Anecdotes illustrative of the ideas, feelings, and characters of
the Parisians, also narrating some of their most striking national
peculiarities.
The French generally have been celebrated for possessing no
inconsiderable share of conceit, but in regard to a most exalted respect
for themselves, the Parisians far surpass all their provincial brethren;
the very circumstance of their happening to be born in Paris, they
imagine at once confers upon them a diploma of the very highest acme of
civilisation, causing them to feel a sort of pity for a person who is
born elsewhere; however, as one of these enlightened spirits once
observed to me, that a person might by coming to live at Paris in the
course of time imbibe the same tone of refinement. Now this was said in
all the true spirit of human kindness; he knew that I was not born in
Paris, and conceiving that I might feel the bitterness of that
misfortune, though it might afford me a degree of consolation to be
assured, that there were some means of repairing the disadvantages under
which I laboured, from not having made my entrance to the world in the
grand metropolis of France.
It matters not how low may be the calling of a Parisian, he will still
flatter himself that the manner in which he acquits himself in the
department in which he is placed, evinces a degree of superiority over
his fellow labourer, and gratifies his _amour propre_ with the thought.
Even a scavenger would endeavour to persuade you that he has a peculiar
manner of sweeping the streets exclusively his own, and that his method
of shovelling up the mud and pitching it into the cart is quite unique,
and in fact that his innate talent is such that, it has eventually
placed him at the summit of his profession. This may appear, perhaps, to
some of my readers rather overdrawn, but the following instance which
came under my own observation is not much less extravagant.
A man who was in the habit of cleaning my boots, had a most incorrigible
propensity for garrulity, and as I like in a foreign country to obtain
some insight into the ideas and feelings of all classes, I did not care
to check the poor fellow in the indulgence of his favourite _penchant_,
particularly as his remarks were always proffered with a tone of the
most profound respect for my august person. Finding one morning that my
boots had not been polished quite so well as usual, the next time I saw
the shoeblack I mentioned the circumstance to him. "_Ah! Sir_," he
exclaimed with a deep sigh, "that is one of the many instances of the
ingratitude of human nature; I confided those boots to the boy whom you
must have seen come with me to fetch yours and the other gentlemen's
shoes or clothes for brushing, etc. Well, sir, that young urchin is a
protégé of mine; I took him, sir, from the lowest obscurity and made him
what he is; I taught him my profession, I endowed him with all the
benefit of my experience, and with respect to blacking shoes, I have
initiated him into all the little mysteries of the art, and can declare
that there is not one in the business throughout all Paris that can
surpass him, when he chooses to exert his talents; and therefore it
renders it the more unpardonable that he should slight one of my best
customers." Judging, I suppose, from the expression of my countenance
that I did not appear to be deeply infused with a very exalted idea of
what he termed the mysteries of his art, he continued, "You may think as
you please, sir, but there is much more ability required in blacking
shoes than you may imagine, and that boy is well aware of it; he knows
how I began by first instructing him in all the fundamental principles
of the art; and gradually led him on until I accomplished him in giving
the last polish, and can now proudly say he is a true artist in the
profession."
On entering a diligence once at Lyons, I found two persons in it, of
very decent aspect; the one a middle aged man, the other a youth of
about eighteen or nineteen; the former soon found an opportunity of
informing me that he was a Parisian, but lest that should not adequately
impress me with a sufficiently high idea of his importance, he added
that he was _chef de cuisine_ to the Duke of ----, and that Monsieur,
pointing to the youth opposite, was an _aspirant_, who had been placed
under his auspices. The young man bowed assent, and appeared most
sensibly to feel the vast magnitude of the honours to which he was
aspiring; but the whole was announced with such an air of solemnity and
consequence, that a minister of state with his secretary would never
have attempted to assume. An Englishman under the same circumstances
would have merely said, "I am head cook to the Duke of ---- and that
young man is my 'prentice." However, my travelling companions were
overpoweringly civil, and I of course was deeply awed by finding myself
in company with such elevated personages, of which they no doubt were
sensible, and where we stopped for dinner they gave us the benefit of
their professional talent, by entering the kitchen, giving the inmates
to understand who they were, and the advantage of advice gratis, as to
the arrangement of such dishes for which they were still in time to
superintend; and when we sat down at the table d'hôte, the _chef de
cuisine_ did not fail to inform me that he had done as much as laid in
his power to ensure our having a good dinner, as my being a foreigner he
was particularly anxious that France should sustain her high reputation
for the culinary art in my estimation; but regretted that in the first
place he arrived too late to effect much good, and indeed, had he come
before it would have been but of little avail; for the provincials were
such complete barbarians, that it was difficult for an enlightened
person to commune with them: that absolutely he and they appeared to be
quite of another species.
