wire, and a good stove is part of the home
furniture.

It is very well to tell us, as some English
owners do, that these round-houses interfere
with the working of the ship, are liable to be
washed overboard, and so on. We know what
that means. And we ask any landsman who
will take my word, as he may safely, for the
condition of an English top-gallant forecastle,
if it is wonderful that we desert our vessels,
and prefer good pay, and good lodging, in the
American merchant service? A power of
laws are made to stop desertion, and to keep
us to the English ships by penalties and
threats. But give us a law or two designed
to make the English ships better worth
stopping in, and you will give us something
worth having—and give England something
worth having too.

MUNCHAUSEN MODERNISED.

ONE Master Stephen Perlin, a French
physician, wrote "A Description of the
Kingdoms of England and Scotland,"
published at Paris in 1558. He is evidently a
faithful describer of what he sees; and, as to
his comments, is not more hard upon our
country than many of his compatriots living
in the present day, with the difference that in
those times there was every excuse for stern
indignation.

One of his chief reproaches against
England had, at that time, terrible truth on its
side. "In England," he says, "there is so
cruel a justice that for nothing they have a
man killed; for where in France they would
condemn a man to be whipped, here, without
fail, they would condemn him to die."
Elsewhere he remarks, "In this country you will
not meet with any great nobles whose
relations have not had their heads cut off. Certes,
I should like better (with the reader's leave)
to be a swineherd, and preserve my head.
.... In France justice is well administered,
and not tyranny, as in England, which
is the pest and ruin of a country; for
a kingdom ought to be governed, not in
shedding human blood in such abundance that
the blood flows in streams, by which means
the good are troubled."

During the earlier period of his residence
in London, Perlin saw the execution of the
Duke of Northumberland, the father of Lady
Jane Grey. The English in which he records
the dying prayer of that nobleman, reminds
us of similar exhibitions on the part of
distinguished French men of letters in the
present day. The Duke is reported to have said,
"Lorde God mi fatre prie fort ous poores siners
nond vand in the hoore of our theath"—of
which mystic sentence Perlin has fortunately
given us a French translation—"Seigneur
Dieu, mon père, prie pour nous hommes et
pauvres pécheurs, et principalment à l'heure de
nostre mort."

Perlin did not fail in love with the
character of the people. Even at that early
date, Albion, it seems, was perfide. The
character of the natives he sums up by saying
that "neither in war are they brave, nor in
peace are they faithful." He alludes
particularly to the antipathy of the English of
that day to foreigners. "The people of this
nation mortally hate the French as their old
enemies, and call us France Chenesve, France
Dogue, &c. Chenesve, be it understood, was
the French orthography of knave.

But our country had charms for him in
some aspects. He liked our hospitality,
"The people of this place," he says, "make
great cheer, and like much to banquet, and you
will see many rich taverns and tavern-keepers
who have customarily large purses, in which
are three or four small purses full of money;
consequently we may consider that this
country is very full of money, and that the
tradespeople gain more in a week than those
of Germany and Spain in a month. For you
will see hatters and joiners and artisans
generally playing their crowns at tennis,
which is not ordinarily seen in any other
place, and particularly on a working day.
And in a tavern they make good cheer oftener
than once a day, with rabbits and hares, and
every sort of food."

Perlin gives us a glimpse of "Merrie"
England: "The English one with another
are joyous, and are very fond of music; for
there is not ever so small a church where
music is not sung. And they are great
drinkers; for if an Englishman wishes to
treat you, he will say to you in his language,
vis drinq a quarta rim oim gasquim oim oim
hespaignol, oim malvoysi, which means, veulx
tu venir boire une quarte de vin du Gascoigne,
un autre d'Espaigne, et une autre de Malvoise.
In drinking and in eating they will say to
you more than a hundred times drind iou;
and you will reply to them in their language
iplaigiu. If you thank them, you will say
to them in their language, God tanque artelay.
Being drunk, they will swear to you by blood
and death, that you shall drink all that you
hold in your cup, and will say to you thus,
bigod sol drind iou agoud oin. Now remember
(if you please) that in this country they
generally use vessels of silver when they
drink wine; and they will say to you usually
at table, goud chere. . . . The country is
well covered and shady, for the lands are all
enclosed with hedges, oaks, and several other
sorts of trees, so that in travelling you think
you are in a perpetual wood, but you will
discover many flights of steps, which are
called in English amphores [stiles], and by
which persons on foot go along little paths and
enter the grounds. . . . The people are
all armed, and the labourers, when they till
the ground, leave their swords and their bows
in a corner of the field."

Compare this not altogether unfair or very
prejudiced view of the English, with the
letters written by some of the most conspicuous