CHAPTER I._An Englishman in Paris: Notes and Recollections

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AN ENGLISHMAN IN PARIS

(Notes and Recollections)

Two Volumes in One

[Illustration]

New York

D. Appleton and Company

1892

Authorized Edition.

CONTENTS.

CHAPTER I.

PAGE The Quartier-Latin in the late thirties -- The difference

between then and now -- A caricature on the walls of Paris -- I

am anxious to be introduced to the quarter whence it emanated --

I am taken to "La Childebert," and make the acquaintance of the

original of the caricature -- The story of Bouginier and his nose

-- Dantan as a caricaturist -- He abandons that branch of art

after he has made Madame Malibran burst into tears at the sight

of her statuette -- How Bouginier came to be immortalized on the

facade of the Passage du Caire -- One of the first co-operative

societies in France -- An artists' hive -- The origin of "La

Childebert" -- Its tenants in my time -- The proprietress --

Madame Chanfort, the providence of poor painters -- Her portraits

sold after her death -- High jinks at "La Childebert" -- The

Childebertians and their peacefully inclined neighbours --

Gratuitous baths and compulsory douches at "La Childebert" -- The

proprietress is called upon to repair the roof -- The

Childebertians bivouac on the Place St. Germain-des-Pres -- They

start a "Society for the Conversion of the Mahometans" -- The

public subscribe liberally -- What becomes of the subscriptions?

-- My visits to "La Childebert" breed a taste for the other

amusements of the Quartier-Latin -- Bobino and its entertainments

-- The audience -- The manager -- His stereotyped speech -- The

reply in chorus -- Woe to the bourgeois-intruder -- Stove-pipe

hats a rarity in the Quartier-Latin -- The dress of the

collegians -- Their mode of living -- Suppers when money was

flush, rolls and milk when it was not -- A fortune-teller in the

Rue de Tournon -- Her prediction as to the future of Josephine de

Beauharnais -- The allowance to students in those days -- The

Odeon deserted -- Students' habits -- The Chaumiere -- Rural

excursions -- Pere Bonvin's 1

CHAPTER II.

My introduction to the celebrities of the day -- The Cafe de

Paris -- The old Prince Demidoff -- The old man's mania -- His

sons -- The furniture and attendance at the Cafe de Paris -- Its

high prices -- A mot of Alfred de Musset -- The cuisine -- A

rebuke of the proprietor to Balzac -- A version by one of his

predecessors of the cause of Vatel's suicide -- Some of the

_habitues_ -- Their intercourse with the attendants -- Their

courteous behaviour towards one another -- Le veau a la casserole

-- What Alfred de Musset, Balzac, and Alexandre Dumas thought of

it -- A silhouette of Alfred de Musset -- His brother Paul on his

election as a member of the Academie -- A silhouette of Balzac,

between sunset and sunrise -- A curious action against the

publishers of an almanack -- A full-length portrait of Balzac --

His pecuniary embarrassments -- His visions of wealth and

speculations -- His constant neglect of his duties as a National

Guard -- His troubles in consequence thereof -- L'Hotel des

Haricots -- Some of his fellow-prisoners -- Adam, the composer of

"Le Postillon de Lonjumeau" -- Eugene Sue; his portrait -- His

dandyism -- The origin of the Paris Jockey Club -- Eugene Sue

becomes a member -- The success of "Les Mysteres de Paris" -- The

origin of "Le Juif-Errant" -- Sue makes himself objectionable to

the members of the Jockey Club -- His name struck off the list --

His decline and disappearance 24

CHAPTER III.

Alexandre Dumas pere -- Why he made himself particularly

agreeable to Englishmen -- His way of silencing people -- The

pursuit he loved best next to literature -- He has the privilege

of going down to the kitchens of the Cafe de Paris -- No one

questions his literary genius, some question his culinary

capacities -- Dr. Veron and his cordon-bleu -- Dr. Veron's

reasons for dining out instead of at home -- Dr. Veron's friend,

the philanthropist, who does not go to the theatre because he

objects to be hurried with his emotions -- Dr. Veron, instigated

by his cook, accuses Dumas of having collaborateurs in preparing

his dishes as he was known to have collaborateurs in his literary

work -- Dumas' wrath -- He invites us to a dinner which shall be

wholly cooked by him in the presence of a delegate to be chosen

by the guests -- The lot falls upon me -- Dr. Veron and Sophie

make the _amende honorable_ -- A dinner-party at Veron's -- A

curious lawsuit in connection with Weber's "Freyschutz" -- Nestor

Roqueplan, who became the successor of the defendant in the case,

suggests a way out of it -- Leon Pillet virtually adopts it and

wins the day -- A similar plan adopted years before by a fireman

on duty at the opera, on being tried by court-martial for having

fallen asleep during the performance of "Guido et Genevra" --

Firemen not bad judges of plays and operas -- They were often

consulted both by Meyerbeer and Dumas -- Dumas at work -- How he

idled his time away -- Dumas causes the traffic receipts of the

Chemin de Fer de l'Ouest to swell during his three years'

residence at Saint-Germain -- M. de Montalivet advises

Louis-Philippe to invite Dumas to Versailles, to see what his

presence will do for the royal city -- Louis-Philippe does not

act upon the advice -- The relations between Dumas and the

d'Orleans family -- After the Revolution of '48, Dumas becomes a

candidate for parliament -- The story of his canvass and his

address to the electors at Joigny -- Dumas' utter indifference to

money matters -- He casts his burdens upon others -- Dumas and

his creditors -- Writs and distraints -- How they are dealt with

-- Dumas' indiscriminate generosity -- A dozen houses full of new

furniture in half as many years -- Dumas' frugality at table --

Literary remuneration -- Dumas and his son -- "Leave me a hundred

francs" 43

CHAPTER IV.

