44-6 LETTERS FROM PARIS* 



Vienna it is the falhion to march filently and ilowly 

 along to promote digeftion ; and the Berliner puts iron 

 heel-pieces under his large boots, that he may make 

 a noife along his broad itreets. 



The agility with which the Parilians of both fexes 

 Ikip between the people and carriages, and at the fame 

 time through the puddles of the ftreets, is really fur- 

 prifing. It often happens that a group of foot walkers 

 are f unrounded unawares by carriages in a narrow 

 flreet, from which they prefently extricate themfelves 

 with all the alertnefs pofiible. Sometimes again one 

 finds onefelf hemmed in by porters, fweating under 

 their burdens, fruit and flower women with their 

 bafkets before them, itinerant fhops with all kinds of 

 quinquailleries carried between two men, chop houfe 

 boys with lix difhes on their heads one at top of the 

 other, frifeurs with their powdery cloaths, petits- 

 maitres fuperbement frifes, foldiers of the police with 

 their arms, noltrum-venders with their piles of bottles 

 and gallipots, garcons of the coffee-houfes with pots 

 and cups on falvers, cripples on crutches and blind- 

 beggars with their leaders : this motly crew is in one 

 minute crouded together in a fpace of eight paces in 

 circumference, and befet behind with prancing horfes, 

 towering whilkies and enormous carts ; and in the next 

 minute the whole is vanifhed away, no frifure is tum- 

 bled, no frock dirtied, no cups broken, no flowers 

 deftroyed, no blind-man run down, no cripple 

 cruihed, no foup overfet, no abuflve language heard, 

 and no unfriendly fhoves any longer felt. : every one 

 has faved himfelf and his appurtenances, and in the 

 third minute no one recollects that he has been in this 



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