Travels Through France And Italy by Tobias Smollett (fastest ebook reader .txt) 📕

But Also For Its Situation On The Mediterranean, Where I Can Have

The Benefit Of Bathing; And From Whence There Is A Short Cut By

Sea To Italy, Should I Find It Necessary To Try The Air Of

Naples.

After Having Been Ill Accommodated Three Days At Our Inn, We Have

At Last Found Commodious Lodgings, By Means Of Mrs. B-, A Very

Agreeable French Lady, To Whom We Were Recommended By Her

Husband, Who Is My Countryman, And At Present Resident In London.

For Three Guineas A Month We Have The Greatest Part Of A House

Tolerably Furnished; Four Bed-Chambers On The First Floor, A

Large Parlour Below, A Kitchen, And The Use Of A Cellar.

These, I Own, Are Frivolous Incidents, Scarce Worth Committing To

Paper; But They May Serve To Introduce Observations Of More

Consequence; And In The Mean Time I Know Nothing Will Be

Indifferent To You, That Concerns--Your Humble Servant.

Dear Sir,--The Custom-House Officers At Boulogne, Though As

Alert, Are Rather More Civil Than Those On Your Side Of The

Water. I Brought No Plate Along With Me, But A Dozen And A Half

Of Spoons, And A Dozen Teaspoons: The First Being Found In One Of

Our Portmanteaus, When They Were Examined At The Bureau, Cost Me

Seventeen Livres Entree; The Others Being Luckily In My Servant's

Pocket, Escaped Duty Free. All Wrought Silver Imported Into

France, Pays At The Rate Of So Much Per Mark: Therefore Those Who

Have Any Quantity Of Plate, Will Do Well To Leave It Behind Them,

Unless They Can Confide In The Dexterity Of The Shipmasters; Some

Of Whom Will Undertake To Land It Without The Ceremony Of

Examination. The Ordonnances Of France Are So Unfavourable To

Strangers, That They Oblige Them To Pay At The Rate Of Five Per

Cent. For All The Bed And Table Linen Which They Bring Into The

Kingdom, Even Though It Has Been Used. When My Trunks Arrived In

A Ship From The River Thames, I Underwent This Ordeal: But What

Gives Me More Vexation, My Books Have Been Stopped At The Bureau;

And Will Be Sent To Amiens At My Expence, To Be Examined By The

Chambre Syndicale; Lest They Should Contain Something Prejudicial

To The State, Or To The Religion Of The Country. This Is A

Species Of Oppression Which One Would Not Expect To Meet With In

France, Which Piques Itself On Its Politeness And Hospitality:

But The Truth Is, I Know No Country In Which Strangers Are Worse

Treated With Respect To Their Essential Concerns. If A Foreigner

Dies In France, The King Seizes All His Effects, Even Though His

Heir Should Be Upon The Spot; And This Tyranny Is Called The

Droit D'aubaine Founded At First Upon The Supposition, That All

The Estate Of Foreigners Residing In France Was Acquired In That

Kingdom, And That, Therefore, It Would Be Unjust To Convey It To

Another Country. If An English Protestant Goes To France For The

Benefit Of His Health, Attended By His Wife Or His Son, Or Both,

And Dies With Effects In The House To The Amount Of A Thousand

Guineas, The King Seizes The Whole, The Family Is Left Destitute,

And The Body Of The Deceased Is Denied Christian Burial. The

Swiss, By Capitulation, Are Exempted From This Despotism, And So

Are The Scots, In Consequence Of An Ancient Alliance Between The

Two Nations. The Same Droit D'aubaine Is Exacted By Some Of The

Princes In Germany: But It Is A Great Discouragement To Commerce,

And Prejudices Every Country Where It Is Exercised, To Ten Times

The Value Of What It Brings Into The Coffers Of The Sovereign.

I Am Exceedingly Mortified At The Detention Of My Books, Which

Not Only Deprives Me Of An Amusement Which I Can Very Ill

Dispense With; But, In All Probability, Will Expose Me To Sundry

Other Inconveniencies. I Must Be At The Expence Of Sending Them 

Sixty Miles To Be Examined, And Run The Risque Of Their Being

Condemned; And, In The Mean Time, I May Lose The Opportunity Of

Sending Them With My Heavy Baggage By Sea To Bourdeaux, To Be

Sent Up The Garonne To Tholouse, And From Thence Transmitted

Through The Canal Of Languedoc To Cette, Which Is A Sea-Port On

The Mediterranean, About Three Or Four Leagues From Montpelier.

