YALE UNIVERSITY LIBRARY In Memory of RUSSELL LORD Yale 1910S from the fund established in 1928 by his mother MRS. JOHN BRACKETT LORD YEAR'S JOURNEY THROUGH FRANCE, AND PART of SPAIN. a y PHILIP THICKNESSE. VOLUME I. BATH: Printed by R. CRUTTWELL, for the AUTHOR; AND SOLD BY Wm. BROWN, Corner of Effex-Court, Strand, London. .,,>•¦.¦<<>•¦.¦<>¦•• .<>....<>....<>. ..<,.. MDCCLXXVII. SUBSCRIBERS. HER ROYAL HIGHNESS JL 0)ucLfj of- GumLriandj FIVE COPIES. LORD and LADY CAMD EN. A. i. HE Countefs of Ailefbury Lord Arundell, of Wardour Lady Arundell Hon. Everard Arundell Hon. Mrs. Arundell Hon. Mrs. Arundell, aiSarum Hon. Mrs. Arundell, of Bath TheBifhopofSt. Afaph George Anfon, Efq; Benjamin Allen, Efq; Mrs. Alderton Mrs. Allen Edward Arblafton, Efq; Michael Adolphus, Efq; Mr. Andrews, Newbury John Bartlett Allen, Efq; CreJJily, 2 copies J. W. Aubrey, Efq; Brecon William Adams, Efq; Bath B. Lord James Beauclerck, 2 copies Lord Bateman, 5 copies Hon. William Bateman Hon. Mrs. Bateman Hon. Richard Butler The Bifhop of Bangor iv "" S U B S C R Rev. Archdeacon Backhoufe Rev. Dr. Berkeley Rev. William Thos. Bowles And. Robinfon Bowes, Efq; Guftavus Adolphus Brander, Efq; 2 copies Thomas Beevor, Efq; Martin Blake, Efq; Geo. Birbeck, Efq; Marjeilles Dr. Robert Braggs Nathaniel Bifliop, Efq; William Brereton, Efq; Robert Buckle, Efq; Mr. Henry Baldwin, and 13 friends, 14 copies Francis Bennett, Efq; Bath Rev. Mr. Brown, Ipfwich Mr. John Barrow, bookfeller, Leominfler Sir Chs. Blunt, Bart. Blunt, Efq; Wm. Bennett, Efq; Norton- Bavant Mr. James Bifhop, Bath Mrs. Barnardifton John Blencowe, Efq; Hays I B E R S. Henry Blencowe, Efq; JohnBlencowe, Efq; Marjlon Mrs. Elizabeth Blencowe Baggs, Efq; Merchant 's- Hall Mrs. Bafar Richard Baldwin, Efq; Mr. Beach, Portrait-Painter, Bath John Bowater, Efq; Hon. Mrs. Bowater Charles Henry 'Burgh, Efq; Monmouth Mr. Thomas Burne, Royal- Exchange Mr. Thomas Brookes Sir John Chetwode, Bart. Sir Villiers Charnock, Bart. Sir Richard Chafe, Knt. Mrs. Carter, Deal, 6 copies John Cooke, Efq; Gentry Mrs. Cooke John Cooke, jun. Efq; George Clive, Efq; Bath S U B S C John Crookfhanks, Efq; Charles V. Cornewall, Efq; Col. Crawford Col. Cullen William Colborne, Efq; Benjamin Colborne, Efq; Dr. Cam, Hereford Claude Crefpigny, Efq; Mifs Penelope Compton Benjamin Collins, Efq; Ban ker, Salifbury Mr. Benj. Charles Collins Mr. Clutterbuck, Bradford. Mr.Wm.Cruttwell,&$er£0rrc« Mr. Clement Cruttwell, Bath Mr. Richard Cruttwell, ditto Mrs. Cruttwell Mr.Ts. Cruttwell, Oakingham Mr. John Cruttwell, ditto Samuel Cam, Efq; Bradford Rev. Thomas Cookes Mr. Crawley, Bath Mr. Charr Capt. Cockerell a 2 R I B E R S. •< Mr. Crook, Bath Mr. Coghan Mr. Tho. Colborne, Surry- Street Connell, Efq; Rev. James Cremer, B. D. Heytefbury D. Sir James Douglas, Bart. Sir John Duntze, Bart. Hon. Major Lewis Duff Hon. Mrs. Duff Don Bernado del Campo Mifs Davis Henry Pelham Davis, Efq; Griffith Davis, Efq; Henry Dalton, Efq; Charles Deaves, Efq; Thomas Dea, Efq; George Diggs, Efq; Capt. Douglas Francis Duroure, Efq; Dr. De La Cour, Bath vi S U B S C R Mr. Didier Philip Ditcher, Efq; Balk •' .' Din woody, Efq; E. The Earl of Exeter Sir John Elwell, Bart. Mrs Eaton Mr. Evereft, Greenwich F. Lord De Ferrars Hon. Mr. Fitzpatrick Henry Fermer, Efq; Mrs. Foley Dr. Fothergiil John Fletcher, Efq; Peter Fector, Efq; Dover Rev Dr. Franklin Rev. Dr. Fountain Mr. Richard Fydell, Chepflow Major Fitzthomas G. The Marquis de Grimaldi The Marquis of Granby I B E R S. Sir Henry Gooeh, B&rt. David Garrick, Efq; George Garricfe, Efq; Thomas Gainfborough, Efq; Jenifdn Gordon, Efq; Rev. Mr. Graves, Claverton Mr. Abel Grey, Royal-Ex change Mr. Jofeph Gilbert, Mad- dington H. Hon. and Rev. John Harley, 10 copies Hon. Mrs. Harley, 2 copies Lady Harbord Lady Holt Col. Hamilton, Geneva Robert Harvey, Efq; Francis Head, Efq; George Hamilton, Efq; Mrs. Hamilton Dr. Harrington, Bath Edw. Harrington, Efq; Bath George Hunt, Efq; Meffrs. Hoare, 6 copies S U B S C Dr. Heberden Wynchcornb H.Hartley, Efq; Jacob Houblon, Efq; Houblon, Efq; Rev. Mr. Haynes, Ipfwich Mifs Hervey James Hazard, Efq; Dr. Hill George Hadley, Efq; William Heath, Efq; William Hamerton, Efq; Mr. Heighway Mr. Henderifon, Bath Mr. Hans, Matter of the Aca demy at Wallingford Mr. Hopkins J- Monf. Le Duke deFitz James Sir William Jerningham, Bt. Gen. Johnfton, Aid de Camp to the King Monf. de Jarttih , Madame de Jardin Thomas Jphns, Efq; Thomas Johns, jivn. Efq; Dr. Jebb, 2 copies RISERS. vii K. Lord Kilmurray Mr. Alderman Kiikman Rev. John Kynafton, M. A. Dr. Kennicot Mifs King Jofeph Keeling, Efq; Mr. Keafberry, Bath L. Hon. Mifs Luttrell Sir James Tylney Long, Bt. 10 copies Sir James Winter Lake, -Bt. Hon. Col. Luttrell, 2 copies Dr. Lawrence Mrs. Lifle Mrs. T. Lifle Walter Long, Efq; Capt. De la Leu . Philip Lampriere, Efq; Robert Longden, Effq; Rev. Mr- Layton, Ipfwich James Leake, Efq; John Loveday, LL.D. Mrs. Ann Legh vm S U B S C M. The Duke of Marlborough Lord Mountgarret His Excellency Valentine Morris, Efq; Mrs. Morris Sir Sydney Meadows, Bart. Crifp Molyneux, Efq; George Monk, Efq; Rev. Mr. Morgan, Hereford Thomas Mathews, Efq; Thomas Matters, Efq; Maffwell, Efq; Rofe Herring May, Efq; Thomas Mayer, Efq; John Madox, Efq; Mrs. Madox John Miffher, Efq; Dr. Maningham] Major Lorenzo Moore John Martin, Efq; Thomas Martin, Efq; Charles Mellifh, Efq; Charles Meaden, Efq; R I B E R S. Capt. Magrat Mr. Charles Meckham Mr. Mainwaring, Bath Richard Malone, Efq; Dublin N. Lady Napier John Newton, Efq; Mrs. Newton Mrs. E. Newton John NichoUs, Efq; 5 copies Nicoly, Efq; Newton, Efq; oilrnham Hon. Richard Sav. Naffau Mr. Francis Newbery Dr. Nefbit Mr. Norman, Bromley O. Earl of Oxford Mifs Oglander Monf. Frederick D'Oliere George Ormfby, Efq; Cornelius O'Callaghan, Efq; Mifs Oliver S U B S C R P. Duchefs of Portland Henry Pelham, Efq; 2 copies Sam1 Pocklington Sharp, Efq; Rev. Mr. Price, Hertford John Palmer, Efq; Bath James Plunket, Efq; Bath Plunket, Efq; Bath Thomas Pennant, Efq; Thomas Penrofe, Efq; Mr. Pine, Portrait-Painter, Bath Mr. Percival, Bath R. The Duke of Richmond Marquis of Rockingham Earl of Rochford Earl of Radnor Lieut. Col. James Rooke Roper, Efq; Roberts, Efq; Thomas Roach," Efq; Mrs. Ravaud, Bath John Raymond, Efq; I B E R S. ix John Watfon Read, Efq; Mr. Rawlins, Lindfey -Place Mr. Sam. Reade, Southampton Madame Riccoboni Abel Ram, Efq; Mr. Edmund Rack, Bath S. Duke of Somerfet Earl of Shipbrook Hon. and Rev. Lord Francis Seymour Lord Southwell Lady Strathmore . Sir John Sebright, Bart. 5 copies Sir Richard Symons, Bart. 10 copies Sir Goodere St. John Sir John Sheffield, Bart. Charles Jacob Sheffield, Efq; Robert Sheffield, Efq; Sir John Smith, Bt. Sydling, Dorfet Ralph Shelden, Efq; George Smith, Efq; x S U B S C Mr. Sharp, Old Jewry Mrs. Sharp Granville Sharp, Efq; Mr. James Sharp Mrs. Sharp Samuel Sharp, Efq; John Swinton, Efq; Monf. Seguier William Seward, jun. Efq; •Lincoln s- Inn Mr. D. Serres, Landfcape- Painter Mr. Stevens Dr. Schomberg, Bath Mrs. Sweet Mrs. Stevens Saunders, Efq; Capt. Scawen Mr. Symons, Bath Thomas Streatfield, Efq; Redmond Simpfon, Efq; Rev. Mr. Stevens Mrs. Shelly, Bath R I B E R S. T. Mr. George Thickneffe, fen. Mr. Thalbitzer, Barcelona John Taylor, Efq; Rev. Mr. Charles Toogood, Sker borne Mr. William Taylor, Bath, 2 copies Rev. Mr. Taylor Rob. Trotman, Efq; Ipfwich Mr. Toby Thomas V. Monf. le Marquis de Valan Madame la Marquife de Valan Madame la Countefs de Va lan, Channonefe Lady Vane Edward Vanbrugh, Efq; W. Lord Walpole Lady Walpole Lord Waltham Lord Dudley and Ward SUBSCRIBERS. xi Lord Wrlloughby, Parkam Wm. Wade, Efq; M. C. Bath Hon. William Ward Sir Armine Wodehoufe, Bt. Sir Jacob Woolf, Bart. John Hanbury Williams.E'fq; John Wadman, Efq; John Williams, Efq; Canter bury Alexander Whitchurch, Efq; 3 copies Mifs Wynn Thomas Weftern, Efq; Rev. Dr. Warner Atwood Wilkinfon, Efq; Rev. Dr. Warton Col. Whitmore Dr. Watfon, Bath William Wilfon, Efq; Williamfon, Efq; Pierce Walfh, Efq; Mr. Sim. Wallen, Oakingham f£f The Remainder of the Subfcribers Names will be printed in the Second Volume. Directions to the Binder. The Hermitage, with a fingle Figure reading, before the Title-page. The Infcription on the Frize of the Maifon Carree, between 74. and 75. The Maifon Carree, between Pages 7S and 79. The. Temple of Diana, between Pages 80 and 81. The Bird Hermit, between Pages 194. and 195. The Hermitage, with two Figures, between Pages 118 and S119, ( xii ) A S the Author was in another kingdom when thefe fheets were printed off, and thereby de prived of an opportunity of correcting many of the fmaller errors, he hopes his readers will either over look, or correct them, as they proceed. Page 104., read her /hop, not as her /bop. Page 108, for Boulon, read Boulou, which is four not twelve long leagues from Perpignan. Page 123, read the Golfe de Rofes. Page 115, for feemed, xz&Afeem. Page 128, line the third, read got there. Page 1 30, for Martory, read Martero. Page 171, for Lundus, read Ludus. Page 189, omit the and'm the firft line. Page 205, read where the fhow is preferved. Page 123, for fetting, read fitting. Page 226, read where, not and where. Page 249, read Prujfian gentleman. Page 255, read wher£ the following iketch, Sec. Page 260, an I is omitted in the firft line. Page 292, read Roflion. Page 293, read leaving Cetteon our right. Page 250, read zeal and of his building, &c. ( xiii ) TO THE READER. Quicquid delirant Reges, pleHnntur Achivi. Hor. TT7HEN I firft conceived the idea of publifhing the following Letters by fubfcription, I only thought it probable, I might raife, among a few friends, money fufficient to pay for engraving a perfpec- tive view of Montferrat, and thereby make known to my countrymen, one of the moft fingular, and beautiful productions of Nature; — a fpot too, not lefs to be no ticed for its form than for its inhabitants; being ( xiv ) being the dwelling-place of religious, and virtuous men ; — and virtuous men, what ever nation, religion, or climate they are of, are refpectable men; — and there fore I have placed, under the nobleft of all monuments, (a monument raifed by the finger of God) the name of a Noble man* of our own country ; for whofe pri vate virtues, and public character, all good men, bear the higheft reverence, and re- fpect; — but when I look upon the long lift of refpectable names, which now follow that noble perfon's, I fhould be overcome with fhame and confufion, were I not cer tain * Lord Camden, to whom the view of Montferrat is thus iiifcribed : To the Right Hon. Charles Lord Camden, Late Lord Chancellor of Great-Bhitain, Great in that High Office, Eat greater still in the Resignation of it, This plate is — &c. &c. ( xv ) tain that the greater part of them came there, from motives of an higher na ture, than expectation of either enter tainment, or information. If, from having walked flowly over one mighty kingdom, and from having pene trated a little into another, I have thereby gained fufficient information, to give a few ufeful hints to fuch ftrangers who may fol low me, it is as much as I aimed at, and as much, I hope, as my candid Subfcribers can expect, when they confider, that be ing driven out of my own country, with eight children in my train, my journey was rather undertaken to try haw, and where, I could contrive to live, than to find amufe- mentfor myfelf ; much lefs, to furnifh en tertainment to others. 1 muft confefs, however, that I did find an infinite fource ef C xvi ) of amufements; fuch as were fuitable to my age, and turn of mind; and I only lament, that I am fo poorly qualified, to convey an idea of them to others. Be- fide which, I gathered up on my long journey, that which neither Kings can give, nor Riches purchafe — Health and Contentment! — The firft, by exercife and temperance; the latter, by being con vinced, that he is a happier man who can bear up againft misfortunes and injuries, however grievous, which he could not pre vent, than thofe men who violate the laws they are placed to defend, by acts of the higheft injuftice, whether arifing from per- fonal pique, or political prejudices : — for in what, and where do all thefe worldly trifles end? — in forrow, ficknefs, and in IDsatf). — " f O eloquent, juft, and mighty " £>eat& !— f Sir Walter Raleigh, one of the beft and greateft men this kingdom ever produced,— «-yet he died upon a fcaffold ! ( xvii ) Dcat!) ! — whom none could advife, thou haft perfuaded; what none have dared, thou haft done ; and whom all the world hath flattered, thou only haft caft out of the world and defpifed; thou haft drawn together all the far-fetched greatnefs, all the pride, cruelty, guilt, and ambition of man ; and covered it over with thefe two narrow words — . " hic JACET. " Hie Jacet Hic Jacet Hic Jacet E— Cathcart, Obiit 1775. Hic Jacet E— Denbigh. Hie Jacet E— Gallaway. Hic Jacet ¦ D— of Chandois. t Hic Jacet 'hil. Thicknesse. A JOURNEY, &c. LETTER I. Calais, June 20th, 1775. Dear Sir, AS you are kind enough to fay, that thofe letters which I wrote from this kingdom, nine or ten years ago, were of fome ufe to you, in the little tour you made through France foon after, and as they have been confidered in fome degree to be fo to many other perfons, (fince their publication) who were unacquainted with the manners and cuftoms of the French nation, I mall endeavour to bring to gether, in this fecond correfpondence with you, not only fome of the former hints I B gave ( 2 j gave you, but fuch other remarks as a" longer acquaintance with the country, and a more extenfive tour, may furnifh me with; but before I proceed any further, let me remind you, of one great fault I was then guilty of; for though your par tiality to me might induce you to overlook it, the public did not, I mean that of wri ting when my temper was difturbed, ei ther by crofs incidents- I met with upon the road, or difagreeable news which of ten followed me from my own country into this. I need not tell a man of your difcernment,, in what a different light all- objects, whether animate, or inanimate, appear to thofe, whofe temper is difturbed, either by ill health, ill treatment, or, what is perhaps more prevalent than either, the chagrin he may feel at not being rated m the eftimation of others, according to that value he puts upon himfelf. Could Dr. Smollett rife from the dead, and fit down in perfect health, and good temper, and r©ad his travels through France and Italy,. he ( 3 ) he would probably find mod of his anger turned upon himfelf. But, poor man ! he was ill; arid meeting with, what every ftran- ger muft expect to meet, at moft French inns, want of cleanlinefs, impofition, and in civility; he was fo much difturbed by thofe incidents, that to fay no more of the wri tings of an ingenious and deceafed author,^ his travels into France, and Italy, are the leaft entertaining, in my humble opinion, of all his works. Indeed I have obferved that moft travellers fall into one extreme, or the other; and either are all panegyric, or all cenfure ; in which cafe, all they fay cannot be juft; for, as all nations are go^ verned by men, and the bulk of men of all nations live by artifice of one kind or other, the few, men who pafs among them, without any finifter views, cannot avoid feeling, and but few from Complaining, of the ill treatment they meet with ; not con- iidering one of Swift's fhrewd remarks ; T never, faid hey knew a man who could- nvt B 2 bear ( 4 ) bear the misfortunes of another perfectly like a Chrijlian. Remember therefore, when I tell you how ill I have been treated either by Lords, or Auber gifts, or how dirtily feryed by ei ther, it is to prepare myfelf and you too, to be content with neighbours' fare. When a man writes remarks upon the manners and cuftoms of other nations, he mould endeavour to wean himfelf from all partiality for his own ; and I need not tell you that I am in full poffefion of that fifrgle qualification, which I hope will make you fome amends for my defects in all the others; for it is certainly unjuft, uncan- did, and illiberal, to pronounce a cuftom or fafhion abfurd, becaufe it does not coin cide with our ideas of propriety. A Turk who travelled into England would, upon his return to Conftantinople, tell his coun trymen, that at Canterbury, [being out of opium,] his hoftdid natknow even what he demanded ; ( 5 ) demanded ; and that it was with fome dif ficulty he found out, that there were fhops in the town where opium was fold, and even then, it was with greater, he could prevail upon the vender of it to let him have above half an ounce: if he were queftioned, why all thefe precautions ? he would tell them, laughingly, that En glishmen believe opium ta be a deadly poifon, and thofe people fufpected that he either meant to kill himfelf, or to poifon another man with it. A French gentleman, who travelled fome years fince into Spain, had letters of re commendation to a Spanifh Bifhop, who received him with every mark of polite-, nefs, and treated him with much hofpita- lity: foon after he retired to his bed-cham ber, a prieft entered it,* holding a veflel in his hand, which was covered with a clean. napkin; he faid fomething; but the Frenchman * The Bilhops in Spain are attended and waited upon by inferior clergy. ( 6 ) Frenchman underftanding but little Spa* nifh, intimated by figns his thanks, and defired him to put it down, believing, that his friend, the Bifhop, had fent him a plate of fweetmeats, fruit, iced cream, or fome kind of refrefhment to eat before he went to bed, or to refrefh his exhaufted fpirits in the night : but his aftonifhment was great indeed, when he found the prieft put the prefent under the fide of the bed; and more fo, when he perceived that it was only a pot de chambre ; — for, fays the Frenchman, " in Spain, they do not ufe the chaifepercee!" The Frenchman is fur- prifed at the Spaniard, for not ufing fo convenient a vehicle; the Englishman is equally furprifed, that the Frenchman does ; — the Frenchman is always attentive to his own perfon, and fcarce ever appears but clean and well dreffed; while his Jioufe and private apartments are perhaps covered with litter and dirt, and in the ut- moft confufion ; — the Englifhman, on the other hand, often neglects his external drefii ; t 7 ) drefs ; but his houfe is always exquifitely clean, and every thing in it kept in the niceft order; and who fhall fay, which of the two judge .-the .beft for their own eafe and happinefs ? I am fure the Frenchman will not give up his powdered hair, and laced coat, for .a clean houfe ; nor do I be lieve thofe fineries would fit quietly .upon the back of an Englishman, in a dirty one. In Short, my dear fir, we muft take the world, and the things in it, as they are ; it is a dirty world, but, like France, has a vaft number of good things in it, and fuch as I meet with, in this my third tour, which fhall be a long one, if I am not flopped by the way, you Shall have fuch an account of as I am able to convey to you x I will not attempt to top the traveller upon you, nor raife monuments of wonder, where none are to be feen ; there is real matter enough to be found upon this great continent, to amufe a man who travels ilowly over it, to fee what is to be feen, and who wifhes not to be feen himfelf. My Style ( 8 J ftyle of travelling is fuch, that I can never be difturbed in mind for want of refpect, but rather be furprifed when I meet with even common civility. And, after all, what does it fignify, whether Monfieur qu Tel travels in a laced coat et (res bien mis, attended by half a dozen fervants, or, as Pope fays, * * * * t will run *f The Lord knows whither, in a chaife arid one." I am, jour's, &c. LETTER ( 9 ) LETTER If. June zjth, 1776. BEFORE I leave Calais, let me remind you, that an EngliSh guinea is worth more than a Louis d'or ; and obferve, that the firft queftion my friend Monf. Defein, at the Hotel L>' Angleterre will put to you, (after he has made his bow, and given you a fide look, as a cock does at a barley corn) is, whether you have any guineas to change? becaufe he gets by each guinea, full weight, ten Sols. By this hint, you will conclude, he will not, upon your re turn, afk you for your French Gold ; but in this too you will be mistaken, for he finds an advantage in that ajfo ; he will riot indeed give you guineas, but, in lieu thereof, he has always a large quantity of Birmingham Shillings, to truck with you for your Louis d'ors. \ am afraid, when Lord North, took into consideration the ftatq { io ) State of the gold coin, he did not know, that the better Slate it is put into in Eng land, is the fureft means of transporting it into France, and other countries; and that Scarce a Single guinea which travellers carry with them to France, (and many hundred go every week) ever returns to England : Befide this, the quantity of gold carried over to the ports of Dunkirk, Boulogne, and Calais, by the Smugglers, who always pay ready money, is incredible ; but as money, and matters of that kind, are what I have but little concern in, I will not en large upon a Subject no way interesting to me, and Shall only obferve, that my land^ lord, Monf. DeJJ'ein, who was behind-hand with the world ten years ago, is now be come one of the richeft men in Calais, ha,s built a little Theatre in his garden, and has united the profitable bufinefs of a Ban ker, to that of a Publican ; and by Study ing the Gout of the Englifh nation, and changing their gold into French currency, has made, they fay, a Demi Plumb., Not- .( II ) Notwithstanding the contiguity of Calais to England, and the great quantity of poul try, vegetables, game,&c. which are bought up every market-day, and conveyed to your coaft, I am inclined to believe, there are not many parts of France where a man, who has but little money, can make it go further than in this town ; nor is there any town in England, where the fifhery is conducted with fo much induftry. Yefterday I vifited my unfortunate daugh ter, at the convent at Ardres ; — but why do I fay unfortunate ? She is unfortunate only, in the eyes of the world, not in her own ; nor indeed in mine, becaufe She af*- fured me She is happy. I left her here, you know, ten years ago, by way of education^ and learning the language ; but the fmall*- pox, which Seized her foon after, mad© Such havock on a face, rather favoured by nature, that She defired to hide it from the world, and fpend her life in that retireT- ment, ( 12 ) ment, which I had chofen only to qualify her for the world. I left her a child; I found her a fenfible woman; full of affec tion and duty; and her mangled and feamed face, fo foftened by an eafy mind, and a good confcience, that She appeared in my partial eyes, rather an agreeable than a plain woman ; but She did not omit to fignify to me, that what others confidered her misfortune, She confidered (as it was not her fault) a happy circumftance ; " if " my face is plain (faid She) my heart is " light, and I am fure it will make as " good a figure in the earth, as thefaireft, " and moft beautiful." My only concern is, that I find the Prieure of this convent, either for want of more knowledge, or more money, or both, had received, as parlour boarders, fome Englifh ladies of very fafpicious characters. As the conver- fation of fuch women might interrupt, and difturb that peace and tranquility of mind, in which I found my daughter, I told the Prieure my fentiments on that Subject, not only ( 13 ) only with freedom, but with fome degree of feverity ; and endeavoured to convince her, how very unwarrantable, if not irre ligiously She acted. An abandoned, or vir- cious woman, may paint. the. pleafureS of this world in fuch gaudy colours, to a poor innocent Nun, fo as to induce her to for get, or become lefs attentive to the pro fessions fhe has made to the next. It was near this town, you know, that the famous interview palled between Henry the Eighth, and Francis the Firft, in the year 1520 ; and though it lafled twenty- eight days, and was an event which pro duced at that time fo many amufements to all prefent, and fo much converfation throughout Europe, the inhabitants of this town, or Calais, feem to know little of it, but that one of the baftions at Ardres is called the Baftion of the Two Kings. — There Still remains, however, in the front of one of the houfes in Calais, upon an or namented Stone, cut in old letter, $oB fatse the Eing; And ( «4 ) And I fuppofe that ftone was put, where it now remains, by fome ioyal Subject, be* fore the King arrived, as it is in a Street which leads from the gate (now Stopped up) which Henry paSfed through. LETTER ( i5 ) LETTER III. IN . a very few days I fhall leave this town, and having procured letters of re commendation from fome men of fafhion, now in England, to their friends in Spain, I am determined to traverfe this, and make a little tour into that kingdom ; fo you may expect fomething .more from me, than merely fuch remarks as may be ufeful to you on any future tour you make in France; I mean to conduct you at leaft over the Pyrenean hills to Barcelona ; for, though I have been two or three times be fore in Spain, it was early in life, and when my mind was more employed in ob serving the cujloms and manors of the birds> and beafts of the field, than of their lords and matters, and made too, on the other fide of that kingdom. Having feen as much of Paris as I defired, fome years ago, I intend to pafs through the provinces of Ar tot's, ( 16 ) Artois, Champaigne, Bourgogne, and fo on to Lyons; by which rout you will per ceive, I fhall leave the capital of this king dom many leagues on my right hand, and fee Some considerable towns, andtafte now and then of the moft delicious wines, on the Spots -which produce them; befide this, I have a great defire to fee the remains of a Roman fubterranean town, lately difcover- ed in Champaigne, which perhaps may gra tify my curiofity in fome degree, and there by leffen that defire I have long had of vi- fiting Herculaneum, an under-ground town, you know, I always faid I would vifit, if a certain perfon happened to be put under*- ground before me; but the cause, and the event, in all human affairs, are not to be fathomed by men; for though the event happened, the caufe fruftrated my defign ; and I muft crofs the Pyrenean, not the Alpian hills. But left I forget it, let me tell you,, that as my travelling muft be upon the frugal plan, I have fold my four- wheel poft-chaife, to Monf Deffein, for twenty- ( i7 ) twenty-two guineas, and bought a French cabriolet, for ten, and likewife a very hand- fome EngliSh coach-horfe, (arlittle touched in the wind indeed) for Seven. This equi page I have fitted up with every con venience I can contrive, to carry me, my wife, two daughters, and all my other bag gage ; you will conclude therefore, light as the latter m-ay be, we are. bien charge; but as we move Slowly, not above feven leagues a day/ 1 fhall have the more leifure to look about me, and to confider what fort of remarks may prove moft wor'thy of communicating, from time to time to: you. I Shall be. glad to leave this town, though it is, in one refpeftj Something like your's,* every day -producing tnanyftrange faces, and fome very agreeahle acquaintance. The=,ar- rival ,of the packet-boats from Dover con stitutes the principal amufement of this town. The greater part of the EngliSh tranfports who come over, do not proceed much further than to fee the tobacco plan- C tations * Bath. ( i8 ) tations near St. Omer's ; nor is their return home lefs entertaining than their arrival, as many of them are people of fuch quick parts, that they acquire, in a week's tour to Dun kirk, Bologne, and St. Omer's, the language, drefs, and manners of the country. You muft not, however, expect to hear again from me, till I am further afield. But left I forget to mention it in a future letter, let me refrefh your memory, as to your conduct at Dover, at Sea, and at Calais. In the firft of thefe three difagreeable places, (and the firft is the worft) you will foon be ap plied to by one of the Captains of the packets, or bye-boats, and if you hire the boat to yourfelf, he will demand five gui neas ; if you treat with another, it is all one, becaufe they are all, except one, part ners and equally interefted ; and therefore will abate nothing. Captain Watfon is the only one who fwims upon his own bottom ; and as he is a good Seaman, and has a clean, convenient, nay an elegant veffel, I would rather turn the fcale in his favour, becaufe ( 19 ) "becaufe I am, as you will be, an enemy to all affociations which have a tenden cy to impofition upon the public, and oppreflion to fuch who will not join in the general confederacy ; yet I muft, in juftice to the Captains of the confederate party, acknowledge, that their veffels are all good; well found; and that they are ci vil, decent-behaved men. As it is natural for them to endeavour to make the moft of each trip, they will, if they can, foift a few pafTengers upon you, even after you have taken the veffel to your own ufe only. If you, are alone, this intrufion is not agree able, but if you have ladies with you, ne ver fubmit to it ; if they introduce men, who appear like gentlemen upon your vef fel, you cannot avoid treating them at, fuch; if women, you cannot avoid treat ing them with more attention than may be convenient, becaufe they are Women; but were it only in confideration of the fea- ficknefs and its confequences, can any thing be £nore difagreeable than to admit people to C 2 pot ( 20 ) pot and porringer with you, in a fmall clofe cabin^ with whom you would neither eat, drink, or converfe, in any other place ? but thefe are not the only reafons; every gen tleman going to France Should avoid ma king new acquaintance, at Dover, at Sea, or at Calais : many adventurers are always pafiing, and many honeft men are often led into grievous and dangerous Situations by fuch inconfiderate connections; nay, the beft, and wifeft men, are the moft liable to be off their guard, and therefore you will excufe my pointing it out to you. I could indeed relate fome alarming con- Sequences/ nay, fome fatal ones, which have befallen men of honour and character in this country, from fuch unguarded con nections ; and Such as they would not have been drawn into, on the other fide of the << invidious Streight." When an English man leaves, his own country, and is got no further from, it than to this town,. he looks back upon, it with- an eye of partial aSfec-* .\ 0 tion; ( 21 ) tion; no wonder then, if he feels morfc difpofed to be kind to a countryman and a Stranger he may meet in this. — I 'do not think it would be difficult to point out, what degree of intimacy would arife be tween two men who knew but little of each other, according to the part of the world they were to meet in. — I remember the time, when I only knew your perfon, and coveted your acquaintance ; at that time we lived in the fame town, knew each other's general character, but paffed with out fpeaking, or even the compliment of the hat; yet had we met in London, we Should certainly have taken fome civil no tice of each other : had the interview been at York, it is five to one but it would have produced a converfation : at Edinburgh, or Dublin, we Should have dined, or gone to the play together : but if we had met at Barbadoes, I Should have been invited to fpend a month at your Pen'n, and experi-. enced many of thofe marks of hofpitality, friendship, and generofity, I have found C 3 from ( 22 ) from the Creoles in general. When you get upon the French coaft, the packet brings to, and is foon boarded by a French boat, to carry the paffengers on fhore ; this paf- fage is much longer than it appears to be, is always difagreeable, and fometimes dan gerous ; and the landing, if the water be very low, intolerable : in this cafe, never mind the advice of the Captain; his advice is, and muft be regulated by his own and his owner's intereft, more than your con venience; therefore ftay on board till there is water enough to fail up to the town, and be landed by a plank laid from the packet to the fhore, and do not Suffer any body to perfuade you to go into a boat, or to be put on fhore,.. by any other method, tho' the packet-men and the French-men unite to per fuade you fo to do, becaufe they are mutually benefited by putting yeu to more expence, and the latter are entertained with feeing your cloaths dirted, or the ladies frighted. If moft of the packet-boats are in Calais. harbour, your Captain will ufe every argu ment ( 23 ) merit in his power to perfuade you to go on fhore, in the French boat, becaufe he will, in that cafe, return directly to Dover, and thereby fave eight-and-twenty Shil lings port duty. When we came over, I prevailed upon a large company to Stay on board till there was water enough to fail into the harbour : it is not in the power of the Captain to deceive you as to that matter, becaufe there is a red flag hoifted gradually higher and higher, as the water flows into the harbour, at a little fort which Stands upon flilts near the entrance of it. When you are got on Shore, go directly to Defein's ; and be in no trouble about your baggage, horfes, or coach ; the for mer will be all carried, by men appointed for that purpofe, fafely to the Cuftom- houfe, and the latter wheeled up to your Hotel, where you will fit down more qui etly, and be entertained more decently, than at Dover. LETTER ( 24 ) LETTER IV- ' Rheims, in Champaigne. LITTLE or nothing occurred to me worth remarking to you on my jour ney here, but . that the province of Artois is a fine corn country, and that the French farmers feem to understand that bufinefs. perfectly well. I was furprifed to find, near St. Omer's, large plantations of tobac co, which had all the vigour and healthy appearance of that which I have feen grow in poor America. On my way here, (like. the countryman in London, in gazing a- bout) I miffed my road ; but a civil, and,. in appearance, a fubftant-ial farmer, con ducted us half a league over the fields, and marked out the courfe to get into it again, without returning directly back, a circum ftance I much hate, though perhaps it- might have been the fhorter way. How ever,, ( 25 ) ever, before I gained the high road, I Stum bled Upon a private one, which led us into a little village pleafantly fituated, and in habited by none other but the pooreft peafants ; whofe tattered habits, wretched houfes, and Smiling countenances, con vinced me, that chearfulnefs and content ment Shake hands J oftener under thatched than painted roofs. We found one of thefe villagers as ready to boil our tea-kettle, provide butter, milk, &c. as we were for our fereakfafts ; and during the preparation of it, I believe every man, woman, and child of the hamlet, was come down to look at us ; for befide that wonderful curi- ofity common to this whole nation, the inhabitants of this village had never before Seen an Englishman ; they had heard in deed often of the country, they faid* and that it was un pays tres riche. There was fuch a general delight in the faces of -every age, and fo much civility, I was going t& fay politenefcV Shewn to us, that I caught -a -temporary- chearfulnefs in this village which ( 26 ) which I had not feLt for fome months be fore, and which I intend to carry with me. I therefore took out my guittar, and played till I fet the whole affembly in mo tion ; and fome, in fpite of their wooden Shoes, and others without any, danced in a manner not to be feen among our EngliSh peafants. They had " Shoes like a Sauce- boat," but no te Steeple-clock'd hofe." While we breakfafted, one of the villagers fed my horfe with fome freSh-mowed hay, and it was with fome difficulty I could prevail upon him to be paid for it, becaufe the trifle I offered was much more than his Court of Confcience informed him it was worth. I could moralize here a lit tle; but I will only afk you, in which ftate think you man is beft ; the untaught man, in that of nature, or the man whofe mind is enlarged by education and a know ledge of the world ? The behaviour of the inhabitants of this little hamlet had a very forcible effect upon me; becaufe it brought me back to my earlier days, and reminded me. ( 27 ) me of the reception I met with in Ame rica by what we now call the Savage Indi ans ; yet I have been received in the fame courteous manner in a little hamlet, un armed, and without any other protection but the law of nature, by thofe favages; — indeed it was before the Savages of Europe had instructed them in the art of war, or Mr. Whitfield had preached methodifm a- mong them. Therefore, I only tell, you what they were in 1735, not what they are at prefent. When I vifited them, they walked in the flowery paths of Na ture; now, I fear, they tread the polluted roads of blood. Perhaps of all the unci vilized nations under the fun, the native Indians of America were the moft humane; I have feen an hundred inftances of their humanity and integrity; — when a white man was under the laSh of the executioner, at Savannah in Georgia, for ufing an In dian woman ill, I Saw Torno Chad, their King, run in between the offender and the corrector, faying, " whip me, not him;' — the ( 28 ) the King was the cpmplainant, indeed, but -the man deferved a much feverer chaftife- ment. This was a Savage King. Chrif- tian Kings too often care not who is whipt, fo they efcape the fmart. LETTER ( 29 ) L E TTER V. Rheim'sv WE arrived at this city before the b uftle which the ¦ coronation of Louis the 16th occasioned, was quite over; I am forry I did not fee it, becaufe I now find it was. worth feeing; but I Staid at Ca lais on purpofe to avoid it ; for haying paid two guineas, to fee thq coronation of George the Third, J determined never more to be put to any extraordinary expence on th«s fcore of croimted heads. However, my cu- riofity has been: well gratified in hearing it talked oyer, and over again, and in read ing Marmontell's letter to a friend upon that fubje£t ; but I will nof repeat what he, or ©tfefr £ have faid upon the occafion, becaufe you have, no doubt, feen in the EngliSh papers a tolerable good one; only that the Qujgen was So overcome with the repeated Shouts ^nd- plaudits of her new Subjects, ( 3° ) Subjects, that She was obliged to retire. The fine Gothic cathedral, in which the ceremony was performed, is indeed a church worthy of fuch a folemnity ; the portal is the fineft I ever beheld ; the windows are painted in the very beft manner; nor is there any thing within the church but what Should be there. I need not tell you that this is -the province which produces the moft delicious wine in the world ; but I will affure you, that I Should have drank it with more pleafure, had you been here to have partook of it. In the cellars of one wine-merchant, I was conducted thro' long paffages more like Streets than caves ; on each fide of which, bottled Champaigne was piled up fome feet higher than my head, and at leaft twelve deep. I bought two bottles to tafle, of that which the merchant affured me was each of the beft fort he had, and for which I paid him fix livres : if he fells all he had in bottles at that time, and at the fame price, I Shall not exceed the bounds of truth if I fay, I Saw ( 3i ) I faw ten thoufand pounds worth of bot tled Champaigne in his cellars. Neither of the bottles, however, contained wine fo good as I often drank in England ; but perhaps we are deceived, and find it more palatable by having Sugar in it; for I fufpect that moft of the Champaigne which is bot tled for the ufe of Englifh confumption, is fo prepared. That you may know how ever, for the future, whether Champaigne or any other wine is fo adulterated, I will give you an infallible method to prove : — < fill a fmall long-necked bottle with the wine you would prove, and invert the neck of it into a tumbler of clear water ; if the wine be genuine, it will all remain in the bot tle ; if adulterated, with Sugar, honey, or any other Sweet fubftance, the fweets will all pafs into the tumbler of water, and leave the genuine wine behind. The dif ference between ftill Champaigne, and that which is mouffer, is owing to nothing more than the time of the year in which it is bottled, I found ( 32 ) I found in this town an English gentle man, from whom We received many civi lities, and who made us acquainted With a French gentleman and lady, whofe par tiality to the Englifh nation is fo great, that their neighbours call their houfe " The English Hotel." The partia lity of fuch a family is a very flattering, as Well as a very pleafing-: circumftance, to thofe who are fo happy to be known to them, becaufe they are not only the firft people in the town, but the befl ; and in point of talents, inferior to none, perhaps* in the kingdom. I muft not, after faying fo much, omit to tell. you,* it is Monfieur 6? Madame . de far din, of whom I fpeak ; they live in the Grande Place, vis-a-vis the Statue of the King; and if ever you come toRheims, be affured you will find it a goob place. Madame de Jar din is not only one of the higheft-bred women in France, but one of the firft in- point of letters, and that is faying a great deal, for France ( 33 ) France abounds more with women of that turn than England. Mrs. Macaulay, Mrs. Carter, Mifs Aikin, and Mrs. Montague, are the only four ladies I can recollect in England who are celebrated for their lite-5- rary genius ; in France, I could find you a fcore or two. To give you fome idea of the regard and affection Monf. de Jardin has for his wife, — for French hufbands, now and then, love their wives as well as we Englishmen do, — I fend you a line I found in his Study, wrote under his lady's miniature picture : " Chaque inftant a mes yeux la rend " Plus eftimable." This town Stands in a vaft plain, is of great extent, and enclofed within high walls, and a deep ditch. The public walks are of great extent, nobly planted, and the fineft in the whole kingdom. It is, indeed, a large and opulent city, and abounds not only with the beft wine, but every thing that is good ; and every thing is plenty, D and C 34 ] and confequently cheap. The fruit mar ket, in particular, is fuperior to every thing of*the kind I ever beheld; but I will not tantalize you by faying any more upon that Subject. Adieu ! P. S. The Antiquarian will find amufe- ment in this town. There are fome Ro man remains worthy of notice ; but fuch as require the information of the inhabi tant to be feen. LETTER [ 35 ] LETTER VI. Dijon. "V7"OU will laugh, perhaps, when I tell ¦*• you, I could hardly refrain from tears when I took leave of the Dejardin family at Rheims, — but fo it was. Good- breeding, and attention, have fo much the appearance of friendfhip, that it may, and often does, deceive the moft difcerning men; — no wonder, then, if I was unhappy in leaving a town, where I am fure I met with the firft, and had fome reafon to believe I fhould have found the latter, had we Staid to cultivate it. Bourgogne is, however, a much finer province than Champaigne; and this town is delight fully Situated ; that it is a cheap province, you will not doubt, even to Englifh tra vellers, when I tell you, that I had a good fupper for four perfons, three decent beds, good hay, and plenty of corn, for my horfe, at an inn upon this road, and D 2 was [ 36 1 was charged only four livres ten fois ! not quite four Shillings. Nor was it owing ta any mistake ; for I lay the following night at juft fuch another inn, and was charged juft the fame price for nearly the fame entertainment. They were carriers' inns, indeed, but I know not whether they were not, upon the whole, better, and cleaner too, than fome of the town auberges. I need not therefore tell you, I was Straggled a- little out of le Rout Anglois, when I found fuch a bon Marche. Dijon is pleafantly fituated, well built, and the country round about it is as beau tiful as nature could well make it. " The Shady walks round the whole town are very pleafing, and command a view of the ad jacent country. The excellence of the wine of this province, you are better ac quainted with than I am ; though I muft confefs, I have drank better burgundy in England than I have yet tafted here :"but I am not furprized at that; for at Madeira I could ( 37 ) I could not get wine that was even to lerable. I found here, two genteel Englifh gen tlemen, Meff. Plowden and Smyth, from whom we received many marks of atten tion and politenefs. Here, I imagined I Should be able to bear feeing the execu tion of a man, whofe crimes merited, I thought, the fevereft punifhriient. He was broke upon the wheel; fo it is called; but the wheel is what the body is fixed upon to be expofed on the high-road after the execution. This man's body, however, was burnt. The miferable wretch (a young Strong man) was brought in the evening, by a faint torch light, to a chapel near the place of execution, where he might have continued in prayer till midnight; but after one hour fpent there, he walked to, and mounted the fcaffold, accompanied by his confeffor, who with great earneftnefs conti nually prefented to him, and bad him kifs, the crucifix he carried in his hand. When D 3 the ( 38 ) the prifoner came upon the Scaffold, he very willingly laid himfelf upon his back, and extended his arms and legs over a crofs, that was laid fiat and fixed faft upon the fcaffold for that purpofe, and to which he was fecurely tied by the executioner and his mother, who affifted her fon in this horrid bufinefs. Part of the crofs was cut away, in eight places, fo as to leave a hol low vacancy where the blows were to be given, which are, between the Shoulder and elbow, elbow and wrift, thigh and knee, and knee and ancle. When the man was fecurely tied dpwn, the end of a rope which was round his neck, with a running noofe, was brought through a hole in and under the fcaffold; this was to give the Coup de Grace, after breaking : a Coup which relieved him, and all the agitated Spectators, from an infinite degree of mi- fery, except only, the executioner and his mother, for they both feerned to enjoy the deadly office. When the blows were gi ven, which were made with a heavy piece of ( 39 ) of iron, in the form of a butcher's cleaver without an edge, the bones of the arms and legs were broke in eight places; at each blow, the fufferer called out, O God ! without faying another word, or even ut tering a groan. During all this time, the Confeffor called upon him continually to kifs the crofs, and to remember Chrift, his Redeemer. Indeed, there was infinite ad- drefs, as well as piety, in the conduct of the Confeffor; for he would not permit this miferable wretch to have one moment's reflection about his bodily Sufferings, while a matter of fo much more importance was depending ; but even thofe eight blows feemed nothing to two dreadful after-claps, for the executioner then untied the body, turned his back upwards, and gave him two blows on the fmall of the back with the fame iron weapon ; and yet, even that did not put an end to the life and Suffer ings of the malefactor! for the finifhing Stroke was, after all this, done by the hal ter, and then the body was thrown into a great ( 4° ) great fire, and confumed to afb.es. There were two or three executions foon after, but of a more moderate kind. Yet I hope I need not tell you, that I fhall never at tend another ; and would feign have made my efcape from this, but it was impoSfi- ble.— Here, too, I faw upwards of four- Score criminals linked together, by one long chain, and fo they were to continue till they arrived in the galleys at Marfeilles, Now I am fure you will be, as J was, afto- nifhed to think, an old woman, the mo ther of the executioner, Should willingly auift in a bufinefs of fo horrid a nature ; and, I dare fay, you will be equally afto- nifhed that the magistrates of the city per mitted it. Decency, and regard to the fex, alone, one would think, Should have put a ftop to a practice fo repugnant to both; and yet, perhaps, not one perfon in the town confidered it in that light. Indeed, no other perfon would have affifted, and the executioner muft have done all the bufi nefs himfelf, if his mother had not been one ( 4i ) one of that part of the fair fex, which Ad- difon pleafanfly mentions, " as rakers of cin ders;' for the executioner could not have found a fingle perfon to have given him any affiftance. There was a guard of the Marechauffee, to prevent the prifoners' efcape; but none that would have lifted up a little finger towards forwarding the execution ; the office is hereditary and in famous, and the officer is fhut out of all fociety. His perquisites, however, were considerable; near ten pounds, I think, for this fingle execution ; and he had a great deal more bufinefs coming on. I would not have given myfelf the pain of relating, nor you the reading, the particulars of this horrid affair, but to obferve, that it is fuch examples as thefe, that render travelling in France, in general, fecure. I fay, in ge neral ; . for there are, neverthelefs, mur ders committed very frequently upon the high roads in France ; and were thofe murders to be made known by news-pa pers, as ours are in England, perhaps it would ( 42 ) would greatly intimidate travellers of their own, as well as other nations. But as the murdered, and murderers, are gene rally foot-travellers, though the dead body is found, the murderer is efcaped ; and as nobody knows either party, nobody trou ble themfelves about it. All over France, you meet with an infinite number of peo ple travelling on foot, much better dreffed than you find, in general, the Stage-coach gentry in England. Moft of thefe foot- travellers are young expenfive tradefmen, and artifts, who have paid their debts by a light pair of heels; when their money is exhaufted, the Stronger falls upon the weaker, knocks out his brains, and fur- nifhes himfelf with a little money ; and thefe murders are never fcarce heard of above a league from the place where they are committed; for which reafon, you ne ver meet a foot-traveller in France, with out arms, of one kind or other, and car ried for one purpofe, or the other. Gen tlemen, however, who travel only in the day-time, ( 43 ) day-time, and who are armed, have but little danger to apprehend ; yet it is necef- fary to be upon their guard when they pafs through great woods, and to keep in the middle of the road, fo as not to be too Sud denly furprifed; becaufe a convenient op portunity may induce two or three honeji travellers to embrace a favourable occafion of replenifhing their purfes ; and as they always murder thofe whom they attack, if they can, thofe who are attacked Should never fubmit, but defend themfelves to the Utmoft of their power. Though the woods are dangerous, there are, in my opinion, plains which are much more fo ; a high hill which commands an extenfive plain, from which there is a view of the rpad fome miles, both ways, is a place where a robber has nothing to fear but from thofe whom he attacks ; and he is morally cer tain of making his efcape one way or the other: but in a wood, he may be as fud- denly furprifed, as he is in a fituation to furprife others ; fpr this reafon, I have been ( 44 ) been more on my guard when I have feen people approach me on an extenfive plain, than when I have paffed through deep woods ; nOr would I ever let any of thofe people come too near my chaife ; I always Shewed them the utmoft difiance, and made them return the compliment, by bidding them, if they offered to come out of their line, to keep off : this faid in a peremp tory manner, and with a Stern look, is ne ver taken ill by honeft men, and has a for cible effect upon rafcals, for they immedi ately conclude you think yourfelf fuperior to them, and then they will think fo too : whatever - comes unexpected, is apt to dif- may ; whole armies have been feized with a panic from the moft trifling artifice of the oppofite general, and fuch as, by a mi nute's reflection, would have produced a Contrary effect : the King's troops gave way at Falkirk ; the reafon was, they were difmayed at feeing the rebels (I beg pardon) come down pell mell to attack them with their broad fwords ! it was a new way of fighting, ( 45 ) fighting, and, they weakly thought, an in vincible one ; but had General Cope pre viously rode through the ranks, and ap- prifed the troops with the manner of their fighting, and affured them how feeble the effect of fuch weapons would be upon men armed with mufket and bayonet, which is exactly the truth, not a man would have retired ; yet, trim-tram, they all run, and the General, it is faid, gave the earlieft notice of his own defeat ! But I Should have obferved, above, that the laws of France being different, in different pro vinces, have the contrary effect in the fouT thern parts, to what they were intended. The Seigneur on whofe land a murdered body is. found, is, obliged to pay the ex- pence of bringing the criminal to juftice. Some of thefe lordfhips are very fmall; and the profecuting a murderer to punifhment, would coft the lord of the manor more than his whole year's income; it becomes his intereft, therefore, to hide the dead body, rather than purfue the living villain j and. ( 46 ) and, as whoever has property, be it ever fo fmall, has peafants about him who will be glad to obtain his favour, he is fure that when any of thefe peafants fee a mur dered body, they will give him the earlieft notice, and the fame night the body is for ever hid, and no enquiry is made after the offender. I faw hang on the road fide, a family of nine, a man, his wife, arid feven children, who had lived many years by murder and robberies ; and I am perfuaded that road murders are very common in France ; yet people of any condition may, neverthelefs, travel through France with great fafety, and always obtain a guard of the MarechauJJee, through woods or fo- refts, or where they apprehend there is any danger. P. S. The following method of buying and felling the wine of this province, may be ufeful to you. To ( 47 ) To have good Burgundy, that is, wine de la premiere tete, as they term it, you muft buy it at from 400 to 700 livres. There are wines ftill dearer, up to 1000 or 1200 livres ; but it is allowed, that beyond 700 livres, the quality is not in proportion to the price ; and that it is in great meaSure a matter of fancy. The carriage of a queue of wine from Dijon to Dunkirk, or to any frontier town near England, cofts an hundred livres, Something more than four fois a bottle •„ but if fent in the bottle, the carriage will be }uft double. The price of the bottles,, hampers, package, &c. will again increaSe the expence to fix fois a bottle more; fo that wine which at firft coft 600 livres, or 25 fois a bottle, will,, when delivered at Dunkirk, be worth 29 fois a bottle,, if bought in cafk; if in bottles, 39 fois. — > Now add to this the freight, duties, &c. to London ; and as many pounds Sterling as. ( 48 ) as all thefe expences amount to upon a queue of wine, juft fo many French fois muft be charged to the price of every bot tle. The reduction of French fois to EngliSh fterling money is very plain, and of courfe the price of the beft burgundy delivered in. London, eafily calculated. If the wine be fent in cafks, it is ad- vifeable to choofe rather a Stronger wine, becaufe it will mellow, and form itfelf ' in the carriage. It Should be double caSked, to prevent, as much as poffible, the frauds of the carriers. This operation will coft fix or eight livres per piece ; but the great and principal object is, whom to truft to. buy the beft, and to convey it fafely. I doubt, it muft not pafs through the hands of Monf. C -, if he deals in wine as he does in drapery,' and bills of exchange^ LETTER ( 49 ) LETTER VIL Lyons. UPON our arrival at Chalons, I was much difappointed; as I intended to have embarked on the Soane, arid have fljp-^ ped down here in the cache d'eau, and thereby have Saved my horfe the fatigue of dragging us hither : but I could only Spare him that of drawing my heavieft baggage. The cache d'eau is too fmall to take horfes and cabriolets on board at Chalons; but at Lyons, they will take horfes, and coaches, or houfes, and churches, if they could be put on board, to deScend the Rhone,, to Pont St. Efprit, or Avignon. 