Madame Mohl; Her Salon and Her Friends. a Study of Social Life in Paris (Paperback)

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1886. Excerpt: ... MADAME MOHL: HER SALON AND HER FRIENDS. CHAPTER I. There are some words that have a charm about them which never fades, and an interest which never flags. To those who care for France, her literature, her history, the little word salon has an irresistible fascination. It conjures up everything that is clever, charming, piquant, most characteristic of the women of France. The salon is essentially a French institution. No other nation ever produced it; no other society contains the elements for producing it. We say 'a pleasant house' when we speak of a social centre. In France they say 'a pleasant salon.' The different terms both express and explain the different ideas they represent. A house is a home where material hospitality is exercised; where friends are entertained with more substantial fare than the feast of reason and the flow of soul. A pleasant house is suggestive of snug, convivial dinners and sociable, unceremonious lunches, of bread broken at various hours between the owners of the house and their friends. Another nice distinction is that it implies a master, as well as a mistress. A salon calls up a totally different order of ideas. It supposes a mistress, but by no means necessarily a master; and it suggests no more substantial fare than talk, flow of words, and liberal interchange of ideas. It is simply a centre where pleasant people are to be met and good conversation is to be had. It may have--indeed, it generally has--its particular tone and color; it may be literary, religious, political, artistic, or jmilanthropic; but it remains always a place for talking--a place where intellectual nectar replaces material beverages. When we consider how much pleasure, amusement, even downright happiness, is to be got out of talk, the wonder is that ...