_Breakfast.--Warmth of French Expression.--Rustic
Eloquence.--Curious Cause assigned for the late extraordinary
Frost.--Madame R----.--Paul I.--Tivoli.--Frescati._
In the morning we breakfasted in the drawing room, in which the
murderous myrmidons of Robespierre had been regaled. It was beautifully
situated. Its windows looked into a grove which Monsieur O---- had
formed of valuable american shrubs. His youngest daughter, a beautiful
little girl of about five years of age, rather hastily entered the room
with a pair of tame wood pigeons in her hands, which, in her eagerness
to bring to her father, she had too forcibly pressed, who very gently
told her, it was cruel to hurt her little favourites, more particularly
as they were a species of bird which was remarkable for its unoffending
innocence. The little creature burst into tears, "my little Harriet, why
do you weep?" said her father, kissing her white forehead, and pressing
her to him. "Why do you rebuke me?" said the little sufferer, "when you
know I love you so much that I could kiss your naked heart."
I mention this circumstance, to show how early in life, the french
children imbibe the most charming expressions, by which their more
mature conversation is rendered so peculiarly captivating. During our
repast, a circumstance occurred, which produced an unusual vivacity
amongst all the party, and afforded a specimen of the talent and
pleasantry of the french country people. The gardener entered, with the
paper, and letters of the day. Amongst them, was a letter which had been
opened, appeared very much disordered, and ought to have been received
upon the preceding day. Monsieur O----seemed much displeased, and called
upon his man to explain the matter. The gardener, who possessed a
countenance which beamed with animation and good humour, made a low bow,
and without appearing to be, in the least degree, disconcerted,
proceeded to unfold the affair, with the most playful ingenuity. He
stated that the dairy maid was very pretty, that she made every body in
love with her, and was very much in love herself, that she was
accustomed to receive a great number of billet doux, which, on account
of her education having been very far below her incomparable merits, she
was not able to understand, without the assistance of Nicolene, the
groom, who was her confident, and amanuensis; that on the day before, he
gave her the letter in question, with directions to carry it to his
master, that under the influence of that thoughtful absence which is
said to attend the advanced stages of the tender passion, she soon
afterwards conceived that it was no other than a customary homage from
one of her many admirers, upon which she committed the supposed
depositary of tender sighs and brittle vows, to the warm custody of her
glowing bosom, than which, the gardener, (who at this moment saw his
master's eyes were engaged by the _sullied_ appearance of the letter)
declared that nothing was fairer; he again proceeded, by observing,
that in the course of the preceding evening, as she was stooping to
adjust her stool in the meadow, the cow kicked, and the epistle tumbled
into the milk pail; that she afterwards dried it by the kitchen fire,
and gave it, for the reasons before assigned, to her confidential friend
to explain to her, who soon discovered it to be a letter of business,
addressed to his master, instead of an impassioned love ditty for the
tender Marie; that, finally, all the principals concerned in this
unhappy affair were overwhelmed with distress, on account of the sad
disaster, and that the kitchen had lost all its vivacity ever since. No
advocate could have pleaded more eloquently. All the family, from its
chief, to little Harriet, whose tears were not yet dried, were in a
continued fit of laughing. The gardener, whose face very largely partook
of the gaiety which he had so successfully excited, was commissioned, by
his amiable master, to tell the distressed dairy maid, that love always
carried his pardon in his hand for all his offences, and that he
cheerfully forgave her, but directed the gardener, to prevent a
recurrence of similar accidents, not again to trust her with his letters
until the tender disease was radically removed. The rustic orator
gracefully bowed; and left us to finish our breakfast with increased
good humour, and to carry forgiveness and consolation to poor Marie and
all her condoling friends in the kitchen. Before we had completed our
repast, a little deformed elderly lady made her appearance, whose
religion had been shaken by the revolution, into a crazy and gloomy
superstition. She had scarcely seated herself, before she began a very
rapid and voluble comment upon the change of the times, and the
devastations which the late extraordinary frost had committed upon the
vineyards of France, which she positively asserted, with the confidence
which only the arrival of her tutelar saint with the intelligence ought
to have inspired, was sent as an _appropriate_ judgment upon the
republic, to punish it, for suffering the ladies of Paris to go so
thinly clothed. Monsieur O---- heard her very patiently throughout, and
then observed, that the ways of Heaven were inscrutable, that human
ingenuity was baffled, in attempting to draw inferences from its
visitations, and that it did not appear to him at least, that an offence
which was assuredly calculated to inspire sensations of warmth and
tenderness, was _appropriately_ punished by a chastisement of an
_opposite_ tendency, to which he added, that some moralists who indulged
in an endeavour to connect causes and effects, might think it rather
incompatible with their notions of eternal equity, to endeavour to
clothe the ladies, by stripping the land to nakedness--here the old lady
could not help smiling. Her amicable adversary pursued the advantage
which his pleasantry had produced, by informing her, that
prognostications had been for a long period discountenanced, and that
formerly when the ancient augurs, after the ceremonies of their
successful illusions were over, met each other by accident in the
street, impressed by the ridiculous remembrance of their impositions,
they could not help laughing in each other's faces. Madame V----laughed
too; upon which Monsieur O----, very good humouredly told her, that as a
soothsayer, she certainly would not have smiled, unless she intended to
retire for ever from the office. Previous to my taking leave of
Monsieur O----and his charming family, we walked in the gardens, where
our conversation turned upon the extraordinary genius, who in the
character of first consul of the french, unites a force, and extent of
sway unknown to the kings of France, from their first appearance, to the
final extinction of monarchy.