3o after we have taken a fortnight's reft here, I intend rolling down with the rapid current, which the united- force of thofe two mighty rivers renders, as I am affured* a Short, eafy, and delightful paffage. E Nothing ( 5° ) Nothing can be more beautiful than the country we paffed through from Chalons here. When we got within a few leagues of this great city, we found every moun tain, hill, and dale, fo covered with cha teaux, country houfes, farms, &c. that they appeared like towns, villages, and hamlets. Nothing can be a ftronger proof of the great wealth of the citizens of Lyons, than that they can afford to build fuch houfes, many of which are more like palaces, than the country retreat of bourgeois. The profpect from the higheft part of the road, a league or two from Lyons, is fo extenfive, fo pic- turefque, and fo enchantingly beautiful, that, impatient as I was to enter into the town, I could not refrain Stopping at a little Shabby wine-houfe, and drinking cof fee under their mulberry trees, to enjoy the warm day, the cooling breeze, and the noble profpects which every way fur- rounded us. The ( 5i ) . The town of Lyons, too, which Stands nearly in the center of Europe, has every ad vantage for trade* which men in trade can defire. The Soane runs through the cen tre of it, and is covered with barges and boats, loaded with hay, wood, corn, and an infinite variety of goods from all parts of the kingdom; while the Rhone, on the other fide, is ftill more feryiceable ; for it not only Supplies the town with all the above neceSSaries of life, but conveys its various manufactures down to the ports of -the Mediterranean fea expeditiously, and at little expence. The fmall boats, which ply upon the Soane as ours do typon the Thames, are flat bottomed, and very meanly built ; they have, however, ¦ a tilt to Shelter them from the heat, and to pre* Serve the complexion,' or hide the blujhes of your female Patronne .--—yes, .my dear .Sir, female ! — for; they' are. all conducted by : females ;. many of whom are young, handfome, and neatly' dreffed. I have* E 2 more ( 52 ) more than once, been difpofed to blufh, when' I faw a pretty Woman fitting juft oppofite me, labouring in an action which I thought would have been more becoming myfelf. I afked one of thefe femalefculls, how She got her bread in the winter ? Oh> Sir, faid She, giving me a very Significant look, fuch a one as you can better con ceive, than I convey, dans I'hiver fai un autre talent. And I affure you I was glad She did not exercife both her talents at the fame time of the year ; yet I could not re frain from giving her a double fee, for a Single fare, as I thought there was fome- thing due to her winter as well as Summer abilities. But I muft not let my little Bateliere's talents prevent me, while I think of it, telling you, that I did vifit, and Stay fome days at the Roman town lately difcovered in Champaigne, which I mentioned to you in a former letter : it Stoodupon a moun tain, now called- the Chatelet, the foot of which [ 53 ] which is watered by a good river, and its Sides with good wine. Monfieur Grignon, whofe houfe Stands very near it, and who has there an iron manufacture, firft disco vered the remains of this ancient town ; his men, in digging for iron ore, found wrought gold, befide other things, which -convinced Monf. Grignon (who is a man of -genius) that.it was neceffary to inform the King with what they had difcovered ; in confequence of which, his Majefty ordered -the foundations to be laid open ; and I had the .Satisfaction of feeing in Monf. Grignon 's cabinet an infinite number, of Roman uten- fils, fuch as weights, meafures, kitchen furniture, vafes> bufts, locks, fwords, in scriptions, pottery ware, Statues, 6cc. which afforded me, and would you, a great deal of pfeafure, as well as information. Monf Grig non, the elder, was gone to Paris; a circum ftance which gave me great concern to hear before I went to his houfe, but which was j ioon removed by the politenefs, and hof- pitable manner I -was received by his fon : E 3 yet ( 54 ) yet, my only recommendation to either, was my being a Stranger; and being a Stranger is, in general, a good recommen dation to a Frenchman, for; upon all fuch occafions, they are never Shy, or backward in communicating what they know, or of gratifying the curiofity of an inquifitive traveller ; their )ioufes, cabinets, - and- gar dens, are always open ; and they Seem ra<- ther to think they receive, than grant a fa vour, to thofe who vifit them. How many fine gardens, valuable cabinets, and curi- ofities, have we in England, fo' Shut 'up, that the difficulty of accefs renders them as unentertaining to the public, as they are to the fordid and felfifh poffeffors ! I am thoroughly Satisfied that the town I am fpeaking of was deftroyed by fire, and not, as has been imagined, by any convulfion of the earth, as I found, among a hundred other Strong proofs of it, an infinite num ber of pieces of melted glafs, lead, &e. But though I examined the cellars of eight hundred Roman citizens, the felfifh rogues had ( 55 ) had not left a fingle bottle of wine.- 1 longed to tafte the old Falernian wine, of Seventeen hundred years. I write from time to time to you ; but not without often thinking it is a great prefumptioh in me to fuppofe I can either entertain, or inftruct you ; but I proceed, upon your commands, and the authority of Lord Bacon, who fays, he is furprifed to find men make diaries in fea voyages, Where nothing is to be feen but fky and fea, and for the moft part omit it in 1 nd travels, where fo much is to be obiervoj - as if chance were better to be reordered than obfervation. When you are tired of my register, remember, I can take as well' as give a hint. LETTER ( 56 ) LETTER VIII. Font. .St. Esprit. A FTER. a voyage of one whole, and -"¦ ¦** one half day, without fail or oar, we arrived here from Lyons.. The wear-. ther was juft fuch as we could with, ^.nd, fuch as did 'not drive us out of the feat of my cabriolet into the cabbi-n^ which was full of prkfts, monks, friars, milleners, &cc. a motley crew ! who were very noify, and what they thought, J dare fay, very good company; the deck, indeed, afford ed better and purer air ; three officers, and a prieft ; but it was not. till late the firft day before they took any civil notice of us; and if a Frenchman Shews any backwardnefs of that fort, an Englishman, I think, had better hold up ; this rule I always religioufly obferve. When the night came on, we were landed in as much diforder ( 57 ) diforder as the troops were embarked at St. Cas, and . lodged in a miferable au- ber'ze. It was therefore no mortification to be called. forth for embarkation before day-light. The had night's lodging was, however, amply made up to us, by the beautiful and picturefque objects and va riety which. every minute produced. For the banks of this mighty river are not only charged on both fides with a great num ber of towns, villages, caftles, chateaux, and farm-houfes, but the ragged and bro ken mountains above, and fertile vales between and beneath,' altogether exhibit a mixture of delight and aftonifhment, which cannot be defcribed, unlefs I had Gainfborough's elegant pencil, inftead of my own clumfy pen. Upon comparing notes, we found that the officers, (and no men understand the etiquette of travelling better than they do,) had not fared much better than we- had ; one of them there fore propoSed, that we Should all fup to-r gether that night at Pont St. Efprit, where, he ( 5§ ) he affured us, there was one of the beft cooks in France, and he would undertake to regulate the fupper at a reafonable price. This1 was; the firft time we had eat with other company, though it is the general practice in the Southern parts of France. Upon entering the houfe, where this Mat tre Cuifnier and prime' minister of the kitchen prefided, I began to conceive but an indifferent opinion of the Major's judg ment; the houfe, the kitchen, the cook, were, in appearance, all againft it; yet, in fpite of all> I never fat down to fo good a fupper; and Should be forry to fit often at table, where fuch a one was fet before me. I will not — nay, I cannot tell you what we had ; but you will be furprifed to kriow what we paid ;- — what think you of three livres each ? when I affure you, fuch a fupper, if. it were to be procured in Lonr don, could not be provided for a guinea a head ! and we were only feven who. fat down to it. I muft ( 59 ) I muft not omit to tell you, that all the fecond day's voyage we heard much talk of the danger there would be in paffing the Bridge of Pont St. Efprit ; and that many'horfes and men landed fome miles before we arrived there, choofing rather to walk or ride in the hot fun, than Swim through fo much danger. Yet the truth is, there was none ; and, I believe, feldom is any. The Patron of the barge, indeed, made a great noife, and affected to Shew how much Skill was neceffary to guide it through the main arch, for I think the bridge confifts of thirty ; yet the current itfelf muft carry every thing through that approaches' it, and he muft have 'Skill, in deed, who could avoid it. There was not in the leaft degree any fall ; but yet, it paffed through with fuch violence, that we run half a league in a minute ; and very foon after landed at the town of Pont St. Efprit, which has nothing in jt very remarkable, but this long bridge, the [ 6o ] the good cook, and the firft olive trees we liadfeen.' This is Lower Languedoc, you know, and the province in which ten thoufand pounds was lately distributed by the fuga cious Chancellor of England, among an hundred French peafants ;. and though I was weak enough to think it my property, I am not wicked enough to envy them their j|ood fortune. If the decifion made one man wretched, it made the hearts of many -glad ; and I fhould be pleafed to drink a bottle of wine with any of my fortunate coufins, and will, if I can find them out; for they are my coufms ; and I would Shake an honeft coufin by the hand, tho' he were in wooden Shoes, with more plea- fure than I would the honeft Chancellor who put th.em.fo unexpectedly upon a bet ter footing. I think, by the lams of Eng land, no money is to be transported into other kingdoms ; by the justice of it, it may, and is ;--4f fo, law and juftice are ftill { 6i ) Still at variance; which puts me in mind of what a great man once faid upon reading the confirmation of a decree in the Houfe of Lords, from an Irifh appeal : — " It is (faid he) fo very abfurd, inconfiftent, and intricate, that, in truth, I am afraid it is really made according to law." LETTER [ 62 ] LETTER IX. NlSMES. ON our way here we eat an humble meal ; which was, neverthelefs, a moft grateful repas, for it was under the principal arch of the Pont du Gard. It will be needlefs to fay more to you of this noble monument of antiquity, than that the modern addition to it has not only made it more durable, but more ufeful : in its original State, it conveyed only horfe and man, over the River Garden, (perhaps Gar don J and water, to the city of Nifmes. By the modern addition, it now conveys every thing over it, but water, as well as an high idea of Roman magnificence ; for befide the immenfe expence of erecting a bridge of a triple range of arches, over a river, and thereby uniting the upper arches to the mountains on each fide, the fource from ( 63 ) from whence the water was conveyed, is fix leagues diftant from Nifmes. The bridge is twenty-four toifes high, and above an hundred and thirty-three in length, and was my fole property for near three hours ; for during that time, I faw neither man nor beaft come near it ; every thing was fo ftill and quiet, except the murmuring Stream which runs gently under two or three of the arches, that I could almoft have perfuaded myfelf, from the filence, and rude fcenes which every way prefented themfelves, that all the world were as dead as the men who erected it. That fide of the bridge where none of the modern ad ditions appear, is nobly fillagreed by the hand of time ; and the other fide is equally pleating, by being a well-executed fup- port to a building which, without its aid, would in a few ages more have fallen into ruins. I was aftonifhed to find fo fine a build ing ftanding in fo pleafant a fpot, and which ( 64 ¦) which offers fo many invitations to make it the abode of Some hermit, quite desti tute of fuch an inhabitant ; but it did rtot afford even a beggar, to tell the Strange Sto ries which the - common people relate ; though it could not fail of being a very lu crative pofl, were it only from the bounty of Strangers, who vifit it out of curioSity; but a Frenchman whether monk, or mum per, has no idea of a life of folitude : yet I am fure, were it in England, there are many of our firjl-rate beggars, who weuld lay down a large Sum for a moiety of fuch a walk. If a moiety of fweeping the ken nel from- the Mews-gate to the IriSh cof- fee-houfe oppofite to it, could fetch a good price, and I was a witnefs once that it did, to an unfortunate beggar- woman, who was obliged by ficknefs to part with half of it ; what might not a beggar ex pect, who had the fweeping of the Pont du Gard ; or a monk, who erected a confef- fional box near it for the benefit of him- felf, and the fouls of poor travellers ? After ( 65 ) After examining every part of the bridge above and below, I could not find the leaft traces of any ancient infcription, except three initial letters, C, P, A ; but I found cut in demi relief a Very extraordinary kind of priapus, or rather group of them ; the country people; for it is much effaced, imagine it to be dogs in purfuit of a hare ; but if I may be permitted to imagine too, perhaps, indeed, with no better judgment, might not thofe kind, of reprefentations be emblematical of the populoufnefs of the country ? though .more probably the wan ton fancies of the maStef mafon, or his journeymen ; for they are too diminutive pieces of Work "to bear any proportion to the whole, and are therefore blemifhes; not ornaments, even allowing that in thofe ages fuch kind of works were not confi dered in the light they would , be in thefe days of more delicacy and refinement. F LETTER ( 66 j LETTER X. V NlSMES- I HAVE now been here fome time, and have employed moft of it, in vifiting daily the Maifon Carree, the Amphitheatre, the Temple of Diana, and other Roman remains, which this town abounds with? above alf others in France, and which is all the town affords worthy of notice, (for it is but a very indifferent one.) The greater part of the inhabitants are Protef- tants, who meet publicly between twa rocks, at a little distance from the city, every Sunday, Sometimes not lefs than eighteen thoufand, where their paftors, openly and audibly, perform divine fervice, according to the rites of the reformed church : Such is the difference between the mild government of Louis the 16th, and that which was practifed in the reign of ( 67 ) his great grandfather. But reafon and philofophy have made more rapid Strides in France, within thefe few years, than the arts and Sciences. It is> however, a great arid mighty kingdom, bleft with every convenience and comfort in life, as well as many luxuries, befide good wine; and good wine, drank in moderation, (and here nobody drinks it otherwife) is not only an excellent cordial to the nerves, but I am perfuaded it contributes to long life, and good healths Here, where wine and eau de vie is fo plenty, and fo. cheap, too, you feldom meet a drunken peafant, and never fee a gentleman (except he be ajlrangerj in that Shameful fituation. Perhaps there is not, on any part of the Continent, a city or town which has been fo frequently facked by foreign invaders, nor fo deeply Stained with- human blood, by civil and religious wars, as this: every Street and ancient building within its walls ftill exhibit many Strong marks of the ex- F 2 ceffes ( 68 ) cefles committed by the hands of domeftic as well as foreign barbarians, except only the Temple now called, and fo called from its form, the Maifon Carree, which has Stood near eighteen hundred years, without receiving any other injuries than the inju ries of time ; and time has given it rather the face of age, than that of ruins, for it Still Stands firm and upright ; and though not quite perfedt in every part, yet it pre- feryes all its due proportions, and enough of its original and leffer beauties, to aftonifh and delight every bdh older, and that too in a very particular manner. It is faid, and I have felt the truth of it in part, that there does not exift, at this day, any building, ancient or modern, which conveys fo Se cret a pleafure, not only to the corinoiffeur, but to the clown alfo, whenever, or how often Soever they approach it. The pro portions and beauties of the whole build ing are fo intimately united,, that they may be compared to good breeding. in men; it is what every body perceives, and is cap- z~'.- tivated ( 69 ) tivated with, but what few can define. That it has an irrefiftible beauty which delights men of fertfe, and which charms the eyes of the vulgar, I think muft be admitted; for no other poffible reafon can be affigned why this building alone, ftand- ing in the very centre of a city, wherein every excefs which religious fury could in spire, or barbarious manners could fuggeft, has flood fo many ages the only uninfulted monument of antiquity, either within or without the walls; efpecially, as a very few men might, with very little labour, foon tumble it into a heap of rubbifh. The Amphitheatre has a thoufand marks of violences committed upon it, by fire, Sledges, battering rams, &c. which its great folidity and Strength alone refitted. The Temple of Diana is fo nearly de stroyed, that, in an age or two more, no veftige of it will remain ; but the Maifon Carree is ftill ib perfect and beautiful, that F 3 when [ 7° J when Cardinal Alberoni firft faw it, he faid it wanted only une bo'e'te d'or pour le defen- dre des injures de I'air ; and it certainly has received no other, than fuch as rain, and wind, and heat, and cold, have made upon it; and thofe are rather marks of dignity, than deformity. What reafon elfe, then, can be affigned for its prefervatipn to this .day; but that the favage and the faint have been equally awed by its Superlative beauty. Having faid thus much of the perfec tions of this edifice* I muft however con- fefs, it is not, nor ever was, perfect, for -it has fome Original blemifhes, but fuch as efcape the obfervation of moft men, who have not time to examine the parts Sepa rately, and with a critical eye. There are, for example, thirty modillions on the cor nice, on one fide, and thirty-two on the other; there are Sixty- two on the weft fide, and only fifty-four on the eaft; with fome other little faults which its aged beauty juftifiqs ( 7' ) juftifies ray omitting; for they are fuch perhaps as, if removed, would not add any thing to the general proportions of the whole. Nobody objected to the moles on Lady Coventry's face; thofe fpecks were too trifling, where the tout enfemble was fo perfect. Cardinal Richlieu, I am affured, had fe- veral confultations with builders of emi nence, and architects of genius, to confi- der whether it was practicable to remove all the parts of this edifice, and re-erect it at Verfailles-. and, I have no doubt, but Lewis the 14th might have raifed this monument to his fame there, for half the money he expended in murdering and dri ving out of that province fixty thoufand of his faithful and ingenious fubjects, merely on the fcore of Religion ; an act, which is now equally abhorred by Catholics, as well as Proteftants. But, Lord Chefterfield juftly obferves, that there is no brute So fierce, no criminal fo guilty, as the crea ture ( 72 ) ture called a Sovereign, whether King, Sultan, or Sophy; who thinks himfelf, ei ther by divine or human fight, vefted with' abfolute power of deftroying his fellow- creatures. Louis the Xlth of France caufed the Duke of Nemours, a defcendant of King Clovis, to be executed at Paris, and placed his children, under the fcaffold, that the blood of their father might run upon their heads ^ in which bloody condition they were returned to the Baftile, and there fhut up in iron cages : and a King of Siam, having loft his daughter, and fancying She was poifpned, put moft of his court, young and old, to death, by the moft exquifite torture; by this horrid act of cruelty, near two thoufand of the principal courtiers Suffered the moft ch-eadfuldeaths; the great Mandarins, their wives, and children, be ing all Scorched with fire, and mangled with knives, before they were admitted to his ( 73 ) his laft favour, — that of being thrown to the elephants. But to have done with fad Subjects. It was not till the year 1758 that it was certainly known at what time, or for what purpofe, the Maifon Carree was erected; but fortunately, the fame town which pro duced the building fo many ages ago, 'produced in the latter end of the laft, a Gentleman, of whom it may be juftly faid, he left no ftone unturned to come at the truth. This is Monf. Seguier, whofe long life has been employed in collecting a ca binet of Roman antiquities, and natural Curiofities, and whofe penetrating genius alone could have difcovered, by the means he did, an infcription, of which not a fin gle letter has been feen for many ages 3 but this habile obfervateur, perceiving, a great number of irregular holes upon the frontal and frize of this edifice, concluded that they were the cramp-holes which had formerly held an infcription, and which, accprding { 7,4 ) according to the practice of the Romans, were often compofed of fingle letters of bronze. Monf. Seguier therefore erected fcaffolding, -and took off on paper the dif- tances and fituation of the feveral holes, and after nicely examining the difpofition of them, and being afufted by a few faint traces of fome of the letters, which had been impreffed on the ftones, brought forth, to the full fatisfaction of every body, the original infcription, which was laid before V Academie des Infcriptions & de Belles Lettres de Paris, of which he is a mem ber, and from whom he received their public thanks; having unanimoufly agreed that there was not a doubt remained but that he had produced the true reading : ¦* and as the method and manner Monf Se guier took to decypher this ancient infcrip tion, cannot be eafily explained by words, I herewith fend you a "drawing which he permitted me to take . from his original impreSfion, and which will explain the, matter clearly at one view, and Spare me, at ( 75 ) at the fame time, copying the infcription. But I muft obferve, that as the workman who fixed the letters was not quite aufait in his bufinefs, he very often made the holes too high, or too low, and by that means rendered Monf. Seguier's tafk much more difficult ; for you will perceive many of the holes were, by that clumfinefs, quite ufelefs then, and very perplexing to the examiner. The Maifon Carree is not, however, quite fquare, being fomething more in length than breadth ; it is eighty-two feet long, and thirty- feven and a half high, exclufive of the fquare focle on which it flands, and which is, at this time, fix feet above the furface ; it is divided into two parts, one enclofed, the other open ; the facade is adorned with fix fluted pillars of the Co rinthian order, and the cornice and front is decorated with all the beauties of archi tecture. The frize is quite plain, and without any of thofe bas-reliefs or orna~ ments { 7^> ) ments which are on the fides, where the foliage of the olive leaf is exquisitely fi nished. On each fide over the door, which operis1 irito the enclofed part, two large Stones,' like the but-erids of joifts, project about three feet, and thefe ftones are-pier ced through with two large mortices, fik inches long, arid three wide; they' are \ ^Striking- blemifh,- and muft therefore- have been fixed, for fome very neceffary pur- pofe — for what, I will not rifque my opi nion; it is enough to . have - mentioned "them to you. As to the inSide, little need be faid; but that, being now confecrated to' the ferVice of God, and the ufe of the order of Augujlines, it is filled up with altars, exvotos, Statues, &c. but fuch as, we may reafonably conclude, have not, ex clusive of a religious consideration, all thofe beauties which Were once placed within a Temple, the outward ftrudture of which was fo highly finished. Truth <3 St 0 R C 77 I Truth and concern compel me to con clude this account of the Maifon. Carree, in lamenting, that the inhabitants of Nifmes (.who are in general a very refpectable body of people) Suffer this noble edifice to be de filed by every Species of filth that poverty and neglect can occafion. The approach to it is through an old ragged kind of barn door ; it is Surrounded with mean houfes, and difgraced on every fide with filth, and the offerings of the neareft inhabitants. I lenow not any part of London but what would be a better fituation- for it, than wheife-rit now ftands : I will not except even Rag-fair, nor Hockly in the Hole. LETTER ( 78 ) LETTER XL NisMes. T^NCLOSED I fend, you a pretty. exact -*-^ drawing of. the State in which that once-fuperb. edifice, the Temple of Diana, now appears ; by which you will fee, with concern, that there remains only enough to give the Spectator an idea of its former beauty; for though the roof has been bro ken dpwn, and every partof it fo wantonly abufed, yet enough remains, within and without, to bear teftimony that it was built not only by the greateft architect, but en riched alfo by the hands of other great artifts : indeed, the mafon's work alone is, at this day, wonderful; for the Stones with which it is built, and which are very large, are fo truly worked, and artfully laid, with out either cement or mortar, that many of the joints are fcarce vifible ; nor is it poffi ble ( 79 ) ble to put the point of a pen-knife be tween thofe which are moft open. This Temple too is, like the Maifon Carree, Shut up by an old barn-door: a man, how ever, attends to open it ; where, upon en tering, you will find a ftriking picture of the folly of all human grandeur ; for the area is covered with broken Statues, bufts, urns, vafes, cornices, frizes, infcriptions, and various fragments of exquifite work- manfhip, lying in the utmoft diforder, one upon . another, like the Script dead in a field of battle. Here, the ghoft of Shake- fpeare appeared before my eyes, holding in his hand a label, on which was engraven thofe words you have fo often read in his works, and now fee upon his monument. I have often wondered, that fome man of tafte and fortune in England, where fo much attention is paid to gardening, ne ver converted ' one fpot to an II Penferojb, and another to L' Allegro. If a thing of that kind was to be done, what would not a man ( So ) a man of fuch a turn give for an II Penfe- rofo, as this Temple now is ? — -where Sweet melancholy fits, with a look " -That's fattened to the ground, " A tongue cfeajn'd up, without a found." -,---. The modern fountain of Nifmes, or ra- ther the Roman fountain recovered, and re-built, falls juft before this Temple; and the noble and extenfiye walks, which furrourid this pure, and plentiful Stream, are -indeejd very magnificent; what then muft it have been,in the days of the Ro mans, when, the Temple,- the fountain, the ftatues, vafes, &c • Stood perfect, and in their proper Qnjer? Though this build ing has been called the Temple of Diana, by a tradition immemorial, yet it may be much doubted, whether it was fo. The Temples erected, you know, tp the. daugh ter of Jupiter, were all of the. Ionic order, and this is a mixture of the Corinthian, and Compofit. Is it not, therefore, more probable, from the number of nitehes in it to l?4*'/ %% V -.7/.! ( 8i ) to contain ftatues, that it was, in fact, a Pantheon? Directly oppofite to the en trance door, are three great tabernacles ; on that of the middle ftood the principal altar ; and on the fide walls were twelve niches, fix on the right hand are ftill per fect. The building is eleven toifis five feet Jpng, and fix toifes wide, and was thrown into its prefent ruinous State during the civil wars of Henry the Third ; and yet, in fpite of the modern Statues, and gaudy ornaments, Which the inhabitants have be. Strewed to decorate their matchlefs foun tain, the Temple of Diana is ftill the great. eft ornament it has to boaft of. LETTER ( 82 .) LETTER XII. Montpellier. NEVER was a traveller more difap- pointed than I was upon entering into this renowned city ; a city, the name of which my ears have been familiar to, ever fince I firft heard of difeafe or medi cine. I expected to find it filled with pa laces; and to perceive the Superiority of the foft air it is fo celebrated for, above all other places ; inftead of which, I was accompanied for many miles before I en tered it with thoufands of Mofchettos, which, in fpite of all the hoftilities we com mitted upon them, made our faces, hands, and legs, as bad in appearance as perfons juft recovering from a plentiful crop of the fmall -pox, and infinitely more mifera ble. Bad as thefe flies are in the Weft- Indies, I Suffered more in a few days from them ( 83 ) them at, and near Montpellier, than I did for fome years in Jamaica. However fine and falubrious the air of this town might have been formerly, it is far otherwife now ; and it may be natu rally accounted for; the fea has retired from the coaft, and has left three leagues of marfhy ground between it and the town, where the hot fun, and ftagnated waters, breed not only flies, but distempers alfo ; befide this, there is, and ever was, Some thing very peculiar in the air of the town- itfelf : it is the only town in France where verdigris is made in any great quantity;1 and this, I am inclined to think, is not a very favourable circumftance ; where the air is fo difpofed to cankerife, and corrode copper, it cannot be fo pure, as where none can be produced; but here, every cave and wine-cellar is filled with Sheets of copper, from which fuch quantities of verdigris are daily collected, that- it is one of the principal branches of their trade. G 2 The ( 84 ) The Streets are very narrow, and very dirty; and though there are many good houfes, a fine theatre, and a great number of public edifices, befide churches, it makes altoge ther but an indifferent figure. Without the walls of the town, indeed, there ftands a noble equeftrian Statue of Louis the XlVth, Surrounded with Spa cious walks, and adorned with a beautiful fountain. Thefe walks command a view of the Mediterranean Sea in front, and the Alps and Pyrenees on the right and left. The water too is conducted to a moft beau tiful Temple d'Eau, over a triple range of arches, in the manner of the Pont du Gard, from a very considerable diftance. The modern arches over which it runs are, in deed, a great and mighty piece of work ; for they are fo very large, extended fo far, and are fo numerous, that I could find no perfon to inform me of their exact num ber; however, I fpeak within the bounds of truth, I hope, when I fay there are many ( 85 ) many hundred; and that it is a work which the Romans might have been proud of, and muft therefore convey an high idea of the riches and migh-tinefs of a kingdom, wherein one province alone could bear, and be willing too to bear, fo great an ex- pence, and raife fo ufeful, as well as beau tiful a monument; for befide the immenfe expence of this triple range of arches, the fource from whence the water is conveyed is, I think,, three leagues diftant from the town, by Which means every quarter of it is plentifully fupplied with fountains which always ran, and which in hot cli mates are equally pleafifig, refreshing, and ufeful. > < The town abounds with apothecaries' Shops, and I met a great many physical faces ; fo that if the air is not gPod, I con clude thephyfic is, and therefore laid out two fois for a penny worth of ointment of marjh- mallows, which alleviated a little the extreme mifery we all were in, during our Stay at G i this ,( 86 ) this celebrated city. If, however, it ftill has a reputation for the cure of a particular -diforder, perhaps that may arife from the impurity of the air, — and that the air which is fo prone to engender verdigris, may wage war with other fubtle poifons ; yet, as I found fome of my countrymen there, who had taken a longer trial of the air, and more of the phytic, than I had occafipn for, who neither admired one, nor found benefit frpm the other, I will not recommend Montpellier as having any pe culiar excellencies within lU walls, but good wine, and fome good actors. It is a dear town, even to the natives, and a very impofing one to Strangers; and therefore I fhall foon leave it, and proceed fouthward, Perhaps you will expect me to Say Some thing of the Sweets which this town is fo famed for ; there are indeed fome fweet Shops of that fort ; and they are bien place. At thefe Shops they have ladies' Silk poc kets, fachels for their Shifts, letter cafes, and ( 87 ) and a multitude of things of that kind, quilted and larded with fomething, which does indeed give them a moft pleating and lafting perfume. At thefe fhops too, be fide. excellent lavender water, effence of bergamot, &c. they fell eau de jafmin de pourri, de cedre, de girofle, fans pareille de millefleurs de zephir, de oiellet, defultan, and a hundred other forts; but the effence of bergamot is above all, as a fingle drop is fufficient to perfume a handkerchief; and fo it ought to be, for it is very dear. LETTER { 8.8. ) LETTER -yXIII, CatTA. I WAS very, impatient till I had drove , my horfe from the Rritifh to the Me diterranean coaifl, and looked upon a fea from thai- land which. I had ofteny with, v longing eyes, viewed from the fea, in the year 1745, when I was on Board the Ruf-. fel, with Admiral Medley. I haye now compleatly croffed this mighty kingdom and great continent, and it was for that reafon I vifited Cette. This pretty little fea-port, though it is out of my way to Barcelona, yet it proves to be \n the way for my poor horfe ; as I found here a Spa nish bark, upon which I put part of my baggage. I was obliged to have it, hpwr ever, opened and examined at the CuStom- houfe ; and as the officer found in it a bafs viol, two guittars, a fiddle, and fome other mufical ( 89 ) mufical instruments, he very naturally con. eluded I was a mufician, and very kindly intimated to me his appreheniions, that I Should meet with but very little encourage ment in Spain: as I had not any better rea fon to affign for going there, but to fiddle, I did not undeceive this good-natured man till the next morning, when I owned, I was not fufficiently cunning in the art of mufic to get my bread by it; and that I had unfortunately been bred to a worfe profeffion, that, of arms; and if I got time enough to Barcelona to enter a volun teer in the Walloon guards, and go to Al giers, perhaps I might get from his Ca tholic Majefty, by my fervices, more than I could acquire from his Britannic — Some thing to live upon in my old age : but I had no better encouragement from this Frenchman- as an adventurer in arms, than in mufic ; he affured me, that Spain was a yifain pays, and that France was the only country in the world for a voyageur. But as I found that France was the only coun try ( 9° ) try he had voyaged in, and then never above twenty leagues from that Spot, I thanked him for his advice, and determined to pro ceed; for though it is fifteen miles from Montpellier, we are not got out of the la titude of the Mofchettos. On the road here, we met an infi nite number of carts and horfes, loaded with ripe grapes ; the gatherers generally held fome large bunches (for they were the large red grape) in their hands, to pre- Sent to travellers ; and we had fome from people, who would not even Stay to receive a trifling acknowledgment for their gene- rofity and politenefs. Nothing could be more beautiful than the profpects which every way furrounded $s, when we came within three or four miles of this town ; both fides of the road were covered with thyme and lavender Shrubs., which, perfumed the air ; the fea breeze, and the hot fun, made both agree able ; ( 9i ) able ; and the day was fo clear and fine, that the fnow upon the Alps made them appear as if they were only ten leagues from us; and I could eafily have been per- fuaded that we were within a few hours drive of the Pyrenees ; yet the neareft of them was at leaft a hundred miles diftant. The great Canal of Languedoc has a communication with this town, where co vered boats, neatly fitted up for paffengers, are continually paffing" up and down that Wonderful and artificial navigation. It is a convenient port to Ship wine at ; but the people have the reputation of playing tricks with it, before and after it is put on board; and this opinion is a great baulk to the trade it is fo happily Situated to carry on, and of great benefit to the free port of Nice. LETTER ( 92 ) LETT E ,R XIV. - -:{ fWS Pfl?LPIGlfrA'K. Dear.Si:r, i -'?¦:•:¦: BEFORE I leave this, kingdom,, and enter into that of Spain, let me trou- ble you with a letter on a Subject which, though no ways interesting to yourfelf, may he very much fo to a young Gentleman of your acquaintance at Oxford, for whofe nappinefs I, as well as you, am a little anxious. It is. to apprife you, and to warn him, when he travels, to avoid the gins and man-traps fixed all over this country, ; traps, which a thorough knowledge of Latin and Greek, combined even with father and mother's wit, will not be Sufficient to pre- ferve him from, unlefs he is firft Shewn the manner in which they are fet, Thefe traps are not made to catch the legs, but to ( 93 ) to ruin the fortunes and .break the hearts of thofe who unfortunately Step into them. Their baits are artful, defigning, wicked men, and profligate, abandoned, and pro stitute women. Paris abounds with them, as well as Lyons, and all the great towns between London and Rome; and are prin cipally fet to catch the young Englishman of fortune from the age of eighteen to five and twenty ; and what is worfe, an honeft, fenSible, generous young man, is always in moft danger of Setting his foot into them. You SuSpect already, that thefe traps are made only of paper, and ivory, and that cards and dice are the destructive engines I mean. Do you know, that there are a fet of men and women, in Paris and Ly ons, who live elegantly by lying in wait and by catching every bird ofpafage? — but particularly the Englifh goldfinch. I have feen and heard of fuch wicked artifices of thefe people, and the fatal confequences to the unfortunate young men they have en- Shared, that I really think I could never enjoy ( 94 ) joy a fingle hour of contentment, if I had a large fortune, while a fon of mine was ma king what is called the tour of Europe. The minute one of thefe young men arrive, either at Paris or Lyons, fome laquais de place, who is paid for it, gives the earlieft notice to one of the confederacy, and he is inftantly way-laid by a French Marquis, or an Englifh Chevalier DTnduftrie, who, with a moft insinuating addrefs, makes him believe, he is no fooner arrived at Paris than he has found a Sincere friend. The Chevalier Shews him what is moft worthy of notice in Paris, attends him to Ver- failles and Marly, cautions him againft be ing acquainted with the honeft part of the French nation, and introduces him to the knaves only of his own and this country; carries him to fee French Ladies of the fiirjl diftinSiion, (and fuch who certainly live in that JlyleJ and makes the young man giddy with joy. But, alas! it is but a Short-lived one ! — he is invited to fup with the Countefs; and is entertained not only volup- ( 95 ) voluptuoufly, but they play after fupper, and he wins too. What can be more de lightful to a young man, in a Strange coun try, than to be flattered by the French, courted by the Englifh, entertained by the Countefs, and cheered with fuccefs ?• — Nay, he flatters himfelf, from the particular at tention the Countefs Shews him, above all other men admitted to her toilet, that She has even fome tmdre for his perfon : — -juft at this critical moment, a Toy-man arrives, to Shew Madame la Comteffe a new-fafhioned trinket; fhe likes it, but has not money enough in her pocket to pay for it : — here is a fine opportunity to make Madame la Comteffe a prefent ;— and why Should not he ? — the price is not above four or five guineas more than his laft night's win nings ; — he. offers it ; and, with great dif ficulty and much perfuafion, fhe accepts it; but is quite ajhamed to think of the trou ble he has given himfelf:— — but, fays fhe, you Englishmen are fo charming, — fo gene- , rous, — and fo— fo— and looks fo fweet upon him, ( 96 ) him, that, while her tongue faulters, egad he ventures to cover her confufion by a -kifs; — who, inftead of giving him the two broad fides of her cheek, She is fo off her guard, and fo overcome, as to preSent him, unawares, with a pretty handfome dafh of red pomatum from her lovely pouting lips, . — and infifts upon it that he fups with her, tete a tete, that very evening, — when all his happinefs is compleated. In a few nights after, he is invited to meet the Countefs, and to fup with Monfieur le Mar quis, or Monfieur le Chevalier Anglois; he is feafted with high meat, and inflamed with delicious wines ; — they play after fup per, and he is Stript of all his money, and gives— drafts upon his Banker for all his credit. He vifits the Countefs the next day; She receives him with a civil coal- nefs,-— is very forry, She fays,' — and wifhed much laft night for a favourable opportu nity to give him a hint, not to play after he had loft the firft thoufand, as She per ceived luck run hard againft him: — fhe is ( 97 ) is extremely mortified ; — but, as a friend, advifes him to go to Lyons, or fome pro vincial town, where he may Study the lan guage with more fuccefs, than in the hurry - and noife of fo great a city as Paris, and apply for further credit. His new friends vifit him no more ; and he determines to take the Countefs's advice, and go on to Lyons, as he has heard the South of France is much cheaper, and there he may fee what he can do, by leaving Paris, and an application to his friends in England. But at Lyons too, fome artful knave, of one na tion or the other, accofts him, who has had notice of his Paris misfortunes ; — he pities him; — and, rather than fee a countryman, or a gentleman of fafhion and character in dif- trefs, he would lend him fifty or a hundred pounds. When this is done, every art is ufed to debauch his principles; he is ini tiated into a gang of genteel Sharpers, and bullied, by the fear of a goal, to connive at, or to become a party in their iniquitous fociety. His good name gives a Sanction H for ( 98 ) for a while to their fufpected reputations; and, by means of an hundred pounds So lent to this honeft young man, fome thou sands are won from the birds of paffage, who are continually paffing through that city to the more fouthern parts of France, or to Italy, Geneva, or Turin. This is not an imaginary picture ; it is a picture I have feen, nay, I have feen the traps fet, and the game caught ; nor were thofe who fet the fnares quite fure that they might not put a flop to my peregri nation, for they rifqued a fupper at me, and let me win a few guineas at the little play which began before they fat down to ta ble. Indeed, my dear Sir, were I to give you the particulars of fome of thofe un happy young men, who have been ruined in fortune and conftitution too, at Paris and Lyons, you would be Struck with pity on one fide, and horror and deteftation on the other; nor would ever rifque fuch a finifhedpart of your fon's education, Tell my ( 99 ) my Oxonian friend, from me, when he travels, never to let either Lords or La dies, even of his own country, nor Mar- quifes, Counts, or Chevaliers, of this, ever draw him into play; but to remember that fhrewd hint of Lord Chefterfield's to his fon; — " When you play with men, (fays his Lordfhip) know with whom you play ; when with women, for what you play." — But let me add, that the only safe way, is never to play at all. At one of thefe towns I found a man, whofe family I refpected, and for whom I had a perfonal regard ; he loaded me with civilities, nay, made me prefents, before I had the moft diftant fufpicions how he be came in a fituation to enable him fo to do. He made every profeffion of love and regard to me ; and I verily believed him Sincere, becaufe I knew he had been obliged by a part of my family ; — but when I found a coach, a country-houfe, a good table, a wife, and fervants, were all fupported by H 2 the ( ioo ) the chance of a gaming-table, I withdrew myfelf from all connections with him; for I fear, he who lives to play, may play to live. Upon the whole, I think it is next to an impoffibility for a young man of for tune to pafs a year or two in Paris, the fouthern parts of France, Italy, &c. with out running a great rifque of being beg-r gared by Sharpers, or. feduced by artful women ; unlefs he has with him a tutor, who is made wife by years, and a frequent acquaintance with the cuftoms and man ners of the country: an honeft, learned Clergyman tutor, is of lefs ufe to a young man in that fituation, than a trufty Valet de Chambre. A travelling tutor muft know men 5 and, what is more difficult to know, he muft know women alfo, before he is qualified to guard againft the innumerable Shares that are always making to entangle ftrangers of fortune. It ( ioj ) It is certainly true, that the nearer wd approach to the fun, the more we become familiar with vices of every kind. In the South of France, and Italy, fins of the blackeft dye, and many of the moft unna tural kind, are not only committed with impunity, but boafted of with audacity ; and, as one proof of the corruption of the people, of a thoufand I could give you, I muft tell you, that feeing at Lyons a Shop in which a great variety of pictures were hung for fale, I walked in, and after exa mining them, and afking a few queftions, but none that had the leaft tendency to want of decorum, the matter of the Shop turned to his wife, (a very pretty woman, and dreffed even to a plumed head) — fhew Monfieur the- little miniature, faid he ; fhe then opened a drawer and took out a book, (I think it was her mafs-book) and brought me a picture, fo indecent, that I defy the moft debauched imagination to conceive any thing more fo ; yet She gave it me with H 3 a feeming ( 102 ) , a feeming decent face, and only obferved, that it was bien fait. Afrer examining it with more attention than I fhould, had I received it from the hands of her hufband, I returned it to her prayer-book, made my bow, and was retiring; but the hufband called to me, and faid, he had a magazine hard by, where there was a very large col lection of pictures of great value, and that his wife fhould attend me. My curiofity was heightened in more refpects than one: I therefore accepted the offer, and was conducted up two pair of Stairs in a houfe not far off, where I found a long fuite of rooms, in which were a large number of pictures, and fome, I believe, of great va lue. But I was a little furprifed on en tering into the furthermoft apartment, as that had in it an elegant chintz bed, the curtains of which were feftooned, and the foliages held 'up by the paintings of two naked women, as large as life, and as in decent as nakednefs could be painted; they were painted, and well painted too, on boards, ( i^3 ) boards, and cut out in human fhape, that at firft I did not know whether I faw the Shadow or the fubftance ; however, as this room Was covered with pictures, I began to examine them alfo, with the fair attend ant at my elbow ; but in the whole col lection I do not remember there was one picture which would not have brought a blufh in the face of an EngliSh Lady, even of the moft eafy virtue. Yet, all this while, when I aSked the price of the feveral parts and pieces, She anfwered me with a gravity of countenance, as if She attended me to fell her goods like other Shop-keepers, and in the way of bufinefs; however, before I left the room, I could not, I thought, do lefs than afk her — her own price. She told me, She was worth nothing ; and immediately in vited me to take a peep through a convex glafs at a picture which was laid under, on the table, for that purpofe : — it was a pic ture of fo wicked a tendency, that the pain ter ought to have been put upon a pillory, and the exhibiter in the Stocks. The Lady obferved ( i°4 ) obferved to me again, that it was well painted; but, on the contrary, the only merit it had, was, being quite otherwife. I therefore told* her, that the Subject and idea only was good ; the execution bad. Juft at this time, feveral French Gentle men came in to look at the pictures, and my furprife became infinitely greater than ever; they talked with her about the feveral pieces, without betraying the leaft degree of furprize at the fubjects, or the woman who Shewed them ; nor did they feem to think it was a matter of any to me ; and I verily believe the woman was fo totally a Stranger to fentiment or decency, that fhe confidered herfelf employed in the ordinary way of Shop-keepers, that of Shewing and felling her goods, as her Shop was almoft oppofite to the General Poft-offiCe, where I went every day for my letters. I fre quently faw women of fafhion at this Shop; whether they vifited the magazine, or not, I cannot fay, but I think there is no doubt but ( io5 ) but they might borrow the mafs-book I mentioned above. I fhall leave you to make your own comments upon this Subject ; and then I am fure you will tremble for the fatal con- fequences which your fon, or any young man, may, nay muft be led into, in a country where Vice is painted with all her bewitching colours, in the fore-ground of the picture; and where Virtue, if there is any, is thrown fb far behind in the back Shade, that it is ten to one but it efcapes the notice of a youthful examiner. I cannot help adding another inftance of the profligacy of this town. Lord P being invited by a French Gentleman to fpend a day at his Chateau, in this coun try, took occafiOn to tell his Lordfhip, that in order to render the day as agreeable as poffible to his company, he had provided fome young people of both fexes to attend, and defired to know his Lordfhip's gout. The ( 106 ) The young Nobleman concealed ' his fur- prife, and told his generous hoft, that he was not fafhionable enough to walk out of the paths of nature. The fame queftion was then put to the other company, in the order of their rank ; and the laft, an hum ble Frenchman, replied, it was to him egal I'un, et l' autre, juft as it proved moft con venient. This is not a traveller's ftory; it is a fact; and I dare fay the Nobleman, who was of the party, will give it the fanction of his name, though I cannot with any degree of propriety. LETTER ( io7 ) LETTER XV. JONQUIRE. T HAVE now croffed the Pyrenees, and •*¦ write this from the firft village in Spain. Thefe mountains are of fuch an enormous height, as well as extent, that they feem as if they were formed even by nature to divide nations. Nor is there any other pafs by land into this kingdom but over them ; for they extend upwards of thirty leagues from the Mediterranean Sea, near Perpignan in Roufillon, to the city of Pom- pelina in Navarre ; I Should have faid, ex tend into the Mediterranean Sea, for there the extremity projects its lofty head, like a noble fortrefs of nature, into the ocean, far beyond the low lands on either fide. Indeed the extenfive plains on both fide thefe lofty mountains (fo unufual in the fouthern parts of Europe) would almoft make ( io8 ) make one fufpect, that nature herfelf had been exhausted in raifing fuch an immenfe pile, which, as if it were the hack-bone of an huge animal, was made to hold, and bind together, all "the parts of the weftern world. There are, I think, nine paffes over thefe hills into Spain, two or three of which are very commodious, and won derfully pitJurefyue: others are dreadful, and often dangerous ; the two beft are at the extremities; that which I have juft paffed, and the other hear Bayonne; the former is not only very fafe, except juft after very heavy and long-continued rains, but in the higheft degree pleating, aftonifhing, and wonderfully romantic, as well as beautiful. At Boulon, the laft village in France, twelve long leagues from Perpignan, and feemingly under the foot of the Pyrenees, we croffed a river, for the firft time, which muft be forded three or four times more, before you begin to afcend the hills ; but if the river can.be fafely croffed at Boulon, there can .