In London I made a point, as a stranger, of going everywhere, and was
certainly much delighted with every thing. I must confess, however,
that I thought all the acting at the Opera and Theatres, and all the
eloquence of the Houses of Parliament, as nothing in comparison of
what I saw and tasted at the East India and London Docks. When I
was in the House of Lords, a companion whispered to me, that he had
heard an act read, offering a reward of 10,000_l._ for a _male_
tortoise-shell cat. This I believe, indeed, is a very safe offer, for
such a thing was never heard of. And it is certainly as much worth
their while as making an act that I should never have more than six
dishes of meat at my dinner, or that I should not be buried in linen
above twenty shillings Scots value per ell, although I wished it
particularly, and could well afford to pay for it. There was, however,
one restrictive act, which had sense in it; and the husbands of the
present day would, I dare say, give their ears that it were still in
force, whatever the dressmakers might think of it. But many of their
acts of Parliament are silly enough--as they must be; for they don't
like to be thought idle, and imagine that it is necessary to be always
enacting something.

It is curious, indeed, how fashion should be every thing in the great
city. A lady could not possibly venture to see her dearest friend on
earth, or even her own sister, if she happened to live in rather an
unfashionable part of the town. By so doing, she would expose herself
to her own footmen, who very properly would lose all respect for her,
and I suppose instantly leave her service, as, poor fellows, they have
a rank in life to keep up!! John Bull certainly gives himself many
airs, to say the least of it. After receiving the greatest kindness
and hospitality from you in Scotland, and perhaps staying for months