Dr. Louis Veron -- The real man as distinguished from that of his

own "Memoirs" -- He takes the management of the Paris Opera --

How it was governed before his advent -- Meyerbeer's "Robert le

Diable" _underlined_ -- Meyerbeer and his doubts upon the merits

of his work -- Meyerbeer's generosity -- Meyerbeer and the

beggars of the Rue Le Peletier -- Dr. Veron, the inventor of the

modern newspaper puff -- Some specimens of advertisements in

their infancy -- Dr. Veron takes a leaf from the book of Moliere

-- Dr. Veron's love of money -- His superstitions -- His

objections to travelling in railways -- He quotes the Queen of

England as an example -- When Queen Victoria overcomes her

objection, Veron holds out -- "Queen Victoria has got a

successor: the Veron dynasty begins and ends with me" -- Thirteen

at table -- I make the acquaintance of Taglioni -- The woman and

the ballerian -- Her adventure at Perth -- An improvised

performance of "Nathalie, la Laitiere Suisse" -- Another

adventure in Russia -- A modern Claude Du-Val -- My last meeting

with Taglioni -- A dinner-party at De Morny's -- A comedy scene

between husband and wife -- Flotow, the composer of "Martha" --

His family -- His father's objection to the composer's profession

-- The latter's interview with M. de Saint-Georges, the author of

the libretto of Balfe's "Bohemian Girl" -- M. de Saint-Georges

prevails upon the father to let his son study in Paris for five

years, and to provide for him during that time -- The supplies

are stopped on the last day of the fifth year -- Flotow, at the

advice of M. de Saint-Georges, stays on and lives by giving

piano-lessons -- His earthly possessions at his first success --

"Rob Roy" at the Hotel Castellane -- Lord Granville's opinion of

the music -- The Hotel Castellane and some Paris salons during

Louis-Philippe's reign -- The Princesse de Lieven's, M. Thiers',

etc. -- What Madame de Girardin's was like -- Victor Hugo's --

Perpetual adoration; very artistic, but nothing to eat or to

drink -- The salon of the ambassador of the Two Sicilies -- Lord

and Lady Granville at the English Embassy -- The salon of Count

Apponyi -- A story connected with it -- Furniture and

entertainments -- Cakes, ices, and tea; no champagne as during

the Second Empire -- The Hotel Castellane and its amateur

theatricals -- Rival companies -- No under-studies -- Lord

Brougham at the Hotel Castellane -- His bad French and his

would-be Don Juanism -- A French rendering of Shakespeare's

"There is but one step between the sublime and the ridiculous,"

as applied to Lord Brougham -- He nearly accepts a part in a

farce where his bad French is likely to produce a comic effect --

His successor as a murderer of the language -- M. de

Saint-Georges -- Like Moliere, he reads his plays to his

housekeeper -- When the latter is not satisfied, the dinner is

spoilt, however great the success of the play in public

estimation -- Great men and their housekeepers -- Turner, Jean

Jacques Rousseau, Eugene Delacroix 62

CHAPTER V.

The Boulevards in the forties -- The Chinese Baths -- A favourite

tobacconist of Alfred de Musset -- The price of cigars -- The

diligence still the usual mode of travelling -- Provincials in

Paris -- Parliamentary see-saw between M. Thiers and M. Guizot --

Amenities of editors -- An advocate of universal suffrage --

Distribution of gratuitous sausages to the working man on the

king's birthday -- The rendezvous of actors in search of an

engagement -- Frederick Lemaitre on the eve of appearing in a new

part -- The Legitimists begin to leave their seclusion and to

mingle with the bourgeoisie -- Alexandre Dumas and Scribe -- The

latter's fertility as a playwright -- The National Guards go

shooting, in uniform and in companies, on the Plaine Saint-Denis

-- Vidocq's private inquiry office in the Rue Vivienne -- No

river-side resorts -- The plaster elephant on the Place de la

Bastille -- The sentimental romances of Loisa Puget -- The songs

of the working classes -- Cheap bread and wine -- How they

enjoyed themselves on Sundays and holidays -- Theophile Gautier's

pony-carriage -- The hatred of the bourgeoisie -- Nestor

Roqueplan's expression of it -- Gavarni's -- M. Thiers' sister

keeps a restaurant at the corner of the Rue Drouot -- When he is

in power, the members of the Opposition go and dine there, and

publish facetious accounts of the entertainment -- All

appearances to the contrary, people like Guizot better than

Thiers -- But few entries for the race for wealth in those days

-- The Rothschilds still live in the Rue Lafitte -- Favourite

lounges -- The Boulevards, the Rue Le Peletier, and the Passage

de l'Opera -- The Opera -- The Rue Le Peletier and its

attractions -- The Restaurant of Paolo Broggi -- The Estaminet du

Divan -- Literary waiters and Boniface -- Major Fraser -- The

mystery surrounding his origin -- Another mysterious personage --

The Passage de l'Opera is invaded by the stockjobbers, and loses

its prestige as a promenade -- Bernard Latte's, the publisher of

Donizetti's operas, becomes deserted -- Tortoni's -- Louis-Blanc

-- His scruples as an editor -- A few words about duelling -- Two

tragic meetings -- Lola Montes -- Her adventurous career -- A

celebrated trial -- My first meeting with Gustave Flaubert, the

author of "Madame Bovary" and "Salambo" -- Emile de Girardin --

His opinion of duelling -- My decision with regard to it -- The

original of "La Dame aux Camelias" -- Her parentage -- Alexandre

Dumas gives the diagnosis of her character in connection with his

son's play -- L'Homme au Camellia -- M. Lautour-Mezerai, the

inventor of children's periodical literature in France -- Auguste

Lireux -- He takes the management of the Odeon -- Balzac again --

His schemes, his greed -- Lireux more fortunate with other

authors -- Anglophobia on the French stage -- Gallophobia on the

English stage 86

CHAPTER VI.

