Parallel Examples amongst Country Gentlefolks.
For the country gentlefolks here are parallel examples. I had a neighbour in England who lived quietly in the country, had certain rather refined tastes, and was respected by every one. I have a neighbour in France who lives quietly in the country, has precisely the same tastes as the Englishman, and lives with his family exactly in the same way, except, perhaps, that he has déjeuner at eleven when the Englishman had luncheon at one. The Frenchman and his wife are also respected by everybody, and I have not the faintest reason for supposing that they do not deserve it. Yet I am asked to believe that they are intensely vicious, and if I inquire for proofs I am referred to novels written by some Parisian who has never seen my neighbours.
Unmarried Girls.
A large class, both in France and England, whose general good conduct is doubted by nobody who knows the countries, is that of unmarried girls in the middle and upper classes. Here a fall is so rare as to be practically unknown. The English girl is less retiring than the French jeune fille, and she knows more, but she is equally safe. It is something that the two civilisations should have produced at least one class that is so very nearly immaculate.
The French Clergy.
The Anglican Clergy.
There are a few flagrant cases of immorality every year amongst the French clergy; but although surrounded by enemies eager to publish every fault, and powerless now to impose or procure silence, they keep, on the whole, a reputation equal to that of the Catholic clergy anywhere. Even their enemies believe them to be far more moral than the Italian priesthood, for example. The clergy in England have an equally good reputation, in spite of occasional scandals, and there is no reason for supposing it to be undeserved; but they have the safeguard of marriage.
Soldiers and Sailors.
English Medical Opinion.
French Sanitary Legislation.