450 x PARIS. 
The wonderful fucceftes of our armies will no doubt rea¬ 
sonably account for this; but we hope that mutual con¬ 
fidence and a long peace will by degrees foftendown thefe 
habits in both countries, and particularly in our own. See 
Lord Grey’s fpeech on the opening of parliament, Jan. 
23 > l8zl * _ ' 
It has been faid, and perhaps with fomejuftice, that 
hofpitality, formerly the natural virtue of Frenchmen, is 
no longer to be found in France : and this is particularly 
the cafe in the capital. The fondnefs for public amufe- 
ments, and fpe< 5 tacleg of every fort, leave the Parifian but 
little time to cultivate the pleafures of domeltic Society, 
or to exercife the virtues of English hofpitality. The 
people of Paris are feldom at home, even in the technical 
language of modern times; and, as rr great majority of 
them breakfaft, dine, and fup, at coffee-houfes and ref- 
taurateurs, the Stranger cannot expert that much atten¬ 
tion will be paid to letters of introdudtion, fo far at lead 
as hofpitality and domeftic Society are concerned. 
The Parifian, though he has little idea of what we term 
the comforts of the domeftic fire-fide, does not, at the 
clofe of the bufinefs of the day, quit his family and refort 
to the coflee-lioufe, o,r the club; but with his wife and 
children, dreffed in all their little finery, he parades the 
Boulevards; he vifits fome of the numerous gardens with 
which the metropolis abounds ; he treats himfelf and them 
with the cheap pleafures which thefe places afford; and 
ufually clofes the evening with either joining in the dance, 
or gazing with delight on the.graceful movements of 
others. The cheapnefs of provisions in France, and an 
economy in drefs and living fcarcely known in England, 
enable him to make almoft every evening a feafon of festi¬ 
vity. It may be truly faid drunkennefs is nearly un¬ 
known. • A tumbler of lemonade or orgeat is frequently 
the whole of the Frenchman’s debauch. 
A paffion for gaming lamentably pervades the middle 
claffes, and thofe efpecially of an intermediate rank, be¬ 
tween the bourgeois and the nobleffe. The Spacious 
apartments of the Palais Royal are daily crowded. Men 
and women promifcuoufly affemble, and enter into the 
dangerous bufinefs of the gaming-table with all the energy 
of their national character. Different rooms are Suited 
to the finances of every Speculator. The mechanic who 
can only ftake a Single franc, the hardly-earned produce 
of a laborious day, is not excluded. The Palais Royal 
may be termed the fpot where the demon of gambling 
holds his principal court; but in every district of Paris, 
and almoft in every ftreet, the unhallowed but legalized 
affemblies of his votaries abound. It is faid that the go¬ 
vernment of Bonaparte derived the enormous Sum of 
6 oo,oool. per annum from the licenfes of the gaming- 
lioufes ; and the prefent government does not difdain to 
avail itfelf of this disgraceful and pernicious revenue. 
A fondnefs for publid amufements is however a princi¬ 
pal feature in the French character. It is not lefs ftrange 
than true, that even the anarchy and bloodshed, which dis¬ 
graced the early ftages of the revolution, were not Suffi¬ 
ciently revolting to reftrain this love of diverlion. At 
the clofe of every day that had witneffed the guillotine 
performing its murderous office, no lefs than thirty thea¬ 
tres, independent of other places of amufement, were as 
uniformly crowded as if the mod perfedt tranquillity had 
reigned in the capital. The principal day of amufement 
is Sunday. After he has heard mafs, the belt catholic 
gives himfelf up to enjoyment. Mulic and dancing are 
heard in every ftreet, and the theatres are literally crowd¬ 
ed. The commercial man too frequently disregards the 
Sanctity of the day; his Shop and his counting-houfe are 
open as ufual, and he is as eager to buy, and fell, and get 
gain, as on any common day. Soon after the prefent 
king was firft feated on the throne of his anceftors, he 
published a decree, in which he ordered the fnops to be 
Shut on Sunday. Reafonable and proper as was this in¬ 
junction, it gave great offence, and materially contributed 
to alienate the affections of the Parisians. The decree 
has been revived, but it is far from being univerfally 
obeyed. 
