Paris 83 



pretty little theatre with plenty of rubbish on it. Coffee-houses 

 on the boulevards, music, noise, and files without end; every- 

 thing but scavengers and lamps. The mud is a foot deep; and 

 there are parts of the boulevards without a single light. 



215/. Monsieur de Broussonet being returned from Burgundy, 

 I had the pleasure of passing a couple of hours at his lodgings 

 very agreeably. He is a man of uncommon activity and pos- 

 sessed of a great variety of useful knowledge in every branch of 

 natural history; and he speaks English perfectly well. It is 

 very rare that a gentleman is seen better qualified for a post 

 than Monsieur de Broussonet for that which he occupies of 

 secretary to a Royal Society. 



22nd. To the bridge of Neuilie, said to be the finest in France. 

 It is by far the most beautiful one I have anywhere seen. It 

 consists of five vast arches; flat, from the Florentine model; 

 and all of equal span; a mode of building incomparably more 

 elegant and more striking than our system of different sized 

 arches. To the machine at j\Iarly; which ceases to make the 

 least impression. Madame du Barre's residence, Lusienne, is 

 on the hill just above this machine; she has built a pavilion 

 on the brow of the decHvity for commanding the prospect, 

 fitted up and decorated with much elegance. There is a table 

 formed of Seve ^ porcelain, exquisitely done. I forget how many 

 thousand louis d'ors it cost. The French, to whom I spoke of 

 Lusienne, exclaimed against mistresses and extravagance with 

 more violence than reason in my opinion. Who, in common 

 sense, would deny a king the amusement of a mistress provided 

 he did not make a business of his plaything.? Mais Frederic le 

 Grand avoit-il une maitresse, lui fasoit-il batir des pavilions, 

 el les meiibloil-il de tables de porcelaine ? No : but he had that 

 v/hich was fifty times worse : a king had better make love to a 

 handsome woman than to one of his neighbour's provinces. The 

 King of Prussia's mistress cost a hundred millions sterling, 

 and the lives of 500,000 men; and before the reign of that 

 mistress is over may yet cost as much more. The greatest 

 genius and talents are lighter than a feather, weighed philo- 

 sophically, if rapine, war, and conquest are the effects of them. 



To St. Germain's, the terrace of which is very fine. Mon- 

 sieur de Broussonet met me here and we dined with Monsieur 

 Breton, at the Marechal Due de Noailles, who has a good collec- 

 tion of curious plants. Here is the finest sofhora japonica I 

 have seen. — 10 miles. 



1 Sevres. 



