^1^ vim mmiii --^_. -■>. / "■■■^•.^^'' -*iS- ^■^'y' ■xy : .x^""^^. ..^^^ '^. # " ' ^ "'%. H^ '^z. <^ ■', A"- uf^ C A WOMAN'S Experiences IN EUROPE. INCLUDING ENGLAND, FRANCE, GERMANY, AND ITALY. BY MRS. E. D. WALLACE, AUTHOR OF " STRIFE, A ROMANCE OF GERMANY AND ITALY ; LAST QUEEN, A POEM FOR PARLOR AND OFFICE," ETC n Experience is by Industry achiev'd. — Shakspeare. NEW YORK: D. APPLETON AND COMPANY, 549 & 551 BROADWAY. 1872. Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1872, by MRS. E. D. WALLACE, in the Office of the Librarian of Congress at Washington. ITHE UBRARY or CONGRESS WASHINCT2E ^"^ ^ y?^ J CONTENTS. CHAPTER I. PRELIMINARY. PAGB Inducements to Travel. Object of a Lone Voyage. Objections Answered 13 CHAPTER n. THE VOYAGE. Friendly Advice. My own Adviser. Off at Last. A New and Valuable Acquaintance. Stormy Sea and Peaceful Company 19 CHAPTER ni. IN PORT. Off Falmouth. Frigid Reception from John Bull. Illumination of the Cliffs. Entering the Port of Havre. A Gala-Night in a French City . . . . . . . . . 29 CHAPTER IV. ALONE IN PARIS. Where to find " Distraction." How to " catch" the Language. Illustration. How to stop a Train in France. Express from Havre to Paris. Alone . . . . . . '34 v VX CONTENTS. CHAPTER V. CITY OF THE NAPOLEONS. PAGE A French Welcome. First Lesson in French Laws. Madame and Monsieur at Home ...... .42 CHAPTER VI. FIRST VIEWS OF THE CITY. Pantomimic Exhibition of Imperial Policy by Juvenile French- men. A Cafe, A Russian Wedding at the Greek Church . 49 CHAPTER Vn. EUGENIE AND THE PRINCESS MATHILDE. Popularity of the Emj)ress. Study of National Characteristics • in a Parisian Salon, American Journalism versus French Policy. An Emperor's Visit to an Emperor. Grand Review on the Champs de Mars 59 CHAPTER Vni. "PARIS ABOVE AND BELOW GROUND. Pantheon — Exterior, Interior, Cupola, and Caves. Through the Sewers by Rail and Boat. The Conciergerie . . .73 CHAPTER IX. MR. EDWARD DELAVAN AND NAPOLEON III. Problematic Questions of French Policy. A Franco - Italian Comedy with a Spanish Heroine. Napoleon's Reception of a Temperance Proposition. An American Tavern in Paris . 81 CONTENTS. Vll CHAPTER X. MID-LENT AMUSEMENTS IN PARIS. PAGE Diet. Masquerade at the Grand Opera-House. Schneider on the Champs Elysees. Neillson and Hamlet. Theatres and Opera Comique. The Fran^ais ; Best Acting, Best Dressing in the World. Patti at The Italiens ; Queen of Spain, Prince of Wales in Royal Boxes. Death of Rossini. Imperial Con- servatory of Music. Lord Lyon's Ball at the Grand Hotel. Spring Fetes in Rural Districts 93 CHAPTER XL woman's work in FRANCE. A Parisian Millinery and Flower Establishment. Curious Cus- toms. Practical Zoology. Government Menageries. Spring Salon at the Palais de 1' Industrie. American Artists and French Inspectors . . . . . , , .110 CHAPTER XII. FUNERAL CUSTOMS, AND MONUMENTS. Pere la Chaise on All-Saints' Day. The Madeleine en Deuil. Josephine's Tomb. French Frosts. Resolve to leave Paris . 121 CHAPTER XIII. A SOLITARY JOURNEY. King John of Saxony. Night Express through Germany in a Snow Storm. On the Prussian Frontiers. Cologne. Dres- den at Midnight. A Ludicrous Mistake and its Consequences 128 CHAPTER XIV. DRESDEN. Germans Non-progressive in Employments of Women. Smoke Concerts. Operas . ", '. '. . , . . 141 ^ Vlll CONTENTS. CHAPTER XV. CHRISTMAS EVE IN A GERMAN CITY. PAGE Holiday Booths. Midnight Mass at the Court Church. Skating in the Grosser Garten. Dresden Art Gallery . . .151 CHAPTER XVI. GREEN VAULTS AND MEISSEN FACTORY. Treasures of Saxony. Porcelain Manufacture and Painting. How American Purses buy Geraian Titles. Presentation Ceremonies at the Dresden Court 162 CHAPTER XVn. A WINTER JOURNEY THROUGH BOHEMIA. An Agreeable Surprise at the Station. Prague; its Relics. Arrival at Vienna 172 CHAPTER XVni. VIENNA. Pedro. Art Galleries. Churches. Canova. Maria Theresa. Imperial Women's Hospital and Nursery . . . .180 CHAPTER XIX. IMPERIAL ENTERTAINMENTS. Emperor of Austria and Trovatore. Flick and Flock. Tagli- oni's Interpretation of the Poetry of Motion. A Sultan's Re- ward. Geistinger and the Grand Duchess. Sudden Depar- ture from Vienna . . . . . . . . .190 CONTENTS. IX CHAPTER XX. AVALANCHE ON THE STYRIAN ALPS. PACK Ascending the Soemmering. An Avalanche. Wonderful Engi- neering over the Alps. The Cloud-King's Palace. Men, Women, and Children, with Shovel and Spade, emerge from the Avalanche. Alpine Violets. Night on the Mountains. Arrival at Gratz 195 CHAPTER XXI. VENICE. Arrival at Midnight. Moonlight on the Grand Canal. San Marco. A Visit to San Andrea at Night .... 201 CHAPTER XXn. VENICE. Architecture. Peculiar Manufactories. Greek Convent. Byron at St. Lazare. Dinorah and Venetian Ballet . . . 207 CHAPTER XXni. JOURNEY TO ROME. Florence. How we went to Pisa. Rome. St. Peter's. Friar Tuck and his Relic 211 CHAPTER XXIV. ROME FROM THE PINCIO. Sunday in Rome. The Pincian Gardens. A Trip to Tivoli. Falls of the Anio. Somnambulistic Promenade through Adrian's Villa. Rapid Return to Rome. Gates Open . . 218 X CONTENTS. CHAPTER XXV. THE CATACOMBS. PAGB Ilome-sick. A Day's Adventures. The Catacombs of St. Sebastian. ' Footprints of our Saviour. A Strange Supersti- tion , . . . , . . . . . . 232 CHAPTER XXVI. VESUVIUS. The Volcano in Active Eruption. Trip to Naples. Vesuvius in Death-throes. Explosions. Ascent of the Mountain. Bay of Naples at Night 243 CHAPTER XXVn. THE CARNIVAL. Picnic to Pompeii. Campania Felix. Descent into Hercula- neum. A Lone Female in a Deserted City. Pompeii, the Despair of Reporters. Back to Rome. The Carnival . .251 CHAPTER XXVni. AMERICAN ARTISTS IN ROME. Miss Cushman's Reception. Abbe Liszt's Hack-Authoi-ship. Studio of Mr. Reade. Messrs. Hazeltine's Works. Miss Stebbins and the New Fountain for Central Park of New York 259 ' CHAPTER XXIX. FROM CIVITA VECCHIA TO LONDON. Coasting on the Mediterranean. Marseilles. Paris. A Trip to London .......... 269 CONTENTS. XI CHAPTER XXX. LONDON CHURCHES. FAGB Weigh House Chapel. Rev. Thomas Bmney and his Peculiari- ties. Newman Hall's Account of American Servantism . 275 CHAPTER XXXI. AN AMUSING COLLISION. Dr. Holland; Damiani. Washington, Baltimore, and other Journalists. English Notes versus American Notes. Charles Dickens at Home . 280 CHAPTER XXXH. WATER IN LONDON. Baths ; Sewerage System ; Wash-Houses. The Holborn Union. " Les Miserables." A Convict's Satire 288 CHAPTER XXXHI. WINE VAULTS UNDER LONDON DOCKS. Entrance to Vaults. « Lamps " on Duty. Old Port. Tasting Nos. 000 and 000 298 CHAPTER XXXIV. LONDON. English Ideas of American Journalism. Modified after an Im- partial Reading 3^2 ADIEU 315 i A WOMAN'S EXPERIENCES IN EUROPE. CHAPTER I. PRELIMINARY. SEVERAL years since, a pleasant duty devolved on the recorder of these Experiences. Bayard Taylor presented eight volumes of his books of travel to the American public ; and while the critics of daily journals were thrown into a state of despair, the monthly and quarterly reviewers roamed and ruminated in the wide pastures spread out in thirty- five hundred pages, at their own free — if sometimes fastidious — will. I was just recovering from a se- vere illness, and a kind friend sent me the complete set of " Prose Writings," in green and gold. When they were all laid on my bed, I felt that I was liter- ally lying down in green pastures. I was not sup- posed to have the strength to more than amuse 13 14 A woman's experiences in EUROPE, myself for an hour or two with reading ; but stimu- lated to the undertaking by an indomitable passion for pictures of travel, and finding them glowing with the hues afforded by a rich imagination, there was no limit to my enjoyment till I arrived at the last page of the last volume. Little did I suspect that for each page I would one day measure miles of my own wanderings in the Old World alone ! Without any idea of doing justice to Mr. Taylor's works, I wrote a congestion of my views of them for the Presbyterian Quarterly Review; and to show how I was affected, and would myself wish to affect my readers, I will quote a paragraph from the Review. " While we admire the correct pictures of places familiar to us, we are also impressed with the truth of the author's descriptions of the most remote, and hitherto unexplored, regions, and our mind goes out after the great man in his wanderings, inspired by his own love of adventure, till we can hardly realize we are only fireside travellers enjoying at our ease the fruits of his industry and genius," Am I 2i^diXQ.^?AXi^ 2. fireside U'aveller — perhaps an invalid ? Then this bread cast upon the waters will come back sweeter to me, having afforded food for' pleasant reflection to any such prisoner, and having relieved the tedium of a convalescent room. To such readers, I repeat the assurance, that while my " travelled brain " is weaving pictures for their vision, my "untravelled heart" can respond to every emotion PRELIMINARY. I5 awakened or calmed by the suggestions offered from my own experiences. The first question my readers will naturally ask is one that I have heard repeated till I am quite used to it. What object could induce a woman to travel so far alone ? Many of my readers are already fa- miliar with my favorite motto : " War not with neces- sity." It was not to gratify the desire for travel, that was with Ida Pfeiffer an inborn propensity. It was not even a matter of choice with me. A crisis in my life had come when I must face the world alone and resolve bravely to meet all exigencies of fate or for- tune, or succumb to a crushing sorrow, and, with paralyzed energies, prove a sorry burden to those who had a right to claim my interest in their well- being. God gave me strength to resolve wisely. I left every friend who knew my sorrow, and, in the Old World, away from all reminding sympathy, I conquered myself, and returned home with materials for zuork — better than any medicine ; and for the profit and amusement I afford to others I am a thou- sand-fold repaid in the pleasing task of communi- cating what I saw and felt in my wanderings. My first task, after I had determined to enter upon new scenes, and so distract brooding thoughts, that threatened to enslave my mind, Avas to " screw my courage to the sticking-place." I had heard dismal reports of insults and hardships to which females travelling in Europe were liable. Many of my friends, in remonstrating with m.e on my ** singular resolu- t l6 A woman's experiences in EUROPE. tlon," used those very arguments to intimidate me, till finally I went for advice and encouragement to the wife of a Moravian missionary and a former Swiss consul. I was assured by them that the facili- ties for travelling in Europe were equal to our own, and that, as a female alone, I would have special pro- tection, as all railroads and post-roads were under the immediate control of the governments, and provision ' was made for the comfort of women superior to any arrangements for American travel. My experience justified their assertion, as the reader will discover in the perusal of adventures in Paris, London, Venice, and Rome. I returned to America with a settled conviction that a true woman can maintain her right to the title, without the necessity for any special effort, wherever ^% there are beings with human sympathies, or capable of even ordinary discernment. The Father of " Autobiagraphers at Home and Abroad " has declared, that authors and their public are separated by an immense gulf, of which, happily, neither of them have any conception. Consequently all prefaces are useless; for the more pains a writer takes to make his views clear, the more occasion he gives for embarrassment. Besides, an author, he de- clares, may preface as elaborately as he will, the pub- lic will always go on making precisely those demands which he has endeavored to avoid. It is a woman's prerogative to differ from the op- posite sex, on all points of oratorical limit. Bache- PRELIMINARY. 1/ lors, from St. Paul to James Buchanan, have ever been marked as ehglble targets for their elocutionary aims. Our friend Goethe deserves some consideration; for it was no fault of his that a matrimonial noose was not voluntarily assumed by him. All angels, however, seemed to desert him ; and destiny assigned him to an eternal consciousness of a demoniacal in- fluence, sometimes appearing in the form of a jealous pimple-faced sister, at others in the forbidding visage of an enraged father. Gretchen, Lucinda, Emilia, Frederica, Olivia, Charlotte, and Lilli, a powerful heptarchy, enjoyed in turn a tyrannical reign in that stout heart, that could face a world of critics without flinching — " but not an angry father ! " By this mazy course of argument and strong illus- tration, I wish to convey to my readers the idea, that, if we are to be compagnons de voyage, at the fireside, or in the veranda, we intend to disregard all plans of travel, and set out on an independent female expe- dition. With this hint I would excuse and conclude my *' preliminary." But I have a duty to perform. On the eve of my departure from New York, a letter was handed me from Mr. Gibson Peacock, editor of the Evening Bulletin, of Philadelphia. He wrote : " If you see anything in the Old World # you would like to describe for us, we will gladly pay for your letters, and so add to your income. Be- sides — " but what followed related to the dead, and is too sacred for repetition. To that kind offer I attribute my ability to shake off the veil of gloom l8 A woman's experiences in EUROPE. that obscured my vision, and look for others, at the scenes I would have ignored for myself. I trust you have such, friends, dear reader; and should their sensi- tive nature forbid a bold dedication of the fruits of your labors, I will cheerfully read your "preliminary," expressing the full measure of your grateful remem- brance. The Author. CHAPTER II. THE VOYAGE. NE would imagine, that, after the opposition of friends had been silenced, there could be nothing more to contend with ; and I would have only to secure my passage in a first-class steamer, and sail at the appointed hour. Alas! there is a dis- position on the part of friends to substitute advice for opposition, when they are convinced that our ac- tions proceed from firm and immovable principles, and that our conduct has the sanction of our own approbation. I have before me a picture-book, pur- chased at Cologne, consisting of one gutta-percha face for ten figures of that proverbial old miller who set out on a journey with his son, and the most famous quadruped after Balaam's. With a gutta-percha resolution to please my friends in the trifling matter of selecting a steamer, and fixing a date for sailing, I agreed with a large majority of female friends, that the French line was decidedly the best, and as the Ville de Paris had just sailed, and her next date would be too late for me, I must go in the Nameless. She was advertised for the very best time for me. I would just escape the 19 20 A woman's experiences IN EUROPE. equinoctial, and arrive in Paris before the close of the Fall Exposition. Man proposes, but Destiny is not always agreed. For the first time in her history, the Nameless was a whole week behind the hour when she was due at New York. I had gone to engage passage when, this information was furnished me, and a certain superstitious dread came over me, shaping itself after the Platonic oracle, "When thou settest out on a journey, turn not back, lest the Furies turn with thee ! " Observing my profound gravity, a companion! suggested, " You might, perhaps, like another line as well ; suppose we take a look at the steamers pre- paring to sail." I assented, and the permits secured, my male relative and myself explored the piers on the North River to our hearts' content. It rdally seemed providential that my relative encountered an old acquaintance, who proved to be the captain of a fine steamer that would sail on the very date I had chosen. An introduction, a lively chat, and the most encouraging dialogue between the captain and my relative, resulted in my immediate decision to sail in that steamer and no other. As the day was pretty far advanced, we agreed to defer the purchasing of a passage-ticket till the following Monday. I had mentally disposed of every article of my portable luggage in the spacious state-room we had selected, and was quite cheerful in the thought that after all I would not be friendless on the voyage, when, to my dismay, a morning journal announced the determina- ^ror THE VOYAGE. 21 11 on the part of the Company, to take my steamer, captain, and all, off the line, and run it along the coast ! This time my friends looked grave, and gave the most gloomy interpretations of such unusual prognostic signs. Finding me still undaunted, how- ever, they resolved that " the third time would be sure to succeed," and quoted Bruce and Columbus, and became enthusiastic over our united determina- tion to be above all superstitious weakness. Besides, a letter from a friend had only a few days before mentioned the anticipated departure of two friends for Prussia, by the German line, and urged me to join them. A letter of introduction enclosed would at once place me on agreeable terms with them. My friends had before scouted the idea of my taking a German steamer for France, but now they suddenly concluded that " it was actually an agreeable change to leave the steamer one sails in, and take the French steamer two days out from Havre. I couldn't do better than call on these friends of my friend." I devoted the very next day to that object, and was charmed with the result. A mutual pleasure in the interview led to an invitation on the part of these generous acquaintances for a three months' visit to their home in the Fatherland, and an agreement to stop in Paris v/ith me till after the Fall Exposition, so I could accompany them to Prussia. Three weeks from that date would be their latest time for sailing, my new friends declared ; and now the farev/ell tea-drinkings were vigorously kept up 22 A WOMAN S EXPERIENCES IN EUROPE. till within two days of the time appointed for sailing, when, lo ! the lady fell ill, and her husband, though in frantic haste to depart, was forced to see a hundred air-castles fade in the dim distance ! " I am a veritable Jonah ! " I exclaimed, *' and who undertakes to sail with me must do it at his peril ! " No reply from my exhausted friends ; so I resolved, ' like the miller before mentioned, that, blame me or praise me, henceforward I would be my own adviser. And, as the story-book says, / did so, and did well. One day I found myself on a steamer gliding out of New York harbor, straining my eyes to catch a last glimpse of the group of kind friends waving their " farewell " in a crowd of similar groups interested in the departure of our ship's company. There were too many tears falling for any one to feel ashamed of inability to control them ; and I think it must be this simultaneous expression of emotion awakened by the electrifying cry, *' All hands ashore ! " and the last grasp of the friendly hand when that order is given, that so closely unites a little world of travellers " going down in ships to the great deep " together. The Nameless was favored with a delightful set of passengers. There were families intending to reside in Paris during the winter, giving their children the advantages of a French course of instruction ; ar- tists, going to seek models and inspiration among the works of the old masters ; invalids bound for the south of France, where the climate is of a more even temperature than in the southern American States ; THE VOYAGE. 