Rachel and some of her fellow-actors -- Rachel's true character

-- Her greediness and spitefulness -- Her vanity and her wit --

Her powers of fascination -- The cost of being fascinated by her

-- Her manner of levying toll -- Some of her victims, Comte

Duchatel and Dr. Veron -- The story of her guitar -- A little

transaction between her and M. Fould -- Her supposed charity and

generosity -- Ten tickets for a charity concert -- How she made

them into twenty -- How she could have made them into a hundred

-- Baron Taylor puzzled -- Her manner of giving presents --

Beauvallet's precaution with regard to one of her gifts --

Alexandre Dumas the younger, wiser or perhaps not so wise in his

generation -- Rachel as a raconteuse -- The story of her _debut_

at the Gymnase -- What Rachel would have been as an actor instead

of an actress -- Her comic genius -- Rachel's mother -- What

became of Rachel's money -- Mama Felix as a pawnbroker --

Rachel's trinkets -- Two curious bracelets -- Her first

appearance before Nicholas I. -- A dramatic recital in the open

air -- Rachel's opinion of the handsomest man in Europe -- Rachel

and Samson -- Her obligations to him -- How she repays them --

How she goes to Berryer to be coached in the fable of "The Two

Pigeons" -- An anecdote of Berryer -- Rachel's fear of a "warm

reception" on the first night of "Adrienne Lecouvreur" -- How she

averts the danger -- Samson as a man and as an actor --

Petticoat-revolts at the Comedie-Francaise -- Samson and Regnier

as buffers -- Their different ways of pouring oil upon the

troubled waters -- Mdlle. Sylvanie Plessy -- A parallel between

her and Sarah Bernhardt -- Samson and Regnier's pride in their

profession -- The different character of that pride -- "Apollo

with a bad tailor, and who dresses without a looking-glass" --

Samson gives a lesson in declamation to a procureur-imperial --

The secret of Regnier's greatness as an actor -- A lesson at the

Conservatoire -- Regnier on "make-up" -- Regnier's opinion of

genius on the stage -- A mot of Augustine Brohan -- Giovanni, the

wigmaker of the Comedie-Francaise -- His pride in his profession

-- M. Ancessy, the musical director, and his three wigs 128

CHAPTER VII.

Two composers, Auber and Felicien David -- Auber, the legend of

his youthful appearance -- How it arose -- His daily rides, his

love of women's society -- His mot on Mozart's "Don Juan" -- The

only drawback to Auber's enjoyment of women's society -- His

reluctance to take his hat off -- How he managed to keep it on

most of the time -- His opinion upon Meyerbeer's and Halevy's

genius -- His opinion upon Gerard de Nerval, who hanged himself

with his hat on -- His love of solitude -- His fondness of Paris

-- His grievance against his mother for not having given him

birth there -- He refuses to leave Paris at the commencement of

the siege -- His small appetite -- He proposes to write a new

opera when the Prussians are gone -- Auber suffers no privations,

but has difficulty in finding fodder for his horse -- The

Parisians claim it for food -- Another legend about Auber's

independence of sleep -- How and where he generally slept -- Why

Auber snored in Veron's company, and why he did not in that of

other people -- His capacity for work -- Auber a brilliant talker

-- Auber's gratitude to the artists who interpreted his work, but

different from Meyerbeer's -- The reason why, according to Auber

-- Jealousy or humility -- Auber and the younger Coquelin -- "The

verdict on all things in this world may be summed up in the one

phrase, 'It's an injustice'" -- Felicien David -- The man -- The

beginnings of his career -- His terrible poverty -- He joins the

Saint-Simoniens, and goes with some of them to the East -- Their

reception at Constantinople -- M. Scribe and the libretto of

"L'Africaine" -- David in Egypt at the court of Mehemet-Ali --

David's description of him -- Mehemet's way of testing the

educational progress of his sons -- Woe to the fat kine --

Mehemet-Ali suggests a new mode of teaching music to the inmates

of the harem -- Felicien David's further wanderings in Egypt --

Their effect upon his musical genius -- His return to France --

He tells the story of the first performance of "Le Desert" -- An

ambulant box-office -- His success -- Fame, but no money -- He

sells the score of "Le Desert" -- He loses his savings -- "La

Perle du Bresil" and the Coup-d'Etat -- "No luck" -- Napoleon

III. remains his debtor for eleven years -- A mot of Auber, and

one of Alexandre Dumas pere -- The story of "Aida" -- Why

Felicien David did not compose the music -- The real author of

the libretto 152

CHAPTER VIII.

Three painters, and a school for pifferari -- Gabriel Decamps,

Eugene Delacroix, and Horace Vernet -- The prices of pictures in

the forties -- Delacroix' find no purchasers at all -- Decamps'

