d
all the French records, and to have confined themselves to the writers
of their own country.

The general appearance of Angers does not correspond with the
magnificence of its walls, its castle, and its cathedral. Its size is
respectable; there are six parish churches, besides monasteries and
chapters, and the inhabitants are estimated at 50,000. The streets,
however, are very narrow, and the houses mean, low, and huddled: there
is the less excuse for this, as ground is plentiful and cheap; there is
scarcely a good house inhabited within the walls. The towns in France
differ in this respect very considerably from those in England: in a
principal town in England you will invariably find a considerable number
of good houses, where retired merchants and tradesmen live in the ease
and elegance of private gentlemen. There is nothing of this kind in the
French towns. Every house is a shop, a warehouse, a magazine, or a
lodging house. I do not believe that there is one merchant of
independent fortune now resident within the walk of Angers. This,
indeed, may perhaps arise from the difference in the general character
of the two kingdoms: in England, and even in America, there are few
tradesmen long resident in a town, without having obtained a sufficiency
to retire; whilst the French towns being comparatively poor, and their
trade comparatively insignificant, the French tradesman can seldom do
more than obtain a scanty subsistence by his business. In all the best
French towns, the tradesmen have more the air of chandlers than of great
dealers. There are absolutely no interior towns in France like Norwich,
Manchester, and Birmingham. In some of their principal manufacturing
places, there may indeed be one or two principal men and respectable
houses; but neither these men nor their houses are of such number and
quality, as to give any dignity or beauty to their towns beyond mere
places of trade. The French accordingly, judging from what they see at
home, have a very contemptible idea of the term merchant; and if a
foreign traveller of this class should wish to be admitted into good
company, let him pass by any other name than that of a marchand or
negociant. To say all in a word, this class of foreigners are
specifically excluded from admission at court.

I visited the market, which in Angers, and I believe throughout France,
is held on Sunday. This is one of the circumstances from which a
foreigner would be very apt t