There is nothing so vile or repugnant to nature, but you may
plead prescription for it, in the customs of some nation or
other. A Parisian likes mortified flesh: a native of Legiboli
will not taste his fish till it is quite putrefied: the civilized
inhabitants of Kamschatka get drunk with the urine of their
guests, whom they have already intoxicated: the Nova Zemblans
make merry on train-oil: the Groenlanders eat in the same dish
with their dogs: the Caffres, at the Cape of Good Hope, piss upon
those whom they delight to honour, and feast upon a sheep's
intestines with their contents, as the greatest dainty that can
be presented. A true-bred Frenchman dips his fingers, imbrowned
with snuff, into his plate filled with ragout: between every
three mouthfuls, he produces his snuff-box, and takes a fresh
pinch, with the most graceful gesticulations; then he displays
his handkerchief, which may be termed the flag of abomination,
and, in the use of both, scatters his favours among those who
have the happiness to sit near him. It must be owned, however,
that a Frenchman will not drink out of a tankard, in which,
perhaps, a dozen of filthy mouths have flabbered, as is the
custom in England. Here every individual has his own gobelet,
which stands before him, and he helps himself occasionally with
wine or water, or both, which likewise stand upon the table. But
I know no custom more beastly than that of using water-glasses,
in which polite company spirt, and squirt, and spue the filthy
scourings of their gums, under the eyes of each other. I knew a
lover cured of his passion, by seeing this nasty cascade
discharged from the mouth of his mistress. I don't doubt but I
shall live to see the day, when the hospitable custom of the
antient Aegyptians will be revived; then a conveniency will be
placed behind every chair in company, with a proper provision of