Dacre persisted in occasionally addressing him. When,
however, the Duke had arrived at an age when he was at least morally
responsible for his own conduct, and entirely neglected answering his
guardian's letters, Mr. Dacre became altogether silent.
The travelling career of the young Duke may be conceived by those who
have wasted their time, and are compensated for that silliness by being
called men of the world. He gamed a little at Paris; he ate a good deal
at Vienna; and he studied the fine arts in Italy. In all places his
homage to the fair sex was renowned. The Parisian duchess, the Austrian
princess, and the Italian countess spoke in the most enthusiastic terms
of the English nobility. At the end of three years the Duke of St. James
was of opinion that he had obtained a great knowledge of mankind. He was
mistaken; travel is not, as is imagined, the best school for that sort
of science. Knowledge of mankind is a knowledge of their passions. The
traveller is looked upon as a bird of passage, whose visit is short, and
which the vanity of the visited wishes to make agreeable. All is
show, all false, and all made up.
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