Mr. Adviser, that I was not a little surprised to find that this party, which was to occasion neither trouble nor inconvenience, robbed me of all my comforts. Until then my wife had regularly read to me at breakfast all that was interesting in three morning papers, for the weakness of my sight renders it painful to me to read for any length of time; but the day after our invitations were given, she read only a few paragraphs, because she assured me there was nothing worth looking at by the way, she said the same thing every day for the whole week-and after hurrying over breakfast in a most uncomfortable manner, she quitted the room, to make arrangements for our party. I always used to take some little nourishing thing in the middle of the day, which Mrs. Tremor had generally the goodness to prepare for me herself; but from the moment she began to arrange matters for this important evening, that task devolved on Betty, and consequently my beef-tea was watery, my chocolate oily, and my soup over-seasoned.

Well, Mr. Adviser, the important evening came at last, and, to my equal surprise and displeasure, the whole town poured in on us. Parties were immediately arranged for tric-trac and boston, which Miss Apemode has succeeded in rendering fashionable among us; and such was the noise and confusion, that I lost two games at chess, the first he ever won from me, to Captain Culverin, who has exulted in it ever since, and declares every where that he beats me at chess; although I protest to you, that the noise of the tric-trac tables, and the chattering of a confounded little Frenchman, made me give him my queen for a pawn in one game, and caused me to place three pieces in check at once in another; so you see what right he had to boast of his skill.

In the mean time the young people were amusing themselves with reels and country dances; for to the great disappointment of Miss Apemode, who presided as mistress of the ceremonies of the ballroom, none of them could figure in the waltz or fandango. While they were in the height of their mirth, my wife proposed that the dancing and cards should be suspended, that we might enjoy a little concert; which I found afterwards had been planned to bring forward the musical talents of the Misses Screechwell, one of whom favoured us with some airs in I know not what language, and her sister and Monsieur Frivole, the Frenchman I before spoke of, performed what they were pleased to call pieces of music, which Miss Apemode assured us were the chefs d'œuvres of Cimarosa, executed in the manner of Crescemini. I actually blushed at her hardihood in hazarding such a ridiculous compliment; which, however, our musicians received as the homage due to their genius.

At last, to my great satisfaction, the concert ended, and then Monsieur Frivole begged to have the honour of amusing the company with some slight-of-hand tricks, which he had been taught by the celebrated D'Olivier, and had often practised with much applause at the house of his friend Madame la Duchesse de Parvenue, in Paris. Our guests had not hitherto thought M. Frivole of much consequence, but the name of the duchess convinced them of the ir

mistake, and they eagerly formed a circle round a table, at which the operator seating himself, exhibited dexterously enough several tricks with cards. The room rang with applause, which was not a 'little heightened by the whispers of Miss Apemode, that Monsieur Frivole was considered as the most skilful amateur of juggling in all Paris, and was absolutely doted upon by the noblesse. Alas! poor Monsieur Frivole had "touched the topmost point of all his greatness." He took a glass filled with wine, which he said he would change into rose-leaves, and scatter them on the bosom of Miss Bloomless. But by some mismanagement or other the trick failed, and instead of rose-leaves, poor Miss Bloomless received the wine, not on her bosom but on one side of her face, which instantly exhibited the tints of the crocus, instead of the roses and lilies that had adorned it the moment before. But this was not all: the lady who sat on her right, exclaimed bitterly against the awkwardness which had completely spoiled her white satin robe; and the one on her left, who by the bye was the most difficult to appease, had, in her eagerness to see the experiment more clearly, leaned so forward, that her head struck against that of Miss Bloomless, and the violence of the concussion displaced her flaxen wig, and broke one of her Marabout feathers. The three ladies were loud in their reproaches, and the poor operator, frightened at the storm which the unlucky failure of his spell had raised, sought to conjure down its violence by promising Miss Bloomless a pot of genuine Parisian rouge. This promise unluckily rendered her ten times more furious, for prior to this discovery she always denied that she wore any.