It is a happy circumstance for the French, that their pride does not
consist in a desire to get out of their station, but an extreme anxiety
to exaggerate the importance of the station in which they are placed; a
cook, for example, has the most exalted idea of the art of cookery, and
wishes to impress everyone with the same idea of its high importance,
and all his ambition is to be considered a cook of the first-rate
talent. In England it is different, one of the great objects with a
tradesman is the hope, that by making his fortune he shall be enabled to
get out of his class and take a higher walk in society. For this purpose
they bring their sons up to the liberal professions, and often retire
into the country at a distance from London, where they flatter
themselves that the circumstance of their having been in business may
not travel; their plan seldom succeeds, but has in several instances
when they have come over to France, as being rich, appearing
respectable, and their children highly educated, they have obtained the
_entrée_ to French society, which has ultimately led to that of the
English. I remember one instance of a hatter marrying his five daughters
to persons of the higher classes, three to English and two to French,
who now with their father have that position in society, into which at
one period he never could have dreamed of entering; had they remained in
England, they would have had but little chance of emerging from their
original station, even with the aid of all their wealth.
Street scenes often afford amusing exhibitions of natural
characteristics; I remember one which I witnessed, which developed a
feeling truly French; two common-looking men had been disputing for some
time, when one upbraided the other with want of delicacy and not having
a nice sense of honour, but finding his reproaches made but little
impression upon the accused, at last said, "As I see you are destitute
of any mental susceptibility, I must try if you have any bodily feeling,
and thrash you as I would a dog or any other brute." So saying, he
advanced to put his threat into execution, but the assailed proving far
the strongest, soon overcame the assailant and laid him prostrate;
rising from the ground, he regarded the conqueror with a dignified air,
and said, "Yes! you have the physical force, but I have the force of
reason," and with a flourish of the head he strutted off with as
triumphant a demeanour as if he had vanquished a host of enemies.
The French are exceedingly fond of moralizing; a few days before the
Revolution occurred, whilst a man was driving me through the Place de la
Concorde, I observed a scaffolding in the middle, and asked what it was
for, and having informed me that it was for the purpose of erecting a
statue of Louis the Sixteenth, being the spot in which he was beheaded,
he exclaimed, "What an absurdity! but those Bourbons are incorrigible;
would it not be much better to let such events as those sink as much as
possible into oblivion, instead of endeavouring to perpetuate them. One
would have thought," continued he, "that the adversity and exile which
that besotted family had endured would have operated upon them as a
lesson, but they will never benefit from any lessons; one, however, will
be tried upon them very soon, if they do not mind what they are about,
and we shall see what impression that will make." The man's words came
to pass, they did indeed receive a severe lesson, which involved them in
ruin and disgrace.
Having observed a number of persons assembled on the Boulevards, I asked
the cause, and was told that some cavalry was expected to pass in a few
minutes, for which the people were waiting. I took my station amongst
them, which happened to be next to two bakers' boys, who were in earnest
conversation, when I was edified by the following observations. "Do you
know why Alphonse left his place?" "Yes," replied the other, "because
his master gave him a cuff on the head." "That certainly was a very
great indignity;" observed the younger; "to receive a blow is very
humiliating." "That is true," replied the other, "but figure to yourself
the folly of a lad, for the sake of a paltry thump, to sacrifice all his
future prospects; in a few years, had he put up with the insult, he
might have been head man in a bakehouse in the Rue St. Denis, which is
one of the most populous quarters in Paris." "True," said the younger,
"it would have been wiser to have sayed; but when excited, reason does
not always come to one's aid."
I have translated the discourse as literally as I could, that I might
preserve as nearly as possible the expressions which the boys used, as
it has often struck me how much more refined they are, than those to
which lads of the same age and class would have had recourse in England.
