No sooner were they gone, than he began to dress; and within the space of a single hour he was on the road to Versailles, fully equipped, in a blue coat, white waistcoat, and drab pantaloons. At the door of the splendid mansion in which the company were assembled, his further progress was opposed by a servant whose livery was far more showy and imposing than his own costume.
Rogers affected the utmost astonishment at the interruption, and made as if he would have passed on. The servant pointed to his dress:
"It is not comme il faut: you can not pass in: Monsieur must retire."
"Dress! dress!" exclaimed Rogers, with well-feigned surprise: "Not pass! not enter! Why, mine is the same dress that is worn by the General Court at Boston!"
No sooner were the words uttered, than the doors flew open, and the obsequious valet, "booing and booing," like Sir Pertinax Macsycophant in the play, preceded the poet, and in a loud voice announced:
"Monsieur le General Court, de Boston!"
The amusement of the Americans in the group scarcely exceeded that of the new-made "General" himself.
On another occasion, Rogers relates, he was announced at a Parisian party as "Monsieur le Mort," by a lackey, who had mistaken him for "Tom Moore."
Not unlike an old New-Yorker, who was announced from his card as
"Monsieur le Koque en Bow!"