I must not quit the subject of French theatricals without speaking of the Opera comique at the Theatre Faydeau.  It is to the sort of light pieces that are given here, that the French music is peculiarly appropriate, and it is here that you seize and feel the beauty and melody of the national music; these little chansons, romances and ariettas are so pleasing to the ear that they imprint themselves durably on the memory, which is no equivocal proof of their merit.  I cannot say as much for the tragic singing in the Opera seria at the Grand French Opera, which to my ear sounds a perfect psalmody.  There is but one language in the world for tragic recitative and that is Italian.  On the other hand, in the genre of the Opera comique, the French stage is far superior to the Italian.  In the French comedy everything is graceful and natural; the Italians cannot catch this happy medium, so that their comedies and comic operas are mostly outre, and degenerate into downright farce and buffoonery.

[42] Major James Grant, of the 18th Light Dragoons, was made a Brevet
    Lieutenant Colonel on 18th June, 1815.—­ED.

[43] A phrase in prose, often quoted as a verse, from Voltaire’s preface to
    the Enfant Prodigue:  Tous les genres sont bons, hors le genre
    ennuyeux.—­ED.

[44] A tragedy often acted by Talma, the work of Antoine d’Aubigny de
    Lafosse (1653-1708).—­ED.

[45] Thomas Otway’s once celebrated tragedy, 1682.—­ED.

[46] The Tragedy of Douglas, by John Home (1722-1808).—­ED.

CHAPTER V

From Paris to Milan through Dijon, Chalon-sur-Saone, Lyons, Geneva and the Simplon—­Auxerre—­Dijon—­Napoleon at Chalon-sur-Saone—­The army of the Loire—­Macon—­French grisettes—­Lyons—­Monuments and theatricals—­ Geneva—­Character and opinions of the Genevois—­Voltaire’s chateau at Ferney—­The chevalier Zadera—­From Geneva to Milan—­Crossing the Simplon—­Arona—­The theatres in Milan—­Rossini—­Monuments in Milan—­Art encouraged by the French—­Mr Eustace’s bigotry—­Return to Switzerland—­ Clarens and Vevey—­Lausanne—­Society in Lausanne—­Return to Paris—­The Louvre stripped—­Death of Marshal Ney.

I left Paris on the 17th Sept., in the diligence of Auxerre, The company was as follows:  a young Genevois who had served in the National Guard at Paris, and had been wounded in a skirmish against the Prussians near that city; a young Irish Templar; a fat citizen of Dijon and an equally fat woman going to Dole.  We arrived the following day at 11 o’clock at Auxerre, a town situated on the banks of the Seine.  Water conveyance may be had from Paris to Auxerre, price 12 francs the person:  the price in the diligence is 28 francs.  We had during our journey much political conversation; the Bourbons and the English government were the objects of attack, and neither