been this winter five
balls in five different apartments at Versailles, all so grand and so
beautiful that no other royal house in the world can show the like.
Entrance was given to masks only, and no persons presented themselves
without being disguised, unless they were of very high rank. . . .
People invent grotesque disguises, they revive old fashions, they
choose the most ridiculous things, and seek to make them as amusing as
possible. . . . Mgr. le Dauphin changed his disguise eight or ten
times each evening. M. Berain had need of all his wit to furnish these
disguises, and of all his ingenuity to get them made up, since there
was so little time between one ball and another. The prince did not
wish to be recognized, and all sorts of extraordinary disguises were
invented for him; frequently under the figures that concealed him, one
could not have told whether the person thus masked was tall or short,
fat or thin. Sometimes he had double masks, and under the first a mask
of wax so well made that, when he took off his first mask, people
fancied they saw the natural face, and he deceived everybody. Nothing
can equal the enjoyment which Mgr. le Dauphin takes in all these
diversions, nor the rapidity with which he changes his disguises. He
leaves all his officers without being fatigued, although he works
harder at dressing and undressing himself than they do, and he danced
much. This prince shows in the least things, in his horsemanship, and
in the ardor with which he follows the chase, what pleasure he will
take some day in commanding armies. But could one expect less from the
son of Louis the Great!

"The first of the five balls," continues the correspondent, "was given
by M. le Grand, in his apartments in the new wing of Versailles. The
ball commenced with a masquerade. They danced a minuet and a jig; but
only Mlle. de Nantes danced in the latter. Mlle. de Nantes was
especially admired when she danced, and made so great an impression
that people stood on chairs to see her better, Mgr. le Dauphin came to
the masquerade with M. le Prince de la Roche-sur-Yon and many other
notables. He was in a sedan-chair, accompanied by a number of
merry-andrews and dwarfs. He changed his disguise four or five times
during the ball, which lasted until four o'clock in the morning. . . .
The second ball was given by Mgr. le Dauphin in the hall of his Guards,
which forms the entrance to his apartments. M. le Duc gave the t