be a member of clubs as exclusive as
the Union and the Pommes-de-Terre, and yet he may find himself unable
to gain admission to the Jockey. Any excess of notoriety, any marked
personal eccentricity, would surely place him under the ban. Scions of
ancient families, who have had the wisdom to spend in the country and
with their parents the three or four years succeeding their college
life, would have a much better chance of admission than a leader of
fashion such as I have described. The illustrious General de Charette;
M. Soubeyran, at that time governor of the _Credit foncier_ of France;
the young Henry Say, brother-in-law of the prince A. de Broglie, rich
and accomplished, and the owner, moreover, of a fine racing-stable;
together with many other gentlemen whose private lives were above
suspicion,--have been blackballed for the simple reason that they were
too widely known. As to foreigners, let them avoid the mortification of
certain defeat by abstaining from offering themselves, unless indeed
they should happen to be the possessors of a great historic name or
should occupy in their own country a position out of the reach of
ordinary mortals. This careful exclusion of all originality and
diversity has, by degrees, communicated to the club a complexion
somewhat negative and colorless, but at the same time, it must be
admitted, of the most perfect distinction. The most influential
members, although generally very wealthy, live in Paris with but few of
the external signs of luxury, and devote their incomes to home comforts
and to the improvement of their estates. If one should happen to meet
on the Champs Elysees a mail-coach or a _daumont_ [an open carriage,
the French name of which has been adopted by the English, like
_landau_, etc. It is drawn by two horses driven abreast, and each
mounted by a postilion. The nearest English equivalent is a
"victoria."] that makes the promenaders turn and look back, or if there
be an _avant-scene_ at the Varietes or the Palais Royal that serves as
a point of attraction for all the lorgnettes of the theatre, one may be
quite sure that the owners of these brilliant turnouts and the
occupants of this envied box are not members of the club--"_the_ Club,"
_par excellence_, for thus is it spoken of in Paris. It is considered
quite correct at the club to devote one's self to the raising of cattle
and sheep, as the comtes de Bouville, de Behague, de Hauteserre and
others have done with such