Proportioned to the price of provisions, wages are higher in France than in England; you cannot have an able bodied man in Paris, for the lowest description of work, for less than 40 sous a day, those who are now working at the fortifications have 50, that being the minimum, and if a person understand any trade, 3, 4, and 5 francs are the usual prices, and those who are considered clever at their business often get more.  But many a young man’s advancement in life is impeded by the conscription; it often occurs that an industrious shopman, or artisan, has with economy saved some hundred francs, when he is drawn for the army, and glad to appropriate his little savings towards procuring him some comforts more than the common soldier is allowed; the troops generally are very quiet and orderly behaved, in the different towns where they are quartered, but the infantry have not a very brilliant appearance, having found small men so very active and serviceable in climbing the rocks, enduring fatigue, and braving all kinds of impediments, men two inches shorter than would have before been received, were admitted into the ranks, the consequence is that the regiments of the line now make but a poor display, as regards the height of the men, and indeed in their manner of marching, and carrying their muskets, some nearly upright others more horizontally, they have not a regular orderly appearance, like many of the other troops on the Continent; most of the largest sized men are taken up for the cavalry, and very well looking fellows they many of them are, particularly in the Carabineers, which, in regard to the height of the men, is a remarkably fine regiment, but might be much more so, if the government paid that attention which is devoted by other powers to the selections for their choice regiments; in the Carabineers there are men as much as six feet three, and four, and others as short as five feet ten, whilst in other regiments, such as the Lancers and Dragoons, they have here and there men above six feet, which if placed in the Carabineers, and those who were the shortest in that corps removed into the others, all those regiments would be improved, as being rendered more even, whilst the Carabineers would then be equal in appearance, with regard to the men, to any regiment in the world.  With respect to the horses, it would be more difficult to render it as perfect as our Life Guards, and as to their bridles and equipments in general (except their regimentals) there is often an inequality and want of care and attention as to uniformity of appearance, but throughout all the French cavalry, the men have an excellent command over their horses.  I have been at many grand reviews both in France and in England, and in the former I never saw a man thrown, whereas in the latter it has frequently occurred, either from the horse falling or other circumstances.