PARIS. 
dance, begun by the order of Napoleon, but now left to 
decay, like many other fine works which were in progrefs 
when the Bourbons returned. Proceeding by the foffee 
of the Baftile to the fountain of the Elephant, likewife 
unfiniflied, you arrive at the beautiful fountain of the 
Lions, and the beft part of the Boulevards. 
“ Such a fucceffion of pleafing objeCls, united to the ci¬ 
vility with which you are received; the prevailing urba¬ 
nity and politenefs of the inhabitants; the mufic and Ting¬ 
ing which charm your ear, the drollery of the grimacieis 
and mountebanks, which irrefiftibly excite you to laugh¬ 
ter; the buftle, the activity, and the vivacity feen around, 
all confpire to create that feeling of delight and ecftacy 
which is feldom felt in our own country. The comforts 
which attend the walks of the fenfualift are great. If he 
be warm, he can retire to a delightful tirade ; and com¬ 
mand ices, lemonade, and punch of the moft delicious 
kinds. If he be hungry, the moft luxurioufly cooked 
meats await his order : amufements of all kinds furround 
him ; and alnroft every with his heart can form, is within 
his reach.” 
Mr. Safs is in fuch good humour with the French in ge¬ 
neral, that he draws a parallel between them and the Ita¬ 
lians, which we are tempted to tranfcribe. 
“Italy and France ftill refenrble eachotherin fonrepar¬ 
ticulars, which may have arifen from their longintercourfe, 
and having been under the fame government; but in moft 
things, at the prefent moment, they are widely different. 
The'French are proverbially honeft; the Italians direCtly 
the reverfe. There is a neatnefs and cleaulinefs in the 
French ; and, although they cannot be compared to the 
Englifh in thefe particulars, they are greatly fuperior to 
the Italians, who are in general very filthy. The country 
of France is richly cultivated, whilftagreat part of Italy 
is a defert. Where it is to be got, the drafting of the food 
is very fimilar; but, in travelling through tome parts of 
Italy, the vifitor rnuft not be very faftidious, but content 
liimfelf with four bread, bad cheefe, and indifferent wine. 
The French are lively and induftrious: the Italians add 
cunning to their livelinefs, and are' extremely indolent. 
If extreme poverty Is feen in France, the moft abjeCt mi- 
fery. and wretchednefs are met with continually in the 
other country. Thefyftemof police is fo good in France, 
that you travel in perfect fafety in every part; whilft, in 
Italy, your property is in continual jeopardy, nor is your 
life ever fecure. In faCt, to compare the government of 
Italy with that of France, we may alraoft give the latter 
the appellation of paternal. In the conveniences of tra¬ 
velling alfo, in thefe two countries, there is a great dif¬ 
ference. A perfon may be conveyed in fafetyand comfort, 
by the diligences, to all parts of France ; or, if he has a 
carriage, can travel equally fo by poft.. In Italy, there 
being no regular conveyances from one part to another, 
the difficulty of getting to any particular place is great, 
unlefs you have a carriage of your own : and you are then 
fubjeft to every fpecies of villainy and extortion, without 
the poffibility of getting any redrefs; befides the conti¬ 
nual hazard of being attacked by the diftreffed and infu¬ 
riated rabble, who infeft every part of Italy. Indeed, 
without an effort of cavalry, travelling is avowedly dan¬ 
gerous ; and, on the other fide of the Apennines, a guard 
of this kind is abfolutely neceflary. By the intelligence 
lately received from Italy it appears, that the audacity of 
the bands of robbers has arrived to fuch a pitch, that they 
not merely rob and murder travellers, plunder the villas 
in the vicinity, and brave the gates of Rome, carrying- 
off prifoners and then demanding their ranfom, but even 
enter that city in large bodies, and threaten its inhabitants. 
Turkey, a government we defpife for its imbecility, is 
not fobad as this. From good authority, I know that we 
can travel there in comparative fafety.” 
But, to keep more clofely to the fubjeCt of the prefent 
article, we mult fpeak particularly of the 
Charade): and Manners of the Parifians.— The inhabi¬ 
tants of every great city may be divided into three clafles, 
Vol. XVIII. No. 1456. 
