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diff --git a/2311.txt b/2311.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..3b837be --- /dev/null +++ b/2311.txt @@ -0,0 +1,13631 @@ +Project Gutenberg's Travels Through France and Italy, by Tobias Smollett + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Travels Through France and Italy + +Author: Tobias Smollett + +Posting Date: November 28, 2009 [EBook #2311] +Release Date: September, 2000 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK TRAVELS THROUGH FRANCE AND ITALY *** + + + + +Produced by Martin Adamson. HTML version by Al Haines. + + + + + + + + + +Travels Through France And Italy + + +By + +Tobias Smollett + + + + + +INTRODUCTION + +By + +Thomas Seccombe + +I + +Many pens have been burnished this year of grace for the purpose of +celebrating with befitting honour the second centenary of the birth of +Henry Fielding; but it is more than doubtful if, when the right date +occurs in March 1921, anything like the same alacrity will be shown to +commemorate one who was for many years, and by such judges as Scott, +Hazlitt, and Charles Dickens, considered Fielding's complement and +absolute co-equal (to say the least) in literary achievement. +Smollett's fame, indeed, seems to have fallen upon an unprosperous +curve. The coarseness of his fortunate rival is condoned, while his is +condemned without appeal. Smollett's value is assessed without +discrimination at that of his least worthy productions, and the +historical value of his work as a prime modeller of all kinds of new +literary material is overlooked. Consider for a moment as not wholly +unworthy of attention his mere versatility as a man of letters. Apart +from Roderick Random and its successors, which gave him a European +fame, he wrote a standard history, and a standard version of Don +Quixote (both of which held their ground against all comers for over a +century). He created both satirical and romantic types, he wrote two +fine-spirited lyrics, and launched the best Review and most popular +magazine of his day. He was the centre of a literary group, the founder +to some extent of a school of professional writers, of which strange +and novel class, after the "Great Cham of Literature," as he called Dr. +Johnson, he affords one of the first satisfactory specimens upon a +fairly large scale. He is, indeed, a more satisfactory, because a more +independent, example of the new species than the Great Cham himself. +The late Professor Beljame has shown us how the milieu was created in +which, with no subvention, whether from a patron, a theatre, a +political paymaster, a prosperous newspaper or a fashionable +subscription-list, an independent writer of the mid-eighteenth century, +provided that he was competent, could begin to extort something more +than a bare subsistence from the reluctant coffers of the London +booksellers. For the purpose of such a demonstration no better +illustration could possibly be found, I think, than the career of Dr. +Tobias Smollett. And yet, curiously enough, in the collection of +critical monographs so well known under the generic title of "English +Men of Letters"--a series, by the way, which includes Nathaniel +Hawthorne and Maria Edgeworth--no room or place has hitherto been found +for Smollett any more than for Ben Jonson, both of them, surely, +considerable Men of Letters in the very strictest and most +representative sense of the term. Both Jonson and Smollett were to an +unusual extent centres of the literary life of their time; and if the +great Ben had his tribe of imitators and adulators, Dr. Toby also had +his clan of sub-authors, delineated for us by a master hand in the +pages of Humphry Clinker. To make Fielding the centre-piece of a group +reflecting the literature of his day would be an artistic +impossibility. It would be perfectly easy in the case of Smollett, who +was descried by critics from afar as a Colossus bestriding the summit +of the contemporary Parnassus. + +Whatever there may be of truth in these observations upon the eclipse +of a once magical name applies with double force to that one of all +Smollett's books which has sunk farthest in popular disesteem. Modern +editors have gone to the length of excommunicating Smollett's Travels +altogether from the fellowship of his Collective Works. Critic has +followed critic in denouncing the book as that of a "splenetic" +invalid. And yet it is a book for which all English readers have cause +to be grateful, not only as a document on Smollett and his times, not +only as being in a sense the raison d'etre of the Sentimental Journey, +and the precursor in a very special sense of Humphry Clinker, but also +as being intrinsically an uncommonly readable book, and even, I venture +to assert, in many respects one of Smollett's best. Portions of the +work exhibit literary quality of a high order: as a whole it represents +a valuable because a rather uncommon view, and as a literary record of +travel it is distinguished by a very exceptional veracity. + +I am not prepared to define the differentia of a really first-rate book +of travel. Sympathy is important; but not indispensable, or Smollett +would be ruled out of court at once. Scientific knowledge, keen +observation, or intuitive power of discrimination go far. To enlist our +curiosity or enthusiasm or to excite our wonder are even stronger +recommendations. Charm of personal manner, power of will, +anthropological interest, self-effacement in view of some great +objects--all these qualities have made travel-books live. One knows +pretty nearly the books that one is prepared to re-read in this +department of literature. Marco Polo, Herodotus, a few sections in +Hakluyt, Dampier and Defoe, the early travellers in Palestine, +Commodore Byron's Travels, Curzon and Lane, Doughty's Arabia Deserta, +Mungo Park, Dubois, Livingstone's Missionary Travels, something of +Borrow (fact or fable), Hudson and Cunninghame Graham, Bent, Bates and +Wallace, The Crossing of Greenland, Eothen, the meanderings of +Modestine, The Path to Rome, and all, or almost all, of E. F. Knight. I +have run through most of them at one breath, and the sum total would +not bend a moderately stout bookshelf. How many high-sounding works on +the other hand, are already worse than dead, or, should we say, better +dead? The case of Smollett's Travels, there is good reason to hope, is +only one of suspended animation. + +To come to surer ground, it is a fact worth noting that each of the +four great prose masters of the third quarter of the eighteenth century +tried his hand at a personal record of travel. Fielding came first in +1754 with his Journal of a Voyage to Lisbon. Twelve years later was +published Smollett's Travels through France and Italy. Then, in 1768, +Sterne's Sentimental Journey; followed in 1775 by Johnson's Journey to +the Hebrides. Each of the four--in which beneath the apparel of the man +of letters we can discern respectively the characteristics of police +magistrate, surgeon, confessor, and moralist--enjoyed a fair amount of +popularity in its day. Fielding's Journal had perhaps the least +immediate success of the four. Sterne's Journey unquestionably had the +most. The tenant of "Shandy Hall," as was customary in the first heyday +of "Anglomania," went to Paris to ratify his successes, and the +resounding triumph of his naughtiness there, by a reflex action, +secured the vote of London. Posterity has fully sanctioned this +particular "judicium Paridis." The Sentimental Journey is a book sui +generis, and in the reliable kind of popularity, which takes concrete +form in successive reprints, it has far eclipsed its eighteenth-century +rivals. The fine literary aroma which pervades every line of this small +masterpiece is not the predominant characteristic of the Great Cham's +Journey. Nevertheless, and in spite of the malignity of the "Ossianite" +press, it fully justified the assumption of the booksellers that it +would prove a "sound" book. It is full of sensible observations, and is +written in Johnson's most scholarly, balanced, and dignified style. Few +can read it without a sense of being repaid, if only by the portentous +sentence in which the author celebrates his arrival at the shores of +Loch Ness, where he reposes upon "a bank such as a writer of romance +might have delighted to feign," and reflects that a "uniformity of +barrenness can afford very little amusement to the traveller; that it +is easy to sit at home and conceive rocks and heath and waterfalls; and +that these journeys are useless labours, which neither impregnate the +imagination nor enlarge the understanding." Fielding's contribution to +geography has far less solidity and importance, but it discovers to not +a few readers an unfeigned charm that is not to be found in the pages +of either Sterne or Johnson. A thoughtless fragment suffices to show +the writer in his true colours as one of the most delightful fellows in +our literature, and to convey just unmistakably to all good men and +true the rare and priceless sense of human fellowship. + +There remain the Travels through France and Italy, by T. Smollett, +M.D., and though these may not exhibit the marmoreal glamour of +Johnson, or the intimate fascination of Fielding, or the essential +literary quality which permeates the subtle dialogue and artful +vignette of Sterne, yet I shall endeavour to show, not without some +hope of success among the fair-minded, that the Travels before us are +fully deserving of a place, and that not the least significant, in the +quartette. + +The temporary eclipse of their fame I attribute, first to the studious +depreciation of Sterne and Walpole, and secondly to a refinement of +snobbishness on the part of the travelling crowd, who have an uneasy +consciousness that to listen to common sense, such as Smollett's, in +matters of connoisseurship, is tantamount to confessing oneself a +Galilean of the outermost court. In this connection, too, the itinerant +divine gave the travelling doctor a very nasty fall. Meeting the latter +at Turin, just as Smollett was about to turn his face homewards, in +March 1765, Sterne wrote of him, in the famous Journey of 1768, thus: + +"The learned Smelfungus travelled from Boulogne to Paris, from Paris to +Rome, and so on, but he set out with the spleen and jaundice, and every +object he passed by was discoloured or distorted. He wrote an account +of them, but 'twas nothing but the account of his miserable feelings." +"I met Smelfungus," he wrote later on, "in the grand portico of the +Pantheon--he was just coming out of it. ''Tis nothing but a huge +cockpit,' said he--'I wish you had said nothing worse of the Venus de +Medici,' replied I--for in passing through Florence, I had heard he had +fallen foul upon the goddess, and used her worse than a common +strumpet, without the least provocation in nature. I popp'd upon +Smelfungus again at Turin, in his return home, and a sad tale of +sorrowful adventures had he to tell, 'wherein he spoke of moving +accidents by flood and field, and of the cannibals which each other +eat, the Anthropophagi'; he had been flayed alive, and bedevil'd, and +used worse than St. Bartholomew, at every stage he had come at. 'I'll +tell it,' cried Smelfungus, 'to the world.' 'You had better tell it,' +said I, 'to your physician.'" + +To counteract the ill effects of "spleen and jaundice" and exhibit the +spirit of genteel humour and universal benevolence in which a man of +sensibility encountered the discomforts of the road, the incorrigible +parson Laurence brought out his own Sentimental Journey. Another effect +of Smollett's book was to whet his own appetite for recording the +adventures of the open road. So that but for Travels through France and +Italy we might have had neither a Sentimental Journey nor a Humphry +Clinker. If all the admirers of these two books would but bestir +themselves and look into the matter, I am sure that Sterne's only too +clever assault would be relegated to its proper place and assessed at +its right value as a mere boutade. The borrowed contempt of Horace +Walpole and the coterie of superficial dilettanti, from which +Smollett's book has somehow never wholly recovered, could then easily +be outflanked and the Travels might well be in reasonable expectation +of coming by their own again. + + +II + +In the meantime let us look a little more closely into the special and +somewhat exceptional conditions under which the Travel Letters of +Smollett were produced. Smollett, as we have seen, was one of the first +professional men of all work in letters upon a considerable scale who +subsisted entirely upon the earnings of his own pen. He had no +extraneous means of support. He had neither patron, pension, property, +nor endowment, inherited or acquired. Yet he took upon himself the +burden of a large establishment, he spent money freely, and he prided +himself upon the fact that he, Tobias Smollett, who came up to London +without a stiver in his pocket, was in ten years' time in a position to +enact the part of patron upon a considerable scale to the crowd of +inferior denizens of Grub Street. Like most people whose social +ambitions are in advance of their time, Smollett suffered considerably +on account of these novel aspirations of his. In the present day he +would have had his motor car and his house on Hindhead, a seat in +Parliament and a brief from the Nation to boot as a Member for +Humanity. Voltaire was the only figure in the eighteenth century even +to approach such a flattering position, and he was for many years a +refugee from his own land. Smollett was energetic and ambitious enough +to start in rather a grand way, with a large house, a carriage, +menservants, and the rest. His wife was a fine lady, a "Creole" beauty +who had a small dot of her own; but, on the other hand, her income was +very precarious, and she herself somewhat of a silly and an incapable +in the eyes of Smollett's old Scotch friends. But to maintain such a +position--to keep the bailiffs from the door from year's end to year's +end--was a truly Herculean task in days when a newspaper "rate" of +remuneration or a well-wearing copyright did not so much as exist, and +when Reviews sweated their writers at the rate of a guinea per sheet of +thirty-two pages. Smollett was continually having recourse to loans. He +produced the eight (or six or seven) hundred a year he required by +sheer hard writing, turning out his History of England, his Voltaire, +and his Universal History by means of long spells of almost incessant +labour at ruinous cost to his health. On the top of all this cruel +compiling he undertook to run a Review (The Critical), a magazine (The +British), and a weekly political organ (The Briton). A charge of +defamation for a paragraph in the nature of what would now be +considered a very mild and pertinent piece of public criticism against +a faineant admiral led to imprisonment in the King's Bench Prison, plus +a fine of L100. Then came a quarrel with an old friend, Wilkes--not the +least vexatious result of that forlorn championship of Bute's +government in The Briton. And finally, in part, obviously, as a +consequence of all this nervous breakdown, a succession of severe +catarrhs, premonitory in his case of consumption, the serious illness +of the wife he adored, and the death of his darling, the "little Boss" +of former years, now on the verge of womanhood. To a man of his +extraordinarily strong affections such a series of ills was too +overwhelming. He resolved to break up his establishment at Chelsea, and +to seek a remedy in flight from present evils to a foreign residence. +Dickens went to hibernate on the Riviera upon a somewhat similar +pretext, though fortunately without the same cause, as far as his +health was concerned. + +Now note another very characteristic feature of these Travel Letters. +Smollett went abroad not for pleasure, but virtually of necessity. Not +only were circumstances at home proving rather too much for him, but +also, like Stevenson, he was specifically "ordered South" by his +physicians, and he went with the deliberate intention of making as much +money as possible out of his Travel papers. In his case he wrote long +letters on the spot to his medical and other friends at home. When he +got back in the summer of 1765 one of his first cares was to put the +Letters together. It had always been his intention carefully to revise +them for the press. But when he got back to London he found so many +other tasks awaiting him that were so far more pressing, that this part +of his purpose was but very imperfectly carried out. The Letters +appeared pretty much as he wrote them. Their social and documentary +value is thereby considerably enhanced, for they were nearly all +written close down to the facts. The original intention had been to go +to Montpellier, which was still, I suppose, the most popular health +resort in Southern Europe. The peace of 1763 opened the way. And this +brings us to another feature of distinction in regard to Smollett's +Travels. Typical Briton, perfervid Protestant of Britain's most +Protestant period, and insular enrage though he doubtless was, Smollett +had knocked about the world a good deal and had also seen something of +the continent of Europe. He was not prepared to see everything couleur +de rose now. His was quite unlike the frame of mind of the ordinary +holiday-seeker, who, partly from a voluntary optimism, and partly from +the change of food and habit, the exhilaration caused by novel +surroundings, and timidity at the unaccustomed sounds he hears in his +ears, is determined to be pleased with everything. Very temperamental +was Smollett, and his frame of mind at the time was that of one +determined to be pleased with nothing. We know little enough about +Smollett intime. Only the other day I learned that the majority of +so-called Smollett portraits are not presentments of the novelist at +all, but ingeniously altered plates of George Washington. An +interesting confirmation of this is to be found in the recently +published Letters of Charles Kirkpatrick Sharpe to Robert Chambers. +"Smollett wore black cloaths--a tall man--and extreamly handsome. No +picture of him is known to be extant--all that have been foisted on the +public as such his relations disclaim--this I know from my aunt Mrs. +Smollett, who was the wife of his nephew, and resided with him at +Bath." But one thing we do know, and in these same letters, if +confirmation had been needed, we observe the statement repeated, +namely, that Smollett was very peevish. A sardonic, satirical, and +indeed decidedly gloomy mood or temper had become so habitual in him as +to transform the man. Originally gay and debonnair, his native +character had been so overlaid that when he first returned to Scotland +in 1755 his own mother could not recognise him until he "gave over +glooming" and put on his old bright smile. [A pleasant story of the +Doctor's mother is given in the same Letters to R. Chambers (1904). She +is described as an ill-natured-looking woman with a high nose, but not +a bad temper, and very fond of the cards. One evening an Edinburgh +bailie (who was a tallow chandler) paid her a visit. "Come awa', +bailie," said she, "and tak' a trick at the cards." "Troth madam, I hae +nae siller!" "Then let us play for a pound of candles."] His was +certainly a nervous, irritable, and rather censorious temper. Like Mr. +Brattle, in The Vicar of Bulhampton, he was thinking always of the evil +things that had been done to him. With the pawky and philosophic Scots +of his own day (Robertson, Hume, Adam Smith, and "Jupiter" Carlyle) he +had little in common, but with the sour and mistrustful James Mill or +the cross and querulous Carlyle of a later date he had, it seems to me, +a good deal. What, however, we attribute in their case to bile or +liver, a consecrated usage prescribes that we must, in the case of +Smollett, accredit more particularly to the spleen. Whether dyspeptic +or "splenetic," this was not the sort of man to see things through a +veil of pleasant self-generated illusion. He felt under no obligation +whatever to regard the Grand Tour as a privilege of social distinction, +or its discomforts as things to be discreetly ignored in relating his +experience to the stay-at-home public. He was not the sort of man that +the Tourist Agencies of to-day would select to frame their +advertisements. As an advocatus diaboli on the subject of Travel he +would have done well enough. And yet we must not infer that the magic +of travel is altogether eliminated from his pages. This is by no means +the case: witness his intense enthusiasm at Nimes, on sight of the +Maison Carree or the Pont du Gard; the passage describing his entry +into the Eternal City; [Ours "was the road by which so many heroes +returned with conquest to their country, by which so many kings were +led captive to Rome, and by which the ambassadors of so many kingdoms +and States approached the seat of Empire, to deprecate the wrath, to +sollicit the friendship, or sue for the protection of the Roman +people."] or the enviable account of the alfresco meals which the party +discussed in their coach as described in Letter VIII. + +As to whether Smollett and his party of five were exceptionally +unfortunate in their road-faring experiences must be left an open +question at the tribunal of public opinion. In cold blood, in one of +his later letters, he summarised his Continental experience after this +wise: inns, cold, damp, dark, dismal, dirty; landlords equally +disobliging and rapacious; servants awkward, sluttish, and slothful; +postillions lazy, lounging, greedy, and impertinent. With this last +class of delinquents after much experience he was bound to admit the +following dilemma:--If you chide them for lingering, they will contrive +to delay you the longer. If you chastise them with sword, cane, cudgel, +or horsewhip (he defines the correctives, you may perceive, but leaves +the expletives to our imagination) they will either disappear entirely, +and leave you without resource, or they will find means to take +vengeance by overturning your carriage. The only course remaining would +be to allow oneself to become the dupe of imposition by tipping the +postillions an amount slightly in excess of the authorized +gratification. He admits that in England once, between the Devizes and +Bristol, he found this plan productive of the happiest results. It was +unfortunate that, upon this occasion, the lack of means or slenderness +of margin for incidental expenses should have debarred him from having +recourse to a similar expedient. For threepence a post more, as +Smollett himself avows, he would probably have performed the journey +with much greater pleasure and satisfaction. But the situation is +instructive. It reveals to us the disadvantage under which the novelist +was continually labouring, that of appearing to travel as an English +Milord, en grand seigneur, and yet having at every point to do it "on +the cheap." He avoided the common conveyance or diligence, and insisted +on travelling post and in a berline; but he could not bring himself to +exceed the five-sou pourboire for the postillions. He would have meat +upon maigre days, yet objected to paying double for it. He held aloof +from the thirty-sou table d'hote, and would have been content to pay +three francs a head for a dinner a part, but his worst passions were +roused when he was asked to pay not three, but four. Now Smollett +himself was acutely conscious of the false position. He was by nature +anything but a curmudgeon. On the contrary, he was, if I interpret him +at all aright, a high-minded, open-hearted, generous type of man. Like +a majority, perhaps, of the really open-handed he shared one trait with +the closefisted and even with the very mean rich. He would rather give +away a crown than be cheated of a farthing. Smollett himself had little +of the traditional Scottish thriftiness about him, but the people among +whom he was going--the Languedocians and Ligurians--were notorious for +their nearness in money matters. The result of all this could hardly +fail to exacerbate Smollett's mood and to aggravate the testiness which +was due primarily to the bitterness of his struggle with the world, +and, secondarily, to the complaints which that struggle engendered. One +capital consequence, however, and one which specially concerns us, was +that we get this unrivalled picture of the seamy side of foreign +travel--a side rarely presented with anything like Smollett's skill to +the student of the grand siecle of the Grand Tour. The rubs, the rods, +the crosses of the road could, in fact, hardly be presented to us more +graphically or magisterially than they are in some of these chapters. +Like Prior, Fielding, Shenstone, and Dickens, Smollett was a +connoisseur in inns and innkeepers. He knew good food and he knew good +value, and he had a mighty keen eye for a rogue. There may, it is true, +have been something in his manner which provoked them to exhibit their +worst side to him. It is a common fate with angry men. The trials to +which he was subjected were momentarily very severe, but, as we shall +see in the event, they proved a highly salutary discipline to him. + +To sum up, then, Smollett's Travels were written hastily and vigorously +by an expert man of letters. They were written ad vivum, as it were, +not from worked-up notes or embellished recollections. They were +written expressly for money down. They were written rather en noir than +couleur de rose by an experienced, and, we might almost perhaps say, a +disillusioned traveller, and not by a naif or a niais. The statement +that they were to a certain extent the work of an invalid is, of +course, true, and explains much. The majority of his correspondents +were of the medical profession, all of them were members of a group +with whom he was very intimate, and the letters were by his special +direction to be passed round among them. [We do not know precisely who +all these correspondents of Smollett were, but most of them were +evidently doctors and among them, without a doubt, John Armstrong, +William Hunter, George Macaulay, and above all John Moore, himself an +authority on European travel, Governor on the Grand Tour of the Duke of +Hamilton (Son of "the beautiful Duchess"), author of Zeluco, and father +of the famous soldier. Smollett's old chum, Dr. W. Smellie, died 5th +March 1763.] In the circumstances (bearing in mind that it was his +original intention to prune the letters considerably before +publication) it was only natural that he should say a good deal about +the state of his health. His letters would have been unsatisfying to +these good people had he not referred frequently and at some length to +his spirits and to his symptoms, an improvement in which was the +primary object of his journey and his two years' sojourn in the South. +Readers who linger over the diary of Fielding's dropsy and Mrs. +Fielding's toothache are inconsistent in denouncing the luxury of +detail with which Smollett discusses the matter of his imposthume. + +What I claim for the present work is that, in the first place, to any +one interested in Smollett's personality it supplies an unrivalled key. +It is, moreover, the work of a scholar, an observer of human nature, +and, by election, a satirist of no mean order. It gives us some +characteristic social vignettes, some portraits of the road of an +unsurpassed freshness and clearness. It contains some historical and +geographical observations worthy of one of the shrewdest and most +sagacious publicists of the day. It is interesting to the etymologist +for the important share it has taken in naturalising useful foreign +words into our speech. It includes (as we shall have occasion to +observe) a respectable quantum of wisdom fit to become proverbial, and +several passages of admirable literary quality. In point of date +(1763-65) it is fortunate, for the writer just escaped being one of a +crowd. On the whole, I maintain that it is more than equal in interest +to the Journey to the Hebrides, and that it deserves a very +considerable proportion of the praise that has hitherto been lavished +too indiscriminately upon the Voyage to Lisbon. On the force of this +claim the reader is invited to constitute himself judge after a fair +perusal of the following pages. I shall attempt only to point the way +to a satisfactory verdict, no longer in the spirit of an advocate, but +by means of a few illustrations and, more occasionally, amplifications +of what Smollett has to tell us. + + +III + +As was the case with Fielding many years earlier, Smollett was almost +broken down with sedentary toil, when early in June 1763 with his wife, +two young ladies ("the two girls") to whom she acted as chaperon, and a +faithful servant of twelve years' standing, who in the spirit of a +Scots retainer of the olden time refused to leave his master (a good +testimonial this, by the way, to a temper usually accredited with such +a splenetic sourness), he crossed the straits of Dover to see what a +change of climate and surroundings could do for him. + +On other grounds than those of health he was glad to shake the dust of +Britain from his feet. He speaks himself of being traduced by malice, +persecuted by faction, abandoned by false patrons, complaints which +will remind the reader, perhaps, of George Borrow's "Jeremiad," to the +effect that he had been beslavered by the venomous foam of every +sycophantic lacquey and unscrupulous renegade in the three kingdoms. +But Smollett's griefs were more serious than what an unkind reviewer +could inflict. He had been fined and imprisoned for defamation. He had +been grossly caricatured as a creature of Bute, the North British +favourite of George III., whose tenure of the premiership occasioned +riots and almost excited a revolution in the metropolis. Yet after +incurring all this unpopularity at a time when the populace of London +was more inflamed against Scotsmen than it has ever been before or +since, and having laboured severely at a paper in the ministerial +interest and thereby aroused the enmity of his old friend John Wilkes, +Smollett had been unceremoniously thrown over by his own chief, Lord +Bute, on the ground that his paper did more to invite attack than to +repel it. Lastly, he and his wife had suffered a cruel bereavement in +the loss of their only child, and it was partly to supply a change from +the scene of this abiding sorrow, that the present journey was +undertaken. + +The first stages and incidents of the expedition were not exactly +propitious. The Dover Road was a byword for its charges; the Via Alba +might have been paved with the silver wrung from reluctant and +indignant passengers. Smollett characterized the chambers as cold and +comfortless, the beds as "paultry" (with "frowsy," a favourite word), +the cookery as execrable, wine poison, attendance bad, publicans +insolent, and bills extortion, concluding with the grand climax that +there was not a drop of tolerable malt liquor to be had from London to +Dover. Smollett finds a good deal to be said for the designation of "a +den of thieves" as applied to that famous port (where, as a German lady +of much later date once complained, they "boot ze Bible in ze bedroom, +but ze devil in ze bill"), and he grizzles lamentably over the seven +guineas, apart from extras, which he had to pay for transport in a +Folkestone cutter to Boulogne Mouth. + +Having once arrived at Boulogne, Smollett settled down regularly to his +work as descriptive reporter, and the letters that he wrote to his +friendly circle at home fall naturally into four groups. The first +Letters from II. to V. describe with Hogarthian point, prejudice and +pungency, the town and people of Boulogne. The second group, Letters +VI.-XII., deal with the journey from Boulogne to Nice by way of Paris, +Lyon, Nimes, and Montpellier. The third group, Letters XIII.-XXIV., is +devoted to a more detailed and particular delineation of Nice and the +Nicois. The fourth, Letters XXV.-XLI., describes the Italian expedition +and the return journey to Boulogne en route for England, where the +party arrive safe home in July 1765. + +Smollett's account of Boulogne is excellent reading, it forms an apt +introduction to the narrative of his journey, it familiarises us with +the milieu, and reveals to us in Smollett a man of experience who is +both resolute and capable of getting below the surface of things. An +English possession for a short period in the reign of the Great Harry, +Boulogne has rarely been less in touch with England than it was at the +time of Smollett's visit. Even then, however, there were three small +colonies, respectively, of English nuns, English Jesuits, and English +Jacobites. Apart from these and the English girls in French seminaries +it was estimated ten years after Smollett's sojourn there that there +were twenty-four English families in residence. The locality has of +course always been a haunting place for the wandering tribes of +English. Many well-known men have lived or died here both native and +English. Adam Smith must have been there very soon after Smollett. So +must Dr. John Moore and Charles Churchill, one of the enemies provoked +by the Briton, who went to Boulogne to meet his friend Wilkes and died +there in 1764. Philip Thicknesse the traveller and friend of +Gainsborough died there in 1770. After long search for a place to end +his days in Thomas Campbell bought a house in Boulogne and died there, +a few months later, in 1844. The house is still to be seen, Rue St. +Jean, within the old walls; it has undergone no change, and in 1900 a +marble tablet was put up to record the fact that Campbell lived and +died there. The other founder of the University of London, Brougham, by +a singular coincidence was also closely associated with Boulogne. +[Among the occupants of the English cemetery will be found the names of +Sir Harris Nicolas, Basil Montagu, Smithson Pennant, Sir William +Ouseley, Sir William Hamilton, and Sir C. M. Carmichael. And among +other literary celebrities connected with the place, apart from Dickens +(who gave his impressions of the place in Household Words, November +1854) we should include in a brief list, Charles Lever, Horace Smith, +Wilkie Collins, Mrs. Henry Wood, Professor York Powell, the Marquis of +Steyne (Lord Seymour), Mrs. Jordan, Clark Russell, and Sir Conan Doyle. +There are also memorable associations with Lola Montes, Heinrich Heine, +Becky Sharpe, and above all Colonel Newcome. My first care in the place +was to discover the rampart where the Colonel used to parade with +little Clive. Among the native luminaries are Daunou, Duchenne de +Boulogne, one of the foremost physiologists of the last century, an +immediate predecessor of Charcot in knowledge of the nervous system, +Aug. Mariette, the Egyptologist, Aug. Angellier, the biographer of +Burns, Sainte-Beuve, Prof. Morel, and "credibly," Godfrey de Bouillon, +of whom Charles Lamb wrote "poor old Godfrey, he must be getting very +old now." The great Lesage died here in 1747.] The antiquaries still +dispute about Gessoriacum, Godfrey de Bouillon, and Charlemagne's Tour. +Smollett is only fair in justifying for the town, the older portions of +which have a strong medieval suggestion, a standard of comparison +slightly more distinguished than Wapping. He never lets us forget that +he is a scholar of antiquity, a man of education and a speculative +philosopher. Hence his references to Celsus and Hippocrates and his +ingenious etymologies of wheatear and samphire, more ingenious in the +second case than sound. Smollett's field of observation had been wide +and his fund of exact information was unusually large. At Edinburgh he +had studied medicine under Monro and John Gordon, in company with such +able and distinguished men as William Hunter, Cullen, Pitcairn, +Gregory, and Armstrong--and the two last mentioned were among his +present correspondents. As naval surgeon at Carthagena he had undergone +experience such as few literary men can claim, and subsequently as +compiler, reviewer, party journalist, historian, translator, +statistician, and lexicographer, he had gained an amount of +miscellaneous information such as falls to the lot of very few minds of +his order of intelligence. He had recently directed the compilation of +a large Universal Geography or Gazetteer, the Carton or Vivien de St. +Martin if those days--hence his glib references to the manners and +customs of Laplanders, Caffres, Kamskatchans, and other recondite types +of breeding. His imaginative faculty was under the control of an +exceptionally strong and retentive memory. One may venture to say, +indeed, without danger of exaggeration that his testimonials as regards +habitual accuracy of statement have seldom been exceeded. Despite the +doctor's unflattering portraits of Frenchmen, M. Babeau admits that his +book is one written by an observer of facts, and a man whose +statements, whenever they can be tested, are for the most part +"singularly exact." Mr. W. J. Prouse, whose knowledge of the Riviera +district is perhaps almost unequalled out of France, makes this very +remarkable statement. "After reading all that has been written by very +clever people about Nice in modern times, one would probably find that +for exact precision of statement, Smollett was still the most +trustworthy guide," a view which is strikingly borne out by Mr. E. +Schuyler, who further points out Smollett's shrewd foresight in regard +to the possibilities of the Cornice road, and of Cannes and San Remo as +sanatoria." Frankly there is nothing to be seen which he does not +recognise." And even higher testimonies have been paid to Smollett's +topographical accuracy by recent historians of Nice and its +neighbourhood. + +The value which Smollett put upon accuracy in the smallest matters of +detail is evinced by the corrections which he made in the margin of a +copy of the 1766 edition of the Travels. These corrections, which are +all in Smollett's own and unmistakably neat handwriting, may be divided +into four categories. In the first place come a number of verbal +emendations. Phrases are turned, inverted and improved by the skilful +"twist of the pen" which becomes a second nature to the trained +corrector of proofs; there are moreover a few topographical corrigenda, +suggested by an improved knowledge of the localities, mostly in the +neighbourhood of Pisa and Leghorn, where there is no doubt that these +corrections were made upon the occasion of Smollett's second visit to +Italy in 1770. [Some not unimportant errata were overlooked. Thus +Smollett's representation of the droit d'aubaine as a monstrous and +intolerable grievance is of course an exaggeration. (See Sentimental +Journey; J. Hill Burton, The Scot Abroad, 1881, p. 135; and Luchaire, +Instit. de France.) On his homeward journey he indicates that he +travelled from Beaune to Chalons and so by way of Auxerre to Dijon. The +right order is Chalons, Beaune, Dijon, Auxerre. As further examples of +the zeal with which Smollett regarded exactitude in the record of facts +we have his diurnal register of weather during his stay at Nice and the +picture of him scrupulously measuring the ruins at Cimiez with +packthread.] In the second place come a number of English renderings of +the citations from Latin, French, and Italian authors. Most of these +from the Latin are examples of Smollett's own skill in English verse +making. Thirdly come one or two significant admissions of overboldness +in matters of criticism, as where he retracts his censure of Raphael's +Parnassus in Letter XXXIII. Fourthly, and these are of the greatest +importance, come some very interesting additional notes upon the +buildings of Pisa, upon Sir John Hawkwood's tomb at Florence, and upon +the congenial though recondite subject of antique Roman hygiene. [Cf. +the Dinner in the manner of the Ancients in Peregrine Pickle, (xliv.) +and Letters IX. to XL in Humphry Clinker.] + +After Smollett's death his books were for the most part sold for the +benefit of his widow. No use was made of his corrigenda. For twenty +years or so the Travels were esteemed and referred to, but as time went +on, owing to the sneers of the fine gentlemen of letters, such as +Walpole and Sterne, they were by degrees disparaged and fell more or +less into neglect. They were reprinted, it is true, either in +collective editions of Smollett or in various collections of travels; +[For instance in Baldwin's edition of 1778; in the 17th vol. of Mayor's +Collection of Voyages and Travels, published by Richard Phillips in +twenty-eight vols., 1809; and in an abbreviated form in John Hamilton +Moore's New and Complete Collection of Voyages and Travels (folio, Vol. +11. 938-970).] but they were not edited with any care, and as is +inevitable in such cases errors crept in, blunders were repeated, and +the text slightly but gradually deteriorated. In the last century +Smollett's own copy of the Travels bearing the manuscript corrections +that he had made in 1770, was discovered in the possession of the +Telfer family and eventually came into the British Museum. The second +volume, which affords admirable specimens of Smollett's neatly written +marginalia, has been exhibited in a show-case in the King's Library. + +The corrections that Smollett purposed to make in the Travels are now +for the second time embodied in a printed edition of the text. At the +same time the text has been collated with the original edition of 1766, +and the whole has been carefully revised. The old spelling has been, as +far as possible, restored. Smollett was punctilious in such matters, +and what with his histories, his translations, his periodicals, and his +other compilations, he probably revised more proof-matter for press +than any other writer of his time. His practice as regards orthography +is, therefore, of some interest as representing what was in all +probability deemed to be the most enlightened convention of the day. + +To return now to the Doctor's immediate contemplation of Boulogne, a +city described in the Itineraries as containing rien de remarquable. +The story of the Capuchin [On page 21. A Capuchin of the same stripe is +in Pickle, ch. Ill. sq.] is very racy of Smollett, while the vignette +of the shepherd at the beginning of Letter V. affords a first-rate +illustration of his terseness. Appreciate the keen and minute +observation concentrated into the pages that follow, [Especially on p. +34 to p. 40.] commencing with the shrewd and economic remarks upon +smuggling, and ending with the lively description of a Boulonnais +banquet, very amusing, very French, very life-like, and very +Smollettian. In Letter V. the Doctor again is very much himself. A +little provocation and he bristles and stabs all round. He mounts the +hygienic horse and proceeds from the lack of implements of cleanliness +to the lack of common decency, and "high flavoured instances, at which +even a native of Edinburgh would stop his nose." [This recalls +Johnson's first walk up the High Street, Edinburgh, on Bozzy's arm. "It +was a dusky night: I could not prevent his being assailed by the +evening effluvia of Edinburgh. . . . As we marched along he grumbled in +my ear, 'I smell you in the dark!'"] And then lest the southrons should +escape we have a reference to the "beastly habit of drinking from a +tankard in which perhaps a dozen filthy mouths have slabbered as is the +custom in England." With all his coarsenesses this blunt Scot was a +pioneer and fugleman of the niceties. Between times most nations are +gibbetted in this slashing epistle. The ingenious boasting of the +French is well hit off in the observation of the chevalier that the +English doubtless drank every day to the health of the Marquise de +Pompadour. The implication reminded Smollett of a narrow escape from a +duello (an institution he reprobates with the utmost trenchancy in this +book) at Ghent in 1749 with a Frenchman who affirmed that Marlborough's +battles were purposely lost by the French generals in order to mortify +Mme. de Maintenon. Two incidents of some importance to Smollett +occurred during the three months' sojourn at Boulogne. Through the +intervention of the English Ambassador at Paris (the Earl of Hertford) +he got back his books, which had been impounded by the Customs as +likely to contain matter prejudicial to the state or religion of +France, and had them sent south by shipboard to Bordeaux. Secondly, he +encountered General Paterson, a friendly Scot in the Sardinian service, +who confirmed what an English physician had told Smollett to the effect +that the climate of Nice was infinitely preferable to that of +Montpellier "with respect to disorders of the breast." Smollett now +hires a berline and four horses for fourteen louis, and sets out with +rather a heavy heart for Paris. It is problematic, he assures his good +friend Dr. Moore, whether he will ever return. "My health is very +precarious." + + +IV + +The rapid journey to Paris by way of Montreuil, Amiens, and Clermont, +about one hundred and fifty-six miles from Boulogne, the last +thirty-six over a paved road, was favourable to superficial observation +and the normal corollary of epigram. Smollett was much impressed by the +mortifying indifference of the French innkeepers to their clients. "It +is a very odd contrast between France and England. In the former all +the people are complaisant but the publicans; in the latter there is +hardly any complaisance but among the publicans." [In regard to two +exceptional instances of politeness on the part of innkeepers, Smollett +attributes one case to dementia, the other, at Lerici, to mental shock, +caused by a recent earthquake.] Idleness and dissipation confront the +traveller, not such a good judge, perhaps, as was Arthur Young +four-and-twenty years later. "Every object seems to have shrunk in its +dimensions since I was last in Paris." Smollett was an older man by +fifteen years since he visited the French capital in the first flush of +his success as an author. The dirt and gloom of French apartments, even +at Versailles, offend his English standard of comfort. "After all, it +is in England only where we must look for cheerful apartments, gay +furniture, neatness, and convenience. There is a strange incongruity in +the French genius. With all their volatility, prattle, and fondness for +bons mots they delight in a species of drawling, melancholy, church +music. Their most favourite dramatic pieces are almost without +incident, and the dialogue of their comedies consists of moral insipid +apophthegms, entirely destitute of wit or repartee." While amusing +himself with the sights of Paris, Smollett drew up that caustic +delineation of the French character which as a study in calculated +depreciation has rarely been surpassed. He conceives the Frenchman +entirely as a petit-maitre, and his view, though far removed from +Chesterfield's, is not incompatible with that of many of his cleverest +contemporaries, including Sterne. He conceives of the typical Frenchman +as regulating his life in accordance with the claims of impertinent +curiosity and foppery, gallantry and gluttony. Thus: + +"If a Frenchman is capable of real friendship, it must certainly be the +most disagreeable present he can possibly make to a man of a true +English character. You know, madam, we are naturally taciturn, soon +tired of impertinence, and much subject to fits of disgust. Your French +friend intrudes upon you at all hours; he stuns you with his loquacity; +he teases you with impertinent questions about your domestic and +private affairs; he attempts to meddle in all your concerns, and forces +his advice upon you with the most unwearied importunity; he asks the +price of everything you wear, and, so sure as you tell him, undervalues +it without hesitation; he affirms it is in a bad taste, ill contrived, +ill made; that you have been imposed upon both with respect to the +fashion and the price; that the marquis of this, or the countess of +that, has one that is perfectly elegant, quite in the bon ton, and yet +it cost her little more than you gave for a thing that nobody would +wear. + +"If a Frenchman is admitted into your family, and distinguished by +repeated marks of your friendship and regard, the first return he makes +for your civilities is to make love to your wife, if she is handsome; +if not, to your sister, or daughter, or niece. If he suffers a repulse +from your wife, or attempts in vain to debauch your sister, or your +daughter, or your niece, he will, rather than not play the traitor with +his gallantry, make his addresses to your grandmother; and ten to one +but in one shape or another he will find means to ruin the peace of a +family in which he has been so kindly entertained. What he cannot +accomplish by dint of compliment and personal attendance, he will +endeavour to effect by reinforcing these with billets-doux, songs, and +verses, of which he always makes a provision for such purposes. If he +is detected in these efforts of treachery, and reproached with his +ingratitude, he impudently declares that what he had done was no more +than simple gallantry, considered in France as an indispensable duty on +every man who pretended to good breeding. Nay, he will even affirm that +his endeavours to corrupt your wife, or deflower your daughter, were +the most genuine proofs he could give of his particular regard for your +family. + +"If there were five hundred dishes at table, a Frenchman will eat of +all of them, and then complain he has no appetite--this I have several +times remarked. A friend of mine gained a considerable wager upon an +experiment of this kind; the petit-maitre ate of fourteen different +plates, besides the dessert, then disparaged the cook, declaring he was +no better than a marmiton, or turnspit." + +The gross unfairness, no less than the consummate cleverness, of this +caricature compels us to remember that this was written in the most +insular period of our manners, and during a brief lull in a century of +almost incessant mutual hostility between the two nations. Aristocrats +like Walpole, Gibbon, and Chesterfield could regard France from a +cosmopolitan point of view, as leading the comite of nations. But to +sturdy and true-born patriots, such as Hogarth and Smollett, reciprocal +politeness appeared as grotesque as an exchange of amenities would be +between a cormorant and an ape. Consequently, it was no doubt with a +sense of positive relief to his feelings that Smollett could bring +himself to sum up the whole matter thus. "A Frenchman lays out his +whole revenue upon taudry suits of cloaths, or in furnishing a +magnificent repas of fifty or a hundred dishes, one-half of which are +not eatable or intended to be eaten. His wardrobe goes to the fripier, +his dishes to the dogs, and himself to the devil." + +These trenchant passages were written partly, it may be imagined, to +suit the English taste of the day. In that object they must have +succeeded, for they were frequently transcribed into contemporary +periodicals. In extenuation of Smollett's honesty of purpose, however, +it may be urged that he was always a thoroughgoing patriot, [Witness +his violently anti-French play, the Reprisal of 1757.] and that, coming +from a Calvinistic country where a measure of Tartufism was a necessary +condition of respectability, he reproduces the common English error of +ignoring how apt a Frenchman is to conceal a number of his best +qualities. Two other considerations deserve attention. The +race-portrait was in Smollett's day at the very height of its +disreputable reign. Secondly, we must remember how very profoundly +French character has been modified since 1763, and more especially in +consequence of the cataclysms of 1789 and 1870. + +Smollett's vis comica is conspicuous in the account of the coiffure of +the period and of the superstitious reverence which a Frenchman of that +day paid to his hair. In tracing the origin of this superstition he +exhibits casually his historical learning. The crine profuso and barba +demissa of the reges crinitos, as the Merovingians were called, are +often referred to by ancient chroniclers. Long hair was identified with +right of succession, as a mark of royal race, and the maintenance of +ancient tradition. A tondu signified a slave, and even under the +Carolingians to shave a prince meant to affirm his exclusion from the +succession. + + +V + +A general improvement in English roads, roadside inns, and methods of +conveyance commenced about 1715. The continental roads lagged behind, +until when Arthur Young wrote in 1788-89 they had got badly into +arrears. The pace of locomotion between Rome and England changed very +little in effect from the days of Julius Caesar to those of George III. +It has been said with point that Trajan and Sir Robert Peel, travelling +both at their utmost speed achieved the distance between Rome and +London in an almost precisely similar space of time. Smollett decided +to travel post between Paris and Lyons, and he found that the journey +lasted full five days and cost upwards of thirty guineas. [One of the +earliest printed road books in existence gives the posts between Paris +and Lyons. This tiny duodecimo, dated 1500, and more than worth its +weight in gold has just been acquired by the British Museum. On the old +Roman routes, see Arnold's Lectures on Modern History, 1842.] Of roads +there was a choice between two. The shorter route by Nevers and Moulins +amounted to just about three hundred English miles. The longer route by +Auxerre and Dijon, which Smollett preferred extended to three hundred +and thirty miles. The two roads diverged after passing Fontainebleau, +the shorter by Nemours and the longer by Moret. The first road was the +smoother, but apart from the chance of seeing the Vendange the route de +Burgoyne was far the more picturesque. Smollett's portraiture of the +peasantry in the less cultivated regions prepares the mind for Young's +famous description of those "gaunt emblems of famine." In Burgundy the +Doctor says, "I saw a peasant ploughing the ground with a jackass, a +lean cow, and a he-goat yoked together." His vignette of the fantastic +petit-maitre at Sens, and his own abominable rudeness, is worthy of the +master hand that drew the poor debtor Jackson in the Marshalsea in +Roderick Random. + +His frank avowal of ill temper at the time deprives our entertainment +of the unamiable tinge of which it would otherwise have partaken. "The +truth is, I was that day more than usually peevish, from the bad +weather as well as from the dread of a fit of asthma, with which I was +threatened. And I daresay my appearance seemed as uncouth to him as his +travelling dress appeared to me. I had a grey, mourning frock under a +wide greatcoat, a bob-wig without powder, a very large laced hat, and a +meagre, wrinkled, discontented countenance." + +From Lyons the traveller secured a return berline going back to Avignon +with three mules and a voiturier named Joseph. Joseph, though he turned +out to be an ex-criminal, proved himself the one Frenchman upon whose +fidelity and good service Smollett could look back with unfeigned +satisfaction. The sight of a skeleton dangling from a gibbet near +Valence surprised from this droll knave an ejaculation and a story, +from which it appeared only too evident that he had been first the +comrade and then the executioner of one of the most notorious brigands +of the century. The story as told by Smollett does not wholly agree +with the best authenticated particulars. The Dick Turpin of eighteenth +century France, Mandrin has engendered almost as many fables as his +English congener. [See Maignien's Bibliographie des Ecrits relatifs a +Mandrin.] As far as I have been able to discover, the great freebooter +was born at St. Etienne in May 1724. His father having been killed in a +coining affair, Mandrin swore to revenge him. He deserted from the army +accordingly, and got together a gang of contrebandiers, at the head of +which his career in Savoy and Dauphine almost resembles that of one of +the famous guerilla chieftains described in Hardman's Peninsular Scenes +and Sketches. Captured eventually, owing to the treachery of a comrade, +he was put to death on the wheel at Valence on 26th May 1755. Five +comrades were thrown into jail with him; and one of these obtained his +pardon on condition of acting as Mandrin's executioner. Alas, poor +Joseph! + +Three experiences Smollett had at this season which may well fall to +the lot of road-farers in France right down to the present day. He was +poisoned with garlic, surfeited with demi-roasted small birds, and +astonished at the solid fare of the poorest looking travellers. The +summer weather, romantic scenery, and occasional picnics, which +Smollett would have liked to repeat every summer under the arches of +the Pont du Gard--the monument of antiquity which of all, excepting +only the Maison Carree at Nimes, most excited his enthusiastic +admiration, all contributed to put him into an abnormally cheerful and +convalescent humour. . . . + +Smollett now bent his steps southwards to Montpellier. His baggage had +gone in advance. He was uncertain as yet whether to make Montpellier or +Nice his headquarters in the South. Like Toulouse and Tours, and Turin, +Montpellier was for a period a Mecca to English health and pleasure +seekers abroad. A city of no great antiquity, but celebrated from the +twelfth century for its schools of Law and Physic, it had been +incorporated definitely with France since 1382, and its name recurs in +French history both as the home of famous men in great number and as, +before and after the brief pre-eminence of La Rochelle, the rival of +Nimes as capital of Protestantism in the South. Evelyn, Burnet, the two +Youngs, Edward and Arthur, and Sterne have all left us an impression of +the city. Prevented by snow from crossing the Mont Cenis, John Locke +spent two winters there in the days of Charles II. (1675-77), and may +have pondered a good many of the problems of Toleration on a soil under +which the heated lava of religious strife was still unmistakeable. And +Smollett must almost have jostled en route against the celebrated +author of The Wealth of Nations, who set out with his pupil for +Toulouse in February 1764. A letter to Hume speaks of the number of +English in the neighbourhood just a month later. Lomenie de Brienne was +then in residence as archbishop. In the following November, Adam Smith +and his charge paid a visit to Montpellier to witness a pageant and +memorial, as it was supposed, of a freedom that was gone for ever, the +opening of the States of Languedoc. Antiquaries and philosophers went +to moralise on the spectacle in the spirit in which Freeman went to +Andorra, Byron to the site of Troy, or De Tocqueville to America. It +was there that the great economist met Horne Tooke. + +Smollett's more practical and immediate object in making this +pilgrimage was to interview the great lung specialist, known locally to +his admiring compatriots as the Boerhaave of Montpellier, Dr. Fizes. +The medical school of Montpellier was much in evidence during the third +quarter of the eighteenth century, and for the history of its various +branches there are extant numerous Memoires pour Servir, by Prunelle, +Astruc, and others. Smollett was only just in time to consult the +reigning oracle, for the "illustrious" Dr. Fizes died in the following +year. He gives us a very unfavourable picture of this "great lanthorn +of medicine," who, notwithstanding his prodigious age, his stoop, and +his wealth, could still scramble up two pairs for a fee of six livres. +More than is the case with most medical patients, however, should we +suspect Smollett of being unduly captious. The point as to how far his +sketch of the French doctor and his diagnosis was a true one, and how +far a mere caricature, due to ill health and prejudice, has always +piqued my curiosity. But how to resolve a question involving so many +problems not of ordinary therapeutic but of historical medicine! In +this difficulty I bethought me most fortunately of consulting an +authority probably without a rival in this special branch of medical +history, Dr. Norman Moore, who with his accustomed generosity has given +me the following most instructive diagnosis of the whole situation. + +"I have read Smollett's account of his illness as it appears in several +passages in his travels and in the statement which he drew up for +Professor 'F.' at Montpellier. + +"Smollett speaks of his pulmonic disorder, his 'asthmatical disorder,' +and uses other expressions which show that his lungs were affected. In +his statement he mentions that he has cough, shortness of breath, +wasting, a purulent expectoration, loss of appetite at times, loss of +strength, fever, a rapid pulse, intervals of slight improvement and +subsequent exacerbations. + +"This shortness of breath, he says, has steadily increased. This group +of symptoms makes it certain that he had tuberculosis of the lungs, in +other words, was slowly progressing in consumption. + +"His darting pains in his side were due to the pleurisy which always +occurs in such an illness. + +"His account shows also the absence of hopelessness which is a +characteristic state of mind in patients with pulmonary tuberculosis. + +"I do not think that the opinion of the Montpellier professor deserves +Smollett's condemnation. It seems to me both careful and sensible and +contains all the knowledge of its time. Smollett, with an inconsistency +not uncommon in patients who feel that they have a serious disease, +would not go in person to the Professor, for he felt that from his +appearance the Professor would be sure to tell him he had consumption. +He half hoped for some other view of the written case in spite of its +explicit statements, and when Professor F-- wrote that the patient had +tubercles in his lungs, this was displeasing to poor Smollett, who had +hoped against hope to receive--some other opinion than the only +possible one, viz., that he undoubtedly had a consumption certain to +prove fatal." + +The cruel truth was not to be evaded. Smollett had tuberculosis, though +not probably of the most virulent kind, as he managed to survive +another seven years, and those for the most part years of unremitting +labour. He probably gained much by substituting Nice for Montpellier as +a place to winter in, for although the climate of Montpellier is clear +and bright in the highest degree, the cold is both piercing and +treacherous. Days are frequent during the winter in which one may stand +warmly wrapped in the brilliant sun and feel the protection of a +greatcoat no more than that of a piece of gauze against the icy and +penetrating blast that comes from "the roof of France." + +Unable to take the direct route by Arles as at present, the +eastward-bound traveller from Montpellier in 1764 had to make a +northerly detour. The first stone bridge up the Rhone was at Avignon, +but there was a bridge of boats connecting Beaucaire with Tarascon. +Thence, in no very placable mood, Smollett set out in mid-November by +way of Orgon [Aix], Brignolles and le Muy, striking the Mediterranean +at Frejus. En route he was inveigled into a controversy of unwonted +bitterness with an innkeeper at le Muy. The scene is conjured up for us +with an almost disconcerting actuality; no single detail of the +author's discomfiture is omitted. The episode is post-Flaubertian in +its impersonal detachment, or, as Coleridge first said, "aloofness." On +crossing the Var, the sunny climate, the romantic outline of the +Esterelles, the charms of the "neat village" of Cannes, and the first +prospect of Nice began gradually and happily to effect a slight +mitigation in our patient's humour. Smollett was indubitably one of the +pioneers of the Promenade des Anglais. Long before the days of "Dr. +Antonio" or Lord Brougham, he described for his countrymen the almost +incredible dolcezza of the sunlit coast from Antibes to Lerici. But how +much better than the barren triumph of being the unconscious fugleman +of so glittering a popularity must have been the sense of being one of +the first that ever burst from our rude island upon that secluded +little Piedmontese town, as it then was, of not above twelve thousand +souls, with its wonderful situation, noble perspective and unparalleled +climate. Well might our travel-tost doctor exclaim, "When I stand on +the rampart and look around I can scarce help thinking myself +enchanted." It was truly a garden of Armida for a native of one of the +dampest corners of North Britain. + +"Forty or fifty years ago, before the great transformation took place +on the French Riviera, when Nizza, Villafranca, and Mentone were +antique Italian towns, and when it was one of the eccentricities of +Lord Brougham, to like Cannes, all that sea-board was a delightful +land. Only a hundred years ago Arthur Young had trouble to get an old +woman and a donkey to carry his portmanteau from Cannes to Antibes. I +can myself remember Cannes in 1853, a small fishing village with a +quiet beach, and Mentone, a walled town with mediaeval gates and a +castle, a few humble villas and the old Posta to give supper to any +passing traveller. It was one of the loveliest bits of Italy, and the +road from Nizza to Genoa was one long procession for four days of +glorious scenery, historic remnants, Italian colour, and picturesque +ports. From the Esterelles to San Remo this has all been ruined by the +horde of northern barbarians who have made a sort of Trouville, +Brighton, or Biarritz, with American hotels and Parisian boulevards on +every headland and bay. First came the half underground railway, a long +tunnel with lucid intervals, which destroyed the road by blocking up +its finest views and making it practically useless. Then miles of +unsightly caravanserais high walls, pompous villas, and Parisian +grandes rues crushed out every trace of Italy, of history, and +pictorial charm." So writes Mr. Frederic Harrison of this delectable +coast, [In the Daily Chronicle, 15th March 1898.] as it was, at a +period within his own recollection--a period at which it is hardly +fanciful to suppose men living who might just have remembered Smollett, +as he was in his last days, when he returned to die on the Riviera di +Levante in the autumn of 1771. Travel had then still some of the +elements of romance. Rapidity has changed all that. The trouble is that +although we can transport our bodies so much more rapidly than Smollett +could, our understanding travels at the same old pace as before. And in +the meantime railway and tourist agencies have made of modern travel a +kind of mental postcard album, with grand hotels on one side, hotel +menus on the other, and a faint aroma of continental trains haunting, +between the leaves as it were. Our real knowledge is still limited to +the country we have walked over, and we must not approach the country +we would appreciate faster than a man may drive a horse or propel a +bicycle; or we shall lose the all-important sense of artistic approach. +Even to cross the channel by time-table is fatal to that romantic +spirit (indispensable to the true magic of travel) which a slow +adjustment of the mind to a new social atmosphere and a new historical +environment alone can induce. Ruskin, the last exponent of the Grand +Tour, said truly that the benefit of travel varies inversely in +proportion to its speed. The cheap rapidity which has made our villes +de plaisir and cotes d'azur what they are, has made unwieldy boroughs +of suburban villages, and what the rail has done for a radius of a +dozen miles, the motor is rapidly doing for one of a score. So are we +sped! But we are to discuss not the psychology of travel, but the +immediate causes and circumstances of Smollett's arrival upon the +territory of Nice. + + +VI + +Smollett did not interpret the ground-plan of the history of Nice +particularly well. Its colonisation from Massilia, its long connection +with Provence, its occupation by Saracens, its stormy connection with +the house of Anjou, and its close fidelity to the house of Savoy made +no appeal to his admiration. The most important event in its recent +history, no doubt, was the capture of the city by the French under +Catinat in 1706 (Louis XIV. being especially exasperated against what +he regarded as the treachery of Victor Amadeus), and the razing to the +ground of its famous citadel. The city henceforth lost a good deal of +its civic dignity, and its morale was conspicuously impaired. In the +war of the Austrian succession an English fleet under Admiral Matthews +was told off to defend the territory of the Nicois against the +attentions of Toulon. This was the first close contact experienced +between England and Nice, but the impressions formed were mutually +favourable. The inhabitants were enthusiastic about the unaccustomed +English plan of paying in full for all supplies demanded. The British +officers were no less delighted with the climate of Nice, the fame of +which they carried to their northern homes. It was both directly and +indirectly through one of these officers that the claims of Nice as a +sanatorium came to be put so plainly before Smollett. [Losing its +prestige as a ville forte, Nice was henceforth rapidly to gain the new +character of a ville de plaisir. In 1763, says one of the city's +historians, Smollett, the famous historian and novelist, visited Nice. +"Arriving here shattered in health and depressed in spirits, under the +genial influence of the climate he soon found himself a new man. His +notes on the country, its gardens, its orange groves, its climate +without a winter, are pleasant and just and would seem to have been +written yesterday instead of more than a hundred years ago. . . . His +memory is preserved in the street nomenclature of the place; one of the +thoroughfares still bears the appellation of Rue Smollett." (James +Nash, The Guide to Nice, 1884, p. 110.)] + +Among other celebrated residents at Nice during the period of +Smollett's visit were Edward Augustus, Duke of York, the brother of +George III., who died at Monaco a few years later, and Andre Massena, a +native of the city, then a lad of six. + +Before he left Montpellier Smollett indulged in two more seemingly +irresistible tirades against French folly: one against their persistent +hero-worship of such a stuffed doll as Louis le Grand, and the second +in ridicule of the immemorial French panacea, a bouillon. Now he gets +to Nice he feels a return of the craving to take a hand's turn at +depreciatory satire upon the nation of which a contemporary hand was +just tracing the deservedly better-known delineation, commencing + + Gay sprightly land of mirth and social ease, + Pleas'd with thyself, whom all the world can please. . . . + +Such inveteracy (like Dr. Johnson's against Swift) was not unnaturally +suspected by friends in England of having some personal motive. In his +fifteenth letter home, therefore, Smollett is assiduous in disclaiming +anything of the kind. He begins by attempting an amende honorable, but +before he has got well away from his exordium he insensibly and most +characteristically diverges into the more congenial path of censure, +and expands indeed into one of his most eloquent passages--a +disquisition upon the French punctilio (conceived upon lines somewhat +similar to Mercutio's address to Benvolio), to which is appended a +satire on the duello as practised in France, which glows and burns with +a radiation of good sense, racy of Smollett at his best. + +To eighteenth century lovers the discussion on duelling will recall +similar talks between Boswell and Johnson, or that between the +lieutenant and Tom in the Seventh Book of Tom Jones, but, more +particularly, the sermon delivered by Johnson on this subject a propos +of General Oglethorpe's story of how he avoided a duel with Prince +Eugene in 1716. "We were sitting in company at table, whence the Prince +took up a glass of wine and by a fillip made some of it fly in +Oglethorpe's face. Here was a nice dilemma. To have challenged him +instantly might have fixed a quarrelsome character upon the young +soldier: to have taken no notice of it might have been counted as +cowardice. Oglethorpe, therefore, keeping his eye on the Prince, and +smiling all the time, as if he took what His Highness had done in jest, +said, "Mon Prince" (I forget the French words he used), "that's a good +joke; but we do it much better in England," and threw a whole glass of +wine in the Prince's face. An old general who sat by said, "Il a bien +fait, mon Prince, vous l'avez commence," and thus all ended in good +humour." + +In Letter XIII. Smollett settles down to give his correspondents a +detailed description of the territory and people of Nice. At one time +it was his intention to essay yet another branch of authorship and to +produce a monograph on the natural history, antiquities, and topography +of the town as the capital of this still unfamiliar littoral; with the +late-born modesty of experience, however, he recoils from a task to +which he does not feel his opportunities altogether adequate. [See p. +152.] A quarter of Smollett's original material would embarrass a +"Guide"-builder of more recent pattern. + +Whenever he got near a coast line Smollett could not refrain from +expressing decided views. If he had lived at the present day he would +infallibly have been a naval expert, better informed than most and more +trenchant than all; but recognizably one of the species, artist in +words and amateur of ocean-strategy. [Smollett had, of course, been +surgeon's mate on H.M.S. Cumberland, 1740-41.] His first curiosity at +Nice was raised concerning the port, the harbour, the galleys moored +within the mole, and the naval policy of his Sardinian Majesty. His +advice to Victor Amadeus was no doubt as excellent and as unregarded as +the advice of naval experts generally is. Of more interest to us is his +account of the slave-galleys. Among the miserable slaves whom "a +British subject cannot behold without horror and compassion," he +observes a Piedmontese count in Turkish attire, reminding the reader of +one of Dumas' stories of a count among the forcats. To learn that there +were always volunteer oarsmen among these poor outcasts is to reflect +bitterly upon the average happiness of mankind. As to whether they wore +much worse off than common seamen in the British navy of the period +(who were only in name volunteers and had often no hope of discharge +until they were worn out) under such commanders as Oakum or Whiffle [In +Roderick Random.] is another question. For confirmation of Smollett's +account in matters of detail the reader may turn to Aleman's Guzman +d'Afarache, which contains a first-hand description of the life on +board a Mediterranean slave galley, to Archenholtz's Tableau d'Italie +of 1788, to Stirling Maxwell's Don John of Austria (1883, i. 95), and +more pertinently to passages in the Life of a Galley Slave by Jean +Marteilhe (edited by Miss Betham-Edwards in 1895). After serving in the +docks at Dunkirk, Marteilhe, as a confirmed protestant, makes the +journey in the chain-gang to Marseilles, and is only released after +many delays in consequence of the personal interest and intervention of +Queen Anne. If at the peace of Utrecht in 1713 we had only been as +tender about the case of our poor Catalan allies! Nice at that juncture +had just been returned by France to the safe-keeping of Savoy, so that +in order to escape from French territory, Marteilhe sailed for Nice in +a tartane, and not feeling too safe even there, hurried thence by +Smollett's subsequent route across the Col di Tende. Many Europeans +were serving at this time in the Turkish or Algerine galleys. But the +most pitiable of all the galley slaves were those of the knights of St. +John of Malta. "Figure to yourself," wrote Jacob Houblon [The Houblon +Family, 1907 ii. 78. The accounts in Evelyn and Goldsmith are probably +familiar to the reader.] about this year, "six or seven hundred dirty +half-naked Turks in a small vessel chained to the oars, from which they +are not allowed to stir, fed upon nothing but bad biscuit and water, +and beat about on the most trifling occasion by their most inhuman +masters, who are certainly more Turks than their slaves." + +After several digressions, one touching the ancient Cemenelion, a +subject upon which the Jonathan Oldbucks of Provence without exception +are unconscionably tedious, Smollett settles down to a capable +historical summary preparatory to setting his palette for a picture of +the Nissards "as they are." He was, as we are aware, no court painter, +and the cheerful colours certainly do not predominate. The noblesse for +all their exclusiveness cannot escape his censure. He can see that they +are poor (they are unable to boast more than two coaches among their +whole number), and he feels sure that they are depraved. He attributes +both vices unhesitatingly to their idleness and to their religion. In +their singularly unemotional and coolly comparative outlook upon +religion, how infinitely nearer were Fielding and Smollett than their +greatest successors, Dickens and Thackeray, to the modern critic who +observes that there is "at present not a single credible established +religion in existence." To Smollett Catholicism conjures up nothing so +vividly as the mask of comedy, while his native Calvinism stands for +the corresponding mask of tragedy. [Walpole's dictum that Life was a +comedy to those who think, a tragedy for those who feel, was of later +date than this excellent mot of Smollett's.] Religion in the sunny +spaces of the South is a "never-failing fund of pastime." The mass (of +which he tells a story that reminds us of Lever's Micky Free) is just a +mechanism invented by clever rogues for an elaborate system of petty +larceny. And what a ferocious vein of cynicism underlies his strictures +upon the perverted gallantry of the Mariolaters at Florence, or those +on the two old Catholics rubbing their ancient gums against St. Peter's +toe for toothache at Rome. The recurring emblems of crosses and gibbets +simply shock him as mementoes of the Bagne. + +At Rome he compares a presentment of St. Laurence to "a barbecued pig." +"What a pity it is," he complains, "that the labours of painting should +have been employed on such shocking objects of the martyrology," +floggings, nailings, and unnailings... "Peter writhing on the cross, +Stephen battered with stones, Sebastian stuck full of arrows, +Bartholomew flayed alive," and so on. His remarks upon the famous Pieta +of Michael Angelo are frank to the point of brutality. The right of +sanctuary and its "infamous prerogative," unheard of in England since +the days of Henry VII., were still capable of affording a lesson to the +Scot abroad. "I saw a fellow who had three days before murdered his +wife in the last month of pregnancy, taking the air with great +composure and serenity, on the steps of a church in Florence." +Smollett, it is clear, for all his philosophy, was no degenerate +representative of the blind, unreasoning seventeenth-century +detestation of "Popery and wooden shoes." + +Smollett is one of the first to describe a "conversazione," and in +illustration of the decadence of Italian manners, it is natural that he +should have a good deal to tell us about the Cicisbeatura. His account +of the cicisbeo and his duties, whether in Nice, Florence, or Rome, is +certainly one of the most interesting that we have. Before Smollett and +his almost contemporary travel correspondent, Samuel Sharp, it would +probably be hard to find any mention of the cicisbeo in England, though +the word was consecrated by Sheridan a few years later. Most of the +"classic" accounts of the usage such as those by Mme. de Stael, +Stendhal, Parini, Byron and his biographers date from very much later, +when the institution was long past its prime if not actually moribund. +Now Smollett saw it at the very height of its perfection and at a time +when our decorous protestant curiosity on such themes was as lively as +Lady Mary Montagu had found it in the case of fair Circassians and +Turkish harems just thirty years previously. [A cicisbeo was a dangler. +Hence the word came to be applied punningly to the bow depending from a +clouded cane or ornamental crook. In sixteenth-century Spain, home of +the sedan and the caballero galante, the original term was bracciere. +In Venice the form was cavaliere servente. For a good note on the +subject, see Sismondi's Italian Republics, ed. William Boulting, 1907, +p. 793.] Like so much in the shapes and customs of Italy the +cicisbeatura was in its origin partly Gothic and partly Oriental. It +combined the chivalry of northern friendship with the refined passion +of the South for the seclusion of women. As an experiment in protest +against the insipidity which is too often an accompaniment of conjugal +intercourse the institution might well seem to deserve a more tolerant +and impartial investigation than it has yet received at the hands of +our sociologists. A survival so picturesque could hardly be expected to +outlive the bracing air of the nineteenth century. The north wind blew +and by 1840 the cicisbeatura was a thing of the past. + +Freed from the necessity of a systematic delineation Smollett rambles +about Nice, its length and breadth, with a stone in his pouch, and +wherever a cockshy is available he takes full advantage of it. He +describes the ghetto (p. 171), the police arrangements of the place +which he finds in the main highly efficient, and the cruel punishment +of the strappado. The garrucha or strappado and the garrotes, combined +with the water-torture and the rack, represented the survival of the +fittest in the natural selection of torments concerning which the Holy +Office in Italy and Spain had such a vast experience. The strappado as +described by Smollett, however, is a more severe form of torture even +than that practised by the Inquisition, and we can only hope that his +description of its brutality is highly coloured. [See the extremely +learned disquisition on the whole subject in Dr. H. C. Lea's History of +the Inquisition in Spain, 1907, vol. iii. book vi chap. vii.] Smollett +must have enjoyed himself vastly in the market at Nice. He gives an +elaborate and epicurean account of his commissariat during the +successive seasons of his sojourn in the neighbourhood. He was not one +of these who live solely "below the diaphragm"; but he understood food +well and writes about it with a catholic gusto and relish (156-165). He +laments the rarity of small birds on the Riviera, and gives a highly +comic account of the chasse of this species of gibier. He has a good +deal to say about the sardine and tunny fishery, about the fruit and +scent traffic, and about the wine industry; and he gives us a graphic +sketch of the silkworm culture, which it is interesting to compare with +that given by Locke in 1677. He has something to say upon the general +agriculture, and more especially upon the olive and oil industry. Some +remarks upon the numerous "mummeries" and festas of the inhabitants +lead him into a long digression upon the feriae of the Romans. It is +evident from this that the box of books which he shipped by way of +Bordeaux must have been plentifully supplied with classical literature, +for, as he remarks with unaffected horror, such a thing as a bookseller +had not been so much as heard of in Nice. Well may he have expatiated +upon the total lack of taste among the inhabitants! In dealing with the +trade, revenue, and other administrative details Smollett shows himself +the expert compiler and statistician a London journalist in large +practice credits himself with becoming by the mere exercise of his +vocation. In dealing with the patois of the country he reveals the +curiosity of the trained scholar and linguist. Climate had always been +one of his hobbies, and on learning that none of the local +practitioners was in a position to exact a larger fee than sixpence +from his patients (quantum mutatus the Nice physician of 1907!) he felt +that he owed it to himself to make this the subject of an independent +investigation. He kept a register of the weather during the whole of +his stay, and his remarks upon the subject are still of historical +interest, although with Teysseire's minutely exact Monograph on the +Climatology of Nice (1881) at his disposal and innumerable commentaries +thereon by specialists, the inquirer of to-day would hardly go to +Smollett for his data. Then, as now, it is curious to find the rumour +current that the climate of Nice was sadly deteriorating. "Nothing to +what it was before the war!" as the grumbler from the South was once +betrayed into saying of the August moon. Smollett's esprit chagrin was +nonplussed at first to find material for complaint against a climate in +which he admits that there was less rain and less wind than in any +other part of the world that he knew. In these unwonted circumstances +he is constrained to fall back on the hard water and the plague of +cousins or gnats as affording him the legitimate grievance, in whose +absence the warrior soul of the author of the Ode to Independence could +never be content. + + +VII + +For his autumn holiday in 1764 Smollett decided on a jaunt to Florence +and Rome, returning to Nice for the winter; and he decided to travel as +far as Leghorn by sea. There was choice between several kinds of small +craft which plied along the coast, and their names recur with cheerful +frequency in the pages of Marryat and other depictors of the +Mediterranean. There was the felucca, an open boat with a tilt over the +stern large enough to freight a post-chaise, and propelled by ten to +twelve stout mariners. To commission such a boat to Genoa, a distance +of a hundred miles, cost four louis. As alternative, there was the +tartane, a sailing vessel with a lateen sail. Addison sailed from +Marseilles to Genoa in a tartane in December 1699: a storm arose, and +the patron alarmed the passengers by confessing his sins (and such +sins!) loudly to a Capuchin friar who happened to be aboard. Smollett +finally decided on a gondola, with four rowers and a steersman, for +which he had to pay nine sequins (4 1/2 louis). After adventures off +Monaco, San Remo, Noli, and elsewhere, the party are glad to make the +famous phones on the Torre della Lanterna, of which banker Rogers sings +in his mediocre verse: + + Thy pharos Genoa first displayed itself + Burning in stillness on its rocky seat; + That guiding star so oft the only one, + When those now glowing in the azure vault + Are dark and silent + +Smollett's description of Genoa is decidedly more interesting. He +arrived at a moment specially propitious to so sardonic an observer, +for the Republic had fallen on evil times, having escaped from the +clutches of Austria in 1746 by means of a popular riot, during which +the aristocracy considerately looked the other way, only to fall into +an even more embarrassed and unheroic position vis-a-vis of so +diminutive an opponent as Corsica. The whole story is a curious +prototype of the nineteenth century imbroglio between Spain and Cuba. +Of commonplaces about the palaces fruitful of verbiage in Addison and +Gray, who says with perfect truth, "I should make you sick of marble +were I to tell you how it is lavished here," Smollett is sparing +enough, though he evidently regards the inherited inclination of +Genoese noblemen to build beyond their means as an amiable weakness. +His description of the proud old Genoese nobleman, who lives in marble +and feeds on scraps, is not unsympathetic, and suggests that the +"deceipt of the Ligurians," which Virgil censures in the line + + Haud Ligurum extremus, dum fallere fata sinebant + +may possibly have been of this Balderstonian variety. But Smollett had +little room in his economy for such vapouring speculations. He was as +unsentimental a critic as Sydney Smith or Sir Leslie Stephen. He wants +to know the assets of a place more than its associations. Facts, +figures, trade and revenue returns are the data his shrewd mind +requires to feed on. He has a keen eye for harbours suitable for an +English frigate to lie up in, and can hardly rest until his sagacity +has collected material for a political horoscope. + +Smollett's remarks upon the mysterious dispensations of Providence in +regard to Genoa and the retreat of the Austrians are charged to the +full with his saturnine spirit. His suspicions were probably well +founded. Ever since 1685 Genoa had been the more or less humiliated +satellite of France, and her once famous Bank had been bled pretty +extensively by both belligerents. The Senate was helpless before the +Austrian engineers in 1745, and the emancipation of the city was due +wholly to a popular emeute. She had relapsed again into a completely +enervated condition. Smollett thought she would have been happier under +British protection. But it is a vicious alternative for a nation to +choose a big protector. It was characteristic of the Republic that from +1790 to 1798 its "policy" was to remain neutral. The crisis in regard +to Corsica came immediately after Smollett's visit, when in 1765, under +their 154th doge Francesco Maria Rovere, the Genoese offered to abandon +the island to the patriots under Paoli, reserving only the possession +of the two loyal coast-towns of Bonifazio and Calvi. [See Boswell's +Corsica, 1766-8.] At Paoli's instance these conciliatory terms were +refused. Genoa, in desperation and next door to bankruptcy, resolved to +sell her rights as suzerain to France, and the compact was concluded by +a treaty signed at Versailles in 1768. Paoli was finally defeated at +Ponte Novo on 9th May 1769, and fled to England. On 15th August the +edict of "Reunion" between France and Corsica was promulgated. On the +same day Napoleon Buonaparte was born at Ajaccio. + +After a week at Genoa Smollett proceeded along the coast to Lerici. +There, being tired of the sea, the party disembarked, and proceeded by +chaise from Sarzano to Cercio in Modenese territory, and so into +Tuscany, then under the suzerainty of Austria. His description of Pisa +is of an almost sunny gaiety and good humour. Italy, through this +portal, was capable of casting a spell even upon a traveller so +case-hardened as Smollett. The very churches at Pisa are "tolerably +ornamented." The Campo Santo and Tower fall in no way short of their +reputation, while the brass gates so far excel theirs that Smollett +could have stood a whole day to examine and admire them. These agremens +may be attributable in some measure to "a very good inn." In stating +that galleys were built in the town, Smollett seems to have fallen a +victim, for once, to guide-book information. Evelyn mentions that +galleys were built there in his time, but that was more than a hundred +years before. The slips and dock had long been abandoned, as Smollett +is careful to point out in his manuscript notes, now in the British +Museum. He also explains with superfluous caution that the Duomo of +Pisa is not entirely Gothic. Once arrived in the capital of Tuscany, +after admitting that Florence is a noble city, our traveller is anxious +to avoid the hackneyed ecstasies and threadbare commonplaces, derived +in those days from Vasari through Keysler and other German +commentators, whose genius Smollett is inclined to discover rather "in +the back than in the brain." + +The two pass-words for a would-be connoisseur, according to Goldsmith, +were to praise Perugino, and to say that such and such a work would +have been much better had the painter devoted more time and study to +it. With these alternatives at hand one might pass with credit through +any famous continental collection. Smollett aspired to more +independence of thought and opinion, though we perceive at every turn +how completely the Protestant prejudice of his "moment" and "milieu" +had obtained dominion over him. To his perception monks do not chant or +intone, they bawl and bellow their litanies. Flagellants are hired +peasants who pad themselves to repletion with women's bodices. The +image of the Virgin Mary is bejewelled, hooped, painted, patched, +curled, and frizzled in the very extremity of the fashion. No +particular attention is paid by the mob to the Crucified One, but as +soon as his lady-mother appeared on the shoulders of four lusty friars +the whole populace fall upon their knees in the dirt. We have some +characteristic criticism and observation of the Florentine nobles, the +opera, the improvisatori, [For details as to the eighteenth-century +improvisatore and commedia delle arte the reader is referred to +Symonds's Carlo Gozzi. See also the Travel Papers of Mrs. Piozzi; +Walpole's Letters to Sir Horace Mann, and Doran's Mann and Manners at +the Court of Florence. (Vide Appendix A, p. 345)] the buildings, and +the cicisbei. Smollett nearly always gives substantial value to his +notes, however casual, for he has an historian's eye, and knows the +symptoms for which the inquirer who comes after is likely to make +inquisition. + +Smollett's observations upon the state of Florence in Letters XXVII and +XXVIII are by no means devoid of value. The direct rule of the Medici +had come to an end in 1737, and Tuscany (which with the exception of +the interlude of 1798-1814 remained in Austrian hands down to 1860) was +in 1764 governed by the Prince de Craon, viceroy of the Empress Maria +Theresa. Florence was, indeed, on the threshold of the sweeping +administrative reforms instituted by Peter Leopold, the archduke for +whom Smollett relates that they were preparing the Pitti Palace at the +time of his stay. This Prince governed the country as Grand Duke from +1765 to 1790, when he succeeded his brother as Emperor, and left a name +in history as the ill-fated Leopold. Few more active exponents of +paternal reform are known to history. But the Grand Duke had to deal +with a people such as Smollett describes. Conservative to the core, +subservient to their religious directors, the "stupid party" in +Florence proved themselves clever enough to retard the process of +enlightenment by methods at which even Smollett himself might have +stood amazed. The traveller touches an interesting source of biography +when he refers to the Englishman called Acton, formerly an East India +Company captain, now commander of the Emperor's Tuscan Navy, consisting +of "a few frigates." This worthy was the old commodore whom Gibbon +visited in retirement at Leghorn. The commodore was brother of Gibbon's +friend, Dr. Acton, who was settled at Besancon, where his noted son, +afterwards Sir John Acton, was born in 1736. Following in the footsteps +of his uncle the commodore, who became a Catholic, Smollett tells us, +and was promoted Admiral of Tuscany, John Acton entered the Tuscan +Marine in 1775. + +[Sir John Acton's subsequent career belongs to history. His origin made +him an expert on naval affairs, and in 1776 he obtained some credit for +an expedition which he commanded against the Barbary pirates. In 1778 +Maria Carolina of Naples visited her brother Leopold at Florence, and +was impressed by Acton's ugliness and reputation for exceptional +efficiency. Her favourite minister, Prince Caramanico, persuaded the +Grand Duke, Leopold, to permit Acton to exchange into the Neapolitan +service, and reorganize the navy of the southern kingdom. This actually +came to pass, and, moreover, Acton played his cards so well that he +soon engrossed the ministries of War and Finance, and after the death +of Caracciolo, the elder, also that of Foreign Affairs. Sir William +Hamilton had a high opinion of the" General," soon to become +Field-Marshal. He took a strong part in resistance to revolutionary +propaganda, caused to be built the ships which assisted Nelson in 1795, +and proved himself one of the most capable bureaucrats of the time. But +the French proved too strong, and Napoleon was the cause of his +disgrace in 1804. In that year, by special dispensation from the Pope, +he married his niece, and retired to Palermo, where he died on 12th +August 1811.] + +Let loose in the Uffizi Gallery Smollett shocked his sensitive +contemporaries by his freedom from those sham ecstasies which have too +often dogged the footsteps of the virtuosi. Like Scott or Mark Twain at +a later date Smollett was perfectly ready to admire anything he could +understand; but he expressly disclaims pretensions to the nice +discernment and delicate sensibility of the connoisseur. He would never +have asked to be left alone with the Venus de Medicis as a modern +art-critic is related to have asked to be left alone with the Venus of +Rokeby. He would have been at a loss to understand the state of mind of +the eminent actor who thought the situation demanded that he should be +positively bereft of breath at first sight of the Apollo Belvedere, and +panting to regain it, convulsively clutched at the arm of his +companion, with difficulty articulating, "I breathe." Smollett refused +to be hypnotized by the famous Venus discovered at Hadrian's villa, +brought from Tivoli in 1680, and then in the height of its renown; the +form he admired, but condemned the face and the posture. Personally I +disagree with Smollett, though the balance of cultivated opinion has +since come round to his side. The guilt of Smollett lay in criticizing +what was above criticism, as the contents of the Tribuna were then held +to be. And in defence of this point of view it may at least be said +that the Uffizi was then, with the exception of the Vatican, the only +gallery of first-rate importance open to the travelling public on the +Grand Tour. Founded by Cosimo I, built originally by George Vasari, and +greatly enlarged by Francis I, who succeeded to the Grand Duchy in +1574, the gallery owed most perhaps to the Cardinal, afterwards +Ferdinand I, who constructed the Tribuna, and to Cardinal Leopold, an +omnivorous collector, who died in 1675. But all the Medici princes +added to the rarities in the various cabinets, drawing largely upon the +Villa Medici at Rome for this purpose, and the last of them, John +Gaston (1723-1737), was one of the most liberal as regards the freedom +of access which he allowed to his accumulated treasures. Among the +distinguished antiquaries who acted as curators and cicerones were +Sebastiano Bianchi, Antonio Cocchi, Raymond Cocchi, Joseph Bianchi, J. +B. Pelli, the Abbe Lanzi, and Zacchiroli. The last three all wrote +elaborate descriptions of the Gallery during the last decades of the +eighteenth century. There was unhappily an epidemic of dishonesty among +the custodians of gems at this period, and, like the notorious Raspe, +who fled from Cassel in 1775, and turned some of his old employers to +ridicule in his Baron Munchausen, Joseph Bianchi was convicted first of +robbing his cabinet and then attempting to set it on fire, for which +exploit the "learned and judicious Bianchi," as Smollett called him in +his first edition, was sent to prison for life. The Arrotino which +Smollett so greatly admired, and which the delusive Bianchi declared to +be a representation of the Augur Attus Naevius, is now described as "A +Scythian whetting his knife to flay Marsyas." + +Kinglake has an amusingly cynical passage on the impossibility of +approaching the sacred shrines of the Holy Land in a fittingly +reverential mood. Exactly the same difficulty is experienced in +approaching the sacred shrines of art. Enthusiasm about great artistic +productions, though we may readily understand it to be justifiable, is +by no means so easily communicable. How many people possessing a real +claim to culture have felt themselves puzzled by their insensibility +before some great masterpiece! Conditions may be easily imagined in +which the inducement to affect an ecstasy becomes so strong as to prove +overpowering. Many years ago at Florence the loiterers in the Tribuna +were startled by the sudden rush into the place of a little man whose +literary fame gave him high claims to intuitive taste. He placed +himself with high clasped hand before the chief attraction in that room +of treasures. "There," he murmured, "is the Venus de Medicis, and here +I must stay--for ever and for ever." He had scarcely uttered these +words, each more deeply and solemnly than the preceding, when an +acquaintance entered, and the enthusiast, making a hasty inquiry if +Lady So-and-So had arrived, left the room not to return again that +morning. Before the same statue another distinguished countryman used +to pass an hour daily. His acquaintance respected his raptures and kept +aloof; but a young lady, whose attention was attracted by sounds that +did not seem expressive of admiration, ventured to approach, and found +the poet sunk in profound, but not silent, slumber. From such +absurdities as these, or of the enthusiast who went into raptures about +the head of the Elgin Ilissos (which is unfortunately a headless +trunk), we are happily spared in the pages of Smollett. In him complete +absence of gush is accompanied by an independent judgement, for which +it may quite safely be claimed that good taste is in the ascendant in +the majority of cases. + +From Florence Smollett set out in October 1764 for Siena, a distance of +forty-two miles, in a good travelling coach; he slept there, and next +day, seven and a half miles farther on, at Boon Convento, hard by +Montepulciano, now justly celebrated for its wine, he had the amusing +adventure with the hostler which gave occasion for his vivid portrait +of an Italian uffiziale, and also to that irresistible impulse to cane +the insolent hostler, from the ill consequences of which he was only +saved by the underling's precipitate flight. The night was spent at +Radicofani, five and twenty miles farther on. A clever postilion +diversified the route to Viterbo, another forty-three miles. The party +was now within sixteen leagues, or ten hours, of Rome. The road from +Radicofani was notoriously bad all the way, but Smollett was too +excited or too impatient to pay much attention to it. "You may guess +what I felt at first sight of the city of Rome." + +"When you arrive at Rome," he says later, in somewhat more accustomed +vein, "you receive cards from all your country folk in that city. They +expect to have the visit returned next day, when they give orders not +to be at home, and you never speak to one another in the sequel. This +is a refinement in hospitality and politeness which the English have +invented by the strength of their own genius without any assistance +either from France, Italy, or Lapland." It is needless to recapitulate +Smollett's views of Rome. Every one has his own, and a passing +traveller's annotations are just about as nourishing to the imagination +as a bibliographer's note on the Bible. Smollett speaks in the main +judiciously of the Castle of St. Angelo, the Piazza and the interior of +St. Peter's, the Pincian, the Forum, the Coliseum, the Baths of +Caracalla, and the other famous