74 Travels in France 



at distances around a wood, then beat it, and seldom more than 

 one in a company gets a shot; it is more tedious than is easily 

 conceived: like angling, incessant expectation and perpetual 

 disappointment. Partridge and hare shooting are almost as 

 different from that of England. We took this diversion in the 

 fine vale of Catnoir, five or six miles from Liancourt ; arranging 

 ourselves in a file at about thirty yards from person to person, 

 and each with a servant and a loaded gun, ready to present 

 when his master fires : thus we marched across and across the 

 v^ale, treading up the game. Four or five brace of hares and 

 twenty brace of partridges were the spoils of the day. I like 

 this mode of shooting but little better than waiting for deer. 

 The best circumstance to me of exercise in company (it was not 

 so once) is the festivity of the dinner at the close of the day. To 

 enjoy this, it must not be pushed to great fatigue. Good 

 spirits after violent exercise are always the affectation of silly 

 young folks (I remember being that sort of fool myself when I 

 was young), but with something more than moderate, the 

 exhilaration of body is in unison with the flow of temper, and 

 agreeable company is then delicious. On such days as these 

 we were too late for the regular dinner, and had one by ourselves, 

 with no other dressing than the refreshment of clean linen; 

 and these were not the repasts when the duchess's champagne 

 had the worst flavour. A man is not worth hanging that does 

 not drink a little too much on such occasions: mais prenez-y- 

 garde : repeat it often, and make it a mere drinking party, 

 the lustre of the pleasure fades and you become what was 

 an English fox-hunter. One day while we were thus dining 

 d VAnglois, and drinking the plough, the chase, and I know 

 not what, the Duchess of Liancourt and some of her ladies came 

 in sport to see us. It was a moment for them to have betrayed 

 ill-nature in the contempt of manners not French, which they 

 might have endeavoured to conceal under a laugh : — but nothing 

 of this; it was a good-humoured curiosity; a natural inclination 

 to see others pleased and in spirits. lis ont ete de grands chasseurs 

 aujourdliui, said one. Oh ! Us s' applaudissent de leurs exploites. 

 Do they drink the gun ? said another. Leurs maitresses certaine- 

 ment, added a third. J'aime a les voir en gaiete ; il y a quelque 

 chose d'aimable dans tout ceci. To note such trifles may seem 

 superfluous to many : but what is life when trifles are withdrawn ? 

 and they mark the temper of a nation better than objects of 

 importance. In the moments of council, victor}', flight, or 

 death, mankind, I suppose, are nearly the same. Trifles dis- 



