is just going out, to pay a visit of consequence, and therefore cannot be detained: but if the petitioner, unabashed by such checks, continues to relate his narrative, he is set down as a brute, and never again permitted to enter the doors. In this instance, I again say, that the Freach are greatly superior to the English; they are always courteous, and never be tray those symptoms of impatience so conspicuous and reprehensible in the English character. "Their fifth defect is nearly allied to the former, and is termed irritability of temper. This passion often leads them to quarrel with their friends and acquaintances, without any substantial cause. Of the bad effects of this quality, strangers seldom have much reason to complain; but, as society can only be supported by mutual forbearance, and sometimes shutting our eyes on the frailties or ignorance of our friends, it often causes animosities and disunion between the nearest relatives, and hurries the possessor into dilemmas whence he frequently finds it difficult to extricate himself. "The sixth defect of the English is their throwing away their time, in sleeping, eating, and dressing: for, besides the necessary ablutions, they every morning shave, and dress their hair; then, to accommodate themselves to the fashion, they put on twenty-five different articles of dress: all this, except shaving, is repeated before dinner, and the whole of these clothes are again to be taken off at night: so that not less than two complete hours can be allowed on this ac. count. One hour is expended at breakfast; three hours at dinVOL. LII. ner; and the three following hours are devoted to tea and the company of the ladies. Nine hours are given to sleep so that there remain just six hours out of the twenty-four for visiting and business. If they are reproached with waste of time, they reply," How is it to be avoided?" I answer them thus: "Curtail the number of your garments; render your dress simple; wear your beards; and give up less of your time to eating, drinking, and sleeping." "Their seventh defect is a luxurious manner of living, by which their wants are increased a hundred-fold. Observe their kitchens filled with various utensils; their rooms fitted up with costly furniture; their side-boards covered with plate; their tables loaded with expensive glass and china; their cellars stocked with wines from every quarter of the world; their parks abounding in game of various sorts; and their ponds stored with fish. All these ex-. penses are incurred to pamper their appetites, which from long indulgence have gained such absolute sway over them, that a diminution of these luxuries would be considered, by many, as a serions misfortune. How unintel ligible to them is the verse of one of their own Poets: "Man wants but little here below, It is certain, that luxurious living generates many disorders, and is productive of various other bad consequences." Leaving England, Abu Taleb went to Paris, thence to Lyons, and Marseilles: from this port he embarked for Genoa, whence .3 C he he proceeded, successively to Genoa, Malta, Smyrna, and Constantinople. His views of the political state of Europe would do honour to a well informed European; and his sketches of foreign character are not less acute and instructive than those of our own Country. As we have given our author's free opinions on the English character and manners, the reader will be gratified by a few passages, by way of contrast, from his sketches of France, and of French customs. "On arriving at Calais, after supper we got into a heavy coach called a Diligence, but which, from the tediousness of its motion, reminded me of a Hindoostany carriage drawn by oxen; and after three nights and two days of incessant travelling, we at length reached Paris. During the whole of this journey, the country was beautiful and highly cultivated; rich fields of corn were here and there divided by vineyards, or orchards of delicious fruit; rivulets of clear water crossed the road in various places, over which were constructed neat stone bridges; and every few miles we came to a populous town or village. these respects, it appeared to me In superior to England. The cow's and other animals, were, however, thin and poor looking, and resembled those of India. The horses had the appearance of the Persian or Arabian breed, and better looking than the English, but, I was informed, were not near so good. It was on this journey I first observed oxen used in Europe to draw carriages. Many of the French dogs are exceedingly beautiful, and so small, that they are carried by ladies under their arms, to prevent their being fatigued. vel, and the sides were planted with "The roads were very broad, lerows of shady trees, which in the summer must be a great comfort to the traveller. Many of the and have all the appearance of fortowns are surrounded by walls, tresses. ceedingly mean, and do not at all "The villages in France are exresemble their towns. I thought the female peasants very disgusttheir dress: the attire of the village ing, both in their manners and girls in India, in comparison with these, is infinitely superior. The inns on the road were also execrable, and filthy to such a degree, that I could neither eat nor drink in them with any pleasure." innumerable, but, in general, are "In Paris, the coffee-houses are French smoke segars or cheroots in very filthy; and, as many of the them at all hours of the day, they person is also much annoyed by begsmell shockingly of tobacco. A gars at these places: they follow a gentleman into the room,and sometimes even take hold of his hand to move his compassion, or rather they are, however, content with a to tire him by their importunity : tisfied by a piece of bread: to trifle, and will sometimes be saobtain this favour, they have frequently to contend with a surly rival, in the form of a large dog, whose filth is lying about in different parts of the room... to English cookery, that during the meats meats are burned up, and retain not a dop of gravy: the boiled meats were also overdone, and quite stringy. The French are exceedingly fond of mixtures, that is, meat stewed with vegetables, and a great quantity of garlick, spices, &c. On this account I have frequently risen hungry from a table of thirty dishes, on the dressing of which much pains had been bestowed, and principally on my account. The only good dinners I ever ate in these countries were at the houses of English or Americans, who had taken pains to instruct their servants in the proper mode. Neither could I relish their pies or tarts, &c. as an inspection of their pastry-cooks' shops had prejudiced me strongly against them. "I have before mentioned, that the exterior appearance of Paris is superior to London; so, in this respect, are their houses: they are very lofty, and have a great deal of gilding and finery about them; but, in the interior, they are not by any means so neatly or comfortably fitted up as the English houses. "The pleasures of life depend much upon the attainment of three things:-1st, A clean comfortable, and private house, to reside in. For such a situation, a stranger in Paris may seek in vain. 2dly, Good eating and drinking. Of this pleasure I was deprived by the badness of their cookery. 3dly, A facility of procuring those things which are requisite for our comfort. The better classes of >the inhabitants probably enjoy these means, but they are unattainable by a traveller! betAlodging-house in Paris, which is probably eight stories high, and 2 contains fifty or sixty persons of both sexes, has only one entrance, and one yard. The noise and dirt made by such a crowd may be easily imagined. In these houses it is not customary to hang bells; and as the servants never think of visiting the rooms but once a day, that is, when they inake the bed and bring up water, it becomes absolutely requisite for a person, who wishes for any comfort, to hire a servant of his own, to whom he is obliged to pay a guinea a week. In France, they seldom think of cleaning the grate, or fire-place; it is consequently a disgusting object; whereas, in England, I always thought it an ornament to the room. and a good coal fire more beautiful than a bouquet of flowers. "In some of the streets of Paris, there are, at night, a few lamps, which yield a glimmering light, barely sufficient for a man of keen sight to find his way; and as the shopkeepers do not light up their windows as in London, the city has then a very sombre appearance. In those streets which have not lamps, you frequently see a lantern suspended from the roof of a house by a long rope, which, in the day-time, has a disgusting and mean appearance. The streets in Paris are not flagged on the sides, as in London; a rough pavement extends all the way across the street; and as the carriages drive up close to the doors, the foot-passengers are in constant danger of being driven over on this account there is no pleasure in walking the streets of Paris, either by day or night. "The French in general, and especially the Parisians, are extremely 3C 2 tremely courteous, affable, and flattering. They never make use of the simple words Yes or No, but have always some circuitous phrase ready, expressive of the honour. you confer, or their regret. In pointing out the road, or explaining any thing to a foreigner, they are indefatigable, and consider such conduct as a proof of their good breeding and humanity. You may call on a French gentleman at any hour, and relate to him your whole story twice over: he will listen with the greatest patience, and never betray a discontented look. How superior, in this respect, are they to the irritable and surly Englishmen! Whilst travelling, or when dining at French ordinaries, I was frequently surprised to see with what good humour the gentlemen put up with bad food, and worse wine; and whenever I complained, they took great pains to persuade me things were not so bad, and that the master of the house was not in fault." "In a London coffee-house, if a gentleman calls