sights of successive ages. On Roman +habits and pastimes and the gullibility of the English cognoscente he +speaks with more spice of authority. Upon the whole he is decidedly +modest about his virtuoso vein, and when we reflect upon the way in +which standards change and idols are shifted from one pedestal to +another, it seems a pity that such modesty has not more votaries. In +Smollett's time we must remember that Hellenic and primitive art, +whether antique or medieval, were unknown or unappreciated. The +reigning models of taste in ancient sculpture were copies of +fourth-century originals, Hellenistic or later productions. Hence +Smollett's ecstasies over the Laocoon, the Niobe, and the Dying +Gladiator. Greek art of the best period was hardly known in authentic +examples; antiques so fine as the Torso of Hercules were rare. But +while his failures show the danger of dogmatism in art criticism, +Smollett is careful to disclaim all pretensions to the nice discernment +of the real connoisseur. In cases where good sense and sincere +utterance are all that is necessary he is seldom far wrong. Take the +following description for example:-- + +"You need not doubt but that I went to the church of St. Peter in +Montorio, to view the celebrated Transfiguration by Raphael, which, if +it was mine, I would cut in two parts. The three figures in the air +attract the eye so strongly that little or no attention is paid to +those below on the mountain. I apprehend that the nature of the subject +does not admit of that keeping and dependence which ought to be +maintained in the disposition of the lights and shadows in a picture. +The groups seem to be entirely independent of each other. The +extraordinary merit of this piece, I imagine, consists not only in the +expression of divinity on the face of Christ, but also in the +surprising lightness of the figure that hovers like a beautiful +exhalation in the air." + +Smollett's remarks about the "Last Judgement" of Michael Angelo, (that +it confuses the eye as a number of people speaking at once confounds +the ear; and that while single figures are splendid, the whole together +resembles a mere mob, without subordination, keeping, or repose) will +probably be re-echoed by a large proportion of the sightseers who gaze +upon it yearly. But his description of the "Transfiguration" displays +an amount of taste and judgement which is far from being so widely +distributed. For purposes of reproduction at the present day, I may +remind the reader that the picture is ordinarily "cut in two." and the +nether portion is commonly attributed to Raphael's pupils, while the +"beautiful exhalation," as Smollett so felicitously terms it, is +attributed exclusively to the master when at the zenith of his powers. +His general verdict upon Michael Angelo and Raphael has much in it that +appeals to a modern taste. Of Raphael, as a whole, he concludes that +the master possesses the serenity of Virgil, but lacks the fire of +Homer; and before leaving this same Letter XXXIII, in which Smollett +ventures so many independent critical judgements, I am tempted to cite +yet another example of his capacity for acute yet sympathetic +appreciation. + "In the Palazzo Altieri I admired a picture, by Carlo Maratti, +representing a saint calling down lightning from heaven to destroy +blasphemers. It was the figure of the saint I admired, merely as a +portrait. The execution of the other parts was tame enough; perhaps +they were purposely kept down in order to preserve the importance of +the principal figure. I imagine Salvator Rosa would have made a +different disposition on the same subject--that amidst the darkness of +a tempest he would have illuminated the blasphemer with the flash of +lightning by which he was destroyed. This would have thrown a dismal +gleam upon his countenance, distorted by the horror of his situation as +well as by the effects of the fire, and rendered the whole scene +dreadfully picturesque." + +Smollett confuses historical and aesthetic grandeur. What appeals to +him most is a monument of a whole past civilization, such as the Pont +du Gard. His views of art, too, as well as his views of life, are +profoundly influenced by his early training as a surgeon. He is not +inclined by temperament to be sanguine. His gaze is often fixed, like +that of a doctor, upon the end of life; and of art, as of nature, he +takes a decidedly pathological view. Yet, upon the whole, far from +deriding his artistic impressions, I think we shall be inclined rather +to applaud them, as well for their sanity as for their undoubted +sincerity. + +For the return journey to Florence Smollett selected the alternative +route by Narni, Terni, Spoleto, Foligno, Perugia, and Arezzo, and, by +his own account, no traveller ever suffered quite so much as he did +from "dirt," "vermin," "poison," and imposture. At Foligno, where +Goethe also, in his travels a score of years or so later, had an +amusing adventure, Smollett was put into a room recently occupied by a +wild beast (bestia), but the bestia turned out on investigation to be +no more or no less than an "English heretic." The food was so filthy +that it might have turned the stomach of a muleteer; their coach was +nearly shattered to pieces; frozen with cold and nearly devoured by +rats. Mrs. Smollett wept in silence with horror and fatigue; and the +bugs gave the Doctor a whooping-cough. If Smollett anticipated a +violent death from exhaustion and chagrin in consequence of these +tortures he was completely disappointed. His health was never +better,--so much so that he felt constrained in fairness to drink to +the health of the Roman banker who had recommended this nefarious +route. [See the Doctor's remarks at the end of Letter XXXV.] By +Florence and Lerici he retraced his steps to Nice early in 1765, and +then after a brief jaunt to Turin (where he met Sterne) and back by the +Col di Tende, he turned his face definitely homewards. The journey home +confirmed his liking for Pisa, and gives an opening for an amusing +description of the Britisher abroad (Letter XXXV). We can almost +overhear Thackeray, or the author of Eothen, touching this same topic +in Letter XLI. "When two natives of any other country chance to meet +abroad, they run into each other's embrace like old friends, even +though they have never heard of one another till that moment; whereas +two Englishmen in the same situation maintain a mutual reserve and +diffidence, and keep without the sphere of each other's attraction, +like two bodies endowed with a repulsive power." Letter XXXVI gives +opportunity for some discerning remarks on French taxation. Having +given the French king a bit of excellent advice (that he should abolish +the fermiers generaux), Smollett proceeds, in 1765, to a forecast of +probabilities which is deeply significant and amazingly shrewd. The +fragment known as Smollett's Dying Prophecy of 1771 has often been +discredited. Yet the substance of it is fairly adumbrated here in the +passage beginning, "There are undoubtedly many marks of relaxation in +the reins of French government," written fully six years previously. +After a pleasing description of Grasse, "famous for its pomatum, +gloves, wash-balls, perfumes, and toilette boxes lined with bergamot," +the homeward traveller crossed the French frontier at Antibes, and in +Letter XXXIX at Marseille, he compares the galley slaves of France with +those of Savoy. At Bath where he had gone to set up a practice, +Smollett once astonished the faculty by "proving" in a pamphlet that +the therapeutic properties of the waters had been prodigiously +exaggerated. So, now, in the south of France he did not hesitate to +pronounce solemnly that "all fermented liquors are pernicious to the +human constitution." Elsewhere he comments upon the immeasurable +appetite of the French for bread. The Frenchman will recall the story +of the peasant-persecuting baron whom Louis XII. provided with a +luxurious feast, which the lack of bread made uneatable; he may not +have heard a story told me in Liege at the Hotel Charlemagne of the +Belgian who sought to conciliate his French neighbour by remarking, "Je +vois que vous etes Francais, monsieur, parceque vous mangez beaucoup de +pain," and the Frenchman's retort, "Je vois que vous etes lye monsieur, +parceque vous mangez beaucoup de tout!" From Frejus Smollett proceeds +to Toulon, repeating the old epigram that "the king of France is +greater at Toulon than at Versailles." The weather is so pleasant that +the travellers enjoy a continual concert of "nightingales" from Vienne +to Fontainebleau. The "douche" of Aix-les-Bains having been explained, +Smollett and his party proceeded agreeably to Avignon, where by one of +the strange coincidences of travel he met his old voiturier Joseph "so +embrowned by the sun that he might have passed for an Iroquois." In +spite of Joseph's testimonial the "plagues of posting" are still in the +ascendant, and Smollett is once more generous of good advice. Above +all, he adjures us when travelling never to omit to carry a hammer and +nails, a crowbar, an iron pin or two, a large knife, and a bladder of +grease. Why not a lynch pin, which we were so carefully instructed how +to inquire about in Murray's Conversation for Travellers? + +But-the history of his troublous travels is drawing to an end. From +Lyons the route is plain through Macon, Chalons, Dijon, Auxerre, Sells, +and Fontainebleau--the whole itinerary almost exactly anticipates that +of Talfourd's Vacation Tour one hundred and ten years later, except +that on the outward journey Talfourd sailed down the Rhone. + +Smollett's old mental grievances and sores have been shifted and to +some extent, let us hope, dissipated by his strenuous journeyings, and +in June 1765, after an absence of two years, he is once more enabled to +write, + +"You cannot imagine what pleasure I feel while I survey the white +cliffs of Dover at this distance [from Boulogne]. Not that I am at all +affected by the nescio qua dulcedine natalis soli of Horace. + +"That seems to be a kind of fanaticism, founded on the prejudices of +education, which induces a Laplander to place the terrestrial paradise +among the snows of Norway, and a Swiss to prefer the barren mountains +of Soleure to the fruitful plains of Lombardy. I am attached to my +country, because it is the land of liberty, cleanliness, and +convenience; but I love it still more tenderly, as the scene of all my +interesting connections, as the habitation of my friends, for whose +conversation, correspondence, and esteem I wish alone to live." + +For the time being it cannot be doubted that the hardships Smollett had +to undergo on his Italian journey, by sea and land, and the violent +passions by which he was agitated owing to the conduct of refractory +postilions and extortionate innkeepers, contributed positively to brace +up and invigorate his constitution. He spoke of himself indeed as +"mended by ill-treatment" not unlike Tavernier, the famous +traveller,--said to have been radically cured of the gout by a Turkish +aga in Egypt, who gave him the bastinado because he would not look at +the head of the bashaw of Cairo. But Fizes was right after all in his +swan-prescription, for poor Smollett's cure was anything but a radical +one. His health soon collapsed under the dreary round of incessant +labour at Chelsea. His literary faculty was still maturing and +developing. His genius was mellowing, and a later work might have +eclipsed Clinker. But it was not to be. He had a severe relapse in the +winter. In 1770 he had once more to take refuge from overwork on the +sunny coast he had done so much to popularize among his countrymen, and +it was near Leghorn that he died on 17th September 1771. + + ANNO AETATIS 51. + EHEV! QVAM PROCVL A PATRIA! + PROPE LIBVRNI PORTVM, IN ITALIA + JACET SEPVLTVS. + + THOMAS SECCOMBE. ACTON, May 1907. + + + +LETTER I + +BOULOGNE SUR MER, June 23, 1763. + +DEAR SIR,--You laid your commands upon me at parting, to communicate +from time to time the observations I should make in the course of my +travels and it was an injunction I received with pleasure. In +gratifying your curiosity, I shall find some amusement to beguile the +tedious hours, which, without some such employment, would be rendered +insupportable by distemper and disquiet. + +You knew, and pitied my situation, traduced by malice, persecuted by +faction, abandoned by false patrons, and overwhelmed by the sense of a +domestic calamity, which it was not in the power of fortune to repair. + +You know with what eagerness I fled from my country as a scene of +illiberal dispute, and incredible infatuation, where a few worthless +incendiaries had, by dint of perfidious calumnies and atrocious abuse, +kindled up a flame which threatened all the horrors of civil dissension. + +I packed up my little family in a hired coach, and attended by my +trusty servant, who had lived with me a dozen of years, and now refused +to leave me, took the road to Dover, in my way to the South of France, +where I hoped the mildness of the climate would prove favourable to the +weak state of my lungs. + +You advised me to have recourse again to the Bath waters, from the use +of which I had received great benefit the preceding winter: but I had +many inducements to leave England. My wife earnestly begged I would +convey her from a country where every object served to nourish her +grief: I was in hopes that a succession of new scenes would engage her +attention, and gradually call off her mind from a series of painful +reflections; and I imagined the change of air, and a journey of near a +thousand miles, would have a happy effect upon my own constitution. +But, as the summer was already advanced, and the heat too excessive for +travelling in warm climates, I proposed staying at Boulogne till the +beginning of autumn, and in the mean time to bathe in the sea, with a +view to strengthen and prepare my body for the fatigues of such a long +journey. + +A man who travels with a family of five persons, must lay his account +with a number of mortifications; and some of these I have already +happily overcome. Though I was well acquainted with the road to Dover, +and made allowances accordingly, I could not help being chagrined at +the bad accommodation and impudent imposition to which I was exposed. +These I found the more disagreeable, as we were detained a day +extraordinary on the road, in consequence of my wife's being indisposed. + +I need not tell you this is the worst road in England with respect to +the conveniences of travelling, and must certainly impress foreigners +with an unfavourable opinion of the nation in general. The chambers are +in general cold and comfortless, the beds paultry, the cookery +execrable, the wine poison, the attendance bad, the publicans insolent, +and the bills extortion; there is not a drop of tolerable malt liquor +to be had from London to Dover. + +Every landlord and every waiter harangued upon the knavery of a +publican in Canterbury, who had charged the French ambassador forty +pounds for a supper that was not worth forty shillings. They talked +much of honesty and conscience; but when they produced their own bills, +they appeared to be all of the same family and complexion. If it was a +reproach upon the English nation, that an innkeeper should pillage +strangers at that rate; it is a greater scandal, that the same fellow +should be able to keep his house still open. I own, I think it would be +for the honour of the kingdom to reform the abuses of this road; and in +particular to improve the avenue to London by the way of Kent-Street, +which is a most disgraceful entrance to such an opulent city. A +foreigner, in passing through this beggarly and ruinous suburb, +conceives such an idea of misery and meanness, as all the wealth and +magnificence of London and Westminster are afterwards unable to +destroy. A friend of mine, who brought a Parisian from Dover in his own +post-chaise, contrived to enter Southwark after it was dark, that his +friend might not perceive the nakedness of this quarter. The stranger +was much pleased with the great number of shops full of merchandize, +lighted up to the best advantage. He was astonished at the display of +riches in Lombard-Street and Cheapside. The badness of the pavement +made him find the streets twice as long as they were. They alighted in +Upper Brook-Street by Grosvenor-Square; and when his conductor told him +they were then about the middle of London, the Frenchman declared, with +marks of infinite surprize, that London was very near as long as Paris. + +On my arrival at Dover I payed off my coachman, who went away with a +heavy heart. He wanted much to cross the sea, and endeavoured to +persuade me to carry the coach and horses to the other side. If I had +been resolved to set out immediately for the South, perhaps I should +have taken his advice. If I had retained him at the rate of twenty +guineas per month, which was the price he demanded, and begun my +journey without hesitation, I should travel more agreeably than I can +expect to do in the carriages of this country; and the difference of +the expence would be a mere trifle. I would advise every man who +travels through France to bring his own vehicle along with him, or at +least to purchase one at Calais or Boulogne, where second-hand berlins +and chaises may be generally had at reasonable rates. I have been +offered a very good berlin for thirty guineas: but before I make the +purchase, I must be better informed touching the different methods of +travelling in this country. + +Dover is commonly termed a den of thieves; and I am afraid it is not +altogether without reason, it has acquired this appellation. The people +are said to live by piracy in time of war; and by smuggling and +fleecing strangers in time of peace: but I will do them the justice to +say, they make no distinction between foreigners and natives. Without +all doubt a man cannot be much worse lodged and worse treated in any +part of Europe; nor will he in any other place meet with more flagrant +instances of fraud, imposition, and brutality. One would imagine they +had formed a general conspiracy against all those who either go to, or +return from the continent. About five years ago, in my passage from +Flushing to Dover, the master of the packet-boat brought-to all of a +sudden off the South Foreland, although the wind was as favourable as +it could blow. He was immediately boarded by a customhouse boat, the +officer of which appeared to be his friend. He then gave the passengers +to understand, that as it was low water, the ship could not go into the +harbour; but that the boat would carry them ashore with their baggage. + +The custom-house officer demanded a guinea for this service, and the +bargain was made. Before we quitted the ship, we were obliged to +gratify the cabin-boy for his attendance, and to give drink-money to +the sailors. The boat was run aground on the open beach; but we could +not get ashore without the assistance of three or four fellows, who +insisted upon being paid for their trouble. Every parcel and bundle, as +it was landed, was snatched up by a separate porter: one ran away with +a hat-box, another with a wig-box, a third with a couple of shirts tied +up in a handkerchief, and two were employed in carrying a small +portmanteau that did not weigh forty pounds. All our things were +hurried to the custom-house to be searched, and the searcher was paid +for disordering our cloaths: from thence they were removed to the inn, +where the porters demanded half-a-crown each for their labour. It was +in vain to expostulate; they surrounded the house like a pack of hungry +bounds, and raised such a clamour, that we were fain to comply. After +we had undergone all this imposition, we were visited by the master of +the packet, who, having taken our fares, and wished us joy of our happy +arrival in England, expressed his hope that we would remember the poor +master, whose wages were very small, and who chiefly depended upon the +generosity of the passengers. I own I was shocked at his meanness, and +could not help telling him so. I told him, I could not conceive what +title he had to any such gratification: he had sixteen passengers, who +paid a guinea each, on the supposition that every person should have a +bed; but there were no more than eight beds in the cabin, and each of +these was occupied before I came on board; so that if we had been +detained at sea a whole week by contrary winds and bad weather, one +half of the passengers must have slept upon the boards, howsoever their +health might have suffered from this want of accommodation. +Notwithstanding this check, he was so very abject and importunate, that +we gave him a crown a-piece, and he retired. + +The first thing I did when I arrived at Dover this last time, was to +send for the master of a packet-boat, and agree with him to carry us to +Boulogne at once, by which means I saved the expence of travelling by +land from Calais to this last place, a journey of four-and-twenty +miles. The hire of a vessel from Dover to Boulogne is precisely the +same as from Dover to Calais, five guineas; but this skipper demanded +eight, and, as I did not know the fare, I agreed to give him six. We +embarked between six and seven in the evening, and found ourselves in a +most wretched hovel, on board what is called a Folkstone cutter. The +cabin was so small that a dog could hardly turn in it, and the beds put +me in mind of the holes described in some catacombs, in which the +bodies of the dead were deposited, being thrust in with the feet +foremost; there was no getting into them but end-ways, and indeed they +seemed so dirty, that nothing but extreme necessity could have obliged +me to use them. We sat up all night in a most uncomfortable situation, +tossed about by the sea, cold, arid cramped and weary, and languishing +for want of sleep. At three in the morning the master came down, and +told us we were just off the harbour of Boulogne; but the wind blowing +off shore, he could not possibly enter, and therefore advised us to go +ashore in the boat. I went upon deck to view the coast, when he pointed +to the place where he said Boulogne stood, declaring at the same time +we were within a short mile of the harbour's mouth. The morning was +cold and raw, and I knew myself extremely subject to catch cold; +nevertheless we were all so impatient to be ashore, that I resolved to +take his advice. The boat was already hoisted out, and we went on board +of it, after I had paid the captain and gratified his crew. We had +scarce parted from the ship, when we perceived a boat coming towards us +from the shore; and the master gave us to understand, it was coming to +carry us into the harbour. When I objected to the trouble of shifting +from one boat to another in the open sea, which (by the bye) was a +little rough; he said it was a privilege which the watermen of Boulogne +had, to carry all passengers ashore, and that this privilege he durst +not venture to infringe. This was no time nor place to remonstrate. The +French boat came alongside half filled with water, and we were handed +from the one to the other. We were then obliged to lie upon our oars, +till the captain's boat went on board and returned from the ship with a +packet of letters. We were afterwards rowed a long league, in a rough +sea, against wind and tide, before we reached the harbour, where we +landed, benumbed with cold, and the women excessively sick: from our +landing-place we were obliged to walk very near a mile to the inn where +we purposed to lodge, attended by six or seven men and women, +bare-legged, carrying our baggage. This boat cost me a guinea, besides +paying exorbitantly the people who carried our things; so that the +inhabitants of Dover and of Boulogne seem to be of the same kidney, and +indeed they understand one another perfectly well. It was our honest +captain who made the signal for the shore-boat before I went upon deck; +by which means he not only gratified his friends, the watermen of +Boulogne, but also saved about fifteen shillings portage, which he must +have paid had he gone into the harbour; and thus he found himself at +liberty to return to Dover, which he reached in four hours. I mention +these circumstances as a warning to other passengers. When a man hires +a packet-boat from Dover to Calais or Boulogne, let him remember that +the stated price is five guineas; and let him insist upon being carried +into the harbour in the ship, without paying the least regard to the +representations of the master, who is generally a little dirty knave. +When he tells you it is low water, or the wind is in your teeth, you +may say you will stay on board till it is high water, or till the wind +comes favourable. If he sees you are resolute, he will find means to +bring his ship into the harbour, or at least to convince you, without a +possibility of your being deceived, that it is not in his power. After +all, the fellow himself was a loser by his finesse; if he had gone into +the harbour, he would have had another fare immediately back to Dover, +for there was a Scotch gentleman at the inn waiting for such an +opportunity. + +Knowing my own weak constitution, I took it for granted this morning's +adventure would cost me a fit of illness; and what added to my chagrin, +when we arrived at the inn, all the beds were occupied; so that we were +obliged to sit in a cold kitchen above two hours, until some of the +lodgers should get up. This was such a bad specimen of French +accommodation, that my wife could not help regretting even the inns of +Rochester, Sittingbourn, and Canterbury: bad as they are, they +certainly have the advantage, when compared with the execrable auberges +of this country, where one finds nothing but dirt and imposition. One +would imagine the French were still at war with the English, for they +pillage them without mercy. + +Among the strangers at this inn where we lodged, there was a gentleman +of the faculty, just returned from Italy. Understanding that I intended +to winter in the South of France, on account of a pulmonic disorder, he +strongly recommended the climate of Nice in Provence, which, indeed, I +had often heard extolled; and I am almost resolved to go thither, not +only for the sake of the air, but also for its situation on the +Mediterranean, where I can have the benefit of bathing; and from whence +there is a short cut by sea to Italy, should I find it necessary to try +the air of Naples. + +After having been ill accommodated three days at our inn, we have at +last found commodious lodgings, by means of Mrs. B-, a very agreeable +French lady, to whom we were recommended by her husband, who is my +countryman, and at present resident in London. For three guineas a +month we have the greatest part of a house tolerably furnished; four +bed-chambers on the first floor, a large parlour below, a kitchen, and +the use of a cellar. + +These, I own, are frivolous incidents, scarce worth committing to +paper; but they may serve to introduce observations of more +consequence; and in the mean time I know nothing will be indifferent to +you, that concerns--Your humble servant. + + + +LETTER II + +BOULOGNE SUR MER, July 15, 1763. + +DEAR SIR,--The custom-house officers at Boulogne, though as alert, are +rather more civil than those on your side of the water. I brought no +plate along with me, but a dozen and a half of spoons, and a dozen +teaspoons: the first being found in one of our portmanteaus, when they +were examined at the bureau, cost me seventeen livres entree; the +others being luckily in my servant's pocket, escaped duty free. All +wrought silver imported into France, pays at the rate of so much per +mark: therefore those who have any quantity of plate, will do well to +leave it behind them, unless they can confide in the dexterity of the +shipmasters; some of whom will undertake to land it without the +ceremony of examination. The ordonnances of France are so unfavourable +to strangers, that they oblige them to pay at the rate of five per +cent. for all the bed and table linen which they bring into the +kingdom, even though it has been used. When my trunks arrived in a ship +from the river Thames, I underwent this ordeal: but what gives me more +vexation, my books have been stopped at the bureau; and will be sent to +Amiens at my expence, to be examined by the chambre syndicale; lest +they should contain something prejudicial to the state, or to the +religion of the country. This is a species of oppression which one +would not expect to meet with in France, which piques itself on its +politeness and hospitality: but the truth is, I know no country in +which strangers are worse treated with respect to their essential +concerns. If a foreigner dies in France, the king seizes all his +effects, even though his heir should be upon the spot; and this tyranny +is called the droit d'aubaine founded at first upon the supposition, +that all the estate of foreigners residing in France was acquired in +that kingdom, and that, therefore, it would be unjust to convey it to +another country. If an English protestant goes to France for the +benefit of his health, attended by his wife or his son, or both, and +dies with effects in the house to the amount of a thousand guineas, the +king seizes the whole, the family is left destitute, and the body of +the deceased is denied christian burial. The Swiss, by capitulation, +are exempted from this despotism, and so are the Scots, in consequence +of an ancient alliance between the two nations. The same droit +d'aubaine is exacted by some of the princes in Germany: but it is a +great discouragement to commerce, and prejudices every country where it +is exercised, to ten times the value of what it brings into the coffers +of the sovereign. + +I am exceedingly mortified at the detention of my books, which not only +deprives me of an amusement which I can very ill dispense with; but, in +all probability, will expose me to sundry other inconveniencies. I must +be at the expence of sending them sixty miles to be examined, and run +the risque of their being condemned; and, in the mean time, I may lose +the opportunity of sending them with my heavy baggage by sea to +Bourdeaux, to be sent up the Garonne to Tholouse, and from thence +transmitted through the canal of Languedoc to Cette, which is a +sea-port on the Mediterranean, about three or four leagues from +Montpelier. + +For the recovery of my books, I had recourse to the advice of my +landlord, Mons. B--. He is a handsome young fellow, about twenty-five +years of age, and keeps house with two maiden sisters, who are +professed devotees. The brother is a little libertine, good natured and +obliging; but a true Frenchman in vanity, which is undoubtedly the +ruling passion of this volatile people. He has an inconsiderable place +under the government, in consequence of which he is permitted to wear a +sword, a privilege which he does not fail to use. He is likewise +receiver of the tythes of the clergy in this district, an office that +gives him a command of money, and he, moreover, deals in the wine +trade. When I came to his house, he made a parade of all these +advantages: he displayed his bags of money, and some old gold which his +father had left him. He described his chateau in the country; dropped +hints of the fortunes that were settled upon mademoiselles his sisters; +boasted of his connexions at court; and assured me it was not for my +money that he let his lodgings, but altogether with a view to enjoy the +pleasure of my company. The truth, when stript of all embellishments, +is this: the sieur B-- is the son of an honest bourgeois lately dead, +who left him the house, with some stock in trade, a little money, and a +paltry farm: his sisters have about three thousand livres (not quite +140 L) apiece; the brother's places are worth about fifty pounds a +year, and his connexions at court are confined to a commis or clerk in +the secretary's office, with whom he corresponds by virtue of his +employment. My landlord piques himself upon his gallantry and success +with the fair-sex: he keeps a fille de joye, and makes no secret of his +amours. He told miss C-- the other day, in broken English, that, in the +course of the last year, he had made six bastards. He owned, at the +same time, he had sent them all to the hospital; but, now his father is +dead, he would himself take care of his future productions. This, +however, was no better than a gasconade. Yesterday the house was in a +hot alarm, on account of a new windfall of this kind: the sisters were +in tears; the brother was visited by the cure of the parish; the lady +in the straw (a sempstress) sent him the bantling in a basket, and he +transmitted it by the carriers to the Enfans trouves at Paris. + +But to return from this digression: Mr. B-- advised me to send a +requete or petition to the chancellor of France, that I might obtain an +order to have my books examined on the spot, by the president of +Boulogne, or the procureur du roy, or the sub-delegate of the +intendance. He recommended an advocat of his acquaintance to draw up +the memoire, and introduced him accordingly; telling me at the same +time, in private, that if he was not a drunkard, he would be at the +head of his profession. He had indeed all the outward signs of a sot; a +sleepy eye, a rubicund face, and carbuncled nose. He seemed to be a +little out at elbows, had marvellous foul linen, and his breeches were +not very sound: but he assumed an air of importance, was very +courteous, and very solemn. I asked him if he did not sometimes divert +himself with the muse: he smiled, and promised, in a whisper, to shew +me some chansonettes de sa facon. Meanwhile he composed the requete in +my name, which was very pompous, very tedious, and very abject. Such a +stile might perhaps be necessary in a native of France; but I did not +think it was at all suitable to a subject of Great-Britain. I thanked +him for the trouble he had taken, as he would receive no other +gratification; but when my landlord proposed to send the memoire to his +correspondent at Paris, to be delivered to the chancellor, I told him I +had changed my mind, and would apply to the English ambassador. I have +accordingly taken the liberty to address myself to the earl of H--; and +at the same time I have presumed to write to the duchess of D--, who is +now at Paris, to entreat her grace's advice and interposition. What +effect these applications may have, I know not: but the sieur B-- +shakes his head, and has told my servant, in confidence, that I am +mistaken if I think the English ambassador is as great a man at Paris +as the chancellor of France. + +I ought to make an apology for troubling you with such an +unentertaining detail, and consider that the detention of my books must +be a matter of very little consequence to any body, but to--Your +affectionate humble servant. + +LETTER III + +BOULOGNE, August 15, 1763. + +SIR--I am much obliged to you for your kind enquiries after my health, +which has been lately in a very declining condition. In consequence of +a cold, caught a few days after my arrival in France, I was seized with +a violent cough, attended with a fever, and stitches in my breast, +which tormented me all night long without ceasing. At the same time I +had a great discharge by expectoration, and such a dejection of spirits +as I never felt before. In this situation I took a step which may +appear to have been desperate. I knew there was no imposthume in my +lungs, and I supposed the stitches were spasmodical. I was sensible +that all my complaints were originally derived from relaxation. I +therefore hired a chaise, and going to the beach, about a league from +the town, plunged into the sea without hesitation. By this desperate +remedy, I got a fresh cold in my head: but my stitches and fever +vanished the very first day; and by a daily repetition of the bath, I +have diminished my cough, strengthened my body, and recovered my +spirits. I believe I should have tried the same experiment, even if +there had been an abscess in my lungs, though such practice would have +been contrary to all the rules of medicine: but I am not one of those +who implicitly believe in all the dogmata of physic. I saw one of the +guides at Bath, the stoutest fellow among them, who recovered from the +last stage of a consumption, by going into the king's bath, contrary to +the express injunction of his doctor. He said, if he must die, the +sooner the better, as he had nothing left for his subsistence. Instead +of immediate death, he found instant case, and continued mending every +day, till his health was entirely re-established. I myself drank the +waters of Bath, and bathed, in diametrical opposition to the opinion of +some physicians there settled, and found myself better every day, +notwithstanding their unfavourable prognostic. If I had been of the +rigid fibre, full of blood, subject to inflammation, I should have +followed a different course. Our acquaintance, doctor C--, while he +actually spit up matter, and rode out every day for his life, led his +horse to water, at the pond in Hyde-Park, one cold frosty morning, and +the beast, which happened to be of a hot constitution, plunged himself +and his master over head and ears in the water. The poor doctor +hastened home, half dead with fear, and was put to bed in the +apprehension of a new imposthume; instead of which, he found himself +exceedingly recruited in his spirits, and his appetite much mended. I +advised him to take the hint, and go into the cold bath every morning; +but he did not chuse to run any risque. How cold water comes to be such +a bugbear, I know not: if I am not mistaken, Hippocrates recommends +immersion in cold water for the gout; and Celsus expressly says, in +omni tussi utilis est natatio: in every cough swimming is of service. + +I have conversed with a physician of this place, a sensible man, who +assured me he was reduced to meer skin and bone by a cough and hectic +fever, when he ordered a bath to be made in his own house, and dipped +himself in cold water every morning. He at the same time left off +drinking and swallowing any liquid that was warm. He is now strong and +lusty, and even in winter has no other cover than a single sheet. His +notions about the warm drink were a little whimsical: he imagined it +relaxed the tone of the stomach; and this would undoubtedly be the case +if it was drank in large quantities, warmer than the natural +temperature of the blood. He alledged the example of the inhabitants of +the Ladrone islands, who never taste any thing that is not cold, and +are remarkably healthy. But to balance this argument I mentioned the +Chinese, who scarce drink any thing but warm tea; and the Laplanders, +who drink nothing but warm water; yet the people of both these nations +are remarkably strong, healthy, and long-lived. + +You desire to know the fate of my books. My lord H--d is not yet come +to France; but my letter was transmitted to him from Paris; and his +lordship, with that generous humanity which is peculiar to his +character, has done me the honour to assure me, under his own hand, +that he has directed Mr. N--lle, our resident at Paris, to apply for an +order that my books may be restored. + +I have met with another piece of good fortune, in being introduced to +general Paterson and his lady, in their way to England from Nice, where +the general has been many years commandant for the king of Sardinia. +You must have heard of this gentleman, who has not only eminently +distinguished himself, by his courage and conduct as an officer; but +also by his probity and humanity in the exercise, of his office, and by +his remarkable hospitality to all strangers, especially the subjects of +Great-Britain, whose occasions called them to the place where he +commanded. Being pretty far advanced in years, he begged leave to +resign, that he might spend the evening of his days in his own country; +and his Sardinian majesty granted his request with regret, after having +honoured him with very particular marks of approbation and esteem. The +general talks so favourably of the climate of Nice, with respect to +disorders of the breast, that I am now determined to go thither. It +would have been happy for me had he continued in his government. I +think myself still very fortunate, in having obtained of him a letter +of recommendation to the English consul at Nice, together with +directions how to travel through the South of France. I propose to +begin my journey some time next month, when the weather will be +temperate to the southward; and in the wine countries I shall have the +pleasure of seeing the vintage, which is always a season of festivity +among all ranks of people. + +You have been very much mis-informed, by the person who compared +Boulogne to Wapping: he did a manifest injustice to this place which is +a large agreeable town, with broad open streets, excellently paved; and +the houses are of stone, well built and commodious. The number of +inhabitants may amount to sixteen thousand. You know this was generally +supposed to be the portus Itius, and Gessoriacum of the antients: +though it is now believed that the portus Itius, from whence Caesar +sailed to Britain, is a place called Whitsand, about half way between +this place and Calais. Boulogne is the capital of the Boulonnois, a +district extending about twelve leagues, ruled by a governor +independent of the governor of Picardy; of which province, however, +this country forms a part. The present governor is the duc d'Aumout. +The town of Boulogne is the see of a bishop suffragan of Rheims, whose +revenue amounts to about four-and-twenty thousand livres, or one +thousand pounds sterling. It is also the seat of a seneschal's court, +from whence an appeal lies to the parliament of Paris; and thither all +condemned criminals are sent, to have their sentence confirmed or +reversed. Here is likewise a bailiwick, and a court of admiralty. The +military jurisdiction of the city belongs to a commandant appointed by +the king, a sort of sinecure bestowed upon some old officer. His +appointments are very inconsiderable: he resides in the Upper Town, and +his garrison at present consists of a few hundreds of invalids. + +Boulogne is divided into the Upper and Lower Towns. The former is a +kind of citadel, about a short mile in circumference, situated on a +rising ground, surrounded by a high wall and rampart, planted with rows +of trees, which form a delightful walk. It commands a fine view of the +country and Lower Town; and in clear weather the coast of England, from +Dover to Folkstone, appears so plain, that one would imagine it was +within four or five leagues of the French shore. The Upper Town was +formerly fortified with outworks, which are now in ruins. Here is a +square, a town-house, the cathedral, and two or three convents of nuns; +in one of which there are several English girls, sent hither for their +education. The smallness of the expence encourages parents to send +their children abroad to these seminaries, where they learn scarce any +thing that is useful but the French language; but they never fail to +imbibe prejudices against the protestant religion, and generally return +enthusiastic converts to the religion of Rome. This conversion always +generates a contempt for, and often an aversion to, their own country. +Indeed it cannot reasonably be expected that people of weak minds, +addicted to superstition, should either love or esteem those whom they +are taught to consider as reprobated heretics. Ten pounds a year is the +usual pension in these convents; but I have been informed by a French +lady who had her education in one of them, that nothing can be more +wretched than their entertainment. + +The civil magistracy of Boulogne consists of a mayor and echevins; and +this is the case in almost all the towns of France. + +The Lower Town is continued from the gate of the Upper Town, down the +slope of a hill, as far as the harbour, stretching on both sides to a +large extent, and is much more considerable than the Upper, with +respect to the beauty of the streets, the convenience of the houses, +and the number and wealth of the inhabitants. These, however, are all +merchants, or bourgeoise, for the noblesse or gentry live all together +in the Upper Town, and never mix with the others. The harbour of +Boulogne is at the mouth of the small river, or rather rivulet Liane, +which is so shallow, that the children wade through it at low water. As +the tide makes, the sea flows in, and forms a pretty extensive harbour, +which, however, admits nothing but small vessels. It is contracted at +the mouth by two stone jetties or piers, which seem to have been +constructed by some engineer, very little acquainted with this branch +of his profession; for they are carried out in such a manner, as to +collect a bank of sand just at the entrance of the harbour. The road is +very open and unsafe, and the surf very high when the wind blows from +the sea. There is no fortification near the harbour, except a paltry +fort mounting about twenty guns, built in the last war by the prince de +Cruy, upon a rock about a league to the eastward of Boulogne. It +appears to be situated in such a manner, that it can neither offend, +nor be offended. If the depth of water would admit a forty or fifty gun +ship to lie within cannon-shot of it, I apprehend it might be silenced +in half an hour; but, in all probability, there will be no vestiges of +it at the next rupture between the two crowns. It is surrounded every +day by the sea, at high water; and when it blows a fresh gale towards +the shore, the waves break over the top of it, to the terror and +astonishment of the garrison, who have been often heard crying +piteously for assistance. I am persuaded, that it will one day +disappear in the twinkling of an eye. The neighbourhood of this fort, +which is a smooth sandy beach, I have chosen for my bathing place. The +road to it is agreeable and romantic, lying through pleasant +cornfields, skirted by open downs, where there is a rabbit warren, and +great plenty of the birds so much admired at Tunbridge under the name +of wheat-ears. By the bye, this is a pleasant corruption of white-a-se, +the translation of their French name cul-blanc, taken from their colour +for they are actually white towards the tail. + +Upon the top of a high rock, which overlooks the harbour, are the +remains of an old fortification, which is indiscriminately called, Tour +d'ordre, and Julius Caesar's fort. The original tower was a light-house +built by Claudius Caesar, denominated Turris ardens, from the fire +burned in it; and this the French have corrupted into Tour d'ordre; but +no vestiges of this Roman work remain; what we now see, are the ruins +of a castle built by Charlemagne. I know of no other antiquity at +Boulogne, except an old vault in the Upper Town, now used as a +magazine, which is said to be part of an antient temple dedicated to +Isis. + +On the other side of the harbour, opposite to the Lower Town, there is +a house built, at a considerable expence, by a general officer, who +lost his life in the late war. Never was situation more inconvenient, +unpleasant, and unhealthy. It stands on the edge of an ugly morass +formed by the stagnant water left by the tide in its retreat: the very +walks of the garden are so moist, that, in the driest weather, no +person can make a tour of it, without danger of the rheumatism. +Besides, the house is altogether inaccessible, except at low water, and +even then the carriage must cross the harbour, the wheels up to the +axle-tree in mud: nay, the tide rushes in so fast, that unless you +seize the time to a minute, you will be in danger of perishing. The +apartments of this house are elegantly fitted up, but very small; and +the garden, notwithstanding its unfavourable situation, affords a great +quantity of good fruit. The ooze, impregnated with sea salt, produces, +on this side of the harbour, an incredible quantity of the finest +samphire I ever saw. The French call it passe-pierre; and I suspect its +English name is a corruption of sang-pierre. It is generally found on +the faces of bare rocks that overhang the sea, by the spray of which it +is nourished. As it grew upon a naked rock, without any appearance of +soil, it might be naturally enough called sang du pierre, or +sangpierre, blood of the rock; and hence the name samphire. On the same +side of the harbour there is another new house, neatly built, belonging +to a gentleman who has obtained a grant from the king of some ground +which was always overflowed at high water. He has raised dykes at a +considerable expence, to exclude the tide, and if he can bring his +project to bear, he will not only gain a good estate for himself, but +also improve the harbour, by increasing the depth at high-water. + +In the Lower Town of Boulogne there are several religious houses, +particularly a seminary, a convent of Cordeliers, and another of +Capuchins. This last, having fallen to decay, was some years ago +repaired, chiefly by the charity of British travellers, collected by +father Graeme, a native of North-Britain, who had been an officer in +the army of king James II. and is said to have turned monk of this +mendicant order, by way of voluntary penance, for having killed his +friend in a duel. Be that as it may, he was a well-bred, sensible man, +of a very exemplary life and conversation; and his memory is much +revered in this place. Being superior of the convent, he caused the +British arms to be put up in the church, as a mark of gratitude for the +benefactions received from our nation. I often walk in the garden of +the convent, the walls of which are washed by the sea at high-water. At +the bottom of the garden is a little private grove, separated from it +by a high wall, with a door of communication; and hither the Capuchins +retire, when they are disposed for contemplation. About two years ago, +this place was said to be converted to a very different use. There was +among the monks one pere Charles, a lusty friar, of whom the people +tell strange stories. Some young women of the town were seen mounting +over the wall, by a ladder of ropes, in the dusk of the evening; and +there was an unusual crop of bastards that season. In short, pere +Charles and his companions gave such scandal, that the whole fraternity +was changed; and now the nest is occupied by another flight of these +birds of passage. If one of our privateers had kidnapped a Capuchin +during the war, and exhibited him, in his habit, as a shew in London, +he would have proved a good prize to the captors; for I know not a more +uncouth and grotesque animal, than an old Capuchin in the habit of his +order. A friend of mine (a Swiss officer) told me, that a peasant in +his country used to weep bitterly, whenever a certain Capuchin mounted +the pulpit to hold forth to the people. The good father took notice of +this man, and believed he was touched by the finger of the Lord. He +exhorted him to encourage these accessions of grace, and at the same +time to be of good comfort, as having received such marks of the divine +favour. The man still continued to weep, as before, every time the monk +preached; and at last the Capuchin insisted upon knowing what it was, +in his discourse or appearance, that made such an impression upon his +heart "Ah, father! (cried the peasant) I never see you but I think of a +venerable goat, which I lost at Easter. We were bred up together in the +same family. He was the very picture of your reverence--one would swear +you were brothers. Poor Baudouin! he died of a fall--rest his soul! I +would willingly pay for a couple of masses to pray him out of +purgatory." + +Among other public edifices at Boulogne, there is an hospital, or +workhouse, which seems to be established upon a very good foundation. +It maintains several hundreds of poor people, who are kept constantly +at work, according to their age and abilities, in making thread, all +sorts of lace, a kind of catgut, and in knitting stockings. It is under +the direction of the bishop; and the see is at present filled by a +prelate of great piety and benevolence, though a little inclining to +bigotry and fanaticism. The churches in this town are but indifferently +built, and poorly ornamented. There is not one picture in the place +worth looking at, nor indeed does there seem to be the least taste for +the liberal arts. + +In my next, I shall endeavour to satisfy you in the other articles you +desire to know. Mean-while, I am ever--Yours. + + + +LETTER IV + +BOULOGNE, September 1, 1763. + +SIR,--I am infinitely obliged to D. H-- for the favourable manner in +which he has mentioned me to the earl of H-- I have at last recovered +my books, by virtue of a particular order to the director of the +douane, procured by the application of the English resident to the +French ministry. I am now preparing for my long journey; but, before I +leave this place, I shall send you the packet I mentioned, by Meriton. +Mean-while I must fulfil my promise in communicating the observations I +have had occasion to make upon this town and country. + +The air of Boulogne is cold and moist, and, I believe, of consequence +unhealthy. Last winter the frost, which continued six weeks in London, +lasted here eight weeks without intermission; and the cold was so +intense, that, in the garden of the Capuchins, it split the bark of +several elms from top to bottom. On our arrival here we found all kinds +of fruit more backward than in England. The frost, in its progress to +Britain, is much weakened in crossing the sea. The atmosphere, +impregnated with saline particles, resists the operation of freezing. +Hence, in severe winters, all places near the sea-side are less cold +than more inland districts. This is the reason why the winter is often +more mild at Edinburgh than at London. A very great degree of cold is +required to freeze salt water. Indeed it will not freeze at all, until +it has deposited all its salt. It is now generally allowed among +philosophers, that water is no more than ice thawed by heat, either +solar, or subterranean, or both; and that this heat being expelled, it +would return to its natural consistence. This being the case, nothing +else is required for the freezing of water, than a certain degree of +cold, which may be generated by the help of salt, or spirit of nitre, +even under the line. I would propose, therefore, that an apparatus of +this sort should be provided in every ship that goes to sea; and in +case there should be a deficiency of fresh water on board, the seawater +may be rendered potable, by being first converted into ice. + +The air of Boulogne is not only loaded with a great evaporation from +the sea, increased by strong gales of wind from the West and +South-West, which blow almost continually during the greatest part of +the year; but it is also subject to putrid vapours, arising from the +low marshy ground in the neighbourhood of the harbour, which is every +tide overflowed with seawater. This may be one cause of the scrofula +and rickets, which are two prevailing disorders among the children in +Boulogne. But I believe the former is more owing to the water used in +the Lower Town, which is very hard and unwholsome. It curdles with +soap, gives a red colour to the meat that is boiled in it, and, when +drank by strangers, never fails to occasion pains in the stomach and +bowels; nay, sometimes produces dysenteries. In all appearance it is +impregnated with nitre, if not with something more mischievous: we know +that mundic, or pyrites, very often contains a proportion of arsenic, +mixed with sulphur, vitriol, and mercury. Perhaps it partakes of the +acid of some coal mine; for there are coal works in this district. +There is a well of purging water within a quarter of a mile of the +Upper Town, to which the inhabitants resort in the morning, as the +people of London go to the Dog-and-duck, in St. George's fields. There +is likewise a fountain of excellent water, hard by the cathedral, in +the Upper Town, from whence I am daily supplied at a small expence. +Some modern chemists affirm, that no saline chalybeate waters can +exist, except in the neighbourhood of coal damps; and that nothing can +be more mild, and gentle, and friendly to the constitution, than the +said damps: but I know that the place where I was bred stands upon a +zonic of coal; that the water which the inhabitants generally use is +hard and brackish; and that the people are remarkably subject to the +king's evil and consumption. These I would impute to the bad water, +impregnated with the vitriol and brine of coal, as there is nothing in +the constitution of the air that should render such distempers +endemial. That the air of Boulogne encourages putrefaction, appears +from the effect it has upon butcher's meat, which, though the season is +remarkably cold, we can hardly keep four-and-twenty hours in the +coolest part of the house. + +Living here is pretty reasonable; and the markets are tolerably +supplied. The beef is neither fat nor firm; but very good for soup, +which is the only use the French make of it. The veal is not so white, +nor so well fed, as the English veal; but it is more juicy, and better +tasted. The mutton and pork are very good. We buy our poultry alive, +and fatten them at home. Here are excellent turkies, and no want of +game: the hares, in particular, are very large, juicy, and +high-flavoured. The best part of the fish caught on this coast is sent +post to Paris, in chasse-marines, by a company of contractors, like +those of Hastings in Sussex. Nevertheless, we have excellent soles, +skaite, flounders and whitings, and sometimes mackarel. The oysters are +very large, coarse, and rank. There is very little fish caught on the +French coast, because the shallows run a great way from the shore; and +the fish live chiefly in deep water: for this reason the fishermen go a +great way out to sea, sometimes even as far as the coast of England. +Notwithstanding all the haste the contractors can make, their fish in +the summer is very often spoiled before it arrives at Paris; and this +is not to be wondered at, considering the length of the way, which is +near one hundred and fifty miles. At best it must be in such a +mortified condition, that no other people, except the negroes on the +coast of Guinea, would feed upon it. + +The wine commonly drank at Boulogne comes from Auxerre, is very small +and meagre, and may be had from five to eight sols a bottle; that is, +from two-pence halfpenny to fourpence. The French inhabitants drink no +good wine; nor is there any to be had, unless you have recourse to the +British wine-merchants here established, who deal in Bourdeaux wines, +brought hither by sea for the London market. I have very good claret +from a friend, at the rate of fifteen-pence sterling a bottle; and +excellent small beer as reasonable as in England. I don't believe there +is a drop of generous Burgundy in the place; and the aubergistes impose +upon us shamefully, when they charge it at two livres a bottle. There +is a small white wine, called preniac, which is very agreeable and very +cheap. All the brandy which I have seen in Boulogne is new, fiery, and +still-burnt. This is the trash which the smugglers import into England: +they have it for about ten-pence a gallon. Butcher's meat is sold for +five sols, or two-pence halfpenny a pound, and the pound here consists +of eighteen ounces. I have a young turkey for thirty sols; a hare for +four-and-twenty; a couple of chickens for twenty sols, and a couple of +good soles for the same price. Before we left England, we were told +that there was no fruit in Boulogne; but we have found ourselves +agreeably disappointed in this particular. The place is well supplied +with strawberries, cherries, gooseberries, corinths, peaches, apricots, +and excellent pears. I have eaten more fruit this season, than I have +done for several years. There are many well-cultivated gardens in the +skirts of the town; particularly one belonging to our friend Mrs. B--, +where we often drink tea in a charming summer-house built on a rising +ground, which commands a delightful prospect of the sea. We have many +obligations to this good lady, who is a kind neighbour, an obliging +friend, and a most agreeable companion: she speaks English prettily, +and is greatly attached to the people and the customs of our nation. +They use wood for their common fewel, though, if I were to live at +Boulogne, I would mix it with coal, which this country affords. Both +the wood and the coal are reasonable enough. I am certain that a man +may keep house in Boulogne for about one half of what it will cost him +in London; and this is said to be one of the dearest places in France. + +The adjacent country is very agreeable, diversified with hill and dale, +corn-fields, woods, and meadows. There is a forest of a considerable +extent, that begins about a short league from the Upper Town: it +belongs to the king, and the wood is farmed to different individuals. + +In point of agriculture, the people in this neighbourhood seem to have +profited by the example of the English. Since I was last in France, +fifteen years ago, a good number of inclosures and plantations have +been made in the English fashion. There is a good many tolerable +country-houses, within a few miles of Boulogne; but mostly empty. I was +offered a compleat house, with a garden of four acres well laid out, +and two fields for grass or hay, about a mile from the town, for four +hundred livres, about seventeen pounds a year: it is partly furnished, +stands in an agreeable situation, with a fine prospect of the sea, and +was lately occupied by a Scotch nobleman, who is in the service of +France. + +To judge from appearance, the people of Boulogne are descended from the +Flemings, who formerly possessed this country; for, a great many of the +present inhabitants have fine skins, fair hair, and florid complexions; +very different from the natives of France in general, who are +distinguished by black hair, brown skins, and swarthy faces. The people +of the Boulonnois enjoy some extraordinary privileges, and, in +particular, are exempted from the gabelle or duties upon salt: how they +deserved this mark of favour, I do not know; but they seem to have a +spirit of independence among them, are very ferocious, and much +addicted to revenge. Many barbarous murders are committed, both in the +town and country; and the peasants, from motives of envy and +resentment, frequently set their neighbours' houses on fire. Several +instances of this kind have happened in the course of the last year. +The interruption which is given, in arbitrary governments, to the +administration of justice, by the interposition of the great, has +always a bad effect upon the morals of the common people. The peasants +too are often rendered desperate and savage, by the misery they suffer +from the oppression and tyranny of their landlords. In this +neighbourhood the labouring people are ill lodged and wretchedly fed; +and they have no idea of cleanliness. There is a substantial burgher in +the High Town, who was some years ago convicted of a most barbarous +murder. He received sentence to be broke alive upon the wheel; but was +pardoned by the interposition of the governor of the county, and +carries on his business as usual in the face of the whole community. A +furious abbe, being refused orders by the bishop, on account of his +irregular life, took an opportunity to stab the prelate with a knife, +one Sunday, as he walked out of the cathedral. The good bishop desired +he might be permitted to escape; but it was thought proper to punish, +with the utmost severity, such an atrocious attempt. He was accordingly +apprehended, and, though the wound was not mortal, condemned to be +broke. When this dreadful sentence was executed, he cried out, that it +was hard he should undergo such torments, for having wounded a +worthless priest, by whom he had been injured, while such-a-one (naming +the burgher mentioned above) lived in ease and security, after having +brutally murdered a poor man, and a helpless woman big with child, who +had not given him the least provocation. + +The inhabitants of Boulogne may be divided into three classes; the +noblesse or gentry, the burghers, and the canaille. I don't mention the +clergy, and the people belonging to the law, because I shall +occasionally trouble you with my thoughts upon the religion and +ecclesiastics of this country; and as for the lawyers, exclusive of +their profession, they may be considered as belonging to one or other +of these divisions. The noblesse are vain, proud, poor, and slothful. +Very few of them have above six thousand livres a year, which may +amount to about two hundred and fifty pounds sterling; and many of them +have not half this revenue. I think there is one heiress, said to be +worth one hundred thousand livres, about four thousand two hundred +pounds; but then her jewels, her cloaths, and even her linen, are +reckoned part of this fortune. The noblesse have not the common sense +to reside at their houses in the country, where, by farming their own +grounds, they might live at a small expence, and improve their estates +at the same time. They allow their country houses to go to decay, and +their gardens and fields to waste; and reside in dark holes in the +Upper Town of Boulogne without light, air, or convenience. There they +starve within doors, that they may have wherewithal to purchase fine +cloaths, and appear dressed once a day in the church, or on the +rampart. They have no education, no taste for reading, no housewifery, +nor indeed any earthly occupation, but that of dressing their hair, and +adorning their bodies. They hate walking, and would never go abroad, if +they were not stimulated by the vanity of being seen. I ought to except +indeed those who turn devotees, and spend the greatest part of their +time with the priest, either at church or in their own houses. Other +amusements they have none in this place, except private parties of +card-playing, which are far from being expensive. Nothing can be more +parsimonious than the oeconomy of these people: they live upon soupe +and bouille, fish and sallad: they never think of giving dinners, or +entertaining their friends; they even save the expence of coffee and +tea, though both are very cheap at Boulogne. They presume that every +person drinks coffee at home, immediately after dinner, which is always +over by one o'clock; and, in lieu of tea in the afternoon, they treat +with a glass of sherbet, or capillaire. In a word, I know not a more +insignificant set of mortals than the noblesse of Boulogne; helpless in +themselves, and useless to the community; without dignity, sense, or +sentiment; contemptible from pride. and ridiculous from vanity. They +pretend to be jealous of their rank, and will entertain no +correspondence with the merchants, whom they term plebeians. They +likewise keep at a great distance from strangers, on pretence of a +delicacy in the article of punctilio: but, as I am informed, this +stateliness is in a great measure affected, in order to conceal their +poverty, which would appear to greater disadvantage, if they admitted +of a more familiar communication. Considering the vivacity of the +French people, one would imagine they could not possibly lead such an +insipid life, altogether unanimated by society, or diversion. True it +is, the only profane diversions of this place are a puppet-show and a +mountebank; but then their religion affords a perpetual comedy. Their +high masses, their feasts, their processions, their pilgrimages, +confessions, images, tapers, robes, incense, benedictions, spectacles, +representations, and innumerable ceremonies, which revolve almost +incessantly, furnish a variety of entertainment from one end of the +year to the other. If superstition implies fear, never was a word more +misapplied than it is to the mummery of the religion of Rome. The +people are so far from being impressed with awe and religious terror by +this sort of machinery, that it amuses their imaginations in the most +agreeable manner, and keeps them always in good humour. A Roman +catholic longs as impatiently for the festival of St. Suaire, or St. +Croix, or St. Veronique, as a schoolboy in England for the +representation of punch and the devil; and there is generally as much +laughing at one farce as at the other. Even when the descent from the +cross is acted, in the holy week, with all the circumstances that ought +naturally to inspire the gravest sentiments, if you cast your eyes +among the multitude that croud the place, you will not discover one +melancholy face: all is prattling, tittering, or laughing; and ten to +one but you perceive a number of them employed in hissing the female +who personates the Virgin Mary. And here it may not be amiss to +observe, that the Roman catholics, not content with the infinite number +of saints who really existed, have not only personified the cross, but +made two female saints out of a piece of linen. Veronique, or Veronica, +is no other than a corruption of vera icon, or vera effigies, said to +be the exact representation of our Saviour's face, impressed upon a +piece of linen, with which he wiped the sweat from his forehead in his +way to the place of crucifixion. The same is worshipped under the name +of St. Suaire, from the Latin word sudarium. This same handkerchief is +said to have had three folds, on every one of which was the impression: +one of these remains at Jerusalem, a second was brought to Rome, and a +third was conveyed to Spain. Baronius says, there is a very antient +history of the sancta facies in the Vatican. Tillemont, however, looks +upon the whole as a fable. Some suppose Veronica to be the same with +St. Haemorrhoissa, the patroness of those who are afflicted with the +piles, who make their joint invocations to her and St. Fiacre, the son +of a Scotch king, who lived and died a hermit in France. The troops of +Henry V. of England are said to have pillaged the chapel of this +Highland saint; who, in revenge, assisted his countrymen, in the French +service, to defeat the English at Bauge, and afterwards afflicted Henry +with the piles, of which he died. This prince complained, that he was +not only plagued by the living Scots, but even persecuted by those who +were dead. + +I know not whether I may be allowed to compare the Romish religion to +comedy, and Calvinism to tragedy. The first amuses the senses, and +excites ideas of mirth and good-humour; the other, like tragedy, deals +in the passions of terror and pity. Step into a conventicle of +dissenters, you will, ten to one, hear the minister holding forth upon +the sufferings of Christ, or the torments of hell, and see many marks +of religious horror in the faces of the hearers. This is perhaps one +reason why the reformation did not succeed in France, among a volatile, +giddy, unthinking people, shocked at the mortified appearances of the +Calvinists; and accounts for its rapid progress among nations of a more +melancholy turn of character and complexion: for, in the conversion of +the multitude, reason is generally out of the question. Even the +penance imposed upon the catholics is little more than mock +mortification: a murderer is often quit with his confessor for saying +three prayers extraordinary; and these easy terms, on which absolution +is obtained, certainly encourage the repetition of the most enormous +crimes. The pomp and ceremonies of this religion, together with the +great number of holidays they observe, howsoever they may keep up the +spirits of the commonalty, and help to diminish the sense of their own +misery, must certainly, at the same time, produce a frivolous taste for +frippery and shew, and encourage a habit of idleness, to which I, in a +great measure, ascribe the extreme poverty of the lower people. Very +near half of their time, which might he profitably employed in the +exercise of industry, is lost to themselves and the community, in +attendance upon the different exhibitions of religious mummery. + +But as this letter has already run to an unconscionable length, I shall +defer, till another occasion, what I have further to say on the people +of this place, and in the mean time assure you, that I am always--Yours +affectionately. + + + +LETTER V + +BOULOGNE, September 12, 1763. + +DEAR SIR,--My stay in this place now draws towards a period. 'Till +within these few days I have continued bathing, with some advantage to +my health, though the season has been cold and wet, and disagreeable. +There was a fine prospect of a plentiful harvest in this neighbourhood. +I used to have great pleasure in driving between the fields of wheat, +oats, and barley; but the crop has been entirely ruined by the rain, +and nothing is now to be seen on the ground but the tarnished straw, +and the rotten spoils of the husbandman's labour. The ground scarce +affords subsistence to a few flocks of meagre sheep, that crop the +stubble, and the intervening grass; each flock under the protection of +its shepherd, with his crook and dogs, who lies every night in the +midst of the fold, in a little thatched travelling lodge, mounted on a +wheel-carriage. Here he passes the night, in order to defend his flock +from the wolves, which are sometimes, especially in winter, very bold +and desperate. + +Two days ago we made an excursion with Mrs. B-- and Capt. L-- to the +village of Samers, on the Paris road, about three leagues from +Boulogne. Here is a venerable abbey of Benedictines, well endowed, with +large agreeable gardens prettily laid out. The monks are well lodged, +and well entertained. Tho' restricted from flesh meals by the rules of +their order, they are allowed to eat wild duck and teal, as a species +of fish; and when they long for a good bouillon, or a partridge, or +pullet, they have nothing to do but to say they are out of order. In +that case the appetite of the patient is indulged in his own apartment. +Their church is elegantly contrived, but kept in a very dirty +condition. The greatest curiosity I saw in this place was an English +boy, about eight or nine years old, whom his father had sent hither to +learn the French language. In less than eight weeks, he was become +captain of the boys of the place, spoke French perfectly well, and had +almost forgot his mother tongue. But to return to the people of +Boulogne. + +The burghers here, as in other places, consist of merchants, +shop-keepers, and artisans. Some of the merchants have got fortunes, by +fitting out privateers during the war. A great many single ships were +taken from the English, notwithstanding the good look-out of our +cruisers, who were so alert, that the privateers from this coast were +often taken in four hours after they sailed from the French harbour; +and there is hardly a captain of an armateur in Boulogne, who has not +been prisoner in England five or six times in the course of the war. +They were fitted out at a very small expence, and used to run over in +the night to the coast of England, where they hovered as English +fishing smacks, until they kidnapped some coaster, with which they made +the best of their way across the Channel. If they fell in with a +British cruiser, they surrendered without resistance: the captain was +soon exchanged, and the loss of the proprietor was not great: if they +brought their prize safe into harbour, the advantage was considerable. +In time of peace the merchants of Boulogne deal in wine brandies, and +oil, imported from the South, and export fish, with the manufactures of +France, to Portugal, and other countries; but the trade is not great. +Here are two or three considerable houses of wine merchants from +Britain, who deal in Bourdeaux wine, with which they supply London and +other parts of England, Scotland, and Ireland. The fishery of mackarel +and herring is so considerable on this coast, that it is said to yield +annually eight or nine hundred thousand livres, about thirty-five +thousand pounds sterling. + +The shop-keepers here drive a considerable traffic with the English +smugglers, whose cutters are almost the only vessels one sees in the +harbour of Boulogne, if we except about a dozen of those flat-bottomed +boats, which raised such alarms in England, in the course of the war. +Indeed they seem to be good for nothing else, and perhaps they were +built for this purpose only. The smugglers from the coast of Kent and +Sussex pay English gold for great quantities of French brandy, tea, +coffee, and small wine, which they run from this country. They likewise +buy glass trinkets, toys, and coloured prints, which sell in England, +for no other reason, but that they come from France, as they may be had +as cheap, and much better finished, of our own manufacture. They +likewise take off ribbons, laces, linen, and cambrics; though this +branch of trade is chiefly in the hands of traders that come from +London and make their purchases at Dunkirk, where they pay no duties. +It is certainly worth while for any traveller to lay in a stock of +linen either at Dunkirk or Boulogne; the difference of the price at +these two places is not great. Even here I have made a provision of +shirts for one half of the money they would have cost in London. +Undoubtedly the practice of smuggling is very detrimental to the fair +trader, and carries considerable sums of money out of the kingdom, to +enrich our rivals and enemies. The custom-house officers are very +watchful, and make a great number of seizures: nevertheless, the +smugglers find their account in continuing this contraband commerce; +and are said to indemnify themselves, if they save one cargo out of +three. After all, the best way to prevent smuggling, is to lower the +duties upon the commodities which are thus introduced. I have been +told, that the revenue upon tea has encreased ever since the duty upon +it was diminished. By the bye, the tea smuggled on the coast of Sussex +is most execrable stuff. While I stayed at Hastings, for the +conveniency of bathing, I must have changed my breakfast, if I had not +luckily brought tea with me from London: yet we have as good tea at +Boulogne for nine livres a pound, as that which sells at fourteen +shillings at London. + +The bourgeois of this place seem to live at their ease, probably in +consequence of their trade with the English. Their houses consist of +the ground-floor, one story above, and garrets. In those which are well +furnished, you see pier-glasses and marble slabs; but the chairs are +either paultry things, made with straw bottoms, which cost about a +shilling a-piece, or old-fashioned, high-backed seats of needle-work, +stuffed, very clumsy and incommodious. The tables are square fir +boards, that stand on edge in a corner, except when they are used, and +then they are set upon cross legs that open and shut occasionally. The +king of France dines off a board of this kind. Here is plenty of +table-linen however. The poorest tradesman in Boulogne has a napkin on +every cover, and silver forks with four prongs, which are used with the +right hand, there being very little occasion for knives; for the meat +is boiled or roasted to rags. The French beds are so high, that +sometimes one is obliged to mount them by the help of steps; and this +is also the case in Flanders. They very seldom use feather-beds; but +they lie upon a paillasse, or bag of straw, over which are laid two, +and sometimes three mattrasses. Their testers are high and +old-fashioned, and their curtains generally of thin bays, red, or +green, laced with taudry yellow, in imitation of gold. In some houses, +however, one meets with furniture of stamped linen; but there is no +such thing as a carpet to be seen, and the floors are in a very dirty +condition. They have not even the implements of cleanliness in this +country. Every chamber is furnished with an armoire, or clothes-press, +and a chest of drawers, of very clumsy workmanship. Every thing shews a +deficiency in the mechanic arts. There is not a door, nor a window, +that shuts close. The hinges, locks, and latches, are of iron, coarsely +made, and ill contrived. The very chimnies are built so open, that they +admit both rain and sun, and all of them smoke intolerably. If there is +no cleanliness among these people, much less shall we find delicacy, +which is the cleanliness of the mind. Indeed they are utter strangers +to what we call common decency; and I could give you some +high-flavoured instances, at which even a native of Edinburgh would +stop his nose. There are certain mortifying views of human nature, +which undoubtedly ought to be concealed as much as possible, in order +to prevent giving offence: and nothing can be more absurd, than to +plead the difference of custom in different countries, in defence of +these usages which cannot fail giving disgust to the organs and senses +of all mankind. Will custom exempt from the imputation of gross +indecency a French lady, who shifts her frowsy smock in presence of a +male visitant, and talks to him of her lavement, her medecine, and her +bidet! An Italian signora makes no scruple of telling you, she is such +a day to begin a course of physic for the pox. The celebrated reformer +of the Italian comedy introduces a child befouling itself, on the +stage, OE, NO TI SENTI? BISOGNA DESFASSARLO, (fa cenno che sentesi mal +odore). I have known a lady handed to the house of office by her +admirer, who stood at the door, and entertained her with bons mots all +the time she was within. But I should be glad to know, whether it is +possible for a fine lady to speak and act in this manner, without +exciting ideas to her own disadvantage in the mind of every man who has +any imagination left, and enjoys the entire use of his senses, +howsoever she may be authorised by the customs of her country? There is +nothing so vile or repugnant to nature, but you may plead prescription +for it, in the customs of some nation or other. A Parisian likes +mortified flesh: a native of Legiboli will not taste his fish till it +is quite putrefied: the civilized inhabitants of Kamschatka get drunk +with the urine of their guests, whom they have already intoxicated: the +Nova Zemblans make merry on train-oil: the Groenlanders eat in the same +dish with their dogs: the Caffres, at the Cape of Good Hope, piss upon +those whom they delight to honour, and feast upon a sheep's intestines +with their contents, as the greatest dainty that can be presented. A +true-bred Frenchman dips his fingers, imbrowned with snuff, into his +plate filled with ragout: between every three mouthfuls, he produces +his snuff-box, and takes a fresh pinch, with the most graceful +gesticulations; then he displays his handkerchief, which may be termed +the flag of abomination, and, in the use of both, scatters his favours +among those who have the happiness to sit near him. It must be owned, +however, that a Frenchman will not drink out of a tankard, in which, +perhaps, a dozen of filthy mouths have flabbered, as is the custom in +England. Here every individual has his own gobelet, which stands before +him, and he helps himself occasionally with wine or water, or both, +which likewise stand upon the table. But I know no custom more beastly +than that of using water-glasses, in which polite company spirt, and +squirt, and spue the filthy scourings of their gums, under the eyes of +each other. I knew a lover cured of his passion, by seeing this nasty +cascade discharged from the mouth of his mistress. I don't doubt but I +shall live to see the day, when the hospitable custom of the antient +Aegyptians will be revived; then a conveniency will be placed behind +every chair in company, with a proper provision of waste paper, that +individuals may make themselves easy without parting company. I insist +upon it, that this practice would not be more indelicate than that +which is now in use. What then, you will say, must a man sit with his +chops and fingers up to the ears and knuckles in grease? No; let those +who cannot eat without defiling themselves, step into another room, +provided with basons and towels: but I think it would be better to +institute schools, where youth may learn to eat their victuals, without +daubing themselves, or giving offence to the eyes of one another. + +The bourgeois of Boulogne have commonly soup and bouilli at noon, and a +roast, with a sallad, for supper; and at all their meals there is a +dessert of fruit. This indeed is the practice all over France. On +meagre days they eat fish, omelettes, fried beans, fricassees of eggs +and onions, and burnt cream. The tea which they drink in the afternoon +is rather boiled than infused; it is sweetened all together with coarse +sugar, and drank with an equal quantity of boiled milk. + +We had the honour to be entertained the other day by our landlord, Mr. +B--, who spared no cost on this banquet, exhibited for the glory of +France. He had invited a newmarried couple, together with the husband's +mother and the lady's father, who was one of the noblesse of Montreuil, +his name Mons. L--y. There were likewise some merchants of the town, +and Mons. B--'s uncle, a facetious little man, who had served in the +English navy, and was as big and as round as a hogshead; we were +likewise favoured with the company of father K--, a native of Ireland, +who is vicaire or curate of the parish; and among the guests was Mons. +L--y's son, a pretty boy, about thirteen or fourteen years of age. The +repas served up in three services, or courses, with entrees and hors +d'oeuvres, exclusive of the fruit, consisted of about twenty dishes, +extremely well dressed by the rotisseur, who is the best cook I ever +knew, in France, or elsewhere; but the plates were not presented with +much order. Our young ladies did not seem to be much used to do the +honours of the table. The most extraordinary circumstance that I +observed on this occasion--as, that all the French who were present ate +of every dish that appeared; and I am told, that if there had been an +hundred articles more, they would have had a trial of each. This is +what they call doing justice to the founder. Mons. L--y was placed at +the head of the table and indeed he was the oracle and orator of the +company; tall, thin, and weather-beaten, not unlike the picture of Don +Quixote after he had lost his teeth. He had been garde du corps, or +life-guardman at Versailles; and by virtue of this office he was +perfectly well acquainted with the persons of the king and the dauphin, +with the characters of the ministers and grandees, and, in a word, with +all the secrets of state, on which he held forth with equal solemnity +and elocution. He exclaimed against the jesuits, and the farmers of the +revenue, who, he said, had ruined France. Then, addressing himself to +me, asked, if the English did not every day drink to the health of +madame la marquise? I did not at first comprehend his meaning; but +answered in general, that the English were not deficient in +complaisance for the ladies. "Ah! (cried he) she is the best friend +they have in the world. If it had not been for her, they would not have +such reason to boast of the advantages of the war." I told him the only +conquest which the French had made in the war, was atchieved by one of +her generals: I meant the taking of Mahon. But I did not choose to +prosecute the discourse, remembering that in the year 1749, I had like +to have had an affair with a Frenchman at Ghent, who affirmed, that all +the battles gained by the great duke of Marlborough were purposely lost +by the French generals, in order to bring the schemes of madame de +Maintenon into disgrace. This is no bad resource for the national +vanity of these people: though, in general, they are really persuaded, +that theirs is the richest, the bravest, the happiest, and the most +powerful nation under the sun; and therefore, without some such cause, +they must be invincible. By the bye, the common people here still +frighten their wayward children with the name of Marlborough. Mr. B--'s +son, who was nursed at a peasant's house, happening one day, after he +was brought home, to be in disgrace with his father, who threatened to +correct him, the child ran for protection to his mother, crying, +"Faites sortir ce vilaine Malbroug," "Turn out that rogue Marlborough." +It is amazing to hear a sensible Frenchman assert, that the revenues of +France amount to four hundred millions of livres, about twenty millions +sterling, clear of all incumbrances, when in fact their clear revenue +is not much above ten. Without all doubt they have reason to inveigh +against the fermiers generaux, who oppress the people in raising the +taxes, not above two-thirds of which are brought into the king's +coffers: the rest enriches themselves, and enables them to bribe high +for the protection of the great, which is the only support they have +against the remonstrances of the states and parliaments, and the +suggestions of common sense; which will ever demonstrate this to be, of +all others, the most pernicious method of supplying the necessities of +government. + +Mons. L--y seasoned the severity of his political apothegms with +intermediate sallies of mirth and gallantry. He ogled the venerable +gentlewoman his commere, who sat by him. He looked, sighed, and +languished, sung tender songs, and kissed the old lady's hand with all +the ardour of a youthful admirer. I unfortunately congratulated him on +having such a pretty young gentleman to his son. He answered, sighing, +that the boy had talents, but did not put them to a proper use--"Long +before I attained his age (said he) I had finished my rhetoric." +Captain B--, who had eaten himself black in the face, and, with the +napkin under his chin, was no bad representation of Sancho Panza in the +suds, with the dishclout about his neck, when the duke's scullions +insisted upon shaving him; this sea-wit, turning to the boy, with a +waggish leer, "I suppose (said he) you don't understand the figure of +amplification so well as Monsieur your father." At that instant, one of +the nieces, who knew her uncle to be very ticklish, touched him under +the short ribs, on which the little man attempted to spring up, but +lost the centre of gravity. He overturned his own plate in the lap of +the person that sat next to him, and falling obliquely upon his own +chair, both tumbled down upon the floor together, to the great +discomposure of the whole company; for the poor man would have been +actually strangled, had not his nephew loosed his stock with great +expedition. Matters being once more adjusted, and the captain condoled +on his disaster, Mons. L--y took it in his head to read his son a +lecture upon filial obedience. This was mingled with some sharp +reproof, which the boy took so ill that he retired. The old lady +observed that he had been too severe: her daughter-in-law, who was very +pretty, said her brother had given him too much reason; hinting, at the +same time, that he was addicted to some terrible vices; upon which +several individuals repeated the interjection, ah! ah! "Yes (said Mons. +L--y, with a rueful aspect) the boy has a pernicious turn for gaming: +in one afternoon he lost, at billiards, such a sum as gives me horror +to think of it." "Fifty sols in one afternoon," (cried the sister). +"Fifty sols! (exclaimed the mother-in-law, with marks of astonishment) +that's too much--that's too much!--he's to blame-- he's to blame! but +youth, you know, Mons. L--y--ah! vive la jeunesse!"