f a _chateau_ something; every thing that is composed of wool is
something _de laine_, and all our clothes are made of _drap de_ this or
_drap de_ that.

But let us not paint our Gallic friends a shade darker than they deserve.
They have taught us the use of napkins and silver forks; they give us the
best perfumery in the world, and make the best gravies for our meats. What
is the privilege of writing the songs of a nation, compared with the
privilege of setting its fashions? The supremacy of the French in all
matters of taste is not the effect of accident. Why do they rule the world
by their elegancies? There is a philosophy in these things, as well as in
every thing else, which is worthy of grave consideration.

The secret of French authority lies in the simple truth that they count
every thing worthy of being well done which is worth doing at all. We have
grades of usefulness. Not so with them. Whether they make a pate or build
a palace, it is a grave matter; and the consequence is, that their pates
as well as their palaces excel those of the other kingdoms of Europe. The
Louvre is as much superior to Buckingham Palace as a Charlotte-Russe is to
a Yorkshire pudding. Cookery and Architecture are the first arts practised
by mankind, and the last in which they arrive at perfection. The French
excel all other nations in both. The condition of one art might be
ascertained with precision by examining the state of the other in any part
of the world, or in any age. When cooks served up pastry with peacocks'
tails sticking out of the top crust, architects built gothic churches and
campanile towers. Penault and Vatel ornamented the same age. One built a
palace and the other cooked a dinner, and they are both immortal. It would
be no difficult matter to guess at the extravagance and unhealthiness of
our kitchens, from a glance at our Exchange and Custom House. The
ponderous marble and granite boulders in these senseless structures have
their correspondents in many a lump of indigestible food; and the
bizarreterie of the new Trinity Church have their correspondents in many a
temple composed of macaronis and cocoanut candies.

We have grades of usefulness, but it is no easy matter to discover the
principles upon which our scale of respect is graduated: money is not
always the test of merit; it matters how you get it. If you earn it
yourself, it will not entitle you to half the respect it would if your
father or grandfather earne