h razors is, to this
day, a princely present in France. Hardware is flimsy, ill finished, and
of bad materials. All leather work, such as saddlery, harness, shoes,
&c. is wretchedly bad, but undersells our manufactures of the same kind
by about one half. Cabinet work and furniture is handsome, shewy,
insufficient, and dear. Jewellery equal, if not superior to ours in
neatness, but not so sufficient. Hats and hosiery very indifferent. In
glass ware we greatly excel the French, except in the manufacture of
mirrors. Musical instruments of all descriptions are made as well, and
at half the English price, in France. In every thing else, not here
mentioned, as far as my memory serves me, I think I may report the
manufactures of France greatly inferior to those in England. I have
sometimes heard it stated, that in the manufacture of calicoes, muslins,
and other cotton goods, the French are likely to rival us. On this
subject I was not able to obtain the information I wished for, but one
fact I can safely mention, the price of all these goods is at present,
in most parts of France, nearly double what it is in England or
Scotland, and their machinery is not to be compared with our own.

* * *

_WEALTH OF THE NATION AND ITS DIVISION._

To the traveller in France, every thing seems to denote extreme poverty,
and that extending its influence over all ranks of society; and
certainly, compared with England, France is wretchedly poor. But many of
its resources remain hidden, and it is certain, that on the demands of
its despotic ruler, France produced unlooked-for supplies. His wars have
now greatly exhausted this hidden treasure, and there is, fortunately
for the peace of the world, very little money left in the country. The
marks of the wealth of the country, both absolutely, and in relation to
other countries, are to be found in the manner of living, and extent of
fortunes of its inhabitants; in the size, comfort, and style of their
houses; in their dress and amusements; in the price of labour; the
salaries of office; the trade and commerce of the country; the number of
country houses, of banks, &c. In examining each of these heads, we shall
find that France is a very poor country.

The sum of two thousand pounds a-year is reckoned a noble fortune in
France, and very, very few, there are that possess that sum.

One thousand pounds a-year constitutes a handsome fortune for a
gentleman; and four hundred for a _bourgeois_, or for