There is another point on which the English abroad have long complained,
and with great justice,--which is, that in every litigation or petty
dispute which may appear before a smaller or more important tribunal,
from the Juge de Paix to the Cour de Cassation, the verdict invariably
is given against them. I never _heard_ an instance to the contrary,
although there may have been some. In no case can an Englishman obtain
justice; the detention of his property without just cause, all that he
considers as law and justice in his own country, is overruled: he is
obliged to submit to the greatest insults, or consent to the greatest
imposition. This is peculiarly, observable at Paris and Brussels, and
it is almost a _jour de fete_ to a large portion of the inhabitants when
they hear that an Englishman has been thrown into prison. It must,
however, be acknowledged that most of this arises not only from the wish
of the rentiers, or those who live upon their means (who have these
means crippled by the concourse of English raising the price of every
article), that the English should leave and return to their own country;
but also from the number of bad characters who, finding their position
in society no longer tenable in England, hasten abroad, and, by their
conduct, leave a most unfavourable impression of the English character,
which, when Englishmen _only travelled_, stood high, but, now they
reside to economise, is at its lowest ebb; for the only charm which the
English had in the eyes of needy foreigners was their lavishing their
money as they passed through the country, enriching a portion of the
community without increasing the prices of consumption to the whole.
As a proof of the insolence to which the English are subjected, I will
give the reader a verbatim copy of a letter sent to me by a friend not
more than a year ago. I have heard of such a circumstance taking place
in France, but then the innkeeper was a Chevalier of the Legion of
Honour; but this case is even more remarkable. Depend upon it, those
who travel will find many a Monsieur Disch before they are at the end of
their journey. I will vouch for the veracity of every word in the
letter:--
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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