Here, wealth gives no power: nothing, indeed,
but office gives power. The only great men in the provinces are the
_prefet_, the _sous-prefet_, and the _maire_. The only great man in Paris
is a minister or a general. Wealth, therefore, unless accompanied by the
social talents, which those who have made their fortunes have seldom had
the leisure or the opportunity to acquire, leads to nothing. The women,
too, of the _parvenus_ always drag them down. They seem to acquire
the _tournure_ of society less easily than the men. Bastide, when
Minister, did pretty well, but his wife used to sign her invitations
"Femme Bastide."
'Society,' he continued, 'under the Republic was animated. We had great
interests to discuss, and strong feelings to express, but perhaps the
excitement was too great. People seemed to be almost ashamed to amuse
or to be amused when the welfare of France, her glory or her degradation,
her freedom or her slavery, were, as the event has proved, at stake.'
'I suppose,' I said to Ampere, 'that nothing has ever been better than
the _salon_ of Madame Recamier?'
'We must distinguish,' said Ampere. 'As great painters have many manners,
so Madame Recamier had many _salons_.
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