boulevards were magazins Anglois, and
English eating-houses, where that tongue
was spoken, and where the gentlemen in the
capes and redingotes might have Puusch, if
they were so minded. Shakespeare,
burlesqued by M. Ducis, was being given at the
theatres; and, above all, there were Les
Jockeis, and the races at Vincennes. Which
taste might be said to have come in some
thirty years before, so a French writer tells
us,—with Milor Poscool. Who this nobleman
was, or what place he held in a peerage
of that date, it would be hard to ascertain
now; but it is certain that Milor Poscool
waged that he would drive in from Fontainebleau
to Paris—good sixteen French leagues
—in two hours. There was intense excitement
consequent on this bet becoming known;
and his Majesty was gracious enough to
interest himself in the matter, ordering the
road to be kept clear during that period of
all vulgar vehicles, and such impediments.
It is on record, that Milor Poscool, whoever
he was, won easily with several minutes to
spare. But in those later times—before
spoken of— le sport was all the rage;
and in one of the comedies of the day, a
countess is put up as prize for a race. " Veuxtu
recourir la comtesse? " asks one of the
leading characters, " Will you enter for the
countess?"

There was a craze, too, abroad, for jewellery
—unpaid-for jewellery, that is. At a
famous shop on the boulevards, known as
La Petite Dunquerque, persons of quality
were never weary of laying out their money
—credit rather. You might purchase there
the most exquisite nicknacks,—little caskets,
enamel snuff-boxes, cane tops, tortoiseshell
toys of extraordinary beauty and variety.
It was flooded with nobility from morn till
night; so much so, that at particular seasons
guards had to be placed, to keep the passage
clear. Jewels of fabulous cost were to be had
here; diamonds of priceless water. Gentlemen
in these times fastened their collars with a
lustrous brilliant,—a false one, if they could
not compass the cost of a real one. Ladies
were fond of wearing a Saint Esprit, or star,
together with a cross—both of diamonds—on
their neck. "O," exclaimed a preacher of
the day, " what a place for the emblems of
all love and holiness! " Nothing short of two
watches would content your elegant, or swell
—each profusely jewelled. Your real men
of ton furnished their laquais even with a
pair of watches. Extraordinary madness and
extravagance which must have ended in that
convulsion!

This laquais fever was then raging too, and
every person of quality kept up a cloud of
retainers for no profit or use in the world
beyond standing in rich liveries in their
masters' halls for pure ostentation's sake.
Unpaid, most likely, according to the golden
rule then flourishing; never likely to be
paid. Our farmers-general—the only folk at
that time with full money-bags—kept four-
and-twenty footmen, not counting coachmen,
cooks and their aides-de-camp, to say nothing
either of Madame's six ladies-maids. These
gentlemen wore jewellery like their masters.
If Madame should need to have her head
dressed, she must send for one of the six
hundred hair-dressers of the city, incorporated
into an august body known as the
Academy of Hairdressers, the assistants of
which society amounted to the astonishing
number of six thousand. Work in the good
city of Paris for over six thousand artists!
To which fraternity doubtless belonged that
Leonard who was secured so opportunely on
the famous night Madame du Barry was
presented at court. Heavy pains and penalties
were decreed against all who should
employ any save the licensed artists.
Extraordinary structures were raised on ladies'
heads through their agency—of startling
elevation—known popularly as towers, but
fraught with terrible pains and penalties for
the fair wearers. For, of rights, it was
customary to fasten up the unwieldy fabric by a
triple band, to keep pins, cushion, false hair,
and all together; and this not unnaturally
resulted in weakness of the eyes, in erysipelas,
affections of the nerves, and of the teeth and
gums. The fine long hair, too, that was
built up so handsomely into the tower fell
away by degrees, and drove its owner to
false locks, thus bringing with it fatal
retribution.

What was a Paris day like in those times?
What was its order of distribution at this
momentous volcano eve?

At about nine o'clock the day may be said
practically to begin, and whoever may be
walking abroad at that hour is pretty sure of
being jostled by myriads of hair-dressers, all
tripping along with wig in one hand and
curling-irons in the other—they hurrying to
be in time for Monsieur and Madame's
toilet, who are just done sipping their chocolate.
There is another crowd of boys carrying
coffee, all hot, who are also in a prodigious
hurry, for there are many ladies and
gentlemen that are waiting breakfast, and
who have it supplied to their rooms from the
cafes. Ten o'clock, being court hour, sends
out numbers of black gentry, speeding along
to the Chatelet, with sacks and bundles of
papers. At twelve o'clock people muster on
'change; at which hour is crowded the
Faubourg Saint Honoré, where dwelt all
persons of quality and such as were in
office; and all who had suits or petitions
mustered here fast and furious. Most of
the ambassadors were to be found in this
region.

But at two o'clock the curious observer
would note another class and another costume
crowding the streets—folk very smartly
powdered, dressed, and stepping on their
toes for fear of soiling those snowy stockings.
At which hour not a vehicle is to be had.