3 APRIL 1886, Page 28

IN OLD FRANCE.—I.

One describes the angelic goodness and sweetness of an old French lady. "Impossible !" says somebody, who ought to know better; "all Frenchwomen are wicked." One can only contradict ; one cannot argue to any purpose, or prove any- thing, here in the middle of England. With a hopeless shrug, one reflects that a Frenchwoman might say, " Les Anglaises sont si hetes ;" for, after all, prejudices are not of one country.

One may remark, in passing, that it is as well to know the