The libertine, if he at first looks on with admiration, soon ceases to care for that which every eye may behold; and apathy, united to contempt, is the sentiment which succeeds to passion. I return to the ball. The crowd became greater and greater, and the heat was excessive; but the scene altogether was lively and amusing. A frenchman _de l’ancien régime_, hearing me express my surprise at the _costume_ of the ladies, assured me, that excepting the foreigners, there was not one woman _de bonne compagnie_ in the room. This term of “_bonne compagnie_,” is so often used, and so seldom explained, that I really do not know, whether he meant that there was not a woman of the old court, or that there was not a virtuous female present. If he intended the former, it only proved, that these balls were not frequented by the _noblesse_; if the latter, he was much severer in his remark than I had been. I only complained of the ladies being indecent; he asserted that they were profligate. At any rate, the one fault leads so rapidly to the other, that it was difficult to make a mistake. The room was well lighted; the music excellent, and the ball, being formed of all the different classes of society, highly entertaining to a foreigner. There were a great many english present; most of the ambassadors, and many other distinguished characters. I returned home about three in the morning. Adieu. LETTER XI. New year’s day.—The Palais royal. Paris, January the 1st, 1802 (11 nivôse.) MY DEAR SIR, The people of all nations cling, with such fond partiality, to their old customs, that it is next to impossible to eradicate even the most trifling of these by the power of law. I remarked a strong proof of this to day. It was an immemorial custom in France to celebrate new years day, by making presents of confectionary, trinkets, and such other articles, to near relations and particular friends.