ENGLAND. 



547 



distance between ihe vehicles England has been called the " hell of horses,"* and it cer- 

 tainly is not their paradise. The racer too often passes through all gradations of misery, from 

 the turf, which is no quiet life, to the coach, the dray, and the mill. 



The Canals, which pass over many parts of England, ofier a cheap and easy conveyance, 

 and there are, on the Thames, a great many boats for passengers. More than 4,000 have been 

 known to pass upwards on a Sunday. They arc sharp and long, and go thi'ough the water rap- 

 idly. The fare is regulated by law ; the boats themselves are numbered, and the boatmen 

 have a costume. On Sundays, the outpouring from London is prodigious ; the laborers are 

 delighted to go into the fields ; and the gentry, on that day, often go to their villas. They have to 

 pay, however, on the Sabbath, double tolls. In the cities, there are sedan chairs, which carry 

 one person. They are borne by two men by means of poles. They are not now much used, 

 except for carrying persons who are dressed for occasions of ceremony. 



Besides the modes of conveyance described above, there are huge wagons, for passengers 

 and merchandise. They have 8 or 10 horses, and the driver sometimes rides on a poney 

 by their side. There are, in the appropriate seasons, many pedestrian travelers in the pic- 

 turesque parts of England ; and they may be seen about the castles, lakes, and mountains, each 

 with his umbrella and knapsack, in search of the picturesque. 



16. Character, Manners, Customs. 



" Pride in tlieir port, defiance in their eye." 



This is the description of Goldsmith, and no one who is acquainted with the people, called by 

 the general name of John Bull, will deny that they have at least pride ; this, and reserve, 

 are traits in the character of the English, so obvious, that a stranger may see ihem. They 

 are too ungracious to be overlooked or forgotten. An Englishman is so little disposed to 

 hold discourse with strangers at ordinaries, coffee-rooms, or places of amusement, that he is 

 apt to consider their address to him, as involving some sinister design upon his purse or dig- 

 nity, and if he reply without rudeness, it is in the coldest manner. This trait of English char- 

 acter has been somewhat softened in the people of the United States who inherit it, and it is less 

 repulsive than in England. A Frenchman and most other Europeans will readily and cheer- 

 fully converse, with whatever people he may chance to be placed ; but an Englishman draws 

 himself in like a snail from any contact with strangers, and he operates upon the spirit of cheer- 

 fulness among them as water acts upon fire. This is partly the effect of pride ; it arises, also, 

 in part from the want of that early introduction to society \ which is common on the conti- 

 nent. An English boy is sent to a distant school, of a republican character, where he is 

 thrown upon his own resources ; while a French stripling, under the care of his mother, is 

 conversant with gay and fashionable society. 



It must be admitted, however, that an Englishman has some ground or excuse for pride, 

 and that in many European countries he may reasonably have a feeling of superiority. He 

 feels that he is a member of that great empire to which Europe looks with respect ; his country 

 holds the trident of the ocean, or at least of the seas that wash the old world. Britain holds the 

 keys of the Mediterranean, controls the commerce of India, and has an empire there ; upon 

 her dominions the sun never sets, and all these pour their countless riches to swell the wealth 

 of England. The Englishman may also feel, in his own person, some pride, that he is a 

 countryman of Shakspeare, Newton, and a thousand renowned names in science, adventure, 

 and charity ; he may appropriate to himself a portion of the fame of the Nile, of Blenheim, 

 and of Waterloo ; and these are surely some incentives to pride. One of the purest men that 

 ever lived, and himself an Englishman, declares, that it is distinction enough for the ambition 

 of a moderate man, 



" That Wolfe's great name 's cotemporal with liis own, 

 And Chatham's language is his mother tongue." 



But this propensity of an Englishman to rate highly his own merits, and the dignity of his 



* The horses in the stagecoaches are usually animals eroachments, from the impertinent, obtrusive, and rfesign- 



of fine blood, but having some blemish are bought at a low ing, and a haughty demeanor is perliaps worn abroad, as 



price. They are often excessively overdriven. a defensive armor against such characters. 'J'his seems a 



t It is probable, that the repulsive manner of the Eng- more probable soliilinn, from the fact, Ihnt the moment 



lishman to strangers, is somewhat the result of the state you cease to stand in the relation of a stranger to an ICng- 



of society in England. The crowded manner in which the lishman, and become his guest, nothing can be more frank 



people of that country live, exposes them to constant en- and hearty than his treatment of vou. 



