had offended the eyes of the
noble assembly; too happy would he be if, after having been bandied and
knocked about with the utmost unanimity as a greenhorn, only one skirt
should be left in the hands of these youthful beauties, who, in the
fervour of gaiety, rather roar out than sing.

Desnoyers's is the Cadran bleu de la Canaille, (the resort of the lower
orders;) but before stepping over the threshold of the cabaret of
Guillotin, even the canaille themselves look twice, as in this repository
are only to be seen prostitutes with their bullies, pick-pockets and
thieves of all classes, some _prigs_ of the lowest grade, and many of
those nocturnal marauders who divide their existence into two parts,
consecrating it to the duties of theft and riot. It may be supposed that
slang is the only language of this delightful society: it is generally in
French, but so perverted from its primitive signification, that there is
not a member of the distinguished "company of forty" who can flatter
himself with a full knowledge of it, and yet the "dons of Guillotin's"
have their purists; those who assert that slang took its rise in the East,
and without thinking for a moment of disputing their talent as
Orientalists, they take that title to themselves without any ceremony; as
also that of Argonauts, when they have completed their studies under the
direction of the galley sergeants, in working, in the port of Toulon, the
dormant navigation on board a vessel in dock. If notes were pleasing to
me, I could here seize the opportunity of making some very learned
remarks. I should, perhaps, go into a profound disquisition, but I am
about to paint the paradise of these bacchanalians; the colours are
prepared--let us finish the picture.

If they drink at Guillotin's they eat also, and the mysteries of the
kitchen of this place of delights are well worthy of being known. The
little father Guillotin has no butcher, but he has a purveyor; and in his
brass stewpans, the verdigris of which never poisons, the dead horse is
transformed into beef a-la-mode; the thighs of the dead dogs found in Rue
Guenegaud become legs of mutton from the salt-marshes; and the magic of a
piquant sauce gives to the _staggering bob_ (dead born veal) of the
cow-feeder the appetizing look of that of Pontoise. We are told that the
cheer in winter is excellent, when the rot prevails; and if ever (during
M. Delaveau's administration) bread were scarce in summer during the
"mass