--"et l'amour!" +cried the father, wiping his eyes, squeezing her hand, and looking +tenderly upon her. Mr. B-- took this opportunity to bring in the young +gentleman, who was admitted into favour, and received a second +exhortation. Thus harmony was restored, and the entertainment concluded +with fruit, coffee, and liqueurs. + +When a bourgeois of Boulogne takes the air, he goes in a one-horse +chaise, which is here called cabriolet, and hires it for half-a-crown a +day. There are also travelling chaises, which hold four persons, two +seated with their faces to the horses, and two behind their backs; but +those vehicles are all very ill made, and extremely inconvenient. The +way of riding most used in this place is on assback. You will see every +day, in the skirts of the town, a great number of females thus mounted, +with the feet on either side occasionally, according as the wind blows, +so that sometimes the right and sometimes the left hand guides the +beast: but in other parts of France, as well as in Italy, the ladies +sit on horseback with their legs astride, and are provided with drawers +for that purpose. + +When I said the French people were kept in good humour by the fopperies +of their religion, I did not mean that there were no gloomy spirits +among them. There will be fanatics in religion, while there are people +of a saturnine disposition, and melancholy turn of mind. The character +of a devotee, which is hardly known in England, is very common here. +You see them walking to and from church at all hours, in their hoods +and long camblet cloaks, with a slow pace, demure aspect, and downcast +eye. Those who are poor become very troublesome to the monks, with +their scruples and cases of conscience: you may see them on their +knees, at the confessional, every hour in the day. The rich devotee has +her favourite confessor, whom she consults and regales in private, at +her own house; and this spiritual director generally governs the whole +family. For my part I never knew a fanatic that was not an hypocrite at +bottom. Their pretensions to superior sanctity, and an absolute +conquest over all the passions, which human reason was never yet able +to subdue, introduce a habit of dissimulation, which, like all other +habits, is confirmed by use, till at length they become adepts in the +art and science of hypocrisy. Enthusiasm and hypocrisy are by no means +incompatible. The wildest fanatics I ever knew, were real sensualists +in their way of living, and cunning cheats in their dealings with +mankind. + +Among the lower class of people at Boulogne, those who take the lead, +are the sea-faring men, who live in one quarter, divided into classes, +and registered for the service of the king. They are hardy and +raw-boned, exercise the trade of fishermen and boatmen, and propagate +like rabbits. They have put themselves under the protection of a +miraculous image of the Virgin Mary, which is kept in one of their +churches, and every year carried in procession. According to the +legend, this image was carried off, with other pillage, by the English, +when they took Boulogne, in the reign of Henry VIII. The lady, rather +than reside in England, where she found a great many heretics, trusted +herself alone in an open boat, and crossed the sea to the road of +Boulogne, where she was seen waiting for a pilot. Accordingly a boat +put off to her assistance, and brought her safe into the harbour: since +which time she has continued to patronize the watermen of Boulogne. At +present she is very black and very ugly, besides being cruelly +mutilated in different parts of her body, which I suppose have been +amputated, and converted into tobacco-stoppers; but once a year she is +dressed in very rich attire, and carried in procession, with a silver +boat, provided at the expence of the sailors. That vanity which +characterises the French extends even to the canaille. The lowest +creature among them is sure to have her ear-rings and golden cross +hanging about her neck. Indeed this last is an implement of +superstition as well as of dress, without which no female appears. The +common people here, as in all countries where they live poorly and +dirtily, are hard-featured, and of very brown, or rather tawny +complexions. As they seldom eat meat, their juices are destitute of +that animal oil which gives a plumpness and smoothness to the skin, and +defends those fine capillaries from the injuries of the weather, which +would otherwise coalesce, or be shrunk up, so as to impede the +circulation on the external surface of the body. As for the dirt, it +undoubtedly blocks up the pores of the skin, and disorders the +perspiration; consequently must contribute to the scurvy, itch, and +other cutaneous distempers. + +In the quarter of the matelots at Boulogne, there is a number of poor +Canadians, who were removed from the island of St. John, in the gulph +of St. Laurence, when it was reduced by the English. These people are +maintained at the expence of the king, who allows them soldier's pay, +that is five sols, or two-pence halfpenny a day; or rather three sols +and ammunition bread. How the soldiers contrive to subsist upon this +wretched allowance, I cannot comprehend: but, it must be owned, that +those invalids who do duty at Boulogne betray no marks of want. They +are hale and stout, neatly and decently cloathed, and on the whole look +better than the pensioners of Chelsea. + +About three weeks ago I was favoured with a visit by one Mr. M--, an +English gentleman, who seems far gone in a consumption. He passed the +last winter at Nismes in Languedoc, and found himself much better in +the beginning of summer, when he embarked at Cette, and returned by sea +to England. He soon relapsed, however, and (as he imagines) in +consequence of a cold caught at sea. He told me, his intention was to +try the South again, and even to go as far as Italy. I advised him to +make trial of the air of Nice, where I myself proposed to reside. He +seemed to relish my advice, and proceeded towards Paris in his own +carriage. + +I shall to-morrow ship my great chests on board of a ship bound to +Bourdeaux; they are directed, and recommended to the care of a merchant +of that place, who will forward them by Thoulouse, and the canal of +Languedoc, to his correspondent at Cette, which is the sea-port of +Montpellier. The charge of their conveyance to Bourdeaux does not +exceed one guinea. They consist of two very large chests and a trunk, +about a thousand pounds weight; and the expence of transporting them +from Bourdeaux to Cette, will not exceed thirty livres. They are +already sealed with lead at the customhouse, that they may be exempted +from further visitation. This is a precaution which every traveller +takes, both by sea and land: he must likewise provide himself with a +passe-avant at the bureau, otherwise he may be stopped, and rummaged at +every town through which he passes. I have hired a berline and four +horses to Paris, for fourteen loui'dores; two of which the voiturier is +obliged to pay for a permission from the farmers of the poste; for +every thing is farmed in this country; and if you hire a carriage, as I +have done, you must pay twelve livres, or half-a-guinea, for every +person that travels in it. The common coach between Calais and Paris, +is such a vehicle as no man would use, who has any regard to his own +case and convenience and it travels at the pace of an English waggon. + +In ten days I shall set out on my journey; and I shall leave Boulogne +with regret. I have been happy in the acquaintance of Mrs. B--, and a +few British families in the place; and it was my good fortune to meet +here with two honest gentlemen, whom I had formerly known in Paris, as +well as with some of my countrymen, officers in the service of France. +My next will be from Paris. Remember me to our friends at A--'s. I am a +little heavy-hearted at the prospect of removing to such a distance +from you. It is a moot point whether I shall ever return. My health is +very precarious. Adieu. + + + +LETTER VI + +PARIS, October 12, 1763. + +DEAR SIR,--Of our journey from Boulogne I have little to say. The +weather was favourable, and the roads were in tolerable order. We found +good accommodation at Montreuil and Amiens; but in every other place +where we stopped, we met with abundance of dirt, and the most flagrant +imposition. I shall not pretend to describe the cities of Abbeville and +Amiens, which we saw only en passant; nor take up your time with an +account of the stables and palace of Chantilly, belonging to the prince +of Conde, which we visited the last day of our journey; nor shall I +detain you with a detail of the Trefors de St. Denis, which, together +with the tombs in the abbey church, afforded us some amusement while +our dinner was getting ready. All these particulars are mentioned in +twenty different books of tours, travels, and directions, which you +have often perused. I shall only observe, that the abbey church is the +lightest piece of Gothic architecture I have seen, and the air within +seems perfectly free from that damp and moisture, so perceivable in all +our old cathedrals. This must be owing to the nature of its situation. +There are some fine marble statues that adorn the tombs of certain +individuals here interred; but they are mostly in the French taste, +which is quite contrary to the simplicity of the antients. Their +attitudes are affected, unnatural, and desultory; and their draperies +fantastic; or, as one of our English artists expressed himself, they +are all of a flutter. As for the treasures, which are shewn on certain +days to the populace gratis, they are contained in a number of presses, +or armoires, and, if the stones are genuine, they must be inestimable: +but this I cannot believe. Indeed I have been told, that what they shew +as diamonds are no more than composition: nevertheless, exclusive of +these, there are some rough stones of great value, and many curiosities +worth seeing. The monk that shewed them was the very image of our +friend Hamilton, both in his looks and manner. + +I have one thing very extraordinary to observe of the French auberges, +which seems to be a remarkable deviation from the general character of +the nation. The landlords, hostesses, and servants of the inns upon the +road, have not the least dash of complaisance in their behaviour to +strangers. Instead of coming to the door, to receive you as in England, +they take no manner of notice of you; but leave you to find or enquire +your way into the kitchen, and there you must ask several times for a +chamber, before they seem willing to conduct you up stairs. In general, +you are served with the appearance of the most mortifying indifference, +at the very time they are laying schemes for fleecing you of your +money. It is a very odd contrast between France and England; in the +former all the people are complaisant but the publicans; in the latter +there is hardly any complaisance but among the publicans. When I said +all the people in France, I ought also to except those vermin who +examine the baggage of travellers in different parts of the kingdom. +Although our portmanteaus were sealed with lead, and we were provided +with a passe-avant from the douane, our coach was searched at the gate +of Paris by which we entered; and the women were obliged to get out, +and stand in the open street, till this operation was performed. + +I had desired a friend to provide lodgings for me at Paris, in the +Fauxbourg St. Germain; and accordingly we found ourselves accommodated +at the Hotel de Montmorency, with a first floor, which costs me ten +livres a day. I should have put up with it had it been less polite; but +as I have only a few days to stay in this place, and some visits to +receive, I am not sorry that my friend has exceeded his commission. I +have been guilty of another piece of extravagance in hiring a carosse +de remise, for which I pay twelve livres a day. Besides the article of +visiting, I could not leave Paris, without carrying my wife and the +girls to see the most remarkable places in and about this capital, such +as the Luxemburg, the Palais-Royal, the Thuilleries, the Louvre, the +Invalids, the Gobelins, &c. together with Versailles, Trianon, Marli, +Meudon, and Choissi; and therefore, I thought the difference in point +of expence would not be great, between a carosse de remise and a +hackney coach. The first are extremely elegant, if not too much +ornamented, the last are very shabby and disagreeable. Nothing gives me +such chagrin, as the necessity I am under to hire a valet de place, as +my own servant does not speak the language. You cannot conceive with +what eagerness and dexterity those rascally valets exert themselves in +pillaging strangers. There is always one ready in waiting on your +arrival, who begins by assisting your own servant to unload your +baggage, and interests himself in your affairs with such artful +officiousness, that you will find it difficult to shake him off, even +though you are determined beforehand against hiring any such domestic. +He produces recommendations from his former masters, and the people of +the house vouch for his honesty. + +The truth is, those fellows are very handy, useful, and obliging; and +so far honest, that they will not steal in the usual way. You may +safely trust one of them to bring you a hundred loui'dores from your +banker; but they fleece you without mercy in every other article of +expence. They lay all your tradesmen under contribution; your taylor, +barber, mantua-maker, milliner, perfumer, shoe-maker, mercer, jeweller, +hatter, traiteur, and wine-merchant: even the bourgeois who owns your +coach pays him twenty sols per day. His wages amount to twice as much, +so that I imagine the fellow that serves me, makes above ten shillings +a day, besides his victuals, which, by the bye, he has no right to +demand. Living at Paris, to the best of my recollection, is very near +twice as dear as it was fifteen years ago; and, indeed, this is the +case in London; a circumstance that must be undoubtedly owing to an +increase of taxes; for I don't find that in the articles of eating and +drinking, the French people are more luxurious than they were +heretofore. I am told the entrees, or duties, payed upon provision +imported into Paris, are very heavy. All manner of butcher's meat and +poultry are extremely good in this place. The beef is excellent. The +wine, which is generally drank, is a very thin kind of Burgundy. I can +by no means relish their cookery; but one breakfasts deliciously upon +their petit pains and their pales of butter, which last is exquisite. + +The common people, and even the bourgeois of Paris live, at this +season, chiefly on bread and grapes, which is undoubtedly very wholsome +fare. If the same simplicity of diet prevailed in England, we should +certainly undersell the French at all foreign markets for they are very +slothful with all their vivacity and the great number of their holidays +not only encourages this lazy disposition, but actually robs them of +one half of what their labour would otherwise produce; so that, if our +common people were not so expensive in their living, that is, in their +eating and drinking, labour might be afforded cheaper in England than +in France. There are three young lusty hussies, nieces or daughters of +a blacksmith, that lives just opposite to my windows, who do nothing +from morning till night. They eat grapes and bread from seven till +nine, from nine till twelve they dress their hair, and are all the +afternoon gaping at the window to view passengers. I don't perceive +that they give themselves the trouble either to make their beds, or +clean their apartment. The same spirit of idleness and dissipation I +have observed in every part of France, and among every class of people. + +Every object seems to have shrunk in its dimensions since I was last in +Paris. The Louvre, the Palais-Royal, the bridges, and the river Seine, +by no means answer the ideas I had formed of them from my former +observation. When the memory is not very correct, the imagination +always betrays her into such extravagances. When I first revisited my +own country, after an absence of fifteen years, I found every thing +diminished in the same manner, and I could scarce believe my own eyes. + +Notwithstanding the gay disposition of the French, their houses are all +gloomy. In spite of all the ornaments that have been lavished on +Versailles, it is a dismal habitation. The apartments are dark, +ill-furnished, dirty, and unprincely. Take the castle, chapel, and +garden all together, they make a most fantastic composition of +magnificence and littleness, taste, and foppery. After all, it is in +England only, where we must look for cheerful apartments, gay +furniture, neatness, and convenience. There is a strange incongruity in +the French genius. With all their volatility, prattle, and fondness for +bons mots, they delight in a species of drawling, melancholy, church +music. Their most favourite dramatic pieces are almost without +incident; and the dialogue of their comedies consists of moral, insipid +apophthegms, intirely destitute of wit or repartee. I know what I +hazard by this opinion among the implicit admirers of Lully, Racine, +and Moliere. + +I don't talk of the busts, the statues, and pictures which abound at +Versailles, and other places in and about Paris, particularly the great +collection of capital pieces in the Palais-royal, belonging to the duke +of Orleans. I have neither capacity, nor inclination, to give a +critique on these chef d'oeuvres, which indeed would take up a whole +volume. I have seen this great magazine of painting three times, with +astonishment; but I should have been better pleased, if there had not +been half the number: one is bewildered in such a profusion, as not to +know where to begin, and hurried away before there is time to consider +one piece with any sort of deliberation. Besides, the rooms are all +dark, and a great many of the pictures hang in a bad light. As for +Trianon, Marli, and Choissi, they are no more than pigeon-houses, in +respect to palaces; and, notwithstanding the extravagant eulogiums +which you have heard of the French king's houses, I will venture to +affirm that the king of England is better, I mean more comfortably, +lodged. I ought, however, to except Fontainebleau, which I have not +seen. + +The city of Paris is said to be five leagues, or fifteen miles, in +circumference; and if it is really so, it must be much more populous +than London; for the streets are very narrow, and the houses very high, +with a different family on every floor. But I have measured the best +plans of these two royal cities, and am certain that Paris does not +take up near so much ground as London and Westminster occupy; and I +suspect the number of its inhabitants is also exaggerated by those who +say it amounts to eight hundred thousand, that is two hundred thousand +more than are contained in the bills of mortality. The hotels of the +French noblesse, at Paris, take up a great deal of room, with their +courtyards and gardens; and so do their convents and churches. It must +be owned, indeed, that their streets are wonderfully crouded with +people and carriages. + +The French begin to imitate the English, but only in such particulars +as render them worthy of imitation. When I was last at Paris, no person +of any condition, male or female, appeared, but in full dress, even +when obliged to come out early in the morning, and there was not such a +thing to be seen as a perruque ronde; but at present I see a number of +frocks and scratches in a morning, in the streets of this metropolis. +They have set up a petite poste, on the plan of our penny-post, with +some improvements; and I am told there is a scheme on foot for +supplying every house with water, by leaden pipes, from the river +Seine. They have even adopted our practice of the cold bath, which is +taken very conveniently, in wooden houses, erected on the side of the +river, the water of which is let in and out occasionally, by cocks +fixed in the sides of the bath. There are different rooms for the +different sexes: the accommodations are good, and the expence is a +trifle. The tapestry of the Gobelins is brought to an amazing degree of +perfection; and I am surprised that this furniture is not more in +fashion among the great, who alone are able to purchase it. It would be +a most elegant and magnificent ornament, which would always nobly +distinguish their apartments from those, of an inferior rank; and in +this they would run no risk of being rivalled by the bourgeois. At the +village of Chaillot, in the neighbourhood of Paris, they make beautiful +carpets and screen-work; and this is the more extraordinary, as there +are hardly any carpets used in this kingdom. In almost all the +lodging-houses, the floors are of brick, and have no other kind of +cleaning, than that of being sprinkled with water, and swept once a +day. These brick floors, the stone stairs, the want of wainscotting in +the rooms, and the thick party-walls of stone, are, however, good +preservatives against fire, which seldom does any damage in this city. +Instead of wainscotting, the walls are covered with tapestry or damask. +The beds in general are very good, and well ornamented, with testers +and curtains. + +Twenty years ago the river Seine, within a mile of Paris, was as +solitary as if it had run through a desert. At present the banks of it +are adorned with a number of elegant houses and plantations, as far as +Marli. I need not mention the machine at this place for raising water, +because I know you are well acquainted with its construction; nor shall +I say any thing more of the city of Paris, but that there is a new +square, built upon an elegant plan, at the end of the garden of the +Thuilleries: it is called Place de Louis XV. and, in the middle of it, +there is a good equestrian statue of the reigning king. + +You have often heard that Louis XIV. frequently regretted, that his +country did not afford gravel for the walks of his gardens, which are +covered with a white, loose sand, very disagreeable both to the eyes +and feet of those who walk upon it; but this is a vulgar mistake. There +is plenty of gravel on the road between Paris and Versailles, as well +as in many other parts of this kingdom; but the French, who are all for +glare and glitter, think the other is more gay and agreeable: one would +imagine they did not feel the burning reflexion from the white sand, +which in summer is almost intolerable. + +In the character of the French, considered as a people, there are +undoubtedly many circumstances truly ridiculous. You know the +fashionable people, who go a hunting, are equipped with their jack +boots, bag wigs, swords and pistols: but I saw the other day a scene +still more grotesque. On the road to Choissi, a fiacre, or +hackney-coach, stopped, and out came five or six men, armed with +musquets, who took post, each behind a separate tree. I asked our +servant who they were imagining they might be archers, or footpads of +justice, in pursuit of some malefactor. But guess my surprise, when the +fellow told me, they were gentlemen a la chasse. They were in fact come +out from Paris, in this equipage, to take the diversion of +hare-hunting; that is, of shooting from behind a tree at the hares that +chanced to pass. Indeed, if they had nothing more in view, but to +destroy the game, this was a very effectual method; for the hares are +in such plenty in this neighbourhood, that I have seen a dozen +together, in the same field. I think this way of hunting, in a coach or +chariot, might be properly adopted at London, in favour of those +aldermen of the city, who are too unwieldy to follow the hounds a +horseback. + +The French, however, with all their absurdities, preserve a certain +ascendancy over us, which is very disgraceful to our nation; and this +appears in nothing more than in the article of dress. We are contented +to be thought their apes in fashion; but, in fact, we are slaves to +their taylors, mantua-makers, barbers, and other tradesmen. One would +be apt to imagine that our own tradesmen had joined them in a +combination against us. When the natives of France come to London, they +appear in all public places, with cloaths made according to the fashion +of their own country, and this fashion is generally admired by the +English. Why, therefore, don't we follow it implicitly? No, we pique +ourselves upon a most ridiculous deviation from the very modes we +admire, and please ourselves with thinking this deviation is a mark of +our spirit and liberty. But, we have not spirit enough to persist in +this deviation, when we visit their country: otherwise, perhaps, they +would come to admire and follow our example: for, certainly, in point +of true taste, the fashions of both countries are equally absurd. At +present, the skirts of the English descend from the fifth rib to the +calf of the leg, and give the coat the form of a Jewish gaberdine; and +our hats seem to be modelled after that which Pistol wears upon the +stage. In France, the haunch buttons and pocketholes are within half a +foot of the coat's extremity: their hats look as if they had been pared +round the brims, and the crown is covered with a kind of cordage, +which, in my opinion, produces a very beggarly effect. In every other +circumstance of dress, male and female, the contrast between the two +nations, appears equally glaring. What is the consequence? when an +Englishman comes to Paris, he cannot appear until he has undergone a +total metamorphosis. At his first arrival he finds it necessary to send +for the taylor, perruquier, hatter, shoemaker, and every other +tradesman concerned in the equipment of the human body. He must even +change his buckles, and the form of his ruffles; and, though at the +risque of his life, suit his cloaths to the mode of the season. For +example, though the weather should be never so cold, he must wear his +habit d'ete, or demi-saison. Without presuming to put on a warm dress +before the day which fashion has fixed for that purpose; and neither +old age nor infirmity will excuse a man for wearing his hat upon his +head, either at home or abroad. Females are (if possible) still more +subject to the caprices of fashion; and as the articles of their dress +are more manifold, it is enough to make a man's heart ake to see his +wife surrounded by a multitude of cotturieres, milliners, and +tire-women. All her sacks and negligees must be altered and new +trimmed. She must have new caps, new laces, new shoes, and her hair new +cut. She must have her taffaties for the summer, her flowered silks for +the spring and autumn, her sattins and damasks for winter. The good +man, who used to wear the beau drop d'Angleterre, quite plain all the +year round, with a long bob, or tye perriwig, must here provide himself +with a camblet suit trimmed with silver for spring and autumn, with +silk cloaths for summer, and cloth laced with gold, or velvet for +winter; and he must wear his bag-wig a la pigeon. This variety of dress +is absolutely indispensible for all those who pretend to any rank above +the meer bourgeois. On his return to his own country, all this frippery +is useless. He cannot appear in London until he has undergone another +thorough metamorphosis; so that he will have some reason to think, that +the tradesmen of Paris and London have combined to lay him under +contribution: and they, no doubt, are the directors who regulate the +fashions in both capitals; the English, however, in a subordinate +capacity: for the puppets of their making will not pass at Paris, nor +indeed in any other part of Europe; whereas a French petit maitre is +reckoned a complete figure every where, London not excepted. Since it +is so much the humour of the English at present to run abroad, I wish +they had anti-gallican spirit enough to produce themselves in their own +genuine English dress, and treat the French modes with the same +philosophical contempt, which was shewn by an honest gentleman, +distinguished by the name of Wig-Middleton. That unshaken patriot still +appears in the same kind of scratch perriwig, skimming-dish hat, and +slit sleeve, which were worn five-and-twenty years ago, and has +invariably persisted in this garb, in defiance of all the revolutions +of the mode. I remember a student in the temple, who, after a long and +learned investigation of the to kalon, or beautiful, had resolution +enough to let his beard grow, and wore it in all public places, until +his heir at law applied for a commission of lunacy against him; then he +submitted to the razor, rather than run any risque of being found non +compos. + +Before I conclude, I must tell you, that the most reputable +shop-keepers and tradesmen of Paris think it no disgrace to practise +the most shameful imposition. I myself know an instance of one of the +most creditable marchands in this capital, who demanded six francs an +ell for some lutestring, laying his hand upon his breast at the same +time, and declaring en conscience, that it had cost him within three +sols of the money. Yet in less than three minutes, he sold it for four +and a half, and when the buyer upbraided him with his former +declaration, he shrugged up his shoulders, saying, il faut marchander. +I don't mention this as a particular instance. The same mean +disingenuity is universal all over France, as I have been informed by +several persons of veracity. + +The next letter you have from me will probably be dated at Nismes, or +Montpellier. Mean-while, I am ever--Yours. + + + +LETTER VII + +To MRS. M--. PARIS, October, 12, 1763. + +MADAM,--I shall be much pleased if the remarks I have made on the +characters of the French people, can afford you the satisfaction you +require. With respect to the ladies I can only judge from their +exteriors: but, indeed, these are so characteristic, that one can +hardly judge amiss; unless we suppose that a woman of taste and +sentiment may be so overruled by the absurdity of what is called +fashion, as to reject reason, and disguise nature, in order to become +ridiculous or frightful. That this may be the case with some +individuals, is very possible. I have known it happen in our own +country, where the follies of the French are adopted and exhibited in +the most aukward imitation: but the general prevalence of those +preposterous modes, is a plain proof that there is a general want of +taste, and a general depravity of nature. I shall not pretend to +describe the particulars of a French lady's dress. These you are much +better acquainted with than I can pretend to be: but this I will be +bold to affirm, that France is the general reservoir from which all the +absurdities of false taste, luxury, and extravagance have overflowed +the different kingdoms and states of Europe. The springs that fill this +reservoir, are no other than vanity and ignorance. It would be +superfluous to attempt proving from the nature of things, from the +first principles and use of dress, as well as from the consideration of +natural beauty, and the practice of the ancients, who certainly +understood it as well as the connoisseurs of these days, that nothing +can be more monstrous, inconvenient, and contemptible, than the fashion +of modern drapery. You yourself are well aware of all its defects, and +have often ridiculed them in my hearing. I shall only mention one +particular of dress essential to the fashion in this country, which +seems to me to carry human affectation to the very farthest verge of +folly and extravagance; that is, the manner in which the faces of the +ladies are primed and painted. When the Indian chiefs were in England +every body ridiculed their preposterous method of painting their cheeks +and eye-lids; but this ridicule was wrong placed. Those critics ought +to have considered, that the Indians do not use paint to make +themselves agreeable; but in order to be the more terrible to their +enemies. It is generally supposed, I think, that your sex make use of +fard and vermillion for very different purposes; namely, to help a bad +or faded complexion, to heighten the graces, or conceal the defects of +nature, as well as the ravages of time. I shall not enquire at present, +whether it is just and honest to impose in this manner on mankind: if +it is not honest, it may be allowed to be artful and politic, and +shews, at least, a desire of being agreeable. But to lay it on as the +fashion in France prescribes to all the ladies of condition, who indeed +cannot appear without this badge of distinction, is to disguise +themselves in such a manner, as to render them odious and detestable to +every spectator, who has the least relish left for nature and +propriety. As for the fard or white, with which their necks and +shoulders are plaistered, it may be in some measure excusable, as their +skins are naturally brown, or sallow; but the rouge, which is daubed on +their faces, from the chin up to the eyes, without the least art or +dexterity, not only destroys all distinction of features, but renders +the aspect really frightful, or at best conveys nothing but ideas of +disgust and aversion. You know, that without this horrible masque no +married lady is admitted at court, or in any polite assembly; and that +it is a mark of distinction which no bourgeoise dare assume. Ladies of +fashion only have the privilege of exposing themselves in these +ungracious colours. As their faces are concealed under a false +complexion, so their heads are covered with a vast load of false hair, +which is frizzled on the forehead, so as exactly to resemble the wooly +heads of the Guinea negroes. As to the natural hue of it, this is a +matter of no consequence, for powder makes every head of hair of the +same colour; and no woman appears in this country, from the moment she +rises till night, without being compleatly whitened. Powder or meal was +first used in Europe by the Poles, to conceal their scald heads; but +the present fashion of using it, as well as the modish method of +dressing the hair, must have been borrowed from the Hottentots, who +grease their wooly heads with mutton suet and then paste it over with +the powder called buchu. In like manner, the hair of our fine ladies is +frizzled into the appearance of negroes wool, and stiffened with an +abominable paste of hog's grease, tallow, and white powder. The present +fashion, therefore, of painting the face, and adorning the head, +adopted by the beau monde in France, is taken from those two polite +nations the Chickesaws of America and the Hottentots of Africa. On the +whole, when I see one of those fine creatures sailing along, in her +taudry robes of silk and gauze, frilled, and flounced, and furbelowed, +with her false locks, her false jewels, her paint, her patches, and +perfumes; I cannot help looking upon her as the vilest piece of +sophistication that art ever produced. + +This hideous masque of painting, though destructive of all beauty, is, +however, favourable to natural homeliness and deformity. It accustoms +the eyes of the other sex, and in time reconciles them to frightfull +objects; it disables them from perceiving any distinction of features +between woman and woman; and, by reducing all faces to a level, gives +every female an equal chance for an admirer; being in this particular +analogous to the practice of the antient Lacedemonians, who were +obliged to chuse their helpmates in the dark. In what manner the +insides of their heads are furnished, I would not presume to judge from +the conversation of a very few to whom I have had access: but from the +nature of their education, which I have heard described, and the +natural vivacity of their tempers, I should expect neither sense, +sentiment, nor discretion. From the nursery they are allowed, and even +encouraged, to say every thing that comes uppermost; by which means +they acquire a volubility of tongue, and a set of phrases, which +constitutes what is called polite conversation. At the same time they +obtain an absolute conquest over all sense of shame, or rather, they +avoid acquiring this troublesome sensation; for it is certainly no +innate idea. Those who have not governesses at home, are sent, for a +few years, to a convent, where they lay in a fund of superstition that +serves them for life: but I never heard they had the least opportunity +of cultivating the mind, of exercising the powers of reason, or of +imbibing a taste for letters, or any rational or useful accomplishment. +After being taught to prattle, to dance and play at cards, they are +deemed sufficiently qualified to appear in the grand monde, and to +perform all the duties of that high rank and station in life. In +mentioning cards, I ought to observe, that they learn to play not +barely for amusement, but also with a view to advantage; and, indeed, +you seldom meet with a native of France, whether male or female, who is +not a compleat gamester, well versed in all the subtleties and finesses +of the art. This is likewise the case all over Italy. A lady of a great +house in Piedmont, having four sons, makes no scruple to declare, that +the first shall represent the family, the second enter into the army, +the third into the church, and that she will breed the fourth a +gamester. These noble adventurers devote themselves in a particular +manner to the entertainment of travellers from our country, because the +English are supposed to be full of money, rash, incautious, and utterly +ignorant of play. But such a sharper is most dangerous, when he hunts +in couple with a female. I have known a French count and his wife, who +found means to lay the most wary under contribution. He was smooth, +supple, officious, and attentive: she was young, handsome, +unprincipled, and artful. If the Englishman marked for prey was found +upon his guard against the designs of the husband, then madam plied him +on the side of gallantry. She displayed all the attractions of her +person. She sung, danced, ogled, sighed, complimented, and complained. +If he was insensible to all her charms, she flattered his vanity, and +piqued his pride, by extolling the wealth and generosity of the +English; and if he proved deaf to all these insinuations she, as her +last stake, endeavoured to interest his humanity and compassion. She +expatiated, with tears in her eyes, on the cruelty and indifference of +her great relations; represented that her husband was no more than the +cadet of a noble family--, that his provision was by no means suitable. +either to the dignity of his rank, or the generosity of his +disposition: that he had a law-suit of great consequence depending, +which had drained all his finances; and, finally, that they should be +both ruined, if they could not find some generous friend, who would +accommodate them with a sum of money to bring the cause to a +determination. Those who are not actuated by such scandalous motives, +become gamesters from meer habit, and, having nothing more solid to +engage their thoughts, or employ their time, consume the best part of +their lives, in this worst of all dissipation. I am not ignorant that +there are exceptions from this general rule: I know that France has +produced a Maintenon, a Sevigine, a Scuderi, a Dacier, and a Chatelet; +but I would no more deduce the general character of the French ladies +from these examples, than I would call a field of hemp a flower-garden. +because there might be in it a few lillies or renunculas planted by the +hand of accident. + +Woman has been defined a weaker man; but in this country the men are, +in my opinion, more ridiculous and insignificant than the women. They +certainly are more disagreeable to a rational enquirer, because they +are more troublesome. Of all the coxcombs on the face of the earth, a +French petit maitre is the most impertinent: and they are all petit +maitres from the marquis who glitters in lace and embroidery, to the +garcon barbier covered with meal, who struts with his hair in a long +queue, and his hat under his arm. I have already observed, that vanity +is the great and universal mover among all ranks and degrees of people +in this nation; and as they take no pains to conceal or controul it, +they are hurried by it into the most ridiculous and indeed intolerable +extravagance. + +When I talk of the French nation, I must again except a great number of +individuals, from the general censure. Though I have a hearty contempt +for the ignorance, folly, and presumption which characterise the +generality, I cannot but respect the talents of many great men, who +have eminently distinguished themselves in every art and science: these +I shall always revere and esteem as creatures of a superior species, +produced, for the wise purposes of providence, among the refuse of +mankind. It would be absurd to conclude that the Welch or Highlanders +are a gigantic people, because those mountains may have produced a few +individuals near seven feet high. It would be equally absurd to suppose +the French are a nation of philosophers, because France has given birth +to a Des Cartes, a Maupertuis, a Reaumur, and a Buffon. + +I shall not even deny, that the French are by no means deficient in +natural capacity; but they are at the same time remarkable for a +natural levity, which hinders their youth from cultivating that +capacity. This is reinforced by the most preposterous education, and +the example of a giddy people, engaged in the most frivolous pursuits. +A Frenchman is by some Jesuit, or other monk, taught to read his mother +tongue, and to say his prayers in a language he does not understand. He +learns to dance and to fence, by the masters of those noble sciences. +He becomes a compleat connoisseur in dressing hair, and in adorning his +own person, under the hands and instructions of his barber and valet de +chambre. If he learns to play upon the flute or the fiddle, he is +altogether irresistible. But he piques himself upon being polished +above the natives of any other country by his conversation with the +fair sex. In the course of this communication, with which he is +indulged from his tender years, he learns like a parrot, by rote, the +whole circle of French compliments, which you know are a set of phrases +ridiculous even to a proverb; and these he throws out indiscriminately +to all women, without distinction in the exercise of that kind of +address, which is here distinguished by the name of gallantry: it is no +more than his making love to every woman who will give him the hearing. +It is an exercise, by the repetition of which he becomes very pert, +very familiar, and very impertinent. Modesty, or diffidence, I have +already said, is utterly unknown among them, and therefore I wonder +there should be a term to express it in their language. + +If I was obliged to define politeness, I should call it, the art of +making one's self agreeable. I think it an art that necessarily implies +a sense of decorum, and a delicacy of sentiment. These are qualities, +of which (as far as I have been able to observe) a Frenchman has no +idea; therefore he never can be deemed polite, except by those persons +among whom they are as little understood. His first aim is to adorn his +own person with what he calls fine cloaths, that is the frippery of the +fashion. It is no wonder that the heart of a female, unimproved by +reason, and untinctured with natural good sense, should flutter at the +sight of such a gaudy thing, among the number of her admirers: this +impression is enforced by fustian compliments, which her own vanity +interprets in a literal sense, and still more confirmed by the +assiduous attention of the gallant, who, indeed, has nothing else to +mind. A Frenchman in consequence of his mingling with the females from +his infancy, not only becomes acquainted with all their customs and +humours; but grows wonderfully alert in performing a thousand little +offices, which are overlooked by other men, whose time hath been spent +in making more valuable acquisitions. He enters, without ceremony, a +lady's bed-chamber, while she is in bed, reaches her whatever she +wants, airs her shift, and helps to put it on. He attends at her +toilette, regulates the distribution of her patches, and advises where +to lay on the paint. If he visits her when she is dressed, and +perceives the least impropriety in her coeffure, he insists upon +adjusting it with his own hands: if he sees a curl, or even a single +hair amiss, he produces his comb, his scissars, and pomatum, and sets +it to rights with the dexterity of a professed friseur. He 'squires her +to every place she visits, either on business, or pleasure; and, by +dedicating his whole time to her, renders himself necessary to her +occasions. This I take to be the most agreeable side of his character: +let us view him on the quarter of impertinence. A Frenchman pries into +all your secrets with the most impudent and importunate curiosity, and +then discloses them without remorse. If you are indisposed, he +questions you about the symptoms of your disorder, with more freedom +than your physician would presume to use; very often in the grossest +terms. He then proposes his remedy (for they are all quacks), he +prepares it without your knowledge, and worries you with solicitation +to take it, without paying the least regard to the opinion of those +whom you have chosen to take care of your health. Let you be ever so +ill, or averse to company, he forces himself at all times into your +bed-chamber, and if it is necessary to give him a peremptory refusal, +he is affronted. I have known one of those petit maitres insist upon +paying regular visits twice a day to a poor gentleman who was +delirious; and he conversed with him on different subjects, till he was +in his last agonies. This attendance is not the effect of attachment, +or regard, but of sheer vanity, that he may afterwards boast of his +charity and humane disposition: though, of all the people I have ever +known, I think the French are the least capable of feeling for the +distresses of their fellow creatures. Their hearts are not susceptible +of deep impressions; and, such is their levity, that the imagination +has not time to brood long over any disagreeable idea, or sensation. As +a Frenchman piques himself on his gallantry, he no sooner makes a +conquest of a female's heart, than he exposes her character, for the +gratification of his vanity. Nay, if he should miscarry in his schemes, +he will forge letters and stories, to the ruin of the lady's +reputation. This is a species of perfidy which one would think should +render them odious and detestable to the whole sex; but the case is +otherwise. I beg your pardon, Madam; but women are never better +pleased, than when they see one another exposed; and every individual +has such confidence in her own superior charms and discretion, that she +thinks she can fix the most volatile, and reform the most treacherous +lover. + +If a Frenchman is admitted into your family, and distinguished by +repeated marks of your friendship and regard, the first return he makes +for your civilities is to make love to your wife, if she is handsome; +if not, to your sister, or daughter, or niece. If he suffers a repulse +from your wife, or attempts in vain to debauch your sister, or your +daughter, or your niece, he will, rather than not play the traitor with +his gallantry, make his addresses to your grandmother; and ten to one, +but in one shape or another, he will find means to ruin the peace of a +family, in which he has been so kindly entertained. What he cannot +accomplish by dint of compliment, and personal attendance, he will +endeavour to effect, by reinforcing these with billets-doux, songs, and +verses, of which he always makes a provision for such purposes. If he +is detected in these efforts of treachery, and reproached with his +ingratitude, he impudently declares, that what he had done was no more +than simple gallantry, considered in France as an indispensible duty on +every man who pretended to good breeding. Nay, he will even affirm, +that his endeavours to corrupt your wife, or your daughter, were the +most genuine proofs he could give of his particular regard for your +family. + +If a Frenchman is capable of real friendship, it must certainly be the +most disagreeable present he can possibly make to a man of a true +English character, You know, Madam, we are naturally taciturn, soon +tired of impertinence, and much subject to fits of disgust. Your French +friend intrudes upon you at all hours: he stuns you with his loquacity: +he teases you with impertinent questions about your domestic and +private affairs: he attempts to meddle in all your concerns; and forces +his advice upon you with the most unwearied importunity: he asks the +price of every thing you wear, and, so sure as you tell him undervalues +it, without hesitation: he affirms it is in a bad taste, ill-contrived, +ill-made; that you have been imposed upon both with respect to the +fashion and the price; that the marquise of this, or the countess of +that, has one that is perfectly elegant, quite in the bon ton, and yet +it cost her little more than you gave for a thing that nobody would +wear. + +If there were five hundred dishes at table, a Frenchman will eat of all +of them, and then complain he has no appetite. This I have several +times remarked. A friend of mine gained a considerable wager upon an +experiment of this kind: the petit maitre ate of fourteen different +plats, besides the dessert; then disparaged the cook, declaring he was +no better than a marmiton, or turnspit. + +The French have the most ridiculous fondness for their hair, and this I +believe they inherit from their remote ancestors. The first race of +French kings were distinguished by their long hair, and certainly the +people of this country consider it as an indispensible ornament. A +Frenchman will sooner part with his religion than with his hair, which, +indeed, no consideration will induce him to forego. I know a gentleman +afflicted with a continual head-ach, and a defluxion on his eyes, who +was told by his physician that the best chance he had for being cured, +would be to have his head close shaved, and bathed every day in cold +water. "How (cried he) cut my hair? Mr. Doctor, your most humble +servant!" He dismissed his physician, lost his eye-sight, and almost +his senses, and is now led about with his hair in a bag, and a piece of +green silk hanging like a screen before his face. Count Saxe, and other +military writers have demonstrated the absurdity of a soldier's wearing +a long head of hair; nevertheless, every soldier in this country wears +a long queue, which makes a delicate mark on his white cloathing; and +this ridiculous foppery has descended even to the lowest class of +people. The decrotteur, who cleans your shoes at the corner of the Pont +Neuf, has a tail of this kind hanging down to his rump, and even the +peasant who drives an ass loaded with dung, wears his hair en queue, +though, perhaps, he has neither shirt nor breeches. This is the +ornament upon which he bestows much time and pains, and in the +exhibition of which he finds full gratification for his vanity. +Considering the harsh features of the common people in this country, +their diminutive stature, their grimaces, and that long appendage, they +have no small resemblance to large baboons walking upright; and perhaps +this similitude has helped to entail upon them the ridicule of their +neighbours. + +A French friend tires out your patience with long visits; and, far from +taking the most palpable hints to withdraw, when he perceives you +uneasy he observes you are low-spirited, and therefore he will keep you +company. This perseverance shews that he must either be void of +penetration, or that his disposition must be truly diabolical. Rather +than be tormented with such a fiend, a man had better turn him out of +doors, even though at the hazard of being run thro' the body. + +The French are generally counted insincere, and taxed with want of +generosity. But I think these reproaches are not well founded. +High-flown professions of friendship and attachment constitute the +language of common compliment in this country, and are never supposed +to be understood in the literal acceptation of the words; and, if their +acts of generosity are but very rare, we ought to ascribe that rarity, +not so much to a deficiency of generous sentiments, as to their vanity +and ostentation, which engrossing all their funds, utterly disable them +from exerting the virtues of beneficence. Vanity, indeed, predominates +among all ranks, to such a degree, that they are the greatest egotists +in the world; and the most insignificant individual talks in company +with the same conceit and arrogance, as a person of the greatest +importance. Neither conscious poverty nor disgrace will restrain him in +the least either from assuming his full share of the conversation, or +making big addresses to the finest lady, whom he has the smallest +opportunity to approach: nor is he restrained by any other +consideration whatsoever. It is all one to him whether he himself has a +wife of his own, or the lady a husband; whether she is designed for the +cloister, or pre-ingaged to his best friend and benefactor. He takes it +for granted that his addresses cannot but be acceptable; and, if he +meets with a repulse, he condemns her taste; but never doubts his own +qualifications. + +I have a great many things to say of their military character, and +their punctilios of honour, which last are equally absurd and +pernicious; but as this letter has run to an unconscionable length, I +shall defer them till another opportunity. Mean-while, I have the +honour to be, with very particular esteem--Madam, Your most obedient +servant. + + + +LETTER VIII + +To MR. M-- + +LYONS, October 19, 1763. + +DEAR SIR,--I was favoured with yours at Paris, and look upon your +reproaches as the proof of your friendship. The truth is, I considered +all the letters I have hitherto written on the subject of my travels, +as written to your society in general, though they have been addressed +to one individual of it; and if they contain any thing that can either +amuse or inform, I desire that henceforth all I send may be freely +perused by all the members. + +With respect to my health, about which you so kindly enquire, I have +nothing new to communicate. I had reason to think that my bathing in +the sea at Boulogne produced a good effect, in strengthening my +relaxed fibres. You know how subject I was to colds in England; that I +could not stir abroad after sun-set, nor expose myself to the smallest +damp, nor walk till the least moisture appeared on my skin, without +being laid up for ten days or a fortnight. At Paris, however, I went +out every day, with my hat under my arm, though the weather was wet and +cold: I walked in the garden at Versailles even after it was dark, with +my head uncovered, on a cold evening, when the ground was far from +being dry: nay, at Marli, I sauntered above a mile through damp alleys, +and wet grass: and from none of these risques did I feel the least +inconvenience. + +In one of our excursions we visited the manufacture for porcelain, +which the king of France has established at the village of St. Cloud, +on the road to Versailles, and which is, indeed, a noble monument of +his munificence. It is a very large building, both commodious and +magnificent, where a great number of artists are employed, and where +this elegant superfluity is carried to as great perfection as it ever +was at Dresden. Yet, after all, I know not whether the porcelain made +at Chelsea may not vie with the productions either of Dresden, or St. +Cloud. If it falls short of either, it is not in the design, painting, +enamel, or other ornaments, but only in the composition of the metal, +and the method of managing it in the furnace. Our porcelain seems to be +a partial vitrification of levigated flint and fine pipe clay, mixed +together in a certain proportion; and if the pieces are not removed +from the fire in the very critical moment, they will be either too +little, or too much vitrified. In the first case, I apprehend they will +not acquire a proper degree of cohesion; they will be apt to be +corroded, discoloured, and to crumble, like the first essays that were +made at Chelsea; in the second case, they will be little better than +imperfect glass. + +There are three methods of travelling from Paris to Lyons, which, by +the shortest road is a journey of about three hundred and sixty miles. +One is by the diligence, or stagecoach, which performs it in five days; +and every passenger pays one hundred livres, in consideration of which, +he not only has a seat in the carriage, but is maintained on the road. +The inconveniences attending this way of travelling are these. You are +crouded into the carriage, to the number of eight persons, so as to sit +very uneasy, and sometimes run the risque of being stifled among very +indifferent company. You are hurried out of bed, at four, three, nay +often at two o'clock in the morning. You are obliged to eat in the +French way, which is very disagreeable to an English palate; and, at +Chalons, you must embark upon the Saone in a boat, which conveys you to +Lyons, so that the two last days of your journey are by water. All +these were insurmountable objections to me, who am in such a bad state +of health, troubled with an asthmatic cough, spitting, slow fever, and +restlessness, which demands a continual change of place, as well as +free air, and room for motion. I was this day visited by two young +gentlemen, sons of Mr. Guastaldi, late minister from Genoa at London. I +had seen them at Paris, at the house of the dutchess of Douglas. They +came hither, with their conductor, in the diligence, and assured me, +that nothing could be more disagreeable than their situation in that +carriage. + +Another way of travelling in this country is to hire a coach and four +horses; and this method I was inclined to take: but when I went to the +bureau, where alone these voitures are to be had, I was given to +understand, that it would cost me six-and-twenty guineas, and travel so +slow that I should be ten days upon the road. These carriages are let +by the same persons who farm the diligence; and for this they have an +exclusive privilege, which makes them very saucy and insolent. When I +mentioned my servant, they gave me to understand, that I must pay two +loui'dores more for his seat upon the coach box. As I could not relish +these terms, nor brook the thoughts of being so long upon the road, I +had recourse to the third method, which is going post. + +In England you know I should have had nothing to do, but to hire a +couple of post-chaises from stage to stage, with two horses in each; +but here the case is quite otherwise. The post is farmed from the king, +who lays travellers under contribution for his own benefit, and has +published a set of oppressive ordonnances, which no stranger nor native +dares transgress. The postmaster finds nothing but horses and guides: +the carriage you yourself must provide. If there are four persons +within the carriage, you are obliged to have six horses, and two +postillions; and if your servant sits on the outside, either before or +behind, you must pay for a seventh. You pay double for the first stage +from Paris, and twice double for passing through Fontainbleau when the +court is there, as well as at coming to Lyons, and at leaving this +city. These are called royal posts, and are undoubtedly a scandalous +imposition. + +There are two post roads from Paris to Lyons, one of sixty-five posts, +by the way of Moulins; the other of fifty-nine, by the way of Dijon in +Burgundy. This last I chose, partly to save sixty livres, and partly to +see the wine harvest of Burgundy, which, I was told, was a season of +mirth and jollity among all ranks of people. I hired a very good coach +for ten loui'dores to Lyons, and set out from Paris on the thirteenth +instant, with six horses, two postillions, and my own servant on +horseback. We made no stop at Fontainbleau, though the court was there; +but lay at Moret, which is one stage further, a very paltry little town +where, however, we found good accommodation. + +I shall not pretend to describe the castle or palace of Fontainbleau, +of which I had only a glimpse in passing; but the forest, in the middle +of which it stands, is a noble chace of great extent, beautifully wild +and romantic, well stored with game of all sorts, and abounding with +excellent timber. It put me in mind of the New Forest in Hampshire; but +the hills, rocks, and mountains, with which it is diversified, render +it more agreeable. + +The people of this country dine at noon, and travellers always find an +ordinary prepared at every auberge, or public-house, on the road. Here +they sit down promiscuously, and dine at so much a head. The usual +price is thirty sols for dinner, and forty for supper, including +lodging; for this moderate expence they have two courses and a dessert. +If you eat in your own apartment, you pay, instead of forty sols, +three, and in some places, four livres ahead. I and my family could not +well dispense with our tea and toast in the morning, and had no stomach +to eat at noon. For my own part, I hate French cookery, and abominate +garlick, with which all their ragouts, in this part of the country, are +highly seasoned: we therefore formed a different plan of living upon +the road. Before we left Paris, we laid in a stock of tea, chocolate, +cured neats' tongues, and saucissons, or Bologna sausages, both of +which we found in great perfection in that capital, where, indeed, +there are excellent provisions of all sorts. About ten in the morning +we stopped to breakfast at some auberge, where we always found bread, +butter, and milk. In the mean time, we ordered a poulard or two to be +roasted, and these, wrapped in a napkin, were put into the boot of the +coach, together with bread, wine, and water. About two or three in the +afternoon, while the horses were changing, we laid a cloth upon our +knees, and producing our store, with a few earthen plates, discussed +our short meal without further ceremony. This was followed by a dessert +of grapes and other fruit, which we had also provided. I must own I +found these transient refreshments much more agreeable than any regular +meal I ate upon the road. The wine commonly used in Burgundy is so weak +and thin, that you would not drink it in England. The very best which +they sell at Dijon, the capital of the province, for three livres a +bottle, is in strength, and even in flavour, greatly inferior to what I +have drank in London. I believe all the first growth is either consumed +in the houses of the noblesse, or sent abroad to foreign markets. I +have drank excellent Burgundy at Brussels for a florin a bottle; that +is, little more than twenty pence sterling. + +The country from the forest of Fontainbleau to the Lyonnois, through +which we passed, is rather agreeable than fertile, being part of +Champagne and the dutchy of Burgundy, watered by three pleasant +pastoral rivers, the Seine, the Yonne, and the Saone. The flat country +is laid out chiefly for corn; but produces more rye than wheat. Almost +all the ground seems to be ploughed up, so that there is little or +nothing lying fallow. There are very few inclosures, scarce any meadow +ground, and, so far as I could observe, a great scarcity of cattle. We +sometimes found it very difficult to procure half a pint of milk for +our tea. In Burgundy I saw a peasant ploughing the ground with a +jack-ass, a lean cow, and a he-goat, yoked together. It is generally +observed, that a great number of black cattle are bred and fed on the +mountains of Burgundy, which are the highest lands in France; but I saw +very few. The peasants in France are so wretchedly poor, and so much +oppressed by their landlords, that they cannot afford to inclose their +grounds, or give a proper respite to their lands; or to stock their +farms with a sufficient number of black cattle to produce the necessary +manure, without which agriculture can never be carried to any degree of +perfection. Indeed, whatever efforts a few individuals may make for the +benefit of their own estates, husbandry in France will never be +generally improved, until the farmer is free and independent. + +From the frequency of towns and villages, I should imagine this country +is very populous; yet it must be owned, that the towns are in general +thinly inhabited. I saw a good number of country seats and plantations +near the banks of the rivers, on each side; and a great many convents, +sweetly situated, on rising grounds, where the air is most pure, and +the prospect most agreeable. It is surprising to see how happy the +founders of those religious houses have been in their choice of +situations, all the world over. + +In passing through this country, I was very much struck with the sight +of large ripe clusters of grapes, entwined with the briars and thorns +of common hedges on the wayside. The mountains of Burgundy are covered +with vines from the bottom to the top, and seem to be raised by nature +on purpose to extend the surface, and to expose it the more +advantageously to the rays of the sun. The vandange was but just begun, +and the people were employed in gathering the grapes; but I saw no +signs of festivity among them. Perhaps their joy was a little damped by +the bad prospect of their harvest; for they complained that the weather +had been so unfavourable as to hinder the grapes from ripening. I +thought, indeed, there was something uncomfortable in seeing the +vintage thus retarded till the beginning of winter: for, in some parts, +I found the weather extremely cold; particularly at a place called +Maison-neuve, where we lay, there was a hard frost, and in the morning +the pools were covered with a thick crust of ice. My personal +adventures on the road were such as will not bear a recital. They +consisted of petty disputes with landladies, post-masters, and +postillions. The highways seem to be perfectly safe. We did not find +that any robberies were ever committed, although we did not see one of +the marechaussee from Paris to Lyons. You know the marechaussee are a +body of troopers well mounted, maintained in France as safe-guards to +the public roads. It is a reproach upon England that some such patrol +is not appointed for the protection of travellers. + +At Sens in Champagne, my servant, who had rode on before to bespeak +fresh horses, told me, that the domestic of another company had been +provided before him, altho' it was not his turn, as he had arrived +later at the post. Provoked at this partiality, I resolved to chide the +post-master, and accordingly addressed myself to a person who stood at +the door of the auberge. He was a jolly figure, fat and fair, dressed +in an odd kind of garb, with a gold laced cap on his head, and a +cambric handkerchief pinned to his middle. The sight of such a +fantastic petit maitre, in the character of a post-master, increased my +spleen. I called to him with an air of authority, mixed with +indignation, and when he came up to the coach, asked in a peremptory +tone, if he did not understand the king's ordonnance concerning the +regulation of the posts? He laid his hand upon his breast; but before +he could make any answer, I pulled out the post-book, and began to +read, with great vociferation, the article which orders, that the +traveller who comes first shall be first served. By this time the fresh +horses being put to the carriage, and the postillions mounted, the +coach set off all of a sudden, with uncommon speed. I imagined the +post-master had given the fellows a signal to be gone, and, in this +persuasion, thrusting my head out at the window, I bestowed some +epithets upon him, which must have sounded very harsh in the ears of a +Frenchman. We stopped for a refreshment at a little town called +Joigne-ville, where (by the bye) I was scandalously imposed upon, and +even abused by a virago of a landlady; then proceeding to the next +stage, I was given to understand we could not be supplied with fresh +horses. Here I perceived at the door of the inn, the same person whom I +had reproached at Sens. He came up to the coach, and told me, that +notwithstanding what the guides had said, I should have fresh horses in +a few minutes. I imagined he was master both of this house and the +auberge at Sens, between which he passed and repassed occasionally; and +that he was now desirous of making me amends for the affront he had put +upon me at the other place. Observing that one of the trunks behind was +a little displaced, he assisted my servant in adjusting it: then he +entered into conversation with me, and gave me to understand, that in a +post-chaise, which we had passed, was an English gentleman on his +return from Italy. I wanted to know who he was, and when he said he +could not tell, I asked him, in a very abrupt manner, why he had not +enquired of his servant. He shrugged up his shoulders, and retired to +the inn door. Having waited about half an hour, I beckoned to him, and +when he approached, upbraided him with having told me that I should be +supplied with fresh horses in a few minutes: he seemed shocked, and +answered, that he thought he had reason for what he said, observing, +that it was as disagreeable to him as to me to wait for a relay. As it +began to rain, I pulled up the glass in his face, and he withdrew again +to the door, seemingly ruffled at my deportment. In a little time the +horses arrived, and three of them were immediately put to a very +handsome post-chaise, into which he stepped, and set out, accompanied +by a man in a rich livery on horseback. Astonished at this +circumstance, I asked the hostler who he was, and he replied, that he +was a man of fashion (un seigneur) who lived in the neighbourhood of +Auxerre. I was much mortified to find that I had treated a nobleman so +scurvily, and scolded my own people for not having more penetration +than myself. I dare say he did not fail to descant upon the brutal +behaviour of the Englishman; and that my mistake served with him to +confirm the national reproach of bluntness, and ill breeding, under +which we lie in this country. The truth is, I was that day more than +usually peevish, from the bad weather, as well as from the dread of a +fit of the asthma, with which I was threatened: and I dare say my +appearance seemed as uncouth to him, as his travelling dress appeared +to me. I had a grey mourning frock under a wide great coat, a bob wig +without powder, a very large laced hat, and a meagre, wrinkled, +discontented countenance. + +The fourth night of our journey we lay at Macon, and the next day +passed through the Lyonnois, which is a fine country, full of towns, +villages, and gentlemen's houses. In passing through the Maconnois, we +saw a great many fields of Indian corn, which grows to the height of +six or seven feet: it is made into flour for the use of the common +people, and goes by the name of Turkey wheat. Here likewise, as well as +in Dauphine, they raise a vast quantity of very large pompions, with +the contents of which they thicken their soup and ragouts. + +As we travelled only while the sun was up, on account of my ill health, +and the post horses in France are in bad order, we seldom exceeded +twenty leagues a day. + +I was directed to a lodging-house at Lyons, which being full they +shewed us to a tavern, where I was led up three pair of stairs, to an +apartment consisting of three paltry chambers, for which the people +demanded twelve livres a day: for dinner and supper they asked +thirty-two, besides three livres for my servant; so that my daily +expence would have amounted to about forty-seven livres, exclusive of +breakfast and coffee in the afternoon. I was so provoked at this +extortion, that, without answering one word, I drove to another +auberge, where I now am, and pay at the rate of two-and-thirty livres a +day, for which I am very badly lodged, and but very indifferently +entertained. I mention these circumstances to give you an idea of the +imposition to which strangers are subject in this country. It must be +owned, however, that in the article of eating, I might save half the +money by going to the public ordinary; but this is a scheme of +oeconomy, which (exclusive of other disagreeable circumstances) neither +my own health, nor that of my wife permits me to embrace. My journey +from Paris to Lyons, including the hire of the coach, and all expences +on the road, has cost me, within a few shillings, forty loui'dores. +From Paris our baggage (though not plombe) was not once examined till +we arrived in this city, at the gate of which we were questioned by one +of the searchers, who, being tipt with half a crown, allowed us to +proceed without further enquiry. + +I purposed to stay in Lyons until I should receive some letters I +expected from London, to be forwarded by my banker at Paris: but the +enormous expence of living in this manner has determined me to set out +in a day or two for Montpellier, although that place is a good way out +of the road to Nice. My reasons for taking that route I shall +communicate in my next. Mean-while, I am ever,-- Dear Sir, Your +affectionate and obliged humble servant. + + + +LETTER IX + +MONTPELLIER, November 5, 1763. + +DEAR SIR,--The city of Lyons has been so often and so circumstantially +described, that I cannot pretend to say any thing new on the subject. +Indeed, I know very little of it, but what I have read in books; as I +had but one day to make a tour of the streets, squares, and other +remarkable places. The bridge over the Rhone seems to be so slightly +built, that I should imagine it would be one day carried away by that +rapid river; especially as the arches are so small, that, after great +rains they are sometimes bouchees, or stopped up; that is, they do not +admit a sufficient passage for the encreased body of the water. In +order to remedy this dangerous defect, in some measure, they found an +artist some years ago, who has removed a middle pier, and thrown two +arches into one. This alteration they looked upon as a masterpiece in +architecture, though there is many a common mason in England, who would +have undertaken and performed the work, without valuing himself much +upon the enterprize. This bridge, as well as that of St. Esprit, is +built, not in a strait line across the river, but with a curve, which +forms a convexity to oppose the current. Such a bend is certainly +calculated for the better resisting the general impetuosity of the +stream, and has no bad effect to the eye. + +Lyons is a great, populous, and flourishing city but I am surprised to +find it is counted a healthy place, and that the air of it is esteemed +favourable to pulmonic disorders. It is situated on the confluence of +two large rivers, from which there must be a great evaporation, as well +as from the low marshy grounds, which these rivers often overflow. This +must render the air moist, frouzy, and even putrid, if it was not well +ventilated by winds from the mountains of Swisserland; and in the +latter end of autumn, it must be subject to fogs. The morning we set +out from thence, the whole city and adjacent plains were covered with +so thick a fog, that we could not distinguish from the coach the head +of the foremost mule that drew it. Lyons is said to be very hot in +summer, and very cold in winter; therefore I imagine must abound with +inflammatory and intermittent disorders in the spring and fall of the +year. + +My reasons for going to Montpellier, which is out of the strait road to +Nice, were these. Having no acquaintance nor correspondents in the +South of France, I had desired my credit might be sent to the same +house to which my heavy baggage was consigned. I expected to find my +baggage at Cette, which is the sea-port of Montpellier; and there I +also hoped to find a vessel, in which I might be transported by sea to +Nice, without further trouble. I longed to try what effect the boasted +air of Montpellier would have upon my constitution; and I had a great +desire to see the famous monuments of antiquity in and about the +ancient city of Nismes, which is about eight leagues short of +Montpellier. + +At the inn where we lodged, I found a return berline, belonging to +Avignon, with three mules, which are the animals commonly used for +carriages in this country. This I hired for five loui'dores. The coach +was large, commodious, and well-fitted; the mules were strong and in +good order; and the driver, whose name was Joseph, appeared to be a +sober, sagacious, intelligent fellow, perfectly well acquainted with +every place in the South of France. He told me he was owner of the +coach, but I afterwards learned, he was no other than a hired servant. +I likewise detected him in some knavery, in the course of our journey; +and plainly perceived he had a fellow-feeling with the inn-keepers on +the road; but, in other respects, he was very obliging, serviceable, +and even entertaining. There are some knavish practices of this kind, +at which a traveller will do well to shut his eyes, for his own ease +and convenience. He will be lucky if he has to do with a sensible +knave, like Joseph, who understood his interest too well to be guilty +of very flagrant pieces of imposition. + +A man, impatient to be at his journey's end, will find this a most +disagreeable way of travelling. In summer it must be quite intolerable. +The mules are very sure, but very slow. The journey seldom exceeds +eight leagues, about four and twenty miles a day: and as those people +have certain fixed stages, you are sometimes obliged to rise in a +morning before day; a circumstance very grievous to persons in ill +health. These inconveniences, however, were over-balanced by other +agreemens. We no, sooner quitted Lyons, than we got into summer +weather, and travelling through a most romantic country, along the +banks of the Rhone, had opportunities (from the slowness of our pace) +to contemplate its beauties at leisure. + +The rapidity of the Rhone is, in a great measure, owing to its being +confined within steep banks on each side. These are formed almost +through its whole course, by a double chain of mountains, which rise +with all abrupt ascent from both banks of the river. The mountains are +covered with vineyards, interspersed with small summer-houses, and in +many places they are crowned with churches, chapels, and convents, +which add greatly to the romantic beauty of the prospect. The highroad, +as far as Avignon, lies along the side of the river, which runs almost +in a straight line, and affords great convenience for inland commerce. +Travellers, bound to the southern parts of France, generally embark in +the diligence at Lyons, and glide down this river with great velocity, +passing a great number of towns and villages on each side, where they +find ordinaries every day at dinner and supper. In good weather, there +is no danger in this method of travelling, 'till you come to the Pont +St. Esprit, where the stream runs through the arches with such +rapidity, that the boat is sometimes overset. But those passengers who +are under any apprehension are landed above-bridge, and taken in again, +after the boat has passed, just in the same manner as at London Bridge. +The boats that go up the river are drawn against the stream by oxen, +which swim through one of the arches of this bridge, the driver sitting +between the horns of the foremost beast. We set out from Lyons early on +Monday morning, and as a robbery had been a few days before committed +in that neighbourhood, I ordered my servant to load my musquetoon with +a charge of eight balls. By the bye, this piece did not fail to attract +the curiosity and admiration of the people in every place through which +we passed. The carriage no sooner halted, than a crowd immediately +surrounded the man to view the blunderbuss, which they dignified with +the title of petit canon. At Nuys in Burgundy, he fired it in the air, +and the whole mob dispersed, and scampered off like a flock of sheep. +In our journey hither, we generally set out in a morning at eight +o'clock, and travelled 'till noon, when the mules were put up and +rested a couple of hours. During this halt, Joseph went to dinner, and +we went to breakfast, after which we ordered provision for our +refreshment in the coach, which we took about three or four in the +afternoon, halting for that purpose, by the side of some transparent +brook, which afforded excellent water to mix with our wine. In this +country I was almost poisoned with garlic, which they mix in their +ragouts, and all their sauces; nay, the smell of it perfumes the very +chambers, as well as every person you approach. I was also very sick of +been ficas, grives, or thrushes, and other little birds, which are +served up twice a day at all ordinaries on the road. They make their +appearance in vine-leaves, and are always half raw, in which condition +the French choose to eat them, rather than run the risque of losing the +juice by over-roasting. + +The peasants on the South of France are poorly clad, and look as if +they were half-starved, diminutive, swarthy, and meagre; and yet the +common people who travel, live luxuriously on the road. Every carrier +and mule-driver has two meals a day, consisting each of a couple of +courses and a dessert, with tolerable small wine. That which is called +hermitage, and grows in this province of Dauphine, is sold on the spot +for three livres a bottle. The common draught, which you have at meals +in this country, is remarkably strong, though in flavour much inferior +to that of Burgundy. The accommodation is tolerable, though they demand +(even in this cheap country) the exorbitant price of four livres a head +for every meal, of those who choose to eat in their own apartments. I +insisted, however, upon paying them with three, which they received, +though not without murmuring and seeming discontented. In this journey, +we found plenty of good mutton, pork, poultry, and game, including the +red partridge, which is near twice as big as the partridge of England. +Their hares are likewise surprisingly large and juicy. We saw great +flocks of black turkeys feeding in the fields, but no black cattle; and +milk was so scarce, that sometimes we were obliged to drink our tea +without it. + +One day perceiving a meadow on the side of the road, full of a flower +which I took to be the crocus, I desired my servant to alight and pull +some of them. He delivered the musquetoon to Joseph, who began to +tamper with it, and off it went with a prodigious report, augmented by +an eccho from the mountains that skirted the road. The mules were so +frightened, that they went off at the gallop; and Joseph, for some +minutes, could neither manage the reins, nor open his mouth. At length +he recollected himself, and the cattle were stopt, by the assistance of +the servant, to whom he delivered the musquetoon, with a significant +shake of the head. Then alighting from the box, he examined the heads +of his three mules, and kissed each of them in his turn. Finding they +had received no damage, he came up to the coach, with a pale visage and +staring eyes, and said it was God's mercy he had not killed his beasts. +I answered, that it was a greater mercy he had not killed his +passengers; for the muzzle of the piece might have been directed our +way as well as any other, and in that case Joseph might have been +hanged for murder. "I had as good be hanged (said he) for murder, as be +ruined by the loss of my cattle." This adventure made such an +impression upon him, that he recounted it to every person we met; nor +would he ever touch the blunderbuss from that day. I was often diverted +with the conversation of this fellow, who was very arch and very +communicative. Every afternoon, he used to stand upon the foot-board, +at the side of the coach, and discourse with us an hour together. +Passing by the gibbet of Valencia, which stands very near the +high-road, we saw one body hanging quite naked, and another lying +broken on the wheel. I recollected, that Mandrin had suffered in this +place, and calling to Joseph to mount the foot-board, asked if he had +ever seen that famous adventurer. At mention of the name of Mandrin, +the tear started in Joseph's eye, he discharged a deep sigh, or rather +groan, and told me he was his dear friend. I was a little startled at +this declaration; however, I concealed my thoughts, and began to ask +questions about the character and exploits of a man who had made such +noise in the world. + +He told me, Mandrin was a native of Valencia, of mean extraction: that +he had served as a soldier in the army, and afterwards acted as +maltotier, or tax-gatherer: that at length he turned contrebandier, or +smuggler, and by his superior qualities, raised himself to the command +of a formidable gang, consisting of five hundred persons well armed +with carbines and pistols. He had fifty horses for his troopers, and +three hundred mules for the carriage of his merchandize. His +head-quarters were in Savoy: but he made incursions into Dauphine, and +set the marechaussee at defiance. He maintained several bloody +skirmishes with these troopers, as well as with other regular +detachments, and in all those actions signalized himself by his courage +and conduct. Coming up at one time with fifty of the marechaussee who +were in quest of him, he told them very calmly, he had occasion for +their horses and acoutrements, and desired them to dismount. At that +instant his gang appeared, and the troopers complied with his request, +without making the least opposition. Joseph said he was as generous as +he was brave, and never molested travellers, nor did the least injury +to the poor; but, on the contrary, relieved them very often. He used to +oblige the gentlemen in the country to take his merchandize, his +tobacco, brandy, and muslins, at his own price; and, in the same +manner, he laid the open towns under contribution. When he had no +merchandize, he borrowed money off them upon the credit of what he +should bring when he was better provided. He was at last betrayed, by +his wench, to the colonel of a French regiment, who went with a +detachment in the night to the place where he lay in Savoy, and +surprized him in a wood-house, while his people were absent in +different parts of the country. For this intrusion, the court of France +made an apology to the king of Sardinia, in whose territories he was +taken. Mandrin being conveyed to Valencia, his native place, was for +some time permitted to go abroad, under a strong guard, with chains +upon his legs; and here he conversed freely with all sorts of people, +flattering himself with the hopes of a pardon, in which, however, he +was disappointed. An order came from court to bring him to his trial, +when he was found guilty, and condemned to be broke on the wheel. +Joseph said he drank a bottle of wine with him the night before his +execution. He bore his fate with great resolution, observing that if +the letter which he had written to the King had been delivered, he +certainly should have obtained his Majesty's pardon. His executioner +was one of his own gang, who was pardoned on condition of performing +this office. You know, that criminals broke upon the wheel are first +strangled, unless the sentence imports, that they shall be broke alive. +As Mandrin had not been guilty of cruelty in the course of his +delinquency, he was indulged with this favour. Speaking to the +executioner, whom he had formerly commanded, "Joseph (dit il), je ne +veux pas que tu me touche, jusqu'a ce que je sois roid mort," "Joseph," +said he, "thou shalt not touch me till I am quite dead."--Our driver +had no sooner pronounced these words, than I was struck with a +suspicion, that he himself was the executioner of his friend Mandrin. +On that suspicion, I exclaimed, "Ah! ah! Joseph!" The fellow blushed up +to the eyes, and said, Oui, son nom etoit Joseph aussi bien que le +mien, "Yes, he was called Joseph, as I am." I did not think proper to +prosecute the inquiry; but did not much relish the nature of Joseph's +connexions. The truth is, he had very much the looks of a ruffian; +though, I must own, his behaviour was very obliging and submissive. + +On the fifth day of our journey, in the morning, we passed the famous +bridge at St. Esprit, which to be sure is a great curiosity, from its +length, and the number of its arches: but these arches are too small: +the passage above is too narrow; and the whole appears to be too +slight, considering the force and impetuosity of the river. It is not +comparable to the bridge at Westminster, either for beauty or solidity. +Here we entered Languedoc, and were stopped to have our baggage +examined; but the searcher, being tipped with a three-livre piece, +allowed it to pass. Before we leave Dauphine, I must observe, that I +was not a little surprized to see figs and chestnuts growing in the +open fields, at the discretion of every passenger. It was this day I +saw the famous Pont du Garde; but as I cannot possibly include, in this +letter, a description of that beautiful bridge, and of the other +antiquities belonging to Nismes, I will defer it till the next +opportunity, being, in the mean time, with equal truth and +affection,--Dear Sir, Your obliged humble Servant. + + + +LETTER X + +MONTPELLIER, November 10, 1763. + +DEAR SIR,--By the Pont St. Esprit we entered the province of Languedoc, +and breakfasted at Bagniole, which is a little paltry town; from +whence, however, there is an excellent road through a mountain, made at +a great expence, and extending about four leagues. About five in the +afternoon, I had the first glimpse of the famous Pont du Garde, which +stands on the right hand, about the distance of a league from the +post-road to Nismes, and about three leagues from that city. I would +not willingly pass for a false enthusiast in taste; but I cannot help +observing, that from the first distant view of this noble monument, +till we came near enough to see it perfectly, I felt the strongest +emotions of impatience that I had ever known; and obliged our driver to +put his mules to the full gallop, in the apprehension that it would be +dark before we reached the place. I expected to find the building, in +some measure, ruinous; but was agreeably disappointed, to see it look +as fresh as the bridge at Westminster. The climate is either so pure +and dry, or the free-stone, with which it is built, so hard, that the +very angles of them remain as acute as if they had been cut last year. +Indeed, some large stones have dropped out of the arches; but the whole +is admirably preserved, and presents the eye with a piece of +architecture, so unaffectedly elegant, so simple, and majestic, that I +will defy the most phlegmatic and stupid spectator to behold it without +admiration. It was raised in the Augustan age, by the Roman colony of +Nismes, to convey a stream of water between two mountains, for the use +of that city. It stands over the river Gardon, which is a beautiful +pastoral stream, brawling among rocks, which form a number of pretty +natural cascades, and overshadowed on each side with trees and shrubs, +which greatly add to the rural beauties of the scene. It rises in the +Cevennes, and the sand of it produces gold, as we learn from Mr. +Reaumur, in his essay on this subject, inserted in the French Memoirs, +for the year 1718. If I lived at Nismes, or Avignon (which last city is +within four short leagues of it) I should take pleasure in forming +parties to come hither, in summer, to dine under one of the arches of +the Pont du Garde, on a cold collation. + +This work consists of three bridges, or tire of arches, one above +another; the first of six, the second of eleven, and the third of +thirty-six. The height, comprehending the aqueduct on the top, amounts +to 174 feet three inches: the length between the two mountains, which +it unites, extends to 723. The order of architecture is the Tuscan, but +the symmetry of it is inconceivable. By scooping the bases of the +pilasters, of the second tire of arches, they had made a passage for +foot-travellers: but though the antients far excelled us in beauty, +they certainly fell short of the moderns in point of conveniency. The +citizens of Avignon have, in this particular, improved the Roman work +with a new bridge, by apposition, constructed on the same plan with +that of the lower tire of arches, of which indeed it seems to be a +part, affording a broad and commodious passage over the river, to +horses and carriages of all kinds. The aqueduct, for the continuance of +which this superb work was raised, conveyed a stream of sweet water +from the fountain of Eure, near the city of Uzes, and extended near six +leagues in length. + +In approaching Nismes, you see the ruins of a Roman tower, built on the +summit of a hill, which over-looks the city. It seems to have been +intended, at first, as a watch, or signal-tower, though, in the sequel, +it was used as a fortress: what remains of it, is about ninety feet +high; the architecture of the Doric order. I no sooner alighted at the +inn, than I was presented with a pamphlet, containing an account of +Nismes and its antiquities, which every stranger buys. There are +persons too who attend in order to shew the town, and you will always +be accosted by some shabby antiquarian, who presents you with medals +for sale, assuring you they are genuine antiques, and were dug out of +the ruins of the Roman temple and baths. All those fellows are cheats; +and they have often laid under contribution raw English travellers, who +had more money than discretion. To such they sell the vilest and most +common trash: but when they meet with a connoisseur, they produce some +medals which are really valuable and curious. + +Nismes, antiently called Nemausis, was originally a colony of Romans, +settled by Augustus Caesar, after the battle of Actium. It is still of +considerable extent, and said to contain twelve thousand families; but +the number seems, by this account, to be greatly exaggerated. Certain +it is, the city must have been formerly very extensive, as appears from +the circuit of the antient walls, the remains of which are still to be +seen. Its present size is not one third of its former extent. Its +temples, baths, statues, towers, basilica, and amphitheatre, prove it +to have been a city of great opulence and magnificence. At present, the +remains of these antiquities are all that make it respectable or +remarkable; though here are manufactures of silk and wool, carried on +with good success. The water necessary for these works is supplied by a +source at the foot of the rock, upon which the tower is placed; and +here were discovered the ruins of Roman baths, which had been formed +and adorned with equal taste and magnificence. Among the rubbish they +found a vast profusion of columns, vases, capitals, cornices, +inscriptions, medals, statues, and among other things, the finger of a +colossal statue in bronze, which, according to the rules of proportion, +must have been fifteen feet high. From these particulars, it appears +that the edifices must have been spacious and magnificent. Part of a +tesselated pavement still remains. The antient pavement of the bath is +still intire; all the rubbish has been cleared away; and the baths, in +a great measure, restored on the old plan, though they are not at +present used for any thing but ornament. The water is collected into +two vast reservoirs, and a canal built and lined with hewn stone. There +are three handsome bridges thrown over this vast canal. It contains a +great body of excellent water, which by pipes and other small branching +canals, traverses the town, and is converted to many different purposes +of oeconomy and manufacture. Between the Roman bath and these great +canals, the ground is agreeably laid out in pleasure-walks. for the +recreation of the inhabitants. Here are likewise ornaments of +architecture, which savour much more of French foppery, than of the +simplicity and greatness of the antients. It is very surprizing, that +this fountain should produce such a great body of water, as fills the +basin of the source, the Roman basin, two large deep canals three +hundred feet in length, two vast basins that make part of the great +canal, which is eighteen hundred feet long, eighteen feet deep, and +forty-eight feet broad. When I saw it, there was in it about eight or +nine feet of water, transparent as crystal. It must be observed, +however, for the honour of French cleanliness, that in the Roman basin, +through which this noble stream of water passes, I perceived two +washerwomen at work upon children's clouts and dirty linnen. Surprized, +and much disgusted at this filthy phaenomenon, I asked by what means, +and by whose permission, those dirty hags had got down into the basin, +in order to contaminate the water at its fountain-head; and understood +they belonged to the commandant of the place, who had keys of the +subterranean passage. + +Fronting the Roman baths are the ruins of an antient temple, which, +according to tradition, was dedicated to Diana: but it has been +observed by connoisseurs, that all the antient temples of this goddess +were of the Ionic order; whereas, this is partly Corinthian, and partly +composite. It is about seventy foot long, and six and thirty in +breadth, arched above, and built of large blocks of stone, exactly +joined together without any cement. The walls are still standing, with +three great tabernacles at the further end, fronting the entrance. On +each side, there are niches in the intercolumniation of the walls, +together with pedestals and shafts of pillars, cornices, and an +entablature, which indicate the former magnificence of the building. It +was destroyed during the civil war that raged in the reign of Henry +III. of France. + +It is amazing, that the successive irruptions of barbarous nations, of +Goths, Vandals, and Moors; of fanatic croisards, still more sanguinary +and illiberal than those Barbarians, should have spared this temple, as +well as two other still more noble monuments of architecture, that to +this day adorn the city of Nismes: I mean the amphitheatre and the +edifice, called Maison Carree--The former of these is counted the +finest monument of the kind, now extant; and was built in the reign of +Antoninus Pius, who contributed a large sum of money towards its +erection. It is of an oval figure, one thousand and eighty feet in +circumference, capacious enough to hold twenty thousand spectators. The +architecture is of the Tuscan order, sixty feet high, composed of two +open galleries, built one over another, consisting each of threescore +arcades. The entrance into the arena was by four great gates, with +porticos; and the seats, of which there were thirty, rising one above +another, consisted of great blocks of stone, many of which still +remain. Over the north gate, appear two bulls, in alto-relievo, +extremely well executed, emblems which, according to the custom of the +Romans, signified that the amphitheatre was erected at the expence of +the people. There are in other parts of it some work in bas-relief, and +heads or busts but indifferently carved. It stands in the lower part of +the town, and strikes the spectator with awe and veneration. The +external architecture is almost intire in its whole circuit; but the +arena is filled up with houses--This amphitheatre was fortified as a +citadel by the Visigoths, in the beginning of the sixth century. They +raised within it a castle, two towers of which are still extant; and +they surrounded it with a broad and deep fossee, which was filled up in +the thirteenth century. In all the subsequent wars to which this city +was exposed, it served as the last resort of the citizens, and +sustained a great number of successive attacks; so that its +preservation is almost miraculous. It is likely, however, to suffer +much more from the Gothic avarice of its own citizens, some of whom are +mutilating it every day, for the sake of the stones, which they employ +in their own private buildings. It is surprizing, that the King's +authority has not been exerted to put an end to such sacrilegious +violation. + +If the amphitheatre strikes you with an idea of greatness, the Maison +Carree enchants you with the most exquisite beauties of architecture +and sculpture. This is an edifice, supposed formerly to have been +erected by Adrian, who actually built a basilica in this city, though +no vestiges of it remain: but the following inscription, which was +discovered on the front of it, plainly proves, that it was built by the +inhabitants of Nismes, in honour of Caius and Lucius Caesar, the +grandchildren of Augustus by his daughter Julia, the wife of Agrippa. + + C. CAESARI. AVGVSTI. F. COS. + L CAESARI. AVGMI. F. COS. + DESIGNATO. + PRINCIPIBVS IVVENTUTIS. + +To Caius and Lucius Caesar, sons of Augustus, consuls elect, Princes of +the Roman youth. + +This beautiful edifice, which stands upon a pediment six feet high, is +eighty-two feet long, thirty-five broad, and thirty-seven high, without +reckoning the pediment. The body of it is adorned with twenty columns +engaged in the wall, and the peristyle, which is open, with ten +detached pillars that support the entablature. They are all of the +Corinthian order, fluted and embellished with capitals of the most +exquisite sculpture, the frize and cornice are much admired, and the +foliage is esteemed inimitable. The proportions of the building are so +happily united, as to give it an air of majesty and grandeur, which the +most indifferent spectator cannot behold without emotion. A man needs +not be a connoisseur in architecture, to enjoy these beauties. They are +indeed so exquisite that you may return to them every day with a fresh +appetite for seven years together. What renders them the more curious, +they are still entire, and very little affected, either by the ravages +of time, or the havoc of war. Cardinal Alberoni declared, that it was a +jewel that deserved a cover of gold to preserve it from external +injuries. An Italian painter, perceiving a small part of the roof +repaired by modern French masonry, tore his hair, and exclaimed in a +rage, "Zounds! what do I see? harlequin's hat on the head of Augustus!" + +Without all doubt it is ravishingly beautiful. The whole world cannot +parallel it; and I am astonished to see it standing entire, like the +effects of inchantment, after such a succession of ages, every one more +barbarous than another. The history of the antiquities of Nismes takes +notice of a grotesque statue, representing two female bodies and legs, +united under the head of an old man; but, as it does not inform us +where it is kept, I did not see it. + +The whole country of Languedoc is shaded with olive trees, the fruit of +which begins to ripen, and appears as black as sloes; those they pickle +are pulled green, and steeped for some time in a lye made of quick lime +or wood ashes, which extracts the bitter taste, and makes the fruit +tender. Without this preparation it is not eatable. Under the olive and +fig trees, they plant corn and vines, so that there is not an inch of +ground unlaboured: but here are no open fields, meadows, or cattle to +be seen. The ground is overloaded; and the produce of it crowded to +such a degree, as to have a bad effect upon the eye, impressing the +traveller with the ideas of indigence and rapacity. The heat in summer +is so excessive, that cattle would find no green forage, every blade of +grass being parched up and destroyed. The weather was extremely hot +when we entered Montpellier, and put up at the Cheval Blanc, counted +the best auberge in the place, tho' in fact it is a most wretched +hovel, the habitation of darkness, dirt, and imposition. Here I was +obliged to pay four livres a meal for every person in my family, and +two livres at night for every bed, though all in the same room: one +would imagine that the further we advance to the southward the living +is the dearer, though in fact every article of housekeeping is cheaper +in Languedoc than many other provinces of France. This imposition is +owing to the concourse of English who come hither, and, like simple +birds of passage, allow themselves to be plucked by the people of the +country, who know their weak side, and make their attacks accordingly. +They affect to believe, that all the travellers of our country are +grand seigneurs, immensely rich and incredibly generous; and we are +silly enough to encourage this opinion, by submitting quietly to the +most ridiculous extortion, as well as by committing acts of the most +absurd extravagance. This folly of the English, together with a +concourse of people from different quarters, who come hither for the +re-establishment of their health, has rendered Montpellier one of the +dearest places in the South of France. The city, which is but small, +stands upon a rising ground fronting the Mediterranean, which is about +three leagues to the southward: on the other side is an agreeable +plain, extending about the same distance towards the mountains of the +Cevennes. The town is reckoned well built, and what the French call +bien percee; yet the streets are in general narrow, and the houses +dark. The air is counted salutary in catarrhous consumptions, from its +dryness and elasticity: but too sharp in cases of pulmonary imposthumes. + +It was at Montpellier that we saw for the first time any signs of that +gaiety and mirth for which the people of this country are celebrated. +In all other places through which we passed since our departure from +Lyons, we saw nothing but marks of poverty and chagrin. We entered +Montpellier on a Sunday, when the people were all dressed in their best +apparel. The streets were crowded; and a great number of the better +sort of both sexes sat upon stone seats at their doors, conversing with +great mirth and familiarity. These conversations lasted the greatest +part of the night; and many of them were improved with musick both +vocal and instrumental: next day we were visited by the English +residing in the place, who always pay this mark of respect to new +comers. They consist of four or five families, among whom I could pass +the winter very agreeably, if the state of my health and other reasons +did not call me away. + +Mr. L-- had arrived two days before me, troubled with the same +asthmatic disorder, under which I have laboured so long. He told me he +had been in quest of me ever since he left England. Upon comparing +notes, I found he had stopped at the door of a country inn in Picardy, +and drank a glass of wine and water, while I was at dinner up stairs; +nay, he had even spoke to my servant, and asked who was his master, and +the man, not knowing him, replied, he was a gentleman from Chelsea. He +had walked by the door of the house where I lodged at Paris, twenty +times, while I was in that city; and the very day before he arrived at +Montpellier, he had passed our coach on the road. + +The garrison of this city consists of two battalions, one of which is +the Irish regiment of Berwick, commanded by lieutenant colonel Tents, a +gentleman with whom we contracted an acquaintance at Boulogne. He +treats us with great politeness, and indeed does every thing in his +power to make the place agreeable to us. The duke of Fitz-James, the +governor, is expected here in a little time. We have already a +tolerable concert twice a week; there will be a comedy in the winter; +and the states of Provence assemble in January, so that Montpellier +will be extremely gay and brilliant. These very circumstances would +determine me to leave it. I have not health to enjoy these pleasures: I +cannot bear a croud of company such as pours in upon us unexpectedly at +all hours; and I foresee, that in staying at Montpellier, I should be +led into an expence, which I can ill afford. I have therefore forwarded +the letter I received from general P--n, to Mr. B--d, our consul at +Nice, signifying my intention of going thither, and explaining the kind +of accommodation I would choose to have at that place. + +The day after our arrival, I procured tolerable lodgings in the High +Street, for which I pay fifty sols, something more than two shillings +per day; and I am furnished with two meals a day by a traiteur for ten +livres: but he finds neither the wine nor the dessert; and indeed we +are but indifferently served. Those families who reside here find their +account in keeping house. Every traveller who comes to this, or any +other, town in France with a design to stay longer than a day or two, +ought to write beforehand to his correspondent to procure furnished +lodgings, to which he may be driven immediately, without being under +the necessity of lying in an execrable inn; for all the inns of this +country are execrable. + +My baggage is not yet arrived by the canal of Languedoc; but that gives +me no disturbance, as it is consigned to the care of Mr. Ray, an +English merchant and banker of this place; a gentleman of great probity +and worth, from whom I have received repeated marks of uncommon +friendship and hospitality. + +The next time you hear of me will be from Nice: mean-while, I remain +always,--Dear Sir, Your affectionate humble servant. + + + +LETTER XI + +MONTPELLIER, November 12. + +DEAR DOCTOR--I flattered myself with the hope of much amusement during +my short stay at Montpellier.--The University, the Botanical Garden, +the State of Physic in this part of the world, and the information I +received of a curious collection of manuscripts, among which I hoped to +find something for our friend Dr. H--r; all these particulars promised +a rich fund of entertainment, which, however, I cannot enjoy. + +A few days after my arrival, it began to rain with a southerly wind, +and continued without ceasing the best part of a week, leaving the air +so loaded with vapours, that there was no walking after sun-set; +without being wetted by the dew almost to the skin. I have always found +a cold and damp atmosphere the most unfavourable of any to my +constitution. My asthmatical disorder. which had not given me much +disturbance since I left Boulogne, became now very troublesome, +attended with fever, cough spitting, and lowness of spirits; and I +wasted visibly every day. I was favoured with the advice of Dr. +Fitzmaurice, a very worthy sensible physician settled in this place: +but I had the curiosity to know the opinion of the celebrated professor +F--, who is the Boerhaave of Montpellier. The account I had of his +private character and personal deportment, from some English people to +whom he was well known, left me no desire to converse with him: but I +resolved to consult with him on paper. This great lanthorn of medicine +is become very rich and very insolent; and in proportion as his wealth +increases, he is said to grow the more rapacious. He piques himself +upon being very slovenly, very blunt, and very unmannerly; and perhaps +to these qualifications be owes his reputation rather than to any +superior skill in medicine. I have known them succeed in our own +country; and seen a doctor's parts estimated by his brutality and +presumption. + +F-- is in his person and address not unlike our old acquaintance Dr. +Sm--ie; he stoops much, dodges along, and affects to speak the Patois, +which is a corruption of the old Provencial tongue, spoken by the +vulgar in Languedoc and Provence. Notwithstanding his great age and +great wealth, he will still scramble up two pair of stairs for a fee of +six livres; and without a fee he will give his advice to no person +whatsoever. + +He is said to have great practice in the venereal branch and to be +frequented by persons of both sexes infected with this distemper, not +only from every part of France, but also from Spain, Italy, Germany, +and England. I need say nothing of the Montpellier method of cure, +which is well known at London; but I have some reason to think the +great professor F--, has, like the famous Mrs. Mapp, the bone-setter, +cured many patients that were never diseased. + +Be that as it may, I sent my valet de place, who was his townsman and +acquaintance, to his house, with the following case, and a loui'dore. + +Annum aetatis, post quadragesimum, tertium, Temperamentum humidum, +crassum, pituitarepletum, catarrhis saepissime profligatum. Catarrhus, +febre, anxietate et dyspnoea, nunquam non comitatus. Irritatio +membranae piuitariae trachaealis, tussim initio aridam, siliquosam, +deinde vero excreationem copiosam excitat: sputum albumini ovi +simillimum. + +Accedente febre, urina pallida, limpida: ad akmen flagrante, colorem +rubrum, subflavum induit: coctione peracta, sedimentum lateritium +deponit. + +Appetitus raro deest: digestio segnior sed secura, non autem sine ructu +perfecta. Alvus plerumque stipata: excretio intestinalis minima, +ratione ingestorum habita. Pulsus frequens, vacillans, exilis, +quandoquidem etiam intermittens. + +Febre una extincta, non deficit altera. Aliaque et eadem statim +nascitur. Aer paulo frigidior, vel humidior, vestimentum inusitatum +indutum; exercitatio paulullum nimia; ambulatio, equitatio, in quovis +vehiculo jactatio; haec omnia novos motus suscitant. Systema nervosum +maxime irritabile, organos patitur. Ostiola in cute hiantia, materiei +perspirabili, exitum praebentia, clauduntur. Materies obstructa +cumulatur; sanguine aliisque humoribus circumagitur: fit plethora. +Natura opprimi nolens, excessus huius expulsionem conatur. Febris nova +accenditur. Pars oneris, in membranam trachaealem laxatam ac +debilitatam transfertur. Glandulae pituitariae turgentes bronchia +comprimunt. Liber aeri transitus negatur: hinc respiratio difficilis. +Hac vero translatione febris minuitur: interdiu remittitur. Dyspnoea +autem aliaque symptomata vere hypochondriaca, recedere nolunt. Vespere +febris exacerbatur. Calor, inquietudo, anxietas et asthma, per noctem +grassantur. Ita quotidie res agitur, donec. Vis vitae paulatim crisim +efficit. Seminis joctura, sive in somniis effusi, seu in gremio veneris +ejaculati, inter causas horum malorum nec non numeretur. + +Quibusdam abhinc annis, exercitationibus juvenilibus subito remissis, +in vitam sedentariam lapsum. Animo in studia severiora converso, fibre +gradatim laxabantur. Inter legendum, et scribendum inclinato corpore in +pectus malum, ruebat. Morbo ingruenti affectio scorbutica auxilium +tulit. Invasio prima nimium aspernata. Venientibus hostibus non +occursum. Cunctando res non restituta. Remedia convenientia stomachus +perhorrescebat. Gravescente dyspnoea phlebotomia frustra tentata. +Sanguinis missione vis vitae diminuta: fiebat pulsitis debilior, +respiratio difficilior. In pejus ruunt omnia. Febris anomala in +febriculam continuam mutata. Dyspnoea confirmata. Fibrarum compages +soluta. Valetudo penitus eversa. + +His agitatus furiis, aeger ad mare provolat: in fluctus se precipitem, +dat: periculum factum spem non fefellit: decies iteratum, felix +faustumque evasit. Elater novus fibris conciliatur. Febricula fugatur. +Acris dyspnoea solvitur. Beneficium dextra ripa partum, sinistra +perditum. Superficie corporis, aquae marine frigore et pondere, +compressa et contracta, interstitia fibrarum occluduntur: particulis +incrementi novis partes abrasas reficientibus, locus non datur. +Nutritio corporis, via pristina clausa, qua data porta ruit: in +membranam pulmonum, minus firmatam facile fertur, et glandulis per +sputum rejicitur. + +Hieme pluviosa, regnante dolores renovantur; tametsi tempore sereno +equitatio profuit. Aestate morbus vix ullum progrediebatur. Autumno, +valetudine plus declinata, thermis Bathoniensibus solatium haud frustra +quaesitum. Aqua ista mire medicata, externe aeque ac interne adhibita, +malis levamen attulit. Hiems altera, frigida, horrida, diuturna, +innocua tamen successit. Vere novo casus atrox diras procellas animo +immisit: toto corpore, tota mente tumultuatur. Patria relicta, +tristitia, sollecitudo, indignatio, et saevissima recordatio sequuntur. +Inimici priores furore inveterato revertuntur. Rediit febris hectica: +rediit asthma cum anxietate, tusse et dolore lateris lancinanti. + +Desperatis denique rebus, iterum ad mare, veluti ad anceps remedium +recurritur. Balneum hoc semper benignum. Dolor statim avolat. Tertio +die febris, retrocessit. Immersio quotidiana antemeridiana, ad vices +quinquaginta repetita, symptomata graviora subjugavit.