French in
regard to costume; it is a quality that is peculiar to them, and
acknowledged by all the civilised world; in England, Russia, even
Greece, ladies of the high ton must send to Paris for their hats and
bonnets, and have them from Madame de Barennes, in the _Place Vendome_,
which is not merely an idea, but a fact that they really are replete
with that exquisite taste for which they are so justly famed; even the
manner in which her lofty and noble saloons are arranged display an
elegance of conception, there is a chasteness which pervades the whole,
the furniture as Well as the decorations of the room are either of
white or ebony and gold, preserving that degree of keeping which is
inseparable from a truly classical taste.

I must confess that the most refined, the most charming and fascinating
women that I ever met with, were some English and Irish ladies who had
been some years in France, still retaining all those intellectual
qualities which are the brightest gems of the British female character,
united with that quiet grace which has so much of dignity and ease, and
that pleasing affability appearing but as nature in a truly elegant
Frenchwoman; at the same time I think my fair countrywomen are also much
improved when they have acquired the same degree of taste in the
arrangement of their costume for which the Parisian females have so well
merited a reputation. Of course in this comparison I am speaking of the
most well-bred females of both countries. Although I do not find the
French ladies possessing those high intellectual qualities, which are in
a great degree engendered and fostered by certain habits and early
associations, I do not conceive that the germs of talent are in the
least deficient, but on the contrary, we find them excelling in
literature and the arts, in ingenuity, and where exertion is required in
trying circumstances, that they are capable of heroism, but there is a
natural life and vivacity in the French character that inclines not to
study, nor strict application, unless the position in life renders it
necessary. The English very frequently are by nature disposed to
reflection and even like often to be alone, consequently are
undoubtedly a more thinking nation, although not so brilliant, but
experience has proved that patient and undeviating perseverance,
ultimately, outsteps the more showy and sparkling quality of genius. For
the sympathies of the heart I have found the French females mo