Cooper turns from French manufactures and the arts, including Sèvres porcelain and Gobelins tapestry, to the manners of Parisians, the theatre, literature, newspapers, and publishing, while his residence at Saint-Ouen gives him a closer view of villages, the Seine, and rural life and allows him to contrast the French countryside with the capital. He examines Parisian society, dinners, housing, transportation, criminal justice, policing, parliamentary government, and elections, and his excursion with Lafayette to Vincennes and La Grange leads to further reflections on monarchy, constitutional government, political instability, and liberty. After considering national prejudices, differences between European and American society, and even contemporary fascinations such as animal magnetism, Cooper leaves Paris through Picardy for Calais, closing his account with a broader assessment of the political, social, and cultural world he has observed during his long residence in France.