-- Manet vero +tabes pituitaria: manet temperamentum in catarrhos proclive. Corpus +macrescit. Vires delabuntur. + +The professor's eyes sparkled at sight of the fee; and he desired the +servant to call next morning for his opinion of the case, which +accordingly I received in these words: + +"On voit par cette relation que monsieur le consultant dont on n'a pas +juge a propos de dire l'age, mais qui nous paroit etre adulte et d'un +age passablement avance, a ete sujet cy devant a des rhumes frequens +accompagnes de fievre; on ne detaille point (aucune epoque), on parle +dans la relation d'asthme auquel il a ete sujet, de scorbut ou +affection scorbutique dont on ne dit pas les symptomes. On nous fait +scavoir qu'il s'est bien trouve de l'immersion dans l'eau de la mer, et +des eaux de Bath. + +"On dit a present qu'il a une fievre pituitaire sans dire depuis +combien de temps. Qu'il lui reste toujours son temperament enclin aux +catharres. Que le corps maigrit, et que les forces se perdent. On ne +dit point s'il y a des exacerbations dans cette fievre ou non, si le +malade a appetit ou non, s'il tousse ou non, s'il crache ou non, en un +mot on n'entre dans aucun detail sur ces objets, sur quoi le conseil +soussigne estime que monsieur le consultant est en fievre lente, et que +vraisemblable le poumon souffre de quelque tubercules qui peut-etre +sont en fonte, ce que nous aurions determine si dans la relation on +avoit marque les qualites de crachats. + +"La cause fonchere de cette maladie doit etre imputee a une lymphe +epaisse et acrimonieuse, qui donne occasion a des tubercules au pomon, +qui etant mis on fonte fournissent au sang des particules acres et le +rendent tout acrimonieux. + +"Les vues que l'on doit avoir dans ce cas sent de procurer des bonnes +digestions (quoique dans la relation ou ne dit pas un mot sur les +digestions) de jetter un douce detrempe dans la masse du sang, d'en +ebasser l'acrimonie et de l'adoucir, de diviser fort doucement a +lymphe, et de deterger le poumon, lui procurant meme du calme suppose +que la toux l'inquiete, quoique cependant on ne dit pas un mot sur la +toux dans la relation. C'est pourquoi on le purgera avec 3 onces de +manne, dissoutes dans un verre de decoction de 3 dragmes de polypode de +chesne, on passera ensuite a des bouillons qui seront faits avec un +petit poulet, la chair, le sang, le coeur et le foye d'une tortue de +grandeur mediocre c'est a dire du poid de 8 a 12 onces avec sa +coquille, une poignee de chicoree amere de jardin, et une pincee de +feuilles de lierre terrestre vertes on seches. Ayant pris ces bouillons +15 matins on se purgera comme auparavant, pour en venir a des bouillons +qui seront faits avec la moitie d'un mou de veau, une poignee de +pimprenelle de jardin, et une dragme de racine d'angelique concassee. + +Ayant pris ces bouillons 15 matins, on se purgera somme auparavant pour +en venir an lait d'anesse que l'on prendra le matin a jeun, a la dose +de 12 a 16 onces y ajoutant un cuilleree de sucre rape, on prendra ce +lait le matin a jeun observant de prendre pendant son usage de deux +jours l'un un moment avant le lait un bolus fait avec 15 grains de +craye de Braincon en poudre fine, 20 grains de corail prepare, 8 grains +d'antihectique de poterius, et ce qu'il faut de syrop de lierre +terrestre, mais les jour on ou ne prendra pas le bolus on prendra un +moment avant le lait 3 on 4 gouttes de bon baume de Canada detrempees +dans un demi cuilleree de syrop de lierre terrestre. Si le corps +maigrit de plus en plus, je suis d'avis que pendant l'usage du lait +d'anesse on soupe tous les soirs avec une soupe au lait de vache. + +"On continuera l'usage du lait d'anesse tant, que le malade pourra le +supporter, ne le purgeant que par necessite et toujours avec la +medecine ordonnee. + +"Au reste, si monsieur le consultant ne passe les nuits bien calmes, il +prendra chaque soir a l'heure de sommeil six grains des pilules de +cynoglosse, dent il augmentera la dose d'un grain de plus toutes les +fois que la dose du jour precedent, n'aura pas ete suffisante pour lui +faire passer la nuit bien calme. + +"Si les malade tousse il usera soit de jour soit de nuit par petites +cuillerees a casse d'un looch, qui sera fait avec un once de syrop de +violat et un dragme de blanc de baleine. + +"Si les crachats sent epais et qu'il crache difficilement, en ce cas il +prendra une ou deux fois le jour, demi dragme de blanc de baleine +reduit on poudre avec un pen de sucre candit qu'il avalera avec une +cuilleree d'eau. + +"Enfin il doit observer un bon regime de vivre, c'est pourquoi il fera +toujours gras et seulement en soupes, bouilli et roti, il ne mangera +pas les herbes des soupes, et on salera peu son pot, il se privera du +beuf, cochon, chair noir, oiseaux d'eau, ragouts, fritures, +patisseries, alimens sales, epices, vinaigres, salades, fruits, cruds, +et autres crudites, alimens grossiers, ou de difficille digestion, la +boisson sera de l'eau tant soit peu rougee de bon vin au diner +seulement, et il ne prendra a souper qu'une soupe. + + Delibere a MONTPELLIER + le 11 Novembre. + F--. + Professeur en l'universite honoraire. + +Receu vingt et quatre livres. + +I thought it was a little extraordinary that a learned professor should +reply in his mother tongue, to a case put in Latin: but I was much more +surprised, as you will also be, at reading his answer, from which I was +obliged to conclude, either that he did not understand Latin; or that +he had not taken the trouble to read my memoire. I shall not make any +remarks upon the stile of his prescription, replete as it is with a +disgusting repetition of low expressions: but I could not but, in +justice to myself, point out to him the passages in my case which he +had overlooked. Accordingly, having marked them with letters, I sent it +back, with the following billet. + +"Apparement Mons. F-- n'a pas donne beaucoup d'attention au memoire de +ma sante que j'ai on l'honneur de lui presenter-- 'Monsieur le +consultant (dit il) dont on n'a pas juge it propos de dire +l'age.'--Mais on voit dans le memoire a No. 1. 'Annum aetatis post +quadragesimum tertium.' + +"Mr. F-- dit que 'je n'ai pas marque aucune epoque. Mais a No. 2 du +memoire il trouvera ces mots. 'Quibusdam abbinc annis.' J'ai meme +detaille le progres de la maladie pour trois ans consecutifs. + +"Mons. F-- observe, 'On no dit point s'il y a des exacerbations dans +cette fievre ou non.' Qu'il. Regarde la lettre B, il verra, Vespere +febris exacerbatur. Calor, inquietudo, anxietas et asthma per noctem +grassantur.' + +"Mons. F-- remarque, 'On ne dit point si le malade a appetit ou non, +s'il tousse ou non, s'il crache ou non, en un mot on n'entre dans aucun +detail sur ces objets.' Mais on voit toutes ces circonstances +detaillees dans la memoire a lettre A, 'Irritatio membranae trachaealis +tussim, initio aridam, siliquosam, deinde vero excreationem copiosam +excitat. Sputum albumini ovi simillimum. Appetitus raro deest. Digestio +segnior sed secura.' + +"Mons. F-- observe encore, 'qu'on ne dit pas un mot sur la toux dans la +relation.' Mais j'ai dit encore a No. 3 de memoire, 'rediit febris +hectica; rediit asthma cum anxietate, tusse et dolore lateris +lancinante.' + +"Au reste, je ne puis pas me persuader qu'il y ait des tubercules au +poumon, parce que j'ai ne jamais crache de pus, ni autre chose que de +la pituite qui a beaucoup de ressemblance au blanc des oeufs. Sputum +albumini ovi simillimum. Il me paroit done que ma maladie doit son +origine a la suspension de l'exercice du corps, au grand attachement +d'esprit, et a une vie sedentaire qui a relache le sisteme fibreux; et +qu'a present on pent l'appeller tubes pituitaria, non tubes purulenta. +J'espere que Mons. Faura la bonte de faire revision du memoire, et de +m'en dire encore son sentiment." + +Considering the nature of the case, you see I could not treat him more +civilly. I desired the servant to ask when he should return for an +answer, and whether he expected another fee. He desired him to come +next morning, and, as the fellow assured me, gave him to understand, +that whatever monsieur might solicit, should be for his (the servant's) +advantage. In all probability he did not expect another gratification, +to which, indeed, he had no title. Mons. F-- was undoubtedly much +mortified to find himself detected in such flagrant instances of +unjustifiable negligence, arid like all other persons in the same +ungracious dilemma, instead of justifying himself by reason or +argument, had recourse to recrimination. In the paper which he sent me +next day, he insisted in general that he had carefully perused the case +(which you will perceive was a self-evident untruth); he said the +theory it contained was idle; that he was sure it could not be written +by a physician; that, with respect to the disorder, he was still of the +same opinion; and adhered to his former prescription; but if I had any +doubts I might come to his house, and he would resolve them. + +I wrapt up twelve livres in the following note, and sent it to his +house. + +"C'est ne pas sans raison que monsieur F-- jouit d'une si grande +reputation. Je n'ai plus de doutes, graces a Dieu et a monsieur F--e. " +"It is not without reason that monsieur Fizes enjoys such a large share +of reputation. I have no doubts remaining; thank Heaven and monsieur +Fizes." + +To this I received for answer. "Monsieur n'a plus de doutes: j'en suis +charme. Receu douze livres. F--, &c." "Sir, you have no doubts +remaining; I am very glad of it. Received twelve livres. Fizes, &c." + +Instead of keeping his promise to the valet, he put the money in his +pocket; and the fellow returned in a rage, exclaiming that he was un +gros cheval de carosse, a great coach-horse. + +I shall make no other comment upon the medicines, and the regimen which +this great Doctor prescribed; but that he certainly mistook the case: +that upon the supposition I actually laboured under a purulent +discharge from the lungs, his remedies savour strongly of the old +woman; and that there is a total blank with respect to the article of +exercise, which you know is so essential in all pulmonary disorders. +But after having perused my remarks upon his first prescription, he +could not possibly suppose that I had tubercules, and was spitting up +pus; therefore his persisting in recommending the same medicines he had +prescribed on that supposition, was a flagrant absurdity.--If, for +example, there was no vomica in the lungs; and the business was to +attenuate the lymph, what could be more preposterous than to advise the +chalk of Briancon, coral, antihecticum poterii, and the balm of Canada? +As for the turtle-soupe, it is a good restorative and balsamic; but, I +apprehend, will tend to thicken rather than attenuate the phlegm. He +mentions not a syllable of the air, though it is universally allowed, +that the climate of Montpellier is pernicious to ulcerated lungs; and +here I cannot help recounting a small adventure which our doctor had +with a son of Mr. O--d, merchant in the city of London. I had it from +Mrs. St--e who was on the spot. The young gentleman, being consumptive, +consulted Mr. F--, who continued visiting and prescribing for him a +whole month. At length, perceiving that he grew daily worse, "Doctor +(said he) I take your prescriptions punctually; but, instead of being +the better for them, I have now not an hour's remission from the fever +in the four-and-twenty.--I cannot conceive the meaning of it." F--, who +perceived he had not long to live, told him the reason was very plain: +the air of Montpellier was too sharp for his lungs, which required a +softer climate. "Then you're a sordid villain (cried the young man) for +allowing me to stay here till my constitution is irretrievable." He set +out immediately for Tholouse, and in a few weeks died in the +neighbourhood of that city. + +I observe that the physicians in this country pay no regard to the +state of the solids in chronical disorders, that exercise and the cold +bath are never prescribed, that they seem to think the scurvy is +entirely an English disease; and that, in all appearance, they often +confound the symptoms of it, with those of the venereal distemper. +Perhaps I may be more particular on this subject in a subsequent +letter. In the mean time, I am ever,-- Dear Sir, Yours sincerely. + + + +LETTER XII + +NICE, December 6, 1763. + +DEAR SIR,--The inhabitants of Montpellier are sociable, gay, and +good-tempered. They have a spirit of commerce, and have erected several +considerable manufactures, in the neighbourhood of the city. People +assemble every day to take the air on the esplanade, where there is a +very good walk, just without the gate of the citadel: but, on the other +side of the town, there is another still more agreeable, called the +peirou, from whence there is a prospect of the Mediterranean on one +side, and of the Cevennes on the other. Here is a good equestrian +statue of Louis XIV, fronting one gate of the city, which is built in +form of a triumphal arch, in honour of the same monarch. Immediately +under the pierou is the physic garden, and near it an arcade just +finished for an aqueduct, to convey a stream of water to the upper +parts of the city. Perhaps I should have thought this a neat piece of +work, if I had not seen the Pont du Garde: but, after having viewed the +Roman arches, I could not look upon this but with pity and contempt. It +is a wonder how the architect could be so fantastically modern, having +such a noble model, as it were, before his eyes. + +There are many protestants at this place, as well as at Nismes, and +they are no longer molested on the score of religion. They have their +conventicles in the country, where they assemble privately for worship. +These are well known; and detachments are sent out every Sunday to +intercept them; but the officer has always private directions to take +another route. Whether this indulgence comes from the wisdom and lenity +of the government, or is purchased with money of the commanding +officer, I cannot determine: but certain it is, the laws of France +punish capitally every protestant minister convicted of having +performed the functions of his ministry in this kingdom; and one was +hanged about two years ago, in the neighbourhood of Montauban. + +The markets in Montpellier are well supplied with fish, poultry, +butcher's meat, and game, at reasonable rates. The wine of the country +is strong and harsh, and never drank, but when mixed with water. +Burgundy is dear, and so is the sweet wine of Frontignan, though made +in the neighbourhood of Cette. You know it is famous all over Europe, +and so are the liqueurs, or drams of various sorts, compounded and +distilled at Montpellier. Cette is the sea-port, about four leagues +from that city: but the canal of Languedoc comes up within a mile of +it; and is indeed a great curiosity: a work in all respects worthy of a +Colbert, under whose auspices it was finished. When I find such a +general tribute of respect and veneration paid to the memory of that +great man, I am astonished to see so few monuments of public utility +left by other ministers. One would imagine, that even the desire of +praise would prompt a much greater number to exert themselves for the +glory and advantage of their country; yet in my opinion, the French +have been ungrateful to Colbert, in the same proportion as they have +over-rated the character of his master. Through all France one meets +with statues and triumphal arches erected to Louis XIV, in consequence +of his victories; by which, likewise, he acquired the title of Louis le +Grand. But how were those victories obtained? Not by any personal merit +of Louis. It was Colbert who improved his finances, and enabled him to +pay his army. It was Louvois that provided all the necessaries of war. +It was a Conde, a Turenne, a Luxemburg, a Vendome, who fought his +battles; and his first conquests, for which he was deified by the pen +of adulation, were obtained almost without bloodshed, over weak, +dispirited, divided, and defenceless nations. It was Colbert that +improved the marine, instituted manufactures, encouraged commerce, +undertook works of public utility, and patronized the arts and +sciences. But Louis (you will say) had the merit of choosing and +supporting those ministers, and those generals. I answer, no. He found +Colbert and Louvois already chosen: he found Conde and Turenne in the +very zenith of military reputation. Luxemburg was Conde's pupil; and +Vendome, a prince of the blood, who at first obtained the command of +armies in consequence of his high birth, and happened to turn out a man +of genius. The same Louis had the sagacity to revoke the edict of +Nantz; to entrust his armies to a Tallard, a Villeroy, and a Marsin. He +had the humanity to ravage the country, burn the towns, and massacre +the people of the Palatinate. He had the patriotism to impoverish and +depopulate his own kingdom, in order to prosecute schemes of the most +lawless ambition. He had the Consolation to beg a peace from those he +had provoked to war by the most outrageous insolence; and he had the +glory to espouse Mrs. Maintenon in her old age, the widow of the +buffoon Scarron. Without all doubt, it was from irony he acquired the +title le Grand. + +Having received a favourable answer from Mr. B--, the English consul at +Nice, and recommended the care of my heavy baggage to Mr. Ray, who +undertook to send it by sea from Cette to Villefranche, I hired a coach +and mules for seven loui'dores, and set out from Montpellier on the +13th of November, the weather being agreeable, though the air was cold +and frosty. In other respects there were no signs of winter: the olives +were now ripe, and appeared on each side of the road as black as sloes; +and the corn was already half a foot high. On the second day of our +journey, we passed the Rhone on a bridge of boats at Buccaire, and lay +on the other side at Tarrascone. Next day we put up at a wretched place +called Orgon, where, however, we were regaled with an excellent supper; +and among other delicacies, with a dish of green pease. Provence is a +pleasant country, well cultivated; but the inns are not so good here as +in Languedoc, and few of them are provided with a certain convenience +which an English traveller can very ill dispense with. Those you find +are generally on the tops of houses, exceedingly nasty; and so much +exposed to the weather, that a valetudinarian cannot use them without +hazard of his life. At Nismes in Languedoc, where we found the Temple +of Cloacina in a most shocking condition, the servant-maid told me her +mistress had caused it to be made on purpose for the English +travellers; but now she was very sorry for what she had done, as all +the French who frequented her house, instead of using the seat, left +their offerings on the floor, which she was obliged to have cleaned +three or four times a day. This is a degree of beastliness, which would +appear detestable even in the capital of North-Britain. On the fourth +day of our pilgrimage, we lay in the suburbs of Aix, but did not enter +the city, which I had a great curiosity to see. The villainous asthma +baulked me of that satisfaction. I was pinched with the cold, and +impatient to reach a warmer climate. Our next stage was at a paltry +village, where we were poorly entertained. I looked so ill in the +morning, that the good woman of the house, who was big with child, took +me by the hand at parting, and even shed tears, praying fervently that +God would restore me to my health. This was the only instance of +sympathy, compassion, or goodness of heart, that I had met with among +the publicans of France. Indeed at Valencia, our landlady, +understanding I was travelling to Montpellier for my health would have +dissuaded me from going thither; and exhorted me, in particular, to +beware of the physicians, who were all a pack of assassins. She advised +me to eat fricassees of chickens, and white meat, and to take a good +bouillon every morning. + +A bouillon is an universal remedy among the good people of France; +insomuch, that they have no idea of any person's dying, after having +swallowed un bon bouillon. One of the English gentlemen, who were +robbed and murdered about thirty years ago between Calais and Boulogne, +being brought to the post-house of Boulogne with some signs of life, +this remedy was immediately administered. "What surprises me greatly, +(said the post-master, speaking of this melancholy story to a friend of +mine, two years after it happened) I made an excellent bouillon, and +poured it down his throat with my own hands, and yet he did not +recover." Now, in all probability, this bouillon it was that stopped +his breath. When I was a very young man, I remember to have seen a +person suffocated by such impertinent officiousness. A young man of +uncommon parts and erudition, very well esteemed at the university of +G--ow was found early one morning in a subterranean vault among the +ruins of an old archiepiscopal palace, with his throat cut from ear to +ear. Being conveyed to a public-house in the neighbourhood, he made +signs for pen, ink, and paper, and in all probability would have +explained the cause of this terrible catastrophe, when an old woman, +seeing the windpipe, which was cut, sticking out of the wound, and +mistaking it for the gullet, by way of giving him a cordial to support +his spirits, poured into it, through a small funnel, a glass of burnt +brandy, which strangled him in the tenth part of a minute. The gash was +so hideous, and formed by so many repeated strokes of a razor, that the +surgeons believed he could not possibly be the perpetrator himself; +nevertheless this was certainly the case. + +At Brignolles, where we dined, I was obliged to quarrel with the +landlady, and threaten to leave her house, before she would indulge us +with any sort of flesh-meat. It was meagre day, and she had made her +provision accordingly. She even hinted some dissatisfaction at having +heretics in her house: but, as I was not disposed to eat stinking fish, +with ragouts of eggs and onions, I insisted upon a leg of mutton, and a +brace of fine partridges, which I found in the larder. Next day, when +we set out in the morning from Luc, it blew a north-westerly wind so +extremely cold and biting, that even a flannel wrapper could not keep +me tolerably warm in the coach. Whether the cold had put our coachman +in a bad humour, or he had some other cause of resentment against +himself, I know not; but we had not gone above a quarter of a mile, +when he drove the carriage full against the corner of a garden wall, +and broke the axle-tree, so that we were obliged to return to the inn +on foot, and wait a whole day, until a new piece could be made and +adjusted. The wind that blew, is called Maestral, in the Provencial +dialect, and indeed is the severest that ever I felt. At this inn, we +met with a young French officer who had been a prisoner in England, and +spoke our language pretty well. He told me, that such a wind did not +blow above twice or three times in a winter, and was never of long +continuance, that in general, the weather was very mild and agreeable +during the winter months; that living was very cheap in this part of +Provence, which afforded great plenty of game. Here, too, I found a +young Irish recollet, in his way from Rome to his own country. He +complained, that he was almost starved by the inhospitable disposition +of the French people; and that the regular clergy, in particular, had +treated him with the most cruel disdain. I relieved his necessities, +and gave him a letter to a gentleman of his own country at Montpellier. + +When I rose in the morning, and opened a window that looked into the +garden, I thought myself either in a dream, or bewitched. All the trees +were cloathed with snow, and all the country covered at least a foot +thick. "This cannot be the south of France, (said I to myself) it must +be the Highlands of Scotland!" At a wretched town called Muy, where we +dined, I had a warm dispute with our landlord, which, however, did not +terminate to my satisfaction. I sent on the mules before, to the next +stage, resolving to take post-horses, and bespoke them accordingly of +the aubergiste, who was, at the same time, inn-keeper and post-master. +We were ushered into the common eating-room, and had a very indifferent +dinner; after which, I sent a loui'dore to be changed, in order to pay +the reckoning. The landlord, instead of giving the full change, +deducted three livres a head for dinner, and sent in the rest of the +money by my servant. Provoked more at his ill manners, than at his +extortion, I ferreted him out of a bed-chamber, where he had concealed +himself, and obliged him to restore the full change, from which I paid +him at the rate of two livres a head. He refused to take the money, +which I threw down on the table; and the horses being ready, stepped +into the coach, ordering the postillions to drive on. Here I had +certainly reckoned without my host. The fellows declared they would not +budge, until I should pay their master; and as I threatened them with +manual chastisement, they alighted, and disappeared in a twinkling. I +was now so incensed, that though I could hardly breathe; though the +afternoon was far advanced, and the street covered with wet snow, I +walked to the consul of the town, and made my complaint in form. This +magistrate, who seemed to be a taylor, accompanied me to the inn, where +by this time the whole town was assembled, and endeavoured to persuade +me to compromise the affair. I said, as he was the magistrate, I would +stand to his award. He answered, "that he would not presume to +determine what I was to pay." I have already paid him a reasonable +price for his dinner, (said I) and now I demand post-horses according +to the king's ordonnance. The aubergiste said the horses were ready, +but the guides were run away; and he could not find others to go in +their place. I argued with great vehemence, offering to leave a +loui'dore for the poor of the parish, provided the consul would oblige +the rascal to do his duty. The consul shrugged up his shoulders, and +declared it was not in his power. This was a lie, but I perceived he +had no mind to disoblige the publican. If the mules had not been sent +away, I should certainly have not only payed what I thought proper, but +corrected the landlord into the bargain, for his insolence and +extortion; but now I was entirely at his mercy, and as the consul +continued to exhort me in very humble terms, to comply with his +demands, I thought proper to acquiesce. Then the postillions +immediately appeared: the crowd seemed to exult in the triumph of the +aubergiste; and I was obliged to travel in the night, in very severe +weather, after all the fatigue and mortification I had undergone. + +We lay at Frejus, which was the Forum Julianum of the antients, and +still boasts of some remains of antiquity; particularly the ruins of an +amphitheatre, and an aqueduct. The first we passed in the dark, and +next morning the weather was so cold that I could not walk abroad to +see it. The town is at present very inconsiderable, and indeed in a +ruinous condition. Nevertheless, we were very well lodged at the +post-house, and treated with more politeness than we had met with in +any other part of France. + +As we had a very high mountain to ascend in the morning, I ordered the +mules on before to the next post, and hired six horses for the coach. +At the east end of Frejus, we saw close to the road on our left-hand, +the arcades of the antient aqueduct, and the ruins of some Roman +edifices, which seemed to have been temples. There was nothing striking +in the architecture of the aqueduct. The arches are small and low, +without either grace or ornament, and seem to have been calculated for +mere utility. + +The mountain of Esterelles, which is eight miles over, was formerly +frequented by a gang of desperate banditti, who are now happily +exterminated: the road is very good, but in some places very steep and +bordered by precipices. The mountain is covered with pines, and the +laurus cerasus, the fruit of which being now ripe, made a most romantic +appearance through the snow that lay upon the branches. The cherries +were so large that I at first mistook them for dwarf oranges. I think +they are counted poisonous in England, but here the people eat them +without hesitation. In the middle of the mountain is the post-house, +where we dined in a room so cold, that the bare remembrance of it makes +my teeth chatter. After dinner I chanced to look into another chamber +that fronted the south, where the sun shone; and opening a window +perceived, within a yard of my hand, a large tree loaded with oranges, +many of which were ripe. You may judge what my astonishment was to find +Winter in all his rigour reigning on one side of the house, and Summer +in all her glory on the other. Certain it is, the middle of this +mountain seemed to be the boundary of the cold weather. As we proceeded +slowly in the afternoon we were quite enchanted. This side of the hill +is a natural plantation of the most agreeable ever-greens, pines, firs, +laurel, cypress, sweet myrtle, tamarisc, box, and juniper, interspersed +with sweet marjoram, lavender, thyme, wild thyme, and sage. On the +right-hand the ground shoots up into agreeable cones, between which you +have delightful vistas of the Mediterranean, which washes the foot of +the rock; and between two divisions of the mountains, there is a bottom +watered by a charming stream, which greatly adds to the rural beauties +of the scene. + +This night we passed at Cannes, a little fishing town, agreeably +situated on the beach of the sea, and in the same place lodged Monsieur +Nadeau d'Etrueil, the unfortunate French governor of Guadeloupe, +condemned to be imprisoned for life in one of the isles Marguerite, +which lie within a mile of this coast. + +Next day we journeyed by the way of Antibes, a small maritime town, +tolerably well fortified; and passing the little river Loup, over a +stone-bridge, arrived about noon at the village of St. Laurent, the +extremity of France, where we passed the Var, after our baggage had +undergone examination. From Cannes to this village the road lies along +the sea-side; and sure nothing can be more delightful. Though in the +morning there was a frost upon the ground, the sun was as warm as it is +in May in England. The sea was quite smooth, and the beach formed of +white polished pebbles; on the left-hand the country was covered with +green olives, and the side of the road planted with large trees of +sweet myrtle growing wild like the hawthorns in England. From Antibes +we had the first view of Nice, lying on the opposite side of the bay, +and making a very agreeable appearance. The author of the Grand Tour +says, that from Antibes to Nice the roads are very bad, through rugged +mountains bordered with precipices On the left, and by the sea to the +right; whereas, in fact, there is neither precipice nor mountain near +it. + +The Var, which divides the county of Nice from Provence, is no other +than a torrent fed chiefly by the snow that melts on the maritime Alps, +from which it takes its origin. In the summer it is swelled to a +dangerous height, and this is also the case after heavy rains: but at +present the middle of it is quite dry, and the water divided into two +or three narrow streams, which, however, are both deep and rapid. This +river has been absurdly enough by some supposed the Rubicon, in all +probability from the description of that river in the Pharsalia of +Lucan, who makes it the boundary betwixt Gaul and Italy-- + + --et Gallica certus + Limes ab Ausoniis disterminat arva colonis. + + A sure Frontier that parts the Gallic plains + From the rich meadows of th' Ansonian swains. + +whereas, in fact, the Rubicon, now called Pisatello, runs between +Ravenna and Rimini.--But to return to the Var. At the village of St. +Laurent, famous for its Muscadine wines, there is a set of guides +always in attendance to conduct you in your passage over the river. Six +of those fellows, tucked up above the middle, with long poles in their +hands, took charge of our coach, and by many windings guided it safe to +the opposite shore. Indeed there was no occasion for any; but it is a +sort of a perquisite, and I did not choose to run any risque, how small +soever it might be, for the sake of saving half a crown, with which +they were satisfied. If you do not gratify the searchers at St. Laurent +with the same sum, they will rummage your trunks, and turn all your +cloaths topsy turvy. And here, once for all, I would advise every +traveller who consults his own case and convenience, to be liberal of +his money to all that sort of people; and even to wink at the +imposition of aubergistes on the road, unless it be very flagrant. So +sure as you enter into disputes with them, you will be put to a great +deal of trouble, and fret yourself to no manner of purpose. I have +travelled with oeconomists in England, who declared they would rather +give away a crown than allow themselves to be cheated of a farthing. +This is a good maxim, but requires a great share of resolution and +self-denial to put it in practice. In one excursion of about two +hundred miles my fellow-traveller was in a passion, and of consequence +very bad company from one end of the journey to the other. He was +incessantly scolding either at landlords, landladies, waiters, +hostlers, or postilions. We had bad horses, and bad chaises; set out +from every stage with the curses of the people; and at this expence I +saved about ten shillings in the whole journey. For such a paltry +consideration, he was contented to be miserable himself, and to make +every other person unhappy with whom he had any concern. When I came +last from Bath it rained so hard, that the postilion who drove the +chaise was wet to the skin before we had gone a couple of miles. When +we arrived at the Devises, I gave him two shillings instead of one, out +of pure compassion. The consequence of this liberality was, that in the +next stage we seemed rather to fly than to travel upon solid ground. I +continued my bounty to the second driver, and indeed through the whole +journey, and found myself accommodated in a very different manner from +what I had experienced before. I had elegant chaises, with excellent +horses; and the postilions of their own accord used such diligence, +that although the roads were broken by the rain, I travelled at the +rate of twelve miles an hour; and my extraordinary expence from Bath to +London, amounted precisely to six shillings. + +The river Var falls into the Mediterranean a little below St. Laurent, +about four miles to the westward of Nice. Within the memory of persons +now living, there have been three wooden bridges thrown over it, and as +often destroyed in consequence of the jealousy subsisting between the +kings of France and Sardinia; this river being the boundary of their +dominions on the side of Provence. However, this is a consideration +that ought not to interfere with the other advantages that would accrue +to both kingdoms from such a convenience. If there was a bridge over +the Var, and a post-road made from Nice to Genoa, I am very confident +that all those strangers who now pass the Alps in their way to and from +Italy, would choose this road as infinitely more safe, commodious, and +agreeable. This would also be the case with all those who hire felucas +from Marseilles or Antibes, and expose themselves to the dangers and +inconveniences of travelling by sea in an open boat. + +In the afternoon we arrived at Nice, where we found Mr. M--e, the +English gentleman whom I had seen at Boulogne, and advised to come +hither. He had followed my advice, and reached Nice about a month +before my arrival, with his lady, child, and an old gouvernante. He had +travelled with his own post-chaise and horses, and is now lodged just +without one of the gates of the city, in the house of the count de +V--n, for which he pays five loui'dores a month. I could hire one much +better in the neighbourhood of London, for the same money. Unless you +will submit to this extortion, and hire a whole house for a length of +time, you will find no ready-furnished lodgings at Nice. After having +stewed a week in a paltry inn, I have taken a ground floor for ten +months at the rate of four hundred livres a year, that is twenty pounds +sterling, for the Piedmontese livre is about an English shilling. The +apartments are large, lofty, and commodious enough, with two small +gardens, in which there is plenty of sallad, and a great number of +oranges and lemons: but as it required some time to provide furniture, +our consul Mr. B--d, one of the best natured and most friendly men in +the world, has lent me his lodgings, which are charmingly situated by +the sea-side, and open upon a terrace, that runs parallel to the beach, +forming part of the town wall. Mr. B--d himself lives at Villa Franca, +which is divided from Nice by a single mountain, on the top of which +there is a small fort, called the castle of Montalban. Immediately +after our arrival we were visited by one Mr. de Martines, a most +agreeable young fellow, a lieutenant in the Swiss regiment, which is +here in garrison. He is a Protestant, extremely fond of our nation, and +understands our language tolerably well. He was particularly +recommended to our acquaintance by general P-- and his lady; we are +happy in his conversation; find him wonderfully obliging, and extremely +serviceable on many occasions. We have likewise made acquaintance with +some other individuals, particularly with Mr. St. Pierre, junior, who +is a considerable merchant, and consul for Naples. He is a well-bred, +sensible young man, speaks English, is an excellent performer on the +lute and mandolin, and has a pretty collection of books. In a word, I +hope we shall pass the winter agreeably enough, especially if Mr. M--e +should hold out; but I am afraid he is too far gone in a consumption to +recover. He spent the last winter at Nismes, and consulted F-- at +Montpellier. I was impatient to see the prescription, and found it +almost verbatim the same he had sent to me; although I am persuaded +there is a very essential difference between our disorders. Mr. M--e +has been long afflicted with violent spasms, colliquative sweats, +prostration of appetite, and a disorder in his bowels. He is likewise +jaundiced all over, and I am confident his liver is unsound. He tried +the tortoise soup, which he said in a fortnight stuffed him up with +phlegm. This gentleman has got a smattering of physic, and I am afraid +tampers with his own constitution, by means of Brookes's Practice of +Physic, and some dispensatories, which he is continually poring over. I +beg pardon for this tedious epistle, and am--Very sincerely, dear Sir, +Your affectionate, humble servant. + + + +LETTER XIII + +NICE, January 15, 1764. + +DEAR SIR,--I am at last settled at Nice, and have leisure to give you +some account of this very remarkable place. The county of Nice extends +about fourscore miles in length, and in some places it is thirty miles +broad. It contains several small towns, and a great number of villages; +all of which, this capital excepted, are situated among mountains, the +most extensive plain of the whole country being this where I now am, in +the neighbourhood of Nice. The length of it does not exceed two miles, +nor is the breadth of it, in any part, above one. It is bounded by the +Mediterranean on the south. From the sea-shore, the maritime Alps begin +with hills of a gentle ascent, rising into mountains that form a sweep +or amphitheatre ending at Montalban, which overhangs the town of Villa +Franca. On the west side of this mountain, and in the eastern extremity +of the amphitheatre, stands the city of Nice, wedged in between a steep +rock and the little river Paglion, which descends from the mountains, +and washing the town-walls on the west side, falls into the sea, after +having filled some canals for the use of the inhabitants. There is a +stone-bridge of three arches over it, by which those who come from +Provence enter the city. The channel of it is very broad, but generally +dry in many places; the water (as in the Var) dividing itself into +several small streams. The Paglion being fed by melted snow and rain in +the mountains, is quite dry in summer; but it is sometimes swelled by +sudden rains to a very formidable torrent. This was the case in the +year 1744, when the French and Spanish armies attacked eighteen +Piedmontese battalions, which were posted on the side of Montalban. The +assailants were repulsed with the loss of four thousand men, some +hundreds of whom perished in repassing the Paglion, which had swelled +to a surprising degree during the battle, in consequence of a heavy +continued rain. This rain was of great service to the Piedmontese, as +it prevented one half of the enemy from passing the river to sustain +the other. Five hundred were taken prisoners: but the Piedmontese, +foreseeing they should be surrounded next day by the French, who had +penetrated behind them, by a pass in the mountains, retired in the +night. Being received on board the English Fleet, which lay at Villa +Franca, they were conveyed to Oneglia. In examining the bodies of those +that were killed in the battle, the inhabitants of Nice perceived, that +a great number of the Spanish soldiers were circumcised; a +circumstance, from which they concluded, that a great many Jews engage +in the service of his Catholic majesty. I am of a different opinion. +The Jews are the least of any people that I know, addicted to a +military life. I rather imagine they were of the Moorish race, who have +subsisted in Spain, since the expulsion of their brethren; and though +they conform externally to the rites of the Catholic religion, still +retain in private their attachment to the law of Mahomet. + +The city of Nice is built in form of an irregular isosceles triangle, +the base of which fronts the sea. On the west side it is surrounded by +a wall and rampart; on the east, it is over-hung by a rock, on which we +see the ruins of an old castle, which, before the invention of +artillery, was counted impregnable. It was taken and dismantled by +marechal Catinat, in the time of Victor Amadaeus, the father of his +Sardinian majesty. It was afterwards finally demolished by the duke of +Berwick towards the latter end of queen Anne's war. To repair it would +be a very unnecessary expence, as it is commanded by Montalban, and +several other eminences. + +The town of Nice is altogether indefensible, and therefore without +fortifications. There are only two iron guns upon a bastion that fronts +the beach; and here the French had formed a considerable battery +against the English cruisers, in the war of 1744, when the Mareschal +Duke de Belleisle had his headquarters at Nice. This little town, +situated in the bay of Antibes, is almost equidistant from Marseilles, +Turin, and Genoa, the first and last being about thirty leagues from +hence by sea; and the capital of Piedmont at the same distance to the +northward, over the mountains. It lies exactly opposite to Capo di +Ferro, on the coast of Barbary; and, the islands of Sardinia and +Corsica are laid down about two degrees to the eastward, almost exactly +in a line with Genoa. This little town, hardly a mile in circumference, +is said to contain twelve thousand inhabitants. The streets are narrow; +the houses are built of stone, and the windows in general are fitted +with paper instead of glass. This expedient would not answer in a +country subject to rain and storms; but here, where there is very +little of either, the paper lozenges answer tolerably well. The +bourgeois, however, begin to have their houses sashed with glass. +Between the town-wall and the sea, the fishermen haul up their boats +upon the open beach; but on the other side of the rock, where the +castle stood, is the port or harbour of Nice, upon which some money has +been expended. It is a small basin, defended to seaward by a mole of +free-stone, which is much better contrived than executed: for the sea +has already made three breaches in it; and in all probability, in +another winter, the extremity of it will be carried quite away. It +would require the talents of a very skilful architect to lay the +foundation of a good mole, on an open beach like this; exposed to the +swell of the whole Mediterranean, without any island or rock in the +offing, to break the force of the waves. Besides, the shore is bold, +and the bottom foul. There are seventeen feet of water in the basin, +sufficient to float vessels of one hundred and fifty ton; and this is +chiefly supplied by a small stream of very fine water; another great +convenience for shipping. On the side of the mole, there is a constant +guard of soldiers, and a battery of seven cannon, pointing to the sea. +On the other side, there is a curious manufacture for twisting or +reeling silk; a tavern, a coffee-house, and several other buildings, +for the convenience of the sea-faring people. Without the harbour, is a +lazarette, where persons coming from infected places, are obliged to +perform quarantine. The harbour has been declared a free-port, and it +is generally full of tartans, polacres, and other small vessels, that +come from Sardinia, Ivica, Italy, and Spain, loaded with salt, wine, +and other commodities; but here is no trade of any great consequence. + +The city of Nice is provided with a senate, which administers justice +under the auspices of an avocat-general, sent hither by the king. The +internal oeconomy of the town is managed by four consuls; one for the +noblesse, another for the merchants, a third for the bourgeois, and a +fourth for the peasants. These are chosen annually from the +town-council. They keep the streets and markets in order, and +superintend the public works. There is also an intendant, who takes +care of his majesty's revenue: but there is a discretionary power +lodged in the person of the commandant, who is always an officer of +rank in the service, and has under his immediate command the regiment +which is here in garrison. That which is here now is a Swiss battalion, +of which the king has five or six in his service. There is likewise a +regiment of militia, which is exercised once a year. But of all these +particulars, I shall speak more fully on another occasion. + +When I stand upon the rampart, and look round me, I can scarce help +thinking myself inchanted. The small extent of country which I see, is +all cultivated like a garden. Indeed, the plain presents nothing but +gardens, full of green trees, loaded with oranges, lemons, citrons, and +bergamots, which make a delightful appearance. If you examine them more +nearly, you will find plantations of green pease ready to gather; all +sorts of sallading, and pot-herbs, in perfection; and plats of roses, +carnations, ranunculas, anemonies, and daffodils, blowing in full +glory, with such beauty, vigour, and perfume, as no flower in England +ever exhibited. + +I must tell you, that presents of carnations are sent from hence, in +the winter, to Turin and Paris; nay, sometimes as far as London, by the +post. They are packed up in a wooden box, without any sort of +preparation, one pressed upon another: the person who receives them, +cuts off a little bit of the stalk, and steeps them for two hours in +vinegar and water, when they recover their full bloom and beauty. Then +he places them in water-bottles, in an apartment where they are +screened from the severities of the weather; and they will continue +fresh and unfaded the best part of a month. + +Amidst the plantations in the neighbourhood of Nice, appear a vast +number of white bastides, or country-houses, which make a dazzling +shew. Some few of these are good villas, belonging to the noblesse of +this county; and even some of the bourgeois are provided with pretty +lodgeable cassines; but in general, they are the habitations of the +peasants, and contain nothing but misery and vermin. They are all built +square; and, being whitened with lime or plaister, contribute greatly +to the richness of the view. The hills are shaded to the tops with +olive-trees, which are always green; and those hills are over-topped by +more distant mountains, covered with snow. When I turn myself towards +the sea, the view is bounded by the horizon; yet in a clear morning, +one can perceive the high lands of Corsica. On the right hand, it is +terminated by Antibes, and the mountain of Esterelles, which I +described in my last. As for the weather, you will conclude, from what +I have said of the oranges, flowers, etc. that it must be wonderfully +mild and serene: but of the climate, I shall speak hereafter. Let me +only observe, en passant, that the houses in general have no chimnies, +but in their kitchens; and that many people, even of condition, at +Nice, have no fire in their chambers, during the whole winter. When the +weather happens to be a little more sharp than usual, they warm their +apartments with a brasiere or pan of charcoal. + +Though Nice itself retains few marks of antient splendor, there are +considerable monuments of antiquity in its neighbourhood. About two +short miles from the town, upon the summit of a pretty high hill, we +find the ruins of the antient city Cemenelion, now called Cimia, which +was once the metropolis of the Maritime Alps, and the scat of a Roman +president. With respect to situation, nothing could be more agreeable +or salubrious. It stood upon the gentle ascent and summit of a hill, +fronting the Mediterranean; from the shore of which, it is distant +about half a league; and, on the other side, it overlooked a bottom, or +narrow vale, through which the Paglion (antiently called Paulo) runs +towards the walls of Nice. It was inhabited by a people, whom Ptolomy +and Pliny call the Vedantij: but these were undoubtedly mixed with a +Roman colony, as appears by the monuments which still remain; I mean +the ruins of an amphitheatre, a temple of Apollo, baths, aqueducts, +sepulchral, and other stones, with inscriptions, and a great number of +medals which the peasants have found by accident, in digging and +labouring the vineyards and cornfields, which now cover the ground +where the city stood. + +Touching this city, very little is to be learned from the antient +historians: but that it was the seat of a Roman praeses, is proved by +the two following inscriptions, which are still extant. + + P. AELIO. SEVERINO. + V. E. P. + PRAESIDI. OPTIMO. + ORDO. CEMEN. + PATRONO. + +By the Senate of Cemenelion, Dedicated to His Excellency P. Aelius +Severinus, the best of Governors and Patrons. + +This is now in the possession of the count de Gubernatis, who has a +country-house upon the spot. The other, found near the same place, is +in praise of the praeses Marcus Aurelius Masculus. + + M. AVRELIO. MASCVLO. + V. E. + OB. EXIMIAM. PRAESIDATVS + EIVS. INTEGRITATEM. ET + EGREGIAM. AD OMNES HOMINES + MANSVETVDINEM. ET. VRGENTIS + ANNONAE. SINCERAM. PRAEBITIONEM. + AC. MVNIFICENTIAM. ET. QVOD. AQVAE + VSVM. VETVSTATE. LAPSVM. REQVI- + SITVM. AC. REPERTVM. SAECVLI + FELICITATE. CVRSVI. PRISTINO + REDDIDERIT. + COLLEG. III. + QVIB. EX. SCC. P. EST + PATRONO. DIGNISS. + +Inscribed by the three corporations under the authority of the Senate, +to their most worthy Patron, His Excellency M. Aurelius Masculus, in +testimony of their gratitude for the blessings of his incorruptible +administration, his wonderful affability to all without Distinction, +his generous Distribution of Corn in time of Dearth, his munificence in +repairing the ruinous aqueduct, in searching for, discovering and +restoring the water to its former course for the Benefit of the +Community. + +This president well deserved such a mark of respect from a people whom +he had assisted in two such essential articles, as their corn and their +water. You know the praeses of a Roman province had the jus sigendi +clavi, the right to drive a nail in the Kalendar, the privilege of +wearing the latus clavus, or broad studs on his garment, the gladius, +infula, praetexta, purpura & annulus aureus, the Sword, Diadem, purple +Robe, and gold Ring, he had his vasa, vehicula, apparitores, Scipio +eburneus, & sella curulis, Kettledrums, [I know the kettledrum is a +modern invention; but the vasa militari modo conclamata was something +analogous.] Chariots, Pursuivants, ivory staff, and chair of state. + +I shall give you one more sepulchral inscription on a marble, which is +now placed over the gate of the church belonging to the convent of St. +Pont, a venerable building, which stands at the bottom of the hill, +fronting the north side of the town of Nice. This St. Pont, or Pontius, +was a Roman convert to Christianity, who suffered martyrdom at +Cemenelion in the year 261, during the reigns of the emperors Valerian +and Gallienus. The legends recount some ridiculous miracles wrought in +favour of this saint, both before and after his death. Charles V. +emperor of Germany and king of Spain, caused this monastery to be built +on the spot where Pontius suffered decapitation. But to return to the +inscription: it appears in these words. + + M. M. A. + FLAVIAE. BASILLAE. CONIVG. CARISSIM. + DOM. ROMA. MIRAE. ERGA. MARITUM. AMORIS. + ADQ. CASTITAT. FAEMINAE. QVAE. VIXIT + ANN. XXXV. M. III. DIEB. XII. AVRELIVS + RHODISMANVS. AVG. LIB. COMMEM. ALP. + MART. ET. AVRELIA, ROMVLA. FILII. + IMPATIENTISSIM. DOLOR. EIVS. ADFLICTI + ADQ. DESOLATI. CARISSIM. AC MERENT. FERET. + FEC. ET. DED, + +Freely consecrated by Aurelius Rhodismanus, the Emperor's Freedman, to +the much honoured memory of his dear Consort Flavia Aurelia of Rome, a +woman equally distinguished by her unblemished Virtue and conjugal +affection. His children Martial and Aurelia Romula deeply affected and +distressed by the Violence of his Grief, erected and dedicated a +monument to their dear deserving Parent. [I don't pretend to translate +these inscriptions literally, because I am doubtful about the meaning +of some abbreviations.] + +The amphitheatre of Cemenelion is but very small, compared to that of +Nismes. The arena is ploughed up, and bears corn: some of the seats +remain, and part of two opposite porticos; but all the columns, and the +external facade of the building, are taken away so that it is +impossible to judge of the architecture, all we can perceive is, that +it was built in an oval form. About one hundred paces from the +amphitheatre stood an antient temple, supposed to have been dedicated +to Apollo. The original roof is demolished, as well as the portico; the +vestiges of which may still be traced. The part called the Basilica, +and about one half of the Cella Sanctior, remain, and are converted +into the dwelling-house and stable of the peasant who takes care of the +count de Gubernatis's garden, in which this monument stands. In the +Cella Sanctior, I found a lean cow, a he-goat, and a jack-ass; the very +same conjunction of animals which I had seen drawing a plough in +Burgundy. Several mutilated statues have been dug up from the ruins of +this temple; and a great number of medals have been found in the +different vineyards which now occupy the space upon which stood the +antient city of Cemenelion. These were of gold, silver, and brass. Many +of them were presented to Charles Emanuel I. duke of Savoy. The prince +of Monaco has a good number of them in his collection; and the rest are +in private hands. The peasants, in digging, have likewise found many +urns, lachrymatories, and sepulchral stones, with epitaphs, which are +now dispersed among different convents and private houses. All this +ground is a rich mine of antiquities, which, if properly worked, would +produce a great number of valuable curiosities. Just by the temple of +Apollo were the ruins of a bath, composed of great blocks of marble, +which have been taken away for the purposes of modern building. In all +probability, many other noble monuments of this city have been +dilapidated by the same barbarous oeconomy. There are some subterranean +vaults, through which the water was conducted to this bath, still +extant in the garden of the count de Gubernatis. Of the aqueduct that +conveyed water to the town, I can say very little, but that it was +scooped through a mountain: that this subterranean passage was +discovered some years ago, by removing the rubbish which choaked it up: +that the people penetrating a considerable way, by the help of lighted +torches, found a very plentiful stream of water flowing in an aqueduct, +as high as an ordinary man, arched over head, and lined with a sort of +cement. They could not, however, trace this stream to its source; and +it is again stopped up with earth and rubbish. There is not a soul in +this country, who has either spirit or understanding to conduct an +inquiry of this kind. Hard by the amphitheatre is a convent of +Recollets, built in a very romantic situation, on the brink of a +precipice. On one side of their garden, they ascend to a kind of +esplanade, which they say was part of the citadel of Cemenelion. They +have planted it with cypress-trees, and flowering-shrubs. One of the +monks told me, that it is vaulted below, as they can plainly perceive +by the sound of their instruments used in houghing the ground. A very +small expence would bring the secrets of this cavern to light. They +have nothing to do, but to make a breach in the wall, which appears +uncovered towards the garden. + +The city of Cemenelion was first sacked by the Longobards, who made an +irruption into Provence, under their king Alboinus, about the middle of +the sixth century. It was afterwards totally destroyed by the Saracens, +who, at different times, ravaged this whole coast. The remains of the +people are supposed to have changed their habitation, and formed a +coalition with the inhabitants of Nice. + +What further I have to say of Nice, you shall know in good time; at +present, I have nothing to add, but what you very well know, that I am +always your affectionate humble servant. + + + +LETTER, XIV + +NICE, January 20, 1764. + +DEAR SIR,--Last Sunday I crossed Montalban on horseback, with some +Swiss officers, on a visit to our consul, Mr. B--d, who lives at Ville +Franche, about half a league from Nice. It is a small town, built upon +the side of a rock, at the bottom of the harbour, which is a fine +basin, surrounded with hills on every side, except to the south, where +it lies open to the sea. If there was a small island in the mouth of +it, to break off the force of the waves, when the wind is southerly, it +would be one of the finest harbours in the world; for the ground is +exceeding good for anchorage: there is a sufficient depth of water, and +room enough for the whole navy of England. On the right hand, as you +enter the port, there is an elegant fanal, or lighthouse, kept in good +repair: but in all the charts of this coast which I have seen, this +lanthorn is laid down to the westward of the harbour; an error equally +absurd and dangerous, as it may mislead the navigator, and induce him +to run his ship among the rocks, to the eastward of the lighthouse, +where it would undoubtedly perish. Opposite to the mouth of the harbour +is the fort, which can be of no service, but in defending the shipping +and the town by sea; for, by land, it is commanded by Montalban, and +all the hills in the neighbourhood. In the war of 1744, it was taken +and retaken. At present, it is in tolerable good repair. On the left of +the fort, is the basin for the gallies, with a kind of dock, in which +they are built, and occasionally laid up to be refitted. This basin is +formed by a pretty stone mole; and here his Sardinian majesty's two +gallies lie perfectly secure, moored with their sterns close to the +jette. I went on board one of these vessels, and saw about two hundred +miserable wretches, chained to the banks on which they sit and row, +when the galley is at sea. This is a sight which a British subject, +sensible of the blessing he enjoys, cannot behold without horror and +compassion. Not but that if we consider the nature of the case, with +coolness and deliberation, we must acknowledge the justice, and even +sagacity, of employing for the service of the public, those malefactors +who have forfeited their title to the privileges of the community. +Among the slaves at Ville Franche is a Piedmontese count, condemned to +the gallies for life, in consequence of having been convicted of +forgery. He is permitted to live on shore; and gets money by employing +the other slaves to knit stockings for sale. He appears always in the +Turkish habit, and is in a fair way of raising a better fortune than +that which he has forfeited. + +It is a great pity, however, and a manifest outrage against the law of +nations, as well as of humanity, to mix with those banditti, the +Moorish and Turkish prisoners who are taken in the prosecution of open +war. It is certainly no justification of this barbarous practice, that +the Christian prisoners are treated as cruelly at Tunis and Algiers. It +would be for the honour of Christendom, to set an example of generosity +to the Turks; and, if they would not follow it, to join their naval +forces, and extirpate at once those nests of pirates, who have so long +infested the Mediterranean. Certainly, nothing can be more shameful, +than the treaties which France and the Maritime Powers have concluded +with those barbarians. They supply them with artillery, arms, and +ammunition, to disturb their neighbours. They even pay them a sort of +tribute, under the denomination of presents; and often put up with +insults tamely, for the sordid consideration of a little gain in the +way of commerce. They know that Spain, Sardinia, and almost all the +Catholic powers in the Mediterranean, Adriatic, and Levant, are at +perpetual war with those Mahometans; that while Algiers, Tunis, and +Sallee, maintain armed cruisers at sea, those Christian powers will not +run the risque of trading in their own bottoms, but rather employ as +carriers the maritime nations, who are at peace with the infidels. It +is for our share of this advantage, that we cultivate the piratical +States of Barbary, and meanly purchase passports of them, thus +acknowledging them masters of the Mediterranean. + +The Sardinian gallies are mounted each with five-and-twenty oars, and +six guns, six-pounders, of a side, and a large piece of artillery +amidships, pointing ahead, which (so far as I am able to judge) can +never be used point-blank, without demolishing the head or prow of the +galley. The accommodation on board for the officers is wretched. There +is a paltry cabin in the poop for the commander; but all the other +officers lie below the slaves, in a dungeon, where they have neither +light, air, nor any degree of quiet; half suffocated by the heat of the +place; tormented by fleas, bugs, and lice; and disturbed by the +incessant noise over head. The slaves lie upon the naked banks, without +any other covering than a tilt. This, however, is no great hardship, in +a climate where there is scarce any winter. They are fed with a very +scanty allowance of bread, and about fourteen beans a day and twice a +week they have a little rice, or cheese, but most of them, while they +are in harbour knit stockings, or do some other kind of work, which +enables them to make some addition to this wretched allowance. When +they happen to be at sea in bad weather, their situation is truly +deplorable. Every wave breaks over the vessel, and not only keeps them +continually wet, but comes with such force, that they are dashed +against the banks with surprising violence: sometimes their limbs are +broke, and sometimes their brains dashed out. It is impossible (they +say) to keep such a number of desperate people under any regular +command, without exercising such severities as must shock humanity. It +is almost equally impossible to maintain any tolerable degree of +cleanliness, where such a number of wretches are crouded together +without conveniences, or even the necessaries of life. They are ordered +twice a week to strip, clean, and bathe themselves in the sea: but, +notwithstanding all the precautions of discipline, they swarm with +vermin, and the vessel smells like an hospital, or crouded jail. They +seem, nevertheless, quite insensible of their misery, like so many +convicts in Newgate: they laugh and sing, and swear, and get drunk when +they can. When you enter by the stern, you are welcomed by a band of +music selected from the slaves; and these expect a gratification. If +you walk forwards, you must take care of your pockets. You will be +accosted by one or other of the slaves, with a brush and blacking-ball +for cleaning your shoes; and if you undergo this operation, it is ten +to one but your pocket is picked. If you decline his service, and keep +aloof, you will find it almost impossible to avoid a colony of vermin, +which these fellows have a very dexterous method of conveying to +strangers. Some of the Turkish prisoners, whose ransom or exchange is +expected, are allowed to go ashore, under proper inspection; and those +forcats, who have served the best part of the time for which they were +condemned, are employed in public works, under a guard of soldiers. At +the harbour of Nice, they are hired by ship-masters to bring ballast, +and have a small proportion of what they earn, for their own use: the +rest belongs to the king. They are distinguished by an iron shackle +about one of their legs. The road from Nice to Ville Franche is scarce +passable on horseback: a circumstance the more extraordinary, as those +slaves, in the space of two or three months, might even make it fit for +a carriage, and the king would not be one farthing out of pocket, for +they are quite idle the greatest part of the year. + +The gallies go to sea only in the summer. In tempestuous weather, they +could not live out of port. Indeed, they are good for nothing but in +smooth water during a calm; when, by dint of rowing, they make good +way. The king of Sardinia is so sensible of their inutility, that he +intends to let his gallies rot; and, in lieu of them, has purchased two +large frigates in England, one of fifty, and another of thirty guns, +which are now in the harbour of Ville Franche. He has also procured an +English officer, one Mr. A--, who is second in command on board of one +of them, and has the title of captain consulteur, that is, instructor +to the first captain, the marquis de M--i, who knows as little of +seamanship as I do of Arabic. + +The king, it is said, intends to have two or three more frigates, and +then he will be more than a match for the Barbary corsairs, provided +care be taken to man his fleet in a proper manner: but this will never +be done, unless he invites foreigners into his service, officers as +well as seamen; for his own dominions produce neither at present. If he +is really determined to make the most of the maritime situation of his +dominions, as well as of his alliance with Great-Britain, he ought to +supply his ships with English mariners, and put a British commander at +the head of his fleet. He ought to erect magazines and docks at Villa +Franca; or if there is not conveniency for building, he may at least +have pits and wharfs for heaving down and careening; and these ought to +be under the direction of Englishmen, who best understand all the +particulars of marine oeconomy. Without all doubt, he will not be able +to engage foreigners, without giving them liberal appointments; and +their being engaged in his service will give umbrage to his own +subjects: but, when the business is to establish a maritime power, +these considerations ought to be sacrificed to reasons of public +utility. Nothing can be more absurd and unreasonable, than the murmurs +of the Piedmontese officers at the preferment of foreigners, who +execute those things for the advantage of their country, of which they +know themselves incapable. When Mr. P--n was first promoted in the +service of his Sardinian majesty, he met with great opposition, and +numberless mortifications, from the jealousy of the Piedmontese +officers, and was obliged to hazard his life in many rencounters with +them, before they would be quiet. Being a man of uncommon spirit, he +never suffered the least insult or affront to pass unchastised. He had +repeated opportunities of signalizing his valour against the Turks; and +by dint of extraordinary merit, and long services not only attained the +chief command of the gallies, with the rank of lieutenant-general, but +also acquired a very considerable share of the king's favour, and was +appointed commandant of Nice. His Sardinian majesty found his account +more ways than one, in thus promoting Mr. P--n. He made the acquisition +of an excellent officer, of tried courage and fidelity, by whose advice +he conducted his marine affairs. This gentleman was perfectly well +esteemed at the court of London. In the war of 1744, he lived in the +utmost harmony with the British admirals who commanded our fleet in the +Mediterranean. In consequence of this good understanding, a thousand +occasional services were performed by the English ships, for the +benefit of his master, which otherwise could not have been done, +without a formal application to our ministry; in which case, the +opportunities would have been lost. I know our admirals had general +orders and instructions, to cooperate in all things with his Sardinian +majesty; but I know, also, by experience, how little these general +instructions avail, when the admiral is not cordially interested in the +service. Were the king of Sardinia at present engaged with England in a +new war against France, and a British squadron stationed upon this +coast, as formerly, he would find a great difference in this +particular. He should therefore carefully avoid having at Nice a +Savoyard commandant, utterly ignorant of sea affairs; unacquainted with +the true interest of his master; proud, and arbitrary; reserved to +strangers, from a prejudice of national jealousy; and particularly +averse to the English. + +With respect to the antient name of Villa Franca, there is a dispute +among antiquarians. It is not at all mentioned in the Itinerarium of +Antoninus, unless it is meant as the port of Nice. But it is more +surprising, that the accurate Strabo, in describing this coast, +mentions no such harbour. Some people imagine it is the Portus Herculis +Monaeci. But this is undoubtedly what is now called Monaco; the harbour +of which exactly tallies with what Strabo says of the Portus Monaeci-- +neque magnas, neque multas capit naves, It holds but a few vessels and +those of small burthen. Ptolomy, indeed, seems to mention it under the +name of Herculis Portus, different from the Portus Monaeci. His words +are these: post vari ostium ad Ligustrium mare, massiliensium, sunt +Nicaea, Herculis Portus, Trophaea Augusti, Monaeci Portus, Beyond the +mouth of the Var upon the Ligurian Coast, the Marsilian Colonies are +Nice, Port Hercules, Trophaea and Monaco. In that case, Hercules was +worshipped both here and at Monaco, and gave his name to both places. +But on this subject, I shall perhaps speak more fully in another +letter, after I have seen the Trophaea Augusti, now called Tourbia, and +the town of Monaco, which last is about three leagues from Nice. Here I +cannot help taking notice of the following elegant description from the +Pharsalia, which seems to have been intended for this very harbour. + + Finis et Hesperiae promoto milite varus, + Quaque sub Herculeo sacratus numine Portus + Urget rupe cava Pelagus, non Corus in illum + Jus habet, aut Zephirus, solus sua littora turbat + Circius, et tuta prohibet statione Monaeci. + + The Troops advanc'd as far + As flows th' Hesperian Boundary, the Var; + And where the mountain scoop'd by nature's hands, + The spacious Port of Hercules, expands; + + Here the tall ships at anchor safe remain + Tho' Zephyr blows, or Caurus sweeps the Plain; + The Southern Blast alone disturbs the Bay; + And to Monaco's safer Port obstructs the way. + +The present town of Villa Franca was built and settled in the +thirteenth century, by order of Charles II. king of the Sicilies, and +count of Provence, in order to defend the harbour from the descents of +the Saracens, who at that time infested the coast. The inhabitants were +removed hither from another town, situated on the top of a mountain in +the neighbourhood, which those pirates had destroyed. Some ruins of the +old town are still extant. In order to secure the harbour still more +effectually, Emanuel Philibert, duke of Savoy, built the fort in the +beginning of the last century, together with the mole where the gallies +are moored. As I said before, Ville Franche is built on the face of a +barren rock, washed by the sea; and there is not an acre of plain +ground within a mile of it. In summer, the reflexion of the sun from +the rocks must make it intolerably hot; for even at this time of the +year, I walked myself into a profuse sweat, by going about a quarter of +a mile to see the gallies. + +Pray remember me to our friends at A--'s, and believe me to be ever +yours. + + + +LETTER XV + +NICE, January 3, 1764. + +MADAM,--In your favour which I received by Mr. M--l, you remind me of +my promise, to communicate the remarks I have still to make on the +French nation; and at the same time you signify your opinion, that I am +too severe in my former observations. You even hint a suspicion, that +this severity is owing to some personal cause of resentment; but, I +protest, I have no particular cause of animosity against any individual +of that country. I have neither obligation to, nor quarrel with, any +subject of France; and when I meet with a Frenchman worthy of my +esteem, I can receive him into my friendship with as much cordiality, +as I could feel for any fellow-citizen of the same merit. I even +respect the nation, for the number of great men it has produced in all +arts and sciences. I respect the French officers, in particular, for +their gallantry and valour; and especially for that generous humanity +which they exercise towards their enemies, even amidst the horrors of +war. This liberal spirit is the only circumstance of antient chivalry, +which I think was worth preserving. It had formerly flourished in +England, but was almost extinguished in a succession of civil wars, +which are always productive of cruelty and rancour. It was Henry IV. of +France, (a real knight errant) who revived it in Europe. He possessed +that greatness of mind, which can forgive injuries of the deepest dye: +and as he had also the faculty of distinguishing characters, he found +his account, in favouring with his friendship and confidence, some of +those who had opposed him in the field with the most inveterate +perseverance. I know not whether he did more service to mankind in +general, by reviving the practice of treating his prisoners with +generosity, than he prejudiced his own country by patronizing the +absurd and pernicious custom of duelling, and establishing a punto, +founded in diametrical opposition to common sense and humanity. + +I have often heard it observed, that a French officer is generally an +agreeable companion when he is turned of fifty. Without all doubt, by +that time, the fire of his vivacity, which makes him so troublesome in +his youth, will be considerably abated, and in other respects, he must +be improved by his experience. But there is a fundamental error in the +first principles of his education, which time rather confirms than +removes. Early prejudices are for the most part converted into habits +of thinking; and accordingly you will find the old officers in the +French service more bigotted than their juniors, to the punctilios of +false honour. + +A lad of a good family no sooner enters into the service, than he +thinks it incumbent upon him to shew his courage in a rencontre. His +natural vivacity prompts him to hazard in company every thing that +comes uppermost, without any respect to his seniors or betters; and ten +to one but he says something, which he finds it necessary to maintain +with his sword. The old officer, instead of checking his petulance, +either by rebuke or silent disapprobation, seems to be pleased with his +impertinence, and encourages every sally of his presumption. Should a +quarrel ensue, and the parties go out, he makes no efforts to +compromise the dispute; but sits with a pleasing expectation to learn +the issue of the rencontre. If the young man is wounded, he kisses him +with transport, extols his bravery, puts him into the hands of the +surgeon, and visits him with great tenderness every day, until he is +cured. If he is killed on the spot, he shrugs up his shoulders--says, +quelle dommage! c'etoit un amiable enfant! ah, patience! What pity! he +was a fine Boy! It can't be helpt! and in three hours the defunct is +forgotten. You know, in France, duels are forbid, on pain of death: but +this law is easily evaded. The person insulted walks out; the +antagonist understands the hint, and follows him into the street, where +they justle as if by accident, draw their swords, and one of them is +either killed or disabled, before any effectual means can be used to +part them. Whatever may be the issue of the combat, the magistrate +takes no cognizance of it; at least, it is interpreted into an +accidental rencounter, and no penalty is incurred on either side. Thus +the purpose of the law is entirely defeated, by a most ridiculous and +cruel connivance. The meerest trifles in conversation, a rash word, a +distant hint, even a look or smile of contempt, is sufficient to +produce one of these combats; but injuries of a deeper dye, such as +terms of reproach, the lie direct, a blow, or even the menace of a +blow, must be discussed with more formality. In any of these cases, the +parties agree to meet in the dominions of another prince, where they +can murder each other, without fear of punishment. An officer who is +struck, or even threatened with a blow must not be quiet, until he +either kills his antagonist, or loses his own life. A friend of mine, +(a Nissard) who was in the service of France, told me, that some years +ago, one of their captains, in the heat of passion, struck his +lieutenant. They fought immediately: the lieutenant was wounded and +disarmed. As it was an affront that could not be made up, he no sooner +recovered of his wounds, than he called out the captain a second time. +In a word, they fought five times before the combat proved decisive at +last, the lieutenant was left dead on the spot. This was an event which +sufficiently proved the absurdity of the punctilio that gave rise to +it. The poor gentleman who was insulted, and outraged by the brutality +of the aggressor, found himself under the necessity of giving him a +further occasion to take away his life. Another adventure of the same +kind happened a few years ago in this place. A French officer having +threatened to strike another, a formal challenge ensued; and it being +agreed that they should fight until one of them dropped, each provided +himself with a couple of pioneers to dig his grave on the spot. They +engaged just without one of the gates of Nice, in presence of a great +number of spectators, and fought with surprising fury, until the ground +was drenched with their blood. At length one of them stumbled, and +fell; upon which the other, who found himself mortally wounded, +advancing, and dropping his point, said, "Je te donne ce que tu m'as +ote." "I'll give thee that which thou hast taken from me." So saying, +he dropped dead upon the field. The other, who had been the person +insulted, was so dangerously wounded that he could not rise. Some of +the spectators carried him forthwith to the beach, and putting him into +a boat, conveyed him by sea to Antibes. The body of his antagonist was +denied Christian burial, as he died without absolution, and every body +allowed that his soul went to hell: but the gentlemen of the army +declared, that he died like a man of honour. Should a man be never so +well inclined to make atonement in a peaceable manner, for an insult +given in the heat of passion, or in the fury of intoxication, it cannot +be received. Even an involuntary trespass from ignorance, or absence of +mind, must be cleansed with blood. A certain noble lord, of our +country, when he was yet a commoner, on his travels, involved himself +in a dilemma of this sort, at the court of Lorrain. He had been riding +out, and strolling along a public walk, in a brown study, with his +horse-whip in his hand, perceived a caterpillar crawling on the back of +a marquis, who chanced to be before him. He never thought of the petit +maitre; but lifting up his whip, in order to kill the insect, laid it +across his shoulders with a crack, that alarmed all the company in the +walk. The marquis's sword was produced in a moment, and the aggressor +in great hazard of his life, as he had no weapon of defence. He was no +sooner waked from his reverie, than he begged pardon, and offered to +make all proper concessions for what he had done through mere +inadvertency. The marquis would have admitted his excuses, had there +been any precedent of such an affront being washed away without blood. +A conclave of honour was immediately assembled; and after long +disputes, they agreed, that an involuntary offence, especially from +such a kind of man, d'un tel homme, might be attoned by concessions. +That you may have some idea of the small beginning, from which many +gigantic quarrels arise, I shall recount one that lately happened at +Lyons, as I had it from the mouth of a person who was an ear and eye +witness of the transaction. Two Frenchmen, at a public ordinary, +stunned the rest of the company with their loquacity. At length, one of +them, with a supercilious air, asked the other's name. "I never tell my +name, (said he) but in a whisper." "You may have very good reasons for +keeping it secret," replied the first. "I will tell you," (resumed the +other): with these words he rose; and going round to him, pronounced, +loud enough to be heard by the whole company, "Je m'appelle Pierre +Paysan; et vous etes un impertinent." "My name is Peter Peasant, and +you are an impertinent fellow." So saying, he walked out: the +interrogator followed him into the street, where they justled, drew +their swords, and engaged. He who asked the question was run through +the body; but his relations were so powerful, that the victor was +obliged to fly his country, was tried and condemned in his absence; his +goods were confiscated; his wife broke her heart; his children were +reduced to beggary; and he himself is now starving in exile. In England +we have not yet adopted all the implacability of the punctilio. A +gentleman may be insulted even with a blow, and survive, after having +once hazarded his life against the aggressor. The laws of honour in our +country do not oblige him either to slay the person from whom he +received the injury, or even to fight to the last drop of his own +blood. One finds no examples of duels among the Romans, who were +certainly as brave and as delicate in their notions of honour as the +French. Cornelius Nepos tells us, that a famous Athenian general, +having a dispute with his colleague, who was of Sparta, a man of a +fiery disposition, this last lifted up his cane to strike him. Had this +happened to a French petit maitre, death must have ensued: but mark +what followed--The Athenian, far from resenting the outrage, in what is +now called a gentlemanlike manner, said, "Do, strike if you please; but +hear me." He never dreamed of cutting the Lacedemonian's throat; but +bore with his passionate temper, as the infirmity of a friend who had a +thousand good qualities to overbalance that defect. + +I need not expatiate upon the folly and the mischief which are +countenanced and promoted by the modern practice of duelling. I need +not give examples of friends who have murdered each other, in obedience +to this savage custom, even while their hearts were melting with mutual +tenderness; nor will I particularize the instances which I myself know, +of whole families ruined, of women and children made widows and +orphans, of parents deprived of only sons, and of valuable lives lost +to the community, by duels, which had been produced by one unguarded +expression, uttered without intention of offence, in the heat of +dispute and altercation. I shall not insist upon the hardship of a +worthy man's being obliged to devote himself to death, because it is +his misfortune to be insulted by a brute, a bully, a drunkard, or a +madman: neither will I enlarge upon this side of the absurdity, which +indeed amounts to a contradiction in terms; I mean the dilemma to which +a gentleman in the army is reduced, when he receives an affront: if he +does not challenge and fight his antagonist, he is broke with infamy by +a court-martial; if he fights and kills him, he is tried by the civil +power, convicted of murder, and, if the royal mercy does not interpose, +he is infallibly hanged: all this, exclusive of the risque of his own +life in the duel, and his conscience being burthened with the blood of +a man, whom perhaps he has sacrificed to a false punctilio, even +contrary to his own judgment. These are reflections which I know your +own good sense will suggest, but I will make bold to propose a remedy +for this gigantic evil, which seems to gain ground everyday: let a +court be instituted for taking cognizance of all breaches of honour, +with power to punish by fine, pillory, sentence of infamy, outlawry, +and exile, by virtue of an act of parliament made for this purpose; and +all persons insulted, shall have recourse to this tribunal: let every +man who seeks personal reparation with sword, pistol, or other +instrument of death, be declared infamous, and banished the kingdom: +let every man, convicted of having used a sword or pistol, or other +mortal weapon, against another, either in duel or rencountre, +occasioned by any previous quarrel, be subject to the same penalties: +if any man is killed in a duel, let his body be hanged upon a public +gibbet, for a certain time, and then given to the surgeons: let his +antagonist be hanged as a murderer, and dissected also; and some mark +of infamy be set on the memory of both. I apprehend such regulations +would put an effectual stop to the practice of duelling, which nothing +but the fear of infamy can support; for I am persuaded, that no being, +capable of reflection, would prosecute the trade of assassination at +the risque of his own life, if this hazard was at the same time +reinforced by the certain prospect of infamy and ruin. Every person of +sentiment would in that case allow, that an officer, who in a duel robs +a deserving woman of her husband, a number of children of their father, +a family of its support, and the community of a fellow-citizen, has as +little merit to plead from exposing his own person, as a highwayman, or +housebreaker, who every day risques his life to rob or plunder that +which is not of half the importance to society. I think it was from the +Buccaneers of America, that the English have learned to abolish one +solecism in the practice of duelling: those adventurers decided their +personal quarrels with pistols; and this improvement has been adopted +in Great Britain with good success; though in France, and other parts +of the continent, it is looked upon as a proof of their barbarity. It +is, however, the only circumstance of duelling, which savours of common +sense, as it puts all mankind upon a level, the old with the young, the +weak with the strong, the unwieldy with the nimble, and the man who +knows not how to hold a sword with the spadassin, who has practised +fencing from the cradle. What glory is there in a man's vanquishing an +adversary over whom he has a manifest advantage? To abide the issue of +a combat in this case, does not even require that moderate share of +resolution which nature has indulged to her common children. +Accordingly, we have seen many instances of a coward's provoking a man +of honour to battle. In the reign of our second Charles, when duels +flourished in all their absurdity, and the seconds fought while their +principals were engaged, Villiers, Duke of Buckingham, not content with +having debauched the countess of Shrewsbury and publishing her shame, +took all opportunities of provoking the earl to single combat, hoping +he should have an easy conquest, his lordship being a puny little +creature, quiet, inoffensive, and every way unfit for such personal +contests. He ridiculed him on all occasions; and at last declared in +public company, that there was no glory in cuckolding Shrewsbury, who +had not spirit to resent the injury. This was an insult which could not +be overlooked. The earl sent him a challenge; and they agreed to fight, +at Barns-Elms, in presence of two gentlemen, whom they chose for their +seconds. All the four engaged at the same time; the first thrust was +fatal to the earl of Shrewsbury; and his friend killed the duke's +second at the same instant. Buckingham, elated with his exploit, set +out immediately for the earl's seat at Cliefden, where he lay with his +wife, after having boasted of the murder of her husband, whose blood he +shewed her upon his sword, as a trophy of his prowess. But this very +duke of Buckingham was little better than a poltroon at bottom. When +the gallant earl of Ossory challenged him to fight in Chelsea fields, +he crossed the water to Battersea, where he pretended to wait for his +lordship; and then complained to the house of lords, that Ossory had +given him the rendezvous, and did not keep his appointment. He knew the +house would interpose in the quarrel, and he was not disappointed. +Their lordships obliged them both to give their word of honour, that +their quarrel should have no other consequences. + +I ought to make an apology for having troubled a lady with so many +observations on a subject so unsuitable to the softness of the fair +sex; but I know you cannot be indifferent to any thing that so nearly +affects the interests of humanity, which I can safely aver have alone +suggested every thing which has been said by, Madam, Your very humble +servant. + + + +LETTER XVI + +NICE, May 2, 1764. + +DEAR DOCTOR,--A few days ago, I rode out with two gentlemen of this +country, to see a stream of water which was formerly conveyed in an +aqueduct to the antient city of Cemenelion, from whence this place is +distant about a mile, though separated by abrupt rocks and deep +hollows, which last are here honoured with the name of vallies. The +water, which is exquisitely cool, and light and pure, gushes from the +middle of a rock by a hole which leads to a subterranean aqueduct +carried through the middle of the mountain. This is a Roman work, and +the more I considered it, appeared the more stupendous. A peasant who +lives upon the spot told us, he had entered by this hole at eight in +the morning, and advanced so far, that it was four in the afternoon +before he came out. He said he walked in the water, through a regular +canal formed of a hard stone, lined with a kind of cement, and vaulted +overhead; but so high in most parts he could stand upright, yet in +others, the bed of the canal was so filled with earth and stones, that +he was obliged to stoop in passing. He said that there were air-holes +at certain distances (and indeed I saw one of these not far from the +present issue) that there were some openings and stone seats on the +sides, and here and there figures of men formed of stone, with hammers +and working tools in their hands. I am apt to believe the fellow +romanced a little, in order to render his adventure the more +marvellous: but I am certainly informed, that several persons have +entered this passage, and proceeded a considerable way by the light of +torches, without arriving at the source, which (if we may believe the +tradition of the country) is at the distance of eight leagues from this +opening; but this is altogether incredible. The stream is now called la +fontaine de muraille, and is carefully conducted by different branches +into the adjacent vineyards and gardens, for watering the ground. On +the side of the same mountain, more southerly, at the distance of half +a mile, there is another still more copious discharge of the same kind +of water, called la source du temple. It was conveyed through the same +kind of passage, and put to the same use as the other; and I should +imagine they are both from the same source, which, though hitherto +undiscovered, must be at a considerable distance, as the mountain is +continued for several leagues to the westward, without exhibiting the +least signs of water in any other part. But, exclusive of the +subterranean conduits, both these streams must have been conveyed +through aqueducts extending from hence to Cemenelion over steep rocks +and deep ravines, at a prodigious expence. The water from this source +du temple, issues from a stone building which covers the passage in the +rock. It serves to turn several olive, corn, and paper mills, being +conveyed through a modern aqueduct raised upon paultry arcades at the +expence of the public, and afterwards is branched off in very small +streams, for the benefit of this parched and barren country. The Romans +were so used to bathing, that they could not exist without a great +quantity of water; and this, I imagine, is one reason that induced them +to spare no labour and expence in bringing it from a distance, when +they had not plenty of it at home. But, besides this motive, they had +another: they were so nice and delicate in their taste of water, that +they took great pains to supply themselves with the purest and lightest +from afar, for drinking and culinary uses, even while they had plenty +of an inferior sort for their bath, and other domestic purposes. There +are springs of good water on the spot where Cemenelion stood: but there +is a hardness in all well-water, which quality is deposited in running +a long course, especially, if exposed to the influence of the sun and +air. The Romans, therefore, had good reason to soften and meliorate +this element, by conveying it a good length of way in open aqueducts. +What was used in the baths of Cemenelion, they probably brought in +leaden pipes, some of which have been dug up very lately by accident. +You must know, I made a second excursion to these antient ruins, and +measured the arena of the amphitheatre with packthread. It is an oval +figure; the longest diameter extending to about one hundred and +thirteen feet, and the shortest to eighty-eight; but I will not answer +for the exactness of the measurement. In the center of it, there was a +square stone, with an iron ring, to which I suppose the wild beasts +were tied, to prevent their springing upon the spectators. Some of the +seats remain, the two opposite entrances, consisting each of one large +gate, and two lateral smaller doors, arched: there is also a +considerable portion of the external wall; but no columns, or other +ornaments of architecture. Hard by, in the garden of the count de +Gubernatis, I saw the remains of a bath, fronting the portal of the +temple, which I have described in a former letter; and here were some +shafts of marble pillars, particularly a capital of the Corinthian +order beautifully cut, of white alabaster. Here the count found a large +quantity of fine marble, which he has converted to various uses; and +some mutilated statues, bronze as well as marble. The peasant shewed me +some brass and silver medals, which he has picked up at different times +in labouring the ground; together with several oblong beads of coloured +glass, which were used as ear-rings by the Roman ladies; and a small +seal of agate, very much defaced. Two of the medals were of Maximian +and Gallienus; the rest were so consumed, that I could not read the +legend. You know, that on public occasions, such as games, and certain +sacrifices, handfuls of medals were thrown among the people; a +practice, which accounts for the great number which have been already +found in this district. I saw some subterranean passages, which seemed +to have been common sewers; and a great number of old walls still +standing along the brink of a precipice, which overhangs the Paglion. +The peasants tell me, that they never dig above a yard in depth, +without finding vaults or cavities. All the vineyards and +garden-grounds, for a considerable extent, are vaulted underneath; and +all the ground that produces their grapes, fruit, and garden-stuff, is +no more than the crumpled lime and rubbish of old Roman buildings, +mixed with manure brought from Nice. This antient town commanded a most +noble prospect of the sea; but is altogether inaccessible by any kind +of wheel carriage. If you make shift to climb to it on horseback, you +cannot descend to the plain again, without running the risk of breaking +your neck. + +About seven or eight miles on the other side of Nice, are the remains +of another Roman monument which has greatly suffered from the barbarity +of successive ages. It was a trophy erected by the senate of Rome, in +honour of Augustus Caesar, when he had totally subdued all the +ferocious nations of these Maritime Alps; such as the Trumpilini +Camuni, Vennontes, Isnarci, Breuni, etc. It stands upon the top of a +mountain which overlooks the town of Monaco, and now exhibits the +appearance of an old ruined tower. There is a description of what it +was, in an Italian manuscript, by which it appears to have been a +beautiful edifice of two stories, adorned with columns and trophies in +alto-relievo, with a statue of Augustus Caesar on the top. On one of +the sides was an inscription, some words of which are still legible, +upon the fragment of a marble found close to the old building: but the +whole is preserved in Pliny, who gives it, in these words, lib. iii. +cap. 20. + + IMPERATORI CAESARI DIVI. F. AVG. PONT. + MAX. IMP. XIV. TRIBVNIC. POTEST. XVIII. + S. P. Q. R. + QVODEIVSDVCTV, AVSPICIISQ. GENIES ALPINAE OMNES, + QVAE A MARI SVPERO AD INFERVM PERTINEBANT, SVB + IMPERIVM PO. RO. SUNT REDAC. GENTES ALPINAE DEVICTAE. + TRVMPILINI CAMVNI, VENNONETES, ISNARCI, BREVNI, + NAVNES, FOCVNATES, VINDELICORVM GENTES QVATVOR, + CONSVANETES, VIRVCINATES, LICATES, CATENATES, ABI- + SONTES, RVGVSCI, SVANETES, CALVCONES, BRIXENTES, + LEPONTII, VIBERI, NANTVATES, SEDVNI, VERAGRI, + SALASSI, ACITAVONES MEDVLLI, VCINI, CATVRIGES, + BRIGIANI, SOGIVNTII, NEMALONES, EDENETES, + ESVBIANI, VEAMINI, GALLITAE, TRIVLLATI, + ECTINI, VERGVNNI, EGVITVRI. NEMENTVRI, + ORATELLI, NERVSCI, VELAVNI, SVETRI. + +This Trophy is erected by the Senate and People of Rome to the Emperor +Caesar Augustus, son of the divine Julius, in the fourteenth year of +his imperial Dignity, and in the eighteenth of his Tribunician Power, +because under his command and auspices all the nations of the Alps from +the Adriatic to the Tuscanian Sea, were reduced under the Dominion of +Rome. The Alpine nations subdued were the Trumpelini, etc. + +Pliny, however, is mistaken in placing this inscription on a trophy +near the Augusta praetoria, now called Aosta, in Piedmont: where, +indeed, there is a triumphal arch, but no inscription. This noble +monument of antiquity was first of all destroyed by fire; and +afterwards, in Gothic times, converted into a kind of fortification. +The marbles belonging to it were either employed in adorning the church +of the adjoining village, which is still called Turbia, a corruption of +Trophaea; [This was formerly a considerable town called Villa Martis, +and pretends to the honour of having given birth to Aulus Helvius, who +succeeded Commodus as emperor of Rome, by the name of Pertinax which he +acquired from his obstinate refusal of that dignity, when it was forced +upon him by the senate. You know this man, though of very low birth, +possessed many excellent qualities, and was basely murdered by the +praetorian guards, at the instigation of Didius Tulianus. For my part, +I could never read without emotion, that celebrated eulogium of the +senate who exclaimed after his death, Pertinace, imperante, securi +viximus neminem timuimus, patre pio, patre senatus, patre omnium, +honorum, We lived secure and were afraid of nothing under the +Government of Pertinax, our affectionate Father, Father of the Senate, +Father to all the children of Virtue.] or converted into tomb-stones, +or carried off to be preserved in one or two churches of Nice. At +present, the work has the appearance of a ruinous watch-tower, with +Gothic battlements; and as such stands undistinguished by those who +travel by sea from hence to Genoa, and other ports of Italy. I think I +have now described all the antiquities in the neighbourhood of Nice, +except some catacombs or caverns, dug in a rock at St. Hospice, which +Busching, in his geography, has described as a strong town and seaport, +though in fact, there is not the least vestige either of town or +village. It is a point of land almost opposite to the tower of Turbia, +with the mountains of which it forms a bay, where there is a great and +curious fishery of the tunny fish, farmed of the king of Sardinia. Upon +this point there is a watch-tower still kept in repair, to give notice +to the people in the neighbourhood, in case any Barbary corsairs should +appear on the coast. The catacombs were in all probability dug, in +former times, as places of retreat for the inhabitants upon sudden +descents of the Saracens, who greatly infested these seas for several +successive centuries. Many curious persons have entered them and +proceeded a considerable way by torch-light, without arriving at the +further extremity; and the tradition of the country is, that they reach +as far as the ancient city of Cemenelion; but this is an idle +supposition, almost as ridiculous as that which ascribes them to the +labour and ingenuity of the fairies: they consist of narrow +subterranean passages, vaulted with stone and lined with cement. Here +and there one finds detached apartments like small chambers, where I +suppose the people remained concealed till the danger was over. +Diodorus Siculus tells us, that the antient inhabitants of this country +usually lived under ground. "Ligures in terra cubant ut plurimum; +plures ad cava, saxa speluncasque ab natura factas ubi tegantur corpora +divertunt," "The Ligurians mostly lie on the bare ground; many of them +lodge in bare Caves and Caverns where they are sheltered from the +inclemency of the weather." This was likewise the custom of the +Troglodytae, a people bordering upon Aethiopia who, according to +Aelian, lived in subterranean caverns; from whence, indeed they took +their name trogli, signifying a cavern; and Virgil, in his Georgics, +thus describes the Sarmatae, + + Ipsi in defossis specubus, secura sub alta + Ocia agunt terra.