Paris and the Parisians in 1835.

Preface

From the very beginning of reading and writing — nay, doubtless from the very beginning of speaking, — Truth, immortal Truth, has been the object of ostensible worship to all who read and to all who listen ; and, in the abstract, it is unquestionably held in sincere veneration by all : yet, in the detail of every-day practice, the majority of mankind often hate it, and are seen to bear pain, disappointment, and sorrow more patiently than its honoured voice when it echoes not their own opinion.

Preconceived notions generally take a much firmer hold of the mind than can be obtained by any statement, however clear and plain, which tends to overthrow them ; and if it happen that these are connected with an honest intention of being right, they are often mistaken for principles ; — in which case the attempt to shake them is considered not merely as a folly, but a sin.

With this conviction strongly impressed upon my mind, it requires some moral courage to publish these volumes ; for they are written in conformity to the opinions of ... . perhaps none, — and, worse still, there is that in them which may be considered as contradictory to my own. Had I, before my late visit to Paris, written a book for the purpose of advocating the opinions I entertained on the state of the country, it certainly would have been composed in a spirit by no means according in all points with that manifested in the following pages : but, while profiting by every occasion which permitted me to mix with distinguished people of all parties, I learned much of which I was — in common, I suspect, with many others — very profoundly ignorant. I found good where I looked for mischief— strength where I anticipated weakness— and the watchful wisdom of cautious legislators, most usefully at work for the welfare of their country, instead of the crude vagaries of a revolutionary government, active only in leading blindfold the deluded populace who trusted to them.

3tVl PREFACE.

The result of this was, first a wavering, and then a change of opinion, — not as to the immutable laws which should regulate hereditary succession, or the regret that it should ever have been deemed expedient to violate them — but as to the wisest way in which the French nation, situated as it actually is, can be governed, so as best to repair the grievous injuries left by former convulsions, and most effectually to guard against a recurrence of them in future.

That the present policy of France keeps these objects steadily in view, and that much wisdom and courage is at work to advance them, cannot be doubted ; and those most anxious to advocate the sacred cause of well-ordered authority among all the nations of the earth should be the first to bear testimony to this truth.

London, December, 1835.

Letter I

Difficulty of giving a systematic account of what is doing in France— Pleasure of revisiting Paris after a long absence — What is changed ; what remains the same Page 25

LETTER IL

Absence of the English Embassy — Trial of the Lyons Prisoners — Church of the Madeleine — Statue of Napoleon 27

LETTER IIL

Slang — Les Jeunes Gens de Paris — La Jeune France — Rococo — D6cousu . . 30

LETTER IV.

Theatre Franqais — Mademoiselle Mars — Elmire — Charlotte Brown — Extract from s Sermon 32^

LETTER V.

Exhibition of Living Artists at the Louvre— The Deluge — Poussin and Martin — Portraits — Appearance of the Company 34

LETTER VL

Society — Morality — False Impressions and False Reports — Observations from a Frenchv man on a recent publication .3^

LETTER VIL

Alarm created by the Trial of the Lyons Prisoners — Visits from a Republican and from a Doctrinaire : reassured by the promises of safety and protection received from the latter

LETTER VIIL

Eloquence of the Pulpit— L 'Abbe CcBur— Sennon at St. Roch— Elegant Congreiration— Costume of the younger Clergy t . 47

LETTER IX.

Literature of the Revolutionary School— Its low estimation in France ... 51

LETTER X.

Longchamps— The " Three Hours' Agony" at St. Roch— Sermons on the Gospel of 6ood-Fnday— Prospects of the Cathohcs—O'Connell . . . . . f 55

XVlll CONTENTS.

LETTER XL

Trial-chamber at the Luxembourg — Institute — M. Mignet— Concert Musard Page 59

LETTER XIL

Easter-Sunday at Notre Dame — Archbishop — View of Paris — Victor Hugo — Hotel Dieu —Mr. Jefferson 63

LETTER XIIL

" Le Monomane" 66

LETTER XIV.

