Travels Through France And Italy - Tobias Smollett (diy ebook reader .TXT) 📗
- Author: Tobias Smollett
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In Such Flagrant Instances Of Unjustifiable Negligence, Arid Like
All Other Persons In The Same Ungracious Dilemma, Instead Of
Justifying Himself By Reason Or Argument, Had Recourse To
Recrimination. In The Paper Which He Sent Me Next Day, He
Insisted In General That He Had Carefully Perused The Case (Which
You Will Perceive Was A Self-Evident Untruth); He Said The Theory
It Contained Was Idle; That He Was Sure It Could Not Be Written
By A Physician; That, With Respect To The Disorder, He Was Still
Of The Same Opinion; And Adhered To His Former Prescription; But
If I Had Any Doubts I Might Come To His House, And He Would
Resolve Them.
I Wrapt Up Twelve Livres In The Following Note, And Sent It To
His House.
"C'est Ne Pas Sans Raison Que Monsieur F-- Jouit D'une Si Grande
Reputation. Je N'ai Plus De Doutes, Graces A Dieu Et A Monsieur
F--E. " "It Is Not Without Reason That Monsieur Fizes Enjoys Such
A Large Share Of Reputation. I Have No Doubts Remaining; Thank
Heaven And Monsieur Fizes."
To This I Received For Answer. "Monsieur N'a Plus De Doutes: J'en
Suis Charme. Receu Douze Livres. F--, &C." "Sir, You Have No
Doubts Remaining; I Am Very Glad Of It. Received Twelve Livres.
Fizes, &C."
Instead Of Keeping His Promise To The Valet, He Put The Money In
Part 7 Letter 11 ( Montpellier, November 12.) Pg 125His Pocket; And The Fellow Returned In A Rage, Exclaiming That He
Was Un Gros Cheval De Carosse, A Great Coach-Horse.
I Shall Make No Other Comment Upon The Medicines, And The Regimen
Which This Great Doctor Prescribed; But That He Certainly Mistook
The Case: That Upon The Supposition I Actually Laboured Under A
Purulent Discharge From The Lungs, His Remedies Savour Strongly
Of The Old Woman; And That There Is A Total Blank With Respect To
The Article Of Exercise, Which You Know Is So Essential In All
Pulmonary Disorders. But After Having Perused My Remarks Upon His
First Prescription, He Could Not Possibly Suppose That I Had
Tubercules, And Was Spitting Up Pus; Therefore His Persisting In
Recommending The Same Medicines He Had Prescribed On That
Supposition, Was A Flagrant Absurdity.--If, For Example, There
Was No Vomica In The Lungs; And The Business Was To Attenuate The
Lymph, What Could Be More Preposterous Than To Advise The Chalk
Of Briancon, Coral, Antihecticum Poterii, And The Balm Of Canada?
As For The Turtle-Soupe, It Is A Good Restorative And Balsamic;
But, I Apprehend, Will Tend To Thicken Rather Than Attenuate The
Phlegm. He Mentions Not A Syllable Of The Air, Though It Is
Universally Allowed, That The Climate Of Montpellier Is
Pernicious To Ulcerated Lungs; And Here I Cannot Help Recounting
A Small Adventure Which Our Doctor Had With A Son Of Mr. O--D,
Merchant In The City Of London. I Had It From Mrs. St--E Who Was
On The Spot. The Young Gentleman, Being Consumptive, Consulted
Mr. F--, Who Continued Visiting And Prescribing For Him A Whole
Month. At Length, Perceiving That He Grew Daily Worse, "Doctor
(Said He) I Take Your Prescriptions Punctually; But, Instead Of
Being The Better For Them, I Have Now Not An Hour's Remission
From The Fever In The Four-And-Twenty.--I Cannot Conceive The
Meaning Of It." F--, Who Perceived He Had Not Long To Live, Told
Him The Reason Was Very Plain: The Air Of Montpellier Was Too
Sharp For His Lungs, Which Required A Softer Climate. "Then
You're A Sordid Villain (Cried The Young Man) For Allowing Me To
Stay Here Till My Constitution Is Irretrievable." He Set Out
Immediately For Tholouse, And In A Few Weeks Died In The
Neighbourhood Of That City.
I Observe That The Physicians In This Country Pay No Regard To
The State Of The Solids In Chronical Disorders, That Exercise And
The Cold Bath Are Never Prescribed, That They Seem To Think The
Scurvy Is Entirely An English Disease; And That, In All
Appearance, They Often Confound The Symptoms Of It, With Those Of
The Venereal Distemper. Perhaps I May Be More Particular On This
Subject In A Subsequent Letter. In The Mean Time, I Am Ever,--
Dear Sir, Yours Sincerely.
Part 7 Letter 12 ( Nice, December 6, 1763.) Pg 126
Dear Sir,--The Inhabitants Of Montpellier Are Sociable, Gay, And
Good-Tempered. They Have A Spirit Of Commerce, And Have Erected
Several Considerable Manufactures, In The Neighbourhood Of The
City. People Assemble Every Day To Take The Air On The Esplanade,
Where There Is A Very Good Walk, Just Without The Gate Of The
Citadel: But, On The Other Side Of The Town, There Is Another
Still More Agreeable, Called The Peirou, From Whence There Is A
Prospect Of The Mediterranean On One Side, And Of The Cevennes On
The Other. Here Is A Good Equestrian Statue Of Louis Xiv,
Fronting One Gate Of The City, Which Is Built In Form Of A
Triumphal Arch, In Honour Of The Same Monarch. Immediately Under
The Pierou Is The Physic Garden, And Near It An Arcade Just
Finished For An Aqueduct, To Convey A Stream Of Water To The
Upper Parts Of The City. Perhaps I Should Have Thought This A
Neat Piece Of Work, If I Had Not Seen The Pont Du Garde: But,
After Having Viewed The Roman Arches, I Could Not Look Upon This
But With Pity And Contempt. It Is A Wonder How The Architect
Could Be So Fantastically Modern, Having Such A Noble Model, As
It Were, Before His Eyes.
