basket of
crockery and some eggs at the top, a poor man who was carrying a load
slipped, and in his fall upset the woman and broke the greater part of
her brittle goods; in this case both being poor persons, it became a
knotty point for the French to decide; very long and very warm were the
arguments adduced on both sides by the mob which had assembled, the man
declared he was too poor to have it in his power to pay for the damage
which he had caused, that he had hurt himself very much in the fall and
found that quite misfortune enough for him. The woman cried and vowed
she could not afford to lose the value of the articles broken, and the
eggs belonged to another person who had given her the money to buy them,
and persisted that the man ought to pay for what he had broken, although
she admitted it was a very hard case for him; what was to be done? a
subscription it was decided was the only means of settling the affair,
and one person giving half a franc by way of example, engaged to be
collector, and from the different bystanders, each giving a few sous,
the sum required was soon produced, and all parties departed with the
conviction that the affair had been equitably arranged.

The French are in the habit of rising extremely early, especially the
lower classes, and even amongst the middle and higher ranks they are
rarely so late in all their operations as the English. Persons in easy
circumstances amongst the French generally take coffee, with a piece of
bread, as soon as they are up, and then breakfast _a la fourchette_
about twelve, which consists of soup, meat, vegetables, fruit, and wine;
they dine about six or seven, which is a repetition of the breakfast,
with greater variety and more abundance. Wine is drank throughout the
dinner, and never after; but light as their _vin ordinaire_ generally
is, they always dilute it with water. Immediately after dinner, coffee,
without milk or cream, is taken, and lastly a glass of liqueur; no other
repast is thought of until the following day, as they neither take tea
nor supper, in their usual family habits. But in cases of invitation it
is quite another affair, several different wines of superior quality are
handed about at dinner, with which they do not mix water, and always
Champagne of course is drank without being diluted. When they give a
_soiree_, a variety of refreshments are produced, as different
descriptions of cakes, ices, orgeat and water, punch, warm wine,
lim