22 LIFE OF SIR JOHN LUBBOCK ch. 



It may be of interest to the reader to see a 

 specimen of the kind of diary which Sir John was 

 in the habit of keeping ; and the notes of this trip 

 to Paris are so amusing, as well as typical, that 

 the page which records it may be quoted virtually 

 at full length. 



Friday, Feb. 2. To Paris with Alice and the Ham- 

 bros, partly to give Ahce a httle change and partly to 

 meet the French and German commissioners on the 

 Greek Bankruptcy. A wet and cold passage. To 

 Hotel Meurice. 



Sat. 3. Had our meeting at 2.30 at the Comp' 

 Nationale. Decided to have a joint protest, but did 

 not get very far. Dined at the Cafe Voisin and then to 

 see Sarah Bernhardt in Izeyl. Did not care for it. The 

 story is moral enough, but her acting in the love scenes 

 almost too realistic. 



Sunday 4. To Notre Dame in the morning. Then 

 to the S'= Chapelle. In the afternoon called at the 

 Embassy and on Jules Simon. He looked aged and his 

 eyes have failed. He says that the French are not 

 increasing their Navy but that it has been much starved, 

 and that they are only making it reasonably efficient. 

 He declares that there is no real desire for war. In the 

 afternoon, called on the Dufferins. 



Monday 5. Most of the day at the Comp' Nat. 

 d'Escompte on the Greek business. In the evening to 

 the Comedie Fran9aise to see the Monde ou Von s'ennuie. 

 Very amusing. 



Thursday 6. Paid some calls. Had a long talk with 

 Dufferin. Went to the Jardin des Plantes, but found 

 everything shut up, being Mardi Gras. Great crowds 

 on the Boulevards. In the evening to M"" Sans Gene 

 at the Vaudeville — very good. 



Wed. 7. In the morning to the Louvre. In the 

 afternoon some calls. Had a long talk with B. de St. 

 Hilaire. As usual, very interesting, but very desponding 

 — " France very corrupt politically, literature very 

 immoral, bankruptcy inevitable, the passions so roused 

 that war is certain. France may win, but if not will be 

 wiped out. The ways of Providence inevitable, and 

 perhaps all Europe to be dominated by Russia. He 



