himself
is its chief ornament. Splendidly dressed, fine-looking, gallant,
exquisitely polite, the slightest smile is a grace. "His face, always
beaming, inspired confidence; he had the true physiognomy of a man
expressly designed for pompous display."

Such likewise is the attitude and occupation of the principal lay
seigniors, at home, in summer, when a love of the charms of fine weather
brings them back to their estates. For example, Harcourt in Normandy and
Brienne in Champagne are two chateaux the best frequented. "Persons of
distinction resort to it from Paris, eminent men of letters, while the
nobility of the canton pay there an assiduous court."[2179] There is
no residence where flocks of fashionable people do not light down
permanently to dine, to dance, to hunt, to gossip, to unravel,[2180]
(parfiler) to play comedy. We can trace these birds from cage to cage;
they remain a week, a month, three months, displaying their plumage and
their prattle. From Paris to Ile-Adam, to Villers-Cotterets, to Fretoy,
to Planchette, to Soissons, to Rheims, to Grisolles, to Sillery, to
Braine, to Balincourt, to Vaudreuil, the Comte and Comtesse de Genlis
thus bear about their leisure, their wit, their gaiety, at the domiciles
of friends whom, in their turn, they entertain at Genlis. A glance at
the exteriors of these mansions suffices to show that it was the chief
duty in these days to be hospitable, as it was a prime necessity to
be in society.[2181] Their luxury, indeed, differs from ours. With the
exception of a few princely establishments it is not great in the matter
of country furniture; a display of this description is left to the
financiers. "But it is prodigious in all things which can minister to
the enjoyment of others, in horses, carriages, and in an open table, in
accommodations given even to people not belonging to the house, in boxes
at the play which are lent to friends, and lastly, in servants, much
more numerous than nowadays." Through this mutual and constant attention
the most rustic nobles lose the rust still encrusting their brethren in
Germany or in England. We find in France few Squire Western and Barons
de Thunder-ten-Troenck; an Alsatian lady, on seeing at Frankfort
the grotesque country squires of Westphalia, is struck with the
contrast.[2182] Those of France, even in distant provinces, have
frequented the drawing-rooms of the commandant and intendant, and have
encountered on their visits some of the l