Vanity, Indeed, Predominates Among
All Ranks, To Such A Degree, That They Are The Greatest Egotists
In The World; And The Most Insignificant Individual Talks In
Company With The Same Conceit And Arrogance, As A Person Of The
Greatest Importance.
Neither conscious poverty nor disgrace will
restrain him in the least either from assuming his full share of
the conversation, or making big addresses to the finest lady,
whom he has the smallest opportunity to approach:
Nor is he
restrained by any other consideration whatsoever. It is all one
to him whether he himself has a wife of his own, or the lady a
husband; whether she is designed for the cloister, or pre-ingaged
to his best friend and benefactor. He takes it for granted that
his addresses cannot but be acceptable; and, if he meets with a
repulse, he condemns her taste; but never doubts his own
qualifications.
I have a great many things to say of their military character,
and their punctilios of honour, which last are equally absurd and
pernicious; but as this letter has run to an unconscionable
length, I shall defer them till another opportunity. Mean-while,
I have the honour to be, with very particular esteem - Madam, Your
most obedient servant.
LETTER VIII
To MR. M -
LYONS, October 19, 1763.
DEAR SIR, - I was favoured with yours at Paris, and look upon your
reproaches as the proof of your friendship. The truth is, I
considered all the letters I have hitherto written on the subject
of my travels, as written to your society in general, though they
have been addressed to one individual of it; and if they contain
any thing that can either amuse or inform, I desire that
henceforth all I send may be freely perused by all the members.
With respect to my health, about which you so kindly enquire, I
have nothing new to communicate. I had reason to think that my
bathing in the sea at Boulogne produced a good effect, in
strengthening my relaxed fibres. You know how subject I was to
colds in England; that I could not stir abroad after sun-set, nor
expose myself to the smallest damp, nor walk till the least
moisture appeared on my skin, without being laid up for ten days
or a fortnight. At Paris, however, I went out every day, with my
hat under my arm, though the weather was wet and cold: I walked
in the garden at Versailles even after it was dark, with my head
uncovered, on a cold evening, when the ground was far from being
dry: nay, at Marli, I sauntered above a mile through damp alleys,
and wet grass: and from none of these risques did I feel the
least inconvenience.
In one of our excursions we visited the manufacture for
porcelain, which the king of France has established at the
village of St. Cloud, on the road to Versailles, and which is,
indeed, a noble monument of his munificence. It is a very large
building, both commodious and magnificent, where a great number
of artists are employed, and where this elegant superfluity is
carried to as great perfection as it ever was at Dresden. Yet,
after all, I know not whether the porcelain made at Chelsea may
not vie with the productions either of Dresden, or St. Cloud. If
it falls short of either, it is not in the design, painting,
enamel, or other ornaments, but only in the composition of the
metal, and the method of managing it in the furnace. Our
porcelain seems to be a partial vitrification of levigated flint
and fine pipe clay, mixed together in a certain proportion; and
if the pieces are not removed from the fire in the very critical
moment, they will be either too little, or too much vitrified. In
the first case, I apprehend they will not acquire a proper degree
of cohesion; they will be apt to be corroded, discoloured, and to
crumble, like the first essays that were made at Chelsea; in the
second case, they will be little better than imperfect glass.
There are three methods of travelling from Paris to Lyons, which,
by the shortest road is a journey of about three hundred and
sixty miles. One is by the diligence, or stagecoach, which
performs it in five days; and every passenger pays one hundred
livres, in consideration of which, he not only has a seat in the
carriage, but is maintained on the road. The inconveniences
attending this way of travelling are these. You are crouded into
the carriage, to the number of eight persons, so as to sit very
uneasy, and sometimes run the risque of being stifled among very
indifferent company. You are hurried out of bed, at four, three,
nay often at two o'clock in the morning. You are obliged to eat
in the French way, which is very disagreeable to an English
palate; and, at Chalons, you must embark upon the Saone in a
boat, which conveys you to Lyons, so that the two last days of
your journey are by water. All these were insurmountable
objections to me, who am in such a bad state of health, troubled
with an asthmatic cough, spitting, slow fever, and restlessness,
which demands a continual change of place, as well as free air,
and room for motion. I was this day visited by two young
gentlemen, sons of Mr. Guastaldi, late minister from Genoa at
London. I had seen them at Paris, at the house of the dutchess of
Douglas. They came hither, with their conductor, in the
diligence, and assured me, that nothing could be more
disagreeable than their situation in that carriage.
Another way of travelling in this country is to hire a coach and
four horses; and this method I was inclined to take: but when I
went to the bureau, where alone these voitures are to be had, I
was given to understand, that it would cost me six-and-twenty
guineas, and travel so slow that I should be ten days upon the
road.
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