440 
of whom the character and manners are altogether diffi- 
milar; the nobleffe, the middle ranks, and the common 
people. 
i. The manners and habits of the nobleffe have materially 
improved. The ftrange viciffitudes of the laft thirty 
years have fobered down much of their peculiar and dif- 
gufting.levity. The character and habits of the prefent 
reigning family, and the degree of uncertainty which yet 
attends the political fituation of France, have given a fe- 
rious, but not an unpleafmg, caft to the natural cheerful- 
nefs and buoyancy of fpirits. The neceffity of the times 
has likewife taught them affability, condefcenfion, and 
an apparent intereft in the welfare of the middle and 
lower clafles. The morals of the nobleffe are likewife evi¬ 
dently improved ; and the (hamelefs exhibition of profli¬ 
gacy which diigraced the reigns of Louis XIV. XV. and 
XVI, are now feldom witneffed. 
z. The peculiarities of the middle ranks of fociety, who 
will principally offer themfelves to the’attention of the 
traveller, with whom he will have moft to do, and to 
whom he muff look for the true character of a people, 
are eafily defcribed. The moft prominent feature in the 
character of the Parifian is a peculiar polileffe, which rarely 
fails topleafe, though it is not always exempt from hypo- 
crify. 
3. Brutal battles, quarrels, and noify drunken fellows, 
are very feldom to be met with at Paris ; nor is the 
traveller fo often afflicted and difgufted with the fight of 
female profligacy as in England. The lower clafles of the 
people behave to each other with a furprizing degree of 
civility. The advantages of what is called a common 
education are univerfally diffufed; and a taftefor reading, 
for accomplifhments, for all the embeilifhments of exift- 
ence, is a general charaCteriftic. The peafants have it, 
and in almoft as high a degree as the moft cultivated 
perfons. The poorer orders are polifhed far beyond the 
correfponding clafles of the Englifh, and the eff’eCt of their 
behaviour is extremely pleafing. One is chiefly lurprifed 
by the propriety of their mode of fpeaking : the ceremo¬ 
nies of courtefy, and the idiomatic phrafes of politenefs, 
proceeding from milk-women and carmen to each other, 
rather amaze an Englifnman. 'Phe loweft perfons touch 
their hats to each other in the ftreets. 
Civility and goodmannersindeed may be traced, though 
in different proportions, through every rank; yet it has 
been remarked, that much of that anxious politenefs 
which exifted before the revolution has been exchanged 
for a more fedate manner, and a feeling of independence. 
The company of the fofter fex is too often negleCted for 
the gaming-table and the theatre ; and the chevalier, 
who never quitted the company of his lady under the an- 
cien regime, is a character unknown at Paris. The cha¬ 
racter of the men is, without'queftion, confiderably im¬ 
paired : their levity and frivolity, and their good temper 
alfo, we fay with regret, have, in many inftances, given 
way to a lefs amiable demeanour, 
A military impulfe (obferves a good writer) had been 
given to the nation in the very earlieft ftages of the re¬ 
volution ; and the republican motto, “Peace to the cot¬ 
tage, and war to the caftle,” had opened every country in 
Europe to the arms and the rapacity of the French fol- 
dier. But the military fyftem received its full perfection 
from the genius of Bonaparte; he interwove it into all 
the inffitutions of the country, into all the offices of lire, 
into all the operations of government, and even into all 
the intercourfe of fociety, Prints and pictures, fongs and 
ftories, fliows, exhibitions, and amufements, all were em¬ 
ployed as vehicles of this fpirit; and it would have been 
wonderful indeed, if, accompanied by fo many victories 
abroad, and'by fo many pageants at home, it had not become 
the prevailing tafte of the nation, and if France itfelf had 
not been converted into a camp, and every child a foldier. 
We are forry to fee a fondnefs for military parade and mi¬ 
litary habits fo prevalent in our own country : no drefs 
but a military uniform is acceptable at the Britifli court. 
5 Y The 
