£40 HORTICULTURAL TOUR. 



piece, without the shitting of scenes, or the rise and fall of a 

 drop-painting, and the rigid adherence to the unities in these 

 respects was far from displeasing ; but certainly I was great- 

 ly disappointed at the dirtiness and worn-out aspect of the 

 whole furniture of the stage. I perceived some striking 

 instances of the zeal with which a French audience enters 

 into the business of the hour. When the bitter miseries 

 of (Edipus unfolded themselves, and began to overwhelm 

 him, I found that a French gentleman next to me, who 

 had occasionally explained some things to me, and lent me 

 his printed copy of the tragedy, was actually sobbing and 

 unable to make any reply to an ill-timed whisper on my 

 part. On looking around, I saw handkerchiefs applied to 

 watery eyes on every side, although there were compara- 

 tively few ladies in the house. But the representative of 

 (Edipus uttered the language of despair with a truth to 

 nature, that rendered it irresistible even to a foreigner who 

 only imperfectly caught the meaning of the words *. 



Sept. 27. — Early in the morning, Mr Macdonald and 

 Mr Wood set off to visit the nurseries at Vitry, six miles 

 from Paris on the road to Choisy. Mr Hay and I resolved 

 on an excursion to Montmartre, and on a final visit to the 

 Jardjn des Plantes » 



Montmartre 

 is a pleasant village, situate on an eminence to the north- 

 west of Paris. It commands a fine view of the capital, and 



• In August 1821, I had a .second opportunity of visiting the Theatre 

 Frari'.an, and wa.s rathci disappointed at finding it as dirty and dingy as 

 before* The piece was the " Marie Stuart" of Le Brun ; Talma represent^ 

 ing Leice ter, and Mademoiselle Duchesnois the unfortunate Queen of Scots. 

 Although the weather war, intolerably hot, the house was crowded in every 

 part, and the audi lensitive as on the former occasion \ 



fbe proportion of ladles, however, was much greater — v 