Baffled in his first attempt at conciliation, he had not courage to address either of the other ladies, but retreated from the table with a shrug so expressive of mortification, that, for his sake, I was heartily glad to hear supper announced. As I had conditioned that we should not have a formal supper, I leave you to judge of my surprise, when I found a table profusely covered a la Française.— Certainly nothing could be prettier than the appearance of our supper, but unfortunately it resembled the dinner of Toby Allspice, for we had nothing fit to eat, at least in my opinion; my good neighbours, however, did honor to the fricassees, friandeaus, &c. &c. &c. to the great satisfaction of my wife and her friend Miss Apemode; and at last, when I began to be heartily fatigued, they took leave.

I flattered myself, that in the course of a few days we should fall into our old quiet track; unfortunately, I was totally mistaken: from that day all the habits of my wife are changed; instead of attending to my comfort, she is for ever planning schemes of dissipation. I find remonstrance and entreaty alike ineffectual to stop the progress of a taste for pleasure and expense, which I supposed would be easily subdued, because it has been so lately acquired.By pointing out to me what means I could use to restore order and comfort in my family, you would, sir, effectually oblige your very humble servant, TIMOTHY TREMOR. If Mr. Tremor will follow my advice, he will directly oblige

Miss Apemode to quit his house; for we may fairly conclude, that when the cause of the evil he complains of is removed, the effect will soon cease. Let him pursue lenient measures with his wife, let him be even generous towards her cousin; but let him separate them by all means: in this one point he must be firm. I would recommend to him to procure for his wife every rational amusement within his reach, and if her heart is as good as he seems to think it, gratitude will soon make her renounce those pleasures which are inimical to his tranquillity.

THE ADVISER.

ART. VIII. On the Merits of a Residence in France.-From the (London) Monthly Magazine.

Α

ACTIVITY OF THE WOMEN.

T the hotel or inn where you arrive, you may find the husband in the habit of going to market, and of keeping the books; but all other business, such as receiving the travellers, adjusting the bills, superintending the servants, male and female, falls under the province of madame. Again, if you go to an upholsterer's to buy a few articles of furniture, you may observe the husband superintending his workmen in the back shop or yard, but leaving it to his fair partner to treat with customers, to manage all cash receipts, and payments, and, in many cases, to fix on the articles to be purchased out of doors. The mercer's wife does not limit her services to the counter, or to the mechanical tasks of retailing and measuring-you see her at one time standing beside the desk, and giving directions to the clerks; at another you hear of her being absent on a journey to the manufacturing towns, and are desired to suspend your purchases, not till her return, which would be remote, but for the few days necessary to let her send home marks of her progress, 'car madame nous fait ses envois a mesure qu'elle fait ses achats.' In short, women in France are expected not only to lend an assisting hand to their husbands in business, but to take a lead in the management, to keep the correspondence, to calculate the rate of prices, and to do a number of things that imply not merely fidelity and vigilance, but the habit of deciding and acting by herself in the most important departments of the concern. We need hardly add, that they are abundantly zealous in points so nearly connected with the welfare of their families, and that the extent of assistance thus afforded to the husband far exceeds any idea that can be formed by those who have not resided in France. But all advantages have their drawbacks, and this assistance is not afforded without several important sacrifices, among which we are to reckon the almost universal neglect of neatness in the interior of the house, and the more serious charge of inattention to the health of their children. The greater proportion of the latter are separated from their mothers at the time when parental tenderness is most wanted, and entrusted to country nurses, who are frequently very deficient in the means of preserving their health, r providing for their comfort.

If we look to the higher circles, we shall find every where examples of similar activity and address. Your readers may have fresh in their minds the multiplied letters and applications of madame Ney, and the more fortunate exploit of madame Lavalette. They will not have forgotten the courageous stand made by the dutchess of Angouleme at Bordeaux, in March, 1815, and her repeated addresses to the troops of the garrison.

MORALS.

