81

THE DECLINE AND FALL

CHAP.

LXYI.

and decisive advantage of the English . Theirlanguage bears no affinity to the idioms of thecontinent: in the habits of domestic life, theyare not easily distinguished from their neigh-bours of France ; but the most singular circum-stance of their manners is their disregard of con-j ugal honour and of female chastity. In theirmutual visits, as the first act of hospitality, theguest is welcomed in the embraces of their wivesand daughters: among friends, they are lent andborrowed without shame; nor are the islandersoffended at this strange commerce, and its in-evitable consequences . 11 Informed as we are ofthe customs of old England, and assured of thevirtue of our mothers, we may smile at the cre-dulity, or resent the injustice, of the Greek, whomust have confounded a modest salute' with acriminal embrace. But his credulity and injus-tice may teach an important lesson: to distrustthe accounts of foreign and remote nations, andto suspend oar belief of every tale that deviatesfrom the laws of nature and the character ofman . 1

After his return, and the victory of Timour,Manuel reigned many years in prosperity and

i If the double sense of the verb Kuu'fosculor, and in utero gero) beequivocal, the context and pious horror of Chalcondyles can leave nodoubt of his meaning and mistake (p. 49).

‘ Erasmus (Epist. Fausto Andrelino) has a pretty passage on theEnglish fashion of kissing strangers on their arrival and departure ;from whence, however, he draws no scandalous inferences.

f Perhaps we may apply this remark to the community of wivesamong the old Britons, as it is supposed by Caesar and Dion (DionCassius , 1. lxii, tom. ii, p. 1007), with Reimar’s judicious annotation.The Arreoy of Otaheite , so certain at first, is become less visible andscandalous, in proportion as we have studied the manners of that gen-tle and amorous people.