The Gardens of the Tuileries — Legitimatist — Republican — Doctnnaire — Children — Dress of tlie Ladies — Of the Gentlemen — Black Hair — Unrestricted Admission— Anecdote 71

LETTER XV.

street Police — Cleaning Beds — Tinning Kettles — Building Houses — Loading Carts — Preparing for the Scavenger — Want of Drains — Bad Pavement — Darliness . 77

LETTER XVL

Preparations for the Fete du Roi — Arrival of Troops — Champs Elysees — Concert in the Garden of the Tuileries — Silence of the People — Fireworks .... 81

LETTER XVIL

Political chances — Visit from a Republican — His high spirits at the prospects before him — His advice to me respecting my name — Removal of the Prisoners from Ste. Pelagie —Review — Garde de Paris— The National Guard 86

LETTER XVIIL

First Day of the Trials — Much blustering, but no riot — All alarm subsided — Proposal

for inviting Lord B m to plead at the Trial — Society — Charm of idle conversation

— The Whisperer of good stories 91

LETTER XIX.

Victor Hugo — Racine 96

LETTER XX.

Versailles— St. Cloud 105

LETTER XXI.

History of the Vicomte de B —His opinions— State of France— Expediency . 110

LETTER XXII.

P^re Lachaise-Mourningin public— Defacing the Tomb of Abelird and Eloisa-Baron Munchausen— Russian Monument— Statue of Manuel ii*

CONTENTS. XIX

LETTER XXIII.

Remarkable People— Distinguished People — Metaphysical Lady . . Page 117

LETTER XXIV.

Expedition to the Luxembourg — No admittance for Females — Portraits of " Henri" — Republican Costume— Quai Voltaire— Mural Inscriptions— Anecdote of Marshal Lobau — Arrest • • 122

LETTER XXV.

Chapelle Expiatoire — Devotees seen there— Tri-coloured flag out of place there — Flower Market of the Madeleine — Petites Maitresses . . . . . . . 129

LETTER XXVI.

Delicacy in France and in England — Causes of the difference between them . 132

LETTER XXVII.

Objections to quoting the names of private individuals— Impossibility of avoiding Politics — Parceque and Quoique — Soiree Antithetique 137

LETTER XXVIII.

New Publications — M. de Lamartine's " Souvenirs, Impressions, Pensees, et Paysages" — Tocqueville and Beaumont — New American regulation — M. Scribe — Madame Tastu — Reception of diiferent Writers in society 143

LETTER XXIX.

Sunday in Paris — Family Groups — Popular Enjoyment — Polytechnic Students — Their resemblance to the figure of Napoleon — Enduring attachment to the Emperor — Conservative spirit of the English Schools — Sunday in the Gardens of the Tuileries — Religion of the Educated — Popular Opinion 147

LETTER XXX.

Madame Recamier — Her Morning Parties — Gerard's Picture of Corinne — Miniature of Madame de Stael — M. de Chateaubriand — Conversation on the degree in which the French language is understood by Foreigners — The necessity of speaking French 152

LETTER XXXI.

Exhibition of Sevres China at the Louvre— Gobelins and Beauvais Tapestry— Legitimatist Father and Doctrinaire Son—Copies from the Medicean Gallery . .158

LETTER XXXII.

EgUse Apostolique Frangaise- Its doctrine— L' Abbe Auzou— His Sermon on " les Plaisirs Populaires" 162

LETTER XXXIII.

Establishment for Insane Patients at Vanves— Description of the Arrangements— Englishman — His Religious Madness . . . 168

XX CONTENTS.

LETTER XXXIV.

Riot at the Porte St. Martin— Prevented by a shower of Rain— The Mob in fine weather —How to stop Emeutes— Army of Italy— Theatre Frangais— Mademoiselle Mars in Henriette — Disappearance of Comedy Page 174

LETTER XXXV.

Soiree dansante— Young Ladies— Old Ladies— Anecdote— The Consolations of Chaperones— Flirtations— Discussion upon the variations between young Married Women m France and in England— Making love by deputy— Not likely to answer in England " 179

LETTER XXXVI.

Improvements of Paris — Introduction of Carpets and Trottoirs — Maisonnettes — Not likely to answer in Paris — The necessity of a Porter and Porter's Lodge — Comparative Expenses of France and England — Increasing Wealth of the Bourgeoisie . . 187

LETTER XXXVII.

Horrible Murder— La Morgue— Suicides— Vanity— Anecdote— Influence of Modern Literature — Different afpearance of Poverty in France and England . . . 193

LETTER XXXVIII.

Op6ra Comique — " Cheval de Bronze" — "La Marquise" — Impossibility of playing Tragedy — Mrs. Siddons's Readings — Mademoiselle Mars has equal power — Laisser aller of the Female Performers— Dechne of Theatrical Taste among the Fashionable 199

LETTER XXXIX.

The Abb^ de La Mennais — Cobbett — O'Connell — Napoleon — Robespierre . . 203

LETTER XL.

