[96] Among the old friends of my family, from whom we received particular kindness, I shall be pardoned for naming madame (la ci-devant comtesse) d’H—t, so frequently mentioned in the confessions of _Jean Jacques_, and the real model on which he formed his imaginary Heloise. We had the pleasure of passing some days at her country seat, in the valley of Montmorency, and several evenings at her hotel at Paris. This accomplished woman, who at the age of thirty, had the talent to attract, and the virtue to resist the affection of Rousseau, has still at seventy, that amiability of manner, that suavity of disposition, and that fund of enlightened conversation, which, notwithstanding the disadvantages of a person far from handsome, gained her the love of that extraordinary man. The latter has been very unjust in the character which he has drawn of the husband of this lady. He is still living, and is a respectable man of ancient family, independent fortune, and irreproachable reputation. _St. Lambert_, the Thomson of France, resides with Mr. and madame d’H—t, and his extreme old age receives from their attention the comforts and kindness of unvarying friendship. [97] There are innumerable houses at Paris in which, with every appearance of respectability, and often with the assistance of some lofty sounding title, the unwary stranger often finds his ruin. Amidst the smiles of beauty, the splendour of foreign orders, the jollity of wine, and the gaiety of dancing, youth loses its prudence, and one evening’s entertainment is paid by the loss of that fortune, on which a man’s happiness, and perhaps that of many dear relatives depended. INDEX. A. Advocates, 223 Affaire manquée, definition of the term, 44 Albani, Francesco, his paintings, 32 Amiens, 6 Ancienne noblesse, account of, 55, 57 a ball of, 140 Antiquities, cabinet of, 16 Apathy of the french people, 179 Apollo Belvidere, 16, 18 Arabian horses, 202 Archbishop of Paris, 217 of Tours, 218 Artistes, théâtre des jeunes, 130 Athénée, 255 Aveyron, savage of, 109 B. Bagatelle, garden of, 231 Ball, a public, 92 Ball, a private, 140 Ballets, 123 Bargains, necessity of making them, 280, 283 Beggars, 5 Berthier, general, 139 Bendette, paintings of, 31 Blind, Institutions for the, 103 Boissy d’Anglass, 90 Bois de Boulogne, 175, 228 Bonaparte, first consul, account of, 81, 158, 161 court of, 159 dinner with, 247 madame, 43, 188, 220 Lucien, 188 Boulevards, 229 Brun, le, the third consul, 59 Charles, paintings of, 23 Burgoing, mademoiselle, 116, 117 C. Calais, 2 Caravaggio, Michael Angelo Amerigi, 34 Cardinal legate, 217 Carnival, 152 Carracci, Agostino, 33 Lodovico, 33, 173 Antonio, 33 Annibale, _ib._ Carriages, 177, 209, 211 job, 270 Castiglione, Gio Benedetto, his paintings, 31 Cavedone, James, 35 Champagne, Philip of, 25