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

Undoubtedly Much Mortified To Find Himself Detected

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 125

His 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 127

Whose 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