Travels Through France And Italy - Tobias Smollett (diy ebook reader .TXT) 📗
- Author: Tobias Smollett
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Chagrin. We Entered Montpellier On A Sunday, When The People Were
All Dressed In Their Best Apparel. The Streets Were Crowded; And
A Great Number Of The Better Sort Of Both Sexes Sat Upon Stone
Seats At Their Doors, Conversing With Great Mirth And
Familiarity. These Conversations Lasted The Greatest Part Of The
Night; And Many Of Them Were Improved With Musick Both Vocal And
Instrumental: Next Day We Were Visited By The English Residing In
The Place, Who Always Pay This Mark Of Respect To New Comers.
They Consist Of Four Or Five Families, Among Whom I Could Pass
The Winter Very Agreeably, If The State Of My Health And Other
Reasons Did Not Call Me Away.
Mr. L-- Had Arrived Two Days Before Me, Troubled With The Same
Asthmatic Disorder, Under Which I Have Laboured So Long. He Told
Me He Had Been In Quest Of Me Ever Since He Left England. Upon
Comparing Notes, I Found He Had Stopped At The Door Of A Country
Inn In Picardy, And Drank A Glass Of Wine And Water, While I Was
At Dinner Up Stairs; Nay, He Had Even Spoke To My Servant, And
Asked Who Was His Master, And The Man, Not Knowing Him, Replied,
He Was A Gentleman From Chelsea. He Had Walked By The Door Of The
House Where I Lodged At Paris, Twenty Times, While I Was In That
City; And The Very Day Before He Arrived At Montpellier, He Had
Passed Our Coach On The Road.
The Garrison Of This City Consists Of Two Battalions, One Of
Which Is The Irish Regiment Of Berwick, Commanded By Lieutenant
Colonel Tents, A Gentleman With Whom We Contracted An
Acquaintance At Boulogne. He Treats Us With Great Politeness, And
Indeed Does Every Thing In His Power To Make The Place Agreeable
To Us. The Duke Of Fitz-James, The Governor, Is Expected Here In
A Little Time. We Have Already A Tolerable Concert Twice A Week;
There Will Be A Comedy In The Winter; And The States Of Provence
Assemble In January, So That Montpellier Will Be Extremely Gay
And Brilliant. These Very Circumstances Would Determine Me To
Leave It. I Have Not Health To Enjoy These Pleasures: I Cannot
Bear A Croud Of Company Such As Pours In Upon Us Unexpectedly At
All Hours; And I Foresee, That In Staying At Montpellier, I
Should Be Led Into An Expence, Which I Can Ill Afford. I Have
Therefore Forwarded The Letter I Received From General P--N, To
Mr. B--D, Our Consul At Nice, Signifying My Intention Of Going
Thither, And Explaining The Kind Of Accommodation I Would Choose
To Have At That Place.
Part 7 Letter 10 (Montpellier, November 10, 1763.) Pg 116
The Day After Our Arrival, I Procured Tolerable Lodgings In The
High Street, For Which I Pay Fifty Sols, Something More Than Two
Shillings Per Day; And I Am Furnished With Two Meals A Day By A
Traiteur For Ten Livres: But He Finds Neither The Wine Nor The
Dessert; And Indeed We Are But Indifferently Served. Those
Families Who Reside Here Find Their Account In Keeping House.
Every Traveller Who Comes To This, Or Any Other, Town In France
With A Design To Stay Longer Than A Day Or Two, Ought To Write
Beforehand To His Correspondent To Procure Furnished Lodgings, To
Which He May Be Driven Immediately, Without Being Under The
Necessity Of Lying In An Execrable Inn; For All The Inns Of This
Country Are Execrable.
My Baggage Is Not Yet Arrived By The Canal Of Languedoc; But That
Gives Me No Disturbance, As It Is Consigned To The Care Of Mr.
Ray, An English Merchant And Banker Of This Place; A Gentleman Of
Great Probity And Worth, From Whom I Have Received Repeated Marks
Of Uncommon Friendship And Hospitality.
The Next Time You Hear Of Me Will Be From Nice: Mean-While, I
Remain Always,--Dear Sir, Your Affectionate Humble Servant.
Part 7 Letter 11 ( Montpellier, November 12.) Pg 117
Dear Doctor--I Flattered Myself With The Hope Of Much Amusement
During My Short Stay At Montpellier.--The University, The
Botanical Garden, The State Of
Physic In This Part Of The World, And The Information I Received
Of A Curious Collection Of Manuscripts, Among Which I Hoped To
Find Something For Our Friend Dr. H--R; All These Particulars
Promised A Rich Fund Of Entertainment, Which, However, I Cannot
Enjoy.
A Few Days After My Arrival, It Began To Rain With A Southerly
Wind, And Continued Without Ceasing The Best Part Of A Week,
Leaving The Air So Loaded With Vapours, That There Was No Walking
After Sun-Set; Without Being Wetted By The Dew Almost To The
Skin. I Have Always Found A Cold And Damp Atmosphere The Most
Unfavourable Of Any To My Constitution. My Asthmatical Disorder.
Which Had Not Given Me Much Disturbance Since I Left Boulogne,
Part 7 Letter 11 ( Montpellier, November 12.) Pg 118Became Now Very Troublesome, Attended With Fever, Cough Spitting,
And Lowness Of Spirits; And I Wasted Visibly Every Day. I Was
Favoured With The Advice Of Dr. Fitzmaurice, A Very Worthy
Sensible Physician Settled In This Place: But I Had The Curiosity
To Know The Opinion Of The Celebrated Professor F--, Who Is The
Boerhaave Of Montpellier. The Account I Had Of His Private
Character And Personal Deportment, From Some English People To
Whom He Was Well Known, Left Me No Desire To Converse With Him:
But I Resolved To Consult With Him On Paper. This Great Lanthorn
Of Medicine Is Become Very Rich And Very Insolent; And In
Proportion As His Wealth Increases, He Is Said To Grow The More
Rapacious. He Piques Himself Upon Being Very Slovenly, Very
Blunt, And Very Unmannerly; And Perhaps To These Qualifications
Be Owes His Reputation Rather Than To Any Superior Skill In
Medicine. I Have Known Them Succeed In Our Own Country; And Seen
A Doctor's Parts Estimated By His Brutality And Presumption.
