To what kind courtesy bestows,
To that benign engaging art,
Which decorates the human heart;
To every act it gives a grace,
And adds a smile to every face;
E’en goodness ’self we better see,
When drest by gentle courtesy.”
I availed myself, however, of my friend’s kindness, until I succeeded in procuring accommodations in a French family, accustomed to receive students in the law en pension. These gentlemen, however, only made their appearance at meal-times, nor did the resident family associate with us according to my expectation; I felt disappointed, and after staying ten days determined to change my quarters.
It was not easy to find a family like that of the Countess de M⸺, at Montpellier, particularly at this season, when every one who could afford to support the smallest establishment in the country, was, on account of the excessive heat, gone out of town. At length I fixed myself with Madame R⸺, the widow of an officer of dragoons, with three children, the eldest a girl of fourteen. A rich old gentleman, her cousin, M. B⸺, also resided with her, and they kept, in conjunction, two carriages and three horses, and occupied three different country houses.
I had the pleasure, one day, of accompanying Madame R⸺ on horseback, to visit one of her country seats, and was not a little surprised to find that she rode after the manner of gentlemen, with a horse-cloth doubled under her, instead of a saddle. It is, however, seldom that ladies in France ride on horseback, and they were not a little astonished, after the peace, to see our fair countrywomen riding in their usual manner with side-saddles, an accommodation they were not familiar with. I must acknowledge, I should not have liked exhibiting in the same way in Hyde Park; we did not, however, pass through the town in this manner, for our horses were led out of it before we mounted, and on our return, we dismounted before re-entering it.