F 459 
 .L6 D7 
 Copy 1 
 
 OF MON^: 
 
CoByrightlJ". 
 
 COPYRIGHT DEPOSrc 
 
THE CONFECTIONERY 
 OF MONSIEUR GIRON 
 
/ love everything that's old. 
 
 — Mr. Hardcastle 
 
 h. 
 
 JAN 12 i9!6 
 
 ®CU4i8eu3 
 
 yy<t-\ , 
 
To 
 
 The Tramylcanian, 1829-1915 
 
 Oldest College Magazine in America 
 
In a somewhat different and briefer form The Con- 
 fectionery of Monsieur Giron appeared for the first 
 time in The Transyloanian for April, 1907. It was 
 reprinted in The Lexington Herald for August 1 5th, 
 1915. Since that time, — even while this final form of 
 the essay was preparing for the press— the Confectionery 
 
 has been sadly dismantled. 
 
 W. K. D. 
 
 ^Warrenton^: Richmond , Kentucky 
 December, 1915 
 
gW^W^g^V^'gg^iP^'M^'H g S 
 
 ^----■U-U%^%-JV%^-'^nj^iHtf'^525«iP«Vi 
 
 THE CONFECTIONERY OF M. GIRON 
 
THE CONFECTIONERY 
 OF MONSIEUR GIRON 
 
 An Essay 
 
 By 
 William Kavanaugh Doty, A. B., LL. B. 
 
 Editor-m-Chief of The Transyloanian, Transylvania 
 University. 1907-08; Editor-in-Chief of TheUnioer- 
 sily of Virginia Magazine, 1909-10; Founder and 
 Editor-in-Chief of The Flat Hat. College of William 
 and Mary. 1911-12. 
 
 Charlotiesville 
 
 THE MICHIE COMPANY 
 
 MDCCCCXV 
 

 Copyright 
 
 William Kavanaugh Doty 
 
 1915 
 
 J 
 
THE CONFECTIONERY 
 OF MONSIEUR GIRON 
 
 I 
 
 TT may be that Lexington, Ken- 
 -*■ tucky, is the most famous lit- 
 tle city in the United States. But 
 whether it be or no, it is among 
 the quaintest of places and one of 
 the most unique. Its reputation 
 and distinction do not depend 
 upon a solitary claim — not alone 
 upon horses and hemp, tobacco 
 and whiskey — but upon nearly 
 every degree of progress and 
 every phase of human endeavour. 
 Christened with the news of the 
 patriot blood spilled at Lexington, 
 its natal day was coeval with that 
 of the Republic, and following 
 
 [7] 
 
thence, its own annals have re- 
 produced largely the history of 
 the State and Nation. 
 
 The streets of the present day 
 are of many widths, varying from 
 those of the pioneer village to 
 those of a busy city — throbbing 
 heart of the entire Blue Grass 
 Country. Side by side stand the 
 old rambling mansions of slave 
 days with the newer residences, 
 more consciously compact; and 
 nestling there between buildings of 
 dizzy heights is the small two- 
 storied structure with roof slant- 
 ing steep to the street over small- 
 paned windows — the business 
 house of an ante-bellum metrop- 
 olis. A strange mingling, this, of 
 ease and opulence, commercialism 
 and romance, history, made, and 
 history, making; and whoever is 
 even so slightly versed in the his- 
 tory, traditions, and associations 
 
 [8] 
 
that enshroud the streets of this 
 Kentucky Lexington, will find a 
 zestful pleasure in walking through 
 them — diversified as they are with 
 commingled styles of architec- 
 ture, lawns, and gardens, covering 
 the entire nineteenth century and 
 overlapping the eighteenth and 
 twentieth — if he dwell for a time 
 about those scenes of especial in- 
 terest, minded only of the past. 
 
