THE EUROPEAN JOURNALS 



325 



France a man authorized by act of attorney to receive my 

 dues, without which 1 might never have a sol. The 

 librarian, a perfect gentleman, told me this in friendship, 

 and would have added (had he dared^ that Kings arc 

 rarely expected to pay. I, however, cut the matter short, 

 knowing within myself that, should I not receive my 

 money, 1 was quite able to keep the work. In the even- 

 ing I dressed to go to M. Gerard's with M. Valenciennes; 

 but he did not come, so there must have been some 

 mistake — probably mine. 



Scpti-mbcriio. Went with Swainson to the Pantheon, 

 to sec if the interior corresponds with the magnificence 

 of the exterior ; it is fine, but still unfinished. All, or 

 almost all, the public edifices of Paris far surpass those 

 of London. Then to sec Cuvier, who was sitting for his 

 portrait, while the Baroness was reading to him the life 

 of Garrick. He had known Mrs. Garrick, and his obser- 

 vations were interesting. The likeness is good, and Cuvier 

 is much pleased with it; he gave me a note for M. Vallery 

 the King's librarian. Parker had received a note from 

 M. Valenciennes, saying he had forgot my address, and 

 had spent the evening going from place to place searching 

 for me, and requested I would go with him to Gerard next 

 Thursday. Did he forget to question the all-knowing police, 

 or did the gentleman at the Messageries exaggerate? 



September 26. I spent some time in the Louvre exam- 

 ining very closely the most celebrated pictures of animals, 

 birds, fruits, and flowers. Afterwards we all went to the 

 French Opera, or, as it is called here, L'Ecole de Musique 

 Royale. The play was " La Muette," a wonderful piece, 

 and the whole arrangement of the performance still more 

 so. There were at one time two hundred persons on the 

 stage. The scenery was the finest I have ever beheld, — at 

 the last, Mount Vesuvius in full and terrific eruption ; the 

 lava seemed absolutely to roll in a burning stream down 

 the sides of the volcano, and the stones which were appar- 



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