788 ANNUAL REGISTER, 1809. 



that some of tlie well-educated 

 Moors are courteous and polite, 

 and are possessed of great suavity 

 of manners. They are affable and 

 communicative where they repose 

 confidence ; and if in conversation 

 the subject of discussion be serious, 

 and the parties become warm in 

 dispute, they have generally the 

 prudence to turn the subject in a 

 delicate manner; they are slow 

 at taking offence, but, when irrita- 

 ted, are noisy and implacable. 



There is one noble trait in the 

 character of this people v?hich I 

 cannot avoid mentioning, that is 

 fortitude under misfortune ; this 

 the Moor possesses in an eminent 

 degree; he never despairs; no 

 bodily suffering, no calamity, how- 

 ever great,^ will make him com- 

 plain ; he is resigned in all things to 

 the will of God, and waits in pa- 

 tient hopes for an amelioration of 

 his condition. 



Character of several Nations, 

 by Peter the Great, Czar of 

 Muscovy, and Emperor of 

 Bvssiu. [_From Porters Tra- 

 vels in Russia and Sweden.~\ 



You may give to a Frenchman 

 liberal pay : he never amasses mo- 

 ney, and loves pleasure. The case 

 nearly answers to the German ; 

 only he spends what he labours for 

 in good living, not on the gay va- 

 nities of the Frenchman. To an 

 Englishman more must be given : 

 he will enjoy himself at any rate, 

 should he even call into his aid his 

 own credit. A Dutchman rarely 

 eats enough to pacify nature ; his 

 sole object is economy ;- less, con- 

 sequently, will serve him. An Ita- 

 lian is by nature inoculated with 



parsimony ; a trifle, therefore, wilF 

 do for him : almost out of nothing 

 he will contrive to save; making 

 no mystery of it, but acknowledg- 

 ing that he serves from home with 

 no other view than to amass money 

 to enable him to return with afflu- 

 ence, to the heaven of Europe, his 

 own dear Italy. 



Divarfs and Fools, exhibited in 

 the Houses of the Nobles of 

 Moscoxv. \_From the 6ame.'\ 



They are here the pages and the 

 playthings of the great; and, at 

 almost all entertainments, stand 

 for hours by their lord's chair, 

 holding his snuff-box, or ^waiting 

 his commands. There is scarcely 

 a nobleman in this country who is 

 not possessed of one or more of 

 these frisks of nature; but, in their 

 selection, I cannot say that the no- 

 blesse display their gallantry, as 

 they choose none but males. 



These little beings are generally 

 the gayest drest persons in the ser- 

 vice of their lord, and are attired 

 in a uniform or livery of very costly 

 materials. In the presence of their 

 owner, their usual station is at his 

 elbow, in the character of a page ; 

 and, during his absence, they are 

 then responsible for the cleanliness 

 and combed locks of their compa- 

 nions of the canine species. 



Besides these Lilliputians, many 

 of the nobility keep a fool or two, 

 like the motleys of our court, in 

 the days of Elizabeth ; but like in 

 name alone; for their wit, if they 

 ever had any, is swallowed up by 

 indolence. Savoury sauce, aud 

 rich repasts, swell their bodies to 

 tho^most disgusting size; and ly- 

 ing about in the corners of some 



splendid 