Which Party is it ranks second in the estimation of all ? — No Caricatures against the Exiles — Horror of a Republic 207

LETTER XLI.

M. Dupre — His Drawings in Greece — L'Eglise des Carmes — M. Vinchon's Picture of the National Convention — Leopold Robert's Fishermen — Reported cause of his Suicide — Roman Catholic Religion — Mr. Daniel O'Connell . . . . ; 212

LETTER XLII.

Old Maids — Rarely to be found in France — The reasons for this .... 215

LETTER XLIII.

Peculiar Air of Frenchwomen — Impossibility that an Englishwoman should not be known for such in Paris— Small Shops — Beautiful Flov/ers, and pretty arrangement of them — Native Grace — Disappearance of Rouge — Gray Hair — Every article dearer than in London— All temptations to smuggling removed . . '. . . . 221

CONTENTS. XXI

LETTER XLIV.

Exclusive Soir6es — Soiree Doctrinaire — Due de Broglie — Soiree R6publicaine — Soiree Royaliste — Partie Imp^riale — Military Greatness — Dame de I'Empire . Page 225

LETTER XLV.

L'Abb^ Lacordaire — Various statements respecting him — Poetical description of Notre Dame — The prophecy of a Roman Catholic — Les Jeunes Gens de Paris — Their omnipotence 230

LETTER XLVL

La Tour de Nesle 237

LETTER XLVIL

Palais Royal — Variety of Characters — Party of English — Restaurant — Galerie d'Orl^ans — Number of Loungers — Convenient abundance of Idle Men — Theatre du Vaudeville 243

LETTER XLVIIL

Literary Conversation — Modem Novelists — Vicomte d'Arlincourt, his Portrait — Chateaubriand — Bernardin de Saint Pierre — Shakspeare — Sir Walter Scott — French familiarity with English Authors — Miss Mitford — Miss Landon — Parisian passion for Novelty — Extent of general Information 249

LETTER XLIX.

Trial by Jury — Power of the Jury in France — Comparative insignificance of that vested in the Judge — Virtual Abolition of Capital Punishments — Flemish Anecdote . 254

LETTER L.

Enghsh Pastry-cooks— French horror of EngUsh Pastry— Unfortunate experiment upon a Muffin — The Citizen King ' 259

LETTER LL

Parisian Women — Rousseau's failure in attempting to describe them — Their great influence in Society — Their grace in Conversation — Difficulty of growing old — Do the ladies of France or those of England manage it best ? 262

LETTER LIL

La Sainte Chapelle — Palais de Justice — Traces of the Revolution of 1830 — Unworthy use made of La Sainte Chapelle — Boileau — Ancient Records .... 268

LETTER LIIL

French ideas of England — Making love — Precipitate retreat of a young Frenchman — Different methods of arranging Marriages — EngUsh Divorce — English Restaurans 273

LETTER LIV.

uence of th(

Mixed Society— Influence of the English Clergy and their Families — Importance of their station in Society , 281

XXU CONTENTS.'

LETTER LV.

Le Grand Opera — Its enormous Expense— Its Fashion — Its acknowledged Dulness — " La Jnive" — Its heavy Music — Its exceeding splendour — Beautiful management of the Scenery — National Music „ 286

• LETTER LVL

The Abbe Deguerry — His eloquence — Excursion across the water — Library of Sainte Genevieve — Copy-book of the Dauphin — St. Etienne du Mont — Pantheon . 292

i *

LETTER LVIL

Little Suppers — Great Dinners — Affectation of Gourmandise — Evil effects of " dining out" — Evening Parties — Dmners in private under the name of Luncheons — Late Hours 296

LETTER LVIIL

Hopital des Enfans Trouves — Its doubtful advantages — Story of a Child left there 301

LETTER LIX.

Proems Monstre — Dislike of the Prisoners to the ceremony of Trial — Societe des Droits de I'Homme — Names given to the Sections — Kitchen and Nursery Literature — Anecdote of Lagrange — Republican Law 313

LETTER LX.

Memoirs of M. de Chateaubriand — The Readings at L'Abbaye-aux-Bois — Account of these in the French Newspapers and Reviews — Morning at the Abbaye to hear a portion of these Memoirs — The Visit to Prague . . . - . . . .318

LETTER LXL

Jardin des Plantes — Not equal in beauty to our Zoological Gardens — La Salpetriere— Anecdote — Les Invahdes — Difficulty of finding English Colours there — The Dome 327

LETTER LXIL

Expedition to Montmorency — Rendezvous in the Passage Delorme — St. Denis— Tomb prepared for Napoleon — The Hermitage — Diner sur I'herbe .... 332

LETTER LXIIL

George Sand . 340

LETTER LXIV.