23 some bold travellers, intending to brave the Alpine storms and Russian winter; and some sad hearts leaving all gloomy associations for new scenes and cheerful occupations. In twenty-four hours we were like one family. Our captain, gentlemanly and untiring in his atten- tions to all, was father, brother, physician, and chap- lain. When a storm rocked the steamer like a row- boat on the rapids of Niagara, aiid old and young, male and female, paid the penalty of trespassers in the dominions of Neptune, it was marvellous to see the expedients resorted to by the captain for each peculiar case. None but the aged and those who were previously ill were allowed to remain in their state-rooms. The sailors were ordered to make bean bags for the young people to toss, rings of tarred rope for the gentlemen to substitute for quoits, and camp-stools, reclining-chairs, and every comfort that could aid in making the sea-sick company willing even to tolerate life were kindly placed at their dis- posal. Grapes, lemons, sour-balls, mint-drops, gin- ger-nuts, and apples were the favorite articles of diet until the fury of the storm-god abated. Then the transformation scene was extremely ludicrous. Five meals per day failed to satisfy the ravenous appetites, and the promenade deck was crowded from daylight till near midnight with as lively a company as ever graced an ocean-steamer. There was nothing to mar the pleasure of even the most fastidious. The sailors were orderly and respectful ; the captain and officers 24 A WOMAN S EXPERIENCES IN EUROPE. patient and gentlemanly ; the gentlemen passengers, without exception, attentive, polite, and temperate ; * and the ladies, possessing a full share of personal attractions, displayed none of the vanity and spirit of rivalry so often exhibited on long voyages. The I patriarchal head of our company was Mr. Edward C. 1 Delavan, a leader in the great temperance reform both in America and Europe. His influence was felt and acknowledged by all. At the age of seventy- five he was crossing the fifth time, in perfect health ; and to his clear intellect we were indebted for most delightful reminiscences of his visit to Paris at the time of the restoration of the Bourbons. A copy of his new book, the " Consideration of the Temperance Argument and History," was presented to me on the very last day of our voyage, with a modest but ear- nest speech ; and on its pages I found suggestions throwing light on many points that the policy of the French Government would conceal. The " Consideration " explained why there were no disorderly scenes from drunkenness in the streets of Paris, but hosts of inebriates in the cafes and restau- rants. To Mr. Delavan and his agreeable family I was afterwards indebted for many pleasant hours in Paris. I shall have occasion to enlarge upon some of them in a future chapter. One evening I ascended the companion-way to the promenade-deck, and read on the saloon calendar the notice — " Tzvelve hundred miles from New York.'* THE VOYAGE. 2$ "And twelve hundred more to Havre," I said to my- self. "We seem but a little company now, com- pletely isolated from the whole race of mankind, with but a few planks between us and the unfathomable deeps of mid-ocean ! " And I had left everything dear to me to meet the untried vicissitudes of a strange world, and encounter its more strange people ! I rarely had time for a prolonged indulgence in such reflections, for a kind sympathy, that I can never forget, induced the entire company to aid in making my lonely voyage a cheer- ful one, and simple gratitude alone would have im- pelled me to respond to such unselfish consideration. On this particular evening I thought I would grant myself special indulgence, and I selected a corner for my reveries near the guards in the stern of the ship. Some of the crew were engaged not far from me in examining certain large canvas floaters that will hold twenty or thirty people in emergencies, such as a loss of the life-boats in a storm, and the like. There was an unusual earnestness in the move- ments of the sailors that I at once interpreted as a foreboding of a heavy storm, heavier than the ordi- nary squalls that are met off the Banks, and through which we had passed with no other inconvenience than a general sea-sickness. The captain's clerk, coming to give an order to one of the crew, remarked to me : "You look serious. Are you doubtful about ever seeing Havre?" 2 k ve I 26 A woman's experiences in EUROPE. '| " No ; I wish I had some fear," I repHed. "How so?" " My greatest trouble is that I am possessed of spirit that makes the bottom of the ocean as attractive as the harbor." " Do you remember what the captain threatened if you hghted your pocket-lantern at midnight ? " " Yes ; he said he would put me in irons," I re- plied, laughing at the recollection. " If you repeat your unreasonable remark to hhn^ he will think he has more occasion for his threat," was the half serious, half playful warning with which the clerk touched his cap and walked away. Before the sailors had completed their inspection of the floater, the steamer was heaving, sighing, and shuddering like a human creature, and gave that in- explicable evidence a ship does give when she is about to face a coming storm. The sun, before dazzling with its powerful brilliancy, was suddenly shut out from us as by a heavy curtain, and the ship was enveloped in a pall-like fog. A misty rain began to fall, and the passengers were ordered into the main saloon. By the aid of the fog I concealed myself from observation in my sheltered corner, resolved to see as much as possible of the storm. The captain walked with rapid strides on the bridge, watchful and silent, receiving and giving messages quickly and in low tones. Every man was at his post, and every part of the deck in perfect order. The sails were all taken down, signal whistles THE VOYAGE. 2/ shrieking, and minute-guns booming with a dull sad- dening sound, 'mid the incessant roar arid moaning of the seas. Soon the blackness of night succeeded the pale gloom of the evening mist, and the ship rolled, groaned, shivered and started like one in the ago- nies of delirium. But still I clung to the guards in my hiding-place. I was spellbound. I could have thrown myself into the foaming ocean with the en- thusiasm of a fire-worshipper. But as if to calm my overwrought feelings, those beautiful lines of Adelaide Procter, in her " Hymn to the Sea," were whispered by a spirit-voice close beside me : " Do tempests swing thee, or deep choral nights Chant unto murmurous slumber ? yield me still The calm of hushed abysses! — human ill Patience transfigures on her visioned heights. Thou dost not rive the blood-drenched deck apart, Nor whelm the slaver's freight of woe, but soft On patient swelling breast upborne, Waftest the dismal burden on. As trusting in the love that waits aloft. And the slow germ of good in man's unquiet heart. *^ A hand gently laid on my shoulder drew me away ! from my corner, and I recognized the good stewardess who had taken motherly care of me, never once I losing her patience at my " sea-sick whims." The deck, ropes, benches, and chairs, were drenched ' with the mist that fell like rain ; and with the ship I riding on the crest of a wave, then plunging into the I trough of the sea, rolling on its side till one water- I wheel was completely submerged and the other 28 A woman's experiences in EUROPE. j raised clear out of the water, it made the walk to the companion-way decidedly dubious, and I found my- self seated or reclining suddenly and unintentionally several times before it was accomplished. At the entrance to the companion-way I paused to enjoy the strange contrast of the storm without and the cheery light and sounds that rose from the main saloon. Hark ! a hymn, familiar to every American, but imagine it sung by sweet voices, at first trembling and uncertain, but strengthening and with more con-! fidence in every note, with the ocean grandly rolling its muffled thunderings for an accompaniment : " Jesus, lover of my soul ! Let me to thy bosom fly, While the billows round me roll, While the tempest still is high ! Hide me, O my Saviour, hide ! Till the storm of life is past ; Safe into the haven guide, Oh, receive my soul at last! " Joining the company in the saloon, I found them calm and evidently comforted by the sweet words of the petition they had chanted. During a lull in the storm the captain appeared in the saloon, and ex- pressed his appreciation of the wisdom of his com- pany, and after his reassuring " good-night," we re- tired to our state-rooms to sleep, knowing there was danger, but trusting that the Hand of the Invisible held the helm. CHAPTER III. IN PORT. E had been out twelve days, meeting only two steamers and a few sails homeward-bound, when we heard the cry of " Land ! " Never shall I forget the sensation. Our entire company, first cabin, second class, officers and men, forgetting distinction in the general joy, rushed forward and hailed the white cliffs of England with waving handkerchiefs and caps, and shouts of joy ! We were off Falmouth. The anchor was dropped, and a cannon roared lustily for a pilot to take us up the channel, and for a tug to carry off the English passengers. No response from the British Lion — John Bull was at tea, and " 'ad no hidea hanother 'alf hour or so would make hany material difference to Brother Jonathan ! " But our impatience knew no bounds, as night fell around us, obscuring the sight of land on which our eyes had been feasting, and making the strange stillness of our steamer, with all the noisy machinery at rest, painfully oppressive. But new signals were employed. Rockets were sent up into the clear air, and their stars descending in tears of fire were received into the gleaming 29 I 30 A woman's experiences in EUROPE. waves. Blue-lights and Roman candles made the white cliffs and the myriad sails darting across the bay appear and disappear from our sight as if by magic ! We were so rapt in admiration of the scene, that| the pilot came aboard almost before we were aware of his approach. Falmouth passengers and baggage were safely transferred to the tug — an English tug is about as graceful as our mud-scows — and we were soon steaming for Havre. Glad of an opportunity to rest after our excitement, the whole company retired immediately after supper, and fell asleep with the delightful assurance that our next night's rest would be at Havre. " France, I salute thee ! " was my involuntary ex- clamation on awaking the next morning, and be- holding through the open port a long stretch of glistening white beach, with a blue coast-line beyond. The day was passed in preparations for our landing, paying bills for " extras," and feeing the attendants. I had arranged to take the stewardess with me to the hotel at Havre, as we would be obliged to remain over night, and start for Paris the next morning; but a lady, travelling with only her maid, wished me to take apartments with her, and so avoid the extra ex- pense my plan would involve. Strangely enough it afterward proved that this acquaintance and myself had been recommended to the same house in Paris ! Through some inadvertency I had left home without the address or name of Miss Ellis, and I determined IN PORT. 31 to go to another house highly recommended by- friends who had Hved in Paris, with a French lady, her husband, and several American female artists. I promised my new companion, however, that I would join her if I found my proposed arrangement in- eligible. I suppose scarcely three of all the plans made by the ninety passengers were actually carried out when we arrived at the port. It is worth all the risk and discomfort of sea-sick- ness in crossing the ocean only to have the sensation of entering the port of Havre. We were favored with a glorious sunset, and a favorable breeze that rippled the deep blue waters till their diamond wave- lets, catching the reflected light, seemed like fairy lace-work, and our stately ship glided over its golden meshes as if moved by enchantment. On the high walls of the harbor, whose solid masonry might have been laid with the foundations of the world — so mas- sive does it appear — were hundreds of citizens of all grades, and in every description of costume, from the severe broadcloth and beaver of the Englishman to the skull-cap and blue blouse of the herdsman, and the trailing robe of a New York belle, or the appro- priate street costume of a French lady, to the gay petticoat and frilled cap of the peasant girl; while from the balconies and windows of the quaint and closely-built houses crowds of curious ladies and children stared at us through their opera-glasses, and waved us a welcome to France ! And now came the 32 A WOMAN S EXPERIENCES IN EUROPE. n moment of pain. Our little company must separate, not likely to be ever united again till we should reach the haven where there are no partings. Our good , captain took each one by the hand, and his kind I wishes for our pleasant journeyings cheered even | those who wept because there were no friends to greet them at the end of a two weeks* voyage on a stormy ocean. But what a merry, patient party we were at the Custom House. Why ? Because there was no use in being anything else. For two mortal hours we were waiting to be called, occasionally peeping through the door, only to have it shut in our faces with a ^^Par-r-do7is ! Mesdames, Messieurs !'' from a smiling garde, who finally led us in, two at a time. Pointing out our trunks, with the assurance that they contained nothing but our personal effects, they were passed without being unlocked, and away we all went to secure rooms and a good dinner at the best hotels. The captain's clerk had kindly gone to the hotel while we were in " durance vile " at the Custom House, and engaged rooms for Mrs. A. and myself A good dinner was served immediately on our arrival, and our ears were assailed by the din of a French table d'hote. At nine o'clock in the evening we started out, and completely traversed the streets of Havre. Around the squares were booths gaily decorated and fitted up with fancy articles of every description for sale ; in others were amusements of all sorts, and the IN PORT. 33 French contrive fun as they do dishes, out of nothing; ice-cream saloons, wine-tables, cafes, and everything one could eat, drink, wear, or use for furniture, were spread out and arranged in a style most attractive, and tempting to the purse. It was a good opportu- nity to see the people of France. A group of merry bourgeoise would clatter past us with their wooden shoes, followed by a dainty gri- sette, arm-in-arm with a soldier-lover, singing, without restraint, "Ah, que j'aime le militaire!" while on behind us would trundle a healthy mamma, accom- panied by an astonishing family of les petites, each clamoring for a different object of admiration in the tempting booths. Plenty of light in the streets and squares ; such unflagging good humor as an American crowd never evinces, make these French gala-nights perfectly charming to any visitor but an Englishman. To him it never ceases to be "extraordinary!" I missed my cradle so much that night when I laid me down to sleep in a Christian bed, that I took back all the ridicule I had, in the agonies of sea-sickness, heaped on the author of " A Life on the Ocean Wave." I passed a restless night, tossed with the tumult of strange thoughts that crowded upon me in a strange land. I welcomed the morning, and did not regret the rain that fell from heaven — just as it fell in America —though we were to set out on our journey to Paris. 1 I CHAPTER IV. ALONE IN PARIS. A WORD of advice to all who leave home for distraction. Sail directly for France. I defy Hamlet or his father's ghost to resist the laughable drama of every-day life in France. I was affected with a chronic smile all the time I was there. The first three weeks I did nothing but stare at the frantic gestures of the people, and let their verbal volleys fall on my tympanum without the slightest effort to comprehend a single word. All the French grammar and dictation in America were of no avail until I took the sound as one catches the measles, by contagion ! A consciousness that I was fairly infected seized me one morning under rather dubious circumstances. The stage from Villiers-la-Belle to Ecouen, where I was going to visit a colony of American art students, was crowded to suffocation. The French are ex- tremely practical. Half their life is passed in the open air, the other half in hermetically sealed houses and travelling conveyances. Their theory that stage windows were made to exclude oxygen is so faith- fully carried out that, for my part, I was in hourly danger of pulmonary apoplexy whenever it was my 34 ALONE IN PARIS. 