believe, in any European country except +our own.</p> + +<p>Can we wonder, then, that the nation is disposed +to rally round a prince whom Fate seems to have +given expressly as an anchor to keep her firm and +steady through the heavy swell that the late storms +have left? Can we wonder that feelings, and +even principles, are found to bend before an influence +so salutary and so strong?</p> + +<p>However irregular the manner in which he +ascended the throne, Louis-Philippe had himself +little more to do with it than yielding to the voice +of the triumphant party who called upon him to +mount its troublesome pre-eminence; and at the +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_389" id="Page_389">389</a></span> +moment he did so, he might very fairly have exclaimed—</p> + +<div class="poem"> +<p class="o1">"If chance will have me king, why chance may crown me</p> +<p>Without my stir."</p> +</div> + +<hr class="l30" /> + +<p>Never certainly did any event brought on by +tumult and confusion give such fair promise of +producing eventually the reverse, as the accession +of King Louis-Philippe to the throne of +France.</p> + +<p>The manner of this unexpected change itself, +the scenes which led to it, and even the state +of parties and of feelings which came afterwards, +all bore a character of unsettled confusion which +threatened every species of misery to the country.</p> + +<p>When we look back upon this period, all the +events which occurred during the course of it appear +like the rough and ill-assorted fragments of +worsted on the reverse of a piece of tapestry. No +one could guess, not even the agents in them, +what the final result would be. But they were +at work upon a design drawn by the all-powerful +and unerring hand of Providence; and strange +as the medley has appeared to us during the process, +the whole when completed seems likely to +produce an excellent effect.</p> + +<p>The incongruous elements, however, of which +the chaos was composed from whence this new +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_390" id="Page_390">390</a></span> +order of things was to arise, though daily and by +slow degrees assuming shape and form, were still +in a state of "most admired disorder" during our +abode in Paris. It was impossible to guess where-unto +all those things tended which were evidently +in movement around us; and the signs of the +times were in many instances so contrary to each +other, that nothing was left for those who came +to view the land, but to gaze—to wonder, and +pass on, without attempting to reconcile contradictions +so totally unintelligible.</p> + +<p>But, during the few weeks that have elapsed +since I left the capital of France, this obscurity +has been dispersed like a mist. It was the explosion +of an infernal machine that scattered it; +but it is the light of heaven that now shines upon +the land, making visible to the whole world on +what foundation rest its hopes, and by what +means they shall be brought to fruition.</p> + +<p>Never, perhaps, did even a successful attempt +upon the life of an individual produce results so +important as those likely to ensue from the failure +of the atrocious plot against the King of the +French and his sons. It has roused the whole +nation as a sleeping army is roused by the sound +of a trumpet. The indifferent, the doubting—nay, +even the adverse, are now bound together by +one common feeling: an assassin has raised his +daring arm against France, and France in an +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_391" id="Page_391">391</a></span> +instant assumes an attitude so firm, so bold, so +steady, and so powerful, that all her enemies must +quail before it.</p> + +<p>As for the wretched faction who sent forth this +bloody agent to do their work, they stand now +before the face of all men in the broad light of +truth. High and noble natures may sometimes +reason amiss, and may mistake the worse cause +for the better; but however deeply this may +involve them in error, it will not lead them one +inch towards crime. Such men have nothing in +common with the republicans of 1835.</p> + +<p>From their earliest existence as a party, these +republicans have avowed themselves the unrelenting +enemies of all the powers that be: social +order, and all that sustains it, is their abhorrence; +and neither honour, conscience, nor humanity has +force sufficient to restrain them from the most +hideous crimes when its destruction is the object +proposed. Honest men of all shades of political +opinion must agree in considering this unbridled +faction as the common enemies of the human race. +In every struggle to sustain the laws which bind +society together, their hand is against every man; +and the inevitable consequence must and will be, +that every man's hand shall be against them.