Heark ye, Lewis, my misanthropy increases every day -- The longer I
live, I find the folly and the fraud of mankind grow more and
more intolerable -- I wish I had not come from Brambletonhall;
after having lived in solitude so long, I cannot bear the hurry
and impertinence of the multitude; besides, every thing is
sophisticated in these crowded places. Snares are laid for our
lives in every thing we cat or drink: the very air we breathe, is
loaded with contagion. We cannot even sleep, without risque of
infection. I say, infection -- This place is the rendezvous of the
diseased -- You won't deny, that many diseases are infectious; even
the consumption itself, is highly infectious. When a person dies
of it in Italy, the bed and bedding are destroyed; the other
furniture is exposed to the weather and the apartment white-washed,
before it is occupied by any other living soul. You'll
allow, that nothing receives infection sooner, or retains it
longer, than blankets, feather-beds, and matrasses -- 'Sdeath! how
do I know what miserable objects have been stewing in the bed
where I now lie! -- I wonder, Dick, you did not put me in mind of
sending for my own matrasses -- But, if I had not been an ass, I
should not have needed a remembrancer -- There is always some
plaguy reflection that rises up in judgment against me, and
ruffles my spirits -- Therefore, let us change the subject.
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