35 fate to enter one of their stages. On the particular occasion to which I refer, a respectable-looking vil- lage dame, whose requirements far exceeded the ordinary stage limit for one person, seemed to have very little regard for my feelings, and, with impolite- ness that I rarely met with in France, she made sev- eral comments on my "foreign air." Thinking a more liberal supply of native air would benefit me, I lowered the window near me. My tormentor cried out angrily that she would freeze, and her neighbors right and left were awfully squeezed as she rolled her huge figure from side to side in ungovernable rage, exclaiming, " If the American wants air, let her go on top." Her patois was execrable, but I understood it, and retorted, with an accent at least equal to hers, " Madame, as there is plenty of room on top, you might be more comfortable there yourself! " A scream of laughter from every passenger, and a clap- ping of hands indescribably expressive of their ec- stasy at this unexpected retort, rewarded my effort, and when madame turned, with great confusion, and remarked, " I thought you did not know our lan- guage," I was encouraged to continue my practice with the reply, " It is sometimes dangerous to pre- sume ! " For many reasons our American saloon-cars are preferable to the European railway-carriage. Eight persons shut up in one compartment, without proper ventilation, and four of them compelled to ride back- wards, amounts to a positive infliction after one has 36 A woman's experiences in EUROPE. travelled a few hours. And when night overtakes one in these carriages, if they are full, the misery is indescribable. On entering the train at Havre for Paris my atten- tion was attracted by a porcelain plate inserted in the partition between the compartments, on which was a notice in French, German, and English. Under the plate was a triangular opening in the partition con- taining a ring, which was attached to a rope commu- nicating with the bell of the engine. A glass pane on either side the partition enclosed the ring, so that the occupants of two compartments could reach the same signal. I amused myself with copying the English notice. Who translated it for the railway company I never learned. "Signal Bell. " Should any extraordinary case require the pres- ence of the guard, passengers are requested to break the glass with their elbow, draw down the ring, and | agitate their arms through the right-hand zvi7idow\ " according to the direction of the train. Any passen- ger having called without reasonable cause will be liable to prosecution." Fortunately, there was no occasion to use my elbow for such a purpose, and I only speculated, with- out the necessity of practically trying the efficacy of " agitating my arms out of the window " of a train running thirty miles an hour. We found the waiting-rooms of European depots ALONE IN PARIS. 3/ divided for first, second, and third-class passengers, and we were admitted into the one corresponding with the ticket purchased before entering the depots, at the offices under an outside portico. The distinc- tion in the waiting-rooms consists of a cushioned chair for first-class passengers, a polished wooden one for second-class, and no chair at all for third- class. The carriages the same, with the addition of a fourth-class, roofless and less comfortable than our cattle-trains. The doors of the waiting-rooms lead- ing to the train are kept locked till the engineer sig- nals his readiness to start. Then they are opened outward by the gardes, and without confusion the passengers quickly find their places in the train ; the garde rings a bell, signifying that the last moment has elapsed, the conductor responds "AH right!" with a trumpet, and the engineer gives a final whistle as the carriages glide out of the depot with a smooth, rapid, easy motion perfectly delightful to the traveller. Notwithstanding the rain fell in torrents part of the day, the journey to Paris was a great pleasure to all of our party. The whole line of first-class car- riages had been engaged the night before for our ship's company. New York, New Orleans, Boston, and Philadelphia were represented in the carriage I occupied, and there was but one voice regarding the day's enjoyment when we reached our destination. From Havre to Paris the scenery is ^^ something wonderful!' as the English say ; a striking contrast to that of our enterprising but young America. 38 A woman's experiences in EUROPE. Where new bricks and imitation brown-stone begin or terminate a railroad town at home, old walls, thatched roofs, and quaint-looking churches, crumbling and mouldering after ages of service, present themselves everywhere in France. There are no red brick houses to be seen, but all have a uniform, white appearance, made of a stone quarried in France, and of a compo- sition imitating it. Spires and cupolas are as numer- ous as chimneys at home. They do not have chim- neys like ours, but stove-pipes with caps, and to one unaccustomed to the sight it was very amusing to see as many stove-pipes on the roof, some tall, some short, as there were stoves or fire-places in the houses. The perfect cultivation of every foot of ground is charming to Americans, who have so much land to waste. A stretch of undulating table-land extends all along the road from Havre to Paris. Here a beautiful city, with its wide streets laid out regularly in squares, or with boulevards radiating from a grand centre ; there a vineyard, further on a chateau, with its extensive and splendidly - arranged parks and groves ; on a distant hill a ruined castle ; in the val- ley below an old monastery ; and everywhere the eye can glance, verdure, flowers, and decorations, — all denoting the exquisite taste so peculiar to the French nation. Even the way-stations have their pretty little gar- dens filled with roses, dahlias, crysanthemums, and violets, all strangely blooming in the same season. There is a great abundance of evergreen of all varie- ALONE IN PARIS. 39 ties, and the trees and arbors are trimmed into every imaginable shape, with enough still growing in its natural luxuriant state to prevent any regret that the gardener's shears have been at work. The only thing in the whole landscape to mar the prospect is the appearance of a clownish peasant, with his uncouth wooden sabots, coarse blue cotton pants and blouse, with a yoke on his shoulders, with heavy baskets or buckets suspended from each side, or a rack strapped on his back loaded high above his head with trunks or boxes. Of this lowest class the wives and children are a forlorn-looking set. Stupid, heavy, and awk- ward, with no ambition above a holiday, with a good supply of bread, mutton, wine, and garlic. At this station let me say a word to my American sisters to soothe the wounded pride I am sure they have shared with myself. We have heard many anec- dotes of the ignorance of American upstarts, who are supposed to travel in Europe because it is fash- ionable. In Europe I have come in contact with at least five hundred American ladies, representing al- most every State in our Union, and nearly every one was educated, intelligent, and well bred. With hardly an exception, the moment they reach Havre they drop their native tongue and use the French lan- guage readily and with fluency, contrasting favorably with that of our English friends from across the Channel, who seem to be in constant danger of dis- locating their jaws in the very effort to change their rigid chopping enunciation to the easy accent of the French. 40 A woman's experiences, in EUROPE. An Englishwoman, overhearing the remark that a certain lady found some difficulty in using the French language in consequence of having a bad memory, said quickly, ^^ Dear — me ! I thought all the Ameri- cans lamed French ! " *' So they do," was the reply ; " but, unfortunately, America is so far from France that they have not the advantage of practising it as you English ladies have." " Ah, yas ! dear me ! " And off she walked. Do not imagine, from this instance, that when the English and Americans meet in Paris, they are in a constant state of ferment. Some of the most genial travelling companions are to be I found among the better portion of what is called the middle class of English society — something between the "shopkeepers" and nobility — bank officers, owners of cotton factories, and the like. Providence be praised, we have only the distinction of merit at home ! Rolling into a grand iron depot just before sunset, the train quietly stopped, and the garde opened our door, saying, " Paris, ladies ! " No din, no confusion, no one in a hurry ! The air was cool after the storm, and in the immense wait- ing-room adjoining the Custom House we found large porcelain and gilt stoves, with a glowing fire that was grateful to our chilled and benumbed bodies, cooped up in one place all the day long. The tiled floors, waxed and polished to an alarming degree, suggested the usefulness of skates. Flowers arranged in variegated rows occupied every window - place, and the entire ALONE IN PARIS. 4I impression of the reception-room betokened the shrewdness of the French in cheerfully welcoming all travellers, the most reckless spendthrifts, and the eager jewel-brokers, to their city of baubles, with an irresistible grace. Not more than twenty minutes' detention in the waiting-room, and the usual confu- sion in the Custom House, I entered a voiture with an au revoir to Mrs. A., and found myself alone in the streets of Paris, with the ocean between myself and every friend I had in the world. The beatings of my heart were considerably quickened when the real ization came upon me so forcibly. CHAPTER V. CITY OF THE NAPOLEONS. 1 ONE has a very singular sensation on finding one's self alone in a strange world. I can only com- pare my feelings, as I drove up to Madame F.'s door that first evening in Paris, with what one would be likely to experience if, after reading a novel like the Wandering Jew or Les Miserables, he should suddenly arrive at a conviction that his own existence was a mere fancy, and that henceforth the only interest or part in life for him was the development of an inter- esting sequel to either of the fictions above mentioned. If my reader will be so amiable as to adopt this idea, we may find considerable entertainment in the per- sonages and adventures we encounter in this record of experiences. I promise to enact the part of hero- ine wherever circumstances will admit, provided always my reader will change his character to suit my various positions, — that is, from mere observer, when I am happy in my performance, to a sympa- thizing friend, when some unaccountable depression of imagination brings us to the unwelcome realization that we are not myths, but real flesh and blood char- acters — and only women after all. 42 CITY OF THE NAPOLEONS. 43 A drive through the Pare Monceaux, at sunset on a fine day in Autumn, every gate-post ornamented with the inevitable gilded N, that convinced me I was indeed in the City of the Napoleons — the pride of France — myself and my trunks at the mercy of a cocker, who received my stammering directions, " Numero Boulevard de Neuilly," with the sang froid of a Custom House officer, only remarking, as he jammed the door shut on my numerous packages, that they and I fitted in the narrow seat " un peu juste." These circumstances furnish us with a fair opening for our realistic novel. As color is the first thing that we are sure an infant is impressed with in the world, I think it is the most vivid of my first recollections of Paris. White and gold. White streets, white pavements, white houses, gilded fences and golden skies. Driving to the mid- dle house in a long row of white edifices, cocker came down from the box — not like a sylph — and opening the door, uttered that significant enuncia- tion, " Voila, madame ! " A little girl, a daughter of the concierge, in a blue pinafore and pattens, was dancing a pas seul in the porte cochere, and a nasal tra-la-la-la, like the sound of a pair of tin castanets, accompanied her original steps. While cocker was attending to my luggage, I courageously undertook a French dialogue with la petite. She instructed me in the monetary system of France, as well as its moral laws regarding coachmen, and informed me it was " the mode " to give drink- 44 A woman's experiences in EUROPE. money {pour boire) to said coachman, and, what was more, they could demand it. My first lesson in the practice of sustaining ini- quity by law from an infant ! Without demur, how- ever, I paid tribute to the demon of Paris, on the principle that in Rome one must do like the Romans. In the meantime the father of la petite had begun to ascend with my baggage, and the mother of la petite was descending with my hostess. Oh, joy ! what a reception ! An embrace, comprising a kiss on each cheek, throwing both arms around my neck, a pat on my shoulder, a squeeze of each hand, another kiss on each cheek, another throwing of both arms around me, a more demonstrative pat on each shoulder, i and the imprisonment of my hand in both of ma- dame's little, fat white hands, while she trotted me up to — au troisihne — imperilling my neck on every one of the slippery waxed steps, while she laughed, cried, exclaimed, "pauvre petite!" "oh, mon Dieu!" "so far — so far — chez elle — America — oh, mon Dieu!" — till I was actually carried away by her sympathetic excitement, and found myself laughing, crying, and talking gibberish as fast as the kind noble- hearted little Frenchwoman. And up to the mo- ment when the concierge announced to Madame F. that " a lady from America was at the door with a letter from Mademoiselle et Monsieur L.," that little woman was as ignorant of. my existence as you are of my identity at this moment, dear Reader ! So bear in mind, that, whatever! may say that appears CITY OF THE NAPOLEONS. 45 like ridicule of the French character or customs, I have a warm spot in my heart for the French people that would glow with pleasure at any opportunity to reciprocate the genial kindness I received at the hands of a number, of whom Madame F. was a fair representative. Our affectionate skirmishing fire of greetings, ex- clamations, and congratulations all went beautifully enough ; but everything must have an end, and when that excitement of our meeting came to an end, madame and I were suddenly silent. Each of us had a great deal to say, but neither of us had the most remote idea of the proper way to say it. Madame was the daughter of one of the members of the Legion of Honor, and had been educated in the Imperial College instituted by Napoleon I. After fifteen years of seclusion in that establishment, the first use she made of her freedom from exceedingly severe restraint was to select for herself a husband and enter into a bond, as we term it, of matrimony, but according to a Frenchwoman's idea, into a state of blissful independence. Monsieur F., in point of education, birth, and ingrained refinement, was madame's equal, and in all Paris a more agreeable and edifying pair could not have been found. But madame had, like myself, a strong prejudice in favor of her own language, and monsieur absolutely refused to attempt English. All this I knew before I left America, and had considered it a fortunate circum- stance that I should be compelled to adopt in their 46 A woman's experiences in EUROPE. house a language I would never use from choice. But when I sat face to face with my vivacious new friend, with a hundred pleasant thoughts strug- gling for utterance and not one word shaping itself on my obstinate tongue, I regarded the affair in a more serious light; and never shall I forget the feeling of relief I experienced when a door opposite the one by which I had entered the room, burst open and two American young ladies ran in, each seizing a hand and then embracing me in a manner that delighted madame's warm heart. "These are my American childrens," she exclaimed, and then ran on, without noticing our rapid interchange of questions as to friends at home and friends abroad with whom we had a mutual acquaintance ; the little woman seemed to revel in her voluble expressions of joy at the addi- tion to her "American childrens." Her remarks were translated and criticised with equally good humor by the youngest and sauciest girl, who proved afterwards a sore trial to my risibles in the grave presence of monsieur. That gentleman's acquaintance I made in the dining-room, a half hour after my arrival. Never was my heart so grateful for the manifest goodness of Providence to a wanderer, and yet so painfully impressed with its utter loneliness, made more apparent by the very efforts of these new friends to cheer and divert my thoughts from the dis- tant home. Monsieur had a musical voice, unlike the majority of Frenchmen, and he enunciated slowly and distinctly, pausing long enough, when I was at CITY OF THE NAPOLEONS. 4/ fault, for my countrywomen to interpret for me ; so I really had a valuable lesson in French at my very first meal in Paris. We remained at table nearly three hours, and I went directly after dinner to my own little bed-room, where madame followed me, and for- bidding Marie, a pretty little femme-de-chambre, the office, assisted me to unrobe and prepare for the night. At last I was buried under a swan's-down bed, and, after a whole page of good wishes, pious petitions, dubious ejaculations, and a series of little, musical laughs at my almost total eclipse in the beruffled pil- lows, madame left me, "tucked in" so tight, that if Paris had been in a conflagration that night, I should have had to trust to the sagacity of the experienced fire police to discover and extricate me. The custom of turning down the bed-clothes in France by the femme-de-chambre is by no means superfluous ; for, to my cost, I had occasion several times to perform the service for myself, and I really thought a ruptured blood-vessel in the region of my lungs would be the result. Undoubtedly the habit of making the clothes so tight on the bed comes from the fashion of covering the bed, after it is made up, with a lace outside cover ; and in order to display the pat- tern to advantage, the under-covers must be turned in, so as to make a perfectly smooth surface. In these particulars the present generation of French dames are where our great-grandmothers were a hundred years ago. I was awakened by a burst of light, sure enough, 48 A woman's experiences in EUROPE. 