The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1835-03-13 00:00:00

THE WOMEN OF PARIS.

In Paris, indeed in every part of France that I visited,
a very large proportion- o? the duties incumbent on the
human being for gaining his subsistence are performed
by women: -This'l take to be the most striking feature.
in the organization 9f .society in France. Wherever I
Went, I found womedconducting business and executing
the work of aitizans. There is hardly a shop in Paris
that is not kept Thy a woman. No matter what is the
trade, there you see a female behind the counter. I went
one day into a respectable shoemaker's shop, in the clue
St. Honore, to purchase a pair of shoes, and in this shop
there were four or live women at work, and but one man,
who was a subordinate. •Even in the drug and the gun-
smiths'•shops women are found in attendance. It appeared
to me that all these shopwomen were exceedingly indus-
ft-ions. When no customer is in the shop, they are always
engaged in sewing. • In the watchmakers' shops, women
are likewise seen working, and they may also be seen
engraving copperpla!es. All the coach or diligence
offices in Paris and elsewhere are chiefly kept by women;
•and it will be remarked, that women are placed within
'the wickets at the doors of the theatres to take money
and issue checks. In every coffee-room a lady acts as
presiient .and..cleric, and fulfils-gie-Am.....ty of -matronizing
the establishment, and rendering it fit for the entrance
of female customers. It would be needless to specify
further in what,respect women are employed in transact •
in; business: there are few establishments without them.
They are initiated into the management of trade, com-
merce:and agriculture. They do everything: There is thus
no wonder that thefemale sex exert that influence in public
affairs in France which has for many years been attributed
to them. It is mere a matter ofastomshmen.t tliat they have
not king since insister_! on having tin ostensible share in the
administration, for it must be allowed they have'wronght
well for the honour. It may be said, without a joke,
that in setting the women to work for them, the French
have discovered a principle for supporting a population
pot dreamed of by the most sage political economists.
Yet our neighbours hardly deserve any credit for this fe-
licitous discovery. Their employment of women in all
kinds of business in the place of men has most probably
originated in the long course-of civil and extern il war
in which the nation has been engaged. During these
-Wars, so exhaustive of the male population, the manage-
ment of the country must at times have been thrown al-
most entirely into the hands of the women, without-whose
interference the nation would have gone to wreck. So
inveterate has the practice become, that even in times of
profound peace the female sex continue to be, to all ap-
pearance, the principal breadwinners in the country-.
While" it is impossible to regard the industry of the
French females without admiration, there is every rea-
son to conclude that it is productive of the very worst
'results. It leaves too much spare time to the male po-
pulation, which they 'devote to a sauntering and gossip-
ping unworthy of the sex. It is most degradinc.r, to the
female sex, and there can be no doubt that it tends 'vastly
to keep France in an unsettled condition. No country
can expect to attain opulence and the blessings of tran-
`cluillity where the management of affairs is committed to
women, and where the male part of the population are
'ever ready and willing to spend days, weeks, and months
on the foolery of soldiery, the most mischievous .of all
kinds of idleness.

USES OF SALT.--A coriespondect of .the Irish, Farmer's Sand
Gardener's Magazine states that salt used in the compostin mak-
ing up beds for pinks. carnations, &c.. gives.flowers a rich co-
lour. .Salt thrown on bind before the corn is sown will destroy
all sorts of grubs; and if dig into"tlie ground in gardens, betore
A.Lle crops are put into it, will do the same.