The New Orleans daily Democrat. [volume] (New Orleans, La.) 1877-1880, 1880-02-28
OLD ENGLAND CRITICISED.
What an Intelligent Frenchman is Able TO
Say About Her.
New York World.l

An intelligent foreigner, M. Ernest Guile
mot, who has spent ten years l,i - ,,,femn,a
has just produced remaihAnIo yoi ~ ~
"Old England" Containing .ne ,,u aa v -, the
Pal Nail Gazette, In reviewing 1t, in the su-
burbs of London, and as ne took w his ADoue
IN Tho ho,1se OF ai, artisan his familiarity Win
the manners and customs 81 the arisGocIhcy
Is easily xplic1bte aad him nreaIy They
spents,nuir lives q balayer ct q dlshcloIher;
h,,t tl,ev are disgustingly dirty In their per
sons and their homes alike. ~ ne
wear round they and their male lolK
l ys D &c wfek and a' sysbbass fried fish
t ~: On Sundays these necessities are
replaced by joint for dinner ana py COOKIES
and the mysterious penny winkle Ior Iea.
drunk for seventeen days, eight before ana
eight after; the upper classes guzzie enor-
mously and pass all night around the ire;
the streets are full Of nccordions, mandollns
and cornets. 1t is the men who are religious
and we'll dressed-the women arc neither
but their opinion Of themselves In matters OF
taste Is 80 high that II q husband dares critl-
else his wife'B costume she Instantly takeb
the Brighton train, sulks until ne is brou9nt
to reason. Everybody s poor: nobody 70 t aplo
lish women. M. Guillemot is very hard heart
ed. They have all large hands, turned up NJ
the ends, and fiat, thick feet; their waists
and ankles are sometimes slender, but lex
ible they cannot be; Il Is marx o. race
that they should be stiff at the hips and
otherwhere. They dress In fri9htful taste; q
respirator spectacles and knitted comfort
er are almost their only wear. When they
are unmarried they giggle and shout ana
poke each other In the ribs as they pass you )
when they are matrons the observant ior-
eigner is Informed or the fact by the look 81
insult and reproach they direct at the other
side OF the street. They are kind OF say.
ages. Once M. Guillemot had to turn one Oh
them out Of his room; more than once "a ~
gent Park he has had to defend himself with
Els cane. They are desperately addicted 70
gossip, and have always cold In the hean J
twenty times has Nj. Guillem0t heard preach
ers pause In their pulpits to ask II the con
9regation was coughing ana sneezlnR
and snutlling on purpose: Ihelr chaIlly
Is simply non-existence. AS they are mar
riageable at twelve by law, while me men
are hubble at fourteen, many scandals take
place. In the upper classes they have moth
Ing to do but jump tive-barred gates, play the
piano and paint in water-colors; In the lower
they are far from honest, and the noble
stranger will, II he be wise. carry his money
on his person and lock up whatever strong
drink he may happen to have In his posses
sion. They are fond Of tippling, and VIII sci
dom or never condescend to lace their sherry
or their gin with water. There are, per-
haps, q dozen beauties In England; there ls
not one pretty woman In fifty; q certain
Jea,te d,l diablc is all they can lay claim
to with any show Of reason: AS a rule,
the servants are far better looking ard more
elegant than their mistressee. To see these
latter "a Rotten-row" or "aur concerts d!
eJardin Floral red-nosed and bull-eyed ana
swelled of eyelid, one is compelled to believe
that polygamv- institution derant "a,
q,elle Joseph Smith ct Young Brigham n ont
pas recule--ought to be, though It Is not, the
privilege Of Anglo-Saxon men. It Is some
how not surprising In country whose
women are OF this sort, to find that the
school-boy's college cap is a source, OF inland
revenue; that there are companies whose
business 1t is to traffic In false witnesses that
the favorite wines are port and sherry.