which are delicious; and of roast beef, which
is the great dish upon the King's table,
as upon the artisan's. While speaking of the
Englishman's pleasures, I may add that which
he enjoys immensely, and which consists in
rowing about the Thames, saying rude things
to passers-by. These rudenesses are freely
exchanged amongst all classes; and are
indulged in even by the Englishwoman. Any
Frenchman who appears is certain to be
called a "French dog," but this appellation
greets him wherever he shows himself. The
Englishman hates Frenchmen so intensely
that to call a man a dog, and a French dog,
is, I believe, to vent the full measure of a
man's spite. While on the subject of dogs
I may mention the fact that the Englishman's
bull-dog is perhaps the bravest animal
in existence. He seldom barks; but he
fights to the death. It is said that he has been
known to suffer the amputation of his four
legs, without leaving his hold of his enemy.
The Englishman is proud of this courage, as
he esteems it in himself, and will take his
wife and daughter to see a prize-fight. If he
be insulted in the street by a low fellow, he
will instantly throw down his wig and sword,
and fight him with his fists. I think I may
now add the public executions to the list of
the Englishman's amusements. His reputed
ferocity is gratified by this pleasure, every
six weeks regularly.

On the day set apart for this diversion the
criminals parade the town in carts. They are
dressed in their best clothes; they wear
white gloves, and, if it be the fine season,
sport nosegays. Those who die gaily are
said to die like gentlemen; and to gain this
encomium, most of them go to their death
with the most terrible insensibility, sometimes
even playing the fool by the way, to divert
the crowd. An instance of buffoonery occurs
to me. One man on his way to the gibbet
lately, stopped the cart at the door of a
public-house, called out the landlord, and
asked him whether he had not once missed a
silver tankard. The landlord replied that
one had been lately stolen from his house.
"Give us something to drink," said the
criminal, "and I will tell you about it." The
landlord, delighted at the opportunity of
recovering his property, complied. The
criminal took a draught, gave refreshment to
his comrades; and then, as the cart moved
forward, said to the landlord, "I stole your
tankard; on my return I will give it back to
you." Some of these condemned men have
been seen to put their white gloves in their
pocket, while on their way in the cart, lest
the rain should soil them, and spoil their
appearance upon the scaffold. Altogether, these
are singular exhibitions. I hear that
sometimes the friends of the criminals go and pull
their legs when they are hanging, to shorten
the period of torture. Insensibility to the
terror of death appears to me, indeed, to be
the characteristic of the English race.

Lately three young women hanged
themselves — being crossed in love. I expressed
surprise at this; but the English were only
astonished to hear that the lovers of the
unhappy trio were Irishmen, who are very
much despised in England. The Englishman
destroys himself as quietly as he sees life
destroyed in others. Lately a gentleman
hanged himself to vex his wife, by having his
property thereby confiscated. "He was tired
of life," said an English father not long since,
when he was told that his son had drowned
himself in the Thames.

With all these peculiarities, the Englishman
has sound and good qualities. You will hear
him use the word "simple" with pleasure, and
he loves those he calls "good-natured" people,
who are, according to him, peculiar to his
country. I think it would not be difficult to
justify even his "How d'ye do." The Englishman
never talks without having something
sensible to say; so that often in society long
intervals of silence occur. It is the habit of
the Englishman to break these silences by
frequent "How d'ye do's," which people
address to one another from time to time.
These frequent "How d'ye do's," signify that
the host is thinking about his guest, although
he has nothing, at the moment, to say to him.
The Englishman's books are like his
conversation, full of sound sense, and generally free
from quotations. He reads his laws — not in
the spirit which dictated them — but to the
letter. An instance of this habit occurred
not long ago. The law of England forbids
marriage with two wives. On this point it
was a common saying that a man had only
to take three wives to be beyond the reach
of the statute. And this view was common
enough, till a fellow travelled through
the country, marrying all the pretty girls
he met by the way; whereupon the
jurisconsults met, and declared that it was
impossible to marry a third wife without
having been guilty of marrying two, and that
therefore the wording of the statute was
sound. The Englishman's laws are generally
mild enough, but wayward and wrongly
severe, so that some of the greatest rascals
are punished only with the pillory, while
debtors suffer the most horrible tortures—
being cast into prison, and left often to die
of hunger. No man, however, is condemned
to death without having been found guilty,
first, by twelve judges, or grand jurymen,
and in the second place, by twelve judges
(the common jury) of his own condition. All
these judges must be of one mind. A singular
instance of the working of this system
occurred lately. A man was tried for murder;
and the proofs of his guilt were so convincing
that eleven of his judges found him guilty
without hesitation. One judge, however,
persisted in his opinion that the prisoner was
innocent. The president tried to reason with
the dissentient man, but he was inflexible.
At length, the eleven judges, being unable to