( io9 ) can be no difficulty afterwards, as there atelier the ftfearn is, moft rapid, and the channel j deepeft. r At this town there are ^bMyjS a fet pf fellows ready $o offer their fervice, who. ford the river, and Support the carriage; nor is it an eafy matter to prevent them, when no fj*Ch ,afljftan'ce-ji|; neceffary ; and J. was obliged; Jo handle my piftojs, to m§.k^|hem unhandleftny wheels; as it is pgffrjlhap^probable they wpuld have pver- fetjHs ift Shallow wafer, to gain an oppor* tunity of fhewi^^exr _pol\tenefs'xn pjckr iij^AW up again. -T^he Stregm,. indeed, was very ^apid ; fen pV. J; was rathe^ provoked by the rudenefsof ^-hejpeppjfe, t^pfafs thrpugh itwkhouj: affiftgric^ijthan convincgd there needed, none. Having crojfled; ^the river four or five jtimeg. more,-, and paSfed betwqen rocks, and broken land* through a; very unculti vated and romantic vaje> Wenbfcgap to af cend the Pyrenees, upon a noble road, in deed ! hewn upon the fides of thofe ada mantine ( no ) rnantine hills, of a considerable Width!, and an eafy afcent, quite up -to the high: For- trefs of Bellegarde, which ftands upon the pinacle j of the higheSt r hill, and which commands this renowned paSs. tlU., 1S3j You-wilfeafier conceive than I can de- fcribe the many rude and various Scenes Which mountains fo high, fo rocky, So fteep, fo divided, and, I may- add too, fo fertile, exhibit to the traveller's eyes. The conftant water-falls frofn the rhelted fnow ajbdve, the gullies and breaches made by water- torrents during great- rains; the rivulets in the vales below, the verdure on their banks, the herds of goats, the humble, but pie- turefque habitations of the goat-herds, the hot fun Shining upon the fnow-capt hills above, and the Steep precipices below, all crowd together fp Strongly upon the imagination, that they intoxicate the paf- fenger with delight. - '-' The ( III ) The French nation in no inftance Shew their greatnefs more than in the durable and noble manner they build and make their high-roads ; here, the expence was not only cutting the hard mountain, and railing a fine road on their fides, but build ing arches of /an immenfe height from mountain to mountain, and over breaks and water-falls, with great folidity, and excellent workmanfhip. The invalide guard at this fortrefs take upon themfelves, . very improperly, and I am fure very unwarrantably, to examine Strangers who pafs, with an impertinent Curiofity; for they muft admit all who come with a proper paffa-porte into Spain, and durft not admit any without it. On my arrival at the Guard-houfe, they feized my horfe's head, and called for my paffa- porte, in terms very unlike the ufual po- litenefs of French guards ; and while my pafs was carried into a little office, hard by, to ( 'I" ) to be registered, thofe who remained on the fide of my chaife took occafion to afk me of what country I was : I defired to refer them to my paffa-porte, (where I knew no information of that kind was given,} as it was a queftion I could not very well anfwer; but upon being further urged, I at length told them, I was an Hotten tot . — ;" Otentot-~Otentot — pray what king " governs that country?" faid one of them. No king governs the Hottentots, replied I. " What, then, is your country without a " king?" faid another, with aftoniShment ! No; not abfolutely fo, neither; for the Hottentots have a king; but he always keeps a number of ambitious and crafty men a- bout his Court, who govern him; and thofe men, who are generally knaves, feed the people with guts, and entrails of beafts, give the king now and then a little bit of the main body, and divide the reft among themfelves, their friends, their favourites, and fycophants. But I foon found, thefe were queftions leading to a more impor tant ( "3 ) tant one ; and that Was, what countryman my horfe was ; — for, fufpecting him to be an Englijhman, they would perhaps, if I had been Weak enough to have owned it, have made me pay a confiderable duty for his admiffion into Spain ; though I believe it cannot legally be done, or levied uport any horfe, French or Englifh, (to- ufe- an act of parliament phrafe) but fuch " as are " not actually in harnefs, nor drawing in " a carriage." The Spaniards too have done their duty, as to the defcent of the Pyrenees from Belle- garde, but no further; from thence to this village, is about the fame distance that Boulon. is from the foot of the moun tains on the other fide ; but though this road is quite deftitute of art, it is adorned highly by nature. - f But, before I left Bellegarde, I Should have told you, that near : that Fortrefs the arms-of France and Spain, cut on. Stone pil- I lars, ( IH ) lars, are placed vis-a-vis on each fide of the road; a fpot where fometimes an af fair of honour is decided by two men, who engage in perfonal combat, each Standing in a different kingdom ; and where, if one falls, the other need not run ; for, by the Family Compact, it is agreed, not to give Up deferters or murderers. The road is not lefs romantic on the Spanifh, than on the French Side of the Pyrenees ; the face of the country is more beautiful, and the faces of all things, ani mate and inanimate, are quite different ; and one would be apt to think, that in ftead of having paffed a few hills, one had paffed over a large ocean : the hogs, for inftance, which are all white on the French fide, are all black on this. We arrived here upon a Sunday, when the inhabitants had on their beft apparel: but inftead of high head-dreSfes, falfe curls, plumes of feathers, and a quantity of ( ii5 ) of powder; the women had their black hair combed tight from their foreheads and temples, and tied behind, in either red, blue, or black nets, fomething like the caul of a peruke, from which hang large taffels down to the middle of their back ; the men's hair was done up in nets in the fame manner, but not fo gaudy. Before we arrived here, I overtook a girl with a load of freSh hay upon her head, whom (at the requefi of my horfe) I entreated to fpare me a little ; but, till fhe had called back her brother, who had another load of the fame kind, would not treat with me ; they foon agreed, however, that my requeft was reafonable; and fo was their demand ; and there, under the Shade of a noble grove of large cork-trees, we and our horfe eat a moft luxurious meal : appetite was the fauce ; and the wild Scenes, and Stupendous rocks, which every way furrounded our falle a manger, were our defers I 2 And ( u6 } And that you may not be alarmed about this mighty matter, (as it is by many thought) of paffing. from France to Spain, by the way of Perpignan, it may not be amifs to fay, that I left the laft town about feven o'clock in the morning, in a heavy French cabriolet, drawn by one Strong En glifh horfe, charged with four perfons, and much baggage ; yet we arrived here about three o'clock the fame day; where, at our fupper, we had a fpecimen of Spanifh copkery, as well as Spanifh beds, bills, and cuftom-houfe officers : to the latter, a fmall donative is better beftowed, than the trouble of unpacking all your baggage, and much better relifhed by them : as to the hoft, he was neither, rude, nor over civil; the cookery more favoury than clean ; the window frames without glafs, the rooms without chimneys, and the beds (mat- traffes) without curtains. The demand for fuch entertainment is rather dearer than in France. Before ( "7 ) Before. I left Perpignan, I found it ne ceffary to exchange fome French gold. for Spanifh, and- to be well informed with the different value between the money of the two kingdofns. There were many people willing to change my money ; though but few, indeed, who would give the full value. 'Formerly, you know, the Pyrenees were charged with goldy from whence the Phoenicians fetched great quantities every year. In the time of the Romans, much of the Pyrenean gold was fent to Rorrie ; and a King of Portugal, fo lately 3 as the year 1 5 1 2 , had a crown and fceptre made of the gold wafhed from' thofe hills into the Tagus; their treaSUres were known, you may remember, even to Ovid. " Quod fuo Tagus amne vehit fluk " Ignibus aurum." But as I did not expect to find a gold mine on my paffage into 'Spain, I thought it beft to carry a little with me, and leave I 3 nothing ( :H8 ) nothing to chance; and I Should have been content to have found, by the help of my gun, the bird vulgarly called the Gelinotte, des Pyrenees; it has a curved bill like a hawk, and two long feathers- in the tail; but though I faw a great number of diffe-j rent birds,, I was not fortunate enough tp, find the Ganga, for that is the true name of a bird, fo beautiful in feather, and of fo de licate a flavour, that it is even mentioned by Ariftofcle, and is a native of thefe hills. P. S. I forgot to tell you, that the day, we left Gette , we Stopped, according to cuftpm, to eat our cold dinner, in an olive grove ; from- whence we had a noble view of the Mediterranean Sea, and a moft de lightfully fituated Chateau, ftanding upon the banks of a falt-water Jake, at leaft twenty miles in circumference, <* clear as the expanfe of heaven;" and that while we were preparing to Spread our napkin, a gentleman of .genteel appearance came out from a neighbouring viney aid, and afked us ( JI9 ) us if any accident had happened, and de- fired, if we wanted any thing, that we would command him, or < whatever his houfe afforded, pointing to the Chateau, which had fo attracted our notice : we told him, ofir bufinefs was to eat pur little- re- pas, with his leave, under, what we prefu- roed, was his Shade alfo, and invited him to partake with us. He had already captivated us by his polite attention, and by his agree able converfation : we lamented that we had not better pretentions to have vifited his lovely habitation. We found he was well acquainted with many Englifh per- fons of fafhion, who have occafionally re- fided at Montpellier ; and I am fure, his being a winter inhabitant of that city, muft be one of the moft favourable cir cumstances the town affords. Thefe little attentions to ftrangers, are never omitted by the well-bred part of the French na tion. I could not refift afking the name of a gentleman, to whom I felt myfelf fo much obliged, nor avoid telling him my , it'. .-. own, ( 120 ,) own, and what had paffed at the town of Cette, relative to the mufical instruments, as one of the largeft was Still with us.— He feemed aftonifhed, that I preferred the long and dangerous journey by land, as he thought it, to Barcelona, when I might, he faid, have run down to it over a fmooth fea, in the Same bark I had put my bag gage on board. LETTER ( 121 ) L.E T T E R XVI. GlROKE. TT'ROM f onquere to Figuere (about four -*- hours journey, fo they reckon in Spain) the road is intolerable, and the country beautiful ; over which the travel ler may, as nature has done, repofe him felf upon a flowery bed, indeed ; for na ture furely could not do more for the plea sure and profit of man, than fhe has done from f onquere to Girone. The town of Figuere is, properly fpeaking, the firft town in Spain; for y onquere is rather a hamlet; but Figuere has a decent, comfortable ap pearance, abounds with merchants and tradefmen^ and at a little diftance from it ftands the ftrongeft citadel in Spain : in deed it is the frontier town: of the king dom. The -quietnefs of the people, and Seeming tranquility of all ranks and orders of ( 122 1 of men in Spain, is very remarkable to a perfon who has juft left a kingdom in every refpeft. fo different. ;Strang.ers as we were, and as we muft be known to be, we paffed unnpticed; and when we Stopped near a cottage to eat our hedge dinner, nei ther man, woman, or child came, near us, till I afked far water, and then they brought with its unaikedi dried grapes* £nd chef- nuts, but inftantly retired. I was charmed with the Arcadian inhabitants, and vifited; the infide of their cabin ; but its Situation upon a little tump, on the bank of a brook, Shaded by ever- green oaks,, and large Spread ing fig-trees, wa« all it had. to .boaft of; it had nothing within but Straw t.beds, Iter dian corn, dried grapes, figs, -&c. .' e.-j ¦ • 3., From Figuere to Girone, whieh is a good day's journey, the country is enclofed, mi the hedge rows, corn fields; &e. had in many places the appearance of the fineft parts of England, oflly warmed by a hot ter fun, and adorned with woods and trees of ( "3 ) of other fpecies; inftead of the hawthorn, I found the orange and the pomegranate, the myrtle and the; c-yprefs : in fhort, all na ture feemed to fejoice here, but man alone. From many parts of this road we had a view of the Mediterranean Sea, and the Golfe de Royas, a fine bay, over which the heads of . the Pyrenees hang ; and on the banks Oof which there" feemed to he, not only villages, but large towns ; the Situ ations of which appeared fo enchanting, that I oou-ld hafdj-f- refift the temptation of yifiting them;- and now wonder why I did not,; but af that ti,me, I fuppofe, I did not recollect I. had nothing elfe to do. We entered this town rather too late, and was followed to our inn by an armed foldier, who demanded, in harSh terms, my attendance upon the Governor : 1 enquired whether it was cuftomary for a. Gentle man, juft off a journey, to be fo called upon, and was aflured-it was. not; that my Jaffa-- ( 124 ) paffa-porte was Sufficient. I therefore gave that to my oOnductor, and defiredhim to take it, arid return it, which he did, in about half an hour ; but- required to be paid for his trouble — a requeft I declined understanding. This is a "fortified city, well built, but every houfe has the appearance of a con vent. I went into the market, where fruit, fleSh, and ^vegetables, were to be fold in a- bundanee ; but inftead of that noife which French' arid Englifh rnarkets abound-with* a general Silence and gravity reigned through out; which can hardly be thought poffiblej where fO many buyers and fellers were collected together. I bought a bafket of figs, but the vender Of them Spoke to me as Softly as 'if we had been engaged in a conspiracy, but She did not attempt to im- pofe; I dare fay, She aSked me no more than She would have demanded of a Spa niard. The manners of people are Cer tainly infectious f my fpirits funk in this town j ( i*5 ) town ; and I wanted nothing but the lan guage, and a long cloak, to make me a compleat Spaniard. Our inn was the Gol den Fountain ; and, confidering it was in Spain, not a bad one. If the town, how ever, was gloomy, the country round about it exhibited all the beauties nature can boaft of. In climates, fays fome writer, where the earth feems to be the pride and mafter- piece of nature, rags, and dirt, ghaflly countenances, and mifery under every form, are oftener met with, than in thofe countries lefs favoured by nature ; and the forlorn and wretched condition of the peo ple in general feemed to belie and difgrace their native foil. Certain it is, that the natives of the fouthern parts of Europe have neither the beauty, Strength, nor come- linefs of men born in more northern cli mates. I have feen, in the South of France, in Spain, and Portugal, the aged efpeci- ally of both fexes, who hardly appeared human ! ( ^26 ) , human ! nor do you fee, in generalj even among the youthful, much more beauty than that which youth alone muft give; for youth itfelf is beauty. Whoever com pares the natives of Switzerland, England, Ireland, and Scotland, with thofe of Spain, Portugal, or other Southern climates, will find, that men born among cold, bleak mountains, are infinitely fuperior to thofe of the fineft climates under the fun. Per haps, however, this difference may arife more frOm the want of Liberty than the; power of climate. Oh Liberty! fweet Li berty t without thee life cannot be enjoy ed! Thou parent of comfort, whofe chil dren blefs thee, though they dwell among the barren rocks, or the moft Surly regions, of the earth !' Thou bleffeth, in fpite of nature; and in fpite of nature, tyranny hrings curfes. LETTER ( i27 ) L E T t'e R XVII. Mar. tory. AFTER we left Girone, we paffed thro* a fine country, but not equal to that which is between fonquire and that town ; we lay the firft night at a veritable Spanifh pofada; it was a fingle houfe, called the Grenade. We arrived there early in the afternoon ; and though the infide of the houfe was but fo-fo, every thing without was charming, and our hoft and his two daughters gave us the beft they had, treated us with civility enough, and gave us good advice in the profecution of our journey to Barcelona ; for about four leagues from this houfe, we found two roads to that city, one on the fide of the Mediter ranean Sea, the other inland. He adyi- fed us to take the former, which exactly tallied with my inclination; for wherever the ( 128 ) the fea-coaft affords a road in hot climatesy that muft be the pleafanteft; and I was very impatient till we got here. After we had left the high inland road, we had about three leagues to the fea fide, and fhe village on its margin where we were to lie ; this road was through a. very wild, uncultivated country, over-run with underwood and tall firs. We faw but few houfes, and met with fewer people. When we came near the fea, the country, how ever, improved upon us; and the farms, churches, convents, and beacons, upon the high lands, rendered the proSpects every way pleafing. We croffed a Shallow river feveral times, adorned on both fides with an infinite quantity of tall beeches, on one of which trees (boy like) I cut my, name, too high for other boys, without a ladder* to cut me out again. At length we arrived at the village, and at a pofada, than which nothing could be more dreadful, after the day-light was gone ; for befide the rudeft miftrefs, ( 129 ) miftrefs, and the dirtieft Servants that can be conceived, there lay a poor Frenchman dying in the next room to us ; nay, I may almoft fay, in the fame room with us, for it could hardly be called a door which parted us. This poor man, who had not a Shilling in his pocket, had lain twenty days ill in that houfe; but was attended by the priefts of the town with as much af- fiduity as if he had been a man of fafhion: he had been often exhorted by them, it Seems, to confefs, but had refufed. The night we came, he feared would be his laft, and he determined to make his confeffionf I was in the room when he- fignified his defire fo to do ; and all the people were difmiffed by the pariSh prieft. I returned to my room, and could now and then hear what the prieft faid ; but the fick man's voice. was too low: his crimes however, I fear, were of an high nature, for we heard the prieft fay, with a voice of impatience and feeming horror, Adonde — adonde — a- donde ? — Where--rwhere — where ? K You ( I3° ) You may imagine, a fad fupper, lighted hy Stinking oil, burning in an iron lamp hung againft the fide of a wall, (for there were no candles to be had) and while the. Sick man was receiving the laft facrament, would have been little relifhed had it been good; that our dirty Straw beds were no very comfortable retreat; and that day light the next morning was what we moft Wanted and wifhed for. Indeed, I never fpent a .more miferable night ; but it was amply made up to. us by this day's journey to Martory, for we coafted it along the fea, which fometimes wafhed the wheels of my chaife. At others, we croffed over high head-lands, which afforded fuch ex tenfive views over both elements, as a- bundantly overpaid us for the Sufferings of the preceding evening. The roads, indeed, over thefe head-lands were bad enough, in Some places dangerous; but between walking and, riding, with a Steady horfe, we got on very well. On ( 131 ) On this coaft, we found a village at every league, inhabited by rich fishermen, and wealthy Ship-builders, and found all thefe artificers bufy enough in their pror feffions; in fome places, there were an hun* dred men dragging in, by bodily Strength, the Saine ; at others, Still more furprdfing, Ships of two hundred tons were building on the dry land, where no tide rifes to launch them ! Thefe villages are built clofe to the fea; nothing intervenes between their houfes and the ocean but their little "gar - dens, in which, under ' the Shade of their orange, lemon, and vine trees* which were loaded with fruit, fat the wives and daugh ters of the fifhennen, making black Silk lace. Though I call them villages, arid though they are in reality fo, yet the houfes were fuch, in general, as would make a good figure even in a fine city; for they were all well built, and many adorned on the outfide with no contemptible paintings. K 2 The ( *32 J The town, indeed, from which I write, is fituated in the fame manner, but is a little city, and affords a pofada, (I fpeak by comparifon, remember) comfortable e- nough ; and the fea a fifh, they call the red fifh, than which nothing can be more de licious; I may venture almoft. to call it the fea woodcock, for it is eaten altogether in the fame manner. We fared better than my poor horfe, for not a grain of oats or barley did this city afford; nor has he tafted, or have I feen, a morfel of hay fince I parted from my little Dona, near the foot of the Pyrenees. To-morrow we have Se ven hours to Barcelona ; I can fee the high cape under which it ftands, and from un der which, you Shall foon hear again from me. LETTER ( J33 ) LETTER XVIII. Barcelona. T TPON our arrival at this town, we were **-^ obliged to wait at the outward gate above half an hour, no perfon being ad mitted to enter from twelve till one, tho' all the world may go out; that hour being allotted for the guards, &c. to eat their dinner. As "I had no letter to any perfon in this city, but to the French Conful, I had previoufly wrote to a Mr. Ford, a merchant at Barcelona, with whom I had formerly travelled from London to Bath, to beg the favour of him to provide lod gings for me; I therefore enquired for Mr. Ford's houfe, and found myfelf conducted to that of a Mr. Curtoys : Mr. Ford, un fortunately for me, was dead; but the fame houfe and bufinefs is carried on by Meffrs. Adams and Curtoys, who had re- K 3 ceived ( i-34 ) ceived and opened my letter. After this family had a little reconnoitred mine, Mr. Curtoys came down, and with much civi lity, and an hofpitable countenance, told me his dinner was upon the table, and in very preffing terms defired that we would partake of it. We found here a large fa mily, conftfting of his wife, a motherly good-looking Woman; Mrs. Adams, her daughter by a forfner huSband, a jolly dame; and feveral children. Mrs. Adams Spoke fluently the< Catalan, French, En glish, and Spanifh tongues ; all which were lieeeffary at a table where there were peo ple who understood but one only of each language. Mr. Curtoys preffed us to dine with him a few days after, a favour which I, only, accepted ; when he told me, he was nominated, but not abfolutely fixed in his Confulfhip of this city ; that he had obtained it by the favour of Lord Rpch- ford, who had fpent fome days at his houfe, on his way to Madrid, when his Lprdfhip was AmfeaSTador to this Court; and ( ^35 ) and before I went from him, he defired I and my family would dine with him at his country-houfe the next day: inftead of which, I waited upon him in the morn ing, and told him, that I had formerly received civilities from his friend, Lord Rochford, and believed him once to have been mine; but that, unfortunately, I found now it was much otherwife; and obferved, that perhaps his politenefs to me might injure him with his Lordfhip ; and that I thought it right to fay fo much, that he might be guided by his own judgment, and not follow the bent of his inclination, if he thought it might be prejudicial to his intereft ; and by the way of a little re turn for the hofpitable manner in which he had received and entertained me, and my family, I took out an hundred and twenty-five pound in Bank notes, and defi red him to fend them to England ; adding, that I had about thirty pounds in my poc ket, which I hoped would be fufficient for my expences, till he had an account of their ( 13° )] their fafe arrival. But inftead of his won ted chearful countenance,' I Was contunded with an affected air of the man of bufi nefs ; my bank notes were fhined againft the window, turned and twitted about, as if the utmoft ufe they could be of were to light the Conful's pipe after fupper. I afked him whether he had any doubts of their authenticity ; and Shewed him a let ter to confirm my being the perfon I faid I was, written to me but a Short time be fore, from his friend Lord Rochford, from whom he too had juft received a letter: he then obferved, that a burnt child dreads the fire; that their Houfe had fuffered; that a Jew had lately paffed thro' France, who had put off a great number of falfe Bank notes, arid that I might indifcreetly have taken fome of them ; but affuring him that I had received all mine from the hands of Meffrs. Hoare, and that I would not call upon him for the money till he had received advice of their being good, I took my leave, and left my notes. 4 But ( ^37 ) But as there was a poffibility, nay, a probability, that Mr. Curtoys might not have very early advice from England, or might not give it to me if he had, for all his hofpitality of countenance and civility was departed, I thought it was neceffary to fecure a retreat ; for I fhould have in formed you, that I found at his table a Mr. Wombwell, whofe uncle I had lived in great intimacy with many years before at Gibraltar, and who left this man (now a Spanifh merchant) all his fortune. In deed, I fhould have faid, that Mr. Womb- well had vifited me, and even had afked me to dine with him; and as he appeared in finitely fuperior both in understanding, ad- drefs, and knowledge of the world than good Mr. Curtoys, I went to him, with that confidence which a good note, and a good caufe, gives to every man. I told him the Conful's fears, and my own, left I might want money before Mr. Curtoys was ready t© fupply me; in which cafe, and ( 138 ) and which only, I aSked Mr. Wombwell if he would change me a twenty pound Bank note, and Shewed him one which I then tpok out of my pocket; but Mr. Wombwell too examined my notes, with all the attention of a cautious tradefman, and put on all that imperioufnefs which riches, and the haughty Spanifh manners to an humble Suitor, could fuggeft. I tdl you, my dear Sir, what paffed between us, more out of pity than resentment towards him; he. Said, I will recollect it as nearly as I can, " that if youare Mr. Thickneffe, " you muft have lived a great deal in the " world; it is therefore unfortunate, you " are not acquainted with Sir Thomas " Qafcoyne, a gentleman of fafhion, well " known in England, and now in the fame " auberge with you." , I confeffed that I had feen, and converSgd with Sir Thomas Gafcoyne there, and that it was very true, he was to me, and I to him, utter ftran- ,gers; but I obferved, that Sir Thomas had been ten vears upon his travels, and that I had ( *39 ) I had lived fourteen years in retirement be fore he fet out, and therefore that was but a weak circumftance of my being an im- poftor ; I obferved too, that impoftors tra velled fingly, not with a wife and chil dren; and that though I by no means wifhed to force his money out of his pocket, I coveted much to remove all fuf- picions of my being an adventurer, for many obvious reafons. This reply opened a ghmpfe of generbfity, though fullied with arrogance and pride. " I fhould be forry, ,w (Said he) to fee a countryman, who is '* an honeft man, in Want of money; and " therefore, . as I think it is probable you (< are Mr. Thickneffe, I will, when you " want your note changed, change it;" adding, however, that " he thanked God I '¦¦* if he loft the money, he could afford {< it." I then told him, he had put it in my power to convince him, I was Mr. -Thickneffe, by declining, as I did, the boon he offered me ; I declined it, indeed, with an honeft indignation, becaufe I am fure ( Ho ) fure he did not doubt my being Mr. Thick neffe, and that he, not I, was the real pretender. I had before told him, that I had fome letters in my pocket written by a Spanifh Gentleman of fafhion, whofe hand-writing muft be well known in that town; — but to this he obferved, that there was not a Jew in Spain who could not write Spanifh; — he further remarked, that if I was Mr. Thickneffe, I had, in a pub lication of my travels, Spoke of Sir John Lambert, a Parifian Banker/ in very un- handfome terms, and, for aught, he knew; I might take the fame liberty with his name, in future. I acknowledged that his charge was very true, and that his fuggef- tion might be fo; that I fhould always Speak and publifh fuch truths as I thought proper, either for the information of others, or the fatisfadtion of myfelf. Mr. Womb well, however, acknowledged, that Mr. Curtoys, to whom I fhewed Lord Roch- ford's letter to me, ought to have been quite fatisfied whether I was, or was not an ( Hi ) an impoftor; but I Still left him under real or pretended doubts, with a refolution to live upon bread and water, or the bounty of a taylor, my honeft landlord ; for, tho' a Spaniard, I am fure he had that percep tion, and that humanity too, which Meff. Curtoys and Wombwell have not, or art fully concealed from me : yet, in fpite of all the unkind behaviour of the latter, I could not help Shewing him my Share of vanity too; I therefore fent him a letter, and enclofed therein others, written to me by the late Lord Holland, the Duke of Richmond, Lord Oxford, and many other people of rank ; and defired him to give me credit, at leaft, for that which he could lofe nothing by — that of my being, if I was an impoftor, an ingenious one. He fent the letters, handfomely fealed up, back again, without any anfwer ; and there fi nished for ever, our correfpondence, unlefs he fhould renew it. I am ( 142 ) I am afhamed of faying fo much about thefe men and myfelf, where I could find much better fubjects, and fome, perhaps* of entertainment; but it is neceffary to Shew how very proper it is for a Stranger to to take with him letters of recommenda tion when he travels^ not only to other kingdoms, but to every city where he pro- pofes to refide, even for a fhort time ; for, as Mr. Wombwell juftly obferved, when I have a letter of recommendation from my friend, or correfpondent, I can have no doubt who the bearer is; and I had ra ther take that recommendation than Bank notes. — —I eonfefs, that merchants can not be too cautious and circurnfpect : I can, and do forgive Mr. Curtoys, for reafons he Shall Shew you under his own hand; but I have too good an opinion of Mr. Wombwell's perception to fo readily forget his Shrewd reprifals ; though I muft, I can not refrain from telling you what a flatter ing thing he faid to me : I had fhewn him a printed ( i43 )- a printed paper, figned funius; faid he, " If you wrote this, you may be, for aught " I know, really Junius." I affuredhim that I was not; for being in Spain, and out of the reach of the inquifitorial court of Weftminfter-Hall, I would inftantly avow it, for fear I Should die Suddenly^ and carry that fecret, like Mrs. Faulkner, to the grave with me. LETTER ( H4 ) LETTER XIX.. Barcelona. "^/"OU will, as I am, be tired of hearing ¦*- fo much about Meffrs. Wombwell,; Curtoys, Adams, and Co.— but as there are fome other perfons here, which my laft letter muft have put you in fome pain about, I muft renew the Subject. I had, you know, fome letters of recommendation to the Marquis of Grimaldi, which I had referved to deliver into his Excellency's hands at Madrid; but which I found ne ceffary to fend away by the poft, and to requeft the honour of his Excellency to write to fome Spaniard of faShion here, to Shew me countenance, and to clear up my fufpected character. I accordingly wrote to the Marquis, and fent him my letters of recommendation, but Sixteen days was the fooneft I could expect an anfwer. I there- ford, ( H5 ) fore, in the mean time, wrote myfelf to the Intendant of Barcelona, a man of fenfe, and high birth ; I tpld him my name, and that I had letters in my pocket from a Spanifh Gentleman of fafhion, whom he knew, which would convince him who I was, and defired leave tp wait upon him. The Intendant fixed fix o'clock the faiiie evening. I was received, and conducted into his apartment, for he was ill, by one of his daughters ; the only woman I had feen in Barcelona that had either beauty or breeding; — this young Lady had both in a high degree. After Shewing my letters, and having converfed a little with the Intendant, a Lady with a red face, and a nofe as big as a brandy rbqttle, accofted me in Englifh^ j " Behold, Sir, (faid fhe) your countrywo- " man." This was Madam Q'Reily, wife to the Governor of Monjuique Cattle, and brother to the Gentleman of that name, fp well known, and fo amply provided for, by the late and prefeut King of Spain. She Was very civp, and feemed SenSible. Fler yL hufband, ( H6 ) hufband, the Governor,' " foon after came in, and the whole family fmiled upon me. I then began to think I Shouldefcape both goal and inquifition. Mrs. 6'Rlly vifited my family. Mr. O'Rily bor rowed a houfe for me, and a charming one too ; I fay borrowed it, for no Spa niard lets his houfe ; I was only to make him fome recomp'enfe for his palitenefs and generofity. The Intendant even fent Gov. O'Reily to know why Mr. Curtoys had not prefented me, on the court-day, to the Captain-General. Mr. Conful Curtoys was obliged to give his reafons in perfon; had they been true, they were good : the Intendant accepted them, and faid he Would prefent me himfelf. Things feemed now to take a favourable turn : Mr. Cur toys vifited me on his way back from the Intendant's ; affured me he had told him that I was a man of character, and an ho neft man ; and that though he could not fee me as Conful Curtoys, he fhould be glad to fee me as Merchant Curtoys. On the other ( H7 ) other hand, the Marquis of Grimaldi, with the politenefs of a minister, and the feel ings of humanity, wrote me a very flatter ing letter indeed, and fent it by a Special courier, who came in four days from Ma drid. Now, thought I, a fig for your Wombwells, Curtoys, &c. The firft mi nister's favour, and the fhining countenance of Madam O'Rily, muft carry me through every thing. But, alas! it was quite other- wife ; — the courier who brought my letter had directions, to deliver it into myowrt hands; but either by his blunder, or Ma dam O'Reily's, I did not get it till nine hours after' it arrived, and then from the hands, of Madam O'Reily's fervant. The contents of this letter were foon known : the favour of the Minifter at Madrid did not fhine upon me at the Court of Barcelona I I vifited Madam O'Rily, who looked at me,-— if I may ufe fuch a cparfe expreflion, — " like God's revenge againSt murder," I could not divine what I had done, or what omit ted to do. I could get no admittance at L 2 the ( I*» ) the Jritendant's, neither. I propofM going to Mvntferrat, and afked my fair country woman for a letter to one of the Monks ; but— -fhe khewnSody there, n&t jhe: — Why then; Madam, faid I, perhaps I had bet ter go back to' France : — Oh ! but, fays She-,- perhaps the Marquis of Grimaldi will riot let you; adding* that tho laws of Prance and Spain were very different. — But, pray Madam, faid I, what have the laws of either kingdom to do with me, \tyht1ie I violate none of them ? I am a ci- tizeri of the world, and consequently free in every country. — — Now, Sir, to decy- pher all this, which I did by the help of Some characters an honeft Spaniard gave me;. — Why, fays he, they fay you are a great Cap tarn ; that you have had an at tention Shewn yOu by the Marquis of Gri maldi, which none of the O'Rily 's ever obtained ; and they are afraid that you are come here to take the eldeft brother's poft frOmhim, and that you are to command the troops upon the Second Expedition to Algiers,; ( H9 ) Algiers \ for every body is much diffatif- Sied with his conduct on the firft; adding, that the Spaniards do not love him. 1 told him, that might arife from his being a Stranger; but I had been well affured, and I firmly believed it, that he is a gallant, an able, and a good officer ; but, laid I, that cannot be the reafon at fo much fhy- nefs in the Intendant, even if it does raife any uneafinefs in the O'Reilys' family : — • Yes, Said he, it does ; for the Captain-Ge neral O'Rily is married lately to one of the Intendant's daughters. So you fee here was another mine -Sprung under me ; and I determined to Set out in a day or two for Montferrat. I had but one card -more to play, and that was to -carry the open letter I had to the French Conful, arid whieh, )I forgot to tell you, I had ifhewn -to the acute, difcerning, and fagaeious iraaerchant Wombwell. It was written by ^Madame de Maigny, the Lady of the -Chesmtlier ide Maigny, of the -regiment d'&£rtbis,:ane®f the Gentlemen with whom Ilhad eat that L 3 volup- ( 15° ) voluptuous fupper in company at Pont St. Efprit; but, as Mr. Wombwell Shrewdly obferved, my name was not even men tioned in that letter, it was the bearer only who was recommended; and how could that Lady, any more than Mr. Wombwell, tell, but that I had murdered the firft bearer, and robbed him of his re commendatory letter, and dreffed myfelf in his fcariet and gold-laced coat, to prac- tife the fame wicked arts upon their lives and fortunes ? Now, you will naturally wifh to know how Sir Thomas Gafcoyne, my vis-a-vis neighbour in the fame Hotel, conducted himfelf. I had, before all this fufs, eat, drank, and converfed with him : he is a fenfible, genteel, wellTbred man; and there was with him Mr. Swinburne, who was equally agreeable : no wonder, therefore, if I endeavoured to cultivate an acquaint ance with two fuch men, fo much fupe rior, in all refpedts, to what the town afforded. ( 151 ) afforded. Sir Thomas, however, became rather referved ; perhaps not more fo than good policy made neceffary for a man who was only juft entering upon a grand tour through the whole kingdom, from Barce lona to Cadiz, Madrid, &c. &c. I per ceived this Shynefs, but did not refent it, becaufe I could not cenfure it. He had no fufpicion of me at firft ; and if he had afterwards, I. could not tell what circum^ Stances might have been urged againft me ; and I confidered, that if a man of his, for tune and figure could have been fufpected, there was much reafon for him to join with others in fufpecting me. The Jew, it feems, who had put off the counterfeit bank notes, had been ad^prtifed in all the foreign papers; his perfon was particularly defcribed; and as application had been made to the Courts of France and Spain, to flop the career of fuch a villain, the Governor of Barcelona had, upon Sir Thomas Gafcoyne's firft arrival, Stopped him, ( i52 J him, and fent for the Conful, verily be lieving he had got the offender. The Jew was defcribed as a Short, pluriip, black man ; and as Sir Thorrias has black eyes, and is rather en boh point, the plain, honeft Governor had riot difcernrrierit enough to fee that eafe arid, good breeding in Sir Tho mas, which rio Jew, however well he may imitate Bank notes, "can counterfeit. 'But as Sir Thomas had letters of credit upon Mr. Curtoys, which afcertained his perfon and rank, this adventure becarrie a laugh able one to him. It is, indeed, from his mouth I relate it, though, perhaps, not with all the circurriftances "he fold me.. — Now, had my perfon tallied as well as Sir Thomas's did with that of the itinerant l^yt Should certainly have been in one of the round towers, which Stick pretty thick in the walls of "the fortification of this town. You will tremble — I allure you, I do- when I think' of another' efcape I had; and 1 will ( i53 ) I will fell you how :— The day after I left Ceite, I came to a fpo't where the roads di vide; here I afked two men, Which Was mine to Narborihe? one of them anSwered me in Englifh ; he Was a Shabby, but gen teel-looking young man, 'faid he came from Italy, and Was gOiitg to Barcelona; that he had been defrauded of his money at Venice by a parcel of Sharpers, and was going to Spain to get a paffage to Holland', of which country he was a native; he was then in treaty, he faid, with the other man to fell him a pair of breeches, to furnish him with money to parry him on ; and as I had no fervant at that time, he earnestly intreated me to take him into iny Service : I would not do that, -you may be fure; but left he might be an unfortunate man, like myfelf, I told him, if he could con trive to lie at 'the inns 'I did, I would pay for his bed 'and fttpper. 'He accepted an offer, I foon became Veryforry I had made;,, 'and when we arrived at Perpignan, I .'gave him a fittle money to proceed, but -abso lutely ( '54 ) lutely forbad him either to walk near my chaife, or to fleep at the fame inns I did; for as I knew him not, he fhould not enter into another kingdom as one in my fuite; and I faw no more of him till fome days after my arrival at Barcelona, where he accofted me in a better habit, and Shewed me fome real, or counterfeit gold he had got, he- faid, of a friend who knew his fa ther at Amsterdam. He was a bold, da^- ring fellow ; and it was with fome diffi culty I could prevail upon him not to walk cheek byjole with me along the ramparts. Soon after this I was informed, that a fine-dreffed, little black-eyed man was ar rived in a bark from Italy. This man proved to be, as Mr. Curtoys informed me, the very Jew whom Sir Thomas Gafcoyne was fufpected to be : he was apprehended, and committed to one of the round towers. But what will you fay, or what would have been my lot, had I taken the other man into my fervice? — for the minute my white man, ( 155 ) man, for he was a whitijh Jew, faw the black one arrive, he decamped ; they were afraid of each other, and both wanted to efcape ; my man went off on foot ; the black man was apprehended, while he was in treaty with the matter of the fame bark he came in, to carry him to fome other fea- port. Now had I come in with fuch a fervant, and with my fufpected Bank notes, without letters of credit, or recommenda tion ; had the Jew arrived, who is the real culprit, and who had been connected with my man, what would have become of his matter, your unfortunate humble fer vant ? — I doubt the abilities of his Britan nic Majefty's Conful would not have been able to have divided our degrees of guilt properly ; and that I Should have experi enced but little charity on my Straw bed, from the humanity of Mr. Wombwell. However, I had Still one card more to play to reinforce my purfe ; it was one, I thought, could not fail, and the money was nearer home : — I had lent, while I was ( 156 ) was at Calais, thirty guineas to a French officer, for no other reafon but becaufe he wanted it : I knew the man ; and as he prOmifed to pay me in three months, and as that time was expired, I applied to Mr. Harris, a Scotch merchant, at his houfe at Barcelona, on whom the London Bankers of the fame name give letters of credit to travellers. I begged the favour of him to fend the note to his correfpondents at Pa ris, and to procure the money for me, and when it was paid, that he would .give it to me at Barcelona ; but Mr. Harris too, hegged to be excufed; heftarted fome dif ficulties, but at length did give me a re ceipt for the note, and promifed, reluc tantly enough, to fend it. I began now to think that I fhould Starve indeed. Every article of life is high in Spain, and my purfe was low. I therefore wrote to Mr. Curtoys, to know if he had any tidings of the Bank bills ; for I had immediately wrote to Meffrs. Hoare, to beg the favour of them to fend Mr. Curtoys the numbers of thofe ( *57 ) thofe which I received at their Houfe; and they very politely informed me, they had fo done. Mr. Conful Curtoys favoured me with the following anfwer : " Mr. Curtoys presents his compliments <* to Mr. Thickneffe ; no ways doubts the " Bank bills to be good, from London this " poft under the 24th paft, they accufe re- " ceipt thereof, Sec. Barcelona, 12th of " December, 1775-" As Mr. Curtoys's correfpondent had ac- cufed receipt thereof, I thought I might too, and accordingly I went and 'defired my money. The Cafhier was tick, they faid, and I was defired to call agen the next morning, when he would be much better ; — ¦ I did fo, and received my money; and Shall fet off immediately for Montferrat, finging, and faying what I do not exactly agree to; but, being at Rome, I would do as they do there : I therefore taught my children ( 158 ) childrien to repeat the following Spanifh proverb : " Barcelonaes Bueno, " Si la Bolfa fueno ; " Sueno 6 no fueno, " Barcelonaes Bueno." I will not tranflate what, I am fure, you will understand the fenfe of much -better, than you will think^ I experiencedj.thje truth. I hope, however, to have done with my misfortunes; for I am going to vifit a fppt. inhabited, by virtuous and -re tired men ; a place, -according to all re ports, cut out by nature for fuch who are able to fequefter themfelves from all world ly concerns ; and from., fu eh, (ftrangers as they, are) I am fure I fhall meet with more charity (for they deal in nothing elfe) than I met with humanity pr politenefs at Barcelona. P.S. I Should have told you, that be fore Sir Thomas Gafcoyne left this town, he ( ^59 ) he fent a polite mefiage, to defire to take leave of me and my family : I therefore waited upon him ; and as he propofed vi- fiting Gibraltar, I troubled him with a letter to my fon, then on that duty ; and was forry foon after to find that my fon had left the garrifon before Sir Thomas could arrive at it. If you aSk me how Sir, Thomas Gafcoyne ventured to make fo great a tour through a country fo auk-: wardly circumftanced for travellers in ge neral, and ftrangers in particular, I can only fay, that when I faw him he had but juft began his long journey, and that he had every advantage which religion and fortune could give him. I had none : he travelled with two coaches, two fets of horfes, two faddle mules, and was pro tected by a train of fervants. I had reli gion, (but it was a bad one in that coun try) and only one footman, who ftridtly maintained his character, for he always Walked. Indeed, it is the fafhion of all Spanifh gentlemen to be followed by their Servant ( I&o. ) fervant on foot. I therefore travelled like a Spaniard; Sir Thomas like an English man. The whole city of Barcelona, was. in an uproar the morning Sir Thomas's two cpaches Sit off; and I heard, with con. cern,- that ,they both broks down before, they got half way to Valmcia ; but, with pleafure, fay a polite letter fopji aftex fcom. Mr. Swinburne, that they got fq far in perfect health. I am, dear. Sir, &;c. P. S. Before I quit Barcelona, it will be brit juft to fay, that it is a good city, has a fine mole, and a noble citadel, be fide jyfonjuiqtte, a Strong .fori, which Stands on a high hill, and whJGh command? the town as well as the harbour. The town is very large and Strongly fortified, Stands in a large plain, and is encompaffed with a femj-circular range of high hills, rather than mountains, which. form u% coup-dceil, that is very pleaiing, as not only the fides of ( 161 ) of the hills are adorned with a great num ber of country-houfes, but the plain alfo affords a great many, befide feveral little villages. The roads too near the town are very good. As to the city itfelf, it is ra ther well built in general, than abounding with any particular fine buildings. The Inquifition has nothing to boaft of now, either within or without, having (fortu nately for the public) loft a great part of its former power : it, however, ftill keeps an awe upon all who live within its verge. I never faw a town in which trade is car ried on with more fpirit and induftry : the indolent difpofition of the. Spaniards of Caflile, and other provinces, has not ex tended ever into this part of Spain. They have here a very fine . theatre ; but thofe who perform upon the, Stage. are the refute of the people,, and are too bad to be called by the name of actors. They have nei ther libraries nor pictures worthy of much notice, though they boaft of one or two paintings in their churches by natives of M the ( 162 ,) the town, Francois Guirfo, and John Af- nau. In the cuftom-houfe hangs a full- length of the prefent King, fo execrable, that one would wonder it was not put, with the painter, into the Inquifition, as a libel on royalty and the arts. I am told, at La Fete Dieu there are fome proceflions of the moft ridiculous nature. The ferti lity of the earth in and about the town is wonderful ; the minute one crop is off the earth, another is put in ; no part of the year puts a flop to vegetation. In the coldeft weather, the market abounds with a great variety of the choiceft flowers ; yet their fweets cannot over-power the into lerable fmell which fait fifh, and Slinking fifh united, diffufe over all that part of the city ; and rich as the inhabitants are, you will fee the legs, wings, breafts, and en trails of fowls, in the market, cut up as joints of meat are in other countries, to be fold Separately : nor could I find in this great city either oil, olives, or wine, that were tolerable. I paid a guinea a day at the ( ifi3 ) the Fontain d'Or for my table ; yet every thing was fo dirty, that I always made my dinner from the defert ; nor was there any other place but the ftable of this dirty inn to put up my horfe, where I paid twelve livres a week for Straw only ; and whoever lodges at this inn, muft pay five Shillings a day for their dinner, whether they dine there or not. Catalonia is undoubtedly the beft culti vated, the richeft, and moft induftrious pro vince, or principality, in Spain ; and the King, who has the sun for his hat, (for it always Shines in fome part of his domi nions) has nothing to boaft of, equal to Catalonia. As I have almoft as much abhorrence to the Moors, as even the Spaniards them- felves, (having vifited that coaft two or three times, many years ago) you may be fure I was grieved to meet, every time I went out, fo many maimed and wounded M z officers ( i.64 ) officers and foldiers, who Were not long re turned from the unfuccefsful expedition to Algiers. There are no troops in the world more. Steady than the Spaniards ; it was not for want of bravery that they mifcarried, but there was fome fad mifmanagement ; and had the Moors followed their blows, not a man of them would have returned. My fervant, (a French deferter) who was upon that expedition, fays, Gen. O'Reily Was the firft who landed, and the laft who embarked; — but it is the head, not the arm of a commander in chief, which is moft wanted. The Moors, at le point du jour, advanced upon the Spaniards behind a formidable mafked and moving battery of camels : the Spaniards, believing them, by a faint light, to be cavalry, expended a great part of their Strength, fpirits, and ammunition, upon thofe harmlefs animals; and it was not till this curtain was removed that the dreadful carnage began, in which they loft about nine thoufand men. There feems to have been fome ftrange mifma nagement; ( *°5 ) nagement; it feems probable that there was no very good understanding between the marine and the land officers. The fleet were many days before the town, and then landed juft where the Moors expected they would land. There is nothing fo difficult, fo dangerous, nor fo liable to mifcarriage, as the war of invading : our troops expe rienced it at St. Cas; and they either have, or will experience it in America. The wild Negroes in Jamaica, to whom Gov. Trelawney wifely gave, what they con tended for, (Liberty) were not above fifteen hundred fit to bear arms. I was in feveral tkirmifhes with them, and fecond in command under Mr. Adair's brother, a valiant young man, who died afterwards in the field, who made peace with them ; yet I will venture to affirm, that though five hundred difciplined troops would have fubdued them in an open country, the united force of France and England could not have extirpated them from their faft holds in the mountains. Did not a Baker M 3 battle ( J66 ) battle and defeat two Marfhals of France in the Cevennes ? And is it probable, that all the fleets and armies of Great-Britain can conquer America ?