drawings fetch a thousand francs each -- Decamps not a happy man

-- The cause of his unhappiness -- The man and the painter -- He

finds no pleasure in being popular -- Eugene Delacroix -- His

contempt for the bourgeoisie -- A parallel between Delacroix and

Shakespeare -- Was Delacroix tall or short? -- His love of

flowers -- His delicate health -- His personal appearance -- His

indifference to the love-passion -- George Sand and Delacroix --

A miscarried love-scene -- Delacroix' housekeeper, Jenny

Leguillou -- Delacroix does not want to pose as a model for one

of George Sand's heroes -- Delacroix as a writer -- His approval

of Carlyle's dictum, "Show me how a man sings," etc. -- His

humour tempered by his reverence -- His failure as a caricaturist

-- His practical jokes on would-be art-critics -- Delacroix at

home -- His dress while at work -- Horace Vernet's, Paul

Delaroche's, Ingres' -- Early at work -- He does not waste time

over lunch -- How he spent his evenings -- His dislike of being

reproduced in marble or on canvas after his death -- Horace

Vernet -- The contrast between the two men and the two artists

-- Vernet's appearance -- His own account of how he became a

painter -- Moral and mental resemblance to Alexandre Dumas pere

-- His political opinions -- Vernet and Nicholas I. -- A bold

answer -- His opinion on the mental state of the Romanoffs -- The

comic side of Vernet's character -- He thinks himself a Vauban --

His interviews with M. Thiers -- His admiration for everything

military -- His worship of Alfred de Vigny -- His ineffectual

attempts to paint a scene in connection with the storming of

Constantine -- Laurent-Jan proposes to write an epic on it -- He

gives a synopsis of the cantos -- Laurent-Jan lives "on the fat

of the land" for six months -- A son of Napoleon's companion in

exile, General Bertrand -- The chaplain of "la Belle-Poule" --

The first French priest who wore the English dress -- Horace

Vernet and the veterans of "la grande armee" -- His studio during

their occupancy of it as models -- His budget -- His hatred of

pifferari -- A professor -- The Quartier-Latin revisited 164

CHAPTER IX.

Louis-Philippe and his family -- An unpublished theatrical skit

on his mania for shaking hands with every one -- His art of

governing, according to the same skit -- Louis-Philippe not the

ardent admirer of the bourgeoisie he professed to be -- The

Faubourg Saint-Germain deserts the Tuileries -- The English in

too great a majority -- Lord ----'s opinion of the dinners at the

Tuileries -- The attitude of the bourgeoisie towards

Louis-Philippe, according to the King himself -- Louis-Philippe's

wit -- His final words on the death of Talleyrand -- His love of

money -- He could be generous at times -- A story of the

Palais-Royal -- Louis-Philippe and the Marseillaise -- Two

curious stories connected with the Marseillaise -- Who was the

composer of it? -- Louis-Philippe's opinion of the throne, the

crown, and the sceptre of France as additions to one's comfort --

His children, and especially his sons, take things more easily --

Even the Bonapartists admired some of the latter -- A mot of an

imperialist -- How the boys were brought up -- Their nocturnal

rambles later on -- The King himself does not seem to mind those

escapades, but is frightened at M. Guizot hearing of them --

Louis-Philippe did not understand Guizot -- The recollection of

his former misery frequently haunts the King -- He worries Queen

Victoria with his fear of becoming poor -- Louis-Philippe an

excellent husband and father -- He wants to write the libretto of

an opera on an English subject -- His religion -- The court

receptions ridiculous -- Even the proletariat sneer at them --

The _entree_ of the Duchesse d'Orleans into Paris -- The scene in

the Tuileries gardens -- A mot of Princesse Clementine on her

father's too paternal solicitude -- A practical joke of the

Prince de Joinville -- His caricatures and drawings -- The

children inherited their talent for drawing and modelling from

their mother -- The Duc de Nemours as a miniature and

water-colour painter -- Suspected of being a Legitimist -- All

Louis-Philippe's children great patrons of art -- How the

bourgeoisie looked upon their intercourse with artists -- The Duc

de Nemours' marvellous memory -- The studio of Eugene Lami -- His

neighbours, Paul Delaroche and Honore de Balzac -- The Duc de

Nemours' bravery called in question -- The Duc d'Aumale's

exploits in Algeria considered mere skirmishes -- A curious story

of spiritism -- The Duc d'Aumale a greater favourite with the

world than any of the other sons of Louis-Philippe -- His wit --

The Duc d'Orleans also a great favourite -- His visits to

Decamps' studio -- An indifferent classical scholar -- A curious

kind of black-mail -- His indifference to money -- There is no

money in a Republic -- His death -- A witty reply to the

Legitimists 185

CHAPTER X.

The Revolution of '48 -- The beginning of it -- The National

Guards in all their glory -- The Cafe Gregoire on the Place du

Caire -- The price of a good breakfast in '48 -- The palmy days

of the Cuisine Bourgeoise -- The excitement on the Boulevards on

Sunday, February 20th, '48 -- The theatres -- A ball at

Poirson's, the erstwhile director of the Gymnase -- A lull in the

storm -- Tuesday, February 22nd -- Another visit to the Cafe

Gregoire -- On my way thither -- The Comedie-Francaise closes its

doors -- What it means, according to my old tutor -- We are

waited upon by a sergeant and corporal -- We are no longer

"messieurs," but "citoyens" -- An eye to the main chance -- The

patriots do a bit of business in tricolour cockades -- The

company marches away -- Casualties -- "Le patriotisme" means the

difference between the louis d'or and the ecu of three francs --

The company bivouacs on the Boulevard Saint-Martin -- A tyrant's

victim "_malgre lui_" -- Wednesday, February 23rd -- The Cafe

Gregoire once more -- The National Guards _en neglige_ -- A novel

mode of settling accounts -- The National Guards fortify the

inner man -- A bivouac on the Boulevard du Temple -- A camp scene

from an opera -- I leave -- My companion's account -- The

National Guards protect the regulars -- The author of these notes

goes to the theatre -- The Gymnase and the Varietes on the eve of

the Revolution -- Bouffe and Dejazet -- Thursday, February 24th,

'48 -- The Boulevards at 9.30 a.m. -- No milk -- The

Revolutionaries do without it -- The Place du Carrousel -- The

sovereign people fire from the roofs on the troops -- The troops

do not dislodge them -- The King reviews the troops -- The

apparent inactivity of Louis-Philippe's sons -- A theory about

the difference in bloodshed. -- One of the three ugliest men in

France comes to see the King -- Seditious cries -- The King

abdicates -- Chaos -- The sacking of the Tuileries -- Receptions

and feasting in the Galerie de Diane -- "Du cafe pour nous, des

cigarettes pour les dames" -- The dresses of the princesses --

The bourgeois feast the gamins who guard the barricades -- The

Republic proclaimed -- The riff-raff insist upon illuminations --

An actor promoted to the Governorship of the Hotel de Ville --

Some members of the "provisional Government" at work -- Mery on

Lamartine -- Why the latter proclaimed the Republic 208

CHAPTER XI.