For The Recovery Of My Books, I Had Recourse To The Advice Of My

Landlord, Mons. B--. He Is A Handsome Young Fellow, About Twenty-Five

Years Of Age, And Keeps House With Two Maiden Sisters, Who

Are Professed Devotees. The Brother Is A Little Libertine, Good

Natured And Obliging; But A True Frenchman In Vanity, Which Is

Undoubtedly The Ruling Passion Of This Volatile People. He Has An

Inconsiderable Place Under The Government, In Consequence Of

Which He Is Permitted To Wear A Sword, A Privilege Which He Does

Not Fail To Use. He Is Likewise Receiver Of The Tythes Of The

Clergy In This District, An Office That Gives Him A Command Of

Money, And He, Moreover, Deals In The Wine Trade. When I Came To

His House, He Made A Parade Of All These Advantages: He Displayed

His Bags Of Money, And Some Old Gold Which His Father Had Left

Him. He Described His Chateau In The Country; Dropped Hints Of

The Fortunes That Were Settled Upon Mademoiselles His Sisters;

Boasted Of His Connexions At Court; And Assured Me It Was Not For

My Money That He Let His Lodgings, But Altogether With A View To

Enjoy The Pleasure Of My Company. The Truth, When Stript Of All

Embellishments, Is This: The Sieur B-- Is The Son Of An Honest

Bourgeois Lately Dead, Who Left Him The House, With Some Stock In

Trade, A Little Money, And A Paltry Farm: His Sisters Have About

Three Thousand Livres (Not Quite 140 L) Apiece; The Brother's

Places Are Worth About Fifty Pounds A Year, And His Connexions At

Court Are Confined To A Commis Or Clerk In The Secretary's

Office, With Whom He Corresponds By Virtue Of His Employment. My

Landlord Piques Himself Upon His Gallantry And Success With The

Fair-Sex: He Keeps A Fille De Joye, And Makes No Secret Of His

Amours. He Told Miss C-- The Other Day, In Broken English, That,

In The Course Of The Last Year, He Had Made Six Bastards. He

Owned, At The Same Time, He Had Sent Them All To The Hospital;

But, Now His Father Is Dead, He Would Himself Take Care Of His

Future Productions. This, However, Was No Better Than A

Gasconade. Yesterday The House Was In A Hot Alarm, On Account Of

A New Windfall Of This Kind: The Sisters Were In Tears; The

Brother Was Visited By The Cure Of The Parish; The Lady In The

Straw (A Sempstress) Sent Him The Bantling In A Basket, And He

Transmitted It By The Carriers To The Enfans Trouves At Paris.

But To Return From This Digression: Mr. B-- Advised Me To Send A

Requete Or Petition To The Chancellor Of France, That I Might

Obtain An Order To Have My Books Examined On The Spot, By The

President Of Boulogne, Or The Procureur Du Roy, Or The Sub-Delegate

Of The Intendance. He Recommended An Advocat Of His 

Acquaintance To Draw Up The Memoire, And Introduced Him

Accordingly; Telling Me At The Same Time, In Private, That If He

Was Not A Drunkard, He Would Be At The Head Of His Profession. He

Had Indeed All The Outward Signs Of A Sot; A Sleepy Eye, A

Rubicund Face, And Carbuncled Nose. He Seemed To Be A Little Out

At Elbows, Had Marvellous Foul Linen, And His Breeches Were Not

Very Sound: But He Assumed An Air Of Importance, Was Very

Courteous, And Very Solemn. I Asked Him If He Did Not Sometimes

Divert Himself With The Muse: He Smiled, And Promised, In A

Whisper, To Shew Me Some Chansonettes De Sa Facon. Meanwhile He

Composed The Requete In My Name, Which Was Very Pompous, Very

Tedious, And Very Abject. Such A Stile Might Perhaps Be Necessary

In A Native Of France; But I Did Not Think It Was At All Suitable

To A Subject Of Great-Britain. I Thanked Him For The Trouble He

Had Taken, As He Would Receive No Other Gratification; But When

My Landlord Proposed To Send The Memoire To His Correspondent At

Paris, To Be Delivered To The Chancellor, I Told Him I Had

Changed My Mind, And Would Apply To The English Ambassador. I

Have Accordingly Taken The Liberty To Address Myself To The Earl

Of H--; And At The Same Time I Have Presumed To Write To The

Duchess Of D--, Who Is Now At Paris, To Entreat Her Grace's

Advice And Interposition. What Effect These Applications May

Have, I Know Not: But The Sieur B-- Shakes His Head, And Has Told

My Servant, In Confidence, That I Am Mistaken If I Think The

English Ambassador Is As Great A Man At Paris As The Chancellor

Of France.

I Ought To Make An Apology For Troubling You With Such An

Unentertaining Detail, And Consider That The Detention Of My

Books Must Be A Matter Of Very Little Consequence To Any Body,

But To--Your Affectionate Humble Servant.

Sir--I Am Much Obliged To You For Your Kind Enquiries After My

Health, Which Has Been Lately In A Very Declining Condition. In

Consequence Of A Cold, Caught A Few Days After My Arrival In

France, I Was Seized With