sy of the allied troops: said
they were superior to the French only in numbers; and often repeated,
that one French soldier was equal to two Russians.

Although the old men and women whom we saw in the villages were
generally in the most abject condition, yet the labourers employed in
the fields appeared nearly as well dressed as the corresponding class in
England; their wages were stated to be, over most of the country, from
one franc to 25 sous a-day, and in the immediate neighbourhood of Paris,
to be as high as two, or even three francs. In some places, we saw them
dining on bread, pork, and cyder; but the scarcity of live stock was
such, that it was impossible to suppose that they usually enjoyed so
good a fare. The interior of the cottages appeared, generally, to be ill
furnished.

Every village and town through which we passed between Boulogne and
Paris contained a number of the allied troops. At Beauvais, a town
remarkable for its singular appearance, being almost entirely built of
wood, and likewise for the beauty of its cathedral, the choir of which
is reckoned the finest in France, we were first gratified with the sight
of some hundreds of Russians, horse and foot, under arms. These troops
were of the finest description, and belonged to the corps of the
celebrated Wigtenstein.

We enquired of many of the lower people, in the towns and villages
through which we passed, concerning the conduct of the allied troops in
their quarters, and the answers were almost uniformly--from the men,
"Ils se comportent bien;" (frequently with the addition, "mais ils
mangent comme des diables:")--and from the women, "Ils sont de bons
enfans." We had very frequent opportunities of remarking the truth of
the observation, that "women have less bitterness against the enemies of
their country than men." The Parisian ladies adopted fashions from the
uniforms of almost all the allied troops whom they saw in Paris; many of
them were exceedingly anxious for opportunities of seeing the Emperor of
Russia, and the most distinguished leaders of the armies that had
conquered France; and those who were acquainted with officers of rank
belonging to these armies appeared, on all occasions, to be highly
flattered with the attentions they received from them. The same was
observable in the conduct of the lower ranks. In the suburbs of Paris,
and in the neighbouring villages, where many of the allied troops were
quartered, they appeared always on