Travels Through France And Italy by Tobias Smollett (beautiful books to read .txt) 📖
- Author: Tobias Smollett
Book online «Travels Through France And Italy by Tobias Smollett (beautiful books to read .txt) 📖». Author Tobias Smollett
But Also For Its Situation On The Mediterranean, Where I Can Have
The Benefit Of Bathing; And From Whence There Is A Short Cut By
Sea To Italy, Should I Find It Necessary To Try The Air Of
Naples.
After Having Been Ill Accommodated Three Days At Our Inn, We Have
At Last Found Commodious Lodgings, By Means Of Mrs. B-, A Very
Agreeable French Lady, To Whom We Were Recommended By Her
Husband, Who Is My Countryman, And At Present Resident In London.
For Three Guineas A Month We Have The Greatest Part Of A House
Tolerably Furnished; Four Bed-Chambers On The First Floor, A
Large Parlour Below, A Kitchen, And The Use Of A Cellar.
These, I Own, Are Frivolous Incidents, Scarce Worth Committing To
Paper; But They May Serve To Introduce Observations Of More
Consequence; And In The Mean Time I Know Nothing Will Be
Indifferent To You, That Concerns--Your Humble Servant.
Part 7 Letter 2 ( Boulogne Sur Mer, July 15, 1763..) Pg 52
Dear Sir,--The Custom-House Officers At Boulogne, Though As
Alert, Are Rather More Civil Than Those On Your Side Of The
Water. I Brought No Plate Along With Me, But A Dozen And A Half
Of Spoons, And A Dozen Teaspoons: The First Being Found In One Of
Our Portmanteaus, When They Were Examined At The Bureau, Cost Me
Seventeen Livres Entree; The Others Being Luckily In My Servant's
Pocket, Escaped Duty Free. All Wrought Silver Imported Into
France, Pays At The Rate Of So Much Per Mark: Therefore Those Who
Have Any Quantity Of Plate, Will Do Well To Leave It Behind Them,
Unless They Can Confide In The Dexterity Of The Shipmasters; Some
Of Whom Will Undertake To Land It Without The Ceremony Of
Examination. The Ordonnances Of France Are So Unfavourable To
Strangers, That They Oblige Them To Pay At The Rate Of Five Per
Cent. For All The Bed And Table Linen Which They Bring Into The
Kingdom, Even Though It Has Been Used. When My Trunks Arrived In
A Ship From The River Thames, I Underwent This Ordeal: But What
Gives Me More Vexation, My Books Have Been Stopped At The Bureau;
And Will Be Sent To Amiens At My Expence, To Be Examined By The
Chambre Syndicale; Lest They Should Contain Something Prejudicial
To The State, Or To The Religion Of The Country. This Is A
Species Of Oppression Which One Would Not Expect To Meet With In
France, Which Piques Itself On Its Politeness And Hospitality:
But The Truth Is, I Know No Country In Which Strangers Are Worse
Treated With Respect To Their Essential Concerns. If A Foreigner
Dies In France, The King Seizes All His Effects, Even Though His
Heir Should Be Upon The Spot; And This Tyranny Is Called The
Droit D'aubaine Founded At First Upon The Supposition, That All
The Estate Of Foreigners Residing In France Was Acquired In That
Kingdom, And That, Therefore, It Would Be Unjust To Convey It To
Another Country. If An English Protestant Goes To France For The
Benefit Of His Health, Attended By His Wife Or His Son, Or Both,
And Dies With Effects In The House To The Amount Of A Thousand
Guineas, The King Seizes The Whole, The Family Is Left Destitute,
And The Body Of The Deceased Is Denied Christian Burial. The
Swiss, By Capitulation, Are Exempted From This Despotism, And So
Are The Scots, In Consequence Of An Ancient Alliance Between The
Two Nations. The Same Droit D'aubaine Is Exacted By Some Of The
Princes In Germany: But It Is A Great Discouragement To Commerce,
And Prejudices Every Country Where It Is Exercised, To Ten Times
The Value Of What It Brings Into The Coffers Of The Sovereign.
I Am Exceedingly Mortified At The Detention Of My Books, Which
Not Only Deprives Me Of An Amusement Which I Can Very Ill
Dispense With; But, In All Probability, Will Expose Me To Sundry
Other Inconveniencies. I Must Be At The Expence Of Sending Them
Part 7 Letter 2 ( Boulogne Sur Mer, July 15, 1763..) Pg 53Sixty Miles To Be Examined, And Run The Risque Of Their Being
Condemned; And, In The Mean Time, I May Lose The Opportunity Of
Sending Them With My Heavy Baggage By Sea To Bourdeaux, To Be
Sent Up The Garonne To Tholouse, And From Thence Transmitted
Through The Canal Of Languedoc To Cette, Which Is A Sea-Port On
The Mediterranean, About Three Or Four Leagues From Montpelier.
