the degree, in which a few of the most intriguing and ambitious were exalted: this is the case in England, where thousands of poor devils are bound to a system which renders them the contempt of their own body.

This letter is already sufficiently lengthy, therefore,

Adieu.

LETTER XIII.

LONDON, DECEMBER 16th.

I

HAVE at present, only a few street observations to make, so shall fill up this letter with any matter that occurs.

Nothing has afforded me more amusement, than the exhibition of a certain class of Englishmen : the description to which I allude is composed, of those who have unexpectedly come to wealth, some few of those who are earnestly in pursuit of fortune, and whose affairs are flourishing, but principally of those who have spent their fortunes, and yet are resolved to support appearances.

These characters sport themselves before the public on all occasions, and are as tenacious of the gentleman, as though they expected every passenger was about to dispute the point with them. When they appear in public they do not seem to observe any body, yet they indirectly tell you, themselves are the only persons in the street: still there is a certain something hanging about their demeanour, which courts the attention of the passengers with a "Look at me."

M

Many of them appear to be in a pillory, owing to the quantity of cravat, and to the two wings of their shirt collar, for fear of discomposing which, they are obliged to turn their whole bodies with their heads hence, if they wish to view the whole horizon, they are obliged to make several right angles. One eye would answer all the purposes of these gentlemen, if it was fixed in their foreheads.

Of the various expedients of raising money to which Mr. Pitt has resorted, that of laying a tax on strutting would not have been the most unpopular. For the generality of the English, who attach any consequence to themselves, are addicted to this bombast manner of walking.

Some of these gentlemen, you might imagine, must meet with the saddest accidents for they resolutely proceed straight forward, in defiance of all opposition, whether from wheelbarrows, posts, or from those of their own description, who are approaching with an air equally determined. Yet, I know not how it happens, they meet with few serious misfortunes, though I have seen a collision between two, when it was necessary for each, before they could pass, to make an angle, of forty five degrees. But they are liable to another accident, much more serious than a flesh wound. In the rainy seasons, the square stones on the way side sometimes become loose, and mischievous

boys, by removing the earth from under them, balance them on props, and form what they inhumanly call beau traps. Now a man who never looks lower than horizontally is very likely to fall into these insidious snares.

Why should the generality of mankind differ so much in their demeanour? The scholar, the soldier and the sailor, with some others, have professional peculiarities but the great body of the people in a free country ought to discover that ingenuous carriage which bespeaks a conscious dignity, equally distant from insolence or servility. It is scarcely expected, in England, that a poor man should have the principle of fixed virtue; and if one in authority neglects the opportunity of robbing the public, that is accounted a rare effort of virtue, and worthy of a monument: on the other hand, if one of the lowest class should by mistake receive a guinea in the dark, instead of a shilling, and return it the next morning, it is matter for the public papers. Carere vitio, habetur pro virtute.

Those of the lowest class, both men and women, discover a careless, undefined, abandoned carriage, which marks their consciousness of being little better than outlaws from the community. Yet they are far from being destitute of generous feelings, though in appearance, they have not even the outside of humanity.

The character of the English is the most com. plex of any in Europe. I shall in some future letter take occasion to inquire into the cause of this, otherwise one is in danger of knowing this people only by halves. Part of their character might induce you to imagine them a feeble, inefficient, secondary race of men: but you would be greatly mistaken; the English are never greater, than on those occasions when most men would despair. They are restless under uncertainty, fearful from contingency, undone from anticipation: but mark out the time when, with its duration, and the place where ; let the sum total of what they are required to endure, be precisely calculated; connect these circumstances with the honour of Old England, and they are equal to all occasions. They submit to phantoms of their own creation, but can bear real misfortune with complacency.

I have imagined, I know not with what degree of truth, that the English, more than any other people, require some object of attention, without which they seem to stagnate. The Spaniard, if he have nothing to do, will swing in his hammock until he is weary, and will after that swing himself to rest. The Dutchman will sit in a happy vacancy until some avocation rouses him. The Frenchman is in no hurry to force himself on opportunity, but is ready to embrace it when offered; and in the mean