Some of the scenes at the tribunals are very amusing; I remember a very
rough ferocious-looking man having been brought up for returning to
Paris, from which he had been sent away on account of some offences
which he had committed, and was ordered to some small obscure town in
the provinces, under _surveillance_. Finding his banishment very
irksome, an irresistible impulse brought him back to Paris, and
repairing to his old haunts, he sought the Rue de la Mortellerie, which
had in part been pulled down, on account of some improvements which were
going forward; whilst he was gaping about, looking in vain for his dear
Rue de la Mortellerie, he was recognised by a Serjeant of police and
very unwillingly lodged in the _Corps de Garde_ (guard-house), and
brought before the Tribunal of Correction; he was interrogated as to his
having dared, in defiance of the law, to return to Paris. He replied,
"indeed, Monsieur le President, I was so overcome with ennui, that I
found it impossible to exist there any longer; now, only imagine for an
instant, M. le President, the idea of a Parisian, as I am, to be sent to
a little bit of a place where there was no theatre, no promenade, not
even a public monument."
He was interrupted by the President telling him, that whatever the place
might have been, there he should have staid to the end of his time, and
must be punished for returning to Paris. "But," continued the
delinquent, "the vile little hole to which I was exiled contained no
society whatever, the inhabitants were merely a set of illiterate
beings, and how could any enlightened person vegetate amongst such a
mic-mac of semi-barbarians; but tell me, M. le President, what has
become of the Rue de la Mortellerie?"
Without deigning to answer, the President was proceeding to condemn the
prisoner, when interrupted by his exclaiming, "Now I intreat, M. le
President, that you who are no doubt a very enlightened personage, would
only place yourself in my position, and conceive how it was possible to
exist buried alive as it were among such a set of Goths, and above all
do tell me what has become of my Rue de la Mortellerie?"
The President, out of all patience, sentenced him to imprisonment in one
of the goals of Paris for three years.
"Well," said the garrulous and incorrigible offender, "I shall have one
satisfaction, that of knowing that I am still in Paris, that seat of the
arts, that centre of civilisation, and terrestrial paradise; but pray
tell me, M. le President, before we part, do tell me what have they done
with my dear Rue de la Mortellerie?" Without affording him time to
occupy the court any longer with his irrelevant questions and
explanations, they hurried him away, whilst he continued to murmur what
could possibly have gone with his dear Rue de la Mortellerie which was
no other than a little narrow filthy street which it would be difficult
to match in the worst neighbourhoods in London.
I also recollect an instance of the deliberate coolness of a man who was
tried and found guilty of the robbery and murder of a farmer; being
asked if he knew his accomplice, he observed "As to knowing him, M. le
President, that is more than I can say; you must be aware that it is
extremely difficult to _know_ a person, you may have seen a person
often, and even conversed with him for years, and yet never _know_ him."
"Are you acquainted with him," was the next question.
"As to that," continued the prisoner, "I am a man who has very few
acquaintances, being naturally of a reserved character and rather
diffident in my nature, I shrink from entering much into society; being
of a reflecting habit, I like often to pass my hours alone, having
rather an indifferent opinion of human nature."
How long he would have gone on in the same strain, it is impossible to
say, when he was imperatively demanded if he knew him by name, by sight,
and had talked, or walked, or ate, or drank with him.
"Really you put so many questions to me at once that you tax my memory
beyond its means; I never was celebrated for having a very retentive
memory, my mother used to say."
The court out of patience again interrupted him, but with all their
efforts could never elicit from him a direct answer; but the
circumstantial and testimonial evidence being perfectly convincing, he
and his accomplice were condemned to death. When he heard the sentence
he very coolly asked which would be guillotined first; he was answered
that the other would, and that it was to be hoped that the sight of his
companion's fate might bring him to some sense of his awful situation.
When the time arrived for their execution, he displayed the same
imperturbable audacity; as his accomplice was about to suffer, he
elbowed the person who was standing next to him, and pointing to his
fellow criminal, he smiled and said, "Look, poor wretch, he is afraid, I
declare he even trembles." When it came to his turn he mounted the
ladder with as cheerful an air as if he was merely going to his
breakfast, and to the last moment preserved the same sang-froid.
A brutal sort of fellow, who was once condemned for an assault, in an
instant snatched off his wooden shoes and threw them at the head of the
President, who it appears had a good eye for avoiding a shot, and
managed to escape the missiles.