1 in my room, — broad daylight, and madame, in dress- ing-gown and slippers, followed by Marie, who carried a tray on which was a doll's coffee-pot and a plethoric cream pitcher of boiling milk, a boiled egg, and a plate of toast. My ablutions performed a la Fran- ^ais, with Marie's assistance, I took my breakfast, bolstered up in bed, and madame was charmed with my ready compliance with this fashion " not Ameri- caine, n'est pas ? " After four months' practice, I became perfect in this lesson, and I have a sneaking hope that the new re- gime will not altogether abolish the old luxuriant habits of Imperial times. Alas ! a Prussian bomb- shell has changed the home of Madame F. into — but I must not anticipate. CHAPTER VI. FIRST VIEWS OF PARIS. BEFORE my toilette was completed, Mrs. A. called to offer her services as escort through the city. I appreciated the kindness, and gladly availed myself of her agreeable companionship, and we set out for a day's adventure, with no aim or object other than the attractions we might successively encounter. First, however, we called at Mrs. A.'s boarding- house, and I then discovered it was the very house recommended by several friends for my own residence. And Miss Ellis informed me that a family I had greatly desired to meet in Paris had left her house only three days before, on their return home. With more than a half reluctance I resolved to desert Ma- dame F.'s for Miss Ellis's cheerful house, induced by Miss E.'s own genial manner, the prospect of meeting numbers of my country-people, whose experiences would greatly benefit me in the way of directions in sight-seeing, travels, economy, etc., to say nothing of the desire to be near Mrs. A., who seemed to find sufficient comfort in my companionship to look after me so kindly when I was a stranger to Paris, where she was already well acquainted. 8 49 50 A woman's experiences in EUROPE. I There are different rules to be observed by the res- idents of Paris and American visitors. " They are Americans," vi^as sufficient explanation for any of our | actions within the bounds of prudence ; yet not so absurdly limited on the one hand, or independent on I the other, as a married Frenchwoman's code pre- scribes. To the reproaches of my heart regarding my deser- tion of my good Madame F. I replied, " I have come abroad for diversion, and at Miss E/s I can have an incessant stream of it without an effort on my part. At Madame F.'s I must work for the mere compre- hension of what is passing around me, ears and tongue must repeat all their nursery lessons, and I doubt if my sanitary condition warrants the patient endurance re- quisite for the task." So I silenced, if I did not con- vince the pleading voice within ; and, like all apostates, I rushed into a day's dissipation to utterly drown its remonstrances. Ah ! Madame F., how often I came to your bright little salon with a home-sick heart, received your caresses with grateful tenderness of affection, grew merry over a cup of cafe au-lait, read Dumas with you, and to your " Adieu, mon enfant, come soon again," returned a cheerful "remercie" and — the image of Napoleon on a round piece of gold ! The " almighty dollar" of the American may be deservedly pro- verbial, but a franc in Paris and a shilling in London are sufficient to try the quality of English or French generosity. FIRST VIEWS OF PARIS. 5I To my mind the American character never suffers by the comparison. Mrs. A. and myself were well mated for a few months* mutual enjoyment of Paris. We both sought " distraction," and on that ground our plans and purposes agreed admirably. The first day in Paris. Our starting-point for a ramble was Miss Ellis's house, formerly a palace of the Duke d'Orleans, directly below the Arc de Triomphe, on the grandest avenue in the world, the Champs Elysees ! As we drove towards the Tuileries between the two living panoramas on either side, I fancied the pictures of Jacob Abbott and other ministers to my childish amusements had suddenly sprung into actual existence, and that in a moment or two this fairy scene would all vanish and I would awake from my dreamy continuation of " Rollo in Paris" in my trundle-bed at home. But, a gay laugh of my companion at my complete oblivion to everything but the spell of the scene, -brought me to my natural senses and a rather impatient, though only mental, assent to the realities of life. Looking to the right of the avenue for the famous tomb of Napoleon, what did we see ? A force of artisans regilding the Dome of the Invalides ! Were my eyes deceiving me? No. Napoleon III. was indorsing that sneering sarcasm of Napoleon I., when he was asked, " And what occupation have we for the people to prevent a revolution ? " Folly, branded on the national character in golden letters, I 52 A woman's experiences in EUROPE. was the practical answer then ; and here was a re- newal of the impression by his bold successor. But what can gilding avail, of dome, palace, or triumphal arc, when the people are nursing their wrath in stubborn breasts under cotton blouses, till a favorable wind shall fan the sparks to flames and carry the flames high above the artificial fire-light of the Dome of the Invalides ! Sullen submission, or assumed cheerfulness are surely not reliable. A flickering bougie for the light of faith, and a vive VEinpereur for an outburst of patriotism — a moment before Paris was bright as fairy-land, now I saw only a whited sepulchre, the earth beneath us was hollow,! and from the Imperial tomb on the banks of the Seine to the narrow bed of the bourgeois in the^ cemetery of Montmartre, I knew there was but rotten- ness and dead men's bones. " There is but one Paris, and Napoleon is its master," I exclaimed then. "There is but one Napoleon, and in France he has no master,"! I whisper now, entre nous. In the palace-gardens,! under the very windows of the Tuileries, I was amused to see every child who could handle a wooden spade, <^iggi"g holes in the gravel walks, and filling little buckets as fast as they were overturned by their bonnetless bonnes. The French Medical Society considered it conducive to the health of children to play in the dirt, and the Empress smiled her approval from the palace-windows at this juvenile army of sappers and miners, who were only mimicking the future farce of Equality that their parents would per- FIRST VIEWS OF PARIS. 53 form. A hundred children were engaged in this in- teresting employment of defacing the smooth walks of the Imperial gardens, — from the nobleman's son, with a bonne to lead him, a gouvernante to watch the bonne, a footman to follow the gouvernante, and a coachman slowly driving after the footman with the infant's carriage, to the son of the concierge with only grandmother to guard him from falling into the ditch himself was digging ! A corps of men, furnished with rake and roller, covered up all traces of these •Jittle vandals each morning. Who will remove the ugly impressions their fathers have made? Who will restore the fearful ruin of Paris? It was so beautiful. Why could n't it last ? Why were not these gardeners content with their wages ? Every- thing went on smoothly. The government paid the laborers at the end of a month, papa paid for the little sapper and miner's amusements at the end of a year, the medical directors patted the chubby children's cheeks, assisted at the advent of new cherubs, and harmony reigned everywhere — even to the unfinished Opera House. For that white and golden monu- ment, what sacrifices were made ! The rigid marble features of those grim-faced musicians in rows o4 half relieved medallions looked sternly down on the destruction of valuable property all around the site of the Opera House, and the light that gleamed on those marble countenances, as it broke through rifts in the clouds, was not like the light of inspiration, but the derision and sardonic glee of anticipation of 54 A woman's experiences in EUROPE. the grand overture to the Fall of Paris, that would soon startle the world with the crash of martial music ! It was nearly completed, and the Emperor's archi- tects and surveyors thought it would present a finer appearance if certain large houses, stores that were an ornament to the Rue de la Paix, were not obstructing the view. Farewell to the stores. The Emperor or- dered them down. The whole magnificent block of jewelry, millinery, and display windows of all sorts of wares disappeared, and the debris of destroyed buildings was carted away as fast as possible. One of the most celebrated modistes suffered by this last Imperial order, for she occupied the establishment, and her grandmother before her, for fifty years. An enormous sum of money, and the sole right to place on her sign, " Modiste to Her Majesty the Empress," somewhat mollified her grief So the pills of the Em- peror were sugar-coated. Hungry enough to afford an excuse for entering a cafe on the Boulevards, I was struck with the singular contrast in the manner of conducting these establish- ments in Paris and most American cities. The cafe ;vas blazing with mirrors and gilding, but the attend- ants dispensed with all ornament. At a desk, raised by a platform above the level of tables occupied by visitors, a fine-looking French matron was employed, not in counting money or staring at the *' customers," but painting in oil from sketches made at the Louvre, no doubt the Sunday previous. Her desk was orna- FIRST VIEWS OF PARIS. 55 merited with vases of fresh flowers ; a globe contain- ing gold-fish screened her from the gaze of those who sat directly facing her, and while the gar§ons placed their checks before her ; took change in return, and walked silently off to their duties, Madame was ab- sorbed in her work, and yet never missed a gracious *' bon jour, monsieur," to every Frenchman, as each one touched his hat in passing on his way out of the salon. Madame's dress was invariably black silk, her ornaments of jet. These our American attend- ants may imitate, but her manner it would be useless to attempt. After this refreshment, Mrs. A. and myself were en- joying a promenade, when we found ourselves in a crowd of Russian ladies and children demanding ad- mittance to the magnificent Greek Church on the Rue de la Croix, dedicated to the Trinity and St. Alexan- der Newsky ! Judging from the rich toilettes of the Russian ladies that some extraordinary occasion had attracted them to the church, we dismissed our voiture and joined the impatient crowd, as ignorant of their ob- ject in assembling as they seemed to be of our right to enter the church with them. However, when they entered we followed; but to our amazement the gates were immediately closed and locked behind us. We were not sufficiently alarmed to neglect an oppor- tunity to examine this celebrated church, built in 1 86i, at a cost of two hundred and fifty thousand dollars, the voluntary contributions of the richest families of 56 A woman's experiences in EUROPE. St. Petersburg, through their Embassador at Paris. The form of the building is that of the Greek cross. At the corners it is flanked with octagonal turrets, each surmounted by a conical roof similar to that which covers the main body. On each cone is a spire ending with a Greek double cross, with pendent chains, the whole elegantly gilt and sculptured. Glancing hastily at the exterior as we ascended by seven steps to a circular porch, consisting of a richly ornamented cupola resting on pillars, I was not a little amused at this accidental visit, that costs so much trouble and circumlocution-office business generally to obtain. But why were we locked in ? Entering the church, we were dazzled by the gor- geous paintings, gildings, carvings, and gold embroi- dery that composed the altar and the screen that sepa- rated the sacred choristers from the congregation. The floor was richly carpeted ; a few chairs were all the seats allowed. Finding the church apparently unoccupied, our perplexity was increased ; but as the party who entered with us passed into one of the semicircular recesses, we did the same, and soon preparations began for the marriage. An altar of massive gilt was placed exactly in the middle of the main circle. A priest in purple and gold, with another dressed in white and gold, entered with a massive golden candlestick and a candle, which they placed beside the altar, and two candles, moulded in different designs, decorated with white ribbons, tied with 2, pink ribbon. Then the doors by which we had entered FIRST VIEWS OF PARIS. 5/ opened again, and in walked a bridal procession, the bride of course in white satin, with a veil that com- pletely enveloped her ; bridesmaids, dressed exactly like the bride, only their faces were not veiled. All carried bouquets that filled the church with their odors. The two candles were lighted, and placed in the hands of the bride and groom. Then rose from behind the altar such chanting as I never imagined human voices could sound. Through the vaulted roofs the notes swelled and died away, like echoings from heaven. At the conclusion of this strain, the mother of the bride, dressed in violet silk richly trimmed with satin, approached the altar, and placed on it a heavily gilt clasped book. The priest opened it, and presented a pen to the bride, who entered her signature ; then to the groom. Both having kissed the book, and knelt, still holding the lighted candles, the chanting was resumed. A long strip of pink satin was now brought and placed on the floor before the altar ; the priest, joining the hands of the bride and groom, raised them from their knees, and drew them on this pink satin, where they remained stationary till the end of the ceremony. What signification this had, your be- nighted informant knoweth not. Now, two crowns, composed of white flowers, sur- mounted by gold crosses, were held over, but not on the heads of both, by the groomsmen. This continued so long that they were obliged to change hands fre- quently to relieve their aching arms. Then a dish of wine was brought, and presented by the priest to the 58 A woman's experiences in EUROPE. lips of the bride and groom three times alternately. Then followed the most beautiful part of the cere- mony. Taking their clasped hands, the priest led the happy couple — while the groomsmen followed, bear- ing the crowns over their bowed heads, the parents and bridesmaids following in procession — three times around the altar, while the choir chanted a glorious and jubilant strain. The soft lights of the wax tapers reflected on the satin dresses, the harmonious blend- ing of color, sound, and burning incense and orange4 perfumes, were delightful beyond description. Again before the altar, the bride lowered her crown of flow- ers, and kissed the cross on it, and the priest kissed it also ; the groom did the same, and the marriage was complete. Slipping through the crowd of friends too much occupied with their congratulations to observe my companion and myself, we found the gates opened, and hurried to our homes. Our day's adventures af- forded considerable amusement to Madame F. and Miss Ellis, who assured us our residence in Paris might have been prolonged several years without such an opportunity offering. CHAPTER VII. EUGENIE AND THE PRINCESS MATHILDE. EVERY woman who visited Paris before the siege was naturally desirous to see the woman who reigned nominally over France, but actually over every fashionable woman in the world. The Empress appeared very lovely and very beautiful to me. The first time I saw her was on the occasion of a prize distribution among the members of a female orphan school, which the Empress herself had founded. The day was the Sabbath, and the weather favored the throngs of promenaders who crowded the Champs Elysees, near the Palais de ITndustrie, where the full corps of the Empress's body-guard was stationed to keep a clear space for the passage in and out of the Imperial cortege. The Prince Imperial attended the Empress, with an additional guard of five hundred horsemen ; and the Emperor's guard joined to that, formed the most bril- liant royal escort I saw in all Europe, not excepting that of the Pope of Rome. The people, dressed in their gay Sunday finery, formed an immense crowd in a circle outside the line of infantry soldiers, forming a 59 60 A woman's experiences in EUROPE. barrier between the guard and the canaille. Paying a sous for the use of an iron chair on the sidewalk, I stood on it, and resting against a tree, watched with intense interest the multitude of people awaiting with almost breathless anxiety the appearance of the Em- press. The great gates of the porte cochere of the Palais de rindustrie were suddenly thrown open, outriders in the Empress's livery, blue and silver, dashed through the entrance, a barouche drawn by four white horses, the postilions in blue and silver, followed, and we caught a glimpse of a delicate woman and a gentle boy, both beautiful, the boy evidently inheriting more of his mother's effeminacy than of Napoleon's powers of endurance. The Empress and Prince Imperial bowed their ac- knowledgments to the " vivas " that burst simulta- neously from the great concourse of people. The Empress was evidently weary of the public duties re- quired of her ; and in her manner of recognizing the throngs around her there, she betrayed a Syrian lan- guor that was as charming as her smile was irresist- ible to her male admirers. After the Imperial carriage came that of the Princess Mathilde, sister to the Prince Napoleon, who, I have good reason to suspect, exerted a strong, though silent influence over the Liberal party. I am indebted to my own *' sharp optics " alone for this piece of information, and I will relate how I acquired it. EUGENIE AND THE PRINCESS MATHILDE. 