34 Travels in France 



stance is so objectionable as that of dining at noon, the conse- 

 quence of eating no breakfast ; for as the ceremony of dressing 

 is kept up, you must be at home from any morning's excursion 

 by twelve o'clock. This single circumstance, if adhered to, 

 would be sufficient to destroy any pursuits, except the most 

 frivolous. Dividing the day exactly in halves destroys it for 

 any expedition, inquiry, or business that demands seven or 

 eight hours' attention, uninterrupted by any calls to the table 

 or the toilette; calls which, after fatigue or exertion, are obeyed 

 with refreshment and with pleasure. We dress for dinner in 

 England with propriety, as the rest of the day is dedicated to 

 ease, to converse, and relaxation; but by doing it at noon, too 

 much time is lost. What is a man good for after his silk breeches 

 and stockings are on, his hat under his arm, and his head bien 

 poiidre? — Can he botanise in a watered meadow? — Can he 

 clamber the rocks to mineralise ? — Can he farm with the peasant 

 and the ploughman ? — He is in order for the conversation of the 

 ladies, which to be sure is in every country, but particularly 

 in France, where the women are highly cultivated, an excellent 

 employment; but it is an employment that never relishes better 

 than after a day spent in active toil or animated pursuit; in 

 something that has enlarged the sphere of our conceptions, or 

 added to the stores of our knowledge. — I am induced to make 

 this observation, because the noon dinners are customary all 

 over France, except by persons of considerable fashion at 

 Paris. They cannot be treated with too much ridicule or 

 severity, for they are absolutely hostile to every view of science, 

 to every spirited exertion, and to every useful pursuit in life. 



Living in this way however, with several persons of the first 

 fashion in the kingdom, is an object to a foreigner solicitous to 

 remark the manners and character of the nation. I have every 

 reason to be pleased with the experiment, as it affords me a 

 constant opportunity to enjoy the advantages of an unaffected 

 and polished society, in which an invariable sweetness of disposi- 

 tion, mildness of character, and what in English we emphatically 

 call good temper, eminently prevails: — seeming to arise, at 

 least I conjecture it, from a thousand little nameless and peculiar 

 circumstances; not resulting entirely from the personal char- 

 acter of the individuals, but apparently holding of the national 

 one. — Beside the persons I have named, there are among others 

 at our assemblies, the Marquis and Marchioness de Hautfort; 

 the Duke and Duchess de Ville (this duchess is among the good 

 rder of beings); the Chevalier de Peyrac; Monsieur I'Abbe 



