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13, GREAT MARLBOROUGH STREET, 
 Ja7i. 1841. 
 
 Mr COLBURN^S 
 
 LIST OF NEW PUBLICATIONS. 
 
 QUEEN VICTORIA, 
 
 FROM HER BIRTH TO HER BRIDAL. 
 
 2 vols, post 8vo, with Portraits, 2Is. bound. 
 
 " These attractive volumes furnish not merely an adequate and authentic record of the pure 
 and happy life of onr young Queen, but the only available one that has Iritherto been given to the 
 world. The charming letters of Miss Jane Porter, contained in the work, offer some of the most 
 delightful reminiscences of the infancy and childhood of Queen Victoria that have ever been made 
 public." — Naval and Military Gazette. 
 
 II. 
 
 PRINCE ALBERT; 
 
 AND THE HOUSE OF SAXONY. 
 
 BY FREDERIC SHOBERL, ESQ. 
 
 Second Edition, Revised, with Additions — By Authority. 
 
 In One ^'ol. post 8vo. with a Portrait of the Prince. 8s. 6d. bound. 
 
 " The best and most authentic work on the subject of the prince-consort and his family." 
 
 Jo fin Bull. 
 
 III. 
 
 LETTERS ILLUSTRATIVE OF 
 
 THE COURT AND TIMES OF WILLIAM III. 
 
 Addressed to the Duke of Shrewsbury, by James Vernoj?, Esq., Secretary of State. 
 
 Edited, with Introduction and Notes, by G. P. R.James, Esq., 
 Author of " Richelieu," &c. 3 vols. 8vo, with Portraits, 42s. bound. 
 
 " These letters detail, in a familiar manner, somewhat after the fashion of Horace Walpole's 
 celebrated epistles, all the important and mteresting events which took place at the period in 
 question, with a liberal infusion of Court gossip ; forming valuable historical illustrations of a 
 reign of which our knowledge has hitherto been very limited." — Globe. 
 
 IV. 
 DEDICATED, BY PERMISSION, TO HER M.iJESTY. 
 
 LIVES OF THE QUEENS OF ENGLAND, 
 
 FROM THE NORMAN CONQUEST. 
 
 WITH ANECDOTES OF THEIR COURTS. 
 
 Now first published from Official Records and other Authentic Documents, private 
 
 as well as public. 
 
 By AGNES STRICKLAND. 
 
 Second Edition, Revised, with numerous Additions. First Series, complete in 
 
 3 vols., price 10s. 6d. each, bound, cither of which may be had separately. 
 
 " This interestuig and well-\^aitten work, in which the severe truth of history takes almost the 
 wildness of romance, will constitute a valuable addition to our biographical literature." — 
 Morning Herald. 
 
 " This agreeable book may be considered a valnaV.le contribution to historical knowledge. It 
 contains a mass of every kind of matter of interest." — Atkencrum. 
 
 " The execution of this work is equal to the conception. Great pains have been taken to make 
 it both interesting and valuable." — Literarji Gazette. 
 
 " This important work will form one of the most useful, agreeable, and essential additions to 
 our historical library that we have had for many years." — Xaval and Military Gazette. 
 
 13, GREAT MARLBOROUGH STREET. 
 
MR. COLBURN'S NEW PUBLICATIONS. 
 
 MR. BURKE'S 
 
 HISTOEY OF THE LANDED GENTRY; 
 
 A COMPANION TO THE PEERAGE AND BARONETAGE, 
 COMPRISING ACCOUNTS OF 
 
 ALL THE EMINENT FAMILIES IN THE UNITED KINGDOM, 
 
 And of upwards of 100,000 Individuals connected with them. 
 Illustrated with the Armorial Bearings of each Family, Portraits, &c. 
 Complete in 4 vols., price 18s. each ; or in 16 parts, price 4s. 6d. each. 
 
 This important work has been undertaken by Mr. Burke as a companion to his well-known 
 and established " Dictionary of the Peerage and Baronetage of the United Kingdom," and upon 
 a somewhat similar plan, in order that the two publications may embrace the whole body of 
 the British Peerage, Baronetage, and Gentry, and may furnish such a mass of authentic inform- 
 ation, in regard to all the principal Families in the Kingdom, as has never before been brought 
 together. 
 
 *»* Subscribers should give immediate orders to their respective Booksellers for the completion 
 of their sets of this work, (a ver>' small extra number of odd parts and volumes having been 
 printed for this purpose) which will eventually become exceedmgly scarce and valuable. 
 
 ALSO, BV THE SAME AUTHOR, 
 
 BURKE'S peerage"' AND BARONETAGE 
 
 With important Additions, beautifully printed on a new plan, in one large volume, 
 with an Emblazoned Title-page, and upwards of 1500 Engravings of Arms, &c., 
 price 38s. bound. 
 
 Containing all the New Creations, and much other New Matter, the result of 
 great research, and of Communications with the various Noble Families; forming 
 the most complete, the most convenient, and the cheapest Work of the kind ever 
 offered to the public. 
 
 VII. 
 
 BURKE'S EXTINCT, DORMANT, & SUSPENDED 
 
 PEERAGES OF ENGLAND, IRELAND, 
 
 AND SCOTLAND. 
 
 A COMPANION TO ALL OTHER PEERAGES. 
 
 New and Cheaper Edition, beautifully printed, in double columns, 1 vol. 8vo., with 
 Emblazoned Title-page, &c., price 28s. bound. 
 
 This work, formed on a plan precisely similar to that of Mr. Burke's very popular 
 Dictionary of the present Peerage and Baronetage, comprises those Peerages which 
 have been suspended or extinguished since the Conquest, particularizing the members 
 of each family in each generation, and bringing the lineage, in all possible cases, 
 through either collaterals or fetnales, down to existing houses. It connects, in many 
 instances, the new with the old nobility, and it will in all cases shew the cause which 
 has influenced the revival of an extinct dignity in a new creation. It should be 
 particularly noticed, that this new work appertains nearly as much to extant as to 
 extinct persons of distinction ; for though dignities pass away, it rarely occurs that 
 whole families do. 
 
 13, GREAT MARLBOROUGH STREET, 
 
HISTORICAL WORKS. 
 
 QUEEN ELIZABETH AND HER TIMES. 
 
 A SERIES OF ORIGINAL LETTERS. 
 
 Selected from the Inedited Private Correspondence of the Lord Treasurer Burghlcy 
 — the Great Earl of Leicester — the Secretaries VV'alsingliam and Smith — Sir 
 Christopher Hatton — and most of the distinguished Persons of the Period. 
 
 EDITED BY THOMAS WRIGHT, M.A., F.S.A. &c. 
 
 DEDICATED, BY PERMISSION, TO HER MAJESTY. 
 
 2 vols. 8vo, with Portraits, price 32s. 
 
 " One of the most interesting historical works that have issued from the press for some tune. 
 Tlie editor's object has been to do for English history what Bishop Percy did for English poetry ; 
 and by his judicious and instructive notes he has rendered his pages as interesting to the reader 
 who may tiy to them for amusement, as valuable to the inquirer who may resort to them for in. 
 formation . ' ' — Literary Gazette, 
 
 IX. 
 
 OLIVER CROMWELL AND HIS TIMES. 
 
 ILLUSTRATED IN A SERIES OF LETTERS BETWEEN THE DISTINGUISHED MEN 
 OF THE PERIOD. 
 
 WITH AN INTRODUCTION AND NOTES, BY DR. VAUGHAN, 
 
 Author of " The Life of Wickliffe," &c. 
 
 2 vols. 8vo, with Portraits. Price 32s. 
 
 " These volumes are highly Important ; they give authentic information of one of the most 
 complicated periods of English history, and exhibit the workings of some of the most powerful 
 minds which ever guided or distuihed a state. They develop the general policy of the great 
 leader of the Commonwealth with a clearness and aia interest of the most explicit and satisfactory 
 nature." — New Monthly. 
 
 X. 
 
 THE LIFE OF SIR EDWARD COKE, 
 
 LORD CHIEF JUSTICE IN THE REIGN OF JAMES I. 
 
 WITH MEMOIRS OF HIS CONTEMPORARIES. 
 
 By C. W.JOHNSON, Esq., Barrister-at-Law, 
 
 Second and Cheaper Edition, 2 vols. 8vo, with Portraits. Price 16s. bound. 
 
 " This Is a very valuable woi-k, illustrating one of the most important periods in our liistory, 
 and written in a candid spirit, whose judgment is based on materials collected with great in- 
 dustry. Mr. Johnson has neglected nothing that could make his work complete j and it does 
 equal honour to his intelligence and his industry." — Literary Gazette, 
 
 XI. 
 
 DIARY OF THE REV. J. WARD, A.M., 
 
 VICAR OF STRATTORD-UPON-AVON, 
 
 Extending from 1648 to 1678, now just published, from the original MS. in the 
 Library of the Medical Society of London. 
 
 EDITED BY CHARLES SEVERN, M.D. 
 
 1 vol. Bvo, price 12s. bound. 
 
 " This is one of the most curious and interesting works that for a long period has been pre- 
 sented to the public. The Rev. J. Ward was all but contemporary with Shakspeare ; and part of 
 the work before us relates to our poet, and throws much lifjht upon disputed portions of his 
 biography, and elucidates that relating to his death, of which hitherto we have been in ignorance. 
 Dr. Severn has presented to the pubUc, from these invaluable records, a selection of very smgular 
 interest."— iJi',sj7a/c/i. 
 
 13, GREAT MARLBOROUGH STREET. 
 
MR. COLBURN'S NEW PUBLICATIONS. 
 
 XII. 
 
 THE COURT AND TIMES OF QUEEN ANNE ; 
 
 ILLUSTRATED IN THE 
 
 MEMOIRS OF SARAH. DUCHESS OF MARLBOROUGH. 
 
 BY SIRS. A. T. THOMSON, 
 
 Author of " Memoirs of Henry VIII.," " Life of Sir W. Raleigh," &c. 
 
 2 vols. 8vo, price 28s. bound. 
 
 " The author of these volumes is so well known for her Memoirs of Henry VIII. and Life of 
 Sir Walter Raleigh, that the readers of her new work will at once perceive in it the grace and 
 vigour of style which so distinguish her former efforts. The poUtical intrigues which so dis- 
 tracted the Court of Queen Anne are all very ably set forth. Circumstances have called public 
 attention to these matters ; so that we consider Mrs. Thomson's publication as peculiarly well 
 timed. But even had there been no such introduction to our notice, the dehghtful manner in 
 which she narrates the varied incidents of the Life of one of the most illustriois ladies who 
 have become celebrated in oar history, the an.xiety to place the character of the Duchess of 
 Marlborough in a right hght before our readers, would recommend the work to general accept- 
 ance. It supplies a portion of liistory which was much wanted, and we are boimd to say that 
 Mrs. Thomson has executed her task with diligence, fidelity, and grace."— ^g-e. 
 
 XIII. 
 
 THE DUCHESS OF MARLBOROUGH'S PRIVATE 
 CORRESPONDENCE. 
 
 ILLUSTRATIVE OF THE COURT AND TIMES OF QUEEN ANNE. 
 
 (Now first published from the Originals.) 
 
 WITH HER SKETCHES A]SD OPINIONS OF HER CONTEMPORARIES 
 
 Second edition. 2 vols. Svo, with Portraits, price 28s. 
 
 " This is a very delightful work. We have closed the volumes with a confirmed impression that 
 in many of the highest points of conduct, courage, and understanding, the Duchess of Marlborough 
 was the most remarkable woman of her own or any other Aay."—Exainmer. 
 
 MEMOIRS OF THE BEAUTIES OF THE 
 COURT OF CHARLES H. 
 
 WITH AN INTRODUCTORY VIEW OF THE STATE OF FEMALE SOCIETY, 
 AND ITS INFLUENCE, DURING THAT REMARKABLE REIGN. 
 
 BY MRS. JAMESON. 
 
 COMPRISIXO 
 
 A SERIES OF TWENTY-ONE SPLENDID PORTRAITS, 
 
 Illustrating the Diaries of Pepys, Evelyn, Clarendon, and other contemporary 
 
 writers of that gay and interesting period, — engraved by 
 
 the most distinguished Artists. 
 
 NEW AND CHEAPER EDITION, WITH CONSIDERABLE ADDITIONS, 
 
 Now complete, in 2 vols. Svo, bound, price 45s. , or in Six Parts, price 7s, 6d. each. 
 
 " Nothing is wanting to make this publication perfect in its kind. We have the multum in 
 parvo of the finest forms of female beauty in the woild— the choicest excellence of England's 
 school of portrait painting— the most masterly execution which modern engraving can bestow, 
 and an interesting memoir ol each of the celebrated characters thus brought before our eyes by 
 the cljaste and judicious pen of one of the most accomplished female writers of the day. The 
 paper and typography are of the most superior description, and the price is moderate in the 
 extreme." — Dublin Evening Mail. 
 
 13, GREAT MARLBOROUGH STREET. 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL WORKS. 
 
 DEDICATED TO THE RIGHT HON. GENERAL LORD HILL, 
 
 G.C.B., G.C.H., K.C., ETC. 
 
 LIFE OF FIELD MARSHAL, HIS GRACE THE 
 DUKE OF WELLINGTON, 
 
 EMBRACING HIS MILITARY, CIVIL, AND POLITICAL CAREER, TO THE 
 PRESENT TIME. 
 
 EDITED BY SIR J. E. ALEXANDER, K.L.S. 
 
 LIEUT. -COL. PORTUGUESE, AND CAPTAIN, BRITISH SERVICE. 
 
 In Two Large Volumes, 8vo, price 2Ss. bound ; or in Eleven Parts, at 2s. 6d. each. 
 
 Beautifully embellished with Portraits, Battle Scenes, &e., 
 
 by Landseer, Heath, Warren, &c. 
 
 " Sir James Alexander's Life of Wellijigton has the treble advantage of being the cheapest — of 
 inserting a large portion of the original correspondence — and of condensing within popular limits 
 the dry military details."— G/oAe. 
 
 "Sir James Alexander possesses every requisite for this great undertaking. His work is 
 peculiarly attractive. No doubt can be entertained that it will obtain a prominent place in 
 the library of those to whose hearts their country's glory is dear, and be received as a standard 
 work in all military circles." — Duhtin Erenhig Packet. 
 
 " This work is likely to have a prodigious circulation. It contains the most complete, correct 
 and authentic details of the eventful life of this exalted military hero, profound statesmein, and 
 patriotic politician." — Bath Herald. 
 
 XVI. 
 
 THE LIFE AND TIMES OF THE RT. HON. 
 HENRY GRATTAN. 
 
 BY HIS SON, HENRY GRATTAN, ESQ., M.P. 
 
 In 2 vols. 8vo, with Portrait, &c., price 28s. 
 
 " This truly valuable work will unquestionably form one of the most important and interesting 
 additions to our biographical and historical literature that our own day has produced. The 
 large body of private correspondence which is here brought to bear upon the early and private 
 life of Grattan will be read with an eager and intense interest. Moreover, there is a fund of 
 personal anecdoie scattered through the volumes, all of which is characteristic as vyell as 
 new." — Xai-til and Military Gazette. 
 
 XVII. 
 
 THE LIFE OF WASHINGTON, 
 
 Commander-in-chiefof the American Armies, and First Presidentof the United States. 
 
 WITH HIS DIARIES AND SPEECHES, AND VARIOUS OTHER PAPERS. 
 
 BY JARED SPARKS. 2 vols. Svo, with Portraits, price 28s. 
 
 " The Life of Washington is now first given to the world from original sources. Ever>- inform, 
 ation and document of value and undoubted authenticity that remain in the recollections and 
 cabinets of America, France, and England, have been procured or examined, and here used at 
 vast trouble and expense, and at the sacrifice of many years of labour. In short, the life of 
 Washington is now complete ; and every new addition to our knowledge of him only ser^'es the 
 more clearly to exiiibit him as ,in the resolution of Congress on his death) ' The man first in 
 war, first in peace, and first in the hearts of his fellow-citizens.' " — Sun. 
 
 THE AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF JOSEPH HOLT, 
 
 GENERAL OF THE IRISH REBELS IN 1798. 
 Edited from his Original MS. BY T. CROFTON CROKER, ESQ. 
 
 2 vols. Svo, with Portrait, price 28s. 
 " We have read this work with- great interest and satisfaction. It is a most remarkable piece 
 of autobiography, teeming with romantic incidents."— C/iro«ic/e. 
 
 13, GREAT MARLBOROUGH STREET. 
 
MR. COLBURN'S NEW PUBLICATIONS. 
 
 WOMAN AND HER MASTER; 
 
 OB, THE HISTORY OF THE FEMALE SEX FROM THE EARLIEST FEBIOD 
 TO THE PRESENT DAY. 
 
 BY LADY MORGAN. 
 
 2 vols post 8vo. Price 2Is. 
 
 " Lady Morean has imparted to history the charm of romance. We have read her series of 
 rapid but brilliant and vigorous sketches with an interest which many a novel fails to excite." — 
 n'eekli/ Chronicle. 
 
 " Lady Morpan has in these volumes undertaken to investieate the position which woman 
 should occupy in society. She has soufrht in the records of the past, guidance and direction 
 for the future : phe has subjected the pafres of history to a vigorous moral analysis, testing 
 their facts with the skill of a critic, and deducing results with the wisdom of a philosopher." — 
 Athenceum. 
 
 XX. 
 
 LIFE AND LETTERS OF BEETHOVEN. 
 
 BY HIS FRIEND, A. SCHINDLEIl. 
 
 Edited, with Notes, &c., by IGNACE MOSCHELLES. 
 
 2 vols, with Portrait, &c., 21s. bound. 
 
 XXI. 
 
 MEMOIRS AND LETTERS OF MADAME 
 MALIBRAN, 
 
 WITH NOTICES OF THE PROGRESS OF THE MITSICAL DRAMA IN ENGLAND. 
 
 Second and Cheaper Edition, 2 vols, post 8vo, with Portrait, 16s. bound. 
 
 " These memoirs are full of interesting details, much of which is entirely new to the public, 
 and of a nature to give new ideas and impressions of the extraordinary woman to whom they 
 relate. We could fill several columns very pleasantly with those singular personal anecdotes 
 and traits with which these volumes are filled; but extracts are unnecessary, as the hook will 
 be universally read. In addition to the chief memoir, there is a large body of miscellaneous 
 anecdote, and a selection of Malibran's Letters, all singularly characteristic and amusing." — 
 Kavul and Military Gazette. 
 
 XXII. 
 
 THE DUCHESS OF ST. ALBANS' MEMOIRS. 
 
 Third and Cheaper Edition, in 2 vols, with Portraits, &c., price 16s. bound. 
 
 " A life of this very extraordinary woman, whose career was so plethoric of good fortune, and 
 whose singular destiny placed her in so many and so varied situations, in which persons of every 
 rank in life were involved, has at length been written with candour and fidelity. It would be 
 next to impossible for us to give even an analysis of volumes so full of interest ; every page teems 
 with proofs of the late Duchess' kind-heartedness and good sense, while the numerous anecdotes, 
 thickly intersp; rsed, at once attract and instruct. The volumes are written with that taste and 
 good feeling, which must command general approval, and will obtain the patronage, not only of 
 those interested in theatrical matters, but of those who are watchers of the great stage of the 
 world." — Age. 
 
 XXIII. 
 
 THE LIFE, CORRESPONDENCE, 
 AND POSTHUMOUS WRITINGS of M. G. LEWIS. 
 
 Author of" The Monk," " Castle Spectre," &c. 
 
 " Hail ! wonder-working Lewis." — Byrox. 
 
 2 vols. 8vo, with Portrait, &c., price 28s. bound. 
 
 " The Life of the great magician of hon'ors, whose genius partook of the very essence of 
 German ' wonder-working' and mysterious creation— the Life of Monk Lewis, who knew, withal, 
 every one of the choice spirits of his time, affords a most tempting subject. Crammed full of 
 anecdote as these volumes are — theatrical, political, and literar>- — there is not a dull page 
 throughout. The great body of the work has relation to theatrical matters, and gives us some 
 capital stories about the most prominent members of the histrionic profession of both sexes ; but 
 the editor has introduced so much matter of a different kind— has presented us with so niany 
 varieties of wit and humoui" — that the work is as free from the fault of monotony as any we have 
 read." — Court Journal. 
 
 13, GREAT MARLBOROUGH STREET. 
 
NAVAL AND MILITARY WORKS. 
 
 XXIV. 
 
 NARRATIVE of the WAR in AFFGHANISTAN. 
 
 BY CAPTAIN HENRY HAVELOCK, 
 In 2 vols, post 8vo, price 2Is. bound, with a complete map of the seat of war. 
 
 XXV. 
 
 LIFE AXD CORRESPONDEXCE OF 
 ADMIRAL EARL ST. VINCENT. 
 
 BY CAPTAIN BRENTON, R.N. 
 
 Author of " The Naval History of Great Britain," &c. 2 vols, 8vo, 28s. 
 
 " To the several valuable records of tlie acliievements and characteristics of our great heroes 
 which late years have produced, these excellent volumes are now to be added. "They will claim 
 a permanent place in the splendid collection, as worthy to rank in design and execution with any 
 work of the class." — Court Journal. 
 
 XXVI. 
 
 THP STANDARD 
 
 NAVAL HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN, 
 
 BROUGHT DOWN TO THE PRESENT TIME. 
 
 BY CAPTAIN EDWARD PELHAxAI BRENTON, R.N. 
 
 2 thick vols. 8vo, price 3ls. 6d. bd., comprising nearly 1400 closely-printed pages, with 
 
 numerous PORTRAITS OF DISTINGUISHED OFFICERS, Plans, &c. 
 
 " This important work has long been an esteemed chronicle of the triumphant exploits of the 
 British Navy, but its value is much further enhanced in this edition by the history being con- 
 tinued to the present time by the gallant author, who, in addition to his long experience of fifty 
 years' service, has also been facilitated in the progress of his work by the assistance of most of 
 the eminent men whose actions he nsirrates." — Globe. 
 
 XXVII. 
 
 THE MARINE OFFICER. 
 
 BY SIR ROBERT STEELE, KNT., K.C.S., ETC. 
 
 In 2 vols, post 8vo, witli Portrait. Price 21s. 
 
 " Our ' Marine Officer'isa very pleasant, lively, and intelligent fellow; and we have accordingly 
 great pleasure in directing the attention of our readers to his autobiography. In the commence- 
 ment of the work the writer gives an account of his birth, parentage, education, and first entry 
 into military life, which is admirably written, reminding us often of some of the best parts of 
 ' Peter Simple ;' b\tt, Sir Robert Steele does not confine himself to his own adventures, 
 he touches, from time to time, on most of the leading events of the late war — fighting many naval 
 battles over again. For marine officers Sir Robert's book will have peculiar attractions, as it 
 records many anecdotes of the heroism and fidelity of the corps which would not discredit the 
 palmiest era of Roman valour." — United Service Gazette. 
 
 CAPT. D. H. O'BRIEN'S ADVENTURES DURING 
 THE LATE WAR. 
 
 COMPRISING A NARRATIVE OF SHIPWRECK, CAPTIVITY, ESCAPES FROM 
 FRENCH PRISONS, &C., FROM 1804 TO 1827- 
 
 In 2 vols. 8vo, with Illustrations, 28s. bound. 
 
 " Tliis is a work from the pen of a very distinguished oflicer, who has now added a literary 
 fame to his professional reputation. Capt. O'Brien's adventures are numerous and extraordinary, 
 and he narrates them in an unostentatious manly manner, and in a style, simple, natural, and 
 effective. Every page bears the strongest features of truth and nature ; so much so, that the 
 reader makes the case his own, and vividly enters into all the scenes of danger and noble daring 
 with which the work abounds." — Dispatch. 
 
 13, GREAT MARLBOROUGH STREET. 
 
MR. COLB URN'S NEW PUBLICATIONS, 
 
 THE VETERAN; 
 
 OK, FORTY YEARS IN THE BRITISH SERVICE. 
 
 BY CAPTAIN JOHN HARLEY, late Paymaster, 47th Regiment. 
 2 vols, post 8vo, price 21s. bound. 
 
 " This work vnW afford much amusement to military readers ; it is full of anecdotes of the 
 mess-table and the barracks." — Times, 
 
 XXX. 
 
 RECOLLECTIONS OF CAULINCOURT, 
 
 DUKE OF VICENZA. 2 vols. 8vo, 18s. 
 
 " This is one of the very few works that are destined to acquire more than an ephemeral re- 
 putation. We have perused it with great interest, and look upon it as one of great historical 
 Vcilue. It may be said to be the first that has done full justice to Napoleon's real character as a 
 statesman and as a man." — Courier. 
 
 XXXI. 
 
 MEMOIRS OF PRINCE CAMBACERES, 
 
 SECOND CONSUL, &c. 
 
 BY BARON LANG ON. 
 
 2 vols. 8vo, with Portraits of Napoleon & Cajibaceres, price 28s. 
 
 " This work contains many revelations little inferior in interest to those contained in the 
 famous ' Voice from St. Helena.' "—Su/i. 
 
 XXXII. 
 
 THE BRITISH SENATE IN 1840: * 
 
 A SECOND SERIES OF RANDOM RECOLLECTIONS OF 
 
 THE LORDS AND COMMONS. 
 
 By the Author of " The Bench and the Bar," " The Great Metropolis," &c. 
 2 vols, post 8vo, 2 Is. 
 
 " This work is exceedingly entertaining, as well as instiuctive. Mr. Grant has here furnished 
 the public with a set of portraits of the members of Queen Victoria's Parliament. In the Lords 
 we have all the new hereditary legislators, and those not particularly described in his former 
 work ; then all the new members are exhibited, and a very correct and imparticil estimate of 
 their powers and abilities given, from the orator in embrjo to the full-fledged stager." — 
 Caledonian Mercuri/. 
 
 XXXIII. 
 
 THE BENCH AND THE BAR. 
 
 By the Author of " Random Recollections of the Lords and Commons," 
 
 " The Great Metropolis," &c. 
 
 New and Cheaper Edition. 2 vols, post 8vo, price 18s. 
 
 " In these volumes, as in a mirror, the reader can catch a glimpse cf all the leading members 
 
 of the legal profession. The work is highly interesting, and will circulate extensively. The 
 
 anecdotes are lively, characteristic, and happily introduced." — Sun. 
 
 XXXIV. 
 
 DR. JENNER'S LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE. 
 
 BY JOHN BARON, M.D., F.R.S., &c. 
 
 Now first published complete, in 2 vols. 8vo, with Portraits, 24s. 
 
 (Vol. 2 may be had separately to complete sets.) 
 
 " To medical men these volumes wll be very valuable, as Ulustrations of the history of one of 
 the greatest discoveries in their science ; and the general reader will feel the greatest interest in 
 the biographical portion of the work. We know of veiy few books more pleasingly ^vl•itten, or 
 more likely to be of public benefit. Too much can hardly be said in praise of Dr. Jenner's private 
 character, and every one who will peruse the history of his life wUl be sure to find liimself the 
 better for having spent a few hoiu-s in such company. We wish, for the sake of the public, 
 there were more such biographies." — Times, 
 
 13, GREAT MARLBOROUGH STREET. 
 
BOOKS OF TRAVELS. 
 
 ITALY AND THE ITALIANS. 
 
 BY FREDErxICK VON RAUMER, 
 Author of " England in 1835," " Illustrations of History," &l'. 2 vols, price 21s. bd. 
 
 " The contents of this attractive book ai-e multifarious, and put together in a familiar and 
 agreeable spirit. It forms a most pleasant, varied, and interesting work upon Italy as she is." — 
 Atlas. 
 
 XXXVI. 
 
 A SUMMER IN BRITTANY. 
 
 BY T, A D O L P H II S T R L L O P E, ESQ. 
 
 Edited by Mrs. TROLLOPE. 
 
 2 vols. 8vo, with Illustrations, 32s. bound. 
 
 " A work full of every species of interest and value which can attach to a book of travels. To 
 the inquiring tourist who is tired of the beaten tracks of the Continent, the autlior opens an 
 entire new field of travel, and smooths tlie patlis through it. To the traveller whose journeys are 
 confined to books, he offers one in which tliere is as much variety as novelty, as much entertain, 
 ment as information. To the philosophic observer of human natiu-e lie presents a most interesting 
 object of study — to the antiquarian a most fertile field of examination — to the lover of legendary 
 lore, and the inquirer into popular superstitions, an ample fund of new and strange materials 
 for thought and fancy. Finally, he puts on record a large body of singular and interesting facts, 
 touching an actual condition of society to whicli tlie extraordinary social changes that are at 
 hand throughout Europe, and especially in France, may, at no distant period, put an end for ever. 
 Mixed with the graphic style of this book there is a liveliness and hon-hommie, which greatly add 
 to its charm, and which make the work altogether one of unusual attraction. The volumes Bxe 
 embellished by many spuited and characteristic etchings." — New Monthly. 
 
 XXXVII. 
 
 TRAVELS TO THE CITY OF THE CALIPHS, 
 
 ALONG THE SHORES OF THE PERSIAN GULPIi AND THE MEDITERRANEAN. 
 
 BY J. R. WELLSTED, ESQ., F.R.S., F.R.A.S., ETC., 
 Author of " Travels in Arabia." 2 vols. 8vo, with Illustrations, 25s. bound. 
 
 " A publication of singular interest and entertainment." — Naval and Military Gazette. 
 
 " In these days of dull and flat common-place, it is quite refresliing to come upon a narrative 
 of strange travel and wild adventure like this, wliicli recals to mind tlie exploits of the old 
 voyagers of Spain and England, when lialf of the world was undiscovered, and the other half 
 unknown. Our traveller quits India by embarking on the Persian Gulf in a trading vessel bound 
 to Muscat, and the first important features of his narrative relate to that remarkable city. Here 
 he commences slave merchant, and embarks for Gambrun, visiting, in his way tliither, some of 
 the singular islands in the Persian Gulf, and particularly those where the pearl fisheries are 
 established, of which he gives an interesting description. In due course he reaches Bagdad, the 
 celebrated ' City of the Caliphs,' remains there a considerable time, and affords many details of 
 it that are not to be found in tlie narrative of any other traveller. Among the most interesting 
 of his adventures are those which take place among the Arabs of the Desert, particularly the 
 Bedouins, with whom he passes a considerable period. Another point of great interest in these 
 sketches is the celebrated city of Damascus, of which we liave many graphic and characteristic 
 descriptions. The first volume concludes with a visit to Tripoli, Lebanon, and Baalbec, — 
 Naval and Military Gazette. 
 
 XXXVIII. 
 
 A WINTER IN ICELAND AND LAPLAND. 
 
 BY THE HON. ARTHUR DILLON. 
 2 vols. postSvo, with Illustrations, price 21s. bound. 
 " The north of Europe presents much curious matter for investigation that has not yet been 
 explored as it deserves. Iceland and Lapland are all but untrodden regions. Mr. Dillon, inured 
 to the hardships of a northern winter, was induced by tlie interest he took in these nations to 
 attempt the hazardous expedition of visiting them in their remote and luifrequented homesteads ; 
 and these volumes, full of information, historical and descriptive, are the result of a journey not 
 less creditable to his literary character than his courage. Of Iceland he gives a very full account, 
 tracing the progress of the country from the earliest records of the first piratical descent on the 
 island in the ninth century to the present time. The history is a sort of sea romance, in which 
 all the actors are marked by the strong features of a hardy clime and a daring spirit." — Atlas. 
 
 13, GREAT MARLBOROUGH STREET. 
 
10 MR. COLBURN'S NEW PUBLICATIONS. 
 
 A YEAR AMONG THE CIRCASSIANS. 
 
 BY J. A. LONGWORTH, ESQ. 
 2 vols post 8vo, with illustrations, 21s. bound, 
 
 " Incomparably the most valuable account of Circassia that has yet appeared."— Cowri Journal. 
 
 " This account of Mr. Longworth's residence in Circassia will deeply interest our readers. 
 Whether perused merely with a view to amusement, or studied as to the duties which Englcind 
 has to discharge in the East,— in whatever aspect it is contemplated, Mr. Longworth's truly 
 graphic sketch cannot fail to reward the reader's attention."— Pos^ 
 
 XL. 
 
 THE SPIRIT OF THE EAST; 
 
 BY D. URQUHART, ESQ. 
 
 Author of " Turkey and its Resources," Second Edition, 2 vols. 8vo. 28s. 
 
 " This is certainly one of the most interesting and valuable works of modern times. The infor- 
 mation, the learning, the admirable pictures of mankind in the eastern countries which the author 
 lays befoi e us— the views of religion, legislation, social life, government and history— the errors 
 he clears up, and the facts, hitherto almost unknown, which he establishes— the fehcity of his 
 illustrations, and the sprightliness of his narrative, make this one of the works of an age." — 
 Ti/ne Mercury. 
 
 XLI. 
 
 LORD LINDSAY'S LETTERS on the HOLY LAND. 
 
 Third and Revised Edition, in 2 vols., with Illustrations. 24s. bound. 
 
 " Among the many travellers who have contributed to our knowledge of the interestiug' regions 
 dignified by events recorded in Holy Writ, a promhient place must be assigned to Lord Lindsay, 
 IJis abilities and accomplishments are of a high order; a spirit of inquiry and a glowing enthu- 
 siasm have been aided by various knowledge, and refined by a sincere piety. He exhibits a con- 
 siderable store both of ancient and modern learning, but liis draughts of Helicon have been 
 abimdantly tempered by — 
 
 ' Siloa's brook, that flow'd 
 Fast by the Oracle of God.' 
 
 " Having gone out in the perseverance and devotion of a pilgrim, he has felt and recorded what 
 he saw with the wisdom of a philosopher and the faith of an enlightened Cluristian." — Quarterly 
 Review. 
 
 XLII. 
 
 A PILGRIMAGE TO PALESTINE. 
 
 BY THE REV. FATHER MARIE JOSEPH DE GERAMB, 
 
 Abbot and Procurator of La Trappe. 
 
 2 vols, post 8vo, with Illustrations, 21s. bound. 
 
 " These volumes are the most curious and interesting of their kind that we have lately met 
 with. They may be looked upon as the first written record ever made pubhc of the actual daily 
 observations and feelings of a pilgrim to the Holy Sepulchre, and the other most famous scenes 
 of Holy Writ. The strong and evidently sincere religious feeling which per^-ades the volumes 
 throughout, will give them a strong interest with the religious portion of the commuuity." — 
 Naval and Military Gazette. 
 
 XLIII. 
 
 TRAVELS IN PALESTINE AND SYRIA. 
 
 BY GEORGE ROBINSON, ESQ. 
 2 vols, post 8vo, with Maps and Plans, price 21s. bound. 
 
 " Mr. Robinson has traversed the whole of S>Tia and Palestine, including the countries lying 
 east of the Jordan and the Ante-Libanus, and also many interesting portions of Asia Minor. Of 
 his travels he has here given a succinct, plain, and unornamented account. His journal is not 
 merely the best, but perhaps the only, g'oide through these remote regions."— Literary Gaxette. 
 
 13, GREAT MARLBOROUGH STREET. 
 
VOYAGES AND TRAVELS. 11 
 
 XLIV. 
 
 NARRATIVE OF A TEN YEARS' 
 
 VOYAGE OF DISCOVERY 
 
 ROUND THE WORLD 
 
 OF II. M.S. ADVENTURE AND BEAGLE, 
 
 UNDER THE COMM.\ND OF 
 
 CAPTAINS KING AND FITZROY. 
 
 In 2 large vols. 8vo, witli Maps, Cliarts, and upwards of Sixty Illustrations, 
 by Landseer, and other eminent Artists, price 21. J8s. bound. 
 
 " One of the most interesting narratives of voyaging that it has fallen to our lot to notice, 
 and which must always occupy a distinguished space in the history of scientific navigation." — 
 QiKirterly Review. 
 
 These volumes detail the various i'cidents which occurred during the examination of the 
 Southern Shores of South America, and the Beagle's circumnavigation of the Globe, and add 
 considerably to our knowledge of Hydrography, Geography, and Natural Historj', and of the 
 Habits, S;c. of the .-Vborigines. There will be found in them the materials of two distinct works, 
 embracing everything worthy of notice in the expeditions during a period of nearly ten years. 
 The lirst volume, by Captain P. P. King, F.R.S., relates to the expedition under his command, 
 with an Appendix by Major Sabine, R.A., F.R.S., containing discussions on the magnetic obser- 
 vations made during the voyages. The second volume is by Captain Robert Fitzroy, and 
 relates to the second voyage, with an Appendix, giving the determination of many positions and 
 measurements of meridian distances, and other nautical information. The work is beautifully 
 illustrated with etchings and engravings on steel, by Mr. Landseer and other eminent artists, 
 from drawings by Mr. Martens and Mr. Earle : and with Charts and Plans by Mr. Gardner and 
 Messrs Walker: and an entirely new Map of South America, by Mr. J Arrowsmith, in which 
 the position of places may be ascertained to within less than two miles. In the volumes notices 
 will be found of the Cape Verd, Falkland, and other Islands in the Atlantic Ocean— of the coasts 
 of South America, from Pernambuco to Guayaquil— of the Galapagos Islands— the dangerous 
 Archipelago, or Low Islands — Otaheite — New Zealand — Australia — The Keeling Islands — 
 Mauritius— the Cape of Good Hope. 
 
 XLV. 
 
 MR. BREMNER'S NORWAY, DENMARK, 
 AND SWEDEN. 
 
 WITH NOTICES OF THE STATE OF PUBLIC OPINION IN THOSE COUNTRIES, AND 
 ANECDOTES OF THEIR COURTS. 
 
 2 vols. 8vo, with Portraits, 28s. bound. 
 " There is not a single reader of Mr. Bremner's admirable book on Russia who will not be 
 delighted again to encounter a traveller who unites in himself so many excellent qualities. 
 With livehness and Oon-hommie to please the most idle of readers, with good sense and impar- 
 tiality to satisfy the most critical, with activity, information, and judgment to turn all these good 
 qualities to account, and a position in society that enables him to do so; these are the character- 
 istics which Mr. Biemner brings to the concoction of this new work. On every subject which 
 it touches — politics, statistics, public feeling, sccied habits and condition, agriculture, letters, 
 science, personal character— all is treated with impartiality and strong good sense." — New 
 Monthly. 
 
 XL VI. 
 
 MR. BREMNER'S EXCURSIONS IN THE 
 INTERIOR OF RUSSIA; 
 
 INCLUDING SKETCHES OF THE EMPEROR NICHOLAS AND HIS COURT. 
 
 Second Edition, in two vols, post 8vo, with Illustrations, price 2Is. bound. 
 " This ample and able work, the production of a man of sense and impartial observer, will soon 
 be in the hands of the majority of readers throughout the empire, and not improbably throughout 
 Europe also." — Literary Gazette. 
 
 XLVII. 
 
 AUSTRIA AND THE AUSTRIANS ; 
 
 WITH SKETCHES OF THE DANUBE AND THE IMPERIAL STATES. 
 
 2 vols, post 8vo, with Portraits, price 21s. 
 
 "This is at once an instructive and amusing book. It contains a great deal of information, 
 a Vcist number of anecdotes ot distinguished persons, and a mass of general instruction, im- 
 portant and novel." — Times. 
 
 13, GREAT MARLBOROUGH STREET. 
 
12 MR. COLBURN'S NEW PUBLICATIONS. 
 
 XLVIII. 
 
 THE IDLER IN ITALY. 
 
 BEING A JOURNAL OF THE TRAVELS OF THE COUNTESS OF BLESSINGTON. 
 
 New and cheaper edition, 2 vols, post 8vo, with Portrait of the Author 
 after Landseek, price 24s. bound. 
 
 XLIX. 
 
 LETTERS FROM THE SOUTH. 
 
 BY THOMAS CAMPBELL, ESQ., 
 
 Author of " The Pleasures of Hope,'' &c. 
 
 In 2 vols, 8vo, with Eleven Plates of Scenery, &c., IZ. lis. 6d. bound. 
 
 " A most remarkable and interesting work." — John Bull. 
 
 " There is much information and novelty in these volumes, and many sound reflections and 
 exquisite graces of poetical feelmg." — Court Journal. 
 
 L. 
 
 SIR JAMES E. ALEXANDER'S EXCURSIONS 
 IN WESTERN AFRICA. 
 
 Second Edition, with Additions. 2 vols. 8vo., with Maps and numerous Plates, 
 
 24s. bound. 
 " This is a very interesting account of the colonies of Western Africa. Very little is known of 
 the new settlements on the African frontier, and it is a matter of siuT)rise to us that no work, ex- 
 cept Mr. Martin's, has been published descriptive of the establishment and rapid progress of these 
 acquisitions. The volimies before us contain a great deal of valuable and interesting intelli- 
 gence." — John Bull. 
 
 LI. 
 
 A JOURNEY ACROSS THE PAMPAS AND 
 THE ANDES, 
 
 FROM BUENOS AYRES TO VALPARAISO, LIMA, PANAMA, &c. 
 
 BY THE HON. P. CAMPBELL SCARLETT. 
 
 2 vols, post 8vo, with Illustrations, 25s. bound. 
 
 " These volumes abound with anecdotes and descriptions which will afford both information 
 and amusement to all classes of readers. The whole of the work will be read with pleasure ; but 
 the great commercial and political interests connected with the statements in it respecting steam 
 navigation on the Pacific require the public attention to be particularly drawn to its considera- 
 tion." — Times. 
 
 LII. 
 
 TRAVELS IN EGYPT AND CANDIA; 
 
 WITH DETAILS OF THE MILITARY POWER AND RESOURCES OF THOSE 
 
 COUNTRIES, AND OBSERV.\TIONS ON THE GOVERNMENT, POLICY, 
 
 AND COMMERCIAL SYSTEM OF MOHAMMED ALL 
 
 BY CAPT. C. R. SCOTT, H.P. Royal Staff Corps. 
 
 2 vols. 8vo, with Illustrations, price 28s. 
 " One of the most sterling publications of the season." — Naval and Military Gazette, 
 
 EXCURSIONS IN THE MOUNTAINS OF 
 RONDA AND GRANADA. 
 
 BY CAPT. C. ROCHFORTSCOTT,2vols. Bvo, with Illustrations, 28s. bound. 
 
 13, GREAT MARLBOROUGH STREET. 
 
WORKS ON SPORTING. 13 
 
 HISTORY OF THE BRITISH TURF, 
 
 FKOM THE EARLIEST PERIOD TO THE PRESENT ) 
 
 BY JAMES CHRISTIE WHYTE, ESQ. 
 In Two Large Volumes, 8vo, with Illustrations, Price 28s. bound 
 
 COMPRISING : — 
 
 1. Memoirs and Anecdotes of re- 
 
 markable Sporting Characters 
 
 2. The Performances and Pedigrees 
 
 of celebrated Racehorses 
 S. Descriptions of the Racecourses 
 in Great Britain 
 
 4. The Plates and Stakes annually 
 run for over them 
 
 5. Accounts of the most approved 
 
 IMethod of Breeding, Training, 
 and iManaging Racehorses 
 
 6. Notices of celebrated Jockeys 
 
 7. Description of the principal Races and Matches.' 
 
 Also, every Particular, technical and otherwise, to which the Lover of Racing may 
 
 desire to refer, either as a matter of business or amusement. 
 