6l No apology for my sudden change of topics will be required, for so perfectly are the movements of Imperial processions regulated in France, that the guard had closed in around the two royal carriages, and the whole cortege was going at a full gallop through the Bois de Boulogne on their way to St. Cloud, before I had time to finish whispering my sus- picion to my companion. I had " done Paris " ac- cording to Galignani — the most approved local authority for sight-seeing in Paris — and was heartily sick of the wearisome monotonous ways of the whole tribe of valets, and superior and inferior functionaries who " had the honor to be my very humble servants " on all occasions of extraordinary sight-seeing, and the impudence to demand extortionate fees after the "occasions; " and when I gave the fee rather than dis- pute with servants, I had the poor satisfaction of see- ing my country-people hustled out of the show-places like a herd of their own miserable bourgeois, by these self-important government lackeys. But I must not exhaust my indignation before I get to the London lackeys, of all men most miserable. I had " done Paris," I repeat, after Galignani's method, and now I only longed for a few weeks of independene a VAmericaine. A lady from Washington, to whom I was intro- duced by Miss E., recommended a French teacher who had taken a prize for both French and English at the Academy of France. Her hotel was near the Madeleine, and situated so as to command a view of 62 A woman's experiences in EUROPE. boulevards from every window. In this Hotel de Famille boarded old French countesses, German noblewomen, Swedish poets and historians, Chinese philosophers, (!) French editors, (! !) and any number of other literary and noble would-be's. The difficulty I had in tearing myself away from the circle of friends who had assumed the duties of chaperonage over me, was only a repetition on a smaller scale of the charges of insanity that met my resolution to leave America. And the result was exactly the same. " I did so, and did well." I would not give my four weeks' experience in that French house for all the other ten months of Parisian life. Such an^ opportunity to observe strange people and habits can come but once in a lifetime to the most fortunate. It was a chapter of Victor Hugo touched with a magi- cian's wand. I expected to find myself sometimes in a wide window-seat of a certain old house of revolu- tionary fame near Germantown, my feet curled under me, and a ragged old novel in my lap, but — I did not. It was all real, and I was witnessing in the Present what I had read with devouring interest in the Past — French breakfasts, French dinners, French reunions, French card-parties, French intrigues politi- caley and a phase of French life altogether, that one will never find anywhere but in such a Hotel de Fatnille. My black crepe dress was my armor in my soli- tary rambles in the thoroughfares of Paris, and in the hotel, mademoiselle, my French teacher, was often EUGENIE AND THE PRINCESS MATHILDE. 63 forced to remind the court-gossips of my presence with a subdued "St/ voila VAmericaine, elle comprend, mesdames, messieurs!'' when the gay dames chattered and gesticulated over their cards, reckless of the con- sequences of betrayal, in fact, never more than half conscious of the existence of a " chiel among them, taking notes." Mrs. A. failing to persuade me to accompany her to Holland, had resigned me to my choice, and I was now fairly adrift on a new field of solitary adventure. The people who most interested me in the hotel, were a Swedish lady and her husband, residing in Paris for the purpose of translating a work from the French into the Swedish language, by order of their own government. Madame B. and myself formed a mutual attachment, and we met every day in my room to read French, English, and German together, a half hour being devoted to each language. A little Irish lady, whose French accent was perfectly charming, spending a winter in Paris, under the care of an old family servant, — one of the original Hi- bernians, — delighted me with her easy, sprightly, pretty ways, and without inviting it by any special thought of herself, she was the belle of this strange medley of people, her election accorded by that voice of involuntary respect that speaks from every true woman's breast in the presence of a pure, intel- ligent, cheerful woman, whose life is passed in mak- ing other's lives brighter and better. Oh, Ireland, I hope one day to visit your lake-scenes, and if you 1 64 A woman's experiences in EUROPE. disappoint me, as some have complained of you, pre- serve the freshness, the simpHcity, the sweet grace of the women of your real gentry, and I will forgive the rest. , One American lady who had long resided abroad, the sister of a distinguished explorer, and daughter of a well-known poetess, formed one of the little circle to which my social intercourse was limited. Madame L., the wife of one of the editors of the M , was a singularly attractive woman. She was translating a Chinese work into French, and often re- ceived, in the grand salon, the Chinese ambassadors, who seemed to depend on her and the Princess Ma- thilde — I am coming to my story — for their enter- tainment. One evening, madame, our hostess, gave a grand entertainment. All the inmates of the hotel were in the salon, and numbers of noble guests, not excepting the noble guard of the Empress, were present. Thinking myself unobserved behind a column that supported the arch of an alcove in which Madame L. was discussing a question proposed by the Princess Mathilde, for the amusement of the Chinese guests, I watched the nervous, eager movements of her hus- band, whose pale, cadaverous countenance was always expressive of a pending political explosion, when a voice whispered, " Will madame favor me with one waltz ? " To my amazement, I saw a blue and silvered livery before me, and in it an officer who had been pointed out as the favorite guard of the Empress. I I EUGENIE AND THE PRINCESS MATHILDE. 65 *' Monsieur, excuse me ; I do not dance. You see I am in mourning ! " I answered. " Ah, madame can surely not make that an excuse ! " With difficulty I repressed my extreme amusement ,^t this absurdly characteristic speech, and diverted the polite Frenchman from his supposed embarrass- ment to a brief discussion of the notable personages present. I discovered, however, when the conversa- tion was ended, that I had been wasting my sympa- thies. A demure little duchess immediately took me to task for slighting a rare opportunity to unite " mj^ wealth " with a title untarnished, and one that was not easily gained ! To my expressions of amazement at her taking a mere compliment for an intention so serious, she confessed her own share in the encounter and disappointment. I immediately administered an infallible quietus. I told madame that no American knew the real value of money, and we proved it by ex- hausting our whole capital in one journey, knowing we must devote the rest of our lives to journalism, school-marmism, or any paying bread-and-butter- ism. From that date I had no applications for a good " dot." But I did not go unpunished for my " malice," as madame, the duchess, termed it. She had her revenge in a way quite unexpected, and more seriously annoy- ing to me than I realized at the moment. Two copies of the Philadelphia Bulletin had been given to me by a 66 A woman's experiences in EUROPE. gentleman " from home," in the presence of mademoi- selle my French teacher. Seeing my initials at the foot of the columns of " Foreign Correspondence," mademoiselle secured the papers, and, to my confu- sion, produced them for general inspection at the very moment when I was triumphing over the duchess's defeat. Calling a Spanish gentleman very ready in translation, mademoiselle, at the instigation of the duchess, placed my letters in the hands of the Span- iard, who took a position at one end of the salon, and read aloud my effusions, ridiculing the French soldiers, French government, and French follies generally. During the reading, interrupted by bursts of laugh- ter at some things honestly admitted as truth, though showing the French people in a ludicrous light, my eyes were riveted on the face of monsieur, the editor of the . Smothered wrath was struggling in every line of his rigid countenance, and when, at the conclusion of the reading, the company expressed their " entertainment " by a clapping of hands and | good-natured exclamations, such as, " Ah^ madame, comine votes etes mechante!'' monsieur disappeared, followed by madame, and from that date every news- paper addressed to me from America was inter- cepted ! When professors of the Academic were exiled from France for advocating the liberal movement towards unlimited education of the daughters of the better classes in France, I could have pointed out the Princess who enlisted the sympathies of the Empress, ■I EUGENIE AND THE PRINCESS MATHILDE. 6/ the pale Frenchwoman who conferred almost daily with the Princess, the husband who dictated to the friend of the Princess, and the articles in the , signed boldly by the editor, but artfully conveying in cloaked sentences the suggestions useful to the friends of the Princess. But I can no more prove my charges now than I could then, and there is no occasion. I have seen some of those names in the list of the dead of that dreadful siege, and I know that all have suffered ter- ribly. God pity and comfort the survivors ! This explanation will be better understood by cer- tain officials in Rome, and applied to a principle among the causes of disaffection in the French Cath- olic churches towards Papal restrictions, than I feel at liberty to assert with due emphasis. But I take nothing back - — what is writ, is writ. On a still greater occasion than that of the prize distribution, I saw the Empress Eugenie. Any Em- peror but a Napoleon would have regarded it as a glorious triumph to receive the young Emperor of Austria into the most magnificent city in the world, escort him in state carriages, gorgeous with gilding and splendid upholstery, through miles of French bayonets, forming unbroken lines of glittering steel from the Barriere to the Palace of the Elysees. The asphaltum pavements, over which it was a luxury for even an Emperor to drive, were covered with fine saw- dust for the royal guest. I never witnessed these royal processions without apprehension ; and while I 68 A woman's experiences in EUROPE. shuddered at the possible consequences of the people's suddenly contrasting their abject condition with the extravagant display of gaudy royalty, the objects of my alarm were flying through the boulevards with all possible speed ; outriders, postilions, horses, and the very wheels of the vehicles seeming animated with an unutterable dread of the people's waking up to their natural love of equality. To give an idea of the swiftness with which the Emperor's carriages always passed through the streets when on their way to or from St. Cloud, I have often, from my room on the Champs Elysees, heard the postilion's bells jingling before they left the Avenue of the Grand Army between the Bois and the Arc de I'Etoile, and before I could open my window and reach the railing of my balcony, the cortege, often comprising heavy travelling carriages, had passed the house, and in a moment even the sound of the bells had died away in the distance. The grand feature of the entertainment of an em- peror by an emperor, was the review of forty thousand French troops on the Champs de Mars. There was apparently but one dull person in all Paris that day — the Emperor Napoleon. Depressed and anxious, his figure bowed over the saddle, he presented a sad contrast to the erect, buoy- ant, youthful figure of the Emperor of Austria who rode beside him, I went in a barouche packed with Americans to the scene of the review. Through the grand avenues EUGENIE AND THE PRINCESS MATHILDE. 69 of the Bois de Boulogne, on the banks of its lakes, through the paths winding with its rivulets, out to the extreme verge of the immense park, and crowded into the Tribunes, were the youth, fashion, and wealth of Parisian society. Forty thousand troops in bright uniforms, infantry, cavalry, and artillery, running, dancing, promenading, flirting with the vivandieres, and enjoying the occasion as only French soldiers can enjoy a gala-day. Suddenly a cry of " V Empereiir ! " changes the scene with magic quickness. The guard of the Empress dashes up to the Tribunes, the flying carriages of Her Majesty and suite follow, and in a moment Eugenie, the pride of all Frenchwomen, is bowing her acknowledgments to the acclaiming mul- titude. The field! it baffles description. In solid squares stand the troops, horse and cannon, — the waving plumes, flashing bayonets, and impatient neighing of the excited horses, the only proof that the whole vast scene is real^ and not a picture of the imagination. Amid the roar of cannon, the roll of drums, and the shouts of the troops, the two Emperors enter with their attendants and guards. They advance to the Tribunes, where the Empress, the old Queen of Holland, the Princess Mathilde, and numerous court ladies receive their salutj that is taken up by one hundred and fifty thousand voices, whose cheers grow deafening as the two Emperors, with their suites, dash off for a gallop around the whole line of infantry, cavalry, and artillery. Field-glasses were in requisition, and but for the white uniforms, red 70 A WOMAN S EXPERIENCES IN EUROPE. I| sashes, and green plumes of the Austrian Emperor and the Archduke his brother, it would have been impossible to follow them in the swift scamper through such hosts of soldiers. Returning to the Tribunes, the two Imperial parties took a position opposite to the Tribune of the Em- press, facing her, and the whole army passed in re- view between them. The marching of the infantry, the riding and ma- I nceuvring of the cavalry and artillery, were never sur-" passed. Sir Walter Scott would have immortalized the occasion. After the review, the Emperor escorted his noble guest to the Palace of the Elysees, the Empress made a ceremonious call, and returned to St. Cloud. A half hour later, the Emperor of Austria was on his way to St. Cloud, to return Eugenie's call. So laborious are the ceremonies that court etiquette requires. For my part, I wondered with my companions if royalty had not more endurance than common people ; for the dazzling glitter of forty thousand bayonets had given me a shocking headache, and the difficulty of getting home through such a crowd was enough to try the patience of a campbell. French system alone could have accomplished the feat of bringing such a multitude safely through a pare into the streets of Paris. On the Champs Elysees were nine lines of carriages in continuous streams, from eleven in the morning till six o'clock in the evening ! On the next evening after the review EUGENIE AND THE PRINCESS MATHILDE. 7I it was announced that the two Emperors would attend the Opera Comique. The streets through which they passed were brilHantly illuminated, flags of both nations draping the balconies, the entrance to the theatre covered with green velvet drapery, orna- mented with golden bees. The house was crowded, the royal box elegantly draped with crimson velvet, and all the company on the stage in new costumes, Galii-Marie surpassed herself in '* Mignon," and the Emperors were forced to come forward in the box and acknowledge the vivas that rung through the house. The Empress was not present. On the next morn- ing, entering the gate of the Tuileries garden with a friend, the sudden appearance of two postilions startled us, and stepping back with alarm at our being nearly run over through heedlessness, we saw the Empress's carriage coming through the gate. Our position was embarrassing. We could not enter the Palace gardens in the face of the whole cortege, consisting of outriders, guards, and four car- riages, without appearing bold, and there was no chance for retreat without turning our backs on the Empress. ' Glancing in her face in perplexity, we were greeted with a smile and graceful bow that re- assured us instantly. This womanly delicacy, quick sympathy, and natural expression of it, inspired the French people with a familiar reverence for the Em- press that no other female sovereign seemed to enjoy. Her grace was to me irresistible. I could not meet 72 A woman's experiences in EUROPE. her sadly conscious expression without an involun- tary prayer for her safety. I saw the Empress frequently, and my impression of her lovely, womanly graces never changed. While I scoffed at the vulgar curiosity and ignorant awe, usually displayed by visitors who examine every article of furniture in a palace as if it possessed some extraordinary merit, I permitted myself to fall into the same indulgence with regard to properties be- longing to the ill-fated Eugenie, just as I did those of Josephine and Marie Antoinette. When the guide pointed out at St. Cloud the magnificent white and gold bathing-chair, presented by Queen Victoria to Eugenie, the seasons Summer and Winter painted on opposite sides, — by whom, neither the guide nor Ga- lignani related, — I wondered if these mimic luxuries were not only sad reminders of sunny scenes and untrammelled enjoyments on the banks of certain Southern streams, where her school-days were passed. One of the schoolmates who shared those sports told me, with tears of emotion, of the gentleness of their favorite Eugenie, and of her wild untamable love of freedom ! CHAPTER VIII. PARIS ABOVE AND BELOW GROUND. IT has been ingeniously remarked that Paris is the whole world seen in samples. From this very fact arises the difficulty of knowing how much to say about it, when other cities are to be described in the same volume. Even the London Times confessed the superiority of Paris over London, in the com- plaint, " We want fitting receptacles for the treasures of art and science that are multiplying on our hands. Two or three millions of pounds would only place us on a par with Paris. This great, uncouth metropolis ! how much it wants done that living eyes will never see! Where are its grand palaces, its boulevards, its public gardens, and other ornaments ? " As we looked from the Dome of the Pantheon, we wondered not at the pride of the Frenchman, or the envy of the Englishman. After climbing four hundred and seventy-five steps, we saw before us Paris, truly the Queen of Cities ! At our feet were old convents, ruined palaces, grand old churches and crumbling monuments of history, that painters, sculptors, poets, dramatists, and novelists of all nations have dreamed over till inspi- 4 iz 74 A WOMAN S EXPERIENCES IN EUROPE. ration fired their thoughts and gave to the world pic- tures so true that when the actual scene presented itself, I for one exclaimed : *' I have seen it all before : it is the realization of most delightful dreams ! " One building alone, to do it justice, would occupy the space of an entire chapter. Take the old church of St. Etienne du Mont, originally a chapel for the vassals of the Abbey of Ste. Genevieve. Its date is 1 121. Queen Marguerite de Valois laid the first stone of the portal, and it was finished in 1537. It represents a curious mixture of the Italian and Gothic styles of architecture. A square, steeple tower, a lofty, circular turret, flying buttresses, and gabled attics, gave it the appearance of a child's house built of blocks at random. But its contents ! The stained- glass windows, with their marvellous tracery' by Pinaiguir and Delaval ; works of art by De Santerre, Subeyras, Largilliere, and Detroy, Laitie, Brune, Coy- pel, and Lestoccard. The tombs of Rollin, Racine, P. Perrault, Lemaitre, Pascal, and Lesueur the painter, are there, and another, supposed to be the original tomb of Ste. Genevieve. This tomb is covered with gilt and network, and the altar near it gilded and painted gorgeously, and adorned with statues of twelve saints. In one of the side-chapels is an En- tombment of Christ in stone, surrounded by the i three Marys, Joseph of Arimathea, St. John, and another disciple, all life-size. The expression of anguish, anxiety, sympathy, hope, fear, and, lastly, that of the crucified Saviour, were so wonderfully II PARIS ABOVE AND BELOW GROUND. 