*
* Mr. Young seems to have been persuaded, that the common people of
France worked harder, and were worse fed, than those of the same
description in England. Yet, as far as I have had opportunity of
observing, and from the information I have been able to procure, I
cannot help supposing that this gentleman has drawn his inference
partially, and that he has often compared some particular case of
distress, with the general situation of the peasantry in the rich
counties, which are the scene of his experiments. The peasantry of
many distant parts of England fare as coarsely, and labour harder,
than was common in France; and taking their habits of frugality,
their disposition to be satisfied, and their climate into the
account, the situation of the French perhaps was preferable.
Mr. Young's Tour has been quoted very triumphantly by a Noble Lord,
particularly a passage which laments and ascribes to political
causes the appearance of premature old age, observable in French
women of the lower classes. Yet, for the satisfaction of his
Lordship's benevolence and gallantry, I can assure him, that the
female peasants in France have not more laborious occupations than
those of England, but they wear no stays, and expose themselves to
all weathers without hats; in consequence, lose their shape, tan
their complexions, and harden their features so as to look much
older than they really are.
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