calls himself economical because he spares himself the expense of soup
and dessert, which circumstance made me remark that an English dinner is
like eternity: it has no beginning and no end. Soup is considered very
extravagant, as the very servants refuse to eat the meat from which it
has been made. They say it is only fit to give to dogs. The salt beef
which they use is certainly excellent. I cannot say the same for their
beer, which was so bitter that I could not drink it. However, I could not
be expected to like beer after the excellent French wines with which the
wine merchant supplied me, certainly at a very heavy cost.

I had been a week in my new home without seeing Martinelli. He came on a
Monday morning, and I asked him to dine with me. He told me that he had
to go to the Museum, and my curiosity to see the famous collection which
is such an honour to England made me accompany him. It was there that I
made the acquaintance of Dr. Mati, of whom I shall speak in due course.

At dinner Martinelli made himself extremely pleasant. He had a profound
knowledge of the English manners and customs which it behoved me to know
if I wished to get on. I happened to speak of the impoliteness of which I
had been guilty in paying a gaming debt in gold instead of paper, and on
this text he preached me a sermon on the national prosperity,
demonstrating that the preference given to paper shews the confidence
which is felt in the Bank, which may or may not be misplaced, but which
is certainly a source of wealth. This confidence might be destroyed by a
too large issue of paper money, and if that ever took place by reason of
a protracted or unfortunate war, bankruptcy would be inevitable, and no
one could calculate the final results.

After a long discussion on politics, national manners, literature, in
which subjects Martinelli shone, we went to Drury Lane Theatre, where I