Paris as It Was and as It Is Part 76

Every legislature must be aware to what a degree plays are capable of influencing the opinions of a nation, and what a powerful spring they are for moving the affections. Why then are not theatrical representations here so regulated, that the stage may conduce to the amelioration of morals? Instead of this, in most French comedies, the husband is generally made the b.u.t.t of ridicule, and the whole plot often lies in his being outwitted by some conceited spark. Marriage, in short, is incessantly railed at in such a lively, satirical manner as to delight nine-tenths of the audience.

This custom was also introduced on our stage under the reign of Charles II; and, not many years ago, it was, I am told, as usual to play _The London Cuckolds_ on Lord Mayor's day, as it is now to give a representation of _George Barnwell_ during the Easter holidays.

Yet, what is this practice of exhibiting a cuckold in a ridiculous point of view, but an apology for adultery, as if it was intended to teach women that their charms are not formed for the possession of one man only? Alas! it is but too true that some of the French belles need no encouragement to infidelity: too soon all scruple is stifled in their bosom; and then, they not only set modesty, but decency too at defiance. _Ce n'est que le premier pas qui coute_; or, as the same idea is more fully expressed by our great moral poet:

"Vice is a monster of so frightful mien, As, to be hated, needs but to be seen; Yet, seen too oft, familiar with her face, We first endure, then pity, then embrace."

However, in both the instances which I have adduced, the fault was entirely on the side of the men; and, in general, I believe this will prove to be the case. Recrimination, indeed, is loudly urged by our s.e.x in Paris; they blame the women, with a view of extenuating their own irregularities, which scarcely know any limits.

On a question of a divorce-bill brought on, not long since, in the House of Commons, you may recollect that a member was laughed at, for a.s.serting that if men expected women to reform, they ought to begin by reforming themselves. For my part, I conceive the idea to be perfectly just. Infidelity on the woman's side is, unquestionably, more hurtful to society than a failure of the same sort on the man's; yet, is it reasonable to suppose women to be so exempt from human frailty, as to preserve their chast.i.ty inviolate, when men set them so bad an example?

LETTER Lx.x.xVIII.

_Paris, April 3, 1802_.

Circ.u.mstances have at length occurred to recall me to England, and as this will, probably, be the last letter that you will receive from me before I have the pleasure of taking you by the hand, I shall devote it to miscellaneous subjects, and, without studying any particular arrangement, speak of them at random, just as they chance to present themselves.

A fellow-creature, whose care-worn countenance and emaciated body claimed a mite from any one who had a mite to bestow, had taken his stand at the gate-way just now as I entered. The recollection of his tale of woe being uppermost in my mind, I begin with

MENDICANTS.

In spite of the calamities which all great political convulsions never fail to engender, the streets of Paris present not at this day that vast crowd of beggars, covered with rags and vermin, by which they were formerly infested. This is to be attributed to the partial adoption of measures for employing the poor; and, doubtless, when receptacles come to be established here, according to the salutary plans introduced into Bavaria by Count Rumford, mendicity will be gradually annihilated.

But, if beggars have decreased in Paris, this is not the case with

p.a.w.nBROKERS.

They seem to have multiplied in proportion to the increase of the number of opportunities afforded for gambling in the lottery, that is, in the ratio of 21 to 2.[1]

Formerly, in addition to the public establishment called the _Mont de Piete_, commissioners were appointed, in different parts of the town, to take in pledges, and make advances on them previously to their being lodged in that grand repository. There, money was lent on them at an interest of 10 per cent; and if the article pledged was not redeemed by a certain time, it was sold by public auction, and, the princ.i.p.al and interest being deducted, the surplus was paid to the holder of the duplicate. Thus the iniquitous projects of usury were defeated; and the rich, as well as the poor, went to borrow at the _Mont de Piete_. To obtain a sum for the discharge of a debt of honour, a dutchess here deposited her diamond ear-rings; while a washerwoman slipped off her petticoat, and p.a.w.ned it to satisfy the cravings of hunger.

At the present moment, the _Mont de Piete_ still exists; but, doubtless, on a different plan; for Paris abounds with _Maisons de pret_. On the eve of particular days in each month when the shopkeepers' promissory notes become due, they here pledge articles in order to procure the means of making good their payments. But the crowd of borrowers is the greatest on the days immediately preceding those on which the Paris lottery is drawn; the hucksters, marketwomen, porters, retailers of fruit, and unfortunate females, then deposit their wearing apparel at these dens of rapacity, that they may acquire a share of a ticket, the price of which is fixed so low as to be within the purchase of the poorest cla.s.ses.

The lottery being over, till the next drawing, those persons think no more of their effects, provided they are within two or three of the winning numbers; and thus they gamble away almost every thing belonging to them, even to the very clothes on their back. This is so true that it is not, I understand, at all uncommon in Paris, for a Cyprian nymph to send her last robe to the nearest p.a.w.nbroker's, in order to have the chance of a prize in the lottery, and to lie in bed till she obtains the means of purchasing another. Nor is this by far the worst part of the story.

The too credulous followers of Fortune, on finding all their hopes of success blasted, frequently seek a termination of their misery by suicide: and a person of veracity, who made a point of visiting the _Morne_ almost daily, a.s.sured me that he always knew when the lottery had just been drawn, by the increased number of dead bodies, there exposed, of persons who had put an end to their existence.

