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

Individuals To Take A Certain Quantity Of Salt At The Price Which

The Farmers Shall Please To Fix; Of The Exclusive Privilege To

Sell Tobacco; Of The Droits De Controlle, Insinuation, Centieme

Denier, Franchiefs, Aubeine, Echange Et Contre-Echange Arising

From The Acts Of Voluntary Jurisdiction, As Well As Certain Law-Suits. 

These Farms Are Said To Bring Into The King's Coffers

Above One Hundred And Twenty Millions Of Livres Yearly, Amounting

To Near Five Millions Sterling: But The Poor People Are Said To

Pay About A Third More Than This Sum, Which The Farmers Retain To

Enrich Themselves, And Bribe The Great For Their Protection;

Which Protection Of The Great Is The True Reason Why This Most

Iniquitous, Oppressive, And Absurd Method Of Levying Money Is Not

Laid Aside. Over And Above Those Articles I Have Mentioned, The

French King Draws Considerable Sums From His Clergy, Under The

Denomination Of Dons Gratuits, Or Free-Gifts; As Well As From The

Subsidies Given By The Pays D'etats Such As Provence, Languedoc,

And Bretagne, Which Are Exempted From The Taille. The Whole

Revenue Of The French King Amounts To Between Twelve And Thirteen

Millions Sterling. These Are Great Resources For The King: But

They Will Always Keep The People Miserable, And Effectually

Prevent Them From Making Such Improvements As Might Turn Their

Lands To The Best Advantage. But Besides Being Eased In The

Article Of Taxes, There Is Something Else Required To Make Them

Exert Themselves For The Benefit Of Their Country. They Must Be

Free In Their Persons, Secure In Their Property, Indulged With

Reasonable Leases, And Effectually Protected By Law From The

Insolence And Oppression Of Their Superiors.

Great As The French King's Resources May Appear, They Are Hardly

Sufficient To Defray The Enormous Expence Of His Government.

About Two Millions Sterling Per Annum Of His Revenue Are Said To

Be Anticipated For Paying The Interest Of The Public Debts; And

The Rest Is Found Inadequate To The Charge Of A Prodigious

Standing Army, A Double Frontier Of Fortified Towns And The

Extravagant Appointments Of Ambassadors, Generals, Governors,

Intendants, Commandants, And Other Officers Of The Crown, All Of

Whom Affect A Pomp, Which Is Equally Ridiculous And Prodigal. A

French General In The Field Is Always Attended By Thirty Or Forty

Cooks; And Thinks It Is Incumbent Upon Him, For The Glory Of

France, To Give A Hundred Dishes Every Day At His Table. When Don

Philip, And The Marechal Duke De Belleisle, Had Their Quarters At

Nice, There Were Fifty Scullions Constantly Employed In The Great

Square In Plucking Poultry. This Absurd Luxury Infects Their

Whole Army. Even The Commissaries Keep Open Table; And Nothing Is

Seen But Prodigality And Profusion. The King Of Sardinia Proceeds

Upon Another Plan. His Troops Are Better Cloathed, Better Payed,

And Better Fed Than Those Of France. The Commandant Of Nice Has

About Four Hundred A Year Of Appointments, Which Enable Him To

Live Decently, And Even To Entertain Strangers. On The Other

Hand, The Commandant Of Antibes, Which Is In All Respects More

Inconsiderable Than Nice, Has From The French King Above Five

Times The Sum To Support The Glory Of His Monarch, Which All The

Sensible Part Of Mankind Treat With Ridicule And Contempt. But

The Finances Of France Are So Ill Managed, That Many Of Their

Commandants, And Other Officers, Have Not Been Able To Draw Their

Appointments These Two Years. In Vain They Complain And

Remonstrate. When They Grow Troublesome They Are Removed. How 

Then Must They Support The Glory Of France? How, But By

Oppressing The Poor People. The Treasurer Makes Use Of Their

Money For His Own Benefit. The King Knows It; He Knows His

Officers, Thus Defrauded, Fleece And Oppress His People: But He

Thinks Proper To Wink At These Abuses. That Government May Be

Said To Be Weak And Tottering Which Finds Itself Obliged To

Connive At Such Proceedings. The King Of France, In Order To Give

Strength And Stability To His Administration, Ought To Have Sense

To Adopt A Sage Plan Of Oeconomy, And Vigour Of Mind Sufficient

To Execute It In All Its Parts, With The Most Rigorous Exactness.

He Ought To Have Courage Enough To Find Fault, And Even To Punish

The Delinquents, Of What Quality Soever They May Be: And The

First Act Of Reformation Ought To Be A Total Abolition Of All The

Farms. There Are, Undoubtedly, Many Marks Of Relaxation In The

Reins Of The French Government, And, In All Probability, The

Subjects Of France Will Be The First To Take Advantage Of It.