-- + + In Subterranean Caves secure they lie + Nor heed the transient seasons as they fly. + +These are dry subjects; but such as the country affords. If we have not +white paper, we must snow with brown. Even that which I am now +scrawling may be useful, if, not entertaining: it is therefore the more +confidently offered by--Dear Sir, Yours affectionately. + + + +LETTER XVII + +NICE, July 2, 1764. + +DEAR SIR,--Nice was originally a colony from Marseilles. You know the +Phocians (if we may believe Justin and Polybius) settled in Gaul, and +built Marseilles, during the reign of Tarquinius Priscus at Rome. This +city flourished to such a degree, that long before the Romans were in a +condition to extend their dominion, it sent forth colonies, and +established them along the coast of Liguria. Of these, Nice, or Nicaea, +was one of the most remarkable; so called, in all probability, from the +Greek word Nike, signifying Victoria, in consequence of some important +victory obtained over the Salii and Ligures, who were the antient +inhabitants of this country. Nice, with its mother city, being in the +sequel subdued by the Romans, fell afterwards successively under the +dominion of the Goths, Burgundians, and Franks, the kings of Arles, and +the kings of Naples, as counts of Provence. In the year one thousand +three hundred and eighty-eight, the city and county of Nice being but +ill protected by the family of Durazzo, voluntarily surrendered +themselves to Amadaeus, surnamed the Red, duke of Savoy; and since that +period, they have continued as part of that potentate's dominions, +except at such times as they have been over-run and possessed by the +power of France, which hath always been a troublesome neighbour to this +country. The castle was begun by the Arragonian counts of Provence, and +afterwards enlarged by several successive dukes of Savoy, so as to be +deemed impregnable, until the modern method of besieging began to take +place. A fruitless attempt was made upon it in the year one thousand +five hundred and forty-three, by the French and Turks in conjunction: +but it was reduced several times after that period, and is now in +ruins. The celebrated engineer Vauban, being commanded by Louis XIV to +give in a plan for fortifying Nice, proposed, that the river Paglion +should be turned into a new channel, so as to surround the town to the +north, and fall into the harbour; that where the Paglion now runs to +the westward of the city walls, there should be a deep ditch to be +filled with sea-water; and that a fortress should be built to the +westward of this fosse. These particulars might be executed at no very +great expence; but, I apprehend, they would be ineffectual, as the town +is commanded by every hill in the neighbourhood; and the exhalations +from stagnating sea-water would infallibly render the air unwholesome. +Notwithstanding the undoubted antiquity of Nice, very few monuments of +that antiquity now remain. The inhabitants say, they were either +destroyed by the Saracens in their successive descents upon the coast, +by the barbarous nations in their repeated incursions, or used in +fortifying the castle, as well as in building other edifices. The city +of Cemenelion, however, was subject to the same disasters, and even +entirely ruined, nevertheless, we still find remains of its antient +splendor. There have been likewise a few stones found at Nice, with +antient inscriptions; but there is nothing of this kind standing, +unless we give the name of antiquity to a marble cross on the road to +Provence, about half a mile from the city. It stands upon a pretty high +pedestal with steps, under a pretty stone cupola or dome, supported by +four Ionic pillars, on the spot where Charles V. emperor of Germany, +Francis I. of France, and pope Paul II. agreed to have a conference, in +order to determine all their disputes. The emperor came hither by sea, +with a powerful fleet, and the French king by land, at the head of a +numerous army. All the endeavours of his holiness, however, could not +effect a peace; but they agreed to a truce of ten years. Mezerai +affirms, that these two great princes never saw one another on this +occasion; and that this shyness was owing to the management of the +pope, whose private designs might have been frustrated, had they come +to a personal interview. In the front of the colonade, there is a small +stone, with an inscription in Latin, which is so high, and so much +defaced, that I cannot read it. + +In the sixteenth century there was a college erected at Nice, by +Emanuel Philibert, duke of Savoy, for granting degrees to students of +law; and in the year one thousand six hundred and fourteen, Charles +Emanuel I. instituted the senate of Nice; consisting of a president, +and a certain number of senators, who are distinguished by their purple +robes, and other ensigns of authority. They administer justice, having +the power of life and death, not only through the whole county of Nice, +but causes are evoked from Oneglia, and some other places, to their +tribunal, which is the dernier ressort, from whence there is no appeal. +The commandant, however, by virtue of his military power and +unrestricted authority, takes upon him to punish individuals by +imprisonment, corporal pains, and banishment, without consulting the +senate, or indeed, observing any form of trial. The only redress +against any unjust exercise of this absolute power, is by complaint to +the king; and you know, what chance a poor man has for being redressed +in this manner. + +With respect to religion, I may safely say, that here superstition +reigns under the darkest shades of ignorance and prejudice. I think +there are ten convents and three nunneries within and without the walls +of Nice; and among them all, I never could hear of one man who had made +any tolerable advances in any kind of human learning. All ecclesiastics +are exempted from any exertion of civil power, being under the +immediate protection and authority of the bishop, or his vicar. The +bishop of Nice is suffragan of the archbishop of Ambrun in France; and +the revenues of the see amount to between five and six hundred pounds +sterling. We have likewise an office of the inquisition, though I do +not hear that it presumes to execute any acts of jurisdiction, without +the king's special permission. All the churches are sanctuaries for all +kinds of criminals, except those guilty of high treason; and the +priests are extremely jealous of their privileges in this particular. +They receive, with open arms, murderers, robbers, smugglers, fraudulent +bankrupts, and felons of every denomination; and never give them up, +until after having stipulated for their lives and liberty. I need not +enlarge upon the pernicious consequences of this infamous prerogative, +calculated to raise and extend the power and influence of the Roman +church, on the ruins of morality and good order. I saw a fellow, who +had three days before murdered his wife in the last month of pregnancy, +taking the air with great composure and serenity, on the steps of a +church in Florence; and nothing is more common, than to see the most +execrable villains diverting themselves in the cloysters of some +convents at Rome. + +Nice abounds with noblesse, marquisses, counts, and barons. Of these, +three or four families are really respectable: the rest are novi +homines, sprung from Bourgeois, who have saved a little money by their +different occupations, and raised themselves to the rank of noblesse by +purchase. One is descended from an avocat; another from an apothecary; +a third from a retailer of wine, a fourth from a dealer in anchovies; +and I am told, there is actually a count at Villefranche, whose father +sold macaroni in the streets. A man in this country may buy a +marquisate, or a county, for the value of three or four hundred pounds +sterling, and the title follows the fief; but he may purchase lettres +de noblesse for about thirty or forty guineas. In Savoy, there are six +hundred families of noblesse; the greater part of which have not above +one hundred crowns a year to maintain their dignity. In the mountains +of Piedmont, and even in this country of Nice, there are some +representatives of very antient and noble families, reduced to the +condition of common peasants; but they still retain the antient pride +of their houses, and boast of the noble blood that runs in their veins. +A gentleman told me, that in travelling through the mountains, he was +obliged to pass a night in the cottage of one of these rusticated +nobles, who called to his son in the evening, "Chevalier, as-tu donne a +manger aux cochons?" "Have you fed the Hogs, Sir Knight?" This, +however, is not the case with the noblesse of Nice. Two or three of +them have about four or five hundred a year: the rest, in general, may +have about one hundred pistoles, arising from the silk, oil, wine, and +oranges, produced in their small plantations, where they have also +country houses. Some few of these are well built, commodious, and +situated; but, for the most part, they are miserable enough. Our +noblesse, notwithstanding their origin, and the cheap rate at which +their titles have been obtained, are nevertheless extremely tenacious +of their privileges, very delicate in maintaining the etiquette, and +keep at a very stately distance from the Bourgeoisie. How they live in +their families, I do not choose to enquire; but, in public, Madame +appears in her robe of gold, or silver stuff, with her powder and +frisure, her perfumes, her paint and her patches; while Monsieur Le +Comte struts about in his lace and embroidery. Rouge and fard are more +peculiarly necessary in this country, where the complexion and skin are +naturally swarthy and yellow. I have likewise observed, that most of +the females are pot-bellied; a circumstance owing, I believe, to the +great quantity of vegetable trash which they eat. All the horses, +mules, asses, and cattle, which feed upon grass, have the same +distension. This kind of food produces such acid juices in the stomach, +as excite a perpetual sense of hunger. I have been often amazed at the +voracious appetites of these people. You must not expect that I should +describe the tables and the hospitality of our Nissard gentry. Our +consul, who is a very honest man, told me, he had lived four and thirty +years in the country, without having once eat or drank in any of their +houses. + +The noblesse of Nice cannot leave the country without express leave +from the king; and this leave, when obtained, is for a limited time, +which they dare not exceed, on pain of incurring his majesty's +displeasure. They must, therefore, endeavour to find amusements at +home; and this, I apprehend, would be no easy task for people of an +active spirit or restless disposition. True it is, the religion of the +country supplies a never-failing fund of pastime to those who have any +relish for devotion; and this is here a prevailing taste. We have had +transient visits of a puppet-shew, strolling musicians, and +rope-dancers; but they did not like their quarters, and decamped +without beat of drum. In the summer, about eight or nine at night, part +of the noblesse may be seen assembled in a place called the Pare; which +is, indeed, a sort of a street formed by a row of very paltry houses on +one side, and on the other, by part of the town-wall, which screens it +from a prospect of the sea, the only object that could render it +agreeable. Here you may perceive the noblesse stretched in pairs upon +logs of wood, like so many seals upon the rocks by moon-light, each +dame with her cicisbeo: for, you must understand, this Italian fashion +prevails at Nice among all ranks of people; and there is not such a +passion as jealousy known. The husband and the cicisbeo live together +as sworn brothers; and the wife and the mistress embrace each other +with marks of the warmest affection. I do not choose to enter into +particulars. I cannot open the scandalous chronicle of Nice, without +hazard of contamination. With respect to delicacy and decorum, you may +peruse dean Swift's description of the Yahoos, and then you will have +some idea of the porcheria, that distinguishes the gallantry of Nice. +But the Pare is not the only place of public resort for our noblesse in +a summer's evening. Just without one of our gates, you will find them +seated in ditches on the highway side, serenaded with the croaking of +frogs, and the bells and braying of mules and asses continually passing +in a perpetual cloud of dust. Besides these amusements, there is a +public conversazione every evening at the commandant's house called the +Government, where those noble personages play at cards for farthings. +In carnival time, there is also, at this same government, a ball twice +or thrice a week, carried on by subscription. At this assembly every +person, without distinction, is permitted to dance in masquerade: but, +after dancing, they are obliged to unmask, and if Bourgeois, to retire. +No individual can give a ball, without obtaining a permission and guard +of the commandant; and then his house is open to all masques, without +distinction, who are provided with tickets, which tickets are sold by +the commandant's secretary, at five sols a-piece, and delivered to the +guard at the door. If I have a mind to entertain my particular friends, +I cannot have more than a couple of violins; and, in that case, it is +called a conversazione. + +Though the king of Sardinia takes all opportunities to distinguish the +subjects of Great-Britain with particular marks of respect, I have seen +enough to be convinced, that our nation is looked upon with an evil eye +by the people of Nice; and this arises partly from religious +prejudices, and partly from envy, occasioned by a ridiculous notion of +our superior wealth. For my own part, I owe them nothing on the score +of civilities; and therefore, I shall say nothing more on the subject, +lest I should be tempted to deviate from that temperance and +impartiality which I would fain hope have hitherto characterised the +remarks of,-- Dear Sir, your faithful, humble servant. + + + +LETTER XVIII + +NICE, September 2, 1764. + +DEAR DOCTOR,--I wrote in May to Mr. B-- at Geneva, and gave him what +information he desired to have, touching the conveniences of Nice. I +shall now enter into the same detail, for the benefit of such of your +friends or patients, as may have occasion to try this climate. + +The journey from Calais to Nice, of four persons in a coach, or two +post-chaises, with a servant on horseback, travelling post, may be +performed with ease, for about one hundred and twenty pounds, including +every expence. Either at Calais or at Paris, you will always find a +travelling coach or berline, which you may buy for thirty or forty +guineas, and this will serve very well to reconvey you to your own +country. + +In the town of Nice, you will find no ready-furnished lodgings for a +whole family. Just without one of the gates, there are two houses to be +let, ready-furnished, for about five loui'dores per month. As for the +country houses in this neighbourhood, they are damp in winter, and +generally without chimnies; and in summer they are rendered +uninhabitable by the heat and the vermin. If you hire a tenement in +Nice, you must take it for a year certain; and this will cost you about +twenty pounds sterling. For this price, I have a ground floor paved +with brick, consisting of a kitchen, two large halls, a couple of good +rooms with chimnies, three large closets that serve for bed-chambers, +and dressing-rooms, a butler's room, and three apartments for servants, +lumber or stores, to which we ascend by narrow wooden stairs. I have +likewise two small gardens, well stocked with oranges, lemons, peaches, +figs, grapes, corinths, sallad, and pot-herbs. It is supplied with a +draw-well of good water, and there is another in the vestibule of the +house, which is cool, large, and magnificent. You may hire furniture +for such a tenement for about two guineas a month: but I chose rather +to buy what was necessary; and this cost me about sixty pounds. I +suppose it will fetch me about half the money when I leave the place. +It is very difficult to find a tolerable cook at Nice. A common maid, +who serves the people of the country, for three or four livres a month, +will not live with an English family under eight or ten. They are all +slovenly, slothful, and unconscionable cheats. The markets at Nice are +tolerably well supplied. Their beef, which comes from Piedmont, is +pretty good, and we have it all the year. In the winter we have +likewise excellent pork, and delicate lamb; but the mutton is +indifferent. Piedmont, also, affords us delicious capons, fed with +maize; and this country produces excellent turkeys, but very few geese. +Chickens and pullets are extremely meagre. I have tried to fatten them, +without success. In summer they are subject to the pip, and die in +great numbers. Autumn and winter are the seasons for game; hares, +partridges, quails, wild-pigeons, woodcocks, snipes, thrushes, +beccaficas, and ortolans. Wild-boar is sometimes found in the +mountains: it has a delicious taste, not unlike that of the wild hog in +Jamaica; and would make an excellent barbecue, about the beginning of +winter, when it is in good case: but, when meagre, the head only is +presented at tables. Pheasants are very scarce. As for the heath-game, +I never saw but one cock, which my servant bought in the market, and +brought home; but the commandant's cook came into my kitchen, and +carried it of, after it was half plucked, saying, his master had +company to dinner. The hares are large, plump, and juicy. The +partridges are generally of the red sort; large as pullets, and of a +good flavour: there are also some grey partridges in the mountains; and +another sort of a white colour, that weigh four or five pounds each. +Beccaficas are smaller than sparrows, but very fat, and they are +generally eaten half raw. The best way of dressing them is to stuff +them into a roll, scooped of it's crum; to baste them well with butter, +and roast them, until they are brown and crisp. The ortolans are kept +in cages, and crammed, until they die of fat, then eaten as dainties. +The thrush is presented with the trail, because the bird feeds on +olives. They may as well eat the trail of a sheep, because it feeds on +the aromatic herbs of the mountain. In the summer, we have beef, veal, +and mutton, chicken, and ducks; which last are very fat, and very +flabby. All the meat is tough in this season, because the excessive +heat, and great number of flies, will not admit of its being kept any +time after it is killed. Butter and milk, though not very delicate, we +have all the year. Our tea and fine sugar come from Marseilles, at a +very reasonable price. + +Nice is not without variety of fish; though they are not counted so +good in their kinds as those of the ocean. Soals, and flat-fish in +general, are scarce. Here are some mullets, both grey and red. We +sometimes see the dory, which is called St Pierre; with rock-fish, +bonita, and mackarel. The gurnard appears pretty often; and there is +plenty of a kind of large whiting, which eats pretty well; but has not +the delicacy of that which is caught on our coast. One of the best fish +of this country, is called Le Loup, about two or three pounds in +weight; white, firm, and well-flavoured. Another, no-way inferior to +it, is the Moustel, about the same size; of a dark-grey colour, and +short, blunt snout; growing thinner and flatter from the shoulders +downwards, so as to resemble a soal at the tail. This cannot be the +mustela of the antients, which is supposed to be the sea lamprey. Here +too are found the vyvre, or, as we call it, weaver; remarkable for its +long, sharp spines, so dangerous to the fingers of the fishermen. We +have abundance of the saepia, or cuttle-fish, of which the people in +this country make a delicate ragout; as also of the polype de mer, +which is an ugly animal, with long feelers, like tails, which they +often wind about the legs of the fishermen. They are stewed with +onions, and eat something like cow-heel. The market sometimes affords +the ecrivisse de mer, which is a lobster without claws, of a sweetish +taste; and there are a few rock oysters, very small and very rank. +Sometimes the fishermen find under water, pieces of a very hard cement, +like plaister of Paris, which contain a kind of muscle, called la +datte, from its resemblance to a date. These petrifactions are commonly +of a triangular form and may weigh about twelve or fifteen pounds each +and one of them may contain a dozen of these muscles which have nothing +extraordinary in the taste or flavour, though extremely curious, as +found alive and juicy, in the heart of a rock, almost as hard as +marble, without any visible communication with the air or water. I take +it for granted, however, that the inclosing cement is porous, and +admits the finer parts of the surrounding fluid. In order to reach the +muscles, this cement must be broke with large hammers; and it may be +truly said, the kernal is not worth the trouble of cracking the shell. +[These are found in great plenty at Ancona and other parts of the +Adriatic, where they go by the name of Bollani, as we are informed by +Keysler.] Among the fish of this country, there is a very ugly animal +of the eel species, which might pass for a serpent: it is of a dusky, +black colour, marked with spots of yellow, about eighteen inches, or +two feet long. The Italians call it murena; but whether it is the fish +which had the same name among the antient Romans, I cannot pretend to +determine. The antient murena was counted a great delicacy, and was +kept in ponds for extraordinary occasions. Julius Caesar borrowed six +thousand for one entertainment: but I imagined this was the river +lamprey. The murena of this country is in no esteem, and only eaten by +the poor people. + +Craw-fish and trout are rarely found in the rivers among the mountains. +The sword-fish is much esteemed in Nice, and called l'empereur, about +six or seven feet long: but I have never seen it. [Since I wrote the +above letter, I have eaten several times of this fish, which is as +white as the finest veal, and extremely delicate. The emperor +associates with the tunny fish, and is always taken in their company.] +They are very scarce; and when taken, are generally concealed, because +the head belongs to the commandant, who has likewise the privilege of +buying the best fish at a very low price. For which reason, the choice +pieces are concealed by the fishermen, and sent privately to Piedmont +or Genoa. But, the chief fisheries on this coast are of the sardines, +anchovies, and tunny. These are taken in small quantities all the year; +but spring and summer is the season when they mostly abound. In June +and July, a fleet of about fifty fishing-boats puts to sea every +evening about eight o'clock, and catches anchovies in immense +quantities. One small boat sometimes takes in one night twenty-five +rup, amounting to six hundred weight; but it must be observed, that the +pound here, as well as in other parts of Italy, consists but of twelve +ounces. Anchovies, besides their making a considerable article in the +commerce of Nice, are a great resource in all families. The noblesse +and burgeois sup on sallad and anchovies, which are eaten on all their +meagre days. The fishermen and mariners all along this coast have +scarce any other food but dry bread, with a few pickled anchovies; and +when the fish is eaten, they rub their crusts with the brine. Nothing +can be more delicious than fresh anchovies fried in oil: I prefer them +to the smelts of the Thames. I need not mention, that the sardines and +anchovies are caught in nets; salted, barrelled, and exported into all +the different kingdoms and states of Europe. The sardines, however, are +largest and fattest in the month of September. A company of adventurers +have farmed the tunny-fishery of the king, for six years; a monopoly, +for which they pay about three thousand pounds sterling. They are at a +very considerable expence for nets, boats, and attendance. Their nets +are disposed in a very curious manner across the small bay of St. +Hospice, in this neighbourhood, where the fish chiefly resort. They are +never removed, except in the winter, and when they want repair: but +there are avenues for the fish to enter, and pass, from one inclosure +to another. There is a man in a boat, who constantly keeps watch. When +he perceives they are fairly entered, he has a method for shutting all +the passes, and confining the fish to one apartment of the net, which +is lifted up into the boat, until the prisoners are taken and secured. +The tunny-fish generally runs from fifty to one hundred weight; but +some of them are much larger. They are immediately gutted, boiled, and +cut in slices. The guts and head afford oil: the slices are partly +dried, to be eaten occasionally with oil and vinegar, or barrelled up +in oil, to be exported. It is counted a delicacy in Italy and Piedmont, +and tastes not unlike sturgeon. The famous pickle of the ancients, +called garum, was made of the gills and blood of the tunny, or thynnus. +There is a much more considerable fishery of it in Sardinia, where it +is said to employ four hundred persons; but this belongs to the duc de +St. Pierre. In the neighbourhood of Villa Franca, there are people +always employed in fishing for coral and sponge, which grow adhering to +the rocks under water. Their methods do not favour much of ingenuity. +For the coral, they lower down a swab, composed of what is called +spunyarn on board our ships of war, hanging in distinct threads, and +sunk by means of a great weight, which, striking against the coral in +its descent, disengages it from the rocks; and some of the pieces being +intangled among the threads of the swab, are brought up with it above +water. The sponge is got by means of a cross-stick, fitted with hooks, +which being lowered down, fastens upon it, and tears it from the rocks. +In some parts of the Adriatic and Archipelago, these substances are +gathered by divers, who can remain five minutes below water. But I will +not detain you one minute longer; though I must observe, that there is +plenty of fine samphire growing along all these rocks, neglected and +unknown.--Adieu. + + + +LETTER XIX + +NICE, October 10, 1764. + +DEAR SIR,--Before I tell you the price of provisions at Nice, it will +be necessary to say something of the money. The gold coin of Sardinia +consists of the doppia di savoia, value twenty-four livres Piedmontese, +about the size of a loui'dore; and the mezzo doppia, or piece of twelve +livres. In silver, there is the scudo of six livres, the mezzo scudo of +three; and the quarto, or pezza di trenta soldi: but all these are very +scarce. We seldom see any gold and silver coin, but the loui'dore, and +the six, and three-livre Pieces of France; a sure sign that the French +suffer by their contraband commerce with the Nissards. The coin chiefly +used at market is a piece of copper silvered, that passes for seven +sols and a half; another of the same sort, valued two sols and a half. +They have on one side the impression of the king's head; and on the +other, the arms of Savoy, with a ducal crown, inscribed with his name +and titles. There are of genuine copper, pieces of one sol, stamped on +one side with a cross fleuree; and on the reverse, with the king's +cypher and crown, inscribed as the others: finally, there is another +small copper piece, called piccalon, the sixth part of a sol, with a +plain cross, and on the reverse, a slip-knot surmounted with a crown; +the legend as above. The impression and legend on the gold and silver +coins, are the same as those on the pieces of seven sols and a half. +The livre of Piedmont consists of twenty sols, and is very near of the +same value as an English shilling: ten sols, therefore, are equal to +six-pence sterling. Butcher's meat in general sells at Nice for three +sols a pound; and veal is something dearer: but then there are but +twelve ounces in the pound, which being allowed for, sixteen ounces, +come for something less than twopence halfpenny English. Fish commonly +sells for four sols the twelve ounces, or five for the English pound; +and these five are equivalent to three-pence of our money: but +sometimes we are obliged to pay five, and even six sols for the +Piedmontese pound of fish. A turkey that would sell for five or six +shillings at the London market, costs me but three at Nice. I can buy a +good capon for thirty sols, or eighteen-pence; and the same price I pay +for a brace of partridges, or a good hare. I can have a woodcock for +twenty-four sols; but the pigeons are dearer than in London. Rabbits +are very rare; and there is scarce a goose to be seen in the whole +county of Nice. Wild-ducks and teal are sometimes to be had in the +winter; and now I am speaking of sea-fowl, it may not be amiss to tell +you what I know of the halcyon, or king's-fisher. It is a bird, though +very rare in this country about the size of a pigeon; the body brown, +and the belly white: by a wonderful instinct it makes its nest upon the +surface of the sea, and lays its eggs in the month of November, when +the Mediterranean is always calm and smooth as a mill-pond. The people +about here call them martinets, because they begin to hatch about +Martinmass. Their nests are sometimes seen floating near the shore, and +generally become the prize of the boys, who are very alert in catching +them. + +You know all sea-birds are allowed by the church of Rome to be eaten on +meagre days, as a kind of fish; and the monks especially do not fail to +make use of this permission. Sea turtle, or tortoises, are often found +at sea by the mariners, in these latitudes: but they are not the green +sort, so much in request among the aldermen of London. All the +Mediterranean turtle are of the kind called loggerhead, which in the +West-Indies are eaten by none but hungry seamen, negroes, and the +lowest class of people. One of these, weighing about two hundred +pounds, was lately brought on shore by the fishermen of Nice, who found +it floating asleep on the surface of the sea. The whole town was +alarmed at sight of such a monster, the nature of which they could not +comprehend. However, the monks, called minims, of St. Francesco di +Paolo, guided by a sure instinct, marked it as their prey, and +surrounded it accordingly. The friars of other convents, not quite so +hungry, crowding down to the beach, declared it should not be eaten; +dropped some hints about the possibility of its being something +praeternatural and diabolical, and even proposed exorcisms and +aspersions with holy water. The populace were divided according to +their attachment to this, or that convent: a mighty clamour arose; and +the police, in order to remove the cause of their contention, ordered +the tortoise to be recommitted to the waves; a sentence which the +Franciscans saw executed, not without sighs and lamentation. The +land-turtle, or terrapin, is much better known at Nice, as being a +native of this country; yet the best are brought from the island of +Sardinia. The soup or bouillon of this animal is always prescribed here +as a great restorative to consumptive patients. The bread of Nice is +very indifferent, and I am persuaded very unwholesome. The flour is +generally musty, and not quite free of sand. This is either owing to +the particles of the mill-stone rubbed off in grinding, or to what +adheres to the corn itself, in being threshed upon the common ground; +for there are no threshing-floors in this country. I shall now take +notice of the vegetables of Nice. In the winter, we have green pease, +asparagus, artichoaks, cauliflower, beans, French beans, celery, and +endive; cabbage, coleworts, radishes, turnips, carrots, betteraves, +sorrel lettuce, onions, garlic, and chalot. We have potatoes from the +mountains, mushrooms, champignons, and truffles. Piedmont affords white +truffles, counted the most delicious in the world: they sell for about +three livres the pound. The fruits of this season are pickled olives, +oranges, lemons, citrons, citronelles, dried figs, grapes, apples, +pears, almonds, chestnuts, walnuts, filberts, medlars, pomegranates, +and a fruit called azerolles, [The Italians call them Lazerruoli.] +about the size of a nutmeg, of an oblong shape, red colour, and +agreeable acid taste. I might likewise add the cherry of the Laurus +cerasus, which is sold in the market; very beautiful to the eye, but +insipid to the palate. In summer we have all those vegetables in +perfection. There is also a kind of small courge, or gourd, of which +the people of the country make a very savoury ragout, with the help of +eggs, cheese, and fresh anchovies. Another is made of the badenjean, +which the Spaniards call berengena: [This fruit is called Melanzana in +Italy and is much esteemed by the Jews in Leghorn. Perhaps Melanzana is +a corruption of Malamsana.] it is much eaten in Spain and the Levant, +as well as by the Moors in Barbary. It is about the size and shape of a +hen's egg, inclosed in a cup like an acorn; when ripe, of a faint +purple colour. It grows on a stalk about a foot high, with long spines +or prickles. The people here have different ways of slicing and +dressing it, by broiling, boiling, and stewing, with other ingredients: +but it is at best an insipid dish. There are some caperbushes in this +neighbourhood, which grow wild in holes of garden walls, and require no +sort of cultivation: in one or two gardens, there are palm-trees; but +the dates never ripen. In my register of the weather, I have marked the +seasons of the principal fruits in this country. In May we have +strawberries, which continue in season two or three months. These are +of the wood kind; very grateful, and of a good flavour; but the +scarlets and hautboys are not known at Nice. In the beginning of June, +and even sooner, the cherries begin to be ripe. They are a kind of +bleeding hearts; large, fleshy, and high flavoured, though rather too +luscious. I have likewise seen a few of those we call Kentish cherries +which are much more cool, acid, and agreeable, especially in this hot +climate. The cherries are succeeded by the apricots and peaches, which +are all standards, and of consequence better flavoured than what we +call wall-fruit. The trees, as well as almonds, grow and bear without +care and cultivation, and may be seen in the open fields about Nice, +but without proper culture, the fruit degenerates. The best peaches I +have seen at Nice are the amberges, of a yellow hue, and oblong shape, +about the size of a small lemon. Their consistence is much more solid +than that of our English peaches, and their taste more delicious. +Several trees of this kind I have in my own garden. Here is likewise +plenty of other sorts; but no nectarines. We have little choice of +plumbs. Neither do I admire the pears or apples of this country: but +the most agreeable apples I ever tasted, come from Final, and are +called pomi carli. The greatest fault I find with most fruits in this +climate, is, that they are too sweet and luscious, and want that +agreeable acid which is so cooling and so grateful in a hot country. +This, too, is the case with our grapes, of which there is great plenty +and variety, plump and juicy, and large as plumbs. Nature, however, has +not neglected to provide other agreeable vegetable juices to cool the +human body. During the whole summer, we have plenty of musk melons. I +can buy one as large as my head for the value of an English penny: but +one of the best and largest, weighing ten or twelve pounds, I can have +for twelve sols, or about eight-pence sterling. From Antibes and +Sardinia, we have another fruit called a watermelon, which is well +known in Jamaica, and some of our other colonies. Those from Antibes +are about the size of an ordinary bomb-shell: but the Sardinian and +Jamaica watermelons are four times as large. The skin is green, smooth, +and thin. The inside is a purple pulp, studded with broad, flat, black +seeds, and impregnated with a juice the most cool, delicate, and +refreshing, that can well be conceived. One would imagine the pulp +itself dissolved in the stomach; for you may eat of it until you are +filled up to the tongue, without feeling the least inconvenience. It is +so friendly to the constitution, that in ardent inflammatory fevers, it +is drank as the best emulsion. At Genoa, Florence, and Rome, it is sold +in the streets, ready cut in slices; and the porters, sweating under +their burthens, buy, and eat them as they pass. A porter of London +quenches his thirst with a draught of strong beer: a porter of Rome, or +Naples, refreshes himself with a slice of water-melon, or a glass of +iced-water. The one costs three half-pence; the last, half a +farthing--which of them is most effectual? I am sure the men are +equally pleased. It is commonly remarked, that beer strengthens as well +as refreshes. But the porters of Constantinople, who never drink any +thing stronger than water, and eat very little animal food, will lift +and carry heavier burthens than any other porters in the known world. +If we may believe the most respectable travellers, a Turk will carry a +load of seven hundred weight, which is more (I believe) than any +English porter ever attempted to carry any length of way. + +Among the refreshments of these warm countries, I ought not to forget +mentioning the sorbettes, which are sold in coffee-houses, and places +of public resort. They are iced froth, made with juice of oranges, +apricots, or peaches; very agreeable to the palate, and so extremely +cold, that I was afraid to swallow them in this hot country, until I +found from information and experience, that they may be taken in +moderation, without any bad consequence. + +Another considerable article in house-keeping is wine, which we have +here good and reasonable. The wine of Tavelle in Languedoc is very near +as good as Burgundy, and may be had at Nice, at the rate of six-pence a +bottle. The sweet wine of St. Laurent, counted equal to that of +Frontignan, costs about eight or nine-pence a quart: pretty good Malaga +may be had for half the money. Those who make their own wine choose the +grapes from different vineyards, and have them picked, pressed, and +fermented at home. + +That which is made by the peasants, both red and white, is generally +genuine: but the wine-merchants of Nice brew and balderdash, and even +mix it with pigeons dung and quick-lime. It cannot be supposed, that a +stranger and sojourner should buy his own grapes, and make his own +provision of wine: but he may buy it by recommendation from the +peasants, for about eighteen or twenty livres the charge, consisting of +eleven rup five pounds; in other words, of two hundred and eighty +pounds of this country, so as to bring it for something less than +three-pence a quart. The Nice wine, when mixed with water, makes an +agreeable beverage. There is an inferior sort for servants drank by the +common people, which in the cabaret does not cost above a penny a +bottle. The people here are not so nice as the English, in the +management of their wine. It is kept in flacons, or large flasks, +without corks, having a little oil at top. It is not deemed the worse +for having been opened a day or two before; and they expose it to the +hot sun, and all kinds of weather, without hesitation. Certain it is, +this treatment has little or no effect upon its taste, flavour, and +transparency. + +The brandy of Nice is very indifferent: and the liqueurs are so +sweetened with coarse sugar, that they scarce retain the taste or +flavour of any other ingredient. + +The last article of domestic oeconomy which I shall mention is fuel, or +wood for firing, which I buy for eleven sols (a little more than +six-pence halfpenny) a quintal, consisting of one hundred and fifty +pound Nice weight. The best, which is of oak, comes from Sardinia. The +common sort is olive, which being cut with the sap in it, ought to be +laid in during the summer; otherwise, it will make a very uncomfortable +fire. In my kitchen and two chambers, I burned fifteen thousand weight +of wood in four weeks, exclusive of charcoal for the kitchen stoves, +and of pine-tops for lighting the fires. These last are as large as +pineapples, which they greatly resemble in shape, and to which, indeed, +they give their name; and being full of turpentine, make a wonderful +blaze. For the same purpose, the people of these countries use the +sarments, or cuttings of the vines, which they sell made up in small +fascines. This great consumption of wood is owing to the large fires +used in roasting pieces of beef, and joints, in the English manner. The +roasts of this country seldom exceed two or three pounds of meat; and +their other plats are made over stove holes. But it is now high time to +conduct you from the kitchen, where you have been too long detained +by--Your humble servant. + +P.S.--I have mentioned the prices of almost all the articles in +house-keeping, as they are paid by the English: but exclusive of +butcher's meat, I am certain the natives do not pay so much by thirty +per cent. Their imposition on us, is not only a proof of their own +villany and hatred, but a scandal on their government; which ought to +interfere in favour of the subjects of a nation, to which they are so +much bound in point of policy, as well as gratitude. + + + + +LETTER XX + +NICE, October 22, 1764. + +SIR,--As I have nothing else to do, but to satisfy my own curiosity, +and that of my friends, I obey your injunctions with pleasure; though +not without some apprehension that my inquiries will afford you very +little entertainment. The place where I am is of very little importance +or consequence as a state or community; neither is there any thing +curious or interesting in the character or oeconomy of its inhabitants. + +There are some few merchants in Nice, said to be in good circumstances. +I know one of them, who deals to a considerable extent, and goes twice +a year to London to attend the sales of the East-India company. He buys +up a very large quantity of muslins, and other Indian goods, and +freights a ship in the river to transport them to Villa Franca. Some of +these are sent to Swisserland; but, I believe, the greater part is +smuggled into France, by virtue of counterfeit stamps, which are here +used without any ceremony. Indeed, the chief commerce of this place is +a contraband traffick carried on to the disadvantage of France; and I +am told, that the farmers of the Levant company in that kingdom find +their account in conniving at it. Certain it is, a great quantity of +merchandize is brought hither every week by mules from Turin and other +parts in Piedmont, and afterwards conveyed to the other side of the +Var, either by land or water. The mules of Piedmont are exceeding +strong and hardy. One of them will carry a burthen of near six hundred +weight. They are easily nourished, and require no other respite from +their labour, but the night's repose. They are the only carriage that +can be used in crossing the mountains, being very sure-footed: and it +is observed that in choosing their steps, they always march upon the +brink of the precipice. You must let them take their own way, otherwise +you will be in danger of losing your life; for they are obstinate, even +to desperation. It is very dangerous for a person on horseback to meet +those animals: they have such an aversion to horses, that they will +attack them with incredible fury, so as even to tear them and their +riders in pieces; and the best method for avoiding this fate, is to +clap spurs to your beast, and seek your safety in flight. I have been +more than once obliged to fly before them. They always give you +warning, by raising a hideous braying as soon as they perceive the +horse at a distance. The mules of Provence are not so mischievous, +because they are more used to the sight and society of horses: but +those of Piedmont are by far the largest and the strongest I have seen. + +Some very feasible schemes for improving the commerce of Nice have been +presented to the ministry of Turin; but hitherto without success. The +English import annually between two and three thousand bales of raw +silk, the growth of Piedmont; and this declaration would be held legal +evidence. In some parts of France, the cure of the parish, on All +Souls' day, which is called le jour des morts, says a libera domine for +two sols, at every grave in the burying-ground, for the release of the +soul whose body is there interred. + +The artisans of Nice are very lazy, very needy, very aukward, and void +of all ingenuity. The price of their labour is very near as high as at +London or Paris. Rather than work for moderate profit, arising from +constant employment, which would comfortably maintain them and their +families, they choose to starve at home, to lounge about the ramparts, +bask themselves in the sun, or play at bowls in the streets from +morning 'till night. + +The lowest class of people consists of fishermen, day labourers, +porters, and peasants: these last are distributed chiefly in the small +cassines in the neighbourhood of the city, and are said to amount to +twelve thousand. They are employed in labouring the ground, and have +all the outward signs of extreme misery. They are all diminutive, +meagre, withered, dirty, and half naked; in their complexions, not +barely swarthy, but as black as Moors; and I believe many of them are +descendants of that people. They are very hard favoured; and their +women in general have the coarsest features I have ever seen: it must +be owned, however, they have the finest teeth in the world. The +nourishment of those poor creatures consists of the refuse of the +garden, very coarse bread, a kind of meal called polenta, made of +Indian corn, which is very nourishing and agreeable, and a little oil; +but even in these particulars, they seem to be stinted to very scanty +meals. I have known a peasant feed his family with the skins of boiled +beans. Their hogs are much better fed than their children. 'Tis pity +they have no cows, which would yield milk, butter, and cheese, for the +sustenance of their families. With all this wretchedness, one of these +peasants will not work in your garden for less than eighteen sols, +about eleven pence sterling, per diem; and then he does not half the +work of an English labourer. If there is fruit in it, or any thing he +can convey, he will infallibly steal it, if you do not keep a very +watchful eye over him. All the common people are thieves and beggars; +and I believe this is always the case with people who are extremely +indigent and miserable. In other respects, they are seldom guilty of +excesses. They are remarkably respectful and submissive to their +superiors. The populace of Nice are very quiet and orderly. They are +little addicted to drunkenness. I have never heard of one riot since I +lived among them; and murder and robbery are altogether unknown. A man +may walk alone over the county of Nice, at midnight, without danger of +insult. The police is very well regulated. No man is permitted to wear +a pistol or dagger' on pain of being sent to the gallies. I am +informed, that both murder and robbery are very frequent in some parts +of Piedmont. Even here, when the peasants quarrel in their cups, (which +very seldom happens) they draw their knives, and the one infallibly +stabs the other. To such extremities, however, they never proceed, +except when there is a woman in the case; and mutual jealousy +co-operates with the liquor they have drank, to inflame their passions. +In Nice, the common people retire to their lodgings at eight o'clock in +winter, and nine in summer. Every person found in the streets after +these hours, is apprehended by the patrole; and, if he cannot give a +good account of himself, sent to prison. At nine in winter, and ten in +summer, there is a curfew-bell rung, warning the people to put out +their lights, and go to bed. This is a very necessary precaution in +towns subject to conflagrations; but of small use in Nice, where there +is very little combustible in the houses. + +The punishments inflicted upon malefactors and delinquents at Nice are +hanging for capital crimes; slavery on board the gallies for a limited +term, or for life, according to the nature of the transgression; +flagellation, and the strappado. This last is performed, by hoisting up +the criminal by his hands tied behind his back, on a pulley about two +stories high; from whence, the rope being suddenly slackened, he falls +to within a yard or two of the ground, where he is stopped with a +violent shock arising from the weight of his body, and the velocity of +his descent, which generally dislocates his shoulders, with incredible +pain. This dreadful execution is sometimes repeated in a few minutes on +the same delinquent; so that the very ligaments are tore from his +joints, and his arms are rendered useless for life. + +The poverty of the people in this country, as well as in the South of +France, may be conjectured from the appearance of their domestic +animals. The draughthorses, mules, and asses, of the peasants, are so +meagre, as to excite compassion. There is not a dog to be seen in +tolerable case; and the cats are so many emblems of famine, frightfully +thin, and dangerously rapacious. I wonder the dogs and they do not +devour young children. Another proof of that indigence which reigns +among the common people, is this: you may pass through the whole South +of France, as well as the county of Nice, where there is no want of +groves, woods, and plantations, without hearing the song of blackbird, +thrush, linnet, gold-finch, or any other bird whatsoever. All is silent +and solitary. The poor birds are destroyed, or driven for refuge, into +other countries, by the savage persecution of the people, who spare no +pains to kill, and catch them for their own subsistence. Scarce a +sparrow, red-breast, tomtit, or wren, can 'scape the guns and snares of +those indefatigable fowlers. Even the noblesse make parties to go a la +chasse, a-hunting; that is, to kill those little birds, which they eat +as gibier, or game. + +The great poverty of the people here, is owing to their religion. Half +of their time is lost in observing the great number of festivals; and +half of their substance is given to mendicant friars and parish +priests. But if the church occasions their indigence, it likewise, in +some measure, alleviates the horrors of it, by amusing them with shows, +processions, and even those very feasts, which afford a recess from +labour, in a country where the climate disposes them to idleness. If +the peasants in the neighbourhood of any chapel dedicated to a saint, +whose day is to be celebrated, have a mind to make a festin, in other +words, a fair, they apply to the commandant of Nice for a license, +which costs them about a French crown. This being obtained, they +assemble after service, men and women, in their best apparel, and dance +to the musick of fiddles, and pipe and tabor, or rather pipe and drum. +There are hucksters' stands, with pedlary ware and knick-knacks for +presents; cakes and bread, liqueurs and wine; and thither generally +resort all the company of Nice. I have seen our whole noblesse at one +of these festins, kept on the highway in summer, mingled with an +immense crowd of peasants, mules, and asses, covered with dust, and +sweating at every pore with the excessive heat of the weather. I should +be much puzzled to tell whence their enjoyment arises on such +occasions; or to explain their motives for going thither, unless they +are prescribed it for pennance, as a fore-taste of purgatory. + +Now I am speaking of religious institutions, I cannot help observing, +that the antient Romans were still more superstitious than the modern +Italians; and that the number of their religious feasts, sacrifices, +fasts, and holidays, was even greater than those of the Christian +church of Rome. They had their festi and profesti, their feriae +stativae, and conceptivae, their fixed and moveable feasts; their +esuriales, or fasting days, and their precidaneae, or vigils. The +agonales were celebrated in January; the carmentales, in January and +February; the lupercales and matronales, in March; the megalesia in +April; the floralia, in May; and the matralia in June. They had their +saturnalia, robigalia, venalia, vertumnalia, fornacalia, palilia, and +laralia, their latinae, their paganales, their sementinae, their +compitales, and their imperativae; such as the novemdalia, instituted +by the senate, on account of a supposed shower of stones. Besides, +every private family had a number of feriae, kept either by way of +rejoicing for some benefit, or mourning for some calamity. Every time +it thundered, the day was kept holy. Every ninth day was a holiday, +thence called nundinae quasi novendinae. There was the dies +denominalis, which was the fourth of the kalends; nones and ides of +every month, over and above the anniversary of every great defeat which +the republic had sustained, particularly the dies alliensis, or +fifteenth of the kalends of December, on which the Romans were totally +defeated by the Gauls and Veientes; as Lucan says--et damnata diu +Romanis allia fastis, and Allia in Rome's Calendar condemn'd. The vast +variety of their deities, said to amount to thirty thousand, with their +respective rites of adoration, could not fail to introduce such a +number of ceremonies, shews, sacrifices, lustrations, and public +processions, as must have employed the people almost constantly from +one end of the year to the other. This continual dissipation must have +been a great enemy to industry; and the people must have been idle and +effeminate. I think it would be no difficult matter to prove, that +there is very little difference, in point of character, between the +antient and modern inhabitants of Rome; and that the great figure which +this empire made of old, was not so much owing to the intrinsic virtue +of its citizens, as to the barbarism, ignorance, and imbecility of the +nations they subdued. Instances of public and private virtue I find as +frequent and as striking in the history of other nations, as in the +annals of antient Rome; and now that the kingdoms and states of Europe +are pretty equally enlightened, and ballanced in the scale of political +power, I am of opinion, that if the most fortunate generals of the +Roman commonwealth were again placed at the head of the very armies +they once commanded, instead of extending their conquests over all +Europe and Asia, they would hardly be able to subdue, and retain under +their dominion, all the petty republics that subsist in Italy. + +But I am tired with writing; and I believe you will be tired with +reading this long letter notwithstanding all your prepossession in +favour of--Your very humble servant. + + + +LETTER XXI + +NICE, November 10, 1764. + +DEAR DOCTOR,--In my enquiries about the revenues of Nice, I am obliged +to trust to the information of the inhabitants, who are much given to +exaggerate. They tell me, the revenues of this town amount to one +hundred thousand livres, or five thousand pounds sterling; of which I +would strike off at least one fourth, as an addition of their own +vanity: perhaps, if we deduct a third, it will be nearer the truth. +For, I cannot find out any other funds they have, but the butchery and +the bakery, which they farm at so much a year to the best bidder; and +the droits d'entree, or duties upon provision brought into the city; +but these are very small. The king is said to draw from Nice one +hundred thousand livres annually, arising from a free-gift, amounting +to seven hundred pounds sterling, in lieu of the taille, from which +this town and county are exempted; an inconsiderable duty upon wine +sold in public-houses; and the droits du port. These last consist of +anchorage, paid by all vessels in proportion to their tonnage, when +they enter the harbours of Nice and Villa Franca. Besides, all foreign +vessels, under a certain stipulated burthen, that pass between the +island of Sardinia and this coast, are obliged, in going to the +eastward, to enter; and pay a certain regulated imposition, on pain of +being taken and made prize. The prince of Monaco exacts a talliage of +the same kind; and both he and the king of Sardinia maintain armed +cruisers to assert this prerogative; from which, however, the English +and French are exempted by treaty, in consequence of having paid a sum +of money at once. In all probability, it was originally given as a +consideration for maintaining lights on the shore, for the benefit of +navigators, like the toll paid for passing the Sound in the Baltic. +[Upon further inquiry I find it was given in consideration of being +protected from the Corsairs by the naval force of the Duke of Savoy and +Prince of Monaco.] The fanal, or lanthorn, to the eastward of Villa +Franca, is kept in good repair, and still lighted in the winter. The +toll, however, is a very troublesome tax upon feluccas, and other small +craft, which are greatly retarded in their voyages, and often lose the +benefit of a fair wind, by being obliged to run inshore, and enter +those harbours. The tobacco the king manufactures at his own expence, +and sells for his own profit, at a very high price; and every person +convicted of selling this commodity in secret, is sent to the gallies +for life. The salt comes chiefly from Sardinia, and is stored up in the +king's magazine from whence it is exported to Piedmont, and other parts +of his inland dominions. And here it may not be amiss to observe, that +Sardinia produces very good horses, well-shaped, though small; strong, +hardy, full of mettle, and easily fed. The whole county of Nice is said +to yield the king half a million of livres, about twenty-five thousand +pounds sterling, arising from a small donative made by every town and +village: for the lands pay no tax, or imposition, but the tithes to the +church. His revenue then flows from the gabelle on salt and wine, and +these free-gifts; so that we may strike off one fifth of the sum at +which the whole is estimated; and conclude, that the king draws from +the county at Nice, about four hundred thousand livres, or twenty +thousand pounds sterling. That his revenues from Nice are not great, +appears from the smallness of the appointments allowed to his officers. +The president has about three hundred pounds per annum; and the +intendant about two. The pay of the commandant does not exceed three +hundred and fifty pounds: but he has certain privileges called the tour +du baton, some of which a man of spirit would not insist upon. He who +commands at present, having no estate of his own, enjoys a small +commandery, which being added to his appointments at Nice, make the +whole amount to about five hundred pounds sterling. + +If we may believe the politicians of Nice, the king of Sardinia's whole +revenue does not fall short of twenty millions of Piedmontese livres, +being above one million of our money. It must be owned, that there is +no country in Christendom less taxed than that of Nice; and as the soil +produces the necessaries of life, the inhabitants, with a little +industry, might renew the golden age in this happy climate, among their +groves, woods, and mountains, beautified with fountains, brooks, +rivers, torrents, and cascades. In the midst of these pastoral +advantages, the peasants are poor and miserable. They have no stock to +begin the world with. They have no leases of the lands they cultivate; +but entirely depend, from year to year, on the pleasure of the +arbitrary landholder, who may turn them out at a minute's warning; and +they are oppressed by the mendicant friars and parish priests, who rob +them of the best fruits of their labour: after all, the ground is too +scanty for the number of families which are crouded on it. + +You desire to know the state of the arts and sciences at Nice; which, +indeed, is almost a total blank. I know not what men of talents this +place may have formerly produced; but at present, it seems to be +consecrated to the reign of dulness and superstition. It is very +surprising, to see a people established between two enlightened +nations, so devoid of taste and literature. Here are no tolerable +pictures, busts, statues, nor edifices: the very ornaments of the +churches are wretchedly conceived, and worse executed. They have no +public, nor private libraries that afford any thing worth perusing. +There is not even a bookseller in Nice. Though they value themselves +upon their being natives of Italy, they are unacquainted with music. +The few that play upon instruments, attend only to the execution. They +have no genius nor taste, nor any knowledge of harmony and composition. +Among the French, a Nissard piques himself on being Provencal; but in +Florence, Milan, or Rome, he claims the honour of being born a native +of Italy. The people of condition here speak both languages equally +well; or, rather, equally ill; for they use a low, uncouth phraseology; +and their pronunciation is extremely vitious. Their vernacular tongue +is what they call Patois; though in so calling it, they do it +injustice.--Patois, from the Latin word patavinitas, means no more than +a provincial accent, or dialect. It takes its name from Patavium, or +Padua, which was the birthplace of Livy, who, with all his merit as a +writer, has admitted into his history, some provincial expressions of +his own country. The Patois, or native tongue of Nice, is no other than +the ancient Provencal, from which the Italian, Spanish and French +languages, have been formed. This is the language that rose upon the +ruins of the Latin tongue, after the irruptions of the Goths, Vandals, +Huns, and Burgundians, by whom the Roman empire was destroyed. It was +spoke all over Italy, Spain, and the southern parts of France, until +the thirteenth century, when the Italians began to polish it into the +language which they now call their own: The Spaniards and French, +likewise, improved it into their respective tongues. From its great +affinity to the Latin, it was called Romance, a name which the +Spaniards still give to their own language. As the first legends of +knight-errantry were written in Provencal, all subsequent performances +of the same kind, have derived from it the name of romance; and as +those annals of chivalry contained extravagant adventures of knights, +giants, and necromancers, every improbable story or fiction is to this +day called a romance. Mr. Walpole, in his Catalogue of royal and noble +Authors, has produced two sonnets in the antient Provencal, written by +our king Richard I. surnamed Coeur de Lion; and Voltaire, in his +Historical Tracts, has favoured the world with some specimens of the +same language. The Patois of Nice, must, without doubt, have undergone +changes and corruptions in the course of so many ages, especially as no +pains have been taken to preserve its original purity, either in +orthography or pronunciation. It is neglected, as the language of the +vulgar: and scarce any-body here knows either its origin or +constitution. I have in vain endeavoured to procure some pieces in the +antient Provencal, that I might compare them with the modern Patois: +but I can find no person to give me the least information on the +subject. The shades of ignorance, sloth, and stupidity, are +impenetrable. Almost every word of the Patois may still be found in the +Italian, Spanish, and French languages, with a small change in the +pronunciation. Cavallo, signifying a horse in Italian and Spanish is +called cavao; maison, the French word for a house, is changed into +maion; aqua, which means water in Spanish, the Nissards call daigua. To +express, what a slop is here! they say acco fa lac aqui, which is a +sentence composed of two Italian words, one French, and one Spanish. +This is nearly the proportion in which these three languages will be +found mingled in the Patois of Nice; which, with some variation, +extends over all Provence, Languedoc, and Gascony. I will now treat you +with two or three stanzas of a canzon, or hymn, in this language, to +the Virgin Mary, which was lately printed at Nice. + + 1 + + Vierge, maire de Dieu, + Nuostro buono avocado, + Embel car uvostre sieu, + En Fenestro adourado, + Jeu vous saludi, + E demandi en socours; + E sense autre preludi, + Canti lous uvostre honours. + + Virgin, mother of God, + our good advocate, + With your dear son, + In Fenestro adored, + I salute you, + And ask his assistance; + And without further prelude, + I sing your honours. + +[Fenestro is the name of a place in this neighbourhood, where there is +a supposed miraculous sanctuary, or chapel, of the Virgin Mary.] + + 2. + + Qu'ario de Paradis! + Que maesta divine! + Salamon es d'advis, + Giugiar de uvostro mino; + Vous dis plus bello: + E lou dis ben soven + De toutoi lei femello, + E non s'engano ren. + + What air of Paradise! + What majesty divine! + Solomon is of opinion, + To judge of your appearance; + Says you are the fairest + And it is often said + Of all females, + And we are not all deceived. + + 3. + + Qu'ario de Paradis! + Que maesta divine! + La bellezzo eblovis; + La bonta l'ueigl raffino. + Sias couronado; + Tenes lou monde en man + Sus del trono assettado, + Riges lou avostre enfan. + + What air of Paradise! + What majesty divine! + The beauty dazzles; + The goodness purifies the eye: + You are crowned: + You hold the world in your hand: + Seated on the throne, + You support your child. + +You see I have not chosen this canzon for the beauty and elegance of +thought and expression; but give it you as the only printed specimen I +could find of the modern Provencal. If you have any curiosity to be +further acquainted with the Patois, I will endeavour to procure you +satisfaction. Meanwhile, I am, in plain English,--Dear Sir, Ever yours. + + + +LETTER XXII + +NICE, November 10, 1764. + +DEAR SIR,--I had once thoughts of writing a complete natural history of +this town and county: but I found myself altogether unequal to the +task. I have neither health, strength, nor opportunity to make proper +collections of the mineral, vegetable, and animal productions. I am not +much conversant with these branches of natural philosophy. I have no +books to direct my inquiries. I can find no person capable of giving me +the least information or assistance; and I am strangely puzzled by the +barbarous names they give to many different species, the descriptions +of which I have read under other appelations; and which, as I have +never seen them before, I cannot pretend to distinguish by the eye. You +must therefore be contented with such imperfect intelligence as my +opportunities can afford. + +The useful arts practised at Nice, are these, gardening and +agriculture, with their consequences, the making of wine, oil, and +cordage; the rearing of silk-worms, with the subsequent management and +manufacture of that production; and the fishing, which I have already +described. + +Nothing can be more unpromising than the natural soil of this +territory, except in a very few narrow bottoms, where there is a stiff +clay, which when carefully watered, yields tolerable pasturage. In +every other part, the soil consists of a light sand mingled with +pebbles, which serves well enough for the culture of vines and olives: +but the ground laid out for kitchen herbs, as well as for other fruit +must be manured with great care and attention. They have no black +cattle to afford such compost as our farmers use in England. The dung +of mules and asses, which are their only beasts of burthen, is of very +little value for this purpose; and the natural sterility of their +ground requires something highly impregnated with nitre and volatile +salts. They have recourse therefore to pigeons' dung and ordure, which +fully answer their expectations. Every peasant opens, at one corner of +his wall, a public house of office for the reception of passengers; and +in the town of Nice, every tenement is provided with one of these +receptacles, the contents of which are carefully preserved for sale. +The peasant comes with his asses and casks to carry it off before day, +and pays for it according to its quality, which he examines and +investigates, by the taste and flavour. The jakes of a protestant +family, who eat gras every day, bears a much higher price than the +privy of a good catholic who lives maigre one half of the year. The +vaults belonging to the convent of Minims are not worth emptying. + +The ground here is not delved with spades as in England, but laboured +with a broad, sharp hough, having a short horizontal handle; and the +climate is so hot and dry in the summer, that the plants must be +watered every morning and evening, especially where it is not shaded by +trees. It is surprising to see how the productions of the earth are +crouded together. One would imagine they would rob one another of +nourishment; and moreover be stifled for want of air; and doubtless +this is in some measure the case. Olive and other fruit trees are +planted in rows very close to each other. These are connected by vines, +and the interstices, between the rows, are filled with corn. The +gardens that supply the town with sallad and pot-herbs, lye all on the +side of Provence, by the highway. They are surrounded with high +stone-walls, or ditches, planted with a kind of cane or large reed, +which answers many purposes in this country. The leaves of it afford +sustenance to the asses, and the canes not only serve as fences to the +inclosures; but are used to prop the vines and pease, and to build +habitations for the silkworms: they are formed into arbours, and wore +as walking-staves. All these gardens are watered by little rills that +come from the mountains, particularly, by the small branches of the two +sources which I have described in a former letter, as issuing from the +two sides of a mountain, under the names of Fontaine de Muraille, and +Fontaine du Temple. + +In the neighbourhood of Nice, they raise a considerable quantity of +hemp, the largest and strongest I ever saw. Part of this, when dressed, +is exported to other countries; and part is manufactured into cordage. +However profitable it may be to the grower, it is certainly a great +nuisance in the summer. When taken out of the pits, where it has been +put to rot, the stench it raises is quite insupportable; and must +undoubtedly be unwholesome. + +There is such a want of land in this neighbourhood, that terraces are +built over one another with loose stones, on the faces of bare rocks, +and these being covered with earth and manured, are planted with +olives, vines, and corn. The same shift was practised all over +Palestine, which was rocky and barren, and much more populous than the +county of Nice. + +Notwithstanding the small extent of this territory, there are some +pleasant meadows in the skirts of Nice, that produce excellent clover; +and the corn which is sown in open fields, where it has the full +benefit of the soil, sun, and air, grows to a surprizing height. I have +seen rye seven or eight feet high. All vegetables have a wonderful +growth in this climate. Besides wheat, rye, barley, and oats, this +country produces a good deal of Meliga, or Turkish wheat, which is what +we call Indian corn. I have, in a former letter, observed that the meal +of this grain goes by the name polenta, and makes excellent +hasty-pudding, being very nourishing, and counted an admirable +pectoral. The pods and stalks are used for fuel: and the leaves are +much preferable to common straw, for making paillasses. + +The pease and beans in the garden appear in the winter like beautiful +plantations of young trees in blossom; and perfume the air. Myrtle, +sweet-briar, sweet-marjoram, sage, thyme, lavender, rosemary, with many +other aromatic herbs and flowers, which with us require the most +careful cultivation, are here found wild in the mountains. + +It is not many years since the Nissards learned the culture of +silk-worms, of their neighbours the Piedmontese; and hitherto the +progress they have made is not very considerable: the whole county of +Nice produces about one hundred and thirty-three bales of three hundred +pounds each, amounting in value to four hundred thousand livres. + +In the beginning of April, when the mulberry-leaves, begin to put +forth, the eggs or grains that produce the silk-worm, are hatched. The +grains are washed in wine, and those that swim on the top, are thrown +away as good for nothing. The rest being deposited in small bags of +linen, are worn by women in their bosoms, until the worms begin to +appear: then they are placed in shallow wooden boxes, covered with a +piece of white paper, cut into little holes, through which the worms +ascend as they are hatched, to feed on the young mulberry-leaves, of +which there is a layer above the paper. These boxes are kept for warmth +between two mattrasses, and visited every day. Fresh leaves are laid +in, and the worms that feed are removed successively to the other place +prepared for their reception. This is an habitation, consisting of two +or three stories, about twenty inches from each other, raised upon four +wooden posts. The floors are made of canes, and strewed with fresh +mulberry-leaves: the corner posts, and other occasional props, for +sustaining the different floors, are covered with a coat of loose +heath, which is twisted round the wood. The worms when hatched are laid +upon the floors; and here you may see them in all the different stages +(if moulting or casting the slough, a change which they undergo three +times successively before they begin to work. The silk-worm is an +animal of such acute and delicate sensations, that too much care cannot +be taken to keep its habitation clean, and to refresh it from time to +time with pure air. I have seen them languish and die in scores, in +consequence of an accidental bad smell. The soiled leaves, and the +filth which they necessarily produce, should be carefully shifted every +day; and it would not be amiss to purify the air sometimes with fumes +of vinegar, rose, or orange-flower water. These niceties, however, are +but little observed. They commonly lie in heaps as thick as shrimps in +a plate, some feeding on the leaves, some new hatched, some intranced +in the agonies of casting their skin, sonic languishing, and some +actually dead, with a litter of half-eaten faded leaves about them, in +a close room, crouded with women and children, not at all remarkable +for their cleanliness. I am assured by some persons of credit, that if +they are touched, or even approached, by a woman in her catamenia, they +infallibly expire. This, however, must be understood of those females +whose skins have naturally a very rank flavour, which is generally +heightened at such periods. The mulberry-leaves used in this country +are of the tree which bears a small white fruit not larger than a +damascene. They are planted on purpose, and the leaves are sold at so +much a pound. By the middle of June all the mulberry-trees are +stripped; but new leaves succeed, and in a few weeks, they are cloathed +again with fresh verdure. In about ten days after the last moulting, +the silk-worm climbs upon the props of his house, and choosing a +situation among the heath, begins to spin in a most curious manner, +until he is quite inclosed, and the cocon or pod of silk, about the +size of a pigeon's egg, which he has produced remains suspended by +several filaments. It is no unusual to see double cocons, spun by two +worms included under a common cover. There must be an infinite number +of worms to yield any considerable quantity of silk. One ounce of eggs +or grains produces, four rup, or one hundred Nice pounds of cocons; and +one rup, or twenty-five pounds of cocons, if they are rich, gives three +pounds of raw silk; that is, twelve pounds of silk are got from one +ounce of grains, which ounce of grains its produced by as many worms as +are inclosed in one pound, or twelve ounces of cocons. In preserving +the cocons for breed, you must choose an equal number of males and +females; and these are very easily distinguished by the shape of the +cocons; that which contains the male is sharp, and the other obtuse, at +the two ends. In ten or twelve days after the cocon is finished, the +worm makes its way through it, in the form of a very ugly, unwieldy, +aukward butterfly, and as the different sexes are placed by one another +on paper or linen, they immediately engender. The female lays her eggs, +which are carefully preserved; but neither she nor her mate takes any +nourishment, and in eight or ten days after they quit the cocons, they +generally die. The silk of these cocons cannot be wound, because the +animals in piercing through them, have destroyed the continuity of the +filaments. It is therefore, first boiled, and then picked and carded +like wool, and being afterwards spun, is used in the coarser stuffs of +the silk manufacture. The other cocons, which yield the best silk, are +managed in a different manner. Before the inclosed worm has time to +penetrate, the silk is reeled off with equal care and ingenuity. A +handful of the cocons are thrown away into a kettle of boiling water, +which not only kills the animal, but dissolves the glutinous substance +by which the fine filaments of the silk cohere or stick together, so +that they are easily wound off, without breaking. Six or seven of these +small filaments being joined together are passed over a kind of +twisting iron, and fixed to the wheel, which one girl turns, while +another, with her hands in the boiling water, disentangles the threads, +joins them when they chance to break, and supplies fresh cocons with +admirable dexterity and dispatch. There is a manufacture of this kind +just without one of the gates of Nice, where forty or fifty of these +wheels are worked together, and give employment for some weeks to +double the number of young women. Those who manage the pods that float +in the boiling water must be very alert, otherwise they will scald +their fingers. The smell that comes from the boiling cocons is +extremely offensive. Hard by the harbour, there is a very curious mill +for twisting the silk, which goes by water. There is in the town of +Nice, a well regulated hospital for poor orphans of both sexes, where +above one hundred of them are employed in dressing, dyeing, spinning, +and weaving the silk. In the villages of Provence, you see the poor +women in the streets spinning raw silk upon distaves: but here the same +instrument is only used for spinning hemp and flax; which last, +however, is not of the growth of Nice--But lest I should spin this +letter to a tedious length, I will now wind up my bottom, and bid you +heartily farewell. + + + +LETTER XXIII + +NICE, December 19, 1764. + +SIR,--In my last, I gave you a succinct account of the silkworm, and +the management of that curious insect in this country. I shall now +proceed to describe the methods of making wine and oil. + +The vintage begins in September. The grapes being chosen and carefully +picked, are put into a large vat, where they are pressed by a man's +naked feet, and the juices drawn off by a cock below. When no more is +procured by this operation, the bruised grapes are put into the press, +and yield still more liquor. The juice obtained by this double +pressure, being put in casks, with their bungs open, begins to ferment +and discharge its impurities at the openings. The waste occasioned by +this discharge, is constantly supplied with fresh wine, so that the +casks are always full. The fermentation continues for twelve, fifteen, +or twenty days, according to the strength and vigour of the grape. In +about a month, the wine is fit for drinking. When the grapes are of a +bad, meagre kind, the wine dealers mix the juice with pigeons'-dung or +quick-lime, in order to give it a spirit which nature has denied: but +this is a very mischievous adulteration. + +The process for oil-making is equally simple. The best olives are those +that grow wild; but the quantity of them is very inconsiderable. Olives +begin to ripen and drop in the beginning of November: but some remain +on the trees till February, and even till April, and these are counted +the most valuable. When the olives are gathered, they must be +manufactured immediately, before they fade and grow wrinkled, otherwise +they will produce bad oil. They are first of all ground into a paste by +a mill-stone set edge-ways in a circular stone-trough, the wheel being +turned by water. + +This paste is put into trails or circular cases made of grass woven, +having a round hole at top and bottom; when filled they resemble in +shape our Cheshire cheeses. A number of these placed one upon another, +are put in a press, and being squeezed, the oil with all its +impurities, runs into a receptacle below fixed in the ground. From +hence it is laded into a wooden vat, half filled with water. The sordes +or dirt falls to the bottom; the oil swims a-top; and being skimmed +off, is barrelled up in small oblong casks. What remains in the vat, is +thrown into a large stone cistern with water, and after being often +stirred, and standing twelve or fourteen days, yields a coarser oil +used for lamps and manufactures. After these processes, they extract an +oil still more coarse and fetid from the refuse of the whole. +Sometimes, in order to make the olives grind the more easily into a +paste, and part with more oil, they are mixed with a little hot water: +but the oil thus procured is apt to grow rancid. The very finest, +called virgin oil, is made chiefly of green olives, and sold at a very +high price, because a great quantity is required to produce a very +little oil. Even the stuff that is left after all these operations, +consisting of the dried pulp, is sold for fuel, and used in brasieres +for warming apartments which have no chimney. + +I have now specified all the manufactures of Nice which are worth +mentioning. True it is, there is some coarse paper made in this +neighbourhood; there are also people here who dress skins and make +leather for the use of the inhabitants: but this business is very ill +performed: the gloves and shoes are generally rotten as they come from +the hands of the maker. Carpenter's, joiner's, and blacksmith's work is +very coarsely and clumsily done. There are no chairs to be had at Nice, +but crazy things made of a few sticks, with rush bottoms, which are +sold for twelve livres a dozen. Nothing can be more contemptible than +the hard-ware made in this place, such as knives, scissors, and +candle-snuffers. All utensils in brass and copper are very ill made and +finished. The silver-smiths make nothing but spoons, forks, paultry +rings, and crosses for the necks of the women. + +The houses are built of a ragged stone dug from the mountains, and the +interstices are filled with rubble; so that the walls would appear very +ugly, if they were not covered with plaister, which has a good effect. +They generally consist of three stories, and are covered with tiles. +The apartments of the better sort are large and lofty, the floors paved +with brick, the roofs covered with a thick coat of stucco, and the +walls whitewashed. People of distinction hang their chambers with +damask, striped silk, painted cloths, tapestry, or printed linnen. All +the doors, as well as the windows, consist of folding leaves. As there +is no wainscot in the rooms, which are divided by stone partitions and +the floors and cieling are covered with brick and stucco, fires are of +much less dreadful consequence here than in our country. Wainscot would +afford harbour for bugs: besides, white walls have a better effect in +this hot climate. The beds commonly used in this place, and all over +Italy, consist of a paillasse, with one or two mattrasses, laid upon +planks, supported by two wooden benches. Instead of curtains there is a +couziniere or mosquito net, made of a kind of gauze, that opens and +contracts occasionally, and incloses the place where you lie: persons +of condition, however, have also bedsteads and curtains; but these last +are never used in the summer. + +In these countries, people of all ranks dine exactly at noon; and this +is the time I seize in winter, for making my daily tour of the streets +and ramparts, which at all other hours of the day are crowded with men, +women, children and beasts of burthen. The rampart is the common road +for carriages of all kinds. I think there are two private coaches in +Nice, besides that of the commandant: but there are sedan chairs, which +may be had at a reasonable rate. When I bathed in the summer, I paid +thirty sols, equal to eighteen-pence, for being carried to and from the +bathing place, which was a mile from my own house. + +Now I am speaking of bathing, it may not be amiss to inform you that +though there is a fine open beach, extending several miles to the +westward of Nice, those who cannot swim ought to bathe with great +precaution, as the sea is very deep, and the descent very abrupt from +within a yard or two of the water's edge. The people here were much +surprised when I began to bathe in the beginning of May. They thought +it very strange, that a man seemingly consumptive should plunge into +the sea, especially when the weather was so cold; and some of the +doctors prognosticated immediate death. But, when it was perceived that +I grew better in consequence of the bath, some of the Swiss officers +tried the same experiment, and in a few days, our example was followed +by several inhabitants of Nice. There is, however, no convenience for +this operation, from the benefit of which the fair sex must be intirely +excluded, unless they lay aside all regard to decorum; for the shore is +always lined with fishing-boats, and crouded with people. If a lady +should be at the expence of having a tent pitched on the beach where +she might put on and of her bathing-dress, she could not pretend to go +into the sea without proper attendants; nor could she possibly plunge +headlong into the water, which is the most effectual, and least +dangerous way of bathing. All that she can do is to have the sea-water +brought into her house, and make use of a bathing-tub, which may be +made according to her own, or physician's direction. + +What further I have to say of this climate and country, you shall have +in my next; and then you will be released from a subject, which I am +afraid has been but too circumstantially handled by-- Sir, Your very +humble servant. + + + +LETTER XXIV + +NICE, January 4, 1765. + +DEAR SIR.,--The constitution of this climate may be pretty well +ascertained, from the inclosed register of the weather, which I kept +with all possible care and attention. From a perusal of it, you will +see that there is less rain and wind at Nice, than in any other part of +the world that I know; and such is the serenity of the air, that you +see nothing above your head for several months together, but a charming +blue expanse, without cloud or speck. Whatever clouds may be formed by +evaporation of the sea, they seldom or never hover over this small +territory; but, in all probability, are attracted by the mountains that +surround it, and there fall in rain or snow: as for those that gather +from other quarters, I suppose their progress hitherward is obstructed +by those very Alps, which rise one over another, to an extent of many +leagues. This air being dry, pure, heavy, and elastic, must be +agreeable to the constitution of those who labour under disorders +arising from weak nerves, obstructed perspiration, relaxed fibres, a +viscidity of lymph, and a languid circulation. In other respects, it +encourages the scurvy, the atmosphere being undoubtedly impregnated +with sea-salt. Ever since my arrival at Nice, I have had a scorbutical +eruption on my right hand, which diminishes and increases according to +the state of my health. One day last summer, when there was a strong +breeze from the sea, the surface of our bodies was covered with a salt +brine, very perceptible to the taste; my gums, as well as those of +another person in my family, began to swell, and grow painful, though +this had never happened before; and I was seized with violent pains in +the joints of my knees. I was then at a country-house fronting the sea, +and particularly exposed to the marine air. The swelling of our gums +subsided as the wind fell: but what was very remarkable, the +scurvy-spot on my hand disappeared, and did not return for a whole +month. It is affirmed that sea-salt will dissolve, and render the blood +so fluid, that it will exude through the coats of the vessels. Perhaps +the sea-scurvy is a partial dissolution of it, by that mineral absorbed +from the air by the lymphatics on the surface of the body, and by those +of the lungs in respiration. Certain it is, in the last stages of the +sea-scurvy, the blood often bursts from the pores; and this phaenomenon +is imputed to a high degree of putrefaction: sure enough it is attended +with putrefaction. We know that a certain quantity of salt is required +to preserve the animal juices from going putrid: but, how a greater +quantity should produce putrefaction, I leave to wiser heads to +explain. Many people here have scorbutical complaints, though their +teeth are not affected. They are subject to eruptions on the skin, +putrid gums, pains in the bones, lassitude, indigestion, and low +spirits; but the reigning distemper is a marasmus, or consumption, +which proceeds gradually, without any pulmonary complaint, the +complexion growing more and more florid, 'till the very last scene of +the tragedy. This I would impute to the effects of a very dry, saline +atmosphere, upon a thin habit, in which there is an extraordinary waste +by perspiration. The air is remarkably salt in this district, because +the mountains that hem it in, prevent its communication with the +circumambient atmosphere, in which the saline particles would otherwise +be diffused; and there is no rain, nor dew, to precipitate or dissolve +them. Such an air as I have described, should have no bad effect upon a +moist, phlegmatic constitution, such as mine; and yet it must be owned, +I have been visibly wasting since I came hither, though this decay I +considered as the progress of the tabes which began in England. But the +air of Nice has had a still more sensible effect upon Mr. Sch--z, who +laboured under nervous complaints to such a degree, that life was a +burthen to him. He had also a fixed pain in his breast, for which +complaint he had formerly tried the air of Naples, where he resided +some considerable time, and in a great measure recovered: but, this +returning with weakness, faintness, low spirits, and entire loss of +appetite, he was advised to come hither; and the success of his journey +has greatly exceeded his expectation. Though the weather has been +remarkably bad for this climate, he has enjoyed perfect health. Since +he arrived at Nice, the pain in his breast has vanished; he eats +heartily, sleeps well, is in high spirits, and so strong, that he is +never off his legs in the day-time. He can walk to the Var and back +again, before dinner; and he has climbed to the tops of all the +mountains in this neighbourhood. I never saw before such sudden and +happy effects from the change of air. I must also acknowledge, that +ever since my arrival at Nice, I have breathed more freely than I had +done for some years, and my spirits have been more alert. The father of +my housekeeper, who was a dancing-master, had been so afflicted with an +asthmatic disorder, that he could not live in France, Spain, or Italy; +but found the air of Nice so agreeable to his lungs, that he was +enabled to exercise his profession for above twenty years, and died +last spring turned of seventy. Another advantage I have reaped from +this climate is my being, in a great measure, delivered from a slow +fever which used to hang about me, and render life a burthen. Neither +am I so apt to catch cold as I used to be in England and France; and +the colds I do catch are not of the same continuance and consequence, +as those to which I was formerly subject. The air of Nice is so dry, +that in summer, and even in winter, (except ill wet weather) you may +pass the evening, and indeed the whole night, sub Dio, without feeling +the least dew or moisture; and as for fogs, they are never seen in this +district. In summer, the air is cooled by a regular sea-breeze blowing +from the cast, like that of the West-Indies. It begins in the forenoon, +and increases with the heat of the day. It dies away about six or +seven; and immediately after sun-set is succeeded by an agreeable +land-breeze from the mountains. The sea-breeze from the eastward, +however, is not so constant here, as in the West-Indies between the +tropicks, because the sun, which produces it, is not so powerful. This +country lies nearer the region of variable winds, and is surrounded by +mountains, capes, and straights, which often influence the constitution +and current of the air. About the winter solstice, the people of Nice +expect wind and rain, which generally lasts, with intervals, 'till the +beginning of February: but even during this, their worst weather, the +sun breaks out occasionally, and you may take the air either a-foot or +on horseback every day; for the moisture is immediately absorbed by the +earth, which is naturally dry. They likewise lay their account with +being visited by showers of rain and gusts of wind in April. A week's +rain in the middle of August makes them happy. It not only refreshes +the parched ground, and plumps up the grapes and other fruit, but it +cools the air and assuages the beets, which then begin to grow very +troublesome; but the rainy season is about the autumnal equinox, or +rather something later. It continues about twelve days or a fortnight, +and is extremely welcome to the natives of this country. This rainy +season is often delayed 'till the latter end of November, and sometimes +'till the month of December; in which case, the rest of the winter is +generally dry. The heavy rains in this country generally come with a +south-west wind, which was the creberque procellis Africus, the stormy +southwest, of the antients. It is here called Lebeche, a corruption of +Lybicus: it generally blows high for a day or two, and rolls the +Mediterranean before it in huge waves, that often enter the town of +Nice. It likewise drives before it all the clouds which had been formed +above the surface of the Mediterranean. These being expended in rain, +fair weather naturally ensues. For this reason, the Nissards observe le +lebeche racommode le tems, the Lebeche settles the weather. During the +rains of this season, however, the winds have been variable. From the +sixteenth of November, 'till the fourth of January, we have had two and +twenty days of heavy rain: a very extraordinary visitation in this +country: but the seasons seem to be more irregular than formerly, all +over Europe. In the month of July, the mercury in Fahrenheit's +thermometer, rose to eighty-four at Rome, the highest degree at which +it was ever known in that country; and the very next day, the Sabine +mountains were covered with snow. The same phaemomenon happened on the +eleventh of August, and the thirtieth of September. The consequence of +these sudden variations of weather, was this: putrid fevers were less +frequent than usual; but the sudden cheek of perspiration from the +cold, produced colds, inflammatory sore throats, and the rheumatism. I +know instances of some English valetudinarians, who have passed the +winter at Aix, on the supposition that there was little or no +difference between that air and the climate of Nice: but this is a very +great mistake, which may be attended with fatal consequences. Aix is +altogether exposed to the north and north-west winds, which blow as +cold in Provence, as ever I felt them on the mountains of Scotland: +whereas Nice is entirely screened from these winds by the Maritime +Alps, which form an amphitheatre, to the land-side, around this little +territory: but another incontestible proof of the mildness of this +climate, is deduced from the oranges, lemons, citrons, roses, +narcissus's, july-flowers, and jonquils, which ripen and blow in the +middle of winter. I have described the agreeable side of this climate; +and now I will point out its inconveniences. In the winter, but +especially in the spring, the sun is so hot, that one can hardly take +exercise of any sort abroad, without being thrown into a breathing +sweat; and the wind at this season is so cold and piercing, that it +often produces a mischievous effect on the pores thus opened. If the +heat rarifies the blood and juices, while the cold air constringes the +fibres, and obstructs the perspiration, inflammatory disorders must +ensue. Accordingly, the people are then subject to colds, pleurisies, +peripneumonies, and ardent fevers. An old count advised me to stay +within doors in March, car alors les humeurs commencent a se remuer, +for then the humours begin to be in motion. During the heats of summer, +some few persons of gross habits have, in consequence of violent +exercise and excess, been seized with putrid fevers, attended with +exanthemata, erisipelatous, and miliary eruptions, which commonly prove +fatal: but the people in general are healthy, even those that take very +little exercise: a strong presumption in favour of the climate! As to +medicine, I know nothing of the practice of the Nice physicians. Here +are eleven in all; but four or five make shift to live by the +profession. They receive, by way of fee, ten sols (an English +six-pence) a visit, and this is but ill paid: so you may guess whether +they are in a condition to support the dignity of physic; and whether +any man, of a liberal education, would bury himself at Nice on such +terms. I am acquainted with an Italian physician settled at Villa +Franca, a very good sort of a man, who practises for a certain salary, +raised by annual contribution among the better sort of people; and an +allowance from the king, for visiting the sick belonging to the +garrison and the gallies. The whole may amount to near thirty pounds. + +Among the inconveniences of this climate, the vermin form no +inconsiderable article. Vipers and snakes are found in the mountains. +Our gardens swarm with lizzards; and there are some few scorpions; but +as yet I have seen but one of this species. In summer, notwithstanding +all the care and precautions we can take, we are pestered with +incredible swarms of flies, fleas, and bugs; but the gnats, or couzins, +are more intolerable than all the rest. In the day-time, it is +impossible to keep the flies out of your mouth, nostrils, eyes, and +ears. They croud into your milk, tea, chocolate, soup, wine, and water: +they soil your sugar, contaminate your victuals, and devour your fruit; +they cover and defile your furniture, floors, cielings, and indeed your +whole body. As soon as candles are lighted, the couzins begin to buz +about your ears in myriads, and torment you with their stings, so that +you have no rest nor respite 'till you get into bed, where you are +secured by your mosquito-net. This inclosure is very disagreeable in +hot weather; and very inconvenient to those, who, like me, are subject +to a cough and spitting. It is moreover ineffectual; for some of those +cursed insects insinuate themselves within it, almost every night; and +half a dozen of them are sufficient to disturb you 'till morning. This +is a plague that continues all the year; but in summer it is +intolerable. During this season, likewise, the moths are so +mischievous, that it requires the utmost care to preserve woollen +cloths from being destroyed. From the month of May, 'till the beginning +of October, the heat is so violent, that you cannot stir abroad after +six in the morning 'till eight at night, so that you are entirely +deprived of the benefit of exercise: There is no shaded walk in, or +near the town; and there is neither coach nor chaise to hire, unless +you travel post. Indeed, there is no road fit for any wheel carriage, +but the common highway to the Var, in which you are scorched by the +reflexion of the sun from the sand and stones, and at the same time +half stifled with dust. If you ride out in the cool of the evening, you +will have the disadvantage of returning in the dark. + +Among the demerits of Nice, I must also mention the water which is used +in the city. It is drawn from wells; and for the most part so hard, +that it curdles with soap. There are many fountains and streams in the +neighbourhood, that afford excellent water, which, at no great charge, +might be conveyed into the town, so as to form conduits in all the +public streets: but the inhabitants are either destitute of public +spirit, or cannot afford the expense. [General Paterson delivered a +Plan to the King of Sardinia for supplying Nice with excellent water +for so small an expence as one livre a house per annum; but the +inhabitants remonstrated against it as an intolerable Imposition.] I +have a draw-well