Travels Through France And Italy by Tobias Smollett (beautiful books to read .txt) 📖

Nothing But Marks Of Poverty And

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 118

Became 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