He told me that he had the honour of knowing him with intimacy from his
youth, and extolled, with high eulogy, his splendid abilities, and the
great services which he had rendered France. He also related several
amiable anecdotes of the minister Talleyrand, who, when in America, had
lived with him a considerable time under the same roof.
At length the cabriolet, which was to bear me from this little Paradise,
approached the gate, and the moment arrived when I was to part with one
of the most charming families to be found in the bosom of the republic.
As Monsieur O---- pressed me by one hand, and placed that of his little
Harriet in my other, a tear of exquisite tenderness rolled down his
cheek, it seemed to express that we should never meet again on this side
the grave. Excellent being! if it must be so, if wasting and unsparing
sickness is destined to tear thee ere long from those who delight thine
eye, and soothe thine heart in the midst of its sorrows, may the angel
of peace smile upon thee in thy last moments, and bear thy mild and
generous, and patient spirit, to the realms of eternal repose! Adieu!
dear family of la Reine.
Upon my return to Paris, I proceeded to the hotel of Monsieur R----.
Curiosity led me to view the house, and the celebrated bed of his lady,
who was then in London.
The little vanities and eccentricities of this elegant and hospitable
woman, will find immediate forgiveness, when it is known that she is now
very young, and was married, when a spoiled child of the age of
fourteen, to her present husband. She is one of David's most
enthusiastic admirers, and has carried the rage for grecian undress, to
an extremity, which, even in the capital, left her without a follower.
In the public walks of the Champs Elysées, she one evening presented
herself in a dress which almost rivalled the robes of Paradise; the
parisians, who are remarkable for their politeness to women, and are not
remarkable for scrupulous sentiments of delicacy, were so displeased
with her appearance, that they made a lane to the entrance for her, and
expelled the modern Eve from the Elysian Fields, not with a "flaming
sword of wrath," but with hisses softly uttered, and by gentle tokens of
polite disapprobation. She tells her friends, that her cabinet is
crowded with letters of the most impassioned love, from persons of the
first fame, distinction, and opulence. In her parties, when conversation
begins to pause, she introduces some of these melting epistles, which
she is said to read with a bewitching pathos, and never fails to close
the fond recital by expressions of the tenderest pity for the sufferings
of their ill-starred authors. She has declared, that some of her lovers
equal the Belvidere Apollo in beauty, but that she never has yet seen
that being, who was perfect enough to be entitled to the possession of
her affections. Do not smile. Madame Ris a disciple of Diana, even
slander pays incessant homage to her chastity. Rumour has whispered, in
every corner of Paris, that her husband is only admitted to the honour
of supplying the finances of her splendid and costly establishment.
Madame R---- has not yet produced any of the beautiful and eloquent
arguments of Cornelia, to disprove the strange assertion. Her chamber,
which constitutes one of the sights of Paris, and which, after what has
been just mentioned, may be justly considered, in or out of France, as a
great curiosity, is fitted up in a style of considerable taste, and even
magnificence. The bed upon which this charming statue reposes, is a
superb sofa, raised upon a pedestal, the ascent to which is by a flight
of cedar steps, on each side are altars, on which are placed Herculaneum
vases of flowers, and a large antique lamp of gold; the back of the bed
is formed by an immense pier glass, and the curtains, which are of the
most costly muslin, festooned with golden tassels, descend in beautiful
drapery from a floral crown of gold. It is said that the late emperor of
Russia, after the laborious and successful diplomatic intrigues of
messrs. Talleyrand and Sieyes, and a certain lady, became enamoured, by
description, with the immaculate goddess of Mont Blanc, and that he sent
confidential commissioners to Paris, to report her daily dress, and to
order copies of her furniture.
The story may be believed, when the hero of it was well known to be
fully qualified for one of the deepest dungeons of a madhouse. I hope,
for the sake of society, and the repose of the world, that the rest of
Madame R----'s admirers have not united to their passion the bewildered
imagination, which fatally distinguished, and finally closed the career
of her imperial lover.
Mr. R---- is very polite to the english, and his letters ensure the
greatest attention wherever they are produced.
From Mont Blanc I proceeded to the Hotel de Caramand, the residence of
the british ambassador, to whom I had a letter of introduction, from a
particular friend of his, and who received me with great politeness. His
apartments were handsome, and looked into some beautiful gardens.
