There is a popular idea that in the eighteenth century England and France were essentially hostile nations, immemorial enemies, yet at no time had there been more sympathy between two sections of society than there existed between the governing and fashionable men and women of Paris and London; in literature, art, and dress they held the same opinions.  Englishmen braved the Channel and underwent the fatigue and trouble of the two land journeys with cheerfulness in order to enjoy the society of St. Germain.  They were received not as strange travellers, but as valued friends.

Of this francophile feeling of the eighteenth century Selwyn was the most remarkable example.  He was as much at home in the salon of Mme. du Deffand, or at one of President Henault’s famous little dinners, as in the drawing-room of Holland House or the card-room at Brooks’s.  He introduced Walpole and Crawford to French society, adding to the social and literary connection between Paris and London during a time when political ties were broken.  He was a favourite, too, with the French Queen.* Under date of February 10, 1764, the Earl of March writes to him from Fontainebleau:  “The Queen asked Madame de Mirepoix—­si elle n’avoit pas beaucoup entendu me dire de Monsieur Selwyn et elle?  Elle a repondu, oui, beaucoup, Madame.  J’en suis bien aise, dit la Reine.”

* Maria Leschitinskey, daughter of Stanislaus, King of Poland, and Queen of Louis XV.

The correspondence of Mme. du Deffand contains frequent allusions to the intimacy between the first English and French society of the period.  David Hume, Lord Ossory, Lady Hervey, Lord March, the Duke of York,* and other well-known English names, are mingled with Rousseau, Voltaire, d’Alembert, and the Duc and Duchesse de Choiseul.  This oddly assorted company moves in the world of M. de Maurepas and of the Duc d’Aiguillon, and is seen in the charming salons of Mme. Geoffrin and Mme. d’Epinay; the beauty of Lady Pembroke is commented on, the charm of Lady Sarah Bunbury analysed, Lady Grenville eulogised.

* Edward, Duke of York (1739-1767), brother of George iii., visited Paris the summer of 1767, on his way to Italy, where he died Sept. 17th.

There is an irresistible fascination in the study of the men and women of the eighteenth century of France and England; they, their manners and customs, have disappeared for ever, but Gainsborough’s gracious women, Sir Joshua Reynolds’s charming types, and Romney’s sensitive heads, have in England immortalised the reign of beauty of this period; in France the elegance and grace of the time are shown in the canvases of Greuze, Vanloo, and Fragonard, in the cupids and doves and garlands which adorned the interiors of Mme. de Pompadour.