and the word " Madame" much in the women's pretty mouths. I did not perceive in any one the judgmentlike face of an old Scotch blue bonnet, when he purchaseth a two-year-old, at the Falkirk Tryst; or the abyss of gravity and abstraction from all outward con-cerns, into which such a one screws his countenance, when he doth deposit fifty greasy notes, out of a leathern treasury, across the counter of the Ship Bank, at Glasgow, deliberately, as it were, violating all the cautious fastenings of his mind, while he exercises the great act of trust in the Bankers' responsibility, and finishes the transaction with as much solemnity and self-esteem as if he had paid off the national debt. No, no, thinks I, no more of such douce, serious characters, till I return to old Scotland; and, in the meantime, I am con-: tent with flippant frisky Monsieur, who is said to possess no solid quality to recommend him, whose politeness is grimace, whose proffers of kindness are considered benorth the channel a mere covering to absence of heart.

My first purchase in this foreign realm was something like ginger-bread, from an old woman's stall at the Barrier; but it contained no ginger; therefore I be-> stowed it upon a black-eyed urchin, who was seated on: the hindermost part of a long French cart, which formed part of a throng of others, now leaving the town for: their rustic hamlets.

Among the crowd in the great square, and under the

shade of the spire of the church, were ranged half-adozen knife grinders, with their wheels; and I took advantage of having the large blade of my knife sharpened by one of the number; for as to trusting the little pen-cutter to a French ambulatory cutler, I had too mean an opinion of their advance in the iron trade to do so. One of these smutty-bearded gentry touched the finger of another with a small hot wheel, who, in exchange, spit in his ear; the whole laughed, and there was no more ado. I record this extraordinary fact, as it was the only practical joke I saw played off in France; and, after much watching of the conduct of shoe-blacks, cabriolet drivers, watermen, coalmen, jugglers, and tonseurs of cats and dogs on the streets of Paris, I am bound to declare, that I never afterwards witnessed such a breach of politeness, as this needy but jocular knifegrinder was guilty of; and unless it be the proximity to English air at Calais that had corrupted him, I cannot account for the solitary circumstance on any rational principle.

The heat of the sun promoting thirst, I next purchased an orange at six sous, about three pence. I understand, thought I, that they double the price here to the English on every commodity; and if so, the latter are fairly entitled to call them a double set of people; but in my pleasure at finding a pun, and a hit at the French at the same moment, I forgot that the price of oranges

might justly be higher with them than with us; that fruit not being a native of France, and their sea carriage of foreign merchandise not so perfect as ours.

There being multitudes of English in this and the neighbouring towns, the sign-boards are very often in both languages. I did not remark any thing particular about the streets or houses; the stateliness and gran-, deur of a city with its houses seven stories high, seems to be reserved for Paris alone, the city of wonders.

The hotels of Calais possess a considerable appearance of respectability: they are generally within the walls of a retired court, and having the grave look of some small quiet college. These have been often described. Mr. Scott has given such a graphical view of Dieppe, that I must copy it.

"The room into which we were shown, gave strong evidence that we were not in England. It would have been fine and elegant, if it had not been out of repair, and dirty. Glasses of a size which we never see in our country, but in the houses of persons of fortune, hung on the cheerless white walls, in frames, the gilding of which was mostly worn off. A magnificent marble chimney-piece, and a superb hearth of the same, were by no means in harmony with a naked brick floor.Wash-hand basins stood on tables that had been superb in gold, and were still curious in carving. After our voyage, several operations conducive to personal comfort

F*

were necessary; these, such as washing, shaving, combing, &c., were all to be performed, by all the party, in the room devoted to breakfast. But the breakfast afterwards was good, the host and the waiters were civil, and their guests, in the heartiness and freshness of their feelings, found every thing, however strange, and even incommodious, a source of amusement and plea

sure.

"The house itself, to which we were led, deserves remark, as affording a characteristic trait of the country, which stands prominently out in the view of the English as something to which they have not been accustomed. It was very large, and its size had an air as if it were useless. It seemed as if it could extend accommodation far beyond the wants of its present possessors, and they, on the other hand, evidently were inclined to pay it no attention beyond what these wants demanded. Much of it, in consequence, looked ruinous and deserted, and, as no care is ever bestowed in France to preserve what, in England, is called tidiness, the external aspect was loose and repelling. The roof seemed solid and strong, but its strength only emboldened the owner to neglect it; long grass sprung up between the slates, that were covered with a sort of gray coat; here and there holes were seen, that went through to the inside, admitting the weather, with all its accidents. As there was room enough in the hotel for the

inmates, and all their purposes, without using the apartments so uncovered, why should these holes be mended? This is the general character of the common buildings in all the French towns I have seen. They are usually larger and stronger than is necessary for the uses of the persons who inhabit them; the consequence is, not that this overplus of good qualities elevates the condition and adorns the appearance of the people, but that an accurately proportioned degree of neglect brings them down, by means of filth, dilapidation, and desertion, to the level of humble life."

What a strange thing it is to be for the first time left alone in streets where a language different from one's own is used in all human affairs! It seems to throw life into the dark, through which we explore, with a doubtful groping sensation. But there is no need to be under this impression at Calais, Boulogne and elsewhere on the coast; where the landlords and landladies of inns, and waiters, are a great proportion of them English, or speak that language.

Returning to the hotel, I found the garçon laying the cloth on a large table. The room was lofty and grand, but scantily furnished. The walls papered with Chinese processions, and other showy exhibitions; the figures of a foot long; and the ladies, amid the looseness of their eastern attire, clearly partaking of the tournure fran

caise.