The French Police Keep A Very Sharp Look-Out On
All Political Offences, But Are More Indulgent Towards All Moral
Ones, as
long as public decorum is not infringed, and then it is severely punished.
But they have none of
That censoriousness or prying spirit in France which
is so common in England to hunt out and criticise the private vices of
their neighbours, which, in my opinion, does not proceed from any real
regard for virtue, but from a fanatical, jealous, envious, and malignant
spirit. Those vice-hunters never have the courage to attack a man of wealth
and power; but a poor artisan or labourer, who buys a piece of meat after
twelve o'clock on Saturday night, or a glass of spirits during church-time
on Sunday, is termed a Sabbath-breaker and imprisoned without mercy.
In the Palais Royal the three most remarkable temples of dissipation are
Very's for gastronomes, Robert's faro bank for gamesters, and the Cafe
Montausier for those devoted to the fair sex. The Cafe Montausier is fitted
up in the guise of a theatre where music, singing and theatrical pieces are
given; you pay nothing for admission, but are expected to call for some
refreshment. It is splendidly illuminated, and is the Cafe par
excellence, frequented by those ladies who have made the opposite choice
to that of Hercules, and who, taking into consideration the shortness and
uncertainty of life, dedicate it entirely to pleasure, reflecting that
Laggiu nell' Inferno,
Nell' obblio sempiterno,
In sempiterno orrore,
Non si parla d'amore.
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