 "This work must become a standard authorit>- on the subject of horses and horseracing:, and 
 no one at all interested iii such subjects will be without it, whilst the general reader will be de- 
 lighted with it for the pleasant spirit in which it is written, and the singular traits of extraor- 
 dinary character with which it is so profusely studded." — Argus. 
 
 LV. 
 
 THE SPORTSMAN IN IRELAND, 
 
 AND THE HIGHLANDS OF SCOTLAND. 
 
 BY R. ALLEN, ESQ., A.M., F.S.A., &C. 
 
 In 2 vols, post 8vo, with numerous illustrations, price 18s. bound. 
 
 " A most weU-informed, humorous, and agreeable travelling companion. The leading features 
 are all, more or less, of a sporting nature ; and in this point of view the work has uncommon 
 interest. The details the author gives of his various ' experiences' in the beautiful lands which 
 he passed over, cannot fail to send hosts of sportsmen thither who never before contemplated 
 such a visit, and many more who would scarcely have ventured such an undertakinf? without the 
 guide here placed at their disposal. The work is embellished with very many spirited and inter- 
 esting sketches of remarkable localities, and is altogether one of the most readable and amusing 
 books of its kind that we have had for many a day."— New Monthly. 
 
 LVI. 
 
 SCENES AND SPORTS IN FOREIGN LANDS. 
 
 BY MAJOR E. NAPIER, 46th Regt. 
 
 2 vols, small 8vo, with Nineteen Illustrations, 21s. bound. 
 
 " Tluough the medium of these pages the sportsman in England may enjoy his leisure by 
 becoming acquainted with the proceedings of his brother sportsmen abroad, in climes where the 
 game sought, instead of being contined to hare, pheasant, partridge, and similar timid denizens 
 of our stubbles and coverts, comprises tigers, wolves, bears, jackals, buffaloes, elks, and other 
 dangerous inhabitants of the tropical wilderness. But, whatever may be the risk attendant on 
 their pursuit and death, our gallant adventurer will here be found seeking them in tlieir desert 
 and jimgle retreats, eager to attack whate\er might offer in the way of sport, from a snipe to an 
 elephant ; the result of which is, that the wide ' preserves' of the far East are tlu-own open for 
 the reader, and he is shewn the various methods pursued to bring dowu the game, while enter- 
 tained with the amusing adventures of the daring himter." — Age. 
 
 LVII. 
 
 SPORTING EXCURSIONS IN THE ROCKY 
 MOUNTAINS. 
 
 BY J. K. TOWNSHEND, ESQ. 
 
 2 vols, post 8vo, with Illustrations, 18s. bound. 
 
 " Mr. Townshend suppUes in these volumes a fund of very curious and entertaining matter. 
 There is much variety and information of a practical kind in the book, and it will be especially 
 acceptable to naturalists on account of the descriptions of the animals with which the regions 
 traversed by the writer abound. On the whole, the work forms a most valuable addition to the 
 library of American travels." — Atlas. 
 
 13, GREAT MARLBOROUGH STREET. 
 
14 MR. COLBURN'S NEW PUBLICATIONS. 
 
 COMIC MISCELLANIES. 
 
 IN PUOSE AND VERSE. 
 
 BY THE LATE JAMES SMmi, ESQ. 
 
 One of the authors of " Rejected Addresses." 
 
 With a Selection from his Correspondence, and Memoirs of his Life. 
 
 BY HIS BROTHER, HORACE SMIfH, ESQ. 
 
 Second edition, with additions, 2 vols, post 8vo, with portrait, 21s. bound. 
 
 " One of the most amusing- books that have seen the light, since the ever famous Rejected 
 Addresses themselves." — Globe. 
 
 LIX. 
 
 COMMENTARIES ON THE HISTORICAL 
 PLAYS OF SHAKSPEARE. 
 
 BY THE RIGHT HON. T. P. COURTENAY. 
 
 2 vols, post 8vo, 18s. bound. 
 
 " We have read this work with pleasure as the production of a scholar and a gentleman of 
 refined taste and acute judgment. The many new points of view which he takes, and the many 
 lights which he throws upon passages of the immortal bard, command our hvely interest. It 
 deserves the attention of the public as an almost inseparable companion to Shakspeare's Plays. 
 Indeed, it is a work without which we do not look to see a respectable library, or collection of 
 polite literature." — Lit. Gazette. 
 
 LX. 
 
 VISCOUNT DE CHATEAUBRIAND'S SKETCHES 
 OF THE LITERATURE OF ENGLAND. 
 
 2nd Edition. 2 vols. 8vo, 24s. 
 
 "There has not appeared, for a long time, any work so calculated to pique the curiosity of 
 the literary world as this new production of tlie celebrated Chateaubriand, in which he discusses 
 the merits of Shakspeare, Milton, Byron, and the whole galaxy of ancient as well as modern 
 English writers ; drawing the most curious comparisons and analogies." — Globe. 
 
 LXI. 
 
 LORD BROUGHAM'S OPINIONS 
 
 ON POLITICS, THEOLOGY, LAW, SCIENCE, LITERATURE, ETC. 
 
 WITH A MEMOIR OF HIS LORDSHIp's LIFE. 
 One very thick and closely-printed volume, price 12s. bound. 
 
 " The design of this volume is to afford a collective view of his Lordship's opinions and practical 
 objects. It embodies not only the most brilliant passages from his celebrated speeches end 
 writings, but also unfolds to the reader the gradual develoinicnt of his mind on tliose great ques- 
 tions in politics, literature, and science, in which learned men of all countries and all ages must 
 ever take a lively interest. To the selections is prefixed a prefatory memoir, which will be found 
 more complete, accurate, and elaborate, than any that has hitherto appeared, containing- parti- 
 culars of his Lordship's early, and also of his more advanced, life, with a philosophical analysis of 
 his mind and writuigs." 
 
 " This volume is calculated to be of infinite service, by teaching its readers to tliink, and think 
 justly, ou all the great political questions of the day." — Sun. 
 
 THE AMERICAN IN PARIS ; 
 
 OR, SKETCHES OF THE NEW INSTITUTIONS, THE EMBELLISH.MENTS, THE 
 SOCIETY, THE ECCENTRIC CHARACTERS, THE WOMEN, THE PRESS, 
 THE LITERATURE, ETC., OF PARIS. 
 
 2 vols, post 8vo, price 18s. 
 
 " We cordially recommend this book to our readers as by very far the best, because incom- 
 parably the most amusing as well as informing. Guide to Paris that we are acquainted with in 
 the English language, or indeed in any other." — Naval and Military Gazette. 
 
 13, GREAT MARLBOROUGH STREET. 
 
POETICAL WORKS, &c. 15 
 
 SONGS AND BALLADS. 
 
 WRITTEN AXD SET TO MUSIC BY 
 
 HIS ROYAL HIGHNESS PRINCE ALBERT, & PRINCE ERNEST. 
 
 Translated from the Germarijby G. F. Richardson, Esq. 
 
 DEDICATED, BY PERMISSION, TO H.R.H. THE DUCHESS OF KENT. 
 
 Imperial 4to, containing Fourteen Songs, and Forty-two Pages of Music, with a 
 beautifully engraved Portrait of Prince Albert, price 12s, 
 
 LIST OF THE SONGS. THE WORDS IN ENGLISH AND GERMAN. 
 
 1 . Farewell to Home. 
 
 2. To my Brother. 
 
 3. Italian Song. 
 
 4. The Bark dashes wildly. 
 
 5. The Wandering Harper. 
 
 6. Sleep, O Sleep. 
 
 7. Say, sleepest thou, Love ? 
 
 8. To an absent Friend. 
 
 9. Yonder, thou shalt find the 
 blessing. 
 
 10. All silent were the foun- 
 tains. 
 
 U. Come, dearest, come. 
 
 12. How sweet this hour of 
 pure devotion. 
 
 13. As the bark dashes wildly. 
 
 14. The star of splendour. 
 
 LXIV. 
 
 THE DREAM; AND OTHER POEMS. 
 
 BY THE HON. MRS. NORTON. 
 
 Second Edition, with Additions. In 1 vol., with Fine Portrait of the Authoress, 
 after a Drav.'ing by E. Landseer, R.A., price 10s. 6d. bound, 
 
 "A very beautiful poem. This lady is the Byron of our modem poetesses." — Quarterly 
 Beview. 
 
 I.XV. 
 
 POPULAR SONGS OF IRELAND. 
 
 Collected and Edited, with Introductions and Notes, by 
 
 T. CROFTON CROKER, ESQ. 
 
 1 vol. with Illustrations, price 10s. 6d. bound. 
 
 "A volume of singular interest and curiositj-. It is even more than this, — it is a publication 
 of real value, as illustrative of the past and present condition, bothmental and moral, of the most 
 singular people in the world. At the same time, it is, as a colleclion of lyrical compositions, full 
 of the graces and beauty of which that class of poetry is so eminently susceptible." — Naval and 
 Military Gazette. 
 
 LXVI. 
 
 THE ROSE-FANCIER'S MANUAL. 
 
 BY MRS. CHARLES GORE. 
 New and cheaper edition, one elegant vol., price Gs. bound. 
 
 CONTENTS : 
 
 Geography of Roses— Culture of Roses — Glossology of Roses — Hybridity— Importance of Specific 
 Characters— Comparison of Specific Characters— On Species — Distinction of Species and Variety 
 — Bibliography of the Rose— PharmacnpcEia of R:ses— Monography of the Rose, comprising 
 notices of 2500 Varieties— List of the Species admitted by Botanists, &c. &c. 
 
 "All the lovers of flowers, and especially the fairer portion of our readers, ought forthwith to 
 have this elegant volume in their possession." — Sun. 
 
 LXVII. 
 
 THE ART OF NEEDLEWORK, 
 
 FROM THE EARLIEST AGES. 
 
 With Notices of the Ancient Historical Tapestries. 
 
 EDITED BY THE RIGHT HON. THE COUNTESS OF WILTON. 
 
 Second edition, revised, in I vol. post 8vo, 10s. 6d. bound. 
 
 " An admirable volume. It should be possessed by every lady." — Times. 
 
 " A charming volume. We congratulate our fair countrywomen on this valuable addition to 
 their libraries."— Her«/rf. 
 
 13, GREAT MARLBOROUGH STREET. 
 
MR. COLBURN'S NEW PUBLICATIONS. 
 
 THE LIFE AND ADVENTURES 
 
 OF 
 
 MICHAEL ARMSTRONG, THE FACTORY BOY. 
 
 BY MRS. TROLLOPE, 
 
 Now complete in 1 Vol. 8vo., price 12s. bound, or in 12 Parts at Is. each, printed 
 and embellished uniformly with " Nicholas Nickleby," &c. 
 
 " We are exceedingly glad that Mrs. TroUope has devoted the energies of her powerful and 
 fertile mind to the production of this at once striking, amusing, and useful work. Without ariy 
 desire to depreciate the value of similar productions, we cannot but consider this as infinitely 
 more valuable tliau any which we have yet seen." — Metropolitan Conservative Joitrnal. 
 
 NOW IN COURSE OF PUBLICATION, IN OCCASIONAL VOLUMES, 
 PRICE ONLY 6s. EACH BOUND, 
 
 Printed uniformly with Byron and Scott, and beautifully embellished with the 
 
 Portraits of the Authors, and other Engravings, by the Findcns 
 
 and other eminent Artists. 
 
 COLBURN'S STANDARD NOVELISTS, 
 
 A SELECT COLLECTION OF 
 
 ST^e i\tu W^Qxt^^ of ^itxmx 
 
 OF 
 
 THE MOST DISTINGUISHED ENGLISH WRITERS, WHICH CANNOT BE PROCURED 
 
 IN ANY OTHER COLLECTION. 
 
 The Proprietor of the Series here announced having had the good 
 fortune to publish a very large proportion of the most masterly modern 
 works of Fiction — such as have become incorporated with the literature 
 of the country, — is obviously placed in the most favourable position 
 for an undertaking of this nature ; and he has determined that no 
 composition of inferior and ephemeral character shall be admitted into 
 the collection ; but that those works alone which have received the 
 stamp of unequivocal public approbation, and which may be read 
 from time to time with still recurring pleasure and profit, shall 
 constitute the Series. 
 
 ^Vorks v/liicli have already appeared in tlie above Collection. 
 
 SIR E. L. BULWER S PELHAM 
 SIR E. L. BULWER's DISOWNED 
 
 SIR e. l. eulwer's DEVEREUX 
 
 MR. ward's TREMAINE 
 
 MR. smith's BR.\MBLETYE HOUSE 
 
 MR. smith's ZILLAH 
 
 MR. lister's GRANBY 
 
 LADY morgan's o'dONNEL 
 
 lady morgan's FLORENCE MACARTHY 
 
 " • Colbuni's Modern Novelists' present a series of those works of fiction that have most tended, 
 witli the writings of Sir Walter Scott, to elevate this description of literature. This pubUcation 
 presents a concentration of imaginative genius." — Globe. 
 
 *^* Due notice will be given of the future appearance of each neiv volume of this work. 
 
 CAPT. MARRYAT S FRANK MILDMAY 
 MR. hook's sayings AND DOINGS 
 
 (First Series) 
 MR. hook's SAYINGS AND DOINGS 
 
 (Second Series) 
 MR. hook's SAYINGS AND DOINGS 
 
 (Third Series) 
 
 MR. James's richelieu 
 
 MR. GLEIg's CHELSEA PENSIONERS 
 
 AGENTS FOR SCOTLAND : MESSRS. BELL AND BRADFUTE, EDINBURGH. 
 AGENT FOR IRELAND : MR. JOHN CUMMING, DUBLIN. 
 
 T. C. Savil), Printer, 1 n;, St. Martin's Lane. 
 
E ' .V-.Vl'^S'^ ■ V^^vr^"?ii£^S',>v^-;5-.t;^ : 
 
 I 
 
 l.oiiil Ml, I'liblish-tl by IJenry C'llbirrn. O. Marlboniugti :>': IWl. 
 
THE 
 
 COURTS OF EUROPE 
 
 AT THE CLOSE 
 
 OF THE 
 
 LAST CENTURY. 
 
 BY THE LATF, 
 
 HENRY SWINBURNE, ESQ. 
 
 AUTHOR OF " TRAVELS IN SPAIN, ITALV," &C. 
 KDITED 
 
 BY CHARLES W H I T E, ESQ. 
 
 AUTHOR OF " THE BELGIC REVOLUTION," &C. 
 
 IN TWO VOLUMES. 
 VOL. I. 
 
 LONDON: 
 HENRY COLBURN, PUBLISHER, 
 
 GREAT MARLBOROUGH STREET. 
 MDCCCXLI. 
 
LONDON : 
 
 I'RlxNJED 1!V IBUTSON AND PALMER, SAVOY bTREET, STRAND. 
 
INTRODUCTION. 
 
 Although Mr. Swinburne's career was not dis- 
 tinguished by any of those remarkable incidents, 
 vicissitudes, or adventures, which give interest 
 to the lives of mariners, soldiers, and explorers 
 of distant regions, it is desirable that the reader 
 should be made acquainted with the outline of 
 his history, as well as with the circumstances 
 that gave rise to the correspondence which I 
 have undertaken to lay before the public. 
 
 I shall commence, therefore, by stating, that 
 Henry Swinburne first saw the light in May, 
 1752, and that he was the third son of Sir John 
 Swinburne, Bart., of Capheaton, in the county of 
 Northumberland, and the youngest child of a 
 numerous and very ancient Catholic family. 
 
 b 2 
 
IV INTRODUCTION. 
 
 After receiving the first elements of an excellent 
 education under the superintendence of his pa- 
 rents, Mr. Swinburne was sent to complete his 
 studies at the monastic seminary of Lacelle in 
 France. There he made rapid progress in an- 
 cient and modern languages, in history, philo- 
 sophy, and the belles lettres, and moreover greatly 
 improved his natural taste for painting and the 
 fine arts. Thus he was subsequently enabled 
 not only to enrich the literature of his coun- 
 try with two productions that rendered his 
 name conspicuous amongst the travellers of the 
 last century, but to execute an extensive series of 
 drawings, as remarkable for their accuracy as for 
 their beauty of design.* 
 
 By the death of his eldest brother, Mr. Swin- 
 burne came into possession of an annuity, as 
 well as a small estate at Hamsterley, in the 
 county of Durham ; which, added to his own 
 patrimony, placed him in independent, though 
 not in very wealthy circumstances. He there- 
 fore determined to avail himself of an opportunity 
 
 * These drawings are in the possession of his daughter, 
 Mrs. R. Walker, late of Mitchel Grove, Sussex. 
 
IMRODUCTION. V 
 
 which occurred at that period, for making what 
 was called the "grand tour,'' and proceeded to 
 visit Turin, Genoa, Florence, and other parts of 
 Italy. After improving his classical knowledge 
 and taste for antiquities by a careful examina- 
 tion of the pictures, statues, and splendid relics 
 of architecture which he encountered during' his 
 travels, and having perfected himself in draw- 
 ing, and in the language of the divine Alleghieri, 
 he bade a temporary adieu to Italy, and retraced 
 his steps, by way of Paris, towards his native land. 
 A circumstance occurred to him, however, ere 
 he reached the end of his journey, which not 
 only delayed his progress, but influenced the 
 destinies of his future life ; for it happened, 
 during his passage through the French capital, 
 that he met with and became tenderly attached 
 to a Miss Baker, daughter of the then solicitor- 
 general for the West Indies. This young lady, 
 with whom he became acquainted at the house of 
 Lady Webb, to whose superintendence she had 
 been entrusted, was at that time placed for her 
 education at the convent of Ursuline nuns ; an 
 establishment not only in great repute amongst 
 
vi INTRODUCTION. 
 
 the French nobility, but frequented by many 
 voung English and Irish ladies of the most dis- 
 tinguished Catholic families. To the advantages 
 of considerable personal beauty, graceful man- 
 ners, and a highly cultivated mind, Miss Baker 
 added the attraction of a good fortune ; so that 
 she no sooner made her appearance in Lady 
 Webb's salons, than she became an object of ge- 
 neral attention, and indeed received several flat- 
 tering matrimonial offers. Amongst other per- 
 sons of note who courted her smiles was Charles 
 Howard, subsequently Duke of Norfolk. 
 
 Differing from the generality of the female 
 sex in her views of the qualifications and ingre- 
 dients necessary to ensure worldly and domestic 
 happiness, Miss Baker was neither dazzled by 
 the seductive allurements of rank, nor biassed by 
 those of wealth. Having been as much struck 
 by the pleasing exterior, interesting conversa- 
 tion, and superior endowments of young Swin- 
 burne, as he was fascinated by the beauty, grace, 
 and intellectual powers of the fair West Indian, 
 she soon gave him to understand that his atten- 
 tions were not disagreeable, and at length re- 
 
INTRODUCTION. vii 
 
 warded his assiduities by conferring upon liim 
 her hand and fortune. 
 
 This marriage, which promised and ensured so 
 much felicity to both, Iiad not been solemnized 
 many days ere Mr. Swinburne removed with his 
 bride to England, and, after a short stay in the 
 metropolis, proceeded to liis estate in the county 
 of Durham. There the young couple remained 
 for some time, either occupying themselves with 
 those studies that were so congenial to the tastes 
 and talents of both, or devoting themselves to 
 the embellishment of the house and grounds at 
 Hamsterley. Indeed, the latter soon became re- 
 markable for being the most picturesque and 
 M'ell laid out of any in that part of the coun- 
 try, as they combined the classic precision of the 
 Italian style with the more wild and sylvan bold- 
 ness of English park scenery. 
 
 Although few persons were more fully compe- 
 tent to comprehend and value the tranquil en- 
 joyments of that retired and independent life so 
 justly lauded by Horace, so beautifullj^ described 
 by Cowley, it appears that Mr. and Mrs. Swin- 
 burne hud not long resided at Hamsterley ere 
 
Till INTRODUCTION. 
 
 tliey became desirous of a change. This arose 
 partly from a mutual anxiety to increase their 
 store of knowledge by travelling ; partly from 
 that restlessness and craving after locomotion, 
 which is, perhaps, a distinctive characteristic of 
 the English nation ; and partly from their being 
 disappointed in not finding the slightest sym- 
 pathy or congeniality of taste and occupation 
 amongst their country neighbours. 
 
 The contrast between Mr. and Mrs. Swin- 
 burne and the generality of their provincial ac- 
 quaintance was, in fact, most antipodal ; for, 
 whilst the former almostexclusively devoted them- 
 selves to the cultivation of literature and the 
 arts, the latter thought of little else than that of 
 corn or turnips, unless indeed it were the pur- 
 suit of foxes. But the evil did not terminate 
 there ; for, as usual with provincial sportsmen, 
 they were not content with hunting all day, but 
 most unmercifully persisted in resuming, or ra- 
 ther recapitulating, all the incidents of the chase 
 over the bottle, until the bottle eventually 
 treated them as they had treated Reynard, and 
 ran them to ground beneath the table ; for it 
 
INTRODUCTION. 
 
 was considered in those days as discreditable for 
 a true fox-hunter to retire to his couch sober, as it 
 is now unseemly in a well-bred sportsman to 
 over-indulge in his cups. 
 
 But though Mr. Swinburne bore no share in 
 the roystering wind-up of the north country 
 Nirarods' evenings, he was not reluctant to 
 participate now and then in the manly pleasures 
 of their mornings. He, therefore, had less reason 
 to complain of a want of society than his wife, 
 who found little enjoyment in that of her female 
 acquaintance. These ladies, whose whole time 
 and thoughts were absorbed in the performance 
 of their maternal and domestic duties, and whose 
 conversation rarely soared beyond the small gos- 
 sip of the adjoining parishes, attached little merit 
 to the possession of those accomplishments that 
 distinguished Mrs. Swinburne. They were, in 
 fact, as little able to comprehend or estimate 
 her talents, as she was to appreciate the 
 skill with which they executed those pickle and 
 preserve accomplishments that constituted the 
 glory of a north country housewife. It was, tliere- 
 fore, with no slight satisfaction that Mrs. Swin- 
 
X INTRODUCTION, 
 
 burne assented to her husband's proposal, that 
 they should return to the continent, and proceed 
 to Ital}^, after visiting the south of France. 
 
 When two persons are united, not only by the 
 tenderest ties of affection, but by the utmost uni- 
 formity of taste, studies, and mental endowments 
 — when no difference exists between them, save 
 in the diversity of their acquirements — when no 
 desire animates the one, save that of drawing 
 forth and exliibiting in the most favourable light 
 the talents and accomplishments of the other — 
 and especially when fortune has placed them in 
 a situation where they can gratify their inclina- 
 tions — little time is required for preliminary dis- 
 cussion or preparation. Mr. and Mrs. Swinburne 
 were not long, therefore, ere they concluded their 
 domestic arrangements, and commenced those 
 travels which furnished matter for his valuable 
 descriptions of Spain and Italy, as well as for the 
 following series of letters. These latter, as will be 
 seen, were principally addressed to his brother. 
 Sir Edward Swinburne, with whom he always 
 lived upon terms of the most cordial and frater- 
 nal aflection. 
 
INTRODUCTION. xi 
 
 It is almost superfluous to dwell upon the 
 merits of the two productions above mentioned, 
 or to recapitulate the praises that were bestowed 
 upon them by the critics of the day. I shall 
 nevertheless observe that these publications raised 
 his name to a high place as an antiquarian, phi- 
 losopher and scholar, both at home and abroad, 
 and that they were commended by men whose 
 encomiums are of no ordinary weight. 
 
 Two of the authorities to whom I allude, are 
 Mr. Eustace and the Baron de Grimm. The 
 former thus speaks of Mr. Swinburne in his 
 Classical Tour : " I quote this traveller with plea- 
 sure, because my observations enable me to bear 
 testimony to his accuracy." The second, in his 
 " Correspondence Litteraire," holds the following 
 still more complimentary language : *' Tons les 
 voyages d'ltalie connus," says Mons. de Grimm, 
 " ne m'empecheront point de lire encore celui- 
 ^i avec plaisir. II a voyage en philosophe et en 
 litterateur. Ses observations eclaircissent tr^s 
 heureusement plusieurs passages des auteurs 
 anciens, et son ouvrage merite la reconnaissance 
 de tous ceux qui s'appliquent a I'etude de Tanti- 
 quite." 
 
xii liXTRODUCTION. 
 
 Although this flattering eulogium was, of 
 course, solely intended for Mr. Swinburne, it is 
 but fair to observe that his wife was entitled to 
 some participation in it ; for it appears that her 
 husband was accustomed not only to consult 
 her opinions, previous to commencing his lite- 
 rary labours, but that he submitted his manu- 
 scripts to her inspection during the process of 
 composition, and unhesitatingly followed her sug- 
 gestions and corrections. In fact, no w^oman 
 could have been better adapted for the compa- 
 nion of a scholar and man of science than Mrs. 
 Swinburne. In addition to a competent know- 
 ledge of Greek and Latin, by which she was ena- 
 bled to peruse the best classic authors in their 
 original garb, she was mistress of several modern 
 languages; she was an excellent musician, and, 
 though no practical artist, she was endowed with 
 no common tact and intuitive purity of taste, in 
 all matters concerned with the schools of paint- 
 ing and sculpture. She was remarkable for her 
 good sense, sound judgment, and quickness of 
 perception, and possessed moreover that just and 
 comprehensive coup d'cell which is so essential for 
 
INTRODUCTION. xiii 
 
 the ready intelligence of the arts. But if Mrs. 
 Swinburne was eminent for these endowments, 
 she was not less distinguished for her diffident 
 and unpresuming manners, and for a total ab- 
 sence of that pedantry and overweening vanity, 
 which are too often observable amonofst women 
 who lay claim, or who are really entitled, to t!ie 
 reputation of superior intellect. 
 
 After quitting the north of England, Mr. and 
 Mrs. Swinburne directed their steps to Paris, and 
 thence to Bordeaux, where they passed the win- 
 ter of 1776, with their relatives the Dillons, 
 with whom they were nearly allied by the mar- 
 riage of Mademoiselle de Dillon with Sir E. 
 Swinburne. From Bordeaux they removed to the 
 Pyrenees, where they were joined by their friend 
 Sir Thomas Gascoigne, who urged Mr. Swin- 
 burne to accompany him on a tour through 
 Spain. The only motive that prevented the lat- 
 ter from immediately accepting this proposition, 
 was his reluctance to separate himself from his 
 wife. Finding, however, that he should be able 
 to establish Mrs. Swinburne and her infants in 
 an agreeable and convenient house near Tarbes, 
 
XIV INTRODUCTION. 
 
 and seeing also that she was extremely loath that 
 he should let slip the favourable opportunity of 
 visiting a countr}'^ so little known to the public, 
 and so badly described by previous travellers, he 
 yielded to Sir Thomas's request, and in a short 
 time the two friends traversed the eastern Pyre- 
 nees, and proceeded to Barcelona. 
 
 Following the shores of the Mediterranean 
 from the ancient Saguntum (Murviedro) down 
 to those of the no less celebrated Alharabra, Sir 
 Thomas and his companion visited all the re- 
 markable places that are scattered throughout 
 those beautiful and once chivalrous countries. 
 Then leaving behind them the Sierra Nevada, 
 and the relics of the Abencerrages, they proceed- 
 ed to Malaga, and thence to the shores of the 
 Atlantic, where they passed a few days in ex- 
 amining the beauties of Cadiz and the warlike 
 marvels of Gibraltar. Having satisfied their 
 curiosity at these two places, they retraced their 
 steps northward by Seville, Cordova, and Andu- 
 jar to Madrid, whence they proceeded to Aran- 
 juez, where they met with great attention from 
 the Spanish court. After a sojourn of some days 
 
INTROUUCTION. XV 
 
 at this royal residence, the travellers once more 
 turned their steps towards the Pyrenees, and hav- 
 ing re-entered France by St. Jean de Luz, in due 
 time reached Tarbes, where Mr. Swinburne im- 
 mediately busied himself in arranging the mate- 
 rials which formed the groundwork of his first 
 publication. 
 
 Having prepared his manuscripts for the press, 
 and forwarded them to England, he removed 
 with his family to Marseilles, where he took ship 
 for Naples, intending, in the event of his first 
 literary labours proving successful, to extend his 
 travels, and eventually to give the result of his 
 observations to the public in a second publica- 
 tion. Having been furnished with letters of in- 
 troduction, from persons of the highest rank at 
 Madrid, to those of the greatest eminence at the 
 Court of Ferdinand IV., the Swinburnes re- 
 ceived the most flattering marks of attention, not 
 only from the Neapolitan nobility, but from the 
 king and queen of the Two Sicilies. Indeed, the 
 latter appears to have imbibed sentiments of 
 great personal regard for Mrs. Swinburne, as 
 was proved not only by numerous acts of kind- 
 
XVI IXTRODUCTIOX. 
 
 ness, but by autograph letter, expressive of her 
 Majesty's friendly feelings. 
 
 Sicily being at that period little known to the 
 English public, save through the inaccurate work 
 of Brydone, Mr. Swinburne resolved to avail 
 himself of its vicinity, and to pass a few weeks in 
 exploring the relics of its ancient grandeur. 
 Having procured letters of introduction to the 
 most distino:uished civil and ecclesiastical autho- 
 rities, he embarked for Palermo, visited the most 
 interesting portions of the island, and, after en- 
 riching his collection of notes and drawings, re- 
 turned to Naples, where he had left his wife and 
 children. From Naples Mr. Swinburne extend- 
 ed his excursions to Rome, Florence, and Pisa ; 
 and having completed the manuscript of his 
 travels, he determined to proceed to England, for 
 the purpose of superintending its passage through 
 the press, as well as with the view of looking to 
 his affairs in the north. 
 
 During Mr. Swinburne's visit to his native 
 country, he was led to believe that if he were to 
 return home with his family, government would 
 not feel adverse to avail themselves of his talents, 
 
INTRODUCTION. XVll 
 
 by conferring upon him some diplomatic or offi- 
 cial situation. He therefore rejoined Mrs. Swin- 
 burne as soon as his new publication was ushered 
 into the world, and, bidding- adieu to Naples; 
 directed his steps northwards. The kindness of 
 her Sicilian Majesty was manifested on this oc- 
 casion by furnishing them with letters of presen- 
 tation to her mother, the Empress Maria Theresa, 
 who, as well as the Emperor Joseph, exhibited 
 every mark of kindness towards them during 
 their short residence at Vienna. Indeed the 
 former appears to have been so well pleased with 
 Mrs. Swinburne, that she conferred upon her the 
 order of the " Croix etoilee ;" an honour the 
 more remarkable, since her Imperial Majesty, in 
 giving this decoration to a commoner, derogated 
 from the statutes of the order, which limit the 
 admission to women of noble birth, actually 
 proving their sixteen quarters.* 
 
 From Vienna our travellers proceeded to 
 Frankfort, Aix-la-Chapelle, and Brussels, and 
 thence to England, where they had not long 
 
 * An account of the origin of this female order will be 
 found in a subsequent note. 
 
INTRODUCTION. 
 
 arrived ere they received accounts that the whole 
 of their property in the West Indies had been 
 devastated and utterly laid waste by the French 
 and Caribs. By this misfortune Mr. Swinburne 
 lost the whole of the fortune which he received 
 with his wife. This occurred too at a time when a 
 largely increasing family rendered the loss doubly 
 painful ; and there appeared little prospect of 
 his obtaining indemnity, either from the French 
 government or from his own. 
 
 Nevertheless, as the negotiations for the gene- 
 ral peace, subsequently signed at Versailles in 
 September 1783, were far advanced, he resolved 
 to proceed to Paris, and to lay his case before the 
 French government; trusting less, however, to 
 the justice of the latter than to the generous pro- 
 tection of Marie Antoinette, for whom he was 
 furnished with letters of introduction from her 
 sister the queen of the Two Sicilies, from her 
 mother the Empress Maria Therese, and from 
 her brother the Emperor Joseph. Nor was he 
 disappointed, for the ill-fated queen, who was 
 then in the zenith of her power, not only pro- 
 mised him her mediation, but acted with so much 
 
INTRODUCTION. xix 
 
 energy and kindness, that she procured for him 
 a grant of all the uncultivated crown lands in 
 the island of St. Vincent, as an indemnification 
 for the valuable property which had been devas- 
 tated. This grant was recorded and acknow- 
 ledged in the treaty of peace, and thence as- 
 sumed the character of a sacred international act. 
 The value of the lands granted to Mr. Swin- 
 burne was estimated at £30,000 ; but Mr. Pitt, 
 who was then premier, no sooner saw the island 
 in which they were situated tranferred to Great 
 Britain, than he offered Mr. Swinburne half 
 that sum. This offer, being utterly inadequate, 
 was rejected, and unfortunately, as the sequel 
 will show ; for, the government being then sore 
 pressed for money, Mr. Pitt brought a bill into 
 Parliament, the purport of which was to impose 
 such heavy taxes upon all uncultivated lands in 
 the West Indies, as would compel their posses- 
 sors to abandon them to government at a compa- 
 ratively insignificant price. The proportion of 
 these lands being greater in St. Vincent's than in 
 the other islands, the principal weight of this bill 
 fell upon Mr. Swinburne. But remonstrances 
 
 c2 
 
XX INTRODUCTION. 
 
 were vain ; the measure, passed, and the govern- 
 ment obtained for £6,500 property valued at 
 nearly five times that sum. 
 
 The hardship of this case was considered so 
 flagrant, that Mr. Swinburne was recommended 
 to petition the House of Commons. But lie wisely 
 declined taking this step, well knowing that a 
 private individual has no chance of success if 
 he attempts to bring any measure before the le- 
 gislature, the object of which is to prove that the 
 ministry have been guilty of, or that the house 
 has sanctioned, an act of spoliation. Mr. Swin- 
 burne submitted, therefore, to his ftite with as 
 much philosophy as possible, and retired to his 
 small property in the north, where he devoted 
 himself to the education of his eldest son and 
 daughter.* 
 
 There is of course little in the ordinary rou- 
 tine of an English country gentleman's exist- 
 ence, no matter how intellectual or talented he 
 may be, that can afford subject of interest to the 
 biographer; but it appears that Mr. Swinburne's 
 domestic life presented so fair a picture of 
 
 * The latter married Mr. Paul Benfield. 
 
INTRODUCTION. xxi 
 
 tranquil ease and enlightened enjoyment, and 
 the system of education pursued by him with 
 his children combined so many moral and mate- 
 rial advantages, that it made a deep impression 
 upon the mind of the Marquis Ducrest, brother 
 to Madame de Genlis, who paid a visit to Ham- 
 sterley during the course of the year 1787. In- 
 deed, such w^as the captivating report made of it 
 by M. Ducrest to his sister, that, according to 
 her own acknowledgment, she founded her well- 
 known w^ork Les Veillees du Chateau upon his 
 description. I must here observe that the Swin- 
 burnes had made the acquaintance of the Mar- 
 quis Ducrest and of Madame de Sillery (Genlis), 
 during their first visit to Paris in 1776, and 
 afterwards continued upon terms of the most 
 intimate friendship with that celebrated w'oman, 
 with whom they maintained a most interesting- 
 correspondence during many years. 
 
 In the mean time the Queen of France was not 
 backward in expressing profound regret that her 
 kind intentions should have proved so little bene- 
 ficial to the Svvinburnes. In order to give them 
 a further proof of the gracious sympathy she felt 
 
xxil IXTRODUCTIOX. 
 
 upon the occasion, she desired them to beinformed 
 that, if they felt disposed to proceed to Paris, in 
 order to make personal application for further 
 indemnification, she should be ready to support 
 their claims with all her influence. Upon re- 
 ceiving this information, the Swinburnes again 
 removed with their family to the French capital, 
 where they remained until the eve of that direful 
 convulsion which inundated France wnth in- 
 nocent blood, and soon carried war and deso- 
 lation throughout the rest of Europe. 
 
 Whatever might have been the good inten- 
 tions of Marie Antoinette, they were unfor- 
 tunately frustrated by the rapid developement and 
 predominance of those subversive and sanguinary 
 principles which soon dragged her down from 
 the pinnacle of royal grandeur, liappiness, and 
 popularity, to the utmost abyss of human misery 
 and degradation; — a contrast the more hideous, 
 from the rank and sex of the innocent victim, 
 and a consummation the more monstrous from 
 tlie devilish and brutal insults heaped upon the 
 royal victim. 
 
 However, although the power once possessed 
 
IxNTRODUCTION. xxiii 
 
 by Marie Antoinette bad so decreased as to 
 render it impossible for ber to obtain any pecu- 
 niary grant or indemnification for Mr. and Mrs. 
 Swinburne, sbe evinced lier kindness towards 
 them, before their return to England, by direct- 
 ing their eldest son to be enrolled amongst the 
 royal pages, and placed under the especial care 
 of the Prince de Lambesc. This was a favour 
 that had never before been conferred upon any 
 Englishman, and was the more valuable, since 
 the utmost care was bestowed upon the educa- 
 tion of all these youths, who, as may be sup- 
 posed, appertained to the noblest and most dis- 
 tinguished families, and who were subsequently 
 provided for, either in the military or civil 
 household. 
 
 Young Henry Swinburne was not destined to 
 reap anyof theulterioradvantages of this situation; 
 for the aspect of affairs soon became so alarming, 
 and the perils of all those persons attached 
 to the royal household were so imminent, that it 
 was considered advisable for him to return to 
 England. Nor could he effect this entirely un- 
 scathed ; for, having been involved in an affray. 
 
XXIV INTRODUCTION. 
 
 which took place at one of the theatres, between 
 a party of royalists and demagogues, he received 
 a severe wound in his head, and nearly paid the 
 price of his attachment to the court by the sa- 
 crifice of his life. 
 
 Being aware of the advantage that he himself 
 had derived from travelling, and an extensive in- 
 tercourse with the world, Mr. Swinburne resolved 
 that his son, who was a youth of remarkable pro- 
 mise, should participate in similar benefits. Con- 
 sequently, as soon as the groundwork of his 
 education was concluded, young Swinburne was 
 despatched into Italy, under the care of the abbe 
 Campbell, a highly respectable Catholic clergy- 
 man. In due time the worthy abbe and his 
 charge reached Naples, where they were joined 
 by Mr. Pelham, afterwards Lord Cliichester, be- 
 tween whom and Mr. Swinburne's family the 
 warmest friendship continued to exist down to 
 tlie last moment of their lives. 
 
 Young Swinburne was of course most warmly 
 recommended by his parents to the recollection 
 and protection of their Sicilian Majesties ; and it 
 appears that the queen was so zealous in her de- 
 
lATROUUCTION. XXV 
 
 sire to render him all the service in her power, 
 that she sought out for, and offered him the liand 
 of a ward of the crown, a young Maltese lady of 
 ancient family, who, in addition to high blood, 
 was said to possess an income of 50,000 ducats. 
 But the young Englishman seemed to have been 
 as disinterested, and as adverse to enriching him- 
 self through the medium of a matrimonial alliance, 
 as had been Mrs. Swinburne when she rejected 
 the brilliant offers that were made to her in her 
 youth ; for he respectfully rejected this advan- 
 tageous offer, and, as the approach of the republi- 
 can armies rendered it prudent for Englishmen to 
 quit Italy, he lost no time in proceeding back 
 to his native land. 
 
 Having fixed upon the career of arms as his 
 profession, a commission was soon procured for 
 him, and ere long he was appointed deputy 
 assistant adjutant-general, upon the staff of Lord 
 Moira ; an appointment for which he was 
 principally indebted to his knowledge of lan- 
 guages, and his skill as a draughtsman. 
 
 The hopes that had been held out to Mr. 
 Swinburne, of his being employed by govern- 
 
XXVI INTRODUCTIOX. 
 
 merit, were not realised before the year 1796 ; for 
 although interest had been made in his favour 
 with Mr. Pitt and other members of the admi- 
 nistration, it was not until Lord Spencer came 
 into office that he received an offer, through Sir 
 Evan Nepean and Mr. Huskis-son, to proceed to 
 France, as British commissioner for the adjust- 
 ment of the proposed cartel for the exchange of 
 prisoners. This delicate mission, which Mr. 
 Swinburne consented to undertake, was rendered 
 still more difficult in consequence of the capture 
 of Sir Sidney Smith, whom the revolutionary 
 government held in close confinement in the 
 Temple, and refused to treat according to the 
 ordinary usages of war. It was also simultane- 
 ous with, but entirely distinct from, that of Lord 
 Malmesbury, wlio was at the same time appointed 
 minister plenipotentiary, fur the purpose of ne- 
 gotiating peace with the Directory. 
 
 The difficulties that Mr. Swinburne had to 
 encounter are set fortli in his letters, and are 
 easily understood, when one considers the intri- 
 cate nature of the subject, and the uncompromis- 
 ing tenacity of the men with whom he had to 
 
INTRODUCTION. xxvil 
 
 deal. But one is at a loss to comprehend why the 
 British government should have recalled him 
 from Paris, where he appears not only to have 
 conducted himself with great prudence and dis- 
 cretion, but to have obtained the esteem of all 
 persons with whom it was his duty to transact 
 business. Such, however, was the case ; for he 
 was recalled at the very moment when there was 
 every prospect of effecting his object, and was 
 replaced by a Captain Coles, who was ere long 
 compelled to return, after unsuccessfully attempt- 
 ing to establish himself upon the same level as 
 his predecessor. 
 
 The abrupt termination of Mr. Swinburne's 
 mission may perhaps be accounted for by the 
 system too often pursued at the English Foreign 
 OfEce in regard to its diplomatic agents ; pas- 
 sive obedience, mechanical routine, and a mere 
 adherence to system, being considered of much 
 greater importance, and a much higher recom- 
 mendation in the eyes of the minister at the 
 head of that department, than the deve- 
 lopement of extraordinary activit}^ brilliant 
 talents, or zealous energy, unless indeed the 
 
XXVlll INTRODUCTION. 
 
 latter be exhibited by some man who can boast 
 of powerful patronage, or who can confide in his 
 own parliamentary influence. 
 
 Mr. Swinburne's recal, which was in fact a 
 species of diplomatic disgrace, was of course 
 extremely galling to a man of his susceptible 
 and honourable mind ; but all other sentiments 
 save those of parental agony were merged in, 
 and obliterated by, the terrible calamity which 
 assailed him a short time subsequent to his 
 return from France. This calamity, the most 
 painful that could befal a parent, was the 
 loss of the young and talented son of whom I 
 have already spoken. 
 