— -England may as well attempt moving that Continent on this fide the Atlantic. LETTER ( 167 ) LETTER XX. T NEVER left any place with more fe- -^- cret fatisfaction than I did Barcelo na ; exclufive of the entertainment I was prepared to expect, by vifiting this holy mountain; nor have I been difappoint- ed; but on the contrary, found it, in every refpect, infinitely fuperior to the va rious accounts I had heard of it. I will attempt to give you fome idea of it; — to give a perfect defcription of it is impoffi- ble;— ^-to do that, it would require fome of thofe attributes which the Divine Power, by whofe almighty hands it was raifed, is endowed with. It is called Montferrat, or Mount -S cie,* by the Catalonians, words which fignify a cut or flawed mountain; and fo called from its fingular and extraordinary form ; for if is fo broken, fo divided, and / fo * The arms of the Abbey is-rrA faw in the middle of a rppk. ( 168 ) fo crowned with an infinite number of fpiring cones, or pine heads, that it has the appearance, at diftant view, to be the work of man; but upon a nearer approach, to be evidently raifed by Him alone, to whom nothing is impoffible. It looks, indeed, like the firft rude Sketch of God's work ; but the defign is great, and the ex ecution fuch, that it compels all men who approach it, to lift up their hands and eyes to heaven, and to fay, — Oh God ! — how wonderful are all thy works ! It is no wonder then, that fuch a place Should be fixed upon for the refidence of holy and devout men; for there is not Surely upon the habitable globe a fpot fo properly adapted for retirement and contemplation ; it has therefore, for many ages, been inha bited only by monks and hermits, whofe firft vow is, never to forfake it; — a vow, without being either a hermit or a monk, I could make, I think, without repenting. If ( 169 ) If it be true, and fome great man has faid fo, that " whofloever delighted in flolitude, is either a wild beafl, or a God;' the inhabi tants of this fpot are certainly more than men ; for no wild beaft dwells here. But it is the place, not the people, I mean at pre- fent to fpeak of. It ftands in a vaft plain, feven leagues they call it, but it is at leaft thirty miles from Barcelona, and nearly in the center of the principality of Catalonia. The height of it is fo very confiderable, that in one hour's flow travelling towards it, after we left Barcelona, it Shewed its pointed Steeples, high over the leffer moun tains, and feemed fo very near, that it would have been difficult to have perfuaded a perfon, not accuftomed to fuch decep tions, in fo clear an atmofphere, to believe, that we had much more than an hour's journey to arrive at it ; inftead of which, we were all that day in getting to Martorel, a fmall city, ftill three leagues diftant from it, where we lay at the Three Kings, a pretty ( !70 ) pretty good inn, kept by an infolent im-r poring Italian. Martorel ftands upon the fteep banks of the river Lobregate, over which there is a modern bridge, of a pro digious height, the piers of which reft on the oppofite fhore, againft a Roman trium phal arch of great folidity, and originally of great beauty. I think I tell you the truth when I fay, that I could perceive the convent, and fome of the hermitages, when I firft faw the mountain, at above twenty miles diftance. From Martorel, however, they were as vifible as the mountain itfelf, to which the eye was directed, down the river, the banks of which were adorned with trees, villages, houfes, &c. and the view terminated by this the moft glorious monument in nature. When I firft faw the mountain, it had the appearance of an infinite number of rocks cut into conical forms,' and built one upon another to a prodigious height. Upon a nearer view, each cone appeared of itfelf a mountain; and the tout enflemble compofe an enormous mafs ( W ) mafs of the Lundus Helmonti, or plumb- pudding ftone, fourteen miles in circum ference, and what the Spaniards call two leagues in height. As it is like unto no other mountain, fo it ftands quite uncon nected with any, though not very diftant from fome very lofty ones. Near the bafe of it, on the fouth fide, are two villages, the largeft of which is Montr ofol ; but my eyes were attracted by two ancient towers, which flood upon a hill near Colbaton, the fmalleft, and we drove to that, where we found a little pofada, and the people ready enough to furnifh us with mules and affes, for we were now become quite impatient to vifit the hallowed and celebrated con vent, De Neuflra Senora; a convent, to which pilgrims refort from the furtheft parts of Europe, fome bearing, by way of penance, heavy bars of iron on their backs, others cutting and flafhing their naked bo dies with wire cords, or crawling to it on all-fours, like the beafts of the field, to obtain ( ^72 ) obtain forgivenefs of their fins, by the in- terceffion of our Lady of Montflerrat. When we had afcended a fteep and rug ged road, about one hour, and where there was width enough, and the precipices not too alarming, to give our eyes the utmoft liberty, we had an earneft of what we were to expect above, as well as the extenfive view below ; our impatience to fee more was encreafed by what we had already feen; the majeftic convent opened to us a view of her venerable walls ; fome of the her mits' cells peeped over the broken preci pices ftill higher ; while we, glutted with aftonifhment, and made giddy with de light and amazement, looked up at all with a reverential awe, towards that God who raifed the piles, and the holy men who dwell among them. Yes, Sir, — we caught the holy flame ; and I hope we came down better, if not wifer, than we went up. After afcending full two hours and a half more, we arrived on a flat part on ( l7Z ) on the fide, and about the middle of the mountain, on which the convent is built ; but even that flat was made fo by art, and at a prodigious expence. Here, however, was width enough to look fecurely about us ; and, good God ! what an extenfive field of earth, air, and fea, did it open ! The ancient towers, which at firft attracted my notice near Colbaton, were dwindled into pig-Sties upon a mounticule. At length, and a great length it was, we arrived at the gates of the Sanctuary ; on each fide of which, on high pedeftals, Stand the enor mous ftatues of two faints ; and nearly op- pofite, on the bafe of a rock, which leans in a frightful manner over the buildings, and threatens destruction to all below, a great number of human Sculls are fixed in the form of a crofs. Within the, gate is a fquare cloifter, hung round with paintings of the miracles performed by the Holy Vir gin, with votive offerings, &c. It was Advent week, when none of the monks quit their apartments, but one, whofe weekly duty ( 174 ) duty it was to attend the call of Strangers j nor did the whole community afford but a fingle member (pere tender, a Fleming) who could fpeak French. It was Pere Paflcal, by whom we were Shewn every mark of politenefs and attention, which a man of the world could give, but admi nistered with all that humility and meek- nefs, fo becoming a man who had renoun ced it. He put us in pofleffion of a good room, with good beds ; and as it was near night, and very cold, he ordered a brazier of red-hot embers into our apartment; and having fent for the cook of the ftrangers' kitchen, (for there are four public kitchens) and ordered him to obey our commands, he retired to evening veflpers ; after which he made us a fhort vifit, and continued to do fo, two or three times every day, while we flaid. Indeed, I began to fear we Staid too long, and told him fo; but he affured me the apartment was ours for a month or two, if we pleafed. During our flay, he admitted me into his apartments, and filled my ( 175 ) my box with delicious Spanifh fnuff, and Shewed us every attention we could with, and much more than, as unrecommended ftrangers, we could expect. All the poor who come here are fed gratis for three days, and all the tick received in the hof- pital. Sometimes, on particular feftivals, feven thoufand arrive in one day; but people of condition pay a reafonable price for what they eat. There was before our apartment a long covered gallery ; and tho' we were in a deep recefs of the rocks, which projected wide and high on our right and left, we had in front a moft ex tenfive view of the world below, and the more diftant Mediterranean Sea. It was a moon-light night ; and, in fpite of the cold, it was impoffible to be Shut out of the enchanting lights and Shades which her Silver beams reflected on the rude rocks above, beneath, and on all fides of u.v. — Every thing was as Still as death, till the fonorous convent bell warned the Monks to midnight prayer. At two o'clock, we heard ( *7° ) heard fome of the tinkling bells of the her mits' cells above give notice, that they too were going to their devotion at the ap pointed hour : after which I retired to my bed ; but my mind was too much awaken-* ed to perrriit me to Sleep ; I was impatient for the return of day-light, that I might proceed ftill higher ; for, mifer like, tho' my coffers were too full, I coveted more; and accordingly, after breakfaft, we eagerly fet our feet to the firft round of the hermit's ladder; it was a ftone one indeed, but ftood in all places dreadfully fteep, and in many almoft perpendicular. After mount ing up a vaft chafm in the rock, yet full of trees and Shrubs, about a thoufand paces, fatigued in body, and impatient for a fafe refting place, we arrived at a fmall hole in the rock, through which we were glad to crawl ; and having got to the fecure fide of it, prepared ourfelves, by a little reft, to proceed further; but not, I affure you, without fome apprehenfions, that if there was no better road down, we muft have become ( *77 ) become hermits. After a fecond clamber, not quite fo dreadful as the firft, but much longer, we got into fome flowery and Ser pentine walks, which lead to twp or three of the neareft hermitages then vifible, and not far off, pne of which hung over fo hor rible a precipice, that it was terrifying picturefque. We were now, however, I thought, certainly in the garden of Eden ! Certain I am, Eden could not be more beau tifully adorned; for God alone is the gar dener here alfo; and,, cpnfequently, every thing profpered around us which could gra tify the eye, the nofe, and fhe imagination. " Profufe the myrtle fpread unfading boughs, " Expreffive emblem of eternal vows." For the myrtle, the eglantine, the jafmin, and all the fmaller kind of aromatic Shrubs and flowers, grew on all fides thick and fpontaneoufly about us ; and our feet brUfhed forth the fweets of the lavender, rofemary, and thyme, till we arrived at N the ( 178 ) the firft, and peaceful hermitage of Saint Tiago. We took poffeffion of the holy in habitant's little garden, and was charmed with the neatnefs, and humble fimplicity, which in every part characterised the pof- feffor. His little chapel, his' fountain, his vine arbor, his Stately cyprefs, anef the walls of his cell, embracedon all fides with ever greens, and adorned With flowers, rendered it, exclufive of its fituation, wonderfully pleafing. His door, however, was faft, and all within was filent ; but upon knocking, it was opened by the venerable inhabitant : he was cloathed in a brown cloth habit, his beard was very long, his face pale, his manners courteous ;. but he feemed rather too deeply engaged in the contemplation of the things of the next world, to lofe much of his time with fluch things as us. We therefore, after peeping into his apart ments, took his benediction, and he re tired, leaving us all his worldly poffeffions-, but his Straw bed, his books, and his beads. This hermitage is confined between two pine-- ( m ) pine heads, within very narrow bounds; but it is artfully fixed, and commands at noon day a moft enchanting profpect to the Eaft and to the North. Though it is up wards of two thoufand three hundred paces from the convent, yet it hangs fo directly over it, that the rocks convey not only the found of the organ, and the voices of the monks finging in the choir, but you may hear men in common converfation from the piazza below. This is a long letter ; but I. know you would not willingly have left me in the midft of danger, or before I was fafe ar rived at the firft Stage "towards heaven, and feen one humble hoft on God's high road.: tD P. S. At two o'clocky after midnight, thefe people rife, fay mafs, and continue the remainder of the night in prayer and contemplation. The hermits tell you, it was upon high mountains that God chofe to manifeft his will ;*— fundament a ejus in N 2 montibus ( i8o ) montibus fanSlis, fay they; — they confider thefe rocks as Symbols of their penitence, and mortifications ; and its being fo beau tifully covered with fine flowers, odorife rous and rare plants, as emblems of the virtue and innocence of the religious inha bitants ; or how elfe, fay they, could fuch rocks produce Spontaneously flowers in a defart, which furpafs ail that art and na ture combined can do, in lower and more favourable foils ? They may well think fo; for human reafon cannot account for the manner by which fuch enormous quanti ties of trees, fruits, and flowers, are nou- rifhed, feemingly without foil. But that which eftablifhed a church and converit on this mountain, was the ftory of a hermit who refided here many years ; this was fuan Guerin, who lived on this mountain alone, the aufterity of whofe life was fuch, that the people below believed he fubfifted without eating or drinking. As fome very extraordinary circumftances attended this man's life, all which is univerfally believed here, ( «8i ) here, it may not be amifs to give you fome account of him : — You muft know, Sir, then, that the devil envying the happinefs of this good man, equipped himfelf in the habit of a hermit, and poffefled himfelf of a cavern in the fame mountain, which ftill bears the name of the Devil's Grot; after which, he took occafiOn to throw himfelf in the way of poor Guerin, to whom he expreffed his furprife at feeing one Of his own order dwell in a place he thought an abfolute deSert ; but thanked God, for gi ving him fo fortunate a rrieeting. Here the devil and Guerin became Very inti mate, and .converfed much together on Spi ritual matters; and things went on well enough between them for a while, when another devil, chum to the firft, poffeffed the body of a certain Princefs, daughter of a Count of Barcelona, who became thereby violently, tojtmented with horrible eonvul- fions. She was taken to the church by her afflicted father. The da?mon who poffef fed her, and who fpoke for her, faid, that N 3 nothing ( l82 ) nothing could relieve her from her Suffer ings but the prayers of a devout and pious hermit, named Guerin, who dwelt on Mont- flerrat. , The father, therefore, immediately repaired to Guerin, and befought his pray ers and interceffion for the recovery of his daughter. It fo happened (for fo the devil would have it) that this bufinefs could not be perfectly effected in lefs than nine days ; and that the Priricefs muft be left that time alone with Guerin in his cave. Poor Gue rin, confcious of his frail nature, oppofed this'meafure with all his might; but there was no refitting the argument and influence of the devil, and fhe was accordingly left. Youth,* beauty, a cave, folitude, and virgin modefty, were too :powerfuLnot to over*- come even the chatte vows arid pious in ^ tentions of poor Guerin. The devil left the virgin, and poffefled the faint. He con- Suited his falfe fribrid, and told, him how powerful this impure paffion. was become, and his intentions of flying, from the dan<- gei;; but the devil advifed him to return to ( i83 ) to his cell, and pray to God to protect him from fin. Guerin took his council, return ed, and fell into the fatal fnare. The de vil then perfuaded him to kill the Princefs, in order to conceal his guilt, and to tell her father fhe had forfaken his abode while he was intent on prayer. Guerin did. fo ; but became very miferable, and at length determined to make a pilgrimage to Rome, to obtain a remiflion of his complicated crimes. The Pope enjoined him to return to Montflerrat, on all-fours, and to continue in that State, without once looking up to heaven, for the fpace of feven years, or 'till a child of three months old told him, his fins were forgiven : all which Guerin chearfully complied with, and ac cordingly crawled back to the defiled mountain. Soon after the expiration of the feven years Count Vifroy, the father of the murdered Princefs, was hunting on the mountain of Montflerrat, and paffing near Guerin' s cave, the ( 1*4 ) the dogs entered, and the Servant feeing a hideous figure, concluded they had found the wild beaft they were in purfuit of: they informed the Count with what they had feen, who gave directions to fecure the beaft alive, which was accordingly done; for he was fo over-grown with hair, arid fo deformed in fhape, that they had no idea of the creature being human. He was therefore kept in the Count's ftable at" Barcelona, and Shewn to his vifitors as a wonderful and Angular wild beaft.. DurfngJ this time, while a company were examining this extraordinary animal, a nurfe with a young child in her arms looked upon it, and' the child, after fixing its eyes ftedfaftly4 for a few minutes on Guerin, faid, " Guerin rife, thy fins are forgiven thee /" — "—Guerin inftantly rofe, threw himfelf at the Count's feet, confeffed the crimes he had been guilty of, and defired to receive the punish ment due to them, from the liana's of him whom he had fo highly injured; — but the Count,, ( i85 ) Count, perceiving that God had forgiven him, forgave him alfo. I will not trouble you with all the par ticulars which attended this miracle; it Will be fufficient to fay, that the Count and Guerin went to take up the body of the murdered Princefs, for burial with her an cestors ; but, to their great aftonifhment, found her there alive, poffeffing the fame youth and beauty She had been left with, and no alteration of any kind, but a pur ple Streak about her neck where the cord had been twifted, and wherewith Guerin had ftrarigled her. The father defired her to return to Barcelona; but fhe informed him, that could not be ; She was enjoined by the Holy Virgin, fhe faid, to Spend her days on that miraculous fpot; and accord ingly a church and convent was built there, the latter inhabited by Nuns, of which the Princefs (who had rifen from the dead) was the Abbefs. It was called the Abbey des ( 1 86 ) des Pucelles, of the order of St. Benoit, and was founded in the year 80 1. But fuch a vaft concourfe of people, of both fexes, reforted to it, from all parts of the world, that at length it was thought prudent to remove the women to a convent at Barce lona, and place a body of Benedictine monks in their place. Strange as this ftory is, it is to be feen in the archives of this holy houfe ; and in the Street called Condal, at Barcelona, may be feen in the wall of the old palace of the Count's, an ancient figure, cut in ftone, which reprefents the nurfc with the child in her arms, and a Strange figure, on his knees, at her feet, and that is Friar Guerin. Now, whether you will believe all this ftory, or not, I cannot take upon me to fay ; but I will affure you, that when you vifit this fpot, it will be neceffary to flay you do, and to affure you that I do; or you would ( 1*7 ) would appear in their eyes a much grea ter wonder than any thing which I have related, of the Devil, the Friar, the Vir gin, and the Count. LETTER ( 1 88 ) LETTER XXI. HpHE fecond hermitage, for I give them ¦*¦ in the order they are ufually vifited, is that of St. Catherine, fituated in a deep and folitary vale : it however commands a moft extenfive and pleafing profpedt, at noon-day, to the Eaft and Weft. The buildings, garden, Sec. are confined within fmall limits, being fixed in a moft pictu- refque and fecure recefs under the foot of one of the high pines. Though this her mit's habitation is the moft retired and fo litary abode of any, and far removed from the din of men, yet the courteous, affa ble, and fprightly inhabitant, feems not to feel the lofs of human fociety, though no man, I think, can be a greater ornament to human nature. If he is not much ac- cuftomed to hear the voice of men, he is amply recompenfed by the mellifluous notes of birds ; for it is their fanctuary as well ( 189 ) well as his ; for no part of the mountain is fo well inhabited by the feathered race of beings as this delightful fpot. Perhaps* indeed, they have fagacity enough to know, that there is no other fo perfectly fecure. Here the nightingale, the black-bird, the linnet, and an infinite variety of little Song sters, greater ftrangers to my eyes, than fearful of my hands, dwell in perfect Secu rity, and live in the moft friendly intimacy with their holy protector, and obedient to his call ; for, fays the hermit, " Hafte here, ye feather'd race of various fong, "¦ Bring all your pleafing melody along ! " O come, ye tender, faithful, plaintive doves, " Perch on my hands, and fing your abfent loves !" — >— When inftantly the whole vocal band quit their fprays, and furround the perfon of their daily benefactor, fome fettling upon his head, others entangle their feet in his beard, and, in the true fenfe of the word, take his bread even out of his mouth; but it is freely given : their confidence is fo great, ( 19° ) great, (for the holy father is their bondf- man) that' the ftranger too partakes of their familiarity and careffes. Thefe hermits are not allowed to keep within their walls ei ther dog, cat, bird, or any living thing, left their attention fhould be withdrawn from heavenly to earthly affections. I am Sony to arraign this good man ; he can not be faid to tranfgrefs the law, but he certainly evades it; for though his feather ed band do not live within his walls, they are always attendant upon his court ; nor can any prince or princefs upon earth boaft of heads fo elegantly plumed, as may be feen at the Court of St. Catherine ; or of vaf- fals who pay their tributes with half the chearfulnefs they are given and received by the humble monarch of this fequeftered vale. If his meals are fcanty, his defert is ferved up with a fong, and he is hufhed to fleep by the nightingale; and when we confider, that he has but few days in the whole year which are inferior to fome of our beft in the months of May and June, you ( 191 ) you may eafily conceive, that a man who breathes fuch pure air, who feeds on fuch light food, whofe blood circulates freely from moderate exercife, and whofe mind is never ruffled by worldly affairs ; whofe Short Sleeps are fweet and refreshing, and who lives confident of finding in death a more heavenly refidence ; lives a life to be envied, not pitied. — Turn but your eyes one minute from this man's fituation, to that of any monarch or minister on earth, and fay, on which fide does the balance turn ? — While fome princes may be em- bruing their hands in the blood of their Subjects, this man is offering up his pray ers to God to preferve all mankind : While fome ministers are fending forth fleets and armies to wreak their own pri vate vengeance on a brave and uncorrupted people, this folitary man is feeding, from his own Scanty allowance, the birds of the air. Conceive him, in his laft hour, upon his Straw bed, and fee with what compofure and resignation he meets it ! — Look ( 192 ) Look in the face of a dying king, or a plundering, and blood-thirfty minister, — what terrors the fight of their velvet beds, adorned with crimfon plumage, muft bring to their affrighted imagination ! — In that awful hour, it will remind them of the in nocent blood they have fpilt ; — nay, they will perhaps think, they were dyed with the blood of men fcalped apd maffacred, to Support their vanity and ambition ! In Short, dear Sir, while kings and ministers are torn to pieces by a thirft after power and riches, and difturbed by a thoufand anxious cares, this poor hermit can have but one, /. e. left he fhould be removed (as the prior of the convent has a power to do) to fome other cell, for that is fprne- times done, and very properly. The youngeft and moft hardy constitu tions are generally put into the higher her mitages, or thofe to which the accefs is moft difficult ; for the air is fo fine in the higheft parts of the mountain, that they fay ( i93 ) fay it often renders the refpiration painful. Nothing therefore can be more reafonable than, that as thefe good men grow older, and lefs able to bear the fatigues and in- conveniencies the higheft abodes unavoid ably Subject them to, Should be removed to more convenient dwellings, and that the younger and Stouter men fhould fucceed them. As the hermits never eat meat, I could not help obferving to him, how fortunate a circumftance it was for the fafety of his little feathered friends ; and that there were no boys to difturb their young, nor any fportfman to kill the parent.' , God forbid, faid he, that one of them fhould fall, but by his hands who gave it life !-— Give me your hand, faid I, and blefs me ! — I believe it did ; but it jhortened my vi fit : — fo I Slept into the grot, and fio/e a pound of chocolate upon his ftone table,- and myfelf awiay. O If ( 194 ) If there is a happy man upon this earth, I have feen that extraordinary man,and; here he dwells ! — his features, his manners,' all his looks and actions, arinouriceit;— ; yet he had not even a fingle maravedh in his pocket: — money is as ufelefs to him^ as to One of his black-birds. Within a gun-fhot of this remnant, of Eden, are the remains of* an ancient her mitage, called St. Pedrqf- While I was' there, my hermit folio wed- me; but I top* coveted retirement.- I had juft bought a- fine fowling-pieceat Barcelona; and wheK*; he came, I was availing myfelf of the hal-; lowed fpot, to make my vow never to uSe* it. In truth, dear Sir, there are fome fort- of pleafures- too powerful for the body? to bear, as well as . fome fort of pain : and- here I was wrecked upon the wheel of fe-V licity ; and could only fay, like the pO0r[ ? criminal who fuffered at D ijon,—* »0 God '-.': O God ! at every coup. I was - Ik .... ( 195 ) I was forry my hoft did not understand EngliSh, nor I Spanifh enough, to give him the fenfe of the lines written in poor Shenjlone's alcove. " © gou that bathe in courtlpe blifef, 44 ©r togle in fortune'* giOug fpbearej 44 Do not too rathlp oeeme amuTe 44 ©f hint tfiat biueg contenteo bete, I forgot the other lines; but they conclude thus: 44 jfor faults? there beene in bufpe life " jrrom tubtcb tbefe peaceful glennes are 44 free." o 2 LETTER ( 196 ) LETTER X$J. T KNOW you will not .like to leave St. ¦*¦ Catherine's harmonious cell fo foon ;— nor fhould I, but that I intend tp vifit it again. I will therefore conduct you to St. yuan, about four hundred paces rdiftant from it, on the eaft fide of which, you look down a moft horrid and frightful pre- cipice, — -a precipice, fo very tremendous, that I am perfuaded there are many people whofe imagination would be fo intoxicated by looking at it, that they might be in danger of throwing themfelves over : I do not know whether you will understand my meaning by faying fo; but I have more than once been fo bewildered with fuch alarming coup d'ceil on this mountain, that I began to doubt whether my own powers were Sufficient to protect me: — Horfes, from fudden fright, will often run into the fire; and man too, may be forced upon v - his ( i97 ) his own destruction, to avoid thofe fenfa- tions of danger he has not been accuftomed to look upon. Perhaps I am talking non- fenfe • and that you will attribute what I fay to lownefs of fpirits ; on the contrary, I had thofe feelings about me only during the time rriy eyes were employed upon Such frightful Objects ; for my fpirits were en livened by pure air, exercife, and tempe rance :— ^nay, I remember to have been Struck iri the farne mariner, when the grand explofioii of the fire-wOrks were played off, rhany years ago, upon the conclufion of peace ! The blafi was fo great, that it ap peared as if it were defighed to take with it all earthly things ; and I felt almoft for ced by it, fUmmorted from rii-y feat, and could hardly refrain from jumping over a parapet wall which ftood before me. The building of this hermitage, however, is very fecure ; nothing can Shake or remove it, but that which muft fhake or remove the whole mountain. At this cell, fmall as it is, King Philip the Third dined on the O 3 eleventh ( 198 ) eleventh of July 1599 ;~a circumftance, you may be fure, the inhabitant will never forget, or omit to mention. It commands at noon-day a fine profpect eastward, and and is approached by a good Stage of Steps. Not far from it, on the road fide, is a little chapel called St. Michael, a cha pel as ancient as the monastery itfelf; and a little below is the grotto, in which the image of the Virgin, now fixed in the high altar of the church, was found. The entrance of this grotto is converted into a chapel, where mafs is faid every day. by one of the monks. All the hermitages, even the fmalleft, have their little chapel, the ornaments for faying mafs, their water cittern, and moft of them a little garden. The building confifts of one or two little chambers, a little refectory, and a kitchen; but many of them have every convenience within and without that a fingle man can with or defire, except he fhould wifh for or defire fluch things as he was obliged to renounce when he took poffeffion of it. From ( 199 ) From hence, by a road more wonderful than fafe or pleafing, you are led on a ridge of mountains to the lofty cell of St. Ono- fre. It ftands in a cleft in one of the pine heads, fix and thirty feet (I was going to fay) above the earth ; its appearance is in deed aftonifhing, for it feems in a manner hanging in the air ; the accefs to it is by a ladder of fixty fleps, extremely difficult to afcend, and even then you have a wooden bridge to crofs, fixed from rock to rock, under which is an aperture of fo terrifying an appearance, that I ftill think a perfon, not over timid, may find it very difficult to pafs over, if he looks under, without lofing in fome degree that firmnefs which is neceffary to his own prefervation. The beft and fafeft way is, to look forward at the building or object you are going to. — Fighting, and even courage, is mechani cal ; a man may be taught it as readily as any other fcience; and I would pit the lit tle timid hermit of St. Onoflre to a march, on ( 200 ) on the margin of the precipices on this mountain, againft the bravefl general we have in America. The man that would not wince at the whittle of a cannori-ball over his head, may find his blood retire, and his fenfes bewildered, at a dreadful precipice under his feet. Sf.Onofreoof- feffes no more fpace than what is coverep in by the tiling, nor any profpect but to the South. The inhabitant of it fays, he often fees the iflands of Minorca, Mallorca. ' ...-•' ,'.'•.;, ''..I, and Ivica, and the kingdoms of Valencia and Murcia. The weather was extremely fine when I vifited it, but there was a dif tant hazinefs which prevented my feeing thofe iflands ; indeed, my. eyes were better employed and entertained in examining objects more interesting, as well as mpre pleating. Going from this herrriitage, you have a view of the vale of St. Mary, for merly called la Vallee Amere, thro' which the river Lobregate runs, and which di vides the bifhoprick of Barcelona frorri that of De Vic. Left ( 201 ) Left you fhould think I am rather too tremendoufly defcriptive of this upland journey, hear what a French traveller fays, who vifited this mountain about twenty years ago. After examining every thing curious at the convent, he fays, *' II ne " me rejloit plus rien a voir que I 'hermitage " qui efi renomme, il eft dans la par tie la plus (t e'leve'e de lamontagne, & part age en treize " habitations, pour autant d' her mites. Le " plaifir de le voir devoit me dedommager de " la peine qu'il me falloit prendre pour y mon- " ter, en grimpant pendant plus de deux heu- " res. faurois pu me flervir de ma mule, " mais il m'auroit flallu prendre un chemin " ouj'aurois mis le double du terns, ye m'ar- " mai done de courage, & entre dans une " enceinte par une porte que Von m'ouvrit 11 avec peine au dehors du monafiere, je com- « mencai a monter par des degres qui flem- " bloient perpendiculaires, tant Us etoient " roides; & jeflus oblige de m'agr offer a des ?' bar res qui fflont placees expres: enfluite, "je ( 202 ) " je me trainai par-deffous de groffes pierres, " qui font comme des voutes ruine'es, dont les " ouvertures font le fleul paffage quil y ait " pour quiconque a la timer it e de s' engager " dans ces defile's ; apres avoir grimpe, envi- " ron mille pas, je trouvai un petit terrein t( uni ou je me laiffai tomber tout etendu afin " de reprendre ma refpiration qui commen- " coit a me manquer." And yet this was only the Frenchman's firft ftage on his way to the firft and neareft hermitage; and who I find clambered up the very road we did, rather than take the longer rout on mule- back ; and, for ought I know, a rout ftill more dangerous, for there are many places where the precipice is perpendicular on both fides of a ridge, and where the road is too narrow even to turn the mule; fo he that fets out, muft proceed. After afcending a ladder fixed in • the fame pine where St. Onoflre is fituated, at an hundred and fifty paces diftant, is the fifth hermitage of the Periitent Madalena; it ( 203 ) it ftands between two lofty pines, and on fome elevated rocks, and commands a beau tiful view, towards noon-day, to the Eaft and Weft ; and near to it, in a more ele vated pine, ftands its chapel, from whence you look down (dreadful to behold) a rug ged precipice and fteep hills, upon the convent at two miles diftance. There are two roads, or rather paffages, to this cell, both exceedingly difficult; by one you mount up a ladder of at leaft an hundred Steps ; the other is of ftone Steps, and pie ces of timber to hold by ; that the hermit who dwells there fays, the whittling of the wind in tempeftuous nights founds like the- roaring of baited bulls. LETTER ( 204 ) LETTER XXIII. ¥ MUST now lead you up to the higheft -*- part of the mountain ; it is a long way up, not lefs than three thoufand five hun dred paces from St. Madaleha, and over a very rugged and difagreeable road for the feet, which leads, however, to the cell of St. Geronimo; from the two turrets of which, an immenfe fcene is opened, too much for the head of a low-lander to bear; for it not only takes in a view of a great part of the mountain beneath, but of the kingdoms of Arragon, Valencia, the Medi terranean Sea, and the iflands; but as it were, one half of the earth's orbit. The fatigue to clamber up to it is very great ; but the recompenfe is ample. This her mitage looks down upon a wood above a leaorue in circumference, in which former- ]y fome hermits dwelt ; but at prefent it is Stocked with cattle belonging to the con vent, ( 205 ) vent, who have a fountain of good water therein. Near this hermitage, in a place they call Poza, the Show is preferved for the ufe of the Religieux. The inhabi tant either was not within, or would not be difturbed ; fo that after feafting my eyes on all fides, my conductor led me on east ward to the Seventh hermitage, called St. Antonio, the father of the Anchorites ; it Stands under one of the higheft pines, and the accefs to it is fo difficult and dange rous, that very few ftrangers vifit it; — a circumftance which whetted my curiofity; fo, like the boy after a bird's-neft, I riflqued it, efpecially as I v/as pretty fure I Should take the old bird fitting. This hermit had formerly been in the fervice ; and though he had made great, in terceffion to the Holy Virgin and faints in heaven, - as well as much intereft with men on earth, he was not, I think, quite happy in his exalted Station ; his turret is fo fmall, that it will not contain above two men; the view from it, to the Eaft and North, is very fine; but it ( 206 ) it looks down a moft horrible and dreadful precipice, above one hundred and eighty toifes perpendicular, and upon the river Lobregate. No man, but he whom cuf- tom has made familiar to fuch a tremen dous eye-flail, can behold this place but with horror and amazement ; and I was as glad to leave it, as I was pleafed to have feen it. At about a gun-fhot diftance from it rifes the higheft pine-head of the moun tain, called Caval Hernot, which is eighty toifes higher than any other cone, and three thoufand three hundred paces from the convent below. Keeping under the fide of the fame hill, and along the bafe of the fame pine-head, you are led to the hermi tage of St. Salvador, eight hundred paces from St. Antonio, which hermitage has two chapels, one of which is hewn out of the heart of the pine, and confequently has a natural as well as a beautiful cupola ; the accefs to this cell is very difficult, for the crags project fo much, that it is ne ceffary to clamber over them on all-four ; the ( 207 ) the profpects are very fine to the fouthward and eaftward. The inhabitant was from home; but as there was no fattening to his doors, I examined all his worldly goods, and found that moft of them were the work of his own ingenious hands. A lit tle diftant from hence ftands a wooden crofs, at which the road divides ; one path leads to St: Benito, the other to the Holy Trinity. By the archives of the convent, it appears, that in the year 1272, Francis Bertrando died at the hermitage of St. Sal vador, after having fpent forty-five years in it, admired for his Sanctity and holy life, and that he was fucceeded therein by Francois Durando Mayol, who dwelt in it twenty-feven years. Defcending from hence about fix or fe ven hundred paces, you arrive at the ninth hermitage, St. Benito ; the fituation is very pleafing, the accefs eafy, and the profpects divine. It was founded by an Abbot, whofe intentions were, that it Should contain, within ( 20a > within a fmall diftance, four other cells, in memory of the five wounds made in the body of Chrift. This hermit has the pri vilege of making an annual entertainment on a certain day, on which day all the other hermits meet there, and receive the facra- ment from the hands of the mountain vi car; and after divine fervice, dine toge ther. They meet alfo at this hermitage on the day of each titular faint, to fay mafs, and commune with each other. LETTER t 269 j Letter xxiV. If CANNOT fay a word to you on any -^ other Subject, till you have taken a turn with me iii the Shrubberies and gardens of the glorious (So they call it) hermitage of St. And. Coming from St. Benito, by a brook which funs down the middle of the mountain, fix hundred paces diftant from it, ftands St. Ana, in a Spacious Situation, and mueh larger than 'any other, and is nearly in the Center of them all. The cha pel here is fufficiently large for the whole fociety to meet in, and accordingly they do fo on certain feftivals arid holidays, where they confefs to their mountain vicar, and receive the Sacrament. This habitation is nobly adorned with large trees ; the ever green oak, the Cork, the cyprefs, the thread ing fig-tree, and a variety of others ; yet it is neverthelefs dreadfully expofed to the P fury ( 210 ) fury of fome particular winds; and trfet buildings are Sometimes greatly damaged, and the life of the inhabitant endangered, by the bough's which are torn off and blown about his dwelling. The foot-road from it to the monaftery is only one thoufand three hundred paces, but it is very rugged and unfafe; the mule-road is above four times as far. It was built in r.498, and is the hermitage where all the pilgrims pay a more than ordinary devotion,/ Eight hundred and fifty paces distant, on the road which leads to the hermitage of St. Salvador, ftands, in a folitary and deep wood, the hermitage of the Holy Tri nity. Every part of the building is neat, and the fimplicity of the whole prepares you to expect the fame fimplicity of man ners from the man who dwells within it : and a venerable man he is ; hut he feemed more difpofed to Converfe with his neigh bours, Meffrs. Nature, than with us. His trees, he knows, never flatter or affront him* . ( 211 ) him ; arid after welcoming us more by his humble looks than civil words, he retired to his long and fhady walk; a walk, a full gun-fhot in length, and nothing in na ture certainly can be more beautiful ; it forms a clofe arbour, though compofed of large trees, and terminates in a view of a vaft range of pines, which are fo regularly placed fide by fide, and which, by the re flection of the fun on their yellow and well burnifhed fides, have the appearance of the pipes of an organ a mile in circumference. The Spaniards fay that the mountain is a block of coarfe jafper, and thefe organ pipes, it muft be confeffed, feem to confirm it ; for they are fo well polifhed by the hand of time, that were it not too great a work for man, one would be apt to believe they had been cut by an artift. t Five hundred and fixty paces from the hermitage of the Holy Trinity, ftands St. Cruz ; it is" built under the foot of one of the fmaller pines ; this is the neareft cell >,;. r* P 2 of ( 212 ) of any to the convent, and confequently ofteneft vifited, being only fix hundred and fixty fteps from the bottom of the mountain. LETTER ( 213 ) LETTER XXV. I AM now come to St. Dimas, the laft, and moft important, if not the moft beautiful of all the hermits' habitations. This hermitage is furrounded on all fides by fteep and dreadful precipices, fome of which lead the eyes Straight down, even to the river Lobregate; it can be entered only on the eaft fide by a draw-bridge, which, when lifted up, renders any accefs to it al moft impoffible. This hermitage was for merly a Strong caftle, and poffeffed by a banditti, who frequently plundered and ra vaged the country in the day-time, and fecured themfelves from punishment, by retiring to this faft hold by night. As it ftands, or rather hangs over the buildings and convent below, they would frequently lower bafkets by cords, and demand provi sions, wine, or whatever neceffaries or lux uries the convent afforded; and if their P 3 demands ( 214 ) demands were not inftantly complied with, they tumbled down rocks of an immenfe Size, which frequently damaged the build ings, and killed the people beneath : in deed, it was always in their power to de stroy the whole building, and fuffer none to live there ; but that would have been depriving themfelves of orie fafe means of Subsistence : — at length the monks, by the affiftance of good glaffes, and a conftant attention to the motion of their trouble- fome boarders, having obferved that the greater part were gone out upon the ma rauding party, perfuaded feven or eight flout farmers to believe, that heaven would reward them if they could fcale the horrid precipices, and by furprife Seize the caftle, and fecure the few, who remained in it ; — and thefe brave men accordingly got into it unobferved, killed one of the men, and Secured the others for a public example. The caftle was then demolished, and a hermitage called St. Dimas, or the Good Thief, built upon the fpot. The views from ( 2i5 ) from it are very extenfive and noble to the fouth and eaft ward. And now, Sir, having conducted you to make a fhort vifit to each of thefe won derful, though little abodes, I muft affure you, that a man well verfed in author craft might write thirteen little volumes upon Subjects fo very fingular. But as "no writ ten account can give a perfect idea of the particular beauties of any mountain, and more efpecially of one fo unlike all others, I Shall quit nature, and conduct you to the works of art, and treafures of value, which are within the walls of the holy Sanctuary below ; only obferving, what I omitted to mention, that the great rains which have fallen fince the creation of all things, down the fides of this fteep mount, have made round the whole bafe a prodigious wide and deep trench, which has the appearance of a vaft river courfe drained of its water. In this deep trench lie an infinite number of huge blocks of the mountain, which haye ( fftf ) have from age to age caved dawn; from its Sides, and which renders the tout a.u. four, of the mountain belpw full as extraordinary as the pointed pinacjes above : befide this, there are many little receSfes.onth-e fides of the hill below, fo adorned by Stately trees, and natural fountains, that I know not which part of the enchanted fpot. is moft beautiful. I found in one of thefe places a little, garden, fenced in by the fallen rocks, a fpring of fo clear and i cool a wa ter, and the whole fp fhaded by oaks, fo Warmed by the fun, and fp fuperlatively romantic, that. I was determined to find out the owner of it, and haypffet about building a houfe or a hut to "the garden, and to have made it my abode ;: but,- alas ! upon enquiry, I found the well was a holy one, and that the water, the pureft and fineft I ever f#w or tafted, , could" only , be ufed for holy purpofes.