BOOK I

My stay at Dieppe--Two phases of society--The position of my Memoirs--The year 1800--Aspect of France--I arrive in Paris--Changes in society--The year 1801--The _Mercure_--_Atala_--Madame de Beaumont and her circle--Summer at Savigny--The year 1802--Talma--The year 1803--The _Génie du Christianisme_--Failure prophesied--Cause of its final success--Defects in the work