RINGING ABUNDANCE

Exhibited by Mme. Lebrun at the French Royal Academy of Painting On
Her Election as a Member of That Institution.]

From this crowd I selected the cleverest for invitation to my suppers,
which the Abbe Delille, the poet Lebrun, the Chevalier de Boufflers,
the Viscount de Segur, and others contributed to make the most
entertaining in Paris. He can form no opinion of what society once was
in France who has not seen the time when, all of the day's business
absolved, a dozen or fifteen delightful people met at the house of a
hostess to finish their evening. The ease and the refined merriment
which reigned at these light evening repasts gave them a charm which
dinners can never have. A sort of confidence and intimacy prevailed
among the guests; it was by such suppers that the good society of
Paris showed its superiority to that of all Europe. At my house, for
instance, we met at about nine o'clock. No one ever talked politics,
but we chatted about literature and told anecdotes of the hour.
Sometimes we diverted ourselves by acting charades, and sometimes the
Abbe Delille or the poet Lebrun read us some of their compositions. At
ten o'clock we sat down to table. My suppers were of the simplest.
They always consisted of some fowl, a fish, a dish of vegetables, and
a salad, so that if I succumbed to the temptation of keeping back some
visitors there really was nothing more for any one to eat. But that
mattered little; the hours passed like minutes, and at midnight the
company broke up.

I not only gave suppers at my own house, but frequently supped in
town. Sometimes there was dancing, and there was no crowding to
suffocation, as there is nowadays. Eight persons only performed the
square dances, and the women who were not dancing could at least look
on, for the men stood behind them. I often went to spend the evening
at M. de Riviere's, in charge of the Saxon legation, a man
distinguished as much by his wit as by his good qualities. We played
comedies there, and comic operas. His daughter (my sister-in-law) sang
excellently, and could pass for a good society actress. M. de
Riviere's eldest son was charming in comic parts, and I was given the
use of a few professionals in opera and drama. Mme. Laruette, some
years retired from the stage, did not disdain our troupe. She played
with us in several operas, and her voice was still fresh and fine. My
brother Vigee played leading parts with very great success. In