 In consequence of some change that took place 
 in Lord Moi ra's stafl^, young Swinburne was ap- 
 pointed aide-de-camp and military secretary to 
 General Knox, then about to proceed as com- 
 mander-in-chief to Jamaica. Little anticipating 
 the melancholy doom that awaited them, General 
 Knox and his suite joyously embarked on board 
 a vessel called the Babet, and after a boisterous 
 passage, during which they ran great risk, safely 
 reached the island of Martinique. Here they put 
 
INTRODUCTION. XXIX 
 
 in to refit, and renew their stock of provisions, 
 and eventually set sail for their ultimate destina- 
 tion. From that period no tidings of the ship 
 or her ill-fated crew were ever received ; she was 
 therefore supposed to have foundered in the gale 
 of wind which blew with fearful violence a few 
 hours after they weighed anchor from Fort Royal. 
 This supposition was the more natural, since it 
 appears that the same neglect was shown in the 
 selection of the Babet, formerly a French prize, 
 as was too often evinced, during the late war, in 
 the choice of unsound vessels for the transport 
 of troops ; a barbarous neglect, from which even 
 the present epoch is not altogether free, but which 
 was then the repeated cause of destroying many 
 valiant men. 
 
 The regret evinced by the public at the 
 melancholy fate of General Knox and his com- 
 panions was universal ; but the blow to the un- 
 happy parents, who had centred all their hopes 
 in this son, was irreparable. Mr. Swinburne 
 more than once alludes to this calamity in his 
 letters ; but, with a generous desire not to afflict 
 his wife, he glosses over his own anguish, and, 
 
XXX INTRODUCTION. 
 
 in order to support her courage aud soften 
 her affliction, he endeavours to conceal the 
 fearful agony that is undermining his own 
 health, and filling his soul with the bitterness 
 of death. 
 
 The difficulties in which Mr. Swinburne 
 was involved by the sudden loss of his West 
 India property, and the demands of a numerous 
 family, of whom eleven were still living, induced 
 him to apply to government for some official si- 
 tuation that might augment his limited resources. 
 The application was met by an ofi:er of the lucra- 
 tive appointment of vendue master to the island of 
 Trinidad, of which the valiant and much calum- 
 niated Picton was then governor. To this 
 permanent office was added the temporary mis- 
 sion of restoring the islands of Santa Cruz and 
 St. Thomas to the Danes. Mr. Swinburne would 
 gladly have accepted any other employment 
 than one which compelled him to separate him- 
 self from his family ; but the proposition was 
 too advantageous to be rejected, and he therefore 
 bade adieu to his wife and children, and em- 
 barked on board the Danish vessel of war 
 
INTRODUCTION. xxxi 
 
 which was appointed to carry out General Wal- 
 tershofF and the troops of his nation, destined 
 to take repossession of the above-mentioned 
 islands. 
 
 After executing the latter part of his mission, 
 Mr. Swinburne proceeded to the island of Trini- 
 dad, where he sought to assuage the grief that 
 was corroding his heart, by assiduously devoting 
 his time to the duties of his office, and bj^ occu- 
 pying his leisure hours in the interesting study of 
 botany, and the collection of an herbarium. He 
 was destined, however, to terminate his earthly 
 career at a moment when, to judge by his own 
 letters, he least anticipated any evil effects from 
 the unhealthy climate where he was doomed to 
 reside. His overweening confidence in his own 
 strength, and his contempt for the dangers that 
 menace Europeans in Trinidad, soon proved fatal. 
 Ere many months he was struck by a coup de 
 soleil, as he was riding from his country 
 residence to his office in the town, and died 
 almost suddenly. 
 
 His obsequies took place at St. Juan's, where, 
 at a subsequent period, .his friend Sir Ralph 
 
XXXll INTRODUCTION. 
 
 Woodford raised a monument to his memory. 
 Of the eleven children who had to deplore the 
 loss of this excellent parent and good man, some 
 are still living. It is at the particular request 
 of one of them, Mrs. R. Walker, late of Mitchel 
 Grove, Sussex, that I have undertaken, with 
 most imperfect materials, to write the foregoing- 
 brief introductory memoir. I have likewise 
 added a few notes to the letters, some of which 
 may be found useful in elucidating certain pas- 
 sages that might otherwise appear obscure. 
 
 CHARLES WHITE. 
 
 Ajjril 20th, 1840. 
 
LETTERS, 
 
LETTERS 
 
 FROM THE 
 
 COURTS OF PARIS, NAPLES, VIENNA, &c. 
 
 TO SIR EDWARD SWINBURNE. 
 
 Paris, March, 1774. 
 
 Dear Brother, 
 
 You request me to give you detailed accounts 
 of my journey. The proposition is too flattering 
 not to be complied with. 
 
 We left London on the 26th of February, 
 embarked next day at ten in the morning, and 
 landed at Calais at three in the afternoon. 
 
 The country near Calais is flat and poor, with- 
 out enclosures. At the distance of some miles 
 it grows hilly, with farmhouses and tufts of 
 trees in the valleys. Near Boulogne it is hilly 
 and open. Little wheat is sown, though all is 
 arable. We slept at Montreuil. About Nam- 
 pont are extensive woodlands, with heaths, juni- 
 
 VOL. I. B 
 
2 LETTERS FROM THE 
 
 pers, and fine oaks. Near Bernayere are the 
 ruins of a cliurch, with very elegant arches. 
 The farmers drive four horses in two-wheeled 
 ploughs, attended onl}^ by one man. There are 
 vast plains of corn. The roads are most wretch- 
 edly bad. 
 
 The part of the town of Abbeville by which 
 we entered, was almost destroyed and depopu- 
 lated. The churches and houses were in ruins, 
 and the fortifications demolished. This deso- 
 lation was occasioned lately by the wickedness 
 of a keeper of the powder magazine. He had 
 for some time supplied the deficiencies of his 
 purse by the sale of the king's powder : at 
 length, however, the time of a strict inspection 
 approached, and the punishment he had reason 
 to expect struck him with terror. Seeing that 
 there was no way of preventing a discovery of 
 his theft, he resolved to blow up the magazine, 
 and thus to confound all accounts at once. It 
 cannot now be known whether he meant to 
 sacrifice or to save himself. Be this as it may, 
 he set fire to the train, and blew up the maga- 
 zine himself, and half the town of Abbeville into 
 the bargain. 
 
 We there left the Paris road, and took that of 
 Dieppe, which, during this season of the year, 
 is scarcely passable ; it runs through narrow 
 
COURTS OF PARIS, NAPLES, &C. 3 
 
 laiics or hollow passes, in the middle of the 
 boundless corn-fields, worn so deep that the 
 top of the carriage did not appear. We were 
 often obliged to cross ploughed lands and 
 ditches, to escape dangerous holes, and I was 
 sometimes compelled to call in a peasant to as- 
 sist me in keeping the coach in its proper equi- 
 librium. In spite of all our care, it was once 
 overturned, but fortunately without occasioning 
 any mischief. After many fatigues, we reached 
 Eu in the evening. The next day we had to 
 ascend a lofty hill, where there did not seem to 
 be any trace of a high road. Jt was with diffi- 
 culty the horses gained the summit, where we 
 had an extensive view of the sea, and came 
 within sight of Dieppe, situated in a deep hol- 
 low, upon an inlet of the sea, surrounded by 
 high white cliffs. The roads after that were 
 almost bottomless. A finer country then pre- 
 sents itself to the eye, with thick woods and 
 great quantities of oak and birch, planted in 
 regular rov.'s. Lines of noble apple trees inter- 
 sect the plains in every direction. The farmers 
 take great care of the latter : they mat the 
 stems round in winter, and, by cutting out all 
 the exuberant wood, train them to one trunk, 
 only leaving the small upper branches, which 
 
 B 2 
 
4 LF.XrKRS FllOM THE 
 
 join together, and make a bead like a inusli- 
 room . 
 
 Five miles from Rouen we descended tlirougli 
 extensive woods and deep roads to a pavement, 
 which brought us at last to the capital of Nor- 
 mandy, where we took np our quarters at " le 
 cheval blanc " in the south suburb of St. Sever. 
 Behind this suburb is a large gravelly heath, 
 finely calculated for walking and riding: it 
 abounds in butcher's broom.* Upon an emi- 
 nence near it stands a large convent of Carthu- 
 sian monks. 
 
 Rouen is built in the shape of a half circle, of 
 which the Seine is the radius : it is a noble 
 river. The quay, though little raised above the 
 water, and poorly built, is much thronged with 
 people. Several gates lead from it through the 
 ancient walls into the city. A bridge of boats 
 now supplies the place of a stone one, which was 
 swept away by the impetuosity of the floods. Its 
 piers still remain above water. 
 
 The streets of Rouen are dark, narrow, and 
 have an antique and gloomy appearance. The 
 churches are of a redundant gothic architecture. 
 The cathedral of Notre Dame contains nothing 
 curious, except the monument of Cardinal 
 George d'Amboise, prime minister of Louis XII. 
 
 * Huscus aculeatus. 
 
COURTS OF PARIS, NAPLES, &t'. 5 
 
 He is represented kneeling on a tomb, over- 
 loaded with ornaments, figures, and escutcheons. 
 The monument of Breze, Marechal de Nor- 
 mandie, is opposite.* John Duke of Bedford, 
 Regent of France, t is commemorated only by a 
 lozenge of marble fixed in the side-wall, with a 
 modern inscription, behind the high altar. On 
 each side of the choir is placed a heart, one of 
 Richard Cosur de Lion, the other of his elder 
 brother Henry. 
 
 St. Ouen, a rich Benedictine abbey, has a light 
 gothic church. The Exchange is a grand edi- 
 fice, situated in a dirty, narrow lane. Its hall, 
 though dark, is spacious and noble. In the 
 calf market Joan of Arc was burnt, and tradi- 
 tion points out the window where the Regent 
 sat to see the execution. A bad statue of the 
 maid was set up in the last century.:}: The en- 
 
 * Louis de Breze, Count de Maulevrier, Grand Marshal 
 of Normandy. His mother was a daughter of the celebrated 
 Agnes Sorel and Charles VII. He married, in 1514, the 
 no less celebrated Diane de Poictiers, whose charms had so 
 great an influence over Henry II. Thus, as a French au- 
 thor observes, '< the issue of this family could boast of being 
 descended from the mistresses of two kings of France, a 
 title not very honourable in our days ; but for some people 
 there is always a compensation." 
 
 f John Duke of Bedford, Regent of France, temp. 
 Hen. VI. 
 
 X The best statue extant of the renowned Maid of Or- 
 
b LETTIiRS FROM THE 
 
 virons of this city are beautiful, the hills well 
 wooded, the meadows extensive, and the soil 
 dry. Villas are dispersed on all sides. The 
 Misses Ferguson, who are residing here, speak 
 much in favour of the place and its society. 
 
 We left Rouen by the lower road ; but the 
 river Seine had so far exceeded its natural 
 bounds, that we enjoyed little of the beauties of 
 the prospect, or the agreeable windings in ils 
 course. We crossed it at the Pont de I'Arche. 
 At Gaillon is a very large gothic palace of the 
 Archbishop of Rouen, commanding a charming 
 view of the river : woody hills rise on each side, 
 ornamented with country seats ; whilst the hol- 
 lows are occupied by villages and rich arable 
 lands, down to the flats near the water edge. 
 The road to Mantes is very bad ; there the pave- 
 ment begins. The frequent appearance of the 
 winding river, the thick vineyards clinging 
 to the declivities, the diversified features of the 
 vale, the distant broken banks impending over 
 towns and villages, form together a group of ob- 
 jects that render this one of the pleasantest jour- 
 neys a person can take. 
 
 leans is that in the gallery of Versailles, sculptured by the 
 gifted and lamented Duchess of Wurtemberg, (Princess 
 Marie of France,) whose premature death took place at 
 Pisa, on the 2nd of January, 1839. 
 
COURTS OF PARIS, NAJ'LES, &c. 7 
 
 Mantes is well built, in a bold situation, and 
 the most ancient part of its gotliic church is very 
 handsome. The surrounding country is clothed 
 with vineyards and corn lands. At Meulan, in 
 an island, is I'lsle Belle, a disagreeable low 
 garden, with a ruinous house, once the much- 
 admired seat of the Bignons.* We slept at St. 
 Germain, and came next day to St, Denis, where 
 we lodged with our friend Madame de Marcois, 
 the mother of Madame d'Anglures. Forty-five 
 kings of France lie within the abbey. I was 
 shown in the treasury a very fine cameo of Nero, 
 another of Augustus, and a third of Domitian, 
 hung at the necks of saints, and a very beauti- 
 ful agate vase. We then came to Paris, and 
 have taken up our abode at Le Pare Royal, rue 
 du Colombier. 
 
 I have been to Pigale, the statuary, to see his 
 famous monument of the Marechal de Saxe, 
 destined for the church of Strasbourg. He is 
 represented in armour, descending into the 
 tomb, which death opens, pointing to an hour- 
 glass : France, on her knees, tries to drive the 
 spectre back : on his right hand lie the impe- 
 rial eagle and the English leopard on their 
 
 * The De Bignons were of a very ancient family, vvhicli 
 had furnished many illustrious members both to the bar and 
 parliament. 
 
O LETTERS FROM THE 
 
 backs, and the Dutch lion running away ; and 
 under them broken standards. A little boy, the 
 genius of war or love, is weeping on the left, 
 with an extinguished torch ; behind is the French 
 flag triumphant ; whilst Hercules leans on his 
 club, by the sarcophagus, in an attitude of grief. 
 
 The Marshal's portrait is said to be a strong 
 resemblance : there is great puerility in the birds 
 and beasts, and the Genius is highly absurd. 
 
 Pigale has also a naked statue of Voltaire, 
 sitting crowned with laurel; a roll of parchment, 
 which he holds in his hand, serves as a sort of 
 covering. The periwig is not forgot, and alto- 
 gether it is very ridiculous.* 
 
 Paris, April fiOth, 1774. 
 
 On Tuesday I set out for Versailles early, pur- 
 suant to the directions 1 had previously received 
 from Lord Stormont, our ambassador ; and hav- 
 ing notliing but mere curiosity to gratify, with 
 no fear of disappointment, I made a tolerable 
 day of it. The Duke of Dorset 'f was the only 
 Englishman presented with me. We met in 
 
 * This siatue of Voltaire is now in the vestibule of the 
 Theatre Francais. 
 
 t John Frederick, tliird duke, who afterwards married 
 Miss Cope. 
 
COURTS OF PARIS, NAPLES, &C. 9 
 
 the Salle des Ambassadeurs, and there made ac- 
 quaintance. After a little waiting, the ambas- 
 sador escorted us to the prime minister's levee, 
 (the Due d'Aiguillon.*) If he said anything 
 to me, it was so little and so low, that I do not 
 recollect a word of it. 
 
 In his antechamber the envoys of Europe 
 were assembled, decorated with ribbons of all 
 colours, and crosses and keys of all metals. 
 Among the rest the famous Aranda,t late presi- 
 dent of Castile ; but now, to the astonishment 
 of everybody, ambassador to the court of France, 
 by his own request. He was the king of Spain's 
 right hand when he planned the expulsion and 
 destruction of the Jesuits, and his coming here 
 seems to forebode some mischievous designs 
 hatching in Spain against the peace of Europe, 
 perhaps of England ; yet some think Aranda 
 only chose the journey, to take off the shock of 
 an approaching disgrace. 
 
 About eleven, the introductors gave notice 
 of the king's levee being ready, and so, in com- 
 pany of a German baron, we trudged up stairs, 
 
 * Minister to Louis XV., after^the disgrace of the Duke 
 de Choiseul. 
 
 f Le Comte d' Aranda succeeded Count Florida Blanca as 
 minister to Charles IV. He was a man of eminent talents 
 and enlightened views. He was overthrown by Godoy, 
 Prince of Peace. 
 
10 LETTERS FROM THE 
 
 and surprised his most Cliristian Majesty in his 
 waistcoat : for none but the family ambassadors 
 may see him in buff. 
 
 After staring at us, talking about the opera 
 vvitli some few of the crowds of courtiers, and 
 suyiug about one minute's prayer with his cardi- 
 nal,* he drew towards us, who were ranged near 
 the door in rank and file. All he said w^as, 
 " Est-ilfils du vieux Due de Dorset, quefai connu 
 autrefois T and so marched off. However, as 
 they talked much to others who stood near us, 
 I can describe them better from this view than 
 from the subsequent one. 
 
 The Dauphin is very awkwardly made, and 
 uncouth in his motions. His face resembles his 
 grandfather's, but he is not near so handsome, 
 tiiough he has by no means a bad countenance. 
 His nose is very prominent, his eyes are gray, 
 and his complexion is sallow. He seemed 
 cheerful and chatty, and 1 think his aspect be- 
 speaks a good-natured man. The second bro- 
 ther is a pretty figure, and so is the third, only 
 his mouth is rather wide, and drawn up in the 
 middle to the top of the gums. 
 
 They are not yet quite formed as to legs and 
 strength, and have all a good deal of that restless 
 
 * The Cardinal de la Roche Aymon, grand almoner 
 and confessor to Louis XV. 
 
COURTS OF PARIS, NAPLES, &C. 11 
 
 motion, first upon one leg and then upon an- 
 other, which is also remarkable in some mem- 
 bers of the English royal family. 
 
 The questions they ask seem very frivolous 
 and puerile. I believe they find their time hang- 
 very heavy on their hands, for they ran with 
 great glee to tickle one of the king's valets de 
 chambre, as he was carryng out the king's 
 dirty clothes. 
 
 Our next trot was to the Dauphin, who said 
 nothing. The same silence reigned at the levee 
 of his brothers, as to our share at least. The 
 Comtesse de Provence is a little dumpy woman, 
 and but a plain piece of goods ; her sister, the 
 Comtesse d'Artois, is rather prettier, having 
 fine skin and tolerable eyes, but her nose is im- 
 mense, and her toes are turned in. Poor thing ! 
 she seemed quite frightened, and could hardly 
 speak. 
 
 I did intend to reserve Madame du Barre for 
 the bonne houche* but it must be the Dauphiness, 
 
 * This celebrated personage was born in 1746, of low 
 parents, at Vaucouleurs near Orleans. Her father was one 
 Gomart, a clerk in the municipal tax-office, (octroi,) and her 
 mother was a girl called Becu, a sempstress. After sundry 
 profligate adventures, she marriedWilliam Count du Barre, 
 with whose brother John she had lived during some time. 
 Lebel, valet de chambre to Louis XV., being struck with 
 her beauty, introduced her to his royal master. Ere long 
 
12 LETTERS FROM THE 
 
 who quite won my heart. I can give you no 
 account of her particuUir features ; but her air, 
 eyes, shape, motion, her tout ensemble, were most 
 charming. She spoke so cheerfully, and so 
 easily, comme si eile se setiiait, as the French say : 
 
 EUe avoit une grace, 
 
 Un je ne sais quoi qui surpasse 
 
 De I'amour les plus doux appas. 
 
 From her we passed to the three 7wt Graces, 
 but any other trio you may think would suit 
 them. I mean the King's daughters : the Dau- 
 phin's sisters were not visible. 
 
 After all these perambulations up stairs and 
 down stairs through the royal family, we climbed 
 up a dark winding staircase, which I . should 
 have suspected would have led to an apartment 
 of the Bastile, rather than to the temple of love 
 and elegance. In a low entresol we found the 
 favourite sultana in her morning gown, her ca- 
 
 she was established at Versailles, where she reigned despo- 
 tically during many years. She and her family are said to 
 have extracted thirty millions of francs from the public trea- 
 sure. When Louis XV. formed his first intimacy with this 
 fascinating woman, whose numerous adventures were known 
 to all the world, he said to the Duke de Richelieu, " Well ! 
 at all events I succeed Du Barre," — " Yes !" replied the 
 witty duke, bowing, " Just as your most gracious majesty 
 succeeds to Pharamond, your illustrious predecessor. " 
 
COURTS OF PARIS, NAPLES, &r, 13 
 
 puchin on, and her Imir undressed ; slie was 
 very gracious, and chatted a good deal, as every 
 body else seemed to do at Versailles, about the 
 opera. I could hardly refrain from laughing at 
 an involuntary exclamation from my brother 
 presentee, the Duke, whose mistress, Mrs. Par- 
 sons, has, you know, been long out of her teens. 
 " Good heavens !" said his grace in a whisper 
 to me, " why, her bloom is quite past." 
 
 She is of a middling age, just plump enoiigli, 
 her face rather upon the yellow leaf, her eyes 
 good, and all her features regular ; but I cannot 
 think her a pleasing figure now, whatever she 
 may have been, or may be still, when made up 
 and decked out in her pride. 
 
 There ended our business, and then we pro- 
 ceeded to dine at the Due d'Aiguillon's, where 
 we found all the foreign ministers and some 
 French. Among the women were the Duchess 
 of Mazarin, once a famous beauty, and Madame 
 de Forcalquier, a lady celebrated for her amours 
 and her beauty, and cited as such by Helvetius 
 in his posthumous book. It is she who, on 
 some dispute with her second husband, (she is 
 the widow of two,) received a slap in the face 
 from him. Seemingly reconciled to the insult, 
 she went out and staid so late, that Monsieur de 
 Forcalquier, with a great deal of company, w^as 
 
14 LETTERS FROM THE 
 
 seated at dinner wlien she returned. Upon liis 
 asking her why she came so late, she approached 
 him, and said she had been all over Paris to 
 find somebody who would take the souffiet off her 
 hand, but as no one chose to receive it, she was 
 under the necessity of returning it to him; and 
 as she spoke, she discharged a most violent 
 smack upon his cheek, and then flew ofl" and 
 took her seat composedly at the table. 
 
 Our dinner was very good, but our Amphy- 
 trion never spoke one word to us, and did 
 not give us a very famous idea of la politesse 
 Frangaise. However, we ate our pudding, held 
 our tongues, and then came away at our lei- 
 sure. 
 
 The Baron, who was presented with us, is called 
 Schwenckt, as I read his name given to the in- 
 troductor ; but his Hessian friend said there were 
 a few consonants left out. He soon got ac- 
 quainted with us, and let us into his history. 
 This was his first debut in the world, being quite 
 en droiture from Westphalia. He stuck close to 
 us for one, two, or three presentations ; but the 
 introducteur being called away, and none but 
 ambassadors having the privilege of presenting, 
 he was left in the lurch at the Dauphiness's, 
 However, he got pretty well through this affair ; 
 but at Madame's he was unluckily placed behind 
 
COURTS OF PARIS, NAPLES, See. 15 
 
 the Swedish ambassador, wliom he overtopped 
 by head and shoulders ; and whom should the 
 princess address but this Swede, whilst our 
 Baron, who was unpresented, felt ires mal a son 
 aise, grew as red as fire, and looked most piti- 
 able. 
 
 This scrape was nothing to what he underwent 
 at Madame du Barre's, where the whole com- 
 pany consisted of ten persons. Here he could 
 not escape notice ; and every time she stared at 
 him, which she did very often. Monsieur le 
 Baron ducked, and made a profound reverence. 
 I thought I should have burst from the desire of 
 laughing ; but as we had patronised him so con- 
 spicuously all day, he could not do less than sit 
 by us at dinner. To our no small amusement, 
 but unfortunately for him, a large rabbit was 
 placed by him, which it seems he had a great 
 aversion to, and this was a new cUsagrement for 
 him. If he publishes his tour, I dare say he 
 will give it as his opinion, that being presented 
 is an infinitely more trying ceremony than stand • 
 ing the fire of a regiment. 
 
 This morning news came of the King having 
 the small-pox, that he had been bled for it, once 
 in the foot, and had blisters clapped to his back * 
 
 * When some one told the Duke d'Ayen that Louis XV. 
 had taken the small-pox, he shrugged up his shoulders, and 
 
16 LETTERS FROM THE 
 
 — the most extraordinary mode of treating- this 
 disorder I ever heard of: he must be in danger 
 from his ap;e and way of life. A few days will 
 decide his fate. The royal family are all sent to 
 Meudon, and his daughter, the nun, goes to- 
 morrow to join her sisters, who are the only 
 persons of his family left with him. The whole 
 town is in motion between Paris and Versailles. 
 What an epoch for ministers, both ins and outs ! 
 Last night we were at the new opera of 
 Orphee, by Gluck. I was vastly disappointed : 
 the best of the music resembles in style and force 
 the common burlettas ; but, to do it justice, the 
 performers sang it abominably, not quite in the 
 French, yet not in the least m the Italian style. 
 Some of the dancers are ridiculously grovelling- 
 and vulgar; but this he did in imitation of 
 Boyes, I suppose, to make the rest of the opera 
 show off better. * The dances are very bad, a 
 thing uncommon on the French stage, where at 
 least one sense should have repaid us for what the 
 other underwent. 
 
 said, " Je ny crois pas — car il ny a rien de petit chez le 
 grands^ 
 
 * This reminds me of the advice given by a wit to the 
 composer of a French opera, interspersed with dances, 
 which was not very successful upon its first representation. 
 " What shall I do," said the composei", " to make it more 
 popular ?'' — " Do !" replied the other; " why, lengthen the 
 ballet, and shorten the dresses of the figurantes." 
 
COURTS OF PARIS. NAPLES, &C. 17 
 
 I have filled my paper with mere nonsense, 
 but that is sometimes more agreeable in a corre- 
 spondence than either solidity or business. 
 
 Paris, May 1 1 , 
 
 Since my last, everything in this capital has 
 worn the aspect of dulness and anxiety. No one 
 could be totally indifferent whilst the life of the 
 Grand Monarque was at stake ; though it asto- 
 nished me and all strangers to see how little the 
 generality of the natives seemed to care about 
 the event. 
 
 Louis XV. took to his bed on Monday, the 
 27th of April, the day after I was presented 
 to him, and in a day or two the small-pox made 
 its appearance. This was kept a profound se- 
 cret from him, for fear of his being frightened 
 into confession, and consequently into the banish- 
 ment of Madame du Barre. 
 
 The physicians, whose constant practice is to 
 kill in this disorder, bled him twice, and would 
 have done it a third time, had they imagined he 
 had blood sufficient for it. They also blistered 
 him severely, and brought a deal of the humour 
 out by that part of his body. Every day they 
 issued bulletins, with an account of the progress 
 of the malady, which, being posted up in the 
 
 VOL. I. c 
 
18 lp:tters from the 
 
 palaces for the inspection of the public, were in- 
 tended to keep up their hopes. Could any credit 
 have been given to these papers, the generality 
 of people might have been lulled into confi- 
 dence ; but, from the known fallaciousness of 
 these accounts, and the king's age and irregu- 
 larities, nobody believed he would get over the 
 disorder. Every body was therefore in motion, 
 and endeavouring to prepare themselves for a 
 great change of men and measures. 
 
 About six days ago, however, the king disco- 
 vered the real nature of his case, which, it is be- 
 lieved, was made known to him by liis daughter* 
 Madame Louise, the Carmelite nun, who left her 
 convent to attend him in his illness ; and, though 
 much against the inclinations of some people, he 
 confessed himself, made a public avowal of his 
 faults, and ordered the Cardinal de la Roche 
 Aymon to repeat his words in the great gallery, 
 and to have them printed and distributed. They 
 expressed his sincere repentance for having so 
 long scandalized his people, of whom and of 
 God he asked pardon, and declared he only 
 wished to recover his health, that he might de- 
 vote the rest of his life to the service of religion 
 and of his people. 
 
 The natives seemed in great spirits at this 
 deathbed repentance ; but whether they gave 
 credit to such a thorough change, is what I 
 
COUUTS OF PARIS, NAPLES, &C. 19 
 
 cannot pretend to assume. The Viaticum was 
 carried to him with all the pomp imaginable. 
 The canopy was borne by the princes of the 
 blood, and attended by all the principal per- 
 sonages of the court. It was observed that the 
 Dauphin seemed the most affected of any, and 
 wept profusel3^ 
 
 None of these spiritual aids availed, no more 
 than the descent of the relics of St. Genevieve, 
 nor the prayers of four hours in every church 
 of the metropolis. On Friday, Sutton, the 
 English inoculator, offered his services, but was 
 refused, as he did not choose to let the French 
 physicians into his secret. A mortification be- 
 gan to appear about the stomach, and upon 
 Saturday the case was looked upon as desperate. 
 
 During the first days of his illness, Madame 
 du Barre used to attend him at the hour of 
 dinner, that is, as soon as Madame Adelaide re- 
 tired from his chamber; but, just before the 
 king's confession, she was sent to the Duke d'Ai- 
 guillon at Ruelle, whence she took her departure 
 for Dauphin3\* 
 
 * She was proprietor of the splendid Chateau of Luciennes 
 in Dauphiny, the furniture and decorations of which are 
 said to have cost six millions of francs. After being re- 
 leased from the abbey of Pont aux Dames, near Meaux, 
 where she was confined for some time by order of Louis 
 
 e 2 
 
20 LETTERS FROM THE 
 
 On Monday Sutton was admitted, as the doc- 
 tors had given him over, the king being quite 
 out of his senses, and almost in the agonies of 
 death. Sutton administered emetics and cathar- 
 tics, and brought him to himself so well as to 
 enable him to speak and ask pardon of the 
 Prince de Conti for all his usage of him. But 
 all help was now in vain, and Louis XV. ex- 
 pired at half past three in the afternoon of 
 yesterday. May 10th. He had caught the infec- 
 tion, I am told, from a girl who resided with some 
 others in the Pare aux Cerfs, a kind of seraglio, 
 near Versailles.* She was some time after 
 taken into Madame du Barre's service, and be- 
 ing sent to Paris, where the small-pox appeared 
 on her, she died last week. 
 
 XVI., Madame du Barre passed the remainder of her days 
 at Luciennes, until she was arrested on the 22nd September, 
 1793, and guillotined by order of the Revolutionary Com- 
 mittee on the 9th of November following. Luciennes re- 
 cently belonged to M. Lafitte. 
 
 * This establishment, which obtained such disg^'aceful no- 
 toriety, was originally a beautiful campagne called l Ennitarjc, 
 in the park of Versailles, and belonged to Madame de Pom- 
 padour. It was converted by that profligate woman to its 
 scandalous purposes in the year 1753. It is affirmed that 
 the expenses of the Pare avsc Cerfi., and its contemptible 
 inmates, many of whom belonged to the first families of 
 France, was 150,000 francs per month. Lacratelle says 
 that the total expenses of the Pare aux Cerfs absorbed 
 one hundred millions of francs. 
 
COURTS Of PARIS, NAPLES, &C. 21 
 
 The royal family retired to Choisy yesterday. 
 The king's daughters attended their father during 
 all his sickness, but none of them have had the 
 small-pox. The Duke of Orleans* waited on him 
 like a servant. The Archbishop of Paris, though 
 almost dead himself with a nephritic cholic, 
 went to Versailles, but was not very graciously 
 received. 
 
 On account of the infection, the body is not 
 to lie in state at the Louvre, but will be carried 
 to St. Denis, where it is to lie in state forty 
 days ; during which time no diversions of any 
 kind are to be permitted. How black and dull 
 then will be this land of foppery for six 
 weeks ! Mourning is risen high in price, 
 cloth ten livres an ell. The mourning is to be 
 for six months. After the forty days the new 
 king will go to Rheims to be anointed. The 
 processions for the king's recovery, which were 
 marshalled out and regulated to last three days 
 longer, are all at an end of course; andlsuppose 
 the canons of St. Genevieve will seal up their 
 relics again, and cover them, without any great 
 parade.f 
 
 * The father of Louis PhiHp, better known as EgaHte. 
 
 t The relics of St. Genevieve, the patroness of Paris, 
 consisting of the bones of that saint, were preserved in the 
 church of that name, afterwards the Pantheon, and were 
 
22 LETTERS FROM THE 
 
 It was my lot to be the last person pre- 
 sented to the king and Madame dn Barre. We 
 have been driven from our late hotel to one in 
 the Fauxbourg St. Germains, Pare Royal, Rue 
 du Colombier, for which we had several coercive 
 reasons. One was, having a devil incarnate of a 
 landlady to deal with, lazy liousemaids, and 
 moreover a very pestilential smell exhaling 
 throngliout, which is by no means an uncommon 
 occurrence in this most brilliant of towns. Our 
 present apartments are much better ; the hotel is 
 full. We have the Duke of Dorset, a Chevalier 
 Douglas from TAcademie de Caen, Mr. Tuite, 
 and Mr. Hall, son to Jamaica Hall, whom you 
 know. He has been here six months, in which 
 time he has made a shift to see the end of ten 
 thousand pounds, what with play, a lady of the 
 stage, and his tailor's bill. This last amounted 
 (as my man heard from his) to no less than a 
 thousand guineas ! His French valet de cham- 
 bre, after defrauding him by exorbitant bills, &c., 
 of about the same sum, was detected at last by 
 an English wine-merchant, and shown up to his 
 
 never brought forth, save in the event of the iUness of the king, 
 or of some other public calamity. An unbeliever in the miracu- 
 lous agency of these relics having jeered the Abbe of St. Ge- 
 nevieve upon their inefficacy on this occasion, the satirical 
 priest replied, " What more would you have them do — is he 
 not dead ?" 
 
COURTS OF PARIS, NAPLES, &C. 23 
 
 master, who discharged him. The otlier night 
 Hall lost one thousand five hundred more, 
 and would have been unable to discharge the bill 
 of the house, if his principal winner had not lent 
 him a sum sufficient for the purpose. He must be 
 a thick-headed youth, and unless this his first ex- 
 pedition out of the British dominions should 
 have refined his understanding as it has cleared 
 his pocket, I think he will be fit for nothing but 
 to be a mule-driver. 
 
 Mr, and Miss inhabit the back 
 
 apartments of I'hotel d'Espagne opposite our 
 windows, and seem to live in great amity and 
 cordiality. They have a young child with 
 them. Madame d'Anglures goes on Friday 
 to Orleans on her way to Blois, and we have 
 some thought of joining her there, for a sejour 
 in Paris will be a dull concern at this period, 
 though the grief of the nation is by no means the 
 cause of it. I never, indeed, saw joy more visible 
 than it appears to be on the loss of this same 
 Louis le bieti aime, whose illness was once the 
 object of so much alarm and anxiety. Indeed, 
 never did a king deserve more than he did to 
 lose the affections of his people. 
 
 I have been to the gallery of the Luxembourg, 
 where part of the royal collection is exhibited. 
 There are but very few fine pictures. The Jar- 
 
24 LETTERS FROM THE . 
 
 dins de la Boissiere, in the Rue de Clichy, are in 
 a fine commanding situation, but of wretched 
 taste. 
 
 Orleans, June 1774. 
 
 We left Paris some days ago, and in compli- 
 ance with your wish that I should send you a 
 description of our tour, I will keep a sort of 
 journal of all I see, and forward it to you de 
 terns en terns, I intend giving way to my propen- 
 sity to taking views, wherever I see anything 
 worth admiring, and iny letters to you may 
 serve to illustrate them. 
 
 On leaving Paris, we traversed a rich arable 
 country, full of quarries or pits of stone, worked by 
 a wheel. There are fine valleys near Monthery, 
 where the ruins of a castle rise boldly on the 
 brow of a hill above the town, the approach to 
 which is through avenues of trees. In the vil- 
 lages the peasants plant acacias before their 
 doors, and the numbers increase as one advances 
 nearer to Orleans. After passing the plain of 
 Beauce, and the great forest of Orleans, which is 
 all young wood as far as I could see, we came to a 
 Hat country full of villas and scattered cottages, 
 and arrived at Orleans at nine in the evening. 
 
COURTS OF PARTS, NAPLES, &C. 25 
 
 Tlie Rue Royale, regularly built, leads from the 
 Place du Martery to the new bridge. This street 
 is too narrow. In a recess on one side is placed 
 the brass statue of the Pucelle, which was ori- 
 ginally raised by Charles VII. on the old 
 bridge. He is represented in armour, kneeling 
 with her at the feet of the Virgin Mary, holding 
 the dead Christ in her arms. There is no merit 
 in any of these figures. The bridge is upon ellip- 
 tical arches and almost without any ascent 
 either way. It is remarkable for its simplicity 
 and air of solidity ; an iron gate between small 
 turrets closes the south end, and opens upon a 
 grand avenue. Near the north end, one arch 
 of the old crooked bridge still remains ; parts of 
 the old walls are standing, thin and slightly 
 built with pebbles buried in mortar. The church 
 of St. Agnes is remarkable for having the upper 
 part of its buttresses terminated with a filigree 
 banister instead of the common pinnacle. Over 
 the sacristy door are foliages like crisped cab- 
 bage. 
 
 The mall, or public walk, on the northern 
 rampart, is one of the finest shady avenues I ever 
 saw, but its being open to the north makes it 
 unfit for winter use. The cathedral of St. 
 Croix has been built at various periods. The 
 west front is quite new ; it is gotliic in its orna- 
 
26 LETTERS FROM THE 
 
 ments, and upon the whole a grand piece of work, 
 though it will not bear a comparison with the 
 light elegant buildings of the thirteenth century. 
 The choir part, which is ancient, is in a good 
 style, but Grecian pillars and a heavy screen of 
 the Corinthian order have been added to dis- 
 figure it, and to clash with the airy roof and the 
 light cloisters of gothic columns. 
 
 The Benedictine convent is so white within, 
 that no eye can bear to look upon it. Their 
 library is open to the public. The pavement of 
 the city is very strange, but clean. The inhabi- 
 tants are a wealthy set of men, but unfortunately 
 divided into jarring parties of nobles, financiers, 
 merchants, burghers, Jansenists,and Molinists.* 
 Their ton is vulgar, but they keep ver}^ good 
 tables, and are extremely civil to strangers. Su- 
 gar refineries, traflSc, and manufacture of 
 Spanish wool, Levant trade for caps and coarse 
 porcelain, are the great branches of commerce in 
 
 * The Jansenists were thus designated from their follow- 
 ing the so-called heterodox but severe dogmas of Jansenius, 
 Bishop of Ypres. The Molinists derived their name from 
 their adhesion to the doctrines of the Spanish Jesuit Molina. 
 The discussions and dissensions that arose between these two 
 sects occupied France and Rome during fifty years, and might 
 have continued to this hour, had not the revolution put an 
 end to all theological disputes, and confounded all faith, all 
 religion, in the same hideous proscription. 
 
COURTS OF I'ARIS, NAPLES, Scc 27 
 
 this town. There is a great deal of what is 
 called devotion here. 
 
 In the time of the first French kings, Orleans 
 was the capital of a kingdom. In 1429 it 
 withstood the attack of the English, and the 
 siege was raised by the famous Joan d'Arc. 
 There is great abundance of fruit in the market 
 here : the fashionable walk in winter is the 
 cemetery of the cathedral of St. Croix, although 
 there are heaps of human bones piled up in 
 every corner. I could discover no traces of the 
 fortifications mentioned in the history of the 
 siege of 1488. 
 
 I have visited the banks of the Loiret — a 
 sweet country. The river rises at La Source, 
 a country-house belonging to Monsieur Boutin, 
 two leagues south of Orleans. It was the resi- 
 dence of Lord Bolingbroke during his exile.* 
 The present possessor, a financier, instead of 
 following the dictates of nature, who pointed out 
 such a scope for real beauty and embellishments, 
 has lavished immense sums, and taken incre- 
 dible pains, to distort every feature of her, and to 
 degrade each part of the scenery. The spring, 
 which bubbles up with great force and in a large 
 volume of water in the plain at the foot of the 
 
 * Henry, first Viscount Bolingbroke, secretary of state 
 to Queen Anne. He was attainted in 1714. 
 
"IS LETTERS FROM THE 
 
 slope, is jammed up in a circular basin, and then 
 let through a narrow gullet into a long canal, 
 resembling in figure a child in swaddling-clothes. 
 He has opened vistas where there is nothing to 
 see, pruned up the trees till they look like 
 broomsticks, and levelled the low ground till he 
 has made a swamp of it. 
 
 There is one pretty retired walk of alders 
 hanging over another stream, but its colour is 
 muddy and inferior to that of the Loiret, which 
 no sooner escapes from these shades of false 
 taste, than it swells into a fine river, deep and 
 full. The plain on the right hand is set thick 
 with poplars and willows growing with pleasing 
 luxuriancy. On the left is a cultivated ridge 
 of hills, crowned with villas, gardens, and cottages, 
 reflected in the crystal waters. Mills are at 
 work, and boats ply upon the Loiret at a musket- 
 shot from the spring, and shoals of fish are seen 
 in every part of it. 
 
 The bridge of Olivet, near which Poltrot shot 
 the Duke de Guise,* affords very beautiful pros- 
 pects on both sides. About a mile below is a 
 
 * Francis, Duke de Guise, eldest son of Claude, first 
 duke, one of the most eminent of this illustrious family, and 
 one of the most bitter enemies of the Hugonots. He was shot 
 by a Protestant gentleman, named Poltrot de Merey, on the 
 'Jth of February, 1563, during the siege of Orleans. 
 
COURTS OF PARTS, NAPLES, &C. 29 
 
 small country residence called La Motte Bou- 
 quin; the view from thence is delightful towards 
 Orleans, which closes the northern horizon. The 
 upper garden is laid out in flat terraces and 
 parterres, and a small grove, all as pretty as the 
 style allows ; but the real beauties of the place 
 lie on the edge of the river, which is here of a 
 considerable breadth, with clumps of aquatic 
 trees overshading its banks, and water-mills go- 
 ing in different points. A terrace by the water 
 side leads to a covered walk between the Loiret 
 and a canal, which receives a supply from innu- 
 merable springs, that gush out of the hills. The 
 waters are extremely cold, and render the walk 
 delicious in hot weather. A seat in an arbour 
 commands a romantic scene down the water, and 
 about a couple of miles lower down, the Loiret 
 falls into the Loire. 
 
 La Boudon, a country house on the Loiret, is 
 in a damp aguish situation. The river is dammed 
 up by a mill into a pretty basin near it : there are 
 many fine springs issuing out of the banks, and 
 the walks are very rural by the water side, but 
 it is by no means an eligible residence. I walked 
 to the mouth of the Loiret, near the abbey of 
 St. Marmin ; an agreeable grove almost fills the 
 angle at the junction of the rivers; but just at 
 that spot are too many acres of barren sand, on 
 
30 LETTERS FROM THE 
 
 which, however, grows a considerable quantity of 
 asparagus from seeds washed down out of the 
 extensive gardens that cover the plain above. 
 
 Monsieur Desfriches, a dilettante painter here, 
 draws landscapes in a mellow style, and with 
 fine lights ; the foilage of his trees is remarkably 
 light and well raised, and he enlivens his clear 
 parts by drawing upon chalked paper and scrap- 
 ing, while he darkens the shadow of the crayon 
 with touches of Indian ink. 
 
 Blois, July. 
 
 Having sent the baggage by water, we brought 
 Madame d'Angloires and Madame de Marcois in 
 our coach to Blois. As far as Mauny the 
 country is a pretty vineyard, with an extensive 
 view over the Loire into Sologne, which appears 
 a forest from that distance. Near Beaugency is 
 more arable ground. It is an ancient town on 
 a declivity, with ruined towers and walls. 
 
