Reminiscences of Paris [pp. 404-412]

REMINISCENCES OF PARIS.
The Frenchman does not merely seek hal)piness in the pur suit of physical well-being, but he deli,glts to revel in the
luxurious banquet spread out before himi in the productions of
tl)e heaven-born arts of the imagilnation. lie is not disposed
to treat the palate as the step-child of the senses, for on the
Lord's day he never fa,ils to regale himself with tlhe dlelicacies
of French cookery, and the exquisite contrivances of tlhe pastry man, in the shape of gooseberry pie and fiuit cake. 3But at the
same time, he does not neglect the highler necessities of his
nature. IHe feasts his eyes with all that genius and taste have
called forth from the realm of fknicy, and his ears imubibe, so to
say, the intoxicating effusions of harmonious melody, with the
ecstatic fervor of thle devout worslhipper.
On Sunday, the Boulevards have tlhe appearance of an iiu mense ocean of human lIbeings, withl its uninterrlupted currents
and counter-currents, flonwig in fiom the numerous intersecting streets, and emptying its ever-moving life into the Champ
Elysee-the Elysian fields of Parisian diversion and Parisianl
sports. Both sides of this immensely wide street are fi4i)ged
with deeply-shaded avenues and beatitifuilly-cliequered pleasure
grounds; intersected by meandering pathliways, where the promenading idlers and the fashiioi-able elite of' Paris, take their
stroll of leisure. This is the resort of (childliood with its hobby
horse and its baby carriage, an(l of old ae,o leaining onl its staff
for support. lHere the Rothschlilds and tle Ilarlings-the kings
of ti- Bourse and the Stock Exclhange-vie with the nobility
of' merit as well as birth, in the gorgeoutis brilliancy of their
equipage and the rich aIccoutremnents of their liveried coachmen
and valets. The Phrynias (tlid Timanidras of a dissolute capital
far surpass here, in elegance of' d(less ald sl)lendor of a(lornimeits, the assuined grandeur of a haughty aiistocracy without
ancestry and without prestig,e Genius tldci mediocrity, virtue
andl vice, beauty and homeliness, youth and old agre-in one
wvord, social life in all the various phases of its sexual, national
and ethnogiaphical peculiarities, is here exhibited in a microcosmic view. To the plhiloso)phical mind, real life here assumes
the appearance of a theatrical ftrce: whlile the pasteboard
exhibitions of fictitious characters mimic the mechanism of
society with inimitable fidelity.
The wire-puller is fitlfilly represented by the manager of
the puppet slhow. Concealed )behlind( tlhe curtain, lie wields the
most -)otent influence in the mianlagemeneIt of p)ublic affairs, and
hlie is the principal beneficiary of the emnoluttments and hoiors
his ingenlious deception secures Clhildreii are Lawved into silence
by legerdemain, ag,ility and mock colloquial ftlmiliarity of alltomaton heroes and buffoons, and the grown-up chllildren of the
world are no less willing to become the dupes of similar contrivances. They give credit to counterfeit honesty for the merit
it sinulates, and pay the imposter for his shrewdness.
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