PALAIS ROYAL. 497 



Hence it is, that living in Paris is become confider- 

 ably dearer to foreigners, lince the Palais Royal has 

 been in vogue. No city or country has fuch another in- 

 ftitution to fhew ; confequently, it is novel and attrac- 

 tive to all foreigners, from whencefoever they come. 

 In order to be near at hand, they take lodgings either in 

 the Palais royal or in the quarter around it, and this 

 alone cofts them three times as much again, as if they 

 lived any where elfe. What they want for body and 

 mind, they naturally procure here at a double price ; 

 fo that the amount of their expences muft necefTarily be 

 as high again as it otherwife would. A number of other 

 things, which muft be otherwife looked for in thl re- 

 mote parts of the town, and therefore are frequently not 

 looked for at all, they here find together, and they foon 

 .become acquainted with abundance of enjoyments, 

 which otherwife would have been unknown and unpaid 

 for. But this dearnefs is excufed, by faying that every 

 thing here is inftruclive, improving and tending to 

 greater refinement ; and how excellently all this has been 

 taken care of, you have feen from my analylis of the 

 various eftablifhments in the Palais royal. 



And in fact, this excufe,- if it be mere pretence on 

 one lide, on the other it is well founded. Whoever has 

 a fentirhent of beauty, tafte, art, converfe with the 

 world, and obfervation of mankind, muft put up with 

 his additional expences : they will be amply repaid him, 

 if, however, they are not too great for his circum- 

 ftances. It is an eafy matter to find here circles of in- 

 telligent and well-bred perfons, of whom you will not 

 alk for information in vain. It is very convenient for a 

 young man, who wants to form his exterior, to obferve 



Vol. ii. k k the 