 I dined with the Marquis de Marigni at Me- 
 nars ; he is the brother of the celebrated Madame 
 de Pompadour.* The prospect from his house 
 
 * Jeanne Antoinette Poisson, daughter of a butcher to 
 the Invalids, or, as others assert, of a M. de Tourneheim, a 
 
COURTS OF PARIS, NAPLES, Scc. 31 
 
 is niagnificent. The river forms a noble sweep in 
 front, and there is a boundless view over the op- 
 posite plains, which are richh^ cultivated. The 
 terraces between the house and the river are 
 constructed in the best taste, and at an incre- 
 dible expense. The furniture of the house is 
 most superb : it consists of the finest Gobelin ta- 
 pestry, real chintz beds, fine worked silks, paint- 
 ings, china jars, mirrors, &c. The French may 
 well say, " IVous avons pay c pour tout cela" 
 
 On the right of the chateau are an orangery 
 and temple, adjoining a wood intended to re- 
 present an English shrubbery. It is cut into 
 narrow winding paths, not deficient in taste : a 
 small stream tumbles down little cascades by 
 the side of it, and the walk is very judiciously 
 extended to the machine which raises the water 
 to the house, and occasionally keeps the rivulet 
 running. The other part of the gardens is com- 
 posed of a large extent of low, young wood, cut 
 
 rich fermier-general, who adopted her, gave her an admira- 
 ble education, and married her to his nephew, M. d'Etioles. 
 Louis XV. met her at a masked ball at the Opera — became 
 forthwith enamoured of her, and it was not long ere she was 
 publicly recognised and courted as his mistress. In 1772 
 she was created Marquise de Pompadour, an ancient and 
 extinct title with which she had not the remotest connexion. 
 Her brother, Poisson, was soon after created Marquis de 
 Marigni. She died at the palace of Versailles in 1764. 
 
32 LETTERS FROM THE 
 
 into stars, and alleys with statues and temples. 
 A group of zephyrs and Flora is a pleasing 
 piece of sculpture. The park is divided, since 
 Monsieur de Marigni had the great post-road 
 brought on this side of the river, by order of 
 government, for his convenience. It abounds 
 with game, and contains about two hundred acres 
 of wood. 
 
 Blois covers the steep slope of a rocky hill on 
 the northern banks of the Loire. Its streets are 
 precipitous, narrow, and crooked. The buildings 
 of the upper town stand upon two knolls : 
 the low town occupies a slip of level ground in 
 the intermediate hollow, which appears to have 
 been stolen from the river, that is said to have 
 formerly run in several channels, and to have 
 washed the foot of the hills. It has long been 
 confined, however, to one straight bed, over 
 which a noble stone bridge was thrown in 1717, 
 to join the suburb of Vienna to the city. The 
 walk and gates remain, and over each of the 
 latter is an image of the Virgin. On the eastern 
 point of the hill is the church of Solenne, which 
 the Bishop of Chartres made an episcopal cathe- 
 dral through the interest of Madame de Main- 
 tenon. Several livings attached to it form a 
 revenue of sixty thousand livres for the bishop. 
 The steeple is a barbarous tower of the Corin- 
 
COURTS OF PARIS, NAPLES, &C. 33 
 
 tliian order, crowned with a kind of skull-cap, 
 all which composes a heavy pile of building. 
 
 The bishop's palace and gardens command a 
 very extensive view over town and country. 
 Upon the western extremity of the hill is the 
 ancient castle of the sovereigns of Blois. Twenty- 
 three families have apartments in it. The size 
 of the buildings, extent of the courts, and vestiges 
 of terraces, gardens, and outworks, bespeak a royal 
 thouo'h abandoned residence. The west front of 
 the castle was built by Gaston d'Orleans, and 
 Mansard was the architect. It cost three mil- 
 lions and a half of livres. The bad taste of the 
 day led Gaston to destroy the noble gardens, 
 planted far into the country by Catherine de 
 Medicis, and to surround his palace with bul- 
 warks like a state prison. The low building at 
 the east end was built by Francis I., whose 
 emblem (the Salamander) appears everywhere. 
 Henri Due de Guise was stabbed in the centre 
 apartment, as he stood near the balcony.* His 
 brother, the cardinal, was despatched in the 
 
 * Henry of Lorraine, Duke de Guise, commonly called 
 the Balafre from a wound that he received in the face at 
 the battle of Chateau Thierri. He was murdered by order 
 of Henry HI., by a certain Saint Mahnes, captain of the Cent 
 Suisses, as he was about to enter the council chamber, 
 December 23, 1558. 
 
 VOL. I. D 
 
34 LETTERS FROM THE 
 
 great tower near the west end, called La Tour du 
 Chateau Reynault.* 
 
 Blois is not mentioned until the ninth century. 
 It was afterwards governed by sovereign earls, 
 of which Stephen, king of England, was one. 
 It then devolved on the crown, and many kings 
 of France resided there, and adorned it with 
 noble edifices. The inhabitants, polished by the 
 court, were long remarkable for the purity of 
 their accent and language. Innocent XII. 
 erected it into an episcopal see. The public 
 walk here is over the bridge, a short and hot one, 
 but pleasant. 
 
 The conseil superieur was fixed heref when 
 the parliament was destroyed, and was composed 
 of the members of the chambre des comptes, of 
 needy Parisian lawyers, and people who were 
 not bred to the law. The establishment has 
 made house-rent dear, but has brought money to 
 Blois. Society is here on a very easy footing ; 
 
 * Louis, Cardinal de Guise, who was within the council 
 chamber of the states general, and hearing the voice of his 
 dying relation, sprang up and endeavoured to hasten to his 
 assistance, but he was held back by the Cardinal de Retz 
 and others, and conveyed to a distant chamber or cell, in 
 which he was assassinated on the following day. 
 
 f These conseils superieurs were established when Louis 
 XV. annulled the provincial parliaments. 
 
COURTS OF PARIS, NAPLES, &C. 35 
 
 all ranks intermix, and seem to be clear of 
 parties and quarrels. Card-playing and even- 
 ins; walks constitute the chief amusements of the 
 place, and certainly, " toutes les femmes de Blois 
 ne sont pas rousses et acariatres," according to Vol- 
 taire's story, for we have met some very good- 
 humoured apparently, with black eyes and black 
 hair. 
 
 At St. Gervais, a small village south of the 
 water, is prepared the famous creme de Blois, 
 which is sold throughout the year in pots of one 
 sous each. It is very savoury and rich, I suppose 
 whipped into a lather and thickened by some 
 art. The mills on the Loire are moored in the 
 middle of the stream, and shifted as the currents 
 vary. In summer, half the river disappears, 
 and leaves large banks of sand. 
 
 At Blois they make liquorice cakes, but as it 
 is extracted from the wild root, it has not the 
 richness ofthe cultivated Pomfret plant. 
 
 Below the castle is the abbey of St. Jannes, 
 not far from the bridge ; south of it is a great 
 extent of plain, bounded by the forest, and ex- 
 tremely fruitful in all sorts of corn except oats, 
 of which I saw no fields anywhere in the neigh- 
 bourhood. The gentle swellings that skirt the 
 level are clothed with vines, plots of kidney 
 beans, and hemp. Hay is abundant by the side 
 
 D 2 
 
36 LETTERS FROM THE 
 
 of the little river Gauchon, which comes from 
 Chambord, and traversing the flat in a shallow 
 black stream, overflows the meadows half the 
 year. For this reason the hay is coarse and sour. 
 The waters of the Loire are confined on both 
 sides by high strong dikes, except where the 
 land is of no value, and then the superfluous 
 waters are allowed to spread in floods, to diminish 
 the weight elsewhere. 
 
 The forest of Prussec covers the hills south 
 of Blois. There are delightful rides in all parts 
 of it, and great variety of thickets, open groves, 
 and verdant lawns, but no valuable timber. 
 The country people steal so much, and hack the 
 trees in so clumsy a manner, that none can come 
 to any size. The species most common in these 
 woods are oak with the common broad leaf, a 
 kind with narrow pale-coloured leaves, like those 
 of the willow, beech, hornbeam, maple, ash, 
 hawthorn, holly, juniper, laburnum, blackthorn, 
 hazel, and tall heath. 
 
 Beauregard, the seat of the Comte de Gau- 
 court, stands on the verge of the forest in a fine 
 situation. 
 
 I rode to Pout le Voye, a great Benedictine 
 college, then across the plains to the pont aux 
 cailles, where I had a charming view of the 
 valleys at the edge of the forest, with a church 
 
COURTS OF PARIS, NAPLES, &C. 37 
 
 rising under a hill. From thence we proceeded 
 to Montels, a rambling village near the Beuvron, 
 a deep and muddy rivulet. A large round 
 ruinous tower, and a ditch or moat, still remain 
 of the old hunting-seat of the Earls of Blois, on 
 a bold pleasant site. 
 
 Pont le Voye stands on a small eminence in a 
 valley surrounded with a vast plain and forests 
 on" all sides. The Comtes d'Amboise founded 
 the convent, of which the church remains im- 
 perfect. The college is a separate establishment, 
 and seems conducted on a liberal, comprehensive 
 plan. All sorts of exercises and sciences are 
 taught, as well as ancient and modern languages. 
 Eight hours are allotted to study, play, and 
 exercises. The annual charge is thirty pounds, 
 everything included. The boys all sleep in 
 separate beds. There is a servant for each 
 dormitory ; and three invalid soldiers parade all 
 night to prevent fire, or aUirm in case of acci- 
 dent. The monks have a large domain, and 
 the students are indulged on holidays with 
 refreshments at their different farm-houses. 
 The English master is an Irish Abbe with a 
 strong brogue. 
 
 The forest of Blois, north of the river, leads 
 to the Abbey of La Guiche, founded by Jean de 
 Chatillon, Earl of Blois, for nuns of St. Clare. 
 
38 LETTERS FROM THE 
 
 His monument, in black marble, is before the 
 high altar. The convent stands close to the 
 river Eisse, hemmed in by woody hills, and 
 much exposed to inundations. 
 
 Chaumont is six leagues down the river. 
 Through sandy plains behind the suburb of 
 Vienne, and over the Cisson, up some pretty 
 fields, I came to the village of Cande. The 
 seigneur is a counsellor of the parliament of 
 Paris, and has an elegant new house in an ad- 
 mirable position. 
 
 I crossed the Beuvron, and traversed a thick 
 wood — was some time at a loss for the road, till 
 I reached a cottage romantically situated in a 
 small lawn under a steep woody bank. About 
 half a mile further I got out of the woods, and 
 rode through some fine meadows to the foot of 
 the promontory on which the castle of Chaumont 
 rises most majestically, overlooking the course of 
 the Loire for many miles each way. The oppo- 
 site hills are beautiful. Blois is seen plainl}^, 
 and Orleans may be discovered on a clear day, 
 as well as Amboise, distant to the west. 
 
 The castle in its present state was the work of 
 Cardinal George d'Amboise, who was born in 
 the old castle, the seat of his illustrious ances- 
 tors. Diane de Poitiers, Catherine of Medicis, 
 Sardina of Lucca, &c., have possessed it in their 
 
COURTS OF PARIS, NAPLES, &C. 39 
 
 turns. It consists of a great gateway flanked 
 with towers, on which is carved a blazing 
 mountain, meant for a quibble upon the name of 
 the place.* The cardinal's hat and arms appear 
 over many of the windows, and in some of the 
 apartments are the devices and escutcheons of the 
 Duchess of Valentinois,t viz. quivers, bugle- 
 horns, and crescents. She ceded the castle to 
 Catherine de Medicis, who took a fancy to it. 
 This gateway leads into what was formerly a 
 spacious court, but Le Roy pulled down all 
 the north range, and made a terrace, M^hich is a 
 very beautiful walk in moderate weather. The 
 situation is, however, so elevated, that there is 
 almost always a great deal of wind, and frequently 
 so much as to render the place extremely dis- 
 agreeable. 
 
 * Chaumont, Cliaud-mont. 
 
 -f The famous Diane de Poitiers, created Duchess ot 
 Valentinois by Henry II. in 1548. The history of this 
 renowned beauty is too well known to require observation ; 
 but the following epigram, alluding to the immense influence 
 she had obtained over her royal lover, is perhaps less 
 common. 
 
 Sire ! si vous laissez, comme Charles^ desire, 
 Comme Diane veut, par trop gouverner, 
 Fondre, petrir, mollir, refondre, retourner, 
 Sire ! vous n'etes plus — vous n'etes plus que cire. 
 
 ^ Cardinal Charles de Lorraine. 
 
40 LETTERS FROM THE 
 
 Another day I rode through the forests of 
 Blois to the Vale of Chambord. There are 
 deliohtful eminences on the skirts of the forest, 
 covered with vines and coppice, through which 
 innumerable country-houses and cottages rear 
 their heads. The hedges abound in a variety of 
 pretty shrubs. The waters of the Eisse, as clear 
 as crystal, wind through large meadows divided 
 by rows of poplars. The hills on each side are 
 studded with houses. The ruins of the Chateau 
 de Bury rise nobly upon an eminence. Its 
 white towers make a fine contrast with the trees 
 that grow amongst them. 
 
 Chambord is three leagues out of Blois.* Its 
 park is above twenty miles in circumference, 
 full of woods and corn-fields, but the walls are 
 broken down in many places. The Cisson runs 
 through it. The castle stands close to the river, 
 in an ugly marshy bottom. It is a stupendous 
 pile of building of stone, in a strange whimsical 
 style of architecture, parts of which are neatly 
 executed. The great staircase is exactly a 
 double corkscrew ; two persons may descend at 
 
 * Chambord was built by Francois I. It will be recol- 
 lected that this chateau was purchased by the nation, and 
 presented to the Duke de Bordeaux. The celebrated 
 Paul Louis Courrier wrote a libel upon this subject, and was 
 fined and imprisoned in consequence. 
 
COURTS OF PARIS, NAPLES,&C. 41 
 
 the same time, see each other on a level throuo-h 
 windows that are opened in the niches, yet never 
 join or overtake one another. 
 
 The apartments are royally spacious, but en- 
 tirely stripped of furniture, except the bedcham- 
 ber of the late Marechal de Saxe, and the theatre, 
 which is completely fitted up. Nobody now 
 resides in the main body of the house. It was a 
 hunting-seat of the Earls of Blois. In the six- 
 teenth century, Francis I. employed twelve 
 hundred men in converting this place into a park. 
 Stanislaus king of Poland resided here, and 
 after him Marechal Saxe. Its situation cannot 
 fail to be unwholesome, as the palace is environed 
 with immense woods and standing waters ; how- 
 ever, the inhabitants are thinning the forest very 
 fast. 
 
 Bordeaux, August, 1774. 
 We left Blois after breakfasting with Lady 
 Kenmure, who has resided there ever since her 
 husband was attainted, and proceeded to Am- 
 boise, a rude heap of strange buildings. The 
 castle is an uncouth compound of buildings of 
 different ages, upon an irregular rock, and en- 
 
42 LETTERS FROM THE 
 
 joys a noble view. On the hill west of the town 
 is Chanteloup, the seat of the deposed minister 
 the Due de Choiseul.* The edifice is very ex- 
 tensive, of a flat form, with large office wings. 
 An old wood runs behind it, and there is great 
 variety of ground in front. 
 
 St. Levis, at a league's distance from Tours, 
 runs close to a ridge of rocks that face a very 
 long range of hills. They are excavated, with 
 dwellings, and cellars with doors, windows, and 
 galleries. Where there is sufficient room, villas 
 and cottages are built before them, and hanging- 
 gardens are contrived in the bank. Some ro- 
 mantic ruins are placed on the point of the rocks, 
 and, with the winding Loire, the city of Tours, 
 and the abbey of Marmontier, compose one of 
 
 * Etienne Francois, Duke de Choiseul, prime minister to 
 Louis XV., whose omnipotence continued intact until he 
 and his party fell victims to the intrigues of Madame du 
 Barre, who succeeded in getting him disgraced, and re- 
 placed by the Duke d'Aguillon and the Chancellor Mau- 
 peou. They mention the following anecdote of Madame du 
 Barre, who was so intent upon the disgrace of Choiseul, and 
 so inimical to him, that she discharged her head cook 
 because he happened to bear a striking resemblance to her 
 enemy. Having done this, she said to Louis XV. " I have 
 discharged my Choiseul, when will you dismiss yours ?" 
 The disgrace of Choiseul took place in 1770, and was the 
 forerunner of the exile of the parliaments, and thence of 
 a great portion of the disasters that ensued. 
 
COURTS OF PARIS, NAPLES, &c. 43 
 
 the most beautiful landscapes in nature. The 
 new bridge of Tours is of handsome white stone, 
 with flattened arches. The interior part of the 
 city is dirty, narrow, and ill built ; but a street is 
 now carrying round the town, a sort of Boule- 
 vard, which, although irregular, will be very 
 grand. We had a broad excellent road here, in 
 a vast open tract of arable country, bearing a 
 resemblance to a disparked forest, studded with 
 large tufted chesnut and walnut trees, thicken- 
 ing into woods and groves as the landscape re- 
 tires up the hills ; there are many country-seats 
 on the eminences, or at the verge of the wood. 
 
 The Creuse is a placid, muddy stream. Les 
 Ormes, the chateau of M. de Paulmy, is a spa- 
 cious new house, in a rich but false taste of deco- 
 ration. The banks of theVienne, on which the 
 garden front looks, are fertile and pleasing ; it 
 winds in a gentle picturesque manner between 
 handsome eminences, clad with vineyards and 
 woods. The higher plains are laid out in corn, 
 and are full of fruit trees. Chatelherault affords 
 a fine view, with its steeples and bridges, over 
 the placid Vienne ; but, on a nearer look, its 
 charms vanish, and the town appears to the tra- 
 veller in its true colours, the nastiest, worst built, 
 and worst paved place in France. From hence 
 a very beautiful road is cut in a direct line up a 
 
44 LETTERS FROM THE 
 
 gentle acclivity through some large oak woods, 
 with a chateau in perspective. The country 
 grows barer on the approach to that city, and 
 an enchanting view suddenly unfolds itself. 
 
 The river Clair, clear and silent, creeps through 
 the willows in a narrow vale, which hems in the 
 road on the left hand. Steep rocks close the 
 right side, and in front rises a fine amphitheatre 
 of villas, gardens, cottages, woods, and rocks. 
 One beautiful cypress adds greatly to the gene- 
 ral effect. At the extremity of this theatrical 
 prospect, Poitiers appears on the point of a high 
 brow, perched like an ancient fortress. There 
 are some striking ruins in the bottom, some 
 towers clad with ivy, and romantic vestiges of 
 walls and cascades. It is a poor depopulated 
 city, wdth some remains of Roman magnificence 
 still extant. The public walks are very fine. It 
 was at the distance of a stone's throw from the 
 town that the battle was fought in 1356 ;* many 
 of the slain lie in the church of the Cordeliers. 
 
 The country from thence is open, with a few 
 straggling chesnut trees. La Costello is a 
 pretty spot in a sequestered valley, shaded by 
 oak woods, and watered by a clear rivulet. The 
 views from the hills are almost boundless. Vi- 
 
 * The celebrated battle of Poictiers, won by the Clack 
 Prince. 
 
COURTS OF PARIS, NAPLES, &C. 45 
 
 vonne is a low dirty place, with a forest round it ; 
 its soil is gravelly and red. Pruflfee, an ugly 
 town on an eminence, belongs to the Comte de 
 Broglie, a very tyrannical master. 
 
 Here begins a new mode of roofing : the 
 roofs are almost flat, like those in the north of 
 Italy, the chimneys rising out of them. The 
 eye dwells with pleasure upon a rich landscape. 
 Near Angouleme it is bare and rocky ; it stands 
 on a high, naked hill, with ugly walls and 
 steeples. The Charente flows in the valley, clear 
 and slow. Walnuts are the only trees. La Con- 
 sonne, a large convent of Genovesan canons, is 
 remarkable for the architecture of its cupola, 
 and some elegant works in a screen before the 
 principal entrance. We passed Barbezieux, an 
 ancient fortified place. It is a marquisate be- 
 longing to the heiress of the house of Le Tellier. 
 
 At Montlieu we entered les Landes, or heaths 
 which are a deep black sand, overgrown with 
 whins, furze, and heaths, with some oak and 
 chesuut trees. In many places there are large 
 clumps of pinasters of a small size. We were 
 almost suffocated with dust and heat in these 
 parts. At Carignan is a well-cultivated country, 
 a great deal of Indian corn, and vines. At Cabrac 
 we crossed the Dordogne in a boat, traversed 
 the country called Entre deux Mers, which gene- 
 
46 LETTERS FROM THE 
 
 rally inclines to be wet and marshy. Many 
 country-houses were dispersed about. After 
 passing a ridge of woody hills, we crossed a broad 
 plain to the Bastide, where w^e ferried over the 
 Garonne to Bordeaux. We have taken a house 
 on \he fosses du Tanneur^ and shall stay here 
 some time. 
 
 Few towns in the world can boast of so 
 fine a situation as this. The Garonne flows in a 
 concave semicircle before it, and opposite rise 
 the beautiful hills of Entre deux Mers. Its en- 
 virons, for many miles every way, are covered 
 with vines. The quay along the river is uni- 
 formly built for a great length. The square, 
 with the statue of Louis XV., the ex- 
 change, the walks and ramparts, the Chateau 
 Trompette, and beyond it the great regular sub- 
 urb of the Chastroses, are such beauties as few 
 cities can show. There is nowhere so great 
 abundance of all kinds of provisions and delica- 
 cies. The trade is very considerable. 
 
 The elegant steeple of the Cordeliers was 
 built while Guyenne belonged to the English, 
 under the reign of Edward III., wdiose initials 
 appear upon the tower. The Porte Basse, 
 which* is usually accounted a Roman work, is 
 only built wath the remains of some great ruin 
 of that people. The English never settled in 
 
COURTS OF PARIS, NAPLES, &C. 47 
 
 Guyenne, except a very few families : one of the 
 name of Knollys exists near Lisbourne. None 
 but military men came hither, unless, perhaps, 
 dealers in wool and wine, and none of these 
 looked on Guyenne as their home. Borsis, a 
 learned antiquary here, says he has never found 
 in any contract, confrerie, or agreement, any 
 English name whatsoever, and proves, by the 
 memorandums of the chief mason, and the ac- 
 count of the expense, that the steeple of St. Mi- 
 chel's church was not built till the English had 
 lost the country : he says he has discovered the 
 ruins of a lion carved by the Saracens after they 
 had demolished Bordeaux. 
 
 Bordeaux, March, 1775. 
 
 There lias been a great piece of work and re- 
 joicing here on the parliament being re-esta- 
 blished by Louis XVI., sous les auspices de son 
 ministhre : the Comte de Noailles brought the in- 
 telligence. The exiled members returned to their 
 station, and everybody seemed in an uproar of 
 joy. M. de Noailles landed at the Chateau 
 Rouge from the city barge, after rowing up and 
 down the river through lines of ships with their 
 colours flying, and saluting with their guns : he 
 
48 LETTERS FROM THE 
 
 then walked up tLrough the Fosse de I'lntendance 
 to the government palace between a file of 
 bourgeoisie sous les armes, and preceded by the 
 town guards on horseback and on foot. The ac- 
 clamations of the people and the crowded ap- 
 pearance of all the windows seemed to please 
 him very much, and, like the Due de Guise in 
 the Henriade, he came along bowing and smil- 
 ing to the spectators on either side.* 
 
 In the afternoon all the parliament men 
 and women were assembled at la Chapelle de 
 Barbet, a mile from the town, to receive the 
 premier president at a grand banquet. A tri- 
 umphal arch and the feast were prepared by 
 the freemasons, who distributed invitations 
 printed on satin, with various devices : he af- 
 terwards proceeded to Bordeaux, escorted by 
 one hundred and sixty coaches full of all the 
 town contains of people of fashion, besides 
 many young men on horseback, and the Mare- 
 chaussee, each side of the road, every house- 
 top, every window, being crammed as full as 
 could be with spectators. It was an animated 
 spectacle. He was received at his own house by 
 
 * The lines alluded to are these — 
 
 " On vit paraitre Guise," &c. &c. 
 
 Henriade, chant troisiime. 
 
COURTS OF PARIS, NAPLES, &C. 49 
 
 music, garlands and triumphant mottoes, and 
 the mob filled the house so that it was midnight 
 before he got rid of them. 
 
 We went next day to the palace, where 
 M. de Noailles arrived with his guards en habit 
 de ceremonie. The return of the exiles was ap- 
 plauded by a most numerous populace without, 
 and a large assembly of gentlemen within, the 
 hall. The Ma7iants, ov such as remained in 1771, 
 were hissed and hooted at by the mob.* One 
 of the presidents a mortier, M. d'Augeard, 
 brought us by a side- door into the salle de con- 
 seil, where he placed us close to M. de Noailles. f 
 There were not above twenty strangers admitted. 
 The whole parliament was there, attired in red 
 gowns. M. de Noailles opened the assembly 
 with a short and proper speech, expressive of his 
 joy in being the instrument the king had chosen 
 to employ in restoring the parliament of Bor- 
 deaux to his people, recommending union, &c. 
 The premier president then rose, and pro- 
 nounced a good discourse, but very severe on 
 the ministers of the late king, and replete with a 
 
 * The people of Bordeaux applied tins term, which li- 
 terally means a rustic, or boor, to all those members of pai'- 
 liament who did not follow their colleagues into exile. 
 
 t The presidents d mortier were so called from the pecu- 
 liar shape of their black velvet official caps, which resembled 
 a mortar. 
 
 VOL. I. E 
 
50 LETTERS FROM THE 
 
 greater spirit of resolution and freedom than the 
 Grand Monarque might have liked to hear. 
 The edict of re-establishment was then read, 
 which is similar to that of Paris. The doors 
 were then thrown open, and it was again read to 
 the multitude. Your friend, M. de Salegourde, 
 who had been exiled to Perregeux, having re- 
 ceived a lettre de cachet like the rest, is come 
 back and takes his seat. 
 
 The premier president desired to be remem- 
 bered to you. It is a glorious epoch for him, 
 and has repaid him for all the vexations of his 
 exile. 
 
 We are all well here except Popsy,* who 
 looks poorly. Her expectations of re-captivating 
 the President de Verthamon are, I fear, vain ; he 
 seems to have no inclination to resume his chains. 
 His apathy affects her mucli. Edward Dillon 
 succeeds admirably at court. Monsieur has 
 created a temporary charge oi gentiniomme d'hon- 
 neur for him, and the Comte d'Artois charges it 
 upon his caisse. It gives him four thousand 
 livres d'appobitemens, and is a fine step towards 
 the summit of Fortune's wheel. 
 
 * Mademoiselle Dillon, afterwards Marquise d'Osmond, 
 sister-in-law to Sir E. Swinburne, who married her elder 
 sister. 
 
COURTS OF PARIS, NAPLKS, &C. 51 
 
 Bagneres, July 21th, 1773. 
 
 Dear Brother, 
 
 I have delayed writing, that I might have time 
 to collect materials enough to answer the purpose 
 I propose in writing, viz. to amuse you in some of 
 your long evenings. Before I proceed to give 
 an account of my journey hither, or my disco- 
 very since I arrived, I shall pass in review what 
 parts of yours may require an answer. 
 
 First with regard to Soreze, which I take to be 
 the college you mention near Carcassonne, I 
 have not been able to get much intelligence here. 
 I passed very near it in going to see the reser- 
 voir at St. Ferrol, and believe it is situated close 
 by Berrel, in a pleasant hilly country, and con- 
 sequently cannot fail of being in good air. 
 When I was at Pontlevry, they talked to me a 
 good deal of their college in Languedoc; it is 
 hien monte, and very numerous, especially in 
 Spaniards, which perhaps may hurt the accent : 
 they look upon it as rather on a higher footing 
 and reputation than Pontlevry, but I can say 
 no more of it. I shall let slip no opportunity 
 of obtaining information, for in all probability 
 I shall be in that neighbourhood in September, 
 and perhaps may meet with somebody from thence 
 before that time. 
 
 E 2 
 
52 LETTERS FROM THE 
 
 I knew of poor N. being ill some time before 
 you mentioned it ; but as ill news always travels 
 quick enough, I was not eager to be the messen- 
 ger. I hope, however, things are not so bad 
 with the dear little fellow as you apprehend, and 
 perhaps it may save him from future attacks by 
 throwing out early the seeds of the disorder. I 
 really expected a touch of the gout some time 
 ago after drinking these waters, as I felt prick- 
 ings and uneasinesses in my fingers, &c. ; but 
 they went off very soon, and upon comparing 
 notes with other people, as I found these shoot- 
 ings to be the common effect of the waters in all 
 constitutions, I became easy, and concluded my 
 day was not come. 
 
 On the 16th of June I left Bordeaux with Sir 
 Thomas Gascoigne and Mr. Harry Galway. From 
 Austh to Rabastiens, the country is exceedingly 
 hilly, but beautiful, rich, and well w^ooded ; the 
 roads the finest imaginable, carried down the 
 hills in an easy manner at an amazing expense. 
 From Rabastiens to Tarbes it is quite straight 
 through the plain, and this last-mentioned city 
 stands in the centre of one of the best cultivated 
 extents of plain I ever passed through : though a 
 bishop's see, it is but small, and contains no 
 curiosities of any kind. Gentle eminences bound 
 the plain on tliree sides, the Pyreneans on the 
 south. 
 
COURTS OF PARIS, NAPLES, &C. 53 
 
 From hence to Bagneres, about twelve miles, 
 is perhaps the prettiest drive in nature, gradually 
 and imperceptibly rising as you advance into the 
 valley of Bagneres : the road passes through or 
 very near eighteen villages, besides cottages in- 
 numerable, fine open groves of oak and chesnut 
 of great size, orchards without end, multitudes of 
 clear streams running in all directions — small 
 meadows, through which the water is conveyed 
 so universally, and with so much skill, as to pro- 
 duce very fine second crops, large tracts of 
 Turkey wheat, flax, corn, and millet. Hills 
 gently rising from a point in the plain till they 
 join the great chain of mountains, and the Pic 
 du Midi, which is something like the large point 
 of Cheviot, peeping up over the rest. These are 
 the beautiful varieties that you are feasted with 
 in this journey. 
 
 The valley grows narrower and narrower till 
 the town of Bagneres, crossing the whole plain, 
 seems to forbid any further passage, the moun- 
 tains appearing almost to close behind it. Bag- 
 neres is very well built, every house being a 
 lodging-house, and in general much better than 
 any I remember to have seen at other water- 
 drinking places ; they are all white-washed, and 
 covered with blue slate, the jambs of the doors 
 and window-sills of a coarse bluish marble, got 
 
54 LETTERS FROM THE 
 
 just above the town. Some have marble pilasters, 
 in no great taste, on each side of their doors. The 
 streets are crooked, and paved with small pebbles. 
 Water runs continually in the middle of every 
 street, and large canals, brought from the Adour 
 for the use of mills, cross the town in four or five 
 places. There are no considerable public build- 
 ings. The Coston, or public walk, is sliort, 
 gloomy, and damp, therefore little frequented. 
 Indeed, most people choose to walk out into the 
 country, or upon the public roads, which are 
 more pleasant than the town. 
 
 The country round Bagneres, north and south, 
 consists of a circular plain without trees, crossed 
 by the Adour, which is no more than a violent 
 mountain torrent. On the east a very pleasant 
 ridge of collines confine the vale, and on the 
 west very high bare mountains come down upon 
 the town, except that just above the houses are 
 some very handsome large groves on the slope 
 of the hills. All the smaller hills are beautiful, 
 in great cultivation, and charmingl}' set ofl:' with 
 cottages stuck irregularly on the summits and 
 hollows, with each its clump of large trees and 
 its orchard. Numberless fountains break out of 
 these hillocks, and altogether form enchanting- 
 views, contrasted with the bare green tops of the 
 mountains. 
 
COURTS OF PARIS, NAPLES, &C. 55 
 
 The mineral waters of Bagneres, notwithstand- 
 ing the assertions of the physicians, are, I really 
 think, all of one species, only varying in heat and 
 accidental mixtures. The waters of " Saluf are 
 a mile from the town, in a nook, under a bare 
 rocky mountain ; a most delightful road winding 
 up the valley leads to them, and they are the 
 most in vogue of any of the baths. There are 
 several in the meadows between the town and 
 the " Salut," which is the weakest and coolest of 
 all, scarce having any warmth, and not the least 
 taste. 
 
 There are many baths in the town, with dif- 
 ferent properties assigned to them, really existing 
 nowhere but in the idea or roguery of doctors. 
 All come from the waters of La Heine, which 
 issue out of a beautiful grove half way up the 
 hill at the back of the town. They are boiling 
 hot to the hand, but not at all so to the stomach, 
 and I believe them to be far the most likely to 
 be efficacious, if there is any virtue in these waters, 
 which I believe to be small. I took those of the 
 " Saliif regularly for a month, and found, with 
 the help of very early rising, a good walk before 
 breakfast, sober living and exercise, that they 
 afforded me great lightness and greater ease in 
 taking my long walks up the mountains. The 
 baths are delicious. 
 
56 LETTERS FROM THE 
 
 I have not yet made any very long excursions, 
 but intend in the first moon of August to go to 
 Bareges and the Mature du Ro}^, which will be a 
 long ramble through the mountains, of which 
 you may expect a very minute detail. Mean- 
 while I will give you an abstract of what I have 
 remarked in this neighbourhood, according as I 
 find it in my journal. 
 
 Bigorre, being a frais d'etat, is much better 
 off than its neighbours ; the inhabitants more 
 numerous, better dressed, and much more at their 
 ease, scarcely any person being without some 
 small landed property. The malady among the 
 horned cattle has been kept out of this country 
 by a timely exertion of their powers in indemnify- 
 ing such as killed their suspected cattle. 
 
 The mountains hereabouts afford vast plenty 
 of pasturage for innumerable herds of cattle and 
 flocks of sheep, that travel up from the plains in 
 summer, and constitute the riches of the province, 
 which has no external commerce or manufacture 
 at home. The plains produce immense quantities 
 of hay, maize, rye, some bearded wheat and 
 barley, and very bad wine from vines which are 
 trained up to the cherry trees near Tarbes, but 
 none near Bagneres, except against houses. The 
 fruit here is not succulent or high flavoured. 
 
 The woods that cover some of the mountains 
 
COURTS OF PARIS, NAPLES, &C. 57 
 
 are of beech, more for fuel than for timber. 
 Higher up are large tracts of silver fir, but not 
 very large, being all hacked and hewed, as wood 
 here belono-s to the communautes of the neioh- 
 bouring villages. I am told there are many sorts 
 of firs and pines farther up. Oak does not 
 abound in the mountains, but grows to a great 
 size on the lower hills, where I was surprised to 
 see whole woods of beech and oak, all planted 
 about the thickness of a walking-stick with the 
 head cut off, yet producing very noble sound 
 trees, to judge by the fine old timber close by, 
 which has evidently been planted. 
 
 This is very contrary to the received notions of 
 gardening in England. It must be a very windy 
 country, which in general hinders such plantations 
 from tiiriving with us; yet upon the bleak ridges 
 of their downlike hills I see every day rows of 
 fine oak, beech, and birch, growing tall and 
 healthy, and small single ones put in to supply 
 the place of such as are felled for use, thriving 
 very well without any prop or shelter, but a few- 
 briers to keep off the cattle. 
 
 The finest beechwood I ever beheld, which we 
 rode in for hours, has all been planted out of 
 nurseries or woods. The chesnut trees are very 
 fine, it is surprising who can egg on the pea- 
 sants to plant upon the heaths and hills, where it 
 
58 LETTERS FROM THE 
 
 seems to be a kind of public undertaking. Large 
 cherry trees abound in the cultivated parts. 
 Great 'tracts of mountain have been by degrees 
 cleared of wood, partly through neglect and partly 
 by design, to procure more pasture for the cattle. 
 The wood having been so long thick on the 
 summits, has preserved them from the ravages of 
 rain and torrents, and there is a fine verdure on 
 most of them ; but it is likely that now they are 
 bare the snows and storms will get hold, and in 
 time wash down all the soil, and leave the rocks 
 bare and peaked like the Alps, which are in- 
 finitely less rounded and more irregular than 
 the Pyrenees. 
 
 Of the shrub kind 1 have found great varieties 
 of my acquaintance : some of the sides of the 
 craggy mountains are clad with box. The lane 
 hedges afford holly, dogwood, viburnum, privet, 
 gooseberry-leaved currant, &c. Of the flower 
 kind I have not discovered many that are out of 
 the common beat. 
 
 Under the silver firs grow a great quantity of 
 pale London pride and single yellow ranuncu- 
 luses. This must suffice for the vegetable system. 
 What I have to say of the mineral kingdom will 
 be very short, as I hear of no mines near the 
 place ; the rocks are composed in general, near 
 " Salut*' of a large stony slate containing much 
 
COURTS OF PARIS. NAPLES, &C. 59 
 
 pyrites of the cat-silver or pale false metal, kino, 
 such as I liave at Hamsterley. Other parts are 
 marble, darkish blue and coarse. 
 
 In the vale of Campan, three leagues up the 
 river, is a large quarry of very pretty green and 
 white, and about the same distance south-east is 
 a quarry of red and white, marble. Near Cam- 
 pan, half way up the crags, is a cave, about one 
 hundred and four paces long, which I went to a 
 few days ago. It is narrow and winding, not 
 handsome or lofty, and thougli moist, contains no 
 springs. They have broken and carried off all 
 the fine pieces of crystal and stalactites, and there 
 are only small pieces of either left, some of whicli 
 I brought away for specimens. 
 
 Madame de Brionne has had the ridiculous 
 vanity of having a marble plate put up in the 
 bottom of the grotto, that the world may know 
 that she and her company, among which even 
 the lacqueys' names are engraven, penetrated so 
 far in 1765. 
 
 Limestone abounds here, and very good cement 
 is made with it. As for antiquities, all I can say 
 on that head will go in a very small compass. 
 The Romans knew of these baths, and probably 
 Bagneres comes from Balnearia. There are 
 three inscriptions in the town, one to the Numini 
 
no LETTERS FROM THE 
 
 Aiigusti, another Marti, and a third " Nymphis 
 pro salute sua." There may be more, but I 
 have nol met with them, nor with any body like 
 a cicerone. Henry de Transtamare, afterwards 
 king of Castille, seized upon this place, and 
 Marguerite de Valois exempted it from all Lots 
 et Ventes, on condition of a certain sum of 
 money received for apprentice fees, being appro- 
 priated to dancing, merrymaking, and bonfires, 
 from St. John's to St. Peter's day. This privi- 
 lege is well kept up. On those days every top 
 of the neighbouring hills has its fire, and all the 
 country girls assemble to dance in the town and 
 neighbouring greens. 
 
 As to the people of the country, as far as I 
 have any occasion for experience, they are fair 
 and honest dealers, and not such dirty and pilfer- 
 ing scoundrels as the Bordelois. No Protestants 
 among them. Tlieir features harsh, and few 
 pretty women, but a sound stout race of middling- 
 size. All go barefoot, except when they dance, 
 an exercise of which they acquit themselves 
 extremely well. The paysannes wear red cloth, 
 short peaked veils, very unbecoming; on holidays, 
 the better sort have them white, long, and trans- 
 parent : they are an industrious set of people. 
 Their patois varies in every village. 
 
COURTS OF PARIS, NAPLES, &C. 61 
 
 The only remnants of English conquest I have 
 found out are, a ruined fortress without an en- 
 trance, on a very high hill, and the word hay, 
 by which name they understand foin. But per- 
 haps this may come from heno* which is Spanish 
 for hay. 
 
 To say anything of the way of life at Bagneres 
 would be very unsatisfactory to you ; let it suffice 
 to say that the walks and surrounding country 
 are charming. No public places but the wells 
 early in the morning, and assemblies at private 
 houses for cards, very dull and close. llie 
 Bishop of Tarbes, who is affability and politeness 
 itself, has an open house, where he is always glad 
 to receive strangers to dine and spend part of the 
 evening. 
 
 There are here a large posse of Americans : 
 " vous savez ce qu'en vaut V mine,'' so need no fur- 
 ther account of them. 
 
 We are threatened with a troupe de comediens, 
 and more gaiety ; with how much foundation I 
 know not. However, my time is so well filled 
 with walking, riding, dining, sleeping, and that 
 very, very essential part of life, sauntering away 
 my time, that no part hangs heavy upon my 
 
 * The Spanish heno, like the Italian ^e«o, and French ^o/w, 
 is derived from the hoXin fenum ; the English word Af/_y is 
 from the German heu, but the root is the same. 
 
62 LETTERS FROM THE 
 
 hands, nor can I manage to find a sufficient 
 quantity of it for reading, writing, &c. ; so pray 
 be grateful for that which I here bestow upon 
 you. 
 
 Our present plan, Deo volente, is to re- 
 main here, where Mrs. Swinburne joined 
 me on the 1st inst., till about the second 
 week of September; tlien we intend going to 
 Toulouse, and if Mrs. S. pleases she will spend 
 the winter at Aix or Nice, whilst I and Sir 
 Thomas turn oft' at Narbonne to pass a few 
 months in Spain. 
 
 As Sir Thomas carries me, and it is an oppor- 
 tunity I never can expect again, I believe I shall 
 be tempted to go. Don't mention it to any- 
 body until I have taken my final resolution about 
 the project. 
 
 If such nonsense can be allowed a place in a 
 corner, I desire you will keep this letter till I 
 see you, for fear my notes and journals should 
 be lost in my frequent peregrinations. Adieu ! 
 
 W. S. 
 
COURTS OF PARIS, NAPLES, &C. G3 
 
 Auffust20(h, 1775. 
 
 Dear Brother, 
 
 I wish you may not find tliis a much dearer 
 letter than its contents are wortli. But I judge 
 you by my own sentiments. I am always recon- 
 ciled to the postage of my friends' letters, pro- 
 vided they are but full, no matter whether of 
 sense or trifles. 
 
 Our weather here is still very unsettled, rather 
 rainy than fair. Mrs. Swinburne proposes pass- 
 ing the winter at a house in the plain near 
 Tarbes, which is a pleasant situation but a dull 
 town ; but the acquaintance of the bishop, who 
 resides there altogether, and is very civil to us, 
 and the occupation her children give her, make 
 her rather unfit for the enjoyment of a more 
 dissipated winter residence. This has besides 
 the additional merit of being extremely cheap, 
 very near us, and consequently no expense or 
 trouble in conveying bag and baggage thither ; 
 and is, moreover, in the way to any other place 
 she many prefer to remove to. For my part, I 
 shall go to Spain next month with my Pylades, 
 by the way of Toulouse and Barcelona, and re- 
 turn by Bayonne. 
 