 Thus, putting aside for a while 
 all thoughts of the present with 
 the rush and bustle of the time, it 
 is something akin to a joyous in- 
 spiration to look upon the oldest 
 institution of learning west of the 
 Alleghenies ... to know that in 
 that house over there the Mar- 
 quis de La Fayette was enter- 
 tained, and addressed from the 
 steps in front a crowd of enthu- 
 siastic Kentuckians ... to see, 
 farther down, the law office of Mr. 
 
 [9] 
 
Clay, and opposite, his residence 
 previous to Ashland ... in sight 
 of this the spot whereon John 
 Bradford printed the Kentucke 
 Gazette, first newspaper in the 
 West . . . and adjoining that, the 
 Confectionery of M. Giron, con- 
 taining the beautiful dancing- 
 rooms of former time. Then 
 there are countless others: let 
 Postmaster Ficklin's house be 
 mentioned, where Jefferson Davis 
 lived while a student at Transyl- 
 vania; the Elkhorn, first water to 
 be plowed by the first successful 
 steamboat in the world — that of 
 Edward West in 1793; Postle- 
 thwaite's Tavern (now the Phoenix 
 Hotel); and the church of the 
 Reverend James Moore, sweet- 
 souled parson upon whose ears 
 forever smote the sweet celestial 
 harmony of the spheres like mu- 
 sic playing in the distance; — all 
 
 [10] 
 
perpetuated in song and story to 
 represent a short but most roman- 
 tic portion of the history of the 
 United States. 
 
 [11] 
 
II 
 
 npHE Confectionery of M. Gi- 
 -*- ron stands out as one of 
 the most colourful, though not 
 the most noted, of all the places 
 in Lexington. At this far time it 
 owes its chiefest interest to Mr. 
 James Lane Allen's story, King 
 Solomon of Kentucky, long pointed 
 to by eminent critics as one of 
 the best in the English language. 
 Therein may be seen, as afar 
 down the dim aisle of Memory, M. 
 Giron, his Confectionery, and his 
 Ball-Rooms, set forth by the hand 
 of a master in bright colours and 
 strong, yet soft and mellow as if 
 by age. 
 
 This M. Mathurin Giron emi- 
 grated from France to America 
 and entered the fair land of Ken- 
 
 [13] 
 
tucky somewhere near the divid- 
 ing line of the eighteenth and 
 nineteenth centuries. His advent 
 can not be nearer ascertained. He 
 is unlike many characters in leg- 
 endary and historical fiction who, 
 when traced through the misty 
 years to their daily lives, and sub- 
 jected to the critical test of se- 
 rious research, lose most of the 
 subtle charm pervading them as 
 personcs of a beautiful story. Their 
 beauty, bravery, and brocaded cos- 
 tumes are dissipated all too often 
 as the clear light of cold scrutiny 
 falls upon them. Not so with M. 
 Giron — "that M. Giron who made 
 the tall pyramids of meringues 
 and macaroons for wedding sup- 
 pers, and spun around them a 
 cloud of candied webbing as white 
 and misty as the veil of the bride." 
 He stands out lovable, in fact as 
 in fiction. Not even the skilled 
 
 [13] 
 
hand of him who has saved his 
 name from oblivion could add a 
 further lustre to his being. 
 Whether viewing him through the 
 pages of a romance, or looking 
 into the musty old record-books 
 of the county for a summary of 
 his earthly barterings, or listening 
 to the narrative of oral tradition 
 from some aged townsman, he 
 measures to the stature of a per- 
 sonage of no little charm and con- 
 sequence. 
 
 He was an attractive little fig- 
 ure, as they say, rotund and rosy, 
 suave and sunny. But how small 
 of stature — scarcely over five feet 
 in height ! And how ample of 
 girth ! Being, therefore (unlike 
 the most of us), as broad as he 
 was deep; or nearer yet, not shal- 
 low because he was wide. His 
 dress was something Frenchy, if 
 not fastidious; his face was 
 
 [14] 
 
smooth-shaven; his speech was a 
 piquant, broken English with an 
 animating accent. Moreover, he 
 was a gentleman of exceeding tact 
 and kindliness, possessing the rare 
 human quality of sympathy; was 
 ever active, cordial, and merry; 
 and a man, withal, of great adapt- 
 ability, who never alienated a 
 friend, never irritated an enemy. 
 
