from June 28. to August 16. 1840. 193 



amounts to a prohibition on single articles such as this Maga- 

 zine, exclusively altogether of duty. We do most sincerely 

 hope that at no distant time the two nations will, as to all 

 matters of mutual intercourse, become as one; and we even 

 hope that the French system of weights and measures, including 

 the centigrade thermometer, and the decimal division of money 

 (shillings being rendered of the same value as francs), will be 

 adopted in this country. 



Paris, The general appearance of the people has improved 

 in dress, and this is more particularly obvious in the drivers of 

 fiacres^ and other public voitures. The carriages themselves are 

 also much better ; and the circumstance of a tariff of charges 

 being fixed up in a conspicuous place within eveiy public car- 

 riage, prevents all disputes with the driver. The arrangement 

 among the omnibus companies, by which, for six sous paid to 

 the first omnibus, you can pass from one omnibus to another till 

 j'ou have reached your place of destination, the course necessary 

 for which may have led you half over Paris, is a singular 

 instance of cooperation ; and the printed police regulations for 

 omnibuses are perfect in their kind. They are on no account 

 to gallop ; to walk in going through markets, very narrow 

 streets, or over bridges ; and always to stand still while any 

 passenger gets in till he is comfortably seated, &c. When one 

 gets into a London omnibus, he can never tell what may 

 happen ; there is nothing to hinder the driver from racing, or 

 galloping, or crowding the omnibus with more than the fixed 

 number, or from moving off while the passenger is getting out, so 

 that he with difficulty keeps himself from being thrown down. 

 In short, the state of the omnibuses in London, as compared 

 with those in Paris, is utterly disgraceful to our police ; and the 

 same may be said of our stage-coaches and cabriolets. In truth, 

 our police is not sufficiently comprehensive; and we cannot help 

 thinking that, if a commission were sent to Paris to examine 

 and report on all the police and municipal regulations of that 

 capital, the result could not fail to afford us many useful ideas 

 for improvement. 



The Spirit of the People appeared to us as much changed as 

 their general appearance. The great desire of all classes seemed 

 to be to accumulate property. Every person is more or less 

 engaged in some kind of commerce, manufacture, trade, or 

 pursuit. On looking down on Paris from the railroad to Ver- 

 sailles, as many tall chimneys of steam-engines meet the eye as 

 were to be seen twenty years ago in Birmingham or Newcastle. 

 We could hardly believe our eyes when we saw them. If any 

 person had predicted such a thing in 1815, he would have been 

 thought mad. This spirit of industry is admirably fostered by 

 the laws and the government. In the first place, hereditary titles 



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