" Angelo Tyran de Padoue" — Burlesque at the Theatre du Vaudeville — Mademoiselle Mars — Madame Dorval — Epigram 344

^ LETTER LXV. »

Boulevard des Italiens — Tortoni's — Thunder-storm — Church of the Madeleine — Mrs. Butler's " Journal" 354

CONTENTS. XXni

LETTER LXVI.

1 pleasant Party — Discussion between an Englishman and a Frenchman — National Pe-' culiarities . . 359

LETTER LXVIL

Chamber of Deputies — Punishment of Journalists — Institute for the Encouragement of Industry — Men of Genius 364

LETTER LXVIIL

Walk to the Marche des Innocens — Escape of a Canary-bird — A Street Orator — Burying-place of the Victims of July 369

LETTER LXIX.

A Philosophical Spectator — Collection of Baron Sylvestre — Hotel des Monnaies — Musee d'Artillerie 374

LETTER LXX.

Concert in the Champs Elysees — Horticultural Exhibition — Forced Flowers — Republican Hats — CarUst Hats — Juste-Milieu Hats — Popular Funeral . . . 380

LETTER LXXL

Minor French Novelists 385

LETTER LXXIL

Breaking up of the Paris season — Soiree at Madame R^camier's — Recitation — Storm — Disappointment — Atonement — Farewell 391

POSTSCRIPT 395

EMBELLISHMENTS.

Louvre Page 34

Morning at the Tuileries Gardens 73

"ProPatria" 90

" Ce soir, a la Porte St. Martin." — "J'y serai." 128

Tuileries Gardens (on Sunday) 147

Porte St. Martin 175

Soiree 225

Le Roi Citoyen 260

Pretres de la Jeune France 292

Boulevard des Italiens 355

" Via les restes de notre Revolution de Juillet" . . . . . . . 372

LETTER I.

Difficulty of giving a systematic account of what is doing in France — Pleasure of revisit ing Paris after a long absence— What is changed ; what remains the same.

Paris, 11th April, 1835.

My dear Friend, t;

In visiting Paris, it certainly was my intention to describe in print what I saw and heard there ; and to do this as faithfully as possible, I proposed to continue my old habit of noting in my journal all things, great and small, in which I took an interest. But the task frightens me. I have been here but a few days, and I already find myself preaching and prosing at much greater length than I approve : I already feel that I am involved in such a mizmaze of interesting subjects, that to give any thing like an orderly and well-arranged digest of them, would beguile me into attempting a work greatly beyond my power to execute.

The very most 1 can hope to do will be but to " skim lightly over the surface of things ;" and in addressing myself to you, I shall feel less as if I were about to be guilty of the presumption of writing " a work on France," than if I threw my notes into a less familiar form. I will then discourse to you, as well as I may, of such things as leave the deepest impression among the thousand sights and sounds in the midst of which I am now placed. Should it be our will hereafter that these letters pass from your hands into those of the public, I trust that nobody will be so unmerciful as to expect that they shall make them acquainted with every thing past, present, and to come, " respecting the destinies of this remarkable country."

It must indeed be a bold pen that attempts to write of " Young France," as it is at present the fashion to call it, with any thing like a reasonable degree of order and precision, while still surrounded by all the startling novelties she has to show. To reason of what she has done, what she is doing, and — more difficult still — of what she is about to do, would require a steadier head than most per-.

sons can command, while yet turning and twisting in all directions to see what this Young France looks like.

In truth, I am disposed to believe, that whatever 1 write about, it will be much in the style of the old conundrum —

■' I saw a comet rain down hail ' I saw a cloud" &c.

And here you will remember, that though the things seen are stated in the most simple and veracious manner, much of the meaning is occult, depending altogether upon the stopping or pointing of the narrative. This stopping or pointing I must leave to you, or any other readers I may happen to have, and confine myself to the plain statement of " I saw ;" for though it is sufficiently easy to see and to hear, I feel extremely doubtful if I shall always be able to understand.

It is just seven years and seven months since I last visited the capital of the " Great Nation." The interval is a long one, as a portion of human life ; but how short does it appear, when the events that it has brought forth are contemplated ! I left the white banner of France floating gayly over her palaces, and I find it torn down and trampled in the dust. The renowned lilies, for so many ages the symbol of chivalric bravery, are everywhere erased ; and it should seem that the once proud shield of St. Louis is soiled, broken, and reversed for ever.