 Naturally enough such a man as 
 was Mathurin Giron, who had 
 dwelt in a far country and seen 
 much of the world in the bargain, 
 would be of more than passing in- 
 terest in those days in Kentucky. 
 And the more especially so when 
 he would tell at length to his won- 
 dering auditors the stories of his 
 travels and adventures (actual or 
 not) in other times and other 
 climes: for the associated press 
 and the railways had not as yet 
 dispelled as a mist of the morning 
 
 [15] 
 
the vast, dense Wilderness lying 
 between Kentucky and the Old 
 Settlement, Virginia. The people 
 were all but shut in from the news 
 and happenings of the outside 
 world. But few books and tidings 
 from other lands were finding 
 their way across the Allegheny 
 barrier. M. Giron, then, was a 
 transplanted cutting of European 
 wonders, a veritable summary of 
 Old World events. He claimed to 
 have been a French grenadier, and 
 in Napoleon's Guard — a thing 
 much doubted by reason of his 
 height, — and said as how he had 
 lived in nearly every country of 
 Europe. One day, surrounded by 
 the usual group of admirers, he 
 enumerated the places he had vis- 
 ited and the countries in which 
 he had lived, not forgetting to 
 give with grave accuracy the time 
 of his residence in each. It was 
 
 [16] 
 
then that the wag in the crowd 
 (now remembered solely for that 
 happy stroke of wit) observed 
 that the gentleman from over 
 seas was an hundred and sixteen 
 years old, forsooth. Poor old 
 enthusiast! Guileless Mathurin! 
 Not a wilful Munchausen, my 
 children, but how hopelessly en- 
 tangled now in his own venial fab- 
 rications ! 
 
 [17] 
 
Ill 
 
 TipROM the eventful day that 
 •*- M. Giron first set foot in 
 the streets of Lexington, the trade 
 of a confectionary was for him vo- 
 cation and avocation alike. And 
 the records are there to prove it. 
 Hovir he strove with tessellated 
 fortune, against debt and mort- 
 gage, in good days and ill, through 
 plenty and pestilence, goes to 
 form the homely tale of life's fe- 
 ver. He is heard of first in 1811, 
 when, to meet the increasing la- 
 bours of his calling, he thought 
 of an apprentice. He articled one 
 accordingly (journeymen were 
 not yet become obsolete), Fran- 
 cis Rennals, by name, a youth of 
 eighteen summers, who was to 
 find in M. Giron a master well dis- 
 
 [18] 
 
posed and kindly. The apprentice 
 bond, aside from him, has an ar- 
 chaic interest of its own, illustra- 
 tive of olden times and customs. 
 The indenture as recorded 
 
 Witnesseth, that Francis Rennals aged 
 eighteen years is bound apprentice to said 
 Mathurin Giron until he arrives at the 
 age of twenty-one years, who is to teach 
 him or cause him to be taught the trade 
 of a confectionary in a masterly and 
 workmanlike manner, also reading, writ- 
 ing and Arithmetic, including the rule of 
 three with propriety; and at the expira- 
 tion of said apprenticeship is to furnish 
 said apprentice with a decent new suit of 
 Clothes in addition to his common wear- 
 ing apparel & pay him in specie three 
 pounds ten shillings, and during said ap- 
 prenticeship is to observe toward said 
 apprentice a proper and becoming treat- 
 ment and behaviour and such other duties 
 as the law prescribes. 
 
