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diff --git a/old/ttfai10.txt b/old/ttfai10.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..8310655 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/ttfai10.txt @@ -0,0 +1,14569 @@ +The Project Gutenberg Etext of Travels through France and Italy +#2 in our series by Tobias Smollett + + +Copyright laws are changing all over the world, be sure to check +the copyright laws for your country before posting these files!! + +Please take a look at the important information in this header. +We encourage you to keep this file on your own disk, keeping an +electronic path open for the next readers. Do not remove this. + + +**Welcome To The World of Free Plain Vanilla Electronic Texts** + +**Etexts Readable By Both Humans and By Computers, Since 1971** + +*These Etexts Prepared By Hundreds of Volunteers and Donations* + +Information on contacting Project Gutenberg to get Etexts, and +further information is included below. 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FOR PUBLIC DOMAIN ETEXTS*Ver.04.29.93*END* + + + + + +Scanned by Martin Adamson +martin@grassmarket.freeserve.co.uk + + + + + +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 £100. 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-ease 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 "tile 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 Français, 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 tile 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 te11 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 tile 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 1S02 and 1803. London, +1812; 4th Edition, I835. + +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, I8OO. + +METRIVIER, H. Monaco et ses Princes. 2 vols. I862. + +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 +(17I8) 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 Etext of Travels through France and Italy + diff --git a/old/ttfai10.zip b/old/ttfai10.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..dc20b3b --- /dev/null +++ b/old/ttfai10.zip |