</p> + +<p>Deplorable therefore as were the consequences +of the Fieschi plot in its partial murderous success, +it is likely to prove in its ultimate result of the +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_392" id="Page_392">392</a></span> +most important and lasting benefit to France. It +has given union and strength to her councils, +energy and boldness to her acts; and if it be the +will of Heaven that anything shall stay the plague +of insurrection and revolt which, with infection +more fearful than that of the Asiatic pest, has +tainted the air of Europe with its poisonous breath, +it is from France, where the evil first arose, that +the antidote to it is most likely to come.</p> + +<p>It will be in vain that any republican clamour +shall attempt to stigmatise the acts of the French +legislature with the odium of an undue and tyrannical +use of the power which it has been compelled +to assume. The system upon which this +legislature has bound itself to act is in its very +nature incompatible with individual power and +individual ambition: its acts may be absolute—and +high time is it that they should be so,—but +the absolutism will not be that of an autocrat.</p> + +<p>The theory of the doctrinaire government is not +so well, or at least so generally, understood as it +will be; but every day is making it better known +to Europe,—and whether the new principles on +which it is founded be approved or not, its power +will be seen to rest upon them, and not upon the +tyrannical will of any man or body of men +whatever.</p> + +<p>It is not uncommon to hear persons declare +that they understand no difference between the +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_393" id="Page_393">393</a></span> +juste-milieu party and that of the doctrinaires; +but they cannot have listened very attentively to +the reasonings of either party.</p> + +<p>The juste-milieu party, if I understand them +aright, consists of politicians whose principles are +in exact conformity to the expressive title they +have chosen. They approve neither of a pure +despotism nor of a pure democracy, but plead for +a justly-balanced constitutional government with +a monarch at its head.</p> + +<p>The doctrinaires are much less definite in their +specification of the form of government which they +believe the circumstances of France to require. It +might be thought indeed, from some of their speculations, +that they were almost indifferent as to +what form the government should assume, or by +what name it should be known to the world, provided +always that it have within itself power and +efficacy sufficient to adopt and carry into vigorous +effect such measures as its chiefs shall deem most +beneficial to the country for the time being. A +government formed on these principles can pledge +itself by no guarantee to any particular line of +politics, and the country must rest contented in +the belief that its interests shall be cared for by +those who are placed in a situation to control +them.</p> + +<p>Upon these principles, it is evident that the +circumstances in which the country is placed, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_394" id="Page_394">394</a></span> +internally and externally, must regulate the policy +of her cabinet, and not any abstract theory connected +with the name assumed by her government. +Thus despotism may be the offspring of a republic; +and liberty, the gift of a dynasty which has +reigned for ages by right divine.</p> + +<p>M. de Carné, a political writer of much ability, in +his essay on parties and "le mouvement actuel," +ridicules in a spirit of keen satire the idea that any +order of men in France at the present day should +be supposed to interest themselves seriously for +any abstract political opinion.</p> + +<p>"Croit-on bien sérieusement encore," he says, +"au mécanisme constitutionnel—à la multiplicité +de ses poids et contre-poids—à l'inviolabilité sacrée +de la pensée dirigeante, combinée avec la responsabilité +d'argent?"...</p> + +<p>And again he says,—"Est-il beaucoup d'esprits +graves qui attachent aujourd'hui une importance +de premier ordre pour le bien-être moral et matériel +de la race humaine à la substitution d'une +présidence américaine, à la royauté de 1830?"</p> + +<p>It is evident from the tone sustained through +the whole of this ingenious essay, that it is the +object of M. Carné to convince his readers of the +equal and total futility of every political creed +founded on any fixed and abstract principle. Who +is it, he asks, "qui a établi en France un despotisme +dont on ne trouve d'exemple qu'en remontant +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_395" id="Page_395">395</a></span> +aux monarchies de l'Asie?—Napoleon—lequel +régnait comme les Césars Romains, en vertu de la +souveraineté du peuple. Qui a fondé, après tant +d'impuissantes tentatives, une liberté sérieuse, et +l'a fait entrer dans nos mœurs au point de ne pouvoir +plus lui résister?—La maison de Bourbon, +qui régnait par le droit divin."