onsequence of this revival, and the awakened spirit of
curiosity and enterprise, every year adds to our ample store of books
relating to the manners of other nations, and the condition of men in
states and stages of society different to our own. And of such books we
cannot have too many; the idlest reader may find amusement in them of a
more satisfactory kind than he can gather from the novel of the day or
the criticism of the day; and there are few among them so entirely
worthless that the most studious man may not derive from them some
information for which he ought to be thankful. Some memorable instances
we have had in this generation of the absurdities and errors, sometimes
affecting seriously the public service and the national character, which
have arisen from the want of such knowledge as by means of such books is
now generally diffused. Skates and warming-pans will not again be sent
out as ventures to Brazil. The Board of Admiralty will never again
attempt to ruin an enemy's port by sinking a stone-ship, to the great
amusement of that enemy, in a tide harbour. Nor will a cabinet minister
think it sufficient excuse for himself and his colleagues, to confess
that they were no better informed than other people, and had everything
to learn concerning the interior of a country into which they had sent an
army.

_Sir Thomas More_.--This is but a prospective benefit; and of a humble
kind, if it extend no further than to save you from any future exposure
of an ignorance which might deserve to be called disgraceful. We
profited more by our knowledge of other countries in the age when

"Hops and turkeys, carp and beer,
Came into England all in one year."

_Montesinos_.--And yet in that age you profited slowly by the commodities
which the eastern and western parts of the world afforded. Gold, pearls,
and spices were your first imports. For the honour of science and of
humanity, medicinal plants were soon sought for. But two centuries
elapsed before tea and potatoes--the most valuable products of the East
and West--which have contributed far more to the general good than all
their spices and gems and precious metals--came into common use; nor have
they yet been generally adopted on the Continent, while tobacco found its
way to Europe a hundred years earlier; and its filthy abuse, though here
happily less than in former times, prevails everywhere.

_Sir Thomas More_.--_Pro pudor_! There is a snuff-box on