 Following the terse and meagre 
 records on through the years, it 
 will be found that M. Giron first 
 had for partner in the trade a cer- 
 tain Henry Terrass who had been 
 a confectioner before this connec- 
 
 [19] 
 
tion was formed. That was in 
 1811. Their shop stood then as 
 now on Mill Street near Short, a 
 small wooden structure twenty- 
 two feet of front, and doubtless 
 bore the firm name, Terrass & Gi- 
 ron, above the door. Next it will 
 be discovered that a Mr. Peter 
 John Robert succeeded to the 
 place of coowner, to share and 
 share alike in either profits or 
 losses according as fate decreed. 
 Now it was Giron & Company — a 
 much more sounding name. But 
 that, too, was to give way to 
 change and leave at length M. 
 Mathurin Giron, confectionary, as 
 sole proprietor and manager. 
 
 Fortune favoured the little 
 Frenchman, and not long after he 
 had bought an interest in the 
 house on Mill Street — in 1818, to 
 be exact, — he purchased another, 
 twenty-four feet wide and of brick, 
 
 [20] 
 
on Short Street. His Confection- 
 ery was near Short Street with 
 only one building between his 
 house and the corner, and his new 
 purchase was just behind this cor- 
 ner building, and in close prox- 
 imity to the Confectionery itself. 
 The lots were joined in the rear, 
 forming a right angle. The upper 
 rooms of these two buildings were 
 destined to become the famous 
 Ball-Rooms of M. Giron; for the 
 deed-book of 1829 has been found 
 to refer to the brick house on 
 Short Street as "being the house 
 at present used by the said Giron 
 as a Ball room and a Supper 
 room." 
 
 Just when the present Confec- 
 tionery was erected can not now 
 be said with accuracy. Referring 
 again to the records, it will be 
 learned that in 1829 the same 
 wooden frame building "23 feet by 
 
 [21] 
 
50 feet back, now occupied by said 
 Giron as a confectionery and 
 dwelling house," was still standing 
 on Mill Street. Not long after- 
 wards, however, probably very 
 soon thereafter, an adjoining lot, 
 twenty-two feet in width, was ac- 
 quired by M. Giron, and the pres- 
 ent attractive old weather-worn 
 building of brick was put up on 
 the combined space of forty-four 
 feet. It stands now just as it was, 
 just as M. Giron built it, save for 
 a balcony of iron lace along the 
 upper story in front. On this bal- 
 cony the dancers were used to 
 come to cool between the sets; 
 and on circus days and during all 
 pageants it was crowded with 
 spectators to better see the Ble- 
 phant and other "natural curiosi- 
 ties." There are halls in the cen- 
 tre below and above; the confec- 
 tionery shop was on the lower 
 
 [23] 
 
floor; and the ball-rooms were 
 above it, extending back, with 
 great panelled folding doors of 
 some beautiful wood between 
 them, opening to the high ceiling. 
 There was a vast open fireplace in 
 each room, with mantel-pieces 
 made of cherry-wood, and sup- 
 ported by graceful columns. 
 
 The style of architecture em- 
 ployed is unusual, dignified, and 
 symmetrical. With its air of 
 sturdy grace, the old Confection- 
 ery looks as if designed by Gid- 
 eon Shryock who conceived Mor- 
 rison College, of Transylvania, and 
 the old State Capitol at Frankfort. 
 The semi-classical note of the 
 Tuscan pilasters along the front is 
 strongly suggestive of this gifted 
 Kentucky architect of the first 
 half of the eighteenth century. 
 For its simple attractiveness, just 
 as for its interest as a survivor of 
 
 [23] 
 
a period that is past but never to 
 be forgotten, around which hover 
 many associations not possible 
 now to another, this aged remnant 
 of days long dead must remain as 
 a sort of shrine for all lovers of 
 Lexington's history. 
 