- And hero let me obferve, .that the generality pf ftrangers who vifit this mountain,, cprne prepared only to flay one day ;-— but it i,$ not a day, nor ( 217 ) nor a week, that is fufficient to fee half the fmaller beauties which a mountain, fa great and wonderful of itfelf, affords on all Sides, from the higheft pinacle above, to die foundation ftones beneath. But I fhould have told you, that there are other roads. to fome of the hermitages above, which, by twitting and turning from fide to fide, are every week clambered up by a blind mule, who, being loaded with thirteen bafkets containing the provifion for the hermits, goes up without any conduc tor, and taking the hermitages in their proper order, goes as near as he can to each, and waits till the hermit has taken his portion ; and proceeds till he has dif- charged his load, and his truft, and then returns to his ftable below. I did not fee this animal on the road, but I faw fome of his offerings there, and you may rely upon the truth of what I tell you. Before ( «« ) Before I quit the hermits, however, I muft tell you, that the hardships and fa- tigups which fome of them voluntarily in-*- flict upon themfelves, is almoft incredible; they cannot, like the monks' in RuJJia,. fit in water to their chins till they are froze; up, but they undergo fome penances, ak moft as Severe, LETTER ( 219 ) LETTER XXVI. pERE PASCAL having invited me to high mafs, and to hear a Spanifh Sermon preached by one of their beft ora tors, we attended ; and though I did not understand the language fufficiently to know all I heard, I understood enough to be en tertained, if not edified. The decency of of the whole congregation too, was truly characteriftic of their profeffion. There Sat juft before us a number of lay-brothers, bare-headed, with their eyes fixed the whole time upon the ground; and though they knew we were ftrangers, and proba bly as fingular in their eyes as they could be in ours, I never perceived one of them, either at or after the fervice was over, to lpok, or even glance an eye at us. The chapel,' or church of this convent, is a very noble building; and high over the great altar is fixed the image of the Virgin', which ( 220 ) which was found eight hundred years ago in a deep cave on the fide of the moun tain : they fay the figure is the work of St. Luke; if that be true, St. Luke was a better carver than a painter, for this figure is the Work of no contemptible artift ; it is of wood, and of a dark-brown or rather black colour, about the fize of a girl of twelve years of age; her garments are very coftly, and She had on a crowrt richly adorned with real jewels of great value; and I believe, except our Lady of Loretto, the paraphernalia of her perfon is fuperior to all the faints or crowned . heads in Eu rope. She holds on her knees a little Je- fus, of the fame complexion, and the work of the fame artift. The high altar is a moft magnificent and coftly Structure, and there conftantly burns before it upwards ©f fourfcore large Silver lamps. The balu-, ftrades before the altar were given by King Philip the Third, and coft feven thoufand crowns; and it coft fourteen thoufand more to cut away the rock to lay the foundation of ( 221 ) this new church, the old one being fo fmall, and often fo crowded by pilgrims and ftrangers, that many of the monks loft their lives in it every year. The whole expence of building the new one, exclufive of the inward ornaments, is computed at a million of crowns ; and the feats of the choir, fix and thirty thoufand livres. The old church has nothing very remarkable in it but fome good ancient monuments, one of which is of Bernard Villomarin, Admi ral of Naples ; a man (as the infcription fays) illuftrious in peace and war. There is another of Don yohn d'Arragon, Dux Luna, who died in 1528; he was nephew to King Ferdinand. But the moft fingu lar infcription in this old church is one engraven on a pillar, under which St. Ig natius Spent a whole night in prayer be fore he took the refolution of renouncing the world, which was in the year 1522. After mafs was over, we were Shewn into a chamber behind the high altar, where ( 222 ) Wnere a door opened to the recefs, in which the Virgin is placed, and where we were permitted, or rather required to kifs her hand. At the fame time,* I perceived a great many pilgrims entering the apart ments, whofe penitential faces plainly dif* covered the reverence and devotion with which they approached her facred pre tence. When we returned, we were pre sented to the Prior ; a lively, genteel man, of good addrefs ; who, with Pere Tender, the Frenchman, Shewed us an infinite quan tity of jewels, veffels of gold and filver, garments, &c. which have been prefented by Kings, Queens, and Emperors, to the convent, for the purpofe of arraying this miraculous image. I begin to fufpect that you will think I am become half a Catho lic ; — indeed, I begin to think fo myfelf ; and if ever I publicly renounce that faith which I now hold, it fhall be done in a pilgrimage to Montflerrat ; for I do not fee why God, who delights fo much in vari ety, as all his mighty works teftify; who has ( 223 ) has not made two green leaves of the fame tint, — may not, nay, ought not to be wor shipped by men of different nations, in va riety of forms. I fee no abfurdity in a Set of men meeting as the Quakers do, and Setting in filent contemplation, reflecting on the errors of their pail life, and refol- ving to amend in future. I think an ho neft, good Quaker, as refpectable a being as an Archbifhop ; and a monk, or a her mit, who think they merit heaven by the Sacrifice they make for it, will certainly obtain it : and as I am perfuaded the men of this fociety think fo, I highly honour and refpect them : I am fure I feel myfelf much obliged to them. They have a good library, but it is in great diforder ; nor do I believe they are men of much reading ; indeed, they are fo employed in confeffing the pilgrims and poor, that they cannot have much time for fludy. I forgot to tell you, that at Narbonne I had been accoffed by a young genteel couple, ( 224 ) couple, a male and female, who were Upon a pilgrimage; they were dreffed rather neat than fine, and their garments were adorned with cockle and other marine Shells; fuch; indeed, all the poorer fort of pilgrims are characterifed with. They- prefented a tin box to me, with much addrefs, but faid nothing, nor did I give them any thing ; indeed, I did not then know, very well, for what purpofe or ufe the charity they claimed was to be applied. This young couple "were among the Strangers who were now approaching the Sacred image. I was very defirous of knowing their ftory, who they were, and what fins people fo young, and who looked fo good, had been guilty of, to think it neceffary to come fo far for abfolution. Their fins on the road, I could be at no lofs to guefs at ; and as they were fuch as people who love one another are very apt to commit, I hope and believe, they will obtain forgivenefs of them. They were either people of fome condi tion, ( 225 ) tion, or very 'accomplished Chevaliers dln- duftr'ie ; though' I am rhoft iricliried to be lieve, they were brother ¦ aridfifter, of fome condition. After vifttirig the Holy Virgin, I paid my refpects to the feveral monks in their own apartments, under the conduct of Pere Paflcal, arid was greatly entertained. — : — I found them excellently lodged; their apart- riients had' no finery, but every ufeful con venience ; and feveral gobd harpfichords, as well as good performers, befide an ex cellent organifl. The Prior; in particular, has fo much addrefs of the polite world a-' bout him, that he muft have lived in1 it, before he made a vow' to retire from it. L never "Saw a" more ftriking inftarice of national' influence than in the perfon of Pire Tendre, the Fleming.! — In fpite of his holy" life, and living among Spaniards of the utrnoft' gravity of manners, I could Q_ have ( 226 ) have known him-at firft fight to have, been a Frenchman. I never faw, even upon the Boulevards at Paris, a more lively, ani mated, or chearful face. Indeed, one muft believe, that thefe men are as good as they appear to be ; for they have reafon enough to believe, that every hour may be their laft, as there hangs over their whole building Such a terrifying mafs of rock and pine heads, fo fplit and divided, that it is difficult to perceive by what powers . they are fuftained : many have given way, and have no other Sup port than the bafe they have made by flipping in part down, among the fmaller rocks and broken fragments. . About an hundred years ago, one vaft block fell from above, and. buried under the hofpital, and all the tick and their attendants ;. and where it ftill remains, a dreadful monument, and memento, to all who dwell near it ! I fhould fear (God avert the day !) that the ( 227 ) the fmalleft degree of an earthquake would bury all the convent, monks, and treafure, by one fatal coup. EFORE I bring forth the treafures of -*-* this hofpitable convent, and the jew els of Neufira Senora, it may be neceffary to fell you, that they could not be fo libe ral, were not others liberal to them ; and that they have permiffion to afk charity from every church, city, and town, in the kingdoms of France and Spain, and have always lay-brothers out, gathering money and other donations. They who feed all who come, muft, of courfe, be fed them<- felves ; nor has any religious houfe in Eu rope (Loretto excepted) been more highly honoured by Emperors, Kings, Popes, and Prelates, than this : nay, they have feemed to vie with each other, in beftowing rich and coftly garments, jewels of immenfe va lue, and gold and Silver of exquifite work- manfhip, to adorn the perfon of Neufira Senora ; as the following lift, though not a quarter ( 229 ) a quarter of her paraphernalia, will evince : but before I particularize them, it may be proper to riientiOn, the folerrih mariner in which the Virgin was riioved frorri the old to the new church, by the hands of King Philip the Third, who repaired there for that purpofe as privately as poffible, to pre vent the prodigious concourfe of people who would have attended him had it been generally known. He Staid at the convent fOur days, in which time he vifited all the hermitages above, in one; but returned', greatly fatigued, and nOt till ten o'clock at night. After retting himfelf the next day, he heard mafs, and being corifeffed, affifted at the foleriinity of tranflating the Virgin, m the following manner :— After all the monks, hermits, and lay-brothers had heard rriafs, and beeri "confeffed,2rthe"Virgiri was brought down and placed upori the altar irt the old church, and with great ceremony, reverence, and awe, they cloathed her in a rich gold mantle, the gift of the Duke of Branzvic&i the fleeves of which were fo 0^3 coftly ( 230 ) coftly, that they were valued at eighteen thoufand ducats. The Abbots, monks, hermits, &c, who were prefent, wore cloaks of rich gold brocade, and in the proceffion Sung the hymn Te Deum Lau- damus ; one of whom bore a gold crofs, of exquifite workmanfhip, which weighed fifty marks, and which was fet with coftly jewels. The proceffion cpnfifted of .forty- three layTbrothers, fifteen hermits, and fix ty- two monks, all bearing wax tapers; then followed the young fcholars,' and a band of mufic, as well as an infinite num ber of people who came from aU parts of the kingdom to attend the folemnity . for it was impoffible; to keep an act of fo ex traordinary a nature very private. When the Virgin was brought into the new church, fhe was placed on a tabernacle by four of the moft ancient monks; the King held alfo a large lighted taper, on which his banner and arms were emblazoned, and being followed by the nobles and cavaliers of his court, joined in the proceffion ; and having ( 23I ) having placed themfelves in proper order in the great cloyfter of the church, the monks fung a hymn, addrefled to the Vir gin, accompanied by a noble band of mu fic : this being over, the King taking the Virgin in his arms, placed her on the great altar; and having fo done, took his wax taper, and falling on his knees at her feet, offered up his prayers near a quarter Of an hour: this ceremony being over, the monks advanced to the altar, and moved the Vir gin into a recefs in the middle of it, where it now ftands : after which, the Abbot, having given his pontifical benediction, the King retired to repofe himfelf for a quar ter of an hour, and then fet off for Mar- torell, where he Slept, and the next day made his entry into Barcelona, Among an infinite number of coftly ma terials which adorn this beautiful church, is a moft noble organ, which has near twelve hundred pipes. In the Cufiodium, you are Shewn three crowns for the head of ( 232 ) of the Infant Jefus, two of which are of pure gold, the third of Silver, gilt, and rich|y adorned with diamonds ; one of the gold crowns is fet with two. hundred and thirty emeralds, and nineteen largo brii-^ Hants ; the other has two hundred and thirty-eight diamonds, an hundred and thirty pearls, and Sixteen rubies ; it coft eighteen thoufand ducats. There are four crowns alSafor the head of tlje Virgin ; two of plated gold, richly fet with diamonds, two of folid gold; qnp of which has two thoufand five hundred large emerald in it, and is valued at fifty thoufand ducats; the fourth, and richeft,, is Set with pn^e thoufand one hundred and twenty-four diamonds, five of which nunu ber are valued at five hundred ducats each ; eighteen, hundred large pearls, of equal fi2je ; thirty-eight - large emer,al4s>, twenty- qn% zaphirs, and. five rubies ; and at the top of this, grown is, a gold ftip^. adprr#'¦¦ > ¦.,' : . .v; :;.-'-37rii In the church are fix Silver caridlefticks, nine palms high, made to hold wax flam beaux. There are diamonds and jewels, given by the Countefs de Arranda, Count Alba, Duchefs of Medina, and forty other people of high rank, from the different courts of Europe, to the value of' more than an hundred thoufand ducats. — :— But were I to recite every particular from the lift of donations, which my friend, Pere Paflcal, gave me, and which now lie before me, with the names of the donors, they would fill a volume inftead of a letter. LETTER ( 235 ) LETTER XXVIII. T KNOW you will expect to hear fome- •A- thing of the Ladies of Spain; but I muft Corifefs I had very little acquaintance among them: when they appear abroad in their coaches, they are dreffed in the mo dern French fafhion, but not in the ex treme; when they walk out, their head and Shape is "always covered with a black or white veil, richly laced ; and, however fine their gowns are, they muft be covered with a very large black filk petticoat ; and thus holding the fan in one hand, and hanging their chapelets over the wrift of the other, they walk out, preceded by one or two Shabby-looking fervants, called pages, who wear fwords, and always walk bare headed. I have already told you, that the moft beautiful, indeed the only beautiful wo man, ( 23.6 ) man, I faw at Barcelona, was the Inten- dant's daughter; and I affure you, her black petticoat and white veil could not conceal it ; nor, indeed, is the drefs an unbecoming one. Among the peafants, and common females, you never fee , any thing like beauty, and, in general, rather deformity of feature. No wonder then; where beauty is fcarce, and to be found only among women of condition, that thofe women are much admired;-- and that- they gain prodigious influence over the men I— In no part, of the world, therefore, are women more careffed and attended to, than in Spain. jjTheir deportment rin public is grave and modeft ; yet they arq very muph addicted to pleafure ; nor is- there fcarce one among- them that cannot, nay, that will not dance the Fandango in private, ei ther in the decent or the indecent manner. I have feen it danced both ways; by a pretty woman, than which nothing can be rnore immodefiJy agreeable; and I was Shewn a. young Lady at Barcelona, who in the midft ( 237 ) midft of this dance ran out of the room, telling her partner,. She conldfiand it no longer ; — he ran after her, to be fure, and muft be anfwerabte for the confequences. I find in the muSic of the Fandango, writ ten under one bar, Salido, which fignifies going out; it is where the woman is to part a- little from her partner, and to move SlowLy by herfelf; and I fuppofe- it was at that bar the lady was fo overcome* as to determine not to return. The words Perra Salida fhould therefore be placed at that bar, when the ladies dance it in the high gout. The men drefs as they do in France and England, except only their long cloak, which they do not care to give upv It is faidithaf Frenchmen are wifer than-, from the levity of their behaviour, they feemto he ; arid I fancy, the: Spaniards look wifer, from their gravity of countenance, than. they really are; they are extremely refer- ved> and make- no profeffions of friendship till ( 238 ) till they feel it, and know the man, and then they are friendly in the higheft degree. I met with a German merchant at Bar celona, who told me he had dealt for goods to the value Of five thoufand pounds a year with a Spaniard in that town; and though he had been often at Barcelona befOre, that he had never invited him to dine or eat with him, till that day. The farrier who comes to (Shoe your horfe has fometimes a fword by his fide ; and the barber who Shaves you croffes hirn- felf before he croffes your chin. There is a particular part of the town where the ladies of eafy virtue live; and if a friend calls at the apartment of one of thofe females, who happens to be engaged* one of her neighbours tells you, fhe is amancebados y cafarfle a niediacarta;: i.i.e. that fhe is half-married. If you meet a Spanifh woman of any fafhion, walking alone ( 239 ) alone without the town, you may join her, and enter into whatever flort of converfation you chufe, without offence; and if you pafs one without doing fo, fhe will call you ajacaos, and contemn you : this is a cuftom fo eftablifhed at Madrid, that if a footman meets a lady of quality alone, he will enter into fome indecent converfation with her; for whiph reafon, the ladies feldom walk but with their hufbands, or a male friend, by their fide, and a foot-boy before, and then no man durft fpeak, or even look to wards them, but with refpect and awe : — a blow in Spain can never be forgiven ; the Striker muft die, either privately or pub licly. No people on earth are lefs given to ex- cefs in eating or drinking, than the Spa niards; the Olio, or. Olla, a kind of foup and Bouilli, is all that is to be found at the table of fome great men : the table of a Bourgeois of Paris is> better Served than many grandees of Spain; their chocolate, lemon ade, ( 24© ) ade; iced water, fruits, tec. are- their chief luxuries; and the choc-elate-' i>8, in fome houfes, a prodigious annual expence^ as it is offered to every body- who comes in, and fome of the firft houfes in Madrid expend twenty thoufand^ livres a year in chocolate, iced waters, &c. The grandees of Spain think it beneath their dignity to look into accounts, and; therefore leave the manage ment of their houfhold- expences to fer vants, who often plunder ariddefraud them of great fums of money. Unlike the French, the Spaniards (like the Englifh) very properly look upon able1 phyficians and furgeons in a very refpeeta^ ble light: Is it not Strange, that the French nation Should truft their health and lives in the hands; of men, they are apf to think unworthy, of their intimacy or friendship? — Men, who muft have had a liberal education, and', who ought not" to be trufted in ficknefs, if their- fOciety.was' not to be coveted in healths Perhaps- the- Spanifh ( 241 ) Spanifh phyfician, who of all others have the leaft pretenfions, are the moft careffed. In fevers they encourage their patients to eat, thinking it neceffary, where the air is fo fubtle, to put fomething into the body for the diftemper to feed upon; they bleed often, and in both arms, that the blood may be drawn forth equally ; the furgeons do not bleed, but a fet of men called flan- gerros perform that office, and no other; the furgeons confider it dishonourable to perform that operation . They feldom tre pan; a Surgeon who attempted to perform it, would himfelf be perhaps in want of it. To all flefh wounds they apply a pow der called coloradilla, which certainly ef fects the cure ; it is made of myrrh,- maf- tic, dragon's blood, bol ammoniac, &c. When a perfon of faShion is bled, their friends fend them, as foon as it is known, little prefents to amufe them all that day; for which reafon, the women of eafy vir tue are often bled, that their lovers may Shew their attention,- nnd be bled too-. R The { 242 ' ) The French difeafe is fo ignorantly treated, or fo little regarded, that it is very gene ral ; they confider a gonorrhoea as health to the reins ; and, except a tertian ague, all diforders are called the calentura, and trea ted alike, and I fear very injudicioufly; for there is not, I am told, in the whole king dom, any public academy for the instruc tion of young men in phytic, furgery, or anatomy, except at Madrid. Notwithftanding the fobriety, tempe rance, and fine climate of Spain, the Spa niards do not, in general, live to any great age ; they put a prodigious quantity of fpice into every thing they eat; and though fobriety and temperance are very commend able, there are countries where eating and drinking are carried to a great excefs, by men much more virtuous than in thofe, where temperance, perhaps, is their prin cipal virtue. LETTER ( 243 ) LETTER XXIX, T FORGOT to tell you that, though I -*- left the Convent, I had no defire to leave the fpot where I had met with fo cordial a reception ; nor a mountain, every part of which afforded fo many fcenes of Wonder and delight. I therefore hired two rooms at a wretched pofada, near the two ancient towers below, and where I had left my horfe, that I might make my daily excurfions on and about the mountain, as well as vifit thofe little Solitary habitations above once more. My hoft, his wife, and their fon and daughter, looked rather cool Upon us ; they liked our money better than our company; and though I made their young child fome little prefents, it Scarce afforded any return, but prevented rudenefs, perhaps * The boys of the vil lage, though I distributed a little money ©very day to the pppr, frequently pelted R 2 me ( 244 ) me with ftones, when they gained the high ground of me ; and I found it neceffary, when I Walked out,- to take my fuzee. I would have made a friend of the prieft, if I could have found him, but he never ap peared ! — It was a poor village, and you may eafily conceive our refidence in fuch a little place, where no Stranger ever Staid .above an hour, occafioned much Specula tion. My fervant too (a French deferter) had neither the politenefs nor the addrefs fo common to his countrymen; but I knew I was within a few hours of honeft Pere Paflcal; and while the hog, mule, and afs of my hoft continued well, I flattered my felf I was not in much danger ; had ei ther of thofe animals been ill, I Should have taken my leave ;. for if a fufpicion had arofe that an heretic was under their roof, they would have been at no lofs to account for the caufe, or the calamity which had, or might befall them. During my re sidence at this little poflada, I faw a gaudy- dreffed, little, ugly old man, and a hand fome ( 245 ) fome young woman, approach it ; the man fmiled in my face, which was the only fmile I had feen in the face of a Stranger for a fortnight ; he told me, what he need not, that he was a Frenchman, and a no ble Advocate of Perpignan ; that his name was Anglois, and that his ancestors were Englifh; that he had walked on foot, with his maid, from Barcelona, in order to pay his devotions to the Holy Virgin of Mont flerrat, though he had his own chaife and mules at Barcelona : he feemed much fa-» tigued, fo I gave him fome chocolate, for he was determined, he faid, to get up to the convent that night. During this in-r terview, he embraced me feveral rimes, profeffed a moft affectionate regard for me and my whole family; and I felt enough for him, to defire he would fix the day of his return, that I might not be out upon my rambles, and that he would dine and fpend the evening with me; in which cafe, I would fend him back to Barcelona in my cabriolet-; all which he chearfully conferred R 3 to j ( 246 ) to ; and having lent him my couteau de chaflfe, as a more convenient weapon on afs- back than his fine fword, we: parted, re luctantly, for five days ; that was the time this noble Advocate had allotted for making his peace with the Holy Virgin; — I fay, his peace with the Holy Virgin ; for he was very defirous of leaving, his virgin with us, as fhe was an excellent cook,, and" a moft faithful and trufty ! fervant, both which he perceived we wanted; yet, in fpite of his encomiums, there was nothing in the behaviour of the girl that corre- fponded with fuch an amiable character : She had, indeed, a beautiful face, but ftrongly marked with fomethingj more like impudence than boldnefs, and more of that of apragmatic miftrefs than an .humble fer vant; and therefore we did not accept what, I was very certain, fhe would not have performed. I impatiently, however, Waited their return, and verily believed the old man had bought his crimfon velvet breeches and gold-laced waiftcoat in ho nour ( 247 ) nour of the Virgin, and that his vifit to her was a pious one. — He returned to his time, and to a fad dinner indeed ! but it was the beft we could provide. He had loft fo much of that vivacity he went up with, that I began to fear I had loft his friendfhip, or he the benediction of the Holy Virgin. Indeed, I had loft it/in fome meafure, but it was transferred but a little, way off ; for he took the firft fa vourable, occafion to tell my wife, no, wo man had ever before made fo forcible an impreffion. .upon him, and faid a thou fand other fine things, which I cannot re peat, without lofing the efteem I Still have for my countryman; efpecially as he did not propofe flaying only one night with us, nay, that he. would depart the next morn ing debon matin. During the evening, all his former fpirits returned, as well as his affection for. me : ' he tojd me, he fufpected I wanted money, and if that was the cafe, thofe wants. fhould be removed; fo taking out a large parcel of gold duras, he offered them, ( 248 ) them, and I am perfuaded too, he would have lent or given them to me. I arofe early, to fet that my man and chaife were got in good order, to conduct fo good a friend to Barcelona ; but not hearing any thing of Monfieur Anglois, I directed my fervant to go into his chamber, to enquire how he did ; — -my man returned, and faid, that Madame was awake, but that Mon fieur ftill Sleeps. Madame ! what. Madame ? faid I ! — Is it the young woman who came with him ? I then found, what I had a little fufpected> that the mountain virgin was not the only virgin to whom Monfieur Anglois made his vows.- He foon after, however, came down, drank chocolate with us, and making a thoufand profeffions of inviolable regard, he fet off in my -chaife for Barcelona; but, I fhould have told you, not till he had made me promife to vifit him at Perpignan, where he had not only a town, but country houfe, at my fervice. — All thefe profeffions were made with fo much opennefs, and feeming Sincerity, that I could ( 249 ) I could not, nor did doubt it ; and as I was determined then to leave that unhof- pitable country, and return to France, I gave him my paffa-porte, to get it refrejhed by the Captain-General at Barcelona, that I might return, and pafs by the walls orily of a town I can never think of but with fome degree of pain, and fhould with horror, but that I now know there is one man lives in it, and did then,* who has lamented that he had not an opportunity to fhew me thofe acts of hofpitality his nature and his fituation often give him occafion to exer cife ; but the etiquette is, for the Stranger to vifit firft ; and I found but little en couragement to vifit a German Gentle man, though married to an Englifh Lady, after the hoftile manners I had experienced from my friends and countrymen, Meffrs. Curtoys, Wombwell, &c. * Mr. Thalbitzer. LETTER ( 250 ) LETT E R XXX. T.N the archives of Montflerrat they Shew ¦¦*- you a letter written to the Abbe by King Philip the SecOnd, who begins " ve nerable arid: devout ReHgieux," and tells him, he approves of his zeal, of his> build ing; a new church at Montflerrat, > Charges him to continue his prayers for him, :and, to Shew his zeal for that holy houfe, in forms him, that thebearer of ihis. letter is EtiennP ydrdan, the moft famous: Sculptor then in. Spain, who is toj unake the new al tar-piece at. the King's expence, and they agreed to pay y or dan ten thoufand crowns for the defigri he laid, before them: the al tar Was made at Valladolid, and was 'brought to Montflerrat on Sixty-fix waggoris ;. and as Jordan did much more to the work than he had engaged to perform, the King gave him fpur thoufand crowns over and above his pgreement, and afterwards gave nine thou fand ( 25I ) fand crowns more, to gild and add further ornaments to it. At the death of Philip the Second, his fon, Philip the Third, affifted in perfon to remove the image of the Virgin from the old to the new church ; of which I fhall hereafter mention more fully. Before this noble altar, in which the figure of the Vir gin ftands, in a nitch about the middle of it, are fix candlefticks of folid filver, each of which weighs eighty pounds ; they are a yard and a half high ; and yet thefe arc mere, trifles, when compared to the gold and jewels which are fhewn, occafionally. - ¦-¦,»' -* '.' ' : . The monies obferve very religipufly their .Statutes ; nor is there a fingle hour in the day that you find' the church evacuated. — I always heard at leaft two voices chanting the Sqvice, when the monks retire from the churchy which is not till Seven o'clock at night; the pilgrims continue there in prayer the greater.part of the night. I fhould ( 252 ) I Should have told you, that befide the fuperior among the hermits, there are two forts of them, neither of which can poffefs 'a hermitage till they have fpent feven years in the monaftery, and given proofs of their holy difpofition, by acts of obedience, hu mility, and mortification ; during which they fpend moft of their time, night as" well as day, in the church, but they never fing or chant. After the expiration of the feven years, the Abbot takes the advice of his brethren, and if they think the pro bationer's manners and -life entitle him to a -folitary life above, he is fent, — but not, perhaps, without being enjoined to wait upon fome old hermit, who is paft doing the neceffary offices of life for himfelf' — Their habit, as I faid before, is brown, and they wear their long beards ; but fome- times the hermits are admitted into holy orders, and then they wear black, and fhave their beards : however, they are not actu ally fixed to the lonely habitations at firft, but ( 253 ) but generally take feven or eight months trial. Many of the abbes, whofe power, you may be fure, is very great, and who receive an homage from the inferiors, very flattering, have, neverthelefs, often quitted their power for a retirement above. They obferve religioufly their abstinence from all forts of flefh ; nor are they permitted to eat but within their cells. When any of them are very ill, they are brought down to the convent; and all buried in one chapel, called St. Jofeph. The lay-brothers are about fourfcore in number; they wear a brown habit, and are Shaved; their duty is to distribute bread, wine, and other neceffaries, to the poor and the pilgrims, and lodge them accord ing to their condition : and many of them are fent into remote parts of the kingdom, as well as France and other Catholic coun tries, to collect charity ; while thofe who continue at home affift in getting in their corn,, ( 254 ) corn, and fetching provisions from the ad jacent towns, for which purpofes they keep a great number, upwards of fifty mules. — . Thefe men too have a fuperior among them, to whom they are all obedient. There are alfo a number of children and young Students, educated at the convent, who are taken in at the age of feven or eight years, many of whom are of noble families ; they all Sleep in one apartment, but feparate beds, where a lamp constantly burns, and their decent deportment is Wonderful. Dom Jean de Cardonne, ad miral of the galleys, who fuccoured Malta when it was befieged by the Turks, was bred at Montflerrat, and when he wrote to the Abbe", " Recommend me," he faid, " to the prayers of my little brethren." As I have already told you of the mira-* cie of a murdered and violated virgin com ing to life, and of a child of three months old ( 255 ) old faying, Guerin, rifle, thy fins are forgiven thee; perhaps you will not like to have fur ther proofs of what miracles are wrought here, or I could give you a long lift, and unanswerable arguments to prove them. Frere Benoit d' Arr agon was a hermit on this mountain, whofe fanctity of life has made his name immortal in the hermitage of St. Croix. The following Sketch of his life is engraven. " Occidit hac facra Frater Benediftus in jede, " Inclytus & fama, & religione facer. " Hic fexaginta & feptem cafliffimus annos, '* Vixit in his faxis, te, Deus alme peccans " Ufque fenex, fenio manfit curVatus & annis " Corpus humo retulit, venerat unde prius " Aft anima exultans, clarum repitivit olympum, " Nunc fedet in fununo glorificata throno." It appears, that Louis the Fourteenth, King of France, gave a certain fum to this convent, to fay mafs and pray for the Soul ©f his deceafed mother ; the fum however was ( 256 ) was not large, being fomething under fifty pounds ; and the donation is recorded in the chapel of St. Louis, upon a brafs lamp. P. S. The time that this wonderful mountain became the habitation of a re ligious community, may be pretty nearly afcertained by the following fingular epi taph, on a beautiful monument, ftill legi ble in the great church of Tarrogona. " Hic quiefcit Corpus fanctce memorise Do- - tended to his requeft, and what he had to fay. But ftill the gentleman read on, and difregarded his rudenefs. At length, the beggar ftept up to him, and with an air of the utmoft infolence, at the fame time ta king him hold by the arm, added, What ! neither charity, nor courtefy ? By this time, the Stranger loft all patience, and was going to correct h.im for his temerity : — Stop, Sir, (faid the beggar, in a lower tone of voice) hear me ; — pardon me, Sir ; do you not know me ? No, certainly; re plied the Stranger. But, faid he, you ought, for I was fecretary" to an embaffy in a cer tain ( 277 ) tarn capital, where we lived together in intimacy; and then told him his name, and the particular misfortunes which had reduced him to that condition ; he expref- fed himfelf with art, addrefs, and elo quence, and fucceeded in getting money from the gentleman, though he could not convince him that he was his old ac quaintance. There are in Spain an infinite number of fuch fort of beggars, who are men of fenfe and letters, and fo aufait in the art, that they will not be denied. The grand fecret of the art of begging is in perfeverance ; and all the well-bred part of beggars do not de spair, though they have ten refufals. But the worft fort of beggars in Spain, are the troops of male and female gipfies : thefe are the genuine breed, and differ widely from all other gipfies, and, I may fay, from all other human beings. In Spain I often met troops of thefe people; and when that interview happens in roads very diftant T 3 from ( 278 ) from towns or dwellings, the interview is not very pleafing ; for they afk as if they knew they were not to be refufed ; and, I dare fay, often commit murders, when they can do it by furprize. Whenever I faw any of thefe people at a diftance, I walked with a gun in rriy hand, and near to the fide of my chaife, where there were piftols vifible ; and by Shewing them I was not afraid, or, at leaft, making them believe fo, they became afraid of us. They are extremely fwarthy, with hair as black as jet; and form a very picturefque fcene un der the fhade of thofe rocks and trees, where they fpend their evenings ; and live in a manner by no means difagreeable, in a climate fo fuitable to that Style, where bread, water, and idlenefs is certainly pre ferable to better fare and hard labour. It is owing to this univerfal idlenefs that the roads, the inns4 and every thing, but what is abfolutely neceffary, is neglected; yet, bad as the roads are, they are better than the pofada, or inns. El flalir de la pofldda, cs ( 279 ) es la mejor Jornada, — " the beft part of the journey, fay the Spaniards, is the getting out of the poflada." For as neither king nor people are at much expence to make or mend the high roads, except juft about the capital cities, they are dry or wet, rough or fmooth, fteep or rugged, juft as the wea ther or the foil happens to favour or befoul them. Now, here is a riddle for your fon ; I know he is an adept, and will foon overtake me. I'm rough, I'm fmooth, I'm wet, I'm dry ; My ftation's low, my title's high ; The King my lawful matter is. I'm us'd by all, though only his : My common freedom's fo well known, I am for that a proverb grown. The roads in Spain are, like thofe in Ireland, very narrow, and the leagues very long. When I complained to an Irifh fol- dier of the length of the miles, between Kinfale and Cork, he acknowledged the truth of my obfervation; but archly added, that ( ?8o ) that though they were long, they were but narrow. Three Spanifh leagues make nearly twelve Englifh miles ; and, confe- quently, feventeen Spanifh leagues make nearly one degree. The bad roads. Sleep mountains, rapid rivers, &c. pccafion moft of the goods and merchandize, which are carried from one part of the kingdom tp the other, to be conveyed on mule- back, and each mule has generally a driver ; and as thefe drivers have their fixed Stages from. poflada to pofada, fo muft the gentlemen travellers alfo, becaufe there are na other accommodations on the roads but fuch, houfes ; t^e flables therefore at the po- fadas are not only very large, but the beft part of the building, and is the lodging- room of man and beaft; all the muleteers Sleep there, with their cloaths on, upon a bundle of ftraw ; but while your fupper is preparing, the kitchen is crowded with a great number of thefe dirty fellows, whofe cloaths are full of vermin ; it would be impoffible, therefore, for even a good cook tq ( 28l ) to drefs a difh, with any decency or clean- linefs, were fuch a cook to be found ; for, exclufive of the numbers, there is gene rally a quarrel or two among them, and at all times a noife, which is, not only tire- fome, but frequently alarming. Thefe people, however, often carry large fums of money, and though they are dirty, they are not poor nor difhoneft.- — I was- told in France, to beware of the Catalans ; yet I frequently left many loofe things in and about my chaife, where fifty people lay, and never loft any thing. When I congratulated myfelf in a let ter to my brother, upon finding in Wales a Gentleman of the name of Cooke, whofe company, cpnverfatipn, and acquaintance, were fo perfectly pleafing to me ; my bro ther obferved, however, that my Welch friend was not a Welchman, for, faid he, " there are no Copks in Wales;" — but this obfervation may be with more juftice applied to Spain ; for J think there are no Cooks ( 282 ) Cooks in Spain; but there are, what is bet ter, a great number of honeft, virtuous men : I look upon the true, genuine Spaniards to be as refpectable men as any in Europe ; and that, among the lower order of them, there is more honour and honefty than is to be found among more polifhed nations; and, I dare fay, there were an hundred Spa niards at Barcelona, had they been as well informed about my identity as Meffrs. Curtoys and Wombwell, that would have changed my notes, or lent me money without. P. S. The tour through Spain and Por tugal by Udal ap Rhys, grandfather to the now Mr. Price of Foxley in Here- fordfhire, abounds with more falfhoods than truths; indeed I have been told it was written, as many modern travels are, over a pipe in a chimney corner: and I hope Mr. Udal never was in Spain, as " one fib is more excuflable than a thoufand." LETTER ( 283 ) LETTER XXXIII. NlSMES. "TV /TONS' Anglois having fent me back " >-'-*- my pafljd-parte, figned by Don Phi- lipe Cabine, the Captain- General of Bar celona, accompanied by a very kind and friendly letter, I determined to quit the only place in Spain which had afforded me pleafure, amufement, and delight. We ac cordingly fat off the next day for Martorel, and went to the Three Kings, where our Italian hofl, whofe extortions I had com plained of before, received us with a face of the utmoft difdain ; and though he had no company in his houfe, put us into much worfe apartments than thofe we had been in before. I ordered fomething for fupper, and left it to him, as he had given us a very good one before ; but he was not only determined to punifh us in lodging, but ( 284 ) but in eating alfo, and fent only four little mutton cutlets, fo fmall, that they were not Sufficient for one, inftead of four per fon s; we pretended, however, not to per ceive his infolence, that he might not en joy our punifhment ; and the next day, as I was defirous of looking about me a little, we removed to another pofada, where, about noon, a Canon of great ecclefiaftical pre ferment arrived, with a coach, fix mules, and a large retinue, to dinner : the Canon had no more the marks of a gentleman than a muleteer ; and he had with him two or three perfons, of no better appearance. While his dinner, a kind of olla, was pre paring, I went into the kitchen, where the fmell of the rancid oil with which it was dreffed, would have dined two or three men of moderate or tender flomachs; nor had he any other difh. There was behind his coach a great quantity of bedding, bed steads, &c. fo you will perceive he tra velled comme il flaut. His livery fervants were numerous, and had on very Short li very ( 285 ) very coats, with large fleeves, and ftill Shorter waifts. After he had eat a dinner, enough to poifon a pack of hounds, he fat off in great pomp for Barcelona,'— a city -I paffed the next day with infinite pleafure, without entering its unhofpitable gates ; which I could not have done, had not Monf Anglois faved me that mortification by get ting my paffa porte refreflhed. I confefs, Sir, that while -I paffed under the fortifica tions of that city, which the high road made neceffary, I felt, I knew not why, a terror about me, that my frame is in ge neral a Stranger to ; and rather rifqued two hours' night travelling, bad and dangerous as the roads were, than Sleep within- four leagues of it; fo that it was ten o'clock before we got to Martereau, a little city by the fea fide, where we had lodged on our way to Barcelona. The next dayy we -pro ceeded on the fame delightful fea coaft we had before paffed, and through the fame rich villages, on our way to Girone, Fi- guiere, &c. and avoided that horrid poflada where ( 286 ) where the Frenchman died, by lying at a Worfe houfe, but better people; but ha ving bought a brace of partridges, and fome redfijh on the road, we fared fumptuoufly, except in beds, which were Straw mattraf- fes, very hard, and the room full of wet Indian corn ; but we were no fooner out of our poflada, than the climate and the beau tiful country made ample amends for the town and poflada grievances. It is contrary to the law of Spain to bring more than a certain quantity of Spa nifh gold or Silver out of the kingdom, and I had near an hundred pounds in gold du- ras, about the fize of our quarter guineas. I endeavoured to change them at Figuiere, but I found fome very artful, I may fay roguifh, fchemes laid, to defraud me, by a pretended difficulty to get French money, and therefore determined to proceed with it to fonquiere, the laft village, where it was not probable I could find fo much French money. I therefore had a very large ( 287 ) large French queue made up, within which the greater part of my Spanifh gold was bound; and as the weight made me hold up my tete d'or, the cuftom-houfe officers there, who remembered my entrance into Spain, found half-a-crown put into their hands lefs trouble than examining my bag gage gratis; they accordingly paffed me on my way to Bellegarde, without even opening it ; and we found the road up to that for- trefs, though in the month of December, full as good as when we had paffed it in the fummer; and after defcending on the French fide, and croffing the river, got to the little auberge at Boulon, the fame we had held too bad when we went into Spain, even to eat our breakfaft at ; but upon our return, worthy of a place of reft, and we accordingly Staid there a week : beds with curtains, rooms with chimnies, and paper windows, though tattered and torn, were luxuries we had been unaccuftomed to. But I muft not omit to tell you, that on our road down on the French fide of the Pyrenees, ( 288 ) Pyrene'es, two men, both armed With guns* rufhed fuddenly out of the woods, and making towards us, afked, whether we Wanted a guard ? I was walking, perhaps forturiately at that time, with my fuzee in my hand* and my fervant had a double bar relled piftol in his ; and therefore forbid them to approach us, and told them, we had nothing to lofe but our lives, and that if they did not retire I fhould look upon them as people who meant -to plunder, ra^ ther than to protect us : they accordingly retired into the woods, and I began to be lieve they had no evil intent ; but finding an Exempt of the Marechauffee at Boulow, I told him what had paffed, and afked him whether his men attended upon that- road; in coloured cloaths, or any others were al lotted, to protect or guard travellers ? He affured me there were no fuch people of any kind ; that his men always moved on horfeback, in their proper character, and fufpected our guard would have been very troublefome, 'had they found us off our guard; ( 289 ) guard; but he did not offer, nor did I afk him, to fend after them, though he was a very civil, fenfible man, who had been three years on duty in Corfica; and, confequently, his company, for the week I Staid in fuch a poor town, was very agreeable. And as Monf. Bernard, or fome officer of the Ma- rechauflfee, is always in duty at this town, I would advife thofe who enter into Spain, by that rout, to procure a couple of thofe men to efcorte them up to Bellegarde— an attention that no officer in Franee will re- fufe to fhew, when it is not incompatible with his duty. r *. ¦--¦¦ The rapid water at this town, which I had paffed- going into Spain, was now lower than ufual. Here too my horfe, as well as his matter, lived truly in clover; and though our habitation was humble, a habitation at the very foot of the Pyrenies could not but be very beautiful ; no part of France is more fo ; it is indeed a beau tiful and noble fight, to fee the hanging U plantations ( 290 )• plantations of vines, olives, and mulberry trees, warmed by a hot fun on the fides of thofe mountains, the upper parts of which are covered with a perpetual fnow. But beautiful as all that part of the coun try is, there was not a fingle gentleman's houfe in the environs. After a compleat week's refreshment, we proceeded to Perpignan to fpend our Chriftmas, where we found the Chevalitr de Maigny and his Lady, who had given us the letter of recommendation to the French Conful at Barcelona ; who fhewed us thofe marks of civility and politenefs, French officers in general Shew to Stran gers. There we Staid a fortnight; and' Monf. de Maigny got me a confiderable profit, in changing my Spanifh gold for French. In this town, I found an unfortunate young Irifhman; he had been there three months, without a friend or a Shilling in his ( 29I ) his pocket; and as he was a man of edu cation and good breeding, I could not fo foon forget my own fituation at Barcelona, not to pity his ; but what moft induced me to affift him a little, was, what he feared might have had a contrary effect. When I afked him his name, he readily anfwered, '* R h; an unfortunate name!" faid he ; — " but, as it is my name, I will wear " it." He had a well-wither in the town, a French watch-maker, to whom he imparted the little kindnefs I had Shewn him ; and as it was not enough to conduct him on foot to the north fide of this king dom, the generous, butpoor watch- maker, gave him as much as I had done, and he fat off with a light heart, though a thin pair of breeches, for his own country. He had been to vifit a rich relation at Madrid; and, I believe, did not meet with fo cor dial a reception there as he expected. At this town I drank, at a private gen tleman's houfe, part of a bottle of the wine made ( 292 ' ) made at a little village hard by, called Rtos Alio; the moft delicious wine I eVer tafted: but as the fpot produces but a fmall quan tity, that which is really of the growth is very fcarce, as well as dear : it has the Strength of full port, with a-flavour fupe rior to burgundy. Perpignan is the principal city of Rofil- lein ; it is well fortified, but the works are in a ruinous condition ; the Streets are nar row, and dirty, but the Governor's, and the bOtarinic gardens are worthy of notice; the climate is remarkably fine, and the air pure. The Pyrenees, which are at leaft fifteen miles' diftant, appear to hang in a manner pyer the town : to fee fo much fnow, and feel fo much fun, is very fingular. Wood is very fcarce and dear in that town; I frequently faw mules and afles loaded with rofem'ary and lavender bufhes, to fell for firing. The barbarous language of the common people of this province, is very convenient, as they underftand French, and ( 293 ) and can make themfelves underftood thro* a great part of Spain ; from which king dom not a day paffes but mules and car riages arrive, except when the heavy rains or fnow obstruct the communication. ¦ The mules and affes of Spain, and this part of France, are not only very ufeful but valuable beafts : the only way to get a va luable one of either fort from Spain, is, to fix upon the beaft, and promife a round fum to one of the religious mendicants to fmuggle it out of the kingdom, who co vers the animal with bags, bafkets, and a variety of trumpery, as if he was going into France to collect charity ; and paffes, either by not being fufpected, or by being a Religieux if he is fufpected. As we took exactly the fame rout from Perpignan to this town as we went, except leaving Cette a few leagues on our left ; I Shall fay nothing of our return, but that we relifhed our reception at the French inns, and the good cheer we found there, infinitely ( 294 ) infinitely more than as we went; and that we were benighted for fome hours before we gOt into Montpellier, and caught in the moft dreadful Storm of rain, thunder and lightning I ever was expofed to : I was obliged for two hours to hold my horfe's hridle on one fide, as my man did on the other, and feel with Slicks for the (margin of the road, as it was elevated very high above the marfhy lands, and if the wheel had flipped over on either fide, it muft have overfet the chaife into the low lands ; be sides which, the roaring of the water- ftreams was fo great, that I very often thought we were upon the margin of fome river or high bridge; nor was my Suffering quite over even after I got into the city ; I could not find my former auberge, nor meet with any body to direct me ; and the water-fpouts which fell into the middle of thofe narrow ftreets almoft deluged us.— My poor horfe, too, found the fteep Streets, Slippery pavement, and tons of water which fell ( 295 ) fell upon him, as much as he could well bear : but, as the old fong fays, " Alas ! by fome degree of woe, " Wc every blifs obtain;"—— So we found a good fire and good cheer an ample recompence for our wet jackets. — ¦ It was fo very dark, that though I led my horfe by the head above a league, I could but feldom fee him ; nor do I remember in my whole life to have met with any dif ficulty which fo agitated my mind : — no ; not even at the bar of the Houfe of Lords, I did not dread the danger fo much, as the idea of tumbling my family over a preci pice, without the power to affift them; or, if they were gone, refolution enough to follow them. End of the First Volume. n YEAR'S JOURNEY THROUGH FRANCE, AND PART of SPAIN. b y PHILIP THICKNESSE, VOLUME II, BATH: Printed by R. CRUTTWELL, for theAUTHORj AND BOLD BY Wm. BROWN, Corner of Effex-Court, Strand, London, M>.-0"M>"..4>.-<>""<>' ¦•«>« M PCC LXXVII. SUB SCRI BERS. A. THE Earl of Ailefbury Hugh Ackland, Efq. Sir Edward Aftley, Bart, B. - Lord Edward Bentmck ¦ : Sir Lambert Blackwell, Bart. Thomas Bowdler/Efq. Hon. Topham Beauclerck Thomas Bevan, Efq. Rev. Mr. Becher Mr. Richard Burford John Palmer Batelet, Efq. Mr. Lewis Bull, 2 copies Rev. Mr. Bellamy, Kew Wm. Buckler, Efq; Boreham Robert Biggin, Efq. Mr. Barford, Banbury Mrs. Buckle, Bath C. Lord Clanricarde, 6 copies Earl Cork E. H. Cruttenden, Efq. Tho. Wenman Coke; Efq. : Mr. Cary, Batk T-homas-Chamberlayne, Efq. Charlton D. Matt. Duane, Efq; F. R. S. 2 copies Mr. James Dallinger Mr. Dallinger, Walton, Suffolk Daniel Eccles, Efq. F. Lady Fludyer G. Mr. Greville, jun. Vfk , Francis SUBSCRIBERS. H- Francis Hargrave, Efq.' Mr. Hoare, por1 painter, Bath Mr. Thomas Harford Wro.Hanbury.Efq; %ilmarfk Robert Holford, Efq. Mr. HavjlancL Bath Richard Holne, Efq. , - - -.^. - . . ,c. .. JL. ( v i . . Countefs Dow' of IleheSet Wm. Jackfon, Efq. i Mr. Jackman L. . ' Edward Lewis, Efq. Mr. Lawrence, Bear, Devizes M. His Grace the Duke of Mon tague John Miller, Efq; Batheaflon Mrs. Molineux Mr. Maltby John Monck, Efq; Bath G. Meredytb, Efq. Mr: Wm.' CfiarchiloMopS John Newman, Efq. Mrs. Norman Richard Norton, Efq. . — Newton, Efq. William Norton, Efq. Captain Norton Mrs.Nutt -¦ John O'Neil; Efq.,, - ; P. Mr. Palmer, r. 7 r \Batk Mrs. Palmer, J Mr. Vaughan Philipps Mrs. Pugh, Coytmor,Carnarv. Edw. Sacheverell Pole, Efq. George IfhaniParkyns, Efq, R. Rev. Mr. Ryftat Mr. Daniel Roberts Mr. R. Raikes, 3 copies S. Earl of Shipbrooke, 5 copies Edw. Sacheverell, Efq. SUBSCRIBERS. Dr. Ralph Thickneffe The Rev. Mr. Tatton SirChar. Keittiys Tynte, Barn ,p: .... v, Pf* Venn, Ipfwich Robert Udney, Efq. W. Samuel Wheely, Efq; Mr. Charles Wyatt Mrs. Wroughton Mifs Wroughton Richard Wynn, Efq. g^r The following Names got fome-faotu into the lift of Subfcribers printed in the Firft Volume, but not by the .miftdke of the Author : The Hon. and Rev. Lord Francis Seymour Lady Harbord ^ Thomas Mathews, ElqV Mr. Roper J li Mr. Syinons. Mrs. Lifle Mrs. T. Lifte Mifs Wynn Mrs. Eaton And fome other names of perfons unknown to the author. DIRECTIONS to the BINDER: Place the Author's Equipage, - - Page 71.. The Taurobolium, - - - - — 84. The Fandango Mufic, .... — 220 }{ate, The Bas Reliefs, on plate the zd, in Vol. I. over the Temple of Diana, are cut on the Pont du Guard, and the Amphitheatre at Nifmes. Fig. 2 on the former ; and 3, 4., and 5 on the latter. E R R A T A. Vol. I. P. 13. : Iirfe 3,"read unwarrantably. P?Z4< I. 5, fot-Be're-t.Bit6e^ P. 29. 1. 17, read tolerably. P. 35. 1. 3, read Defardin; 1. 6, 7, reai that fi«y may and often /fo. ' P. 37.1 1.-' 2 ftoni bottqjti, read*&»aV.'"P. ^.,XZg,{ixtfiinjti ran. P. 50. 1. 3, for 'here, r. hither. P. 69. 1. g. read barbarous. P. 75. 1. 3, from bottom, for isr..-are. P. 86. 1. 3 from bottom, read bien places. P.96. 1. 3, for to&o, r. when. P. 104. 1. 18, after goods, put a «&» : after letters, in the next l'lne-but one, ncprnma. P. 105. 1. 11, r. if there la any. P. iff. i. 3, »t. 17,- for was, r. were. P. ii6; 1. 18, (er'litejfetbl'n for TOifi r. of P. 143 blejj'eft. P. 137. 1. 5, "all his hofpitality, &c." fliould _be in a garentrTefis ; 1. 7 from bottom, for them r. fo. P. 141. 1. 5 from bott£nV- for inpniojis t-shmepj% ess. P. 142. 1. 6, dele to. P. 146. 1. 4, et feq. r. O'Reilly. ' P. 149. 1. 8, for at 1. of. P. 158. 1. -I, for childrisn r. children. P. 167. in the Note, for is r. are. P~l6n. I. 2o for flelighted r.-deligh'etb. V. ij->. 'f7» r- tcrrifyingfy. P. 178; 1. 3, for was' r.'werei ' P. r8o. 1. 3, for ifsr. f&«r"; laft line, for is r. are.' P. 184. Hi»for-TOrfi r. of. P. J94.1> i6» for fort r. forts. P. J97. I. 4, deleftoj 1. 12, for were r.'ioas ; 1.' 17, after it add a»rf. Pi aiS. 1. 4, ftr-tf -r-i-are. P. 219, 1. 7, dele 0/. P. 220. 1. 19, for bums r. burpKr$. 223. 1.6, (or fettingr. fitting. P.226.I. 18, after under add if. P.229.I.6," faiiherer. Wittier.- P. 2,31. 1. 13, for if r.yfje. P. 234. 1. 3 from bottom, for/ie r. /ier. P. 241. 1. 1, for pbyfician i.phyjicians; 1. 19. ffiad wbwpcrfons offafiiin aril P, -251. 1. 6, dele j/". ••£» 256. 1. laft, for nova r. »oi/o.- P. 258. 1. 8, d.ele that. ' P. 263. 1. i6, before ihat ziifo. P. 264. 1. 