imposed upon us because we were foreigners, or unacquainted with the value of the articles which we purchased. I cannot, however, commend the female shopkeers with whom we had dealings, either for civility, intelligence, or honesty: when the difficulty of making known our wants to them was subdued, which often was a violent exercise of patience and ingenuity, we were repulsed by the exorbitance of their charges. A female shopkeeper asked me for a small bust of Bonaparte, which on the recommendation of General d'Henisdale as a faithful likeness I was desirous to purchase, sixteen florins: being persuaded that her demand was unreasonable, I went elsewhere, and purchased at a shop, not under female management, a similar cast at a reduction of price little short of ten florins.—, unless she was accompanied by some Dutch lady, had equal reason to complain of the merchande des modes. These bad qualities in Dutch women who keep shops, which I record with great reluctance, probably proceed from some defects in their educations, and the
