most pernicious evil which accompanies wealth is, the idea that every thing is purchasable; that the integrity and talents of men, and the chastity of women, may be sacrificed on the altar of Mammon; nay, that love and even friendship are venal. This assertion, though plausible, and in too many instances applicable, is not generally true; and it were much to be wished, for the honour of human nature, that its fallacy should be exposed by every lover of social happiness.

Those moralists, who contend that mankind are happier in a state of agricultural and pastoral simplicity than in communities where commerce prevails, seem to have forgot that "strength of mind is exercise, not rest;" and that we enjoy a thousand conveniences and elegances unknown to the untutored agriculturists of Otaheite, or even of the Western Isles of Scotland.

A classification of the merchants of London is requisite to impress the mind of the reader with a proper idea of the order which prevails in the various departments of the greatest commercial community that ever existed on earth. The first or highest class of merchants, chiefly reside at the west end of the town, and assimilate in manners and habits with the nobility and gentry, with whom, in many instances, they are intermarried, or on habits of the most amicable intimacy. Some of them are members of the lower House,\

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and they are in general, very rich. These commercial men commonly go to the city about noon, and amuse themselves with whatever intelligence is afloat respecting trade. They never take an active part in business, for their affairs are transacted by deputy, even to the writing of letters. They return home early in the afternoon, and generally dine about six o'clock.

The second class of merchants are more industrious. They are mostly very opulent, and reside in their country houses in the vicinity of London, particularly in or near Hackney, Homerton, Blackheath, and Camberwell. They generally arrive in the city at ten o'clock in winter, and nine in summer; and spend the early part of the day in making inquiries respecting the markets. Their information is obtained from brokers, who act as agents between buyer and seller. They appear at the Royal Exchange from four to five o'clock in the afternoon; write their letters after 'Change hours, and then return home.

A third class of merchants rank with ship brokers, like them are very assiduous in business; and their hours of refreshment depend upon commercial circumstances.

Ship brokers act between merchants and masters of vessels, and are paid by the latter, at an agreed rate on the amount of their freight. Thus,

sale brokers, ship brokers, and insurance brokers, with the inferior gradations of custom-house agents, wharfingers, lightermen, &c. transact the import and export business of London, by the instruction and authority of the merchant; nay, so universal is this system of agency, or doing business by proxy, that when application is made to a merchant respecting his goods, he cannot give an immediate answer, but either a reference to his agent, or a promise that he will inquire, and give the requisite information at an appointed time.

GENERAL CHARACTERISTICS OF THE PEOPLE OF LONDON, WESTMINSTER, AND SOUTHWARK.

The predominant and most obvious characteristic of the common people of this great metropolis, from the merchant down to the vender of ballads and matches, is a bustling and incessant eagerness to get money, and a disposition to spend it luxuriously. To the acquisition of gain all the powers of the body, and energies of the mind are directed by the great majority of tradesmen, who seem to think themselves born for no other purpose but to acquire wealth. In this pursuit they are generally successful; pro

perty is obtained by industry, and the commercial man retires from business to enjoy the good things of this life, when his capability of enjoying them is almost extinct.

But many of the most sagacious of our tradesfolk, aware of the uncertainty of life, wish to profit by the present moment, and are not less remarkable for their propensity to good living, than their knowledge of business. The art of living well, or good living, according to the standard set up in London, does not always promote the health and serenity of the practitioner. View a voracious citizen, or a rustic visitor to the capital, seated in a tavern with the good things provided by culinary skill before him, what a number of innocent animals must be put to death to gratify his taste, and satiate his appetite! The most ferocious savage of the wild appears amiable, compared with such a gormandizer. The citizen devoted to good living, undoubtedly consumes more than double the quantity of aliment requisite for his salutary sustenance, and in the course of twenty years, devours a flock of at least forty sheep and lambs, and a herd of twenty oxen, fifty swine of different gradations of growth, one hundred Newcastle salmon, and some millions of smaller fishes, including sprats and shrimps. As for liquors, such is his thirst, that the vine seems inadequate to supply sufficient

liquid for the dilution of his food, and the foul water of the Thames must be purified by the action of fire, and be improved in colour and flavour, by a fermentation with decocted malt, and an infusion of hops, to quench his feverish fervour. Such excess swells many of our "fat and greasy citizens," to that enormous corpulence, so frequently the subject of the caricaturist's art, and so continually a burthen to themselves.

Next to the love of money, and good living, a prominent characteristic of the good folks of London, is a passion for public spectacles. Since the beginning of the present century they have been amused with several public exhibitions, the most remarkable of which was that of the Emperor of Russia and the King of Prussia, with their retinue of princes and heroes in June 1814. Wherever the Emperor and King appeared in public, acclamations from the throats of thousands stunned thein. “Surely," said they to one another, "there must be something very remarkable in our appearance, or very absurd in the minds of the populace of London, to provoke such vociferation. They must have the best lungs in the world, and be very idle too, or they would not thus assemble in crowds, in the dusty streets, to gaze on a few foreigners." In fact, so perpetually were Alexander and William annoyed by the curious looks, and outstretched hands of the vulgar of every