But all this was old. France is grown young again ; and I am assured that, according to the present condition of human judgment, every thing is exactly as it should be. Knighthood, glory, shields, banners, faith, loyalty, and the like, are gone out of fashion; and they say it is only necessary to look about me a little, to perceive how remarkably well the present race of Frenchmen can do without them ; — an occupation, it is added, which I shall find much more profitable and amusing than lamenting over the mouldering records of their ancient greatness.

The good sense of this remonstrance is so evident, that I am determined henceforth to profit by it ; remembering, moreover, that, as an Englishwoman, I have certainly no particular call to mourn over the fading honours of my country's rival. So in future I shall turn my eyes as much as I can from the tri-coloured flag — (those three stripes are terribly false heraldry) — and only think of amusing myself; a business never performed anywhere with so much ease as at Paris.

Since I last saw it, I have journeyed half round the globe ; but nothing I have met in all my wanderings has sufficed to damp the pleasure with which I enter again this gay, bright, noisy, restless city, — this city of the living, as beyond all others it may be justly called.

And where, in truth, can any thing be found that shall make its air of ceaseless jubilee seem tame ? — or its thousand depots of all that is prettiest in art, lose by comparison with any other pretty things in the wide world ? Where do all the externals of happiness meet the eye so readily ? — or where can the heavy spirit so easily be roused to seek and find enjoyment ? Cold, worn out, and dead indeed must the heart be, that does not awaken to some throb of pleasure, when Paris, after long absence, comes again in sight! For though a throne has been overturned, the Tuileries still remain ; — though the main stock of a right royal tree has been torn up, and a scion sprung from one of the roots, that had run, wildly enough, to a distance, has been barricaded in, and watered, and nurtured, and fostered into power and strength of growth to supply its place, the Boulevards, with their matchless aspect of eternal holyday, are still the same. No commotion, however violent, has yet been able to cause this light but precious essence of Parisian attractiveness to evaporate ; and while the very foundations of society have been shaken round them, the old elms go on, throwing their flickering shadows upon a crowd that — allowing for some vagaries of the milliner and tailor — might be taken for the very same, and no other, which has gladdened the eye and enlivened the imagination since first their green boughs beckoned all that was fairest and gayest in Paris to meet together beneath them. While this is the case, and while sundry other enchantments that may be named in their turn continue to proclaim that Paris is Paris still, it would be silly quarrelling with something better than bread-and-butter, did we spend the time of our abode here in dreaming of what has been, instead of opening our eyes and endeavouring to be as much awake as possible to look upon all that is.

Farewell !

Letter II

Absence of the English Embassy — Trial of the Lyons Prisoners — Church of the Madeleine — Statue of Napoleon.

It may be doubtful, perhaps, whether the present period* be more favourable or unfavourable for the arrival of English travellers at Paris. The sort of interregnum which has taken place in our embassy here, deprives us of the centre round which all that is most gay among the English residents usually revolves ; but, on the other hand, the approaching trial of the Lyons prisoners and their Parisian accomplices is stirring up from the very bottom all the fermenting passions of the nation. Every principle, however quietly and unobtrusively treasured, — every feeling, however cautiously concealed, — is now afloat ; and the most careless observer may expect to see, with little trouble, the genuine temper of the people.

The genuine temper of the people ? — Nay, but this phrase must be mended ere it can convey to you any idea of what is indeed likely to be made visible ; for, as it stands, it might intimate that the people were of one temper ; and any thing less like the truth than this cannot easily be imagined.

The temper of the people of Paris upon the subject of this ** atrocious trial," as all parties not connected with the government are pleased to call it, varies according to their politics, — from rage and execration to ecstasy and delight — from indifference to enthusiasm — from triumph to despair.

It will be impossible, my friend, to ramble up and down Paris for eight or nine weeks, with a note-book in my hand, without recurring again and again to a theme that meets us in every salon, murmurs through the corridors of every theatre, glares from the eyes of the republican, sneers from the hp of the doctrinaire, and in some shape or other crc jses our path, let it lead in what direction it may.

This being inevitable, the monster must be permitted to protrude its horns occasionally ; nor must I bear the blame should it sometimes appear to you a very tedious and tiresome monster indeed. Having announced that its appearance may be frequently expected, I will leave you for the present in the same state of expectation respecting it that we are in ourselves ; and, while we are still safe from its threatened violence, indulge in a little peaceable examination of the still-life part of the picture spread out before me.