 In its appointments, M. Giron's 
 Confectionery was well up with 
 any of its time. For those curi- 
 ous of its contents may be men- 
 tioned, from a list of record in the 
 Fayette Court House, the follow- 
 ing accessories: for furnishings, 1 
 side board, 3 Carpets, 4 Bureaus, 
 3 Settles, 6 Beds & Bedding, 10 
 Looking Glasses, 14 Tables, 17 
 doz. Chairs, and 1 fine mantel time 
 piece; for china and glass, 140 
 Glass Jars, 13 Glass stands, 800 
 bottles, 12 Demi-johns, 24 Decan- 
 ters, 2 Sets of China, 22 doz. 
 plates, and 50 dishes; for silver, 6 
 doz. Silver Tea Spoons, 2 doz. Sil- 
 
 [24 1 
 
ver Table Spoons, 1 doz. Gilt Sil- 
 ver forks, 1 Tea pot of Silver, 1 
 Silver cream pot 28 Ounces, 4 
 large Gravy Spoons, 1 Silver 
 Gravy boat 22 Oz., and 2 Silver 
 Ladles. Verily, a fine array and a 
 splendid establishment! 
 
 Upon this site has been a con- 
 fectionery for over a century. It 
 is a long period of continuous du- 
 ration for so fragile a trade, but 
 there have been but four people in 
 charge of it — Terrass, Giron, Rear- 
 don, and Norris. 
 
 During M. Giron's proprietor- 
 ship, he always served the suppers 
 at the balls given in his rooms 
 above, and was caterer at many a 
 famous banquet. It was he, and 
 none other, who made the wonder- 
 ful cake, all round and rich and 
 high, for the Marquis Fayette, and 
 covered it with a brilliantly beau- 
 tiful flag of tinted icing in red and 
 
 [25] 
 
white and blue. These spacious 
 rooms were used also, and many's 
 the time, as a meeting place by- 
 political clubs; especially to be 
 mentioned, as tradition has it, dur- 
 ing the high tide of Mr. Clay's ca- 
 reer, and through the heated cam- 
 paigns of Martin Van Buren and 
 William Henry Harrison. And 
 therein plays were sometimes 
 acted. If the truth were known 
 it might be possible to mention 
 many a noted player who had trod 
 those boards and fretted his little 
 hour on the stage. 
 
 [ 26 
 
IV 
 
 AFTER the dissolution of tlie 
 firm of Giron & Company, 
 M. Giron continued the trade 
 alone with more or less success 
 until the ever memorable year of 
 1833. Lexington was not then the 
 Lexington that he had known 
 first: he had seen the growth of 
 her University, the ingress of the 
 first railroad, the spread of her 
 distinction, and the distinction of 
 her public men. He had seen all; 
 he had contributed his part — a fine 
 and notable part — toward the up- 
 building of this, the metropolis of 
 the West. He had, and others 
 had; and the dawning of the sum- 
 mer of 1833 found them dreaming 
 big dreams and seeing visions of 
 
 [27] 
 
greater things to be. "Yes, the 
 summer of 1833 was at hand, and 
 there must be new pleasures, new 
 luxuries; for Lexington was the 
 Athens of the West and the Ken- 
 tucky Birmingham." 
 
 Close upon the growth of 
 wealth and education was that of 
 a brilliant society. Travellers of 
 this period pronounced Lexington 
 one of the best built and most 
 fashionable of places; and in hos- 
 pitality, manners, and intellectual 
 attainments, no whit below the 
 more pretentious of the Eastern 
 cities. Thus, notwithstanding the 
 bitter polemical contentions and 
 sectarian prejudices, and despite 
 the puritan element, deep-rooted, 
 and ever threatening to wipe out 
 the mere suggestion of pleasure, 
 pleasure continued. Those who 
 read the Observer and Reporter of 
 March 28th, 1833, saw this an- 
 
 [28 1 
 
nouncement, printed in italics un- 
 der a bold heading: 
 
 DANCING SCHOOL 
 
 Mr. Xaupi, a native of France, having 
 been for a great many years a resident of 
 Virginia, and now in Louisville, respect- 
 fully informs the Ladles and Gentlemen 
 of this City and its vicinity, that he will 
 open on Saturdav, 8th dav of April next, 
 a DANCING ACADEMY in this place, 
 where he will he in a fezv days, and at- 
 tend to the calls of all the persons who 
 will favour him with their patronage. 
 
