to me that
a good-natured young English nobleman, whom I will not name, had told
him that dancers and singers were perfectly well received in English
society, but not men of letters.

"`Est il possible qu'on soit si barbare chez vous?'"

He subsequently adds:--"To be known as a writer is certainly to your
prejudice.

"First, people presume you are not what they call a gentleman; and the
grandfather who, if you were a banker or a butcher, or of any other
calling or profession, would be left quiet in his tomb, is evoked
against you."

Mr Bulwer then proceeds with a variety of argument to prove that
literary men are not _Maecenased_ by either the government or
aristocracy of Great Britain. He points out the advantages which the
French literati have from their Institute, the ennoblements, the
decorations, and pensions which they receive; and certainly makes out a
strong case.

The author of the "Diary" would attempt to deny the statements of Mr
Bulwer; but, in the very denial, she admits all his points but one--to
wit that they are not so well received by the aristocracy in England as
they are in France.

She says--

"What does Henry Bulwer mean by the assertion that literary men are more
eagerly welcomed in society here than in England?

"They occupy, perhaps, a more independent and honourable position, are
less exposed to being lionised by patronising dowagers, and more sure of
obtaining public preferment; but, with the exception of Mignet and
Merimee--who are courted for their personal merits and official standing
rather than for their literary distinctions--I have scarcely met one of
them. To the parties of the ministers of the _Grand Referendaire_, and
other public functionaries, artists and men of letters are admitted as
part of a political system; but they are not to be found--like Moore,
Rogers, Chantrey, Newton, and others--in the boudoirs of the _elite_, or
the select fetes of a Devonshire House.

"The calling of `_un homme de lettres_' is here, however, a profession
bearing its own rewards and profits, and forming an especial and
independent class. In common with the artists they look to ennoblement
in the Academy, and under the existing order of things have been richly
endowed with places and pensions."

It appears then, in France, that to the parties of ministers, etcetera,
they are admitted as a part of the political system; and further, that
they have been festered by the government, by being