It Was Here That
Marius, The Conqueror Of The Teutones, Fixed His Headquarters,
And Embellished The Place With Temples, Aqueducts, And Thermae,
Of Which, However, Nothing Now Remains.
The city, as it now
stands, is well built, though the streets in general are narrow,
and kept in a very dirty condition.
But it has a noble cours
planted with double rows of tall trees, and adorned with three or
four fine fountains, the middlemost of which discharges hot water
supplied from the source of the baths. On each side there is a
row of elegant houses, inhabited chiefly by the noblesse, of
which there is here a considerable number. The parliament, which
is held at Aix, brings hither a great resort of people; and as
many of the inhabitants are persons of fashion, they are well
bred, gay, and sociable. The duc de Villars, who is governor of
the province, resides on the spot, and keeps an open assembly,
where strangers are admitted without reserve, and made very
welcome, if they will engage in play, which is the sole
occupation of the whole company. Some of our English people
complain, that when they were presented to him, they met with a
very cold reception. The French, as well as other foreigners,
have no idea of a man of family and fashion, without the title of
duke, count, marquis, or lord, and where an English gentleman is
introduced by the simple expression of monsieur tel, Mr.
Suchathing, they think he is some plebeian, unworthy of any
particular attention.
Aix is situated in a bottom, almost surrounded by hills, which,
however, do not screen it from the Bize, or north wind, that
blows extremely sharp in the winter and spring, rendering the air
almost insupportably cold, and very dangerous to those who have
some kinds of pulmonary complaints, such as tubercules,
abscesses, or spitting of blood. Lord H - , who passed part of
last winter in this place, afflicted with some of these symptoms,
grew worse every day while he continued at Aix: but, he no sooner
removed to Marseilles, than all his complaints abated; such a
difference there is in the air of these two places, though the
distance between them does not exceed ten or twelve miles. But
the air of Marseilles, though much more mild than that of Aix in
the winter is not near so warm as the climate of Nice, where we
find in plenty such flowers, fruit, and vegetables, even in the
severest season, as will not grow and ripen, either at Marseilles
or Toulon.
If the air of Aix is disagreeably cold in the winter, it is
rendered quite insufferable in the summer, from excessive heat,
occasioned by the reflexion from the rocks and mountains, which
at the same time obstruct the circulation of air: for it must be
observed, that the same mountains which serve as funnels and
canals, to collect and discharge the keen blasts of winter, will
provide screens to intercept intirely the faint breezes of
summer. Aix, though pretty well provided with butcher's meat, is
very ill supplied with potherbs; and they have no poultry but
what comes at a vast distance from the Lionnois. They say their
want of roots, cabbage, cauliflower, etc. is owing to a scarcity
of water: but the truth is, they are very bad gardeners. Their
oil is good and cheap: their wine is indifferent: but their chief
care seems employed on the culture of silk, the staple of
Provence, which is every where shaded with plantations of
mulberry trees, for the nourishment of the worms. Notwithstanding
the boasted cheapness of every article of housekeeping, in the
south of France, I am persuaded a family may live for less money
at York, Durham, Hereford, and in many other cities of England
than at Aix in Provence; keep a more plentiful table; and be much
more comfortably situated in all respects. I found lodging and
provision at Aix fifty per cent dearer than at Montpellier, which
is counted the dearest place in Languedoc.
The baths of Aix, so famous in antiquity, were quite demolished
by the irruptions of the barbarians. The very source of the water
was lost, till the beginning of the present century (I think the
year 1704), when it was discovered by accident, in digging for
the foundation of a house, at the foot of a hill, just without
the city wall. Near the same place was found a small stone altar,
with the figure of a Priapus, and some letters in capitals, which
the antiquarians have differently interpreted. From this figure,
it was supposed that the waters were efficacious in cases of
barrenness. It was a long time, however, before any person would
venture to use them internally, as it did not appear that they
had ever been drank by the antients. On their re-appearance, they
were chiefly used for baths to horses, and other beasts which had
the mange, and other cutaneous eruptions. At length poor people
began to bathe in them for the same disorders, and received such
benefit from them, as attracted the attention of more curious
inquirers. A very superficial and imperfect analysis was made and
published, with a few remarkable histories of the cures they had
performed, by three different physicians of those days; and those
little treatises, I suppose, encouraged valetudinarians to drink
them without ceremony. They were found serviceable in the gout,
the gravel, scurvy, dropsy, palsy, indigestion, asthma, and
consumption; and their fame soon extended itself all over
Languedoc, Gascony, Dauphine, and Provence. The magistrates, with
a view to render them more useful and commodious, have raised a
plain building, in which there are a couple of private baths,
with a bedchamber adjoining to each, where individuals may use
them both internally and externally, for a moderate expence.
These baths are paved with marble, and supplied with water each
by a large brass cock, which you can turn at pleasure. At one end
of this edifice, there is an octagon, open at top, having a
bason, with a stone pillar in the middle, which discharges water
from the same source, all round, by eight small brass cocks; and
hither people of all ranks come of a morning, with their glasses,
to drink the water, or wash their sores, or subject their
contracted limbs to the stream.
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