There Are Many Protestants At This Place, As Well As At Nismes,
And They Are No Longer Molested On The Score Of Religion. They
Have Their Conventicles In The Country, Where They Assemble
Privately For Worship. These Are Well Known; And Detachments Are
Sent Out Every Sunday To Intercept Them; But The Officer Has
Always Private Directions To Take Another Route. Whether This
Indulgence Comes From The Wisdom And Lenity Of The Government, Or
Is Purchased With Money Of The Commanding Officer, I Cannot
Determine: But Certain It Is, The Laws Of France Punish Capitally
Every Protestant Minister Convicted Of Having Performed The
Functions Of His Ministry In This Kingdom; And One Was Hanged
About Two Years Ago, In The Neighbourhood Of Montauban.
The Markets In Montpellier Are Well Supplied With Fish, Poultry,
Butcher's Meat, And Game, At Reasonable Rates. The Wine Of The
Country Is Strong And Harsh, And Never Drank, But When Mixed With
Water. Burgundy Is Dear, And So Is The Sweet Wine Of Frontignan,
Though Made In The Neighbourhood Of Cette. You Know It Is Famous
All Over Europe, And So Are The Liqueurs, Or Drams Of Various
Sorts, Compounded And Distilled At Montpellier. Cette Is The Sea-Port,
About Four Leagues From That City: But The Canal Of
Languedoc Comes Up Within A Mile Of It; And Is Indeed A Great
Curiosity: A Work In All Respects Worthy Of A Colbert, Under
Part 7 Letter 12 ( Nice, December 6, 1763.) Pg 127Whose Auspices It Was Finished. When I Find Such A General
Tribute Of Respect And Veneration Paid To The Memory Of That
Great Man, I Am Astonished To See So Few Monuments Of Public
Utility Left By Other Ministers. One Would Imagine, That Even The
Desire Of Praise Would Prompt A Much Greater Number To Exert
Themselves For The Glory And Advantage Of Their Country; Yet In
My Opinion, The French Have Been Ungrateful To Colbert, In The
Same Proportion As They Have Over-Rated The Character Of His
Master. Through All France One Meets With Statues And Triumphal
Arches Erected To Louis Xiv, In Consequence Of His Victories; By
Which, Likewise, He Acquired The Title Of Louis Le Grand. But How
Were Those Victories Obtained? Not By Any Personal Merit Of
Louis. It Was Colbert Who Improved His Finances, And Enabled Him
To Pay His Army. It Was Louvois That Provided All The Necessaries
Of War. It Was A Conde, A Turenne, A Luxemburg, A Vendome, Who
Fought His Battles; And His First Conquests, For Which He Was
Deified By The Pen Of Adulation, Were Obtained Almost Without
Bloodshed, Over Weak, Dispirited, Divided, And Defenceless
Nations. It Was Colbert That Improved The Marine, Instituted
Manufactures, Encouraged Commerce, Undertook Works Of Public
Utility, And Patronized The Arts And Sciences. But Louis (You
Will Say) Had The Merit Of Choosing And Supporting Those
Ministers, And Those Generals. I Answer, No. He Found Colbert And
Louvois Already Chosen: He Found Conde And Turenne In The Very
Zenith Of Military Reputation. Luxemburg Was Conde's Pupil; And
Vendome, A Prince Of The Blood, Who At First Obtained The Command
Of Armies In Consequence Of His High Birth, And Happened To Turn
Out A Man Of Genius. The Same Louis Had The Sagacity To Revoke
The Edict Of Nantz; To Entrust His Armies To A Tallard, A
Villeroy, And A Marsin. He Had The Humanity To Ravage The
Country, Burn The Towns, And Massacre The People Of The
Palatinate. He Had The Patriotism To Impoverish And Depopulate
His Own Kingdom, In Order To Prosecute Schemes Of The Most
Lawless Ambition. He Had The Consolation To Beg A Peace From
Those He Had Provoked To War By The Most Outrageous Insolence;
And He Had The Glory To Espouse Mrs. Maintenon In Her Old Age,
The Widow Of The Buffoon Scarron. Without All Doubt, It Was From
Irony He Acquired The Title Le Grand.
Having Received A Favourable Answer From Mr. B--, The English
Consul At Nice, And Recommended The Care Of My Heavy Baggage To
Mr. Ray, Who Undertook To Send It By Sea From Cette To
Villefranche, I Hired A Coach And Mules For Seven Loui'dores, And
Set Out From Montpellier On The 13th Of November, The Weather
Being Agreeable, Though The Air Was Cold And Frosty. In Other
Respects There Were No Signs Of Winter: The Olives Were Now Ripe,
And Appeared On Each Side Of The Road As Black As Sloes; And The
Corn Was Already Half A Foot High. On The Second Day Of Our
Journey, We Passed The Rhone On A Bridge Of Boats At Buccaire,
And Lay On The Other Side At Tarrascone. Next Day We Put Up At A
Wretched Place Called Orgon, Where, However, We Were Regaled With
An Excellent Supper; And Among Other Delicacies, With A Dish Of
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