k. 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 _bons mots_ roll
under the table. In short, the Englishman reflects before speaking; the
Frenchman speaks first and reflects afterward--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 of the beauty of the type of the one, or
the elegance and good taste of the others; but I will notice one or two
great contrasts. In France a young girl is reserved, is timid, and, as
it were, hidden under the shade of the family: but the married woman has
every liberty, and many husbands can tell you that she does not always
use it with extreme moderation! In England you are surprised at the
confident bearing of young girls, and the chaste reserve of married
women. The former not only willingly listen to gallant compliments, but
even excite them; while the latter, by the simple propriety of their
bearing, impose on the boldest.

The boldness of young