 If an experience of a great many years 
 in his profession, assiduity, the utmost 
 exertions for the progress of the pupils 
 entrusted to his care, and the best recom- 
 mendations, can entitle a person to patron- 
 age, Mr. Xaupi feels perfectly confident, 
 that he shall obtain it in Lexington, and 
 zvill be very grateful for it. 
 
 Mr. Xaupi and family intend to settle 
 permanently in this place. 
 
 M. Xaupi had realised the op- 
 portunities for practising his pro- 
 fession in America, and upon his 
 arrival in this country settled in 
 aristocratic, pleasure-loving old 
 Virginia. He resided there for 
 several years, until, fascinated by 
 
 [29] 
 
the reports from the Transylvania 
 Country, he decided to follow the 
 wave of emigration to that happy 
 land of plenty and contentment, 
 where his sad little life was so 
 soon to become a memory. 
 
 Those who read the notice from 
 M. Xaupi on the twenty-eighth of 
 March found the same announce- 
 ment in the next issue of April 
 the third. Among them were 
 Mme. Blaique and Mr. P. Jones. 
 Now this Mme. Blaique, lately of 
 France, had taught a dancing class 
 at Lexington in recent times, as 
 had P. Jones, and seeing their 
 rights disputed by a new-comer, 
 they respectfully announced their 
 intentions of continuing their danc- 
 ing academies just as before. 
 
 Mr. Jones notified his patrons 
 through the Observer and Reporter 
 that his class at Mr. L. Taylor's 
 ball-room "on Main Street, near 
 
 [30] 
 
the Postoffice," would be opened 
 on Saturday the thirteenth of 
 April, and that he would conduct 
 classes "for young ladies and mas- 
 ters" and an evening school for 
 gentlemen. In addition to these 
 classes, one would be opened for 
 gentlemen who desired to become 
 acquainted with that delightful in- 
 strument, the violin. 
 
 And Mme. Blaique tendered her 
 thanks, as well, for patronage in 
 the past. She placed in the same 
 paper a very flattering article con- 
 cerning her ability from the 
 Bardstown Herald, in which town 
 she had recently given dancing 
 lessons with so much success and 
 satisfaction. She was to have two 
 classes, also, one for young ladies, 
 and one for young gentlemen. 
 "Waltzes, Galopedes, Cotillions, 
 and all fashionable modes of danc- 
 ing" would be taught. 
 
 [31] 
 
During the month M. Xaupi ar- 
 rived at Lexington. He arranged 
 in good time with his compatriot, 
 M. Giron, to have his headquarters 
 in the Giron Ball-Rooms above 
 the Confectionery, and further 
 prosecuted his campaign by insert- 
 ing the following observations 
 upon genteel deportment in the 
 Observer and Reporter, putting par- 
 ticular stress upon dancing, the 
 fecund source, according to him, 
 of all gentility: 
 
 In presenting my respects to the La- 
 dies and Gentlemen of Lexington, I beg 
 to submit to their patronage my inten- 
 tion of opening a Dancing Academy, 
 zvherein my particular attention shall be 
 devoted to the pupils entrusted to my 
 care, for the purpose of acquiring a 
 knowledge of the Art I teach — an Art, 
 which, reviewed in its proper light, must 
 be acknowledged as a genteel accomplish- 
 ment, absolutely essential to those whose 
 lot it is, or in future may be, to move 
 in the polite circles of society, and which 
 has ever been considered an accompani- 
 ment to, if not a necessary part of, a 
 finished education. 
 
 [ 32 
 
In this institution. Dancing will he 
 taught according to the acknowledged 
 rules of the Art, and the greatest care 
 shall ahi'ays be taken to inculcate a gen- 
 teel deportment to the scholars, and im- 
 part to them proper manners of civility. 
 