</p> + +<p>In advocating this system of intrusting the +right as well as the power of governing a country +to the hands of its rulers, without exacting from +them a pledge that their measures shall be guided +by theoretical instead of practical wisdom, M. +Carné naturally refers to his own—that is to say, +the doctrinaire party, and expresses himself thus:—"Cette +disposition à chercher dans les circonstances +et dans la morale privée la seule règle +d'action politique, a donné naissance à un parti qui +s'est trop hâté de se produire, mais chez lequel il +y a assez d'avenir pour résister à ses propres fautes. +Il serait difficile d'en formuler le programme, si +vaporeux encore, autrement qu'en disant qu'il +s'attache à substituer l'étude des lois de la richesse +publique aux spéculations constitutionnelles, dont +le principal résultat est d'équilibrer sur le papier +des forces qui se déplacent inévitablement dans +leur action."</p> + +<p>It is certainly possible that this distaste for +pledging themselves to any form or system of +government, and the apparent readiness to accommodate +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_396" id="Page_396">396</a></span> +their principles to the exigences of the +hour, may be as much the result of weariness +arising from all the restless experiments they have +made, as from conviction that this loose mode of +wearing a political colour, ready to drop it, or +change it according to circumstances, is in reality +the best condition in which a great nation can +place itself.</p> + +<p>It can hardly be doubted that the French people +have become as weary of changes and experiments +as their neighbours are of watching +them. They have tried revolutions of every size +and form till they are satiated, and their spirits +are worn out and exhausted by the labour of +making new projects of laws, new charters, and +new kings. It is, in truth, contrary to their +nature to be kept so long at work. No people +in the world, perhaps, have equal energy in springing +forward to answer some sudden call, whether +it be to pull down a Bastile with Lafayette, to +overturn a throne with Robespierre, to overrun +Europe with Napoleon, or to reorganise a monarchy +with Louis-Philippe. All these deeds could +be done with enthusiasm, and therefore they +were natural to Frenchmen. But that the mass +of the people should for long years together check +their gay spirits, and submit themselves, without +the recompense of any striking stage effect, to +prose over the thorny theories of untried governments, +is quite impossible,—for such a state would +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_397" id="Page_397">397</a></span> +be utterly hostile to the strongest propensities of +the people. "Chassez le naturel, il revient au +galop." It is for this reason that "<i>la loi bourgeoise</i>" +has been proclaimed; which being interpreted, +certainly means the law of being contented +to remain as they are, making themselves +as rich and as comfortable as they possibly can, +under the shelter of a king who has the will and +the power to protect them.</p> + +<p>M. Carné truly says,—"Le plus puissant argument +que puisse employer la royauté pour tenir +en respect la bourgeoisie, est celui dont usait l'astrologue +de Louis Onze pour avoir raison des capricieuses +velléités de son maître,—'Je mourrai juste +trois jours avant votre majesté.'"</p> + +<p>This quotation, though it sound not very +courtier-like, may be uttered before Louis-Philippe +without offence; for it is impossible, let +one's previous political bias have been what it +will, not to perceive in every act of his government +a firm determination to support and sustain +in honour and in safety the order of things which +it has established, or to perish; and the consequence +of this straightforward policy is, that thousands +and tens of thousands who at first acknowledged +his rule only to escape from anarchy, now +cling to it, not only as a present shelter, but as a +powerful and sure defence against the return of +the miserable vicissitudes to which they have been +so long exposed. +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_398" id="Page_398">398</a></span></p> + +<p>Among many obvious advantages which the +comprehensive principles of the "doctrine" offered +to France under the peculiar circumstances in +which she was placed at the time it was first propagated, +was, that it offered a common resting-place +to all who were weary of revolutions, let +them be of what party they would. This is well +expressed by M. Carné when he says,—"Ce parti +semble appelé, par ce qu'il a de vague en lui, à +devenir le sympathique lien de ces nombreuses +intelligences dévoyées qui ont pénétré le vide de +l'idée politique."</p> + +<p>There cannot, I think, be a happier phrase to +describe the host who have bewildered themselves +in the interminable mazes of a science so little +understood by the multitude, than this of "<i>intelligences +dévoyées qui ont pénétré le vide de l'idée politique</i>." +For these, it is indeed a blessing to have +found one common name (vague though it be) +under which they may all shelter themselves, and, +without the slightest reproach to the consistency +of their patriotism, join heart and hand in support +of a government which has so ably contrived +to "draw golden opinions from all sorts +of men."</p> + +<p>In turning over the pages of Hume's History +in pursuit of a particular passage, I accidentally +came upon his short and pithy sketch of the +character and position of our Henry the Seventh. +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_399" id="Page_399">399</a></span> +In many points it approaches very nearly to what +might be said of Louis-Philippe.