754 ANNUAL REGISTER, 1810. 



lie proceeded, successively to Ge- 

 noa, Malta, Smyrna, and Con- 

 stantinople. His views of the po- 

 litical state of Europe would do 

 honour to a well-informed Euro- 

 pean ; and his sketches of foreign 

 character, are not less acute and 

 instructive than those of our own 

 country. 



As we have given our author's 

 J'ree opinions on the English cha- 

 racter and manners, the reader 

 will be gratified by a few passages 

 by way of contrast, from his 

 sketches of France, and of French 

 customs. 



" On arriving at Calais, after 

 supper we got into a heavy coach 

 called a Diligence, but which, 

 from the tediousness of its motion, 

 reminded me of a Hindoostany 

 carriage drawn by oxen ; and af- 

 ter three nights and two days of 

 incessant travelling, we at length 

 reached Paris. During the whole 

 of this journey, the country was 

 beautiful, and highly cultivated ; 

 rich fields of corn were here and 

 there divided by vineyards, or or- 

 chards of delicious fruit; rivulets 

 of clear water crossed the road in 

 various places, over which were 

 constructed neat stone bridges ; 

 and every few miles we came to 

 a populous town or village. In 

 these respects, it appeared to me 

 superior to England. The cows 

 and other animals were, how- 

 ever, thin and poor looking, and 

 resembled those of India. The 

 horses had the appearance of the 

 Persian or Arabian breed, and 

 better looking than the English, 

 but, I was informed, were not 

 near so good. It was on this jour- 

 ney I first observeil oxen used in 

 Europe to draw carriages. Many 

 of the French dogs are exceedingly 



beautiful, and so small, that they 

 are carried by ladies under their 

 arms, to prevent their being fa- 

 tigued. 



"The roads were very broad, le- 

 vel, and the sides were planted with 

 rows of shady trees, which in the 

 summer mustbe a great comfortto 

 the traveller. Many of the towns 

 are surrounded by walls, and have 

 all the appearance of fortresses. 



" The villages in France are ex- 

 ceedingly mean, and do not at all 

 resemble their towns. I thought 

 the female peasants very disgust- 

 ing, both in their manners and 

 their dress: theattire of the village 

 girls in India, in comparison with 

 these, is infinitely superior. The 

 inns on the road were also exe- 

 crable, and filthy to such a de- 

 gree, that t could neither eat nor 

 drink in them with any pleasure." 



" In Paris, the coffee-houses are 

 innumerable, but, in general, are 

 very filthy ; and, as many of the 

 French smoke segars or cheroots in 

 them at all hours of the day, they 

 smell shockingly of tobacco. A 

 person isalsomuch annoyed bybeg- 

 gars at these places : they follow a 

 gentleman into the room, and some- 

 times even take hold of his hand 

 to move his compassion, or rather 

 to tire him by their importunity; 

 they are, however, content with a 

 trifle, and will sometimes be sa- 

 tisfied by a piece of bread : to 

 obtain this favour, they have fre- 

 quently to contend with a surly 

 rival, in the form of a large dog, 

 whose filth is lying about in dif- 

 ferent parts of the room. 



" I had been so long accustomed 

 to English cookery, thatduringtbe 

 whole of my residence in France 

 and Italy, I could never relish their 

 culinary process. Their roasted 



