He Never Swerved From Seeing
Whatever His Curiosity Prompted Him To, No Matter How Forbidden And
Perilous Was The Venture.
Disguised as a German he successfully viewed
the inside of a Spanish fort;[185] in the character of a
Frenchman he
entered the jaws of the Jesuit College at Rome.[186] He made his way
through German robbers by dressing as a poor Bohemian, without cloak or
sword, with his hands in his hose, and his countenance servile.[187] His
triumphs were due not so much to a dashing and magnificent bravery, as
to a nice ingenuity. For instance, when he was plucked bare by the
French soldiers of even his inner doublet, in which he had quilted his
money, he was by no means left penniless, for he had concealed some gold
crowns in a box of "stinking ointment" which the soldiers threw down in
disgust.[188]
His Precepts for Travellers are characteristically canny. Never tell
anyone you can swim, he advises, because in case of shipwreck "others
trusting therein take hold of you, and make you perish with them."[189]
Upon duels and resentment of injury in strange lands he throws cold
common sense. "I advise young men to moderate their aptnesse to
quarrell, lest they perish with it. We are not all like Amadis or
Rinalldo, to incounter an hoste of men."[190] Very thoughtful is this
paragraph on the night's lodging:
"In all Innes, but especially in suspected places, let him bolt or locke
the doore of his chamber:
Enter page number
PreviousNext
Page 68 of 199
Words from 18681 to 18933
of 55513