8, dele refided at Aries, With all his family ; and the Emprefs Fauflina was delivered of a fori here, [Confiantine the younger) and it was long before fo ce lebrated for an annual fair held in the month of Auguft, that it was called le Noble Marche de G-aules. And Straba., in his de dication of his book to the Emperor, called it " Galliarum Emporium non Parvum ;" which is a proof that it was celebrated for its rich commerce, &c. five hundred years befpre it became under the dominion of thq( Romans. . But were I capable of giving you a particular defcription of all the mo numents of antiquity in and near this town, k would compofe a little book, inftead of a fheet ( i7 ) a fheet or two of paper. I fhall therefore only pick out a few things which have af forded me the! moft entertainment, and I hope may give you a little ; but I fhall be gin with mentioning what muft firft give you concern, in faying that in that part of the town called la Roquette, I was fhewn the place where formerly ftood an elevated Altar, .whereon three young citizens were facrificed annually, and who Were fattened at the public expence during a whole year, for the horrid purpofe! On the firft of May their throats were cut in the prefence of a prodigious multitude of people affem- bled from all parts; among whom the blood of the victims was thrown, as they imagined all their fins were expiated by that barbarous facrifi.ee ; which horrid prac tice was put a ftop to by the firft Bifhop of Aries, St. Tropkime. The Jews, who had formerly a fynagogue in Aries, were driven out in the year 1493, when, that and their celebrated School were demp- lifhed. There was found about an hun dred ( i8 ) dred years after, among the ftones of thofe buildings, fome Hebrew characters neatly cut, which were copied and fent to the Rabbins-of Avignon, to -be tranflated, and who explained it then thus : Chodefli : Elvl. Chamefcheth, lamech, vav. Niflamv. Bedikoth. Schadai. i. e. they fay, " In the month of Auguft five thoufand and thirty-fix, the " Vifitation of God ceafed." Perhaps the plague had vifited them. — There was alfo another Hebrew infcription, which was on the tomb of a famous Rab bin called Solomon, furnamed the grand- fon of David. The Amphitheatre of Aries was of an oval form, compofed of three ftages ; each ftage containing fixty arches; the whole was built of hewn ftone of an immenfe fize, without mortar, and of a prodigious thick- nefs: the circumference above, exclufive of the projection of the architecture, was 194 toifes three feet, the frontifpiece 17 toifes t 19 ) toifes high, and the area 7 1 toifes long and 52 wide ; the walls were 17 toifes thick, which were pierced round and round with a gallery, for the convenience of paffing in and out of the feats, which would con veniently contain 30,000 men, allowing each perfon three feet in depth and two in width; and yet, there remains at this day only a few arches quite complete from top to bottom, which are of themfelves a noble ' monument. Indeed one would be inclined1 to think that it never had been compleated, did we not know that the R.omans left no thing unfinifhed of that kind; and read, that the Emperor Gallus gave fome fuperb fpectacles in the Amphitheatre of Aries, and that the fame amufements were conti nued by following Emperors. Nothing can be a ftronger proof than thefe ruins, of the certain deftruction and corruption of all earthly things; for one would think that the fmall parts which now remain of this once mighty building, would endure as long as the earth itfelf; but what is very ( 20 ) very fingular is, that this very Amphithe atre was built upon the - ruins of a more mighty building, and perhaps one of a more fubftantial ftructure. Tempus -edax rerum ¦tuque invidiofa vetiijlas omnia deftruis. In thfe ftreet .called St. Claude, ftood a trium phal arch which Was called L'Arche admi~. rable-, it is therefore natural to conclude, -that the town contained many others of lefs beauty. There is alfo within the walls a large- remains of the palace of Conjlan- ¦tine. A beautiful antique ftatue of Venus was found here alfo, about an htindred and .twenty years ago. — That a veritable fine wo man fhould fet all the beaux and connoiflfeurs of a wbole town in a flame, I do not much , wonder ; but you will be furprized when I tell you that this cold trunk of marble, (for the arms were never found) put the whole town of Aries tPgether by the ears ; one Sfavant faid it Was the goddefs IBiana, and "wrote a book -to prove it; another infifted upon it, that it was the true image of Ve nus ; then ftarts up an Ecclefiaftic, who you ( 21 ) you know has nothing to do with women, and he pronounced in dogmatical terms, it was neither one nor the other ; at length the wifer magiftrates of the town agreed tp fend it as a prefent to their auguft monarch Lewis the XlVth ; and if you have a mmd to fee an inanimate woman who has made fuch a noife in the world, you will find her at Verflailles, without any other notice ta ken of her or the quarrels about her, than the following words written (I think) upon her pedeftal, La Venus d' Aries. This ended the diipute, as I muft my letter. Vol. IL C LETTER ( 22 ) LETTER XXXVI. T^ Have not half ,done with Aries. The -*- more I faw and heard in this town, the more I found was to be feen. The remains of the Roman theatre here would of itfelf be a fufficient proof that it was a town of great riches and importance. Among the refufe of this building they found feveral large vafes.of baked earth, which were open op one fide, and which were fixed properly near the feats of the audience to receive and convey the founds of the inftruments and voices of the actors diftinctly throughout the theatre, which had forty- eight arches, eleven behind the fcenes of ten feet wide, three grand arches of fourteen feet wide, and thirty-one of twelve feet ; the diame ter was thirty-one canes, and the circum ference feventy7nine ; and from the infi nite number of beautiful pieces of fculp- tiire, ( 23 ) ture, frizes, architraves, pillars of granite, (See. which have been dug up, it is very evident that this theatre was a moft mag nificent building, and perhaps would have ftood firm to this day, had not a Bifhop of Aries, from a principle of more piety than wifdom, ftript it of the fineft ornaments and marble pillars, to adorn the churches. Near the theatre ftood alfo the famous temple of Diana; and, as the famous ftatue mentioned in my former letter wa,s fpund beneath fome noble marble pillars near that fpot, it is moft likely La Venus d' Aries is neverthelefs the Goddefs Diana. I never wifh more for your company than when I walk, (and I walk every day) in the Elyfian fields. The fpot is beauti ful, the profpect far and near equally fo : in the middle of this ancient Cimetiere ftands a motly building, from the middle of which however rifes a cupola, which at the firft view informs you it is the work of a Roman artift ; and here you muft, as it C 2 were, ( 24 ) were, thread the needle between an infinite number of Pagan and Chriftian monu^ ments, lying thick upon .the furface in the utmoft diforder and confufion, infomuch, that one would think the Day of Judgment was arrived and the dead were rifen, Nei ther Stepney church-yard, nor any one \n or near a great city, fhew fo many head- ftones as this fpot does ftone coffins of an immenfe fize, hewn out of one piece; the covers of moft of which have been broken or removed fufficiently to fearch for fuch, things as were ufually buried with the dead, Some of thefe monuments, and fome of the handfomeft too, are ftill however un- violated. It is very eafy to diftinguifh, the Pagan from the Chriftian monuments, without opening them, as all the former have the Roman letters D M (Diis Ma- nibus) cut upon them. It is fituated, ac cording to their cuftom, near the high- way, the water, and the marfhes. You know the ancients preferred fuch fpots fpr the interment of the dead. The ( *5 ) The tombs of Ajax and HeSlor, Homer fays, were near the fea, as Well as other heroes of antiquity; for as they confidered man to be compofed of earth and water, his bones ought to be laid in one, and near the other. I will now give you a few of the nioft curious infcriptions ; but firft I will men tion a noble marble monument, moved from this fpot into the Cimetiere of the great Hofpital. This tomb is ornamented with Cornucopia;, Patera, &c. and in a fhield the fbllowing incfcription : CABILIAE D. F. APPRVLLAE FLAM D DESIGNATAE COL. DEA. AtfG. VOC. M O. ANNOS XIIII. MENS II. DIES V. MARTTVS VXORI PIENTIS-SIMAE. POSUIT. This poor, girl was not only too young to die, but too young to marry, one would think ; I wifh therefore her afflicted huf band had told us how many years he had C 3 been ( 26 ) been married to a wife who died at the age of fourteen, two months, and five days* The cornucopias, I fuppofe, were to fignify that this virtuous wife, I was going to fay maid, was the fource of all his pleafure and happinefs. The Patera were vafes deftined to receive the blood of the victims. Supponunt alij cultros, tepidumque cruorem ; Sufcipiunt Pateris, Says the Poet. On each fide of the tomb are the fymbols of facrifice. It is very evident from the fine polifh of this monument, that her hufband had obtained the Emperor's particular leave to finifh it highly. Rogum afcia ne Polita,— fays the law of the twelve tables. On another tomb, which is of common ftone, in the middle of a fhield fupported by two Cupids, is the following infcription : M ( 27 ) M IVNIO MESSIANO -.-VTRICI. CORP. ARELAT. D EIVS D. CORP. MAG. III. F Jyf QUI VIXIT ANN. XXVIII. M. V. D. X. IVNIA VALERIA. ALVMNO CLARISSIMO. The firft word of the fecond line is mucta obliterated. There are an infinite number of other monuments with infcriptions ; but thofe above, and this below, will be fufficient for me to convey to you, and you to my friend at Winchefter. L DOMIT. DOMITIANI EX TRIERARCHI CLASS. GERM. D PECCOCEIA. VALENTINA M CONITJX PIENTISSIMA. Before I leave Aries, and I leave it reluctantly, whatever you may do, I muft not omit to mention the principal monu ment ( 28 ) ment, and pride of it, at this day, i. e. their Obelifque. I will not tell you where nor when it was dug up ; it is fufficient to fay, it was foundhere, that it is a fingle piece of granite, fixty-one feet high, and feven feet fquare below ; yet it was elevated in the Market-place, upon a modern pedeftal, which bears four fulfome complimentary infcriptions to Lewis the XIV. neither of which will I copy. In elevating this mon- ftrous fingle ftone, the inhabitants were very adroit : they fet it upright in a quar ter of an hour, in the year 1676, juft an hundred years ago, amidft an infinite num ber of joyful fpectators, who are now all laid in their lowly graves ; for though it weighed more than two thoufand hundred weight, yet by the help of capfterns, it was raifed without any difficulty. The great King Harry the IVth had ordered the houfes in the arena of the Amphitheatre to be thrown down, and this obelifk to be fixed in the center of it ; but his death, and Lewis's vanity, fixed it where it now ftands ; ( 29. ) itands ; it has no beauty however to boaft of but its age .and- fize, for it bears neither polifh, characters, nor hieroglyph icks, but, as it feems to have been an Egyptian monument, the inhabitants of Aries have, like thofe people, confeerated it below to their King, and above to the fun : on the top is fixed a globe of azure, fprinkled' with de flews de lis d'or^ and crowned with a radiant fun, that is to fay, as the fun was made by GODto enlighten the- world, fo Lewis l-e Grand was made to govern it. I anv fure now, you will excufe my mentioning what is fa-id of this great man below ; but fpeaking of light, I muft not omit to mention, that there are men of veracity now living in this town, who af firm, that they^ have feen, uppn opening fome of the ancient monuments here, the eternal lamps burning. The number of teftimonies we have of this kind puts the matter paft1 a doubt, that a flame has ap peared at the lip of thefe lamps when firft the ( 3° ) the tombs have been opened; one was found, you know, on the Appian way, in the tomb of Cicero's daughter, which had burnt more than feventeen centuries; ano ther at Padua, which had burnt eight hun dred years, and which was found hanging between two little phials, one of gold, the other of filver, which were both quite full of liquor, extremely clear, as well as many others ; but as it is impoffible to be lieve that flame can exift, and not confume that which feeds it, is it not more natural to conclude that thofe lamps, phials, &c.r contained a fpecies of phofphorus, which became luminous upon the firft opening of the tombs and the fudden rufhing in' of frefh air; and that the reverfe of what is generally fuppofed is the fact, that they are not extinguished, but illuminated by the frefh air they receive ? I have feen fe veral of thefe lamps here and elfewhere, moft of which are of baked earth. It has been faid, that there is an oil to be ex tracted from gold, which will not con- fume', ( 3i ) fume, and that a wick of ajbefllos has burnt many years in this oil, without confump- tion to either. I have feen a book writ ten by a German Jefuit, to confirm this fact ; fo there is authority for you, if not conviction. As I know your keen appetite after antiquities, I will fend you a few other infcriptions, and leave you to make your own comments and voila. D M L. HOSTIL. TER. SILVANI. ANN. XXIIII. M. n. D. XV MATER FIL PIJSSIM1 MISERA ET IN LVCIV. AETERNALI BENIFICI O NOVERCAE. The following infcription is cut upon a marble column, which ftands near the Jefuits' church : SAU ( 32 ) SALVIS D.D. N.N. THEODGSIO.ETVALENTINIANO. P. F. V. AC TRIUM. SEMPER AUG. XV. CONS. VIR. INL. AUXILIARIS PRiE. TKJET. GALLIA. DE ARELATE MA. MILLIARIA PONI. S. M. P. S. In the. ancient church of St. Honor}, which ftands in the center of all thefe Heathen and Chriftian monuments,, are to be feen nine Bacchanalians of very ancient workmanfhip ; where alfo is the tomb of St. Honore, employed as the altar of the church; and beneath the church are cata combs, where the firft. Chriftians retired to prayer during the perfecution by the Emperors, and where is ftill to be feen their altar and feven ancient fepulchres, of beautiful marble, and exquifitely worked; the firft is the tomb of St. Genet ; the fe- cond of St. Poland, i\rchbifhop of Aries; the third of St. Concord, with an epitaph, and two doves with olive- branches in their beaks, cut in bafs relief, and underneath are ( 33 ) are the two letters X and P ; on this tomb is the miraculous crofs feen in the heavens by Conjlantine, who is reprefented before it on his knees ; and on the cover of this tomb are the heads of Conjlantine, Fauftina, and his fon ; and. they fay the Emperor faw this miracle in the heaven from the very Cimetiere in which this monument ftands, i. e, in the year 315 ; the fifth is the tomb of St, Dorothy, Virgin and Mar tyr of Aries ; the fixth St. Virgil, and the feventh St. Hili-are, (both Archbifhops of Aries,), who has borrowed a Pagan fepul- chre, for it is adorned with the principal divinities of the ancients in bafs relief. — It feems odd to fee on a Chriftian Bifhop's tomb Neptune, Diana, Jupiter, and Venus, the three deftinies. The people here fay, that this tomb reprefents human life, as the ancients believed that each God con tributed fomething towards the being. Be that as it may, the tomb is a very curious, one, and much admired by the Connoiflfeurs, for its excellent workmanfhip ; but what is ( 34 ) is more extraordinary than all thefe, is this catacomb, ftanding in the middle of the others, with its cover well and clofely fixed, yet it has always water in it, and often is quite full, and nobody can tell (but one of the Priefls perhaps) from what fource it comes. There is alfo in this church the tomb and a long Latin epitaph of St. Trophime, their firft Bifhop ; but the characters are very Gothic, and the C's are fquare, L L ; he came here in the year 61, and preached down that abominable practice of facrificing three young men an nually. He died in the year 61, at 73 years -of age. On the front of the Metro politan church of Aries, called St, Trophime, are the two following lines, in Gothic characters, cut above a thoufand years : Cernitur eximius vir Chrifii Difcipulorum, De Numcro Trophimus, hic Septuaginta duorum. The church was built in tb,e year 625, by St. Virgil, and is a curious piece of antiquity within, and particularly without; but ( 35 ) but I will not omit to give you one of its Angularities within ; it is an ancient and curious infcription in large Gothic letters, near the organ : Terrarum Roma Gemina de luce magiftrA. Ros Miflus Semper Aderit : velut incola IofeP Olim Contrito Letheo Contulit OrchO. To read this you will fee you muft take the firft letter of each verfe : T R O, Trophe- mus ; GAL, Galliaorum; and APO, Apo- fllolus. The letter H, belonging to the word fof'eph, muft be carried to the word Orcho, and the P muft ftand by itfelf. Trophimus Galliarum Apoflolus, ut ros miflj'us efl, ex urbe Roma rerum Domince Gemina de luce, flciiicet a Petro et Paulo, Eccleflia luminaribus ; Contrito orcho Letheo, nempe fllatitn poft Chrifti Pafljionem qua Da- monis & or chi eaput contrivit, flemper animos nojlras nutriet, cibo ilh, divina flidei quern nobis contulit ; ut alter Joflepb qui olim JEgypti populum fame pereuntem liber avit. LETTER ( & ) LETTER XXXVII. Mars-bii/iss.. SOON after we left the tpwn of Aries, , on our way to Aix, and this city, we entered upon a moft extraordinary and ex tenfive plain ; it is called the Crau, and is a principal and fingular domain, belonging to and fituated on the fouth fide of that city; it is ten leagues in diameter; on which Vaft extent, fcarce a tree, fhrub, or verdure is vifible. The whole fpot being covered with flint ftones of various fizes, and of fingular fhapes. Petrarch fays, as Strabo, and others have faid before him, that thofe flint ftones fell from Heaven like hail, when Hercuks was lighting there againft the giants, who, finding he was likely to be overcome, invoked his father Jupiter, who rained this hard fhower of flint ftones upon his enemies, which is. ¦ 0 confirmed by Mflchyl'us. " Jupiter^ ( 37< ) " Jupiter Alcidem quando refpexit internum, " Illachrymans, Ligures faxofo perpluit imbre. 1 But as this account may not be quite fatisfactory to you, who I know love truth more than fable, I am inclined to think you will confider PoJJidonius's manner of. accounting for it more feafible : He fays, that it was once a great lake, and having a bed of gravel at the bottom, thofe pebble ftones, by a fucceffion of ages, have grown to the fize they now appear ; but whether ftones grow which lie upon the furface of the earth and out of their proper ftrata, I muft leave you and other naturalifts to determine, without repeating to you what Arijlotle, and others, have faid upon that fubject; and therefore, inftead of telling you either what they fay, or I think, I will tell you what I know, which is, that barren as the Crau appears to be, it not only feeds, but fattens an infinite number of fheep and cattle, and produces fuch excellent wine Vol. II. D too ( 3« ) too in fome parts of it, that it is called Vin de Crau, by way of pre-eminence : it has a poignant quality, is very bright, and is much efteemed for its delicious flavour. The herb which fattens the fheep and feeds fuch quantities of cattle, is a little plant which grows between and under the flinty ftones, which the fheep and other animals turn up with their feet, to come at the bite; befide Which, there grows a plant on this Crau, that bears a vermilion 'flower, from which the fineft fcarlet dye is ex tracted ; it is a little red grain, about the fiz'e of a pea, and is gathered in the month of May ; it has been fold for a, crown a pound formerly; and a fingle crop 'has produced eleven thoufand weight. This berry is the harveft of the poor, who are -permitted to gather it on a certain day, Jbut not till the Lord of the Manor gives no tice by the found of a horn, according to an ancient cuftom and piiivilege 'granted^ originally by King Rene'.- -On my way over it, 1 gathered 'only a great num ber ( 39 i ber of large larks by -the help of -my gun, though I did -not forget -my Mmtj'errat vow : k avas -a fine day, -and 'therefore I did -not -find it -fo tedious -as it -muft be in winter' or bad weather; for (if any --thing can be worfe than fea, in [bad weather, it muft -be this -va'ft plain, -which is neither land or fea, though -not -very .diftinct from the fatter, and in -tfH probability -was many agesjfinGe cove-red -by the ocean. The firft town -we came to after paffing this vaft plain, I have forgot the name^-of ; but it had nothing but its antiquity and a noble and immenfe old caftle to recommend it, except a tranfparent agate ftatue of the Virgin in the church, as large as the life, with a tin crown upon her head. The town nor the inhabitants had nothing of the ap pearance of French about it ; every thing and every body looked fo wild, and the place was in fuch a ruinous condition, that I could fcarce believe I was not among the Arabs in Egypt, or the ruins of Perflepolis, D 2 Without ( 4° ) v — Without the town, in- a fine beautiful lawn ftands a moft irregular high andtfude rock, perpendicular on all fides, - and un der one fide of it are ruins of a houfe, which I fupppfe was inhabited by the firft Seigneur in the province. I looked in, and found the ruins full of miferable inhabi tants, I fancy many families ; but it exhi bited fuch a fcene of woe, that I was glad to get out again; and upon inquiry, I found it had been in that ftate ever fince it had been ufed as an hofpitaj during the laft plague, LETTER ( 4i ) LETTER XXXVIII. Marseilles. \ S the good and evil, which fall within -*¦ ^- the line of a road, as well as a worldly traveller, are by comparifon, I need not fay what a heavenly country France (with all its untoward circumftances) appeared to us after having journeyed in Spain : what would have put me out of temper before, became now aconfolation. How glad fhould I have been, after his death, by an arch wag at Bath : Sir William, you know, was a polite old gentleman, but had the manners and breed ing rather of the late, than the prefent age, and though a man defervedly efteemed for his many virtues, was by fome thought too ceremonious. Somebody at the round ta ble at Morgans Coffee-houfe happened to fay, alas ! poor Sir William ! he is gone ; but he was a good man, and is furely gone to Heaven. Yes, replied the wag, he is gone to Heaven, and I can tell you what he faid when he firft entered the holy gates ! the interrogation followed of courfe : Why, faitl he, feeing a large concourfe of departed fouls, and not a foul that he knew, he bowed to the right and left, faid h$ begged pardon, — he feared he was trou- blefome, and if fo, he would inftantly re*- tire.' So the Frenchman, when he fays he would cut himfelf in four pieces to ferve ( 45 ) ferve you, only means to be very civil, and he will be fo, if it does not put him to any expence. Aix is a well built city ; the principal ftreet called the Courfle, is vety long, very broad, and fhaded by ftately trees ; in the middle of it are four or five fine fountains, conftantly running, one of which is of very hot water, at which man and beaft are conftantly drinking. The city abounds with a great deal of good company, drawn to it from all parts of Europe by the effi cacy of the waters, and to examine its an tiquities, for it has in and about it many Greek as well as Roman monuments. Some part of the country between Aix and this populous city is very beautiful, . but near the town fcarce any vegetation is feen ; on all fides high hills and broken rocks prefent themfelves; and one wonders . how a city • fo large and fo aftonifhingly populous is fupported. When I firft ap proached ( 46 ) gr-oached the entrance gate, it opened ft gerfpectiye view of the Courfle, a ftreet. of great extent, where the heads of the people were fo thick together, that I concluded it was a fair day, and that the whole coun try were collected together ; but I found it was every day the fame,., ; I faw a prodi gious quantity of game and provisions of all kinds, not only in the fhops, but in the .ftreets, and concluded it was not only a cheap, but a plentiful country ; but I foqn found my miftake,, it was the evening he-r fore Lent commenced, and I could -find no provifions of any kind very eafily after- ' .wards, and every thing very dear. You may imagine the price of provifions at Marfleilles, when I tell you that theyhave their poultry from Lyons ; it is however a noble city, crouded with men of all nati ons, walking in the ftreets in the proper habits of their country. The harbour is the moft fecure fea-port in Europe, being land-locked on all fides, except at a very narrow ( 47 ) narrow entrance ; and as there is very little rife or fall of water, the veffels are always afloat. Many of the galley flaves have lit tle fhops near the fpot where the galleys are moored, and appear happy and decently drefFed; fome of them are rich, and make annual remittances to their friends. In the Hotel de Ville are two fine large pictures, which were taken lately from the Jefuits' college ; one reprefents the dreadful fcenes which were feen in the Grand'Courfle during the great plague at Marfleilles; the other, the fame fad fcene on the Quay, before the doors of the houfe in which it now hangs. A perfon cannot look upon thefe pictures one minute before he becomes enthralled in the woes which every way prefent themfelves. You fee the good Bifbep confeffing the fick, the carts carrying out the dead, children fucking at the breafts of their dead mothers, wives and hufbands bewailing, dead bodies lowering out of the tiigher windows by cords, the flaves plun dering, ( 4* ) dering, the Priefts exhorting, and fuch a variety of interefting and afflicting fcenes fo forcibly ftruck out by the painter, that you feem to hear the groans, weepings, and bewailings, from the dying, the fick and the found ; and the eye and mind have no other repofe on thefe pictures but by fixing it on a dead body. The painter, who was upon the fpot, has introduced his own figure, but armed like a ferjeant with a halberd. The pictures are indeed dread-' fully fine; one is much' larger than the other ; and it is faid the town Magiftrates cut it to fit the place it is in ; but it is impoffible to believe any body of men could be guilty of fuch an act of barbariflm! There is ftill ftanding in this town, the 'houfe of a Roman fenator, now inhabited by a fhoe-maker. In the cathedral they have a marble ftone, on which there is en graved, in Arabic characters, a monumen tal infcription to the following effect : " God ( 49 ) " God is alone, permanent. " This is the Sepulchre of his fervant and Martyr, who " having placed his confidence in the Moft High, he " trufts that his fins will be forgiven." Joseph, fon of Abdallah, ofthe town of Metelin, died in the moon Zilkuge. I bought here an Egyptian houfehold God, or Lares of folid metal, which was lately dug up near the city walls; it is about nine inches high, and weighs about five pounds. Several of the hieroglyphic characters are vifible on the breaft and back, and its form is that of an em balmed mummy. By a wholefome law of this city, the richeft citizen muft be buried like the pooreft, in a coffin of nine livres value, and that coffin muft be bought at the general Hofpital. The fale of thefe Coffins for the dead, go a great way to wards the fupport of the poor and the fick,. At this town I experienced the very reverfe in every refpect of what I met with at ( 50 ) at Barcelona, though I had no better recommendation to Mr. Birbeqk, his Bri tannick Majefty's Agent here, than I had to the Conful of Barcelona; he took my word, at firft fight, nay, he toojc my notes and gave me money for them, and fhewed me and my family many marks of friendly attention : Such a man, at fuch a diftance from one's own country, is a cor dial to a troubled breaft, and -an acquisition to every Englifhman who goes there, ei ther for health or curiofity. "Mr. Birbeck took me with him to a noble Concert, to which lie is an annual fubfcriber, and Which was performed in a room in every refpedt fuitable to fo large a band, and fo brilliant an affembly : He and his good wife were the only two Britifn faces I had feen for many months, who looked 'like Britons. I fhall, indeed I muft, foon leave this town, and fhall take Avignon on my •way to Lyons, from whence you fhall foon hear from me again. P. S. ( 51 ) I had forgot to mention, when I was fpeaking of Montpellier, that the firft gen* try are ftrongly impreffed with the no* tion of the fuperiprity of the Englifh, in every part of philofophy, more efpecially in the fcience of phyfic ; and I found at; Montpellier, that thefe fentiments, fo fa vourable to our countrymen, had been much increafed by the extraordinary know ledge and abilities of Dr. Mil man, an Englifh phyfician, who refided there du ring the winter 1775. This gentleman, who is one of Doctor Rabcliffe's tra velling phyficians, had performed feveral very aftonifhing cures, in cafes which the French Phyficians had long treated with out fuccefs : And indeed the French phy ficians, however checked by intereft or envy, were obliged tp acknowledge this gentleman's uncommon fagacity in the treatment of difeafes. What I fay of this ingenious traveller, is for your fake more , than his ; for I know nothing more of him Vol. II. <-E than ( 52 ) than the fame he has left behind him at Montpellier, and which I doubt not will foon be verified by his deeds among his own countrymen. LETTER ( 53 ) LETTER XXXIX. Avignon. HF'HERE is no dependence on what -*- travellers fay of different towns and places they have vifited, and therefore you muft not lay too much ftrefs upon what I fay. A Lady of fafhion, who had travelled all over France, gave the prefe rence to the town 1 laft wrote to you from; (Marfleilles) ; to me, the climate excepted, it is of all others the moft difagreeable; yet that Lady did not mean to deceive; but people often prefer the town for the fake of the company they find, or fome particular or local circumftance that at tended their refidence in it ; in that re- fpect, I too left it reluctantly, having met with much civility and fome old friends there ; but furely, exclufive of its fine har bour, and favourable fituation for trade, it has little elfe to recommend -.it, but riot, E 2 mob, ( 54 ) mob, and confufion; provifions are very dear, and hot very good. On our road here we came again through Aix, The Mule blanche without the town, is better than any auberge Within, arid Monf, L'Abbe Abrard PraWr, de la efdre' de St. Maltat is not only a very agreeable, but a very convenient acquaintance for a ftran- ger, and who is always ready to fhew the Englifh in particular, attention, and who had much attention fhewn him by Lord A. Percy and his Lady. From Aix we paffed through Lambreflque, Orgon,' and Sencage, a fine country, full of almond trees, and which were in full blpf- fom on the 7th of March. At Orgon the poft-houfe was fo bad, that after my horfe was in the ftable, I was obliged to put him to, and remove to the Soleil d'Or, without the town, and made a good move too. The fituation of Notre Dame de St. Piere, a convent on a high hill, is worthy of no tice, ( SS ) tke, and the antiquity of the town alfo. — Five leagues from Orgon we croffed a very aukward paffage in a ferry-boat, and were landed in the Pope's territories, about five miles from Avignon. The caftle, and higher part of the town, were vifible, ri ling up in the middle of a vaft plain, fer tile and beautiful as poffible. If We were charmed with the diftant view, we were much more fo upon a nearer approach^ nothing can be more pleafing than the well-planted, and eonfequently well-fhaded coach and foot roads all round this pretty little city ; all fhut in with the moft beau tiful ancient fortification walls I ever be held, and all in perfect repair; nor were we afked any queftions by the Pope's fol- diers, or Cuftom-houfe Officers. I had a letter to Dr. Power, an Englifh Phyfician in this town, who received me with great civility, and made me knoWn to Lord Mountgarret, and Mr. Butler, Ms fon, with whom I had the honour to fpend fome very agreeable hours ; his, Lordfhip has ( 5^ ) has an excellent houfe here*" "and keeps a table, i truly characteriftic of the hofpi- tality of; his own country. -, And now' I cannot help tel|ing you of a lingular diforder which attacked me the very day I arrived ; and the ftill more fingular manner I got well: the day befpre I ar rived, we had been almoft blown along the road to Orgon by a moft violent wind; but I did pot perceive that I had re ceived any cold or injury from it, till we arrived here, and then, I had fuch an exter nal forenefs from head to foot, that I almpft dreaded to walk or ftir, and when I did, it was as flow as my fee^ could move ; after continuing fo for fome days, I was much urged to dine with Lord Mountgarret, on St. Patrick's day; I did fof and by ^drink ing a little more than ordinary, fet nature to work, who, without any other Doctor, did the bufinefs, by two^ or three nights' copious fweats. I Would not have menti oned this circumftance, but it may be the mai du pais, and ought to be mentioned for |he method of cure. T^e? e ( S7 ) There was not quite fo good an under standing between the Pope's Legat and the Englifh refiding here, as could be wifhed ; fome untoward circumftance had happened, and there feemed to be faults on both fides ; it was carried, I think, to fuch a length, that when the Englifh met him, they did not pull off their hats ; but as it happened before I came, and as in our walks and rides we often met him airing in his coach, we paid that refpect which is every where due to a firft magiftrate, and he took great pains to return it moft gracioufly: his livery, guards, &c. make a very fplendid appear ance: he holds a court, and is levee'd every Sunday, though not liked by the French. At the church of St. Didier, in a little chapel, of mean workmanfhip, is the tomb of the celebrated Laura, whofe name Petrarch has rendered immortal ; the general opinion is, that fhe died a virgin ; but it appears by her tomb, that fhe was the wife of Hugues de Sade, and that fhe had many ( 5^ > many children. About two hundredyears after her deaths fome curious people got permiffion to open her tomb, in which they found a little box, containing fome verfes., written by Petrarch, and a medallion of lead, on one fide of which was a Lady's head, and on the reverfe, the four follow ing letters, M, L. M. E. FraMcis the Firft, paffing thro' Avignon, vifited this tomb, and left upon it the fal lowing epitaph, of his own compofition : " En petit Ueu compris vous pouvess voir " Ce qui comprend beaucoup par renomrnec ?* Phime, labeur le langue & le devoir *c Turent vaincus par I'aimant d 1'aimee " O gentille ame, etant tant eftimee " Qui le peurralbuer quen fe laifant? '* Car la parole eft tojours reprimee " Quand le fujet furmonte le djfaat," This town is crowded with convents and churches. The convent of the Celefl- tines, founded by Charles the Vlth, is richly- endowed, C *9 ) endowed, and has noble gardens : there are Hot above fourteen or fifteen members, and their revenue is near two thoufand pounds fterling a year. In their church is a very fuperb monument of Pope Clement the Vllth, who died here in the year 1 394, as a long Latin infcription upon it announ ces. They fhew in this houfe a picture, painted by King Rene; it reprefents the frightful remains of his beloved miftrefs, Whofe body he took out of the grave, and painted it in the ftate he then found it, i. e. with the worms crawling about it : it is a hideous figure, and hideoufly painted ; the ftone coffin ftands on a line with the figure, but is above a foot too fhort for the body; and on the other fide is a long fcrole of verfes, written in Gothic characters, which begin thus : ** Une fois f us fur toutes femmes belle ** Mais par la mortfuis devenue telle " Ma chair eflloit tres-belle fraifche & tendre " O'r ejl elk toute tourne'e en cendre." "There follows at leaft forty other fuch lines. There ( 6o ) There is alfo in this convent, a fine mo nument, on which ftands the effigies of St. Benezet, a fhepherd of Avignon, who built (they fay) the bridge from the town over the Rhone, in confequence of a dream, in the year 1 1 27 : fome of the noble arches are ftill ftanding, and part of a very pretty chapel on it, nearly in the middle of the river ; but a great part of the bridge has been carried away, many years fince, by the violence of the river, which often not only overflows its Banks, but the lower part of the town. In 1755, it rofe feventeen feet higher than its ufual flowing, and I faw marks in many of the ftreets, high above my head, againft the fides of houfes, which it had rifen to ; but with all my induftry, I could find no mark upon the houfle where Lady Mary Worthy Montagu dwelt, though fhe refided fome time here, and though I endeavoured to find it. I need not defcribe the celebrated foun tain of Vauclufle, near this town, where Petrarque ( 61 ) Petrarque compofed his works, and efta- blifhed Mount Parnaffus, This is the only part of France in which there is an Inqui- fition, but thd Officers feem content with their profits and honours, without the power. One part of the town is allotted to the Jews, where about fix or feven hundred live peaceably and have their fynagogue ; and it was here the famous rabbin Jofleph Meir was born; he died in the year 1554; he was author, you know, of Annals des Rois de France, and de la Maifon Ottomane. Not far from Avignon, on the banks of the fame rapid river, ftands Beaucaire^ famous for its annual fair, where mer chandize are brought from all parts of Europe, free of all duties : it begins on the 22d of July; and it is computed that eight million of livres are annually expended there in eight days. Avignon is remarkable for the Nor. Seven, having feven ( 62 ) feven parts, feven parifhes, feven colleges, fevenr bofpitals, and Jfeven jnonafteries; and I may add, I think, feven hundred bells,, which are always making a horrid jingle, for they have no idea of ringing bejls har- monioufly in any part of France!? LETTER < 63 ) LETTER XL. Ly&ns. A FTER a month's refidence at Avignon, +¦ *- where I waited till the weather and roads amongft the high Dauphini moun tains were both improved, I fat out for this city. I had, you know, outward bound, dropt down to Port St. Efprit by water, fo it was a new fcene to us by land, and I affure you it was a fine one ; the vaft and exten five rich vales, adorned on all fides with fuch romantic mountains, could not be other- wife, in fuch a climate. Our firft ftage was only four long leagues to Orange; this is the laft town in the Pope's territories; and within a quarter of a mile of it ftands, in a corn field, a beautiful Roman triumphal arch, fo great in ruins, that it Would be ah ornament even in Rome. The Palais Royal at this towft, has nothing to recommend it, but that it affords a profpecl: of this rich morfel of antiquity. From ( H ) From Orange, we paffed through Pier- lake, Donzeir, and feveral fmaller towns, and we lay one night at a fingle houfe, but an excellent auberge, called Souci, kept by an understanding fenfible hoft. At a little village called A tang, -on the" banks of the Rhone, we flopped a day or two, to enjoy the fweet fituation. Juft oppofite to it, on the other fide of the river, ftands a large town, (Tournau,). which added to the beauty of our village, over which hangs a very high mountain, from whence the beft Hermitage wine is col lected : I fuppofe it is called Hermitage, from a Hermit's cell on the top of it ; but fo unlike the Montflerrat Hermitages, that I contented myfelf with only tafting the Hermit's wine; it was fo good indeed, that though I did not fee how it was pof fible to get it fafe to the north fide of France, I could not withftand the tempta tion of buying a cafk, for which I was to pay ( 65 ) pay twelve guineas, and did pay one as ear- neft, to a very fenfible, and I believe honeft and opulent wine merchant, who, however, made me a prefent of two bottles when I came away, almoft worth my guinea ; it is three livres a bottle on the fpot ; and he fhewed me orders he had received from men of fafhion in England, for wine; among which was one from Mr. Ryder, Sir Dudley Ryder's fon, I fancy, who, I found, was well fatisfied with his former dealings. Do you know that Claret is greatly im proved by a mixture of Hermitage, and that the beft Claret we have in England is generally fo adulterated f The next towns we paffed were Pevige and Vienne, the latter only five leagues from this city. It is a very ancient townj and was formerly a Roman colony. The ca thedral is a large and noble Gothic ftruc- ture, and in it is a fine tomb of Cardinal DeMounimoin, faid to be equal in workman fhip to Richlieus, in the Sorbonne, but faid to ( 66 ) to be fo, by people no ways qualified to judge properly; it is indeed an expenfive, but a miferable performance, when put in competition with the works of Girrardeau. About half a mile without the town is a noble pyramidal Roman monument, faid to have ftood in the center of the Market place, in the time of the Romans. There is alfo to' be feen in this town, a Mofaie pavement, difcovered only a few years fince, wonderfully beautiful indeed, and near ten feet fquare, though not quite perfect, be ing broken in the night by fome malicious people, out of mere wantonnefs, foon after it was difcovered. At this town I was recommended to the Table Round; but as there are two, the grande and the petit, I muft recommend you to the petit, where I was obliged to move ; for, of all the dreadful women 1 I ever came near, Madam Roufillion has the leaf melifluous notes ; her ill behaviour, however, procured me the honour of a very ( *7 ) very agreeable, .acquaintance, the Marquis De Valan, who made me afhamed, by fhew- ing us an attention we had no right to ex pect ; but this is one, among many other ( agreeable circumftances, which attend ftran gers travelling in France. French gentle men never fee ftrangers ill treated, without ftanding forth in their defence; and I hope Englifh gentlemen will follow their exam ple, becaufe it is a piece of juftice due to ftrangers, in whatever country they are, or whatever country they are from ; it is do ing as one wquld be done by. That pre judice which prevails in England, even among fome people of fafhion, againft the French nation, is illiberal, in the higheft degree; nay, it is more, it is a national dif- grace. — When I recollect with what eafe and uninterruption I have paffed through fo many great and little towns, and extenfive provinces, without a fymptom of wan ton rudenefs being offered me, I blufh to think how a Frenchman,' if he made no better figure than. I did, would have been Vol. II. F treated treated in k'tpur' through Britain.-- — My Monkey, witli a pair of French jack boots," and his hair en queue, tddt poftilion upon my fturdy horfe fome hours every day; flfch a fight, you may be fure, brought forth old and voting, fick and lame, to look at him and his mafter. Jocko put whole toWrts in motion, but never brought anjf affront on his mafter ; they came to look and to laugh, but not to deride of ihfult, Thb ppft-bpys, it is true, did" not like to fee their , fraternity taken off, in my tiitk Theatre; but they feldbni difcovered it, but by a grave falutatibn; and fometimes a good-humoiired fellow Called him comT rade, and made Jocko a bow ; they could not laugh at his bad feat, for not one of them rode with more eafe, or had a hand- fomer laced jacket. Mr. Buffon fays, tne Monkey or Maggot, (and mine is the lat ter, for he has no tail) make their grimace or chattering, equally .to fhew their anger or to make known their appetite. With all due deference to this great ..^aturalift, I muft (' 6o ) 1 muft beg- leave to fay., tfhat his ©fefefva-. *k>n is not quite jufl! : there is as, E^ich difference between the griwjaee '- &f my yocko, wfe«n« he is »»gpjf or hungry, an-d when he grins to mew delight, as- thefe is m man-, wfoeto be gnallfoes his teeth i& wrath, or la'»gh& from r»irth>. Between Avignon1 and this town, I met a dancing bear, mounted fey a Maggot r as it was upon the hrglr i*0adV I defired leave to prefent J'ochr to his grandfather, for fo he appeared both in age and fee ; the in terview, though they were both males, was very affecting ; never did a father receive a long-loft child with more feeming affection than the old gentleman did my Jocko ; he embraced him with every degree of ten- dernefs imaginable, while the young gentle man (like other young gentlemen of the prefent age) betrayed a perfect indifference. In my confcienee I believe it, there was fome confanguinity between them, or the reception would have proved more mutual. F 2 Between ( 79 ) Between you and I, I fear, were Ito return to England, I might find myfelf a fad party in fuch an interview. It is a fad reflection ; but perhaps . Providence may wifely ordain fuch thinjgs, in order as men grow older, to wean them from the objects of their worldly affections, that they may refign more readily to the decree of fate. That good man, Dr. Arbujhnot, did not feem to dread the approach of death on his own account, fo much as from the grie vous affliction he had reafon to fear it would bring upon his children and family. JLETTER ( 7i ) LETTER XLL Lyons. The Harangue of the Emperor Claudius, in the Senate. Copied from the original Bronze plate in the Hotel de Ville, ofhyons. First Table. A T.ffiRERUM.NOSTR::::::SII::!:::::s: -^'-*- Equidem^primam* omnium -illam cogitationem'hominunrquanrmaxime-pri*mam • occurfuram • mihrprovideo'deprecor ne'quafi'novam'iftanrrenvintroducrexhor- refcatis-fed-illa-potius-cogitetis'quam-mul- ta-in*hac • civitate • nevata • fint • et • quidem. ftatinrab'origine-vrbismoftra • hvquod'for- mas'ftatufqueTes'P'noftra'diducta-fit. Quandanvreges-hanctenuere.vrbenrnec tamen'domefticis-fuccefforibus'eam-tradere contigit • fupervenere • alieni* et -quidanrex- terni'vt'Numa'Romulo'fuccefferit'ex'Sabi- nis-veniens^vicinus'quidenvfetunc. F 3 Sed C n ) Sedtuncexternas^ufAnco'Marcio'Prif- cus'Tarqai-M'US-ptoptertemeratwm-fangui- nenrquod'Patre-Demaratho * Corinthicna- tus'erat-efTarquinienfi'Matre'generofo-fed inopi •nt'quae 'tali 'marito'iseeeffe • batouerit' fbocumbere •cttm'domi • repe4kEetu.f *A"ge- rendis -honoribus •poftquana • R^oman 'migra- vitTegnum'adeptus'eft'huic'quoque'et'filio nepotive 'ejus •Tram "tt hocirfter^auctores'di- fcrepat .irifertus -.Servi ws •Tu31iu6'fi-n'"caelio*ita* appellitatus • mutattoque •Tiamirre-nanrTuf- ce • moftrana -ei ¦ nomen • erat'ita'appellatus' eft-ut*dixi • et • regnum'fumma • cum -rei *p* trtilitate*optinuit*deinde'ppftquam-Tarqui- nifuperbi 'mores • itfVrfi-civitati'noftrae'effe' coeperunt *qua 'ipfiu's 'qua •filiorum - ejus* nempe • perta^fum • eft*!mentes *reg-ni • et -ad- confules. Annuos (,73 ) 'Annuos • magiftratus- adminiftratio-rei-p* tranflata*eft-qnid-nunccommemorem-dic- tatuvalentius-repertum'apud'majores-noftros quo- in* afberjoribus-bellis-aut-in-civili • mo- tu'dificiliore-uterentur-aufin'auxilium'ple-bis • creatos ¦ tribunos • pleberquid-a- latum* imperium • folutoque -poftea-D.ecemyerali* regno *ad -confules -rurfus-reditum-quid-in* decuris'diftributum-.confulare-imp.erium-tri-bunofque-militum-confulari-imperio-appel- latos-qui-feni'et-faspe'octoni'crearentur'quid communicatos-poftermo-.cum-plebe"honores non * imperi 'forum-fed- facerdotiorunyquo- que*jam'si"narrem-bella-p-quibus-CGeperint majores'noftri-et-quo-procefferimus'vereor-ne-nimio * infolentior -effe-videar'et'quaefiffe jactation.em*gloria'prolati -imperi -ultra- oce- "anum-fed-illoc-poti.us.revertor-civitatem. Second Table. :::::::::::::::::: SA^E : : ^NOVO : : DIVVS : : AUG : : : LVS. et -Patruus " Ti ' Qaefar *<>mnenji'iflprem * ubifque F 4 coloniarum ( 74 ) coloniarum-.ac-municipiorum-bonorum.-fci- licet • virorum • et-locupletium-in -hac-curia' effe- voluit-quid-ergo-nonTralicus -fenator Provinciali-potior-eft-jam*vobis-cum-hanc- partem • cenfurgemea? - ad • probare * ccepero* quid-de-ea-re-fentiam. rebus. oftendam'fed-ne Provinciales-quidem-fi-modo-ornare-curiam poterinfrejiciendos-puto. Ornatiffimae-ecce'colonia-volentiffimaque Viennenfium-quam-longo-jam-temporcfe-natores * huic- curias-conferfex-qua'colonia' inter-paucas^equeftris-ordinis-ornamentum* L-veftinum * familiarifiime • diligo*et'hodie- que-in-rebus-meis • detineo-cujus-Iiberitio- rum-gradu'poft-modo-cum-annis*promotu- ri-riignitatis • fuae * increments 'ut-dirum-no- meniatronistaceam-et-odi-illud'pala^ftricum. prodigium • quod • ante-in • domunrconfula- tum-intulit-quam-colonia-fua'folidum*civi- tatis'Romanse-beneficium-confecuta-eft'idem de-patre-ejus-pofTum-dicere-miferabili-qui- dem* invtilis -fenator •efTenon-poffit'tempus eft*jam-Ti'C^ESAR*Germanice*detegere-te* patribus ( 75 ) patribus * confcriptis-quo-tendat • oratio'tua* jam*enim-ad-extremos-fines-GalliarNarbo- nenfis-venifti. Tot-ecce'infignes-juvenes-quot-infuetor* non .* magis-funt • pasnitendi-fenatores-quam amitet • Perficum • nobliffimum -virunrami- cum * meum'inter * imagines • majorunrfuo- rum-Allobrogici • nomen * legere • quod * sl- hsc.-ita*efre-confentitis-quid-ultra*defidera- tis-quam ut-vobis-digito-demonftrem-folum ipfum • ultra- fines 'provincis'Narbonenfis- jam-vobis'fenatores-mittere-quando-ex-Lu- guduno-habere-nos-noftri-ordinis-viros-non pamitet'timide-quidem. P- C • vobis-provin- ciarum * terminos-fum-fed-deftricte.