1792. the traveller, No. m1. 155 
 crofsed the Straits of Dover. I now pursue a diffe- 
“rent plan. As I travel without any retinue or pa 
“rade, 1 can be easily accommodated any where. My 
- presence excites no unusual sensations to the p2ople - 
“with whom I converse. They see me a man like 
P themselves, who may have occasion for their afsis- 
tance, but can excite neither admiration, nor hopes, 
nor fears to them. They are at freedom to act as is 
natural tothem. They are surly or kind as nature 
prompts. [see them, in fhort, as they are, withoutdis- 
‘guise. From their conversation and mode of living, 
I learn, without danger of being mistaken, the eifect 
of the government under which they live upon their 
“mode of thinking, their actions, and their happinefs. 
' The diversity in these respects I have found very great 
in the course of my travels; but the reflections these 
‘observations suggest, are always highly interesting toa 
‘speculative mind; sothat perhaps of all the occupations 
_ “in which a man can be engaged, this kind of life af- 
fords the most inexhaustible fund of amusement. I 
‘only regret the solitude it necefsarily occasions. I 
can have no friend with whom I cancoaverse. [ am 
therefore reduced to the necefsity of venting my 
thoughts in writing, and thus it is that my memo- 
randums become so bulky. 
I am now in the heart of a republic that has pre- 
served its independence inviolate for upwards of 
three hundred years ; and which in that time has 
been pafsed by many thousands of travellers who 
have never heard of its name. It is in some respects 
the most remarkable state in Europe.. The total 
number of its inhabitants does not exceed eight hun- 
' 
