The Litchfield County post., 1826-08-01


 lis.
 The description of tenants is as various as the commodities of the market, or as the motley multitude that throngthe arcadcs rom morning until midnight. In one end ol .ne palace the noble proprietor resides, ana splendid equ;pages of Dukes and Dnchesses are seen at the door while at the other end, theatrical bnffoons, blind fd- dders, and dancing automata anluse the crowd, or debancheries and harlots hold their subterranean revelries. The interme- diate regions are inhabited by all classes of society, good, bad, and indifferent, high and low, learned and illiterate. A lecture on the abstract sciences is liable to be dis turbed by the rattling of dice, or the con- cnssion of billiafd-balls in the next room and the voice of the female calling from the boutique for purchasers of books, is drowned in that of her neighbour, who cries bonnets or bonbons. Such is the va. rietjy- ;ae..d confusion which this busy, bust. ling scene forever presents.
 In the first and second stories -ofthe Pa lais Royal. are almost innumeessas sasi,,ie Cafes and lSestarat6ars, or coffee and eating hou- ses. These form one of the peculiar fea- tures of Paris. There are goo or ,OOO of each kind ;n the city, large portion of which are concentrated about the palace A breakfast may here be obtained for 10 .or15tsous, and dinner for any sum from two francs to a Napoleon. Crowds of meals, majority of whom dine at those houses where they pay 40 cents for three or four dishes, with dessert and a bottle of wine. The fare is generally good, and sufficiently abundant. A person has his choice out of taco hundred and fty dishes placed upon the bill, any one of which will be ready in five minutes after it is called for. We began with the beginning of the catalogue, and determined to@go as far through as our visit of six or seven weeks would permit. But there is little use in such experiments, as person does not know half of the time what he is eating, being none ofthe wiser for the name which is often borrowed from some popular per- sonage of the day, or from some local dis- trict famous for good eating. ts The coffee houses are entierly distinct from the restarateurs. Both are furnished in style which would not disgrace pal. ace of more elevated character than that of the Duke of Orleans. The whole walls are frequently covered with large mirrors, inselegantiy gilt frames, and the windows hung with crimson curtains. In some con. spicuous part of the room, a throne is e. rected to the height of several feet from the floor, ornamented in the most tasty manner, and furnished with silken or vel- vet cushiops.a Here the presiding goddess sits in state, dressed with all the showy el- s-E. Al. T ..ml-, O ing and leaving the room, each person takes off his hat and bows to her with as much reverence as he eswould manifest in approaching or taking leave of princess. She returns the salute, and sometimes deigns smile, or whispers a soft word to those whom she recognizes. But she gen. orally sits in silent and motionless dignity, overlooking the tables Beneath her, and frowning at any impoliteness. 1t is great point to procure the prettiest women for these places, who never fail to attract con- pany. Some of them have held their thrones much longer than eastern monarchs, and received more marks of homage than any of the Bonrbons. The Mile Colonne, SO called, because its mirrors reflect 1000 gilded columns, has long been celebrated for the beauty of its incumbent. Every pretty girl is an heir-apparent to thisspe cies of dominion. s@ @
 But the office. unlike that of many other sovereigns is far from being sinecure.--< The presiding female, besides doing the honours of the coffee houses and restara- teurs in receiving company, has more seri- ous duties to perform. It belongs to her to superintend the whole establishment, to keep all the accounts, to make out the bills, and receive the money at the hands of the walters, in the train of whom her husband is frequently found, forming one of her undistinguished and most submissive subjects The French women are ex. tremely clever in the transaction of busi- ness; and possessing perhaps an innate fondness for supremacy, increased by edu- cation and habit, they exercise control ling influence in all the departments of life. They are the undisputed mistresses of nearly all the shops in Paris, and manage them with great financial skill. was sur- prised to find so much industry, politeness, patient drudgery, and laborious attention 1 to business. They are up early aud late. absorbed in the cares of their families. whose support depends chiefly upon their