pass in France, unless coined in the present king's reign. Strangers ought therefore to be upon their guard, lest they get imposed upon by taking old coin.

They that go to France ought to dress in the French mode, to prevent being known by sharpers, who sometimes try to take the advantage of those they find to be foreigners.

As it may be of some utility to strangers going into France, I will just add

A TABLE of FRENCH COINS, with their value in ENGLISH.

A louis d'or is a gold coin. A grand ecu, the ecu, vingt quatre sols piece, the livre, a douze sols piece, and the six sols pieces, are silver: though a livre is no coin, but nominal only. The deux sols, and the sols and half, are a mixture of copper and silver, and the other coins are all copper.

The French measure the distances between their towns by leagues, posts, &c. and a post is two leagues, of their measure.

A French league is fifty-seven yards and nine inches longer than an English league.

A French toise, or fathom, is 76¾ inches longer than an English; and a French foot is equal to 12⁷⁹/₁₀₀ inches English measure, &c.

CHAP. III.

Early in the morning of the memorable 14th of July we left Calais, and proceeded in a stage coach, drawn by eight horses, on our journey towards Paris.

These coaches are almost as large as a small house. They are very heavy; and eight persons may sit comfortably in the inside, and I believe a dozen more upon the outside. We had a conductor who rode armed on the fore-part of this wonderful machine, and a very large dog sitting upon his rump at the conductor's left hand; both of which were employed as sentinals to guard us on the way.

The harnesses for the horses were made of ropes instead of leather, and were very long. Hence, as our coach was very large and the traces very long, we made a grand appearance as we travelled!

Upon the hindmost and foremost horses, on the near side, two Frenchmen were mounted, with boots of a most surprizing magnitude, so well constructed with leather, wood, and iron, that if a horse falls down the rider is not in much danger of having his legs broke; for the prevention of which, the boots were thus made.

The horses were not quite so large as ours in England; but we drove about five or six miles in an hour, and at the end of every post the horses and postillions were changed. The postillions received twelve sous of us when we parted with them, which gave content.

We breakfasted at Boulogne, dined at Montreul, and in the evening came to Abbeville, where we lodged. The people were in arms through the country. Scarce any body was at work in the fields, as it was a time of feasting, and all seemed rejoiced at the sound of the liberty they expect, in consequence of the great and glorious Revolution.

At this place there was a young lady, who manifested by her actions, which speak louder than words, that she had an inclination to lodge with me that night; but as I had no disposition to deal in such commodities, she was disappointed.

The next morning we set out early, breakfasted at Amiens, dined at the Breteuil, supped at Clermont, and rode all night; but were obliged to pay for our breakfasts out of our own pockets the next morning before we came to Paris. We arrived at Paris about nine in the morning, being the 16th of July, having been four days and four hours on our journey. We were abliged to give the conductor half a crown a-piece; and I spent near three guineas on the way, besides what I paid at Piccadilly.

At Paris we had our trunks searched at the Custom-house, and went from thence in a coach to the Hotel de Beauvais, Rue des Vieux Augustins, No. 69, Quartier du Palais Royal, where a gentleman that had come from London with me, and myself, hired three large rooms, neatly furnished, for four livres a-day. We breakfasted at this place, which cost us fifteen sous a-piece each morning, besides what we gave to the servants.

I hired a servant, who remained with me all the time I tarried at Paris: he charged me forty sous per day; but he conducted me so well, that I gave him more than double that sum.

I found Paris very full of people from the country, and from foreign parts. They had met to celebrate the Revolution, and tarried till the next Sunday in order to have another grand convention at the Champ de Mars.

Whilst we were on our way from Calais to Paris, we were followed, in some of the intermediate towns and villiages, by swarms of beggars, who seemed to be in great distress. I asked the reason of their begging; and was told that they were reduced to poverty in consequence of the commercial treaty between England and France; that the manufactories in Great Britain were so much cheaper than they were in France, that the merchants bought many of their goods in England, which had thrown those poor people out of employ, and obliged them to beg for a livelihood.

We frequently contributed to the relief of those distressed objects: but because we could not give to every one, some of them threw a stone at our coach, which did not happen to strike any of us. At, and near Paris, we found but a few beggars, in proportion to the great number of people. Some how or another, they seemed to be much better provided for than they were in the country.

The face of the country between Calais and Paris, appears much like many parts of the Province of Quebec, in America. But I think the soil is not quite so rich. Though some have supposed it is full as good by nature as the island of Great Britain; and that it would produce as large crops, if it was as well manured and cultivated. I was told, that agriculture had been much discouraged in France, before the Revolution, by reason of the oppression that the peasants were under.

More then three-fourths of the land between Calais and Paris, appeared to be overspread with grain, consisting of rye, wheat, oats, and barley. There was also some excellent hemp and flax. The people had begun to reap, and there was a sign of a very plentiful harvest; but the crops were not so large in general as they are in England. We saw but a very few cattle, horses and sheep, and those