The Second Republic -- Lamartine's reason for proclaiming it --

Suspects Louis-Napoleon of similar motives for wishing to

overthrow it -- Tells him to go back to England -- De Persigny's

account of Louis-Napoleon's landing in France after February

24th, '48 -- Providential interference on behalf of

Louis-Napoleon -- Justification of Louis-Napoleon's belief in his

"star" -- My first meeting with him -- The origin of a celebrated

nickname -- Badinguet a creation of Gavarni -- Louis-Napoleon and

his surroundings at the Hotel du Rhin -- His appearance and dress

-- Lord Normanby's opinion of his appearance -- Louis-Napoleon's

French -- A mot of Bismarck -- Cavaignac, Thiers, and Victor

Hugo's wrong estimate of his character -- Cavaignac and his

brother Godefroi -- The difference between Thiers and General

Cavaignac -- An elector's mot -- Some of the candidates for the

presidency of the Second Republic -- Electioneering expenses --

Impecuniosity of Louis-Napoleon -- A story in connection with it

-- The woman with the wooden legs -- The salons during the Second

Republic -- The theatres and their skits on the situation -- "La

Propriete c'est le Vol" -- France governed by the _National_ -- A

curious list of ministers and officials of the Second Republic --

Armand Marrast -- His plans for reviving business -- His

receptions at the Palais-Bourbon as President of the Chamber of

Deputies -- Some of the guests -- The Corps Diplomatique -- The

new deputies, their wives and daughters 232

CHAPTER XII.

Guizot, Lamartine, and Beranger -- Public opinion at sea with

regard to the real Guizot -- People fail to see the real man

behind the politician -- Guizot regrets this false conception --

"I have not the courage to be unpopular" -- A tilt at Thiers --

My first meeting with him -- A picture and the story connected

with it -- M. Guizot "at home" -- His apartment -- The company --

M. Guizot on "the Spanish marriages" -- His indictment against

Lord Palmerston -- An incident in connection with Napoleon's tomb

at the Invalides -- Nicolas I. and Napoleon -- My subsequent

intimacy with M. Guizot -- Guizot as a father -- His

correspondence with his daughters -- A story of Henry Muerger and

Marguerite Thuillier -- M. Guizot makes up his mind not to live

in Paris any longer -- M. Guizot on "natural scenery" -- Never

saw the sea until he was over fifty -- Why M. Guizot did not like

the country; why M. Thiers did not like it -- Thiers the only man

at whom Guizot tilted -- M. Guizot died poor -- M. de Lamartine's

poverty did not inspire the same respect -- Lamartine's

impecuniosity -- My only visit to Lamartine's house -- Du Jellaby

dore -- With a difference -- All the stories and anecdotes about

M. de Lamartine relate to his improvidence and impecuniosity --

Ten times worse in that respect than Balzac -- M. Guizot's

literary productions and M. de Lamartine's -- The national

subscription raised for the latter -- How he anticipates some of

the money -- Beranger -- My first acquaintance with him --

Beranger's verdict on the Second Republic -- Beranger's constant

flittings -- Dislikes popularity -- The true story of Beranger

and Mdlle. Judith Frere 249

CHAPTER XIII.

Some men of the Empire -- Fialin de Persigny -- The public

prosecutor's opinion of him expressed at the trial for high

treason in 1836 -- Superior in many respects to Louis-Napoleon --

The revival of the Empire his only and constant dream -- In order

to realize it, he appeals first to Jerome, ex-King of Westphalia

-- De Persigny's estimate of him -- Jerome's greed and

Louis-Napoleon's generosity -- De Persigny's financial

embarrassments -- His charity -- What the Empire really meant to

him -- De Persigny virtually the moving spirit in the Coup d'Etat

-- Louis-Napoleon might have been satisfied with the presidency

of the republic for life -- Persigny seeks for aid in England --

Palmerston's share in the Coup d'Etat -- The submarine cable --

Preparations for the Coup d'Etat -- A warning of it sent to

England -- Count Walewski issues invitations for a dinner-party

on the 2nd of December -- Opinion in London that Louis-Napoleon

will get the worst in the struggle with the Chamber -- The last

funds from London -- General de Saint-Arnaud and Baron Lacrosse

-- The Elysee-Bourbon on the evening of the 1st of December -- I

pass the Elysee at midnight -- Nothing unusual -- London on the

2nd of December -- The dinner at Count Walewski's put off at the

last moment -- Illuminations at the French Embassy a few hours

later -- Palmerston at the Embassy -- Some traits of De

Persigny's character -- His personal affection for Louis-Napoleon

-- Madame de Persigny -- Her parsimony -- Her cooking of the

household accounts -- Chevet and Madame de Persigny -- What the

Empire might have been with a Von Moltke by the side of the

Emperor instead of Vaillant, Niel, and Leboeuf -- Colonel

(afterwards General) Fleury the only modest man among the

Emperor's entourage -- De Persigny's pretensions as a Heaven-born

statesman -- Mgr. de Merode -- De Morny -- His first meeting with

his half-brother -- De Morny as a grand seigneur -- The origin of

the Mexican campaign -- Walewski -- His fads -- Rouher -- My

first sight of him in the Quartier-Latin -- The Emperor's opinion

of him at the beginning of his career -- Rouher in his native

home, Auvergne -- His marriage -- Madame Rouher -- His

father-in-law 261

CHAPTER XIV.

