$2 
It will be recollected, says he, that, at 
Orleans, the British name was tarnished 
with indelible disprace by the infamous 
destruction of the female enthusiast, 
Joan of Arc, who, being taken prisoner, 
was burnt in the market-place, &c. 
Mr. H. is as unlucky in his history, as 
he is in his French: the maid of Orleans 
was ,executed in the market-place at 
Rouen. At Paris, 
«The first business in the morning, after 
the traveller has somewhat surmounted the 
fatigues of his journey, is to find out Mons. 
Perageux, in order to change his paper into 
aurum palpabile. This gentleman is pre- 
gently found out on the Boulevards, living 
in a palace, the view of which carries a sort 
of presentiment to the heart of the squeezing 
which awaits the purse. Papers being pro- 
duced, and the accustomed preambles gone 
through, Mr. P.’s representative asks you 
in what you will be paid—paper, silver, or 
gold? Not being as yet up to the tricks of 
the trade, you incautiously reply ‘¢ in Louis.” 
Well, in about five minutes, my gentleman 
having gone to another office for the cash, 
returns. ‘ The course of Exchange is so 
and so against you (about five per cent.) ; 
and, as for the louis, we purchase thefn for 
the accommodation of travellers ; you have, 
therefore, to lose one per cent. more on this 
account.” ‘Tio crown the whole, having 
been feathered thus of six per cent. you 
withdraw with your precious pieces; but, 
no sooner do you present one of them for 
payment, than out comes the scales and 
weights ; they are generally light, and you 
have the further satisfaction of losing fromm 
threepence to fourpence-hal{penny more upon 
most of them.” 
And does Mr, Hughes mean to bring 
forward, seriously and deliberately, such 
a charge of extortion against M. Perré- 
aux? We know that this gentleman 
is one of the first bankers in Paris, both 
as to reputation and to rank: his house 
is the resort of all those English who 
carry him letters of recommendation: 
he has acquired, their confidence, and 
stands high in their estimation. His 
table is open to them; there they are 
received with hospitality and elegance, 
and enjoy the pleasures of his agreeable. 
Art, XVII. A Rough Sketch of Modern Paris ; or Letters on Society, Public Cur al 
osities and Amusements in that Capital, written during the last two Months of 1801, a id 
the first five of 1802. 8vo. pp. 319. 
AFTER having accompanied Mr, 
Hughes in a barren, uninteresting tour, 
we feel quite revived at being introduced - 
to the society of a gentleman whose taste- 
is cultivated, whose mind is inquisitive, 
VOYAGES AND TRAVELS. 
and sagacious conversation: where‘ he 
can be of service, his attention to them 
4 
is unremitted, and his influence at th 
offices which respect foreigners is alwe ys 
ready to be exerted in their favour. Th 4 
manners of M. Perrégaux are polished, 
his mind is cultivated, and his judgment _ 
ismatured: qwe know that he is respected 
in London, in Paris, and in several dife” 
ferent departments of France, where 
has connections. If Mr. Hughes ass 
that he has himself been cheated by M.- 
Perrégaux, we certainly are not prepared 
to contradict the fact, but we should be 
deficient in justice not to avow that we 
have several times exchanged the ci 
cular notes of Sir Robert Herries, for 
louis d’ors and six-livre pieces, at th 
bank of Mr. P.; that he never charged | 
us one sous per cent. for the accommos 
dation of louis; and that so far from 
his six and twelve livre pieces being 
gencrally deficient in weight, a single in<_ 
stance of such deficiency does not occur 
to our remembrance. | { 
Mr. Hughes leaves the task of dew 
scribing the public buildings, the libr: 
riess the galleries, the museums, &c. te 
others; and confines himself to a ‘de 
scription of the filthy manners of the) 
inhabitants. He seems to have been 
particularly struck with the indelicacies” 
of the Parisians, and has related the 
with such careful minuteness, as to give 
no very high idea of the refinement of| 
his own taste. We have remarked that’ 
Mr. H.’s descriptions are generally exe? 
travagant; he labours to be very droll 
and humorous, and occasionally suc=| 
ceeds in raising a laugh: but it is no 
unfrequently at his own expence. 
With some common-place remarks on 
the French hierarchy. under the: old 
regime, and a sort of comparison be# 
tween the state ef agriculture in France 
and England, evincing no extraordina 
knowledge of the subject, this volume 
is brought to a conclusion.. It is altos 
gether a pert uninstructive performance & 
the style of it is very familiar and ve 
vulgar. 
if 
and who communicates the informatio ‘ 
he has acquired in' an easy, graceful 
manner. ae | 
The first objects of curiosity to which 
a man of taste directs his steps, after hig 
i eae 
, 
j 
* 
