105 



PARIS. 



The Letter of a Sicilian gentleman gives the following description 



of Paris in the time of Louis XIV. 



" It is no exaggeration/' says he, " to remark that Paris is one 

 vast hotel. You see every where * cafes/ ^estaminets/ taverns, 

 and the frequenters of taverns. The kitchens smoke at all times, 

 and at all times eating is going on. The luxury of Paris is some- 

 thing extraordinary and enormous — its wealth would enrich three 

 cities. On all sides you are surrounded by rich and splendid 

 shops, where every thing is sold that you do not want, as well as 

 every thing which you require. All would wish to live splen- 

 didly, and the poorest gentleman, jealous of his neighbour, would 

 live as well as he does. Ribbons, looking-glasses, are things, 

 without which the French could not live. Fashion is the veritable 

 demon of the nation ; one sex is as vain and as desirous of 

 pleasure as the other ; and if the women never stir without a 

 mirror, the men also may be seen arranging and combing their 

 wigs publicly in the streets. There is not a people so imperious 

 and audacious as these Parisians; they are proud of their very 

 fickleness, and say they are the only persons in the world who 

 can break their promises with honor. In vain you look for 

 modesty, wisdom, persons who have nothing to do, (a Sicilian is 

 speaking)) or men who have grown old. But if you do not find 

 modesty, wisdom, or old age, you find obsequiousness, gallantry, 

 and politeness. Go into a shop, and you are cajoled into buying 

 a thousand things you never dreamt of, before you obtain the 

 article you want. The manner of the higher classes is something 

 charming — there are masters who teach civility, and a pretty girl 

 the other day offered to sell me complimehts.* The women dote 

 upon little dogs. They command their husbands and obey 

 nobody. They dress with grace. We see them at all hours, 

 and they dote on conversation. As to love — they love, and 

 listen to their lovers, without much difficulty — but they never 

 love long,, and they never love enough. I have not seen a 

 jealous husband, nor a man who thinks himself unhappy and 

 dishonored because his wife is unfaithful. 



" During the * Careme,' the people go in the morning to a 

 sermon, in the evening to a comedy, with equal zeal and devotion. 

 The Abbes are in great number, and the usual resource of ladies 



• There is still, however, I belive, a 'Professeur de Maintien' at the 

 ^•Conservatoire Royal de Musique.' 



VOL VI. — 1835, O 



