_Paris, January 19, 1802._
When you expressed your impatience to be informed of the dramatic
amusements in Paris, I promised to satisfy you as soon as I was able;
for I knew that you would not be contented with a superficial
examination. Therefore, in reviewing the principal scenic
establishments, I shall, as I have done before, exert my endeavours
not only to make you acquainted with the _best_ performers in every
department, but also with the _best_ stock-pieces, in order that, by
casting your eye on the _Affiches des Spectacles_, when you visit
this capital, you may at once form a judgment of the quality and
quantity of the entertainment you are likely to enjoy at the
representation of a particular piece, in which certain performers
make their appearance. Since the revolution, the custom of printing
the names of the actors and dancers in each piece, has been
introduced. Formerly, amateurs often paid their money only to
experience a disappointment; for, instead of seeing the hero or
heroine that excited their curiosity, they had a bad duplicate, or,
as the French term it, a _double_, imposed on them, more frequently
through caprice than any other motive. This is now obviated; and,
except in cases of sudden and unforeseen indisposition, you may be
certain of seeing the best performers whenever their name is
announced.
In speaking of the theatres, the pieces represented, and the merits
of the performers, I cannot be supposed to be actuated by any
prejudice or partiality whatever. I have, it is true, been favoured
with the oral criticism of a man of taste, who, as a very old
acquaintance, has generally accompanied me to the different
_spectacles_; but still I have never adopted his sentiments, unless
the truth of them had been confirmed by my own observation. From him
I have been favoured with a communication of such circumstances
respecting them as occurred during the revolution, when I was absent
from Paris. You may therefore confidently rely on the candour and
impartiality of my general sketch of the theatres; and if the stage
be considered as a mirror which reflects the public mind, you will
thence be enabled to appreciate the taste of the Parisians. Without
forgetting that
"_La critique est aisée, mais l'art est difficile_,"
I shall indulge the hope that you will be persuaded that truth alone
has guided my pen in this attempt to trace the attractions of the