 How far we shall push our travels, or how 
 long we shall be out, I cannot yet affirm, as it 
 
e4 LEITERS FROM THE 
 
 will depend upon circumstances ; but our present 
 intention is to go as far as Grenada, Gibraltar, 
 Cadiz, perhaps from thence to Lisbon, and after- 
 wards to Madrid. You may expect an account 
 of my peregrinations, but will perhaps wait some 
 time for it, as I have some thoughts of making 
 up a pamphlet of it, if it answers my expecta- 
 tions. I also intend drawing everything worth 
 notice on the route. 
 
 Direct to me ^'poste restante, a Bagneres." Mrs. 
 S. will take care to draw out the letters; and 
 when you write, write a great deal, and pray 
 remember, I know of nobody's marriage or 
 death, or any one occurrence of the country, nor 
 am I likely to know anything about it except 
 from my friends. Jack Errington must be at 
 home by this time, as he was lately at Bordeaux, 
 on his return from Spain. 
 
 Mrs. S. made a prodigious progress in Madame 
 d'Anglures' affairs, having, before she left Bor- 
 deaux, persuaded M. La Burte to see his 
 daughter, and receive her in his house, to dine 
 with her at ours, and carry her into the country 
 with him. He has given her money, but hov/ 
 it will end I cannot yet foresee. This is after 
 twenty-two years of complete abandonment of 
 his child ; and this is Mrs. Swinburne's doing-, 
 who is the most warm-hearted and indefatigable 
 of friends. 
 
COURTS OF PARIS, NAPLES, kc. 
 
 Malaga, January 6t/i, 1770. 
 
 To Mrs. S. 
 
 I must write you a few lines from lieuce, be- 
 cause the consul's brother or cousin sets out this 
 evening for Tarbes, so I could not resist the 
 temptation of writing by him to wish you and 
 the dear children many happy returns of the 
 new year ; but the heat in this place is so in- 
 sufferable and oppressive, that I have hardly 
 strength to hold my pen. What must it be in 
 the summer-time? 
 
 We came here on horseback from Antequera, 
 where we left our luggage. We ascended the 
 Sierra by a most tremendous winding path over 
 the rocks: this pass is called the Escaruela ; 
 there the Jesuits had a large estate. The hedges 
 are full of beautiful flowers, almond trees in full 
 blossom, marygold, myrtle, cystus, periwinkle, 
 trumpet honeysuckle, and oleanders, in the beds 
 of the torrents. We were glad to sit in the 
 shade of a ve7ita * to eat our cold dinner, near a 
 ruined villao;e called Almoina, with a demolished 
 castle in the very heart of the Sierra. 
 
 We descended a range of steep hills to the 
 Playa, and soon arrived at the gates of Malaga. 
 Our accommodations are horrid, but the consul, 
 * A small roadside tavern. 
 
 VOL. I. F 
 
66 LETTERS FROM THE 
 
 Mr. Marsh, is very civil. He has a sister in the 
 seraglio of the emperor of Morocco. The cathe- 
 dral here, which was built in the time of Philip 
 and Mary, has the English arms over the altar. 
 I saw beautiful double yellow roses in a farmer's 
 garden in the Playa. The streets are narrow, 
 the castle Moorish. 
 
 We staid a week at Grenada after I wrote to 
 you. It took that time for me to make my 
 drawings of that most curious of all palaces, the 
 Alhambra, which is situated on a hill covered 
 with wood, where fountains run through. There 
 is a Moorish arched entrance of the castle with a 
 horseshoe turn, mosaic ornaments, and a key in 
 the keystone. There are fine views from the 
 parapets of the inner court, beautiful basso-re- 
 lievos added by Charles V. The doors are 
 adorned with rings of bronze, a lion and eagle's 
 mouth. The towers are lofty, built with cobble 
 stones joined together in a smooth surface b}'^ 
 mortar. We passed under the aqueduct which 
 comes from the mountains, and supplies the 
 castle with a fine stream. 
 
 We were assured that the last Moorish ambas- 
 sador was as well acquainted with every part of 
 this neighbourhood, as if he had spent his life 
 in it. There are no remains of Morisco fur- 
 niture. 
 
COURTS OF PARIS, NAPLES, &C. 67 
 
 We went to the play at Grenada — such a stupid 
 thing — a friar and his ass the principal per- 
 formers. 
 
 As late as twenty years ago, there were a great 
 many Moorish families remaining at Grenada ; 
 but they were found out and driven away, after 
 being pillaged of twelve millions of crowns. 
 They made the trade flourish which now decays 
 daily. There are still Moors at Rio Daro, with 
 round faces, small bright eyes, little noses, and 
 underlips advancing. They are humble and 
 smooth-tongued, but it is hard to force money out 
 of them. 
 
 Fruit and meat keep very well at the Alham- 
 bra, for the cellars are very cool. The air is 
 extremely wholesome in the city, where in most 
 houses a small stream of water runs through the 
 rooms in which the family sleeps. We made ac- 
 Cjuaintance with an old parasitical officer of family, 
 Don Diego Borroques. The Alhambra was open- 
 ed on the 1st of January to the people, in comme- 
 moration of the surrender; everybody paid some 
 acknowledgment to the governor, one Buccarelli, 
 a drunkard, who lives like a toad in a hole, and 
 has a little window over the door, where he sits 
 and counts the people, calculating what the day 
 will be worth to him. 
 
 1 wrote my adieus on the wall behind the 
 
 F 2 
 
68 LETTERS FROM THE 
 
 door in one of the subterraneous rooms,* near the 
 Moorish burial-place, in the two following con- 
 cetti, and then took my leave of this most curious 
 and well- watered edifice. 
 
 Hail prophet, most indulgent to mankind ! 
 If thus on earth thy paradise we find, 
 What must on high thy promised raptures prove, 
 Where black-eyed houris breathe eternal love ! 
 Thy faith and doctrine sure were quite divine, 
 Had so much water but a little wine, t 
 His regum heu ! nimis infelicium deliciis die pro capta 
 
 urbe triumphali mcestum, vale discernunt. — T. G. et H. S. 
 
 Angli. 
 
 I walked up to see the Generaliffe, the Moorish 
 monarch's spring palace. The great hall is 
 well stuccoed — it is well watered, and has some 
 
 * These subterraneous chambers are similar to the tah- 
 hJianehs, or underground apartments of Persia and Afghanis- 
 tan, which form a cool retreat during the extreme heat of 
 day. 
 
 t Mr. Swinburne's concetto calls to mind the following old 
 French drinking song. 
 
 Get univers ah qu'il est beau ! 
 
 Mais pourquoi dans ce bel ouvrage, 
 
 Le seigneur a-t'il mis tant d'eau ? 
 
 Le vin me plairoit d'avantage. 
 
 S'il n'a pas fait un element 
 
 De cette liqueur rubiconde, 
 
 Le seigneur s'est montre prudent — 
 
 Nous eussions bu le monde. 
 
COURTS OF PARIS, NAPLES, &c. G9 
 
 fine myrtle hedges. We were shown a large 
 cypress, where the Abeneerrage sat with the 
 queen. The great drive of the town is on the 
 Alameda, by the side of the Xenil ; it would be 
 a beautiful scene were not the river too shallow. 
 The people still use the Moorish cry when they 
 bathe or hear joyful tidings ; for those who knew 
 trades were suffered to remain when all the rest 
 were expelled the kingdom. 
 
 We paid a visit near Grenada to the late mi- 
 nister. General Wall. At eighty-two he is very 
 active, walks his five or six hours a day, my pace, 
 which is a pretty brisk one, with his guns in his 
 hand, talking all the way. He has a fund of the 
 most entertaining anecdotes of courts and 
 courtiers. His hunting seat belongs to the 
 king, who has given him up the revenue of the 
 territory. It is a most delicious habitation for 
 winter. In the summer it is not tenable, for the 
 vapours are obnoxious, and the heat insupport- 
 able. He then goes again to court for two 
 months, and spends the autumn at his house in 
 the suburbs of Grenada. He was extremely 
 civil to us, and parted from us with great appa- 
 rent regret, saying, " such birds of passage 
 seldom alight in these parts." And indeed he 
 sees very little company of any kind ..... 
 
70 LETTERS FROM THE 
 
 Cadiz, January 14, 1776. 
 
 Dear Brother, 
 
 First, many happy new years to you all, and, 
 secondly, thanks for your letter of the 29tli Octo- 
 ber, which I found waiting for me here. You 
 see I have surpassed even your most sanguine 
 expectations, and have penetrated to the ne plus 
 ultra of Hercules. 
 
 I have been more minute and inquisitive about 
 every particular on the route, than a fellow of 
 the Antiquarian Society in a heap of rubbish, and 
 intend most bravely to get into print hereafter. 
 The publication of a pompous book on Spain, by 
 Mr. Twiss, damped my ardour when I heard of 
 it; but upon the perusal of the work my colour 
 came again, and the resolution has become doubly 
 strong in me. It is scarcely possible to write a 
 more shallow, pedantic, catch-penny book than 
 that, and I think a plain, unaffected tour may 
 go down after his bombast and trifles. I have be- 
 sides drawn every antiquity, city, and remarkable 
 view, in my way, with great attention and accu- 
 racy, which Mr. Twiss's prints are greatly defi- 
 cient in. His Madonna is, no doubt, a fine 
 print, but has as little to do there as a copy of 
 any other picture in Spain. 
 
 I have employed several days in taking the 
 
COURTS OF PARIS, NAPLES, &C. 71 
 
 views inside and outside of the Moorish palace at 
 Grenada, — the ornaments, capitals, dimensions, 
 mosaics, &c., of its apartments, — by which means 
 I have formed a collection that will give you a 
 just idea of their architecture, &c. Though I 
 ought not to anticipate, I cannot resist the tempta- 
 tion of running slightly over the journey with 
 you, and faintly tracing the outlines of what I 
 have seen in the course of this long peregrina- 
 tion ; remember it is for your own private amuse- 
 ment. 
 
 On the 24th of October we entered Spain at 
 Bellegarde, and arrived in four days at Barce- 
 lona. You know the route ; therefore, as the 
 roads are exactly as you left them, I shall pass 
 over tliat much of Catalonia in silence. The 
 hospitality of our countrymen, the politeness of 
 the intendant, who was there in your time, and, 
 by-the-bye, has a most charming daughter, com- 
 bined with the general alacrity of the principal 
 Spaniards to procure us a sight of everything 
 curious about the place, made us pass our time 
 very agreeably till the 19th of November, when 
 we took our departure for Valencia and the coast. 
 Before we quitted Barcelona we rode to Mont- 
 serrat, and staid a day with the abbot. Here I 
 made my first campaign in the Spanish language, 
 having no other to convey our ideas by. 
 
72 LETTERS FROM TflE 
 
 I am sorry to find, by what I can learn from 
 St. Germain, that you neglected seeing this 
 mountain in your way from Madrid. It is un- 
 doubtedly one of the greatest curiosities in the 
 world. Its pyramidal rocks, the hermitages dis- 
 persed among its precipices, more like the nests 
 of eagles than the dwellings of men, and the 
 situation of the convent in a cleft of the moun- 
 tain, are most singular and romantic. In this 
 point, as in all others, you shall see my common- 
 place book, where I have entered into the most 
 minute details, and in a rainy evening you will 
 be able to bear the reading of them, as they will 
 make the matter plainer to you, with the help of 
 the drawings. The roads from Barcelona to the 
 confines of Valencia are very rocky and disagree- 
 able, the accommodation abominable, but the 
 paysage most charming — one never loses sight of 
 the sea, sometimes viewing it from a mountain, 
 at others almost on a level with it, catching a 
 light through the olive trees. We passed under 
 an elegant Roman arch, and came near the tomb 
 of the two Scipios, but were disappointed in our 
 search for antiquities at Tarragona. 
 
 Tortosa and the Ebro afforded us no great en- 
 tertainment, but we were Jiighly delighted with 
 our travels along the coast of Valencia. Nature 
 and art have contributed to make a terrestrial 
 
COURTS OF PARIS, NAPLES, &C. 73 
 
 paradise of it to the eye, for there is so general 
 a want of taste in its productions, animal and 
 vegetable, that any English stomach would be 
 pursed up for want of matter to digest. Mur- 
 viedro (the ancient Saguntum) has still a 
 theatre, i)retty entire, to show as its credentials. 
 
 From the Moorish castle that occupies the 
 summit of the hill you command a matchless 
 view of the plain of Valencia, perhaps twenty 
 leagues along the coast, that city rising in a 
 forest of olives, orange, palm, mulberry, and 
 locust trees, that cover the whole level before 
 you ; the range of broken mountains on the 
 right, and the boundless Mediterranean on the 
 left. 
 
 Shut your eyes, and draw the picture in those 
 of your mind. The sun was so hot that we could 
 not stay long to enjoy the voluptuous feast. Per- 
 haps you never saw any locust trees or algarohas, 
 so it may be necessary to tell you that it is a 
 large bushy tree, an evergreen.* The leaves are 
 of a bright deep beech-green, set opposite each 
 other on the branches. It produces a large pod, 
 very sweet and palatal^le, and is the food of the 
 mules in this kingdom of Valencia, where the 
 country is covered with them. Here I ate, for 
 the first time, the belota, or acorns of the ever- 
 
 * Robinia. 
 
74 LETTERS FROM THE 
 
 green oak, and do not at all pity the gentlemen 
 of the golden age, for they are excellent eating. 
 
 Valencia is in so dead a flat, and so surrounded 
 with trees, that one cannot get a full sight of it 
 from any place; but it is a populous, large, dirty 
 city, full of churches, like mosquitas, unpaved 
 and unpleasant. From thence we proceeded to 
 Alicant, a white town under a large rock that 
 was partly blown up in Queen Anne's wars. Our 
 countrymen received us, as everywhere else, with 
 open arms and the greatest cordiality. Eletre, a 
 large town not far from thence, is unique, 
 being situated in the middle of an extensive wood, 
 or rather forest, of palm trees, now loaded with 
 their orange-coloured fruit ; the branches are an 
 object of commerce for Italy in Lent. The plain 
 of Murcia deserves its reputation for richness and 
 beauty ; the mountains that run along each side 
 of it prevent the eye from being disgusted with 
 the sameness common to a view over so large a 
 flat, but the city is nothing. Carthagena is a 
 hole, but a most admirable port. The Spaniards 
 seemed jealous of us, but the governor permitted 
 us very politely to row all round it, and to see 
 everything in the arsenal ; this is very ill pro- 
 vided, and shipbuilding goes on slowly indeed. 
 Fourteen hundred slaves, that work twelve or 
 sixteen hours out of the four-and-twenty at a 
 
COURTS OF PARIS, NAPLES, &C. 75 
 
 pump, to keep the docks clear of water, is a 
 curious but an unpleasant spectacle for a man 
 of the least humanity. Not half are Moors. The 
 labour is so severe, the place so unwholesome, that 
 they frequently drop down dead at the pump. 
 
 From Carthagena to Grenada, except in some 
 hollows near rivers, the country is a perfect naked 
 desert. On every pointed mountain along this 
 coast are towers of alarm, or ruined Moorish for- 
 tresses, the only objects that induce the jaded tra- 
 veller to stretch his head out of the chaise window. 
 The inconveniences that we experienced in this 
 long route, notwithstanding every possible pre- 
 caution we could take to be well provided, are 
 sufficient to deter all future travellers, if any such 
 should ask my opinion ; but all difficulties vanish, 
 all pains are forgotten, when once we arrive at 
 Grenada — a heaven on earth. 
 
 The city is built partly on a high hill at the 
 foot of the Sierra Nevada, so called from being 
 almost always covered with snow ; partly on the 
 slopes of this and two other eminences; but the 
 greatest extent of building runs along the plain 
 at the bottom ; two small rivers, the Xenil and 
 Daro, join and transverse its streets, where thou- 
 sands of streams run down ev'ery alley, and 
 through all its squares. The greatest quantity of 
 water, and the best in quality, comes down from 
 
76 LETTERS FROM THE 
 
 the Alhambra, an immense Moorish castle, built 
 on the middle hill that overlooks Grenada, and 
 this supply is brought in canals from the still 
 higher hills behind, where the art and labour of 
 the Moors are yet visible in spite of all the idle- 
 ness and neglect of the Spaniards in keeping up 
 and repairing their aqueducts and reservoirs. 
 
 Charles V. pulled down great part of the 
 Moorish palace within the walls of the fortress, 
 and built a very beautiful square palace with a 
 doric circus in it, in an admirable, chaste style of 
 architecture. Like many others of his projects, 
 it was never finished, and now remains exposed 
 to all the inclemency of the seasons. But they 
 are so mild at Grenada, that if the mischievous 
 hand of man does not accelerate its destruction it 
 may still remain for ages. Adjoining to it are 
 the palaces, destined by the Moorish kings for 
 their baths, their concerts, and their women. 
 The richness of the stucco work, the profusion of 
 water, marbles, paintings and gildings, are truly 
 wonderful, and utterly unlike anything 1 ever 
 met with before. There is a light fairy kind of 
 appearance in the pillars and ornaments not to 
 be expressed, and the climate is so temperate 
 that no moss or damp appears anywhere : the 
 views from its windows are divine — over the city, 
 and down the vega or plain, which is at least 
 
COURTS OF PARIS, NAPLES, Scc. 77 
 
 four leagues or more, before it is closed in by the 
 mountains. But 1 could run on for hours on so 
 favourite a topic — it is time to stop, that I may 
 leave something for you to read hereafter. 
 
 We staid eight days, during which we have had 
 the most delightful weather possible ever since we 
 left France : except five days, whilst at Barcelona, 
 there has not been a drop of rain, but rather too 
 much sun. The Christmas holidays were delici- 
 ous. Such crowds of pretty women, (for they 
 are very pretty and clear skinned at Grenada,) 
 sitting out on all the hills and public walks in 
 the evening, and such serenity in the air, that it 
 was always with the greatest reluctance we re- 
 tired to our habitation. 
 
 We spent two days at the bottom of the 
 vega with General Wall at his retirement, the 
 Soto di Roma. He has fitted up a small royal 
 shooting box very neatly, kills all his own meat, 
 and employs himself in draining, and making 
 beautiful drives through about four thousand 
 acres of wood, which covers all that part of the 
 plain. He is a charming, agreeable man of eighty- 
 two ; free and communicative, active and merry, 
 walks five or six hours every day, and seems to 
 enjoy life as well as other people can expect to 
 do at fifty. From his house we came to Antequera, 
 where we left our carriages and rode over diabo- 
 
78 LETTERS FROM THE 
 
 lical mountains to Malaga, where we staid two 
 days. Its church is very grand in the inside, 
 the outside crowded. I am told it is almost as 
 large as St. Paul's, but it did not appear of that 
 size to me. From Antequera we had five days' 
 deep road and much rain through the rich but 
 naked plains of Andalusia ; and yesterday came 
 hither from port St. Mary's in a bark. 
 
 The bay is superb, and gloriously crowded 
 with vessels. It now rains very hard ; I hope it 
 does not mean to last. As you will in all pro- 
 bability see Dr. Percy, tell him that I have been 
 reading the romance of Don Alonzo de Aguilar, 
 which he has translated in his reliques of ancient 
 poetry, and being in the country, am able to in- 
 form him that he has been led into a slight error 
 in the beginning, by the words rio verde, which 
 he took to be only a poetical descriptive epithet, 
 and accordingly has changed it to gentle river. 
 Now Hio Verde (green river) is as much the name 
 of that river, where the skirmish happened, as 
 Black wall is the name of the place to eat white bait 
 in ; and it would be a little odd to make a copy 
 of verses upon that, and change Black to geritle 
 Wall. If you tell him this, mind I do not 
 mean it as a criticism, only as a piece of infor- 
 mation. 
 
 Hio Verde is a small torrent that falls into the 
 
COURTS OF PARIS, NAPLES, &.C. 79 
 
 Mediterranean, near Ronda, at the foot of the 
 Sierra Bermeja, between Malaga and Gibraltar. 
 
 TO MR. B. 
 
 Cadiz, Jan. 25, 1776. 
 
 Dear Sir, 
 
 You should have heard from me long before I 
 got so far into this country, but for the following- 
 reasons — that I wished to send you an account of 
 our journey properly digested, and free from all 
 those errors that one naturally falls into at the 
 first arrival in a strange place, before observation 
 and experience have taught to distinguish solid 
 and true information from vulgar and frivolous 
 intelligence. 
 
 As my coming into Spain was quite an im- 
 promptu, I had not leisure to acquaint you with 
 my motives, and left that office to Patty, which 
 I conclude she has long ago acquitted herself of. 
 
 I hope I shall have no reason to repent having 
 made this excursion, as I left her very well and 
 commodiously settled at Tarbes, where, according 
 to the letter she has written to me, she and the 
 children enjoy perfect health, and she passes her 
 time very agreeably. I have drawn accurate 
 views of all the cities and antiquities, &c., on my 
 
89 LETTERS FROM THE 
 
 route; and as no such things have yet appeared, I 
 thought engravings of these might be acceptable 
 to the public. 
 
 The publication of Tvviss's book, I apprehended, 
 would render my plan abortive; but on seeing it, 
 I found his views few in number, and so wretch- 
 edly designed and executed, as to convey hardly 
 any idea to me of the places he has meant to re- 
 present. I have taken notes of everything in 
 the journey, and intend digesting them, to serve 
 as an explanation to the drawing. I have en- 
 closed the first sheet of it, and shall continue so 
 to do till you let me know that the work is not 
 worth the postage. I beg you will spend a 
 leisure hour in perusing, altering, and correcting 
 it. 
 
 My intention is to avoid all attempts at humour 
 and witticisms, all trivial and puerile remarks, 
 and accounts which can only interest myself, — 
 such as dinners, and names of , people that have 
 been civil to us, trifling accidents, &c., which con- 
 stitute the principal part of Twiss's book. The 
 rest is made up of quotations, blunders, and non- 
 sense. I never read so silly a book, Baretti's not 
 excepted. 
 
 What I should wish to compass is to give a 
 faithful, clear, gentlemanlike account of everj'^- 
 thing remarkable in this kingdom; and I have 
 
COURTS OF PARIS, NAPLES, &C. 81 
 
 been fortunate enough to procure a great deal 
 of authentic information from the principal 
 Spaniards to whom we brought letters of recom- 
 mendation in every tour, and who are much 
 fonder of talking and acquainting one with every 
 thing about their country than the French them- 
 selves. Besides, were Twiss's as excellent a book 
 as it is a bad one, his tour and ours interfere but 
 seldom, as he has not visited the northern parts 
 of Spain. 
 
 I must now give you a short detail of our jour- 
 ney, first premising that we were everywhere re- 
 ceived with the greatest kindness by the British 
 families settled in the seaports, who loaded us with 
 civilities during our stay among them, and with 
 wine and provisions at our departure, — a very 
 necessary help in this part of the world. After re- 
 maining in Barcelona long enough to make 
 acquaintances, and branch out our letters of re- 
 commendation to all parts of Spain, we pro- 
 ceeded to Valencia; then through Alicant,Murcia, 
 Carthagena, and Grenada to Cadiz ; having had 
 only two bad days, as to the weather, in our long 
 journey from Barcelona to Andalusia. 
 
 About three days' journey from Cadiz, we got 
 into the rainy country, and it has not ceased an 
 hour since, which is near a fortnight. It had 
 rained here for a fortnight before, and, if we be- 
 
 VOL. I. G 
 
82 LETTERS FROM THE 
 
 lieve the weathervvise, will continue a month 
 longer. The roads will not be passable for some 
 time, so that we are here kept prisoners, which is 
 a great loss of time ; but our quarters are good, 
 for this town is reckoned the most agreeable in 
 Spain. There is an excellent French comedy, a 
 very indifferent Italian opera, and a Spanish 
 theatre, open every night. 
 
 The factory is very numerous,* and glad to 
 make travellers welcome ; so that we are feasted 
 and made much of, which keeps us in very good 
 humour. 
 
 As soon as the weather permits, we propose 
 going for a few days to Gibraltar, and return 
 here and make the best of our way, by Seville, 
 Cordova, and the Sierra Morena, to Madrid, 
 where our stay will be very short. Our journey 
 out of Spain will be by Segovia, Valladolid, Bur- 
 gos, and Bayonne. 
 
 We have enjoyed the most delightful weather 
 possible on the road. As we travelled almost 
 always south, the sun was rather too powerful, but 
 always so high as not to come into the windows 
 and beam in our eyes. The pace we went was 
 very slow, for the roads are wofully bad ; but 
 the fineness of the weather made amends for every 
 
 * The company of merchants. Each foreign nation had, 
 and still has, its factory. 
 
COURTS OF PAKIS, NAPLES, &c. 8S 
 
 thing. I generally walked half the clay's journey, 
 or occasionally rode an ambling mule, which we 
 purchased in Catalonia — the easiest monture 
 in the world ; you may sleep, or carry a glass of 
 wine steady, though they go at such a rate as will 
 keep a horse in a very long trot or canter. I 
 have seen two that have gone from Rens, near 
 Tarragona, to Barcelona, between sun and sun. 
 
 We made about two days and a half journey of 
 it. As we carry beds and provision with us, we 
 have been able to put up with the wretched hovels 
 called inns. Without those precautions, one must 
 be a muleteer to get a wink of sleep, and often run 
 the risk of lying down on the floor supperless. 
 
 If these letters appear any way amusing to you, 
 I shall continue them till I have completed this 
 tour ; if not, I shall drop the scheme, and keep 
 my remarks to myself. The drawings, I think, 
 stand a fair chance, as I am sure of their exact- 
 ness and value. 
 
 TO MR. B. 
 
 Gibraltar, Feb. L>9, 1776. 
 
 After long and weary expectation, the weather 
 at last cleared up, and we were enabled to leave 
 Cadiz last Saturday afternoon on horseback. 
 We slept at Chiclana, a pleasant town, where 
 
 G 2 
 
84 LETTERS FROM THE 
 
 most of the merchants resort, in spring and 
 autumn, to spend a few weeks at their villas, 
 which compose the greatest part of the town. 
 The next day we were worse off, being obliged 
 to pass the night at a small thatched house on 
 the wastes. My bed was straw from the stable ; 
 the rest slept in the smoky crib on cork stools 
 round the fire. 
 
 On Monday we reached San Roque, where the 
 Spanish governor of the lines resides, and pro- 
 cured proper passes, with which we got into this 
 extraordinary place next morning early. The 
 whole country from Chiclana to San Roque is 
 either forest or heath, with few signs of inha- 
 bitants, and the worst roads in the world even 
 for mules. 
 
 General Boyd, and other persons to whom we 
 brought letters, received us very politely. For a 
 few days the bustle and military appearance of 
 the place may be entertaining enough, but the 
 style of life cannot please much longer. It was 
 no small satisfaction to be once more on Britsh 
 ground, to hear our own language spoken, and 
 to see so many jolly roast-beef faces, after having 
 so long been used to swarthy-peaked countenances 
 and small-limbed people. 
 
 The soldiery here look like giants. The 
 Hanoverians are tall, but not so well made below. 
 
COURTS OF PARIS, NAPLES, &C. 85 
 
 They agree very well with the English, being 
 a quick, good-natured people, keeping much 
 together, and disliked by none but the wine- 
 houses, who have lost very good friends in the 
 three regiments lately sent away. 
 
 While we were at Cadiz, there came in three 
 American ships, consigned to a friend of ours. 
 The cargoes and ships were sold. They had come 
 from different parts of the coast, and all agree 
 that the distress for every kind of necessary and 
 convenience was very great among the provincials 
 when they came away, and great murmurings 
 among the sober part of the people. All the 
 captains are North American born. 
 
 Our stay here will be short, and we intend to 
 run over to Tangiers for a few days; for the Bar- 
 bary coast looks so near that it is quite tempting, 
 and the good oranges that come daily from thence 
 are a further inducement to see the fine country 
 which produces them. 
 
 This place is a tower of Babel : such a con- 
 fusion of tongues and dresses ! English, French, 
 Spanish, Hebrew, Italian, Arabic ! you may hear 
 all in half the length of a street. 
 
 We have seven Dutch men-of-war here, with 
 Admiral Hartsing ; and one English frigate, the 
 Experiment, Sir Thomas Rich. His lady is with 
 him. Adieu. 
 
8f) LETTERS FROM THE 
 
 Cadiz, March 20, 177(3. 
 Dear Brother, 
 
 I think my last to you was from this place, 
 about the middle of January ; since which our 
 peregrinations have not extended very far. Six 
 weeks' incessant rain detained us here — half 
 January, and almost all February. The carnival 
 was not brilliant, as no public assemblies were 
 allowed by the old fool of a governor. The 
 theatres were the great resource. The French one, 
 monte sur le ton le plus magnijique, with an ex- 
 cellent actress. La Vertueil, at the head, and 
 every one much better than I ever saw together 
 on a provincial stage in France. 
 
 The Italian opera is pretty well as to dancers, 
 but infamous as to singers. The Spanish play is 
 not so good as I have seen it in other places • 
 but always full, as it begins directly after dinner ; 
 and a hon ton person may very easily make his 
 appearance at the three houses in the course of 
 the evening. 
 
 We had some private dances, but cards and 
 conversation were the principal amusements. 
 The number of English, Irish, Frencli, and other 
 foreign hotels, is very considerable. Most of 
 the proprietors are women. There is a great 
 deal of gambling ; and take it ail in all, Cadiz is 
 
COURTS OF PARIS, NAPLES, &C. 87 
 
 not a very agreeable place even in fine weather ; 
 for it is so confined by the sea on every side, that 
 one can hardly get a walk ; and then such inau- 
 vaises odeurs in every street, that a foreign nose 
 takes some time to get accustomed to them. 
 It is moreover full of street robbers, who render 
 it dangerous after the day is down ; but I con- 
 fess I have not met with anything of the kind. 
 The place might be kept clear of all with a very 
 moderate police; for it is a small town, shut up 
 on every side, with a strong garrison. 
 
 All the streets are so constructed as to end 
 in some square, or in the walk that goes round 
 the city. The houses are very lofty, with flat 
 roofs, and little kinds of towers or spires all along 
 the parapets, to serve as supports to awnings in 
 summer. The second story is the etage dlion- 
 neur. Every house has a vestibule, which is 
 filth itself 
 
 The bay surpasses all ideas I had of marine 
 beauty. Its numberless creeks, islands, forts, 
 windings, the great quantity of ships of war, 
 and others constantly going in or out, or riding 
 in the centre, altogether make an enchanting- 
 view. 
 
 On the ^eth ult. we went by land (not at all 
 the plan, for ten hours' sailing would have carried 
 us into Gibraltar) to visit that celebrated rock. 
 
88 LETTERS FROM THE 
 
 Our journey thither, on muleback, was exces- 
 sively tedious, being two days and a half tire- 
 some riding, through very bad roads, over a desert 
 country, mountainous and boggy. Some parts 
 were pretty enough, such as fine woods full of 
 uncommon plants, and large plains in pasture, 
 well stocked with cattle : but the accommodations 
 were bad even for Spain, and that is being su- 
 perlatively so. 
 
 The great novelty we found in the situa- 
 tion of Gibraltar, the hurry and pomp of mili- 
 tary music and parade, and the civility and hos- 
 pitality of its officers, made us pass the first week 
 with great pleasure. But when we had heard 
 all the marches, and all the signals, &c., had 
 dined round and seen everything to be seen, it 
 began to tire us. 
 
 We made three attempts to get to Barbary ; 
 but the wind blew so regularly contrary, that we 
 were forced to give up all thoughts of it — very 
 much against the grain, for we had set our hearts 
 upon it. 
 
 A Dutch fleet and one of our frioates en- 
 livened the place, which has suffered much in its 
 society by the departure of three regiments, and 
 the arrival of the Hanoverians, who are a quick, 
 sober, handsome set of men, speak neither 
 English nor French, have no women with them. 
 
COURTS OF PARIS, NAPLES, &C. 89 
 
 and live a very retired, parsimonious life. They 
 do their duty well, are always exercising, but 
 are not by any means so alert as our troops. 
 They keep entirely together. Their dress is as 
 near that of our soldiers as can be ; but as they 
 wear stiff black gaiters, with high tops, instead 
 of the half-boots of the English, they march with 
 bent knees, and look exceedingly pinched up. 
 
 We returned by the same road to this place 
 last Sunday, intend staying a week longer here, 
 and then proceed to Madrid, through Seville and 
 Cordova. 
 
 We passed a day at St, Mary's with Ge- 
 neral O'Reilly, who was extremely polite to us, 
 and, according to custom, very chatty. He is a 
 fine, likely fellow, and we have promised to 
 spend a few days with him when we leave Cadiz. 
 I am curious to be well acquainted with a man 
 who makes so much noise in the world. The 
 Spaniards are certainly preparing for a second 
 attack upon Algiers, unless they should choose 
 to turn off, and try their strength against Gi- 
 braltar ; which I apprehend we need not be very 
 uneasy about. 
 
 Let me know a little how things go on with 
 you, where you have spent your severe winter, 
 and when you intend to bring your boys over to 
 Liege ; what new plans are carried into execu- 
 
90 LETTERS FROM THE 
 
 tion at Capheaton. All this, and a thousand such 
 minutiee, become of great importance when they 
 have travelled some hundred of leagues. 
 
 Madrid, April 29, 1776. 
 Dear Brother, 
 
 Upon my word I admire you for your assur- 
 ance in saying you had written me a long letter 
 — four short sides in your large hand, full of 
 paragraphs and puncia ad lineam. You meant 
 you thought it long enough for you to write, 
 but I assure you it is full short when I come to 
 read it. 
 
 Yours to Brigadier Vaughan goes off to-mor- 
 row to Coin, near Malaga, Costa di Grenada, 
 which I believe will be his direction for some 
 time, if you choose to write any more to him. 
 We arrived here this morning, having left Cadiz 
 on the 3rd. We stayed three days with Gene- 
 ral Count O'Reilly at Port Saint Mary, half a 
 day at Xeres, three at Seville, four at Cordova, 
 and one at Toledo. The remainder were em- 
 ployed in drawling through the rich plains and 
 woody vales of Andalusia, and the bleak, bare, 
 boundless plains of La Mancha. 
 
 You expect, lio doubt, some light to be thrown 
 
COURTS OF PARIS, NAPLES, &C. 91 
 
 on the character of O'Reilly, a man who for 
 some time past has made a noise in the world, 
 and astonished by the rapidity of his rise and the 
 o-reatness of the favour he is in at conrt. It 
 must appear presumptnons in anybody to attempt 
 to draw the character of another with whom he 
 has lived only three days ; but I sincerely think 
 myself tolerably well qualified to sketch it, and 
 perhaps hit it off with some degree of resem- 
 blance. He is so eager in all his conversation, 
 and treated us with so much friendship and 
 openness, that I am sure he acted and spoke 
 without any intention to hide his real opinions 
 from us. He speaks many languages, but ex- 
 })resses himself with most fluency in Spanish. 
 His ideas are strong, and his conception of ar- 
 guments and things above measure quick and 
 forcible ; his memory furnishing him with a 
 knowledge of what has passed in different 
 countries, that gives strength to his arguments 
 on military and political subjects. His plans 
 are upon a grand scale, and in discourse he is 
 fond of expressing his admiration of Scipio, and 
 those great heroes of antiquity who were above 
 the opinions of the world, and who retired con- 
 tented with the applause of their own conscience, 
 and of the few virtuous men able to judge im- 
 partially of tiicir actions. 
 
92 LETTERS FROJM THE 
 
 In the inspectorship he is allowed to have 
 great merit, and to despatch his business with ce- 
 lerity and regularity. He has seen, heard, and 
 dived into all the arcana of war and politics, as 
 well as what the French call economie pub- 
 LiQUE, and talks so mucli of honour and probity, 
 that his hearers become alarmed lest he should 
 be palming the appearance upon them for the 
 reality. 
 
 I believe his ambition to be ardent and un- 
 bounded. He expatiated freel}^ upon his Algiers 
 expedition, said he saw all was lost and over as 
 soon as he landed, as they had disobeyed his or- 
 ders and deviated from his plans ; at that moment 
 he assured us he was twenty times in the mind 
 de risquer le tout pour le tout ; but, by what he 
 he thinks the greatest effort of courage, he dared 
 to retire baffled, and stand all that malice and 
 envy would vomit out against him on his re- 
 turn. 
 
 He expressed great regret at losing us, pro- 
 bably parceque fai de bonnes oreilles, et que je 
 sais ecouter. 
 
 Seville is a most heavenly place in winter 
 and in spring. We passed our evenings, whilst 
 there, among the orange groves in the king's 
 garden, watered hy jets d*eau, in the style of those 
 you have seen in Italy, squirting up along the 
 
COURTS OF PARIS, NAPLES, &C. 93 
 
 walks. The cathedral did not answer my ex- 
 pectations, as it is encumbered with choirs and 
 chapels ; nor is the gothic so light and airy as 
 York minster. The Moorish tower adjoining is 
 very handsome ; it is called La Giralda. 
 
 The Alcazar, or king's palace, has the arms of 
 the two kingdoms represented in the Saracenic 
 ornaments of the great entrance, which is quite 
 oriental. Philip V,, who died there, added a 
 new part to this palace : the gardens are like 
 fairy land, with galleries, waterworks, myrtle, 
 and yellow jasmine hedges, and orange groves. 
 Water runs through every part, and ends in a 
 pond full of tench, where Philip used to fish by 
 torch-light. 
 
 The orange trees about Seville are quite tim- 
 ber, loaded with fruit. We rode under them as 
 in a forest, and crossed the plain to St. Ildefonso, 
 a convent of Hieronvmites, near which is Old 
 Seville, or Italica, built by Scipio, and the birth- 
 place of Trajan. Seven little hills form the situa- 
 tion of this ancient colony, of which very little 
 remains except the rubbish and form of its amphi- 
 theatre. 
 
 There is a snuff manufactory at Seville, the 
 only one in Spain. They make use of Brazil 
 and Havannah tobacco. There are nearly five 
 hundred people in one room making cigars. 
 
94 LETTERS FROM THE 
 
 Our acquaintance at Seville consisted only of 
 the Marchioness de Malespina, and the Duke of 
 Medina Coeli, who is a sort of king in effigy. 
 He parades in great state along the Alameda 
 with three coaches, each drawn by six mules, and 
 lacqueys innumerable, in yellow liveries, every 
 one stopping to bow to him as he passes. 
 
 My man, St. Germain, was clapped into 
 prison for carrying my pistols through the streets 
 to the saddlers, to have the holsters fitted to 
 them. A strict police this ! 
 
 We journeyed on to Cordova, having such 
 bad accommodations on the road, as to be obliged 
 to pass the night on a table. Cordova is an 
 ugly-built city, with a fine country behind it. 
 Its famous mosque, or mesquita, is one of the 
 most ancient edifices in Europe since the fall of 
 the Roman empire, having been erected in the 
 eighth century. Although much spoilt, the 
 chapels, and a vast choir in the gothic taste, 
 built in Ferdinand V.'s. time, retain, in the 
 greatest part of their extent, their ancientform and 
 appearance. It is quite a wilderness of pillars 
 and low-arched aisles, and is the most extra- 
 ordinary sight you can imagine, especially as I 
 first saw it by candle-light. It is the most ancient 
 Moorish place of worship in Spain, but has none 
 of that fairy character of ornament tliat sets oflf 
 
COURTS OF PARIS, NAPLKS, &C. 9,5 
 
 the Alhambra of Grenada. Indeed, its columns 
 are all antique Roman, and many of its capitals 
 Corinthian. The Moors capped such as had 
 lost their capitals with rude massive imitations 
 of what they admired in their ruins of ancient 
 Cordova. 
 
 If my calculation come near the truth, and I 
 believe it does, this square buildingstood originally 
 upon near one thousand columns, all jasper and 
 marble. But I pass over all this slightly, because 
 hereafter you will be sufficiently tired of columns 
 and arches, when you come to read my minute 
 account of these places. 
 
 Don Pedro the Cruel built a part of the Al- 
 cazar at Seville, probably with Moorish architects, 
 so like to the style of their buildings, that all the 
 authors who have travelled this way have con- 
 founded them together, and called it the Moorish 
 part ; but a large gothic inscription in the prin- 
 cipal front denotes the name of the builder, and 
 the year of its erection ; — besides, the arms of 
 Castile and Leon are interwoven in the orna- 
 ments ; and the Moors seldom put up the repre- 
 sentation of any animal or living creature.* I 
 own, had I not seen all those marks, the beauty 
 
 * The representation of any living animal or human figure 
 is forbidden by the Koran. 
 
96 LETTERS FROM THE 
 
 of its court would have led me to call it Mussul- 
 man. 
 
 The women are very handsome at Cordova. Don 
 Bart, Cesar took us in his coach to the bishop's 
 country-house near the river. He (the bishop) 
 has 220,000 ducats a year, but cannot bequeath 
 it by will, and the king is his heir. 
 
 The Potro at Cordova, mentioned in Don Quix- 
 ote, is a fountain in the street that leads to Madrid. 
 
 The most beautiful country I ever passed 
 through, and most romantic, was after we 
 left Cordova : hanging woods, dells, and purling 
 streams — the Guadalquivir flowing to the right, 
 one of the most charming drives in Spain. 
 
 There is more gilding in the church of Toledo 
 than in all the French palaces put together ; 
 which is not saying a little. They have even 
 gilt the lines of separation between the stones on 
 the pillars. 
 
 I shall leave all these Christian and Mahome- 
 dan ecclesiastical topics, to give you an account 
 of the colonies of Carlotta, Louisiana, and Ca- 
 rorina,* which, as an improver and an Agri- 
 cola, will interest you fully as much. The two 
 
 * La Carolina is situated to the N. E. of 13aylen on the 
 high road from Cordova, by Andujar and Manzanares to 
 Madrid. It is the chief town of the district called Poblaci- 
 ones de la Sierra MorenUy and is built on one of the spurs of 
 those mountains. 
 
COURTS OF PARIS, NAPLES, &C. 97 
 
 first are a great way from, and much smaller than, 
 the last of the three. As Carolina is the chief, 
 a description of it will give every insight you 
 can desire into the others. 
 
 The eastern extremity of the Sierra Morena, 
 though a broken, hilly country, cannot be called 
 a ridge of mountains when compared to the Alps 
 and Pyrenees, but it is very high land. Eight 
 years ago it was covered with forests, the recepta- 
 cle of thieves and wolves ; and before the colony 
 arrived from Alsace and the neighbouring pro- 
 vinces of Germany, an hundred Catalans were 
 despatched to clear it of the first of these ver- 
 min ; the latter, cultivation was to eradicate. Of 
 the first settlers the greatest part died from the 
 immoderate use of liquor, the unwholesome herbs 
 they culled in the mountains, and the heat of the 
 climate ; they, as well as all subsequent inhabi- 
 tants, are bound to remain there for ten years, 
 and care is taken to keep them to their engage- 
 ment. The king fed them for three years, and gave 
 to each family about thirty acres of land to clear, 
 the implements of husbandry, ten cows, ten goats, 
 a house, and one year's seed-corn. The unmar- 
 ried had nothing. At the end of ten years the 
 land is to become theirs in fee-simple, paying a 
 small quit-rent to the king. 
 
