752 ANNUAL REGISTER, ISlO. 



raucli from tlie pride of the In- 

 dians and Persians. 



" Their third defect is a passion 

 for acquiring money, and their 

 attachment to worldly affairs. Al- 

 though these bad qualities are not 

 so reprehensible in them, as in 

 countries more subject to the vi- 

 cissitudes of fortune — because, in 

 England, property is so well pro- 

 tected by the laws, that every per- 

 son reaps the fruits of his indus- 

 try, and in his old age, enjoys 

 the earnings or economy of his 

 youth ; yet sordid and illiberal 

 habits are generally found to ac- 

 company avarice and parsimony, 

 and, consequently, render the pos- 

 sessor of them contemptible ; on 

 the contrary, generosity, if it does 

 not launch into prodigalitj', but 

 is guided by the hand of pru- 

 dence, will render man respected 

 and esteemed. 



" The fourth of their frailties is a 

 desire of ease, and a dislike to ex- 

 ertion ; this however prevails only 

 in a moderate degree, and bears 

 no proportion to the apathy and in- 

 dolence to the smokers of opium of 

 Hindoostan and Constantinople; it 

 only prevents them from perfecting 

 themselves in science, and exert- 

 ing themselves in the service of 

 their friends, upon what they 

 choose to call trivial occasions. I 

 must, however, remark, that friend- 

 ship is much oftener cemented by 

 acts of courtesy and good nature, 

 than by conferring permanent 

 obligations ; the opportunities of 

 doing which can seldom occur, 

 whereas the former happen daily. 

 In London I had sometimes oc- 

 casion to trouble my friends to 

 interpret for me, in the adjust- 

 ment of my accounts with my 

 landlord and others ; but in every 



instance, I found that, rather than 

 be at the trouble of stopping for 

 five minutes longer, and saying a 

 few words in my defence, they 

 would yield to an unjust demand, 

 and offer to pay the items I object- 

 ed to, at their own expense ; at 

 the same time, an aversion to the 

 employment of interpreter, or 

 mediator, was so conspicuous in 

 their countenance, that, latterly, 

 I desisted from troubling them. 

 In this respect I found the French 

 much more courteous ; for if, 

 in Paris, the master of an hotel at- 

 tempted to impose on nie, the 

 gentlemen present always inter- 

 fered, and compelled him to do 

 me justice. 



" Upon a cursory observation of 

 the conduct of gentlemen in Lon- 

 don, you would suppose they had 

 a vast deal of business to attend 

 to ; whereas nine out of ten, of 

 those I was acquainted with at the 

 west end of the town, had scarcely 

 any thing to do. An hour or two 

 immediately after breakfast may 

 be allotted to business, but the 

 rest of the day is devoted to vi- 

 siting and pleasure. If a person 

 calls on any of these gentlemen, it 

 is more than probable he is told by 

 the servant, his master is not at 

 home ; but this is merely an idle 

 excuse, to avoid the visits of peo- 

 ple, whose business they are either 

 ignorant of, or do not wish to be 

 troubled with. If the suppliant 

 calls in the morning, and is by 

 chance admitted to the master of 

 the house, before he can tell half 

 his story, lie is informed, that 

 it is now the hour of business, 

 and a particular engagement in 

 the city requires the gentleman's 

 immediateattendance. If he calls 

 later in the day, the gentleman 