75 portrayed, that I found myself in the act of consoling the life-like group of mourners, when my own voice startled me into a realization that I was alone in the shadowy old church, and these images were only the conceptions of minds long since at rest, whose spirits seemed to hover near their works and oppress the beholder with a strange sympathy for their genius. But our view from the Pantheon ! On this side the glistening Seine are the old Cathedral of Notre Dame, at whose altar Napoleon First was crowned, and Napoleon Third was married — Victor Hugo has given even the very notes of its chimes ; the church of St. Sulpice, whose foundation-stone was laid by Anne of Austria; church of St. Germain des Pres; the old Hotel, or Palais de Cluny, a marvellous monument and museum of the olden times. On the other side of the river are the palaces of the present Emperor and the nobility of Paris, triumphal arches, columns, the magnificent church of the Madeleine, St. Augustine, and hundreds of others, any one of which would make six of our ordinary churches at home. There is not a stone of the Bastile left, but in its place is the column of July, one hundred and fifty- four feet high, and containing one hundred and sixty- three thousand two hundred and eighty-three pounds of metal. Under it are buried the remains of the victims of the insurrection of 1830. Descending from the dome, we entered the caves of the Pantheon, where monuments and funeral urns are arranged like the Roman tombs at Pompeii. In these vaults are 76 A woman's experiences in EUROPE. cenotaphs to the memory of Rousseau and Voltaire. A marble statue of Voltaire, by Houdon, stands in the darkness, except when the lantern of a guide throws light on it for the visitor's momentary inspec- tion. Another strange anomaly is a stone hand, reaching out from the tomb of Rousseau a burning torch, meaning that Rousseau sheds light around him even in death; but that also is, like Voltaire, railed off in darkness from the Christian tombs. The Duke de Montebello, Lagrange, De Winter, Marshal Lannes, Mirabeau, were buried here. Murat was interred here, and afterwards taken and thrown into a sewer. Curious to know the effect on a soldier of the present age, I affected ignorance of the fate of Murat, and said to the guide, as we reached the last tomb, " Et Murat, Monsieur? " As briefly he re- plied, touching his cap, " Pas ici, Madame." But his tongue was from that moment tied ! The voluble guide was transformed to the submissive but reflec- tive soldier. Not till I laid in his hand a small fee did the stolid features relax; then a wistful look told me as plainly as words could say, "7/^ / dared^ I could speak I '^ The column Vendome, the Arc de I'Etoile, and a hundred other elevated points, afford magnificent views of Paris; but a hundred writers have de- scribed those views, so I betake me to an under- ground scene, to which every one who has read Les Miserables will accompany me with my own eager interest in the Sewers of Paris. Several months PARIS ABOVE AND BELOW GROUND. 77 before we were admitted to the subterranean vaults of the city, our names were registered by the Chief of the Sewerage Department. At last the ticket of noti- fication came, and the information that we must be at the Place de la Madeleine, on the side of the Boule- vard Malesherbes, on the fifth of November, at one and a quarter o'clock precisely. Arriving, we found about twenty-four persons assembled around a tem- porary railing of iron that enclosed the opening to the sewers, two iron doors that lay flat on the pave- ment, just like our covers over the gas and water pipes in the streets of our own cities. These doors opened, a narrow spiral stairway was disclosed, and a ray of light from a lamp far down the dismal en- trance rather increased the gloom, than any attrac- tions the place might have. However, when the Chief, dressed in Government uniform, with the title of his office in gilt letters placed conspicuously on his hat, gave the signal, we started, single file, and in a moment were nearly blinded by a glare of light from rows of kerosene lamps in the hands of men who were to conduct us through the sewers. At the foot of about twenty-five steps, two large boats were waiting for us, and when my sight became manage- able, that was at first dazzled by the swinging lights reflected upon the water, the boat rocking as each one stepped on the side, I tried to realize that I was not entering a death-barge on the Styx, or a hearse gondola on the Via Mora, or funeral canal of Venice, by night. 78 A woman's experiences in EUROPE. It was difficult to believe this finely arched subter- ranean tunnel, twelve feet broad, with a foot-path on either side, of solid rock, like the walls that lined it, was only a sewer. Along the vaulted ceiling, water- pipes, gas-pipes, two feet in diameter, were conducted, and telegraph wires by dozens suggested secret com- munications between palace and police quarters. From the centre of the arch, large lamps were sus- pended every five or six feet. Our party having seated themselves in two boats, there were twenty men in blue blouses and wooden sabots ready to seize the ropes when the command ^^ Avancez''' was given. Presently a fiint sound of a horn was heard, that grew louder as it was caught up and echoed from every angle of the sewers. Our Chief gave a shrill whistle, and the men started on a trot. On the sides of the walls, small white porcelain plates were in- serted, bearing in black letters the dates and heights of risings of the waters at different periods, some of them considerably above our heads, and suggestive of the horrors escaped by Jean Valjean, at the Place de la Bastile, at the time of the French Revolution. The names of the streets under which we passed, and the corners of the cross streets, were marked, so we could tell exactly our direction. Running down the main sewer of the Rue Royale to the Place de la Concorde, we found — what do you suppose? — a train of cars waiting for us! Six of the prettiest little cars I ever saw. They consisted of six plat- forms, about eight feet square, with brass railings, PARIS ABOVE AND BELOW GROUND. 79 seats cushioned with red leather, no top to the cars ; and at each corner a brass lamp, with grained glass globes, formed a bright and beautiful finish to this fairy-like conveyance. The sewer was narrower here, and the wheels of the cars ran on brass rails laid on the edges of the foot-paths. Each car had an iron handle back and front, with a brass cross-piece, like those on our hose carriages at home. When the cars started, four men pulling and pushing each down the grade of the Rivoli sewer, the long vista of the illuminated vault, the regular clack of the sabots on the stone walk, water splashing into the side en- trances, either on stone steps to break the force, or inverted arches to prevent splashing of the main canal, the speed of our human locomotives, the ex- pression of delight and wonder on the faces of our party, strongly thrown out by the four foot-lights — all was so strange, and half pleasing, half frightful, that, like the rest, I waited with an ill-defined dread to see what the end would .be. After trotting a mile and a half, we were suddenly landed at a large iron gate, and so intense was the light there, that I went back to my first theory, and concluded we were at the gate of Dante's Inferno. But it was no such place ; we had arrived at the Place du Chatelet, and the light was the powerful sun of noonday, on the white embankment of the Seine, and opposite the two tall towers of the Palais de Justice, inviting us to come and see that we were in the world of reality, that there the beautiful Marie Antoinette 80 A woman's experiences in EUROPE. suffered the tortures of imprisonment, and from there was released by death alone. The Conciergerie, or prison of the victims of the Revolution, was one of the places I knew by heart from description; but I would not have been satisfied if I had not myself passed through the Hall of Detention, looked at the row of cells just as they are set in the stage-scenes of "the Dead Heart," crept into the low doorway through which Marie Antoinette went bowed with grief and humility, touched the httle ebony crucifix that she clasped in the agony of her last wretched hour on earth, and gazed at the old paintings re- presenting two of the saddest scenes of her imprison- ment. I entered into this gloomy experience with a feeling of satisfaction, as an atonement for my enjoy- ment of those bright scenes at Versailles, where the unfortunate queen passed her happiest days, playing rural games in rural costumes, ordering a whole Swiss village to be built to carry out the pastoral illusion. I peeped into those cottage-windows where the furniture stands just as these royal children left it, and thought truly, with a bitter appreciation of the great Shakspeare's meaning, ''All the world's a stage, and all the men and women in it merely players ! " CHAPTER IX. M. EDWARD DELAVAN AND NAPOLEON III. npHE more one reflects on the French character, -L the more enigmatical it seems to become. There is in it a comical admixture of pride and principle, caution and candor, timidity and hardihood, reserve and audacity, that perplex the critic and baffle all at- tempts at analysis. It is dangerous to prophesy any- thing regarding the future of France. Historians have staked their reputation for justness in estimating her probable future, and have lost — time, demon- strating facts that to the most ingenious calculators were impossibilities. The cause of this variable fortune of a most unfor- tunate country need not remain a problem to the least reflective. France is a constant prey to the rapacity of the royal, imperial, and republican fac- tions at home, suffering, like her imperial rulers, a chronic disease of the intestines, — Rome calling for religious support, Ireland for political sympathy, America enticing her with her magnificent example of triumphant freedom, while England crosses the Channel, salutes the heir to the victim of Wellington's treachery, and demands steadfastness to the throne as the price of this condescending acknowledgment ! 82 A woman's experiences in EUROPE. Sitting in the salon of Madame G.'s hotel, I have studied national character as Victor Hugo studied geography — with my eyes. Imagine twenty card- tables occupied by French, Swedish, Italian, Span- ish, German, English, Irish, and American players. The American card-player, almost always young, eager, irritable when beaten, exultant when success- ful. The Irish matron — (the Irish gentlemen are too old to play cards when they are willing to attend re- ceptions) — tearful when disappointed, sure of the next game ! English, astounded when beaten, not quite certain, but a little mistake of Signore Italio's would give him the right to declare the game drawn ! German, impassible countenance, but nervous in movement of hands ; the face saying conduct is fate, the fingers replying, fate is a stroke ! Spanish, wa;tch- ing for opportunities to sweep the stakes. Italian, enjoying the playing and anticipating his winnings. Swedish, grave in deportment, gentle in speech, de- termined to win. French, snapping the clasp of his card-purse with " Ah ! le bonheur ! " when vic- torious, counting the remaining francs with " quel dommage ! " when unfortunate ; and his woes having found utterance — expression is the only necessity a Frenchman acknowledges — his loss is apparently forgotten, and he turns to something else. With all my advantages of personal observation and daily dinner conversations, where editors, poli- ticians, and soldiers informed and contradicted each other, I found myself still questioning, but found no M. EDWARD DELAVAN AND NAPOLEON III. 83 one to answer, To what end is all this lavish expen- diture of money, mind, and muscle on this splendid city of Paris? Is the Vatican to be simply the Musee de Rome ? Paris the seat of the Papal em- pire ? Napoleon the protector of the Pope, and his patrimony, war or no war ? At dinner, I dallied with my macaroni, mademoiselle unconsciously perform- ing the office of taster, while I waited for the maca- roni to cool, remembering Madame G. had an Italian chef Going to a favorable standpoint in my walks, I surveyed the broad avenues, with their shaded promenades, cooling fountains, ornamental flower- beds, historical monuments, tasteful statuary, palatial residences, and only repeated my question, " To what end is it all ? " The newspapers clamored about ex- travagance, oppression, outraged liberty of citizens ; Napoleon continued the work of improvement, the police their vigilance, the Frenchman his perpetual ecstasy over " Paris, la Reine des Villes ! " Memory echoed the sententious truth remarked by Victor Hugo, " France the slave of a man, and the mistress of the world ! " Granting his motives were above personal ambi- tion. Napoleon Third is the victim of a gigantic fail- ure, as Napoleon First was forced to succumb to a monstrous Fate. Till French eyes are accustomed to gold without gilding, Napoleon and the glory of France will be synonymous. His bust in marble and bronze, his portrait in oil and crayon, tapestry and Sevres painting, statues eques- 84 A woman's experiences in EUROPE. trian, pedestrian and recumbent, medallions and basso- relievos, met the eye at every turn on every hand, and all men cried, " Napoleon is great, is handsome, is lib- eral," — but none dared ask, " To what end this hero- worship? " till her own ashes illustrated, in the ruin of Paris, the end of worldly ambition. At one time, men declared Napoleon Third was working only for the Church, to secure in Paris a High Altar, where future Popes should celebrate masses for the repose of — Napoleon ! I was refused admittance — the only refusal in all my Experiences in Europe — to see. the Bambino in Rome, by an Italian priest, because a brother whispered to him, " elle est Frangaise I " For this act of Christian courtesy, a Spanish Catholic said to the priest, " I hope when you get to the gate of heaven, St. Peter will take you for a Frenchman ! " The next day, I found my Spanish friend with a sore throat, and in tears. To my inquiries she replied, " It is the Bambino's punishment for my contempt of the priest." " More likely it is the effect of eating too much sharp cheese at lunch with the voracious appe- tite your rage induced," I replied. A hearty laugh dispelled her vapors, and a sound Protestant drub- bing convinced her that the Bambino was nothing but a dirty-faced wooden baby ! Should the drama ever return to its original use, I shall write a Franco- Italian comedy, with a Spanish heroine. The highest gratification to an annotator on people and principles is the approval of critics, who find in his remarks neither useless hostility nor unmerited M. EDWARD DELAVAN AND NAPOLEON III. 85 eulogy. It has been my habit to shade my Hght with a transparency representing St. John suspending his pen over the inkstand, while the dove of inspira- tion delivered its heavenly message. Alas ! a heavy gale of wind upset my lamp and smashed St. John. So for the future I must depend on my own fallible resolves for the desired moderation in expressing my views, and I beg the reader will attribute any extrava- gance he may detect in these pages to an irresistible gale of inspiration. For a while let us have done with politics and reli- gions, and enjoy what is laughable in Paris. Our guide shall be the honored veteran in the Temperance cause, M. Edward Delavan, whose life was devoted to benevolent objects. In his death, he has verified the high aims of his noble life. He bequeaths to the world, men, women, and children imbued with heroic principles of self-denial and incessant desire for human progress. I would inscribe on his monu- ment, — One of the World's Heroes — Resting ONLY when his Work IS DoNE. Napolcon Third stood face to face with this American gentleman, and respectfully admitted his charges of intemperance against France, pleading the necessity of the French for stimulants as a mitigating circumstance. His dignified demeanor, benevolent countenance, his hair white as snow, and silvered with a mellowed lustre that peaceful old age exhibits, awed the most determined opponent of Mr. Delavan into at least a respectful attention. 