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journeymen, peck and perch all the year round, one day with another."-Happily I was at hand to explain to the company, which I did with great pleasure, that the words peck and perch (a favourite metaphor with my aunt) were an allusion to the inhabitant of a bird-cage, and meant nothing more than board and lodging.

"How do you like your neighbours the Hatchpennys?" said Miss Primrose, in a whisper to the lady of the house." They are monstrously entertaining," said the other: A dialogue of a curious nature then commenced, in which it was remarkable, that the one regularly began a sentence, and the other as regularly finished it. "As for him (said the first) he's a churlish old fool, with all the qualities of a bear"-" except his dancing," re. turned the other. "She's a great economist, I hear”—“Yes, in every thing but her speech." "She's the envy of her neighbourhood, for her great prudence," "and her green pickles."— "Her reputation and her gown are ever without spot"-"The one because she's so unreasonably ugly, and the other because she takes such excellent care of it." "She's very nimble at cardsand, never having been detected in cheating, may be said to have had a perpetual run of good luck.” -How far this dialogue proceeded, I know not, for our candle and lantern now called us to the peaceful abode of my uncle, whom, upon our return, we found, contrary to all the rules of domestic felicity, sitting with one foot upon the hearth, and a bottle by his side, which I strongly · suspect to have contained some of the right Herefordshire. Upon our entrance, the position of the

foot was quickly altered, and the bottle placed in the cupboard. My aunt withdrew, in order to divest herself of her splendour before the supper came; remarking, pointedly enough, that the wear and tear of clothes in carving was amazing and prodigious. The incidents of the next two hours were few, and may be easily told-Stocks had, from the accounts of that evening, risen one and a half, and iny uncle's cold was better. At length, after a short dissertation upon the folly of mankind, and the extravagant demands of the Chelsea bunmakers, we recollected that it was Saturday night, pulled off our shoes, and retired to rest.

I am, &c.

SOCRATES IN EMBRYO.

MONRO.

No. XXXVI.

SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 17, 1787.

Cum Græciam universam itinere rapido peragraverit, nihil fore de Græciâ, nihil vere Atticum, aut quovis modo memorabile, domum reportabit; cum scilicet satis habuerit, peregrinantium plurimorum ritu, locorum nomina forsan et situs in transcursu notâsse; interea vero civium mores et instituta, præclara et virtutum et ingenii monimenta, 'oculo diligenti et curioso neutiquam exploraverit.

Burtoni in Πενταλογιαν Dedicatio.

THE various advantages which a traveller may derive from an acquaintance with the modern languages, are too obvious to require a minute detail,

There is one, however, which deserves particularly to be pointed out; for, inconsiderable as it may appear in the estimation of young men of fortune, it will have no small weight with their parents and guardians. I allude to the considerable expense which may be prevented by those who are able to converse with the natives, of other countries in their own language. He who is a tolerable lin guist may be supposed to understand manners and customs; and few men, however knavish, will attempt to cheat him who seems as wise as themselves. Ready and plausible conversation will disconcert the attacks of imposition, and elude the stratagems of chicane. The French imagine that England produces as much gold as the coast of Africa; and that monsieur John Bull leaves his native country merely to scatter his money with thoughtless profusion about the continent. In consequence of this extravagant opinion, he rarely escapes without paying five times the real value for every commodity. His pocket is supposed to be a rich bank, upon which every rapacious Frenchman may draw at pleasure; and, of course, demands are made upon it with incessant avidity, and unrelenting extortion. These remarks are indebted for no small degree of confirmation to the following authentic anecdote. An officer of the regiment d'Artois, who was on a journey from London to Paris, spent the night at the Hotel d' Angleterre, at Calais. On examining his bill the next morning, he found that he was charged a guinea for his supper, which had consisted only of cold meat and a bottle of vin de pais. Enraged at so gross an imposition, he summoned the master of the inn, and in

sisted upon an abatement. Milord," said the landlord, "I cannot disgrace an Englishman of your rank by charging him a less price." "Sirrah,” replied the officer, "I am not a man of quality, but a poor lieutenant in the service of the Grand Monarque." "Morbleu!" rejoined the landlord, “I confess I have made an egregious blunder. I hope your honour will forgive me if I reduce my demand to half-a-crown.”

It is not less necessary for a traveller to set out with these qualifications, which will enable him to repel the encroachments of imposition, than it is desirable for him to have stored his mind with domestic information. The author of the Tableau de Paris remarks, with great justness, that we are not best acquainted with those things which every day affords us an opportunity of seeing. Curiosity is a languid principle where access is easy, and gratification is immediate: remoteuess and difficulty are powerful incentives to its vigorous and lasting operations. By many who live within the sound of Bow bell, the internal wonders of St. Paul's or the Tower may not be thought in the least degree interesting. Yet, how justly would such persons be classed with the incurious of Esop, if, on visiting their country friends, it should appear that they had never been in the whispering gallery, or seen the lions! Equally ridiculous is that Englishman who roams in search of curiosities abroad, without having previously inspected the great beauties of nature and art at home. Sir Solomon Simple, before he was informed at Venice that the Pantheon, and St, Stephen's Walbrook, in London, were two

of the first pieces of architecture in Europe, had never heard that such buildings existed.

When a man says he is going to visit foreign countries, it is necessary to be acquainted with his disposition and turn of mind, to understand what he designs by the declaration. The scholar, the connoisseur, the man of fashion, the merchant, intend to convey very different ideas by the same phrase. They may all be carried to the continent in the same ship, but, as their schemes are of the most dissimilar kinds, they separate never to meet again. Like the diverging rays of light, they all issue from the same point, but go off in various directions: their respective pursuits establish the analogy which is observed between travelling and the study of history. Characters, manners, customs, laws, government, antiquities, arts, sciences, and commerce, form the materials for observation to the traveller as well as the reader: these offer to both the highest, as well as the lowest, intellectual gratifications. The philosopher improves his theories by an intimate acquaintance with the characters of mankind; and the trifler kills his time in a manner entertaining to himself and inoffensive to the public.

It is the fashion of the present times to skim over the surface of things, and to dive to the bottom for nothing. General knowledge is most uuquestionably most desirable, because it is best calculated for general intercourse with mankind. He, however, who dares to make false pretensions to it, meets with ridicule whilst he lays snares for applause. Such, likewise, is the reward of those who talk fa▾

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