For The Recovery Of My Books, I Had Recourse To The Advice Of My
Landlord, Mons. B--. He Is A Handsome Young Fellow, About Twenty-Five
Years Of Age, And Keeps House With Two Maiden Sisters, Who
Are Professed Devotees. The Brother Is A Little Libertine, Good
Natured And Obliging; But A True Frenchman In Vanity, Which Is
Undoubtedly The Ruling Passion Of This Volatile People. He Has An
Inconsiderable Place Under The Government, In Consequence Of
Which He Is Permitted To Wear A Sword, A Privilege Which He Does
Not Fail To Use. He Is Likewise Receiver Of The Tythes Of The
Clergy In This District, An Office That Gives Him A Command Of
Money, And He, Moreover, Deals In The Wine Trade. When I Came To
His House, He Made A Parade Of All These Advantages: He Displayed
His Bags Of Money, And Some Old Gold Which His Father Had Left
Him. He Described His Chateau In The Country; Dropped Hints Of
The Fortunes That Were Settled Upon Mademoiselles His Sisters;
Boasted Of His Connexions At Court; And Assured Me It Was Not For
My Money That He Let His Lodgings, But Altogether With A View To
Enjoy The Pleasure Of My Company. The Truth, When Stript Of All
Embellishments, Is This: The Sieur B-- Is The Son Of An Honest
Bourgeois Lately Dead, Who Left Him The House, With Some Stock In
Trade, A Little Money, And A Paltry Farm: His Sisters Have About
Three Thousand Livres (Not Quite 140 L) Apiece; The Brother's
Places Are Worth About Fifty Pounds A Year, And His Connexions At
Court Are Confined To A Commis Or Clerk In The Secretary's
Office, With Whom He Corresponds By Virtue Of His Employment. My
Landlord Piques Himself Upon His Gallantry And Success With The
Fair-Sex: He Keeps A Fille De Joye, And Makes No Secret Of His
Amours. He Told Miss C-- The Other Day, In Broken English, That,
In The Course Of The Last Year, He Had Made Six Bastards. He
Owned, At The Same Time, He Had Sent Them All To The Hospital;
But, Now His Father Is Dead, He Would Himself Take Care Of His
Future Productions. This, However, Was No Better Than A
Gasconade. Yesterday The House Was In A Hot Alarm, On Account Of
A New Windfall Of This Kind: The Sisters Were In Tears; The
Brother Was Visited By The Cure Of The Parish; The Lady In The
Straw (A Sempstress) Sent Him The Bantling In A Basket, And He
Transmitted It By The Carriers To The Enfans Trouves At Paris.
But To Return From This Digression: Mr. B-- Advised Me To Send A
Requete Or Petition To The Chancellor Of France, That I Might
Obtain An Order To Have My Books Examined On The Spot, By The
President Of Boulogne, Or The Procureur Du Roy, Or The Sub-Delegate
Of The Intendance. He Recommended An Advocat Of His
Part 7 Letter 2 ( Boulogne Sur Mer, July 15, 1763..) Pg 54Acquaintance To Draw Up The Memoire, And Introduced Him
Accordingly; Telling Me At The Same Time, In Private, That If He
Was Not A Drunkard, He Would Be At The Head Of His Profession. He
Had Indeed All The Outward Signs Of A Sot; A Sleepy Eye, A
Rubicund Face, And Carbuncled Nose. He Seemed To Be A Little Out
At Elbows, Had Marvellous Foul Linen, And His Breeches Were Not
Very Sound: But He Assumed An Air Of Importance, Was Very
Courteous, And Very Solemn. I Asked Him If He Did Not Sometimes
Divert Himself With The Muse: He Smiled, And Promised, In A
Whisper, To Shew Me Some Chansonettes De Sa Facon. Meanwhile He
Composed The Requete In My Name, Which Was Very Pompous, Very
Tedious, And Very Abject. Such A Stile Might Perhaps Be Necessary
In A Native Of France; But I Did Not Think It Was At All Suitable
To A Subject Of Great-Britain. I Thanked Him For The Trouble He
Had Taken, As He Would Receive No Other Gratification; But When
My Landlord Proposed To Send The Memoire To His Correspondent At
Paris, To Be Delivered To The Chancellor, I Told Him I Had
Changed My Mind, And Would Apply To The English Ambassador. I
Have Accordingly Taken The Liberty To Address Myself To The Earl
Of H--; And At The Same Time I Have Presumed To Write To The
Duchess Of D--, Who Is Now At Paris, To Entreat Her Grace's
Advice And Interposition. What Effect These Applications May
Have, I Know Not: But The Sieur B-- Shakes His Head, And Has Told
My Servant, In Confidence, That I Am Mistaken If I Think The
English Ambassador Is As Great A Man At Paris As The Chancellor
Of France.
I Ought To Make An Apology For Troubling You With Such An
Unentertaining Detail, And Consider That The Detention Of My
Books Must Be A Matter Of Very Little Consequence To Any Body,
But To--Your Affectionate Humble Servant.
Part 7 Letter 3 ( Boulogne, August 15, 1763.) Pg 55
Sir--I Am Much Obliged To You For Your Kind Enquiries After My
Health, Which Has Been Lately In A Very Declining Condition. In
Consequence Of A Cold, Caught A Few Days After My Arrival In
France, I Was Seized With
Comments (0)