in my porch, and another in my garden, which supply +tolerable water for culinary uses; but what we drink, is fetched from a +well belonging to a convent of Dominicans in this neighbourhood. Our +linnen is washed in the river Paglion; and when that is dry, in the +brook called Limpia, which runs into the harbour. + +In mentioning the water of this neighbourhood, I ought not to omit the +baths of Rocabiliare, a small town among the mountains, about five and +twenty miles from Nice. There are three sources, each warmer than the +other; the warmest being nearly equal to the heat of the king's bath at +Bath in Somersetshire, as far as I can judge from information. I have +perused a Latin manuscript, which treats of these baths at Rocabiliare, +written by the duke of Savoy's first physician about sixty years ago. +He talks much of the sulphur and the nitre which they contain; but I +apprehend their efficacy is owing to the same volatile vitriolic +principle, which characterises the waters at Bath. They are attenuating +and deobstruent, consequently of service in disorders arising from a +languid circulation, a viscidity of the juices, a lax fibre, and +obstructed viscera. The road from hence to Rocabiliare is in some parts +very dangerous, lying along the brink of precipices, impassable to any +other carriage but a mule. The town itself affords bad lodging and +accommodation, and little or no society. The waters are at the distance +of a mile and a half from the town: there are no baths nor shelter, nor +any sort of convenience for those that drink them; and the best part of +their efficacy is lost, unless they are drank at the fountain-head. If +these objections were in some measure removed, I would advise +valetudinarians, who come hither for the benefit of this climate, to +pass the heats of summer at Rocabiliare, which being situated among +mountains, enjoys a cool temperate air all the summer. This would be a +salutary respite from the salt air of Nice, to those who labour under +scorbutical complaints; and they would return with fresh vigour and +spirits, to pass the winter in this place, where no severity of weather +is known. Last June, when I found myself so ill at my cassine, I had +determined to go to Rocabiliare, and even to erect a hut at the spring, +for my own convenience. A gentleman of Nice undertook to procure me a +tolerable lodging in the house of the cure, who was his relation. He +assured me, there was no want of fresh butter, good poultry, excellent +veal, and delicate trout; and that the articles of living might be had +at Rocabiliare for half the price we paid at Nice: but finding myself +grow better immediately on my return from the cassine to my own house, +I would not put myself to the trouble and expence of a further removal. + +I think I have now communicated all the particulars relating to Nice, +that are worth knowing; and perhaps many more than you desired to know: +but, in such cases, I would rather be thought prolix and +unentertaining, than deficient in that regard and attention with which +I am very sincerely,--Your friend and servant. + + + +LETTER XXV + +NICE, January 1, 1765. + +DEAR SIR,--It was in deference to your opinion, reinforced by my own +inclination, and the repeated advice of other friends, that I resolved +upon my late excursion to Italy. I could plainly perceive from the +anxious solicitude, and pressing exhortations contained in all the +letters I had lately received from my correspondents in Britain, that +you had all despaired of my recovery. You advised me to make a +pilgrimage among the Alps, and the advice was good. In scrambling among +those mountains, I should have benefited by the exercise, and at the +same time have breathed a cool, pure, salubrious air, which, in all +probability, would have expelled the slow fever arising in a great +measure from the heat of this climate. But, I wanted a companion and +fellow traveller, whose conversation and society could alleviate the +horrors of solitude. Besides, I was not strong enough to encounter the +want of conveniences, and even of necessaries to which I must have been +exposed in the course of such an expedition. My worthy friend Dr. A-- +earnestly intreated me to try the effect of a sea-voyage, which you +know has been found of wonderful efficacy in consumptive cases. After +some deliberation, I resolved upon the scheme, which I have now happily +executed. I had a most eager curiosity to see the antiquities of +Florence and Rome: I longed impatiently to view those wonderful +edifices, statues, and pictures, which I had so often admired in prints +and descriptions. I felt an enthusiastic ardor to tread that very +classical ground which had been the scene of so many great +atchievements; and I could not bear the thought of returning to England +from the very skirts of Italy, without having penetrated to the capital +of that renowned country. With regard to my health, I knew I could +manage matters so as to enjoy all the benefits that could be expected +from the united energy of a voyage by sea, a journey by land, and a +change of climate. + +Rome is betwixt four and five hundred miles distant from Nice, and one +half of the way I was resolved to travel by water. Indeed there is no +other way of going from hence to Genoa, unless you take a mule, and +clamber along the mountains at the rate of two miles an hour, and at +the risque of breaking your neck every minute. The Apennine mountains, +which are no other than a continuation of the maritime Alps, form an +almost continued precipice from Villefranche to Lerici, which is almost +forty-five miles on the other side of Genoa; and as they are generally +washed by the sea, there is no beach or shore, consequently the road is +carried along the face of the rocks, except at certain small intervals, +which are occupied by towns and villages. But, as there is a road for +mules and foot passengers, it might certainly be enlarged and improved +so as to render it practicable by chaises and other wheel-carriages, +and a toll might be exacted, which in a little time would defray the +expence: for certainly no person who travels to Italy, from England, +Holland, France, or Spain, would make a troublesome circuit to pass the +Alps by the way of Savoy and Piedmont, if he could have the convenience +of going post by the way of Aix, Antibes, and Nice, along the side of +the Mediterranean, and through the Riviera of Genoa, which from the sea +affords the most agreeable and amazing prospect I ever beheld. What +pity it is, they cannot restore the celebrated Via Aurelia, mentioned +in the Itinerarium of Antoninus, which extended from Rome by the way of +Genoa, and through this country as far as Arles upon the Rhone. It was +said to have been made by the emperor Marcus Aurelius; and some of the +vestiges of it are still to be seen in Provence. The truth is, the +nobility of Genoa, who are all merchants, from a low, selfish, and +absurd policy, take all methods to keep their subjects of the Riviera +in poverty and dependence. With this view, they carefully avoid all +steps towards rendering that country accessible by land; and at the +same time discourage their trade by sea, lest it should interfere with +the commerce of their capital, in which they themselves are personally +concerned. + +Those who either will not or cannot bear the sea, and are equally +averse to riding, may be carried in a common chair, provided with a +foot-board, on men's shoulders: this is the way of travelling practised +by the ladies of Nice, in crossing the mountains to Turin; but it is +very tedious and expensive, as the men must be often relieved. + +The most agreeable carriage from here to Genoa, is a feluca, or open +boat, rowed by ten or twelve stout mariners. Though none of these boats +belong to Nice, they are to be found every day in our harbour, waiting +for a fare to Genoa; and they are seen passing and repassing +continually, with merchandize or passengers, between Marseilles, +Antibes, and the Genoese territories. A feluca is large enough to take +in a post-chaise; and there is a tilt over the stern sheets, where the +passengers sit, to protect them from the rain: between the seats one +person may lie commodiously upon a mattress, which is commonly supplied +by the patron. A man in good health may put up with any thing; but I +would advise every valetudinarian who travels this way, to provide his +own chaise, mattrass, and bedlinnen, otherwise he will pass his time +very uncomfortably. If you go as a simple passenger in a feluca, you +pay about a loui'dore for your place, and you must be intirely under +the direction of the patron, who, while he can bear the sea, will +prosecute his voyage by night as well as by day, and expose you to many +other inconveniencies: but for eight zequines, or four loui'dores, you +can have a whole feluca to yourself, from Nice to Genoa, and the master +shall be obliged to put a-shore every evening. If you would have it +still more at your command, you may hire it at so much per day, and in +that case, go on shore as often, and stay as long as you please. This +is the method I should take, were I to make the voyage again; for I am +persuaded I should find it very near as cheap, and much more agreeable +than any other. + +The distance between this place and Genoa, when measured on the carte, +does not exceed ninety miles: but the people of the felucas insist upon +its being one hundred and twenty. If they creep along shore round the +bottoms of all the bays, this computation may be true: but, except when +the sea is rough, they stretch directly from one head-land to another, +and even when the wind is contrary, provided the gale is not fresh, +they perform the voyage in two days and a half, by dint of rowing: when +the wind is favourable, they will sail it easily in fourteen hours. + +A man who has nothing but expedition in view, may go with the courier, +who has always a light boat well manned, and will be glad to +accommodate a traveller for a reasonable gratification. I know an +English gentleman who always travels with the courier in Italy, both by +sea and land. In posting by land, he is always sure of having part of a +good calash, and the best horses that can be found; and as the expence +of both is defrayed by the public, it costs him nothing but a present +to his companion, which does not amount to one fourth part of the +expence he would incur by travelling alone. These opportunities may be +had every week in all the towns of Italy. + +For my own part, I hired a gondola from hence to Genoa. This is a boat +smaller than a feluca, rowed by four men, and steered by the patron; +but the price was nine zequines, rather more than I should have payed +for a feluca of ten oars. I was assured that being very light, it would +make great way; and the master was particularly recommended to me, as +an honest man and an able mariner. I was accompanied in this voyage by +my wife and Miss C--, together with one Mr. R--, a native of Nice, whom +I treated with the jaunt, in hopes that as he was acquainted with the +customs of the country, and the different ways of travelling in it, he +would save us much trouble, and some expence: but I was much +disappointed. Some persons at Nice offered to lay wagers that he would +return by himself from Italy; but they were also disappointed. + +We embarked in the beginning of September, attended by one servant. The +heats, which render travelling dangerous in Italy, begin to abate at +this season. The weather was extremely agreeable; and if I had +postponed my voyage a little longer, I foresaw that I should not be +able to return before winter: in which case I might have found the sea +too rough, and the weather too cold for a voyage of one hundred and +thirty-five miles in an open boat. + +Having therefore provided myself with a proper pass, signed and sealed +by our consul, as well as with letters of recommendation from him to +the English consuls at Genoa and Leghorn, a precaution which I would +advise all travellers to take, in case of meeting with accidents on the +road, we went on board about ten in the morning, stopped about half an +hour at a friend's country-house in the bay of St. Hospice, and about +noon entered the harbour of Monaco, where the patron was obliged to pay +toll, according to the regulation which I have explained in a former +letter. This small town, containing about eight or nine hundred souls, +besides the garrison, is built on a rock which projects into the sea, +and makes a very romantic appearance. The prince's palace stands in the +most conspicuous part, with a walk of trees before it. The apartments +are elegantly furnished, and adorned with some good pictures. The +fortifications are in good repair, and the place is garrisoned by two +French battalions. The present prince of Monaco is a Frenchman, son of +the duke Matignon who married the heiress of Monaco, whose name was +Grimaldi. The harbour is well sheltered from the wind; but has not +water sufficient to admit vessels of any great burthen. Towards the +north, the king of Sardinia's territories extend to within a mile of +the gate; but the prince of Monaco can go upon his own ground along +shore about five or six miles to the eastward, as far as Menton, +another small town, which also belongs to him, and is situated on the +seaside. His revenues are computed at a million of French livres, +amounting to something more than forty thousand pounds sterling: but, +the principality of Monaco, consisting of three small towns, and an +inconsiderable tract of barren rock, is not worth above seven thousand +a year; the rest arises from his French estate. This consists partly of +the dutchy of Matignon, and partly of the dutchy of Valentinois, which +last was given to the ancestors of this prince of Monaco, in the year +1640, by the French king, to make up the loss of some lands in the +kingdom of Naples, which were confiscated when he expelled the Spanish +garrison from Monaco, and threw himself into the arms of France: so +that he is duke of Valentinois as well as of Matignon, in that kingdom. +He lives almost constantly in France; and has taken the name and arms +of Grimaldi. + +The Genoese territories begin at Ventimiglia, another town lying on the +coast, at the distance of twenty miles from Nice, a circumstance from +which it borrows the name. Having passed the towns of Monaco, Menton, +Ventimiglia, and several other places of less consequence that lie +along this coast, we turned the point of St. Martin with a favourable +breeze, and might have proceeded twenty miles further before night: but +the women began to be sick, as well as afraid at the roughness of the +water; Mr. R-- was so discomposed, that he privately desired the patron +to put ashore at St. Remo, on pretence that we should not find a +tolerable auberge in any other place between this and Noli, which was +at the distance of forty miles. We accordingly landed, and were +conducted to the poste, which our gondeliere assured us was the best +auberge in the whole Riviera of Genoa. We ascended by a dark, narrow, +steep stair, into a kind of public room, with a long table and benches, +so dirty and miserable, that it would disgrace the worst hedge +ale-house in England. Not a soul appeared to receive us. This is a +ceremony one must not expect to meet with in France; far less in Italy. +Our patron going into the kitchen, asked a servant if the company could +have lodging in the house; and was answered, "he could not tell: the +patron was not at home." When he desired to know where the patron was, +the other answered, "he was gone to take the air." E andato a +passeggiare. In the mean time, we were obliged to sit in the common +room among watermen and muleteers. At length the landlord arrived, and +gave us to understand, that he could accommodate us with chambers. In +that where I lay, there was just room for two beds, without curtains or +bedstead, an old rotten table covered with dried figs, and a couple of +crazy chairs. The walls had been once white-washed: but were now hung +with cobwebs, and speckled with dirt of all sorts; and I believe the +brick-floor had not been swept for half a century. We supped in an +outward room suitable in all respects to the chamber, and fared +villainously. The provision was very ill-dressed, and served up in the +most slovenly manner. You must not expect cleanliness or conveniency of +any kind in this country. For this accommodation I payed as much as if +I had been elegantly entertained in the best auberge of France or Italy. + +Next day, the wind was so high that we could not prosecute our voyage, +so that we were obliged to pass other four and twenty hours in this +comfortable situation. Luckily Mr. R-- found two acquaintances in the +place; one a Franciscan monk, a jolly fellow; and the other a maestro +di capella, who sent a spinnet to the inn, and entertained us agreeably +with his voice and performance, in both of which accomplishments he +excelled. The padre was very good humoured, and favoured us with a +letter of recommendation to a friend of his, a professor in the +university of Pisa. You would laugh to see the hyperbolical terms in +which he mentioned your humble servant; but Italy is the native country +of hyperbole. + +St. Remo is a pretty considerable town, well-built upon the declivity +of a gently rising hill, and has a harbour capable of receiving small +vessels, a good number of which are built upon the beach: but ships of +any burden are obliged to anchor in the bay, which is far from being +secure. The people of St. Remo form a small republic, which is subject +to Genoa. + +They enjoyed particular privileges, till the year 1753, when in +consequence of a new gabelle upon salt, they revolted: but this effort +in behalf of liberty did not succeed. They were soon reduced by the +Genoese, who deprived them of all their privileges, and built a fort by +the sea-side, which serves the double purpose of defending the harbour +and over-awing the town. The garrison at present does not exceed two +hundred men. The inhabitants are said to have lately sent a deputation +to Ratisbon, to crave the protection of the diet of the empire. There +is very little plain ground in this neighbourhood; but the hills are +covered with oranges, lemons, pomegranates, and olives, which produce a +considerable traffic in fine fruit and excellent oil. The women of St. +Remo are much more handsome and better tempered than those of Provence. +They have in general good eyes, with open ingenuous countenances. Their +dress, though remarkable, I cannot describe: but upon the whole, they +put me in mind of some portraits I have seen, representing the females +of Georgia and Mingrelia. + +On the third day, the wind being abated, though still unfavourable, we +reimbarked and rowed along shore, passing by Porto-mauricio, and +Oneglia; then turning the promontory called Capo di Melle, we proceeded +by Albenga, Finale, and many other places of inferior note. +Portomauricio is seated on a rock washed by the sea, but indifferently +fortified, with an inconsiderable harbour, which none but very small +vessels can enter. About two miles to the eastward is Oneglia, a small +town with fortifications, lying along the open beach, and belonging to +the king of Sardinia. This small territory abounds with olive-trees, +which produce a considerable quantity of oil, counted the best of the +whole Riviera. Albenga is a small town, the see of a bishop, suffragan +to the archbishop of Genoa. It lies upon the sea, and the country +produces a great quantity of hemp. Finale is the capital of a +marquisate belonging to the Genoese, which has been the source of much +trouble to the republic; and indeed was the sole cause of their rupture +with the king of Sardinia and the house of Austria in the year 1745. +The town is pretty well built; but the harbour is shallow, open, and +unsafe; nevertheless, they built a good number of tartans and other +vessels on the beach and the neighbouring country abounds with oil and +fruit, particularly with those excellent apples called pomi carli, +which I have mentioned in a former letter. + +In the evening we reached the Capo di Noli, counted very dangerous in +blowing weather. It is a very high perpendicular rock or mountain +washed by the sea, which has eaten into it in divers places, so as to +form a great number of caverns. It extends about a couple of miles, and +in some parts is indented into little creeks or bays, where there is a +narrow margin of sandy beach between it and the water. When the wind is +high, no feluca will attempt to pass it; even in a moderate breeze, the +waves dashing against the rocks and caverns, which echo with the sound, +make such an awful noise, and at the same time occasion such a rough +sea, as one cannot hear, and see, and feel, without a secret horror. + +On this side of the Cape, there is a beautiful strand cultivated like a +garden; the plantations extend to the very tops of the hills, +interspersed with villages, castles, churches, and villas. Indeed the +whole Riviera is ornamented in the same manner, except in such places +as admit of no building nor cultivation. + +Having passed the Cape, we followed the winding of the coast, into a +small bay, and arrived at the town of Noli, where we proposed to pass +the night. You will be surprised that we did not go ashore sooner, in +order to take some refreshment; but the truth is, we had a provision of +ham, tongues, roasted pullets, cheese, bread, wine, and fruit, in the +feluca, where we every day enjoyed a slight repast about one or two +o'clock in the afternoon. This I mention as a necessary piece of +information to those who may be inclined to follow the same route. We +likewise found it convenient to lay in store of l'eau de vie, or +brandy, for the use of the rowers, who always expect to share your +comforts. On a meagre day, however, those ragamuffins will rather die +of hunger than suffer the least morsel of flesh-meat to enter their +mouths. I have frequently tried the experiment, by pressing them to eat +something gras, on a Friday or Saturday: but they always declined it +with marks of abhorrence, crying, Dio me ne libere! God deliver me from +it! or some other words to that effect. I moreover observed, that not +one of those fellows ever swore an oath, or spoke an indecent word. +They would by no means put to sea, of a morning, before they had heard +mass; and when the wind was unfavourable, they always set out with a +hymn to the Blessed Virgin, or St. Elmo, keeping time with their oars +as they sung. I have indeed remarked all over this country, that a man +who transgresses the institutions of the church in these small matters, +is much more infamous than one who has committed the most flagrant +crimes against nature and morality. A murderer, adulterer, or s--m--te, +will obtain easy absolution from the church, and even find favour with +society; but a man who eats a pidgeon on a Saturday, without express +licence, is avoided and abhorred, as a monster of reprobation. I have +conversed with several intelligent persons on the subject; and have +reason to believe, that a delinquent of this sort is considered as a +luke-warm catholic, little better than a heretic; and of all crimes +they look upon heresy as the most damnable. + +Noli is a small republic of fishermen subject to Genoa; but very +tenacious of their privileges. The town stands on the beach, tolerably +well built, defended by a castle situated on a rock above it; and the +harbour is of little consequence. The auberge was such as made us +regret even the inn we had left at St. Remo. After a very odd kind of +supper, which I cannot pretend to describe, we retired to our repose: +but I had not been in bed five minutes, when I felt something crawling +on different parts of my body, and taking a light to examine, perceived +above a dozen large bugs. You must know I have the same kind of +antipathy to these vermin, that some persons have to a cat or breast of +veal. I started up immediately, and wrapping myself in a great coat, +sick as I was, laid down in the outer room upon a chest, where I +continued till morning. + +One would imagine that in a mountainous country like this, there should +be plenty of goats; and indeed, we saw many flocks of them feeding +among the rocks, yet we could not procure half a pint of milk for our +tea, if we had given the weight of it in gold. The people here have no +idea of using milk, and when you ask them for it, they stand gaping +with a foolish face of surprise, which is exceedingly provoking. It is +amazing that instinct does not teach the peasants to feed their +children with goat's milk, so much more nourishing and agreeable than +the wretched sustenance on which they live. Next day we rowed by Vado +and Savona, which last is a large town, with a strong citadel, and a +harbour, which was formerly capable of receiving large ships: but it +fell a sacrifice to the jealousy of the Genoese, who have partly +choaked it up, on pretence that it should not afford shelter to the +ships of war belonging to those states which might be at enmity with +the republic. + +Then we passed Albifola, Sestri di Ponente, Novi, Voltri, and a great +number of villages, villas, and magnificent palaces belonging to the +Genoese nobility, which form almost a continued chain of buildings +along the strand for thirty miles. + +About five in the afternoon, we skirted the fine suburbs of St. Pietro +d' Arena, and arrived at Genoa, which makes a dazzling appearance when +viewed from the sea, rising like an amphitheatre in a circular form +from the water's edge, a considerable way up the mountains, and +surrounded on the land side by a double wall, the most exterior of +which is said to extend fifteen miles in circuit. The first object that +strikes your eye at a distance, is a very elegant pharos, or +lighthouse, built on the projection of a rock on the west side of the +harbour, so very high, that, in a clear day, you may see it at the +distance of thirty miles. Turning the light-house point, you find +yourself close to the mole, which forms the harbour of Genoa. It is +built at a great expence from each side of the bay, so as to form in +the sea two long magnificent jettes. At the extremity of each is +another smaller lanthorn. These moles are both provided with +brass-cannon, and between them is the entrance into the harbour. But +this is still so wide as to admit a great sea, which, when the wind +blows hard from south and south-west, is very troublesome to the +shipping. Within the mole there is a smaller harbour or wet dock, +called Darsena, for the gallies of the republic. We passed through a +considerable number of ships and vessels lying at anchor, and landing +at the water-gate, repaired to an inn called La Croix de Malthe in the +neighbourhood of the harbour. Here we met with such good entertainment +as prepossessed us in favour of the interior parts of Italy, and +contributed with other motives to detain us some days in this city. But +I have detained you so long, that I believe you wish I may proceed no +farther; and therefore I take my leave for the present, being very +sincerely-- Yours. + + + +LETTER XXVI + +NICE, January 15, 1765. + +DEAR SIR,--It is not without reason that Genoa is called La superba. +The city itself is very stately; and the nobles are very proud. Some +few of them may be proud of their wealth: but, in general, their +fortunes are very small. My friend Mr. R-- assured me that many Genoese +noblemen had fortunes of half a million of livres per annum: but the +truth is, the whole revenue of the state does not exceed this sum; and +the livre of Genoa is but about nine pence sterling. There are about +half a dozen of their nobles who have ten thousand a year: but the +majority have not above a twentieth part of that sum. They live with +great parsimony in their families; and wear nothing but black in +public; so that their expences are but small. If a Genoese nobleman +gives an entertainment once a quarter, he is said to live upon the +fragments all the rest of the year. I was told that one of them lately +treated his friends, and left the entertainment to the care of his son, +who ordered a dish of fish that cost a zechine, which is equal to about +ten shillings sterling. The old gentleman no sooner saw it appear on +the table, than unable to suppress his concern, he burst into tears, +and exclaimed, Ah Figliuolo indegno! Siamo in Rovina! Siamo in +precipizio! Ah, Prodigal! ruined! undone! + +I think the pride or ostentation of the Italians in general takes a +more laudable turn than that of other nations. A Frenchman lays out his +whole revenue upon tawdry suits of cloaths, or in furnishing a +magnificent repas of fifty or a hundred dishes, one half of which are +not eatable nor intended to be eaten. His wardrobe goes to the fripier; +his dishes to the dogs, and himself to the devil, and after his decease +no vestige of him remains. A Genoese, on the other hand, keeps himself +and his family at short allowance, that he may save money to build +palaces and churches, which remain to after-ages so many monuments of +his taste, piety, and munificence; and in the mean time give employment +and bread to the poor and industrious. There are some Genoese nobles +who have each five or six elegant palaces magnificently furnished, +either in the city, or in different parts of the Riviera. The two +streets called Strada Balbi and Strada Nuova, are continued double +ranges of palaces adorned with gardens and fountains: but their being +painted on the outside has, in my opinion, a poor effect. + +The commerce of this city is, at present, not very considerable; yet it +has the face of business. The streets are crowded with people; the +shops are well furnished; and the markets abound with all sorts of +excellent provision. The wine made in this neighbourhood is, however, +very indifferent; and all that is consumed must be bought at the public +cantine, where it is sold for the benefit of the state. Their bread is +the whitest and the best I have tasted any where; and the beef, which +they have from Piedmont, is juicy and delicious. The expence of eating +in Italy is nearly the same as in France, about three shillings a head +for every meal. The state of Genoa is very poor, and their bank of St. +George has received such rude shocks, first from the revolt of the +Corsicans, and afterwards from the misfortunes of the city, when it was +taken by the Austrians in the war of 1745, that it still continues to +languish without any near prospect of its credit being restored. +Nothing shews the weakness of their state, more than their having +recourse to the assistance of France to put a stop to the progress of +Paoli in Corsica; for after all that has been said of the gallantry and +courage of Paoli and his islanders, I am very credibly informed that +they might be very easily suppressed, if the Genoese had either vigour +in the council or resolution in the field. + +True it is, they made a noble effort in expelling the Austrians who had +taken possession of their city; but this effort was the effect of +oppression and despair, and if I may believe the insinuations of some +politicians in this part of the world, the Genoese would not have +succeeded in that attempt, if they had not previously purchased with a +large sum of money the connivance of the only person who could defeat +the enterprize. For my own part, I can scarce entertain thoughts so +prejudicial to the character of human nature, as to suppose a man +capable of sacrificing to such a consideration, the duty he owed his +prince, as well as all regard to the lives of his soldiers, even those +who lay sick in hospitals, and who, being dragged forth, were miserably +butchered by the furious populace. There is one more presumption of his +innocence, he still retains the favour of his sovereign, who could not +well be supposed to share in the booty. "There are mysteries in +politics which were never dreamed of in our philosophy, Horatio!" The +possession of Genoa might have proved a troublesome bone of contention, +which it might be convenient to lose by accident. Certain it is, when +the Austrians returned after their expulsion, in order to retake the +city, the engineer, being questioned by the general, declared he would +take the place in fifteen days, on pain of losing his head; and in four +days after this declaration the Austrians retired. This anecdote I +learned from a worthy gentleman of this country, who had it from the +engineer's own mouth. Perhaps it was the will of heaven. You see how +favourably, providence has interposed in behalf of the reigning empress +of Russia, first in removing her husband: secondly in ordaining the +assassination of prince Ivan, for which the perpetrators have been so +liberally rewarded; it even seems determined to shorten the life of her +own son, the only surviving rival from whom she had any thing to fear. + +The Genoese have now thrown themselves into the arms of France for +protection: I know not whether it would not have been a greater mark of +sagacity to cultivate the friendship of England, with which they carry +on an advantageous commerce. While the English are masters of the +Mediterranean, they will always have it in their power to do incredible +damage all along the Riviera, to ruin the Genoese trade by sea, and +even to annoy the capital; for notwithstanding all the pains they have +taken to fortify the mole and the city, I am greatly deceived if it is +not still exposed to the danger, not only of a bombardment, but even of +a cannonade. I am even sanguine enough to think a resolute commander +might, with a strong squadron, sail directly into the harbour, without +sustaining much damage, notwithstanding all the cannon of the place, +which are said to amount to near five hundred. I have seen a cannonade +of above four hundred pieces of artillery, besides bombs and cohorns, +maintained for many hours, without doing much mischief. + +During the last siege of Genoa, the French auxiliaries were obliged to +wait at Monaco, until a gale of wind had driven the English squadron +off the coast, and then they went along shore in small vessels at the +imminent risque of being taken by the British cruisers. By land I +apprehend their march would be altogether impracticable, if the king of +Sardinia had any interest to oppose it. He might either guard the +passes, or break up the road in twenty different places, so as to +render it altogether impassable. Here it may not be amiss to observe, +that when Don Philip advanced from Nice with his army to Genoa, he was +obliged to march so close to the shore, that in above fifty different +places, the English ships might have rendered the road altogether +impassable. The path, which runs generally along the face of a +precipice washed by the sea, is so narrow that two men on horseback can +hardly pass each other; and the road itself so rugged, slippery, and +dangerous, that the troopers were obliged to dismount, and lead their +horses one by one. On the other hand, baron de Leutrum, who was at the +head of a large body of Piedmontese troops, had it in his power to +block up the passes of the mountains, and even to destroy this road in +such a manner, that the enemy could not possibly advance. Why these +precautions were not taken, I do not pretend to explain: neither can I +tell you wherefore the prince of Monaco, who is a subject and partizan +of France, was indulged with a neutrality for his town, which served as +a refreshing-place, a safe port, and an intermediate post for the +French succours sent from Marseilles to Genoa. This I will only venture +to affirm, that the success and advantage of great alliances are often +sacrificed to low, partial, selfish, and sordid considerations. The +town of Monaco is commanded by every heighth in its neighbourhood; and +might be laid in ashes by a bomb-ketch in four hours by sea. + +I was fortunate enough to be recommended to a lady in Genoa, who +treated us with great politeness and hospitality. She introduced me to +an abbate, a man of letters, whose conversation was extremely +agreeable. He already knew me by reputation, and offered to make me +known to some of the first persons in the republic, with whom he lived +in intimacy. The lady is one of the most intelligent and best-bred +persons I have known in any country. We assisted at her conversazione, +which was numerous. She pressed us to pass the winter at Genoa; and +indeed I was almost persuaded: but I had attachments at Nice, from +which I could not easily disengage myself. + +The few days we staved at Genoa were employed in visiting the most +remarkable churches and palaces. In some of the churches, particularly +that of the Annunciata, I found a profusion of ornaments, which had +more magnificence than taste. There is a great number of pictures; but +very few of them are capital pieces. I had heard much of the ponte +Carignano, which did not at all answer my expectation. It is a bridge +that unites two eminences which form the higher part of the city, and +the houses in the bottom below do not rise so high as the springing of +its arches. There is nothing at all curious in its construction, nor +any way remarkable, except the heighth of the piers from which the +arches are sprung. Hard by the bridge there is an elegant church, from +the top of which you have a very rich and extensive prospect of the +city, the sea and the adjacent country, which looks like a continent of +groves and villas. The only remarkable circumstance about the +cathedral, which is Gothic and gloomy, is the chapel where the +pretended bones of John the Baptist are deposited, and in which thirty +silver lamps are continually burning. I had a curiosity to see the +palaces of Durazzo and Doria, but it required more trouble to procure +admission than I was willing to give myself: as for the arsenal, and +the rostrum of an ancient galley which was found by accident in +dragging the harbour, I postponed seeing them till my return. + +Having here provided myself with letters of credit for Florence and +Rome, I hired the same boat which had brought us hither, to carry us +forward to Lerici, which is a small town about half way between Genoa +and Leghorn, where travellers, who are tired of the sea, take +post-chaises to continue their route by land to Pisa and Florence. I +payed three loui'dores for this voyage of about fifty miles; though I +might have had a feluca for less money. When you land on the wharf at +Genoa, you are plied by the feluca men just as you are plied by the +watermen at Hungerford-stairs in London. They are always ready to set +off at a minute's warning for Lerici, Leghorn, Nice, Antibes, +Marseilles, and every part of the Riviera. + +The wind being still unfavourable, though the weather was delightful, +we rowed along shore, passing by several pretty towns, villages, and a +vast number of cassines, or little white houses, scattered among woods +of olive-trees, that cover the hills; and these are the habitations of +the velvet and damask weavers. Turning Capo Fino we entered a bay, +where stand the towns of Porto Fino, Lavagna, and Sestri di Levante, at +which last we took up our night's lodging. The house was tolerable, and +we had no great reason to complain of the beds: but, the weather being +hot, there was a very offensive smell, which proceeded from some skins +of beasts new killed, that were spread to dry on an outhouse in the +yard. Our landlord was a butcher, and had very much the looks of an +assassin. His wife was a great masculine virago, who had all the air of +having frequented the slaughter-house. Instead of being welcomed with +looks of complaisance, we were admitted with a sort of gloomy +condescension, which seemed to say, "We don't much like your company; +but, however, you shall have a night's lodging in favour of the patron +of the gondola, who is our acquaintance." In short, we had a very bad +supper, miserably dressed, passed a very disagreeable night, and payed +a very extravagant bill in the morning, without being thanked for our +custom. I was very glad to get out of the house with my throat uncut. + +Sestri di Levante is a little town pleasantly situated on the seaside; +but has not the conveniency of a harbour. The fish taken here is mostly +carried to Genoa. This is likewise the market for their oil, and the +paste called macaroni, of which they make a good quantity. + +Next day, we skirted a very barren coast, consisting of almost +perpendicular rocks, on the faces of which, however, we saw many +peasants' houses and hanging terraces for vines, made by dint of +incredible labour. In the afternoon, we entered by the Porti di Venere +into the bay, or gulf of Spetia or Spezza, which was the Portus Lunae +of the ancients. This bay, at the mouth of which lies the island +Palmaria, forms a most noble and secure harbour, capacious enough to +contain all the navies in Christendom. The entrance on one side is +defended by a small fort built above the town of Porto Venere, which is +a very poor place. Farther in there is a battery of about twenty guns; +and on the right hand, opposite to Porto Venere, is a block-house, +founded on a rock in the sea. At the bottom of the bay is the town of +Spetia on the left, and on the right that of Lerici, defended by a +castle of very little strength or consequence. The whole bay is +surrounded with plantations of olives and oranges, and makes a very +delightful appearance. In case of a war, this would be an admirable +station for a British squadron, as it lies so near Genoa and Leghorn; +and has a double entrance, by means of which the cruisers could sail in +and out continually, which way soever the wind might chance to sit. I +am sure the fortifications would give very little disturbance. + +At the post-house in Lerici, the accommodation is intolerable. We were +almost poisoned at supper. I found the place where I was to lie so +close and confined, that I could not breathe in it, and therefore lay +all night in an outward room upon four chairs, with a leather +portmanteau for my pillow. For this entertainment I payed very near a +loui'dore. Such bad accommodation is the less excusable, as the fellow +has a great deal of business, this being a great thoroughfare for +travellers going into Italy, or returning from thence. + +I might have saved some money by prosecuting my voyage directly by sea +to Leghorn: but, by this time, we were all heartily tired of the water, +the business then was to travel by land to Florence, by the way of +Pisa, which is seven posts distant from Lerici. Those who have not +their own carriage must either hire chaises to perform the whole +journey, or travel by way of cambiatura, which is that of changing the +chaises every post, as the custom is in England. In this case the great +inconvenience arises from your being obliged to shift your baggage +every post. The chaise or calesse of this country, is a wretched +machine with two wheels, as uneasy as a common cart, being indeed no +other than what we should call in England a very ill-contrived +one-horse chair, narrow, naked, shattered and shabby. For this vehicle +and two horses you pay at the rate of eight paoli a stage, or four +shillings sterling; and the postilion expects two paoli for his +gratification: so that every eight miles cost about five shillings, and +four only, if you travel in your own carriage, as in that case you pay +no more than at the rate of three paoli a horse. + +About three miles from Lerici, we crossed the Magra, which appeared as +a rivulet almost dry, and in half a mile farther arrived at Sarzana, a +small town at the extremity of the Genoese territories, where we +changed horses. Then entering the principalities of Massa and Carrara, +belonging to the duke of Modena, we passed Lavenza, which seems to be a +decayed fort with a small garrison, and dined at Massa, which is an +agreeable little town, where the old dutchess of Modena resides. +Notwithstanding all the expedition we could make, it was dark before we +passed the Cerchio, which is an inconsiderable stream in the +neighbourhood of Pisa, where we arrived about eight in the evening. + +The country from Sarzana to the frontiers of Tuscany is a narrow plain, +bounded on the right by the sea, and on the left by the Apennine +mountains. It is well cultivated and inclosed, consisting of +meadow-ground, corn fields, plantations of olives; and the trees that +form the hedge-rows serve as so many props to the vines, which are +twisted round them, and continued from one to another. After entering +the dominions of Tuscany, we travelled through a noble forest of +oak-trees of a considerable extent, which would have appeared much more +agreeable, had we not been benighted and apprehensive of robbers. The +last post but one in this days journey, is at the little town of +Viareggio, a kind of sea-port on the Mediterranean, belonging to Lucia. +The roads are indifferent, and the accommodation is execrable. I was +glad to find myself housed in a very good inn at Pisa, where I promised +myself a good night's rest, and was not disappointed. I heartily wish +you the same pleasure, and am very sincerely--Yours. + + + +LETTER XXVII + +NICE, January 28, 1765. + +DEAR SIR,--Pisa is a fine old city that strikes you with the same +veneration you would feel at sight of an antient temple which bears the +marks of decay, without being absolutely dilapidated. The houses are +well built, the streets open, straight, and well paved; the shops well +furnished; and the markets well supplied: there are some elegant +palaces, designed by great masters. The churches are built with taste, +and tolerably ornamented. There is a beautiful wharf of freestone on +each side of the river Arno, which runs through the city, and three +bridges thrown over it, of which that in the middle is of marble, a +pretty piece of architecture: but the number of inhabitants is very +inconsiderable; and this very circumstance gives it an air of majestic +solitude, which is far from being unpleasant to a man of a +contemplative turn of mind. For my part, I cannot bear the tumult of a +populous commercial city; and the solitude that reigns in Pisa would +with me be a strong motive to choose it as a place of residence. Not +that this would be the only inducement for living at Pisa. Here is some +good company, and even a few men of taste and learning. The people in +general are counted sociable and polite; and there is great plenty of +provisions, at a very reasonable rate. At some distance from the more +frequented parts of the city, a man may hire a large house for thirty +crowns a year: but near the center, you cannot have good lodgings, +ready furnished, for less than a scudo (about five shillings) a day. +The air in summer is reckoned unwholesome by the exhalations arising +from stagnant water in the neighbourhood of the city, which stands in +the midst of a fertile plain, low and marshy: yet these marshes have +been considerably drained, and the air is much meliorated. As for the +Arno, it is no longer navigated by vessels of any burthen. The +university of Pisa is very much decayed; and except the little business +occasioned by the emperor's gallies, which are built in this town, +[This is a mistake. No gallies have been built here for a great many +years, and the dock is now converted into stables for the Grand Duke's +Horse Guards.] I know of no commerce it carried on: perhaps the +inhabitants live on the produce of the country, which consists of corn, +wine, and cattle. They are supplied with excellent water for drinking, +by an aqueduct consisting of above five thousand arches, begun by +Cosmo, and finished by Ferdinand I. Grand-dukes of Tuscany; it conveys +the water from the mountains at the distance of five miles. This noble +city, formerly the capital of a flourishing and powerful republic, +which contained above one hundred and fifty thousand inhabitants, +within its walls, is now so desolate that grass grows in the open +streets; and the number of its people do not exceed sixteen thousand. + +You need not doubt but I visited the Campanile, or hanging-tower, which +is a beautiful cylinder of eight stories, each adorned with a round of +columns, rising one above another. It stands by the cathedral, and +inclines so far on one side from the perpendicular, that in dropping a +plummet from the top, which is one hundred and eighty-eight feet high, +it falls sixteen feet from the base. For my part, I should never have +dreamed that this inclination proceeded from any other cause, than an +accidental subsidence of the foundation on this side, if some +connoisseurs had not taken great pains to prove it was done on purpose +by the architect. Any person who has eyes may see that the pillars on +that side are considerably sunk; and this is the case with the very +threshold of the door by which you enter. I think it would have been a +very preposterous ambition in the architects, to show how far they +could deviate from the perpendicular in this construction; because in +that particular any common mason could have rivalled them; [All the +world knows that a Building with such Inclination may be carried up +till a line drawn from the Centre of Gravity falls without the +Circumference of the Base.] and if they really intended it as a +specimen of their art, they should have shortened the pilasters on that +side, so as to exhibit them intire, without the appearance of sinking. +These leaning towers are not unfrequent in Italy; there is one at +Bologna, another at Venice, a third betwixt Venice and Ferrara, and a +fourth at Ravenna; and the inclination in all of them has been supposed +owing to the foundations giving way on one side only. + +In the cathedral, which is a large Gothic pile, [This Edifice is not +absolutely Gothic. It was built in the Twelfth Century after the Design +of a Greek Architect from Constantinople, where by that time the art +was much degenerated. The Pillars of Granite are mostly from the +Islands of Ebba and Giglia on the coast of Tuscany, where those +quarries were worked by the antient Romans. The Giullo, and the verde +antico are very beautiful species of marble, yellow and green; the +first, antiently called marmor numidicum, came from Africa; the other +was found (according to Strabo) on the mons Taygetus in Lacedemonia: +but, at present, neither the one nor the other is to be had except +among the ruins of antiquity.] there is a great number of massy pillars +of porphyry, granite, jasper, giullo, and verde antico, together with +some good pictures and statues: but the greatest curiosity is that of +the brass-gates, designed and executed by John of Bologna, +representing, embossed in different compartments, the history of the +Old and New Testament. I was so charmed with this work, that I could +have stood a whole day to examine and admire it. In the Baptisterium, +which stands opposite to this front, there are some beautiful marbles, +particularly the font, and a pulpit, supported by the statues of +different animals. + +Between the cathedral and this building, about one hundred paces on one +side, is the famous burying-ground, called Campo Santo, from its being +covered with earth brought from Jerusalem. It is an oblong square, +surrounded by a very high wall, and always kept shut. Within-side there +is a spacious corridore round the whole space, which is a noble walk +for a contemplative philosopher. It is paved chiefly with flat +grave-stones: the walls are painted in fresco by Ghiotto, Giottino, +Stefano, Bennoti, Bufalmaco, and some others of his cotemporaries and +disciples, who flourished immediately after the restoration of +painting. The subjects are taken from the Bible. Though the manner is +dry, the drawing incorrect, the design generally lame, and the +colouring unnatural; yet there is merit in the expression: and the +whole remains as a curious monument of the efforts made by this noble +art immediately after her revival. [The History of Job by Giotto is +much admired.] Here are some deceptions in perspective equally +ingenious and pleasing; particularly the figures of certain animals, +which exhibit exactly the same appearance, from whatever different +points of view they are seen. One division of the burying-ground +consists of a particular compost, which in nine days consumes the dead +bodies to the bones: in all probability, it is no other than common +earth mixed with quick-lime. At one corner of the corridore, there are +the pictures of three bodies represented in the three different stages +of putrefaction which they undergo when laid in this composition. At +the end of the three first days, the body is bloated and swelled, and +the features are enlarged and distorted to such a degree, as fills the +spectator with horror. At the sixth day, the swelling is subsided, and +all the muscular flesh hangs loosened from the bones: at the ninth, +nothing but the skeleton remains. There is a small neat chapel at one +end of the Campo Santo, with some tombs, on one of which is a beautiful +bust by Buona Roti. [Here is a sumptuous cenotaph erected by Pope +Gregory XIII. to the memory of his brother Giovanni Buoncampagni. It is +called the Monumentum Gregorianum, of a violet-coloured marble from +Scravezza in this neighbourhood, adorned with a couple of columns of +Touchstone, and two beautiful spherical plates of Alabaster.] At the +other end of the corridore, there is a range of antient sepulchral +stones ornamented with basso-relievo brought hither from different +parts by the Pisan Fleets in the course of their expeditions. I was +struck with the figure of a woman lying dead on a tomb-stone, covered +with a piece of thin drapery, so delicately cut as to shew all the +flexures of the attitude, and even all the swellings and sinuosities of +the muscles. Instead of stone, it looks like a sheet of wet linen. [One +of these antiquities representing the Hunting of Meleager was converted +into a coffin for the Countess Beatrice, mother of the famous Countess +Mathilda; it is now fixed to the outside of the church wall just by one +of the doors, and is a very elegant piece of sculpture. Near the same +place is a fine pillar of Porphyry supporting the figure of a Lion, and +a kind of urn which seems to be a Sarcophagus, though an inscription +round the Base declares it is a Talentum in which the antient Pisans +measured the Census or Tax which they payed to Augustus: but in what +metal or specie this Census was payed we are left to divine. There are +likewise in the Campo Santo two antique Latin edicts of the Pisan +Senate injoining the citizens to go into mourning for the Death of +Caius and Lucius Caesar the Sons of Agrippa, and heirs declared of the +Emperor. Fronting this Cemetery, on the other side of the Piazza of the +Dome, is a large, elegant Hospital in which the sick are conveniently +and comfortably lodged, entertained, and attended.] + +For four zechines I hired a return-coach and four from Pisa to +Florence. This road, which lies along the Arno, is very good; and the +country is delightful, variegated with hill and vale, wood and water, +meadows and corn-fields, planted and inclosed like the counties of +Middlesex and Hampshire; with this difference, however, that all the +trees in this tract were covered with vines, and the ripe clusters +black and white, hung down from every bough in a most luxuriant and +romantic abundance. The vines in this country are not planted in rows, +and propped with sticks, as in France and the county of Nice, but twine +around the hedge-row trees, which they almost quite cover with their +foliage and fruit. The branches of the vine are extended from tree to +tree, exhibiting beautiful festoons of real leaves, tendrils, and +swelling clusters a foot long. By this oeconomy the ground of the +inclosure is spared for corn, grass, or any other production. The trees +commonly planted for the purpose of sustaining the vines, are maple, +elm, and aller, with which last the banks of the Arno abound. [It would +have been still more for the advantage of the Country and the Prospect, +if instead of these they had planted fruit trees for the purpose.] This +river, which is very inconsiderable with respect to the quantity of +water, would be a charming pastoral stream, if it was transparent; but +it is always muddy and discoloured. About ten or a dozen miles below +Florence, there are some marble quarries on the side of it, from whence +the blocks are conveyed in boats, when there is water enough in the +river to float them, that is after heavy rains, or the melting of the +snow upon the mountains of Umbria, being part of the Apennines, from +whence it takes its rise. + +Florence is a noble city, that still retains all the marks of a +majestic capital, such as piazzas, palaces, fountains, bridges, +statues, and arcades. I need not tell you that the churches here are +magnificent, and adorned not only with pillars of oriental granite, +porphyry, Jasper, verde antico, and other precious stones; but also +with capital pieces of painting by the most eminent masters. Several of +these churches, however, stand without fronts, for want of money to +complete the plans. It may also appear superfluous to mention my having +viewed the famous gallery of antiquities, the chapel of St. Lorenzo, +the palace of Pitti, the cathedral, the baptisterium, Ponte de Trinita, +with its statues, the triumphal arch, and every thing which is commonly +visited in this metropolis. But all these objects having been +circumstantially described by twenty different authors of travels, I +shall not trouble you with a repetition of trite observations. + +That part of the city which stands on each side of the river, makes a +very elegant appearance, to which the four bridges and the stone-quay +between them, contribute in a great measure. I lodged at the widow +Vanini's, an English house delightfully situated in this quarter. The +landlady, who is herself a native of England, we found very obliging. +The lodging-rooms are comfortable; and the entertainment is good and +reasonable. There is a considerable number of fashionable people at +Florence, and many of them in good circumstances. They affect a gaiety +in their dress, equipage, and conversation; but stand very much on +their punctilio with strangers; and will not, without great reluctance, +admit into their assemblies any lady of another country, whose noblesse +is not ascertained by a title. This reserve is in some measure +excusable among a people who are extremely ignorant of foreign customs, +and who know that in their own country, every person, even the most +insignificant, who has any pretensions to family, either inherits, or +assumes the title of principe, conte, or marchese. + +With all their pride, however, the nobles of Florence are humble enough +to enter into partnership with shop-keepers, and even to sell wine by +retail. It is an undoubted fact, that in every palace or great house in +this city, there is a little window fronting the street, provided with +an iron-knocker, and over it hangs an empty flask, by way of sign-post. +Thither you send your servant to buy a bottle of wine. He knocks at the +little wicket, which is opened immediately by a domestic, who supplies +him with what he wants, and receives the money like the waiter of any +other cabaret. It is pretty extraordinary, that it should not be deemed +a disparagement in a nobleman to sell half a pound of figs, or a palm +of ribbon or tape, or to take money for a flask of sour wine; and yet +be counted infamous to match his daughter in the family of a person who +has distinguished himself in any one of the learned professions. + +Though Florence be tolerably populous, there seems to be very little +trade of any kind in it: but the inhabitants flatter themselves with +the prospect of reaping great advantage from the residence of one of +the arch-dukes, for whose reception they are now repairing the palace +of Pitti. I know not what the revenues of Tuscany may amount to, since +the succession of the princes of Lorraine; but, under the last dukes of +the Medici family, they were said to produce two millions of crowns, +equal to five hundred thousand pounds sterling. These arose from a very +heavy tax upon land and houses, the portions of maidens, and suits at +law, besides the duties upon traffick, a severe gabelle upon the +necessaries of life, and a toll upon every eatable entered into this +capital. If we may believe Leti, the grand duke was then able to raise +and maintain an army of forty thousand infantry, and three thousand +horse; with twelve gallies, two galeasses, and twenty ships of war. I +question if Tuscany can maintain at present above one half of such an +armament. He that now commands the emperor's navy, consisting of a few +frigates, is an Englishman, called Acton, who was heretofore captain of +a ship in our East India company's service. He has lately embraced the +catholic religion, and been created admiral of Tuscany. + +There is a tolerable opera in Florence for the entertainment of the +best company, though they do not seem very attentive to the musick. +Italy is certainly the native country of this art; and yet, I do not +find the people in general either more musically inclined, or better +provided with ears than their neighbours. Here is also a wretched troop +of comedians for the burgeois, and lower class of people: but what +seems most to suit the taste of all ranks, is the exhibition of church +pageantry. I had occasion to see a procession, where all the noblesse +of the city attended in their coaches, which filled the whole length of +the great street called the Corso. It was the anniversary of a +charitable institution in favour of poor maidens, a certain number of +whom are portioned every year. About two hundred of these virgins +walked in procession, two and two together, cloathed in violet-coloured +wide gowns, with white veils on their heads, and made a very classical +appearance. They were preceded and followed by an irregular mob of +penitents in sack-cloth, with lighted tapers, and monks carrying +crucifixes, bawling and bellowing the litanies: but the great object +was a figure of the Virgin Mary, as big as the life, standing within a +gilt frame, dressed in a gold stuff, with a large hoop, a great +quantity of false jewels, her face painted and patched, and her hair +frizzled and curled in the very extremity of the fashion. Very little +regard had been paid to the image of our Saviour on the cross; but when +his lady-mother appeared on the shoulders of three or four lusty +friars, the whole populace fell upon their knees in the dirt. This +extraordinary veneration paid to the Virgin, must have been derived +originally from the French, who pique themselves on their gallantry to +the fair sex. + +Amidst all the scenery of the Roman catholic religion, I have never yet +seen any of the spectators affected at heart, or discover the least +signs of fanaticism. The very disciplinants, who scourge themselves in +the Holy-week, are generally peasants or parties hired for the purpose. +Those of the confrairies, who have an ambition to distinguish +themselves on such occasions, take care to secure their backs from the +smart, by means of secret armour, either women's boddice, or quilted +jackets. The confrairies are fraternities of devotees, who inlist +themselves under the banners of particular saints. On days of +procession they appear in a body dressed as penitents and masked, and +distinguished by crosses on their habits. There is scarce an +individual, whether noble or plebeian, who does not belong to one of +these associations, which may be compared to the FreeMasons, +Gregoreans, and Antigallicans of England. + +Just without one of the gates of Florence, there is a triumphal arch +erected on occasion of the late emperor's making his public entry, when +he succeeded to the dukedom of Tuscany: and herein the summer evenings, +the quality resort to take the air in their coaches. Every carriage +stops, and forms a little separate conversazione. The ladies sit +within, and the cicisbei stand on the foot-boards, on each side of the +coach, entertaining them with their discourse. It would be no +unpleasant inquiry to trace this sort of gallantry to its original, and +investigate all its progress. The Italians, having been accused of +jealousy, were resolved to wipe off the reproach, and, seeking to avoid +it for the future, have run into the other extreme. I know it is +generally supposed that the custom of choosing cicisbei, was calculated +to prevent the extinction of families, which would otherwise often +happen in consequence of marriages founded upon interest, without any +mutual affection in the contracting parties. How far this political +consideration may have weighed against the jealous and vindictive +temper of the Italians, I will not pretend to judge: but, certain it +is, every married lady in this country has her cicisbeo, or servente, +who attends her every where, and on all occasions; and upon whose +privileges the husband dares not encroach, without incurring the +censure and ridicule of the whole community. For my part, I would +rather be condemned for life to the gallies, than exercise the office +of a cicisbeo, exposed to the intolerable caprices and dangerous +resentment of an Italian virago. I pretend not to judge of the national +character, from my own observation: but, if the portraits drawn by +Goldoni in his Comedies are taken from nature, I would not hesitate to +pronounce the Italian women the most haughty, insolent, capricious, and +revengeful females on the face of the earth. Indeed their resentments +are so cruelly implacable, and contain such a mixture of perfidy, that, +in my opinion, they are very unfit subjects for comedy, whose province +it is, rather to ridicule folly than to stigmatize such atrocious vice. + +You have often heard it said, that the purity of the Italian is to be +found in the lingua Toscana, and bocca Romana. Certain it is, the +pronunciation of the Tuscans is disagreeably guttural: the letters C +and G they pronounce with an aspiration, which hurts the ear of an +Englishman; and is I think rather rougher than that of the X, in +Spanish. It sounds as if the speaker had lost his palate. I really +imagined the first man I heard speak in Pisa, had met with that +misfortune in the course of his amours. + +One of the greatest curiosities you meet with in Italy, is the +Improvisatore; such is the name given to certain individuals, who have +the surprising talent of reciting verses extempore, on any subject you +propose. Mr. Corvesi, my landlord, has a son, a Franciscan friar, who +is a great genius in this way. + +When the subject is given, his brother tunes his violin to accompany +him, and he begins to rehearse in recitative, with wonderful fluency +and precision. Thus he will, at a minute's warning, recite two or three +hundred verses, well turned, and well adapted, and generally mingled +with an elegant compliment to the company. The Italians are so fond of +poetry, that many of them, have the best part of Ariosto, Tasso, and +Petrarch, by heart; and these are the great sources from which the +Improvisatori draw their rhimes, cadence, and turns of expression. But, +lest you should think there is neither rhime nor reason in protracting +this tedious epistle, I shall conclude it with the old burden of my +song, that I am always--Your affectionate humble servant. + + + +LETTER XXVIII + +NICE, February 5, 1765. + +DEAR SIR,--Your entertaining letter of the fifth of last month, was a +very charitable and a very agreeable donation: but your suspicion is +groundless. I assure you, upon my honour, I have no share whatever in +any of the disputes which agitate the public: nor do I know any thing +of your political transactions, except what I casually see in one of +your newspapers, with the perusal of which I am sometimes favoured by +our consul at Villefranche. You insist upon my being more particular in +my remarks on what I saw at Florence, and I shall obey the injunction. +The famous gallery which contains the antiquities, is the third story +of a noble stone-edifice, built in the form of the Greek Pi, the upper +part fronting the river Arno, and one of the legs adjoining to the +ducal-palace, where the courts of justice are held. As the house of +Medici had for some centuries resided in the palace of Pitti, situated +on the other side of the river, a full mile from these tribunals, the +architect Vasari, who planned the new edifice, at the same time +contrived a corridore, or covered passage, extending from the palace of +Pitti along one of the bridges, to the gallery of curiosities, through +which the grand-duke passed unseen, when he was disposed either to +amuse himself with his antiquities, or to assist at his courts of +judicature: but there is nothing very extraordinary either in the +contrivance or execution of this corridore. + +If I resided in Florence I would give something extraordinary for +permission to walk every day in the gallery, which I should much prefer +to the Lycaeum, the groves of Academus, or any porch or philosophical +alley in Athens or in Rome. Here by viewing the statues and busts +ranged on each side, I should become acquainted with the faces of all +the remarkable personages, male and female, of antiquity, and even be +able to trace their different characters from the expression of their +features. This collection is a most excellent commentary upon the Roman +historians, particularly Suetonius and Dion Cassius. There was one +circumstance that struck me in viewing the busts of Caracalla, both +here and in the Capitol at Rome; there was a certain ferocity in the +eyes, which seemed to contradict the sweetness of the other features, +and remarkably justified the epithet Caracuyl, by which he was +distinguished by the antient inhabitants of North-Britain. In the +language of the Highlanders caracuyl signifies cruel eye, as we are +given to understand by the ingenious editor of Fingal, who seems to +think that Caracalla is no other than the Celtic word, adapted to the +pronunciation of the Romans: but the truth is, Caracalla was the name +of a Gaulish vestment, which this prince affected to wear; and hence he +derived that surname. The Caracuyl of the Britons, is the same as the +upodra idon of the Greeks, which Homer has so often applied to his +Scolding Heroes. I like the Bacchanalian, chiefly for the fine drapery. +The wind, occasioned by her motion, seems to have swelled and raised it +from the parts of the body which it covers. There is another gay +Bacchanalian, in the attitude of dancing, crowned with ivy, holding in +her right hand a bunch of grapes, and in her left the thyrsus. The head +of the celebrated Flora is very beautiful: the groupe of Cupid and +Psyche, however, did not give me all the pleasure I expected from it. + +Of all the marbles that appear in the open gallery, the following are +those I most admire. Leda with the Swan; as for Jupiter, in this +transformation, he has much the appearance of a goose. I have not seen +any thing tamer; but the sculptor has admirably shewn his art in +representing Leda's hand partly hid among the feathers, which are so +lightly touched off, that the very shape of the fingers are seen +underneath. The statue of a youth, supposed to be Ganymede, is compared +by the connoisseurs to the celebrated Venus, and as far as I can judge, +not without reason: it is however, rather agreeable than striking, and +will please a connoisseur much more than a common spectator. I know not +whether it is my regard to the faculty that inhances the value of the +noted Esculapius, who appears with a venerable beard of delicate +workmanship. He is larger than the life, cloathed in a magnificent +pallium, his left arm resting on a knotted staff, round which the snake +is twined according to Ovid. + +Hunc modo serpentem baculum qui nexibus ambit Perspice-- + +Behold the snake his mystic Rod intwine. + +He has in his hand the fascia herbarum, and the crepidae on his feet. +There is a wild-boar represented lying on one side, which I admire as a +master-piece. The savageness of his appearance is finely contrasted +with the case and indolence of the attitude. Were I to meet with a +living boar lying with the same expression, I should be tempted to +stroke his bristles. Here is an elegant bust of Antinous, the favourite +of Adrian; and a beautiful head of Alexander the Great, turned on one +side, with an expression of languishment and anxiety in his +countenance. The virtuosi are not agreed about the circumstance in +which he is represented; whether fainting with the loss of blood which +he suffered in his adventure at Oxydrace; or languishing with the fever +contracted by bathing in the Cydnus; or finally complaining to his +father Jove, that there were no other worlds for him to conquer. The +kneeling Narcissus is a striking figure, and the expression admirable. +The two Bacchi are perfectly well executed; but (to my shame be it +spoken) I prefer to the antique that which is the work of Michael +Angelo Buonaroti, concerning which the story is told which you well +know. The artist having been blamed by some pretended connoisseurs, for +not imitating the manner of the ancients, is said to have privately +finished this Bacchus, and buried it, after having broke off an arm, +which he kept as a voucher. The statue, being dug up by accident, was +allowed by the best judges, to be a perfect antique; upon which +Buonaroti produced the arm, and claimed his own work. Bianchi looks +upon this as a fable; but owns that Vasari tells such another of a +child cut in marble by the same artist, which being carried to Rome, +and kept for some time under ground, was dug up as an antique, and sold +for a great deal of money. I was likewise attracted by the Morpheus in +touchstone, which is described by Addison, who, by the bye, +notwithstanding all his taste, has been convicted by Bianchi of several +gross blunders in his account of this gallery. + +With respect to the famous Venus Pontia, commonly called de Medicis, +which was found at Tivoli, and is kept in a separate apartment called +the Tribuna, I believe I ought to be intirely silent, or at least +conceal my real sentiments, which will otherwise appear equally absurd +and presumptuous. It must be want of taste that prevents my feeling +that enthusiastic admiration with which others are inspired at sight of +this statue: a statue which in reputation equals that of Cupid by +Praxiteles, which brought such a concourse of strangers of old to the +little town of Thespiae. I cannot help thinking that there is no beauty +in the features of Venus; and that the attitude is aukward and out of +character. It is a bad plea to urge that the antients and we differ in +the ideas of beauty. We know the contrary, from their medals, busts, +and historians. Without all doubt, the limbs and proportions of this +statue are elegantly formed, and accurately designed, according to the +nicest rules of symmetry and proportion; and the back parts especially +are executed so happily, as to excite the admiration of the most +indifferent spectator. One cannot help thinking it is the very Venus of +Cnidos by Praxiteles, which Lucian describes. "Hercle quanta dorsi +concinnitas! ut exuberantes lumbi amplexantes manus implent! quam scite +circumductae clunium pulpae in se rotundantur, neque tenues nimis ipsis +ossibus adstrictae, neque in immensam effusae Pinguedinem!" That the +statue thus described was not the Venus de Medicis, would appear from +the Greek inscription on the base, KLEOMENIS APPOLLODOROI ATHINAIOS +EPOESEI. Cleomenes filius Apollodori fecit; did we not know that this +inscription is counted spurious, and that instead of EPOESEI, it should +be EPOIESE. This, however, is but a frivolous objection, as we have +seen many inscriptions undoubtedly antique, in which the orthography is +false, either from the ignorance or carelessness of the sculptor. +Others suppose, not without reason, that this statue is a +representation of the famous Phryne, the courtesan of Athens, who at +the celebration of the Eleusinian games, exhibited herself coming out +of the bath, naked, to the eyes of the whole Athenian people. I was +much pleased with the dancing faun; and still better with the Lotti, or +wrestlers, the attitudes of which are beautifully contrived to shew the +different turns of the limbs, and the swelling of the muscles: but, +what pleased me best of all the statues in the Tribuna was the +Arrotino, commonly called the Whetter, and generally supposed to +represent a slave, who in the act of whetting a knife, overhears the +conspiracy of Catiline. You know he is represented on one knee; and +certain it is, I never saw such an expression of anxious attention, as +appears in his countenance. But it is not mingled with any marks of +surprise, such as could not fail to lay hold on a man who overhears by +accident a conspiracy against the state. The marquis de Maffei has +justly observed that Sallust, in his very circumstantial detail of that +conspiracy, makes no mention of any such discovery. Neither does it +appear that the figure is in the act of whetting, the stone which he +holds in one hand being rough and unequal no ways resembling a +whetstone. Others alledge it represents Milico, the freedman of +Scaevinus, who conspired against the life of Nero, and gave his +poignard to be whetted to Milico, who presented it to the emperor, with +an account of the conspiracy: but the attitude and expression will by +no means admit of this interpretation. Bianchi, [This antiquarian is +now imprisoned for Life, for having robbed the Gallery and then set it +on fire.] who shows the gallery, thinks the statue represents the augur +Attius Navius, who cut a stone with a knife, at the command of +Tarquinius Priscus. This conjecture seems to be confirmed by a +medallion of Antoninus Pius, inserted by Vaillant among his Numismata +Prestantiora, on which is delineated nearly such a figure as this in +question, with the following legend. "Attius Navius genuflexus ante +Tarquinium Priscum cotem cultro discidit." He owns indeed that in the +statue, the augur is not distinguished either by his habit or emblems; +and he might have added, neither is the stone a cotes. For my own part, +I think neither of these three opinions is satisfactory, though the +last is very ingenious. Perhaps the figure allude to a private +incident, which never was recorded in any history. Among the great +number of pictures in this Tribuna, I was most charmed with the Venus +by Titian, which has a sweetness of expression and tenderness of +colouring, not to be described. In this apartment, they reckon three +hundred pieces, the greatest part by the best masters, particularly by +Raphael, in the three manners by which he distinguished himself at +different periods of his life. As for the celebrated statue of the +hermaphrodite, which we find in another room, I give the sculptor +credit for his ingenuity in mingling the sexes in the composition; but +it is, at best, no other than a monster in nature, which I never had +any pleasure in viewing: nor, indeed, do I think there was much talent +required in representing a figure with the head and breasts of a woman, +and all the other parts of the body masculine. There is such a +profusion of curiosities in this celebrated musaeum; statues, busts, +pictures, medals, tables inlaid in the way of marquetry, cabinets +adorned with precious stones, jewels of all sorts, mathematical +instruments, antient arms and military machines, that the imagination +is bewildered, and a stranger of a visionary turn, would be apt to +fancy himself in a palace of the fairies, raised and adorned by the +power of inchantment. + +In one of the detached apartments, I saw the antependium of the altar, +designed for the famous chapel of St. Lorenzo. It is a curious piece of +architecture, inlaid with coloured marble and precious stones, so as to +represent an infinite variety of natural objects. It is adorned with +some crystal pillars, with capitals of beaten gold. The second story of +the building is occupied by a great number of artists employed in this +very curious work of marquetry, representing figures with gems and +different kinds of coloured marble, for the use of the emperor. The +Italians call it pietre commesse, a sort of inlaying with stones, +analogous to the fineering of cabinets in wood. It is peculiar to +Florence, and seems to be still more curious than the Mosaic work, +which the Romans have brought to great perfection. + +The cathedral of Florence is a great Gothic building, encrusted on the +outside with marble; it is remarkable for nothing but its cupola, which +is said to have been copied by the architect of St. Peter's at Rome, +and for its size, which is much greater than that of any other church +in Christendom. [In this cathedral is the Tomb of Johannes Acutus +Anglus, which a man would naturally interpret as John Sharp; but his +name was really Hawkwood, which the Italians have corrupted into Acut. +He was a celebrated General or Condottiere who arrived in Italy at the +head of four thousand soldiers of fortune, mostly Englishmen who had +served with him in the army of King Edward III., and were dismissed at +the Peace of Bontigny. Hawkwood greatly distinguished himself in Italy +by his valour and conduct, and died a very old man in the Florentine +service. He was the son of a Tanner in Essex, and had been put +apprentice to a Taylor.] The baptistery, which stands by it, was an +antient temple, said to be dedicated to Mars. There are some good +statues of marble within; and one or two of bronze on the outside of +the doors; but it is chiefly celebrated for the embossed work of its +brass gates, by Lorenzo Ghiberti, which Buonaroti used to say, deserved +to be made the gates of Paradise. I viewed them with pleasure: but +still I retained a greater veneration for those of Pisa, which I had +first admired: a preference which either arises from want of taste, or +from the charm of novelty, by which the former were recommended to my +attention. Those who would have a particular detail of every thing +worth seeing at Florence, comprehending churches, libraries, palaces, +tombs, statues, pictures, fountains, bridge, etc. may consult Keysler, +who is so laboriously circumstantial in his descriptions, that I never +could peruse them, without suffering the headache, and recollecting the +old observation, that the German genius lies more in the back than in +the brain. + +I was much disappointed in the chapel of St. Lorenzo. Notwithstanding +the great profusion of granite, porphyry, jasper, verde antico, +lapis-lazuli, and other precious stones, representing figures in the +way of marquetry, I think the whole has a gloomy effect. These pietre +commesse are better calculated for cabinets, than for ornaments to +great buildings, which ought to be large masses proportioned to the +greatness of the edifice. The compartments are so small, that they +produce no effect in giving the first impression when one enters the +place; except to give an air of littleness to the whole, just as if a +grand saloon was covered with pictures painted in miniature. If they +have as little regard to proportion and perspective, when they paint +the dome, which is not yet finished, this chapel will, in my opinion, +remain a monument of ill taste and extravagance. + +The court of the palace of Pitti is formed by three sides of an elegant +square, with arcades all round, like the palace of Holyrood house at +Edinburgh; and the rustic work, which constitutes the lower part of the +building, gives it an air of strength and magnificence. In this court, +there is a fine fountain, in which the water trickles down from above; +and here is also an admirable antique statue of Hercules, inscribed +LUSIPPOI ERGON, the work of Lysippus. + +The apartments of this palace are generally small, and many of them +dark. Among the paintings the most remarkable is the Madonna de la +Seggiola, by Raphael, counted one of the best coloured pieces of that +great master. If I was allowed to find fault with the performance, I +should pronounce it defective in dignity and sentiment. It is the +expression of a peasant rather than of the mother of God. She exhibits +the fondness and joy of a young woman towards her firstborn son, +without that rapture of admiration which we expect to find in the +Virgin Mary, while she contemplates, in the fruit of her own womb, the +Saviour of mankind. In other respects, it is a fine figure, gay, +agreeable, and very expressive of maternal tenderness; and the bambino +is extremely beautiful. There was an English painter employed in +copying this picture, and what he had done was executed with great +success. I am one of those who think it very possible to imitate the +best pieces in such a manner, that even the connoisseurs shall not be +able to distinguish the original from the copy. After all, I do not set +up for a judge in these matters, and very likely I may incur the +ridicule of the virtuosi for the remarks I have made: but I am used to +speak my mind freely on all subjects that fall under the cognizance of +my senses; though I must as freely own, there is something more than +common sense required to discover and distinguish the more delicate +beauties of painting. I can safely say, however, that without any +daubing at all, I am, very sincerely--Your affectionate humble servant. + + + +LETTER XXIX + +NICE, February 20, 1765. + +DEAR SIR,--Having seen all the curiosities of Florence, and hired a +good travelling coach for seven weeks, at the price of seven zequines, +something less than three guineas and a half, we set out post for Rome, +by the way of Sienna, where we lay the first night. The country through +which we passed is mountainous but agreeable. Of Sienna I can say +nothing from my own observation, but that we were indifferently lodged +in a house that stunk like a privy, and fared wretchedly at supper. The +city is large and well built: the inhabitants pique themselves upon +their politeness, and the purity of their dialect. Certain it is, some +strangers reside in this place on purpose to learn the best +pronunciation of the Italian tongue. The Mosaic pavement of their +duomo, or cathedral, has been much admired; as well as the history of +Aeneas Sylvius, afterwards pope Pius II., painted on the walls of the +library, partly by Pietro Perugino, and partly by his pupil Raphael +D'Urbino. + +Next day, at Buon Convento, where the emperor Henry VII. was poisoned +by a friar with the sacramental wafer, I refused to give money to the +hostler, who in revenge put two young unbroke stone-horses in the +traces next to the coach, which became so unruly, that before we had +gone a quarter of a mile, they and the postilion were rolling in the +dust. In this situation they made such efforts to disengage themselves, +and kicked with such violence, that I imagined the carriage and all our +trunks would have been beaten in pieces. We leaped out of the coach, +however, without sustaining any personal damage, except the fright; nor +was any hurt done to the vehicle. But the horses were terribly bruised, +and almost strangled, before they could be disengaged. Exasperated at +the villany of the hostler, I resolved to make a complaint to the +uffiziale or magistrate of the place. I found him wrapped in an old, +greasy, ragged, great-coat, sitting in a wretched apartment, without +either glass, paper, or boards in the windows; and there was no sort of +furniture but a couple of broken chairs and a miserable truckle-bed. He +looked pale, and meagre, and had more the air of a half-starved +prisoner than of a magistrate. Having heard my complaint, he came forth +into a kind of outward room or bellfrey, and rung a great bell with his +own hand. In consequence of this signal, the postmaster came up stairs, +and I suppose he was the first man in the place, for the uffiziale +stood before him cap-in-hand, and with great marks of humble respect +repeated the complaint I had made. This man assured me, with an air of +conscious importance, that he himself had ordered the hostler to supply +me with those very horses, which were the best in his stable; and that +the misfortune which happened was owing to the misconduct of the +fore-postilion, who did not keep the fore-horses to a proper speed +proportioned to the mettle of the other two. As he took the affair upon +himself, and I perceived had an ascendancy over the magistrate, I +contented myself with saying, I was certain the two horses had been put +to the coach on purpose, either to hurt or frighten us; and that since +I could not have justice here I would make a formal complaint to the +British minister at Florence. In passing through the street to the +coach, which was by this time furnished with fresh horses, I met the +hostler, and would have caned him heartily; but perceiving my +intention, he took to his heels and vanished. Of all the people I have +ever seen, the hostlers, postilions, and other fellows hanging about +the post-houses in Italy, are the most greedy, impertinent, and +provoking. Happy are those travellers who have phlegm enough to +disregard their insolence and importunity: for this is not so +disagreeable as their revenge is dangerous. An English gentleman at +Florence told me, that one of those fellows, whom he had struck for his +impertinence, flew at him with a long knife, and he could hardly keep +him at sword's point. All of them wear such knives, and are very apt to +use them on the slightest provocation. But their open attacks are not +so formidable as their premeditated schemes of revenge; in the +prosecution of which the Italians are equally treacherous and cruel. + +This night we passed at a place called Radicofani, a village and fort, +situated on the top of a very high mountain. The inn stands still lower +than the town. It was built at the expence of the last grand-duke of +Tuscany; is very large, very cold, and uncomfortable. One would imagine +it was contrived for coolness, though situated so high, that even in +the midst of summer, a traveller would be glad to have a fire in his +chamber. But few, or none of them have fireplaces, and there is not a +bed with curtains or tester in the house. All the adjacent country is +naked and barren. On the third day we entered the pope's territories, +some parts of which are delightful. Having passed Aqua-Pendente, a +beggarly town, situated on the top of a rock, from whence there is a +romantic cascade of water, which gives it the name, we travelled along +the side of the lake Bolsena, a beautiful piece of water about thirty +miles in circuit, with two islands in the middle, the banks covered +with noble plantations of oak and cypress. The town of Bolsena standing +near the ruins of the antient Volsinium, which was the birth-place of +Sejanus, is a paultry village; and Montefiascone, famous for its wine, +is a poor, decayed town in this neighbourhood, situated on the side of +a hill, which, according to the author of the Grand Tour, the only +directory I had along with me, is supposed to be the Soracte of the +ancients. If we may believe Horace, Soracte was visible from Rome: for, +in his ninth ode, addressed to Thaliarchus, he says, + + Vides, ut alta stet nive candidum + Soracte-- + + You see how deeply wreathed with snow + Soracte lifts his hoary head, + +but, in order to see Montefiascone, his eyesight must have penetrated +through the Mons Cyminus, at the foot of which now stands the city of +Viterbo. Pliny tells us, that Soracte was not far from Rome, haud +procul ab urbe Roma; but Montefiascone is fifty miles from this city. +And Desprez, in his notes upon Horace, says it is now called Monte S. +Oreste. Addison tells us he passed by it in the Campania. I could not +without indignation reflect upon the bigotry of Mathilda, who gave this +fine country to the see of Rome, under the dominion of which no country +was ever known to prosper. + +About half way between Montefiascone and Viterbo, one of our +fore-wheels flew off, together with a large splinter of the axle-tree; +and if one of the postilions had not by great accident been a +remarkably ingenious fellow, we should have been put to the greatest +inconvenience, as there was no town, or even house, within several +miles. I mention this circumstance, by way of warning to other +travellers, that they may provide themselves with a hammer and nails, a +spare iron-pin or two, a large knife, and bladder of grease, to be used +occasionally in case of such misfortune. + +The mountain of Viterbo is covered with beautiful plantations and +villas belonging to the Roman nobility, who come hither to make the +villegiatura in summer. Of the city of Viterbo I shall say nothing, but +that it is the capital of that country which Mathilda gave to the Roman +see. The place is well built, adorned with public fountains, and a +great number of churches and convents; yet far from being populous, the +whole number of inhabitants, not exceeding fifteen thousand. The +post-house is one of the worst inns I ever entered. + +After having passed this mountain, the Cyminus of the antients, we +skirted part of the lake, which is now called de Vico, and whose banks +afford the most agreeable rural prospects of hill and vale, wood, glade +and water, shade and sun-shine. A few other very inconsiderable places +we passed, and descended into the Campania of Rome, which is almost a +desert. The view of this country in its present situation, cannot but +produce emotions of pity and indignation in the mind of every person +who retains any idea of its antient cultivation and fertility. It is +nothing but a naked withered down, desolate and dreary, almost without +inclosure, corn-field, hedge, tree, shrub, house, hut, or habitation; +exhibiting here and there the ruins of an antient castellum, tomb, or +temple, and in some places the remains of a Roman via. I had heard much +of these antient pavements, and was greatly disappointed when I saw +them. The Via Cassia or Cymina is paved with broad, solid, +flint-stones, which must have greatly incommoded the feet of horses +that travelled upon it as well as endangered the lives of the riders +from the slipperiness of the pavement: besides, it is so narrow that +two modern carriages could not pass one another upon it, without the +most imminent hazard of being overturned. I am still of opinion that we +excel the ancient Romans in understanding the conveniences of life. + +The Grand Tour says, that within four miles of Rome you see a tomb on +the roadside, said to be that of Nero, with sculpture in basso-relievo +at both ends. I did see such a thing more like a common grave-stone, +than the tomb of an emperor. But we are informed by Suetonius, that the +dead body of Nero, who slew himself at the villa of his freedman, was +by the care of his two nurses and his concubine Atta, removed to the +sepulchre of the Gens Domitia, immediately within the Porta del Popolo, +on your left hand as you enter Rome, precisely on the spot where now +stands the church of S. Maria del Popolo. His tomb was even +distinguished by an epitaph, which has been preserved by Gruterus. +Giacomo Alberici tells us very gravely in his History of the Church, +that a great number of devils, who guarded the bones of this wicked +emperor, took possession, in the shape of black ravens, of a +walnut-tree, which grew upon the spot; from whence they insulted every +passenger, until pope Paschal II., in consequence of a solemn fast and +a revelation, went thither in procession with his court and cardinals, +cut down the tree, and burned it to ashes, which, with the bones of +Nero, were thrown into the Tyber: then he consecrated an altar on the +place, where afterwards the church was built. You may guess what I felt +at first sight of the city of Rome, which, notwithstanding all the +calamities it has undergone, still maintains an august and imperial +appearance. It stands on the farther side of the Tyber, which we +crossed at the Ponte Molle, formerly called Pons Milvius, about two +miles from the gate by which we entered. This bridge was built by +Aemilius Censor, whose name it originally bore. It was the road by +which so many heroes returned with conquest to their country; by which +so many kings were led captive to Rome; and by which the ambassadors of +so many kingdoms and states approached the seat of empire, to deprecate +the wrath, to sollicit the friendship, or sue for the protection of the +Roman people. It is likewise famous for the defeat and death of +Maxentius, who was here overcome by Constantine the Great. The space +between the bridge and Porta del Popolo, on the right-hand, which is +now taken up with gardens and villas, was part of the antient Campus +Martius, where the comitiae were held; and where the Roman people +inured themselves to all manner of exercises: it was adorned with +porticos, temples, theatres, baths, circi, basilicae, obelisks, +columns, statues, and groves. Authors differ in their opinions about +the extent of it; but as they all agree that it contained the Pantheon, +the Circus Agonis, now the Piazza Navona, the Bustum and Mausoleum +Augusti, great part of the modern city must be built upon the ancient +Campus Martius. The highway that leads from the bridge to the city, is +part of the Via Flaminia, which extended as far as Rimini; and is well +paved, like a modern street. Nothing of the antient bridge remains but +the piles; nor is there any thing in the structure of this, or of the +other five Roman bridges over the Tyber, that deserves attention. I +have not seen any bridge in France or Italy, comparable to that of +Westminster either in beauty, magnificence, or solidity; and when the +bridge at Black-Friars is finished, it will be such a monument of +architecture as all the world cannot parallel. As for the Tyber, it is, +in comparison with the Thames, no more than an inconsiderable stream, +foul, deep, and rapid. It is navigable by small boats, barks, and +lighters; and, for the conveniency of loading and unloading them, there +is a handsome quay by the new custom-house, at the Porto di Ripetta, +provided with stairs of each side, and adorned with an elegant +fountain, that yields abundance of excellent water. + +We are told that the bed of this river has been considerably raised by +the rubbish of old Rome, and this is the reason usually given for its +being so apt to overflow its banks. A citizen of Rome told me, that a +friend of his lately digging to lay the foundation of a new house in +the lower part of the city, near the bank of the river, discovered the +pavement of an antient street, at the depth of thirty-nine feet from +the present surface of the earth. He therefore concluded that modern +Rome is near forty feet higher in this place, than the site of the +antient city, and that the bed of the river is raised in proportion; +but this is altogether incredible. Had the bed of the Tyber been +antiently forty feet lower at Rome, than it is at present, there must +have been a fall or cataract in it immediately above this tract, as it +is not pretended that the bed of it is raised in any part above the +city; otherwise such an elevation would have obstructed its course, and +then it would have overflowed the whole Campania. There is nothing +extraordinary in its present overflowings: they frequently happened of +old, and did great mischief to the antient city. Appian, Dio, and other +historians, describe an inundation of the Tiber immediately after the +death of Julius Caesar, which inundation was occasioned by the sudden +melting of a great quantity of snow upon the Apennines. This calamity +is recorded by Horace in his ode to Augustus. + + Vidimus flavum Tiberim retortis + Littore Etrusco violenter undis, + Ire dejectum monumenta regis, + Templaque Vestae: + Iliae dum se nimium querenti, + Jactat ultorem; vagus et sinistra + Labitur ripa, Jove non probante + Uxorius Amnis. + +Livy expressly says, "Ita abundavit Tiberis, ut Ludi Apollinares, circo +inundato, extra portam Collinam ad aedem Erycinae Veneris parati sint," +"There was such an inundation of the Tiber that, the Circus being +overflowed, the Ludi Appollinares were exhibited without the gate +Collina, hard by the temple of Venus Erycina." To this custom of +transferring the Ludi Appollinares to another place where the Tyber had +overflowed the Circus Maximus, Ovid alludes in his Fasti. + + Altera gramineo spectabis equiriacampo + Quem Tiberis curvis in latus urget aquis, + Qui tamen ejecta si forte tenebitur unda, + Coelius accipiet pulverulentus equos. + + Another race thy view shall entertain + Where bending Tiber skirts the grassy plain; + Or should his vagrant stream that plain o'erflow, + The Caelian hill the dusty course will show. + +The Porta del Popolo (formerly, Flaminia,) by which we entered Rome, is +an elegant piece of architecture, adorned with marble columns and +statues, executed after the design of Buonaroti. Within-side you find +yourself in a noble piazza, from whence three of the principal streets +of Rome are detached. It is adorned with the famous Aegyptian obelisk, +brought hither from the Circus Maximus, and set up by the architect +Dominico Fontana in the pontificate of Sixtus V. Here is likewise a +beautiful fountain designed by the same artist; and at the beginning of +the two principal streets, are two very elegant churches fronting each +other. Such an august entrance cannot fail to impress a stranger with a +sublime idea of this venerable city. + +Having given our names at the gate, we repaired to the dogana, or +custom-house, where our trunks and carriage were searched; and here we +were surrounded by a number of servitori de piazza, offering their +services with the most disagreeable importunity. Though I told them +several times I had no occasion for any, three of them took possession +of the coach, one mounting before and two of them behind; and thus we +proceeded to the Piazza d'Espagna, where the person lived to whose +house I was directed. Strangers that come to Rome seldom put up at +public inns, but go directly to lodging houses, of which there is great +plenty in this quarter. The Piazza d'Espagna is open, airy, and +pleasantly situated in a high part of the city immediately under the +Colla Pinciana, and adorned with two fine fountains. Here most of the +English reside: the apartments are generally commodious and well +furnished; and the lodgers are well supplied with provisions and all +necessaries of life. But, if I studied oeconomy, I would choose another +part of the town than the Piazza d'Espagna, which is, besides, at a +great distance from the antiquities. For a decent first floor and two +bed-chambers on the second, I payed no more than a scudo (five +shillings) per day. Our table was plentifully furnished by the landlord +for two and thirty pauls, being equal to sixteen shillings. I hired a +town-coach at the rate of fourteen pauls, or seven shillings a day; and +a servitore di piazza for three pauls, or eighteen-pence. The