e, of
large fortune, while they were at dinner; there were seven persons at a
round table, too small for five; two of the company were visitors; yet
neither their dinner was so good, nor their manner of eating it so
delicate, as may be seen in the kitchen of a London tradesman. The
dessert (in a country where fruit is so fine and so plenty) was only a
large dish of the seeds of _pomegranates_, which they eat with wine and
sugar. In truth, Sir, an Englishman who has been in the least accustomed
to eat at genteel tables, is, of all other men, least qualified to travel
into either kingdoms, and particularly into Spain; especially, if what
Swift says be true, that "a nice man is a man of dirty ideas,"--I know
not the reason, whether it proceeds from climate, or food, or from the
neglect of the poorer order of the people; but _head combing_ seems to be
a principal part of the day's business among the women in Spain; and it
is generally done rather publicly.--The most lively, chearful, neat young
woman, I saw in Spain, lived in the same house I did at _Barcelona_; she
had a good complexion, and, what is very uncommon, rather light hair;
and though perfectly clean and neat in her apparel, yet I observed a
woman, not belonging to the house, attended every morning to comb this
girl's head, and I believe it was _necessary_ to be combed. I could not
very well ask the question; but I suspect that there are people by
profession called _headcombers_; every shop door almost furnishes you
with a specimen of that business; and if it is so common in _Barcelona_,
among a rich and industrious people, you may imagine, it is infinitely
more so among the slothful part of the inland cities and smaller
towns;--but this is not the only objection a stranger (and especially an
English Protestant) will find to Spain; the common people do not look
upon an Englishman as a Christian; and the life of a man, not a
Christian, is of no more importance in their eyes than the life of a dog:
it is not therefore safe for a protestant to trust himself far from the
maritime cities, as an hundred unforeseen incidents may arise, among
people so ignorant and superstitious, to render it very unsafe to a man
known to be a Protestant. If it be asked, how the Consuls, English
merchants, &c. escape?--I can give no other reason than what a Spaniard
gave me, when I put that question to him:--"Sir," said he, "we have men
here, (meaning Barcelona) who are Protestants all day