1G8 
fo crowded were thefe promenades with 
ladies and loungers of every defcription, 
that, by common confent, the ‘law of the 
road’ was as ftrictly preferved, as it is 
in the ftreets of London by the Hackney- 
coach-men! To have difturbed tis ealy 
well-regulated flow would have been ex- 
tremely rude; and I almoft queition whe- 
ther the tide would not have carried any 
little bark away; which had attempted to 
refit it. 
Though the other colonnades were alfo 
crowded, ambulation was not fo difficult 
as here; and we had abundant opportu- 
nity to admire as well the peculiar ele- 
gance with which the rival fhop-keepers 
had lighted up their little cabinets of 
bijouterie, as the fplendor and magnif- 
cence produced by the general illumina- 
tion of the whole. After we had gra- 
tified our curiofity, and fcattered as 
many looks as it was lawful for us mar- 
ried men on the full unfhaded beauties of 
the deep-bofomed damfels who tread this 
fairy-ground, our friend B——, whofe 
long refidence here has made him perfeétly 
familiar with the manners and amufements 
of the people, propofed to fhew us the. 
gaming-houfes and fubterranean gaieties 
of the Palais-royal. He had icarcely 
fpoken, when the immifcible founds of 
il-tuned inftruments and fhrill piercing 
voices aflailed our ears; a fort of Sirocco- 
gleam, compofed of innumerable breath- 
ings, rifing upon us at the fame time, fuf- 
ficiently indicated that there was ‘* High 
Life below Stairs.”> We defcended intoa 
largé room, whofe cieling, walls, and de- 
corations, counterfeit Arcadian {cenery : 
the pillars which fupported the roof re- 
prefent the knotty tranks of venerable 
trees, whofe tortuous branches, inter- 
twifting with each other, ** o’ercanopy 
the glade.’ Tityrus, or more probably 
fome Grecian fhepherd, is feen lying at 
ae 
his length under the fhade of a wide- 
fpreading beech-tree in the wall, cocled’ 
by a ftationary ftream, and watching with 
untired eye the never-ending antics of the 
kids and lambkins which furround him. 
"The company is not unappropriate to the 
fcenery: Panis here with his pipe, and 
many a Satyr peeps through the mimic fo- 
, Mage at the carelefs unvei'ed nymphs who 
trip with famaftic tce acrofs the “¢ velvet 
green.””- Thefe fhepherds and thepherd- 
effes, I affure you, live not upon the un- 
fubftantial food of love alone: they have 
very good appetites, believe me: many of 
them did I fee amujing themfelves with a 
dith of petits-patés, a bafon of foup, and 
a fine plump. poulet; beakers of Bour- 
, 
An Excurfion through France to Geneva. 
fA pril I; 
deaux and Burgundy were filled with a’ - 
generous hand, and to my great furprife 
did I often inhale the cdour of hot rum- 
punch! I could hardly help exclaiming, 
Acre peor, S07, & yuvainec, 
Boosie Wisely Gphuct, &c. bc. 
After having wandered among thefe 
feftive groves, high-fcented and high- 
founding with’ tones, if not indeed * moft 
mufical—meoft melancholy !” till our cu- 
riofity was fufficiently gratified, we re- 
traced our fieps, and proceeded to vifit 
the gaming-tables. 
The gaming tables are in a different 
quarter of the Palais-royal: we alcended 
a ftair-cafe, and opened the door of an 
ante-chamber, where feveral hundred hats, ~ 
fticks, and great coats, carefully ticketed, 
were arranged, under the charge of two 
or three old men, who receive either one 
or two fous (I forget which) from every 
owner, for the fafe delivery of his precious 
depofit. No dogs are admitted into thefe 
facred apartments, or any thing which is 
likely to difturb the deep attention and 
holy quiet which pervade them! From 
this ante-chamber we opened a folding- 
door which introduced us to a large well- 
lighted room, in the centre of which was 
a table, furrounded,at a moderate eftimate, 
by two hundred and fifty or three hundred 
perfons, anxioufly in{peéting a game,which 
it was not likely that any of our party 
fhould know the name of. We proceeded 
to another room ; another fucceeded that 5 
and yet another ; a fourth,a fifth, a fixth: 
we omitted to reckon the number of the 
rooms, and therefore, to avoid exaggera- 
tion, we will ftop here; but I am inclined - 
to believe there are more than fix; all of 
which communicated with each other, 
and were equally well attended with the 
firft. Different games were purfuing, all 
firange to us unfafhionable folks: a few 
females, mixed with this wretched crowd, 
were feated at the table, and engaged in 
the gamie! ’ 
Thete tables 2re_licenfed by Govern- 
ment—pay to it a confiderable fum of 
money—and are, I wunderftand, under 
its immediate inipection: they are excel- 
jently regulated; ready cath pafles from 
the lofer to the winner, and differences 
appear to be decided by appointed referees, 
who fitat thetable, invefted with what we 
conjecture to be the infignia of office; name- 
ly, fuert wooden inftruments fhaped like a 
gaiden-koe, and which feem to colleét the 
twelve-livre pieces which _are feattered 
over the table. 
dhere is.one yery curious condition 
ae ese impofed 