 Experience daily shews, that the dis- 
 tinguished regard which is invariably paid 
 to well educated youths, is the result of 
 proper instruction and attention. Indif- 
 ference, if not contempt, is the lot of 
 those who are ignorant of the manners 
 of civility, ivhich are indispensably nec- 
 essary, not only in private company and 
 public assemblies, but also in our general 
 intercourse zvith the zvorld. They should 
 be observed, even in the casual meeting 
 of our most intimate acquaintance. By 
 adhering to the rules of politeness, re- 
 spect and decency are preserved — and a 
 person zvho will particularly observe them, 
 must not only obtain self gratification, 
 but also the esteem and consideration of 
 others. 
 
 The accomplishment of dancing is the 
 main source from which these benefits 
 are derived — the utility and advantages of 
 this excellent Art, are incontestable. In- 
 nocent pleasure, gratification and_ promo- 
 tion of health are combined in its prac- 
 tice. 
 
 Besides this dancing class, M. 
 Xaupi planned to have each month 
 a great ball, a Cotillion Party, most 
 beautiful to see. The first of these 
 
 33 
 
was given on May the third. The 
 ladies who had received invitation- 
 tickets were expected to attend the 
 May Ball, and the gentlemen were 
 informed that they might obtain 
 admission cards at Mr. Giron's 
 Confectionery and at Mr. Postle- 
 thwaite's Tavern. 
 
 The second (and last) Cotillion 
 Party was on May the thirtieth; 
 and this, following, is the last an- 
 nouncement that the poor little 
 Xaupi ever made — printed in beau- 
 tiful italics: 
 
 The Ladies and Gentlemen of Lexing- 
 ton are respectfully informed that a Co- 
 tillion Party will be held next Thursday 
 SotJi inst. in my Dancing Rooms at Mr. 
 Giron's. The Ball zvill open at eight 
 o'clock. 
 
 Tickets for gentlemen will be delivered 
 at Mr. Giron's. Good music may be ex- 
 pected. 
 
 — Xaupi. 
 
 Time soon flew around to the 
 thirtieth; "the day passed, the 
 
 [34] 
 
night came on, and M. Xaupi gave 
 his brilliant ball." It was a great 
 event in social circles, Ken- 
 tucky's fairest were present, and 
 with them rival beauties, their vis- 
 itors, from other States. "The 
 men came in blue cloth coats with 
 brass buttons, buff waistcoats, and 
 laced and ruffled shirts; the ladies 
 came in white satins with ethereal 
 silk overdresses, embroidered in 
 the figure of a gold beetle or an 
 oak leaf of green. The walls of 
 the ball-room were painted to rep- 
 resent landscapes of blooming 
 orange-trees, set here and there in 
 clustering tubs; and the chande- 
 liers and sconces were lighted 
 with innumerable wax-candles, 
 yellow and green and rose." 
 
 What a time for the flocking to- 
 gether of local Brummels and 
 Beau Nashes! What a gathering 
 of the fair and fickle — prinked 
 
 [35] 
 
and powdered ladies in patches and 
 laces and jewels! Old King Solo- 
 mon attended M. Xaupi's ball too, 
 but "in his own way and in his 
 proper character, being drawn to 
 the place for the purpose of seeing 
 the fine ladies arrive and float in 
 like large white moths of the sum- 
 mer night; of looking in through 
 the open windows at the many col- 
 oured waxen lights and the snowy 
 arms and shoulders; of having 
 blown out to him the perfume and 
 the music; not worthy to go in, 
 being the lowest of the low, but 
 attending from a doorstep of the 
 street opposite." 
 
 This ball was the gay prede- 
 cessor of a gloomy aftermath, the 
 most melancholy in the annals of 
 Kentucky — nay, the Mardi Gras of 
 the summer of '33. "While the 
 bows were still darting across the 
 strings, out of the low, red east 
 
 [36] 
 
there shot a long, tremulous bow 
 of light up towards the zenith. 
 And then, could human sight have 
 beheld the invisible, it might have 
 seen hovering over the town, over 
 the ball-room, over M. Xaupi, the 
 awful presence of the plague." 
 
