They Are Faithful And Honest, And Capable Of Much
Disinterested Attachment; Kind And Hospitable To Strangers; All Of
Which Points Are Far From Being At Variance With The Tartan
Character.
But they are somewhat dull, and their capacities are by
no means of a high order, and in these respects they again resemble
the Tartars.
No people on earth are prouder than the Basques, but theirs is a
kind of republican pride. They have no nobility amongst them, and
no one will acknowledge a superior. The poorest carman is as proud
as the governor of Tolosa. "He is more powerful than I," he will
say, "but I am of as good blood; perhaps hereafter I may become a
governor myself." They abhor servitude, at least out of their own
country; and though circumstances frequently oblige them to seek
masters, it is very rare to find them filling the places of common
domestics; they are stewards, secretaries, accountants, etc. True
it is, that it was my own fortune to obtain a Basque domestic; but
then he always treated me more as an equal than a master, would sit
down in my presence, give me his advice unasked, and enter into
conversation with me at all times and occasions. Did I check him!
Certainly not! For in that case he would have left me, and a more
faithful creature I never knew. His fate was a mournful one, as
will appear in the sequel.
I have said that the Basques abhor servitude, and are rarely to be
found serving as domestics amongst the Spaniards.
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