one employed in
trade or commerce. Few of the nobility are now possessed of fortunes
sufficient to maintain a carriage; and none under the rank of princes,
in France, have _now_ more than one carriage.

The style of living is wretched: only the first, and richest houses, can
afford to entertain company, and those but seldom. It requires a large
fortune to maintain a regular cook; in half the houses they have only a
dirty scullion, who, among her other work, cooks the dinner. In the
other half, a traiteur sends in the dinner; or if a bachelor, the master
of the house dines at a _table d'hote_, as a _pensionaire_.

The interior management of the French houses denotes extreme poverty.
Some few articles of splendid furniture are displayed for shew in one or
two rooms, while the rest of the house is shut up, and left dirty and
ill furnished.

Of their dress and amusements I have already said enough, to shew that
they denote poverty, and I shall say more when I come to the French
character.

The price of labour is far lower than what we are used to, fluctuating
from fifteen to twenty pence a-day. The salaries of office are,
throughout France, not above one-third what they are in England. Of the
want of trade and commerce I have already spoken. The public banks are
very few in number, and only to be found in very large and commercial
towns. Country houses and fine estates, there are none, or where they
are found, it is in a state of dilapidation.

Where, then, is the wealth of France? I was at some pains to solve this
question. The remaining wealth of France is divided among the generals
of Napoleon; the army furnishers and contractors; the prefects,
sub-prefects; the numerous receivers and collectors of taxes; and,
lastly, but chiefly, the peasantry. It may appear strange to those who
are not acquainted with the present state of France, that I have
mentioned the peasants among the richest; but I am convinced of the
fact. The peasants in France have divided among themselves the lands and
property of the emigrants. Napoleon drew supplies from them; but very
politically maintained them in their possessions. Their condition, and
the condition of the lands, shew them to be in easy circumstances. They
are well clothed, and abundantly, though poorly fed.

France is, in fine, a very poor country, compared with our own; but it
is not without resources, and its wealth will remain concealed as long
as it is under Napoleon; for w