This is a very delicate topic, and one on which I take the liberty to differ from a great number of our countrymen. In nothing does the exaggerating propensity of the French appear more conspicuous than in the tale of scandal; not that such tales are particularly frequent in this country, but, because, when they do come forth, they are arrayed in a garb that would hardly ever enter into the imagination of any of our countrywomen. On our side of the channel a rumour, whether among the fair or the mercenary part of the public, generally has probability, in some degree, for its foundation; but in France all you require is the direct allegation, the confident assertion. Nobody thinks of scrutinizing your evidence, and you are in no danger of being afterwards reminded of your fallacy, in a country where almost every thing was absorbed in the thirst of novelty. A lady in France, who may happen to have a quarrel, or or who may give rise to a hostile feeling by her vanity or affectation, is not, as with us, merely satirised for the eccentricity of her dress or manner, but is doomed forthwith to encounter the most vehement attacks on her reputation. Lovers are immediately found out for her, and the circumstances of assignations are recapitulated with as much precision as if the parties had been present at the forbidden interview; if she has eclipsed her rivals at a ball, or received the marked attentions of a leading personage, the unkindly rumour will fly from mouth to mouth, without exciting, among at least ninetenths of the public, the least doubt of its reality. It lasts, indeed, only for a few weeks, until some other female becomes equally the object of jealousy, and is made to furnish materials for a fresh series of wondrous anecdotes. It is ten to one that, at the time of the arrival of an English traveller in a French town, the haute noblesse are occupied with some precious rumour of this description, and our moralizing countryman records it in his journal with a sad conviction of the depravity of the nation.

A residence of several years in a provincial town of considerable size, and of much genteel society, has satisfied me that nine-tenths of the tales circulated against particular individuals are unfounded, and were never meant by the inventors to produce any thing beyond a temporary discredit to the obnoxious party. Common sense tells us, that in every civilized country, a woman will look for her happiness in the affection of her husband, and in the esteem of the respectable part of her sex; nor can France be accounted an exception, unless it can be shown that, by some strange peculiarity, the men in that country are indifferent to the chastity of their wives and daughters, or the women callous to every thing in the shape of

vice. Gallantry is the vice of an idle man; it is characteristic of the higher ranks in France, in the same manner, and perhaps in a somewhat higher degree than in other countries; but how small is the proportion of these idlers to the great mass of the population! The middling and the lower ranks follow the same habits of industry as with us; a married couple can find a maintenance for their family only by a cordial support of each other; and the time of the husband is occupied to a degree that leaves him very little leisure for planning projects on his neighbour's wife.

There is, however, a very marked distinction in the degree of reprobation affixed by French and English ladies to individuals of their sex, labouring under unfavourable imputations. While, with us, the exclusion from society takes place on a general scale, in France, it is only partial, owing (not as the wags will argue) to a community of impropriety on the part of those who still continue their countenance; but to a facility of temper, a wish to view things on the favourable side, a credulity in listening to the vindication of the accused party, a partiality to whoever courts protection; in short, to a variety of causes that do more honour to the heart than the head.

Parents in France are very scrupulous in regard to their daughters, and make a rule of not allowing them to go into company or to places of amusement without the protection of a relation or friend, whose age or character will prevent any loose conversation from the young or giddy part of the other sex. This, to be sure is paying but a bad compliment to the male part of the society; but it gives an English family residing in France an assurance, that their daughters may go without hazard into female society, particularly of an age corresponding to their own. Music, drawing, and dancing, form in that country, as with us, the general occupation of unmarried ladies.

PARIS.

There is a material difference between the French of Paris and the provincial towns, so that the favourable part of my picture is to be understood as applicable chiefly to the latter. Paris has always been the residence of an extraordinary number of oisifs, whether officers, noblesse, or others, who have just money enough to pay their way from day to day: and who, without being absolute adventurers, are perpetually falling into all the exceptionable habits of the inexperienced and idle. A Frenchman is the creature of habit, he has no fixed principles, and follows, with all imaginable pliancy, the example or solicitation of those with whom he happens to be connected for the moment. Such a flexibility of character must inevitably pave the way to a variety of irregularities; and eventually to vices; time is wasted at theatres, at shows, or at the more dangerous occupation of the gaming table? and, although the habitual exaggeration of the French leads them (when speaking of the vices of the metropolis) to exhibit a very outré picture, particularly in what relases to the fair sex, there can remain no doubt that Paris is a place to be avoided, and that it is the scene where, of all others, the national character of the French appears to the greatest disadvantage.