Of the two celebrated sisters, Augustine was all wit,
Madeleine pure beauty and arch, melting grace.
These first days were rich days to me, and as they did not leave me any
time for thinking over what I had seen, my impressions overwhelmed me at
night, till sometimes I could not sleep for sheer happiness. This, to
me, was happiness, an uninterrupted garnering of intellectual wealth in
association with objects that all appealed to my sympathies, and I wrote
home: "To be here, young, healthy, with alert senses, keen eyes and good
ears, with all the curiosity, eagerness to know, love of learning, and
susceptibility to every impression, that is youth's own prerogative, and
to have no worries about home, all that is so great a happiness that I
am sometimes tempted, like Polycrates, to fling the handsome ring I had
from Christian Richardt in the gutter."
For the rest, I was too fond of characteristic architecture to feel
attracted by the building art displayed in the long, regular streets of
Napoleon III, and too permeated with national prejudices to be able at
once to appreciate French sculpture. I was justified in feeling repelled
by many empty allegorical pieces on public monuments, but during the
first weeks I lacked perception for such good sculpture as is to be
found in the _foyer_ of the Theatre Francais.
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