tion, yet finding none to reciprocate it, are compelled to lavish on self that sum of tenderness meant for their fellow-mortals? Is it not this besoin d'aimer that reduces elderly maiden ladies to cherish parrots, monkeys, dogs, and cats, and elderly gentlemen to cultivate less innocent attachments? I could be sentimental on this subject; mais à quoi bon? you would only smile, or, worse, yawn, over my lucubrations on it; so I will quit them.

Apropos, not de bottes, mais de sentiment, how is le bon marquis? Is he still as much épris as ever with madame la comtesse? and is madame la comtesse as much éprise du collier de perle, et autres belles choses? But, reflection faite, as men will be inconstant, even with wives as charming as ma chère Delphine, it is, on the whole, fortunate, that his penchants have never led him hors de la bonne compagnie; as too frequently is the case with some of his contem

poraries. There is something revolting in the sort of society to which a man is exposed in those liaisons with meretricious beauties. Well may it be said that gallantry, like misfortune, brings one acquainted with strange companions. How disgusting to think of the brothers, cousins, and friends, of unknown lives, unguessable professions, and unpronounceable names, to whom he must be civil; and the mothers, aunts, and sisters, to whom he must be polite! Do you not remember with horror the woful change that came over your cousin, the Duc de Harfleur's manners, after he had passed a few months in the society of some favourite sultana of this class? The laissez aller of his conversation, interlarded with phrases totally new and incomprehensible to our ears; the indolent lounging, à la sultan, on every sofa within his reach, and the nonchalance with which he permitted us to ring the bell, pick up our

fans if they dropped, negligent of performing any of the mille petits services, auprès des dames, which every well-bred man is too happy

to fulfil. Oh, I shall never forget it!

By the by, chère amie, you would be not a little shocked, could you but witness the free-and-easy style of the men of fashion here. It positively amounts to insolence; yet they do not mean it. No, they only mean to be at their ease; but this precludes any well

bred woman from feeling at hers, in their society.

They are at once nonchalant and

They are

familiar; make no ceremony of talking of the House of Commons, the political questions of the day, their hunting or shooting, or, in fact, all that peculiarly concerns themselves; rarely, if ever, introducing those topics which are generally supposed to be most agreeable to

women.

The Comtesse Hohenlinden told me, that

here the ladies are obliged to study the tastes and pursuits of the gentlemen, in order to find favour in the eyes of those lords of the creation. Is not this a dreadful degradation to our sex? Only fancy women talking of horses, and not only talking of, but visiting them in their stables! Fancy their betting, and keeping books in which are entered not les douces pensées des dames, but the wagers they have made, and the odds pour et contre! This would not be believed in France; mais c'est un fait, je vous jure.

Here, a lady who wishes to captivate, relies, not on her charms, but on her tact, and the weakness to which it is to be opposed. Is the man who is to be won a politician ?—she reads all his speeches, an operation painful and impracticable to all save one impelled by a predominant motive. She does more,- she succeeds in remembering some portions of them,

and quotes them with eulogium; when, unless he is the most ungrateful of his sex, she is rewarded by his preferring her to all things save himself and his speeches.

The only chance of defeat consists in the number of competitors for his favour.

If a man is devoted to hunting, the ladies who wish to please him are suddenly struck with admiration for that amusement. “They dote on horses;" they delight in driving to the cover-side; they pat the necks of the "beautiful animals," and praise the red coats of their masters. Nay, examples have been known of their donning scarlet habits, and risking their necks, to attract some coveted Nimrod.

If a man be fond of theatricals, then each lady who aspires to win him is dying to act too. She discovers that the amateur far excels the best actor on the stage. His tragic acting is so affecting (affected, she means); and, having