BRANDY AND SEA SICKNESS. 205 



Here the Hanoverian interrupted him, and the other Dane, the 

 Swede, and the Prussian joined us, together with a young En- 

 glishman who spoke the German fluently, and interpreted to me 

 many of the Prussian's jokes. The Prussian was a travelling 

 merchant, turned of threescore, a hale man, tall, strong, and stout, 

 full of stories, gesticulations, and buffoonery, with the soul as well 

 as the look of a mountebank, who, while he is making you laugh, 

 picks your pocket. Amid all his droll looks and droll gestures, 

 there remained one look untouched by laughter ; and that one 

 look was the true face, the others were but its mask. The Ha- 

 noverian was a pale, fat, bloated young man, whose father had 

 made a large fortune in London, as an army contractor. He 

 seemed to emulate the manners of youno^ Englishmen of fortune. 

 He was a good-natured fellow, not without information or litera- 

 ture; but a most egregious coxcomb. He had been in the habit 

 of attending the House of Commons, and had once spoken, as he 

 informed me, with great applause in a debating society. For this 

 he appeared to have qualified himself with laudable industry: 

 for he was perfect in Walker's Pronouncing Dictionary, and with 

 an accent, which forcibly reminded me of the Scotchman in Ro- 

 deric Random, who professed to teach the English pronunciation, 

 he was constantly deferring to my superior judgement, whether or 

 no I had pronounced this or that word with propriety, or *^ the 

 true delicacy." When he spoke, though it were only half a do- 

 zen sentences, he always rose ; for which I could detect no other 

 motive, than his partiality to that elegant phrase so liberally 

 introduced in the orations of our British legislators, " While I am 

 on my legs." The Swede, whom for reasons that will soon 

 appear, I shall distinguish by the name of " Nobility," was a 

 strong featured, scurvy-faced man, his complexion resembling, in 

 colour, a red hot poker, beginning to cool. He appeared mi- 

 serably dependant on the Dane; but was however incomparably 

 the best informed and most rational of the party. Indeed his 

 manners and conversation discovered him to be both a man of the 

 world and a gentleman. The Jew was in the hold : the French 

 gentleman was lying on the deck so ill, that I could observe no- 

 thing concerning him, except the affectionate attentions of his 

 servant to him. The poor fellow was very sick himself, and every 

 now and then ran to the side of the vessel, still keeping his eye 

 on his master but returned in a moment and seated himself 

 again by him, now supporting his head, now wiping his forehead 

 and talking to him all the while in the most soothing tones. 