Society during the Second Empire -- The Court at Compiegne -- The

English element -- Their opinion of Louis-Napoleon -- The

difference between the court of Louis-Philippe and that of

Napoleon III. -- The luggage of M. Villemain -- The hunts in

Louis-Philippe's time -- Louis-Napoleon's advent -- Would have

made a better poet than an Emperor -- Looks for a La Valliere or

Montespan, and finds Mdlle. Eugenie de Montijo -- The latter

determined not to be a La Valliere or even a Pompadour -- Has her

great destiny foretold in her youth -- Makes up her mind that it

shall be realized by a right-handed and not a left-handed

marriage -- Queen Victoria stands her sponsor among the

sovereigns of Europe -- Mdlle. de Montijo's mother -- The

Comtesse de Montijo and Halevy's "Madame Cardinal" -- The first

invitations to Compiegne -- Mdlle. de Montijo's backers for the

Imperial stakes -- No other entries -- Louis-Napoleon utters the

word "marriage" -- What led up to it -- The Emperor officially

announces his betrothal -- The effect it produced -- The Faubourg

St.-Germain -- Dupin the elder gives his views -- The engaged

couple feel very uncomfortable -- Negotiations to organize the

Empress's future household -- Rebuffs -- Louis Napoleon's retorts

-- Mdlle. de Montijo's attempt at wit and sprightliness -- Her

iron will -- Her beauty -- Her marriage -- She takes

Marie-Antoinette for her model -- She fondly imagines that she

was born to rule -- She presumes to teach Princess Clotilde the

etiquette of courts -- The story of two detectives -- The hunts

at Compiegne -- Some of the mise en scene and _dramatis personae_

-- The shooting-parties -- Mrs. Grundy not banished, but

specially invited and drugged -- The programme of the gatherings

-- Compiegne in the season -- A story of an Englishman accommodated

for the night in one of the Imperial luggage-vans 288

CHAPTER XV.

Society during the Empire -- The series of guests at Compiegne --

The amusements -- the absence of musical taste in the Bonapartes

-- The programme on the first, second, third, and fourth days --

An anecdote of Lafontaine, the actor -- Theatrical performances

and balls -- The expenses of the same -- The theatre at Compiegne

-- The guests, male and female -- "Neck or nothing" for the

latter, uniform for the former -- The rest have to take "back

seats" -- The selection of guests among the notabilities of

Compiegne -- A mayor's troubles -- The Empress's and the

Emperor's conflicting opinions with regard to female charms --

Bassano in "hot water" -- Tactics of the demi-mondaines --

Improvement from the heraldic point of view in the Empress's

entourage -- The cocodettes -- Their dress -- Worth -- When every

pretext for a change of toilette is exhausted, the court ladies

turn themselves into ballerinas -- "Le Diable a Quatre" at

Compiegne -- The ladies appear at the ball afterwards in their

gauze skirts -- The Emperor's dictum with regard to

ballet-dancers and men's infatuation for them -- The Emperor did

not like stupid women -- The Emperor's "eye" for a handsome

woman -- The Empress does not admire the instinct -- William I.

of Prussia acts as comforter -- The hunt -- Actors, "supers," and

spectators -- "La Comtesse d'Escarbagnas" -- The Imperial

procession -- The Empress's and Emperor's unpunctuality --

Louis-Napoleon not a "well-dressed man" -- The Empress wished to

get back before dark -- The reason of this wish -- Though

unpunctual, punctual on hunt-days -- The police measures at those

gatherings -- M. Hyrvoix and M. Boitelle -- The Empress did not

like the truth, the Emperor did -- Her anxiety to go to St.

Lazare 304

CHAPTER XVI.

The story of a celebrated sculptor and his model -- David

d'Angers at the funeral of Cortot, the sculptor -- How I became

acquainted with him -- The sculptor leaves the funeral procession

to speak to a woman -- He tells me the story -- David d'Angers'

sympathy with Greece in her struggle for independence -- When

Botzaris falls at Missolonghi, he makes up his mind to carve his

monument -- Wishes to do something original -- He finds his idea

in the cemetery of Pere-la-Chaise -- In search of a model --

Comes unexpectedly upon her in the Rue du Montparnasse, while in

company of Victor Hugo -- The model and her mother -- The bronze

Christ on the studio wall -- David gives it to his model -- The

latter dismissed -- A plot against the sculptor's life -- His

model saves him -- He tries to find her and fails -- Only meets

with her when walking behind the hearse of Cortot -- She appears

utterly destitute -- Loses sight of her again -- Meets her on the

outer boulevards with a nondescript of the worst character -- He

endeavours to rescue her, but fails -- Canler, of the Paris

police, reveals the tactics pursued with regard to "unfortunates"

-- David's exile and death -- The Botzaris Monument is brought

back to Paris to be restored -- The model at the door of the

exhibition -- Her death 323

CHAPTER XVII.

Queen Victoria in Paris -- The beginning of the era of

middle-class excursions -- English visitors before that -- The

British tourist of 1855 -- The real revenge of Waterloo -- The

Englishman's French and the Frenchman's English -- The opening of

the Exhibition -- The lord mayor and aldermen in Paris -- The

King of Portugal -- All these considered so much "small fry" --

Napoleon III. goes to Boulogne to welcome the Queen -- The royal

yacht is delayed -- The French hotel proprietor the greatest

artist in fleecing -- The Italian, the Swiss, the German, mere

bunglers in comparison -- Napoleon III. before the arrival of the

Queen -- Pondering the past -- Arrival of the Queen -- The Queen

lands, followed by Prince Albert and the royal children -- The

Emperor rides by the side of her carriage -- Comments on the

population -- An old salt on the situation -- An old soldier's

retort -- The general feeling -- Arrival in Paris -- The

Parisians' reception of the Queen -- A description of the route

-- The apartments of the Queen at St. Cloud -- How the Queen

spent Sunday -- Visits the art section of the Exhibition on

Monday -- Ingres and Horace Vernet presented to her --

Frenchmen's ignorance of English art in those days -- English and

French art critics -- The Queen takes a carriage drive through

Paris -- Not a single cry of "Vive l'Angleterre!" a great many of

"Vive la Reine" -- England making a cats-paw of France --

Reception at the Elysee-Bourbon -- "Les Demoiselles de Saint-Cyr"

