shall and the
Squire of Belville-hall on their civic expedition.

The wealthy citizen at whose table they were now entertained, rose, like
many others, the children of industry, from comparative indigence to
affluence, and from obscurity to eminence.

The party was select; the dinner was sumptuous, yet unostentatious; and
the conversation, if not exactly in the first class of refinement, was
to the two strangers interestingly instructive, as embracing topics of
mercantile pursuit with which they had hitherto been unacquainted. It
was also highly enlivened by the sprightly sallies of three beautiful
and elegantly accomplished young ladies, the daughters of the amiable
host and hostess; and to these fair magnets of attraction, whom Dashall
happily denominated the Graces, our gallant cavaliers were particularly
assiduous in their attentions. The party broke up, after an evening of
reciprocal enjoyment; and Dashall on the way home expressed his belief
that, with the solitary exception of one colossal instance of ignorance
and brutality, "the very respectable man" in society is most generally
to be found among the merchants of London.{1}

1 "The very respectable. Man" is the true representative of
the commercial character of Great Britain. He possesses more
information than the Dutch trader, and more refinement than
the Scotch manufacturer, with all the business
qualifications of either. He is shrewd, industrious, manly,
and independent; and as he is too much in earnest for the
slightest affectation, he shews his character in his dress,
his carriage, and his general appearance. His dress is at
once plain and neat; and if his coat should accidentally
exhibit the cut of a more genteel manufacturer, the
interstice between his boot (he wears top boots) and small
clothes, the fashion of his cravat, which is rolled round a
stiffner two inches in diameter, and tied in a bow, besides
a variety of other more minute characteristics, decidedly
refute all suspicion of an attempt at attaining the
appearance of a man of fashion. The end of a Spitalfields
silk-handkerchief just appearing from the pocket hole at the
top of his skirt, shews at once his regard for good things
and native manufactures; while the dignity of his tread
declares his consciousness of his own importance, the
importance of "a very respectable man," and to attri