The Ashland union. [volume] (Ashland, Ashland County, Ohio) 1854-1868, 1855-10-31
Darieq.
Letter from DR.. Thompson.
raEscn enAaacrEa-r0LIrrNEss


FRENcR OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES.
France is the polite nation. Com
plaisance marks the c~ountenances, grace.
fulness the movements. even of the
common people. Take an introduction
70 an English ge~ptlemnn, and he viii
carefully read Through his opera glass
as If determined to settle the question
Of its genuiueness, and if satisfied, viii
formally bow to you once or twice across
the room, and as formally, after present.
ing you wine, authorize you to command
his services if they are needed, and then
sbow you gracefully out. Go, under like
circumstances, to a French Gentleman,
and, rising to receive your Introductory
note, after giving it a mere glance, he
win approach you with smiles, offer you
his warm band with all its fingers, and
perhaps apply his other hand that he
may more closely grasp Jour Own-and
looking you in the face with a counter,
ance beaming with pleasure and benig'
nifty, will say, "Welcome to France.
welcome to Paris, welcome to my home,
welcome for your friends sake, welcome
for your own Then inqniring concern.
ing your health, your family, your coun
try. your voyage. and your impression OF
France, he will seat you in his own
chair, ask you to excuse him till he can
direct bis clerks in regard TO the bust
nessof the day, and returning, graceful
ly announce that his pleasures will be to
devote himself to yours. Eain for you
to beg him not to encroach upon his time
or impede his business for your sake
Ordering a carriage, he will seat you by
his side, and then request you to name
the objects or scenes that you would
first witness, and when the hour for din
ner arrives, no will laud you at his own
door. After meal, he may replace you
in the carriage, and perhaps say, " The
only limit to U excursions and sight.
seeing must be your inclination, your en-
gagements, or your approaching fatigue
IF an Englishman were TO profer like
attention, you will fnd it easy to pay
the expenses, and perhaps he would soor
stop if you did not ; and surely in this
there is nothing wrong; but the French.
man will defray all expenses and pay al
fees 50 specify, so artfully that you shall
have no opportunity to share them, and
as to negotiating concerning them, hi
countenance banishes the thought. No
content with his own attentions, pcrhap.
he sends to you next morning a polite
clerk, TO say hat he has been commits
stoned to be your pioneer in any d;rcc
ton that you may desire to go. II.
takes you to Versailles, to st. Cloud
to Fontaiubleau; be guides you, be tick
cts you, be feasts you, and when you g
opay the bills, you find them all con
cealed if you demonstrate with him hi
viii say, 81 do as 1 am charged.
must refer you to your friend Whose
commission 1 fulfil" If oppressed b,
this generosity, you make bold to speal
to that friend, CT to place some Napo
Icons, in his hand, he will say, go, W,
must settle these things not in France
but America. Wait til 1 visit you a
your own home.n
But how shall 1 describe a FrencI
gentleman He is more than civil
more than afable, more than courteous
he is polite, polished, refined. He re
spects your judgment, defcrs to you
taste, recognizes your ~pretentions, ap
preciates your merits, and anticipate:
your wants. be is solicituous for you.
comfort. studious of your wishes, con
descending to your inirmities, sorgetfu
of your foiblss, tolerant of your errors
ready to make sacrifices for your enjoy
ment. aud to seek his own pleasure il
your delight. His accomplishment il
not the mere grace which may be &C
quired in the dancing school; it impIie.
the absence of every thing offensive il
language, manners, and department, anc
the uniform possession of on easy, agree
able, fascinating address. His charm.
are not merely exterior-not the autom
attic movements of one governed by ar
tihcial rules-they pre-suppose a skill
full analysis of human character and hu
man life, a keen observation of men anc
circumstances a vivid perception of tn,
Influences which the most delicate attcn
tentions may exert upon their object,
facility of adaptation to the humors O
men, a uniform flow of genial feeling,
perfect sclf-command, a kind and gcntl
heart, aud an acquaintance with tn
forms-of refined society.
have often met with p~oliteness il
our own country and in England, ant
sometimes have found among the un
sophisticated gentry of the west a sub
dining suavity, but never have I me
sitb anything so agreeable as the urban
ity of the Partisan.
You may call this an art, but it i
n of the liberal ats which refine
cultivated people it is a iue arr, an,
the very finest of the fine. There is n
painting " statue in the Louvre S
pleasing to the stranger, as countenanc
of q friend heamino with n-nnrnncte