TO THE SAME.
Paris, Feb., 1806.
Lady Clavering’s party was very good indeed—rooms well furnished, well lighted, well disposed—agreeable music, by professors, a good supper (which I saw, though I did not wait till people sat down), and everything going off, not like a first or second party (which it was), but as if they were given habitually. The company were of the ancien régime, or English. The F—— was so dirty last night I was ashamed of her; as the French, who deny us goût, allow us une propreté exquise; and she had a muslin of such extraordinary beauty and costliness, it could not escape observation; and ‘I assure you, ma’am, it looked as if it had cleaned the floor.’ I heard Gérat for the first time, the Orpheus of France. They swear by him. I confess I liked his singing a simple romance, of which the words and music are Rousseau’s, most exceedingly. I find it is possible for French music, rendue by a French singer, to delight me. By the bye, the last phrase is a strong proof that, whatever people assume steadily and boldly, one yields to them at last; for here am I, giving Jean Jaques to the French, and merely because ils l’ont crié, je le répète après eux. Unluckily, I went too late to hear Gérat sing Italian. The Baroness, who is a good judge, and has, I hear, been a good singer in her day, disliked it much, and so does Tarchi; but from his manner of singing the romance, I am afraid I should have approved.
Mad. de Mouravieff, my old Russian friend, has been here, and passed most of the evening: her news is, that the German Countess who stole Demidoff’s diadem is to be tried to-day, and ’tis thought she will have her head shaved by the bourreau, and be imprisoned two years. Divoff’s gaming-table, where she played high, is supposed to be the source of her crime. Mad. Mouravieff has brought her seven children here; and she told me that when my old Baron heard she had that number, he said, ‘Ah, fi, c’est bien bourgeois.’ Think of the Divoffs ruining themselves solely by her toilette, for neither had any other expense that their fortune could not easily support. You may see, by the style of my news, that I have passed the evening in a female tête-à-tête.
TO CHARLES MANNERS ST. GEORGE, ESQ.
Paris, Feb. 23, 1806.
You will wonder at seeing me date again from Paris, which can have no attraction for me at present; an English person being, equally from choice and necessity, separated from all French society, and there not being any straggling English left with whom I have the least acquaintance. Lady ——’s house was a great resource to me when I was last here, as she was always at home, and to a very pleasant society; but she obtained a passport for England about five months ago. I hear, however, she soon intends returning. At present our hopes are very sanguine for peace. I am just at this instant returned from seeing the image of war, or at least a preparation for it, in the Emperor’s parade, which is now a finer sight than when you saw it, as the houses then in the Carrousel, opposite to the Tuileries, have been pulled down, and the emplacement made regular and greatly increased. This gives for the parade a most beautiful locale; and you know what effect scenery has upon every similar exhibition.