The Cardinal de Cl******T*******had been brought to Madame de T.'s by his most intimate friend，M.de Roquelaure，former Bishop of Senlis，and one of the Forty.M.de Roquelaure was notable for his lofty figure and his assiduity at the Academy；through the glass door of the neighboring hall of the library where the French Academy then held its meetings，the curious could，on every Tuesday，contemplate the Ex-Bishop of Senlis，usually standing erect，freshly powdered，in violet hose，with his back turned to the door，apparently for the purpose of allowing a better view of his little collar.
All these ecclesiastics，though for the most part as much courtiers as churchmen，added to the gravity of the T.salon，whose seigniorial aspect was accentuated by five peers of France，the Marquis de Vib****，the Marquis de Tal***，the Marquis de Herb*******，the Vicomte Damb***，and the Duc de Val********.This Duc de Val********，although Prince de Mon***，that is to say a reigning prince abroad，had so high an idea of France and its peerage，that he viewed everything through their medium.It was he who said：
'The Cardinals are the peers of France of Rome；the lords are the peers of France of England.'
Moreover，as it is indispensable that the Revolution should be everywhere in this century，this feudal salon was，as we have said，dominated by a bourgeois.M.Gillenormand reigned there.
There lay the essence and quintessence of the Parisian white society.There reputations，even Royalist reputations，were held in quarantine.There is always a trace of anarchy in renown.
Chateaubriand，had he entered there，would have produced the effect of Pere Duchene.
Some of the scoffed-at did，nevertheless，penetrate thither on sufferance.Comte Beug***was received there，subject to correction.
The'noble'salons of the present day no longer resemble those salons.The Faubourg Saint-Germain reeks of the fagot even now.
The Royalists of to-day are demagogues，let us record it to their credit.
At Madame de T.'s the society was superior，taste was exquisite and haughty，under the cover of a great show of politeness.Manners there admitted of all sorts of involuntary refinements which were the old regime itself，buried but still alive.
Some of these habits，especially in the matter of language，seem eccentric.Persons but superficially acquainted with them would have taken for provincial that which was only antique.
A woman was called Madame la Generale.
Madame la Colonelle was not entirely disused.The charming Madame de Leon，in memory，no doubt，of the Duchesses de Longueville and de Chevreuse，preferred this appellation to her title of Princesse.
The Marquise de Crequy was also called Madame la Colonelle.
It was this little high society which invented at the Tuileries the refinement of speaking to the King in private as the King，in the third person，and never as Your Majesty，the designation of Your Majesty having been'soiled by the usurper.'
Men and deeds were brought to judgment there.
They jeered at the age，which released them from the necessity of understanding it.They abetted each other in amazement.
They communicated to each other that modicum of light which they possessed.Methuselah bestowed information on Epimenides.
The deaf man made the blind man acquainted with the course of things.
They declared that the time which had elasped since Coblentz had not existed.In the same manner that Louis XVIII.
was by the grace of God，in the five and twentieth year of his reign，the emigrants were，by rights，in the five and twentieth year of their adolescence.
All was harmonious；nothing was too much alive；speech hardly amounted to a breath；the newspapers，agreeing with the salons，seemed a papyrus.
There were some young people，but they were rather dead.
The liveries in the antechamber were antiquated.These utterly obsolete personages were served by domestics of the same stamp.
They all had the air of having lived a long time ago，and of obstinately resisting the sepulchre.
Nearly the whole dictionary consisted of Conserver，Conservation，Conservateur；to be in good odor，——that was the point.
There are，in fact，aromatics in the opinions of these venerable groups，and their ideas smelled of it.It was a mummified society.
The masters were embalmed，the servants were stuffed with straw.
A worthy old marquise，an emigree and ruined，who had but a solitary maid，continued to say：
'My people.'
What did they do in Madame de T.'s salon？
They were ultra.
To be ultra；this word，although what it represents may not have disappeared，has no longer any meaning at the present day.Let us explain it.
To be ultra is to go beyond.
It is to attack the sceptre in the name of the throne，and the mitre in the name of the attar；it is to ill-treat the thing which one is dragging，it is to kick over the traces；it is to cavil at the fagot on the score of the amount of cooking received by heretics；it is to reproach the idol with its small amount of idolatry；it is to insult through excess of respect；it is to discover that the Pope is not sufficiently papish，that the King is not sufficiently royal，and that the night has too much light；it is to be discontented with alabaster，with snow，with the swan and the lily in the name of whiteness；it is to be a partisan of things to the point of becoming their enemy；it is to be so strongly for，as to be against.
The ultra spirit especially characterizes the first phase of the Restoration.
Nothing in history resembles that quarter of an hour which begins in 1814 and terminates about 1820，with the advent of M.de Villele，the practical man of the Right.
These six years were an extraordinary moment；at one and the same time brilliant and gloomy，smiling and sombre，illuminated as by the radiance of dawn and entirely covered，at the same time，with the shadows of the great catastrophes which still filled the horizon and were slowly sinking into the past.
