Travels Through France And Italy - Tobias Smollett (diy ebook reader .TXT) 📗

Basin, Surrounded On  Part 7 Letter 38 ( Aix En Provence, May 10, 1765.) Pg 301

Every Side Either By The Buildings Or The Land, So That The

Shipping Lies Perfectly Secure; And Here Is Generally An

Incredible Number Of Vessels. On The City Side, There Is A Semi-Circular

Quay Of Free-Stone, Which Extends Thirteen Hundred

Paces; And The Space Between This And The Houses That Front It,

Is Continually Filled With A Surprising Crowd Of People. The

Gallies, To The Number Of Eight Or Nine, Are Moored With Their

Sterns To One Part Of The Wharf, And The Slaves Are Permitted To

Work For Their Own Benefit At Their Respective Occupations, In

Little Shops Or Booths, Which They Rent For A Trifle. There You

See Tradesmen Of All Kinds Sitting At Work, Chained By One Foot,

Shoe-Makers, Taylors, Silversmiths, Watch And Clock-Makers,

Barbers, Stocking-Weavers, Jewellers, Pattern-Drawers,

Scriveners, Booksellers, Cutlers, And All Manner Of Shop-Keepers.

They Pay About Two Sols A Day To The King For This Indulgence;

Live Well And Look Jolly; And Can Afford To Sell Their Goods And

Labour Much Cheaper Than Other Dealers And Tradesmen. At Night,

However, They Are Obliged To Lie Aboard. Notwithstanding The

Great Face Of Business At Marseilles, Their Trade Is Greatly On

The Decline; And Their Merchants Are Failing Every Day. This

Decay Of Commerce Is In A Great Measure Owing To The English,

Who, At The Peace, Poured In Such A Quantity Of European

Merchandize Into Martinique And Guadalupe, That When The

Merchants Of Marseilles Sent Over Their Cargoes, They Found The

Markets Overstocked, And Were Obliged To Sell For A Considerable

Loss. Besides, The French Colonists Had Such A Stock Of Sugars,

Coffee, And Other Commodities Lying By Them During The War, That

Upon The First Notice Of Peace, They Shipped Them Off In Great

Quantities For Marseilles. I Am Told That The Produce Of The

Islands Is At Present Cheaper Here Than Where It Grows; And On

The Other Hand The Merchandize Of This Country Sells For Less

Money At Martinique Than In Provence.

 

 

 

A Single Person, Who Travels In This Country, May Live At A

Reasonable Rate In These Towns, By Eating At The Public

Ordinaries: But I Would Advise All Families That Come Hither To

Make Any Stay, To Take Furnished Lodgings As Soon As They Can:

For The Expence Of Living At An Hotel Is Enormous. I Was Obliged

To Pay At Marseilles Four Livres A Head For Every Meal, And Half

That Price For My Servant, And Was Charged Six Livres A Day

Besides For The Apartment, So That Our Daily Expence, Including

Breakfast And A Valet De Place, Amounted To Two Loui'dores. The

Same Imposition Prevails All Over The South Of France, Though It

Is Generally Supposed To Be The Cheapest And Most Plentiful Part

Of The Kingdom. Without All Doubt, It Must Be Owing To The Folly

And Extravagance Of English Travellers, Who Have Allowed

Themselves To Be Fleeced Without Wincing, Until This Extortion Is

Become Authorized By Custom. It Is Very Disagreeable Riding In

The Avenues Of Marseilles, Because You Are Confined In A Dusty

High Road, Crouded With Carriages And Beasts Of Burden, Between

Two White Walls, The Reflection From Which, While The Sun Shines,

Is Intolerable. But In This Neighbourhood There Is A Vast Number 

Part 7 Letter 38 ( Aix En Provence, May 10, 1765.) Pg 302

Of Pleasant Country-Houses, Called Bastides, Said To Amount To

Twelve Thousand, Some Of Which May Be Rented Ready Furnished At A

Very Reasonable Price. Marseilles Is A Gay City, And The

Inhabitants Indulge Themselves In A Variety Of Amusements.

They Have Assemblies, A Concert Spirituel, And A Comedy.

Here Is Also A Spacious Cours, Or Walk Shaded With Trees, To

Which In The Evening There Is A Great Resort Of Well-Dressed

People.

 

 

 

Marseilles Being A Free Port, There Is A Bureau About Half A

League From The City On The Road To Aix, Where All Carriages

Undergo Examination; And If Any Thing Contraband Is Found, The

Vehicle, Baggage, And Even The Horses Are Confiscated. We Escaped

This Disagreeable Ceremony By The Sagacity Of Our Driver. Of His

Own Accord, He Declared At The Bureau, That We Had Bought A Pound

Of Coffee And Some Sugar At Marseilles, And Were Ready To Pay The

Duty, Which Amounted To About Ten Sols. They Took The Money, Gave

Him A Receipt, And Let The Carriage Pass, Without Further

Question.

 

 

 

I Proposed To Stay One Night Only At Aix: But Mr. A--R, Who Is

Here, Had Found Such Benefit From Drinking The Waters, That I Was

Persuaded To Make Trial Of Them For Eight Or Ten Days. I Have

Accordingly Taken Private Lodgings, And Drank Them At The

Fountain-Head, Not Without Finding Considerable Benefit. In My

Next I Shall Say Something Further Of These Waters, Though I Am

Afraid They Will Not Prove A Source Of Much Entertainment. It

Will Be Sufficient For Me To Find Them Contribute In Any Degree

To The Health Of--Dear Sir, Yours Assuredly.

 

 

Part 7 Letter 39 ( Boulogne, May 23, 1765..) Pg 303

 

Dear Doctor,--I Found Three English Families At Aix, With Whom I

Could Have Passed My Time Very Agreeably

But The Society Is Now Dissolved. Mr. S--Re And His Lady Left The

Place In A Few Days After We Arrived. Mr. A--R And Lady Betty Are

Gone To Geneva; And Mr. G--R With His Family Remains At Aix. This

Gentleman, Who Laboured Under A Most Dreadful Nervous Asthma, Has

Obtained Such Relief From This Climate, That He Intends To Stay

Another Year In The Place: And Mr. A--R Found Surprizing Benefit

From Drinking The Waters, For A Scorbutical Complaint. As I Was

Incommoded By Both These Disorders, I Could Not But In Justice To 

Part 7 Letter 39 ( Boulogne, May 23, 1765..) Pg 304

Myself, Try The United Efforts Of The Air And The Waters;

Especially As This Consideration Was Re-Inforced By The Kind And

Pressing Exhortations Of Mr. A--R And Lady Betty, Which I Could

Not In Gratitude Resist.

 

 

 

Aix, The Capital Of Provence, Is A Large City, Watered By The

Small River Are. It Was A Roman Colony, Said To Be Founded By

Caius Sextus Calvinus, Above A Century Before The Birth Of

Christ. From The Source Of Mineral Water Here Found, Added To The

Consul's Name, It Was Called Aquae Sextiae. 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 

Part 7 Letter 39 ( Boulogne, May 23, 1765..) Pg 305

Or Toulon.

 

 

 

If The Air