'By no
means!' said his friend, who, turning round to the beggar, advised him,
in a mild voice, to work; calmly adding, that if he presumed to ask
charity again he should certainly have him bastinadoed. Then they
walked on.
Popanilla's attention was so distracted by the variety, the number, the
novelty, and the noise of the objects which were incessantly hurried
upon his observation, that he found no time to speak; and as his
companion, though exceedingly polite, was a man of few words,
conversation rather flagged.
At last, overwhelmed by the magnificence of the streets, the splendour
of the shops, the number of human beings, the rattling of the vehicles,
the dashing of the horses, and a thousand other sounds and objects,
Popanilla gave loose to a loud and fervent wish that his hotel might
have the good fortune of being situated in this interesting quarter.
'By no means!' said his companion; 'we have yet much further to go. Far
from this being a desirable situation for you, my friend, no civilised
person is ever seen here; and had not the cause of civil and religious
liberty fortunately called me to the water-side to-day, I should have
lost the opportunity of showing how greatly I esteem a gentleman who has
suffered so severely in the cause of national amelioration.
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