I could indeed relate some alarming consequences, nay, some fatal ones,
which have befallen men of honour and character in this country, from
such unguarded connections; and such as they would not have been drawn
into, on the other side of the "_invidious Streight_." When an
Englishman leaves his own country, and is got no further from it than to
this town, he looks back upon it with an eye of partial affection; no
wonder then, if he feels more disposed to be kind to a countryman and a
stranger he may meet in this.--I do not think it would be difficult to
point out, what degree of intimacy would arise between two men who knew
but little of each other, according to the part of the world they were
to meet in.--I remember the time, when I only knew your person, and
coveted your acquaintance; at that time we lived in the same town, knew
each other's general character, but passed without speaking, or even the
compliment of the hat; yet had we met in London, we should certainly
have taken some civil notice of each other: had the interview been at
York, it is five to one but it would have produced a conversation: at
Edinburgh, or Dublin, we should have dined, or gone to the play
together: but if we had met at Barbadoes, I should have been invited to
spend a month at your PENN, and experienced many of those marks of
hospitality, friendship, and generosity, I have found from the Creoles
in general. When you get upon the French coast, the packet brings to,
and is soon boarded by a French boat, to carry the passengers on shore;
this passage is much longer than it appears to be, is always
disagreeable, and sometimes dangerous; and the landing, if the water be
very low, intolerable: in this case, never mind the advice of the
Captain; his advice is, and must be regulated by his _own_ and his
owner's interest, more than your convenience; therefore stay on board
till there is water enough to sail up to the town, and be landed by a
plank laid from the packet to the shore, and do not suffer any body to