In Westminster, The Morning
Lasts Till Four Or Five O'clock, At Which Time They Dine, And Supper
And Going To Bed Are Regulated Accordingly.
They generally do not
breakfast till ten o'clock.
The farther you go from the court into
the city, the more regular and domestic the people become; and there
they generally dine about three o'clock, i.e. as soon as the
business or 'Change is over.
Trimmed suits are not yet worn, and the most usual dress is in
summer, a short white waistcoat, black breeches, white silk
stockings, and a frock, generally of very dark blue cloth, which
looks like black; and the English seem in general to prefer dark
colours. If you wish to be full dressed, you wear black. Officers
rarely wear their uniforms, but dress like other people, and are to
be known to be officers only by a cockade in their hats.
It is a common observation, that the more solicitous any people are
about dress, the more effeminate they are. I attribute it entirely
to this idle adventitious passion for finery, that these people are
become so over and above careful of their persons; they are for
ever, and on every occasion, putting one another on their guard
against catching cold; "you'll certainly catch cold," they always
tell you if you happen to be a little exposed to the draught of the
air, or if you be not clad, as they think, sufficiently warm. The
general topic of conversation in summer, is on the important objects
of whether such and such an acquaintance be in town, or such a one
in the country.
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