ight of a newly disembarked
Frenchman (an astonishment which appears singular when we
call to mind the frequent communications between the two
nations), is less inexplicable than may be thought.
Geographically speaking, France and England touch each
other--morally, they are at an immeasurable distance.
Nothing is done at Calais as at Dover, nothing at London as
at Paris. There is as much difference between the two races
as between white and black. In France, the Englishman
conforms willingly to our customs, and quickly adopts our
manner of acting; but in England we are like a stain on a
harmonious picture.

"Our fashion of sauntering along the streets, smiling at the
pretty girls we meet, looking at the shops, or stopping to
chat with a friend, fills the English with stupefaction.
They always walk straight before them like mad dogs. In
conversation there is the same difference. In England it is
always solemn. Left alone after dinner, the men adopt a
subject of conversation, which never varies during all the
rest of the evening. Each one is allowed to develop his
argument without interruption. Perhaps he is not understood,
but he is listened to. When he has ended, it becomes the
turn of another, who is heard with the same respect. The
thing resembles a quiet sitting of the Parliament. But in
France, conversation is a veritable _melee_--it is the
contrary excess. A subject is left and taken up twenty
times, amidst joyous and unforeseen interruptions. We throw
words at each other's heads without doing ourselves any
harm; smart sallies break forth, and _bon mots_ roll under
the table. In short, the Englishman reflects before
speaking; the Frenchman speaks first and reflects
afterwards--if he has time. The Frenchman converses, the
Englishman talks: and it is the same with respect to
pleasure. Place a Frenchman, who feels _ennui_, by the side
of an Englishman who amuses himself, and it will be the
former who will have the gayest air. From love, the
Englishman only demands its brutal joys; whereas the
Frenchman pays court to a woman. The Englishman, at table,
drinks to repletion; the Frenchman never exceeds
intoxication.

"A difference equally striking exists between the females of
the two countries. I do not now speak