at St. Cloud -- Alexandre Dumas would have liked to see the

Queen -- Visit to Versailles -- State-performances at the Opera

-- Ball at the Hotel de Ville -- The Queen's dancing -- Canrobert

on "the Queen's dancing and her soldiers' fighting" -- Another

visit to the Exhibition -- Beranger misses seeing the Queen -- "I

am not going to see the Queen, but the woman" -- A review in the

Champ-de-Mars -- A visit to Napoleon's tomb -- Jerome's absence

on the plea of illness -- Marshal Vaillant's reply to the Emperor

when the latter invites him to take Jerome's place -- His

comments on the receptions given by the Emperor to foreign

sovereigns -- Fetes at Versailles -- Homeward 336

CHAPTER XVIII.

Marshal Vaillant -- The beginning of our acquaintance -- His

stories of the swashbucklers of the First Empire, and the beaux

of the Restauration -- Rabelaisian, but clever -- Marshal

Vaillant neither a swashbuckler nor a beau; hated both -- Never

cherished the slightest illusions about the efficiency of the

French army -- Acknowledged himself unable to effect the desired

and necessary reforms -- To do that, a minister of war must

become a fixture -- Why he stayed -- Careful of the public

moneys, and of the Emperor's also -- Napoleon III.'s lavishness

-- An instance of it -- Vaillant never dazzled by the grandeur of

court entertainments -- Not dazzled by anything -- His hatred of

wind-bags -- Prince de Canino -- Matutinal interviews -- Prince

de Canino sends his seconds -- Vaillant declines the meeting, and

gives his reason -- Vaillant abrupt at the best of times -- A

freezing reception -- A comic interview -- Attempts to shirk

military duty -- Tricks -- Mistakes -- A story in point -- More

tricks -- Sham ailments: how the marshal dealt with them -- When

the marshal was not in an amiable mood -- Another interview --

Vaillant's tactics -- "D----d annoying to be wrong" -- The

marshal fond of science -- A very interesting scientific

phenomenon himself -- Science under the later Bourbons --

Suspicion of the soldiers of the Empire -- The priesthood and the

police -- The most godless republic preferable to a continuance

of their regime -- The marshal's dog, Brusca -- Her dislike to

civilians -- Brusca's chastity -- Vaillant's objection to

insufficiently prepaid letters -- His habit of missing the train,

notwithstanding his precautions -- His objection to fuss and

public honours 351

CHAPTER XIX.

The Franco-German War -- Friday, July 15, 1870, 6 p.m. -- My

friends "confident of France being able to chastise the insolence

of the King of Prussia" -- I do not share their confidence; but

do not expect a crushing defeat -- Napoleon III.'s presence

aggravated the disasters; his absence would not have averted them

-- He himself had no illusions about the efficiency of the army,

did not suspect the rottenness of it -- His previous endeavours

at reorganization -- The real drift of his proposed inquiries --

His plan meant also compulsory service for every one -- Why the

legislature opposed it -- The makeshift proposed by it --

Napoleon weary, body and soul -- His physical condition -- A

great consultation and the upshot of it -- Dr. Ricord and what he

told me -- I am determined to see and hear, though not to speak

-- I sally forth -- The streets on the evening of Friday, the

15th of July -- The illuminations -- Patriotism or Chauvinism --

The announcement of a bookseller -- What Moltke thought of it --

The opinion of a dramatist on the war -- The people; no

horse-play -- No work done on Saturday and Sunday -- Cabmen -- "A

man does not pay for his own funeral, monsieur" -- The northern

station on Sunday -- The departing Germans -- The Emperor's

particular instructions with regard to them -- Alfred de

Musset's "Rhin Allemand" -- Prevost-Paradol and the news of his

suicide -- The probable cause of it -- A chat with a superior

officer -- The Emperor's Sunday receptions at the Tuileries --

Promotions in the army, upon what basis -- Good and bad officers

-- The officers' mess does not exist -- Another general officer

gives his opinion -- Marshal Niel and Leboeuf -- The plan of

campaign suddenly altered -- The reason -- The Emperor leaves St.

Cloud -- His confidence shaken before then -- Some telegrams from

the commanders of divisions -- Thiers is appealed to, to stem the

tide of retrenchment; afterwards to take the portfolio of war --

The Emperor's opinion persistently disregarded at the Tuileries

-- Trochu -- The dancing colonels at the Tuileries 367

CHAPTER XX.

The war -- Reaction before the Emperor's departure -- The moral

effects of the publication of the draft treaty -- "Bismarck has

done the Emperor" -- The Parisians did not like the Empress --

The latter always anxious to assume the regency -- A retrospect

-- Crimean war -- The Empress and Queen Victoria -- Solferino --

The regency of '65 -- Bismarck's millinery bills -- Lord Lyons --

Bismarck and the Duc de Gramont -- Lord Lyons does not foresee

war -- The republicans and the war -- The Empress -- Two

ministerial councils and their consequences -- Mr.

Prescott-Hewett sent for -- Joseph Ferrari, the Italian

philosopher -- The Empress -- The ferment in Paris -- "Too much

prologue to 'The Taming of the German Shrew'" -- The first

engagement -- The "Marseillaise" -- An infant performer -- The

"Marseillaise" at the Comedie-Francaise -- The "Marseillaise" by

command of the Emperor -- A patriotic ballet -- The courtesy of

the French at Fontenoy -- The Cafe de la Paix -- General Beaufort

d'Hautpoul and Moltke -- Newspaper correspondents -- Edmond About

tells a story about one of his colleagues -- News supplied by the

Government -- What it amounted to -- The information it gave to

the enemy -- Bazaine, "the glorious" one -- Palikao -- The fall

of the Empire does not date from Sedan, but from Woerth and

Speicheren -- Those who dealt it the heaviest blow -- The

Empress, the Empress, and no one but the Empress 385

CHAPTER XXI.