coachman +has also an allowance of two pauls a day. The provisions at Rome are +reasonable and good, the vitella mongana, however, which is the most +delicate veal I ever tasted, is very dear, being sold for two pauls, or +a shilling, the pound. Here are the rich wines of Montepulciano, +Montefiascone, and Monte di Dragone; but what we commonly drink at +meals is that of Orvieto, a small white wine, of an agreeable flavour. +Strangers are generally advised to employ an antiquarian to instruct +them in all the curiosities of Rome; and this is a necessary expence, +when a person wants to become a connoisseur in painting, statuary, and +architecture. For my own part I had no such ambition. I longed to view +the remains of antiquity by which this metropolis is distinguished; and +to contemplate the originals of many pictures and statues, which I had +admired in prints and descriptions. I therefore chose a servant, who +was recommended to me as a sober, intelligent fellow, acquainted with +these matters: at the same time I furnished myself with maps and plans +of antient and modern Rome, together with the little manual, called, +Itinerario istruttivo per ritrovare con facilita tutte le magnificenze +di Roma e di alcune citta', e castelli suburbani. But I found still +more satisfaction in perusing the book in three volumes, intitled, Roma +antica, e moderna, which contains a description of everything +remarkable in and about the city, illustrated with a great number of +copper-plates, and many curious historical annotations. This directory +cost me a zequine; but a hundred zequines will not purchase all the +books and prints which have been published at Rome on these subjects. +Of these the most celebrated are the plates of Piranesi, who is not +only an ingenious architect and engraver, but also a learned +antiquarian; though he is apt to run riot in his conjectures; and with +regard to the arts of antient Rome, has broached some doctrines, which +he will find it very difficult to maintain. Our young gentlemen who go +to Rome will do well to be upon their guard against a set of sharpers, +(some of them of our own country,) who deal in pictures and antiques, +and very often impose upon the uninformed stranger, by selling him +trash, as the productions of the most celebrated artists. The English +are more than any other foreigners exposed to this imposition. They are +supposed to have more money to throw away; and therefore a greater +number of snares are laid for them. This opinion of their superior +wealth they take a pride in confirming, by launching out into all +manner of unnecessary expence: but, what is still more dangerous, the +moment they set foot in Italy, they are seized with the ambition of +becoming connoisseurs in painting, musick, statuary, and architecture; +and the adventurers of this country do not fail to flatter this +weakness for their own advantage. I have seen in different parts of +Italy, a number of raw boys, whom Britain seemed to have poured forth +on purpose to bring her national character into contempt, ignorant, +petulant, rash, and profligate, without any knowledge or experience of +their own, without any director to improve their understanding, or +superintend their conduct. One engages in play with an infamous +gamester, and is stripped perhaps in the very first partie: another is +pillaged by an antiquated cantatrice; a third is bubbled by a knavish +antiquarian; and a fourth is laid under contribution by a dealer in +pictures. Some turn fiddlers, and pretend to compose: but all of them +talk familiarly of the arts, and return finished connoisseurs and +coxcombs, to their own country. The most remarkable phaenomenon of this +kind, which I have seen, is a boy of seventy-two, now actually +travelling through Italy, for improvement, under the auspices of +another boy of twenty-two. When you arrive at Rome, you receive cards +from all your country-folks in that city: they expect to have the visit +returned next day, when they give orders not to be at home; and you +never speak to one another in the sequel. This is a refinement in +hospitality and politeness, which the English have invented by the +strength of their own genius, without any assistance either from +France, Italy, or Lapland. No Englishman above the degree of a painter +or cicerone frequents any coffee-house at Rome; and as there are no +public diversions, except in carnival-time, the only chance you have of +seeing your compatriots is either in visiting the curiosities, or at a +conversazione. The Italians are very scrupulous in admitting +foreigners, except those who are introduced as people of quality: but +if there happens to be any English lady of fashion at Rome, she +generally keeps an assembly, to which the British subjects resort. In +my next, I shall communicate, without ceremony or affectation, what +further remarks I have made at Rome, without any pretence, however, to +the character of a connoisseur, which, without all doubt, would fit +very aukwardly upon,--Dear Sir, Your Friend and Servant. + + + +LETTER XXX + +NICE, February 28, 1765. + +DEAR SIR,--Nothing can be more agreeable to the eyes of a stranger, +especially in the heats of summer, than the great number of public +fountains that appear in every part of Rome, embellished with all the +ornaments of sculpture, and pouring forth prodigious quantities of +cool, delicious water, brought in aqueducts from different lakes, +rivers, and sources, at a considerable distance from the city. These +works are the remains of the munificence and industry of the antient +Romans, who were extremely delicate in the article of water: but, +however, great applause is also due to those beneficent popes who have +been at the expence of restoring and repairing those noble channels of +health, pleasure, and convenience. This great plenty of water, +nevertheless, has not induced the Romans to be cleanly. Their streets, +and even their palaces, are disgraced with filth. The noble Piazza +Navona, is adorned with three or four fountains, one of which is +perhaps the most magnificent in Europe, and all of them discharge vast +streams of water: but, notwithstanding this provision, the piazza is +almost as dirty, as West Smithfield, where the cattle are sold in +London. The corridores, arcades, and even staircases of their most +elegant palaces, are depositories of nastiness, and indeed in summer +smell as strong as spirit of hartshorn. I have a great notion that +their ancestors were not much more cleanly. If we consider that the +city and suburbs of Rome, in the reign of Claudius, contained about +seven millions of inhabitants, a number equal at least to the sum total +of all the souls in England; that great part of antient Rome was +allotted to temples, porticos, basilicae, theatres, thermae, circi, +public and private walks and gardens, where very few, if any, of this +great number lodged; that by far the greater part of those inhabitants +were slaves and poor people, who did not enjoy the conveniencies of +life; and that the use of linen was scarce known; we must naturally +conclude they were strangely crouded together, and that in general they +were a very frowzy generation. That they were crouded together appears +from the height of their houses, which the poet Rutilius compared to +towers made for scaling heaven. In order to remedy this inconvenience, +Augustus Caesar published a decree, that for the future no houses +should be built above seventy feet high, which, at a moderate +computation, might make six stories. But what seems to prove, beyond +all dispute, that the antient Romans were dirty creatures, are these +two particulars. Vespasian laid a tax upon urine and ordure, on +pretence of being at a great expence in clearing the streets from such +nuisances; an imposition which amounted to about fourteen pence a year +for every individual; and when Heliogabalus ordered all the cobwebs of +the city and suburbs to be collected, they were found to weigh ten +thousand pounds. This was intended as a demonstration of the great +number of inhabitants; but it was a proof of their dirt, rather than of +their populosity. I might likewise add, the delicate custom of taking +vomits at each other's houses, when they were invited to dinner, or +supper, that they might prepare their stomachs for gormandizing; a +beastly proof of their nastiness as well as gluttony. Horace, in his +description of the banquet of Nasiedenus, says, when the canopy, under +which they sat, fell down, it brought along with it as much dirt as is +raised by a hard gale of wind in dry weather. + + --trahentia pulveris atri, + Quantum non aquilo Campanis excitat agris. + + Such clouds of dust revolving in its train + As Boreas whirls along the level plain. + +I might observe, that the streets were often encumbered with the +putrefying carcasses of criminals, who had been dragged through them by +the heels, and precipitated from the Scalae Gemoniae, or Tarpeian rock, +before they were thrown into the Tyber, which was the general +receptacle of the cloaca maxima and all the filth of Rome: besides, the +bodies of all those who made away with themselves, without sufficient +cause; of such as were condemned for sacrilege, or killed by thunder, +were left unburned and unburied, to rot above ground. + +I believe the moderns retain more of the customs of antient Romans, +than is generally imagined. When I first saw the infants at the enfans +trouves in Paris, so swathed with bandages, that the very sight of them +made my eyes water, I little dreamed, that the prescription of the +antients could be pleaded for this custom, equally shocking and absurd: +but in the Capitol at Rome, I met with the antique statue of a child +swaddled exactly in the same manner; rolled up like an Aegyptian mummy +from the feet. The circulation of the blood, in such a case, must be +obstructed on the whole surface of the body; and nothing be at liberty +but the head, which is the only part of the child that ought to be +confined. Is it not surprising that common sense should not point out, +even to the most ignorant, that those accursed bandages must heat the +tender infant into a fever; must hinder the action of the muscles, and +the play of the joints, so necessary to health and nutrition; and that +while the refluent blood is obstructed in the veins, which run on the +surface of the body, the arteries, which lie deep, without the reach of +compression, are continually pouring their contents into the head, +where the blood meets with no resistance? The vessels of the brain are +naturally lax, and the very sutures of the skull are yet unclosed. What +are the consequences of this cruel swaddling? the limbs are wasted; the +joints grow rickety; the brain is compressed, and a hydrocephalus, with +a great head and sore eyes, ensues. I take this abominable practice to +be one great cause of the bandy legs, diminutive bodies, and large +heads, so frequent in the south of France, and in Italy. + +I was no less surprised to find the modern fashion of curling the hair, +borrowed in a great measure from the coxcombs and coquettes of +antiquity. I saw a bust of Nero in the gallery at Florence, the hair +represented in rows of buckles, like that of a French petit-maitre, +conformable to the picture drawn of him by Suetonius. Circa cultum adeo +pudendum, ut coman semper in gradus formatam peregrinatione achaica, +etiam pene verticem sumpserit, So very finical in his dress, that he +wore his hair in the Greek fashion, curled in rows almost to the crown +of his head. I was very sorry however to find that this foppery came +from Greece. As for Otho, he wore a galericulum, or tour, on account of +thin hair, propter raritatem capillorum. He had no right to imitate the +example of Julius Caesar, who concealed his bald head with a wreath of +laurel. But there is a bust in the Capitol of Julia Pia, the second +wife of Septimius Severus, with a moveable peruke, dressed exactly in +the fashionable mode, with this difference, that there is no part of it +frizzled; nor is there any appearance of pomatum and powder. These +improvements the beau-monde have borrowed from the natives of the Cape +of Good Hope. + +Modern Rome does not cover more than one-third of the space within the +walls; and those parts that were most frequented of old are now +intirely abandoned. From the Capitol to the Coliseo, including the +Forum Romanum and Boarium, there is nothing intire but one or two +churches, built with the fragments of ancient edifices. You descend +from the Capitol between the remaining pillars of two temples, the +pedestals and part of the shafts sunk in the rubbish: then passing +through the triumphal arch of Septimius Severus, you proceed along the +foot of Mons Palatinus, which stands on your right hand, quite covered +with the ruins of the antient palace belonging to the Roman emperors, +and at the foot of it, there are some beautiful detached pillars still +standing. On the left you see the remains of the Templum Pacis, which +seems to have been the largest and most magnificent of all the temples +in Rome. It was built and dedicated by the emperor Vespasian, who +brought into it all the treasure and precious vessels which he found in +the temple of Jerusalem. The columns of the portico he removed from +Nero's golden house, which he levelled with the ground. This temple was +likewise famous for its library, mentioned by Aulus Gellius, Further +on, is the arch of Constantine on the right, a most noble piece of +architecture, almost entire; with the remains of the Meta Sudans before +it; and fronting you, the noble ruins of that vast amphitheatre, called +the Colossaeum, now Coliseo, which has been dismantled and dilapidated +by the Gothic popes and princes of modern Rome, to build and adorn +their paultry palaces. Behind the amphitheatre were the thermae of the +same emperor Titus Vespasian. In the same quarter was the Circus +Maximus; and the whole space from hence on both sides, to the walls of +Rome, comprehending above twice as much ground as the modern city, is +almost covered with the monuments of antiquity. I suppose there is more +concealed below ground than appears above. The miserable houses, and +even garden-walls of the peasants in this district, are built with +these precious materials. I mean shafts and capitals of marble columns, +heads, arms, legs, and mutilated trunks of statues. What pity it is +that among all the remains of antiquity, at Rome, there is not one +lodging-house remaining. I should be glad to know how the senators of +Rome were lodged. I want to be better informed touching the cava +aedium, the focus, the ara deorum penatum, the conclavia, triclinia, +and caenationes; the atria where the women resided, and employed +themselves in the woolen manufacture; the praetoria, which were so +spacious as to become a nuisance in the reign of Augustus; and the +Xysta, which were shady walks between two porticos, where the men +exercised themselves in the winter. I am disgusted by the modern taste +of architecture, though I am no judge of the art. The churches and +palaces of these days are crowded with pretty ornaments, which distract +the eye, and by breaking the design into a variety of little parts, +destroy the effect of the whole. Every door and window has its separate +ornaments, its moulding, frize, cornice, and tympanum; then there is +such an assemblage of useless festoons, pillars, pilasters, with their +architraves, entablatures, and I know not what, that nothing great or +uniform remains to fill the view; and we in vain look for that +simplicity of grandeur, those large masses of light and shadow, and the +inexpressible EUSUINOPTON, which characterise the edifices of the +antients. A great edifice, to have its full effect, ought to be isole, +or detached from all others, with a large space around it: but the +palaces of Rome, and indeed of all the other cities of Italy, which I +have seen, are so engaged among other mean houses, that their beauty +and magnificence are in a great measure concealed. Even those which +face open streets and piazzas are only clear in front. The other +apartments are darkened by the vicinity of ordinary houses; and their +views are confined by dirty and disagreeable objects. Within the court +there is generally a noble colonnade all round, and an open corridore +above, but the stairs are usually narrow, steep, and high, the want of +sash-windows, the dullness of their small glass lozenges, the dusty +brick floors, and the crimson hangings laced with gold, contribute to +give a gloomy air to their apartments; I might add to these causes, a +number of Pictures executed on melancholy subjects, antique mutilated +statues, busts, basso relieves, urns, and sepulchral stones, with which +their rooms are adorned. It must be owned, however, there are some +exceptions to this general rule. The villa of cardinal Alexander Albani +is light, gay, and airy; yet the rooms are too small, and too much +decorated with carving and gilding, which is a kind of gingerbread +work. The apartments of one of the princes Borghese are furnished in +the English taste; and in the palazzo di colonna connestabile, there is +a saloon, or gallery, which, for the proportions, lights, furniture, +and ornaments, is the most noble, elegant, and agreeable apartment I +ever saw. + +It is diverting to hear all Italian expatiate upon the greatness of +modern Rome. He will tell you there are above three hundred palaces in +the city; that there is scarce a Roman prince, whose revenue does not +exceed two hundred thousand crowns; and that Rome produces not only the +most learned men, but also the most refined politicians in the +universe. To one of them talking in this strain, I replied, that +instead of three hundred palaces, the number did not exceed fourscore; +that I had been informed, on good authority, there were not six +individuals in Rome who had so much as forty thousand crowns a year, +about ten thousand pounds sterling; and that to say their princes were +so rich, and their politicians so refined, was, in effect, a severe +satire upon them, for not employing their wealth and their talents for +the advantage of their country. I asked why their cardinals and princes +did not invite and encourage industrious people to settle and cultivate +the Campania of Rome, which is a desert? why they did not raise a +subscription to drain the marshes in the neighbourhood of the city, and +thus meliorate the air, which is rendered extremely unwholsome in the +summer, by putrid exhalations from those morasses? I demanded of him, +why they did not contribute their wealth, and exert their political +refinements, in augmenting their forces by sea and land, for the +defence of their country, introducing commerce and manufactures, and in +giving some consequence to their state, which was no more than a mite +in the political scale of Europe? I expressed a desire to know what +became of all those sums of money, inasmuch as there was hardly any +circulation of gold and silver in Rome, and the very bankers, on whom +strangers have their credit, make interest to pay their tradesmen's +bills with paper notes of the bank of Spirito Santo? And now I am upon +this subject, it may not be amiss to observe that I was strangely +misled by all the books consulted about the current coin of Italy. In +Tuscany, and the Ecclesiastical State, one sees nothing but zequines in +gold, and pieces of two paoli, one paolo, and half a paolo, in silver. +Besides these, there is a copper coin at Rome, called bajocco and mezzo +bajocco. Ten bajocchi make a paolo: ten paoli make a scudo, which is an +imaginary piece: two scudi make a zequine; and a French loui'dore is +worth two zequines and two paoli. + +Rome has nothing to fear from the catholic powers, who respect it with +a superstitious veneration as the metropolitan seat of their religion: +but the popes will do well to avoid misunderstandings with the maritime +protestant states, especially the English, who being masters of the +Mediterranean, and in possession of Minorca, have it in their power at +all times, to land a body of troops within four leagues of Rome, and to +take the city, without opposition. Rome is surrounded with an old wall, +but altogether incapable of defence. Or if it was, the circuit of the +walls is so extensive, that it would require a garrison of twenty +thousand men. The only appearance of a fortification in this city, is +the castle of St. Angelo, situated on the further bank of the Tyber, to +which there is access by a handsome bridge: but this castle, which was +formerly the moles Adriani, could not hold out half a day against a +battery of ten pieces of cannon properly directed. It was an expedient +left to the invention of the modern Romans, to convert an ancient tomb +into a citadel. It could only serve as a temporary retreat for the pope +in times of popular commotion, and on other sudden emergencies; as it +happened in the case of pope Clement VII. when the troops of the +emperor took the city by assault; and this only, while he resided at +the Vatican, from whence there is a covered gallery continued to the +castle: it can never serve this purpose again, while the pontiff lives +on Monte Cavallo, which is at the other end of the city. The castle of +St. Angelo, howsoever ridiculous as a fortress, appears respectable as +a noble monument of antiquity, and though standing in a low situation, +is one of the first objects that strike the eye of a stranger +approaching Rome. On the opposite side of the river, are the wretched +remains of the Mausoleum Augusti, which was still more magnificent. +Part of the walls is standing, and the terraces are converted into +garden-ground. In viewing these ruins, I remembered Virgil's pathetic +description of Marcellus, who was here intombed. + + Quantos ille virum, magnum mavortis ad urbem. + Campus aget gemitus, vel que Tyberine, videbis + Funera, cum tumulum, preter labere recentem. + + Along his Banks what Groans shall Tyber hear, + When the fresh tomb and funeral pomp appear! + +The beautiful poem of Ovid de Consolatione ad Liviam, written after the +ashes of Augustus and his nephew Marcellus, of Germanicus, Agrippa, and +Drusus, were deposited in this mausoleum, concludes with these lines, +which are extremely tender: + + Claudite jam Parcae nimium reserata sepulchra; + Claudite, plus justo, jam domus ista patet! + + Ah! shut these yawning Tombs, ye sister Fates! + Too long unclos'd have stood those dreary Gates! + +What the author said of the monument, you will be tempted to say of +this letter, which I shall therefore close in the old stile, assuring +you that I ever am,--Yours most affectionately. + + + +LETTER XXXI + +NICE, March 5, 1765 + +DEAR SIR,--In my last I gave you my opinion freely of the modern +palaces of Italy. I shall now hazard my thoughts upon the gardens of +this country, which the inhabitants extol with all the hyperboles of +admiration and applause. I must acknowledge however, I have not seen +the famous villas at Frascati and Tivoli, which are celebrated for +their gardens and waterworks. I intended to visit these places; but was +prevented by an unexpected change of weather, which deterred me from +going to the country. On the last day of September the mountains of +Palestrina were covered with snow; and the air became so cold at Rome, +that I was forced to put on my winter cloaths. This objection +continued, till I found it necessary to set out on my return to +Florence. But I have seen the gardens of the Poggio Imperiale, and the +Palazzo de Pitti at Florence, and those of the Vatican, of the pope's +palace on Monte Cavallo, of the Villa Ludovisia, Medicea, and Pinciana, +at Rome; so that I think I have some right to judge of the Italian +taste in gardening. Among those I have mentioned, that of the Villa +Pinciana, is the most remarkable, and the most extensive, including a +space of three miles in circuit, hard by the walls of Rome, containing +a variety of situations high and low, which favour all the natural +embellishments one would expect to meet with in a garden, and exhibit a +diversity of noble views of the city and adjacent country. + +In a fine extensive garden or park, an Englishman expects to see a +number of groves and glades, intermixed with an agreeable negligence, +which seems to be the effect of nature and accident. He looks for shady +walks encrusted with gravel; for open lawns covered with verdure as +smooth as velvet, but much more lively and agreeable; for ponds, +canals, basins, cascades, and running streams of water; for clumps of +trees, woods, and wildernesses, cut into delightful alleys, perfumed +with honeysuckle and sweet-briar, and resounding with the mingled +melody of all the singing birds of heaven: he looks for plats of +flowers in different parts to refresh the sense, and please the fancy; +for arbours, grottos, hermitages, temples, and alcoves, to shelter him +from the sun, and afford him means of contemplation and repose; and he +expects to find the hedges, groves, and walks, and lawns kept with the +utmost order and propriety. He who loves the beauties of simple nature, +and the charms of neatness will seek for them in vain amidst the groves +of Italy. In the garden of the Villa Pinciana, there is a plantation of +four hundred pines, which the Italians view with rapture and +admiration: there is likewise a long walk, of trees extending from the +garden-gate to the palace; and plenty of shade, with alleys and hedges +in different parts of the ground: but the groves are neglected; the +walks are laid with nothing but common mould or sand, black and dusty; +the hedges are tall, thin and shabby; the trees stunted; the open +ground, brown and parched, has scarce any appearance of verdure. The +flat, regular alleys of evergreens are cut into fantastic figures; the +flower gardens embellished with thin cyphers and flourished figures in +box, while the flowers grow in rows of earthen-pots, and the ground +appears as dusky as if it was covered with the cinders of a +blacksmith's forge. The water, of which there is great plenty, instead +of being collected in large pieces, or conveyed in little rivulets and +streams to refresh the thirsty soil, or managed so as to form agreeable +cascades, is squirted from fountains in different parts of the garden, +through tubes little bigger than common glyster-pipes. It must be owned +indeed that the fountains have their merit in the way of sculpture and +architecture; and that here is a great number of statues which merit +attention: but they serve only to encumber the ground, and destroy that +effect of rural simplicity, which our gardens are designed to produce. +In a word, here we see a variety of walks and groves and fountains, a +wood of four hundred pines, a paddock with a few meagre deer, a +flower-garden, an aviary, a grotto, and a fish-pond; and in spite of +all these particulars, it is, in my opinion, a very contemptible +garden, when compared to that of Stowe in Buckinghamshire, or even to +those of Kensington and Richmond. The Italians understand, because they +study, the excellencies of art; but they have no idea of the beauties +of nature. This Villa Pinciana, which belongs to the Borghese family, +would make a complete academy for painting and sculpture, especially +for the study of antient marbles; for, exclusive of the statues and +busts in the garden, and the vast collection in the different +apartments, almost the whole outside of the house is covered with +curious pieces in basso and alto relievo. The most masterly is that of +Curtius on horseback, leaping into the gulph or opening of the earth, +which is said to have closed on receiving this sacrifice. Among the +exhibitions of art within the house, I was much struck with a Bacchus, +and the death of Meleager, represented on an antient sepulchre. There +is also an admirable statue of Silenus, with the infant Bacchus in his +arms; a most beautiful gladiator; a curious Moor of black marble, with +a shirt of white alabaster; a finely proportioned bull of black marble +also, standing upon a table of alabaster; a black gipsey with a head, +hands, and feet of brass; and the famous hermaphrodite, which vies with +that of Florence: though the most curious circumstance of this article, +is the mattrass executed and placed by Bernini, with such art and +dexterity, that to the view, it rivals the softness of wool, and seems +to retain the marks of pressure, according to the figure of the +superincumbent statue. Let us likewise own, for the honour of the +moderns, that the same artist has produced two fine statues, which we +find among the ornaments of this villa, namely, a David with his sling +in the attitude of throwing the stone at the giant Goliah; and a Daphne +changing into laurel at the approach of Apollo. On the base of this +figure, are the two following elegant lines, written by pope Urban +VIII. in his younger years. + + Quisquis amans sequitur fugitivae gaudia formae, + Fronde manus implet, baccas vel carpit amaras. + + Who pants for fleeting Beauty, vain pursuit! + Shall barren Leaves obtain, or bitter fruit. + +I ought not to forget two exquisite antique statues of Venus, the +weeping slave, and the youth pulling a thorn out of his foot. + +I do not pretend to give a methodical detail of the curiosities of +Rome: they have been already described by different authors, who were +much better qualified than I am for the talk: but you shall have what +observations I made on the most remarkable objects, without method, +just as they occur to my remembrance; and I protest the remarks are all +my own: so that if they deserve any commendation, I claim all the +merit; and if they are impertinent, I must be contented to bear all the +blame. + +The piazza of St. Peter's church is altogether sublime. The double +colonnade on each side extending in a semi-circular sweep, the +stupendous Aegyptian obelisk, the two fountains, the portico, and the +admirable facade of the church, form such an assemblage of magnificent +objects, as cannot fail to impress the mind with awe and admiration: +but the church would have produced a still greater effect, had it been +detached entirely from the buildings of the Vatican, It would then have +been a master-piece of architecture, complete in all its parts, intire +and perfect: whereas, at present, it is no more than a beautiful member +attached to a vast undigested and irregular pile of building. As to the +architecture of this famous temple, I shall say nothing; neither do I +pretend to describe the internal ornaments. The great picture of Mosaic +work, and that of St. Peter's bark tossed by the tempest, which appear +over the gate of the church, though rude in comparison with modern +pieces, are nevertheless great curiosities, when considered as the work +of Giotto, who flourished in the beginning of the fourteenth century. +His master was Cimabue, who learned painting and architecture of the +Grecian artists, who came from Constantinople, and first revived these +arts in Italy. But, to return to St. Peter's, I was not at all pleased +with the famous statue of the dead Christ in his mother's lap, by +Michael Angelo. The figure of Christ is as much emaciated, as if he had +died of a consumption: besides, there is something indelicate, not to +say indecent, in the attitude and design of a man's body, stark naked, +lying upon the knees of a woman. Here are some good pictures, I should +rather say copies of good pictures, done in Mosaic to great perfection; +particularly a St. Sebastian by Domenichino, and Michael the Archangel, +from a painting of Guido Rheni. I am extremely fond of all this +artist's pieces. There is a tenderness and delicacy in his manner; and +his figures are all exquisitely beautiful, though his expression is +often erroneous, and his attitudes are always affected and unnatural. +In this very piece the archangel has all the air of a French +dancing-master; and I have seen a Madonna by the same hand, I think it +is in the Palazzo di Barberini, in which, though the figures are +enchanting, the Virgin is represented holding up the drapery of the +infant, with the ridiculous affectation of a singer on the stage of our +Italian opera. The Mosaic work, though brought to a wonderful degree of +improvement, and admirably calculated for churches, the dampness of +which is pernicious to the colours of the pallet, I will not yet +compare to the productions of the pencil. The glassyness (if I may be +allowed the expression) of the surface, throws, in my opinion, a false +light on some parts of the picture; and when you approach it, the +joinings of the pieces look like so many cracks on painted canvas. +Besides, this method is extremely tedious and expensive. I went to see +the artists at work, in a house that stands near the church, where I +was much pleased with the ingenuity of the process; and not a little +surprized at the great number of different colours and tints, which are +kept in separate drawers, marked with numbers as far as seventeen +thousand. For a single head done in Mosaic, they asked me fifty +zequines. But to return to the church. The altar of St. Peter's choir, +notwithstanding all the ornaments which have been lavished upon it, is +no more than a heap of puerile finery, better adapted to an Indian +pagod, than to a temple built upon the principles of the Greek +architecture. The four colossal figures that support the chair, are +both clumsy and disproportioned. The drapery of statues, whether in +brass or stone, when thrown into large masses, appears hard and +unpleasant to the eye and for that reason the antients always imitated +wet linen, which exhibiting the shape of the limbs underneath, and +hanging in a multiplicity of wet folds, gives an air of lightness, +softness, and ductility to the whole. + +These two statues weigh 116,257 pounds, and as they sustain nothing but +a chair, are out of all proportion, inasmuch as the supporters ought to +be suitable to the things supported. Here are four giants holding up +the old wooden chair of the apostle Peter, if we may believe the book +De Identitate Cathedrae Romanae, Of the Identity of the Roman Chair. +The implements of popish superstition; such as relicks of pretended +saints, ill-proportioned spires and bellfreys, and the nauseous +repetition of the figure of the cross, which is in itself a very mean +and disagreeable object, only fit for the prisons of condemned +criminals, have contributed to introduce a vitious taste into the +external architecture, as well as in the internal ornaments of our +temples. All churches are built in the figure of a cross, which +effectually prevents the eye from taking in the scope of the building, +either without side or within; consequently robs the edifice of its +proper effect. The palace of the Escurial in Spain is laid out in the +shape of a gridiron, because the convent was built in consequence of a +vow to St. Laurence, who was broiled like a barbecued pig. What pity it +is, that the labours of painting should have been so much employed on +the shocking subjects of the martyrology. Besides numberless pictures +of the flagellation, crucifixion, and descent from the cross, we have +Judith with the head of Holofernes, Herodias with the head of John the +Baptist, Jael assassinating Sisera in his sleep, Peter writhing on the +cross, Stephen battered with stones, Sebastian stuck full of arrows, +Laurence frying upon the coals, Bartholomew flaed alive, and a hundred +other pictures equally frightful, which can only serve to fill the mind +with gloomy ideas, and encourage a spirit of religious fanaticism, +which has always been attended with mischievous consequences to the +community where it reigned. + +The tribune of the great altar, consisting of four wreathed brass +pillars, gilt, supporting a canopy, is doubtless very magnificent, if +not over-charged with sculpture, fluting, foliage, festoons, and +figures of boys and angels, which, with the hundred and twenty-two +lamps of silver, continually burning below, serve rather to dazzle the +eyes, and kindle the devotion of the ignorant vulgar, than to excite +the admiration of a judicious observer. + +There is nothing, I believe, in this famous structure, so worthy of +applause, as the admirable symmetry and proportion of its parts. +Notwithstanding all the carving, gilding, basso relievos, medallions, +urns, statues, columns, and pictures with which it abounds, it does +not, on the whole, appear over-crouded with ornaments. When you first +enter, your eye is filled so equally and regularly, that nothing +appears stupendous; and the church seems considerably smaller than it +really is. The statues of children, that support the founts of holy +water when observed from the door, seem to be of the natural size; but +as you draw near, you perceive they are gigantic. In the same manner, +the figures of the doves, with olive branches in their beaks, which are +represented on the wall, appear to be within your reach; but as you +approach them, they recede to a considerable height, as if they had +flown upwards to avoid being taken. + +I was much disappointed at sight of the Pantheon, which, after all that +has been said of it, looks like a huge cockpit, open at top. The +portico which Agrippa added to the building, is undoubtedly very noble, +though, in my opinion, it corresponds but ill with the simplicity of +the edifice. With all my veneration for the antients, I cannot see in +what the beauty of the rotunda consists. It is no more than a plain +unpierced cylinder, or circular wall, with two fillets and a cornice, +having a vaulted roof or cupola, open in the centre. I mean the +original building, without considering the vestibule of Agrippa. Within +side it has much the air of a mausoleum. It was this appearance which, +in all probability, suggested the thought to Boniface IV. to transport +hither eight and twenty cart-loads of old rotten bones, dug from +different burying-places, and then dedicate it as a church to the +blessed Virgin and all the holy martyrs. I am not one of those who +think it is well lighted by the hole at the top, which is about nine +and twenty feet in diameter, although the author of the Grand Tour +calls it but nine. The same author says, there is a descent of eleven +steps to go into it; that it is a hundred and forty-four feet in +heighth, and as many in breadth; that it was covered with copper, +which, with the brass nails of the portico, pope Urban VIII. took away, +and converted into the four wreathed pillars that support the canopy of +the high altar in the church of St. Peter, &c. The truth is, before the +time of pope Alexander VII. the earth was so raised as to cover part of +the temple, and there was a descent of some steps into the porch: but +that pontiff ordered the ground to be pared away to the very pedestal +or base of the portico, which is now even with the street, so that +there is no descent whatsoever. The height is two hundred palmi, and +the breadth two hundred and eighteen; which, reckoning fife palmi at +nine inches, will bring the height to one hundred and fifty, and the +breadth to one hundred and sixty-three feet six inches. It was not any +covering of copper which pope Urban VIII. removed, but large brass +beams, which supported the roof of the portico. They weighed 186,392 +pounds; and afforded metal enough not only for the pillars in St. +Peter's church, but also for several pieces of artillery that are now +in the castle of St. Angelo. What is more extraordinary, the gilding of +those columns is said to have cost forty thousand golden crowns: sure +money was never worse laid out. Urban VIII. likewise added two bellfrey +towers to the rotunda; and I wonder he did not cover the central hole +with glass, as it must be very inconvenient and disagreeable to those +who go to church below, to be exposed to the rain in wet weather, which +must also render it very damp and unwholesome. I visited it several +times, and each time it looked more and more gloomy and sepulchral. + +The magnificence of the Romans was not so conspicuous in their temples, +as in their theatres, amphitheatres, circusses, naumachia, aqueducts, +triumphal arches, porticoes, basilicae, but especially their thermae, +or bathing-places. A great number of their temples were small and +inconsiderable; not one of them was comparable either for size or +magnificence, to the modern church of St. Peter of the Vatican. The +famous temple of Jupiter Capitolinus was neither half so long, nor half +so broad: it was but two hundred feet in length, and one hundred and +eighty-five in breadth; whereas the length of St. Peter's extends to +six hundred and thirty-eight feet, and the breadth to above five +hundred. It is very near twice as large as the temple of Jupiter +Olympius in Greece, which was counted one of the seven wonders of the +world. But I shall take another opportunity to explain myself further +on the antiquities of this city; a subject, upon which I am disposed to +be (perhaps impertinently) circumstantial. When I begin to run riot, +you should cheek me with the freedom of a friend. The most distant hint +will be sufficient to,--Dear Sir, Yours assuredly. + + + +LETTER XXXII + +NICE, March 10, 1765. + +DEAR SIR,--The Colossaeum or amphitheatre built by Flavius Vespasian, +is the most stupendous work of the kind which antiquity can produce. +Near one half of the external circuit still remains, consisting of four +tire of arcades, adorned with columns of four orders, Doric, Ionic, +Corinthian, and Composite. The height and extent of it may be guessed +from the number of spectators it contained, amounting to one hundred +thousand; and yet, according to Fontana's mensuration, it could not +contain above thirty-four thousand persons sitting, allowing a foot and +an half for each person: for the circuit of the whole building did not +exceed one thousand five hundred and sixty feet. The amphitheatre at +Verona is one thousand two hundred and ninety feet in circumference; +and that of Nismes, one thousand and eighty. The Colossaeum was built +by Vespasian, who employed thirty thousand Jewish slaves in the work; +but finished and dedicated by his son Titus, who, on the first day of +its being opened, produced fifty thousand wild beasts, which were all +killed in the arena. The Romans were undoubtedly a barbarous people, +who delighted in horrible spectacles. They viewed with pleasure the +dead bodies of criminals dragged through the streets, or thrown down +the Scalae Gemoniae and Tarpeian rock, for their contemplation. Their +rostra were generally adorned with the heads of some remarkable +citizens, like Temple-Bar, at London. They even bore the sight of +Tully's head fixed upon that very rostrum where he had so often +ravished their ears with all the charms of eloquence, in pleading the +cause of innocence and public virtue. They took delight in seeing their +fellow-creatures torn in pieces by wild beasts, in the amphitheatre. +They shouted with applause when they saw a poor dwarf or slave killed +by his adversary; but their transports were altogether extravagant, +when the devoted captives were obliged to fight in troops, till one +side was entirely butchered by the other. Nero produced four hundred +senators, and six hundred of the equestrian order, as gladiators in the +public arena: even the women fought with wild beasts, as well as with +each other, and drenched the amphitheatres with their blood. Tacitus +says, "Sed faeminarum illustrium, senatorumque filiorum plures per +arenam faedati sunt," "But many sons of Senators, and even Matrons of +the first Rank, exposed themselves in this vile exercise." The +execrable custom of sacrificing captives or slaves at the tombs of +their masters and great men, which is still preserved among the negroes +of Africa, obtained also among the antients, Greeks as well as Romans. +I could never, without horror and indignation, read that passage in the +twenty-third book of the Iliad, which describes twelve valiant Trojan +captives sacrificed by the inhuman Achilles at the tomb of his friend +Patroclus. + + Dodeka men Troon megathumon uias eathlous + Tous ama pantas pur eathiei. + + Twelve generous Trojans slaughtered in their Bloom, + With thy lov'd Corse the Fire shall now consume. + +Even Virgil makes his pious Hero sacrifice eight Italian youths to the +manes of Pallas. It is not at all clear to me, that a people is the +more brave, the more they are accustomed to bloodshed in their public +entertainments. True bravery is not savage but humane. Some of this +sanguinary spirit is inherited by the inhabitants of a certain island +that shall be nameless--but, mum for that. You will naturally suppose +that the Coliseo was ruined by the barbarians who sacked the city of +Rome: in effect, they robbed it of its ornaments and valuable +materials; but it was reserved for the Goths and Vandals of modern +Rome, to dismantle the edifice, and reduce it to its present ruinous +condition. One part of it was demolished by pope Paul II. that he might +employ the stones of it in building the palace of St. Mark. It was +afterwards dilapidated for the same purposes, by the cardinals Riarius +and Farnese, which last assumed the tiara under the name of Paul III. +Notwithstanding these injuries, there is enough standing to convey a +very sublime idea of ancient magnificence. + +The Circi and Naumachia, if considered as buildings and artificial +basins, are admirable; but if examined as areae intended for horse and +chariot races, and artificial seas for exhibiting naval engagements, +they seem to prove that the antient Romans were but indifferently +skilled and exercised either in horsemanship or naval armaments. The +inclosure of the emperor Caracalla's circus is still standing, and +scarce affords breathing room for an English hunter. The Circus +Maximus, by far the largest in Rome, was not so long as the Mall; and I +will venture to affirm, that St. James's Park would make a much more +ample and convenient scene for those diversions. I imagine an old Roman +would be very much surprised to see an English race on the course at +New-Market. The Circus Maximus was but three hundred yards in breadth. +A good part of this was taken up by the spina, or middle space, adorned +with temples, statues, and two great obelisks; as well as by the +euripus, or canal, made by order of Julius Caesar, to contain +crocodiles, and other aquatic animals, which were killed occasionally. +This was so large, that Heliogabalus, having filled it with excellent +wine, exhibited naval engagements in it, for the amusement of the +people. It surrounded three sides of the square, so that the whole +extent of the race did not much exceed an English mile; and when Probus +was at the expence of filling the plain of it with fir-trees to form a +wood for the chace of wild beasts, I question much if this forest was +more extensive than the plantation in St. James's Park, on the south +side of the canal: now I leave you to judge what ridicule a king of +England would incur by converting this part of the park into a chace +for any species of animals which are counted game in our country. + +The Roman emperors seemed more disposed to elevate and surprize, than +to conduct the public diversions according to the rules of reason and +propriety. One would imagine, it was with this view they instituted +their naumachia, or naval engagements, performed by half a dozen small +gallies of a side in an artificial basin of fresh water. These gallies +I suppose were not so large as common fishing-smacks, for they were +moved by two, three, and four oars of a side according to their +different rates, biremes, triremes, and quadriremes. I know this is a +knotty point not yet determined; and that some antiquarians believe the +Roman gallies had different tires or decks of oars; but this is a +notion very ill supported, and quite contrary to all the figures of +them that are preserved on antient coins and medals. Suetonius in the +reign of Domitian, speaking of these naumachia, says, "Edidit navales +pugnas, pene justarum classium, effosso, et circumducto juxta Tyberim +lacu, atque inter maximas imbres prospectavit," "He exhibited naval +engagements of almost intire fleets, in an artificial Lake formed for +the purpose hard by the Tyber, and viewed them in the midst of +excessive Rains." This artificial lake was not larger than the piece of +water in Hyde-Park; and yet the historian says, it was almost large +enough for real or intire fleets. How would a British sailor relish an +advertisement that a mock engagement between two squadrons of men of +war would be exhibited on such a day in the Serpentine river? or that +the ships of the line taken from the enemy would be carried in +procession from Hyde-Park-Corner to Tower-wharf? Certain it is, +Lucullus, in one of his triumphs, had one hundred and ten ships of war +(naves longas) carried through the streets of Rome. Nothing can give a +more contemptible idea of their naval power, than this testimony of +their historians, who declare that their seamen or mariners were formed +by exercising small row-boats in an inclosed pool of fresh water. Had +they not the sea within a few miles of them, and the river Tyber +running through their capital! even this would have been much more +proper for exercising their watermen, than a pond of still-water, not +much larger than a cold-bath. I do believe in my conscience that half a +dozen English frigates would have been able to defeat both the +contending fleets at the famous battle of Actium, which has been so +much celebrated in the annals of antiquity, as an event that decided +the fate of empire. + +It would employ me a whole month to describe the thermae or baths, the +vast ruins of which are still to be seen within the walls of Rome, like +the remains of so many separate citadels. The thermae Dioclesianae +might be termed an august academy for the use and instruction of the +Roman people. The pinacotheca of this building was a complete musaeum +of all the curiosities of art and nature; and there were public schools +for all the sciences. If I may judge by my eye, however, the thermae +Antonianae built by Caracalla, were still more extensive and +magnificent; they contained cells sufficient for two thousand three +hundred persons to bathe at one time, without being seen by one +another. They were adorned with all the charms of painting, +architecture, and sculpture. The pipes for convoying the water were of +silver. Many of the lavacra were of precious marble, illuminated by +lamps of chrystal. Among the statues, were found the famous Toro, and +Hercole Farnese. + +Bathing was certainly necessary to health and cleanliness in a hot +country like Italy, especially before the use of linen was known: but +these purposes would have been much better answered by plunging into +the Tyber, than by using the warm bath in the thermae, which became +altogether a point of luxury borrowed from the effeminate Asiatics, and +tended to debilitate the fibres already too much relaxed by the heat of +the climate. True it is, they had baths of cool water for the summer: +but in general they used it milk-warm, and often perfumed: they +likewise indulged in vapour-baths, in order to enjoy a pleasing +relaxation, which they likewise improved with odoriferous ointments. + +The thermae consisted of a great variety of parts and conveniences; the +natationes, or swimming places; the portici, where people amused +themselves in walking, conversing, and disputing together, as Cicero +says, In porticibus deambulantes disputabant; the basilicae, where the +bathers assembled, before they entered, and after they came out of the +bath; the atria, or ample courts, adorned with noble colonnades of +Numidian marble and oriental granite; the ephibia, where the young men +inured themselves to wrestling and other exercises; the frigidaria, or +places kept cool by a constant draught of air, promoted by the +disposition and number of the windows; the calidaria, where the water +was warmed for the baths; the platanones, or delightful groves of +sycamore; the stadia, for the performances of the athletae; the +exedrae, or resting-places, provided with seats for those that were +weary; the palestrae, where every one chose that exercise which pleased +him best; the gymnasia, where poets, orators, and philosophers recited +their works, and harangued for diversion; the eleotesia, where the +fragrant oils and ointments were kept for the use of the bathers; and +the conisteria, where the wrestlers were smeared with sand before they +engaged. Of the thermae in Rome, some were mercenary, and some opened +gratis. Marcus Agrippa, when he was edile, opened one hundred and +seventy private baths, for the use of the people. In the public baths, +where money was taken, each person paid a quadrans, about the value of +our halfpenny, as Juvenal observes, + + Caedere Sylvano porcum, quadrante lavari. + + The victim Pig to God Sylvanus slay, + And for the public Bath a farthing pay. + +But after the hour of bathing was past, it sometimes cost a great deal +more, according to Martial, + + Balnea post decimam, lasso centumque petuntur + Quadrantes-- + + The bathing hour is past, the waiter tir'd; + An hundred Farthings now will be requir'd. + +Though there was no distinction in the places between the first +patrician and the lowest plebeian, yet the nobility used their own +silver and gold plate, for washing, eating, and drinking in the bath, +together with towels of the finest linen. They likewise made use of the +instrument called strigil, which was a kind of flesh-brush; a custom to +which Persius alludes in this line, + + I puer, et strigiles Crispini ad balnea defer. + + Here, Boy, this Brush to Crispin's Bagnio bear. + +The common people contented themselves with sponges. The bathing time +was from noon till the evening, when the Romans ate their principal +meal. Notice was given by a bell, or some such instrument, when the +baths were opened, as we learn from Juvenal, + + Redde Pilam, sonat Aes thermarum, ludere pergis? + Virgine vis sola lotus abdire domum. + + Leave off; the Bath Bell rings--what, still play on? + Perhaps the maid in private rubs you down. + +There were separate places for the two sexes; and indeed there were +baths opened for the use of women only, at the expence of Agrippina, +the mother of Nero, and some other matrons of the first quality. The +use of bathing was become so habitual to the constitutions of the +Romans, that Galen, in his book De Sanitate tuenda, mentions a certain +philosopher, who, if he intermitted but one day in his bathing, was +certainly attacked with a fever. In order to preserve decorum in the +baths, a set of laws and regulations were published, and the thermae +were put under the inspection of a censor, who was generally one of the +first senators in Rome. Agrippa left his gardens and baths, which stood +near the pantheon, to the Roman people: among the statues that adorned +them was that of a youth naked, as going into the bath, so elegantly +formed by the hand of Lysippus, that Tiberius, being struck with the +beauty of it, ordered it to be transferred into his own palace: but the +populace raised such a clamour against him, that he was fain to have it +reconveyed to its former place. These noble baths were restored by +Adrian, as we read in Spartian; but at present no part of them remains. + +With respect to the present state of the old aqueducts, I can give you +very little satisfaction. I only saw the ruins of that which conveyed +the aqua Claudia, near the Porta Maggiore, and the Piazza of the +Lateran. You know there were fourteen of those antient aqueducts, some +of which brought water to Rome from the distance of forty miles. The +channels of them were large enough to admit a man armed on horseback; +and therefore when Rome was besieged by the Goths, who had cut off the +water, Belisarius fortified them with works to prevent the enemy from +entering the city by those conveyances. After that period, I suppose +the antient aqueducts continued dry, and were suffered to run to ruins. +Without all doubt, the Romans were greatly obliged to those +benefactors, who raised such stupendous works for the benefit, as well +as the embellishment of their city: but it might have been supplied +with the same water through pipes at one hundredth part of the expence; +and in that case the enemy would not have found it such an easy matter +to cut it off. Those popes who have provided the modern city so +plentifully with excellent water, are much to be commended for the care +and expence, they have bestowed in restoring the streams called acqua +Virgine, acqua Felice, and acqua Paolina, which afford such abundance +of water as would plentifully supply a much larger city than modern +Rome. + +It is no wonder that M. Agrippa, the son-in-law, friend, and favourite +of Augustus, should at the same time have been the idol of the people, +considering how surprisingly he exerted himself for the emolument, +convenience, and pleasure of his fellow-citizens. It was he who first +conducted this acqua Virgine to Rome: he formed seven hundred +reservoirs in the city; erected one hundred and five fountains; one +hundred and thirty castella, or conduits, which works he adorned with +three hundred statues, and four hundred pillars of marble, in the space +of one year. He also brought into Rome, the aqua Julia, and restored +the aqueduct of the aqua Marzia, which had fallen to decay. I have +already observed the great number of baths which he opened for the +people, and the magnificent thermae, with spacious gardens, which he +bequeathed to them as a legacy. But these benefactions, great and +munificent as they seem to be, were not the most important services he +performed for the city of Rome. The common-sewers were first made by +order of Tarquinius Priscus, not so much with a view to cleanliness, as +by way of subterranean drains to the Velabrum, and in order to carry +off the stagnant water, which remained in the lower parts, after heavy +rains. The different branches of these channels united at the Forum, +from whence by the cloaca Maxima, their contents were conveyed into the +Tyber. This great cloaca was the work of Tarquinius Superbus. Other +sewers were added by Marcus Cato, and Valerius Flaccus, the censors. +All these drains having been choaked up and ruinous, were cleared and +restored by Marcus Agrippa, who likewise undermined the whole city with +canals of the same kind, for carrying of the filth; he strengthened and +enlarged the cloaca maxima, so as to make it capable of receiving a +large cart loaded with hay; and directed seven streams of water into +these subterranean passages, in order to keep them always clean and +open. If, notwithstanding all these conveniences, Vespasian was put to +great expence in removing the ordure from the public streets, we have +certainly a right to conclude that the antient Romans were not more +cleanly than the modern Italians. + +After the mausolea of Augustus, and Adrian, which I have already +mentioned, the most remarkable antient sepulchres at Rome, are those of +Caius Cestius, and Cecilia Metella. The first, which stands by the +Porta di S. Paolo, is a beautiful pyramid, one hundred and twenty feet +high, still preserved intire, having a vaulted chamber within-side, +adorned with some ancient painting, which is now almost effaced. The +building is of brick, but eased with marble. This Caius Cestius had +been consul, was very rich, and acted as one of the seven Epulones, who +superintended the feasts of the gods, called Lectisternia, and +Pervigilia. He bequeathed his whole fortune to his friend M. Agrippa, +who was so generous as to give it up to the relations of the testator. +The monument of Cecilia Metella, commonly called Capo di Bove, is +without the walls on the Via Appia. This lady was daughter of Metellus +Creticus, and wife to Crassus, who erected this noble monument to her +memory. It consisted of two orders, or stories, the first of which was +a square of hewn stone: the second was a circular tower, having a +cornice, adorned with ox heads in basso relievo, a circumstance from +which it takes the name of Capo di Bove. The ox was supposed to be a +most grateful sacrifice to the gods. Pliny, speaking of bulls and oxen, +says, + + Hinc victimae optimae et laudatissima deorum placatio. + +They were accounted the best Victims and most agreeable to appease the +anger of the Gods. + +This tower was surmounted by a noble cupola or dome, enriched with all +the ornaments of architecture. The door of the building was of brass; +and within-side the ashes of Cecilia were deposited in a fluted marble +urn, of curious workmanship, which is still kept in the Palazzo +Farnese. At present the surface of the ground is raised so much as to +cover the first order of the edifice: what we see is no more than the +round tower, without the dome and its ornaments; and the following +inscription still remains near the top, facing the Via Appia. + + CAECILLAE + Q. CRETICI F. + METELLAE + CRASSI. + +To Caecilia Metella, Daughter of Q. Criticus: wife of Crassus. + +Now we are talking of sepulchral inscriptions, I shall conclude this +letter with the copy of a very singular will, made by Favonius +Jocundus, who died in Portugal, by which will the precise situation of +the famous temple of Sylvanus is ascertained. + +"Jocundi. Ego gallus Favonius Jocundus P. Favoni F. qui bello contra +Viriatum Succubui, Jocundum et Prudentem filios, e me et Quintia Fabia +conjuge mea ortos, et Bonorum Jocundi Patris mei, et eorum, quae mihi +ipsi acquisivi haeredes relinquo; hac tamen conditione, ut ab urbe +Romana huc veniant, et ossa hic mea, intra quinquennium exportent, et +via latina condant in sepulchro, jussu meo condito, et mea voluntate; +in quo velim neminem mecum, neque servum, neque libertum inseri; et +velim ossa quorumcunque sepulchro statim meo eruantur, et jura +Romanorum serventur, in sepulchris ritu majorum retinendis, juxta +volantatem testatoris; et si secus fecerint, nisi legittimae oriantur +causae, velim ea omnia, quae filijs meis relinquo, pro reparando templo +dei Sylvani, quod sub viminali monte est, attribui; manesque mei a +Pont. max; a flaminibus dialibus, qui in capitolio sunt, opem +implorent, ad liberorum meorum impietatem ulciscendam; teneanturque +sacerdotes dei Silvani, me in urbem referre, et sepulchro me meo +condere. Volo quoque vernas qui domi meae sunt, omnes a praetore urbano +liberos, cum matribus dimitti, singulisque libram argenti puri, et +vestem unam dori. In Lusitania. In agro VIII. Cal Quintilis, bello +viriatino." + +I, Gallus Favonius Jocundus, son of P. Favonius, dying in the war +against Viriatus, declare my sons Jocundus and Prudens, by my wife +Quintia Fabia, joint Heirs of my Estate, real and personal; on +condition, however, that they come hither within a time of five years +from this my last will, and transport my remains to Rome to be +deposited in my Sepulchre built in the via latina by my own order and +Direction: and it is my will that neither slave nor freedman shall be +interred with me in the said tomb; that if any such there be, they +shall be removed, and the Roman law obeyed, in preserving in the +antient Form the sepulchre according to the will of the Testator. If +they act otherwise without just cause, it is my will that the whole +estate, which I now bequeathe to my children, shall be applied to the +Reparation of the Temple of the God Sylvanus, at the foot of Mount +Viminalis; and that my Manes [The Manes were an order of Gods supposed +to take cognisance of such injuries.] I shall implore the assistance of +the Pontifex maximus, and the Flaminisdiales in the Capitol, to avenge +the Impiety of my children; and the priests of Sylvanus shall engage to +bring my remains to Rome and see them decently deposited in my own +Sepulchre. It is also my will that all my domestic slaves shall be +declared free by the city Praetor, and dismissed with their mothers, +after having received each, a suit of cloaths, and a pound weight of +pure silver from my heirs and Executors.--At my farm in Lusitania, July +25. During the Viriatin war. + +My paper scarce affords room to assure you that I am ever,--Dear Sir, +Your faithful, etc. + + + +LETTER XXXIII + +NICE, March 30, 1765. + +DEAR SIR,--YOU must not imagine I saw one half of the valuable pictures +and statues of Rome; there is such a vast number of both in this +capital, that I might have spent a whole year in taking even a +transient view of them; and, after all, some of them would have been +overlooked. The most celebrated pieces, however, I have seen; and +therefore my curiosity is satisfied. Perhaps, if I had the nice +discernment and delicate sensibility of a true connoisseur, this +superficial glimpse would have served only to whet my appetite, and to +detain me the whole winter at Rome. In my progress through the Vatican, +I was much pleased with the School of Athens, by Raphael, a piece which +hath suffered from the dampness of the air. The four boys attending to +the demonstration of the mathematician are admirably varied in the +expression. Mr. Webb's criticism on this artist is certainly just. He +was perhaps the best ethic painter that ever the world produced. No man +ever expressed the sentiments so happily, in visage, attitude, and +gesture: but he seems to have had too much phlegm to strike off the +grand passions, or reach the sublime parts of painting. He has the +serenity of Virgil, but wants the fire of Homer. There is nothing in +his Parnassus which struck me, but the ludicrous impropriety of +Apollo's playing upon a fiddle, for the entertainment of the nine +muses. [Upon better information I must retract this censure; in as +much, as I find there was really a Musical Instrument among the +antients of this Figure, as appears by a small statue in Bronze, to be +still seen in the Florentine Collection.] + +The Last Judgment, by Buonaroti, in the chapel of Sixtus IV. produced +to my eye the same sort of confusion, that perplexes my ear at a grand +concert, consisting of a great variety of instruments: or rather, when +a number of people are talking all at once. I was pleased with the +strength of expression, exhibited in single figures, and separate +groupes: but, the whole together is a mere mob, without subordination, +keeping, or repose. A painter ought to avoid all subjects that require +a multiplicity of groupes and figures; because it is not in the power +of that art to unite a great number in one point of view, so as to +maintain that dependence which they ought to have upon one another. +Michael Angelo, with all his skill in anatomy, his correctness of +design, his grand composition, his fire, and force of expression, seems +to have had very little idea of grace. One would imagine he had chosen +his kings, heroes, cardinals, and prelates, from among the facchini of +Rome: that he really drew his Jesus on the Cross, from the agonies of +some vulgar assassin expiring on the wheel; and that the originals of +his Bambini, with their mothers, were literally found in a stable. In +the Sala Regia, from whence the Sistian chapel is detached, we see, +among other exploits of catholic heroes, a representation of the +massacre of the protestants in Paris, Tholouse, and other parts of +France, on the eve of St. Bartholomew, thus described in the +Descrizione di Roma, "Nella prima pittura, esprime Georgio Vasari +l'istoria del Coligni, grand' amiraglio, di Francia, che come capo de +ribelli, e degl'ugonotti, fu ucciso; e nell'altra vicina, la strage +fatta in Parigi, e nel regno, de rebelli, e degl'Ugonotti." "In the +first picture, George Vasari represents the history of Coligni, high +admiral of France, who was slain as head of the rebels and huegonots; +and in another near it, the slaughter that was made of the rebels and +huegonots in Paris and other parts of the kingdom." Thus the court of +Rome hath employed their artists to celebrate and perpetuate, as a +meritorious action, the most perfidious, cruel, and infamous massacre, +that ever disgraced the annals of any nation. + +I need not mention the two equestrian statues of Constantine the Great, +and Charlemagne, which stand at opposite ends of the great portico of +St. Peter's church; because there is nothing in them which particularly +engaged my attention. The sleeping Cleopatra, as you enter the court of +the Belvedere, in the Vatican, is much admired; but I was better +pleased with the Apollo, which I take to be the most beautiful statue +that ever was formed. The Nile, which lies in the open court, +surmounted with the little children, has infinite merit; but is much +damaged, and altogether neglected. Whether it is the same described in +Pliny, as having been placed by Vespasian in the Temple of Peace, I do +not know. The sixteen children playing about it, denoted the swelling +of the Nile, which never rose above sixteen cubits. As for the famous +groupe of Laocoon, it surpassed my expectation. It was not without +reason that Buonaroti called it a portentous work; and Pliny has done +it no more than justice in saying it is the most excellent piece that +ever was cut in marble; and yet the famous Fulvius Ursini is of opinion +that this is not the same statue which Pliny described. His reasons, +mentioned by Montfaucon, are these. The statues described by Pliny were +of one stone; but these are not. Antonioli, the antiquary, has in his +Possession, pieces of Laocoon's snakes, which were found in the ground, +where the baths of Titus actually stood, agreeable to Pliny, who says +these statues were placed in the buildings of Titus. Be that as it may, +the work which we now see does honour to antiquity. As you have seen +innumerable copies and casts of it, in marble, plaister, copper, lead, +drawings, and prints, and read the description of it in Keysler, and +twenty other books of travels, I shall say nothing more on the subject; +but that neither they nor I, nor any other person, could say too much +in its praise. It is not of one piece indeed. In that particular Pliny +himself might be mistaken. "Opus omnibus et picturae, et statuariae +artis praeponendum. Ex uno lapide eum et Liberos draconumque mirabiles +nexus de consilii sententia fecere succubi artifices." "A work +preferable to all the other Efforts of Painting and Statuary. The most +excellent artists joined their Talents in making the Father and his +Sons, together with the admirable Twinings of the Serpents, of one +Block." Buonaroti discovered the joinings, though they were so artfully +concealed as to be before invisible. This amazing groupe is the work of +three Rhodian sculptors, called Agesander, Polydore, and Athenodorus, +and was found in the thermae of Titus Vespasian, still supposing it to +be the true antique. As for the torso, or mutilated trunk of a statue, +which is called the school of Michael Angelo, I had not time to +consider it attentively; nor taste enough to perceive its beauties at +first sight. The famous horses on Monte Cavallo, before the pope's +palace, which are said to have been made in emulation, by Phidias and +Praxiteles, I have seen, and likewise those in the front of the +Capitol, with the statues of Castor and Pollux; but what pleased me +infinitely more than all of them together, is the equestrian statue of +Corinthian brass, standing in the middle of this Piazza (I mean at the +Capitol) said to represent the emperor Marcus Aurelius. Others suppose +it was intended for Lucius Verus; a third set of antiquaries contend +for Lucius Septimius Severus; and a fourth, for Constantine, because it +stood in the Piazza of the Lateran palace, built by that emperor, from +whence pope Paul III. caused it to be removed to the Capitol. I +considered the trophy of Marius as a very curious piece of sculpture, +and admired the two sphinxes at the bottom of the stairs leading to +this Piazza, as the only good specimens of design I have ever seen from +Aegypt: for the two idols of that country, which stand in the ground +floor of the Musaeum of the Capitol, and indeed all the Aegyptian +statues in the Camera Aegyptiaca of this very building, are such +monstrous misrepresentations of nature, that they never could have +obtained a place among the statues of Rome, except as curiosities of +foreign superstition, or on account of the materials, as they are +generally of basaltes, porphyry, or oriental granite. + +At the farther end of the court of this Musaeum, fronting the entrance, +is a handsome fountain, with the statue of a river-god reclining on his +urn; this is no other than the famous Marforio, so called from its +having been found in Martis Fore. It is remarkable only as being the +conveyance of the answers to the satires which are found pasted upon +Pasquin, another mutilated statue, standing at the corner of a street. + +The marble coffin, supposed to have contained the ashes of Alexander +Severus, which we find in one of these apartments, is a curious +antique, valuable for its sculpture in basso relievo, especially for +the figures on the cover, representilig that emperor and his mother +Julia Mammea. + +I was sorry I had not time to consider the antient plan of Rome, +disposed in six classes, on the stair-case of this Musaeum, which was +brought hither from a temple that stood in the Forum Boarium, now +called Campo vaccine. + +It would be ridiculous in me to enter into a detail of the vast +collection of marbles, basso relievos, inscriptions, urns, busts, and +statues, which are placed in the upper apartments of this edifice. I +saw them but once, and then I was struck with the following +particulars. A bacchanalian drunk; a Jupiter and Leda, at least equal +to that in the gallery at Florence; an old praesica, or hired mourner, +very much resembling those wrinkled hags still employed in Ireland, and +in the Highlands of Scotland, to sing the coronach at funerals, in +praise of the deceased; the famous Antinous, an elegant figure, which +Pousin studied as canon or rule of symmetry; the two fauns; and above +all the mirmillone, or dying gladiator; the attitude of the body, the +expression of the countenance, the elegance of the limbs, and the +swelling of the muscles, in this statue, are universally admired; but +the execution of the back is incredibly delicate. The course of the +muscles called longissimi dorsi, are so naturally marked and tenderly +executed, that the marble actually emulates the softness of the flesh; +and you may count all the spines of the vertebrae, raising up the skin +as in the living body; yet this statue, with all its merit, seems +inferior to the celebrated dying gladiator of Ctesilas, as described by +Pliny, who says the expression of it was such, as appears altogether +incredible. In the court, on the opposite side of the Capitol, there is +an admirable statue of a lion devouring an horse, which was found by +the gate of Ostia, near the pyramid of Caius Cestius; and here on the +left hand, under a colonade, is what they call the Columna Rostrata, +erected in honour of Caius Duilius, who first triumphed over the +Carthaginians by sea. But this is a modern pillar, with the old +inscription, which is so defaced as not to be legible. Among the +pictures in the gallery and saloon above, what pleased me most was the +Bacchus and Ariadne of Guido Rheni; and the wolf suckling Romulus and +Remus, by Rubens. The court of the Palazzo Farnese is surrounded with +antique statues, among which the most celebrated are, the Flora, with a +most delicate drapery; the gladiator, with a dead boy over his +shoulder; the Hercules, with the spoils of the Nemean lion, but that +which the connoisseurs justly esteem above all the rest is Hercules, by +Glycon, which you know as well as I do, by the great reputation it has +acquired. This admirable statue having been found without the legs, +these were supplied by Gulielmo de la Porta so happily, that when +afterwards the original limbs were discovered, Michael Angelo preferred +those of the modern artist, both in grace and proportion; and they have +been retained accordingly. In a little house, or shed, behind the +court, is preserved the wonderful group of Dirce, commonly called the +Toro Farnese, which was brought hither from the thermae Caracallae. +There is such spirit, ferocity, and indignant resistance expressed in +the bull, to whose horns Dirce is tied by the hair, that I have never +seen anything like it, either upon canvass, or in stone. The statues of +the two brothers endeavouring to throw him into the sea are beautiful +figures, finely contrasted; and the rope, which one of them holds in a +sort of loose coil, is so surprisingly chizzelled, that one can hardly +believe it is of stone. As for Dirce herself, she seems to be but a +subaltern character; there is a dog upon his hind legs barking at the +bull, which is much admired. This amazing groupe was cut out of one +stone, by Appollonius and Tauriscus, two sculptors of Rhodes; and is +mentioned by Pliny in the thirty-sixth book of his Natural History. All +the precious monuments of art, which have come down to us from +antiquity, are the productions of Greek artists. The Romans had taste +enough to admire the arts of Greece, as plainly appears by the great +collections they made of their statues and pictures, as well as by +adopting their architecture and musick: but I do not remember to have +read of any Roman who made a great figure either as a painter or a +statuary. It is not enough to say those professions were not honourable +in Rome, because painting, sculpture, and musick, even rhetoric, +physic, and philosophy were practised and taught by slaves. The arts +were always honoured and revered at Rome, even when the professors of +them happened to be slaves by the accidents and iniquity of fortune. +The business of painting and statuary was so profitable, that in a free +republic, like that of Rome, they must have been greedily embraced by a +great number of individuals: but, in all probability, the Roman soil +produced no extraordinary genius for those arts. Like the English of +this day, they made a figure in poetry, history, and ethics; but the +excellence of painting, sculpture, architecture, and music, they never +could attain. In the Palazzo Picchini I saw three beautiful figures, +the celebrated statues of Meleager, the boar, and dog; together with a +wolf, of excellent workmanship. The celebrated statue of Moses, by +Michael Angelo, in the church of St. Peter in Vincula, I beheld with +pleasure; as well as that of Christ, by the same hand, in the Church of +S. Maria sopra Minerva. The right foot, covered with bronze, gilt, is +much kissed by the devotees. I suppose it is looked upon as a specific +for the toothache; for, I saw a cavalier, in years, and an old woman +successively rub their gums upon it, with the appearance of the most +painful perseverance. + +You need not doubt but that I went to the church of St. Peter in +Montorio, to view the celebrated Transfiguration, by Raphael, which, if +it was mine, I would cut in two parts. The three figures in the air +attract the eye so strongly, that little or no attention is payed to +those below on the mountain. I apprehend that the nature of the subject +does not admit of that keeping and dependence, which ought to be +maintained in the disposition of the lights and shadows in a picture. +The groupes seem to be intirely independent of each other. The +extraordinary merit of this piece, I imagine, consists, not only in the +expression of divinity on the face of Christ; but also in the +surprising lightness of the figure, that hovers like a beautiful +exhalation in the air. In the church of St. Luke, I was not at all +struck by the picture of that saint, drawing the portrait of the Virgin +Mary, although it is admired as one of the best pieces of Raphael. +Indeed it made so little impression upon me, that I do not even +remember the disposition of the figures. The altar-piece, by Andrea +Sacchi, in the church of St. Romauldus, would have more merit, if the +figure of the saint himself had more consequence, and was represented +in a stronger light. In the Palazzo Borghese, I chiefly admired the +following pieces: a Venus with two nymphs; and another with Cupid, both +by Titian: an excellent Roman Piety, by Leonardo da Vinci; and the +celebrated Muse, by Dominechino, which is a fine, jolly, buxom figure. +At the palace of Colorina Connestabile, I was charmed with the +Herodias, by Guido Rheni; a young Christ; and a Madonna, by Raphael; +and four landscapes, two by Claude Lorraine, and the other two, by +Salvator Rosa. In the palazetto, or summerhouse belonging to the +Palazzo Rospigliosi, I had the satisfaction of contemplating the Aurora +of Guido, the colours of which still remain in high perfection, +notwithstanding the common report that the piece is spoiled by the +dampness of the apartment. The print of this picture, by Freij, with +all its merit, conveys but an imperfect idea of the beauty of the +original. In the Palazzo Barberini, there is a great collection of +marbles and pictures: among the first, I was attracted by a beautiful +statue of Venus; a sleeping faun, of curious workmanship; a charming +Bacchus, lying on an antient sculpture, and the famous Narcissus. Of +the pictures, what gave me most pleasure was the Magdalen of Guido, +infinitely superior to that by Le Brun in the church of the Carmelites +at Paris; the Virgin, by Titian; a Madonna, by Raphael, but not +comparable to that which is in the Palazzo de Pitti, at Florence; and +the death of Germanicus, by Poussin, which I take to be one of the best +pieces in this great collection. In the Palazzo Falconeri there is a +beautiful St. Cecilia, by Guercino; a holy family, by Raphael; and a +fine expressive figure of St. Peter weeping, by Dominechino. In the +Palazzo Altieri, I admired a picture, by Carlo Maratti, representing a +saint calling down lightning from heaven to destroy blasphemers. It was +the figure of the saint I admired, merely as a portrait. The execution +of the other parts was tame enough: perhaps they were purposely kept +down, in order to preserve the importance of the principal figure. I +imagine Salvator Rosa would have made a different disposition on the +same subject: that amidst the darkness of a tempest, he would have +illuminated the blasphemer with the flash of lightning by which he was +destroyed: this would have thrown a dismal gleam upon his countenance, +distorted by the horror of his situation as well as by the effects of +the fire; and rendered the whole scene dreadfully picturesque. In the +same palace, I saw the famous holy family, by Corregio, which he left +unfinished, and no other artist would undertake to supply; for what +reason I know not. Here too is a judgment of Paris, by Titian, which is +reckoned a very valuable piece. In the Palazzo Odescalchi, there is a +holy family, by Buonaroti, and another by Raphael, both counted +excellent, though in very different stiles, extremely characteristic of +those two great rival artists. + +If I was silly enough to make a parade, I might mention some hundreds +more of marbles and pictures, which I really saw at Rome; and even eke +out that number with a huge list of those I did not see: but whatever +vanity I may have, it has not taken this turn; and I assure you, upon +my word and honour, I have described nothing but what actually fell +under my own observation. As for my critical remarks, I am afraid you +will think them too superficial and capricious to belong to any other +person but--Your humble servant. + + + +LETTER XXXIV + +NICE, April 2, 1765. + +DEAR SIR,--I have nothing to communicate touching the library of the +Vatican, which, with respect to the apartments and their ornaments, is +undoubtedly magnificent. The number of books it contains does not +exceed forty thousand volumes, which are all concealed from the view, +and locked up in presses: as for the manuscripts, I saw none but such +as are commonly presented to strangers of our nation; some very old +copies of Virgil and Terence; two or three Missals, curiously +illuminated; the book De Septem Sacramentis, written in Latin by Henry +VIII. against Luther; and some of that prince's love letters to Anne +Boleyn. I likewise visited the Libreria Casanatense, belonging to the +convent of the church called S. Maria Sopra Minerva. I had a +recommendation to the principal librarian, a Dominican friar, who +received me very politely, and regaled me with a sight of several +curious MSS. of the classics. + +Having satisfied my curiosity at Rome, I prepared for my departure, and +as the road between Radicofani and Montefiascone is very stony and +disagreeable, I asked the banker Barazzi, if there was not a better way +of returning to Florence, expressing a desire at the same time to see +the cascade of Terni. He assured me that the road by Terni was forty +miles shorter than the other, much more safe and easy, and accommodated +with exceeding good auberges. Had I taken the trouble to cast my eyes +upon the map, I must have seen, that the road by Terni, instead of +being forty miles shorter, was much longer than the other: but this was +not the only mistake of Signiore Barazzi. Great part of this way lies +over steep mountains, or along the side of precipices, which render +travelling in a carriage exceeding tedious, dreadful, and dangerous; +and as for the public houses, they are in all respects the most +execrable that ever I entered. I will venture to say that a common +prisoner in the Marshalsea or King's-Bench is more cleanly and +commodiously lodged than we were in many places on this road. The +houses are abominably nasty, and generally destitute of provision: when +eatables were found, we were almost poisoned by their cookery: their +beds were without curtains or bedstead, and their windows without +glass; and for this sort of entertainment we payed as much as if we had +been genteelly lodged, and sumptuously treated. I repeat it again; of +all the people I ever knew, the Italians are the most villainously +rapacious. The first day, having passed Civita Castellana, a small town +standing on the top of a hill, we put up at what was called an +excellent inn, where cardinals, prelates, and princes, often lodged. +Being meagre day, there was nothing but bread, eggs, and anchovies, in +the house. I went to bed without supper, and lay in a pallet, where I +was half devoured by vermin. Next day, our road, in some places, lay +along precipices, which over-hang the Nera or Nar, celebrated in +antiquity for its white foam, and the sulphureous quality of its waters. + + Sulfurea nar albus aqua, fontesque velini. + + Sulphureous nar, and the Velinian streams. + +It is a small, but rapid stream, which runs not far from hence, into +the Tyber. Passing Utricoli, near the ruins of the ancient Ocriculum, +and the romantic town of Narni, situated on the top of a mountain, in +the neighbourhood of which is still seen standing one arch of the +stupendous bridge built by Augustus Caesar, we arrived at Terni, and +hiring a couple of chaises before dinner, went to see the famous +Cascata delle Marmore, which is at the distance of three miles. We +ascended a steep mountain by a narrow road formed for a considerable +way along the brink of a precipice, at the bottom of which brawls the +furious river Nera, after having received the Velino. This last is the +stream which, running from the Lago delle Marmore, forms the cascade by +falling over a precipice about one hundred and sixty feet high. Such a +body of water rushing down the mountain; the smoak, vapour, and thick +white mist which it raises; the double rainbow which these particles +continually exhibit while the sun shines; the deafening sound of the +cataract; the vicinity of a great number of other stupendous rocks and +precipices, with the dashing, boiling, and foaming of the two rivers +below, produce altogether an object of tremendous sublimity: yet great +part of its effect is lost, for want of a proper point of view, from +which it might be contemplated. The cascade would appear much more +astonishing, were it not in some measure eclipsed by the superior +height of the neighbouring mountains. You have not a front perspective; +but are obliged to view it obliquely on one side, standing upon the +brink of a precipice, which cannot be approached without horror. This +station might be rendered much more accessible, and altogether secure, +for the expence of four or five zequines; and a small tax might be +levied for the purpose from travellers by the aubergiste at Terni, who +lets his calasses for half a zequine a piece to those that are curious +to see this phaenomenon. Besides the two postilions whom I payed for +this excursion, at the rate of one stage in posting, there was a fellow +who posted himself behind one of the chaises, by way of going to point +out the different views of the cascade; and his demand amounted to four +or five pauls. To give you an idea of the extortion of those villainous +publicans, I must tell you that for a dinner and supper, which even +hunger could not tempt us to eat, and a night's lodging in three +truckle beds, I paid eighty pauls, amounting to forty shillings +sterling. You ask me why I submitted to such imposition? I will tell +you--I have more than once in my travels made a formal complaint of the +exorbitancy of a publican, to the magistrate of the place; but I never +received any satisfaction, and have lost abundance of time. Had I +proceeded to manual correction, I should have alarmed and terrified the +women: had I peremptorily refused to pay the sum total, the landlord, +who was the post-master, would not have supplied me with horses to +proceed on my journey. I tried the experiment at Muy in France, where I +put myself into a violent passion, had abundance of trouble, was +detained till it was almost night, and after all found myself obliged +to submit, furnishing at the same time matter of infinite triumph to +the mob, which had surrounded the coach, and interested themselves +warmly in favour of their townsman. If some young patriot, in good +health and spirits, would take the trouble as often as he is imposed +upon by the road in travelling, to have recourse to the fountain-head, +and prefer a regular complaint to the comptroller of the posts, either +in France or Italy, he would have ample satisfaction, and do great +service to the community. Terni is an agreeable town, pretty well +built, and situated in a pleasant valley, between two branches of the +river Nera, whence it was called by the antients, Interamna. Here is an +agreeable piazza, where stands a church that was of old a heathen +temple. There are some valuable paintings in the church. The people are +said to be very civil, and provisions to be extremely cheap. It was the +birthplace of the emperor Tacitus, as well as of the historian of the +same name. In our journey from hence to Spoleto, we passed over a high +mountain, (called, from its height, Somma) where it was necessary to +have two additional horses to the carriage, and the road winds along a +precipice. which is equally dangerous and dreadful. We passed through +part of Spoleto, the capital of Umbria, which is a pretty large city. +Of this, however, I give no other account from my own observation, but +that I saw at a distance the famous Gothic aqueduct of brick: this is +mentioned by Addison as a structure, which, for the height of its +arches, is not equalled by any thing in Europe. The road from hence to +Foligno, where we lay, is kept in good order, and lies through a +delightful plain, laid out into beautiful inclosures, abounding with +wine, oil, corn, and cattle, and watered by the pastoral streams of the +famous river Clitumnus, which takes its rise in three or four separate +rivulets issuing from a rock near the highway. On the right-hand, we +saw several towns situated on rising grounds, and among the rest, that +of Assissio, famous for the birth of St. Francis, whose body, being +here deposited, occasions a concourse of pilgrims. We met a Roman +princess going thither with a grand retinue, in consequence of a vow +she had made for the re-establishment of her health. Foligno, the +Fulginium of the antients, is a small town, not unpleasant, lying in +the midst of mulberry plantations, vineyards, and corn-fields, and +built on both sides of the little river Topino. In choosing our beds at +the inn, I perceived one chamber locked, and desired it might be +opened; upon which the cameriere declared with some reluctance, +"Besogna dire a su' eccellenza; poco fa, che una bestia e morta in +questa camera, e non e ancora lustrata," "Your Excellency must know +that a filthy Beast died lately in that Chamber, and it is not yet +purified and put in order." When I enquired what beast it was, he +replied, "Un'eretico Inglese," "An English heretic." I suppose he would +not have made so free with our country and religion, if he had not +taken us for German catholics, as we afterwards learned from Mr. R--i. +Next day, we crossed the Tyber, over a handsome bridge, and in mounting +the steep hill upon which the city of Perugia stands, our horses being +exhausted, were dragged backwards by the weight of the carriage to the +very edge of a precipice, where, happily for us, a man passing that +way, placed a large stone behind one of the wheels, which stopped their +motion, otherwise we should have been all dashed in pieces. We had +another ugly hill to ascend within the city, which was more difficult +and dangerous than the other: but the postilions, and the other beasts +made such efforts, that we mounted without the least stop, to the +summit, where we found ourselves in a large piazza, where the horses +are always changed. There being no relays at the post, we were obliged +to stay the whole day and night at Perugia, which is a considerable +city, built upon the acclivity of a hill, adorned with some elegant +fountains, and several handsome churches, containing some valuable +pictures by Guido, Raphael, and his master Pietro Perugino, who was a +native of this place. The next stage is on the banks of the lake, which +was the Thrasimene of the antients, a beautiful piece of water, above +thirty miles in circumference, having three islands, abounding with +excellent fish: upon a peninsula of it, there is a town and castle. It +was in this neighbourhood where the consul Flaminius was totally +defeated with great slaughter by Hannibal. From Perugia to Florence, +the posts are all double, and the road is so bad that we never could +travel above eight and twenty miles a day. We were often obliged to +quit the carriage, and walk up steep mountains; and the way in general +was so unequal and stony, that we were jolted even to the danger of our +lives. I never felt any sort of exercise or fatigue so intolerable; and +I did not fail to bestow an hundred benedictions per diem upon the +banker Barazzi, by whose advice we had taken this road; yet there was +no remedy but patience. If the coach had not been incredibly strong, it +must have been shattered to pieces. The fifth night we passed at a +place called Camoccia, a miserable cabaret, where we were fain to cook +our own supper, and lay in a musty chamber, which had never known a +fire, and indeed had no fire-place, and where we ran the risque of +being devoured by rats. Next day one of the irons of the coach gave way +at Arezzo, where we were detained two hours before it could be +accommodated. I might have taken this opportunity to view the remains +of the antient Etruscan amphitheatre, and the temple of Hercules, +described by the cavalier Lorenzo Guazzesi, as standing in the +neighbourhood of this place: but the blacksmith assured me his work +would be finished in a few minutes; and as I had nothing so much at +heart as the speedy accomplishment of this disagreeable journey, I +chose to suppress my curiosity, rather than be the occasion of a +moment's delay. But all the nights we had hitherto passed were +comfortable in comparison to this, which we suffered at a small +village, the name of which I do not remember. The house was dismal and +dirty beyond all description; the bed-cloaths filthy enough to turn the +stomach of a muleteer; and the victuals cooked in such a manner, that +even a Hottentot could not have beheld them without loathing. We had +sheets of our own, which were spread upon a mattrass, and here I took +my repose wrapped in a greatcoat, if that could be called repose which +was interrupted by the innumerable stings of vermin. In the morning, I +was seized with a dangerous fit of hooping-cough, which terrified my +wife, alarmed my people, and brought the whole community into the +house. I had undergone just such another at Paris, about a year before. +This forenoon, one of our coach wheels flew off in the neighbourhood of +Ancisa, a small town, where we were detained above two hours by this +accident; a delay which was productive of much disappointment, danger, +vexation, and fatigue. There being no horses at the last post, we were +obliged to wait until those which brought us thither were sufficiently +refreshed to proceed. Understanding that all the gates of Florence are +shut at six, except two that are kept open for the accommodation of +travellers; and that to reach the nearest of these gates, it was +necessary to pass the river Arno in a ferry-boat, which could not +transport the carriage; I determined to send my servant before with a +light chaise to enter the nearest gate before it was shut, and provide +a coach to come and take us up at the side of the river, where we +should be obliged to pass in the boat: for I could not bear the +thoughts of lying another night in a common cabaret. Here, however, +another difficulty occurred. There was but one chaise, and a dragoon +officer, in the imperial troops, insisted upon his having bespoke it +for himself and his servant. A long dispute ensued, which had like to +have produced a quarrel: but at length I accommodated matters, by +telling the officer that he should have a place in it gratis, and his +servant might ride a-horse-back. He accepted the offer without +hesitation; but, in the mean time, we set out in the coach before them, +and having proceeded about a couple of miles, the road was so deep from +a heavy rain, and the beasts were so fatigued, that they could not +proceed. The postilions scourging the poor animals with great +barbarity, they made an effort, and pulled the coach to the brink of a +precipice, or rather a kind of hollow-way, which might be about seven +or eight feet lower than the road. Here my wife and I leaped out, and +stood under the rain up to the ancles in mud; while the postilions +still exercising their whips, one of the fore-horses fairly tumbled +down the descent, arid hung by the neck, so that he was almost +strangled before he could be disengaged from the traces, by the +assistance of some foot travellers that happened to pass. While we +remained in this dilemma, the chaise, with the officer and my servant, +coming up, we exchanged places; my wife and I proceeded in the chaise, +and left them with Miss C-- and Mr. R--, to follow in the coach. The +road from hence to Florence is nothing but a succession of steep +mountains, paved and conducted in such a manner, that one would imagine +the design had been to render it impracticable by any sort of +wheel-carriage. Notwithstanding all our endeavours, I found it would be +impossible to enter Florence before the gates were shut. I flattered +and threatened the driver by turns: but the fellow, who had been +remarkably civil at first, grew sullen and impertinent. He told me I +must not think of reaching Florence: that the boat would not take the +carriage on board; and that from the other side, I must walk five miles +before I should reach the gate that was open: but he would carry me to +an excellent osteria, where I should be entertained and lodged like a +prince. I was now convinced that he had lingered on purpose to serve +this inn-keeper; and I took it for granted that what he told me of the +distance between the ferry and the gate was a lie. It was eight o'clock +when we arrived at his inn. I alighted with my wife to view the +chambers, desiring he would not put up his horses. Finding it was a +villainous house, we came forth, and, by this time, the horses were put +up. I asked the fellow how he durst presume to contradict my orders, +and commanded him to put them to the chaise. He asked in his turn if I +was mad? If I thought I and the lady had strength and courage enough to +walk five miles in the dark, through a road which we did not know, and +which was broke up by a continued rain of two days? I told him he was +an impertinent rascal, and as he still hesitated, I collared him with +one hand, and shook my cane over his head with the other. It was the +only weapon I had, either offensive or defensive; for I had left my +sword, and musquetoon in the coach. At length the fellow obeyed, though +with great reluctance, cracking many severe jokes upon us in the mean +time, and being joined in his raillery by the inn-keeper, who had all +the external marks of a ruffian. The house stood in a solitary +situation, and not a soul appeared but these two miscreants, so that +they might have murdered us without fear of detection. "You do not like +the apartments? (said one) to be sure they were not fitted up for +persons of your rank and quality!" "You will be glad of a worse +chamber, (continued the other) before you get to bed." "If you walk to +Florence tonight, you will sleep so sound, that the fleas will not +disturb you." "Take care you do not take up your night's lodging in the +middle of the road, or in the ditch of the city-wall." I fired inwardly +at these sarcasms, to which, however, I made no reply; and my wife was +almost dead with fear. In the road from hence to the boat, we met with +an ill-looking fellow, who offered his service to conduct us into the +city, and such was our situation, that I was fain to accept his +proposal, especially as we had two small boxes in the chaise by +accident, containing some caps and laces belonging to my wife, I still +hoped the postilion had exaggerated in the distance between the boat +and the city gate, and was confirmed in this opinion by the ferryman, +who said we had not above half a league to walk. Behold us then in this +expedition; myself wrapped up in a very heavy greatcoat, and my cane in +my hand. I did not imagine I could have walked a couple of miles in +this equipage, had my life been depending; my wife a delicate creature, +who had scarce ever walked a mile in her life; and the ragamuffin +before us with our boxes under his arm. The night was dark and wet; the +road slippery and dirty; not a soul was seen, nor a sound was heard: +all was silent, dreary, and horrible. I laid my account with a violent +fit of illness from the cold I should infallibly catch, if I escaped +assassination, the fears of which were the more troublesome as I had no +weapon to defend our lives. While I laboured under the weight of my +greatcoat which made the streams of sweat flow