D'ALEMBERT. 453 



mornings, after lie quitted his study, were generally 

 spent at Madame Geoffrin's; and the circle which he 

 met at both those houses was nearly the same, except 

 that Madame Geoffrin's was accessible to the better class 

 of statesmen, according to her maxim that the protection 

 of her favourites the men of letters and of science was 

 well worth purchasing at this price ; but for this use to 

 which her benevolence knew how to turn them, she 

 declared that after nine o'clock none but men of genius 

 should find her door open, as far as her own taste was 

 concerned. 



The habits of French society, so entirely unlike our 

 own, assemble in very small numbers the same persons 

 almost every evening at the same houses. The master 

 or the mistress, generally the latter, hardly ever leaves 

 home at the hours consecrated to this refined and agree- 

 able intercourse, or only does so on stated nights, seldom 

 more than one in a week. It is not easy for those who 

 have never experienced the charms of this kind of society 

 to understand its merits. Far from becoming dull or 

 monotonous, in consequence of the sameness of the per- 

 sons who compose it, this very circumstance it is that 

 gives so much comfort and even enjoyment to the inter- 

 course. The intimacy of a family circle is kept up, and 

 the interest which each takes in the others becomes a 

 powerful incentive to bestowing mutual confidence, while 

 it gives a pleasurable feeling to such as have no families 

 of their own. There is, too, a variety always occurring, 

 which no family circle can possess. The knowledge of 

 each other's character, habits, pursuits, tastes, renders 

 the conversation easy and interesting. The same subjects 

 are continued from day to day. The kind of wit or 



