Paris.
I Went a few nights since to the Italian Comedy; while I enjoyed the
exquisite _naiveté_ of my old friend Carlin, the Marquis de F——, whom you
have seen at London, entered the box:—He flew to me with all the vivacity
of a Frenchman, and with every mark of pleasure and regard. He had ten
thousand questions to ask about his friends in England all in one breath,
and without waiting for an answer. Mon cher ami this, ma chere amie
t’other; la belle such a one, la charmante such another.
Perceiving we disturbed the company, and having no hopes that the Marquis
would be more quiet for some time, I proposed leaving the Comedy. He
assented immediately:—Vous avez raison: il n’y a personne ici; c’est un
désert—(by the way, the house was very much crowded)—Je suis venu comme
vous voyez en polisson;—tout le monde est au Colisée—Allons.—We stepped
into his vis-à-vis: He ordered the coachman to drive vîte comme tous les
diables. The horses went as fast as they could, and the Marquis’s tongue
still faster than they.
When we arrived, I proposed going up to the gallery, where we might see
the company below, and converse without interruption, Bon, says he, nous
nous nicherons dans un coin pour critiquer tout le monde, comme deux
diables boiteux.
A lady of a fine shape and majestic air drew my attention: I asked the
Marquis if he did not think her remarkably handsome?—Là, là, said he,
coldly.—Nous sommes heureusement placés pour elle. C’est un tableau fait
pour être vu de loin.—I then took notice of the excessive whiteness of
her skin.—C’est apparemment le goût de son amant d’aujourd’hui, said he;
et quand un autre se présenteroit qui préféreroit la couleur de puce, à
l’aide d’un peu d’eau chaude, elle seroit aussi son affaire.
I next remarked two ladies dressed a little beyond the extravagance of
the mode. Their features betrayed the approach of fifty, in spite of all
the art which had evidently been used to conceal that hated age.
At sight of them the Marquis started up. Ah! parblieu, said he, ces deux
morceaux d’antiquité sont de mes parentes.—Excusez moi pour deux minutes:
il faut que je m’approche d’elles, pour les féliciter de leurs appas.
Old ladies, continued he, who have the rage to be thought young, are of
all animals the most vindictive when neglected, and I have particular
reasons for wishing to remain in their good graces. He then left me, and
having walked round the circle with the ladies, returned and took his
seat. I have got myself well out of the scrape, said he; I told them I
was engaged with a Milord, whom I should have the honour of presenting
at their house; and I fixed a young officer with them, whose best hopes
of promotion depend upon their influence at court, and who dares as soon
quit his colours in battle, as forsake these two pieces of old tapestry
till they chuse to retire.
A young man very magnificently dressed entered the room: He announced
his importance by his airs, his bustle, the loud and decisive tone of
his voice. The Marquis told me, it was Mons. le Duc de ——; that it was
indispensably necessary that I should be presented to him; there was
no living at Paris without that advantage; adding,—Il est un peu fat,
infiniment bête; d’ailleurs le meilleur enfant du monde.
A fine lady next appeared who seemed to command the admiration of the
whole assembly. She floated round the circle of the Colisée, surrounded
by a cluster of Petits Maitres, whose eyes were fixed on her, and who
seemed moved by her motion, like satellites under the influence of their
planet. She, on her part, was perfectly serene, and unembarrassed by the
attention and the eyes of the spectators. She smiled to one, nodded to
another, shrugged to a third, struck a fourth with her fan, burst into
a fit of laughter to a fifth, and whispered in the ear of a sixth. All
these, and a thousand tricks more, she ran through with the ease of an
actress and the rapidity of a juggler. She seemed fully persuaded that
she was the only person present worthy of attention; that it belonged
to her to develop her charms, display her graces and airs, and that it
was the part of the rest of the company to remain attentive and admiring
spectators.
Cette drolesse là, said the Marquis, est jolie, et pour cette raison on
croit qu’elle a de l’esprit: On a même tâché de répéter ses bons mots;
mais ils ne sont faits que pour sa bouche. Elle est beaucoup plus vaine
que sensible, grand soutien pour sa vertu! au reste, elle est dame
de qualité, à la faveur de quoi elle possede un goût de hardiesse si
heureux, qu’elle jouit du bénéfice de l’effronterie sans être effrontée.
I was surprised to find all this satire directed against so beautiful
a woman, and suspected that the edge of F——’s remarks was sharpened by
some recent pique. I was going to rally him on that supposition, when
he suddenly started up, saying, Voilà Mons. de ——, le meilleur de mes
amis.—Il est aimable; on ne peut pas plus.—Il a de l’esprit comme un
démon.—Il faut que vous le connoissiez. Allons:—Descendons. So saying,
he hurried me down stairs, presented me to Mons. de —— as un philosophe
Anglois, who understood race-horses better than the great Newton himself,
and who had no aversion to the game of Whist. Mons. de —— received me
with open arms, and we were intimate friends in ten minutes. He carried
the Marquis and me to sup at his house, where he found a numerous company.
The conversation was cheerful and animated. There were some very
ingenious men present, with an admirable mixture of agreeable women,
who remained to the last, and joined in the conversation even when it
turned on subjects of literature; upon which occasions English ladies
generally imagine it becomes them to remain silent. But here they took
their share without scruple or hesitation. Those who understood any thing
of the subject delivered their sentiments with great precision, and more
grace than the men; those who knew nothing of the matter rallied their
own ignorance in such a sprightly manner, as convinced every body, that
knowledge is not necessary to render a woman exceedingly agreeable in
society.
After passing a most delightful evening, I returned to my lodgings, my
head undisturbed with wine, and my spirits unjaded by play.