Sometimes the avocats (barristers) avail themselves of causes in which
they are engaged, so as to render them vehicles for displaying their wit
or humour, and afford much amusement to the court; a case some time
since occurred which excited much interest and some mirth and
entertainment; the parties concerned were a Madame Dumoulin who had
invented stays of a peculiar nature. Another person who was English
styling herself the inventor, and making them in the same manner,
notwithstanding the former had been granted a patent, an action was the
consequence. It was observed that the hostile parties in this instance,
although French and English, were neither decked with helmets nor armed
with pistols, swords, nor muskets, but entered the scene of combat in
long shawls and velvet bonnets, announcing themselves without the aid of
heralds, the one representing the French army the other the English
host. The champion on the side of the former being a Monsieur Ch. Ledru,
against whom Monsieur Ducluseau entered the lists on the British side of
the question; what made it more remarkable, was, that the belligerents
resided in the same street, the residence of M. Ducluseau, the advocate
for the English defendant, merely separating the mansions of the two
combatants.
Victory declared for Madame Dumoulin after many subtle and learned
arguments were adduced on both sides, and an English lady, the mother of
several daughters, tells me if I have any regard for my fair
countrywomen I must recommend to their notice the stays of Madame
Dumoulin, truly observing that as the object of my work was to render
every possible service to all my readers, certainly the ladies must have
a pre-eminent claim, and although there are certain articles of the
toilet with which it might be observed man should never meddle, as he
could not be any judge of such habiliments as ought only to be worn by
the ladies, and a few dandies who are neither one thing nor the other,
yet when three scientific societies condescend to award medals to the
inventor and patentee of the articles alluded to, I trust I shall be
pardoned if with an intention to serve the fair sex I trench upon their
privilege in calling their attention to the useful and ornamental
corsets, which have caused so much controversy.
These stays are so contrived as to be totally without gussets, and adapt
themselves to the form with such perfect facility, that there is not
that restraint which, instead of bestowing grace to the female figure,
is rather calculated to deform, that, which, if left in a degree to
nature, would have displayed both elegance and ease. As an artist
accustomed to contemplate the beauty of feature and of form, I have
often regretted that common error into which such numbers of females
fall, by torturing themselves in tightening the waist to such an
unnatural degree, confining the person as it were in a vice, and totally
preventing that movement in the person, which is indispensable in giving
that elasticity in walking which alone can produce a graceful carriage,
devoid of that stiffness which is ever occasioned by too great a
restraint. The stays invented by Madame Dumoulin are universally admired
as aiding nature, in affording the utmost freedom to the wearer, at the
same time that they improve the figure.
These stays, have not only received the approbation of the scientific
world by the presentation of three medals, but have also been
recommended by several distinguished members of the faculty, who
consider they are calculated rather to improve than deteriorate the
health of those who wear them. The action which Madame Dumoulin was
obliged to bring against her competitor has been of the utmost service
to her, not only by the triumph she has received and the confirmation of
her patent, but in giving her that vogue that not only the influential
Parisian ladies, but Russian, German and Spanish princesses have
patronised her ingenuity; her residence is Rue du 29 Juillet, no 5.
In the Courts of Justice in France and particularly in Paris, I have
found that both the prisoners and the witnesses have far more self
possession than in the tribunals in England; they are not so soon
embarrassed by the brow-beating and examination of the counsel, and
sometimes give such replies as turn the sting upon their examiners;
having like the Irish a sort of tact for repartee, they are not often
to be taken aback; the lower classes in Paris are naturally extremely
shrewd and penetrating, they recognise a foreigner instantly, before he
speaks, as a friend of mine found to his cost, who although an
Englishman would anywhere in his own country be set down for a Frenchman
from his external appearance. On the Saturday following the three
glorious days, he was standing amongst one of the groups near the
Hôtel-de-Ville, when a man of a very rough appearance with his arms bare
and besmeared with proofs that he had been in the strife, turned to him
and asked what he thought of the Revolution. My friend, who was in
feeling a thorough bred John Bull, neither liking France, the French,
nor any of their proceedings, did not think it was exactly the moment to
give vent to all his feelings, answered that it was very fine.
"Oh!" said the Frenchman, "you find it very fine, do you, you're a
foreigner, what countryman are you?"