 There is a great variety of all sorts of land, 
 
 VOL. I. H 
 
9{^ LETTEKS FROM^THE 
 
 but in general they have made it all arable. You 
 may imagine, notwithstanding the king's good 
 intentions, that many abuses crept into the ma- 
 nagement. The first director was a sad rascal, 
 and used to remove the poor Germans from land 
 they had tilled to others in waste, and for a valu- 
 able consideration put a Spanish family in their 
 place. 
 
 I shall now proceed to sketch out a view of 
 its present appearance. Carolina is built on an 
 elevated plain not quite level, where eight years 
 ago there was not a single house. From hence 
 you command a most extensive prospect over al- 
 most all Andalusia and Grenada. The streets 
 are broad and straight ; the houses neat, though 
 low and small ; walks are planted and two or 
 three squares built for public uses, as well as a 
 governor's house, and a church ; a large plat- 
 form before the town is laid out in gardens. 
 The roads are drawn in right lines all over the 
 new country. The town is mostly inhabited by 
 Spaniards, and Catalan manufacturers of cloth. 
 The foreigners are settled at pretty equal dis- 
 tances over every part of the colony, in small 
 houses proportioned to the size of their allot- 
 ments ; but in general they are run up in a 
 slovenly manner. They have left the evergreen 
 oaks standing in all the places where they were 
 
COURTS OF PARIS, NAPLES, &C. 99 
 
 of any size ; this, added to the prodigious ex- 
 tent of waving green corn, aflPords an enchant- 
 ing prospect. 
 
 The new colony extends about three leagues 
 breadthways and lengthways, but there are 
 many straggling plantations in the nooks of the 
 hills at a great distance from the rest. The 
 great fault is a want of a proper quantity of 
 water. The butter they make here is as fine as 
 any 1 ever ate at home. 
 
 There cannot be a sight more pleasing to hu- 
 manity than this new creation of industry and 
 population ; and we must not give way to the 
 gloomy thought that the mismanagement and 
 inconstancy of government, or the knavery of 
 inferior men in office, will sooner or later in- 
 jure, if not totally destroy, this rising colony. 
 The number of the inhabitants of the Carolina 
 department, I am told, amounts to eight thousand ; 
 but I could not learn how far that district ex- 
 tended, as there are several new villages erect- 
 ing not far from it, such as Carboneros, and 
 Agua-Romana,Vistaalegre, and Navas de Tolosa. 
 
 The latter is famous for a victory over the 
 Moors. It is a strange mountainous place for 
 armies to engage in. We had an adventure near 
 it. Having sent our carriage on, we had walked 
 through a woody dell by the side of a rivulet 
 
 H 2 
 
100 LETTERS FROM THE 
 
 and found ourselves among a party of ladies and 
 gentlemen dancing and eating sweetmeats, who 
 politely pressed us to join their party and par- 
 take of an entertainment in the neighbour- 
 liood, which we were obliged to refuse. A ca- 
 puchin seemed the Godelureau of the company, 
 and was flirting with the prettiest of the ladies. 
 The latter wore handkerchiefs and palatines. 
 We had bad roads and an ugly country on en- 
 tering Madrid : the corn-fields came up to the 
 very houses. — Adieu. 
 
 TO MR. BAKER. 
 
 Madrid, June 1, 1776. 
 
 Dear Sir, 
 
 A few days after my arrival here, which 
 was on the 27th of April, we set off for Aran- 
 juez, where the court is, through a hilly straight 
 road and bare hills. The vale of the Tagus is 
 fine, and the avenues noble. We visited Lord 
 Grantham on our arrival, and attended a most 
 execrable Italian opera. Next day we visited 
 the Marquis de Grimaldi, who is the prime mi. 
 nister. 
 
 There are beautiful gardens in the island, 
 where we met the Princess of Asturias walk- 
 
COURTS OF PARIS, NAPLES, &C. 10 1 
 
 ing.* If she encounters any presented person 
 in her perambulations, he must necessarily attend 
 her ; but we were not yet of the privileged num- 
 ber. 
 
 The prince was sailing in his golden galley 
 on the Tagus. The king goes out shooting 
 every day, and sometimes twice a day. He 
 seldom speaks to young men, and likes old peo- 
 ple best, especially monks. 'j' We were a day or 
 two afterwards presented to him, to the prince 
 and princess of Asturias and Don Lewis, then to 
 the infantas Donna Maria Josepha, Don Gabriel, 
 and Don Antonio ; and we dined out almost every 
 day, at the Duke de Losadas, at the French 
 ambassador's, the Marquis d'Ossuna, at the Duke 
 d'Arcos, at Marco Zeno's, the Venetian ambas- 
 sador's, and most frequently at Grimaldi's. 
 
 The Spanish grandees do not like to mix 
 with other company. They tutoyent each other, 
 and a grandee can only marry a grandee's 
 daughter. 
 
 The ladies here wear no rouge, and have low 
 heels. The life led by the young Spanish ladies of 
 rank is very strange. In the evening they meet 
 at the house of some relation, but never join in 
 
 * Marie Louise, afterwards celebrated as the wife of 
 Charles IV. 
 t Charles III. 
 
102 LETTERS FROM THE 
 
 conversation, from whence they hasten home to 
 dress their own suppers, and chat with their 
 maids. In the morning they loiter and pray, 
 dine on their />?/c^e?'(9,* and the time passes till at 
 last they attach themselves to a cortejo.'\ The 
 married ladies whom I met seemed clever, but 
 ill educated, pettish, and violent. 
 
 There is much talk here of the amours of the 
 Count de Mora with the Duchess of Hues- 
 car, who has married his father Fuentes, and 
 broke the son's heart. 
 
 We attended a bull feast, which is a shocking 
 spectacle. An Indian of Buenos Ayres hampered 
 and fastened the animal with a rope to a post ; 
 then got on him, cut the rope, sat upon him, 
 and killed another bull. 
 
 On Good Friday the king absolves criminals 
 by laying his hand on the sentences of those 
 whom he chooses to pardon. 
 
 Don Lewis is so proud and ambitious, that the 
 inquisitor general informed the king it was dan- 
 
 * A pucker o is literally a glazed pipkin, in which the soup 
 and bouilli is cooked. This soup forms the basis of the olla. 
 It is the standing dish of all classes in Spain, and thence the 
 name of the vessel is used figuratively for the contents. The 
 Spaniards say, " vmga usted a comer el pucker o, as the French 
 say, venez manger la soi/pe, 
 
 + The cortejo holds the same place as the Italian cavaliere 
 serveiite. 
 
COURTS OF PARIS, NAPLES, &C. 103 
 
 gerous to take him out shooting. Five hundred 
 thousand pounds sterling are spent on this place. 
 
 There are twelve thousand head of deer 
 in the woods of Aranjuez. The king has 
 one hundred and fifteen sets of mules, and ten 
 thousand persons follow the court when it changes 
 palaces. 
 
 We went to Villa Mayor to see the royal stud 
 of asses, monstrous beasts with large heads and 
 legs, fourteen hands higli. On this occasion we 
 met the princess, with a party, riding on some 
 of these animals magnificently caparisoned. 
 
 Don Gabriel is a great mechanic and painter. 
 There are paintings of his done with tufts of 
 wool in the king's apartment. Don Antonio 
 amuses himself in the gardens with filling and 
 drawing an earth-cart. 
 
 Philip II. pulled up all the vines on these 
 hills, and destroyed the villages, in order not to 
 be overlooked. Charles V. was the first monarch 
 who resided here. 
 
 The servants here are never discharged. 
 The Duke of Infantado gives upwards of ten 
 thousand pounds sterling in wages and pensions. 
 
 On our return from Aranjuez, where we re- 
 mained about three weeks, I went to see the pa- 
 lace of Buonetiro, where are a fine portrait of 
 Isabella of Castile, statues of Charles V., Philip 
 
104 LETTERS FROM THE 
 
 IV. and 11. , and Mary of Hungary. There 
 is also a representation of an auto dafe. The 
 new palace is richly decorated with marble busts, 
 and some pieces of Titian. We have received 
 our passports, and are on the eve of departure. I 
 will conclude this letter on the road. 
 
 St. Jean de Luz, June 18, 1776. 
 
 Having now leisure to finish my letter, I will 
 begin by our drive from Madrid, where we met 
 a set of galley slaves, which reminded me of 
 Don Quixote, and bevies of girls dancing round 
 poles, holding ribbons in their hands. We 
 passed through beautiful woods, and had a grand 
 view of the Escurial. On arriving there, we sent 
 in a letter from the Marquis Grimaldi to the 
 prior, who appointed eight o'clock next morning 
 for our seeing the convent. 
 
 I rose betimes to take a view of the Escurial» 
 and at eight we were admitted. The staircase 
 is grand. There is a magnificent organ in the 
 church, and a lofty cupola. We descended into 
 the sepulchre of the royal family, where some 
 lines came into my head, which I shall send you 
 herewith. 
 
 There are fine botanical paintings in the 
 
COURTS OF PARIS, NAPLES, &C. 105 
 
 library, and a gold book. But I will give no 
 more description, as you will have it au long. 
 On leaving the Escurial, we travelled along the 
 foot of the mountains, through parkish grounds, 
 full of deer and oak trees. Our muleteer 
 amused us with singing romances. We had a 
 view of the palace of Rio Frio, Segovia, and 
 the immense plains of Old Castile. 
 
 When we arrived at St. Ildephonso, we 
 waited on the intendant with Grimaldi's order, 
 and were taken by him to the glass manufactory 
 and bottle-houses. The glasses are cut with 
 aquafortis. They make coloured glass there. 
 
 Mr. Dowling, the engineer, took us to see the 
 gardens. The waterworks are most incompara- 
 ble, and infinitely superior to those of Versailles, 
 both as regards height and clearness of water. 
 The fountain of the frogs and cascade are noble 
 spouts. 
 
 The architecture of the palace is crowded and 
 ugly. There is a vast collection of pictures. A St. 
 Anne, by Morillo, teaching the Virgin to read, 
 struck me most, as the girl is the very picture of 
 my little Patty. There are also many antique 
 busts and statues. 
 
 The king has already shot several persons in 
 his shooting parties, from his badness of sight, 
 which does not diminish his passion for the 
 
106 LETTERS FROM THE 
 
 amusement. He pays annually thirty thousand 
 francs sterling for damage done to the corn about 
 Segovia. 
 
 We rode to the last-named city through an open 
 corn country, so laid out for the convenience of 
 the king's shooting. The aqueduct, a Roman 
 work, begins at some distance from the city. The 
 streets are straggling. The cathedral is a light, 
 but solid gothic edifice. The alcazar, or palace, 
 contains the mint ; the view from it of the river 
 and valley is suburb. The ceilings have the por- 
 traits of all the sovereigns of Spain from Pelas- 
 gus to Isabella. 
 
 We passed through a vineyard country, 
 and saw numberless larkspurs in the waste, which 
 are called, in Spanish, espuelas de cahallero, 
 (knights' spurs). At an inn we had a specimen 
 of what Cervantes tells us served for the squire's 
 beard ; a cow's tail, which the hostess hung at 
 her door, into which she stuck her comb. We 
 regretted our Catalonian muleteers, for those of 
 Madrid are very dull and slow. 
 
 On arriving at Valladolid we were joined by 
 Mr. Geddes, the principal of the Scotch college. 
 It is a vast city, seemingly run up in a hurry with 
 bad materials. . The streets have porticos on each 
 side. Even the palace is old and ruinous. The 
 river is considerable, and the walks very pretty. 
 
COURTS OF PARIS, NAPLES, &C. 107 
 
 Before we came to Villa Rodrigo we crossed 
 the Puiserga, on a bridge of twenty-two arches. 
 The women there wear hoods, the men montero 
 caps faced with red and blue. 
 
 The position of Burgos, on a hill and its slope^ 
 is very picturesque. Its cathedral is a noble go- 
 thic building with statues on every part, even the 
 pinnacles of the steeple. The gates of the city 
 are adorned with those of the famous judges of 
 Castile, by Diego Rodriguez. 
 
 We then travelled down a very handsome 
 vale, bounded on the right hand by low woody 
 hills, behind which appeared high blue snowy 
 mountains. We met several Arragonian carts 
 that were laden with chains and spears for bull 
 feasts from Bilbao. 
 
 At Miranda we were ferried across the Ebro, 
 for the bridge was swept away last year. The 
 women seemed a sturdy race, working out in 
 the fields, wearing lambskin caps, which they 
 make themselves, for their wedding. 
 
 As soon as we entered Biscay, there seemed 
 to be an air of wealth and liberty. It is a beau- 
 tiful country, admirably cultivated. At Vit- 
 toria, the capital, we should have been delayed, 
 had it not been for our passports. 
 
 The women of Vittoria are very pretty. The 
 streets are dark, and are built on hilly ground, 
 with steps of communication. 
 
108 LETTERS FROM THE 
 
 Our journey continued through a charming 
 country ; fine corn plains, and every cottage 
 having its garden. Here the females wear 
 handkerchiefs and plaited hair for their head- 
 dress ; the men woollen cloths or towels wrapped 
 round their legs for stockings. Some women tie 
 their hair in knots d la Ramillies. We met a 
 grand wedding, so I could judge of the different 
 fashions. 
 
 As Tolosa there appeared to be a numerous 
 population. We saw two women riding in panniers 
 balanced on the same horse.* 
 
 We had now arrived in sight of Fontarabia, 
 Andayes, and the Bay of Biscay. We passed the 
 Bidassoa in a boat ; the coaches forded it. We 
 then left Spain, and entered France, where we 
 went through a strict examination of our bag- 
 gage. 
 
 In consequence of the dreadful state of the 
 roads, we had the misfortune to have our axle- 
 tree broken, which detains us here, and gives me 
 time to complete my letter. Adieu. 
 
 * A remnant of the custom still in common use through- 
 out the East, where the women are usually transported in 
 kejawehs, camel panniers. 
 
COURTS OF PARIS, NAPLES, &C. 109 
 
 FRAGMENT OF AN ELEGY WRITTEN IN THE ROYAL 
 VAULT OF THE ESCURIAL. 
 
 Through gilded halls, that daze our ravished eyes 
 
 With Raphael's magic and with Titian's glow, 
 
 Through sounding choirs where wreaths of incense rise. 
 
 The dark procession solemn moves, and slow. 
 
 Before it yawns the monarch's last abode — 
 
 Few are the steps the pageant has to tread, 
 
 Ere hasty priests consign their royal load 
 
 To dust, and silence on its marble bed. 
 
 The pomp retires — swift flies the courtly crowd. 
 
 With venal pace, to hail the rising morn ; 
 
 And soon oblivion's soporific cloud 
 
 Will cling oppressive round the laurelled urn — 
 
 Save when some veteran, with an honest tear. 
 
 The sacred ashes of his chief bedews, — 
 
 Save when ambition, checked in her career. 
 
 The fatal change with bitter anguish rues. 
 
 Let us, my friend, awhile prolong our stay. 
 
 And take a lesson of th' impartial bier, 
 
 These vaults with philosophic eye survey, 
 
 And judge their tenants, without hope or fear. 
 
 What ! even here must gold and marble glare, 
 
 Must architecture lend her art sublime ? 
 
 Barely to second vanity's fond prayer 
 
 That dying pants to live beyond her time I 
 
 Shut out that light 1 the mansion of the dead 
 
 A salutary horror should diffuse ; 
 
 No flow'ret gay should round the chaptrels spread, 
 
 But grave the forms and solemn be the hues. 
 
 In urns of porphyry, in rows of gold, 
 
110 LETTERS FROM THE 
 
 See where the mighty lords of Spain are laid — 
 
 In two short lines their history is told — 
 
 Upon the peasant's stone as much is said — 
 
 They lived, they died — high up and next to-day 
 
 Reposes Charles;* who late had learnt to rest,- — 
 
 Charles, who so long had made mankind his prey, 
 
 Then sick, not satiate, left the bloody feast. 
 
 Ximenes f cleared the youthful monarch's way 
 
 Of every thorn which anarchy had nurst, 
 
 And happy Charles saw prostrate realms obey 
 
 Where that stern prelate's memory was curst. 
 
 What boots the hope that warmed Padilla's :|: breast ? 
 
 What boots the courage of his manly spouse? 
 
 Of what avail is liberty's behest. 
 
 That bids Toledo from her torpor rouse ? 
 
 Dull falls her lance, defenceless is her shield. 
 
 And blunt her^sword at Villalar is found. 
 
 The bird of Jove in triumph skims the field, 
 
 And bows her neck for ever to the ground. 
 
 Thus vapours, twinkling in the morning shade, 
 
 Hang o'er the fens, and dance with mimic glare ; 
 
 The sun bursts out in fiery pomp arrayed, 
 
 And each vain meteor is dissolved in air. 
 
 A new-found world § by rapid conquest won, 
 
 At Charles's feet pours forth its precious hoard, 
 
 From temples watched by virgins of the sun, 
 
 And bloody shrines where jNIontezume adored. 
 
 * Charles, fifth emperor, 
 f Cardinal Ximenes, regent of Spain. 
 + Juan de Padilla headed the insurrection at Toledo 
 against Charles's German ministers. 
 § Conquest of Peru and Mexico. 
 
COURTS OF PARIS, NAPLES, &C. Ill 
 
 On royal prey th' imperial eagle falls. 
 
 By Bourbon * lured to that luxuriant mead 
 
 Where rapid Tesin winds round Pavia's walls, 
 
 And Bruno's sons ten thousand heifers feed. 
 
 E'en now the Gauls with flattering accent tell 
 
 Their rueful story of that day of blood,f 
 
 When round their prince a line of heroes fell, 
 
 And Gallic corses choked the Lombard flood. 
 
 See gallant Francis, faint with many a wound. 
 
 At bay no longer keeps the pressing throng — 
 
 Bereft of friends, begirt with foes around, 
 
 He sinks and yields, in honour only strong. J 
 
 Be noble, Charles, and soothe the pangs of grief. 
 
 To soften thraldom every succour lend ; 
 
 The hour may come when some more favoured chief 
 
 Beneath his lance may make thy valour bend. 
 
 That hour is come ; and fortune, fond of youth, 
 
 From Caesar's temples takes the withered wreath — 
 
 Algiers and Metz enforce the sacred truth — 
 
 '• Nought stamps man happy but the seal of Death." 
 
 Now foes with ancient enemies combine ; 
 
 His veteran heroes sleep among the dead, 
 
 And spent in embryo is Potosi's mine; 
 
 Age and disease have cramped his active nerves ; 
 
 No more he darts like lightning cross the world ; 
 
 His hopes and fears in vast confusion hurl'd, 
 
 New to misfortunes, and untaught by woes, 
 
 Charles flies despairing to the monkish cell, 
 
 * Constable de Bourbon. 
 t Battle of Pavia in 1525. 
 
 X Francis I., king of France (tout est perdu fors I'hon- 
 neur.) 
 
1 12 LETTERS FROM THE 
 
 But flies in vain, for hither also goes 
 The restless spirit death alone can quell. 
 Here it is quelled ; — in vain the march shall beat, 
 And martial sounds shall rattle round the dome ; 
 Victorious shouts, or shrieks of dire defeat, 
 Alike are lost, and cannot pierce the tomb. 
 From loathsome caves the bloated serpent sends 
 Infectious blasts to taint the vernal air ; 
 Its blighted head each sickening floweret bends. 
 The leaf is shrivelled, and the lawn is bare. 
 So Philip issues forth from his murky hall, 
 Tyrannic mandates traced with bloody hand; 
 Murder stalks forth at Superstition's call, 
 And streams of blood o'erflow the Flemish land. 
 Oh ! had he known, when with a jealous hand 
 He nipped the leading blossom of his crown, 
 That he had cast his offspring from the land, 
 To graft a bud of Bourbon on his throne I 
 Be to his mem'ry some indulgence given, 
 "Whose daring genius bade this fabric rise — 
 Gaze on this mighty holocaust to heaven. 
 And view the founder with forgiving eyes — 
 The urns two Philips and one Charles contain. 
 Three kingly puppets, instruments of state, 
 Degenerate, weak, unable to sustain 
 A crumbling empire, sinking with its weight. 
 The sun of Austria, Tore whose noontide ray 
 The dazzled world its head in terror bowed, 
 Now tumbled headlong down its evening way. 
 Pale, feeble, sick, involved in misty cloud. — 
 In scenes like these the moralising sage 
 .Reads bitter lessons to ambitious man — 
 How weak his pride, how impotent his rage — 
 His schemes how empty, and how short his span I 
 
COURTS OF PARTS, NAPLES, Szc. 113 
 
 Toulouse, September 3, 1776. 
 Dear Brother, 
 
 We went to Aranjuez, where the court was on 
 the 2nd or 3rd of May, and met with the most 
 distinguished accueil possible from everybody ; 
 walking in the morning, eating a great deal, and 
 sitting at cards, operas, or quietly at Lord Gran- 
 tham's in the evening. All the ministers, espe- 
 cially Losada and Grimaldi, were remarkably 
 kind and polite, the ambassadors very civil ; as 
 for Lord Grantham, he could not have behaved in 
 a more cordial manner to his own brother, and I 
 esteem myself peculiarly happy in having made 
 his acquaintance, and obtained his friendship, 
 as I have great reason to hope I have made that 
 acquisition. 
 
 The king was anxious for us to see everything 
 there and at Madrid, and we had every reason 
 to be flattered with our reception. The fine 
 woods on the banks of the Tagus, a great rarity 
 in Spain, the luxuriant flower gardens, of which 
 the island garden is as beautiful a spot as any 
 I know, and the charming uniformity of the new 
 streets, render Aranjuez a most agreeable re- 
 sidence in the spring months ; but I do not 
 believe it is wholesome, for I had a week's attack 
 
 VOL. I. I 
 
114 LETTERS FROM THE 
 
 of tlie headache, which, however, passed over 
 without any other bad consequences. We stayed 
 about a fortnight at Madrid, where I got copies 
 of many valuable translations from Arabic manu- 
 scripts, and the" plans and measurements of the 
 Moorish palaces, &c., with many other articles of 
 great use and satisfaction to me. 
 
 I have since been labouring very hard in po- 
 lishing and arranging my tour ; I think it will 
 be interesting from the great helps I have had, 
 which few travellers can expect, and from the 
 exactitude of the drawings. I hope to have the 
 literary part ready this winter, but I am under 
 great difficulties about engravings ; however, I 
 hope to get them over soon. As you are ac- 
 quainted with the country from Madrid to 
 Bayonne, I shall not enter into any detail on 
 that head, except that the new road through 
 the Bi^cayan mountains is very fine ; rather too 
 narrow, but perhaps the country is too rugged to 
 allow of more breadth. 
 
 We arrived at Bayonne about the 19th or 20th 
 of June, and rode post from thence to Tarbes, 
 seventeen and a half posts, in ten hours, in one 
 of the hottest days we have had this year; yet 
 we were not in the least incommoded by it. 
 
 After a week's stay at Tarbes, where I found 
 
COURTS OF PARIS, NAPLES, &C. 115 
 
 all ill perfect health, we went to Bagneres, where 
 we passed six weeks most agreeably in a select 
 society of people that were perfectly easy and 
 sans f agon. 
 
 Mrs. Dillon and Popsy were of the set, you 
 may be sure. We usually dined at home, but 
 spent the evening all together. The weather was 
 very hot, but we were never without a breeze to 
 refresh the air. 
 
 We came to Toulouse about the 16th of last 
 month, and, after settling the nurse and children 
 in lodgings, went to pass a week with the Bishop 
 of Comminges, where Mrs. Dillon had already 
 been some time. We there found a match already 
 settled between the eldest Osmond, nephew to 
 the bishop, captain in the regiment of Bourgogne 
 cavalry, andMademoiselle Popsy. It is a very 
 sudden affair, having then only been entame 
 four days. I dare say they will be happy, for 
 Popsy semhle prendre gout d la chose, and they 
 lived entirely for each other during our whole 
 stay. Xes amans sont ennuyeux, and therefore 
 we did not repine at their making use of their 
 privilege, and retiring into corners. Mrs, Dillon 
 is in high spirits. The gentleman is not very 
 brilliant in his person, but that is her affair. He 
 seems very fond of her; and his good uncle, who 
 is the best natured creature in the world, does 
 
 I 2 
 
1 1 6 LETTERS FROM THE 
 
 everything to promote their happiness. Tlie 
 family is very good, from Normandy, and pro- 
 tected by the house of Orleans, so that he may 
 hope to get promotion. The bishop was very 
 polite to us. 
 
 We returned here, where the company of 
 Madame de Saint Gery, a very lively, agreeable 
 woman, and Mr. Macarthy's library, make us 
 spend our time very agreeably. 
 
 We shall set out with Sir Thomas Gascoigne, 
 on Monday next, for Montpellier and Lyons. 
 After a short stay there to buy clothes, &c., we 
 shall go to Marseilles, stay there a few weeks, 
 and then take ship for Naples, where we shall 
 spend the winter. 
 
 The Spanish ministers have been so obliging 
 as to send us letters of recommendation to all the 
 principal people at the Neapolitan court, and 
 moreover have mentioned us in their private cor- 
 respondence, which will ensure us a welcome re- 
 ception. These are our schemes for next winter. 
 As yet we have not thought where the ensuing- 
 spring and summer are to be passed, and when 
 we shall be back in England. 
 
 I have been so great a rambler of late, that I 
 can scarcely recollect having lived in a house of 
 my own ; and the inconveniences and wants of 
 inns are becoming so habitual to me, that I am 
 
COURTS OF PARIS, NAPLES, &C. 117 
 
 quite contented with them, and think of nothing 
 better. I am afraid we cannot hope to meet you 
 this year ; the best thing you can do is to come 
 and dance at the wedding. I have just heard 
 that all the noce is coming here to-morrow. 
 
 I do not know if you were ever at St. Ilde- 
 phonso ; if not, it may perhaps be an object of 
 curiosity to you. By particular orders, we had 
 all the waterworks played off for us, and really 
 they far exceeded my expectations. The statues 
 and triumphant arches, from which theje/s cCeau 
 issue, are executed in a very good style, and, being- 
 all bronzed over, make a fine show. Their greatest 
 beauty, however, is neither the height to which 
 they sprout, nor the ornaments that hang round 
 them ; but the prodigious clearness and limpidity 
 of the water, which is truly admirable. No rock 
 crystal can reflect the rays of the sun with such 
 brilliancy. We were fortunate enough to have 
 a bright afternoon, without a breath of wind, so 
 that the column of water went up perfectly steady 
 and true. The gardens of this palace are plea- 
 sant and shady, but the trees do not thrive, from 
 being planted too old, and in too shallow a soil. 
 They have been at immense expense in digging 
 and blasting round the roots, in order to put in 
 fresh eacth, and give them room to seek for 
 nourishment. 
 
118 LETTERS FROM THE 
 
 Arts and sciences make great progress in Spain. 
 They have arrived at a great pitch of perfection 
 in printing, and, after having published Calderon, 
 are now printing an edition of Lopez de la 
 Vega. The academy has engraved several anti- 
 quities, but as yet offered none to public sale, 
 except views of the Gothic cathedral of Burgos, 
 which I have had sent me since I left Spain. 
 
 Casiri, Arabic librarian to the king, was pre- 
 vailed upon to lend me the translation of all the 
 Arabian manuscripts in the Escurial, or rather 
 an analysis of them, and all the plans that the 
 academy has taken at Cordova, Grenada, &c. 
 I shut myself up for four days at Madrid to 
 copy out what I thought useful for my project, 
 and am sure nobody ever had the same oppor- 
 tunities. I am at present busy writing it out 
 fair, and shall send it with all the Moorish archi- 
 tecture to England. The other views I shall get 
 engraved where I can, or perhaps take a few 
 lessons, and etch them myself. 
 
 I have not had a letter from England the Lord 
 knows when ; so can tell you no news of any 
 kind, except that Lady Tyrconnel has made an 
 elopement with Smith Lorraine, only to Mary- 
 bone. She declined to see both her husband and 
 father, who came to fetch her. Her lord has 
 positively refused to sue for a divorce, as he 
 
COURTS OF PARIS, NAPLES, &C. 119 
 
 would not give her the satisfaction of marrying 
 her paramour. 
 
 Marseilles, Nov. 18, 1776. 
 
 Dear Brother, 
 
 Do you prefer a speedy answer, written by a 
 sick body, with a cold and stuffed head upon 
 him, to waiting till I am in better health, that I 
 may furnish you with better entertainment ? I 
 can do either with a safe conscience, for I am 
 very sure I run no risk of your having left Vienna 
 easily in the winter. However, as I can get no 
 answer at present to this most sensible question 
 of mine, I must take it for granted you like me 
 to go on with my letter. 
 
 We arrived here about ten days ago, and with 
 great difficulty procured a lodging up three pair 
 of stairs, at a most extravagant price. During a 
 couple of days we exerted all our talents in fer- 
 retting out a better situation, and got into the 
 best house I was ever in in France, just out of 
 the town, in so fine a situation and air, so large, 
 so well furnished and convenient, that I do not 
 like the thoughts of leaving it. 
 
 The garden is very spacious, and the view 
 over the harbour and court delightful. But how- 
 ever we have agreed to leave all this, and commit 
 
120 LETTERS FROM THE 
 
 ourselves and all the fortunes of Ilium to the 
 uncertainty of the waves, in the first week in 
 December, having hired a large tight vessel for 
 that time, to convey us direct to Naples. Sir 
 Thomas, who is grown so well habituated to a 
 quiet family life, that he cannot think of leaving 
 us, goes also. 
 
 We left Toulouse on the 21st instant, and 
 joined Lady Warwick and General Clarke at 
 Montpellier, where we spent a month very agree- 
 ably, and I may say usefully, for I took lessons in 
 botany of the king's gardener, to perfect myself 
 in Linneeus's system. I drew and painted plants, 
 wrote a great deal, and walked still more, having 
 met with an intelligent cicerone, who procured 
 me a sight of all that is curious in the cabinets of 
 the town, amono- which the collection of birds of 
 the Baron de Tongeres is the most remarkable. 
 
 General Clark has a house for the winter just 
 out of Montpellier, and we had a great deal of 
 their company. We then established our quarters 
 for a week at Nismes, and I spent a great deal of 
 mytime, whilst there, in M. Seguier's cabinet. He 
 has a valuable collection of antiques, medals, and 
 natural history, with a noble library : he himself 
 is a perfect assemblage of all kinds of knowledge.* 
 
 * Antoine Louis de Seguier, a descendai^of the celebrated 
 Chancellor, born at Nismes in 1703. He was renowned for 
 
COURTS OF PARIS, NAPLES, &C. 121 
 
 We made an excursion to Aries, where we 
 found a great many Roman antiquities, but few 
 in good preservation. It would be too tedious to 
 enter into details ; but that you may not have 
 reason to think me very stupid, I will recapitu- 
 late what we saw in that city, which is out of 
 the beaten track of travellers. 
 
 In the first place we were conducted to an un- 
 finished amphitheatre, not equal in size and beauty 
 to that of Nismes, probably built about the be- 
 ginning of the empire of Christianity, and the 
 last gasp of pagan worship and pagan shows ; 
 secondly, an Egyptian obelisk, without hierogly- 
 phics, set up in the square ; thirdly, two columns, 
 twenty-five feet high, which supported the pro- 
 scenium of the theatre, a work of Constantine's ; 
 fourthly, part of the pediment and two columns 
 of a public hall or temple ; fifthly, the model of 
 the Venus found here, but ordered to Versailles 
 by Louis XIV. ; and lastly, the great burial-place 
 out of the town, called the Elysian fields, full of 
 enormous stone temples of various designs and 
 dimensions. 
 
 his love for, and knowledge of, antiquities. He published 
 the fruits of his travels and researches in various highly 
 esteemed works. He died in 1784, and bequeathed his 
 noble library and collection of medals and antiques to his 
 native city. 
 
1-22 LETTERS FROM THE 
 
 From Nismes we went over the Pontde Gard, 
 to which they have joined a bridge and made 
 the great road, and thence to Avignon. I must 
 commemorate the view of that city from the op- 
 posite rocks, as the finest I ever saw or expect to 
 see. We visited Vaiicluse which, being low in 
 water, w^as little worth seeing, — Hareshaw Linn 
 is worth fifty of it — and Orange, where we 
 were well pleased with the circus or theatre, 
 and the arch. From Avignon we went across 
 the country (by a horrible road par parentMse) 
 to Berry, to see a Roman monument, which 
 compensated us for our trouble. 
 
 About a mile from the town, on a small hill in a 
 vineyard, stand together (but not directed towards 
 each other, which puzzles me to find out wliether 
 thev were meant to have any connexion, or 
 whether they only form part of a great number 
 of buildings,) the remains of a very much orna- 
 mented triumphal arch, and a perfectly entire 
 mausoleum, the prettiest hijou I ever saw ; it is 
 sqnare-built below, about eighteen feet every 
 way. Upon the socle rises a square with small 
 Ionic pilasters. At each corner and on the face 
 are four different basso relievos, representing a 
 combat between horse and foot, with triumphs, 
 captives, &c. Upon this is raised a part with 
 a Corintliian column at each angle, and pierced 
 
COURTS OF PARIS, NAPLES, &C. 123 
 
 through with four ornamented arched doors. 
 The entablement above is enriched with orna- 
 ments on the frieze, and on the architrave is an 
 inscription which has been variously interpreted 
 by antiquarians, but certainly denotes a sepulchral 
 monument. Upon this entablement is placed 
 an open circular temple, with its dome resting- 
 upon twelve very short Corinthian pillars. 
 
 Within this temple are two statues of unequal 
 size, togatSB, without heads. I do not know 
 how they got them in ; for they are too large to 
 pass between the pillars after the temple was 
 finished. It is a charming edifice. The only 
 thing that occurs as a fault, is the thickness of 
 the columns, quite different from the regulated 
 proportions of the Corinthian order ; but they 
 have not a bad effect, far from it; and who 
 knows whether the architect, like Shakspeare, 
 did not think himself at liberty to strike out new 
 rules ? 
 
 I do not think you ever passed that way ; if 
 you did, you will think all this description de 
 trop. Aix was our next step, and then we came 
 to this busy crowded town, which is brimful of 
 English. You shall hear from me soon after we 
 arrive at Naples, or, if we go to the bottom, my 
 ghost shall come and pinch your toe at Vienna. 
 
 My Spanish tour is almost ready for the press ; 
 
124 LETTERS FROM THE 
 
 I only wait for a proper hand to send them with, 
 and to have answers from England about the 
 publication, &c. 
 
 I know nothing new to add to the trash I have 
 written above ; so good night, for I have a symp- 
 tom of a head-ache, which I have no mind to 
 bring to a categorical answer. Yours, &c. 
 
 Naples, January 16, 1777. 
 
 We have got apartments on the Chiaia, which 
 is the pleasantest situation here ; the weather is 
 fine, and Vesuvius is covered with snow. There 
 are a great many English here at present, of 
 which those I know are Lord John Clinton, Lord 
 Tylney, Messrs. Osbaldeston, Dillon, Tierney, 
 Molyneux, Lady Catherine and Miss Murray. 
 No English minister is here at present, and 
 Monsieur de Sa, the Portuguese envoy, does 
 the business of presenting the English. 
 
 Sir Thomas and I w^ent for that purpose to the 
 king's palace at Caserta, through a wood of elms 
 and a very fine road. I was not much charmed 
 with the beauty and manners of either of their 
 majesties. The king is thin but strong, of a fair 
 complexion like his father. The queen is rather 
 any than otherwise. She did not say a word, 
 
COURTS OF PARIS, NAPLES, &C. 125 
 
 and scarcely looked at us. We dined that day 
 with the Prince de Jacci, who was extremely civil 
 and attentive, and then went with him to the 
 opera of Teseo. I know not by whom the music 
 is composed, but it does not do credit to Italian 
 fame, and as to the dancing, it was quite shock- 
 ing. The house was finely illuminated, and very 
 full of company. I have also been to the Teatro 
 Nuovo, which is small, with a bad approach. 
 The Buffo being ill, our amusement was not 
 great. 
 
 This place is delightful, and more enjoyable 
 than I can express. I have walked up the hills, 
 and came down by the castle of St. Elmo, from 
 whence the prospect is absolutely matchless. 
 Nothing can be gayer than the town, nor kinder 
 than we find it^ inhabitants. I know not whe- 
 ther it is in consequence of their natural good 
 nature, nourished by the balminess of the cli- 
 mate, and cheerfulness of all nature around, 
 ou git dans son orgueil tout le neant de Vhomme, 
 or whether the civility is caused by the letters 
 I brought from the Duke Grimaldi and the Duke 
 de Losardi. Non importa ! The Prince&s Franca- 
 villa is all kindness : we have been with her to St. 
 Carlos, and to a rhcevimento, at a lying-in-lady's, 
 the Duchess of Montecalos, and a ball at Ma- 
 
126 LETTERS FROM THE 
 
 dame Andres, wife of the Swedish Consul ; also 
 at Cavaliere Cecco Mauro's, an officer who, after 
 making his fortune by play, is spending it all in 
 giving balls. 
 
 We attended a profession, at St"". Chiara, of 
 the sister of the Prince della Rocca, where there 
 w^as much music, and a very fine gilt church. 
 The nuns seem extremely rich, and enjoy great 
 liberty. All the female convents are under the 
 immediate jurisdiction of the sovereigns. The 
 queen visits them in their turns in the summer, 
 and takes a numerous suite with her to partake 
 of the grand entertainment given by the nuns. 
 The king is legate of the see of Rome by birth. 
 All Neapolitan noblemen must ask leave of ab- 
 sence, which is generally granted for six months, 
 and perhaps renewed twice, but never more : if 
 they remained out of the country longer, they 
 would have their estates seized. 
 
 The Sicilians are not under the same restraint. 
 Where there is no heir within the fourth degree, 
 the king is the heir to the noble fief, as the titles 
 remain on the lands, which are plundered. Many 
 of the princes are not gentlemen. 
 
 Lord Tilney has soirees every week, which are 
 very agreeable. 
 
 We have had violent hail-storms, through 
 
COURTS OF PARIS, NAPLES, &C. 127 
 
 one of which I found myself taking a walk to 
 Puzzuoli, which was very pleasant, notwithstand- 
 ing the wind and occasional pelting of the 
 storm. The sea was rough and grand ; the hills 
 are nothing but a heap of cinders hardened. 
 The weather is now grown more hot. I had a 
 walk over the hills out of the Camaldola, by 
 narrow hollow roads through the volcanic rocks, 
 and returned through woods to the lake Agnano, 
 which is full of wild fowl, not near so pretty as 
 our lakes, as there is too much flat border to 
 this. 
 
 I went in a caleche beyond the Torre del Greco 
 and Monte St. Angelo, into the vineyards, to the 
 spot where the lava stopped some days ago : it 
 had just blocked up the road, overturned a cot- 
 tage, and buried a vineyard before it ceased 
 running. There is yet great heat in it, and at 
 night it flames. During daylight there is only a 
 trembling vapour which indicates the heat under 
 it. The lava is very uneven and broken in the 
 surface, dark and shagged like iron slag. It re- 
 sembles the appearance of the first workings of 
 a mine or slate quarry. 
 
 Mrs. Swinburne has been presented to the 
 queen by Princess Francavilla. She was very 
 civil to her. Upon the following day there was 
 a grand gala at the court on account of its being 
 
128 LETTERS FROM THE 
 
 the king of Spain's birthday ; we saw tliere the 
 Prince of San Lorenzo, who last summer used to 
 sit in the Calle Toledo without any clothes on, 
 and orders were issued for him to be taken up 
 and shut up in castle St. Elmo, if he did not 
 wear them . 
 
 Lady Anne Severino is arrived, the eldest 
 daughter of the second Lord Derwentwater, and 
 heiress of the earldom of Newburgh, if her 
 nephew have no children. She is married to a 
 Venetian nobleman. 
 
 January 11 . 
 There was a ball the other night in the 
 Queen's apartments in dominosand masks. The 
 king made one of them. Next evening the tri- 
 umphal car of the four seasons of the Duke of 
 Madelona paraded the streets, a festino of the 
 Cavalieri on St''. Lucia, which was stupid 
 enousfh. There were few masks of character, 
 and all seemed mute. We dined with Lady 
 Orford, the daughter-in-law of Sir Robert Wal- 
 pole, and now separated from her husband. She 
 is very fond of whist, and is peculiar for always 
 saying at the end, " and two hy honours,' by 
 which declaration, if not always investigated, she 
 often makes two more on her score than are her 
 
COURTS OF PARIS, NAPLES, &C. 129 
 
 due, unless playing with those who are accus- 
 tomed to her pranks. She is at the same time 
 very severe with regard to others, and scolds fa- 
 mously both her partner and her antagonists. 
 
 We were amused the other night at Lord 
 Tilney's card party by a scena. A Mrs. Sperme, 
 who is a sort of toady of Lady Orford's, and ge- 
 nerally makes up her whist party, happened to 
 have thirteen trumps dealt to her. She was in 
 great dismay, being frightened to death at 
 Lady O., and feeling sure she would accuse her 
 of cheating, at least by innuendos, if not openly. 
 In her agitation she got up and asked leave to 
 speak to Lord Tilney, to whom she told her dis- 
 tress, and asked him what she should do. 
 
 " Do, madam !" said he ; " why play them out, 
 to be sure." 
 
 The wind now is what is called tramontana^ 
 which is not very pleasant. I have been taking 
 a walk through the grotto of Posilipo in a road 
 to the left, where the peasants were very busy 
 pruning their vines and poplars, and tying them 
 together. Fellows at the top were singing as 
 loud as they could bawl ditties like those of the 
 Spaniards. I stopped opposite Nisida, to enjoy 
 the pleasures of such a prospect, and as- 
 cended the neck of land on the left, where the 
 violets were out, and the rock of tufo covered 
 
 VOL. I. K 
 
130 LETTERS FROM THE 
 
 with purple stocks and gillyflower. Then I de- 
 scended towards the sea of the bay, where I fell 
 in with the Villa Maza. I there read a long in- 
 scription on marble, denoting that here were 
 the fishponds of PoUio,* who fed his lampreys 
 with human gore and flesh, and bequeathed 
 these ponds, which are near Posilipo, to Augus- 
 tus. I could not get admittance, as the farmer's 
 people were at work, so I returned up the banks 
 of ashes, washed into gullies by the rains, to the 
 village, and came home by the stairs near Virgil's 
 tomb. 
 
 There is a divine prospect from Capo di 
 Monte. When the palace there was nearly 
 finished, it was ascertained that there was no wa- 
 ter. I saw a glorious collection of pictures and 
 medals belonging to the house of Farnese. 
 
 February 8. 
 
 There have been magnificent balls at the 
 court, but one of them the other night was stop- 
 ped and put an end to dans le beau milieu by her 
 majesty, who could not contain her jealousy of 
 
 * This monster was consul during the reign of Au- 
 gustus, who having discovered the horrible practices of Pol- 
 lio Videus, ordered the ponds to be filled up, and dismissed 
 him from his favour. 
 
