in France and England. 539 



the winter stock of wood for fuel dry ; but it performs more 

 important services. I appeal to the thousands of persons re- 

 siding in the flat low-roofed houses round London, whether, 

 in the years 1826 and 1827 (which had true French summers), 

 they did not find their upper sleeping-rooms, from being so 

 close to the roof, as hot as bakers' ovens, and whether they 

 could by any possible means keep them cool. In winter, 

 owing to the same cause, the rooms are extremely cold, and 

 subject to frequent inundations from the sudden thawing of the 

 snow which lodges upon the roof. These inconveniences are 

 effectually prevented by the high roofs of the French houses, 

 which, by interposing a great body of air between the tiles and 

 the upper ceiling, tend to equalise the temperature, while the 

 form of the roof prevents the snow from lodging in thick 

 masses. [A sufficient argument ; and we now see a beauty in 

 high roofs which we did not see before.] 



The following case strongly exemplifies the folly of con- 

 demning practices because they are at variance with those in 

 our own country : — A very intelligent friend of mine observed 

 in the neighbourhood of Tours a large public work (I believe 

 it was an embankment), which appeared to proceed very 

 slowly, compared with the rapid execution of such works in 

 England. He expressed his surprise to the overlooker, and 

 received the following answer : — "I admit, Sir, that in Eng- 

 land you would have completed the work in as many months 

 as it will take us years to finish, but I believe that the expense 

 would have been greater in the same ratio ; it is not, however, 

 to save expense that we conduct the work slowly ; we have a 

 higher object in view, the benefit of the labouring classes in 

 the neighbourhood. There are certain times of the year when 

 they have not sufficient employment ; at such times any man 

 may come here and work as long as he pleasesj for one hour, 

 two hours, or more, and he is paid in exact proportion to the 

 quantity of work he performs. The barrows are all of the 

 same size, and he receives for the number of barrowfuls of 

 earth that he wheels to a certain place, a clerk noting down 

 each time that he passes. Whenever he pleases he demands 

 his money, and returns home. The wages we allow are some- 

 thing less than the common rate of labour, but are sufficient 

 for his support; and in this way we have rendered essential 

 service to the labouring poor for several years." Many a 

 John Bull, who thinks himself a political economist, would 

 have chuckled with exultation at the superior cleverness and 

 quickness of the English, when he first learned the slow pro- 

 gress of such a work, and would never have stopped to dis- 

 cover the practical good sense by which it was directed. In 