"I am an Englishman," was the reply.
"An Englishman! eh!" muttered the Frenchman scanning him with a very
scrutinising eye, "and you find our Revolutionary fine, eh! well," added
he! "will you come and take a glass of wine with me?"
The invitation was declined on the plea of business.
"Business," repeated the Frenchman, "there can be no business to-day, it
is a day of fête;" upon which the Englishman, not seeing any means by
which he could well get off of it, said he would be happy to take wine
with him and should also have great pleasure in paying for it.
"Pay for it," sternly said the Frenchman, "what do you talk of paying
for it, when you are invited, follow me;" the Englishman obeyed, but
wished himself well out of the scrape; his conductor took him to one of
the lowest sort of wine-houses and they entered a large room where there
were above twenty seated, drinking round a table. His new acquaintance
introduced him in due form, saying, I have brought you an Englishman who
finds our Revolution very fine; there was a degree of order amongst them
and they had a president and vice president, but were very much such
rough looking fellows as the one who announced him; as a stranger, he
was awarded the seat of honour to the right of the president, but had no
sooner been seated, than one man addressed him, saying,
"I have been in England, I was a prisoner and very ill treated."
"I am sorry for that," replied the Englishman.
"I was almost starved," added the other.
"That was not the fault of the people or the intention of the
government," observed my friend, "but was caused by a few rascally
contractors who received a handsome sum for the supply of the prisoners,
and to make the greater profit they provided bad articles."
"Well," said another, "I have seen extracts from the English papers and
they speak very highly of our revolution, particularly the Times."
They next proceeded to give accounts of the share they had taken in the
struggle which had just terminated, and some began to state the number
that they killed, all of which was far from edifying to my friend, who
sat upon thorns notwithstanding they all drank his health, hitting the
glasses together according to the custom of olden time. At several
periods he made an effort to go, but they assured him that they could
not part with him so soon, called him a _bon anglais_, now and then
giving him a smack on the shoulder as a proof of their friendly feeling
towards him. The Englishman began at last to wish himself anywhere but
where he was, and in that manner they kept him for three hours in
durance vile; at last he made a bold push for a retreat, declaring he
could not stay a minute longer.
"Then," said his conductor, "I shall see you safe home to your door;"
now that was the very thing that my friend did not want, as he was
particularly desirous of dropping the acquaintance as soon as possible,
therefore did not wish him to know where he lived; so at last he thought
of a person with whom he dealt, and said he must go, and see a friend
there with whom he had an appointment; and the Frenchman accompanied him
to the door, always carrying his drawn sword with him, and when taking
leave asked the Englishman when and where he should see him again; my
friend answered he was going to England.
"Going to England," repeated the other, "what are you going to England
for, if you find our Revolution so very fine, what do you want to go
away from it for, not to abuse it to your country people, I hope?"
"Oh no," replied the Englishman, "I am only going to England for a
little while, on business, and shall be back soon, and shall have it in
my power to tell my countrymen all about the Revolution, and what an
heroic struggle it was."
"Ah!" said the Frenchman; then holding out his great rough hand, bade
the Englishman "bon soir," and "bon voyage."
My friend declared that it was impossible for him to describe to what a
degree he was rejoiced at seeing his new acquaintance depart, although,
however rough his appearance, the man might have been perfectly
harmless, except when called upon to fight for what he considered his
country's cause.
I was myself living in Paris during the struggle of the Three Days, and
can bear witness to the humanity and moderation of the people during the
contest, and of their forbearance after their victory; they came to the
house at which I was living and asked for wine; but they brought with
them pails of water into which they threw what was given them, thereby
proving their extreme temperance and forbearance, but certainly a band
of a more ruffianlike looking set of fellows, it would be difficult to
imagine, and the manner in which they were at first armed, had something
in it of the horrible, and at the same time of the ludicrous; iron bars,
pokers, pitchforks, and in fact anything that could be converted into a
weapon was taken possession of by the unwashed horde, who swarmed
towards the centre of Paris from the manufacturing suburbs; soon,
however, the public armouries, and the gunsmiths' shops, the musquetry,
and other arms taken from the soldiers during the battle, contributed to
arm them more formidably.
