*"Besides, I am a native of England, and, consequently, have a right
to go where I please."

My room door is half open, and gives me a prospect into that of Mad. de
L____, which is on the opposite side of the passage. She has not yet put
on her cap, but her grey hair is profusely powdered; and, with no other
garments than a short under petticoat and a corset, she stands for the
edification of all who pass, putting on her rouge with a stick and a
bundle of cotton tied to the end of it.--All travellers agree in
describing great indelicacy to the French women; yet I have seen no
accounts which exaggerate it, and scarce any that have not been more
favourable than a strict adherence to truth might justify. This
inattractive part of the female national character is not confined to the
lower or middling classes of life; and an English woman is as likely to
be put to the blush in the boudoir of a Marquise, as in the shop of the
Grisette, which serves also for her dressing-room.

If I am not too idle, or too much amused, you will soon be informed of my
arrival at Arras; but though I should neglect to write, be persuaded I
shall never cease to be, with affection and esteem, Yours, &c.




Arras, August, 1792.

The appearance of Arras is not busy in proportion to its population,
because its population is not equal to its extent; and as it is a large,
without being a commercial, town, it rather offers a view of the tranquil