COURTS OF PARIS, NAPLES, &C. 131 
 
 the Ducliess of Lucciana, and in her fury she 
 ordered every one to depart. Tliey say she is 
 also very jealous of the dancer Rossi, whom the 
 king admires, e yelosia cVempei^o, non gelosia 
 damor. 
 
 The French ambassador gives great balls, 
 which are very agreeable ; and a French theatre 
 is set up, where we saw " Les Dehors T'rom- 
 peurs*'' very well acted. We dined one day with 
 Prince Francavilla, and went after dinner to see 
 the procession of Don Marco Ottoboni through 
 the Calle Toledo, consisting of sledges and hun- 
 ters of various nations, richly dressed. The 
 masks afterwards came to the court ball in their 
 dresses. 
 
 There has been another profession at St. 
 
 Mary's of Egypt. The devotee was daughter of 
 
 the Duchess of Monterolendo. The duchess is 
 
 very handsome still, as are most of her children, 
 
 of whom she has had above twenty. She would 
 
 much rather her daughter married, as it costs her 
 
 more to make them nuns than to get husbands 
 
 for such pretty girls. A thousand pounds 
 
 scarcely defra3^s the musical and other expenses of 
 
 these ceremonies, besides a pension to the nun, 
 
 and something they reserve a power over in 
 
 favour of the monastery, when they shall arrive 
 
 at the great offices of the convent. 
 
 K 2 
 
132 LETTERS FROM THE 
 
 The Landgrave of Hesse Cassel is arrived, 
 and made his dehut at the French ambassador's 
 ball. We went to the Fiorentini theatre, which 
 had very pretty music, and good actors. "// Ma- 
 trimonio per concorso, or in contractor' was per- 
 formed. 
 
 The festinos are crowded, and there is no end 
 to the balls. 
 
 February 12. 
 
 Yesterday we dined early to go to the house 
 of the Marquis de Sambuca, the prime minister, 
 where the king, queen, and chief nobility were 
 present in the Calle Toledo. The street was 
 lined with a double row of guards behind ropes, 
 the coaches paraded in the middle, and the foot 
 people crowded it as thick as can possibly be con- 
 ceived. Every window was full of spectators, 
 leaning upon tapestry and silk hangings. With 
 difficulty could the postilions, by cracking their 
 whips, make room for the five cars of the Made- 
 lona, and the sledges of the hunters with horse- 
 men and hounds attending them. 
 
 This parade of Ottoboni was closed by the 
 Bucentaur. The last that came vyas an English 
 packet-boat, manned by the royal cadets. After 
 these carriages had passed twice before their 
 
COURTS OF PARIS, NAPLES, Sec. 133 
 
 majesties, the street was cleared by the dragoons, 
 and everybody driven behind the cords, and 
 then, on the firing of a ^qvj petards, a dozen hack 
 horses, with fellows on them riding bare backed, 
 came galloping down the street. The prize was 
 a piece of tissue. This was but poor work ; but 
 the next race of fine barbs without riders was 
 very amusing, and its coup d'osil admirable. 
 
 Waiting until dark, the carriages returned 
 in the same order, very well illuminated. Ma- 
 delonas stopped opposite the king, and played 
 off a pretty brisk firework out of the front of 
 each car. The illuminations of the Bucentaur 
 were beautiful beyond measure. I never saw 
 finer sights than these. 
 
 From thence we went to the ball at court, 
 where an excellent hot supper was served, each 
 person eating on his knees, and in the best man- 
 ner he could. In the ball-room the chairs were 
 set so as lo form a square in the middle of the 
 room, and the company sat facing each other in 
 a double row. The attentions of the Conte de 
 I'Acerra to onr table of English was beyond ex- 
 pression. We were served with pies, hams, 
 wines, fruit in the greatest profusion. The king 
 played at Macao, and at twelve wont to the Fes- 
 tino d'Unione at the Casino. Soon after we 
 broke up. Both the king and queen spoke much 
 
134 LETTERS FROM THE 
 
 to US, and the king said, he had seen little Harry 
 the day before pull off his hat to him, and look 
 very pretty when he did so, 
 
 The king is very good-natured and well dis- 
 posed, as many traits evince. He is boyish and 
 romping, and very fond of amusement ; excels 
 in telling a story, and setting it off in the most 
 ridiculous colours. He speaks Italian and 
 French, but generally talks Neapolitan. His 
 voice is harsh, and his gestures boisterous. He 
 has no very strong passion for women, and what 
 country girls and others he has taken a fancy to 
 has been at the instigation of those about him, 
 who put him up to it He has no jealousy 
 about him. His intrigues have lain in the sphere 
 of Contadine, except a Madame Golard, wife to 
 a French author on Economy, and an English 
 woman. But he found out she had a cancer, 
 and she and her husband were banished imme- 
 diately. He has had some flirtations with ladies 
 of rank, one of whom was exiled from the queen 
 finding a note of her's to the king, with some ex- 
 traordinary expressions. His present views are 
 upon the Rossi, first dancer at the opera, and late 
 mistress to the Duke of Arcos. She always comes 
 to the balcony, when the king appears at his, to 
 see the masks. They say he was in love with 
 
COURTS OF PARIS, NAPLES, &C. 135 
 
 the Duchess of Lucciana, daughter of the Mar- 
 quis de Gonzuala, secretary of state. 
 
 The queen has something- very disagreeable 
 in her manner of speaking, moving her whole 
 face when she talks, and gesticulating violently. 
 Her voice is very hoarse, and her eyes goggle. 
 She has acquired a roundness in her shoulders* 
 and is very fond of showing her hand, which is 
 beautiful. If she sees or suspects the king to be 
 taken with any woman, she plagues her life out, 
 is in horrid humour, and leaves no stone un- 
 turned to break off all connexion between them ; 
 whether from real jealousy, or apprehension of 
 losing the power she has over her husband, 
 which is very great, since she has got quit of 
 old Tanucci.* The king cries out in vain that 
 his case is very hard, that he cannot go where he 
 pleases, &c. 
 
 The disgrace of Tanucci had long been the 
 main object of the queen, and the king was very 
 glad to leave her free scope to follow that plan. 
 
 * Bernard Tanucci, minister to Ferdinand IV., a native of 
 Pisa, where he was educated for the bar, andsoon distinguished 
 himself by his talents. He at length rose to the highest 
 dignity, and died at Naples in 1783. He has not only left be- 
 hind him several works on jurisprudence and philosophy, but 
 the reputation of being an excellent statesman and liberal- 
 minded minister 
 
136 LETTERS FROM THE 
 
 Wilseky, the imperial envoy, managed it by 
 means of the interposition of the queen of France. 
 The king of Spain reluctantly gave way, on con- 
 dition that there should be no more masked balls 
 at the theatre — a strange bargain ! 
 
 Sambuca, who succeeded Tanucci, was a crea- 
 ture of Prince Jacci*s, and looks very unlike a 
 genius : his aspect is heavy and inanimate : his 
 first manoeuvre was very impolitic and blunder- 
 ing, in laying a tax upon oil, which he was 
 obliged to take off the week after. The present 
 system is to keep a strong garrison in Naples, 
 and to take care that the inhabitants shall alwaj^s 
 be supplied with food at a moderate rate. These 
 measures, it is said, will insure perpetual quiet in 
 this, formerly, so turbulent a people. 
 
 A fund has long been established for purchas- 
 ing corn, and selling it for less to the poor in 
 case of a scarcity. Tanucci and his creatures are 
 accused of having defrauded the king and em- 
 bezzling most of the money, and one of the 
 agents has absconded. 
 
 Ill-natured people say the queen's gallantries 
 are numerous, and that her confidante was the 
 duchess of San Severo, whose husband M'as at 
 one time a great favourite with the king. For 
 some unknown reasons, the queen has had a 
 quarrel with the duchess, who, to revenge her 
 
COURTS OF PARIS, NAPLES, &C. 137 
 
 self, persuaded her husband to inform his majesty 
 of his wife's conduct, upon promise of his 
 never divula'ino; the name of his informer. The 
 king, who was just then worried to death by the 
 queen's real or affected jealousies, was quite en- 
 chanted with this discovery, and could not help 
 telling her of it the first time she upbraided him 
 with going astray. This attack made her furi- 
 ous, and she never rested till she learned from 
 him the name of the person who had given him 
 this information. The Duke of San Severo was 
 banished from Naples, and his vexation brought 
 on a fever, of which he died. 
 
 The king once carried his jokes so far as, at a 
 grand supper at Posilipo, to take Guarini by the 
 hand, and bring him up from the end of the ta- 
 ble to the seat next the queen, saying that was 
 his place : she boiled with anger, but was forced 
 to swallow the affront, and, as soon as she could, 
 had him removed toTurin, there furnished a house 
 for him, and gave him a magnificent set of por- 
 celain, which she had received as a present from 
 the emperor, besides a very fine diamond star and 
 cross. Her present favourite is an officer in the 
 guards, son of the late prince of Marrico. They 
 are much together at the masquerades, &c. She 
 is only allowed 50,000 ducats a year for every 
 expense, therefore cannot be very generous. 
 
138 LETTERS FROM THE 
 
 The streets of Naples are paved with square 
 blocks of lava, which must be at least a hundred 
 years old : each stone is laid in its place by con- 
 tract, at a tarino, or two carlini. The Calle To- 
 ledo requires new paving once in seven or eight 
 years. I cannot think this people so very wicked 
 as they are represented to be by authors, who 
 sometimes only copy one another ; for, during the 
 vast crowding and emharras of the shows on 
 Tuesday, not the least quarrel or tumult of any 
 kind could be perceived, a tiling I defy Paris or 
 London to show the parallel of ; nay, in the great 
 famine of 1764, the only violence a hungry po- 
 pulace (increased to double its numbers by the 
 influx of people from the provinces, where every 
 crop had failed) can be said to have committed, 
 was storming one baker's house. It is written 
 that winter and summer the streets are crowded 
 with fellows that sleep on the ground and under 
 bulks. I am sure all this winter the streets have 
 been empty during night of all sleepers, nor do 
 I think it possible for any creatures to have lain^ 
 out in such weather. 
 
 We have had parties at the house of Gen- 
 sano, at Princess Feralito's and Lord Tilney's, 
 where I met the Polish Prince Solkonski and his 
 wife. It is he who was taken prisoner, when he 
 
COURTS OF PARIS, NAPLES, &C. 139 
 
 was fighting for the Russians, by the king of 
 Prussia, who sent him prisoner to the fortress 
 of Glogau, and compelled the troops he had 
 levied to enter the Prussian service. We had 
 a grand dinner at Lord Dalrymple's, after 
 which a puppet-show and conversazione. 
 
 February 25. 
 
 Mrs. Swinburne and I went to Puzzuoli, 
 where we took a boat to Agrippina's tomb, and 
 landed below Baia, from whence we walked 
 to the Piscina Mirabile and the Elysian fields, 
 and dined at a cottage, where we drank some 
 excellent wine, of the growth that is bought up, 
 carried about at sea for a few months, and then 
 sold at Naples for French wine. We had also 
 some good buflPalo cheese, called Caccio di Ca- 
 vallo. We then visited the Monte Nuovo, which 
 is covered with low shrubs, the remains of the 
 Lucrine lake, passed up to Nero's baths, then 
 took a boat in the bay of Baia, and rowed along 
 the Via Appia, which appears very plainly. The 
 Piscina Mirabile, built by Agrippa for watering 
 the Roman fleet, supplied by an aqueduct car- 
 ried along the hills for many miles, was a noble 
 
140 LETTERS FROM THE 
 
 work. We picked up on the shore some mosaics, 
 small medals and marbles. 
 
 We visited Pompeii with Sir Thomas, Mr. 
 Stanley, and Mr. Pelham ; and words cannot ex- 
 press how much I was interested and delighted. 
 I will not send you a description of it, as so 
 many are in print. 
 
 Sir Thomas and I went to court at Santo 
 Leuci, near Caserta, dined at San Nicolo di 
 Strada with some Italian gentlemen, then to the 
 prime minister's at Caserta, and accompanied 
 the Prince of Sweden into the park, where the 
 king and queen were under an arbour of leaves, 
 facing the flight of steps, down which the waters 
 of the aqueduct were let off at the signal of a 
 gun which the king fired. Immediately after 
 this the fire was repeated over the hills by a 
 crowd of chasseurs and peasants, who hallooed, 
 and popped away as they advanced down the 
 hill to drive the game towards us. Some wild 
 boars came down, and one plunged through the 
 cascade. The king did not fire at them, but 
 shot a hare. Upon the whole, though there was 
 not much in it, the scene was rural and pleas- 
 ing. 
 
 We then drove to the kino's huntino- box in 
 the park upon a hill, where we played at cards 
 
COURTS OF PARIS, XAPLES, &C. 141 
 
 with his majesty, till about nine, and then re- 
 turned to Naples. The king was very courteous 
 and good-humoured. Before he sat down, he 
 begged there might be no ceremony, as this was 
 only a casino. He told us a long story of an 
 escape he had from a wild buffalo once, near 
 Nola, by climbing up a tree. He is apt to give 
 into the marvellous, a trick his father is very 
 often caught at. 
 
 Lady Orford gives many dinners. We met 
 there the other day some pleasant people, Cavalier 
 Mozzi, Lord Dairy m pie, Lord Graham, and M.v. 
 Crosbie, with whom we made a party the next 
 day to Portici, where Princess Francavilla in- 
 formed us an excavation was about to be made of 
 more rooms. It was a charming excursion. 
 Traversing the beautiful fragrant plains, and 
 crossing the winding river Sarno, which is as 
 clear as crystal, we ascended through a vineyard 
 over heaps of ashes to the excavation which has 
 been made on the brow of a hill, from whence is 
 a view of Ischia, Procida, Naples, Portici, Vesu- 
 vius, and the Appennines, which extend beyond 
 Castela-mare, and all the vale of Nola. The 
 principal place now opened here is a vapour- 
 bath, with its flues. The superintendent treated 
 us with a magnificent basket of fruit. The 
 
142 LE'ITERS FROM THE 
 
 grapes were curiously dried with pine-apple 
 kernels in each. The oxen here are singularly 
 laro'e and white. 
 
 On our return we had the pleasure of finding 
 our friend Mr, Bankes arrived, and took him 
 with us to spend the evening at the Duchess of 
 Cotossiano's. 
 
 Naples, March 12, 
 
 We have made many excursions — one, of 
 course, to the top of the mountain, on a mule 
 from Portici, which I rode to the point where 
 vegetation ceases ; there I left it, and ascended 
 the cone by the help of a man, who went before 
 with a handkerchief round his waist for me to 
 hold by. We met and followed several persons 
 on the same errand. I confess I was disappointed 
 at the summit. 
 
 We have visited Cumse and the Lake Aver- 
 nus. The ruins of the ancient city are numerous 
 — broken pieces of marble and stucco lie about 
 everywhere. The people go forth after the rain 
 to see what has been washed down, and find 
 many curious things. 
 
 The other day I took a boat and rowed round 
 the Punta di Posilipo to the island of Nisida, 
 
COURTS OF PARIS, NAPLES, &C. 14(3 
 
 which belongs to the Marchese cli Petrono, and 
 is farmed at seven hundred scudi. It produces 
 honey and rabbits. The Porto Savono is a cir- 
 cular crater, very strongly characterised. I saw 
 some very large black snakes in the grass and 
 on the walls. The ships perform quarantine 
 here. I found in the corner of a house in a 
 vineyard north of the grotto the Colmma Mil- 
 liaria of white marble, with this inscription — ■ 
 Imp. CcBsar D.M. Nerva Nervm Germanicus De 
 Maximus Trib. Potestate vis." 
 
 The Pisciarelli are hot boiling streams that 
 issue out of the side of the Solfaterra towards the 
 Lake Agnano. You hear the great caldron 
 boil with vast violence through a narrow canal. 
 The waters smell disagreeably of sulphur, and 
 the earth around is red and yellow. 
 
 Some days ago we dined at Caserta, at Prince 
 Francavilla's, and walked in the boschetto, a 
 charming grove of evergreen and common oaks. 
 The king has cut down a large portion of it to 
 build a foolish dirt pie of a fortress for his amuse- 
 ment. At the end of the wood is the Peschiera, 
 a square pond, with a pretty thatched room, and 
 an island in the middle. They have two tame 
 pelicans there. We then went to the aqueduct, 
 which conveys the Acqua Julia to Caserta, over 
 
144 LETTERS FROM THE 
 
 the valley through which the king of Spain 
 marched his army to Nantes. 
 
 The Recollets is a beautifully woody spot. 
 Old Cascita rises on the crown of a lofty hill. 
 We continued mounting and winding to a ruined 
 chapel, from which we commanded the finest 
 land view imaginable over all the Campania 
 Felici. 
 
 Thence we drove to tlie palace, which is per- 
 haps the most perfect, sumptuous, and extensive 
 in the world — such profusion of marble, all the 
 produce of the two kingdoms of the Two Sicilies. 
 
 The Prince Francavilla has his stud at Difesa, 
 where we dined with him. It is a flat grass 
 country, very unwholesome in summer. On 
 our return we stopped at the king's haras, and 
 saw all his horses and mares, sad cattle indeed, 
 never crossed or improved. 
 
 The husbandmen hereabouts bury their beans 
 and lupins before flower for manure, and hoe and 
 dig all the plain under the vines, harrowing and 
 smoothing with oxen. 
 
 The excursions we make are delightfully 
 amusing and interesting ; for, except in taking 
 views, my wife has the same propensities as my- 
 self for antiquities, and our mode of life is so 
 pleasant in this delicious climate, where no im- 
 pediment of weather prevents our daily journeys 
 
COURTS OF PARIS, NAPLES, &C. 145 
 
 of discovery, that it is impossible for me to ex- 
 press how agreeably the time passes. '' Vedi 
 Napoll e poi ??zoW," is the Neapolitan proverb ; 
 but I say, on the contrary, that after living at 
 Naples it is impossible not to wish to live that one 
 may return to it. However, at present we have 
 no thoughts of quitting it, and that is still better. 
 Wais enfin ce mauvais terns viendra ! Uon nepeut 
 pas se domicilier hors de son pays. 
 
 April 8. 
 
 The English have clubbed to give a puppet- 
 show burletta. The other day the city magistrates 
 walked in procession to seven churches ; all were 
 dressed in black velvet, embroidered, with scarlet 
 tissue sleeves and waistcoats. The ladies here are 
 carried about in rich sedan chairs, and their 
 liveries are very magnificent. 
 
 The queen is very generous, but has not a large 
 allowance. When she first took a fancy to 
 Nasarino, she told the Princess of Stigliano, 
 whose cecisbeo he then was, that she must give 
 him up to her, and the Stigliano consented ; 
 but the gallant himself was restive, and would 
 not be disposed of, and devoted his time and 
 attendance to a third lady whom he really loved. 
 
 VOL. I. L 
 
146 LETTERS FROM THE 
 
 The Prince of Stigliano is extremely timorous. 
 He refused the viceroyship of Sicily, until the 
 king allowed him to take the Spanish regiment 
 of Arragon cavalry with him. He sailed with 
 it, and landed with it. It happened soon after 
 his arrival that he assisted at a procession, at the 
 end of which the whole crowd threw down their 
 torches, and bawled out " Viva Maria ! muora 
 V Inferno I The poor frightened viceroy, thinking 
 the rebellious Sicilians were crying " Muora 
 il governo /" was seized with violent convulsions, 
 and forced to be carried into the sacristy.* 
 
 Another time one of his coach-horses fell down 
 on the parade, and the mob ran to help his peo- 
 ple. Stigliano, supposing it was a revolt breaking 
 out, jumped out of the coach, and flew for refuge 
 to a neighbouring church, calling out to the 
 cavalry to follow him and save his life. Cer- 
 tainly Sancho Panza was fitter for a viceroy. 
 
 The king was educated by a friar of no good 
 
 * A similar but more amusing qui pro quo took place, in a 
 humbler sphere, at Paris in 1829. A German company of 
 comedians proceeded to that capital to give a few represen- 
 tations. The reputation for beauty of the prima donna, Fischer, 
 had preceded her. The piece chosen for the debut was the 
 Freischutz, in which Agathe (Madame Fischer) appears in 
 the first scene with a bandage over her forehead. Some wag 
 in the pit being impatient to see her face, called out a has le 
 Jichu! which Agathe, who understood little French, mistook 
 
COURTS OF PARIS, NAPLES, &C. 147 
 
 reputation, one Tanucci Samiandro, of the Sof 
 frada family, which claims to be descended from 
 the Lombards. His Majesty's manners are not 
 very refined : when the emperor was here, and 
 standing at a balcony with his brother-in-law, 
 the latter made a very unwarrantable noise, and 
 by way of apology said — " E necessario per la 
 salute, fratello mio." * 
 
 We dined yesterday with the Marquis de 
 Sarabuca, who, during the whole time of dinner, 
 never opened his lips, either to eat or speak, and 
 looked quite planet-struck. I thought he was 
 seized with some mad fit, or hypochondria, but it 
 came out afterwards that his dismayed appear- 
 ance was caused by Carlino, the intendant of the 
 king's bakehouse, who had been put in prison 
 for cheating, having made his escape from thence, 
 and was just retaken as he was endeavouring to 
 get to the king to make a discovery of everything ; 
 
 for bus la Fischer, and, being overwhelmed at such a greeting, 
 fell into hysterics. 
 
 * It is recorded of the Count d'Artois, that, upon returning 
 to the pavilion Marsan one night from the opera, and enter- 
 ing his own apartments, he gave his hat to his gentleman in 
 waiting, and at the same time committed a similar solecism 
 in good breeding, saying the while, as he coolly looked at his 
 attendant, " Ah! quel bonheur d'etre seul." The Persians 
 look upon their slaves as " nobody;" the Count d'Artois ap- 
 pears to have considered his '' gentleman" in the same light. 
 
 L 2 
 
148 LETTERS FROM THE 
 
 — which it is believed would have strongly im- 
 plicated Sambuca. 
 
 I have visited Dottore Cyrillo's house near 
 Capo di Monte, to see his drawings of Calabria. 
 In his library is the skeleton of a celebrated 
 courtezan who was attempted to be converted by 
 a famous Jesuit. His endeavours proving fruit- 
 less; he threatened her that unless she changed 
 her way of life, and listened to his admonitions, 
 she should die on such a day and at such an hour. 
 Accordingly she expired at the precise time, and 
 the Jesuit pretended to have heard her ghost 
 confess she was punished for having slighted his 
 prediction. As this adventure was long the public 
 talk, an eminent anatomist had her body exhumed 
 and dissected. 
 
 It is strange that now, the middle of April, 
 Mount Vesuvius should be covered with snow, as 
 well as the Sorrento mountains. 
 
 The Prince de Janni has a villa at Resina, 
 where we dined. His gardens are extensive, and 
 have outlet to the sea. We afterwards saw the 
 gardens of the Duke of Montelione, which are 
 very fine ; there is a prodigious quantity of pine- 
 apples, but poor things. Here the gardeners put 
 the sets of the plants into a hot-house, if it may 
 be so called, where there is no fire, and common 
 mould instead of tan. In a month they pro- 
 
COURTS OF PARIS, NAPLES, &C. 149 
 
 duce fruit, which I have not yet tasted in perfec- 
 tion. At Chiaramonte are a great many bota- 
 nical plants. 
 
 Sannazar's tomb is in the church of Mer- 
 gellina. That of Virgil is nothing at all ; it is 
 strangely situated in a nook of the rock. Over 
 the right hand of the entrance into the grotto of 
 Posilipo, opposite to it, is the follov^^ing in- 
 scription : — 
 
 " Qui cineras ? tumuli his vestigia ! 
 Conditus olim ille est qui cecinit pascia rura, duces." 
 
 Mmj 23. 
 
 1 went with Mr. Thomas Pelham a pleasant 
 trip to Capri in five hours. We had charming 
 weather and a smooth sea. The landing-place 
 is one of the most enchanting spots imaginable, 
 embellished by a variety of timber, evergreens, 
 and country-houses, with the town rising above 
 them all. 
 
 All fruits thrive there, and no inch of the soil 
 is lost. The points of view are delightful, and 
 vary every moment. The eastern is divided 
 from the western part of the island by immense 
 perpendicular rocks, and the only communica- 
 
150 LETTERS FROM THE 
 
 tion is by a staircase of above four hundred steps. 
 We mounted the eastern heights to the point 
 which hangs over the sea. Here was Tiberius' 
 summer villa, of which the vaults and reservoirs 
 are still pretty perfect. Above his palace now 
 stands an hermitage, from which the view of the 
 Pestan coast, and of all the Gulf of Naples and 
 coast of Romagna, is quite matchless: on a 
 neighbouring point is a ruin which they call La 
 Lanterna. 
 
 Having rested to cool ourselves, we descended 
 to the Carthusian convent, which is beautifully 
 situated. There is a long range of arches, called 
 by our guide " the shops of the ancients." Ca- 
 per bushes, now in flower, grow plentifully upon 
 them. There are the remains also of another 
 magnificent palace of Tiberius Ceesar, and there 
 seems to have been a theatre near it. We dined 
 in a village, then rowed off to Massa, coasting- 
 round the cape, and in raptures at every new 
 landscape which opened at each turn of the pro- 
 montories. No painter can imagine a richer 
 prospect than that of the woody sloping shore of 
 Massa, with its convents peeping up through the 
 woods, with such a variety of verdure as render 
 the tints superlatively mellow and pleasing to 
 the eye. We passed by Sorrento, Castelamare, 
 
COURTS OF PARIS, NAPLES, &C. 151 
 
 and returned by moonlight, enjoying a delicious 
 evening, and still sea, with the animating pros- 
 pect of the lights of Naples. 
 
 June 10. 
 
 The weather is grown extremely hot, but the 
 country is in high beauty, refreshed by a heavy 
 rain. The walnut trees are good shelter, and the 
 pomegranate flowers very ornamental to the 
 road ; the- sirocco wind is oppressive. We 
 dined at Portici, at the Maggiordomo's, and 
 afterwards saw the king draw up a detachment 
 of the cadets, Lipariotes and chasseurs, and hold 
 a council of war, like a child playing a la madame. 
 
 At six, his majesty marched into the Boschetto, 
 where we followed him. The advanced guards, 
 his new Cacciatore, attacked and drove away the 
 enemy's light troops; and after several skirmishes 
 between the different corps, the defendants were 
 obliged to retire into the castle ; the besiegers 
 then attacked and took by escalade a house in 
 the woods. 
 
 At eight o'clock the company came down to 
 the Pallone, where a large vestibule or card- 
 room was erected for the occasion, at one end of 
 which was a very grand theatre, at the other an 
 
152 LETTERS FROM THE 
 
 immense ball-room. Though run up in such a 
 hurry, and slightly built, they are exceedingly 
 elegant and well proportioned. We had a French 
 play, after which we all adjourned to the card- 
 room to take refreshments, and from thence to 
 the ball. About twelve the king and queen re- 
 tired, and soon after the assembly broke up, 
 walking to their coaches by the light of a charm- 
 ing illumination, through the wood and large 
 gardens, where the fountains formed a pleasing 
 decoration. The presence of the sovereigns in 
 these parties, instead of causing any formality, 
 seems to make everything more jovial and merry. 
 
 Next evening the ball was repeated, and 
 many more English were invited. Mr. Spence 
 and Miss Snow,* by their furious dancing, enter- 
 tained the king prodigiously ; he was in roars of 
 laughter, bravoed, clapped his hands, and en- 
 couraged them to skip and jump about. Each of 
 them was conscious how much the other was 
 laughed at, and took care to tell it to all the 
 company, without suspecting that their own 
 figure and performance could be the object of 
 merriment. There was an Italian play, great 
 stuff. 
 
 The king continues to divert himself with his 
 
 * This lady was so fat that she was called " Double 
 vStout." 
 
COURTS OF PARIS, NAPLES, &C. 153 
 
 camp, pushing on trenches, besiegmg, &c., till 
 the cadets and Lipariotes have quarrelled in good 
 earnest, and begun doing mischief to each other. 
 One of the latter was very dangerously wounded 
 by being fired at too near. Whilst the villeggia- 
 tura was acting, a bomb was thrown into the 
 castle, among the company. 
 
 The queen is exceedingly prodigal ; at the 
 birth of her son the king gave her 100,000 ducats, 
 which she had squandered away in a twelve- 
 month, besides her allowance, which is 40,000. 
 It is universally the custom at Naples for the 
 husband to give his wife, on her lying-in, one 
 hundred ounces, and the godfather is at all the 
 expense of the christening. In Russia, whoever 
 visits a lady in the straw must slip a piece of 
 gold under her pillow. 
 
 The common people here are not very gallant; 
 one never sees any flirtations going on among 
 them. The fair is a gingerbread representation 
 in the Larffo Castello, within a narrow semi- 
 circle ; a great deal of board-work painted with 
 evergreens, and lanterns huiig about, which give 
 a dim light. At noon all the tents are let down, 
 and all the world is asleep. In the evening, till 
 eleven or twelve, the populace crowd hither to 
 saunter, and then retiring to rest, leave the 
 scene clear for people of quality, who take po- 
 
154 LETTERS FROM THE 
 
 session of it till one. The fashionable drive 
 on Sundays in summer is along the Chiaia to 
 Posilipo ; there are generally fireworks at the 
 Carmes. 
 
 Mr. Spence has quite made a conquest of 
 the king by his ridiculous dancing, which I 
 suppose the king takes for buffoonery. He has 
 him to play at tennis with him, and they are 
 as great as inkleweavers. 
 
 Count Pennicolto, a Polish general, has come 
 to beg I will be security for him for three 
 hundred ounces ! A modest request from an al- 
 most perfect stranger. He says he is sent here 
 as agent from the king of Poland, to recover 
 principal and interest from the crown of Na- 
 ples for a large sum lent upon Naples to Philip 
 n. in 1588, by Queen Bona Sfortia, queen of 
 Poland. The elector palatine has received one 
 half, and the house of Conde pretends to the 
 other, but Poland puts in a juster claim : — ca 
 in est bienegal. 
 
 There is a Mrs. Hart here, who was a nun 
 at Milan ; she is of the Pietra family, and eloped 
 with an Englishman : she threw^ herself at Queen 
 Caroline's feet, to get the Pope's pardon for her, 
 and a release from her vows. 
 
 The Due d'Ayen and the Tesses are just 
 arrived in a French frigate. 
 
COURTS OF PARIS, NAPLES, &C. 155 
 
 July -20. 
 
 I embarked some days ago for Ischia, with 
 Pelham and Spence, to dine with Prince Franca- 
 villa, who has a villa there. Just above it are 
 the stufas or vapour baths, the smell of which 
 is very powerful, even to those who walk in the 
 road below. Myrtles in full blossom are abun- 
 dant, and numberless flowers perfumed the air ; 
 a small honeysuckle in particular, sweeter than 
 anything I ever smelt. 
 
 The air is now so hot, that going out of a 
 room at Prince Francavilla's to the window, it 
 struck one all of a sudden like stepping into the 
 steam of an oven ; but I cannot say that I have 
 felt, or seen any one feel, any bad effects of lassi- 
 tude or faintness from the heat. 
 
 We came away at seven, and arrived at Na- 
 ples about twelve, by the mildest moonshiny night 
 imaginable, with just a breeze to keep us going, 
 whilst we and most of the crew lay down to rest. 
 It was altogether a most pleasant evening, with 
 a refreshing breeze to allay the fury of the lion,* 
 which now rages. In addition to our party at 
 the prince's, we there met and made acquaintance 
 with the Abbe Galiani, one of the heaux esjjrits 
 of Madame du Deffand's and Madame Geoffi'in's 
 
 * The Lion, or Sol Leone — the name given to the dog- 
 days. 
 
156 LETTERS FROM THE 
 
 society — an extremely clever and witty man, 
 and an author.* 
 
 There have been horse races at Portici, and 
 grand fireworks at the palace, in honour of St. 
 Anthony ; then a ball. 
 
 Figs and melons are in abundance here ; fil- 
 berts are supposed to be aborigines of this coun- 
 try. They have no nuts like our long-skinned 
 filberts, but all of the Spanish kind. Turkey 
 wheat is forbidden to be sold in the streets of 
 Naples, but the police is so inefficient that it is 
 sold in every corner. 
 
 From the experience I have acquired from 
 the quarrels and adventures of our servants and 
 neighbours, I conclude there is not such another 
 race of rogues as the common people of Na- 
 ples. f 
 
 A mariner died the other day in a house op- 
 posite my windows, and the gesticulations of the 
 widow were truly ludicrous. She tore her hair 
 by handfuls, and yelled horribly ; but when her 
 step-son came to seize upon her late husband's 
 effects, she flew at him like a fury, and began 
 fighting. She opposed the body's being removed 
 
 * The Abbe Gab'ani was one of the dique of French phi- 
 losophers of Voltaire's and d'Alembert's school. 
 
 -|- This, although in contradiction of Mr. Swinburne's 
 previous praises of the Neapolitans, is more near the truth. 
 
COURTS OF PARIS, NAPLES, &C. 157 
 
 to be buried, and afterwards threw herself faint- 
 ing upon the window, with her daughters all 
 tearing their hair, scratching their cheeks, &c. 
 This is the custom of the country, and is 
 done without the necessity of feeling any real 
 grief. 
 
 In Calabria widows are forced to scream and 
 roar, and tear their hair for grief, but the rich 
 people hire women to perform these grimaces for 
 them. 
 
 I have observed that the people of Naples 
 never pay any court to the women in public, and 
 never seem to sit making love to them, or ap- 
 pear fonder of one girl than another. 
 
 In the Guardia del Corpo (body guards,) 
 none but young men nobly born are admitted 
 without very great probation, and those of great 
 houses are soon advanced from the rank of cadet 
 to that of officers in their own troop. Those of 
 inferior birth are slow in getting forward; and as 
 in each regiment there is a company, a lieu- 
 tenant, and a pair of colours, allotted to the 
 Guardia del Corpo, they are placed out as the 
 vacancies happen. Among them is a very hand- 
 some young man, the son of a valet de chamhre, 
 (which kind of servitude is the greatest bar that 
 can be thrown in a man's way who wishes to 
 enter the service) ; yet by interest, and particularly 
 
158 LETTERS FROM THE 
 
 that of the Abbe Galiani, who is his real father, 
 he was admitted and kept his ground. He is 
 now the cecisbeo of the Marchioness de la Sam- 
 buca, and they say patronised by the queen her- 
 self. 
 
 The king's Volontari delta Marina, or Li- 
 pariotes, are a most complete and handsome regi- 
 ment, commanded by all the young men of 
 the highest rank at court. The uniform is green, 
 lined and cuffed with scarlet, and yellow buttons. 
 The soldiers perform their evolutions wonder- 
 fully well. The king has been their major, 
 and takes infinite pains with them. He always 
 wears their regimentals. All summer they row 
 his galliots, and in the winter follow him out 
 shooting. I am sorry to add, that this brilliant 
 set of soldiers is composed of the most abandon- 
 ed wretches under the sun. Scarce one but has 
 several murders upon his head, and I do not 
 suppose all these rascals together would stand 
 the charge of one company of resolute, cool 
 grenadiers. 
 
 The queen is very superstitious, and is always 
 going to some church or saint, and now has 
 chosen for the godfather of the child she is in 
 expectation of, the poorest pezzente or almsman 
 of San Gennaro, one of those who have their 
 feet washed on Maundy Thursday, and carry 
 
COURTS OF PARIS, NAPLES, &C. 159 
 
 the dead poor to their graves : and this is out 
 of devotion ! It is a custom in use with many of 
 the ladies here. They often have no godmothers 
 for their children. 
 
 August 20. 
 I have been walking to the end of Posi- 
 lipo, and enjoying something of a cool day. The 
 king of Spain intended carrying on that magni- 
 ficent road, taken from the sea, and built with 
 immense blocks of lava, brought from near Puz- 
 zuoli. It would have crossed the hill in a zig- 
 zag line, and been a most noble work, saving 
 the disagreeable necessity of going through the 
 grotto. His confessor, a capuchin, was the director 
 and supervisor of this work. But the present king, 
 who in all probability will not leave one monu- 
 ment of his reign behind him, has never thought 
 of going on with it. It was his father who built 
 Caserta, the aqueduct, the great hospital, the 
 palace of Portici, made the roads to Bovino and 
 Evoli, dug out Herculaneum and Pompeii, and 
 constructed the whole Strada Nuova and the 
 Molo at Naples. 
 
 Paesiello's music is wretchedly sung at the 
 opera, and the dancers are bad, except Le Picq, 
 
]60 LETTERS FROM THE 
 
 who teaches the young princes. We had a bril- 
 liant gala at court last week for the queen's birth- 
 day. 
 
 The quantity of water-melons consumed in 
 Naples is prodigious. The greatest part is sold 
 in the cellars or grottos under the streets. One 
 shop under the Porta di Chiaia sells five hundred 
 a da}^, and six hundred on holidays. 
 
 I went with Prince Butera to see the plans of 
 Brindini at Pigonati's, which are making out for 
 the king. It appears that a statue of his majesty 
 is to be erected on a point of land, which is to be 
 changed into an island by a new cat, (to be con- 
 verted into an oyster-bed,) and called Isola di San 
 Ferdinando ; — a most ridiculous idea. The works 
 of Brindini have already cost 26,000 ducats. 
 
 The other night, at a ball at Posilipo, the queen 
 was taken ill and retired, and not long after, the 
 roar of the cannon announced the birth of a 
 prince. He has since been christened by the 
 innumerable names of Francis, Louis, Januarius, 
 Jean Baptiste, Pasquale, Balthazar, Melchior, 
 Caspar, &c. &;c. The queen had a new doctor, 
 Mr. Pears, called in, in preference to Viventor, 
 the established one, which has caused a great 
 sensation. Viventor is the son of a practitioner 
 of Nola, himself an ignorant pretender to phy- 
 sic, and onl}^ constituted doctor to the queen's 
 
COURTS OF PARIS, NAPLES, &c. Itil 
 
 household from having married her favourite maid, 
 as everything is done by favour here. By making 
 himself a jack of all trades, and playing with the 
 king, he obtained an almost uncontrolled power in 
 , all departments, directed the marine department, 
 modelled the army, and, like a second Struensee, 
 disposed of everything with the greatest annoyance 
 and brutality. He had a scheme for improving 
 the naval affairs, and subduing the Algerines; but 
 the loss of the ships he expected success from, has 
 lessened his consequence ; and now the queen, 
 having thrown off her slavery to his will, has done 
 his business, to the great joy of all Naples. 
 
 When a person here is in a brown study, or revaiit 
 ala Suisse^ihey say he is fishing for "Carmelachi;" 
 which are " manches de couteaii,^* or razorfish, taken 
 in a very sedate manner ; viz. a man walks upright 
 into the sea, and seems quite lost in thought, till 
 he feels something pricking about his feet ; then 
 he darts down, and catches hold of the fish. 
 
 There are four families here that came from Ar- 
 ragon, and settled in the kingdom of Naples, viz. 
 — Carolina, Count d'Acerra ; Gucoaro, Duke of 
 Novino; Cavallanes, Marquis of Santo Mario, 
 and Count d'Avilos. They walk together in the 
 procession of the octave of Corpus Christi, to 
 visit the great altar. 
 
 The dissipation of the Neapolitans is really 
 
 VOL. I. M 
 
162 LETTERS FROM THE 
 
 disgusting. All ranks seem to live only for 
 tawdry show and idleness. Every day there 
 are fireworks and music, with some devotional 
 procession or another; these are so common, 
 that nobody minds them. In one firework, let 
 off before some Madonna, was a paper statue of 
 a doctor giving a lavement of squibs to Pul- 
 chinello.* 
 
 Expense and prodigality are at their height 
 here. The rich are oppressed with debts ; the 
 working people always spend the produce 
 of their labour before they have received it ; and 
 from the king to the lazzaroni there is not such 
 a nation of idle, irregular fellows in the world. 
 
 The queen had three young ladies praying 
 for her safe delivery, who are now to be por- 
 tioned off as wives or nuns. When one of her 
 children was ill of a swelled face, she sent it 
 regularly to kiss an image of St. Jago, in one 
 of the churches. 
 
 The women here seem to give avarice and 
 
 * In the ancient part of the city of Antwerp, said to have 
 been built by the Romans, there for a long time existed a 
 small image of the god Priapus. It was suggested by one 
 of the town council that this pagan emblem ought to be 
 effaced, and the niche, in which it stood^ purified by some 
 christian image. The proposition was carried, and a small 
 statue of the Virgin, at this hour, occupies the place of the 
 Roman effigy. 
 
COURTS OF PARIS, NAPLES, &C. 10-3 
 
 vanity the first rank among their passions. Forty 
 years ago there were not ten women at Naples 
 who knew what a cap was ; but luxury has much 
 increased since that time, and now the ladies are 
 all (i la Francaise. 
 
 The politics of this court are very strange, and, 
 in compliance with the bigotry of his most 
 Catholic Majesty, Tanucci's projects of under- 
 mining the power of the church are quite 
 knocked on the head. The Hackney has just 
 been presented to the Pope, with more than com- 
 mon pomp, though his Holiness was informed 
 last year that this humiliating ceremony would 
 never be performed again.* 
 
 Last year the king named to the bishopric of 
 Aquila the professor of common law in the uni- 
 versity of Naples, who immediately wrote a letter 
 to the tribunal and magistrates of that city, noti- 
 fying his nomination, and descanting upon the 
 happiness of Aquila in being under the sole 
 command of the king, free from all interference 
 of the court of Rome. The pope was outrageous 
 at this, and refused to grant the bulls, or to con- 
 
 * The establishment of the tribute, of wliich the presen- 
 tation of the palfrey was the emblem, dated from the epoch 
 of the Norman kings, who thereby acknowledged the right or 
 sovereignty of the pope to the kingdom of Naples. This cus- 
 tom was abolished at the period of the French invasion, and 
 has not been re-established. 
 
 ai 2 
 
164 LETTERS FROM THE 
 
 secrate the recipient. At last the latter was forced 
 to recant, went to Rome, and was consecrated. In 
 the bulls, the pope talks of the plenitude of his 
 power, of his bishops in his city of Aquila, in 
 his fief the kingdom of Naples. When Sambuca 
 expostulated with the king on the disgraceful 
 tribute of the " haquenee" Ferdinand shrugged 
 up his shoulders, and said he should have no 
 objections to refuse it, " ma bisogna far' accon- 
 sentir il Papa." 
 
 The king spends in his household about six 
 hundred thousand ducats yearly, and the annual 
 sums paid for masses said in this cit}^ alone 
 amount to as much more. 
 
 I have been to see the drawing of the lotter}^ 
 in the oreat hall of the Vicaria. Five numbers 
 were extracted by a little boy, after the boxes had 
 been shaken by some lazzaroni. 
 