Amongst the english, who were at this time in Paris, a little prejudice
existed against the representative of the british monarch, from a
reason, which within the jurisdiction of the lord mayor of London and of
most corporate towns in England, will be considered to carry
considerable weight. The envoy did not celebrate the late birthday of
his sovereign by a jolly, and convivial dinner. The fact was, Mr. M----,
who by the sudden return of Mr. J----, became unexpectedly invested with
the dignity of an ambassador, was in constant expectation of being
recalled, to make room for the intended appointment of lord W---- to the
consular court, in consequence of which, he had not prepared for the
display of those splendid hospitalities, which, on such occasions,
always distinguish the table of a british house of embassy.
On a Sunday evening, I went with a party to Tivoli, a favourite place of
amusement with the parisians. At the entrance we found, as at all the
public places, a guard of horse, and foot. The admission is twenty
sols. The evening was very fine. We passed immense crowds of people, who
were flocking to the same place. Amongst them were many elegant, well
dressed women, wholly unattended by gentlemen, a circumstance by no
means unusual in Paris. This place seemed to be raised by the magic
touch of enchantment. We entered upon gravelled walks, which were cut
through little winding, and intersecting hillocks of box; those which
formed the sides were surmounted by orange trees, which presented a
beautiful colonnade; immediately after we had passed them, we entered an
elegant treillage of honeysuckles, roses, and eglantine, which formed
the grand entrance to the garden. Here a most animated scene of
festivity opened upon us. On one side were rope dancers, people riding
at the ring, groups of persons playing at shuttlecock, which seemed to
be the favourite, and I may add, the most ridiculous diversion; on the
other side, were dancers, tumblers, mountebanks, and parties, all with
gay countenances, seated in little bowers enjoying lemonade, and ices.
In the centre as we advanced, were about three hundred people, who were
dancing the favourite waltz. This dance was brought from Germany, where,
_from its nature_, the partners are always engaged lovers; but the
french, who think that nothing can be blamable which is susceptible of
elegance, have introduced the german dance, without adhering to the
german regulation. The attitudes of the waltz are very graceful, but
they would not altogether accord with english female notions of
delicacy. At a late fashionable parisian ball, a gentleman present was
requested by the lady of the house, to waltz with a friend of hers, who
was without a partner. The person of this neglected fair, was a little
inclined to the meagre. The gallant, without the least embarrassment,
declined, observing, "Ah! ma chere Madame qu'exigez vous de moi, ne
savez vous pas qu'elle n'a point de sein?" In the middle of the platform
of the dancers, a very fine full band was playing. At the end of this
raised stage, a very capacious indian marquee was erected, which was
beautifully illuminated with variegated lamps, and under its broad
canopy, a large concourse of people was seated, some were enjoying
conversation, some were playing at buillotte, drinking coffee, &c.;
behind this building, was a noble corinthian temple, from the doors of
which, were covered trellis walks, leading to spacious gardens, which
were formed to display the different tastes of the english, french, and
dutch nations, whose respective names they bore. These gardens are
intersected by little canals, upon which several persons were amusing
themselves with the diversion of canoe racing. The whole was illuminated
by large patent reflecting lamps, which shed a lustre almost as
brilliant as the day. A few english were present, amongst them were the
duchess of Cumberland, and a few other ladies. These gardens, previous
to the revolution, were the property of a wealthy minister of France,
who, it is said, expended near one hundred thousand pounds sterling, in
bringing them to perfection, which he just saw accomplished, when he
closed his eyes upon the scaffold. The nation became their next
proprietor, who sold them for a large sum of money to their present
owners.
From this place we went to Frescati, which is the promenade of the first
beauty, and fashion of Paris, who generally assemble about half past ten
o'clock, after the opera is concluded. No admission money is required,
but singular as it may seem, no improper intruder has yet appeared, a
circumstance which may be accounted for by the awe which well bred
society ever maintains over vulgarity. Frescati is situated in the
Italian Boulevard; was formerly the residence of a nobleman of large
fortune, and has also undergone the usual transition of revolutionary
confiscation. The streets leading to it were filled with carriages.
After ascending a flight of steps, from a handsome court yard, we
entered a beautiful hall, which was lined with pier glasses, and
decorated with festoons of artificial flowers, at the end of it was a
fine statue of Venus de Medicis. On one side of this image was an arch,
which led into a suite of six magnificent apartments, which were
superbly gilt, painted, and also covered with pier glasses, and lustres
of fine diamond cut glass, which latter, looked like so many little
glittering cascades. Each room was in a blaze of light, and filled with
parties, who were taking ices, or drinking coffee. Each room
communicated with the others, by arches, or folding doors of mirrors.
The garden is small, but very tastefully disposed. It is composed of
three walks, which are lined with orange and acacia trees, and vases of
roses. At the end is a tower mounted on a rock, temples, and rustic
bridges; and on each side of the walks, are little labyrinth bowers. On
the side next to the Boulevard, is a terrace which commands the whole
scene, is lined on each side with beautiful vases of flowers, and is
terminated at each end by alcoves, which are lined with mirrors. Here in
the course of an hour, the astonished, and admiring stranger may see
near three thousand females of the first beauty and distinction in
Paris, whose cheeks are no longer disfigured by the corrosion of rouge,
and who, by their symmetry and grace, would induce him to believe, that
the loveliest figures of Greece, in her proudest era, were revived, and
moving before him.