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partment , whose labours are seconded by 

 the ardour of enlightened individuals; but 

 great meliorations must spring from a gene- 

 ral spirit of emulation, which it is not easy 

 to awaken. The French , notwithstanding the 

 rapidity of their conceptions , are a passive 

 people j tenacious of routine. The number of 

 liberally educated men who unite a taste for 

 rural life with a fortune sufficient for expe- 

 rimental farming , is comparatively small. 

 The gentry of France rush into the capital to 

 escape from ennui , as, in the noble days of 

 chivalry, the defenceless inhabitants of the 

 champaign fled into the castles , at the ap- 

 proach of some plundering knight or lawless 

 baron. The inspired twilight of their native 

 groves is forsaken for the luxurious shades of 

 the royal gardens, and the simple indepen- 

 dance of rural life , for the gilded servitude 

 of the court. Existence has a charm only in 

 Paris; those who cannot reside in the metro- 

 polis, hurry into the provincial capitals to 

 attend the levee of the prefect, and prefer 

 bending in the saloon of this humble repre- 

 sentative of royalty, to dispensing instruc- 

 tion and happiness among their dependants 