for breakfast, the waiter will at once bring him all the requisites on a tray, and afterwards eggs or fruit, if called for. This he does to avoid running backward and forward, to which the English have a great objection. But in Paris, although the waiter perfectly knows by experience what articles are requisite, he will first bring the coffee, then the sugar, a third time the milk, and, before you can possibly breakfast, he must have made half a dozen trips to the bar. When a number of persons are assembled, such conduct causes the greatest con fusion, and a total want of all.comfort. My barberin Paris used to bring with him a large copper basin, and a coarse cloth somewhat like the bags out of which the horses in India eat their corn. Having tied the latter under my chin, he then threw some water into the bason, and, with a piece of soap, having made a quantity of lather, he daubed it all over my face, neck, and breast, while he himself was wet up to the elbow; after which be commenced his operation of shaving. Disgusted with this mode, I asked him one day if he had ever been in England. He answered, that he had. "Then said I, "you must have seen that there the barbers carry only a small box, which contains both soap and brush, and a couple of razors, with which they can shave fifty people in a morning, without daubing their customers, or dirtying their own clothes. Why do you not adopt their mode?" He replied: "Your observation is correct: I have both a box and brush at home; but, as the French do not like them, and I cannot introduce the fashion, they have therefore never been used; but in future, I shall bring them for your use." "The men in France are I think better looking than the English; their clothes are made to fit the body, and are of more lively colours; many of them also wear ear-rings and other ornaments. I "The French women are tall, and more corpulent than the English, but bear no comparison with respect to beauty. They want the simplicity, modesty, and graceful motions of the English damsels. Their Their fashion of dressing their hair was to me very disgusting, as it exactly resembled the mode practised by the common dancinggirls in India; that is, by dividing the hair into ringlets, two of which hung on the cheeks in an affected careless manner. They were also painted to an excessive degree, were very forward, and great talkers. The waists of their gowns were so short and full-bodied, that the women appeared hump-backed; whist the drapery in front was so scanty as barely to conceal half their bosoms. Although I am by nature amorous, and easily affected at the sight of beauty, and visited every public place in Paris, I never met with a French woman who interested me." This distinction between French and English women, and his preference of our fair countrywomen, is not more honourable to Abu Taleb's taste and discrimination, than to his virtue and good sense. We greatly regret that our limits preclude us from giving any passages from his descriptions, during his interesting journey from Constantinople, through Diarbekir, Mousul, and Bagdad; whence he proceeded to Bussora and Bombay, and finally returned in safety to Calcutta, after an absence of five years. From Mr. Stewart's Appendix we learn, that Abu Taleb, -after being appointed to a lucrative and honourable situation at Bundlecund, died there in 1806. Mr. Stewart has high claims to the thanks of the public, for introducing to their acquaintance such an interesting and well-written production: and if the original Persian M. S. could be circulated in our oriental territories, through the medium of the press, we conceive that it would produce, in the minds of the natives, impressions highly favourable to the British nation, and to its interests in India. Present State of the Spanish Colonies; including a particular Report of Hispanola, or the Spanish Part of St. Domingo; with a general Survey of the Settlements of the South Continen of merica, as relates to History, Trade, Population, Customs Manners, &c. with a concise Statement of the Sentiments of the People, On their relative Situation to the Mother Country, Sc. By Wm. Walton, Jun. Svo. 2 vols. The extraordinary revolutions which have taken place in the new world, impart a peculiar interest to every work that professes to give correct details of the physical and political state of South America. Mr. Walton having in early life visited the people and countries here described, had opportunities of collecting various information not generally known; but he unfortunately lost, partly by capture, and partly by shipwreck, his materials. All that part, therefore, of the present work, which has not been supplied to the author by recent publications, must be regarded as written from memory, without the aid of particular documents. Haring premised thus much as to Mr. W.'s sources of information, we proceed to give an outline of his work, The first volume relates chiefly to the former and present state of Hispanola; the topography, ani mal, |