Alice, Or, the Mysteries; A Sequel to Ernest Maltravers (Paperback)

This historic book may have numerous typos, missing text or index. Purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. 1838. Not illustrated. Excerpt: ... CHAPTER I. " This antient eity, How wanton sits she amidst Nature's smiles Various nations meet, As in the sea, yet not confined in space, But streaming freely through the spacious streets.' Young. " His teeth he still did grind, And grimly gnash, threatening revenge in vain.," Spenser. " Paris is a delightful place--that is allowed by all. It is delightful to the young, to the gay, to the idle, to the literary lion, who likes to be petted; to the wiser epicure, who indulges a more justifiable appetite. It is delightful to ladies, who wish to live at their ease, and buy beautiful caps; delightful to philanthropists, who wish for listeners to schemes of colonising the moon; delightful to the haunters of balls, and ballets, and little theatres, and superb cafes, where men with beards of all sizes and shapes scowl at the English, and involve their intellects in the fascinating game of dominoes. For these, and for many others, Paris is delightful. I say nothing against it. But, for my own part, I would rather live in a garret in London, than in a palace in the Chausse'e d'Antin. Chacun a soft mauvais gout. " I don't like the streets, in which I cannot walk but in the kennel: I don't like the shops, that contain nothing except what's at the window: I don't like the houses like prisons, which look upon a court-yard: I don't like the beaux jardins, which grow no plants save a Cupid in plaster: I don't like the wood fires, which demand as manypetits soins as the women t and which warm no part of one but one's eyelids: I don't like the language, with its strong phrases about nothing, and vibrating like a pendulum, between ' rapture' and ' desolation: ' I don't like the accent, which one cannot get, without speaking through one's nose: I don't like the eternal fuss and ...