ir wives
behind them on horseback when they went to London; and, in the same
manner, took them back to their country seats, with hoods of waxed linen
over their heads, and wrapped in mantles of cloth, to secure them from
the cold.

There was one misfortune of a singular nature, to which women were
liable in those days: they were in perpetual danger of being accused of
witchcraft, and suffering all the cruelties and indignities of a mob,
instigated by superstition and directed by enthusiasm; or of being
condemned by laws, which were at once a disgrace to humanity and to
sense. Even the bloom of youth and beauty could not secure them from
torture and from death. But when age and wrinkles attacked a woman, if
any thing uncommon happened in her neighborhood, she was almost sure of
atoning with her life for a crime it was impossible for her to commit.

FRENCH WOMEN.

Though the ladies of France are not very handsome, they are sensible and
witty. To many of them, without the least flattery, may be applied the
distich which Sappho ascribes to herself:

"_If partial nature has denied me beauty, the charms of my mind amply
make up for the deficiency._"

No women upon earth can excel, and few rival them, in their almost
native arts of pleasing all who approach them. Add to this, an education
beyond that of most European ladies, a consummate skill in those
accomplishments that suit the fair sex, and the most graceful manner of
displaying that knowledge to the utmost advantage.

Such is the description that may safely be given of the French ladies in
general. But the spirit, or rather the _evil genius_ of gallantry, too
often perverts all these lovely qualities, and renders them subservient
to very iniquitous ends.

In every country, women have always a little to do, and a great deal to
say. In France, they dictate almost every thing that is said, and direct
every thing that is done. They are the most restless beings in the
world. To fold her hands in idleness, and impose silence on her tongue,
would be to a French woman worse than death. The sole joy of her life is
to be engaged in the prosecution of some scheme, relating either to
fashion, ambition, or love.

Among the rich and opulent, they are entirely the votaries of pleasure,
which they pursue through all its labyrinths, at the expense of fortune,
reputation, and health. Giddy and extravagant to the last degree, they
leave to their husbands economy and care, which