These are facts shocking to relate; but, if legislators will promote gaming, either by lotteries, or in any other manner, such are the consequences to be expected.

Another article which has multiplied prodigiously in Paris, since the revolution, consists of

NEWSPAPERS.

In 1789, the only daily papers in circulation here were the _Journal de Paris_ and the _Pet.i.tes Affiches_; for the _Gazette de France_ appeared only twice a week. From that period, these ephemeral productions increased so rapidly, that, under the generic name of _Journaux_, upwards of six thousand, bearing different t.i.tles, have appeared in France, five hundred of which were published in Paris.

At this time, here is a great variety of daily papers. The most eminent of these are well known in England; such as the _Moniteur_, the only official paper, the sale of which is said to be 20,000 per day; that of the _Journal de Paris_, 16,000; of the _Publiciste_, 14,000; of the _Journal des Debats_, 12,000; of the _Journal des Defenseurs de la Patrie_, 10,000; and of the _Cle du Cabinet_, 6,000.

The sale of the others is comparatively trifling, with the exception of the _Pet.i.tes Affiches_, of which the number daily sold exceeds 30,000.

In addition to the _Journals_, which I mentioned in my letter of the 16th of December last, the most esteemed are the _Magazin Encyclopedique_, edited by MILLIN, the _Annales de Chimie_, the _Journal des Arts_, the _Journal Polytechnique_, the _Journal des Mines_, the _Journal general des Inventions et des Decouvertes_, &c.

I stop here, because it would be useless to attempt to send you a complete list of all the French periodical publications, as, in the flux and reflux of this literary ocean, such a list cannot long be expected to preserve its exactness.

Among the conveniences which this city affords in an enviable degree and in great abundance, are

BATHS.

Those of Paris, of every description, still retain their former pre-eminence. The most elegant are the _Bains Chinois_ on the north Boulevards, where, for three francs, you may enjoy the pleasure of bathing in almost as much luxury as an Asiatic monarch. Near the _Temple_ and at the _Vauxhall d'ete_, also on the old Boulevards, are baths, where you have the advantage of a garden to saunter in after bathing.

On the Seine are several floating baths, the most remarkable of which are the _Bains Vigier_, at the foot of the _Pont National_. The vessel containing them is upwards of 200 feet in length by about 60 in breadth, and presents two tiers of baths, making, on both decks, 140 in number. It is divided in the middle by a large transparent plate of gla.s.s, which permits the eye to embrace its whole extent; one half of which is appropriated to men; the other, to women. On each deck are galleries, nine feet wide, ornamented with much architectural taste. On the exterior part of the vessel is a promenade, decorated with evergreens, orange and rose trees, jasmines, and other odoriferous plants. By means of a hydraulic machine, worked by two horses, in an adjoining barge, the reservoirs can be emptied and filled again in less than an hour.

The _Bains Vigier_ are much frequented, as you may suppose from their daily consumption of two cords of wood for fuel. Tepid baths, at blood-heat, are, at present, universally used by the French ladies, and, apparently, with no small advantage. The price of one of these is no more than 30 _sous_, linen, &c. included.

If you want to learn to swim, you may be instructed here in that necessary art, or merely take a look at those acquiring it, at the

SCHOOL OF NATATION.

The Seine is the school where the lessons are given, and the police takes care that the pupils infringe not the laws of decency.

It is certain that, as far back as the year 1684, means were proposed in London to transmit signs to a great distance in a very short s.p.a.ce of time, and that, towards the close of the seventeenth century, a member of the Academy of Sciences made, near Paris, several minute experiments on the same subject. The paper read at the Royal Society of London, and the detail of the experiments made in France, seem to suggest nearly the same means as those now put in practice, by the two nations, with respect to

TELEGRAPHS.

The construction of those in France differs from ours in consisting of one princ.i.p.al pole, and two arms, moveable at the ends. There are four in Paris; one, on the _Louvre_, which corresponds with Lille; another, on the _Place de la Concorde_, with Brest; a third, on one of the towers of the church of _St. Sulpice_, with Strasburg; and the fourth, on the other tower of the said church, which is meant to extend to Nice, but is as yet carried no farther than Dijon. To and from Lille, which is 120 leagues distant from Paris, intelligence is conveyed and received in six minutes, three for the question, and three for the answer.

Yet, however expeditious this intercourse may seem, it is certain that the telegraphic language may be abridged, by preserving these machines in their present state, but at the same time allotting to each of the signs a greater portion of idea, without introducing any thing vague into the signification.

Independently of the public curiosities, which I have described, Paris contains several

PRIVATE COLLECTIONS.

Among them, those most deserving of attention are:

ADANSON'S cabinet of Natural History, _Rue de la Victoire_.

CASAS' cabinet of Models and Drawings, _Rue de Seine, Faubourg St.

Germain_.

CHARLES'S cabinet of Physics, _Palais National des Sciences et des Arts._

DENON'S cabinet of Drawings, &c. _Hotel de Bouillon_, _Rue J. J.

Rousseau_.

FOUQUET'S cabinet of Models of Antique Monuments, _Rue de Lille_, _F.

S. G._

HAUPOIS' cabinet of Mechanics.