The French have been accufed of diShonefty in their 
commercial tranfaCtions, and efpecially with foreigners. 
If this be meant to apply to the principal merchants and 
bankers of Paris, the charge is utterly falfe. In the ftrift- 
eft integrity, in all their dealings, and the niceft fenfe of 
honour, thefe gentlemen are not inferior even to the mer¬ 
chants of Britain. If it be applied to the boutiques of the 
Palais Royal, the charge is partly true, and partly un¬ 
founded. The tradefman of the Palais Royal will un- 
bluShingly demand confiderably more than the value of 
his commodities. He will omit no finelfe, he will Spare 
no mifreprefentation, to obtain his price. Yet with this 
is mingled an honeft principle, which the tradefmen of 
all other countries will do well to imitate. Should the “ 
traveller inadvertently leave his gloves, or even his purfe, 
on the counter, a meffenger is immediately difpatched 
after him, or the articles are preferved with religious care 
until his return. A recent traveller, who has drawn the 
moll impartial portraiture of French manners extant, re¬ 
cords the following anecdote : “ One of our party entered 
a fmall Shop in the Palais Royal, to buy a travelling cap. 
The woman who attended in it, aSked fixteen francs for one 
which was certainly not worth more than fix, and which She 
at 1 aft gave him forfeven. Being in a hurry at the time, 
he inadvertently left on the counter a purfe containing 
twenty gold Napoleons. He did not mifs it for more 
than an hour; on returning to the Shop, he found the 
old lady-gone, and concluded at firft that Sire had abfented 
herfelf to avoid interrogation ; but, to his furprife, he was 
accofted immediately on entering, by a pretty young 
girl, who had come in her place, with the fweeteft Smile 
imaginable, “ Monjieur a oublieJ'a bourfe; que nous J'ommes 
heureufes (le la lui vendee; Sir, you forgot your purfe ; we 
have a great pleaSure in restoring it.” 
In our lketch of Parifian manners, tire fair-fex mufi: 
not be omitted. In France more than in any othercoun- 
try, the empire of woman is apparently established. The 
records of the nation demonstrate that her fafcmations, 
her virtues, or her foibles, have influenced and governed 
almoft every political event. In private life She bears a 
prominent part in every tranfaCtion, and univerfal homage 
is paid to her charms. At every place of public entertain¬ 
ment, Sire prefides. She fits enthroned in the cafe, and 
more particularly occupies the attention of the vifiters 
than the molt interesting or important news of the day. 
Even in the baths, it is a woman who muft administer re¬ 
freshment to the fwimmers, although their fcanty cover¬ 
ing is fcarcely an apology for decency. In the Shop of 
the ti^adefman, the female prefents herfelf to every cuf- 
tomer, and fuperintends the whole concern, while the huf- 
band lounges over the counter, or amufes himfelf at the 
cafe. In the name of the wife every gueft is invited, and 
to her difcretion every domeftic arrangement is implicitly 
fubmitted. 
When, however, we penetrate into the receffes of pri¬ 
vate life, we perceive that, the female rules every-where 
but in her native empire, the heart of her huSband. She 
governs every thing with absolute fway except his affec¬ 
tions. In thefe it is faid She often yields to a happier ri¬ 
val; and, to retain the Semblance of dominion, which She 
can no longer exercife over her liege, lord, She listens to the 
proteftations and vows of another Suitor. It is notorious 
that conjugal infidelity is too prevalent in every clafs of fo- 
ciety. The huSband does not attempt to conceal his atten¬ 
tions to another female ; and the wife, even in the pre¬ 
sence of her huSband, listens with complacence to the 
adulations of her cicifbeo. If thefe arrangements are 
not invariably criminal, they cannot fail of being dan¬ 
gerous ; and the influence of this unnatural State of Society 
is too apparent. It gives to the character of the molt 
virtuous and accomplished woman a confidence not fuited 
to the English tafte, and not favourable to domeltic feli¬ 
city; and, to females of inferior minds, and laxer princi- 