There Is At Present A Violent Fermentation Of Different

Principles Among Them, Which Under The Reign Of A Very Weak

Prince, Or During A Long Minority, May Produce A Great Change In

The Constitution. In Proportion To The Progress Of Reason And

Philosophy, Which Have Made Great Advances In This Kingdom,

Superstition Loses Ground; Antient Prejudices Give Way; A Spirit

Of Freedom Takes The Ascendant. All The Learned Laity Of France

Detest The Hierarchy As A Plan Of Despotism, Founded On Imposture

And Usurpation. The Protestants, Who Are Very Numerous In

Southern Parts, Abhor It With All The Rancour Of Religious

Fanaticism. Many Of The Commons, Enriched By Commerce And

Manufacture, Grow Impatient Of Those Odious Distinctions, Which

Exclude Them From The Honours And Privileges Due To Their

Importance In The Commonwealth; And All The Parliaments, Or

Tribunals Of Justice In The Kingdom, Seem Bent Upon Asserting

Their Rights And Independence In The Face Of The King's

Prerogative, And Even At The Expence Of His Power And Authority.

Should Any Prince Therefore Be Seduced By Evil Counsellors, Or

Misled By His Own Bigotry, To Take Some Arbitrary Step, That May

Be Extremely Disagreeable To All Those Communities, Without

Having Spirit To Exert The Violence Of His Power For The Support

Of His Measures, He Will Become Equally Detested And Despised;

And The Influence Of The Commons Will Insensibly Encroach Upon

The Pretensions Of The Crown. But If In The Time Of A Minority,

The Power Of The Government Should Be Divided Among Different

Competitors For The Regency, The Parliaments And People Will Find

It Still More Easy To Acquire And Ascertain The Liberty At Which

They Aspire, Because They Will Have The Balance Of Power In Their

Hands, And Be Able To Make Either Scale Preponderate. I Could Say

A Great Deal More Upon This Subject; And I Have Some Remarks To

Make Relating To The Methods Which Might Be Taken In The Case Of

A Fresh Rupture With France, For Making A Vigorous Impression On

That Kingdom. But These I In List Defer Till Another Occasion,

Having Neither Room Nor Leisure At Present To Add Any Thing, But

That I Am, With Great Truth,--Dear Sir, Your Very Humble Servant.

Dear Doctor,--As I Have Now Passed A Second Winter At Nice I

Think Myself Qualified To Make Some Further Remarks On This

Climate. During The Heats Of Last Summer, I Flattered Myself With

The Prospect Of The Fine Weather I Should Enjoy In The Winter;

But Neither I, Nor Any Person In This Country, Could Foresee The

Rainy Weather That Prevailed From The Middle Of November, Till

The Twentieth Of March. In This Short Period Of Four Months, We

Have Had Fifty-Six Days Of Rain, Which I Take To Be A Greater

Quantity Than Generally Falls During The Six Worst Months Of The

Year In The County Of Middlesex, Especially As It Was, For The

Most Part, A Heavy, Continued Rain. The South Winds Generally

Predominate In The Wet Season At Nice: But This Winter The Rain

Was Accompanied With Every Wind That Blows, Except The South;

Though The Most Frequent Were Those That Came From The East And

North Quarters. Notwithstanding These Great Rains, Such As Were

Never Known Before At Nice In The Memory Of Man, The Intermediate

Days Of Fair Weather Were Delightful, And The Ground Seemed

Perfectly Dry. The Air Itself Was Perfectly Free From Moisture.

Though I Live Upon A Ground Floor, Surrounded On Three Sides By A

Garden, I Could Not Perceive The Least Damp, Either On The

Floors, Or The Furniture; Neither Was I Much Incommoded By The

Asthma, Which Used Always To Harass Me Most In Wet Weather. In A

Word, I Passed The Winter Here Much More Comfortably Than I

Expected. About The Vernal Equinox, However, I Caught A Violent

Cold, Which Was Attended With A Difficulty Of Breathing, And As

The Sun Advances Towards The Tropic, I Find Myself Still More

Subject To Rheums. As The Heat Increases, The Humours Of The Body

Are Rarefied, And, Of Consequence, The Pores Of The Skin Are

Opened; While The East Wind Sweeping Over The Alps And Apennines,

Covered With Snow, Continues Surprisingly Sharp And Penetrating.

Even The People Of The Country, Who Enjoy Good Health, Are Afraid

Of Exposing Themselves To The Air At This Season, The

Intemperature Of Which May Last Till The Middle Of May, When All

The Snow On The Mountains Will Probably Be Melted: Then The Air

Will Become Mild And Balmy, Till, In The Progress Of Summer, It

Grows Disagreeably Hot, And The Strong Evaporation From The Sea

Makes It So Saline, As To Be Unhealthy For Those Who Have A

Scorbutical Habit. When The Sea-Breeze Is High, This Evaporation

Is So Great As To Cover The Surface Of The Body With A Kind Of

Volatile Brine, As I Plainly Perceived Last Summer. I Am More And

More Convinced That This Climate Is Unfavourable For The Scurvy.

Were I Obliged To Pass My Life In It, I Would Endeavour To Find A

Country Retreat Among The Mountains, At Some Distance From The

Sea, Where I Might Enjoy A Cool Air, Free From This Impregnation,

Unmolested By Those Flies, Gnats, And Other Vermin Which Render

The Lower Parts Almost Uninhabitable. To This Place I Would