ns at the Exhibition are each worth
several guineas, yet, in France, tens of thousands are sold at not
more than a halfpenny a-piece. The French fan-makers get two shillings
and six-pence a-day each, for their labour. The people of France are
our next-door neighbours, almost; and from being our bitterest enemies
they have now become our most intimate friends, and exchange visits
constantly with us; steam vessels and railways having made the journey
one of only a few hours.

Paris is the capital of France, and it is the gayest city in the
world; there are theatres, balls, processions, feast-days, fairs, and
more amusements than I can remember. But there are also numbers of
very poor people, who almost live in the streets, and get food and
clothing as they best can. Some, who are called cheffoniers, go about
with a fork and a basket, to pick up pieces of iron, rags, bones, or
any stray valuables, if they can find them, from holes and corners in
the streets, and from the dust heaps; others look for the ends of
cigars, and sell them to be made into pieces of tobacco for the common
people; and a number, I am very sorry to say, either beg or steal.

Among the peasantry there is a great deal of industry displayed. As
they are all desirous of having a cottage and some land of their own,
lads of fifteen or sixteen years of age, hire themselves as labourers
to the farmers, and receive wages, out of which, and their mode of
living, they save enough money in a few years, to buy a piece of
land. If the land is fit for it, they plant it with vines; for the
vineyards of France yield an abundant harvest, and well repay the
labour bestowed on them. The French wines are among the finest and
most expensive in the world.

[Illustration]

The cottages of the peasantry are not remarkable for comfort, being
very rude buildings, frequently having merely a hole in the roof for a
chimney. They are mostly, however, extremely picturesque, completely
covered with vines. The wines, called Bourdeaux, Burgundy, and
Champagne come from France. From the fruit of the olive-trees, which
grow in vast quantities, a fine clear oil is obtained, and this forms
a large part of the commerce of the country. The rearing of poultry is
carried on to a great extent; and most of the eggs sold in London,
which are used by us at breakfast, for sauces, and for puddings, come
from France. Most of the cottagers keep one or two small hardy cows,
which their boys or gir