I am unwilling, finally, to take my leave of France, without expressing an opinion of the character of a people, with whom I had been so long resident; the unfavourable circumstances, however, under which only I could contemplate them, make me diffident in advancing my opinion, as I am fully conscious of an inability to give the picture that energy and justice of colouring which it requires. I shall, therefore, confine myself to a few general remarks.
There is something highly fascinating in the exterior, manners, and converse of a Frenchman; courteous in his behaviour, he evinces a strong desire to please and be pleased; but although he manifests the speciousness of ardent friendship, his heart is not the soil, in which this quality is capable of taking a firm and unshaken root; as soon as the source, from which it has emanated, and been supported, ceases to be present, the previous impressions disappear, and a void is offered for the reception of new ones, equally vivid, but equally superficial.
This mixture of susceptibility and indifference makes the Frenchman a gay and pleasing, but, at the same time, an uncertain companion; he does not, like the Englishman, dwell on the enjoyments of the past, and entangle his mind with useless and prolonged regrets, but is ever ready to enliven new scenes of social intercourse; in short, he can ill sustain a state of tristesse, which he considers all his reflecting moments, and whether thrown into contact with his countrymen, or strangers, is a sensualist in his social feelings, and must seek for pleasure and amusement, for in this “he lives and has his being,” and that man is his dearest friend, who most contributes to his gratification.
With respect to the fair sex, they are generally lively and fascinating, and possessed of susceptible feelings, capable of being converted into strong attachments. These are some of the essential requisites for forming an amiable, and virtuous character; but, alas! the good is perverted by the influence of an injudicious and trifling system of education, extended at most to superficial literary acquisitions, which barely serve for the dictation of an ungrammatical billetdoux, or the copying of a song. The most devoted attention is given to the art of pleasing, and the study of dress, which, with the auxiliaries of music and embroidery, form the leading occupations of young French females.
In conversation they are acute, playful, and frequently sensible, but it cannot be wondered at, when the defects of education are taken into account, that there should be little which sinks deep into the heart, and leaves an impression, or promise, of future matron-like virtue.
Many ladies, however, are educated in convents, where they acquire a temporary spirit of bigotry, which wears off after they return into the world, and frequently leaves behind it a proportionate want of religious feeling.
They, generally, marry young enough to enable a judicious husband to form a character if defective, or to correct it if deformed; but here they are truly to be pitied; for they soon experience a culpable neglect from those men who ought to be their inseparable protectors and advisers, and who, preferring the society of others, leave them incautiously to their own pursuits and feelings. Is it to be wondered at that they should cease to cultivate the domestic virtues?
To conclude; the French female contains within her those principles, which, under proper cultivation, would produce excellent wives, and estimable women; and it is a serious reflection upon the national character, that such principles should be sacrificed by the indifference, and neglect of those whose duty, as well as interest it is, to elicit and establish her virtues.