F-- Is In His Person And Address Not Unlike Our Old Acquaintance
Dr. Sm--Ie; He Stoops Much, Dodges Along, And Affects To Speak
The Patois, Which Is A Corruption Of The Old Provencial Tongue,
Spoken By The Vulgar In Languedoc And Provence. Notwithstanding
His Great Age And Great Wealth, He Will Still Scramble Up Two
Pair Of Stairs For A Fee Of Six Livres; And Without A Fee He Will
Give His Advice To No Person Whatsoever.
He Is Said To Have Great Practice In The Venereal Branch And To
Be Frequented By Persons Of Both Sexes Infected With This
Distemper, Not Only From Every Part Of France, But Also From
Spain, Italy, Germany, And England. I Need Say Nothing Of The
Montpellier Method Of Cure, Which Is Well Known At London; But I
Have Some Reason To Think The Great Professor F--, Has, Like The
Famous Mrs. Mapp, The Bone-Setter, Cured Many Patients That Were
Never Diseased.
Be That As It May, I Sent My Valet De Place, Who Was His Townsman
And Acquaintance, To His House, With The Following Case, And A
Loui'dore.
Annum Aetatis, Post Quadragesimum, Tertium, Temperamentum
Humidum, Crassum, Pituitarepletum, Catarrhis Saepissime
Profligatum. Catarrhus, Febre, Anxietate Et Dyspnoea, Nunquam Non
Comitatus. Irritatio Membranae Piuitariae Trachaealis, Tussim
Initio Aridam, Siliquosam, Deinde Vero Excreationem Copiosam
Excitat: Sputum Albumini Ovi Simillimum.
Part 7 Letter 11 ( Montpellier, November 12.) Pg 119
Accedente Febre, Urina Pallida, Limpida: Ad Akmen Flagrante,
Colorem Rubrum, Subflavum Induit: Coctione Peracta, Sedimentum
Lateritium Deponit.
Appetitus Raro Deest: Digestio Segnior Sed Secura, Non Autem Sine
Ructu Perfecta. Alvus Plerumque Stipata: Excretio Intestinalis
Minima, Ratione Ingestorum Habita. Pulsus Frequens, Vacillans,
Exilis, Quandoquidem Etiam Intermittens.
Febre Una Extincta, Non Deficit Altera. Aliaque Et Eadem Statim
Nascitur. Aer Paulo Frigidior, Vel Humidior, Vestimentum
Inusitatum Indutum; Exercitatio Paulullum Nimia; Ambulatio,
Equitatio, In Quovis Vehiculo Jactatio; Haec Omnia Novos Motus
Suscitant. Systema Nervosum Maxime Irritabile, Organos Patitur.
Ostiola In Cute Hiantia, Materiei Perspirabili, Exitum
Praebentia, Clauduntur. Materies Obstructa Cumulatur; Sanguine
Aliisque Humoribus Circumagitur: Fit Plethora. Natura Opprimi
Nolens, Excessus Huius Expulsionem Conatur. Febris Nova
Accenditur. Pars Oneris, In Membranam Trachaealem Laxatam Ac
Debilitatam Transfertur. Glandulae Pituitariae Turgentes Bronchia
Comprimunt. Liber Aeri Transitus Negatur: Hinc Respiratio
Difficilis. Hac Vero Translatione Febris Minuitur: Interdiu
Remittitur. Dyspnoea Autem Aliaque Symptomata Vere
Hypochondriaca, Recedere Nolunt. Vespere Febris Exacerbatur.
Calor, Inquietudo, Anxietas Et Asthma, Per Noctem Grassantur. Ita
Quotidie Res Agitur, Donec. Vis Vitae Paulatim Crisim Efficit.
Seminis Joctura, Sive In Somniis Effusi, Seu In Gremio Veneris
Ejaculati, Inter Causas Horum Malorum Nec Non Numeretur.
Quibusdam Abhinc Annis, Exercitationibus Juvenilibus Subito
Remissis, In Vitam Sedentariam Lapsum. Animo In Studia Severiora
Converso, Fibre Gradatim Laxabantur. Inter Legendum, Et
Scribendum Inclinato Corpore In Pectus Malum, Ruebat. Morbo
Ingruenti Affectio Scorbutica Auxilium Tulit. Invasio Prima
Nimium Aspernata. Venientibus Hostibus Non Occursum. Cunctando
Res Non Restituta. Remedia Convenientia Stomachus Perhorrescebat.
Gravescente Dyspnoea Phlebotomia Frustra Tentata. Sanguinis
Missione Vis Vitae Diminuta: Fiebat Pulsitis Debilior, Respiratio
Difficilior. In Pejus Ruunt Omnia. Febris Anomala In Febriculam
Continuam Mutata. Dyspnoea Confirmata. Fibrarum Compages Soluta.
Valetudo Penitus Eversa.
His Agitatus Furiis, Aeger Ad Mare Provolat: In Fluctus Se
Precipitem, Dat: Periculum Factum Spem Non Fefellit: Decies
Iteratum, Felix Faustumque Evasit. Elater Novus Fibris
Part 7 Letter 11 ( Montpellier, November 12.) Pg 120
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