]
'Iniquitous England,' writes a popular novelist, 'the vile executioner
of all in which France most exulted, murdered grace in Marie Stuart, as
it did inspiration in Jeanne d'Arc, and genius in Napoleon;'--'a race,'
says another, 'gifted with a national feeling which well-nigh approaches
superstition, yet which has chosen the whole world for its country. The
gravity of _these beings_, accidentally brought together and isolated by
mere interest, their life of mechanical activity, and of labor without
relaxation as without life, all interest, yet freeze you at the same
time.' 'The Englishman has made unto himself a language appropriate to
his placid manners and silent habits. This language is a murmur
interrupted by subdued hisses,'--'_un murmure entre-coupe de sifflements
doux_.'
The gregarious hotel life in America commends itself to the time-saving
habits of a busy race; but the love of speciality in France modifies
this advantage: in our inns a stated price covers all demands except for
wine; here each separate necessity is a specific charge--the sheet of
writing paper, the cake of soap, and the candle figure among the
innumerable items of the bill. Thus an infinite subdivision makes all
business tedious, involving so many distinct processes and needless
conditions; at every step we realize of how much less comparative value
is time in the Old World.
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