</p> + +<p>"The personal character of the man was full of +vigour, industry, and severity; deliberate in all +his projects, steady in every purpose, and attended +with caution, as well as good fortune, in each +enterprise. He came to the throne after long and +bloody civil wars. The nation was tired with +discord and intestine convulsions, and willing to +submit to usurpations and even injuries rather +than plunge themselves anew into like miseries. +The fruitless efforts made against him served always, +as is usual, to confirm his authority."</p> + +<p>Such a passage as this, and some others with +which I occasionally indulge myself from the +records of the days that are gone, have in them +a most consoling tendency. We are apt to believe +that the scenes we are painfully witnessing +contain, amidst the materials of which they are +formed, elements of mischief more terrible than +ever before threatened the tranquillity of mankind; +yet a little recollection, and a little confidence +in the Providence so visible in every page +of the world's history, may suffice to inspire us +with better hopes for the future than some of +our doubting spirits have courage to anticipate.</p> + +<p>"The fruitless efforts made against" King +Philippe "have served to confirm his authority," +and have done the same good office to him that +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_400" id="Page_400">400</a></span> +similar outrages did to our "princely Tudor" in +the fourteenth century. The people were sick of +"discord and intestine convulsions" in his days: +so are they at the present time in France; so will +they be again, at no very distant period, in England.</p> + +<p>While congratulating the country I have so recently +left, as I do most heartily, on the very essential +improvements which have taken place since +my departure, I feel as if I ought to apologise for +some statements to be found in the preceding +pages of these volumes which if made now might +fairly be challenged as untrue. But during the +last few months, letters from France should have +been both written and read post-haste, or the +news they contained would not be of much worth. +We left Paris towards the end of June, and before +the end of July the whole moral condition of +France had received a shock, and undergone a +change which, though it does not falsify any of +my statements, renders it necessary at least that +the tense of many of them should be altered.</p> + +<p>Thus, when I say that an unbounded license +in caricaturing prevails, and that the walls of the +capital are scrawled over with grotesque representations +of the sovereign, the errata should +have—"for <i>prevails</i>, read <i>did prevail</i>; for <i>are</i>, read +<i>were</i>;" and the like in many other instances.</p> + +<p>The task of declaring that such statements are +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_401" id="Page_401">401</a></span> +no longer correct is, however, infinitely more +agreeable than that of making them. The daring +profligacy of all kinds which was exposed to the +eyes and the understanding at Paris before the +establishment of the laws, which have now taken +the morals of the people under their protection, +was fast sinking the country into the worst and +coarsest species of barbarism; and there is a sort +of patriotism, not belonging to the kingdom, but +to the planet that gave one birth, which must be +gratified by seeing a check given to what tended +to lower human nature itself.</p> + +<p>As a matter of hope, and consolation too, under +similar evils which beset us at home, there is +much satisfaction to be derived from perceiving +that, however inveterate the taint may appear +which unchecked licentiousness has brought upon +a land, there is power enough in the hands of +a vigorous and efficient magistracy to stay its +progress and wipe out the stain. A "Te Deum" +for this cleansing law should be performed in +every church in Christendom.</p> + +<hr class="l30" /> + +<p>There is something assuredly of more than +common political interest in the present position +of France, interesting to all Europe, but most +especially interesting to us. The wildest democracy +has been advocated by her press, and +even in her senate. The highest court of justice +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_402" id="Page_402">402</a></span> +in the kingdom has not been held sufficiently +sacred to prevent the utterance of opinions within +it which, if acted upon, would have taken the +sceptre from the hands of the king and placed it +in those of the mob. Her journals have poured +forth the most unbridled abuse, the most unmitigated +execrations against the acts of the government, +and almost against the persons of its +agents. And what has been the result of all +this? Steadily, tranquilly, firmly, and without a +shadow of vacillation, has that government proceeded +in performing the duties intrusted to it by +the country. It has done nothing hastily, nothing +rashly, nothing weakly. On first receiving the +perilous deposit of a nation's welfare,—at a moment +too when a thousand dangers from within +and without were threatening,—the most cautious +and consummate wisdom was manifested, not only +in what it did, but in what it did not do. Like +a skilful general standing on the defensive, it +remained still a while, till the first headlong rush +which was intended to dislodge it from its new +position had passed by; and when this was over, +it contemplated well the ground, the force, and +the resources placed under its command, before +it stirred one step towards improving them.