ticularly knowing in the mysteries of female grace, but I confess that even I was struck with the peculiar points of French beauty. Far be it from me to detract from the eminence of my country in this respect; but the attractions of a French woman do not seem to be of the same character as those of a British fair. When we arrive at Paris I shall request my reader's attention to some observations on the character of its women; the subject is one which must necessarily engross the attention of a visitant, in as much as the most important departments of human life, and the chief management of its concerns, are consigned by this nation to the charge of its matrons-a method practised in no other that I have heard of. Nevertheless, even in the provincial towns, the superiority of French females, in their own department, is striking. One may here frequently observe a pretty woman, pointedly dressed: it is impossible to mistake her for an Anglaise. She seems quite a more perfect creature as to mere externals. I trust, that on this important subject, I shall not be misapprehended by my friends on our own side of the water; undoubtedly, in some highly-gifted British females, we perceive not only outward grace and beauty, but a fascinating retreatfulness, or a hardy innocence; a countenance whence the mind itself, the essence of true beauty, breaks through and bestows such a supremacy of feature, as is no where else to be reached. I

do not say that the French dames are mistress of a possession like this; perhaps they do not aspire to such exalted measure of loveliness. But there must be conceded to them the utmost accuracy of costume, supreme elegance of movement, and self-possession. It is worth while coming to France to see a complete French lady, who alone seems capable of exhibiting of what great beauty of attitude the human form is susceptible, and of demonstrating the perfection of tournure and mein; and as to countenance, the visage of Madame is, when she chooses, quite radiant with smiles, without a particle of the grimace and affectation which we are accustomed to couple in our notions with French politeness. I am not qualified to judge of the exquisite relish which, it is said, intercourse with the highest society of Paris, chiefly feminine, is fitted to inspire; but, from what I have seen, I am prepared to believe, that the colloquial excellence of the French tongue, and the consummate elegance of their manners, may conspire to render it very delightful.

In looking further into my notes respecting Boulogne, although every trivial occurrence that took place, and every object, however unimportant, were to me inexpressibly interesting, because they were new and French, I am not sure that a detail of these would conciliate the favour of the reader: I therefore pass by the following matters, which I have taken down in my daily me

morandum, as unworthy of an elaborate consideration, viz., that part of a funeral ceremony with which we came in contact-a beautiful apparition of infant girls, on the sunny side of a green hill, picking daisies, their little French tongues going like so many repeating watches-the conductor and myself refreshing ourselves with some glasses of claret in the heat of the day, and our conversation thereupon-a dispute between a middleaged person and his mother, wherein he went into the road, and tore open his waistcoat, cried and stampt most manfully; his parent persisting in what she was about with a look the most inexorable, and the neighbours sympathizing with the poor lad--my speech of intercession in favour of my guide to the landlord, with a variety of other matter very important to me, but with which I really must not trouble other people.

But this indolent mode of performing my work will no longer suffice, for we had now arrived at what my guide seemed to have no doubt was equal to one of the original wonders of the world; and when a traveller is to treat of architecture, in any of its departments, he ought to call up his critical powers, for the purpose of eliciting all the hidden beauties of cornice and frieze, lamenting over defects, and suggesting those emotions of surprise which the sight of a noble fabric is calculated to raise in the mind. After this preamble, be it known, that we were now at the foot of the Colonne de Napo

H

leon, a handsome pillar of two hundred feet high, which had been erected in the neighbourhood of Boulogne, at the expense of the army of England. Whatever ideas the sight of this edifice stirred in my mind, I have by this time forgot; but I recollect that it gave my conductor the hundredth opportunity he had possessed throughout the day of descanting upon the merits, numbers, appearance, divisions, tents, booths, squares, streets, accommodation, and general state of the army of invasion; who, therefore, took advantage of the elevated situation we had got to, and bestowed upon me, once more, an accurate account, geographical and statistical, of the whole encampment, which had extended for miles throughout the region, and which, to say the truth, must have been a grand spectacle.

After this detail, which I confess was to me rather dry, we fell in with an equestrian party, male and female, who seemed to be in high spirits, making the road to resound with their merriment. I asked my guide if these ladies were French: to which he replied, with a smile, in the negative-that they were my own countrywomen, having "l'air plus jovial et hardi que ne les autres francaises." I was obliged to admit the correctness of my guide's report of the difference of the English look and manner. On the whole, it has struck me that my compatriots give themselves considerable airs in France, talking loud, and ordering waiters, postillions,

shopkeepers, and tradesmen, with great intrepidity and peremptoriness. This is submitted to by our neighbours from various reasons,--first, their general politeness, which reluctantly permits any retaliation even to rudeness,-next, the extreme convenience of having a rich profuse English family as a customer,—and, lastly, the French prudently bear with boisterous demeanour sometimes from the English, because they have a mistaken but strong impression, that the whole British population are perfect masters, and it may be mistresses, of that glorious science of defence, taught at the Fives' Court, and that it might be inexpedient to risk a personal conflict with an islander of either gender.

"Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks:" although the world is a goodly prospect, and was once pronounced very good by its great Creator; yet, as the present scene is only transitory, methinks both our thoughts and conversation might naturally and cordially revert to the interests of a future state of existence : that this is not the case shows us in an unfavourable point of view; and one of the best things I can wish, both for myself and my reader, is, that we may be able to comprehend, with all saints, the dimension of God's love in Christ Jesus, and have our tongues loosened to speak his praise at all times.