beauty, which is certainly more general than in almost any other country. In the more southern parts of Europe, and in the high northern latitudes, the complexion of the lower classes of the people is tanned by the heat of the sun, or shrivelled by the rigour of severe, and long continued frost. But the mildness of the climate, and that canopy of clouds, with which the British skies are so commonly shaded, diffuses a clear and lively bloom in the face of the milk-maid and the peasant. This cause, in conjunction with the comfortable manner in which the inferior orders live, and that general cleanliness which characterises the English, gives to the common people an exterior appearance of comeliness and elegance. These advantages are the result of a temperate climate and flourishing commerce; but the freedom of the British constitution, providing for the security of property, and favouring the rights of private opinion, is the grand moral cause, to which may be traced the general spirit of enterprise that so eminently distinguishes the English, and from which results the great variety of speculative theories, and religious systems, which prevails in that country.

To enumerate all the various pastimes which idleness may require, and fancy invent, and accommodate to the taste of different classes of people, would be an endless task. The amusements of the theatre are no where carried to a higher degree of perfection than in England. Operas, ridottos, &c. are to be met with chiefly in the metropolis; but assemblies, balls, &c. are frequent in every part of the kingdom. Card parties are also exceedingly common, and the spirit of gaming is prevalent. Of hunting and horseracing the English are excessively fond, and their horses and dogs are excellent.

Domestic architecture, and housewifery, are in England carried to great perfection. The houses are extremely commodious, and they are not less remarkable for their cleanliness. The peculiarities of diet are, a plentiful use of animal food, and a vast consumption of tea, and malt liquors. Of tea, a greater quantity is said to be consumed in England than

in all Europe besides; it being drunk, morning and afternoon, in almost every dwelling in town, and country, from the palace to the meanest cottage. Coffee, though frequently drunk, is of much less general use. England was formerly noted for the variety and richness of its ales; but, at present, its principal malt beverage is porter. That of London is particularly famous, and constitutes an article of exportation on a very large scale. In England a great quantity, and variety of wines are consumed, but the red wine of Portugal is the most commonly drunk. The use of spirituous liquors is very common among the lower orders of the people, and is equally prejudicial to health, and to morals.

Simplicity and neatness characterise the dress of both sexes. The dress of all ranks is plain, and elegant, rather than splendid. That of persons of the highest distinction is, on ordinary occasions, the same as that of creditable citizens; and in no opulent country of the ancient or modern world, has the nobility united so much elegance with so little ostentation. On great occasions, however, they appear with a splendour suitable to their own, and the national dignity.

The manners of the English are continually changing, and growing more refined. Opulence naturally produces a spirit of luxury, which is the great support, and encouragement of manufactures and commerce. Both these indeed must stagnate, if, as formerly, the conveniences and luxuries of life were restricted to a few, and the great mass of the people lived in that plain and simple style described by old writers; when, as Holinshead of the 16th century observes," the houses were so mean, that in many towns, excepting the monasteries and feudal mansions, not above two or three chimnies were seen; when the common people used, instead of beds, pallets of straw, covered with a coarse sheet, and a log of wood for a bolster, and those who were lodged the most comfortably, were perfectly contented with a mattrass, and a bolster of chaff, while pillows were a great indulgence to wo

men in childbed, and servants had seldom so much as a sheet over their canvass-covered pallet, to hinder the straws from pricking their sides, and when six or seven shillings in a farmer's purse, was considered as a mark of great opulence."* If this simplicity of manners, and frugality of living, had continued, trade and manufactures could never have flourished; and if society should again revert to that state, they must be annihilated. The increase of commerce, and the influx of wealth, naturally, and indeed necessarily, produce a decided alteration in domestic habits and national manners.

Wales, though so long incorporated with England, being inhabited by a people of a different origin, living in a seques tered part of the island, where commerce and wealth have not operated powerfully on moral habits, exhibits certain peculiarities of manners, as well as of ideas, which are very dif ferent from those of their neighbours of the Saxon race. In some parts of Wales, the females of the lower and middle classes, dress in a peculiar manner, wearing a cumbrous gown of dark blue cloth, even in summer; and, instead of a cap, a large handkerchief wrapped round the head, and tied under the chin. In other places, the women, as well as the men, wear large hats with broad brims.

Superstition is also a characteristic of the peasantry of this part of the kingdom; but it is scarcely less prevalent among the same class of people in England, and most other countries.

The great article of superstitious belief, is that of the existence, and busy activity, of fairies. This appears to be a Celtic superstition, as it is equally prevalent among the Welch, the Irish, and the western Highlanders, all races of Celtic origin.

Another striking feature of the Welch peasantry, is the extraordinary attention paid to the repositories of the dead: the church-yards being kept with a cleanliness and decency, seldom seen in other countries.

Exhibitions of pious veneration for the dead, are always

* Holinshead's Chron. vol. i. p. 85.

more observable among people in a state of comparative simplicity, than among nations in the highest state of cultivation. Among the former, imagination is stronger, or its activity is less damped by the sober reasonings of philosophy, the pursuits of commerce, or the views of ambition, and avarice; and the natural affections operate in their genuine force, undisguised, and undiminished by intercourse with the world.

The hospitality almost universally prevalent throughout Wales, is an amiable characteristic of its inhabitants. Anciently the whole country scarcely afforded a single exception.

Such are the singular, but amiable manners of a people, as little known to the eastern parts of Europe, as the sublime scenery of the country which they inhabit. It is also to be observed, that since making tours into Wales has become fashionable, the vestiges of ancient simplicity are gradually wearing out. The manners of London, and Dublin, are introduced into some of their towns, and a variety of refinements have found their way, even into some parts of the country.