</p> + +<p>When I recollect all the nonsense I listened to +in Paris previous to the trial of the Lyons prisoners; +the prophecies that the king would not +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_403" id="Page_403">403</a></span> +<span class="smcap">DARE</span> to persevere in it; the assurances from +some that the populace would rise to rescue them,—from +others, that the peers would refuse to sit +in judgment,—and from more still, that if nothing +of all this occurred in Paris, a counter-revolution +would assuredly break out in the South;—when I +remember all this, and compare it to the steady +march of daily-increasing power which has marked +every act of this singularly vigorous government +from that period to the present, I feel it +difficult to lament that, at this eventful epoch of +the world's history, power should have fallen into +hands so capable of using it wisely.</p> + +<p>Yet, with all this courage and boldness of decision, +there has been nothing reckless, nothing +like indifference to public opinion, in the acts of +the French government. The ministers have +uniformly appeared willing to hear and to render +reason respecting all the measures they have pursued; +and the king himself has never ceased to +manifest the same temper of mind which, through +all the vicissitudes of his remarkable life, have +rendered him so universally popular. But it is +quite clear that, whatever were the circumstances +which led to his being placed on the throne of +France, Louis-Philippe can never become the tool +of a faction: I can well conceive him replying, to +any accusation brought against him, in the gentle +but dignified words of Athalie— +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_404" id="Page_404">404</a></span></p> + +<div class="poem"> +<p class="o1">"Ce que j'ai fait, Abner, j'ai cru le devoir faire—</p> +<p>Je ne prends point pour juge un peuple téméraire."</p> +</div> + +<p>And who is there, of all those whom nature, fortune, +and education have placed, as it were, in +inevitable opposition to him, but must be forced +to acknowledge that he is right? None, I truly +believe,—save only that unfortunate, bewildered, +puzzle-headed set of politicians, the republicans, +who seem still to hang together chiefly because no +other party will have anything to say to them, +and because they alone, of all the host of would-be +lawgivers, dare not to seek for standing-room +under the ample shelter of <i>the doctrine</i>, inasmuch +as its motto is "Public Order," and the well-known +gathering word of their tribe is "Confusion +and Misrule."</p> + +<p>There are still many persons, I believe, who, +though nowise desirous themselves of seeing any +farther change in the government of France, yet +still anticipate that change must come, because +they consider it impossible that this restless party +can long remain quiet. I have heard several who +wish heartily well to the government of Louis-Philippe +express very gloomy forebodings on this subject. +They say, that however beneficial the present +order of things has been found for France, it +is vain to hope it should long endure, contrary to +the wish and will of so numerous a faction; especially +as the present government is formed on the +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_405" id="Page_405">405</a></span> +doctrine, that the protection of arts and industry, +and the fostering of all the objects connected with +that wealth and prosperity to which the restoration +of peace has led, should be its first object: +whereas the republicans are ever ready to be +up and doing in any cause that promises change +and tumult, and will therefore be found, whenever +a struggle shall arise, infinitely better prepared +to fight it out than the peaceable and well-contented +majority, of whom they are the declared +enemies.</p> + +<p>I think, however, that such reasoners are altogether +wrong: they leave out of their consideration +one broad and palpable fact, which is, however, +infinitely more important than any other,—namely, +that a republic is a form of government +completely at variance with the spirit of the +French people. That it has been already tried +and found to fail, is only one among many proofs +that might easily be brought forward to show +this. That love of glory which all the world +seems to agree in attributing to France as one of +her most remarkable national characteristics, must +ever prevent her placing the care of her dignity +and her renown in the hands of a mob. It was +in a moment of "drunken enthusiasm" that her +first degrading revolution was brought about; +and deep as was the disgrace of it, no one can +fairly say that the nation should be judged by the +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_406" id="Page_406">406</a></span> +wild acts then perpetrated. Everything that has +since followed goes to establish the conviction, +that France cannot exist as a republic.