-jam-co- matae-Gallis ¦ caufa • argenda-eft-in-qua-fi- quis-hoc * intueturquod-bello- per -decern. anno-exercuerunt • divom • Julium-diem-op- ponat • centum-annorum- immobilem-fidem obfequivmque-multis-trepidis-rebus-noftrisplufquam • expertum-illi 'patri-meo-drufo- Germaniam * fubi • genti • tutam -quiete-fua. fecuramque -atergo ¦ pacenrpneftiterunt-et- quidem ( 7 at his own expence, this altar and the head of the bull-}-; but I will fend the in fcription * Lucius JEmilius Carpus was a Prieft, and a map of great riches : he was of the quality of Scvir, and probably one of fix Priefts of the temple of Auguftus. — Sextumuir Augufialii. f Several infcriptions of this kind have been found both in Italy and Spain, but by far the greater number among the Gauls ; and as the facrifices to the Goddefs Cybele were fome of the leaft ancient of the Pagan rites, fo they were the laft which were fuppreffed on the change of Paganifm int» Chriftianity. Since we find one of the Taurobolian infcrip tions, with fo low a date as the time of the Emperor Valen- tinian the third. The filence of the Heathen writers on this head is very, wonderful ; for the only one who makes any mention of them is Julius Firmicus Maternus, in his diflerta- tion on the errors of the Pagan religion ; as Dalenius, in his elaborate account of the Taurobolium, has remarked. The ceremony of the confecration of the High Prieft of Cybele, which many learned men have miftaken for the confectation < *3 ) |eripli©«, and a model* of the altar, as foon as I can have it made, as I find here a very ingenious feulptof and modeller ; who, to my *¦' TJie Model is noi» in the pofjefjton of the ingenious pr. Harrington, at Bath. confecration of the Roman PoMtifexMaximusj whielldigi nity, from the very earlieft infancy of the Roman Empire, was always annexed to that of the Emperor himfelf. The" priefts who had' the direction of the Taurobola, wore the fame veftments without waftung out the bloody ftains, as long as they would hold together. By thefe rites and baptifins by blood, they thought them felves, as it were re-born- to a life eternal. Sextilius Age/i* laus -<9idefius fays, that he was born a-new, to life eternal, by means of the expiations of the Taurobolium and Criobolium. Nor were the priefts alone initiated in this manner, but aifo others, who were not of that order ;. in particular cafes the regenerations were only promifed for twenty years. Befides theTaiireboliataiidCiiioboliai. which were eredled at the expence of whole cities and provinces, there were ou tliers alfo, which were founded by the bounty of private peo ple. We often meet witft the name* of magiftrates and priefts- of otherLGodk, who- were admitted into thefe myf- teriesr and who erected' Taurobolia as offerings for the fafety of the Emperor, or their own. The ritea- of tfte Taurobolia lafted fometimes1 many trays. Vol. II. G The ( 8+ ) my great furpriize, fays,'no one has hitherto. been taken from it. And.here let me ob-, ferve, left I forget it, to fay, that Auguflus lived three years in this city. The The infcription, on the Taurobolium, which is on the fame fide with the head of the bull, we have endeavoured to explain by filling up the abbreviations- which are met with in the Roman charafter. . TAUROBOLIO MATRIS DEUM MAGN^E XDJ&M OJLJOD FACTUM ES T EX IMPERIO MATRIS IDJBM DEUM PRO SALUTE IMPERATORIS OffiSARIS TITI JELII AADRIANI ANTONINI AUGUSTI PII PATRIS PATRIAE LIBERORUMQUE EJUS ET STATUS COLONIZE LUGDUNENSIS LUCTUS ^MILIUS. CARPUS SEXTUMVIR AUGUST ALIS ITEM DENDROPHORUS VIRES EXCEPIT ET A VATICANO TRANSTULIT ARAM ET BUCRANIUM . SUO IMPENDIO CONSECRAVIT SACERDOTE QUINTOSAMMIO SECUNDO AB QUINDEOEMVIRIS OCCABO ET CORONA EXORNATO CUI SANCTISSIMUS ORDO LUGDUNENSIS PERPETUITATEM SACERDOTIS DECREVIT APPIO ANNIA ATILIO BRADUA TITO CLODIO VIBIO VARO CONSULIBUS LOCUS DATUS DECRETO DECURIONUM, ( 8J ) The Taurobolium was one of the great myfteries, you know; of the Roman reli gion, in the obfervance of which, I think* they dug a large hole in the earth; and co vered it with planks, laid at certain dif- tances, fo as to give light into the fub- terranean temple i The perfon who was to receive the Taurobolio then defcended into the theatre, and received on his head and whole body, the fmoaking hot blood of the bull, which is there facrificed for that purpofe. If a fingle bull was only facri ficed, I think they called it a fimple Torti-* blolio ; if a ram was added to it, as was fometimes done, it was then called a Toro- bolio, and Criobolio; fometimes too, I believe a goat was alfo flaiii. After all the blood of the vicfim ani mals was difcharged, the Priefts and Cy- bils retired beneath the theatre, and he who had received the bloody facrifice, canie G i forth ( 86 ) forth and expofed himfelf, befmeared with blood, to the people, who all proftrated themfelves before him, with reverential awe, as one who was thereby particularly fan&ified, and whofe perfon ought to be regarded with the higheft veneration, and , Iboked upon with holy horror ; nor did )this fancfification, I think, end with the ceremony, but rendered the perfon of the fan&ified holy for twenty years. An in fcription cited by Gruter, feems to confirm this matter, who, after fpeaking of one Nepius . Egnattus Faventinus, in who lived the year Of Chrift 176, fays, " Percepto Torobqlio Criobalioqjte f elicit er" Concludes with thefe words, '* Vota Fauventinus bis denifufcipit orhis " Ut maSletrepetens auratafronte bifcornes." The bis. denus or bis feems to imply, the fpace of twice ten years. Concludes { «7 ) And here I cannot help making a little comparifon between the honours paid by the Roman citizens to their Emperors, and thofe of the prefent times to the Princes of the Blood Royal. You muft know that the prefent King's brother, came to Lyons in the year 1775, and thus it is recorded in letters of gold upon their quay : LOUIS XVI. REGNANT. EN MEMORIE DE L'HEUREUX JOUR CINQt SEPTEMBRE MDCCLXX.V. OU MONSIEUR FRERE DU ROI ET MADAME SONT ARRIVES EN CETTE VILLE CE QUAI DE V AGREEMENT DU PRIN CE ET PAR ORDANNANCE DU CONSULAT DU DOUZE DU MEME MOIS A S-TB, NOMME A PERPETU1TE QUAI MONSIEUR. If the Bourgeoife of Lyons, however, are not men of genius, they are ingenious men, G 3 and ( 88 ) and they have a moft delightful country tq dwell in, J think I may fay, that from the high hills whjch hang about this city, and taking inthe rivers, fertile vales, rude rocks, vine-yards, and country feats, far and near, that Lyons and its environs, af ford a greater variety of natural and arti7 ficial beauties> than any fpot in Europe. It is, however, by no means a place for the winter refidence of a ftranger. Moft of the natives advanced in years, were carried off laft winter. The furly winds which come dowjv.the Rhone, with impetuous blafts, are very difagreeable and dangerous . I found the cold iritolerablein the begining of May, out of the fun-fbine, and the fun intolerable in it. In England I never wore but one under waiftcoat ; in Spain, and in the fouth of France, I found two neceffary. The Spaniards wear long cloaks, and we laugh at them ; but the laugh would come more properly from them. There is in thofe climates a viflnejs in the air that pe~ ., -: ?, netrates ( 89 ) netrates through and through ; and I am fure that fuch who travel" to the fouthward for the recovery of their health, ought to be ten times more upon their guard, to be well fecured againft the keen blafts qf ' the fouth of France, than even againft an afterly wind in England. The diforder which carried off fo many laft winter at Lyons, was called the Gripe. In a large hotel only one perfon efcaped it, an Englifh Lady. They" called it the Gripe, from the faft hold it took of the perfon it feized ; nor did it let them go till April. On my way here, I found it fometimes extremely hot ; it is now the firft of May, and I am fhaking by the fide of a good fire, and have had one conftantly every day for this fortnight'. G 4 LETTER ( 90 ). LfE T T E R XLIIL Xyons. npHE Lymoi/e think their town was -*- particularly honoured by the Taur-o* bolium; but it was acommon praotice to of fer that facrifice not only for the Emperor's health, but for the prefervation of a -city. There are two of thefe altars in the town of Letoure ; one confectated for the pre fervation of the Emperor Gordizm^ on tyhich is the following infcription : PRO SALVTE IMP. ANTONINI GORDIANO PI-I PEL. AVG. TOTIVSQVE DOMVS DIVIN/E PROQVE STATV CIVIT. FACTOR TOROPOIilVM fecit ordo Lactor D. N. GORDIANO II ET POMPEIANO COS VI ID DEC CVRANTIB M EROTIO ET FESTO OA"NIN3S SACERD. And in a little village near Marfeilles, called Pennes, there is a Hone, on which is engraven, MATRI DEVM MAGNjfc IDslM. And on another, in the fame town, MATRI DEyM TAVROPOLIVM. I muft ( 9* ) I muft not Omit to give you a copy of a fingular infcription on the tomb of a mint- maftser, which was found in Lyons, and is preferved entire : NOBILIS TIB. C^ESARIVS AVG. SER'^Q^MONET ttlC AD QVt ESCIT JVLIA ADEPTACONJVNX ET PERPETVA FILIA D. S„ D. The moft ancient money which has been found in and about this city, is tha. little coin of Mark Anthony, on one fide of which is reprefented the Triumvirate ; on the other, a Lion, with the word Lugudant under it ; on each fide of the Lion are the letters A and XL. The antiquarians here think thofe letters marked the value of the piece, and that it was about forty flbits ; but is it not more probable, that this was only the mint-mafter's touch ? Nothing can be a ftronger proof of the importance of this city, in the time of thfe Romans, than the immenfe expence they) were ( 92 ) were at in erecting fuch a number of grand aquaeducts, one of which was eighteen leagues in length; many parts of them are ftill vifible ; and it appears that they fpent for the reparation of them, at one time, near one thoufand talents ; and here it was that the four grand Roman highways divided ; one of which went directly to the fea, and another to the Pyrenees. Agrippa, who was the conftrudtor of moft of thefe noble monuments of Roman grandeur, would not permit the Lyonoife to erect any monument among them to his memory ; and yet, his memory is, in a very particular manner, preferved to this day in the very heart of the city, for in the front of a houfe on the quay de Villeroy, is a me dallion of baked earth, which, I think, perfectly refembles him ; fure I am it is an ' unqueftionable antique ; it is a little disfi gured indeed, and difgraced by his name be ing written upon it in modern characters. But there is another monument of Agrippa here; ( 93 ) here ; it is part of the epitaph of an officer, or foldier, of the third cohort, whofe duty it was to take an account of the expence of each day for the fubfiftence of the troops employed to work on the high-ways, artd this officer was called A. Rationibus Agrippa. There are an infinite number of Roman infcriptions preferved at Lyons, among which is the following fingular one : DIIS INIQVIS QVI ANIMVLAM TVAM RAPVERVNT. I have already told you of a modern monument erected by the Lyonoifle, and now, with grief and concern,! muft tell you of an ancient one, which they have demolifhed ! it was a moft beautiful ftruc- ture, called the tomb of the Two Lovers;- that, however, was a miftake; it was the tomb of a brother and fifter named Aman- das, or Amans, for near where it ftood was lately ( 94 ) lately found the following monumental infcription : D M ET MEMORISE JETERNJE. OLLE TRIBVT^E FEMIN^ SANCTISSIME ARVESCIVS AMENDVS FRATER SORORI KARISSIMvE SIBIQVE AMANTISSIM^E P. C. ET SVB OSCIA DEDICAVIT. I have feen a beautiful drawing of this fine monument, which flood near the high road, a little without the town; the bar barian Bourgeoifles threw it down about fe- venty years ago, to fearch for treafure. But enough of antiquities; and therefore I will tell you truly my fentiments with re peat to the fouth of France, which is, that Lyons is quite fouth ward enough for an Englifhman, who will, if he goes far ther, have many wants which cannot be fupplied. After quitting Lyons, he will find neither good butter, milk, or cream. At Lyons, every thing, which man can wifh for, is in perfection ; it is indeed a rich ( 95 ) rich, noble, and plentiful town, abounding with every thing that is good, and more finery than even in Paris itfelf. They have a good theatre, and fome tolerable actors ; among whom is the handfomeft Frenchman I ever beheld, arid, a little ftiffnefs excepted, a good acton Their dancers, male and female, are excellent indeed. * Any young gentleman traveller, parti cularly of the Englifh nation, who is de-fiv rous of rephnijking his purfe, cannot, even in Paris, find more convenient occafions to throw himfelf in fortune's way, than at the city of Lyons. An Englifh Lady, and two or three gentlemen, have lately been fo fortunate there, as to find lodgings at a great Hotel, gratis ; and I defire you will particularly recommend a long ft ay '-at Lyons -to- my Oxo nian friend; where he may -flee the world, without looking out at window. LETTER ( 96 ) LETTER XLIV, T Find I omitted to give you before I ¦*¦ left Niflmes, fome account of Monfieur Seguier's cabinet, a gentleman whofe name I have before mentioned, and whofe con verfation and company were fo very agree able to me. Among an infinite number of natural and artificial curiofities, are many ancient Roman infcriptions, one of which is that of T. Julius Feftus, which Spon mentions in his Melanges D'Antiquite. There are alfo a great number of Roman utenfils of bronze, glafs, and earthen-ware. The Romans were well acquainted with: the dangerous confequences of ufing cop per veffels* in" their kitchens, as may be feen in this collection, where there are a great many for that purpofe ; but all ftrongly gilt, not only within, but with out, to prevent a poffibility of verdigris arifing. There is alfo a bronze head of a Coloffal * See Dr. Falconer, of Bath, his Treatife on this fubjefo ( 97 ) a Coloffal ftatue, found not many yeai's fince near. the fountain of Niflmes, which merits particular attention, as well as a great number of Roman and Greek me dals and medallions, well preferved, and fome which are very rare. The natural curiofities are chiefly compofed of foflils and petrifications; among the latter, are an infinite number of petrified fifh embal med in folid ftones ; and where one fees the fineft membranes of the fins, and every part of the fifh, delineated by the pencil of nature, in the moft exquifite manner; the greater part of thefe petrifications were collected by the hands of the pofTefTor, fome from Mount Bola, others from Mount Liban, Switzerland, &c. Mr. Seguier's Herbary confifts of more than ten thoufand plants ; but above all, Mr. Seguier himfelf, is the firft, and moft valuable part of his cabinet, having fpent a long life in rational amufements ; and, though turned of four-fcore, he has all the chearfulnefs ( 9» ) chearfulnefs of youth, without any of fhe garrulity of old age. When he honaured me with a vifit, at my. country lodgings, he came on foot;, and as the waters were out, I afked him how he got at me, fo dry footed ? He had walked upon the wall, he faid ; a. wall not above nine inches thick, and of a confiderable length,! And here let me obferve, that a French man eats his flbup and bouille at twelve o'clock, drinks only with, not after his dinner, and then mixes water with his genuine wine ; he lives in a fine climate, where there is not as with: us, for fix weeks together, eafterly winds, whicb ftop the pores, and obftruct.perfpiration. A French man eats a great deal, it is true, but it js not, all hard meat, and they never fit and drink after dinner or fupper is over.--- An Englishman!, on the contrary, drinks inuch ftranger, and a variety of fermen ted liquoriB, and often much worfe, and fits at it many hours after dinner, and a Iways after ( 99 ) ' after fupper. How then can he expect fuch health, fuch fpirits, and to enjoy a long life, free from pain, as moft French men do ? When the negro fervants in the Weft-Indies find their mafters call after dinner for a bowl of punch extraordinary, they whifper them, (if company are pre^- fent) and afk, " whether they drink for drunk, or drink for dry t" A Frenchman never drinks for drunk. — .While the Eng lishman is earning difeafe and mifery at his bottle, the Frenchman is embroider ing a gown, or knitting a handkerchief for his miftrefj. I have feen a Lady's fack finely tamboured by a Captain of horfe, and a Lady's white bofom fhewn through mafhes netted1 by the man who made the fnare, in which he. was himfelf entangled ; though he made it, he did not perhaps know the powers of it till fhe fet it. Vol. II H LETTER ( ioo ) LETTER XLY. T Write to you juft as things come into -*- my head, having taken very few notes, and thofe, as you muft perceive, often with out much regard to uniflon or time. It has this minute occurred to me, that I omitted to tell you on my journey onwards, that I vifited a little town in Picardie, called Ham, where there is fo ftrong a caftle, that it may be called a petit Biflile, and which was then, and ftill is, full of ftate prifoners and debtors. To this caftle there is a mon- ftrous tower, the walls of which are thirty- fix feet thick, and the height and circum ference are proportionable thereto ; it was built by the Gonetable de St. Paul, in or der to fhut up his mafter, Charles the Vlth, King of France, and cotemporary, I think, with our Henry the Vth ; but fuch are the extraordinary turns of all human affairs, that ( ioi ) that Monfl. le Conetable was fhut up in it himfelf many years, and ended his days there. — The fate of this conftable brings to my mind a circumftance that happened under my adminiftration, at Land-Guard Fort, when the King was pleafed to truft me with the command of it. I had not been twenty-four hours in poffeflion of what I thought a fmall fovereignty, before I received a letter in the following terms : " Sir, Having obferved horfes grazing " on the covered way, that hath done " apparent damage, and may do more, I " think it my duty to inform you, that " his Majefty does not permit horfes to " feed thereon, &c. &c. (Signed) Anthony Goode, Overfeer of the Works.")' I never was more furprized, than to find my wings were to be thus dipt, by a civil officer of the board of ordnance; however wrong I or my horfes had acted, I could not let Mr. Goode graze fo clofely upon H 2 my ( IQ2 ), my authority, without a reprimand; I therefore wrote him an anfwer in terms as follow : (< that having feen a fat impudent- *t looking ftrutting fellow about the gar- " rifon, it was my order that, when his " duty led him to communicate any thing " to me relative to. the works thereof, " that he came himfelf, inftead of writing ct impertinent letters." Mr. Goode fent a copy of his letter and mine to Sir Charles Frederick ; and the poft following, he re ceived from the Office of Ordnance, feve ral printed papers in theKing's name, for bidding horfes grazing on the works, and ordering Mr. Goode to nail thofe orders up in different parts of the garrifon ! but as I had not then learnt that either he, or his red ribjband mafter, had any authority to give Out, even the King's orders, in a garrifon I commanded, but through my hands, I took the liberty, while Mr. Goode and his afiif- tant-fon were nailing one up oppo/ite to my parlour window, to fend for a file of men, and put them both into the Black-hold, an ( 1*5 ) an apartment Mr. Goode had himfelf built* being a Mafter-Mafon. By the time he had been ten miriutes grazing under this covered way, he fent me a meffage, that he was afthmaiie, that the place was too cldfei and that if he died Within a year and a day-, I muft be deemed acceffary to his death. But as I thought Mr. Gotode fhould have confidered, that fome of the poor ifivalids too might now and then be as fubjeet to the afthma as he, it was i. proper puriifh- ment, and I kept him there till he knew the duty of a foldier, as well as that of a mafon ; and as1 1 would his betters ; had they. come down and ventured fo have given out orders in a garrifon under my command ; but inftead of getting me punifhed as a cer tain gentleman aimed at,' that aMe General Lord Ligonier appYOVed vtip conduct, and removed the man to another garrifon, and would have difmiffed hiftt the Ofdri&iee fervice, had I not become a petiflOrfef in his favour ; for he w^s- too fit arid old to workj too proud and arrogant to beg, arid H 3 he ( i°4 ) 'A he and his ddviflers too contemptible to be angry with. But I muft return to the caftle of Ham, to tell you what a dreadful black-hold there is in that tower ; it is a i trap, called by the French des Obliettes, of fo horrible a contrivance, that when the prifoners are to fuffer in it, the mechanical powers are fo conftructed, as to render it impoffible to be again opened, nor would it fignify, but to fee the body moylue, i. e. ground to pieces. There were formerly two or three Obli ettes in this caftle; one only now remains; but , there are ftill feveral in the Baftile. — When a criminal fuffers this frightful death, (for perhaps it is not very painful) he has no previous notice, but being led into the apartment, is overwhelmed in an inftant. It is to be prefumed, however, that none but criminals guilty of high crimes, fuffer in this manner ; for the ftate pri foners in the Baftile are not only well lodged, but liberal tables are kept for them. An ( io5 ) An Irifh officer was lately enlarged from the Baftile, who had been twenty-feven years confined there ; and though he found a great fum of money in the place he had concealed it in a little before his, confine ment, he told Colonel C , of Fitz- James's regiment, that " having out- lived his acquaintance with the world, as well as with men, he would willingly return there again." At Ham the prifoners for debt are quite feparated from the ftate prifoners; the latter are in the caftle, the former in the tower. The death of Lewis the XVth gave liberty to an infinite number of unhappy people, and to many who would have been enlarged before, but had been forgotten. When one of thefe unhappy people (a woman of fafhion) was told fhe might go out ; then, (faid fhe) I am fure Lewis the XVtb. is H 4 dead ; ( 106 ) dead ; an event fhe knew nothing of, tho' it was a full year after the King's death. — Things are otherwife conducted now than in his reign ; a wicked vain woman then commanded with unlimited power, both in war and domeftic concerns. In this reign, there are able, and I believe virtuous •minifters. I fuppofe you think as I did, that Madame Pompadour governed by her own powerful charms ; but that was not the cafe ; fhe governed, as many other women do, by borrowed charms; fhe had a correfpon- dence all over the kingdom, and offices of intelligence, where youth, beauty, and innocence, were regiftered, which were fent to her according to order ; upon the arri val of the goods, they were dreffed, and trained for ufle, under her inflection, till they were fit to hejhewn up. She had no regard tp birth, for a fhoe-rhaker's daugh ter of great beauty, belonging to one of the Irifh brigades, being intrpduced tc the King, he ( i°7 ) he afked her whether fhe knew him ? No : fhe did not : But did you ever fee me be fore, or any body like me ? She had not, but thought him very like the face on the gros Eccuis of France. Madame Pompa dour foon found out which of thefe girls proved moft agreeable to the King, and fuch were retained, the others difmiffed.— - The expence of this traffick was immenfe. I am affured where the difficulties of birth or fafhion fell in the way, ten thoufand pounds fterling has been given, ^.ad Lewis the XVth lived a few years longer, he would have ruined his kingdom. Lewis the XVIth bids fair to aggrandize it. LETTER ( ?o8 ) LETTER XLVI. Post-House, St. Geosge, fix leagues fromLyoK T Am particular in dating this letter, in -*• hopes that every Englifh traveller may avoid the place I write from, by either flopping fhort, or going beyond it, as it is the only houfe of reception for travellers in the village, and the worft I have met with in my whole journey. We had been fcur- vily treated here as we went; but having arrived at it after dark, and leaving it early, I did not recollect it again, till the miftrefs by her four face and forry fare betrayed it ; for fhe well remembered us. As a fpecimen of French auberge cookery, I cannot help ferving up a difh of fpinnage to you, as it was ferved to me at this houfe. We came in early in the afternoon, and while I was in the court-yard, I faw a flat bafket ftand upon the ground, the bottom of which was ( 109 ) was covered with boiled fpinnage ; and as my dog, and feveral others in the yard, had often put their nofes into it, I concluded it was put down for their food, not mine, till I faw a dirty girl patting it up into round balls, and two children, the eldeft not above three years old, flavering in and playing with it, one of whom, to lofle no time, was performing an office that none could do for her. 1 afked the maid what fhe was about, and what it was fhe was fo prepa ring ? for I began to think I had been mif- taken, till fhe told me it was fpinnage ; — not for me, I hope, faid I, — ' oui,pour vous et le monde.' I then forbad her bringing any to my table, and putting the little girl off her center, by an angry pufh, made her almoft as dirty as the fpinnage; and I could perceive her mother, the hoftefs, and fome French travellers who were near, looked upon me as a brute, for difturbing la pouvre enfant; neverthelefs, with my entree came up a difh of this delicate flpihnage, with which I made the girl a very pretty Chapeau ( HO ) Chapeau Anglois, for I turned it, dim and all, upon her head ; this fet the houfe in fuch an uproar, that, if there had not come in an old gentleman-like bufgeois of Paris-, at that inftant, I verily believe I fhould have been turned out; but he engaged warmly irt my defence, and infifted upon it that 1 had treated the girl juft as he would have done, had fhe brought fuch a dirty difh to him, after being cautioned not to do fo ; nor fhould I have got any fupper, had I not prevailed on this good-natured man, who never eat any, to order a fupper for himfelf, and transfer it to me. He Was a native of Lyons, and had been, for the firft time after thirty years abfence, to vifit his relations there. My entertainment at this houfe, outward -bound, v/as half a fecond-hand roafted turkey, or, what the failors call, a twice-laid difh, i. e. one which is dofte over a fecond time. I know the French in general will not like to fee this dirty charge, brought even againft ( III ) againft an aubergifte, and much lefs to he&r it faid, that this difregard to cleanlinefs is- almpft general in the public inns; but truth juftifies it, and I hope the publication may ainend it. A modern French anonymous traveller, who, I conclude by the company he kept in England, is a man of fafhion, gives in general a juft account of the Englifh nation, their cuftoms and manners ; and ac knowledges, in handfome terms, the man^- ner he was received by fome of the firft fami lies in England. He owns., however, he. does not underftjnd, Englifh, yet he has the te merity to fay, that Gullivers travels are the chef d'ceuvre of Dean Swift; but obferves; that thofe travels are greatly improved by paffing through the hands of Desfontaines. — This gentleman muft excufe me in fay ing, that Desfontaines neither underftood Englifh, nor Dean Swift, better than he does- He alfo concludes his firft volume, by ob- ferving, that what a French EmbafTador to England ( II* ) England faid of that nation* in the year 1523, conftitutes their character at this day ! f Alas ! poor England! though thou beft fo clofely fituated* and in fuch daily conver fation with the polite and polifhed nation of France, thou haft gained nothing of their eafe, breeding, and compliments, in the fpace of two hundred and fifty years !'-* What this getitleman alludes to, is the EmbafTador's letter to the Conetabk Mont morency, previous to the meeting of Henry the Eighth and Francis the'Firft, near Ar- ' dres ; for, (fays the Embaffador) fur-tout je vous prie, que vous oftiez de la Cour, ceux qui unt la reputation d'etre joyeux & gaudifl- feur, cor c'eft bien en ce monde, la chofe la plus hate de cette nation. And in a few lines after, he foifts in an extract from a Scotch man, one Barclay, who, in his Examen of Nations, fays, Jenene connoit point de plus ai- miable creature, qui un Francois chez qui I'enjoument eft tempore par le judgment, & par diflcretion ; to all which I fubfcribe : but fuch men are feldom to be met with in any kingdom. This ( "3 ) This gentleman fays, the moft remarka ble, or rather the only act of gaiety he met with in London, was an harangue made for an hour in the Houfe of Lords, previous to the trial of Lord Byron ; and that, as he afterwards underftood, it was made by a drunken member of parliament. He fays, it made him and every body laugh exceed ingly; but he laughed only (I prefume) becaufe every body elfe did, and relates the ftory, I fear, merely to make it a national laugh ; for the harangue was certainly very ill placed, and the mirth it produced, very indecent, at a time a Peer of the realm was to be brought forth, accufed of murder; and the untimely death of a valuable and virtuous young man, revived in every bo dy's memory. This is the unfavourable fide of what the gentleman fays of the firft people in England. Of the peafants and lower or der, ( iH ) der, he obferves, that, though they are well fed, well clpathed, and well lodged, yet they are all of a melancholy turn.<— The French have no idea of what we call dry humour ; and this gentleman, perhaps, thought the Englifh clown melancholy, while he was laughing in his ffeeve at the foppery of his lacquajs. Thefe qbfervations put me in mind of another modern traveller, a man of fenfe and letters top, who obferves, that the balluftrades at Weftminfter bridge are fixed very clofe together, to prevent the Englifh getting through to drown themfelves '• and of a, Gentleman at Cambridge-, who, having cut a large pidgeon-hoie under his clofet door, on being afked the ufe of it, faid, he had it cut for an old cat which -had kittens, to go in and out ; but added, that he muft flen4 for the, carpenter;, to cut little holes for the y&u-ng ones. His acute vifttor inftantly fet up a hoarflk laugh, and afked him, whe ther the little cats could not come out at the ( n5 ) the fame hole the big one did ? The other laughing in his turn, faid, he did not thiuk . of that. Though I have fpoken with freedom of this French traveller's remarks, yet I muft own that, in general, he Writes and thinks liberially, and fpeaks highly of the Englifh nation, and very gratefully of many indivi duals to whom he was known; and, I dare fay, a Frenchman will find many more mif takes of mine, which I fhall be happy to fee pointed out, or rectified : but were I to pick out the particular objects of laughter, pity, and contempt, which have fallen in my way, in twice crofting this great continent, I could make a fecond Joe Miller of one, and a Jane Shore of the other. If this tra veller could have underftood the Beggars' Opera, the humour of Sam. Foote, or the pleafantry among Englifh failors, watermen, and the lower order of the people, he would have, known, that, though the Englifh nation have not fo much vivacity as the Vol. II. I French, French? they ar^ behind-,handcwij;h no np.n tion .whatever, where true wit and gen^e^j humour are to be difplayed. What would^ , he have faid, could he have feen and en tered into the fpirit of the proceffion of the miferable Scalds^, pr Mr,. Ggrrick in Scrub/,, f Shuter, Woodward, Mrs. Clive, or even pur little Edwin at, Bath?. , HJad he^ feen, any of j thefe things, hemuft have laughed with the multitude, as he did in the Houfe of Lords, though he had not underftood it, and muft v have feen hpw inimitably, the talents of thefe men were formed, to excite fomuch mirth and delight, even to p. heavy unpo-^ lifhed Englifh audience. LETTER ( i i-7 ) LETTER XLVII. "tj'ROM St. George to Maconi'h' five -*- leagues. Nothing oh earth can be more beautiful than the face of this coun try, far and near. The road lies over a Vaft and fertile plain, not far diftant from the banks of the Soane on one fide, and adorned with mountains, equally fertile and beautiful*; on the other. It is very lin gular, that all the cows of this part of the country are white, or of a light dun colour, and the drefs of all the Macon'oije peafants as different from any other province in France, as that of the Turkifh habit ; I mean the women's drefs, for I perceived no difference "ambrig" the men, "but that they are greater clowns than any other French peafants. The women wear a broad bone lace ruff about their necks, and a narrow edging of the fame fort round their caps, I 2 which -( 118 ) Which are in the form of the charity girls' caps in England ; but as they muft not bind them on with any ' kind of ribband, they look rather laid upon their heads, than dreffed upon them; their, gowns are of a very cparfe light brown woollen cloth,, made extremely fhort- waifted, and full of high and thick plaits, pver the hips, the fleeves are rather large, and turned up with fome gaudy coloured filk; upon the fhoul- ders are fewed feveral pieces of worfted li very lace, which feemtp go quite under their arms, in the fame manner as is fometimes put to children to ftrengthen their leading- ftrings ; upon the whole, however, the drefs is becoming, and the very long petticoat, and full plaits, have a graceful appearance. At Lyons I faw aMaconoifle girl of fafhion, or fortune, in this drefs; her lace was fine, her gown filk, and her fhpulder-ftraps of filver ; and, as her head had much more of the bon gout than the bon ton, I thought her the moft inviting object I had feen in that that city, my delicate; landlady at Niflmes always excepted. I think France cannot produce fuch "another woman for beauty as Madame Seigny. I bought a large quantity of the Macon lace, at about eight-pence Englifh a yard, which, at a little diftance, cannot eafily be diftinguifhed from fine old pointe. Between St. George and Macon, at a time we wanted our breakfaft, we came to a fpot where two high roads crpfs each other, and found there a little cabbin, not unlike the Iron Houfe, as to whim; but this was built, fides, top, and Bottom, with fawed boards ; and as a little bit of a board hung out at the door informed us they fold wine, I went in, and afked the miftrefs peririifliOn to boil my tea-kettle, and to be permitted to eat our breakfaft in her pretty cabbin $ The woman was knitting ; fhe laid down her work, rofe up, and with the eafe and addrefs of a woman of the firft fafhion, I 3 faid ( I20- ¦) faid we did her honour, that her -houfe, fuch -as it Was, and every thing in it, were at ' our fervice ; fhe then fent a girl to a farmer's, hard by, for milk, and to a vil- lage a quarter of a league diftant, for hot bread; and while we breakfafted, her con- verfation and good breeding made up a principal part of the repas-; fhe had my horfe too brought to the back part of , her cabbin, where he was well fed from a por table manger. I bought of her two bot tles of white wine, not much inferior to, and much wholefomer than-, Champaigne, and fhe charged me for the whole, milk, bread, fire, converfation, and wine, thirty- fix fois, about feventeen pence Englifh! Though thjs gentlewoman, for fo I muft call her, and fo I believe fhe is, lived in fuch a fmall hut, fhe feemed to be in good circumftances, and had liqueurs, tea, and a great variety of ^mudh Of -a virtuous- %oungpmanj(^t?' aFrtenehmwt) 5there will'be no harm in telling you his name is Lalitit, a Captain in the regiment du Maine.-^- Before I took my laft le^Ve of him, talk'*-. ing together of the horrors of war, I afked him what he "would do if he were to fee me vis-a-vis in an hoftile manner ? He embraced me, and faid, '** turn the but " end of my fufee towards you, my " friend." I thank God that neither his bui-end, nor my muzzle can ever meet in that manner, and I fhall be happy to meet him in any other. P.S. d 135 ) P. S. I omitted to fay, that the Ma* conoifle female peafants wear black hats, in the form of the Englifh ftraw or chip hats ; and when they are tied on, under ;the chin, it gives, them, with the addi tion of their round -eared laced cap, a decent, ,modeft appearance, .whichpnts.out pf countenance all the borrowed -plumage, dead .hair, black wool, lead, greafe, and yellow powder, which is now in motion between Edinburgh and Paris. £t is a pity that pretty women, at leaft, do no,t know, that the Simplicity of a Quaker's head -drefs, ¦ is fuperior to all that art can contrive : and thofe who re member the elegant Mifs Fido, a woman of that perfuafipn, will fubfcribe to the truth of my affertion. And it is ftill a greater pity, that plain women do not kn.QW, that the more they adorn and ar- tifly their heads, the more .confpicuous they make their natural defects. LETTER ( 126 ) LETTER XLV1IL r\ T Challons fur la Soane, (for there is ¦*¦ ¦*- another town of the fame name in ,Champaigne)I had the honor of a vifit from Monf. le Baron Shortall, a gentleman of an ancient family, rather in diftrefsat this time, by being kept out of fix and thirty thoufand a year, his legal property in Ireland ; but as the Baron made his vifit alamode de ca puchin Friar, without knocking, ahd when only the female part of my family were in the apartment, he was difmiffed rather ab ruptly for a man of his high rank and great fortune in expectation. This difmiffion, however, did not difmay him ; he rallied again, with the reinforcement of Madame la Baronefls, daughter, as he pofitively af firmed, of Monfl. le Prince de Monaco ; but as I had forbad his being Jhewnup, he de fired me to come down,' a fummPns curio fity ( *27 ) fity induced me to obey. Never, furely, were two people of fafhion in a more pitia ble plight ! he was in a ritffet brown black fuit of cloaths ; Madame la Barone/s in much the fame colour, wrapt up in a tat tered black filk capuchin ; and I knew not which to admire moft, their folly or their impudence; for furely never did an adven turer fet out with lefs capabilities about him; his whole ftory was fo flagrant a fib, that in fpite of the very reflpeclable certifi cates of My Lord Mayor, John Wilkes, and Mr. Alderman Bull, I was obliged to tell him plainly, that I did not believe him to be a gentleman, nor his wife to be a rela tion of the Prince of Monaco. All this he took in good part, and then affured me they were both very hungry, and without meat or money ; I therefore ordered a din ner at twenty fois a head ; and, as I fat by- while they eat it, I had reafon to believe that he told me one plain truth, for in truth they eat as if they had never eaten before.: After dinner the Baron did me the honour to ( id ) to confult with 'me how he fhould1 get dowft' to Lyons f I recommended to him to pro ceed by water: — but, faid he, my dear Sir, I have no money ; — an evil I did not chufe to redrefs ; and, after feveral unfuccefsful attempts at my purfeyrand fome^at my per fon,— ^he whifpered me that even fix livres' would be ¦ arfceptable ; but T held out, and got off, byAprOpofing that theoBaronefs fhould write a letter to the Prince her fa ther, to whom I had the honour to be" known, and that I would carry him the letter, and enforce their prayer, by making ' it my Own. This meafure 'fhe inftantly complied With, and addreffed her father- adorabk Prince ; but concluded it with a name which could not belong to her either as maid, wife, or widow.-'; I remarked this to fhe Bar oft, who acknowledged at once the miftake, faid fhe had figned a falfe name, and fhe fhould write it over again; but when- 1 obferved to him that, as the Prince knew the 'hand-writing of his own dear: child, and as the name of women is often: varying *oqryifigby marriage^ or mij carriage, it was all one : to this he agreed j and I brought: offjhe letter^ and my purfe too, for forty faffa ye,t there wasfo much falfhoud, folly^. and fimplicity in this flimple pair of-admtoH- turers,, that I forely 3 repented = I , did- not give them, them pafTage in the coche d'eau r to, Lyons ; for : he could not fpeak a rword? of French* nor Madame la Baronefs a word of Englifh ; and the only infignia of dif» tinction between them, was, a vaft clumfy brafs-hilted fword .which the Baron, in ftead of wearing at -his fide, held up at his-i npfejilike a Phyfician's gold-headed cane*, •—When I took, my leave of this Sir, James , Shortall, (for, he owned at Jaft.-h.e-. was only a i Baronet") he promifed to meet me^next time dreffed in his blue and filver. I yejrily .believe my Irifh- dduentMrer at Perpignan, is ageptleman,„and therefor*,! relieved him ; I am thoroughly perfuaded my Challons -.adventurer is not, yet perhaps : he. was a real pbjedtof charity, and his., true - tale ( i3° )- tale would have produced him better fuc- cefs than his borrowed ftory. ; Sir James was about fixty, Lady Shortall about fifty. — Sir James too had a pretty large property in America, and would have vifited his ef- tates on that continent, had I not informed him with the prefent unhappy differences now fubfiftifig between that and the mo ther country, of which he had not heard a fingle fyllable. After having faid thus much, I think I muft treat you with a copy of Lady Short- all's letter, a name very applicable to their unhappy fituation, for they did indeed feem fhort of every thing ; — fo here it is, verba tim et literatim : ' ' Monfieur Thicknefls gentilhomme anglaifle " Adorable preince de monaco que tout " mordonne deme, life au de fus de cette " lette le non deun digne hpmme qui me " randu fer vifie, je fuis malade, le con- " vant ; ferois preferable a mon bouneur " je ( i3i ) " je veux fepandant fauve mon marij mais " je me meure tre feve mon derinier " foupire, je ne le doit qua vous. " Julie Baronne de Chatterre. " le 1 8 may 1776." "Aflont alteffele preince de Monaco, dansflont " hautelle rue de Vareinne a Paris." Vol. II. K LETTER ( i32 ) LETTER XLIX. T7ROM Challons to Bonne, is five leagues. ¦*- Bonne is a good town, well walled-in, pleafantly fituated, and remarkable for an excellent and well-conducted Hofpital, where the poor fick are received gratis, without diftinction, and where the rich fick are accommodated with nurfes, phyficians, medicines, food, and lodging, with every affiftance, that can be wanted, for four li vres a day. The apartments in which the poor are received, are fo perfectly clean and fweet, that they are fit for people of any condition ; but thofe provided for the bet ter fort, are indeed fumptuoufly furnifhed. The women, who act as nurfes, are of a reli gious order, and wear a particular, decent, and uniform habit, to which their modeft deportment exactly coincides ; yet moft of them are young, and many of them very beautiful. Between ( 133 ) Between thefe two towns, we met an Englifh fervant, in a rich laced livery, con ducting, behind a poft-chaife, a large quan tity of baggage ; and foon after, a fecond fervant, in the fame uniform ; this excited our curiofity, and we impatiently pro ceeded, irt hopes of meeting the equipage, which it was natural to expect would foon follow ; inftead of which* it was an old Englifh four-wheel chaife, the contents of which were buckled clofe up behind a pair of dirty leather curtains; and on the coach box fat, by the fide of the driver, a man who had the appearance of an Englifh far mer. This contraft rather increafed than leffened our curiofity; and, therefore, at Bonne, I made fome inquiry about them of the poft-mafter ; who told me they came in, and fet off, feparately, juft as I had met them ; but that one fervant paid for the horfes to all the carriages, and that the wo man behind the curtain, according to cuftom, did not chufle to Jhew herfelf. Juft as I was K 2 returning ( i34 ) retiming with this blind account, an Englifh fervant, who I had not perceived, but who ftood near, told me, he was fure as how it Was either the Duchtfls of Kingftoh or Mrs. Rudd, for that he feed her very plain. I was much furprifed at finding an Englifhman fo near me; and the Angula rity of the man's obfervation had a very forcible effect upon me. When the mirth which it unavoidably occafioned, was a little fubfided, I could not help correcting, in gentle terms, (though I was otherwife glad to fee even an Englifh footman fo far from Englifh land) a man fin his ftation* for fpeaking of people of high rank with fo much indecent levity, and then told him, that there was no fuch perfon living as the Duchefs of Kingfton, but that it was- probable the Lady he thought he had feeri might be Lady Briftol; that there was not, however, the leaft refemblance' between the perfon of her Ladyfhip, and the other Lady he had mentioned, the latter being young, thin, and rather handfome ; whereas- Lady ( i3S ) Lady Briftol was very fat, and advanced in years; I therefore fufpected, I told him, that he had confounded the trials of thofe two Ladies, and fancied he faw a likenefs in their perfons, by an affociation of ideas ; but in reality, there was as much difference in their crimes as in their perfons. Crimes! did I fay? that is an improper expreflion, becaufe I am informed Mrs. Rudd has been acquitted ; but that, if the foreign papers might be relied on, Lady Briftcd had been found guilty of Bigamy : but as he feemed not to underftand what I meant by Bigamy, or the affociation ofl ideas, I was unavoidably led into a converfation, and explanation, with this young man ; which nothing but my pride, and his ignorance, could juftify ; but as the fellow was overjoyed to fee me, I could not help giving him fomething to drink, and with it a caution never to fpeak of people of high rank and condition, even behind their backs, but under their proper names or titles, and with decency and re- fpedt : he then begged my pardon, arid K 3 affured ( 136 ) affured me, if he had known that either of the Ladies had been a friend of mine, he would not have coupled them fo impro perly together ; and I am thoroughly con vinced, the man left me with a refolution, never to hazard a conjecture without a bet ter foundation than that he ftarted to me, and which I rather believe he hit off extem pore, to fpeak to me, and fhew himfelf my countryman, than from really fufpect- ing that the woman behind the curtain was either Lady Briftol, or Mrs. Rudd; though I was inclined to think it Very probable, for I had feen Lord Briftol On his way through Lyons from Italy to Eng land; and had been informed, Lady Briftol was then on her road to Italy ; in which cafe, I, like the footman, had my conjec tures, and accounted for the feather cur-: tains being fo cloflely buckled to. Thefe are trifling remarks, you will fay ;' but if a fign-painter can paint only a bear, thpfe who employ him muft have a bear }- for ( i37 ) for their fign ; neverthelefs, we have all a certain curiofity to knOw even the moft trifling actions, or movements, of people who, by their virtues or vices, efpecially if they are people of rank or condition, have occafioned much talk in the world ; and therefore, ridiculous as this incident is, yet as we have long known one of the La dies, and often admired both, I could not let either one or the other pafs me unnoticed, on a road too, where even an Englifh Duchefs (if fhe would own the truth) would feel a fecret delight in meeting of a Hyde- park-corner groom. I have already mentioned what partiality and degree of notice, countrymen take of each other when~they meet far from home. That notice is always in proportion to the diftance. Had my Bonne footman fpoke of Lady Briftol, or Mrs. Rudd, in fuch free terms as how he feed' em, &;c. &c. at Hyde- park-corner, or in Tyburn-road, I fhould have knocked him down with the but end K 4 of ( 138 ) V pf my whip ; but at Bonne (five hundred miles from either of thofe places) he and I - - ti . . >~ -. ¦* ¦ ¦>¦--,- were quatre coufins ; and I could not help treating him with a bottle of vinde pais. LETTER ( .139 ) LET T E R L. TT7R0M Bonne we intended to have taken -*- the high road to Dijon; but being in formed that there was another, though not much frequented, by way of Autun, and that that town, which was a Roman co lony, ftill contained many curious monu ments worthy of notice, we purfued the latter, which twifted in between a vaft va riety of fmall, but fertile valleys, watered with brooks, bounded by romantic hills, and fome high mountains, moft of which were covered with vines, which did pro duce the moft delicious red wine in the world; I fay did produce, for the high gout and flavour of the Burgundy grape has for many years failed, and perhaps fo as never to return again. We, however, miffed the the road to Autun, and, after four leagues' journey through a moft delightful country, we ( 140 ) we arrived at a miferable auberge in a dirty village called Tozy, which ftands upon the margin of a large foreft, in which, fome years fince, the diligence from Lyons to Paris was attacked by a banditti, and the whole party of travellers were murdered : ever fince that fatal day, a" guard of the Mare'chauflfee always efcort the diligence through this deep and dreadful foreft, (fo they called it), and we were perfuaded it was right to take a couple of the Markhauffee, and did fo; but as we found the foreft by no means fo long, deep, or dreadful, as it had been reprefented, we fufpected that the advice given us, was more for the fake of the men who guarded us', than from any regard to us, two men could have made no great refiftance againft a banditti; and a fingle man would hardly1 have meddled with us. The next day we paffed thro' Arnaf-le-r Due, a pretty country village, three leagues from Tozy, and it being their annual fair- day, we had an opportunity of feeing all the peafantry ( Hi ) peafantry, dreffed in their beft, and much chearfulnefs, not only in the town, but upon the road, before we arrived, and after we paffed it. Among the reft of the com-r pany, were a bear and a monkey, or rather what Buffon calls the maggot. I defired the fhew-man to permit my maggot, as he was the leaft, the youngeft, and the ftranger, to pay a vifit to Monfl. Maggot, the elder, who embraced the young gentleman in a manner which aftonifhed and delighted every body, myfelf only excepted ; but as my young gen^ tleman feemed totally indifferent about the old one, I fufpected he had really met his father, and I could not help moralizing a little. From Arnay-le-Duc we paffed through Maupas, Salou, Rouvray, Quiffe la forge, and Vermanton to Auxerre, the town where the French nobleman was faid to live, whom Dr. Smollett treated fo very roughly, and who, in return, was fo polite as to help to tie the Doctor's baggage behind his coach ! About ( H2 ) About a quarter of a mile without this town, ftands a royal .convent, richly en- dowed, and; delightfully fituated; the walls of which take in near twenty acres of land, well planted, on the banks of a river • and here I left my two daughters; to perfect themfelves in the French language, as there was not one perfon within the convent, nor, that I could find, within the town, who could fpeakaword of Englifh. And here i muft not omit to tell you, how much I was overcome with the generofity of this virtuous, and I muft add amiable, fociety of religieux. Upon my firft inquiry about their price for board, lodging, wafhing, cloaths, and in fhort, every thing the chil dren did, or might want, they required a fum much beyond the limits of my fcanty income to give; but before we left them, they became acquainted with flome circum- ftances, which induced them to exprefs their concern that the price I had offered (not half what they had demanded) could not ( H3 ) not be taken. We therefore retired, and* had alrrioft fixed the children iri a' cheaper convent, but rriirch inferior, iri all refpectsr, within the town, when we received a polite letter from the Lady Abbefs, to fay, that after confulting With her ftfterhood, they had come to a refolution to take the children at our own price, rather than not fhew how much they wifhed to oblige us. Upon this oCcafton*- we were all ad mitted within the Walls of the convent; and I had the pleafure of feeing my two daughters . joined to an elegant troop of about forty genteel children, and of leaving1 them under the care of the fame number of religieux. And yet thefe good people knew1 thing of us, but what we ourfelves com municated to them, not being known, nor knowing "any perfon in the town. — ; — The Lady- Abbefs of this convent is a womart of high rank, about twenty- four years of age, and poffeffes as large a fhare of beauty as any reafonable woman, even on the outflide of a convent, could wifh for., Auxerre ( 144 ) I v. Auxerre is a good town, pleafantly fitua ted, and in a plentiful and cheap country. From Auxerre to Joyinex is five leagues. The Petit bel Vue on the banks of the river is very pleafantly fituated', but a dreadful one within fide, in every refpect, being a mix ture of dirt, ignorance, and impofition; but it is the only inn for travellers, and therefore travellers fhould avoid it. In or der to put my old hoftefs in .good humour, I called early for a bottle of Champaigne ; and in order to put me into a bad humour, fhe charged me the next day for two ; but I charged her with Monf. Le Connetable, who behaved like a gentleman, though I think he was only a marchand de tonneau: but then he was a wine, not beer cooper, who hooped the old Lady's barrel. ' Where-ever I was ill-ufed or impofed upon, I always fent a pretty heavy packet by the ppft, after I had run down a hun dred ( H5 ) , dred miles or two, by way of draw -back, upon my hoft, and recompence to the King's high road; for in France, " Like the Quakers' by-way, " Tis plain without turnpikes, fo " nothing to pay." An old witch, who had half ftarved u*! at Montpellier, for want of provifions, when we went, and for want of fire to dry us, when we came back, left a piece of candle in my budget, which I did not omit to re turn by the poft, well packed up, left it fhould greafe other packets of more im portance, by riding an hundred leagues; befides this, it was accompanied by a very civil letter of advice, under another cover. LETTER ( H6 ) LETTER LI. rTPHE next town of any note is Sens, a -*- large, ragged, ancient city; but ad orned with a moft noble Gothic cathedral, more magnificent than even that of Rheims, and well worthy of the notice of ftrangers; it is faidto have been built by the Englifh : With the relicks and cuftodiums of the hoft, are fhewn the facerdotal habits, in which Archbifhop Becket (who refided there many years) faid mafs, for it was his head quarters, when he left Britain, as well as Julius Caflar's, before he went there. The filver hafps, and fome of the ornaments of thefe garments, are ftill perfect, though it has undergone fo many darnings, as to be little elfe. Becket was a very tall man ; for though it has many tucks in it, yet it is generally too ( H7 ) too long for the talleft prieft in the town, Who conftantly fays mafs in it on St. Tho mas's day; How times and men are changed ! This town, which refifted the arms of Caflar for a confiderable time, was put in the utmoft confternation by Dr. Smollett's caufing his travelling blunderbufs to be only fired in the air, a circumftance "which greatly terrified " all the petit Monde !" It is very fingular, that the Doctor fhould have frightened a French nobleman of Burgundy, by fhaking his cane at him, and even made him affift in the moft fervile offices ; and in the next town, terrify all the common people, by only firing a blunderbufs in the air ! I would not willingly arraign a dead man with telling two fibbs fo clofe upon the back of each other ; but I am fure there was but that fingle French nobleman, in this mighty kingdom, who would have fubmitted to fuch infults as the Doctor flays Vol. II. L he ( 143 ) he treated him with ; nor any other town, but £ms, where the firing of a gun would have fo terrified the inhabitants ; for, drums, guns, and noife of every fort, feem to afford the common French people infi nite pleafure. I fpent in this town a day or two, and part of that time with a very agreeable Scotch family, of the name of Macdonald, where Lieutenant Colonel Stuart was then upon a vifit. I have fome reafon to think that Sens is a very cheap town. Several Englifh, Scotch, and Irifh families refide in it. From Sens to Port flur Tonne is three leagues ; and from Tonne to Foujfart the fame diftance. j. At the Three Kings at Fouffart, fufpectr- ing there was a cat behind the bed in wait for my bird, I found, inftead thereof, a little narrow ( 149 ) narrow door, which was artfully hid, and which opened into another room; and as I am fure the man is a cheat, I fufpect too, that upon a good occqfion, he would haVe made fome ufle of his little door. Fouffart is a fmall place, confifting only of three or four public houfes. From thence to Morret, is three leagues, on whicb road is erected a noble pillar of oriental marble, in memory of the mar riage of Lewis the XVth. Soon after we paffed this monument, we entered into the delightful foreft of Font ainbkau ; and paf fing three leagues to the center of it, we arrived at that ancient royal palace : it ftands very low, and is furrounded by a great many fine pieces of water, which, however, render the apartments very damp. The King and royal family had been there fix weeks, and were gone but ten days, arid with them, all the furniture of the palace was alfo gone, except glaffes, and a few pic- . tures, of no great value. * In a long gallery L 2 are ( 150 ) are placed, on each fide of the wall, a great number of flags' heads, carved in' wood, and upon them are fixed the horns of flags and bucks, killed by the late, and former Kings ; fome of which are very outre, others Angularly large and beautiful. Fontainbleau is a good town, ftands adja cent to the palace ; and as the gardens, park, &c. are always open, it is a delightful fummer refidence. We ftaid a few days there, to enjoy the fhady Walks, and to fee the humours of a great annual fair, which commenced the day after we arrived. All forts of things are fold at this fair ; but the principal, bufinefs is done in the wine way, many thoufand pieces of the inferior Bur gundy wine being brought to this market. We made two little days' journey from Fontainbleau to Paris, a town I entered with concern, and fhall leave with pleafure. As I had formerly been of fome fervice to Faucaut, who keeps the Hotel d'Tork, when ( 15^ ) when he lived in Rue de Mauvais Garcon, I went to this famous Hotel, which would have been more in character, if he had given it the name of his former ftreet, and called it l' Hotel de Mauvais Gar f on, for it is an hofpital, of bugs and vermin : the fellow has got the fecond-hand beds of Ma- dame Pompadour, upon his firft floor, which he modeftly afks thirty louis dors a month for ! All the reft of the apartments are pidgeen-holes, filled wi.th fleas, bugs, and dirt; and fhould a fire happen, there is no way of efcaping. Nothing fhould be more particularly attended to in Paris than the fecurity from fire, where fo many, and fuch a variety of ftrangers, and their fervants, are fhut up at night, within one Porte Qochere. LETTER ( 'J* ) LETTER LII, Paris. I Found no great alteration in Paris, after" ten years' abfence from it, than the pro digious difference of expellee; moft articles, I think, are one-third dearer, arid many double; a horfe is not half fo well fed crJ lodged at Paris as at Londffn ; but the ex- pence is nearly a guinea a week, and a ftranger may drive half round the city be fore he can lodge himfelf and his horfe/s under the fame roof.