Let them think as they will, so I might be at liberty to act as I will, and spend my time in such a manner as is most agreeable to me.--DR. ATTERBURY. "Had I been you, Monsieur Petit," said I, pointing to the great black rafters overhead, "when I built this house, I would have spared all that useless wood in the _plafond_, and put it under my feet." Monsieur Petit assured me, that he had nothing to do with it; for that the house had been built a hundred years before he was born. "I forgot," said I, looking at him, and drawing in my own mind a comparison between the fat well-looking landlord, in his green _redingote_, and the French innkeeper of a century ago, with his powdered wig, sallow cheeks and long pigtail, "I forgot, you are certainly of a newer make." It is truly a different animal, the breed has changed amazingly. "But the salon!" added the aubergiste, "the salon, where my friend waited me to breakfast. He had arranged that himself, and I would perceive that it was _d'un goût unique_." I went down to the salon. It was indeed _d'un goût unique_. The walls were painted in imitation of porphyry, with niches containing the Venus and Apollo; but the floor was still of brick, the doors had no idea of shutting, and Venus, with the true spirit of a _ci-devant_, seemed more ashamed of the straw chairs and dirty deal table for ever under her nose, than even of her nudity. "What a strange nation this is!" thought I. Here you will find the arts and sciences in a cottage, and the loves and graces in a kitchen; and yet one is often obliged to pick one's steps in the corridor of princes. To my friend, France possessed more novelty than to me: and as we sallied forth to examine the town, the first step in this _terra incognita_, perhaps he thought me rather cold and uninquisitive; but what was new to him was old to me, and it had thus lost a part of its bright freshness. It is wonderful how soon the gilded outside of the world tarnishes by use. We wandered through the streets some time, and at length arrived at the faubourg, called _le Pollet_, the only part of the ancient city of Dieppe, which escaped the bombardment of 1694. The dress and customs of its amphibious denizens begin to be somewhat adulterated with the common modes of the day; but still they are a people quite distinct from the rest of the inhabitants, and on their _fêtes_ may yet be seen the red or blue close-fitting coat, with all the seams covered with a broad white lace, and the black velvet cap, and the immeasurable garment which clothes their nether man. Their language is also totally unintelligible to the uninitiated, and there are many among them who can scarcely speak a word of French.