86 A woman's experiences in EUROPE. To his choice of myself as an occasional compan- ion for his leisure hours, and a means of transmitting, through my correspondence, the results of his visit to France, I revert with pride as well as pleasure ; and while I laugh over sunny memories of my venerable friend, my eyes are suffused with tears of selfish re- gret that his parting words to me in Paris — which he predicted would be the last — were indeed the last. One morning, while an inmate of the Hotel Royale, I was looking out of my window at the muddy streets, and comparing their gray plastery appearance to escaped mortar-beds, when I beheld Mr. Delavan struggling through mud, and a labyrinth of carts and carriages, towards the hotel. In a moment I joined him in the salon, and in a moment more started with him, in high glee, to join his wife and daughter in a visit to an American eating-saloon, where I was to enjoy for the first time since I left America, buck- wheat cakes, sausages, pumpkin-pie, and fried mush ! Mrs. Delavan and her daughter met us at Monroe's on the Rue Scribe, and we all set off for the saloon in a direction diametrically opposite the one we should have taken. After walking as a stranger does in Boston, ''round and round till he comes back to the place he started from," we started over again, and in a little while arrived at a small white house with a very large bulk window, in which was the following astounding sign: M. EDWARD DELAVAN AND NAPOLEON III. 8/ 40, Rue G-de-M. 40. AMERICAIN TAVERNE. ifi 0B SPECIALITY AM^RICAINE. English Spoken e Little. Entering "the tavern," (!) we found ourselves in a room about twenty feet square, with whitewashed walls, the windows curtained with white plaid muslin, floor covered with white sand, tables with white cloths, and on white wooden brackets were white plaster casts of Bucks County Washingtons — a pair — a healthy Lincoln, a venerable General McClellan, and a juvenile General Jackson! My mind at once associated with this whiteness Charles Dickens's de- scription of Marseilles, in the opening page of little Dorrit, and as I never read that page without feeling my eyes water with the horrid glare, I fortunately had the same excuse for applying my handkerchief to my eyes, when madame, "the tavern-keeper," en- tered by a door opposite the street-door. Permit me to relate the scene verbatim. "Bon jour — Mesdame, Monsieur, vot vill you hev s'il vous plait?" Mr. D. — Madame, we are all hungry, and would 88 A woman's experiences in EUROPE. like a real good American breakfast, as soon as you can have it ready. Madame. — Ah, oui, monsieur, I un-der-stand you — are — all — hungry, an' you like American break- fasts. You wish not cafe-au-lait, n'est ce pas ? A general consultation resulted in a choice of tea, black coffee, milk, and chocolate. " Ah, oui, monsieur, I understand ; madame would have chocalette, madame (bobbing her head in my direction, to distinguish the madames) would have cafe au lait, mademoiselle meelk, et monsieur du the!'' " Precisely, madame ; and buckwheat - cakes, sau- sages, fried mush, pumpkin-pie, and all the etceteras ; but very soon — soon as possible, please." We were all seated, and Frangois, radiant in shiny blue livery with silver buttons, was flourishing the napkins and scraping his restless feet on the sanded floor, till he put my teeth, as madame did my nerves, all on edge, and I hoped the conference was ended, when the irrepressible volubility of madame broke out afresh ; and I concluded we might as well resign ourselves to hunger and patience, till madame had gained a lesson in English^ in addition to other little " commissions " which, in France, are entirely en regie. " Ah, oui, monsieur, I understand ; you vill hev-a die buckweat cake-a, die saussages-a, die fe-ried moosh-a, die poomp-a-kin pie-a, and — and — Fran- 5ois! pourquoi you are so long! vite! vite ! Mon- 1 M. EDWARD DELAVAN AND NAPOLEON III. 89 sieur et les dames air Hungary ! Make-a die break- fast Americaine toute-de-suite ! " Then politely back- ing out the door, with a coquettish courtesy, " Excusez moi, mesdames, mais I speak, a die English only e leetle ! " " She manages to say all she wants, and takes long enough, too," our leader grumbled ; and it was the cue for a laugh that helped our appetites wonder- fully. The dishes were delightful, and one might easily imagine himself at an American tavern in Pennsylvania while enjoying the delicious cooking of Madame B . It was a " specialite Americaine " that I heartily recommend to all travellers who may be surfeited with Parisian delicacies. The intercourse between France and America re- ceived an impetus from the Exposition of 1 867, that was substantially beneficial to France, and more in- jurious to the interests of England than that self-suf- ficient kingdom supposed possible, until French and German steamers carrying crowds of " Yankees " with Yankee purses^ past the cold, white cliffs to the sunny " land of the vine," lessened considerably the revenues derived from " American extravagance " and *' shoddyism." To the French, I repeat, the Yankee influx was a material benefit — but to the Americans ? I scarcely know which to proclaim with more emphasis. My proud admiration of the matchless adaptability of the 90 A WOMAN S EXPERIENCES IN EUROPE. American people to the various requirements of European court etiquette, and the graceful, generous freedom of their participation in out-door amuse- ments, unknown in America. I scarcely know whether I am more proud of this genial quality in the American character, or more indignant at their readiness to adopt the pernicious customs of a nation that would prefer to have its liberty of self-govern- ment, self-development, and personal conscience lim- ited, than assume the exercise of principles demanded of a free, religious, and moral people. French ballet, French opera, French novels and wine are not for Americans. The French are no more inflammable than the Americans, but they are all the time inflamed with wine. Their ship of state floats on envious seas, and her wreck will be repeated till the captain, officers, mates, and crew dispense with their excessive drinking. To this proposition made by Mr. Delavan to Napo- leon III., the latter replied: " I feel the force of your remark, monsieur, and under God I trust the French people will be educated to your idea ; but / kiiow my people — tliey dislike urging. One must give them their own time. The future of France will prove she is worthy of the kind interest manifested by the intel- ligent class whom you represent." A man cherishing such sentiments is, to my mind, the best President that France can find for a progres- sive republic. Her own conduct will determine the policy or necessity for another coup d'etat. The I / M. EDWARD DELAVAN AND NAPOLEON III. QI day approaches for the fulfilment of that great pre- diction of the great Napoleon. An Universal In- ternational Republican Government! And what power is effecting this rapid march of events ? Electricity. In Germany, we see a grand religious convocation, where Romanist and Protestant, Calvinist and Lu- theran, Jew and Armenian, join hands and hearts in the one supplication, " Thy will be done ; " so bridg- ing all schisms, and recognizing but one bond, the bond of Christian fellowship. One thread of metallic fire, through three thou- sand miles of ocean breakers, links continent with continent, and our woes and our joys electrify the sympathetic heart of England as readily as that of Cincinnati when Chicago is in flames. Before the fires are extinguished, the cry of alarm has been heard in Moscow, and Russia offers her condolence. The Khedive of Egypt gives the right of suffrage to his people, educates and unveils the women. The Queen of England marries a Princess to a subject. Rome is restored to her former glory as the capital of Italy. Women are employed as teachers of women's offspring in America, and careering Miss Gilberts are multiplying in numbers and improving in quality, just as the Mr. Gilberts do, by self-education and indomitable will. When differences of nations, indi- viduals, sexes, religions, politics, customs, — when all prejudices are overruled by a general recognition of universal progress, what remains ? The millennium. 92 A woman's experiences in EUROPE. I expect shortly to approach the Hon without fear ; not from any inherent lamb-Hke quahties, but by virtue of that electrical power above alluded to. But I risk misinterpretation in this mingling of serious conviction and mere badinage, so I will return to Ij my first intention, and relate instances of dissipation in the French capital, to intolerable excess. CHAPTER X. MID-LENT AMUSEMENTS IN PARIS. NEVER did Folly reign more supremely than at the mi-caremey or mid-lent, in Paris, when the restraint of the vows of all abstinence was thrown off for a day, and a respite was granted the devout from fasting on the most delicious fish, salads, ome- lettes, and pates that mortal taste could suggest. All day long soldiers paraded the streets, and blanchis- seuses, whose especial holiday it was, dressed in their best, many in beautiful spring costumes, crowded the boulevards. Champs Elysees, and the Tuileries, where the Emperor and the Prince Imperial reviewed a part of the troops, while the Empress looked on from the windows of her apartment in the palace. Wagons, chariots, and triumphal cars, with even the wheels i bound and decorated with wreaths of flowers, were i loaded with men and women, in costumes decent ; and indecent, who made all sorts of gestures and s sounds, like the ancients in their heathenish orgies. How the day ended, shade of George Wash- i ington, reveal to American incredulity! No one : else would be believed. With a party of Ameri- cans who were advised to see this phase of life in 93 94- A woman's experiences in EUROPE. the empire thoroughly, I went in domino and masque to the grand Opera-House at rnidnight. The street all around the house was brilliantly illuminated, and the greedy eyes of the crowd who had been un- able to secure admittance glared at us from under their cap frills and hat rims in a startling manner. The reader will please bear in mind that we were not hunting out vice in any obscure den, where one could expect to find nothing but disorder and licen- tious behavior, but at the Imperial Opera-House, with f Imperial guards to protect the revellers from interrup- tion. Going up the grand stairway through files of guards who peered in vain at our Venetian masks, that concealed every feature from recognition, we were soon safely lodged in a box, our door locked on the inside, and — our eyes fastened with horror on' the scene in the ball-room. Strauss, with one hundred and fifty musicians, made the heavy perfumed air quiver with melody. Birds sang from their gilded cages ; light, intense, dazzling light, blazed on the magnificent costumes, that were so packed and jammed into that whirling, maddened, intoxicated crowd of dancers, that one grew dizzy in the attempt to distinguish them. But, oh ! woman, with every trace of womanly delicacy and beauty obliterated by sin, was there. Man, without one ray of man's honor, dignity, or humanity, was there. Women from the Jardin Mobille, students from the Pradier, mingled without restraint, with numbers of innocent but igno- rant revellers. MID-LENT AMUSEMENTS IN PARIS. 95 I dare not present to American readers a faithful description of that whirl of human pollution, and the instances we witnessed of individuals drawn into the maddening vortex of intoxication, till all sense of modesty or personal respect seemed lost. Speechless and sick at heart, our party left the Opera House, and I have but one thought to compensate me for the pain of witnessing that and tv/o other similar scenes of Parisian life. 1 have been the means of prevent- ing two American mothers from sending their sons alone to Paris, to enter the Latin Quarter and attend college. To both I made but one answer : " I would as soon give a son of mine a passport to Gehenna ! " I saw Schneider in the Grande Duchesse; and I saw Schneider in the Bois de Boulogne, driving a mag- nificent pair of bays, in splendid harness, mounted with gold, and engraved with the monogram of — hide your face, dear reader — "an American noodle!" It was the only name I heard for him in Paris, and I had no interest in inquiring to what American family he belonged. I saw him sitting on his horse at the curb on the Champs Elysees, while Schneider stood talking with him, and snapping his riding-whip. She was attracting the attention of French riders passing along, to this "impolite American," — showing him up while he sat like an idiot priding himself on his triumph ! Had he been a Frenchman, he would have dismounted, even to speak to a fallen woman, and so have avoided the scoffs of those whose applause he imagined he was winning. 96 A woman's experiences in EUROPE. Two American women, reputable at home, were noted in Paris for following the Emperor's carriage on the "grande promenade." Their father was very wealthy, and very indulgent, — poor creatures! Let us consider more agreeable topics. . Though I should not feel that I had done my duty entirely, had j I left my last remarks unsaid. To the wise a word is sufficient. I saw Neillson in Hamlet at the Grand Opera, as she performed it two hundred nights. The perform- ance was very French, Opened with a ballet and concluded with Hamlet's penitence for killing every- body belonging to him, and then proclaiming him- self king. " Mon ame est dans la tombe, Helas ! Et je suis Roi ! " Horatio et Marcellus, tirant Vepke. Vive Hamlet! . . . Seigneurs et Soldats Vive Hamlet! Tout le Chceur Vive Hamlet, notre roi! Fin! I saw Genevieve de Brabant at the Menus- Plaisirs. It was exceedingly funny in French hands; we nearly died over the extravagant burlesque of Charles Martel, and the ^^ original honimes d'armes ;'' but it was, taking it as a whole, unchaste and offen- bachish in the abandon of sentiment and musical ex- pression. Cendrillon, at the Chatelet, dazzled our eyes, and MID-LENT AMUSEMENTS IN PARIS. 9/ rouged our cheeks ; and on the way home we were drenched with rain — and knew we deserved it, for going. La Madone des Roses, at the Gaite, exceeded everything in the way of spectacular display and mechanical effect, that I ever beheld outside of Vienna. The second tableau, the Rose Garden, would have been considered a fair representation of Moore's Vale of Cashmere. The Banquet Hall, and its draped poetic ballet, Byron would have described with ecstasy. The last tableau, "the Fire," caused our party to insure their lives by gaining the box- door, and when we left the theatre the stage was one heap of blackened, smoking timbers, that we had seen falling in full flame, glass, furniture, and splendid appointments mingled with the wreck ! I forget the cost of this last nightly destruction, but the manage- ment evidently thought it paid, from the long run of the play. At the Opera Comique, Marie Cabal, in "Le Premier Jour de Bonheur," and Gali Marie, as Mignon, were keeping opposition parties in an alter- nation' of transports. Who can understand the meaning of pleasure as well as a Frenchman? A spacious box or stall, toilette plain or elaborate, with- out bonnet " absolument ; " a half-hour's recreation during the entre-act ; visiting and receiving friends in the theatre, or promenading in the foyer, taking re- freshments there leisurely, or ordering them to your box; women and girls promenading as independent of male escort as in their own parlors; women in 5 98 A woman's experiences in EUROPE. attendance at the box-doors — never men — and sup- plying every one with a tiny foot-stool for the small consideration of one sous ; all these Parisian ways of enjoyment unfit one for the serious business we make of it in America. A Frenchman packed in one of our opera-houses or theatres, from eight o'clock till midnight, would claim damages of the administra- tion. I had a seat engaged six weeks in advance, at the Frangais, for " Paul Forestier," in the performance of which I was promised the best acting, the best French conversation, accent, inflection, gesticulation, and the finest exhibition of toilette for the drawing- room in the world. The promises were all fulfilled. The house was full, not packed a I'Americaine, for there are thirteen hundred seats, and no one but an Imperial guard is permitted to stand during the per- formance. Monsieur Emile Augier, the author of the play, had cause for self-congratulation, certainly. There was no orchestra. Between the acts no one was willing to leave his place, and the management considerately ran the performance straight on, with scarcely more interruption between the acts than one has in the blank space between chapter and chapter of an ab- sorbing novel ! Favart and Lafontaine were dressed in the most simple toilettes, with the exquisite taste of Parisian women at home. I despair of being com- prehended in New York in that last remark. It will be understood in Washington. The acting ! A neigh- bor said, " It is n't acting at all, one might as well be MID-LENT AMUSEMENTS IN PARIS. 