</p> + +<p>There is a love of public splendour in their +nature that seems as much born with them as +their black eyes; and they must have, as a centre +to that splendour, a king and a court, round +which they may move, and to which they may do +homage in the face of Europe without fearing +that their honour or their dignity can be compromised +thereby. It has been said (by an Englishman) +that the present is the government of the +bourgeoisie, and that Louis-Philippe is "un roi +bourgeois." His Bourbon blood, however, saves +him from this jest; and if by "the government of +the bourgeoisie" is meant a cabinet composed of +and sustained by the wealth of the country, as +well as its talent and its nobility, there is nothing +in the statement to shock either patrician pride or +regal dignity.</p> + +<p>The splendid military pageant in which the +French people followed the imperial knight-errant +who led them as conquerors over half Europe, +might well have sufficient charm to make so warlike +a nation forget for a while all the blessings of +peace, as well as the more enduring glory which +advancing science and well-instructed industry +might bring. But even had Napoleon not fallen, +the delirium of this military fever could not +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_407" id="Page_407">407</a></span> +have been much longer mistaken for national prosperity +by such a country as France; and, happily +for her, it was not permitted to go on long enough +to exhaust her strength so entirely as to prevent +her repairing its effects, and starting with fresh +vigour in a far nobler course.</p> + +<p>But even now, with objects and ambition so +new and so widely different before their eyes, +what is the period to which the memory of the +people turns with the greatest complacency?... +Is it to the Convention, or to the Directory?—Is +it to their mimicry of Roman Consulships? Alas! +for the classic young-headed republicans of France!... +they may not hope that their cherished +vision can ever endure within the realm of St. +Louis long enough to have its lictors' and its +tribunes' robes definitively decided on.</p> + +<p>No! it is not to this sort of schoolboy mummery +that Gallic fancies best love to return,—but +to that portentous interval when the bright blaze +of a magnificent meteor shone upon their iron +chains, and made them look like gold. If this be +true—if it cannot be denied that the affections of +the French people cling with more gratitude to +the splendid despotism of Napoleon than to any +other period of their history, is it to be greatly +feared that they should turn from the substantial +power and fame that now</p> + +<p class="poem">"Flames in the forehead of the morning sky"</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_408" id="Page_408">408</a></span> +before their eyes, accompanied as they are by the +brightest promise of individual prosperity and +well-being, in order to plunge themselves again +into the mingled "blood and mire" with which +their republic begrimed its altars?</p> + +<p>Were there even no other assurance against +such a deplorable effort at national self-destruction +than that which is furnished by the cutting ridicule +so freely and so generally bestowed upon it, +this alone, in a country where a laugh is so omnipotent, +might suffice to reassure the spirits of the +timid and the doubting. It has been said sturdily +by a French interpreter of French feelings, that +"si le diable sortait de l'enfer pour se battre, il se +présenterait un Français pour accepter le défi." +I dare say this may be very true, provided said +diable does not come to the combat equipped +from the armoury of Ridicule,—in which case the +French champion would, I think, be as likely to +run away as not: and for this reason, if for no +other, I truly believe it to be impossible that any +support should now be given in France to a party +which has not only made itself supremely detestable +by its atrocities, but supremely ridiculous by +its absurdities.</p> + +<p>It is needless to recapitulate here observations +already made. They have been recorded lightly, +however, and their effect upon the reader may +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_409" id="Page_409">409</a></span> +not be so serious as that produced upon my own +mind by the circumstances which drew them forth; +but it is certain that had not the terrible and +most ferocious plot against the King's life given +a character of horror to the acts of the republican +party in France, I should be tempted to conclude +my statement of all I have seen and heard of them +by saying, that they had mixed too much of weakness +and of folly in their literature, in their political +acts, and in their general bearing and demeanour, +to be ever again considered as a formidable +enemy by the government.