[539] May 6. Breakfasted with Mr. Senior; pleasant company again.1 Drove with Appleton to the review in the Champs de Mars, where were sixty thousand soldiers,—more than I have ever seen before, and more than I shall ever see again; dined at a restaurant, and then went to Theatre Porte St. Martin to see the new play entitled “William Shakspeare;” but after two acts was so tired I was obliged to get home. May 7. Went to Musee d'artillerie; made several calls. Passed my evening quietly; too tired for society or theatre. May 8. Went to Palais de Justice to hear M. Mairie, a member of the Provisional Government of the Republic; but the case was postponed again on account of the death of his wife. Made calls; drove with Appleton to the Bois. In the evening went to Madame Mohl's, where our Boston Miss Hensler sang, and I met a M. de Turgenev of Russia,2 who told me that serfdom would be abolished there within ten years; that the emperor insisted upon it; that nobody vindicated it; that the only question was how to arrange the proprietary interests involved; and that a commission is now occupied with the question. I told him that this was the greatest news I had heard since leaving home.3 May 9. Visited the Imperial Library, confining myself to-day to the collection of engravings, manuscripts, and charts. In the latter department I was kindly received by M. Jobart, one of the old Egyptian expedition; also saw a gentleman who claimed to have first invented the system of printing catalogues by stereotyped plates of individual titles, which Mr. Jewett4 has put forth in America; drove to the Bois to hear the music of the bands in the Pre Catalan. Dined with Appleton; in the evening, Theatre Francais, where I enjoyed very much “Fiammina.” May 10. Went to Versailles, merely to see the waters play, without entering the Museum. All the jets seemed feeble by the side of that on Boston Common. In the evening went to French opera, where was the ballet of the “Corsaire,” given by order; in the imperial box were the emperor and empress, and their guest the Grand Duke Constantine. May 11. Made calls;5 dined with Appleton; weary; gave up society and theatre; passed evening at home alone, reading French grammar. May 12. Went to St. Denis and saw the resting-place of the kings of France; returned the call of Major Poussin; went to the salon of Madame Meynier, who has just written an excellent article showing the inconsistency of slavery and Christianity. There I met M. Passy; also M. Coquerel,6 the eloquent preacher, and Mrs. Stowe.
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1 Other guests were Tocqueville, Corcelle, Count Arrivabene, and Clives.
2 Ivan Sergiewitz l'urgenev, 1818-1883; novelist, exiled from Russia. and living by turns in Germany and France, who in his writings gave vivid pictures of life in his native country.
3 The information proved to be true.
4 Charles C. Jewett (1816-1868), librarian of Brown University, of the Smithsonian Institution, and of the Boston Public Library.
5 Among them was one on Dowager Lady Elizabeth Bruce, mother of Sir Frederick Bruce.
6 1795-1868. He heard Coquerel preach at this time or in 1858-1859. He introduced, October, 1871, the younger Coquerel to an audience in Boston. Works, vol. XIV. pp. 311-312.
Cambridge, MA. Press of John Wilson and Son. 1877.
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