The first objects that struck me as new on re-entering Paris, or rather as changed since I last saw them, were the Column of the Place Vendome, and the finished Church of the Madeleine. Finished indeed ! Did Greece ever show any combination of stones and mortar more graceful, more majestic than this ? If she did, it was in the days of her youth ; for, poetical association apart, and the unquestionably great pleasure of learned investigation set aside, no ruin can possibly meet the eye with such perfect symmetry of loveliness, or so completely fill and satisfy the mind, as does this modern temple.

Why might not our National Gallery have risen as noble, as simple, as beautiful as this ?

As for the other novelty — the statue of the sometime Emperor of the French, I suspect that I looked up at it with rather more approbation than became an Enghshwoman. But in truth, though ithe name of Napoleon brings with it reminiscences which call up many hostile feelings, I can never find myself in Paris without remembering his good rather than his terrible actions. Perhaps, too, as one gazes on this brazen monument of his victories, there may be something soothing in the recollection that the bold standard he bore never for an instant wantoned on a British breeze.

However, putting sentiment and personal feeling of every kind apart, so much that is admirable in Paris owes its origin to him, that his ambition and his usurpations are involuntarily forgotten, and the use made of his ill-gotten power almost obliterates the lawless tyranny of the power itself. The appearance of his statue, therefore, on the top of the column formed of the cannon taken by the armies of France when fighting under his command, appeared to me to be the result of an arrangement founded upon perfect propriety and good taste.

When his efiigy was torn down some twenty years ago by the avenging hands of the Allies, the act was one both of moral justice and of natural feeling ; and that the rightful owners of the throne he had seized should never have replaced it, can hardly be matter of surprise : but that it should now again be permitted to look down upon the fitful fortunes of the French people, has something of historic propriety in it which pleases the imagination.

This statue of Napoleon offers the only instance I remember in which that most grotesque of European habiliments, a cocked hat, has been immortalized in marble or in bronze with good effect. The original statue, with its flowing outline of Roman drapery, was erected by a feeling of pride ; but this portrait of him has the every-day familiar look that could best satisfy affection. Instead of causing the eye to turn away, as it does from some faithful portraitures of modern costume, with positive disgust, this chapeau a trois cornes, and the well-known loose redingote, have that air of picturesque truth in them which is sure to please the taste, even where it does not touch the heart.

To the French themselves this statue is little short of an idol. Fresh votive wreaths are perpetually hung about its pedestal ; and little draperies of black crape, constantly renewed, show plainly how fondly his memory is still cherished.

While Napoleon was still among them, the halo of his military glory, bright as it was, could not so dazzle the eyes of the nation but that some portentous spots were discerned even in the very nucleus of that glory itself; but now that it shines upon them across his tomb, it is gazed at with an enthusiasm of devoted affection which mixes no memory of error with its regrets.

It would, I think, be very difficult to find a Frenchman, let his party be what it might, who would speak of Napoleon with disrespect.

I one day passed the foot af his gorgeous pedestal in company

With a legitimate sans reproche, who, raising his eyes to the statue, said — "Notre position, Madame Trollope, est bien dure : nous avons perdu le droit d'etre iideles, sans avoir plus celui d'etre

fiers."*

Letter III

Slang— Les Jeunes Gens de Paris— La Jeune France— Rococo— D6cousu.

I SUPPOSE that, among all people and at all times, a certain portion of what we call slang will insinuate itself into familiar colloquial intercourse, and sometimes even dare to make its unsanctioned accents heard from the tribune and the stage. It appears to me, I confess, that France is at present taking considerable liberties with her mother-tongue. But this is a subject which requires for its grave discussion a native critic, and a learned one too. I therefore can only venture distantly and doubtingly to allude to it, as one of the points at which it appears to me that innovation is visibly and audibly at work.

I know it may be said that every additional word, whether fabricated or borrowed, adds something to the riches of the language ; and no doubt it does so. But there is a polished grace, a finished elegance in the language of France, as registered in the writings of her Augustan age, which may well atone for the want of greater copiousness, with which it has been sometimes reproached. To increase its strength, by giving it coarseness, would be like exchanging a high-mettled racer for a dray-horse. A brewer would tell you, that you gained in power what you lost in grace ; it may be so ; but there are many, I think, even in this age of operatives and utilitarians, who would regret the change.