 "Poor old Xaupi — poor little 
 Frenchman! Whirled as a gamin 
 of Paris through the mazes of the 
 Revolution, and lately come all the 
 way to Lexington to teach the 
 people how to dance. Hop about 
 blithely on thy dry legs, basking 
 this night in the waxen radiance 
 of manners and melodies and 
 graces ! Where will be thy tunes 
 and airs to-morrow? Ay, smile 
 and prompt away! On and on I 
 Swing corners, ladies and gentle- 
 men! Form the basket! Hands 
 all around !" 
 
 The cholera came on apace, and 
 with fury. The dread days of the 
 
 [37] 
 
London pestilence were to be re- 
 peated in Kentucky. The streets 
 were now emptied by death and 
 by flight. The busy hum was 
 hushed. Hundreds were swept 
 away. M. Xaupi was among the 
 first. Old King Solomon of Ken- 
 tucky, the big-hearted, the much- 
 persecuted, the loathed and re- 
 viled, laid him to rest in the old 
 Baptist burying ground, where 
 came at that solemn hour all 
 creeds and all parties. 
 
 [38] 
 
BUT the plague was not ever- 
 lasting. Toward the autumn, 
 its ravages lessened and finally 
 subsided, just as in the greater 
 plague of 1665. M. Giron, like the 
 good Grocer of Wood Street, with 
 his wife and daughter escaped. 
 Those who had fled were now re- 
 turned. The grass was cut from 
 the streets; business was resumed; 
 sorrows and losses began to be 
 forgotten. The more fortunate 
 helped the less fortunate; and 
 King Solomon received his "coro- 
 nation." 
 
 M. Giron, after experiencing 
 many degrees of fortune, at last 
 obtained an unshared title to his 
 property. The days that now 
 came were happy; his wife, Phil- 
 
 [39] 
 
berte (the daughter of a worthy 
 citizen-Frenchman, M. Vimont, of 
 Millersburg, Bourbon County), 
 was a sweet-tempered companion; 
 his daughter, Cecilia, grew to be a 
 very beautiful lady. 
 
 Years passed on as they must, 
 and M. Giron grew old. His 
 daughter had married and moved 
 away, as daughters will, and 
 should, and Mme. Philberte had 
 donned the cap and shawl. The 
 life of a confectionary was a hard 
 one now for the master and he 
 must soon give it up. In 1844 he 
 chose to seek retirement. Then it 
 was that he sold his Confectionery 
 and departed forever from Mill 
 Street. Let it be hoped that he 
 sold it, not to answer the im- 
 placable call of debt, but of his 
 own good will, thinking to have a 
 quieter and less arduous life. 
 
 Let the final picture of him be 
 
 [40] 
 
that of one independent of char- 
 ity, a town magnate, reposing in 
 well-earned ease upon a comfort- 
 able fortune, built up by active and 
 unceasing labour — a man of note 
 and counsel, whose heaviest duties 
 were to sit with a friendly pipe 
 among his fellows, given to much 
 harking back to olden times, and 
 to the making of prophecies of 
 better days to come. Think of 
 him and good Philberte as await- 
 ing their summons in happy, un- 
 tiring love, at peace with the world 
 and all men. 
 
 His day zvas done, and the sands had run 
 Through the measuring glass so long. 
 
 That now there was left to his setting sun, 
 But a pipe, and a howl, and a song. 
 
 His grave in the old burying 
 ground has long since been erased. 
 No record in metal or stone pro- 
 
 41 
 
claims the legend of his mortal 
 strivings. But the old Confection- 
 ery! Will it be to him a fitting and 
 lasting monument in this world of 
 transient memories? Ah, no. Yet 
 in the book of The Flute and Vio- 
 lin will he have his lasting epitaph, 
 monumentum c^re perennius to the 
 memory of M. Giron — him who 
 scattered the sweets of life along 
 his way. 
 
 42 
 
Of this book two hundred copies have been printed, 
 at Charlottesville, Virginia, by The Michie Company, 
 in the month of December, nineteen hundred and 
 fifteen. This is number 
 
LIBRftRY OF CONGRESS 
 
 002 732 489 7