* The beauties, the pleafures, and variety of amufements, which this 'city abounds with, # Paul Gilladeau, who lately left the Silver Lion, at Calais, has, I am informed, opened a Livary Stable at Paris, upon the London plan, in partnership with Dejfein, -. of the ¦Hoteld'-Angleprre at Calais : a convenience much wanted, and undertaken by a man very likely to' fucceed. ( 153 ) with, are, without doubt, the magnets which attract fo many people of rank and fortune of all nations to it; all which are too well known to be pointed out by me. — To a perfon of great fortune in the hey day, of life, Paris may be preferable even to London ; but to one of my age and walk inl life, it is, and was ten years ago, the leaft \ agreeable place I have feen in France. — , Walking the ftreets is extremely dangerous, ' riding in them , very expenfive ; and when thofe things which are worthy to be feen, (and much there is very worthy) have been feen, the city of Paris becomes a melan choly refidence for a ftranger, who neither plays at cards, dice, or deals in the princi pal manufacture of the city; i. e. ready- made love, a bufinefs which is carried on with great fuccefs, and with more de cency, I think, than even in London. The Englifh Ladies are weak enough to attach themfelves to, and to love, one man. The gay part of the French women love none, but receive all, pour paffer le terns. — The L 4 Englifh ..( J54 ) Englifh, unlike the Parifian Ladies* take pains to difcover who they love ; the French women to diflemble with thofe they hate. It is extremely difficult for even ftran gers of rank or fortune, to get among the firft people, fo as to be admitted to then; fuppers ; and without that, it is impoffible to have any idea of the luxury and ftile in which they live: quantity, variety, and fhow are more attended to in France, than neat- nefs. It is in England alone, where tables are ferved with real and uniform elegance ; but the appetite meets with more provoca tives in France ; and the French cuifine in that refpect, certainly has the fuperiority. Ten years ago I had the honour to be admitted often to the table of a Lady of the firft rank. On St. Anns-day, (that be ing her name-day) fhe received the viffts of her friends, who all brought either a valuable prefent, a?poefy, or a compliment in verfe ; when the defer* came upon the table ( iSS ) table, which was very magnificent, the middle plate feemed to be the fineft and faireft fruit, (peaches) and I was much furprifed, that none of the Ladies were helped by the gentlemen from that plate : but my furprize was foon turned into afto nifhment ! for the peaches fuddenly burft forth, and played up the Saint's name, (St. Ann) in artificial fire-works ! and marty pretty devices of the fame kind, were Whirled off, from behind the coaches of her vifitors, to which they were fixed, as the company left the houfe, which had a pretty effect, and was no indelicate way of taking a French leave. There is certainly among the French people of fafhion an eafe and good- breeding, which is very captivating, and not eafily obtained, but by being bred up with them, from an early age; the whole body muft be formed for it, as in dancing, while there is the pliability of youth; and where there is, as in France, a conftant, early ( *56 ) early, and intimate correfpondence between the two fexes. Men would be fierce and favage, were it not for the fociety of the other fex, as may be feen among the Turks and Moors, who muft not vifit their own wives, when other men's wives are with them. In France, the Lady's bed chamber is always open, and fhe receives vifits in bed, or up, with perfect eafe. A nobfe Lord, late embaffador to this coun try, told me, that when he vifited a young and beautiful woman of fafhion, (I think too it was a firft vifit after marriage) fhe received him fitting up in her bed; and before he went, her fille de chambre brought his Lordfhip Madame le Comteffe's fhift, elegantly feftooned, which his Lordfhip had the honour to put over the Lady's head, as fhe fat in bed ! — nor was there, by that favour, the leaft indecency meant ; it was a compliment intended ; and, as, fuch only, received. Marks of favour of that fort, are not marks of further favours from a French Lady. In ( *S7 ) ' In this vaft city of amufemehts, among the other arts, I cannot help pointing out to your particular notice, Richlieu's monu ment in the Sorbonne, as an inimitable piece of modern fculpture* by Girrardeau; and Madame Valere's full-length portrait by Le Brun : She was, you know, miftrefs to Lewis the XlVth, but retired to the con vent, ih which the picture now is, and where fhe lived in repentance and forrow above thirty years. -j- The connoiffeurs furely can find no rea^ fonable fault with the monumental artift; but they do, I think, with Le Brun ; the drapery, they fay, is too full, and that fhe is overcharged with garments; but fullnefs of * Voltaihe fays, this momimentis not fufficiently ¦noticed by ftrangers. f Madame Valere, during her retirement, being to'4 of the death of one of her fons, replied, " I fhould rather " grieve for his With, than his death." ( 158 ) pf drefs, adds not only dignity, but de cency, to the perfon of a fine woman, who meant (or the painter for her) to hide, not to expofe her charms, If fullnefs be a fault, it is a fault that Gain/borough, Hoare, Pine, Reynolds, and many Other of our firft modern geniufes are guilty of; and if it be a fin, the beft judges will acquit them for committing it, where dignity is to be confidered, Madame Valere appears to have been fcattering about her jewels, is tearing her hair, crying, and looking up to the heavens, which feem burfting forth a tempeft over her head. The picture is well imagined, and finely executed, I found upon the bulk of a portable flhop in Paris, a moft excellent engraving from this picture,* and which carried me di rectly to vifit the original; it is indeed ftained * In the poffeffion of Mr. Gainsborough; ( 159 ) ftained and dirty, but it is infinitely fupe rior to a later engraving which now hangs up at all the print fhops, and I fuppofe is from the firft plate, which was done foon after the picture was finifhed. Under it are written the following ingenious, tho', I fear, rather impious lines : Magdala dum gemmas, baccifqua monile corufcum Projicit, ac forma: detrahit arma fax: Dum vultum lacrymis et lumina turbat ; amoris Mirare infidias ! haccapit arte Deum. Shall I attempt to unfold this writer's meaning ? Yes, I will, that my friend at Oxford may laugh, and do it as it ought to be done. i. The pearls and gems, her beauty's arms, See fad Valere foregoes ; And now affumes far other charms Superior ftill to thofe, II. The tears that flow adown her cheek, Than gems are brighter things ; For thefe an earthly Monarch feels, ' But thofe the Kinc of Kings. This ( l6o •) This feems to have been the author's thought, if he thought chafiely. — Shall I try again ? The pearls and gems her beauty's artns, See fad Valire foregoes : Yet ftill thofe tears have other charms, Supefior far to thofe: With thofe fhe gained" an earthly Monarch's love : , With thefe {he- wins the King of Kings above. Yet, after all, I do fufpect, that the au thor meant more than even toflheer a little at poor Madame Valere ; but, as I diflike common-place poetry, (and poetry, as you fee, diflikes me) I will endeavour to give you the literal meaning, according to my conception, and then you will fee whether our joint wits jump together. While Magdalene throws by her bracelets, adorned with gems and pearls, and (thus) difarms her beauty: while Sears confound her countenance and eyes, With wonder mark the ftratagems of love, With this fhe captiyates the God above. The ( 161 ) The impious infinuation of the Latin lines, is the reafon, I fuppofe, why they were omitted under the more modern im- preffion of this fine print, and very mid dling French poetry fuperceding them. LETTER ( 162 ) LETTER LIIL Pari TFyou no dot ufe Herreis' bills, I recom^ -*- mend to you at Paris, a French, rather than an Englifh banker ; I have found the former more profitable, and moft conve nient. I had, ten years fince* a letter of cre dit on Sir John Lambert, for £300, from Meff. Hoares. The Knight thought pro per, however, to refufe the payment of a twenty pound draft I gave upon him; though I had not drawn more than half my credit out of his hands. Monfl. Mary, on whom I had a draft from the fame re fpectable houfe, this year, will not do flue h things; but, on the contrary, be ready to ferve and oblige ftrangers, to the utmoft of his power : he fpeaks and writes Eng lifh very well, and will prove an agreeable and ufeful acquaintance to a ftranger in Paris. ( IfiJ ) Paris. His fifter too, who live's with him; will be no left fo to the female part of your family. His houfe is in Rile Saint Sduveun The Englifh bankers pay in filver, and it is neceffary to take a wheel -barrow with yPU to bring it aWay : a fmall bag will do at the French b ankers' : There is as Much difference between the bankers of London and bankers in Paris, as between a rotten apple and a found one. You can hardly get a word from a London banker, but you are fure of getting your money; in Paris, you will get words enough, and civil ones too. Remember, however, I am fpeaking only of the treat ment I have experienced. There may be, and are, no doubt, Englifh bankers at Paris of great worth, and refpectable characters. It is not reckoned very decent to frequent coffee-houfes at Paris ; but the politenefs of Monfieur and Madame Felix, au caffe de .Vol. II. M Conti, ( i°4 ) Conti, oppofite the Pont neuf, and the Englifh news-papers, render their houfe a pleafant circumftance to me ; and it is by much the beft, and beft fituated, of any in Paris, au vols le rnonde. I am aftonifhed, that where, fuch an infinite number of people live in fo fmall a compafs, (for Paris is by no means fo large as London) that they fhould fuffer the dead to be buried in the manner they dp, or within the city. There are feveral burial pits in Pa. ris, pf a prodigious fize and depth, in which the dead bodies are laid, fide by fide, with out any earth being put over them till the ground tier is full ; then, and not till then ! a fmall layer of earth covers them, and ano ther layer of dead comes on, till by layer upon layer, and dead upon dead, the hole is filled with a mafs of human corruption, enough to breed a plague ; thefe places are enclofed, it is true, within high walls; but neverthelefs, the air cannot be improved by it ; and the idea of fuch an affemblage of putrifying < 1*5 ) putrifying bodies, in one grave, fo thinly covered, is very difagreeable. The burials in churches too, often prove fatal to the priefts and people who attend ; but every body, and every thing in Paris, is fo much alive, that not a foul thinks about the dead. < i L I wifh I Jbad been born a Frenchman.-— Frenchmen live as if they were never to die! Englifhmen die all their lives; and yet, as Lewis the XlVth faid, xt I don't think " it is fo difficult a matter to die, as men ••generally imagine, when they try in ear- " neft." I am fure there is one great confo- lation in death, i. e. getting rid of an infinite number of rafcals by God's coup de main. >i y I muft tell you before I leave Paris, that I ftept over to Marli, to fee the Queen ; I had feen the King nine years- ago ; but he was not then a King over eight millions of people, and the fineft country under the fun ; yet he does not feem to lay fo much ftrefs upon his mighty power as might be CixF M 2 expected ( 166 ) expected from fo young a prince, but ap pears grave and thoughtful. I am told he attends much to bufinefs, and endeavours to make his fubjects happy. His refolu- tion to be inoculated, immediately after fucceeding to fuch a kingdom, is a proof of his having a great fhare of fortitude. In England fuch a determination would. have been looked upon with indifference; but in France, where the bulk of the people do not believe that it fecures the patient from a fecond attack ; where the clergy in gene ral confider it unfavourable, even in a reli gious light ; and Where the phyfical people, for want of practice, do not underftand the management of the diftemper, fo as it is known in England ; I may venture to fay, without being charged with flattery, that it was an heroic refolution : add to this, the King knowing, that if his fubjects fol lowed his example, it muft be chiefly done by their own furgeons and phyficians, fo he put himfelf under their management alone,. though I think Sutton was then at Paris. The: ( i67 ) The Queen is a fine figure, handfome, and very fprightly, dreffes in the prefent goitt of head drefs, and without a hand kerchief, and thereby difplays a moft lovely neck. I faw in a china fhop at Paris, the figure of the King and Queen finely executed, and very like, in china : the King is play ing on the harp, and the Queen dropping her work to liften to the harmony. The two figures, about a foot high, were placed in an elegant apartment, and the toute enflemble was the prettieft toy I ever beheld : the price thirty guineas. I fhall leave this town in a few days, and take the well-known and well-beaten rout Anglois for Calak, thro' Chantilly, Amiens, and Boulogne, and then I fhall have twice croffed this mighty kingdom. M -j LETTER ( 168 ) LETTER LIV. 1 Calaps. T Am now returned to the point from ¦*- whence I fat out, and rather within the revolution of one year ; which, upon, the whole, though I, met with many: untoward circumftances, has been the moft intereft. - ing .and entertaining year of my whole life, and will afford me" matter of reflection for the little which remains unfinifhed of that journey we muft all take fooner or later, a journey from whence no traveller returns-. — And having faid fo much of myfelf, I am fure you will be glad to change the fubject from man to beaft, efpecially to fuch a one as I have nowto fpeak of. I told you, when I fet out, that I had bought a handfome-looking Englifh horfe for feven guineas, but a little touched in his ( 169 ) his wind ; I can now inform you, that when I left this town, he was rather thiri, and had a fore back and fhoulder ; both which, by care and caution, were foon healed, and that he is returned fair and fat, and not a hair out of its place, though he drew two grown perfons, two children,. (one of thirteen, the other ten years old) a very heavy French cabriolet, and all our baggage, nay, almoft all my goods, chattels, and worldly property whatever, outward and homeward, except between Cette and Bar celona, going, and Lyons and this town re turning! I will point out to you one of his day's work, by which you will be able to judge of his general power of working: At Perpignan I had, to fave him, hired poft-horfes to the firft town in Spain, as I thought it might be too much for him to afcend and defcend the Pyrenees in one day; befide fixteen miles to the foot of them, on this fide, and three to Jonquire on the other ; but after the horfes were put to, the poft-mafter required me to take M 4 two ( i-7° ) /two men to Boulou > in order to hold the chaife, and to prevent its over-turning ip crofting the river near that village. Such a flagrant attempt to impofe, determined me to take neither horfes nor men ; and at fe- yen o'clock I fet off with Calle'e (that is my houyhnhnm's name) and arrived in three hours at Boulou, a paltry village, but in a fituation fit for the palace of Augustus ! So far from wanting men fppa Perr pignan to conduct my chaife over the river, the whole village were, upon our arrival, in motion after the job. We, however, paffed it, without any affiftance but our own weight to keep the wheels down, and the horfe's ftrength and fturdi- nefs, to drag us through it. Jn about three hours more we paffed over the fummit of this great chain of the univerfe; and in two more, arrived at Jonquire : near which vil lage my horfe had a little bait of frefh mown' hay, the firft, and laft, he eat in that kingdom. And when I tell you that this faithful, ( i7i ) faithful, and (for a great part of my journey) only fervant I had, never made^&flaux paux, never was fo tired, but that upon a pinch, he could have gone a league or two farther; nor ever was ill, lame, phyficked, or bled, fince he was mine ; you will agree, that either he is an uncommon good horfe, or that his mafter is a good groom ! Indeed J will fay that, however fatigued, wet, hungry, or droughty I was, I never partook pf any refrefhment till my horfe had every comfort the inn could afford. I carried a wooden bowl to give him water, and never paffed a brook without afking him to drink. ¦ — And, as. he has been my faithful fervant, I am now his ; for he lives under the fame roof with me, and does nothing but eat, drink, and fleep. — As he never fees me, nor hears my voice, without taking fome affectionate notice of me, I ventured to afk him tenderly, whether he thought he fhould be able to draw two of the fame party next year to Rome ? No tongue could pore plainly exprefs his willingnefs ! he anfwered ( 172 ) atifwered me, in French indeed, we-we-we- we-we, faid he; fo perhaps he might not be fincere, tho' he never yet deceived me. If, however, he fhould not go, or fhould out-live me, which is Very probable, my dying requeft to you will be, to procure him a peaceful walk for the remainder of his days, within the park -walls of fome humane private gentleman ; though I flatter myfelf the following petition will fave you that trouble, and tne the concern of leaving him without that comfort which his faithful fervices merit. To ( J73 ) To Sir James Tylney Long, Barts. A Faithful Servant's humble Petition, Sheweth, -TpHAT your petitioner entered into the ¦*¦ fervice of his prefent mafter, at an advanced age* and at a time too, that he la boured under a pulmonic diforder, deemed incurable; yet by gentle exercife, whole- fome food, and kind ufage, he has been enabled to accompany his mafter from Calais to Artois, Cambray, Rheims, St. Dezier, Dijon, Challons, Macon, Lyons, Pont St. Efprit, Pont du Guard, Niflmes, Montpellier, Cette, Nar bonne, Perpignan, the Pyrenees, Barcelona, Montflerrat, Aries, Marfleilles, Touloufle, Avignon, Aix, Valence, Paris, and back to Calais, in the courfe of one year : And that your petitioner has acquitted himfelf fo much to his mailer's fatisfaction, that he has promifed to take him next year to ( 174 ) to Rome ; and upon his return, to get him a fine-cure place for the remainder of his days ; and, as your petitioner can produce a certificate of his honefty, fobriety, flea- dinefs, and obedience to his mafter; and wifhes to throw himfelf under the protec tion of a man of fortune, honour, and hu manity, he is encouraged by his faid mafter to make this his humble prayer to you, who fays, that to above three hundred letters he has lately written, to afk a fmall boon for himfelf, he did not receive above three anfwers that gave bim the pleafure your's did, though he had twenty times better pretentions to an hundred and fifty. And as your petitioner hasfleen a great deal of the world, as well as his mafier, and has always obferved, that fuch men who are kind to their fellow-creatures, are kind alfo to brutes ; permit an humble brute to throw himfelf at your feet, and to afk upon his return from Rome, a lean-to, fhed, under your park-wall, that he may end his days in his native cquntry, and afford a repas, at ( ^75 ) at his death, to the dogs of a Man who feeds the poor, cloaths the naked, and who knows how to make ufe of the nobleft privilege which a large fortune can beftow, — that of foftening the calamities of man kind, and making the hearts glad of thofe who are oppreffed with misfortunes. — Your petitioner, therefore, who has never been upon his knees before to any man living, humbly prays, that he may be ad mitted within your park-pail, and that he may partake of that bounty which you beftow in common to your own fervants, who, by age or misfortunes, are paft their labour ; in which requeft your petitioner's mafter impowers him to ufe his name and joint prayer with Calle'e. I do hereby certify, that nothing is ad vanced in the above petition, but what is ftrictly true, and that if the petitioner had been able to exprefs himfelf properly, his merits and good qualities would have ap peared ( *7* ) peared to much greater advantage, as well as his fervices ; as he has omitted -many towns he attended his mafter to, befides' a variety of fmaller jourrties ; that he is cau tious, wary, fpirited, diligent, faithful, and- honeft ; that he is not nice* but eats, with appetite and good temper, whatever is fet before him ; and that he is in all refpects worthy of that afylum he afks, and which his mafter laments more on his accOunt than his own, that he cannot give him. Philip Thicknesse, Calais, the 4th of Nov. 1776. LETTER ( ^77 ) LETTER LV. Calais. /"XN our way here, we fpent two or ^-^ three days at Chantilly, one, of fifty Chatteaus belonging to the Prince of Conde': for, though we had vifited this delightful place, two or three times, fome years ago, yet, befide its natural beau ties, there is always fomething new. One fpot we found particularly pleafing, nay flattering to an Englifhman; it is called I'lfle d' Amour, in which ther are fome thatched cottages, a water-mill, a garden, fhrubbery, &c. in the Englifh tafte, and the whole is, in every refpect, well execu ted. The dairy is neat, and the milk-maid not ugly, who has her little villa, as well as the miller. There is alfo a tea-houfe, a billiard-room, an eating-room, and fome other little buildings, all externally in the Englifh, ( 178 ) Englifh village ftilei* which give the lawn, and ferpentine walks that furround them, a very paftoral appearance. The eating- room is particularly well fancied, being coved within, and fo painted as to pro duce a good idea of a clofe arbor ; the fe veral windows, which are pierced through the fides, have fuch forms, as the fantaftic turn of the bodies of the painted trees admit of; and the building is in a manner furrounded with natural trees ; the room, when illuminated for the Prince's fupper, has not only a very pleafing effect, but is a well executed deception, for the real trees falling into perfpective with thofe which are painted, through the variety of odd-fhaped windows, has a very natural, and confequently a very pleafing effect; but what adds greatly to the deception, is, that at each corner of the room the floor is opened, and tumps of earth thrown up, which bear, in full perfection, a great va riety of flowers and flowering fhrubs. We had the honour to be admitted while the Prince ( 179 ) Prince of Conde, the Duke and Duchefs of .Bourbon, the Princefs of Monaco, and two or three other ladies and gentlemen Were at fupper j a circumftance which be came rather painful to us* as it feemed to occafion fome to the company* and parti cularly to the Prince, who inquired who we were, and took pains to fhew every fort of politenefs he could to ftrangers he knew nothing of. The fupper was ele gantly ferved on plate ; but there feemed to me too many fervants round the table. The converfation was very little, and very referved. I do not recollect that I faw fcarce a fmile during the whole time of fupper. The Prince is a fprightly, agreeable man, fomething in perfon like Lord Barrington ; and the Duke of Bourbon fo like his father, that it was difficult to know the fon from the father. The Duchefs of Bourbon is young, hand;-* fome, and a moft accomplifhed lady. Vol. II. N During ( 180 ) During the fupper, a good band of mufic played ; but it was all wind inftruments. Mr. Lejeune, the firft baflbon, is a moft capital performer indeed. After the defert had been ferved up about ten minutes, the Princefs of Monaco rofe from the table, as did all the company, and fuddenly turning from it, each lady and gentleman's fervant held them a water glafs, which they ufed with great delicacy, and then retired. The Princefs of Monaco is feparated from the Prince her hufband; yet fhe has beauty enough for any Prince in Europe, and brought fortune enough for two or three. The Duchefs of Bourbon had rather a low head-drefs, and without any feather, or, that I could perceive, rouge ; the Prin cefs of Monaco's head-drefs was equally plain ; the two other ladies, whofe rank I do ( i8i ) do not recollect, wore black caps, and hats high dreffed; There were eight perfons fat down to table, and I think, about twenty-five fervants, in and out of livery, attended. The next day, we Were admitted to fee the Prince's cabinet of natural and artificial curiofities ; and, as I intimated my defign of publifhing fome account of my journey, the Prince was pleafed tp allow me as much time as I chofe, to examine his very large and valuable collection; among which is a cafe of gold medallions, (72) of the Kings of France, in fucceffion, a great variety of birds and beafts, ores, minerals, petrifactions,, gems, cameos, &c. There is alfo a curious cabinet, lately prefented to the Prince by the King of Denmark; and near it ftood a moft ftriking reprefenta- tion, in wax, of a prefent faid to he ferved up to a late unfortunate Queen ; it is the head and "right hand of Count Struenflee, as they were taken off after the execution; the i N 2 head ( i»a ) head and hand lie upon a filver difh, with the blood and blood-veflels too, well exe cuted ; never furely was any thing fofadly, yet fo finely done. I defy the niceft eye, however near, to diftinguifh it (fuppofe the head laid upon a pillow in a bed) from nature ; nor muft Mrs. Wright, or any of the workers in wax I have ever yet feen, pretend to a tythe of the perfection in that art, with the man who made this head.-— Sad as the fubject is, I could not withftand the temptatipn of afking permiflipn to take a copy of it ; and, fortunately, I found the man who made it was then at Paris, — nor has he executed his work for me lefs per fect than that he made for the Prince.—' I have been thus particular in mentioning this piece of art, becaufe, of the kind, I will venture to fay, it is not only deadly fine, but one of the moft perfect deceptions, ever feen. When you, or any of the ladies and gentlemen who have honoured this poor performance ( i83 ) performance of mine with their names, or their family or friends, pafs this way, I fhall be happy to embrace that occafion, to fhew, that I have not faid mpre of this inimitable piece of art, than it merits ; nor dp I fpeak thus pofitively from my own judgment, but have the concurrent opinion of many men of unqueftionable judgment, that it is a mafter-piece of art, and among the reft, our worthy and valuable friend Mr. Sharp, of the Old Jewry. Before we left Chantilly, we had a littje concert, to which my train added one per former; and as it was the only firing inftru- ment, it was np fmall addition. The day we left this charming place, we found the Prince and all his company un der tents and pavilions on the road-fide, from whence they were preparing to follow the hounds. At Amiens, there is in the H$tel de Fille, a little antique god in bronze, which was N 3 found ( iH ) found, about four years ago, near a Roman urn, in the earth, which is very well wor thy of the notice of a connoiffeur ; but it is fuch as cannot decently be "defcribed ; the perfon in whofe cuftody it is, permitted mfc to take an impreffion from it in wax; -but I am not quite flo good a harid at wax-work. as the artift mentioned above, and yet my little houfhold-god has fome merit, a me rit too that was not difcovered till three months after it had been fixed in the Hotel de Ville; and the.difcovery was made by \_ female, not a male, connoiffeur. It is faid, that a Hottentot cannot be To civilized, but that he has always a hanker ing after his fayage friends, -and. dried chit- • terlins; and, that gypfies prefer their roving life to any other, a circumftance that once did, but now no longer furpri^es me; for I feel fuch a defire to wander again, that I am impatient till the winter is paft, when I intend to vifit Geneva, and make the tour of Italy; and if you can find me put a fenfible ( 1*5 )' fenfible valetudinarian or two,, of either- fex, or any age, who will travel as we do, to fee what is to be feen, to make a little ftay, where the place, or the people invite us to do fo; who can dine on a .cold partridge, in a hot day, under a fhady tree ; and tra vel in a landau' and one, we will keep them a table d'hote, that fhall be more pleaf.mt than expenfive, and which will produce more health and fpirits, than half the drugs of Apothecary's-Hall. If God delights fo much in variety, as all things animate and inanimate fuffici ently prove,- no wonder that man fhould do fo too : and I have now been fo accuftomed to move, though flowly, that I intend to creep on to my journey s end, by which means I may live to have been an inha bitant of every town almoft in Europe, and die, as I have lately (and wifh I had always) lived, a free citizen of the whole world, flave to no feet, nor fubject to any King. Yet, I would not be confidered as N 4 cne ( 186 ) one wifhing to promote that difppfition in others; for I muft confefs, that it is in England alone, where an innocent and virtuous man can fit down and enjoy the bleffings of liberty and his own chearful hearth, in full confidence that no earthly power can difturb it ; and the beft reafon which can be offered in favour of Englifh- men vifiting other kingdoms, is, to enable them, upon their return, to know how to enjoy the ineftimable bleffings of their own. LETTER { i87 ) LETTER LVI. T70R what fhould I crofs the ftreight which -*- divides us, though it were but half fe ven leagues ? we fhould only meet to part again, and purchafe pleafure, as moft plea- fures are purchafed, too dearly; I have dropt fome heavy tears, (ideally at leaft) over poor Buckle's* grave, and it is all one to a man, now with God ! on what King's foil fuch a tribute as that is paid : had fome men of all nations known the goodnefs of his heart as we did, fome men of all nations would grieve as we do. When I frequented Morgan s,-f- I ufed him as a touch-ftone, to try the hearts of other men upon; for, as he was not rich, he was out of the walk of knaves and flatterers, and fuch men, who were. not prejudiced in his favour at firft fight, and coveted not his company after a little acquaintance, * William Bucklk, Efq. f Morgan's CofFee-Houfe, Grove, Bath. ( 188 ) acquaintance, I always avoided as beings made of bafe metal. It was for this reafon I defpifed that ****** ****5 (you know who I mean) for you too have feen him flnarl, and bite, and play the dog, even to Buckle V Our Sunday night's tea-club, round his chearful hearth, is now for ever diffolved, and Sharpe and Rye have adminiftered their laft friendly offices with a potion of forrow. Were. I, the hermit of St. Catherine, I would chiflel his name as deeply into one of my pine-heads, as his virtues are im preffed on my memory. Though I have loft his guinea, I will not lofe his name ; he looked down with pity upon me when here ; who can fay he may not do fo ftill ? I fhould be an infidel, did not a few fuch men as he keep me back. And now, my dear Sir, after the many trifling fubjects in this very long correfpon- dence ( i89 ) dence with you, I will avail myfelf of this good one, to clofe it, on the nobleft work of GOD, an honest Man. The lofs: of fuch a friend, is fufficient to induce one to lay afide all purfuits, but that of fol lowing his example, and to prepare to- follow him. If you fhould ever follow me here, I flatter myfelf you will find, that I have, to the beft of my poor abilities, made fuch a fketch of men and things on this fide of the water, that you will be able to difcover fome likenefs to the originals. A bad painter often hits the general features, though he fall ever fo fhort of the graces of Titian, or the Morbidezza of Guido. I am fure, therefore, you and every man of. candour, will make allowances for thq many inaccuracies, defects, &c. which I am fenfib|e thefe letters abound with, tho' I am incapable of correcting them. My journey, you know, wras not made, as moft travellers' are, to indulge in luxury, or in purfuit ( 19° ) purfuit of pleafures, but to foften forrow, and to recover from a blow, which came from a mighty hand indeed! but a hand, ftill more mighTy, has enabled me tp refift it, and to return in health, fpirits, and with that peace of mind which no earthly power can defpoil me of, and with that friendfhip and regard for you, which will only ceafe, when J ceafe to be PHILIP THICKNESSE, Calais, Nov. 4, " I776- P. S. I found Berwick's regiment on duty in this town : it is commanded by Monfl. le Due de Fitz James, and a number pf Irifh gentlemen, my countrymen, (for fo I will call them.) You may eafily imagine, that men who poflefs the natural hofpitality of their own country, with the politenefs and good-breeding of this, muft be very agree able acquaintance in general: But I am bound { 191 ) bound to go farther, and to fay, that I am endeared to them by marks of true friend fhip. The King of France, nor any Prince in Europe, cannot boaft of troops better difciplined ; nor is the King infenfible of their merit, for I have lately feen a letter written by the King's command, from Is ComtedeSt. Germain, addreffed to the offi cers of one of thefe corps, whereby it ap pears, that the King is truly fenfible of their diftinguifhed merit ; for braver men there are not in any fervice : — What an ac- quifition to France ! what a lofs to Britain! ( iQ2 ) \ S the Marquis of Grimaldi is retired d- *- from his public character, I arh tempted to fend you a fpecimen of his pri vate one, which, flattering as it is to me, and honourable to himfelf, I fhould have with-held, had his Excellency continued firft minifter of Spain ; by which you will fee, that while my own countrymen united to fet me in a fufpicious light, (though they thought otherwife) the minifter's po litenefs and humanity made them tremble, at the duplicity of their conduct; and had I been difpofed to have acted the fame fini- fter part they did, fome of them might have been reminded of an old Spanifh proverb, " A las malas Unguas tigeras." " Muy Sor. mio. Por la carta de i" del " corrK. veo fu feliz llegada a effa ciudad, '• en donde habia tornado una cafa, y por " las cartas que me incluye, y debuelbo, '• reconofco i 193 ) " reconofco los terminos honrados y re- " comendables con que ha efedtuado fu " falida de Inglaterra, cofa que yo nunca " podria dudar. " Defeo que a V. S. le va'ya muy bien en efte Reyno, y efpero que me avifarael ti- empo que fe propufiere detener en Bar celona, y tambien quando fe verificara fu yda a Valencia : cuyo Pais fe ha creydo el mas propio para fu refidencia eftable, por la fuavidad del clima y de- " mas circunftantias. V. S. me hal- lara. pronto a complacerle y fervirle en lo que fe le ofrezca : que es querido en el dia puedo decirle, referiendome ademas a mis cartas precedentes communicadas por medio de - — -------- (C a Dlos quiere a V. S. M° c'' " d° Srel i4Novrc. de 1775. " BL.M. en. S. " Su mayor feror. " El M-Tq* de Grimaldi. •• A Don Felipe Thicknefls." ( i94 ) A Madame Thicknesse. T TOila Madame, quelques amttfemens de ma * plume, vous avez paru les defirer, mon emprefiement a vous obeir fera le merite de ces legeres productions ; la premiere a eu affez de fucces en France, je doute qu'elle puifTe en avoir un pareil en Angleterre* parce que le mot n*a peut-etre pas la meme fignificafion, ce que nous appellons Grelot eft une petite clochette fermee que l'on attache aux hochets des enfans pour les amufer ; dans le fens metaphyfique on en fait un des attributs de la folie : Ici je ^em ploye comme embleme de gaiete et d'enfance. LePrintems eft uneEpitre ecrite de la campagne a un de mes amis ; j'etois fous le charme de la1 creation, pour ainli dire j les vers eh font d'une mefure tres difficile. La description de Courcelles eft celle d'une terre qu'avoit ma mere, et ou j'ai paffe toute ma jeunefTe ; enchahtee de fon payfage*- et de la vie champetrequej'aimedepaffionjjel'adrefToisaUnhonnete homme de Rheims que j'appellois par plaifanterie mon Papa : ce que j'ai de meilleur danfe r*95 ) dans mon porte-feuille, ce font des chanfons pour mon mari ; comme je l'aime parfaitement mon coeur m'a fervi de mufe : mais cette ten- drelTe toujours fi delicieufe aux intereffes ne peut plaire a ceux qui ne le font pasr '*' Quand j'aurai I'honneur de vous re voir, .^Madame, je vous communique'rai mon recueil, et- vous juge- rez. Recevez les hommages refpectueux de mon mari, et daignez faire agreer nos voeux .a Monf. Tiennerfe je n'ai point encore recti les jolies poches, je . pars demain : pour la canjpjigne, et j'y refteraiquinzejeurssnousavonsdes chaleurs cruelles^xMeflrs^Jes Anglois qui feint ici en fouf- frent beaucoup, j'ai -I'honneur d'etre avec le plus inviolable attadhement, Madame, Votre txes humble -et tres obeiffante feryante, De C our ce lies Desjardins. 28 Juillet, 17.76. O Epitre ( 196 ) Epitre au Grelot. D, E la folk aimable lot Don plus brillant que la richefle, Et que je nommerai fagefle Si je ne craignois le fagot, C'eft toi que je chante 6 Grelot ! Hochet heureux de tous les ages L'homme eft a toi des le maillot, Mais dans tes nombreux appanages Jamais tu ne comptas le fot : De tes fons mitiges le fage En tapinois fe rejouit Tandis que l'ihfenfe joui't Du plaifir de faire tapage. Plus envie que dedaigne Par cette efpece atrabilaire Qui penfe qu'un air re'frogne La met au defTus du vulgaire, La privation de tes' bienfaits Seule fait naitre fa fatyre ; Charmante idole du francois Chez lui refide ton empire : Tes ( 197 ) Tes dStracteiirs font les pedans, Les avares et les amans De cette gloire deftructive Qui peuple l'infernale rive, Et remplit l'univers d' exces. L'ambitieux dans fon delire N'eprouve que de noirs acces, Le genre-humain feroit en paix, Si les conquerans favoient rire. Contre ce principe evident C'eft en vain qu'un cenfeur declame, Le mai ne fe fait en riant. .Si de toi provient 1'epigrame,' Son tour heureux n'eft que plaifant" Et ne nuit jamais qu'au mechaht Que fa confcience decele. Nomme t-on la rofe cruelle Lorfqu'un mal-adroit la cueillant Se blefTe lui-meme au tranchant; De l'epine qu' avec prudence Nature fit pour fa defenfe. - Tes fimples et faciles jeux Prolongent dit-on notre enfance Cenfeur, que te faut-il de mieux ! Des abus, le plus dangereux, Le plus voifin de la demence O2 Eft ( 198 ) Eft de do'hner trbp' d'importance A ces chimeres dont les cieux Ont compote notre exntence Notre devoir eft d'etre heureux A moins de frais, a moins de voeux De l'homme eft toute la fcience. Par tes fons touiours enchanteurs Tu Fais fuir la froide vieilleffe Ou plutot la couvrant .de "fleurs -i ¦ - ... -''i - "¦. '- , Tu lui rends Pair de la ieuneffe. "Du temps tu trompes la lenteur, Par toi chaque heure eft une fete Democrite fut ton Docteur, Anacreon fut ton Prophete ; Tous deux pour fages recpnnus, L'un riant. des humains abus Te fit fonner dans fa retraite L'autre chantant a la guingette Te donna pour pomme a Venus Apres eux ma fimple mufette T'ofFre fes accens Ingenus Charmant Grelot, fur ta clochette Je veux moduler tous mes vers, Sois toujours la douce amufette Source de mes plaifirs divers Heureux qui te garde en cacHette Et fe Daffe I'univers. ( 199; ) Le Printems, Epitre a Monf. D— ." JL-/eja dans la plaine On reffent l'haleine^ Du leger Zephir ; Deja la nature Sourit au plaifir, La jeune verdure A 1'eclat du jour Oppofe la teinte Que cherit l'amour Fuyant la contrainte, • Au pied des ormeaux; Ma mufe naive Reprend fes pipeaux; Sur la verte rive Aux tendres echos Elle dit ces mots. Volupte fure Bien fans pareil ! O doux reveil De la nature ! Que 1'ame pure O 3 Dans ( 200 ) ' Dans nos guerets Avec y vrefle Voit tes attraits ;. De la tendrefTe Et de la paix Les dotfx bienfaits Sur toute efpece Vont s'epandant, Et font l'aimant Dont la magie Enchaine et lie Tout l'univers L'homme pervers Dans fa malice Ferme fon coeur A ces delices, Et de l'erreur Des gouts fadtices Fait fon bonheur La noire envie Fille d'orgueil, Chaque furie Jufqu'au cercueil, TifTe fa vie. Les vains defirs Des vrais plaifirs Sont ( 201 ) Sont antipodes -, A ces pagpdes Culte fe rend, L'oeil s'y meprend Et perd de vue Felicite, La Deite La plus courue La moins connue. Simple reduit Et folitaire Jadis conftruit Par le myftere Eft aujourd'hui Sa refidence : La biehveillance Au front ferein De la deefle Eft la Pretreffe ; Les ris badins Sont facriftains, Joyeux fidelles, De fleurs nouvelles Offrent les dons. Tendres chanfons Tribut du Zele,1 6 4 Jfbintes ( 102'" ) Jointes .ap.foras:- De Philom£le<£' De fon autlfr* ri Sont te ritttel1 ¦ Dans fonLemp1!fe" Telle eft la IoL/ . " Aimer, etrire " De bonne, foy," , Cet Evangile: Peu difficile Du vrai bbHh^ur- Seroit autettr Si pour ap6tre II vous avoif j En vain tout .autre Le precheroit. La colonic ,•, Du doublet morit Du vraie genie Vous a fait don, Sans nul caprice Entrez'en lice, EtdePaffif Venant adif Pour ( 203 ) * Pour la Deeffe EnchanterefTe Qui dans ces lieux Nous rend heureux Donnez moi rofe Nouyelle eclofe: Du doux Printems Hatez le terns II etincelle En vos ecrits, Qu"H renouvelle Mes Efprits. Adieu beau Sire, Pour ce delire Le fentiment Eft mon excufe. S'il vous amufe Un feul moment, Et vous rappelle Un coeur fidelle Depuis cent ans, Comme le votre En tous les terns N'ai defir autre. FABLK D, ( 204 ) FABLE Les Aquilons et I'Oranger. *E fougeux Aquilons une troupe emportee Contre un noble Oranger exhaloit fes fureurs lis foufHerent en vain, leur rage mutinee De I'arbre aux fruits dores n'ota que quelques fleurs. MADRIGAL, Du tumulte, du bruit, des valnes paffions Fuyons 1' eclat trompeur : a leurs impreffions Preferons les douceurs de ce fejour paifible, Difoit un jour Arifte a la tendre Delos. Soit, repart celle-ci '•, mais las! ce doux repos N'eft que le pis-aller d'une ame trop fenfible. QUATRAIN. Telle que ce ruiffeau qui promene fon onde Dans des lieux ecartes loin du bruit et du monde Je veux pour peu d'amis exifter deformais C'eft loin des faux plaifirs que Ton trouve les vrais. REVERIE ( 205 ) REVERIE SUR UNE LECTURE. Aux froids climats de I'ourfe, et dans ceux du midi, L'homme toujours le meme eft vain, foible, et credule, Sa devife eft partout Sottife et Ridicule. Le ceiebre Chinois, le Francois etourdi De la raifon encor n'ont que le crepufcule Jadis au feul hazard donnant tout jugement, Par les effets"cuifans du ferrougi qui brule On croyoit difcerner le foible et l'innocent ; A Siam aujourd'hui pareille erreur circule, Et Ton voit meme efprit fous une autre formule : Quand quelque fait obfcur tient le juge en fuf- pens On fait aux yeux de tous a chaque contendant D'Efculape avaler purgative pillule, Celui dont l'eftomac repugne a pareil mets Eft repute coupable et paye tous les frais. Du pauvre genre-humain telles font les annalesj Rome porta le deuil de I'honneur des veftales, Du Saint Pere a prefent, elle baife l'ergot : Plus gais, non plus fenfes dans ce fiecle falot Nous choififfons au moins 1'erreur la plus jolie: De ( 20(5 ) De I'inquififion, le bal, la comedie Remplacent parmi nous le terrible fagot ; Notre legerete detruit la barbarie1 Mais nous n'ayons encor que change de folie. ENVOI A MON MARL Tandis, mon cher, que tes travaux Me, procurent ce doux repos Et cette hqureufe infouciance But incertain de l'opulence ; Mon ame l'abeille imitant Aux pays d'efprit elancee Cueille les fleurs de la penf?e Et les femet aux fentiment. Mais helas ! dans ce vaftje champ En vain je cherche la fageffe, Pres, de moi certain Dieu fripon Me fait quitter l'ecole de Zmon. Pour le, charme de la tendrefie ; " L'homme eft cree pour etre bon " Et non favant, dit il, qu'il aime, " Du bonheur c'eft le vrai fyfteme Je fens, ma fpi, qu'il a raifon. DESCRIPTION ( 207 ) DESCRIPTION De laterreidunslaqmllej'hubifois, adrejjeeM* +=*=+ m Pompofo Moderato ft^dfllWlJlWJirft -II Siegrue .Su gue Sub'ito % m foi....frfl,.-^-.. f.rflffTCffi-iffr.rl>i[fg a Allegretto J;,i&"mc£f iLLfLrji^f j JtoLutol (¦-'"i^flfCrj-lf inlfvr '|hJilr'inl m iiiJ-iiiJiJiUi^u Jrn; ' ''*u p iJ iifi J *Hf f. w*.a-a~«i-*.«_«i.4.4.4.4.«.Ji.* LU LU 'LU-fcfcr- .'itfrhfff.hfffr.hfrTtffltTpritTf.T: Ji i 1,1 ¦> ; «6 #-* »¦ K'mC£f'C£fCLI^ £ p- f. GENERAL HINTS T O STRANGERS WHO TRAVEL in FRANCE. ( 223 ) GENERA L HINTS, &c TF you travel poft, when you approach ¦*¦ the town, or bourg where you intend to lie, afk the poft- boy, which houfe he recommends as the beft ? and never go to that, if there is any other. — Be previoufly informed what other inns there are in the fame place. If you go according to the poft-boy's recommendation, the aubergifte gives him two or three livres, which he makes you pay the next morning. I know but one auberge between Marfleilles and Paris, ( 224 ) ' Parts, where this is not a conftant prac tice, and that is at Vermanton, five leagues from Auxerre, where every Englifh travel ler will find a decent landlord, Monfieur Brunier, a St. Nicolas; good entertain ment, and no impofition, and confequently an inn where ho poft-boy will drive, if he can avoid it. II. If you take your own horfes, they muft: be provided with head-pieces, and hal ters ; the French ftables never furnifh any fuch things- and your fervant muft take care that the Gargon d'Ecurie does not buckle them fo tight, that the horfes con- not take a full bite, this being a common practice, to fave hay. III. If the Garcon d'Ecurie does not bring the halters properly rolled up, when he puts your horfes to, he ought to have nothing ( 225 ) nothing given him, becaufe they are fo conftantly accuftomed to do it, that they cannot forget it, but in hopes you may too. , IV. Direct your fervant, not only to fee your horfes watered, and corn given them, but to ftand by while they eat it : this is of ten neceffary in England, and always in France. v. If you eat at the table d'Hote, the price is fixed, and you cannot be impofed upon. If you eat in your own chamber, and or der your own dinner or fupper, it is - as neceffary to make a previous bargain with your hoft for it, as it would be to bargain with an itinerant Jew for a gold watch; the confidence and honour-: of a French Au~- bergifte, and a travelling Jew, are always to be confidered alike • and it is very remarka ble, that the publicans in France, are the only ( 226 ) only people who receive ftrangers with a cool indifference! and where this indif ference is moft fhewn, there is moft reafon to be cautious. VI. Be careful that your fheets are well aired, otherwife you will find them often, not only damp, but perfectly wet.— Frenchmen in general do not confider wet or damp fheets dangerous, at leaft I am fure French Auber- gifies do not. VII. Young men who travel into France with a view of gaining the language, fhould al ways eat at the table d'Hote.-* There is generally at thefe tables, an officer, or a prieft, and though there may be none but people of a middling degree, they will fhew every kind of attention and prefe rence? to a ftranger. VIII. It ( 227 ) VIII. It is neceffary to carry your own pillows with you j in fome inns they have them • but in villages, bourgs, &c. none are to be had. IX. In the wine provinces, at all the table d'Hotes, they always provide the common wine, as we do fmall beer ; wine is never paid for feparately, unlefs it is of a quality above the vin du Pays; and when you call for better, know the price before you; drink it. X. When fine cambrick handkerchiefs," &c. are given fo be wafhed, take dare" they are not trimmed round two inches' narrower, to make borders to Madams id Blanchiffeufle's night caps: this is a' little ' douceur which they think themfelves enti- CL tied ( 228 ) tied to, from my Lord Anglois, whom they are fure is tres riche, and confequently ought to be plundered by the poor. XI. Whenever you want honeft informa tion, get it from a French officer, or a prieft, provided they are on the wrong fide of forty • but in general, avoid all ac quaintance with either, on the right fide of thirty. XII. Where you propofe to ftay any time, be very cautious with whom you make an acquaintance, as there are always a number of officious forward Frenchmen, and Englifh adventurers, ready to offer you their fervices, from whom you will find it very difficult to difengage yourfelf, after you have found more agreeable com pany. Frenchmen of real fafhion, are very circumfpect, and will not fall in love with you at firft fight- but a defigning knave ( 229 ) knave will exercife every fpecies of flat-- tery, in order to fix himfelf upon you for his dinner, or what elfe he can get, and: will be with you before you are up, and after you are in bed. XIII. Wherever there is any cabinet of curiofi ties, medals, pictures, &c. to be feen, ne ver make any fcruple to fend a card, de- firing permiflion to view them • the re- queft is flattering to a Frenchman, and you will never be refufed- and befides this, you will in all probability thereby gain a valuable acquaintance. ^-It is generally men of fenfe and philofophy, who make fuch collections, and you will find' the collector of them, perhaps, the moft pleafing part of the cabinet. XIV. Take it as a maxim, unalterable as* the laws of the Medes and Perfians, that whenever you are invited to a fupper at Q_2 Parish ( 2JQ ) P&rns, Lyons, or any of the great cities, where a little trifling play commences be fore flipper, that great play is intended after fupper j and that you are the marked pigeon to be plucked. Always remember Lord Chefierfield's advice to his fon : " If ... A TREATISE on the Art of D^CYPHEIUNG, And of WRITING in CYPHER.' " With . an, Harmonic Alphabet 3