apartment.

A woman here in every stage of life has really a degree of attention
shewn her that is surprising:--if conjugal disputes arise in a family,
so as to make them become what we call town-talk, the public voice is
sure to run against the husband; if separation ensues, all possible
countenance is given to the wife, while the gentleman is somewhat less
willingly received; and all the stories of past disgusts are related to
_his_ prejudice: nor will the lady whom he wishes to serve look very
kindly on a man who treats his own wife with unpoliteness. _Che cuore
deve avere!_ says she: What a heart he must have! _Io non mene fido
sicuro_: I shall take care not to trust him sure.

National character is a great matter: I did not know there had been such
a difference in the ways of thinking, merely from custom and climate, as
I see there is; though one has always read of it: it was however
entertaining enough to hear a travelled gentleman haranguing away three
nights ago at our house in praise of English cleanliness, and telling
his auditors how all the men in London, _that were noble_, put on a
clean shirt every day, and the women washed the street before his
house-door every morning. "_Che schiavitù mai!_" exclaimed a lady of
quality, who was listening: "_ma natural mente farà per commando del
principe_."--"_What a land of slavery!_" says Donna Louisa, I heard her;
"_but it is all done by command of the sovereign, I suppose_."

Their ideas of justice are no less singular than of delicacy: but those
are more easily accounted for; so is their amiable carriage towards
inferiors, calling their own and their friends servants by tender names,
and speaking to all below themselves with a graciousness not often used
by English men or women even to their equals. The pleasure too which the