But in justice to the Parisians I must cite two circumstances; the one
is, that whatever they seized upon in the public institutions, as
instruments of offence and defence, were restored when the contest was
over; the librarian at the Royal Library told me that they took all the
ancient and modern arms from their establishment, but with the exception
of seven they were all brought back, and most likely the bearers of
those which were missing had been killed.
The other instance which does high credit to the Parisian mob, is that
they would not permit of any robbing or pillage in any house or building
which they might enter, but, as might be expected, some of the regular
thieves of Paris mixed amongst the people; one at length being caught
purloining an image in the palace of the Tuileries, they formed a circle
round the thief, tried him in an instant, and shot him; this was summary
justice with a vengeance, and certainly not exactly what ought to have
been done, but it showed the principle which existed. In fact honesty is
undoubtedly a quality existing in France to a most extraordinary degree,
a greater proof of it cannot be adduced than the fact that when any
person quits a theatre with the idea of returning in a few minutes they
leave their handkerchiefs on their seats by way of retaining their
places, which custom is even practised at the lowest theatres, where the
admittance is only half a franc.
Ingenuity and a tact for invention are certainly features peculiar to
the French character, but they are far behind the English in their
methods of transacting business; this remark is applicable even to most
of the public offices; that France is extremely flourishing, and Paris
more particularly so, cannot be denied, but were it in the hands of the
English there is no doubt their produce, manufactures, and commerce,
both home and foreign, would be considerably greater than it now is.
France has been most peculiarly favoured by nature, her soil produces
everything that can be grown in England, and besides three commodities
which are not genial to our climate, and are of immense value, oil, silk
and wine; hence the products of the soil of France amount annually to
the immense sum of 240,000,000_l._, or 6,000,000,000 francs; having such
a basis, or one may even say such a capital to work upon, to what an
incalculable extent might business be carried on, with the amazing
industry that exists in France, as in the first place their population
exceeds ours by nearly six millions; then their general temperance is
such, there is not so much time nor labour lost as there is in England,
consequently there are more hands available, and those generally for a
longer period of time, as every one who is familiar with many
manufacturing and even agricultural districts in England must be aware
that there are numbers of workmen who never appear on the Monday,
vulgarly called St. Monday, but spend it at the public houses.
I myself have had farming men whom I hired by the day in Kent, who did
not appear until Wednesday morning, but that, however, is some years
since, and the evil is now correcting. The great deficiency in France is
not only want of great capitalists, but men of enterprise, who are not
afraid to enter upon colossal undertakings; and now, looking at the
speculative works of the greatest magnitude which exist in France, it
will be found that Englishmen are concerned in them, either as partners
in a firm, or the principal shareholders in any company or association.
The promptness of the English for adventuring their funds in all sorts
of schemes is the wonderment of all Europe; whenever there is any
discovery which may be rendered available for trade, an Englishman is on
the spot with his capital in his hand and his calculation in his head.
Recently a vein of coal was found near the coast of Brittany, three
Englishmen were there as if they had dropped from the clouds, quite
prepared to enter into all the arrangements requisite for working the
mine and rendering it productive of profit.
But although the French are deficient in those qualities requisite for
commencing and conducting gigantic enterprises, yet they are rapidly
improving in every point that is necessary for the management of
business and augmenting their foreign commerce to a great extent,
particularly with America; from the town of New Orleans alone, last
summer, there were eighty merchants in Paris at one time, and the amount
from all the United States was estimated at two thousand; in fact if
France remain at peace, the increase of her prosperity in every branch
of industry must be certain, as if she obtain English machinery, which
she must ultimately, with those who know how to set it in motion also,
as provisions are cheaper, and always will be than with us, because she
needs not so much taxation, her debt being so much smaller than that of
England, labour must be lower, therefore she will have an advantage over
us which it will be impossible for England, with all her talents, to
circumvent. Already the Americans purchase, not only silks and fancy
articles in France, but also even cotton goods of the superior
qualities; the only obstacle which prevents the French from making still
more rapid advancement than is at present the case, is first timidity of
capitalists, deficiency of knowledge of the higher order of business,
and extreme slowness in proceeding with any grand national operation, as
for instance, her railroads, in which she has not only seen England
surpass her tenfold, but other neighbouring countries; but as there is a
sort of system of centralization in favour of the metropolis, Paris
improves more rapidly in proportion than the rest of France.