Diary of John Quincy Adams, volume 1
1785-01-04
Paris. Varietés; at the palais
Royal. Small Théatre, built in three weeks time. Le nouveau
parvenu. Le palais du bon gout. L'lntendant Comédien malgré lui. Le mensonge
excusable.2
Volange,3 an
excellent actor for the lowest kind of Comic-plays seven or eight parts in one piece with a
wonderful facility. One or two other actors, good in their way. Yet I wonder how people of
any delicacy, and especially Ladies can frequent this and the other small 213
214Théatres in Paris. The plays acted have seldom
much wit, and almost universally are very indecent. I know not what this People would not
run to; their taste seems to be entirely corrupted. The french Théatre is deserted, when
those pieces, which do honour to the nation are represented, and these theatres are always
crowded, though they present nothing but low buffoonery, and scrurrility. O tempora, O
mores! Letters from America4 when we return'd.
None for me.
JQA most likely intended to continue his Diary on 2 Jan., but “4th.” has
been written over in its place. The fourth is probably the correct date (and hence, the
entry following this is incorrect), as AA in letters she wrote between 3 and 7
Jan. makes several references to letters received on 4 Jan. (See letters by her cited in
note Jour. and Corr.
, 1:39–40).
Le nouveau parvenue, Paris, 1782, Le
palais du bon goût, n.p., n.d., but first produced in 1785, and Le mensonge excusable, Paris, 1783, all by Charles Jacob
Guillemain; La fête de campagne, ou, l'intendant comédien malgré
lui (title and subtitle are sometimes reversed), Paris, 1784, by Louis Dorvigny (Brenner, Bibliographical
List
).
Maurice François Rochet, called Volange (Lyonnet, Dict. des comédiens français
).
These included at least four letters, all dated 6 Nov. 1784: Elizabeth Cranch to AA
, Adams Papers (reply, 3Letters, ed. CFA, 1848, p. 222–226); Royall Tyler to
JA, and to AA2 (letters not found, but referred to in
AA to Tyler,