Paris, however, does not possess many circulating libraries, and of the few which exist, I can give no favourable account. Perhaps the facility with which works of value are consulted, and the trifle for which those of the day are bought, are the reasons of this deficiency. It is, however, a considerable convenience wanting in so great a city; and I think that such an establishment, on a liberal and extended scale, would be a profitable and useful subject of speculation.
I have said nothing of “la Société des belles Lettres” of “la Société de Médecine” of “la Société d’Institution,” &c. Were I to enumerate all the useful establishments, both public and private, connected with literature, my letter would soon be swelled into a volume, and that even of no small dimensions. I shall, therefore, now conclude my account by observing, that whatever are the particular objects, to which a studious man wishes to direct his attention, “quod petit hic est,” he will find here all the facilities which he can possibly desire for pursuing his favourite science, with little or no expense and great advantage.
I am, &c.
LETTER XXXI.
Calculation and estimate of expenses at Paris.—List of hotels, traiteurs, &c.
Paris, may the 12th, 1802, (22 floréal.)
MY DEAR SIR,
You know how much I dislike the petty detail of economical arrangements, and will therefore pardon me for having so long delayed to speak to you of the expenses and mode of living at Paris. I have not forgotten your queries, and will, in this letter, endeavour to answer them as fully as possible. You will, at least, derive one advantage from my apparent neglect; that the information which I shall now send you, is not hastily given, but the result of experience, gained during a residence of nearly seven months.
Persons who have represented Paris (to use a vulgar phrase) as a cheap place, have either been greatly deceived themselves, or have intended purposely to deceive. The difference between the expense of living in London and in Paris, appears to me infinitely less than it is generally supposed. It is true, indeed, that a french family will apparently support a much more elegant establishment on a given income, than an english one can in London; but I believe the cause arises almost entirely from the superiour economy and arrangement of the former, from the sparing system observed in the interiour of private houses, and from the constant and unvarying attention to the minutiæ of every disbursement. Though the table of a Parisian boasts, when company are invited, every kind of luxury, yet I have reason to suspect, that, on ordinary occasions, “le bouilli[87],” and “le vin ordinaire,” form its principal support. A carriage, which has been in a family twenty or thirty years, is treated with all the respect due to its antiquity, and is seldom or ever discarded on account of its oldfashioned shape or faded colour; and horses, used only now and then, may be fed on hay and straw. Liveries are forbidden by the law; and servants are therefore permitted to wait in the tattered garments which their present master has left off, or in those which they have collected in a former service.