down my face and +shoulders, I was plunging in the mud, up to the mid-leg at every step; +and at the same time obliged to support my wife, who wept in silence, +half dead with terror and fatigue. To crown our vexation, our conductor +walked so fast, that he was often out of sight, and I imagined he had +run away with the boxes. All I could do on these occasions, was to +hollow as loud as I could, and swear horribly that I would blow his +brains out. I did not know but these oaths and menaces might keep other +rogues in awe. In this manner did we travel three long miles, making +almost an intire circuit of the city-wall, without seeing the face of a +human creature, and at length reached the gate, where we were examined +by the guard, and allowed to pass, after they had told us it was a long +mile from thence to the house of Vanini, where we proposed to lodge. No +matter, being now fairly within the city, I plucked up my spirits, and +performed the rest of the journey with such ease, that I am persuaded, +I could have walked at the same pace all night long, without being very +much fatigued. It was near ten at night, when we entered the auberge in +such a draggled and miserable condition, that Mrs. Vanini almost +fainted at sight of us, on the supposition that we had met with some +terrible disaster, and that the rest of the company were killed. My +wife and I were immediately accommodated with dry stockings and shoes, +a warm apartment, and a good supper, which I ate with great +satisfaction, arising not only from our having happily survived the +adventure, but also from a conviction that my strength and constitution +were wonderfully repaired: not but that I still expected a severe cold, +attended with a terrible fit of the asthma: but in this I was luckily +disappointed. I now for the first time drank to the health of my +physician Barazzi, fully persuaded that the hardships and violent +exercise I underwent by following his advice, had greatly contributed +to the re-establishment of my health. In this particular, I imitate the +gratitude of Tavernier, who was radically cured of the gout by a +Turkish aga in Aegypt, who gave him the bastinado, because he would not +look at the head of the bashaw of Cairo, which the aga had in a bag, to +be presented to the grand signior at Constantinople. + +I did not expect to see the rest of our company that night, as I never +doubted but they would stay with the coach at the inn on the other side +of the Arno: but at mid-night we were joined by Miss C-- and Mr. R--, +who had left the carriage at the inn, under the auspices of the captain +and my servant, and followed our foot-steps by walking from the +ferry-boat to Florence, conducted by one of the boatmen. Mr. R-- seemed +to be much ruffled and chagrined; but, as he did not think proper to +explain the cause, he had no right to expect that I should give him +satisfaction for some insult he had received from my servant. They had +been exposed to a variety of disagreeable adventures from the +impracticability of the road. The coach had been several times in the +most imminent hazard of being lost with all our baggage; and at one +place, it was necessary to hire a dozen of oxen, and as many men, to +disengage it from the holes into which it had run. It was in the +confusion of these adventures, that the captain and his valet, Mr. R-- +and my servant, had like to have gone all by the ears together. The +peace was with difficulty preserved by the interposition of Miss C--, +who suffered incredibly from cold and wet, terror, vexation, and +fatigue: yet happily no bad consequence ensued. The coach and baggage +were brought safely into Florence next morning, when all of us found +ourselves well refreshed, and in good spirits. I am afraid this is not +the case with you, who must by this time be quite jaded with this long +epistle, which shall therefore be closed without further ceremony +by,--Yours always. + + + +LETTER XXXV + +NICE, March 20, 1765. + +DEAR SIR,--The season being far advanced, and the weather growing +boisterous, I made but a short stay at Florence, and set out for Pisa, +with full resolution to take the nearest road to Lerici, where we +proposed to hire a felucca for Genoa. I had a great desire to see +Leghorn and Lucca; but the dread of a winter's voyage by sea in an open +boat effectually restrained my curiosity. To avoid the trouble of +having our baggage shifted every post, I hired two chaises to Pisa for +a couple of zequines, and there we arrived in safety about seven in the +evening, though not without fear of the consequence, as the calesses +were quite open, and it rained all the way. I must own I was so sick of +the wretched accommodation one meets with in every part of Italy, +except the great cities, so averse to the sea at this season, and so +fond of the city of Pisa, that I should certainly have stayed here the +winter, had not I been separated from my books and papers, as well as +from other conveniencies and connexions which I had at Nice; and +foreseen that the thoughts of performing the same disagreeable voyage +in the spring would imbitter my whole winter's enjoyment. I again hired +two calesses for Lerici, proposing to lie at Sarzana, three miles short +of that place, where we were told we should find comfortable lodging, +and to embark next day without halting. When we departed in the +morning, it rained very hard, and the Cerchio, which the chaises had +formerly passed, almost without wetting the wheels, was now swelled to +a mighty river, broad and deep and rapid. It was with great difficulty +I could persuade my wife to enter the boat; for it blew a storm, and +she had seen it in coming over from the other side hurried down a +considerable way by the rapidity of the current, notwithstanding all +the efforts of the watermen. Near two hours were spent in transporting +us with our chaises. The road between this and Pietra Santa was +rendered almost impassable. When we arrived at Massa, it began to grow +dark, and the post-master assured us that the road to Sarzana was +overflowed in such a manner as not to be passed even in the day-time, +without imminent danger. We therefore took up our lodging for the night +at this house, which was in all respects one of the worst we had yet +entered. Next day, we found the Magra as large and violent as the +Cerchio: however, we passed it without any accident, and in the +afternoon arrived at Lerici. There we were immediately besieged by a +number of patrons of feluccas, from among whom I chose a Spaniard, +partly because he looked like an honest man, and produced an ample +certificate, signed by an English gentleman; and partly, because he was +not an Italian; for, by this time, I had imbibed a strong prejudice +against the common people of that country. We embarked in the morning +before day, with a gale that made us run the lee-gunwale in the water; +but, when we pretended to turn the point of Porto Venere, we found the +wind full in our teeth, and were obliged to return to our quarters, +where we had been shamefully fleeced by the landlord, who, +nevertheless, was not such an exorbitant knave as the post-master, +whose house I would advise all travellers to avoid. Here, indeed, I had +occasion to see an instance of prudence and oeconomy, which I should +certainly imitate, if ever I had occasion to travel this way by myself. +An Englishman, who had hired a felucca from Antibes to Leghorn, was put +in here by stress of weather; but being aware of the extortion of +innkeepers, and the bad accommodation in their houses, he slept on +board on his own mattrasses; and there likewise he had all his +conveniencies for eating. He sent his servant on shore occasionally to +buy provision, and see it cooked according to his direction in some +public house; and had his meals regularly in the felucca. This evening +he came ashore to stretch his legs, and took a solitary walk on the +beach, avoiding us with great care, although he knew we were English; +his valet who was abundantly communicative, told my servant, that in +coming through France, his master had travelled three days in company +with two other English gentlemen, whom he met upon the road, and in all +that time he never spoke a word to either, yet in other respects, he +was a good man, mild, charitable, and humane. This is a character truly +British. At five o'clock in the morning we put to sea again, and though +the wind was contrary, made shift to reach the town of Sestri di +Levante, where we were most graciously received by the publican butcher +and his family. The house was in much better order than before; the +people were much more obliging; we passed a very tolerable night, and +had a very reasonable bill to pay in the morning. I cannot account for +this favourable change any other way, than by ascribing it to the +effects of a terrible storm, which had two days before torn up a great +number of their olive-trees by the roots, and done such damage as +terrified them into humility and submission. Next day, the water being +delightful, we arrived by one o'clock in the afternoon at Genoa. Here I +made another bargain with our patron Antonio, to carry us to Nice. He +had been hitherto remarkably obliging, and seemingly modest. He spoke +Latin fluently, and was tinctured with the sciences. I began to imagine +he was a person of a good family, who had met with misfortunes in life, +and respected him accordingly: but I afterwards found him mercenary, +mean, and rapacious. The wind being still contrary, when we departed +from Genoa, we could get no further than Finale, where we lodged in a +very dismal habitation, which was recommended to us as the best auberge +in the place. What rendered it the more uncomfortable, the night was +cold, and there was not a fire-place in the house, except in the +kitchen. The beds (if they deserved that name) were so shockingly +nasty, that we could not have used them, had not a friend of Mr. R-- +supplied us with mattrasses, sheets, and coverlets; for our own sheets +were on board the felucca, which was anchored at a distance from the +shore. Our fare was equally wretched: the master of the house was a +surly assassin, and his cameriere or waiter, stark-staring mad. Our +situation was at the same time shocking and ridiculous. Mr. R-- +quarrelled over night with the master, who swore in broken French to my +man, that he had a good mind to poniard that impertinent Piedmontese. +In the morning, before day, Mr. R--, coming into my chamber, gave me to +understand that he had been insulted by the landlord, who demanded six +and thirty livres for our supper and lodging. Incensed at the rascal's +presumption, I assured him I would make him take half the money, and a +good beating into the bargain. He replied, that he would have saved me +the trouble of beating him, had not the cameriere, who was a very +sensible fellow, assured him the padrone was out of his senses, and if +roughly handled, might commit some extravagance. Though I was +exceedingly ruffled, I could not help laughing at the mad cameriere's +palming himself upon R--y, as a sensible fellow, and transferring the +charge of madness upon his master, who seemed to be much more knave +than fool. While Mr. R-- went to mass, I desired the cameriere to bid +his master bring the bill, and to tell him that if it was not +reasonable, I would carry him before the commandant. In the mean time I +armed myself with my sword in one hand and my cane in the other. The +inn-keeper immediately entered, pale and staring, and when I demanded +his bill, he told me, with a profound reverence that he should be +satisfied with whatever I myself thought proper to give. Surprised at +this moderation, I asked if he should be content with twelve livres, +and he answered, "Contentissimo," with another prostration. Then he +made an apology for the bad accommodation of his house, and complained, +that the reproaches of the other gentleman, whom he was pleased to call +my majorduomo, had almost turned his brain. When he quitted the room, +his cameriere, laying hold of his master's last words, pointed to his +own forehead, and said, he had informed the gentleman over night that +his patron was mad. This day we were by a high wind in the afternoon, +driven for shelter into Porto Mauritio, where we found the post-house +even worse than that of Finale; and what rendered it more shocking was +a girl quite covered with the confluent smallpox, who lay in a room +through which it was necessary to pass to the other chambers, and who +smelled so strong as to perfume the whole house. We were but fifteen +miles from St. Remo, where I knew the auberge was tolerable, and +thither I resolved to travel by land. I accordingly ordered five mules +to travel post, and a very ridiculous cavalcade we formed, the women +being obliged to use common saddles; for in this country even the +ladies sit astride. The road lay along one continued precipice, and was +so difficult, that the beasts never could exceed a walking pace. In +some places we were obliged to alight. Seven hours were spent in +travelling fifteen short miles: at length we arrived at our old +lodgings in St. Remo, which we found white-washed, and in great order. +We supped pretty comfortably; slept well; and had no reason to complain +of imposition in paying the bill. This was not the case in the article +of the mules, for which I was obliged to pay fifty livres, according to +the regulation of the posts. The postmaster, who came along with us, +had the effrontery to tell me, that if I had hired the mules to carry +me and my company to St. Remo, in the way of common travelling, they +would have cost me but fifteen livres; but as I demanded post-horses, I +must submit to the regulations. This is a distinction the more absurd, +as the road is of such a nature as renders it impossible to travel +faster in one way than in another; nor indeed is there the least +difference either in the carriage or convenience, between travelling +post and journey riding. A publican might with the same reason charge +me three livres a pound for whiting, and if questioned about the +imposition, reply, that if I had asked for fish I should have had the +same whiting for the fifth part of the money: but that he made a wide +difference between selling it as fish, and selling it as whiting. Our +felucca came round from Porto Mauritio in the night, and embarking next +morning, we arrived at Nice about four in the afternoon. + +Thus have I given you a circumstantial detail of my Italian expedition, +during which I was exposed to a great number of hardships, which I +thought my weakened constitution could not have bore; as well as to +violent fits of passion, chequered, however, with transports of a more +agreeable nature; insomuch that I may say I was for two months +continually agitated either in mind or body, and very often in both at +the same time. As my disorder at first arose from a sedentary life, +producing a relaxation of the fibres, which naturally brought on a +listlessness, indolence, and dejection of the spirits, I am convinced +that this hard exercise of mind and body, co-operated with the change +of air and objects, to brace up the relaxed constitution, and promote a +more vigorous circulation of the juices, which had long languished even +almost to stagnation. For some years, I had been as subject to colds as +a delicate woman new delivered. If I ventured to go abroad when there +was the least moisture either in the air, or upon the ground, I was +sure to be laid up a fortnight with a cough and asthma. But, in this +journey, I suffered cold and rain, and stood, and walked in the wet, +heated myself with exercise, and sweated violently, without feeling the +least disorder; but, on the contrary, felt myself growing stronger +every day in the midst of these excesses. Since my return to Nice, it +has rained the best part of two months, to the astonishment of all the +people in the country; yet during all that time I have enjoyed good +health and spirits. On Christmas-Eve, I went to the cathedral at +midnight, to hear high mass celebrated by the new bishop of Nice, in +pontificalibus, and stood near two hours uncovered in a cold gallery, +without having any cause in the sequel to repent of my curiosity. In a +word, I am now so well that I no longer despair of seeing you and the +rest of my friends in England; a pleasure which is eagerly desired +by,--Dear Sir, Your affectionate humble Servant. + + + +LETTER XXXVI + +NICE, March 23, 1766. + +DEAR SIR,--You ask whether I think the French people are more taxed +than the English; but I apprehend, the question would be more apropos +if you asked whether the French taxes are more insupportable than the +English; for, in comparing burthens, we ought always to consider the +strength of the shoulders that bear them. I know no better way of +estimating the strength, than by examining the face of the country, and +observing the appearance of the common people, who constitute the bulk +of every nation. When I, therefore, see the country of England smiling +with cultivation; the grounds exhibiting all the perfection of +agriculture, parcelled out into beautiful inclosures, cornfields, hay +and pasture, woodland and common, when I see her meadows well stocked +with black cattle, her downs covered with sheep; when I view her teams +of horses and oxen, large and strong, fat and sleek; when I see her +farm-houses the habitations of plenty, cleanliness, and convenience; +and her peasants well fed, well lodged, well cloathed, tall and stout, +and hale and jolly; I cannot help concluding that the people are well +able to bear those impositions which the public necessities have +rendered necessary. On the other hand, when I perceive such signs of +poverty, misery and dirt, among the commonalty of France, their +unfenced fields dug up in despair, without the intervention of meadow +or fallow ground, without cattle to furnish manure, without horses to +execute the plans of agriculture; their farm-houses mean, their +furniture wretched, their apparel beggarly; themselves and their beasts +the images of famine; I cannot help thinking they groan under +oppression, either from their landlords, or their government; probably +from both. + +The principal impositions of the French government are these: first, +the taille, payed by all the commons, except those that are privileged: +secondly, the capitation, from which no persons (not even the nobles) +are excepted: thirdly, the tenths and twentieths, called Dixiemes and +Vingtiemes, which every body pays. This tax was originally levied as an +occasional aid in times of war, and other emergencies; but by degrees +is become a standing revenue even in time of peace. All the money +arising from these impositions goes directly to the king's treasury; +and must undoubtedly amount to a very great sum. Besides these, he has +the revenue of the farms, consisting of the droits d'aydes, or excise +on wine, brandy, &c. of the custom-house duties; of the gabelle, +comprehending that most oppressive obligation on individuals to take a +certain quantity of salt at the price which the farmers shall please to +fix; of the exclusive privilege to sell tobacco; of the droits de +controlle, insinuation, centieme denier, franchiefs, aubeine, echange +et contre-echange arising from the acts of voluntary jurisdiction, as +well as certain law-suits. These farms are said to bring into the +king's coffers above one hundred and twenty millions of livres yearly, +amounting to near five millions sterling: but the poor people are said +to pay about a third more than this sum, which the farmers retain to +enrich themselves, and bribe the great for their protection; which +protection of the great is the true reason why this most iniquitous, +oppressive, and absurd method of levying money is not laid aside. Over +and above those articles I have mentioned, the French king draws +considerable sums from his clergy, under the denomination of dons +gratuits, or free-gifts; as well as from the subsidies given by the +pays d'etats such as Provence, Languedoc, and Bretagne, which are +exempted from the taille. The whole revenue of the French king amounts +to between twelve and thirteen millions sterling. These are great +resources for the king: but they will always keep the people miserable, +and effectually prevent them from making such improvements as might +turn their lands to the best advantage. But besides being eased in the +article of taxes, there is something else required to make them exert +themselves for the benefit of their country. They must be free in their +persons, secure in their property, indulged with reasonable leases, and +effectually protected by law from the insolence and oppression of their +superiors. + +Great as the French king's resources may appear, they are hardly +sufficient to defray the enormous expence of his government. About two +millions sterling per annum of his revenue are said to be anticipated +for paying the interest of the public debts; and the rest is found +inadequate to the charge of a prodigious standing army, a double +frontier of fortified towns and the extravagant appointments of +ambassadors, generals, governors, intendants, commandants, and other +officers of the crown, all of whom affect a pomp, which is equally +ridiculous and prodigal. A French general in the field is always +attended by thirty or forty cooks; and thinks it is incumbent upon him, +for the glory of France, to give a hundred dishes every day at his +table. When don Philip, and the marechal duke de Belleisle, had their +quarters at Nice, there were fifty scullions constantly employed in the +great square in plucking poultry. This absurd luxury infects their +whole army. Even the commissaries keep open table; and nothing is seen +but prodigality and profusion. The king of Sardinia proceeds upon +another plan. His troops are better cloathed, better payed, and better +fed than those of France. The commandant of Nice has about four hundred +a year of appointments, which enable him to live decently, and even to +entertain strangers. On the other hand, the commandant of Antibes, +which is in all respects more inconsiderable than Nice, has from the +French king above five times the sum to support the glory of his +monarch, which all the sensible part of mankind treat with ridicule and +contempt. But the finances of France are so ill managed, that many of +their commandants, and other officers, have not been able to draw their +appointments these two years. In vain they complain and remonstrate. +When they grow troublesome they are removed. How then must they support +the glory of France? How, but by oppressing the poor people. The +treasurer makes use of their money for his own benefit. The king knows +it; he knows his officers, thus defrauded, fleece and oppress his +people: but he thinks proper to wink at these abuses. That government +may be said to be weak and tottering which finds itself obliged to +connive at such proceedings. The king of France, in order to give +strength and stability to his administration, ought to have sense to +adopt a sage plan of oeconomy, and vigour of mind sufficient to execute +it in all its parts, with the most rigorous exactness. He ought to have +courage enough to find fault, and even to punish the delinquents, of +what quality soever they may be: and the first act of reformation ought +to be a total abolition of all the farms. There are, undoubtedly, many +marks of relaxation in the reins of the French government, and, in all +probability, the subjects of France will be the first to take advantage +of it. There is at present a violent fermentation of different +principles among them, which under the reign of a very weak prince, or +during a long minority, may produce a great change in the constitution. +In proportion to the progress of reason and philosophy, which have made +great advances in this kingdom, superstition loses ground; antient +prejudices give way; a spirit of freedom takes the ascendant. All the +learned laity of France detest the hierarchy as a plan of despotism, +founded on imposture and usurpation. The protestants, who are very +numerous in southern parts, abhor it with all the rancour of religious +fanaticism. Many of the commons, enriched by commerce and manufacture, +grow impatient of those odious distinctions, which exclude them from +the honours and privileges due to their importance in the commonwealth; +and all the parliaments, or tribunals of justice in the kingdom, seem +bent upon asserting their rights and independence in the face of the +king's prerogative, and even at the expence of his power and authority. +Should any prince therefore be seduced by evil counsellors, or misled +by his own bigotry, to take some arbitrary step, that may be extremely +disagreeable to all those communities, without having spirit to exert +the violence of his power for the support of his measures, he will +become equally detested and despised; and the influence of the commons +will insensibly encroach upon the pretensions of the crown. But if in +the time of a minority, the power of the government should be divided +among different competitors for the regency, the parliaments and people +will find it still more easy to acquire and ascertain the liberty at +which they aspire, because they will have the balance of power in their +hands, and be able to make either scale preponderate. I could say a +great deal more upon this subject; and I have some remarks to make +relating to the methods which might be taken in the case of a fresh +rupture with France, for making a vigorous impression on that kingdom. +But these I in list defer till another occasion, having neither room +nor leisure at present to add any thing, but that I am, with great +truth,--Dear Sir, Your very humble Servant. + + + +LETTER XXXVII + +NICE, April 2, 1765. + +DEAR DOCTOR,--As I have now passed a second winter at Nice I think +myself qualified to make some further remarks on this climate. During +the heats of last summer, I flattered myself with the prospect of the +fine weather I should enjoy in the winter; but neither I, nor any +person in this country, could foresee the rainy weather that prevailed +from the middle of November, till the twentieth of March. In this short +period of four months, we have had fifty-six days of rain, which I take +to be a greater quantity than generally falls during the six worst +months of the year in the county of Middlesex, especially as it was, +for the most part, a heavy, continued rain. The south winds generally +predominate in the wet season at Nice: but this winter the rain was +accompanied with every wind that blows, except the south; though the +most frequent were those that came from the east and north quarters. +Notwithstanding these great rains, such as were never known before at +Nice in the memory of man, the intermediate days of fair weather were +delightful, and the ground seemed perfectly dry. The air itself was +perfectly free from moisture. Though I live upon a ground floor, +surrounded on three sides by a garden, I could not perceive the least +damp, either on the floors, or the furniture; neither was I much +incommoded by the asthma, which used always to harass me most in wet +weather. In a word, I passed the winter here much more comfortably than +I expected. About the vernal equinox, however, I caught a violent cold, +which was attended with a difficulty of breathing, and as the sun +advances towards the tropic, I find myself still more subject to +rheums. As the heat increases, the humours of the body are rarefied, +and, of consequence, the pores of the skin are opened; while the east +wind sweeping over the Alps and Apennines, covered with snow, continues +surprisingly sharp and penetrating. Even the people of the country, who +enjoy good health, are afraid of exposing themselves to the air at this +season, the intemperature of which may last till the middle of May, +when all the snow on the mountains will probably be melted: then the +air will become mild and balmy, till, in the progress of summer, it +grows disagreeably hot, and the strong evaporation from the sea makes +it so saline, as to be unhealthy for those who have a scorbutical +habit. When the sea-breeze is high, this evaporation is so great as to +cover the surface of the body with a kind of volatile brine, as I +plainly perceived last summer. I am more and more convinced that this +climate is unfavourable for the scurvy. Were I obliged to pass my life +in it, I would endeavour to find a country retreat among the mountains, +at some distance from the sea, where I might enjoy a cool air, free +from this impregnation, unmolested by those flies, gnats, and other +vermin which render the lower parts almost uninhabitable. To this place +I would retire in the month of June, and there continue till the +beginning of October, when I would return to my habitation in Nice, +where the winter is remarkably mild and agreeable. In March and April +however, I would not advise a valetudinarian to go forth, without +taking precaution against the cold. An agreeable summer retreat may be +found on the other side of the Var, at, or near the town of Grasse, +which is pleasantly situated on the ascent of a hill in Provence, about +seven English miles from Nice. This place is famous for its pomatum, +gloves, wash-balls, perfumes, and toilette-boxes, lined with bergamot. +I am told it affords good lodging, and is well supplied with provisions. + +We are now preparing for our journey to England, from the exercise of +which I promise myself much benefit: a journey extremely agreeable, not +only on that account, but also because it will restore me to the +company of my friends, and remove me from a place where I leave nothing +but the air which I can possibly regret. + +The only friendships I have contracted at Nice are with strangers, who, +like myself, only sojourn here for a season. I now find by experience, +it is great folly to buy furniture, unless one is resolved to settle +here for some years. The Nissards assured me, with great confidence, +that I should always be able to sell it for a very little loss; whereas +I find myself obliged to part with it for about one-third of what it +cost. I have sent for a coach to Aix, and as soon as it arrives, shall +take my departure; so that the next letter you receive from me will be +dated at some place on the road. I purpose to take Antibes, Toulon, +Marseilles, Aix, Avignon, and Orange, in my way: places which I have +not yet seen; and where, perhaps, I shall find something for your +amusement, which will always be a consideration of some weight +with,--Dear Sir, Yours. + + + +LETTER XXXVIII + +To DR. S-- AT NICE + +TURIN, March 18, 1765. + +DEAR SIR,--Turin is about thirty leagues from Nice, the greater part of +the way lying over frightful mountains covered with snow. The +difficulty of the road, however, reaches no farther than Coni, from +whence there is an open highway through a fine plain country, as far as +the capital of Piedmont, and the traveller is accommodated with chaise +and horses to proceed either post, or by cambiatura, as in other parts +of Italy. There are only two ways of performing the journey over the +mountains from Nice; one is to ride a mule-back, and the other to be +carried in a chair. The former I chose, and set out with my servant on +the seventh day of February at two in the afternoon. I was hardly clear +of Nice, when it began to rain so hard that in less than an hour the +mud was half a foot deep in many parts of the road. This was the only +inconvenience we suffered, the way being in other respects practicable +enough; for there is but one small hill to cross on this side of the +village of L'Escarene, where we arrived about six in the evening. The +ground in this neighbourhood is tolerably cultivated, and the mountains +are planted to the tops with olive trees. The accommodation here is so +very bad, that I had no inclination to be a-bed longer than was +absolutely necessary for refreshment; and therefore I proceeded on my +journey at two in the morning, conducted by a guide, whom I hired for +this purpose at the rate of three livres a day. Having ascended one +side, and descended the other, of the mountain called Braus, which took +up four hours, though the road is not bad, we at six reached the +village of Sospello, which is agreeably situated in a small valley, +surrounded by prodigious high and barren mountains. This little plain +is pretty fertile, and being watered by a pleasant stream, forms a +delightful contrast with the hideous rocks that surround it. Having +reposed myself and my mules two hours at this place, we continued our +journey over the second mountain, called Brovis, which is rather more +considerable than the first, and in four hours arrived at La Giandola, +a tolerable inn situated betwixt the high road and a small river, about +a gunshot from the town of Brieglie, which we leave on the right. As we +jogged along in the grey of the morning, I was a little startled at two +figures which I saw before me, and began to put my pistols in order. It +must be observed that these mountains are infested with contrabandiers, +a set of smuggling peasants, very bold and desperate, who make a +traffic of selling tobacco, salt, and other merchandize, which have not +payed duty, and sometimes lay travellers under contribution. I did not +doubt but there was a gang of these free-booters at hand; but as no +more than two persons appeared, I resolved to let them know we were +prepared for defence, and fired one of my pistols, in hope that the +report of it, echoed from the surrounding rocks, would produce a proper +effect: but, the mountains and roads being entirely covered with snow +to a considerable depth, there was little or no reverberation, and the +sound was not louder than that of a pop-gun, although the piece +contained a good charge of powder. Nevertheless, it did not fail to +engage the attention of the strangers, one of whom immediately wheeled +to the left about, and being by this time very near me, gave me an +opportunity of contemplating his whole person. He was very tall, +meagre, and yellow, with a long hooked nose, and small twinkling eyes. +His head was eased in a woollen night-cap, over which he wore a flapped +hat; he had a silk handkerchief about his neck, and his mouth was +furnished with a short wooden pipe, from which he discharged wreathing +clouds of tobacco-smoke. He was wrapped in a kind of capot of green +bays, lined with wolf-skin, had a pair of monstrous boots, quilted on +the inside with cotton, was almost covered with dirt, and rode a mule +so low that his long legs hung dangling within six inches of the +ground. This grotesque figure was so much more ludicrous than terrible, +that I could not help laughing; when, taking his pipe out of his mouth, +he very politely accosted me by name. You may easily guess I was +exceedingly surprised at such an address on the top of the mountain +Brovis: but he forthwith put an end to it too, by discovering himself +to be the marquis M--, whom I had the honour to be acquainted with at +Nice. After having rallied him upon his equipage, he gave me to +understand he had set out from Nice the morning of the same day that I +departed; that he was going to Turin, and that he had sent one of his +servants before him to Coni with his baggage. Knowing him to be an +agreeable companion, I was glad of this encounter, and we resolved to +travel the rest of the way together. We dined at La Giandola, and in +the afternoon rode along the little river Roida, which runs in a bottom +between frightful precipices, and in several places forms natural +cascades, the noise of which had well-nigh deprived us of the sense of +hearing; after a winding course among these mountains, it discharges +itself into the Mediterranean at Vintimiglia, in the territory of +Genoa. As the snow did not lie on these mountains, when we cracked our +whips, there was such a repercussion of the sound as is altogether +inconceivable. We passed by the village of Saorgio, situated on an +eminence, where there is a small fortress which commands the whole +pass, and in five hours arrived at our inn, on this side the Col de +Tende, where we took up our quarters, but had very little reason to +boast of our entertainment. Our greatest difficulty, however, consisted +in pulling off the marquis's boots, which were of the kind called +Seafarot, by this time so loaded with dirt on the outside, and so +swelled with the rain within, that he could neither drag them after him +as he walked, nor disencumber his legs of them, without such violence +as seemed almost sufficient to tear him limb from limb. In a word, we +were obliged to tie a rope about his heel, and all the people in the +house assisting to pull, the poor marquis was drawn from one end of the +apartment to the other before the boot would give way: at last his legs +were happily disengaged, and the machines carefully dried and stuffed +for next day's journey. + +We took our departure from hence at three in the morning, and at four, +began to mount the Col de Tende, which is by far the highest mountain +in the whole journey: it was now quite covered with snow, which at the +top of it was near twenty feet thick. Half way up, there are quarters +for a detachment of soldiers, posted here to prevent smuggling, and an +inn called La Ca, which in the language of the country signifies the +house. At this place, we hired six men to assist us in ascending the +mountain, each of them provided with a kind of hough to break the ice, +and make a sort of steps for the mules. When we were near the top, +however, we were obliged to alight, and climb the mountain supported +each by two of those men, called Coulants who walk upon the snow with +great firmness and security. We were followed by the mules, and though +they are very sure-footed animals, and were frost-shod for the +occasion, they stumbled and fell very often; the ice being so hard that +the sharp-headed nails in their shoes could not penetrate. Having +reached the top of this mountain, from whence there is no prospect but +of other rocks and mountains, we prepared for descending on the other +side by the Leze, which is an occasional sledge made of two pieces of +wood, carried up by the Coulants for this purpose. I did not much +relish this kind of carriage, especially as the mountain was very +steep, and covered with such a thick fog that we could hardly see two +or three yards before us. Nevertheless, our guides were so confident, +and my companion, who had passed the same way on other occasions, was +so secure, that I ventured to place myself on this machine, one of the +coulants standing behind me, and the other sitting before, as the +conductor, with his feet paddling among the snow, in order to moderate +the velocity of its descent. Thus accommodated, we descended the +mountain with such rapidity, that in an hour we reached Limon, which is +the native place of almost all the muleteers who transport merchandize +from Nice to Coni and Turin. Here we waited full two hours for the +mules, which travelled with the servants by the common road. To each of +the coulants we paid forty sols, which are nearly equal to two +shillings sterling. Leaving Limon, we were in two hours quite +disengaged from the gorges of the mountains, which are partly covered +with wood and pasturage, though altogether inaccessible, except in +summer; but from the foot of the Col de Tende, the road lies through a +plain all the way to Turin. We took six hours to travel from the inn +where we had lodged over the mountain to Limon, and five hours from +thence to Coni. Here we found our baggage, which we had sent off by the +carriers one day before we departed from Nice; and here we dismissed +our guides, together with the mules. In winter, you have a mule for +this whole journey at the rate of twenty livres; and the guides are +payed at the rate of two livres a day, reckoning six days, three for +the journey to Coni, and three for their return to Nice. We set out so +early in the morning in order to avoid the inconveniencies and dangers +that attend the passage of this mountain. The first of these arises +from your meeting with long strings of loaded mules in a slippery road, +the breadth of which does not exceed a foot and an half. As it is +altogether impossible for two mules to pass each other in such a narrow +path, the muleteers have made doublings or elbows in different parts, +and when the troops of mules meet, the least numerous is obliged to +turn off into one of these doublings, and there halt until the others +are past. Travellers, in order to avoid this disagreeable delay, which +is the more vexatious, considering the excessive cold, begin the ascent +of the mountain early in the morning before the mules quit their inns. +But the great danger of travelling here when the sun is up, proceeds +from what they call the Valanches. These are balls of snow detached +from the mountains which over-top the road, either by the heat of the +sun, or the humidity of the weather. A piece of snow thus loosened from +the rock, though perhaps not above three or four feet in diameter, +increases sometimes in its descent to such a degree, as to become two +hundred paces in length, and rolls down with such rapidity, that the +traveller is crushed to death before he can make three steps on the +road. These dreadful heaps drag every thing along with them in their +descent. They tear up huge trees by the roots, and if they chance to +fall upon a house, demolish it to the foundation. Accidents of this +nature seldom happen in the winter while the weather is dry; and yet +scarce a year passes in which some mules and their drivers do not +perish by the valanches. At Coni we found the countess C-- from Nice, +who had made the same journey in a chair, carried by porters. This is +no other than a common elbow-chair of wood, with a straw bottom, +covered above with waxed cloth, to protect the traveller from the rain +or snow, and provided with a foot-board upon which the feet rest. + +It is carried like a sedan-chair; and for this purpose six or eight +porters are employed at the rate of three or four livres a head per +day, according to the season, allowing three days for their return. Of +these six men, two are between the poles carrying like common chairmen, +and each of these is supported by the other two, one at each hand: but +as those in the middle sustain the greatest burthen, they are relieved +by the others in a regular rotation. In descending the mountain, they +carry the poles on their shoulders, and in that case, four men are +employed, one at each end. + +At Coni, you may have a chaise to go with the same horses to Turin, for +which you pay fifteen livres, and are a day and a half on the way. You +may post it, however, in one day, and then the price is seven livres +ten sols per post, and ten sols to the postilion. The method we took +was that of cambiatura. This is a chaise with horses shifted at the +same stages that are used in posting: but as it is supposed to move +slower, we pay but five livres per post, and ten sols to the postilion. +In order to quicken its pace, we gave ten sols extraordinary to each +postilion, and for this gratification, he drove us even faster than the +post. The chaises are like those of Italy, and will take on near two +hundred weight of baggage. + +Coni is situated between two small streams, and though neither very +large nor populous, is considerable for the strength of its +fortifications. It is honoured with the title of the Maiden-Fortress, +because though several times besieged, it was never taken. The prince +of Conti invested it in the war of 1744; but he was obliged to raise +the siege, after having given battle to the king of Sardinia. The place +was gallantly defended by the baron Leutrum, a German protestant, the +best general in the Sardinian service: but what contributed most to the +miscarriage of the enemy, was a long tract of heavy rains, which +destroyed all their works, and rendered their advances impracticable. + +I need not tell you that Piedmont is one of the most fertile and +agreeable countries in Europe, and this the most agreeable part of all +Piedmont, though it now appeared to disadvantage from the rigorous +season of the year: I shall only observe that we passed through +Sabellian, which is a considerable town, and arrived in the evening at +Turin. We entered this fine city by the gate of Nice, and passing +through the elegant Piazza di San Carlo, took up our quarters at the +Bona Fama, which stands at one corner of the great square, called La +Piazza Castel. + +Were I even disposed to give a description of Turin, I should be +obliged to postpone it till another opportunity, having no room at +present to say any thing more, but that I am always--Yours. + + + +LETTER XXXIX + +AIX EN PROVENCE, May 10, 1765. + +DEAR SIR,--I am thus far on my way to England. I had resolved to leave +Nice, without having the least dispute with any one native of the +place; but I found it impossible to keep this resolution. My landlord, +Mr. C--, a man of fashion, with whose family we had always lived in +friendship, was so reasonable as to expect I should give him up the +house and garden, though they were to be paid for till Michaelmas, and +peremptorily declared I should not be permitted to sub-let them to any +other person. He had of his own accord assured me more than once that +he would take my furniture off my hands, and trusting to this +assurance, I had lost the opportunity, of disposing it to advantage: +but, when the time of my departure drew near, he refused to take it, at +the same time insisting upon having the key of the house and garden, as +well as on being paid the whole rent directly, though it would not be +due till the middle of September. I was so exasperated at this +treatment from a man whom I had cultivated with particular respect, +that I determined to contest it at law: but the affair was accommodated +by the mediation of a father of the Minims, a friend to both, and a +merchant of Nice, who charged himself with the care of the house and +furniture. A stranger must conduct himself with the utmost +circumspection to be able to live among these people without being the +dupe of imposition. + +I had sent to Aix for a coach and four horses, which I hired at the +rate of eighteen French livres a day, being equal to fifteen shillings +and nine-pence sterling. The river Var was so swelled by the melting of +the snow on the mountains, as to be impassable by any wheel-carriage; +and, therefore, the coach remained at Antibes, to which we went by +water, the distance being about nine or ten miles. This is the +Antipolis of the antients, said to have been built like Nice, by a +colony from Marseilles. In all probability, however, it was later than +the foundation of Nice, and took its name from its being situated +directly opposite to that city. Pliny says it was famous for its +tunny-fishery; and to this circumstance Martial alludes in the +following lines + + Antipolitani, fateor, sum filia thynni. + Essem si Scombri non tibi missa forem. + + I'm spawned from Tunny of Antibes, 'tis true. + Right Scomber had I been, I ne'er had come to you. + +The famous pickle Garum was made from the Thynnus or Tunny as well as +from the Scomber, but that from the Scomber was counted the most +delicate. Commentators, however, are not agreed about the Scomber or +Scombrus. Some suppose it was the Herring or Sprat; others believe it +was the mackarel; after all, perhaps it was the Anchovy, which I do not +find distinguished by any other Latin name: for the Encrasicolus is a +Greek appellation altogether generical. Those who would be further +informed about the Garum and the Scomber may consult Caelius Apicius de +recogninaria, cum notis, variorum. + +At present, Antibes is the frontier of France towards Italy, pretty +strongly fortified, and garrisoned by a battalion of soldiers. The town +is small and inconsiderable: but the basin of the harbour is surrounded +to seaward by a curious bulwark founded upon piles driven in the water, +consisting of a wall, ramparts, casemates, and quay. Vessels lie very +safe in this harbour; but there is not water at the entrance of it to +admit of ships of any burthen. The shallows run so far off from the +coast, that a ship of force cannot lie near enough to batter the town; +but it was bombarded in the late war. Its chief strength by land +consists in a small quadrangular fort detached from the body of the +place, which, in a particular manner, commands the entrance of the +harbour. The wall of the town built in the sea has embrasures and +salient angles, on which a great number of cannon may be mounted. + +I think the adjacent country is much more pleasant than that on the +side of Nice; and there is certainly no essential difference in the +climate. The ground here is not so encumbered; it is laid out in +agreeable inclosures, with intervals of open fields, and the mountains +rise with an easy ascent at a much greater distance from the sea, than +on the other side of the bay. Besides, here are charming rides along +the beach, which is smooth and firm. When we passed in the last week of +April, the corn was in the ear; the cherries were almost ripe; and the +figs had begun to blacken. I had embarked my heavy baggage on board a +London ship, which happened to be at Nice, ready to sail: as for our +small trunks or portmanteaus, which we carried along with us, they were +examined at Antibes; but the ceremony was performed very superficially, +in consequence of tipping the searcher with half-a-crown, which is a +wonderful conciliator at all the bureaus in this country. + +We lay at Cannes, a neat village, charmingly situated on the beach of +the Mediterranean, exactly opposite to the isles Marguerites, where +state-prisoners are confined. As there are some good houses in this +place, I would rather live here for the sake of the mild climate, than +either at Antibes or Nice. Here you are not cooped up within walls, nor +crowded with soldiers and people: but are already in the country, enjoy +a fine air, and are well supplied with all sorts of fish. + +The mountains of Esterelles, which in one of my former letters I +described as a most romantic and noble plantation of ever-greens, +trees, shrubs, and aromatic plants, is at present quite desolate. Last +summer, some execrable villains set fire to the pines, when the wind +was high. It continued burning for several months, and the +conflagration extended above ten leagues, consuming an incredible +quantity of timber. The ground is now naked on each side of the road, +or occupied by the black trunks of the trees, which have been scorched +without falling. They stand as so many monuments of the judgment of +heaven, filling the mind with horror and compassion. I could hardly +refrain from shedding tears at this dismal spectacle, when I recalled +the idea of what it was about eighteen months ago. + +As we stayed all night at Frejus, I had an opportunity of viewing the +amphitheatre at leisure. As near as I can judge by the eye, it is of +the same dimensions with that of Nismes; but shockingly dilapidated. +The stone seats rising from the arena are still extant, and the cells +under them, where the wild beasts were kept. There are likewise the +remains of two galleries one over another; and two vomitoria or great +gateways at opposite sides of the arena, which is now a fine green, +with a road through the middle of it: but all the external architecture +and the ornaments are demolished. The most intire part of the wall now +constitutes part of a monastery, the monks of which, I am told, have +helped to destroy the amphitheatre, by removing the stones for their +own purposes of building. In the neighbourhood of this amphitheatre, +which stands without the walls, are the vestiges of an old edifice, +said to have been the palace where the imperator or president resided: +for it was a Roman colony, much favoured by Julius Caesar, who gave it +the name of Forum Julii, and Civitas Forojuliensis. In all probability, +it was he who built the amphitheatre, and brought hither the water ten +leagues from the river of Ciagne, by means of an aqueduct, some arcades +of which are still standing on the other side of the town. A great +number of statues were found in this place, together with antient +inscriptions, which have been published by different authors. I need +not tell you that Julius Agricola, the father-in-law of Tacitus, the +historian, was a native of Frejus, which is now a very poor +inconsiderable place. From hence the country opens to the left, forming +an extensive plain between the sea and the mountains, which are a +continuation of the Alps, that stretches through Provence and Dauphine. +This plain watered with pleasant streams, and varied with vineyards, +corn-fields, and meadow-ground, afforded a most agreeable prospect to +our eyes, which were accustomed to the sight of scorching sands, rugged +rocks, and abrupt mountains in the neighbourhood of Nice. Although this +has much the appearance of a corn-country, I am told it does not +produce enough for the consumption of its inhabitants, who are obliged +to have annual supplies from abroad, imported at Marseilles. A +Frenchman, at an average, eats three times the quantity of bread that +satisfies a native of England, and indeed it is undoubtedly the staff +of his life. I am therefore surprised that the Provencaux do not +convert part of their vineyards into corn-fields: for they may boast of +their wine as they please; but that which is drank by the common +people, not only here, but also in all the wine countries of France, is +neither so strong, nourishing, nor (in my opinion) so pleasant to the +taste as the small-beer of England. It must be owned that all the +peasants who have wine for their ordinary drink are of a diminutive +size, in comparison of those who use milk, beer, or even water; and it +is a constant observation, that when there is a scarcity of wine, the +common people are always more healthy, than in those seasons when it +abounds. The longer I live, the more I am convinced that wine, and all +fermented liquors, are pernicious to the human constitution; and that +for the preservation of health, and exhilaration of the spirits, there +is no beverage comparable to simple water. Between Luc and Toulon, the +country is delightfully parcelled out into inclosures. Here is plenty +of rich pasturage for black cattle, and a greater number of pure +streams and rivulets than I have observed in any other parts of France. + +Toulon is a considerable place, even exclusive of the basin, docks, and +arsenal, which indeed are such as justify the remark made by a stranger +when he viewed them. "The king of France (said he) is greater at Toulon +than at Versailles." The quay, the jetties, the docks, and magazines, +are contrived and executed with precision, order, solidity, and +magnificence. I counted fourteen ships of the line lying unrigged in +the basin, besides the Tonant of eighty guns, which was in dock +repairing, and a new frigate on the stocks. I was credibly informed +that in the last war, the king of France was so ill-served with cannon +for his navy, that in every action there was scarce a ship which had +not several pieces burst. These accidents did great damage, and +discouraged the French mariners to such a degree, that they became more +afraid of their own guns than of those of the English. There are now at +Toulon above two thousand pieces of iron cannon unfit for service. This +is an undeniable proof of the weakness and neglect of the French +administration: but a more suprizing proof of their imbecility, is the +state of the fortifications that defend the entrance of this very +harbour. I have some reason to think that they trusted for its security +entirely to our opinion that it must be inaccessible. Capt. E--, of one +of our frigates, lately entered the harbour with a contrary wind, which +by obliging him to tack, afforded an opportunity of sounding the whole +breadth and length of the passage. He came in without a pilot, and made +a pretence of buying cordage, or some other stores; but the French +officers were much chagrined at the boldness of his enterprize. They +alleged that he came for no other reason but to sound the channel; and +that he had an engineer aboard, who made drawings of the land and the +forts, their bearings and distances. In all probability, these +suspicions were communicated to the ministry; for an order immediately +arrived, that no stranger should be admitted into the docks and arsenal. + +Part of the road from hence to Marseilles lies through a vast mountain, +which resembles that of Estrelles; but is not so well covered with +wood, though it has the advantage of an agreeable stream running +through the bottom. + +I was much pleased with Marseilles, which is indeed a noble city, +large, populous, and flourishing. The streets of what is called the new +Town are open, airy and spacious; the houses well built, and even +magnificent. The harbour is an oval basin, surrounded on every side +either by the buildings or the land, so that the shipping lies +perfectly secure; and here is generally an incredible number of +vessels. On the city side, there is a semi-circular quay of free-stone, +which extends thirteen hundred paces; and the space between this and +the houses that front it, is continually filled with a surprising crowd +of people. The gallies, to the number of eight or nine, are moored with +their sterns to one part of the wharf, and the slaves are permitted to +work for their own benefit at their respective occupations, in little +shops or booths, which they rent for a trifle. There you see tradesmen +of all kinds sitting at work, chained by one foot, shoe-makers, +taylors, silversmiths, watch and clock-makers, barbers, +stocking-weavers, jewellers, pattern-drawers, scriveners, booksellers, +cutlers, and all manner of shop-keepers. They pay about two sols a day +to the king for this indulgence; live well and look jolly; and can +afford to sell their goods and labour much cheaper than other dealers +and tradesmen. At night, however, they are obliged to lie aboard. +Notwithstanding the great face of business at Marseilles, their trade +is greatly on the decline; and their merchants are failing every day. +This decay of commerce is in a great measure owing to the English, who, +at the peace, poured in such a quantity of European merchandize into +Martinique and Guadalupe, that when the merchants of Marseilles sent +over their cargoes, they found the markets overstocked, and were +obliged to sell for a considerable loss. Besides, the French colonists +had such a stock of sugars, coffee, and other commodities lying by them +during the war, that upon the first notice of peace, they shipped them +off in great quantities for Marseilles. I am told that the produce of +the islands is at present cheaper here than where it grows; and on the +other hand the merchandize of this country sells for less money at +Martinique than in Provence. + +A single person, who travels in this country, may live at a reasonable +rate in these towns, by eating at the public ordinaries: but I would +advise all families that come hither to make any stay, to take +furnished lodgings as soon as they can: for the expence of living at an +hotel is enormous. I was obliged to pay at Marseilles four livres a +head for every meal, and half that price for my servant, and was +charged six livres a day besides for the apartment, so that our daily +expence, including breakfast and a valet de place, amounted to two +loui'dores. The same imposition prevails all over the south of France, +though it is generally supposed to be the cheapest and most plentiful +part of the kingdom. Without all doubt, it must be owing to the folly +and extravagance of English travellers, who have allowed themselves to +be fleeced without wincing, until this extortion is become authorized +by custom. It is very disagreeable riding in the avenues of Marseilles, +because you are confined in a dusty high road, crouded with carriages +and beasts of burden, between two white walls, the reflection from +which, while the sun shines, is intolerable. But in this neighbourhood +there is a vast number of pleasant country-houses, called Bastides, +said to amount to twelve thousand, some of which may be rented ready +furnished at a very reasonable price. Marseilles is a gay city, and the +inhabitants indulge themselves in a variety of amusements. They have +assemblies, a concert spirituel, and a comedy. Here is also a spacious +cours, or walk shaded with trees, to which in the evening there is a +great resort of well-dressed people. + +Marseilles being a free port, there is a bureau about half a league +from the city on the road to Aix, where all carriages undergo +examination; and if any thing contraband is found, the vehicle, +baggage, and even the horses are confiscated. We escaped this +disagreeable ceremony by the sagacity of our driver. Of his own accord, +he declared at the bureau, that we had bought a pound of coffee and +some sugar at Marseilles, and were ready to pay the duty, which +amounted to about ten sols. They took the money, gave him a receipt, +and let the carriage pass, without further question. + +I proposed to stay one night only at Aix: but Mr. A--r, who is here, +had found such benefit from drinking the waters, that I was persuaded +to make trial of them for eight or ten days. I have accordingly taken +private lodgings, and drank them at the fountain-head, not without +finding considerable benefit. In my next I shall say something further +of these waters, though I am afraid they will not prove a source of +much entertainment. It will be sufficient for me to find them +contribute in any degree to the health of--Dear Sir, Yours assuredly. + + + +LETTER XL + +BOULOGNE, May 23, 1765. + +DEAR DOCTOR,--I found three English families at Aix, with whom I could +have passed my time very agreeably but the society is now dissolved. +Mr. S--re and his lady left the place in a few days after we arrived. +Mr. A--r and lady Betty are gone to Geneva; and Mr. G--r with his +family remains at Aix. This gentleman, who laboured under a most +dreadful nervous asthma, has obtained such relief from this climate, +that he intends to stay another year in the place: and Mr. A--r found +surprizing benefit from drinking the waters, for a scorbutical +complaint. As I was incommoded by both these disorders, I could not but +in justice to myself, try the united efforts of the air and the waters; +especially as this consideration was re-inforced by the kind and +pressing exhortations of Mr. A--r and lady Betty, which I could not in +gratitude resist. + +Aix, the capital of Provence, is a large city, watered by the small +river Are. It was a Roman colony, said to be founded by Caius Sextus +Calvinus, above a century before the birth of Christ. From the source +of mineral water here found, added to the consul's name, it was called +Aquae Sextiae. It was here that Marius, the conqueror of the Teutones, +fixed his headquarters, and embellished the place with temples, +aqueducts, and thermae, of which, however, nothing now remains. The +city, as it now stands, is well built, though the streets in general +are narrow, and kept in a very dirty condition. But it has a noble +cours planted with double rows of tall trees, and adorned with three or +four fine fountains, the middlemost of which discharges hot water +supplied from the source of the baths. On each side there is a row of +elegant houses, inhabited chiefly by the noblesse, of which there is +here a considerable number. The parliament, which is held at Aix, +brings hither a great resort of people; and as many of the inhabitants +are persons of fashion, they are well bred, gay, and sociable. The duc +de Villars, who is governor of the province, resides on the spot, and +keeps an open assembly, where strangers are admitted without reserve, +and made very welcome, if they will engage in play, which is the sole +occupation of the whole company. Some of our English people complain, +that when they were presented to him, they met with a very cold +reception. The French, as well as other foreigners, have no idea of a +man of family and fashion, without the title of duke, count, marquis, +or lord, and where an English gentleman is introduced by the simple +expression of monsieur tel, Mr. Suchathing, they think he is some +plebeian, unworthy of any particular attention. + +Aix is situated in a bottom, almost surrounded by hills, which, +however, do not screen it from the Bize, or north wind, that blows +extremely sharp in the winter and spring, rendering the air almost +insupportably cold, and very dangerous to those who have some kinds of +pulmonary complaints, such as tubercules, abscesses, or spitting of +blood. Lord H--, who passed part of last winter in this place, +afflicted with some of these symptoms, grew worse every day while he +continued at Aix: but, he no sooner removed to Marseilles, than all his +complaints abated; such a difference there is in the air of these two +places, though the distance between them does not exceed ten or twelve +miles. But the air of Marseilles, though much more mild than that of +Aix in the winter is not near so warm as the climate of Nice, where we +find in plenty such flowers, fruit, and vegetables, even in the +severest season, as will not grow and ripen, either at Marseilles or +Toulon. + +If the air of Aix is disagreeably cold in the winter, it is rendered +quite insufferable in the summer, from excessive heat, occasioned by +the reflexion from the rocks and mountains, which at the same time +obstruct the circulation of air: for it must be observed, that the same +mountains which serve as funnels and canals, to collect and discharge +the keen blasts of winter, will provide screens to intercept intirely +the faint breezes of summer. Aix, though pretty well provided with +butcher's meat, is very ill supplied with potherbs; and they have no +poultry but what comes at a vast distance from the Lionnois. They say +their want of roots, cabbage, cauliflower, etc. is owing to a scarcity +of water: but the truth is, they are very bad gardeners. Their oil is +good and cheap: their wine is indifferent: but their chief care seems +employed on the culture of silk, the staple of Provence, which is every +where shaded with plantations of mulberry trees, for the nourishment of +the worms. Notwithstanding the boasted cheapness of every article of +housekeeping, in the south of France, I am persuaded a family may live +for less money at York, Durham, Hereford, and in many other cities of +England than at Aix in Provence; keep a more plentiful table; and be +much more comfortably situated in all respects. I found lodging and +provision at Aix fifty per cent dearer than at Montpellier, which is +counted the dearest place in Languedoc. + +The baths of Aix, so famous in antiquity, were quite demolished by the +irruptions of the barbarians. The very source of the water was lost, +till the beginning of the present century (I think the year 1704), when +it was discovered by accident, in digging for the foundation of a +house, at the foot of a hill, just without the city wall. Near the same +place was found a small stone altar, with the figure of a Priapus, and +some letters in capitals, which the antiquarians have differently +interpreted. From this figure, it was supposed that the waters were +efficacious in cases of barrenness. It was a long time, however, before +any person would venture to use them internally, as it did not appear +that they had ever been drank by the antients. On their re-appearance, +they were chiefly used for baths to horses, and other beasts which had +the mange, and other cutaneous eruptions. At length poor people began +to bathe in them for the same disorders, and received such benefit from +them, as attracted the attention of more curious inquirers. A very +superficial and imperfect analysis was made and published, with a few +remarkable histories of the cures they had performed, by three +different physicians of those days; and those little treatises, I +suppose, encouraged valetudinarians to drink them without ceremony. +They were found serviceable in the gout, the gravel, scurvy, dropsy, +palsy, indigestion, asthma, and consumption; and their fame soon +extended itself all over Languedoc, Gascony, Dauphine, and Provence. +The magistrates, with a view to render them more useful and commodious, +have raised a plain building, in which there are a couple of private +baths, with a bedchamber adjoining to each, where individuals may use +them both internally and externally, for a moderate expence. These +baths are paved with marble, and supplied with water each by a large +brass cock, which you can turn at pleasure. At one end of this edifice, +there is an octagon, open at top, having a bason, with a stone pillar +in the middle, which discharges water from the same source, all round, +by eight small brass cocks; and hither people of all ranks come of a +morning, with their glasses, to drink the water, or wash their sores, +or subject their contracted limbs to the stream. This last operation, +called the douche, however, is more effectually undergone in the +private bath, where the stream is much more powerful. The natural +warmth of this water, as nearly as I can judge from recollection, is +about the same degree of temperature with that in the Queen's Bath, at +Bath in Somersetshire. It is perfectly transparent, sparkling in the +glass, light and agreeable to the taste, and may be drank without any +preparation, to the quantity of three or four pints at a time. There +are many people at Aix who swallow fourteen half pint glasses every +morning, during the season, which is in the month of May, though it may +be taken with equal benefit all the year round. It has no sensible +operation but by urine, an effect which pure water would produce, if +drank in the same quantity. + +If we may believe those who have published their experiments, this +water produces neither agitation, cloud, or change of colour, when +mixed with acids, alkalies, tincture of galls, syrup of violets, or +solution of silver. The residue, after boiling, evaporation, and +filtration, affords a very small proportion of purging salt, and +calcarious earth, which last ferments with strong acids. As I had +neither hydrometer nor thermometer to ascertain the weight and warmth +of this water; nor time to procure the proper utensils, to make the +preparations, and repeat the experiments necessary to exhibit a +complete analysis, I did not pretend to enter upon this process; but +contented myself with drinking, bathing, and using the douche, which +perfectly answered my expectation, having, in eight days, almost cured +an ugly scorbutic tetter, which had for some time deprived me of the +use of my right hand. I observed that the water, when used externally, +left always a kind of oily appearance on the skin: that when, we boiled +it at home, in an earthen pot, the steams smelled like those of +sulphur, and even affected my lungs in the same manner: but the bath +itself smelled strong of a lime-kiln. The water, after standing all +night in a bottle, yielded a remarkably vinous taste and odour, +something analogous to that of dulcified spirit of nitre. Whether the +active particles consist of a volatile vitriol, or a very fine +petroleum, or a mixture of both, I shall not pretend to determine: but +the best way I know of discovering whether it is really impregnated +with a vitriolic principle, too subtil and fugitive for the usual +operations of chymistry, is to place bottles, filled with wine, in the +bath, or adjacent room, which wine, if there is really a volatile acid, +in any considerable quantity, will be pricked in eight and forty hours. + +Having ordered our coach to be refitted, and provided with fresh +horses, as well as with another postilion, in consequence of which +improvements, I payed at the rate of a loui'dore per diem to Lyons and +back again, we departed from Aix, and the second day of our journey +passing the Durance in a boat, lay at Avignon. This river, the Druentia +of the antients, is a considerable stream, extremely rapid, which +descends from the mountains, and discharges itself in the Rhone. After +violent rains it extends its channel, so as to be impassable, and often +overflows the country to a great extent. In the middle of a plain, +betwixt Orgon and this river, we met the coach in which we had +travelled eighteen months before, from Lyons to Montpellier, conducted +by our old driver Joseph, who no sooner recognized my servant at a +distance, by his musquetoon, than he came running towards our carriage, +and seizing my hand, even shed tears of joy. Joseph had been travelling +through Spain, and was so imbrowned by the sun, that he might have +passed for an Iroquois. I was much pleased with the marks of gratitude +which the poor fellow expressed towards his benefactors. He had some +private conversation with our voiturier, whose name was Claude, to whom +he gave such a favourable character of us, as in all probability +induced him to be wonderfully obliging during the whole journey. + +You know Avignon is a large city belonging to the pope. It was the +Avenio Cavarum of the antients, and changed masters several times, +belonging successively to the Romans, Burgundians, Franks, the kingdom +of Arles, the counts of Provence, and the sovereigns of Naples. It was +sold in the fourteenth century, by queen Jane I. of Naples, to Pope +Clement VI. for the sum of eighty thousand florins, and since that +period has continued under the dominion of the see of Rome. Not but +that when the duc de Crequi, the French ambassador, was insulted at +Rome in the year 1662, the parliament of Provence passed an arret, +declaring the city of Avignon, and the county Venaiss in part of the +ancient domain of Provence; and therefore reunited it to the crown of +France, which accordingly took possession; though it was afterwards +restored to the Roman see at the peace of Pisa. The pope, however, +holds it by a precarious title, at the mercy of the French king, who +may one day be induced to resume it, upon payment of the original +purchase-money. As a succession of popes resided here for the space of +seventy years, the city could not fail to be adorned with a great +number of magnificent churches and convents, which are richly +embellished with painting, sculpture, shrines, reliques, and tombs. +Among the last, is that of the celebrated Laura, whom Petrarch has +immortalized by his poetry, and for whom Francis I. of France took the +trouble to write an epitaph. Avignon is governed by a vice-legate from +the pope, and the police of the city is regulated by the consuls. + +It is a large place, situated in a fruitful plain, surrounded by high +walls built of hewn stone, which on the west side are washed by the +Rhone. Here was a noble bridge over the river, but it is now in ruins. +On the other side, a branch of the Sorgue runs through part of the +city. This is the river anciently called Sulga, formed by the famous +fountain of Vaucluse in this neighbourhood, where the poet Petrarch +resided. It is a charming transparent stream, abounding with excellent +trout and craw-fish. We passed over it on a stone bridge, in our way to +Orange, the Arausio Cavarum of the Romans, still distinguished by some +noble monuments of antiquity. These consist of a circus, an aqueduct, a +temple, and a triumphal arch, which last was erected in honour of Caius +Marius, and Luctatius Catulus, after the great victory they obtained in +this country over the Cimbri and Teutones. It is a very magnificent +edifice, adorned on all sides with trophies and battles in basso +relievo. The ornaments of the architecture, and the sculpture, are +wonderfully elegant for the time in which it was erected; and the whole +is surprisingly well preserved, considering its great antiquity. It +seems to me to be as entire and perfect as the arch of Septimius +Severus at Rome. Next day we passed two very impetuous streams, the +Drome and the Isere. The first, which very much resembles the Var, we +forded: but the Isere we crossed in a boat, which as well as that upon +the Durance, is managed by the traille, a moveable or running pulley, +on a rope stretched between two wooden machines erected on the opposite +sides of the river. The contrivance is simple and effectual, and the +passage equally safe and expeditious. The boatman has nothing to do, +but by means of a long massy rudder, to keep the head obliquely to the +stream, the force of which pushes the boat along, the block to which it +is fixed sliding upon the rope from one side to the other. All these +rivers take their rise from the mountains, which are continued through +Provence and Dauphine, and fall into the Rhone: and all of them, when +swelled by sudden rains, overflow the flat country. Although Dauphine +affords little or no oil, it produces excellent wines, particularly +those of Hermitage and Cote-roti. The first of these is sold on the +spot for three livres the bottle, and the other for two. The country +likewise yields a considerable quantity of corn, and a good deal of +grass. It is well watered with streams, and agreeably shaded with wood. +The weather was pleasant, and we had a continued song of nightingales +from Aix to Fontainebleau. + +I cannot pretend to specify the antiquities of Vienne, antiently called +Vienna Allobrogum. It was a Roman colony, and a considerable city, +which the antients spared no pains and expence to embellish. It is +still a large town, standing among several hills on the banks of the +Rhone, though all its former splendor is eclipsed, its commerce +decayed, and most of its antiquities are buried in ruins. The church of +Notre Dame de la Vie was undoubtedly a temple. On the left of the road, +as you enter it, by the gate of Avignon, there is a handsome obelisk, +or rather pyramid, about thirty feet high, raised upon a vault +supported by four pillars of the Tuscan order. It is certainly a Roman +work, and Montfaucon supposes it to be a tomb, as he perceived an +oblong stone jetting out from the middle of the vault, in which the +ashes of the defunct were probably contained. The story of Pontius +Pilate, who is said to have ended his days in this place, is a fable. +On the seventh day of our journey from Aix, we arrived at Lyons, where +I shall take my leave of you for the present, being with great +truth--Yours, etc. + + + +LETTER XLI + +BOULOGNE, June 13, 1765. + +DEAR SIR,--I am at last in a situation to indulge my view with a sight +of Britain, after an absence of two years; and indeed you cannot +imagine what pleasure I feel while I survey the white cliffs of Dover, +at this distance. Not that I am at all affected by the nescia qua +dulcedine natalis soli, of Horace. That seems to be a kind of +fanaticism founded on the prejudices of education, which induces a +Laplander to place the terrestrial paradise among the snows of Norway, +and a Swiss to prefer the barren mountains of Solleure to the fruitful +plains of Lombardy. I am attached to my country, because it is the land +of liberty, cleanliness, and convenience: but I love it still more +tenderly, as the scene of all my interesting connexions; as the +habitation of my friends, for whose conversation, correspondence, and +esteem, I wish alone to live. + +Our journey hither from Lyons produced neither accident nor adventure +worth notice; but abundance of little vexations, which may be termed +the Plagues of Posting. At Lyons, where we stayed only a few days, I +found a return-coach, which I hired to Paris for six loui'dores. It was +a fine roomy carriage, elegantly furnished, and made for travelling; so +strong and solid in all its parts, that there was no danger of its +being shaken to pieces by the roughness of the road: but its weight and +solidity occasioned so much friction between the wheels and the +axle-tree, that we ran the risque of being set on fire three or four +times a day. Upon a just comparison of all circumstances posting is +much more easy, convenient, and reasonable in England than in France. +The English carriages, horses, harness, and roads are much better; and +the postilions more obliging and alert. The reason is plain and +obvious. If I am ill-used at the post-house in England, I can be +accommodated elsewhere. The publicans on the road are sensible of this, +and therefore they vie with each other in giving satisfaction to +travellers. But in France, where the post is monopolized, the +post-masters and postilions, knowing that the traveller depends +intirely upon them, are the more negligent and remiss in their duty, as +well as the more encouraged to insolence and imposition. Indeed the +stranger seems to be left intirely at the mercy of those fellows, +except in large towns, where he may have recourse to the magistrate or +commanding officer. The post stands very often by itself in a lone +country situation, or in a paultry village, where the post-master is +the principal inhabitant; and in such a case, if you should be +ill-treated, by being supplied with bad horses; if you should be +delayed on frivolous pretences, in order to extort money; if the +postilions should drive at a waggon pace, with a view to provoke your +impatience; or should you in any shape be insulted by them or their +masters; and I know not any redress you can have, except by a formal +complaint to the comptroller of the posts, who is generally one of the +ministers of state, and pays little or no regard to any such +representations. I know an English gentleman, the brother of an earl, +who wrote a letter of complaint to the Duc de Villars, governor of +Provence, against the post-master of Antibes, who had insulted and +imposed upon him. The duke answered his letter, promising to take order +that the grievance should be redressed; and never thought of it after. +Another great inconvenience which attends posting in France, is that if +you are retarded by any accident, you cannot in many parts of the +kingdom find a lodging, without perhaps travelling two or three posts +farther than you would choose to go, to the prejudice of your health, +and even the hazard of your life; whereas on any part of the post-road +in England, you will meet with tolerable accommodation at every stage. +Through the whole south of France, except in large cities, the inns are +cold, damp, dark, dismal, and dirty; the landlords equally disobliging +and rapacious; the servants aukward, sluttish, and slothful; and the +postilions lazy, lounging, greedy, and impertinent. If you chide them +for lingering, they will continue to delay you the longer: if you +chastise them with sword, cane, cudgel, or horse-whip, they will either +disappear entirely, and leave you without resource; or they will find +means to take vengeance by overturning your carriage. The best method I +know of travelling with any degree of comfort, is to allow yourself to +become the dupe of imposition, and stimulate their endeavours by +extraordinary gratifications. I laid down a resolution (and kept it) to +give no more than four and twenty sols per post between the two +postilions; but I am now persuaded that for three-pence a post more, I +should have been much better served, and should have performed the +journey with much greater pleasure. We met with no adventures upon the +road worth reciting. The first day we were retarded about two hours by +the dutchess D--lle, and her son the duc de R--f--t, who by virtue of +an order from the minister, had anticipated all the horses at the post. +They accosted my servant, and asked if his master was a lord? He +thought proper to answer in the affirmative, upon which the duke +declared that he must certainly be of French extraction, inasmuch as he +observed the lilies of France in his arms on the coach. This young +nobleman spoke a little English. He asked whence we had come; and +understanding we had been in Italy, desired to know whether the man +liked France or Italy best? Upon his giving France the preference, he +clapped him on the shoulder, and said he was a lad of good taste. The +dutchess asked if her son spoke English well, and seemed mightily +pleased when my man assured her he did. They were much more free and +condescending with my servant than with myself; for, though we saluted +them in passing, and were even supposed to be persons of quality, they +did not open their lips, while we stood close by them at the inn-door, +till their horses were changed. They were going to Geneva; and their +equipage consisted of three coaches and six, with five domestics +a-horseback. The dutchess was a tall, thin, raw-boned woman, with her +head close shaved. This delay obliged us to lie two posts short of +Macon, at a solitary auberge called Maison Blanche, which had nothing +white about it, but the name. The Lionnois is one of the most agreeable +and best-cultivated countries I ever beheld, diversified with hill, +dale, wood, and water, laid out in extensive corn-fields and rich +meadows, well stocked with black cattle, and adorned with a surprising +number of towns, villages, villas, and convents, generally situated on +the brows of gently swelling hills, so that they appear to the greatest +advantage. What contributes in a great measure to the beauty of this, +and the Maconnois, is the charming pastoral Soame, which from the city +of Chalons winds its silent course so smooth and gentle, that one can +scarce discern which way its current flows. It is this placid +appearance that tempts so many people to bathe in it at Lions, where a +good number of individuals are drowned every summer: whereas there is +no instance of any persons thus perishing in the Rhone, the rapidity of +it deterring every body from bathing in its stream. Next night we +passed at Beaune where we found nothing good but the wine, for which we +paid forty sols the bottle. At Chalons our axle-tree took fire; an +accident which detained us so long, that it was ten before we arrived +at Auxerre, where we lay. In all probability we must have lodged in the +coach, had not we been content to take four horses, and pay for six, +two posts successively. The alternative was, either to proceed with +four on those terms, or stay till the other horses should come in and +be refreshed. In such an emergency, I would advise the traveller to put +up with the four, and he will find the postilions so much upon their +mettle, that those stages will be performed sooner than the others in +which you have the full complement. + +There was an English gentleman laid up at Auxerre with a broken arm, to +whom I sent my compliments, with offers of service; but his servant +told my man that he did not choose to see any company, and had no +occasion for my service. This sort of reserve seems peculiar to the +English disposition. When two natives of any other country chance to +meet abroad, they run into each other's embrace like old friends, even +though they have never heard of one another till that moment; whereas +two Englishmen in the same situation maintain a mutual reserve and +diffidence, and keep without the sphere of each other's attraction, +like two bodies endowed with a repulsive power. We only stopped to +change horses at Dijon, the capital of Burgundy, which is a venerable +old city; but we passed part of a day at Sens, and visited a +manufacture of that stuff we call Manchester velvet, which is here made +and dyed to great perfection, under the direction of English workmen, +who have been seduced from their own country. At Fontainebleau, we went +to see the palace, or as it is called, the castle, which though an +irregular pile of building, affords a great deal of lodging, and +contains some very noble apartments, particularly the hall of audience, +with the king's and queen's chambers, upon which the ornaments of +carving and gilding are lavished with profusion rather than propriety. +Here are some rich parterres of flower-garden, and a noble orangerie, +which, however, we did not greatly admire, after having lived among the +natural orange groves of Italy. Hitherto we had enjoyed fine summer +weather, and I found myself so well, that I imagined my health was +intirely restored: but betwixt Fontainebleau and Paris, we were +overtaken by a black storm of rain, sleet, and hail, which seemed to +reinstate winter in all its rigour; for the cold weather continues to +this day. There was no resisting this attack. I caught cold +immediately; and this was reinforced at Paris, where I stayed but three +days. The same man, (Pascal Sellier, rue Guenegaud, fauxbourg St. +Germain) who owned the coach that brought us from Lyons, supplied me +with a returned berline to Boulogne, for six loui'dores, and we came +hither by easy journeys. The first night we lodged at Breteuil, where +we found an elegant inn, and very good accommodation. But the next we +were forced to take up our quarters, at the house where we had formerly +passed a very disagreeable night at Abbeville. I am now in tolerable +lodging, where I shall remain a few weeks, merely for the sake of a +little repose; then I shall gladly tempt that invidious straight which +still divides you from--Yours, &c. + + + +APPENDIX A + +A Short List of Works, mainly on Travel in France and Italy during the +Eighteenth Century, referred to in connection with the Introduction. + +ADDISON, JOSEPH. Remarks on Several Parts of Italy. London, 1705. + +ANCONE, ALESSANDRO D'. Saggio di una bibliografia ragionata dei Viaggi +in Italia. 1895. + +ANDREWS, Dr. JOHN. Letters to a Young Gentleman in setting out for +France. London, 1784. + +ARCHENHOLTZ, J. W. VON. Tableau de l'Angleterre et de l'Italie. 3 vols. +Gotha, 1788. + +ARDOUIN-DUMAZET Voyage en France. Treizieme serie. La Provence +Maritime. Paris, 1898. + +ASTRUC, JEAN. Memoires pour servir a l'histoire de la Faculte de +Medicine de Montpellier, 1767. + +BABEAU, ANTOINE. Voyageurs en France. Paris, 1885. + +BALLY, L. E. Souvenirs de Nice. 1860. + +BARETTI, G. M. Account of the Manners and Customs of Italy. 2 vols. +London, 1770. + +BASTIDE, CHARLES. John Locke. Ses theories politiques en Angleterre. +Paris, 1907. + +BECKFORD, WILLIAM. Italy, Spain, and Portugal. By the author of +"Vathek." London, 1834; new ed. 1840. + +BERCHTOLD, LEOPOLD. An Essay to direct the Inquiries of Patriotic +Travellers. 2 vols. London, 1789. + +BOULOGNE-SUR-MER et la region Boulonnaise. Ouvrage offert par la ville +aux membres de l'Association Francaise. 2 vols. 1899. + +BRETON DE LA MARTINIERE, J. Voyage en Piemont. Paris, 1803. + +BROSSES, CHARLES DE. Lettres familieres ecrites d'Italie. 1740. + +BURTON, JOHN HILL. The Scot Abroad. 2 vols. Edinburgh. 1864. + +CASANOVA DE SEINGALT, JACQUES. Memoires ecrits par lui-meme. 6 vols. +Bruxelles, 1879. + +CLEMENT, PIERRE. L'Italie en 1671. Paris, 1867. 12mo. + +COOTE'S NEW GEOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY. 2 vols., folio, 1739. + +CRAIG, G. DUNCAN. Mie jour; or Provencal Legend, Life, Language, and +Literature. London, 1877. + +DAVIS, Dr. I. B. Ancient and Modern History of Nice. London, 1807. + +DEJOB, C. Madame de Stael et l'Italie. Paris, 1890. + +DEMPSTER, C. L. H. The Maritime Alps and their Sea-Board. London, 1885. + +DORAN, DR. JOHN. Mann and Manners at the Court of Florence. London, +1876. + +DRAMARD, E. Bibliographie du Boulonnais, Calaisis, etc. Paris, 1869. + +DUTENS, L. Itineraire des Routes. First edition, 1775. + +EVELYN, JOHN. Diary, edited by H. B. Wheatley. 4 vols. London, 1879. + +FERBER, G. G. Travels through Italy, translated by R. E. Raspe. London, +1776. + +FODERE, FRANCOIS EMILE. Voyage aux Alpes Maritimes. 2 vols. Paris, 1821. + +FORSYTH, JOSEPH. Remarks on Antiquities, Arts, and Letters, during an +Excursion in Italy in the year 1802 and 1803. London, 1812; 4th +Edition, 1835. + +GARDNER, EDMUND G. The Story of Florence. London, 1900. + +GERMAIN, M. A. Histoire de la Commune de Montpellier. 3 vols. +Montpellier, 1853. + +GIOFFREDO, PIETRO. Storia delle Alpi Marittime . . . libri xxvi. Ed. +Gazzera. 1836. + +GOETHE. Autobiography, Tour in Italy, Miscellaneous Travels, and +Wilhelm Meister's Travels (Bohn). + +GROSLEY, PIERRE JEAN. Nouveaux Memoires sur l'Italie. London, 1764. New +Observations on Italy. Translated by Thomas Nugent. 1769. + +HARE, AUGUSTUS J. C. The Rivieras. 1897. + +HILLARD, G. S. Six Months in Italy. Boston, 1853; 7th edition, 1863. + +JEFFERYS, THOMAS. Description of the Maritime Parts of France. With +Maps. 1761. + +JOANNE, ADOLPHE. Provence, Alpes Maritimes. Paris, 1881 (Bibliog., p. +xxvii). + +JONES (of Nayland), WILLIAM. Observations in a Journey to Paris. +London, 1777. + +KOTZEBUE, A. F. F. VON. Travels through Italy in 1804 and 1805. 4 vols. +London, 1807. + +LALANDE, J. J. DE. Voyage en Italie. 6 vols. 12mo. 1768. + +LEE, EDWIN. Nice et son climat. Paris, 1863. + +LENOTRE, G. Paris revolutionnaire. Paris, 1895. + +LENTHERIC, CHARLES. La Provence Maritime, ancienne et moderne. Paris, +1880. Les voies antiques de la Region du Rhone. Avignon, 1882. + +LUCHAIRE, A. Hist. des Instit. Monarchiques de la France. 2 vols. 1891. + +MAUGHAM, H. N. The Book of Italian Travel. London, 1903. + +MERCIER, M. New Pictures of Paris. London, 1800. + +METRIVIER, H. Monaco et ses Princes. 2 vols. 1862. + +MILLINGEN, J. G. Sketches of Ancient and Modern Boulogne. London, 1826. + +MONTAIGNE, MICHEL DE. Journal du Voyage en Italie (Querlon). Rome, 1774. + +MONTESQUIEU, CHARLES DE SECONDAT, BARON DE. Voyages. Bordeaux, 1894. + +MONTFAUCON. Travels of the Learned Dr. Montfaucon from Paris through +Italy. London, 1712. + +MOORE, DR. JOHN. A View of Society and Manners in France (2 vols., +1779), and in Italy (2 vols., 1781) + +NASH, JAMES. Guide to Nice, 1884. + +NORTHALL, JOHN. Travels through Italy. London, 1766. + +NUGENT, THOMAS. The Grand Tour. 3rd edition. 4 vols. 1778. + +PALLIARI, LEA. Notices historiques sur le comte et la ville de Nice. +Nice, 1875. + +PETHERICK, E, A. Catalogue of the York Gate Library. An Index to the +Literature of Geography. London, 1881. + +PIOZZI, HESTER LYNCH. Observations and Reflections made in the course +of a Journey through France, Italy, and Germany. In 2 vols. London, +1789. + +RAE, JOHN. Life of Adam Smith. London, 1885. + +RICHARD, L'ABBE. Description historique et critique de l'Italie. 6 +vols. Paris, 1768. + +RICHARDERIE, BOUCHER DE LA. Bibliotheque des voyages. Paris, 1808. + +RIGBY, DR. Letters from France in 1789, edited by Lady Eastlake. +London, 1880. + +ROSE, WILLIAM STEWART. Letters from the North of Italy to Henry Hallam. +2 vols. 1819. + +ROUX, JOSEPH. Statistique des Alpes Maritimes. 2 vols. 1863. + +RUFFINI, GIOVANNI, D. Doctor Antonio; a Tale. Paris, 1855. + +SAYOUS, A. Le Dix-huitieme siecle a l'etranger. 2 vols. Paris, 1861. + +SECCOMBE, THOMAS. Smollett's Travels, edited with bibliographical note, +etc. By Thomas Seccombe (Works, Constable's Edition, vol. xi.). 1900. + +SHARP, SAMUEL. Letters from Italy. London, 1769. + +SHERLOCK, MARTIN. Letters from an English Traveller. (New English +version.) 2 vols. 1802. + +SMOLLETT, T. Travels through France and Italy. 2 vols. London, 1766. + +SPALDING, WILLIAM. Italy and the Italian Islands. 3 vols. London, 1841. + +STAEL, MME. DE. Corinne, ou l'Italie. 1807. + +STARKE, MARIANA. Letters from Italy, 1792-1798. 9 vols. 1800. Travels +on the Continent for the use of Travellers. 1800, 1820, 1824, etc. + +STENDHAL. Rome, Naples, and Florence, in 1817. London, 1818. + +STERNE, LAURENCE. A Sentimental Journey through France and Italy. By +Mr. Yorick. 2 vols. London, 1768. + +STOLBERZ, COUNT F. L. ZU. Travels through Germany, Switzerland, Italy, +etc. Translated by Thomas Holcroft. 1796. + +TAINE, HENRI. Voyage en Italie. 1866. + +TALBOT, SIR R. Letters on the French Nation. London, 2 vols.1771, 12mo. + +TEYSSEIRE, T. Monographie sur le climat de Nice. 1881. + +THICKNESSE, PHILIP. Useful Hints to those who make the Tour of France +in a Series of Letters. London, 1768. A year's Journey through France, +etc. 2, vols. 1777. + +TISSERAND, E. Chronique de Provence . . . de la cite de Nice, etc. 2 +vols. Nice, 1862. + +TWINING FAMILY PAPERS. London, 1887. + +VIOLLET, PAUL. Hist. des Instit. polit. et administratifs de la France. +2 vols. Paris, 1890-98. + +WHATLEY, STEPHEN. The Travels and Adventures of J. Massey. Translated +from the French. 1743. + +WILLIAMS, C. THEODORE. The Climate of the South of France. 1869. + +WINCKELMANN, J. J. Lettres familieres. Amsterdam, 1781. Reflections on +the Painting and Sculpture of the Greeks. Translated by H. Fuseli. +London, 1765. Voyage en Italie de J. J. Barthelemy . . . avec des +morceaux inedits de Winckelmann. 1801. + +YOUNG, ARTHUR. Travels in France during 1787, 1788, 1789, edited by M. +Betham-Edwards. 1889. + +YOUNG, EDWARD. Sa vie et ses oeuvres, par W. Thomas. Paris, 1901. + +APPENDIX B + +Short Notes on one or two unfamiliar Words which Smollett helped to +domesticate in England. + +Berline. Swift and Chesterfield both use this for a heavy coach. The +most famous berline was that used in the flight to Varennes. The name +came from Brandenburg in the time of Frederick William. + +Bize. Smollett's spelling of bise--the cutting N.N.E. wind which makes +Geneva so beautiful, but intolerable in the winter. + +Brasiere=brasero. A tray for hot charcoal used for warming rooms at +Nice. Smollett practically introduced this word. Dried olives were +often used as fuel. + +Calesse, calash, caleche. A low two-wheeled carriage of light +construction, with a movable folding hood; hence applied to a hood +bonnet as in Mrs. Gaskell's Cranford. + +Cassine. Latin casa, cassa, cassina; the Italian cassina, A small +detached house in the fields, often whitewashed and of mean appearance. +Smollett uses the word as an equivalent for summer cottage. Cf. bastide +as used by Dumas. Cabane has practically replaced cassine in modern +French. See Letter XXIV. + +Cambiatura. The system of changing chaises every post, common in +England, but unusual abroad except in Tuscany. + +Cicisbeo. The word is used by Lady Mary Montagu in her Letters (1718) +as cecisbeo. Smollett's best account is in Letter XVII. See +Introduction, p. xliii. + +Conversazione. Gray uses the word for assembly in 1710, but Smollett, I +believe, is about the first Englishman to define it properly. + +Corinth. This was still used as a variant of currant, though adherence +to it was probably rather pedantic on Smollett's part (cf. his use of +"hough" for hoe). Boswell uses the modern form. + +Corridore. This word was used by Evelyn, and the correct modern +spelling given by Johnson in 1753; but Smollett as often adheres to the +old form. + +Douche. Italian doccia. Smollett is perhaps the first writer to explain +the word and assign to it the now familiar French form (Letter XL). + +Feluca. An Arab word to denote a coasting boat, oar or sail propelled. +Nelson and Marryat write felucca. It was large enough to accommodate a +post-chaise (Letter XXV). + +Gabelle. Supposed to be derived from the Arabic kabala, the irksome tax +on salt, from which few provinces in France were altogether free, swept +away in 1790. Smollett describes the exaction in San Remo. + +Garum. Used by Smollett for the rich fish sauce of the ancients, +equivalent to a saumure, perhaps, in modern French cookery. In the +Middle Ages the word is used both for a condiment and a beverage. + +Improvisatore. A performer in the Commedia delle Arte, of which +Smollett gives a brief admiring account in his description of Florence +(Letter XXVII). For details of the various elements, the doti, +generici, lazzi, etc., see Carlo Gozzi. + +Liqueur. First used by Pope. "An affected, contemptible expression" +(Johnson). + +Macaroni. "The paste called macaroni" (Letter XXVI) was seen by +Smollett in the neighbourhood of its origin near Genoa, which city +formed the chief market. + +Maestral. An old form of mistral, the very dry wind from the N.N.W., +described by Smollett as the coldest he ever experienced. + +Patois. See Letter XXII. ad fin. + +Pietre commesse. A sort of inlaying with stones, analogous to the +fineering of cabinets in wood (Letter XXVIII). Used by Evelyn in 1644. + +Polenta. A meal ground from maize, which makes a good "pectoral" +(Letter XXII). + +Pomi carli. The most agreeable apples Smollett tasted, stated to come +from the marquisate of Final, sold by the Emperor Charles VI. to the +Genoese. + +Preniac. A small white wine, mentioned in Letter IV., from Boulogne, as +agreeable and very cheap. + +Seafarot boots. Jack-boots or wading boots, worn by a Marquis of Savoy, +and removed by means of a tug-of-war team and a rope coiled round the +heel (see Letter XXVIII). + +Sporcherie. With respect to delicacy and decorum you may peruse Dean +Swift's description of the Yahoos, and then you will have some idea of +the sporcherie that distinguishes the gallantry of Nice (Letter XVII). +Ital. sporcheria, sporcizia. + +Strappado or corda. Performed by hoisting the criminal by his hands +tied behind his back and dropping him suddenly "with incredible pain" +(Letter XX). See Introduction, p. xliv, and Christie, Etienne Dolet, +1899, P. 231. + +Tartane. From Italian tartana, Arabic taridha; a similar word being +used in Valencia and Grand Canary for a two-wheeled open cart. One of +the commonest craft on the Mediterranean (cf. the topo of the +Adriatic). For different types see Larousse's Nouveau Dictionnaire. + +Tip. To "tip the wink" is found in Addison's Tatler (No. 86), but "to +tip" in the sense of to gratify is not common before Smollett, who uses +it more than once or twice in this sense (cf. Roderick Random, chap. +xiv. ad fin.) + +Valanches. For avalanches (dangers from to travellers, see Letter +XXXVIII). + +Villeggiatura. An early adaptation by Smollett of the Italian word for +country retirement (Letter XXIX). + + +APPENDIX C + +Currency of Savoy in the time of Smollett. + + Ten bajocci=one paolo (6d.). + Ten paoli=one scudo (six livres or about 5s.). + Two scudi=one zequin. + Two zequin=one louid'or. + +Afterword.--I should be ungrateful were I not to create an epilogue for +the express purpose of thanking M. Morel, H. S Spencer Scott, Dr. +Norman Moore, W. P. Courtney, G. Whale, D. S. MacColl, Walter Sichel +(there may be others), who have supplied hints for my annotations, and +I should like further, if one might inscribe such a trifle, to inscribe +this to that difficult critic, Mr. Arthur Vincent, who, when I told him +I was about it, gave expression to the cordial regret that so well +hidden a treasure of our literature (as he regarded the Travels) was to +be "vulgarised." + + + + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Travels Through France and Italy, by +Tobias Smollett + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK TRAVELS THROUGH FRANCE AND ITALY *** + +***** This file should be named 2311.txt or 2311.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/2/3/1/2311/ + +Produced by Martin Adamson. 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