word: as such, truly
loved and honoured by those of his own persuasion, exceedingly respected
by those of every other, which fill this extraordinary city: a place so
populous, that Cheapside alone can surpass it.

It is not a large place however; one very long straight street, and one
very large wide square, not less than Lincoln's-Inn-Fields, but I think
bigger, form the whole of Leghorn; which I can compare to nothing but a
_camera obscura,_ or magic lanthron, exhibiting prodigious variety of
different, and not uninteresting figures, that pass and re-pass to my
incessant delight, and give that sort of empty amusement which is _a la
portee de chacun_[Footnote: Within every one's reach.] so completely,
that for the present it really serves to drive every thing else from my
head, and makes me little desirous to quit for any other diversion the
windows or balcony, whence I look down now upon a Levantine Jew,
dressed in long robes, a sort of odd turban, and immense beard: now upon
a Tuscan contadinella, with the little straw hat, nosegay and jewels, I
have been so often struck with. Here an Armenian Christian, with long
hair, long gown, long beard, all black as a raven; who calls upon an old
grey Franciscan friar for a walk; while a Greek woman, obliged to cross
the street on some occasion, throws a vast white veil all over her
person, lest she should undergo the disgrace of being seen at all.

Sometimes a group goes by, composed of a broad Dutch sailor, a
dry-starched puritan, and an old French officer; whose knowledge of the
world and habitual politeness contrive to conceal the contempt he has of
his companions.

The geometricians tell us that the figure which has most angles bears
the nearest resemblance to that which has no angles at all; so here at
Leghorn, where you can hardly find forty men of a mind, dispute and
contention grow vain, a comfortable though temporary union takes place,
while nature and opinion bend to interest and necessity.

The _Contorni_ of Leghorn are really very pretty; the Appenine
mountains degenerate into hills as they run round the bay, but gain in
beauty what in sublimity they lose.

To enjoy an open sea view, one must drive further; and it really affords
a noble prospect from that rising ground where I understand that the
rich Jews hold their summer habitations. They have a synagogue in the
town, where I went one evening, and heard the Hebrew service, and
thought of what Dr. Burney sa