The 4th of September -- A comic, not a tragic revolution -- A

burlesque Harold and a burlesque Boadicea -- The news of Sedan

only known publicly on the 3rd of September -- Grief and

consternation, but no rage -- The latter feeling imported by the

bands of Delescluze, Blanqui, and Felix Pyat -- Blanqui, Pyat, &

Co. _versus_ Favre, Gambetta, & Co. -- The former want their

share of the spoil, and only get it some years afterwards --

Ramail goes to the Palais-Bourbon -- His report -- Paris spends

the night outdoors -- Thiers a second-rate Talleyrand -- His

journey to the different courts of Europe -- His interview with

Lord Granville -- The 4th of September -- The Imperial eagles

disappear -- The joyousness of the crowd -- The Place de la

Concorde -- The gardens of the Tuileries -- The crowds in the Rue

de Rivoli scarcely pay attention to the Tuileries -- The soldiers

fraternizing with the people, and proclaiming the republic from

the barracks' windows -- A serious procession -- Sampierro Gavini

gives his opinion -- The "heroic struggles" of an Empress, and

the crownless coronation of "le Roi Petaud" -- Ramail at the

Tuileries -- How M. Sardou saved the palace from being burned and

sacked -- The republic proclaimed -- Illuminations as after a

victory 404

CHAPTER XXII.

The siege -- The Parisians convinced that the Germans will not

invest Paris -- Paris becomes a vast drill-ground, nevertheless

-- The Parisians leave off singing, but listen to itinerant

performers, though the latter no longer sing the "Marseillaise"

-- The theatres closed -- The Comedie-Francaise and the Opera --

Influx of the Gardes Mobiles -- The Parisian no longer chaffs the

provincial, but does the honours of the city to him -- The

stolid, gaunt Breton and the astute and cynical Normand -- The

gardens of the Tuileries an artillery park -- The mitrailleuse

still commands confidence -- The papers try to be comic -- Food

may fail, drink will not -- My visit to the wine depot at Bercy

-- An official's information -- Cattle in the public squares and

on the outer Boulevards -- Fear with regard to them -- Every man

carries a rifle -- The woods in the suburbs are set on fire --

The statue of Strasburg on the Place de la Concorde -- M.

Prudhomme to his sons -- The men who do not spout -- The French

shopkeeper and bourgeois -- A story of his greed -- He reveals

the whereabouts of the cable laid on the bed of the Seine --

Obscure heroes -- Would-be Ravaillacs and Balthazar Gerards --

Inventors of schemes for the instant annihilation of all the

Germans -- A musical mitrailleuse -- An exhibition and lecture at

the Alcazar -- The last train -- Trains converted into dwellings

for the suburban poor -- Interior of a railway station -- The spy

mania -- Where the Parisians ought to have looked for spies -- I

am arrested as a spy -- A chat with the officer in charge -- A

terrible-looking knife 414

CHAPTER XXIII.

The siege -- The food-supply of Paris -- How and what the

Parisians eat and drink -- Bread, meat, and wine -- Alcoholism --

The waste among the London poor -- The French take a lesson from

the alien -- The Irish at La Villette -- A whisper of the horses

being doomed -- M. Gagne -- The various attempts to introduce

horseflesh -- The journals deliver their opinions -- The supply

of horseflesh as it stood in '70 -- The Academie des Sciences --

Gelatine -- Kitchen gardens on the balcony -- M. Lockroy's

experiment -- M. Pierre Joigneux and the Englishman -- If

cabbages, why not mushrooms? -- There is still a kitchen garden

left -- Cream cheese from the moon, to be fetched by Gambetta --

His departure in a balloon -- Nadar and Napoleon III. --

Carrier-pigeons -- An aerial telegraph -- Offers to cross the

Prussian lines -- The theatres -- A performance at the Cirque

National -- "Le Roi s'amuse," at the Theatre de Montmartre -- A

dejeuner at Durand's -- Weber and Beethoven -- Long winter nights

without fuel or gas -- The price of provisions -- The Parisian's

good-humour -- His wit -- The greed of the shopkeeper -- Culinary

literature -- More's "Utopia" -- An ex-lieutenant of the Foreign

Legion -- He gives us a breakfast -- He delivers a lecture on

food -- Joseph, his servant -- Milk -- The slender resources of

the poor -- I interview an employe of the State Pawnshop --

Statistics -- Hidden provisions -- Bread -- Prices of provisions

-- New Year's Day, and New Year's dinners -- The bombardment --

No more bread -- The end of the siege 429

CHAPTER XXIV.

Some men of the Commune -- Cluseret -- His opinion of Rossel --

His opinion of Bergeret -- What Cluseret was fighting for --

Thiers and Abraham Lincoln -- Raoul Rigault on horseback --

Theophile Ferre -- Ferre and Gil-Peres, the actor -- The comic

men of the Commune -- Gambon -- Jourde, one of the most valuable

of the lot -- His financial abilities -- His endeavours to save

-- Jourde at Godillot's -- Colonel Maxime Lisbonne -- The

Editor's recollections of him -- General Dombrowski and General

la Cecilia -- A soiree at the Tuileries -- A gala-performance at

the Opera Comique -- The death-knell of the Commune 462

AN ENGLISHMAN IN PARIS.

CHAPTER I.

The Quartier-Latin in the late thirties -- The difference between

then and now -- A caricature on the walls of Paris -- I am

anxious to be introduced to the quarter whence it emanated -- I

am taken to "La Childebert," and make the acquaintance of the