99 in a parlor ; I wish it was more like the the-^-tre ! " To the first part of her sentence I agreed, for I felt as if I had become an uninvited witness at a family- broil that was too sacred for intrusion of any sort. And when the climax was reached in the plot, men crying all around me, red silk pocket-handker- chiefs drying one eye while the other was filling up afresh at the affecting scene, noses trumpeting a per- fect overture all over the house, I was seized with a perverse and irresistible desire to laugh, and during a storm of bravos and cheers, I made a screen of my fan, and screamed with laughter, that even my next neighbor did not hear in that uproar of enthusiasm. I repeated that entertainment twice. In the theatres and churches I gained most French. A book might be filled with descriptions of visits to other theatres, — there were thirty-six in full swing during my resi- dence in Paris, — cafe concerts, promenade concerts, and an endless list of amusements ; but I will give only one more in Paris — The Italiens^ where our own Patti held the Parisians under a spell of enchantment. And while Patti reigned so triumphantly, the star of Ros- sini was fading forever. Only in the deeper pathos of her voice could his pupil's grief be detected. Who that was present at The Italiens on the fatal evening will ever forget the thrilling effect ! The Queen of Spain, the Prince and Princess of Wales, royal guests and their suites, filled the boxes ; diamonds glittered in coronets, in necklaces, brace- lets, brooches, and rings, as plentifully as the dew- 100 A woman's experiences in EUROPE. drops on the tapis vert at Versailles on an August morning. The darling and pride of the old king of musicians was pouring out her richest notes, mellowed more than usual by the oppression of consciousness that her master was ill and suffering. A message was whispered from box to box, chilling each heart with its dread import. " Rossini est mort ! " " Rossini is dead ! " In the green-room, through the orchestra, every ear received the message but one. Patti, the child of song, was spared ; and her notes still poured forth in mournful cadences, falling on the hearts of the shuddering audi- ence like a requiem. If the departing spirit paused to hear the sweet voice interpreting his own inspired notes, I doubt if the heavenly messengers who attended his reluctant flight chided him ungently. Rossini was not a Roman Catholic, but, to gratify his wife, consented to have a priest from the Made- leine to grant him absolution. He was particular in directing which priest should attend. Entering his room, the priest asked, " Why do you prefer me, my son ? " " I like your voice," was the musician's reply. We were fortunate in gaining admission to the concert at the Salle de Conservatoire, where outsiders like ourselves were rarely present. Every performer was a professional composer and past middle age. I appreciated the wonderful execution, the movements so perfect, each instrument marking such precise time, MID-LENT AMUSEMENTS IN PARIS. lOI each note so exquisitely clear, and all so united in harmony, that it seemed as if one power of genius impelled every hand of these hundred masters, to call forth wails of passionate utterance such as I never heard expressed in music before. But the ten- sion of mind and nerve such musical studies cause, leave one wearied and ready to fly to Strauss or even Offenbach for relief No slight intended for Theo- dore Thomas. I think the most absurd festivity in Paris, during my visit, was Lord Lyon's ball at the Grand Hotel. Besides H. E. L. L. G. C. B., there were other capital patrons and patronesses such as H. R. H. the P. M. D. of H.; H. E. Mme. la M. C.; H. G. the D. of B. The L. G. of G. Dukes, Marquises, Lords, Honorables, Colonels, Captains, Esquires, and M. D.'s, enough to make a pate de fois gras of an Eng- lish novelist's heart. The decorations of the ball- room were grand, the music fine; only just in the midst of a fine galop, in walked the English patron and suite. Of course they did n't know of the galop, or they might have had ''better menners/' ?ir\d presto/ the dancers were statues, the music " God Save the Queen," and the patrons and patronesses were Chinese Mandarins and Mandarinesses bowing up and down at the risk of their necks. Diamonds were at a discount, Fifth Avenue taking the lead to the disgust of their step-sisters from across the Channel. Only one lady broke her arm from slipping on the wax floor, and another fainted 102 A woman's experiences IN EUROPE. at the " snap of the bone ! " I can't say whether or not the other ladies had bones in their arms, for the white kids with ten buttons up to where the elbows ought to be, and the angel sleeves beginning to float where the kid stopped, made it a matter of impossi- bility to see what the arms were composed of, though the red coats of the British and blue coats of the French officers threw out in fine relief these graceful clasps in the round dances. I am happy to remark that no female relative of mine was in the dances. I expressed my sentiments pretty freely to my kind hostess Miss E., who smiled at my prudery ; but for- tunately for me, the Boston dip was not yet invented, and she could not make any retort. Far more enjoy- able than these assemblages of silly women and pompous men — for the time being — were the fetes of the villagers in the rural districts. Receiving a cordial invitation from Mrs. Howard Helmick to visit her at Ecouen, with a promise that I should see her husband's paintings for the Spring Ex- position, and attend the fete besides, I started on one of my solitary rambles through Paris, in search of the chemin-de-fer, for Villiers-le-Belle. When I thought I had been gone long enough to find it, I inquired, in "high YrQVich.,^' pourriez-vous inHndiquez of a lady passing. Replying ^' sans derange z-vous^' madame, etc., she pointed out the way " tout droite," and with- out mentioning that I was already suspected of being deranged, I thanked the lady, and soon the depot was sure enough " en face." Will the reader please ob- MID-LENT AMUSEMENTS IN PARIS. IO3 serve, I contrive to get all the French in the above sentence like the best authorized school-books and travellers' guides? Of course the train was crowded, and of course I, being an American, and money no object, took a place in a first-class car. The whole way from Paris to Villiers-le-Belle presented a series of groves, gardens, and grain-fields, in the loveliest May dress ; and peas- ants, in costumes of the brightest colors, resting in the most picturesque attitudes, to gaze after the flying train, completed one of those scenes that seemed to belong only to picture galleries, to one who had never before crossed the ocean and visited the old v/orld. Reaching the station of Villiers-le-Belle, I hurried with the crowd to secure a place in the diligence for Ecouen, and after the mashing of toes and '^ par-r-r- donSj Mesdames, Messieurs," were over, we started at a break-neck rate through as beautiful a district of country as could be found anywhere in the world. The rich green foliage of wild chestnut-trees mingled with more delicate tints of the drooping-willows, old oaks, sturdy centurions that have witnessed the re- turn of as many seasons as there are dead kings and princes lying in the vaults of Saint Denis in the dis- tance; the odor of sweet violets, tuberoses, migno- nettes, and lilies-of-the-valley, that grow wild on the roadside ; the singing of birds ; the sweet voices of joyous children, in white dresses and gay ribbons, hasting to the fete ; peasant boys -in blue blouses and hob-nailed boots ; young girls with caps frilled, and I04 A woman's experiences in EUROPE. skirts bordered with stripes of every hue, displaying bright-colored stockings, and feet encased in pretty laced boots ; the hamlets overgrown with ivy, and at the entrance to every street of the village, at the top of every hill, and on both sides of each entrance to the woods where the fete was celebrated, painted May- poles, with the French colors flying from them, in red, white, and blue streamers, made a charming scene, and excited most agreeable emotions after a surfeit of city dissipation. Arriving at the diligence station at Ecouen, the driver, on his high box in front of the stage, touched a spring under his foot, the door flew open, and as we all scrambled out, he blew a tre- mendous blast on a large horn that called out the shop-keepers and servants of gentlemen who had commissioned him to bring parcels and boxes from Paris. Following a long double line of school-boys, French gentlemen's sons, in dress coats and beavers, like lit- tle men cut down, and a great wagon loaded with every utensil for household and farm use, so skilfully arranged as to display the wares most tempting to housekeepers and farmers, without concealing the in- credible amount of things piled on one wagon, like a caravan shop, I reached the cottage occupied by Mr. Helmick. Mrs. H. and the baby and bonne were already at the door to meet me, when, just as I arrived, up came Mr. Helmick to announce the beginning of the fete with a triumphant entrance of the peasants of adjoin- MID-LENT AMUSEMENTS IN PARIS. IO5 ing villages into the town of Ecouen, where they were greeted with welcoming cheers, flags flying from May- poles, peasants decked in holiday finery, and village bands, followed by the usual crowd of curious and eager boys, who had no eyes for anything but the little son of the drum-major, whose uniform and per- formance on a tin fife excited more admiration than the harmony of Strauss's band could possibly have done. Of course we joined the crowd, and followed over cobble-stones, up hilly streets, along by the ruined walls of tumble-down cottages, into a wood as beauti- ful as the oldest of old trees, covered with the green- est of green foliage, could be. Right in the heart of this old forest was a square of about four acres, en- tirely cleared of trees, for the express purpose of ac- commodating the revellers in these yearly fetes. At the upper end was a large square tent, open on the inner side, and shaded by a white scalloped canopy, edged with red, a French flag crowning the pointed top. This was the evening ball-room. Crimson divans ran all around it for the mammas, who, accord- ing to European ideas, are considered first in fete or celebration of any sort. In this one matter young America might profit by a little instruction, though the extremes of Old World notions regarding etiquette could not and should not be carried out in an enlight- ened Republic. These peasant mothers of Ecouen attended their daughters to the fete, followed them everywhere, and sat beside them in the ball-room ; and if they con- I06 A woman's experiences in EUROPE. sented to their dancing, the moment the dance was concluded, received them from the thankful jeune homme, who left immediately, with a request to renew the pleasure some time during the evening. On the side of the square opposite the ball-room was a circular tent, with saddled horses and swinging chairs, revolving on a central pole, turned by a crank in the hands of a man who seemed boneless and nerveless. He turned that crank all day, with its twenty vehicles all the time occupied by men, women, and children, five times round the circle for two sous. A hand-organ lent a charm to this performance, and I think the boy who worked it was a son of the man who turned the other crank. On either side of this hollow square were the usual startling pictures of all sorts of impossible reptiles, venomous before their sting was extracted, wound in multitudinous folds around the rigid bodies of fearless infants ; and huge placards informing the staring crowd that they had better embrace this rare opportunity to see a phe- nomenon that was unprecedented in the annals of France ! In the centre of all was the attraction. Seating ourselves on one of the rush - bottomed chairs ar- ranged within the square, we were prepared to watch the games of the peasants, that were to be followed by rewards to the successful competitors. The Mayor of the town conducted the games and decided disputes ; while his lady sat in a circle of ad- miring friends (what Lady Mayoress has n't friends ?) MID-LENT AMUSEMENTS IN PARIS. 10/ and held the prizes. First, a frame, with five or six cords stretched over it, was placed on end, in the enclosure of people. The village girls stood in line, side by side, on a board opposite, about twenty- steps from the frame. Then a large plaster-of-paris head and neck, with eyes the size of a teacup, only painted, not cut out, was placed over the head and face, resting on the shoulders of number one. A pair of scissors was placed in her hands, and, open- ing them, to my amazement she walked straight up to the frame, and with one snap of the scissors cut the centre cord. Amid a shout of applause the mask was removed, and the blushing girl informed she had won the first prize — a gold chain and cross ! To show that the task was no easy one, no less than fifty-four attempts were made to win the second prize, when number one was permitted to try again, and failed only by one step to the left of the* frame, while others had gone in all sorts of zigzag directions, not being accustomed to walking blindfolded, and agitated no doubt by the shouts of " a droite ! a droite ! " " an gauche ! " " coupe I" of the interested fathers and brothers looking on. The second prize was given to the girl who walked straight, but brought the scissors between and not over the cord. It was a silver chain and cross of Genoese workmanship. The ground was cleared for the boys' game; and of all ludi- crous sights, it exceeded. Poor Pillicoddy would have paused in his " solemn determination to eat poppy leaves and die," to laugh ! A frame with heavy posts I08 A woman's experiences in EUROPE. was planted firmly in the ground, with a revolving shelf across the top, connected with short cords to a rope fastened at either end to the posts. On the shelf a bowl of water stood directly in the centre ; suspended from it was a pipe with a bright red handle. The feat to be accomplished was to raise the body by the rope, bringing the mouth on a level with the pipe, and seize the pipe between the teeth. Number one took off his hat, smoothed the skirt of his blue cot- ton blouse, put his hair carefully behind his ears, and cautiously took the rope in his hands. Raising him- self gradually and steadily, the shelf turned slowly, till the basin of water over his head was on a slant perilous to behold. " Prenez garde ! " shouted the crowd. Down he came instantly, the basin righting itself as soon. Another balance was tried; the crowd became enthusiastic, certain he would succeed. A momentary forgetfulness, a sudden spring at the pipe, and my gentleman dropped from the rope, drenched with the contents of the overturned basin, his sheepish face half covered with wet locks, and his blouse dripping with water, — an irresistibly comic spectacle for the overjoyed crowd. This was re- peated sixty-eight times, when a rough shepherd-boy, a natural gymnast, ran up, and fixing his eyes on the shelf, raised and lowered himself twenty times with- out touching the ground, finally balanced himself just to the line, and brought down the pipe in his mouth, leaving the water undisturbed in the bowl. A mo- ment after he received a silver watch from the " Lady __ MID-LENT AMUSEMENTS IN PARIS. IO9 Mayoress," and was followed about as if he had led the Abyssinian Expedition. In this strain the games were continued till time for the ball, and we were about to return to Mr. Helmick's when we were in- vited to join a party, headed by the Mayor, and attend a dramatic entertainment in a little wood near by. Before we could distinguish anything through the blaze of pine torches in the wood, the terrific noise of an immense drum assailed our ears, and soon a dazzling spectacle burst upon our sight. A whole family of Brazilians, dressed in spangled silks and gauzes, marched up and down a platform, relating to the gaping peasants the astounding feats nightly per- formed by the company; and so eager were all to gain ingress to the tent, that it required all the Mayor's authority to manage an entrance for us. We monopo- lized the parquette, — the benches were planks resting on grape-boxes and covered with carpet. I have seen many worse performances in first-class theatres than we witnessed at that rustic play-house ; and many stock actors might profit from lessons of those really wonderful Brazilian mimics. In that we were agreeably disappointed, and pur host the kind-hearted major took a sly smile occa- sionally at our surprise. What a supper we took that night ! And how we slept ! The memory of that one day's experience of the merry-makings in provincial France will lend sunshine to the most shadowy years of my future. I trust it has afforded you one gleam, dear Reader. CHAPTER XL woman's work in FRANCE. i SINCE work has become honorable employment for the women of America, I may be certain that three-fourths of my feminine readers will be in- terested in a few glances at the working- women of France. In one respect the Americans are far behind the French. They have not all learned as yet to dignify labor. The great obstacle in the way of our attaining that point in progress, is the purse-pride for which we are justly renowned all over the world. There is no use in denying it. The moment a " mer- chant-prince " realizes he is a merchant -prince, his sign comes down, a larger one goes up with a suc- cessor's name, and the heirs of the original firm are apprenticed to Fashion and Dissipation. Not so in England, France, or Germany. The birthday of the firm is hailed with as much pride in the old country as the coming of age here of Young America. " Es- tablished 1611," is added to the sign in golden letters there ; " retired from business," is blazed in all the journals here. But there are jewellers, dry-goods houses, and others, setting a good example in the New World by following that of the Old, and success in no I 1 I WOMAN S WORK IN FRANCE. Ill business will be as strongly boasted of in the future, as retiring from business is now in America. Beginning with the head, we have the milliners of Paris first on our list. We drive under a grand/^ lO- .^%c. v> fc 0^" ,0- ■x:^ V -v -°^_ ' A^^' ">^ ri. mSSLSf. CONGRES? 020 678 886