</p> + +<p>I was amused the other day by reading in an +English newspaper, or rather in an extract from +an Irish one, (The Dublin Journal,) a passage in +a speech of Mr. Daniel O'Connell's to the "Dublin +Trades' Union," the logic of which, allowing perhaps +a little for the well-known peculiarities in +the eloquence of the "Emerald Isle," reminded +me strongly of some of the republican reasonings +to which I have lately listened in Paris.</p> + +<p>"The House of Commons," says Mr. Daniel +O'Connell, "will always be a pure and <i>independent</i> +body, <span class="smcap">BECAUSE</span> we are under the lash +of our masters, and we will be kicked out if +we do not perform the duties imposed on us by +the people."</p> + +<hr class="l30" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_410" id="Page_410">410</a></span></p> + +<p>Trifling as are the foregoing pages, and little +as they may seem obnoxious to any very grave +criticism, I am quite aware that they expose me +to the reproach of having permitted myself to be +wrought upon by the "<i>wind of doctrine</i>." I will +not deny the charge; but I will say in defence of +this "shadow of turning," (for it is in truth no +more,) that I return with the same steadfast belief +which I carried forth, in the necessity of a government +for every country which should possess +power and courage to resist at all times the voice +of a wavering populace, while its cares were +steadily directed to the promotion of the general +welfare.</p> + +<p>As well might every voice on board a seventy-four +be lifted to advise the captain how to manage +her, as the judgment of all the working classes in +a state be offered on questions concerning her government.</p> + +<p>A self-regulating populace is a chimera, and a +dire one. The French have discovered this already; +the Americans are beginning, as I hear, +to feel some glimmerings of this important truth +breaking in upon them; and for our England, +spite of all the trash upon this point that she has +been pleased to speak and to hear, she is not a +country likely to submit, if the struggle should +come, to be torn to pieces by her own mob. +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_411" id="Page_411">411</a></span></p> + +<p>Admirably, however, as this jury-mast of "the +doctrine" appears to answer in France, where the +whirlwind and the storm had nearly made the +brave vessel a wreck, it would be a heavy day for +England were she to find herself compelled to +have recourse to the same experiment for safety—for +the need of it can never arise without being +accompanied by a necessity for such increased +severity of discipline as would be very distasteful +to her. It is true, indeed, that her spars do creak +and crack rather ominously just at present: nevertheless, +it will require a tougher gale than any she +has yet had to encounter, before she will be tempted +to throw overboard such a noble piece of heart +of oak as her constitution, which does in truth +tower above every other, and, "like the tall mast +of some proud admiral," looks down upon those +around, whether old or new, well-seasoned and +durable, or only skilfully erected for the nonce, +with a feeling of conscious superiority that she +would be very sorry to give up.</p> + +<p>But whatever the actual position of England +may be, it must be advantageous to her, as well as +to every other country in Europe, that France +should assume the attitude she has now taken. +The cause of social order is a common cause +throughout the civilised world, and whatever +tends to promote it is a common blessing. Obvious +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_412" id="Page_412">412</a></span> +as is this truth, its importance is not yet fully +understood; but the time must come when it will +be,—and then all the nations of the earth will be +heard to proclaim in chorus, that</p> + +<p class="poem"> +"Le pire des états, c'est l'état populaire."</p> + +<p class="center p4">THE END.</p> + +<p class="center p2 s08">LONDON:</p> +<p class="center s08">PRINTED BY SAMUEL BENTLEY,<br /> +Dorset Street, Fleet Street.</p> + +<div class="footnotes p6"> +<p class="center b13">FOOTNOTE</p> +<p class="footnote"><a name="Footnote_1" id="Footnote_1" href="#FNanchor_1"><span class="label">[1]</span></a> Vent-hole.</p> +</div> + + + + + + + +<pre> + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Paris and the Parisians in 1835 (Vol. +2 of 2), by Frances Trollope + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK PARIS AND THE PARISIANS IN 1835 (2/2) *** + +***** This file should be named 39710-h.htm or 39710-h.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/3/9/7/1/39710/ + +Produced by Melissa McDaniel and the Online Distributed +Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was +produced from images generously made available by The +Internet Archive) + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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