 There is no place where music seems to be 
 in less esteem than Naples, or where so little is 
 heard ; no one ever attends to it, even from the 
 finest singers and performers, and even the 
 common people appear utter strangers to it. 
 There is no national music, and, except a few 
 drawling kind of sequadillas, probably bequeath- 
 ed to them by the Spaniards, you never hear any 
 sucli things as vielles, organs, guitars, &c., in 
 tlie streets. 
 
COURTS OF PARIS, NAPLES, &C. 165 
 
 All the ladies of quality here, let the circum- 
 stances of their husbands be what they will, have 
 a hundred ducats per month for pin-money, and 
 no more. At the birth of every child the 
 husband makes her a present of one hundred 
 ounces, and many other things of value, accord- 
 ing to her fortune. 
 
 The king, it is said, takes a boat at midnight, or 
 later, to go to his rendezvous on the coast of Por- 
 tici. The Lucciana's husband has been absent for 
 many weeks, at his country-house near Aversa. 
 
 Madame Santo Marco, one of the beauties of 
 Naples, laid a scheme, about two years ago, for 
 making a conquest of the king, at Caserta, which 
 succeeded ; but the queen, being apprised of 
 it, gave his Majesty such a lecture as frightened 
 him out of his wits, and brought him back to 
 Naples upon his knees. She forgave him, on his 
 promising never to offend again ; to which he 
 willingly agreed. The marchesa was exiled, 
 and the Prince de la Rocca, one of the principal 
 actors, was wise enough to retire for two years 
 to his estate, wdiere he received the red ribband 
 of San Gennaro, which the king promised him 
 when he was his confident in the affair. On 
 his return to court, he waited on their majesties 
 to thank them for it, and was most graciously 
 received by both ; but as soon as the king re- 
 turned to the inner apartments, he giddily or 
 
166 LETTERS FROM THE 
 
 maliciously told the queen that La Rocca, to 
 whom she was so civil, had been the agent in the 
 Santo Marco business. " You have told me too 
 late," said the queen. 
 
 The Abbe Galiani had the other day a reli- 
 gious dispute with some Italian gentlemen, in 
 which he attempted to prove to them that the 
 Gospel of St. Mark was an abstract of St. Mat- 
 thew. After much wrangling and discussion, 
 one of the company proposed to change the 
 subject, and to talk of the pretty women of 
 Naples; among others of Madame Santo Marco. 
 **Eh?" said the Abbe, "« die serve? non vi 
 ho detto gia venti volte che Santo Maj'co t Vepi- 
 tome di San Matteo ?"^ 
 
 We see the Abbe often, and he enlivens our 
 conversation by his wit. He has explained some 
 passages of Horace with great ingenuity, and 
 means to publish anew edition, with his observa- 
 tions. The Marquis Tanucci was so envious of 
 all men of any kind of knowledge, that he did 
 his utmost to keep them down, and never liked 
 Galiani after he had heard king Charles say, 
 that he had met him in his library, and found 
 him excessively clever and knowing, upon all the 
 subjects he had questioned him upon. 
 
 * San Matteo is the portion of the city principally inha- 
 bited by women of bad character ; hence the Abbe's bitter 
 sarcasm. 
 
COURTS OF PARIS, NAPLES. &c. 167 
 
 September 8. 
 
 The Chiaia was crowded by daybreak with 
 a gay populace, in very splendid holiday clothes, 
 and characteristic national finery, moving from 
 Naples to its environs, to pay homage to the 
 Madonna di pie di Grotta. The troops in garri- 
 son pitched their tents, and repaired to their 
 posts, lining all the Chiaia towards the sea. The 
 picture was incomparable. All the nobility in 
 gala coaches passed along to enjoy the sight, and 
 to be seen themselves. Great dinners were given 
 at all the houses on the line. The Count de 
 Chatenay and Abbe Galiani dined with us. At 
 five the king passed in his state-coach, with 
 twenty-two carriages preceding or following him ; 
 the spectacle was brilliant. 
 
 The origin of this ceremony is the supposed 
 miracle of the blessed Virgin, to three or four old 
 women and monks, recommending a church to be 
 built to her honour, where her image was stuck 
 up against the wall ; and as the Viceroy, Don 
 Pedro di Toledo, was very fond of Puzzuoli, 
 having already a country-house opposite the spot, 
 the cunning Jesuits fixed the scene of this mum- 
 mery in that quarter; which induced the viceroy 
 
168 LETTERS EROM THE 
 
 to build the churcli, and to institute the proces- 
 sion, as he was delighted to find his favourite resi- 
 dence likely to become a place of resort. 
 
 The small-pox has declared itself on the fool 
 Don Philip, the king's elder brother, and the 
 whole court is in alarm. There seemed to be 
 great debates about what was to be done ; at last 
 it was arranged for the royal family (except the 
 sick man) to set out for Santa Lucia, — to the 
 great vexation of all Naples ; with, however, the 
 consoling promise of feasts and rejoicings on 
 their return, at the end of forty days. The queen 
 has invited Vincenzo Montalto, brother of the 
 Duke of Tragnito, to go with her to Santa 
 Lucia. 
 
 There are many Monache di casa in Naples 
 who make vows, but live at home, and have not 
 the best reputations ; also the nuns of San 
 Vicenzo, who are a kind of Magdalens. They 
 go about the streets begging, wath their faces 
 covered. One of them the other day came in a 
 hurry up to a groom-boy, at the Duke of Valen- 
 tino's stable-door, and begged he would give her 
 leave to rest herself in the stable for a short time, 
 feeling very ill from the heat. The boy con- 
 sented, and allowed her to rest within for a 
 quarter of an hour. She then came out, thanked 
 him, and went her way. Some time after the 
 
COURTS OF PARIS, NAPLES, &C. 169 
 
 lad, o-oing in to dress his horses, heard a squeak- 
 ing nnder the manger, and found the nun had 
 left them a fine chopping boy. 
 
 Neither men nor women walk here, either in 
 town or country, except a little at night; they 
 pass most of their time at the Bassette table. 
 
 The " Cavalli di razzi," especially of the plains, 
 are all weak, and unable to perform other work 
 than parading upon the pavement. They are 
 always being bled and physicked. Indeed 
 the air here is the greatest generator of blood 
 imaginable. The horses of the mountains are 
 stout and hardy. 
 
 The council for managing the affairs of the 
 Jesuits having refused to let the old tenant at 
 Castelmare continue, as he would not pay an in- 
 creased rent, the fellow put himself in the king's 
 way, and tendered him the quarter's rent. The 
 king was so delighted at receiving what he called 
 the first money of the Jesuits he had ever seen, 
 that he gave the farmer a fresh lease, on condi- 
 tion he always brought him the money in 
 gold. 
 
 October 3. 
 
 The Infant Don Philip, an idiot, died upon the 
 17th instant, and four days after his body was 
 
170 LETTERS FROM THE 
 
 carried in a coach, preceded by twenty-four ser- 
 vants with flambeaux, and the judge of the court 
 on horseback, to Santa Chiara, to be exposed on 
 a Catafalqua. The troops lined the road. The 
 Catafalqua had this inscription on it — Raptus est, 
 mutant ne malitid iniellectum ejus. 
 
 All is in gala, and there are no signs of a 
 funeral ceremony. The queen has returned, 
 and is giving conversazione at the Belvedera. * 
 
 We have been on a villeggiatura toVietri, where 
 Galiani joined our party. He has many amus- 
 ing stories and anecdotes. Here are a few of 
 them : A Gascon walking one sharp frosty day, 
 clad in a light summer silk, a friend coming 
 up, asked him how he could do with such a coat 
 in such a bitter cold day. '■'■Cadedis! comment 
 jefais F" replied the other ; " Eh ! je gele." 
 
 The Salernitans and Cavaccioli hate each other 
 mortally. Two of the former were quarrelling : 
 and one called the other a filthy Cavacciolo. 
 " No, no," said the second, " I am no Cavacciolo 
 neither — I am a christian." 
 
 A Calabrese beggar being ready to die with 
 
 * San Vietri was formerly called Marciana, because it was 
 part of the estate given by Trajan to his sister. I am told a 
 bishop of La Cava broke and buried all the statues found 
 there. The friar's convent was a temple called Votares. 
 
COURTS OF PARIS, NAPLES, &C. 171 
 
 Ijunger at Rome, as no one gave him a farthing, 
 applied for advice to a countryman of his, a 
 beggar also, whose stand seemed to produce 
 a comfortable maintenance. His friend told him 
 he must use a little art, and if he did not excite 
 compassion, he must do as he did — put on a kind 
 of Jewish habit, and pretend to be a ^^ provero 
 Ebreo fatto Cristiano," and for that reason 
 ejected from the synagogue. Approving of this 
 counsel, the other prepared his dress in such a 
 manner as to have a very Jewish appearance. 
 Thus accoutred, and sure of success, he repaired 
 to the corner of a street ; but in going he totally 
 forgot the word *' Ehreo,'" and attacked the com- 
 passionate passengers with '"'■ Fratelli^ la cmita 
 per Vamoi" di Dio — un poco di limosina a im po- 
 vero Calabrese fatto Cristiano." Although this 
 blunder excited the laughter rather than the pity 
 of the gentry, yet they could not help, in the 
 fulness of their merriment, opening their purse- 
 strings to the beggar. 
 
 When Charles the V. returned from Tunis, he 
 travelled by land through Calabria and to Na- 
 ])les, and did much good by the road. Seeing 
 Calabria without corn, and being told it was too 
 mountainous and too cold for it to ripen, he or- 
 dered rye-seed to be brought from Germany. It 
 succeeds well, and is now universal over these parts, 
 
172 LETTERS FROM THE 
 
 where it is known by the name of " Germano." 
 At La Cava, the town council met to consider what 
 present they should give the emperor. Some 
 were for pine-apples, the kernels of which are of 
 a vast size; but the majority carried it in favour 
 of a kind of fig, which they cover with mats in 
 winter, and in March (the time of the emperor's 
 passing) the fruit is very ripe, and delicious eat- 
 ing. The emperor received tlie deputies very 
 graciously, and expressing great surprise at the 
 fineness of the fruit at that season of the year, in- 
 quired whether they could preserve any quantity 
 of them, and whether they were in abund- 
 ance. "Oh!" said the wise mayor, " we have 
 such plenty that we give them to our hogs." 
 " What," said Charles, "to your hogs?— then 
 take your figs back again;" and so saying, he 
 flung a ripe one full in the face of the orator. 
 The courtiers following the example of their 
 sovereign, the poor deputies had their faces all 
 besmeared and their eyes bunged out with the 
 fruit. As they were returning from the audience, 
 one of these sapient senators, taking the whole 
 to be part of the ceremonial of a reception by an 
 emperor, observed to his brethren how lucky it 
 was they had carried the point in favour of figs ; 
 for, had they presented pine-apples, they would 
 undoubtedly have had their brains knocked out. 
 
COURTS OF PARIS, NAPLES, &C. 173 
 
 About the period of the revival of letters, the 
 Italians were upon the point of returning to 
 paganism. The passion for Virgil grew to such a 
 pitch, that the holy See thought it necessary 
 to interpose. In order, therefore, to take that 
 author out of the hands of young persons, they 
 prevailed upon Vida and Sannazzaro to compose 
 their sacred poems, Christiados, Sfc, to supply 
 the place of the Latin poet whose work was so 
 much idolized.* 
 
 Galiani has a plan of having the whole 
 kingdom of Naples represented in relievo, with 
 cork, by the makers of the Presepio. 
 
 He tells me St. Foix discovered, by the papers in 
 the French Secretary of State's office, that the 
 Masque defer, mentioned by Voltaire, was the Duke 
 
 * Of Vida little is known ; but James Sannazar, who 
 was born at Naples in 1458, has left behind him a dis- 
 tinguished reputation. His most celebrated productions 
 are his " Arcadia," his " Dc partu Virginis" (translated 
 into French under the title of " Couches sacrees de la 
 Vierge,") and his " Salices et lamentatio de morte Christi.'' 
 The latter obtained for its author the title of the " Chris- 
 tian Virgil." Sannazar, who was very wealthy, died in 1530, 
 and was buried in a magnificent tomb in the church of Santa 
 Maria del Parto at Naples. The following distich was en- 
 graved upon his monument : — 
 
 " Da sacro cineri flores : hie ille maroni 
 Syncerus musa proximus, ut turaulo." 
 Syncerus was the Latin name given to him. 
 
174 LETTERS FROM THE 
 
 of Monmouth, supposed to have been beheaded 
 on Tower-hill, but in reality brought to the Bas- 
 tille after the fall of the Stuarts. James had 
 promised his brother Charles, upon his sacrificing 
 Monmouth to him, by refusing to acknowledge his 
 marriage with Lucy Waters, that he would never 
 take awa}^ his life.* 
 
 The divers of the Gulf are surprising fellows, 
 swimming in the water with a little basket, 
 into which they put their fish. They dive, and 
 remain working and pulling the shell-fish off the 
 rocks, for four or even five minutes, with their feet 
 
 * St. Foix, author of Ess. Hist, stir Paris, &:c., pretended, 
 but did not prove, that the unhappy captive, known as the 
 " Iron Mask," was the Duke of Monmouth. In a work 
 published at Amsterdam, called Memoires secrets pour servir 
 a I'histoire de Perse, attributed to Voltaire, as well as in the 
 Steele de Louis XIV., it is confidently affirmed that this 
 prisoner was the Count de Vernandois, son of Madame de 
 la Valliere and Louis XIV., who was supposed to have died 
 suddenly whilst with the army of Flanders in 1683. Others 
 again assert that the prisoner was an illegitimate son of 
 Anne of Austria, and consequently brother to Louis XIV. 
 Others opine for the Duke de Beaufort. But the probabilities 
 are, that the victim was the celebrated Fouquet, minister of 
 finance to the dissolute monarch who signed the Edict of 
 Nantes. In speaking of the death of the Count de Vernan- 
 dois, it may not be irrelevant to repeat the words of Madame 
 de la Valliere, when they announced this event to her. She 
 at first burst into tears, but, recovering herself, said, ''(7est 
 trop pleiirer la mort, d'unfils dont je nai pas assez pleure la 
 naissance." 
 
COURTS OF PARIS, NAPLES, &C. 175 
 
 above water, as I have seen myself (my watch 
 in my hand). They gain sometimes eight or ten 
 carlini a day by their work ; but they die young, 
 the violence of the exertion weakenino: their 
 chests. 
 
 The Neapolitan citizens, or middling sort of 
 people, live very poorly as to eating, their little 
 income being curtailed by the calls of show and 
 finery. When they are invited to dinner, it is 
 scarcely credible what quantities they devour. 
 It is the custom to serve every dish, and send it 
 round, and almost an affront to ask anybody if he 
 will have any of this dish. He will answer — 
 " Volete ! ma non sono ammalato .'" When 
 strangers are invited to dine with you, their 
 servants do not wait, but you give them two 
 carlini, wherewith to get themselves a dinner. 
 
 Lachryma Christi is, methinks, no longer a 
 very delicious wine ; it is strong and sound, 
 with a burnt, acrid taste.* 
 
 * A ridiculous mistake was once committed by a good 
 honest country squire of my acquaintance, who had received 
 a present of some of this wine, and neither understood its 
 name, nor whence it came. " What say you to a glass of 
 Mine ?" said he one day to me at dinner ? 1 bowed, and he 
 continued, " What shall it be ?" " Anything." " Come, 
 
 then, let us try some of L 's wine, that he bought at 
 
 Christies !" 
 
17G LETTERS FROM THE 
 
 November 5. 
 
 There is to be no more moiirnino;, the kino- of 
 Spain having disapproved of it, which is a rare 
 comedy. There was a grand gala at court 
 yesterday, to celebrate the fete of San Carlo 
 Borromeo. The opera was " Catone." 
 
 We visited some days ago the Spirito Santo 
 and the Pellegrini. The monks, when dead, are 
 put dressed into their coffins, which are filled with 
 tufo; the flesh is thus consumed in a few months. 
 They are then taken out, and stuck up in niches, 
 attired in the habit of the confraternity, with 
 their names and the time of death over them, 
 and thus exposed to public view. The number 
 of pilgrims fed and lodged at the Pellegrini is 
 very great ; sometimes forty a night going upon 
 various pilgrimages, to St. Jago di Loretto, St. 
 Nicola di Bari, &c. 
 
 I took a trip to Lake Agnano, which was 
 beautiful beyond expression. There were many 
 people on the banks, trying to get a shot at the 
 wild deer swimming about in the clear water, 
 which had no appearance of fog, or noxious 
 vapour ; but the peasant who lives at the tem- 
 ple assured me it was very unhealthy in summer ; 
 and his looks were a guarantee for his words. 
 
COURTS OF PARIS, NAPLES, &C. 177 
 
 I saw some very pretty kingfishers skimming 
 across. After admiring all the charming effects 
 of h"ght and shade on the land and water, and 
 taking a minute sketch of tlie temple, I went 
 back to Baia, and up a narrow path over the 
 hills, and came down to Lake Furaco, where the 
 king was in a boat, shooting wild-fowl. 
 
 The other day the king met an old woman 
 near Caserta, of whom he bought a turkey. 
 She, not knowing the blackguard-looking fellow 
 she was with to be the sovereign, accompanied 
 him towards the palace with his purchase. As 
 soon as he appeared there, the drums beat, and 
 the guardsturnedout; upon which, the old woman, 
 who knew the signal, pulled him back, and told 
 him to get out of the wa}^, for that " lou pazz'o" 
 was coming, who would run over them ; and 
 that " lou rey pazzo" made nothing of trampling 
 people under his horses' feet ; that he was 
 constantly running about instead of minding his 
 business, and so everything went al diavolo. 
 " There is no justice," added she, " no law ; and 
 all things are extremely dear." The king then 
 conducted her in, and you may suppose that 
 she was frightened out of her wits when she 
 found out who it was, by his reception at the 
 gate. His majesty, who was extremely diverted 
 
 VOL. I. N 
 
178 LETTERS FROM THE 
 
 at her terror, made her repeat it all to the queen, 
 who gave her some money.* 
 
 He never gives anything himself, but gets every- 
 thing to be given by the queen. One day, how- 
 ever, he gave his eldest daughter an ounce, and 
 the chihl seemed so delighted, and hugged him so 
 much for it, that the queen could not help taking 
 notice of it, and asking the princess why she 
 showed such extravagant joy for one piece, when 
 she had had so many from her upon fifty 
 occasions. " Oh, mama," said the girl, " but 
 this is the first I ever was able to get out of 
 papa !" The king Mas quite affected and abso- 
 lutely cast down for some time, by this reproach. 
 
 It is said he sent the Marquis Pignatelli with 
 a thousand ounces to the Duchess of Lucciano, 
 and that Pignatelli kept five hundred for himself, 
 which afterwards came to the king's knowledge, 
 but he never showed any resentment. 
 
 Don Ferdinando di Leon, who is a magistrate, 
 fell in love with the Marchesa di Santo Marco, 
 and lent her a sum out of the Pieta, to pay off 
 her husband's debts, notwithstanding which piece 
 of generosity she always disliked him. 
 
 Donna Teresina del Sangro is a merry, agree- 
 able woman, but a sad thief. She has played all 
 
 * Lou Pazzo (the madcap) was the nickname given to 
 Ferdinand by the Lazzaroni. 
 
COURTS OF PARIS, NAPLES, &C. 179 
 
 sorts of tricks, pawned other people's effects, &c. 
 She is much in favour, so much that the king 
 ensured her a pension for thirty years, that she 
 might be enabled to borrow money upon it. 
 
 Our friend, Prince Francavilla, was the cher 
 ami of the late Queen Amalia. His rise was very 
 sudden ; from being a neglected youth, taken no 
 notice of, nor likely to be connected at court, he 
 became maggiordomo to that queen. He was 
 very handsome. 
 
 When any joyful event happens in the royal 
 family, it is customary to grant an indulto ; — the 
 most unjust thing ever heard of in any country. 
 The king orders all debtors for money due to 
 particuliers (individuals) to be set at liberty, but 
 those confined for sums due to the king's account 
 are detained ; so that a fellow who is shut up for 
 not paying debts owing to his neighbour is 
 released, whilst he who is in debt to the king, 
 because that man's failure has rendered him 
 unable to discharge the taxes imposed upon him, 
 shall be detained to rot in prison. No creditor 
 can arrest anybody until the expiration of six 
 months. 
 
 The cure of La Madonna di Fiorentini is a 
 great rogue. He pretends he has a miraculous 
 Madonna ; and lately a tradesman's wife, having 
 two children ill of the small-pox, made an 
 
 N 2 
 
180 LETTERS FROM THE 
 
 ex voto to this Madonna, of her last gown. The 
 two children died, and in a furious passion she 
 attacked the cure. The affair seeming likely to 
 entail disagreeable consequences, he managed to 
 have the gowns restored, by means of a bucket 
 drawn from a well. The woman was much sur- 
 prised, and the cure was called in to explain the 
 miracle. He persuaded her she had received 
 the greatest favour by the children being taken 
 out of the world, as otherwise tliey were both 
 destined to come to the gallows. 
 
 Giannone wrote his Storia d'ltalia with an eye 
 to the papal and other ecclesiastical vexations, 
 and it has been thought to have contributed to 
 deliver his nation from its slavish veneration and 
 terror for all papal measures. Abbe Galiani has 
 made thereupon the following ingenious com- 
 parison, which I translate: — "Did you never 
 see a smoke-jack, with a little man in red work- 
 ing away, and seemingly turning the wheel, and 
 setting the whole machine in motion ? Those 
 that are acquainted with the mechanism of the 
 piece know that, on the contrar3^, he is carried 
 away by the force of the general motion. 
 Just so when you see an author, or a minister, 
 seemingly in a great spluttering, and acting 
 or writing with virulence and energy, be as- 
 sured it is not he that stimulates his country ; 
 it is the general tendency of the humours set in 
 
COURTS OF PARIS, NAPLES, &C. 181 
 
 inotion, that sets him at work, and gives him the 
 ideas of his subject." 
 
 Victor Amadeus was base and mean enough to 
 have Giannone seized and confined for life, as an 
 enemy to the Pope. 
 
 Nov. Uth. 
 
 This day there is a promotion of the knights 
 of Saint Januarius.* It is plain that Casamanico 
 and Butera are in high favour, from the number 
 of their relations and friends included in the list. 
 
 The old families of Naples, great barons from 
 time immemorial, are. Aqua Viva, Dukes of Atri, 
 now Counts of Conversano, San Severino, Lords 
 of Ringone, Rufo, Prince of Siglio, and Canteleno, 
 Toro, Sango, Colonna, and Orsini, from Rome. 
 From the Seggias of Naples come the Caraffas, 
 Capiccis, Caraccioli, Pignatelli, Spinetti, &c. 
 The papal families are Ludovici, Piccolomini, 
 Gaetani ; the Genevese, Doria, Spinola, Gri- 
 maldi, and Cataneo, Prince of Miandro. 
 
 The Seggias were originally places where 
 the nobility assembled to settle their quota of 
 taxes, &c. When the parliaments were abolished, 
 and the Seggias became considerable, the great 
 barons of the kingdom were obliged to get them- 
 selves inscribed in their lists. 
 
 * Ordine di San Gennaro. This order was established, in 
 1738, by King Charles, upon his marriage with the Princess 
 Amalia, daughter of Augustus III. of Poland. 
 
182 LETTERS FROM THE 
 
 Yesterday Galiani and Jerningham dined with 
 us, and we then saw a corso of barbs, and another 
 of mares, both won by English horses. After that 
 we went to a ball at Posilipo, where the queen 
 overloaded us with kindness ; the talked to us half 
 the time of the ball, and said she had such a 
 sincere regard for Mrs. S. that, if circumstances 
 would allow, she should have looked upon it as 
 the greatest happiness of her life to have made 
 her her constant companion ; and ended by 
 assuring us she was fond, very fond of us all. 
 The king also was very good-natured. 
 
 The Cavalier Gatti has had, for inoculating 
 the royal family, a diamond ring, with the cipher 
 of the two princesses, the portrait of the prince 
 on a box, and a pension of six hundred ducats 
 for life. He never prepares for inoculation. 
 
 Sir William and Lady Hamilton are just 
 arrived at Naples, where he is come as am- 
 bassador. They are very civil and agreeable. 
 We met them at dinner at Prince Francavilla's ; 
 also Lady Betty and Mr. Mackenzie, and Mr. 
 Dutens.* We had there a young ass served up 
 for dinner and eaten. It is like bad venison. 
 
 * Louis Dutens, a French literary man, much in vogue in 
 those days, especially with the English. He is the author 
 of the Correspondence interceptce, IJHistoirc ahregie de 
 V Europe^ &c. He accompanied I^ord Mountstuart, Bri- 
 tish envoy to the court of Turin, as private secretary. 
 
COURTS OF PARIS, NAPLES, &c. 183 
 
 Palermo, December 25. 
 
 I believe the date of this letter will surprise 
 you, as, from what I have written before, you had 
 reason to think my scheme of visiting Sicily was 
 laid aside. It was a sudden determination 
 brought me hither. My wife's health not per- 
 mitting her to move to Rome as soon as we had 
 intended, and it being resolved, in a council of 
 very partial counsellors, that it was much better 
 to spend the carnival at Naples, I then, having 
 much time upon my hands, resolved to pay a 
 visit to this celebrated island. 
 
 I now sit down to write out of charity for two 
 persons : — first, for you, whom I suppose im- 
 mersed in Northumberland snow, huddled over 
 your solitary fire, and half asleep over some 
 musty book that you could never hope to get 
 through except in such circumstances ; and, 
 secondly, for myself, who am waiting here till 
 the rain ceases a little, that I may set out on my 
 land tour, for which I have been ready some 
 days, and am only detained in the hope of a few 
 dry hours. 
 
 This, you know, is not the pleasantest of all 
 possible situations, and therefore a little bab- 
 bling with one's friends is a relief. However, I 
 
184 lettp:rs from the 
 
 have made the most of the bad weather, having 
 been studying very hard many learned folios, 
 relating to the antiquities and natural history of 
 Sicily ; so that I am somewhat better stocked 
 with learning than I was when I landed. 
 
 I sailed from Naples in a French sloop, and, 
 without meeting with any accident, or seeing 
 anything remarkable during the passage, arrived 
 here in exactly thrice four-and-twenty hours. 
 We had calms, contrary winds, and dirty 
 weather, otherwise the passage is commonly run 
 in six-and-thirty hours, or two days. The ap- 
 pearance of Palermo is very agreeable from the 
 sea, as the capes advance, so as to form a very 
 large and almost perfect half moon. Its present 
 port is artificial, being rendered secure by a mole 
 running out above a mile. The old harbour is 
 only for fishing-boats. The plain extends to the 
 foot of high mountains, which are tolerably green. 
 To say it is a garden of orange groves, full of 
 villas, is the best method I can take to give you 
 an idea of it. Even at this time of the year it is 
 beautiful ; but the soil is so rocky that it is dis- 
 agreeable to go out of town in a carriage. 
 
 Palermo is a small town ; its form is almost 
 square, divided into four parts by two straight 
 streets that cross each other at right angles, in 
 the centre, being terminated by four gates, where 
 
COURTS OF PARIS, NAPLES, &c. 185 
 
 they join in a kind of octagon, square, adorned 
 with statues of the seasons, and of some, Spanish 
 kings. These streets, though not well paved, are 
 yet bearable ; whereas the rest are as bad as the 
 pavement of Chastelheraut, which you cannot 
 but remember. The buildings in these two are 
 handsome, and pretty regular ; but, except the 
 palazzi and the convents, the rest of the town is 
 horribly built. There are statues of kings and 
 saints without number ; indeed, marble is in 
 plenty, but I cannot say good statuaries are so 
 easily come at. 
 
 The Domo is a large gothic edifice, different 
 from the style of our English cathedrals, but, 
 though barbarous, not deficient in grandeur and 
 merit. I have found some antiquities of the 
 Saracens, particularly interesting to me after my 
 Spanish studies ; and have also had some success 
 in my chasse aux medailles, having had a box 
 full of silver and brass ones given me by the 
 archbishop, who is particularly civil to me. I 
 brought a letter to him from Abbe Galiani ; also 
 one to Prince Torremuza, a civil, learned man, 
 who took me to the Museum. Prato Amenos' 
 daughter sent, two days after my arrival, to oflTer 
 me her coach, and the Duke of Castellana called 
 on me. I have seen Butera's sister and brother- 
 in-law. 
 
186 LETTERS FROM THE 
 
 The viceroy (Prince of Stigliano) is a block- 
 head, very stingy, and fait mal les honneurs desa 
 place. The people regret their old master 
 Fogliani, whom they drove out ; for he used to 
 scatter his money amongst them, and hundreds 
 of idle hands that lived upon his charities have 
 since found the difference between him and his 
 successor. 
 
 I went to the Ricevimento for the son's mar- 
 riage, but never saw anything so stupid. The 
 Princess of Stigliano told me I was welcome to 
 come on common nights, when she did not re- 
 ceive all the town. That was the utmost extent 
 of her civility, though she mentioned my being 
 recommended by her husband's friend Losada. 
 
 I never beheld such an ugly race as the 
 Palermitan ladies — quite monsters. The only 
 tolerably pretty woman is the young princess of 
 Villafranca. 
 
 The country about Palermo is charming, and 
 so full of orange trees that it appears summer 
 whenever the rain allows one to put one's head 
 out of doors. I have got a good snug room 
 where I pass most of my time, except an hour 
 or two at the archbishop's. 
 
 I went to a soiree at the Prince of Patagonia's 
 country-house, where was assembled a collec- 
 tion of frightful women, being the principal belles 
 
COURTS OF PARIS, NAPLES, &C. 187 
 
 of Palermo. I am sorry I left Brydone's book 
 at Naples by mistake, for it would have amused 
 me on the road, and I should be glad to see 
 how far he deserves the reputation of lying that 
 most travellers have bestowed on his work. 
 However, he is certainly right in what he says of 
 the scarcity of female beauty in this part of the 
 world. I have Baron Reidesel's voyage with 
 me; it is incorrect and credulous. His Puglia 
 journey gave me a disgust, from the continual 
 blunders he makes ; but I am afraid his Sicilian 
 one will prove worse. 
 
 I have been to the top of Monte Pellegrino, 
 the ancient Ereta, where Hamilcar Barcas, father 
 to Hannibal, remained five years with his army, 
 during the first Punic war, in spite of all the 
 efforts of the Romans to drive him away, as he 
 was master of the seas. Santa Rosalia is placed 
 there now, and there is a fine road cut up the 
 steep rock. 
 
 Among the villas in this neighbourhood are 
 some very showy ones, some in a modern taste ; 
 one at the Bagaria, belonging to a Monsignore, 
 is a very pretty elegant house, far beyond any of 
 the gingerbread stucco things in Italy. Inlaid 
 work is done here in perfection, but they only 
 work when ordered, so I cannot purchase any. 
 The silks here are not good. I have hired a 
 
188 LETTERS FROM THE 
 
 muleteer, who conveyed Madame de Tesse round 
 the island, and a very civil intelligent fellow for 
 a guard. His accoutrement is very magnificent, 
 a la hoiissarde, with a velvet cap laced with 
 silver. I have also provided myself with a good 
 travelling cap, that covers ears and shoulders. 
 
 I propose going to Segesta, (or J^gesta, 
 founded by ^Eneas,) but I dare not think on the 
 confounded long route I have to go. I am ready, 
 but the weather is not. I have attempted some 
 excursions in the neighbourhood, and have as 
 often been completely soaked through. How- 
 ever, I am in hopes, as it has become very cold, 
 and the mountains behind us are covered with 
 snow, that I shall get away to-morrow or the 
 next day. 
 
 To tell you the truth, I wish I were fairly 
 back at Naples. Qu'ai-jedfaire dans cettegalere 1 
 But as that kind of fretting after one's dieux 
 penates cSiU do nobody any good, and may dome 
 harm, I shall not dwell upon the idea. 
 
 Naples, February 22, 1778. 
 
 You have, no doubt, long ago received my 
 letter from Palermo, which, I think, was written 
 
COURIS OF PARIS, NAPLES, 8cc. 189 
 
 in the last week of December. Since that, I have 
 accomplished the tour of Sicily, and returned 
 on horseback through the whole length of 
 Calabria, arriving here on the 13th of February ; 
 exactly two montlis from the day I left Naples. 
 The journey might have been made much 
 shorter, had I not been delayed by rivers, and 
 want of resolution in quitting Messina. Not 
 that the charms of that place detained me, but 
 the impossibility to come home by land, and 
 the want of a ship to bring me by sea. 
 
 Luckily I overcame ray own backwardness, 
 and all the sinister ideas put into my head about 
 roads and robbers, and have had reason to re- 
 joice at my courage, for the journey amply re- 
 paid my trouble. I met with no accident of 
 any kind, performed the route in eight days, and 
 had the finest weather through the finest country ; 
 besides which, the season has been so boisterous 
 that my things are not yet come by sea from 
 Sicily. 
 
 I know you expect an account of my tour, but 
 I cannot undertake to give it en detail^ and will 
 refer you to future letters and to my journal for 
 minuter information. I can only now afford 
 you a very slight sketch. You must not be in 
 expectation of anything romantic, a la Don 
 
100 LETTERS FROM THE 
 
 Quixote or Gil Bias ; for I am ashamed to say 
 neither accident nor adventure befel me during 
 the whole of my absence ; so, if I wish to excite 
 your wonder, I must make up a pack of lies and 
 nonsensical froth, like Brydone. 
 
 To the good archbishop's paternal care I owe 
 the comfort of having; had excellent beds and ac- 
 commodation every night I passed in Sicily. 
 M}' muleteers were attentive and civil, and their 
 beasts good, but they were rather too fond of 
 short days' journey ; indeed, often the unlucky 
 position of the towns and villages obliged us to 
 halt many miles short of the distance we might 
 have accomplished, there being very few single 
 houses in most parts of the island. 
 
 From Palermo we followed the coast west 
 and south to Alcano, which is some miles 
 from the sea, among the hills. The country 
 is rich, but horrid for travellers such as I was, 
 after rain. Plantations of manna, a kind of flow- 
 ering ash, may be seen in all shrubberies. It is 
 the most particular object on the coast, and 
 the principal place, for it is Favarotta. 
 
 At Alcano there is a great deal of sumach, 
 which is pounded and exported for the pur- 
 poses of tanning fine hides. I proceeded due 
 south towards the African sea, and visited 
 
COURTS OF PARIS, NAPLES, &C. 191 
 
 the temple of Segesta, one of the finest and most 
 entire of the Doric order existing*. I will show 
 you the designs of it when we meet. 
 
 At Castel Vetrano, a place where I drank some 
 of the strongest and best white wines that I ever 
 tasted in my life, I was glad to get out of the 
 deep clays and bare hilly country which consti- 
 tute the general run of the inland parts of Sicily. 
 The rocks are composed of a shining substance, 
 from which the plaster or gypsum is extracted, 
 and these micacious quarries continue far along 
 the coast eastward. The vale of Castel Vetrano 
 is a charming spot; all a woody rich garden, of 
 many miles extent, with a narrow border of 
 sandy hillocks along the shore. Here are the 
 ruins of Silenus, a city which stood on the slope 
 of a hill, with a port at the mouth of a trifling 
 river, and is said to have received its name 
 from the quantity of parsley (selinon) that grew 
 there. Little or nothing of it remains. On the 
 hill above are the remnants of three Doric 
 temples, standing on a flat like those of Psestum. 
 I rode for several days eastward along the 
 coast, which is uneven and bare, except the 
 valleys near the sides of rivers. At Sciacca the 
 hot sulphureous waters, which gave it the name 
 of Thermae Selinuntise, still retain their force. Not 
 many miles off", on the top of a rocky mountain, 
 
192 LETTERS FROM THE 
 
 are hot sulphureous vapour and other baths, in 
 caverns under a church, — a thing I do not re- 
 collect ever meeting with elsewhere, as such 
 phenomena in nature are generally placed low. 
 It demonstrates the vicinity of the focus to every 
 part of Sicily, though apparently Etna is the 
 only volcano in the island. 
 
 At Girgenti, (a shocking poor town on the 
 point of a high mountain four miles from the 
 sea,) I was struck with the beauties of ancient 
 Agrigentum ; its situation was as happy as that 
 of Girgenti is wretched. Its temples stand in 
 a line on a hill, where the abrupt rocks formed 
 a rampart to the south. The ground is covered 
 with orange, olive, and other charming woods. 
 The Temple of Concord and others are almost en- 
 tire ; that of Jupiter Olympus was the largest in 
 the world, but never finished. The great pond, 
 though dried up, can still be traced. The Recol- 
 lets have a convent in the centre of the old town, 
 and there is a beautiful view from their terrace. 
 
 This is one of the greatest corn ports in 
 the island ; and for the purpose of exportation 
 they have made a harbour where nature never 
 meant one. It does not succeed very well, but is 
 a help and advantage to the place and coast. 
 There is no other on the Southern shore, (Cape 
 Trapani belongs to the western,) and the foreign 
 
COURTS OF PARIS, NAPLES. &C. 193 
 
 ships lie in the roads to load by means of barges. 
 There are no Sicilian vessels of large tonnage. 
 The liberty of exportation, though partially 
 granted, and often unjustly withheld, has thrown 
 a deluge of wealth of late years into the island, 
 and they have ploughed out vast tracts of land, 
 in consequence of the great price corn bears. 
 The Sicilians assured me their island could nei- 
 ther produce more corn, nor more inhabitants 
 than it does ; but to one who was a witness of their 
 slight mode of cultivation, and who has read 
 that Syracuse alone contained as many inhabi- 
 tants as all Sicily can boast of at present, such 
 assertions can meet with very little credit.* 
 
 I went to Alicata, then on the sands to Terra 
 Nova, where one column of a temple remains. 
 Here I first beheld Mount Etna, covered with 
 snow. About Pietra Persia are high mountains 
 which shut out great parts of Sicily from its 
 view. 
 
 Here I altered my course, and struck into the 
 heart of the island, toCalatagirone, through a rich 
 and pleasant country, the almond trees all in 
 blossom, and the sun so hot as to be troublesome. 
 
 * The circumference of Syracuse, according to Strabo, 
 was twenty-two English miles. During the reign ofDiony- 
 sius the Elder, it maintained an army of 100,000 infantry, 
 10,000 cavalry, and 400 ships of war. 
 
 VOL. I. O 
 
194 LITTERS FROM THE 
 
 You may guess my surprise to find Calatagirone, 
 a place full of gentry and coaches, which no 
 doubt must have dropped from the skies, for they 
 cannot have got up the mountain it stands 
 upon, in the usual way. 
 
 The town is large, towering on the pinnacle 
 of a high mountain, over many finely cultivated 
 hills, clad with vineyards and orchards. A large 
 plain stretches for thirty miles to the foot of 
 Etna, which here appears in full glory, a most 
 stupendous cone indeed ! The snow covers 
 about one fourth of its height, then comes a dark 
 brown region, lower down a number of white 
 villages, and at the foot stands Catania. 
 
 I met at Calatag-irone a vast number of well- 
 dressed, elegant young people, had a most agree- 
 able supper served up by a French cook, and a 
 very sprightly bon ton conversation, quite upon 
 a different style from the awkward manner of 
 Palermo, I own I was as much astonished as if I 
 had found it in some remote part of Barbary. 
 Yet this place has no commerce of any kind. It 
 certainly is remarkable for the elegance of man- 
 ners and politeness of its inhabitants, and I am 
 told tliere are also other inland towns full of bet- 
 ter-bred people than those on the coast. 
 
 I travelled on an immense plain of thirty- 
 four miles breadth, to Lentini, which affords 
 nothing curious but its lake, full of trout. 
 
COURTS OF PARIS, NAPLES, &C. 195 
 
 of the eggs of which is made a caviar, 
 called butarga, that is very good.* This place 
 has the worst malaria of all Sicily, being a long- 
 chain of marshy ponds to the sea, abounding 
 with water-fowl. As we travelled along them, the 
 report of the fowling-pieces was so frequent, as to 
 resemble the noise of a regiment exercising. 
 
 I next steered south, over a stony country, 
 to Syracuse, where I revelled four days in the 
 bishop's palace, tasting such varieties of exqui- 
 site wines as I had no idea of before. The 
 weather was heavenly, and my stay there was 
 the most agreeable part of my tour. The cli- 
 mate is so mild, that on the 14th of January I 
 plucked off the tree and ate a handful of fresh 
 tender almonds. Roses, honeysuckles, and car- 
 nations, in several gardens, were in bloom. The 
 situation is matchless ; I mean that of the whole 
 ancient city, tor the present one is very small ; 
 but even that is in a pleasing position. The 
 fortifications that defend the land-gate are strong 
 and in good repair ; but to the sea the place is 
 weak enough, and the entrance to the port nar- 
 row. 
 
 I spent a whole day in riding and w^alking 
 
 * The Greeks of the islands make this butarga, which is 
 sold in cakes, of the roe of the mullet. 
 
 o 2 
 
196 LETTERS FROM THE 
 
 round the walls of the ancient city, which are of 
 some height above the ground. Strabo's account 
 must be just, of their being twenty-two miles 
 round. This immense city commanded the 
 most magnificent view imaginable. Little ves- 
 tige of buildings remains in this vast enclosure, 
 except part of the theatre. The Latomise, or 
 subterraneous prisons, are curious. That called 
 the Ear of Dionysius is a large quarry, wrought 
 in a circular form, and certainly made use of as 
 a dungeon, as the ear is artificially cut, and has 
 many rings in the wall for fastening chains to, 
 for the hands and feet. At the top it is narrowed 
 and twisted in the shape of an S, till it termi- 
 nates in a groove, which is conveyed to a small 
 closet high up over the entrance, where the lis- 
 teners sat. From the breaches in it, the hearing 
 there is now very imperfect, as those tell me 
 who have been let down by ropes from the top. 
 The echo in the cave is wonderful ; the tearing of 
 a sheet of paper is like the cracking of a whip : 
 the walls are smooth, cut so as to make it im- 
 possible to escape, for the top projects very much 
 over the bottom. 
 
 In the middle of a part of the rock was the guard- 
 house, and all around the summit of the rocks 
 runs the water of an aqueduct. The Latomise, 
 at the capuchin convent, nearer the sea, are very 
 
COURTS OF PARIS, NAPLES, &C. 197 
 
 extensive, and divided into several courts, now 
 filled with a wilderness of orange and lemon 
 trees, olives and almonds, which, from luxuriancy 
 of growth, have taken root in the clefts of the 
 rocks. 
 
 The catacombs are lower down, and reckoned 
 more wonderful than those of Rome or Naples. 
 In many of the mouths of the skeletons were 
 found medals. The marks of the wheels worn 
 in the rock trace out the streets of the town. 
 
 I went seven miles through a low marshy 
 meadow, upon the winding deep water of the 
 Anapus, up to the fountain of Cyane, now called 
 La Pisma. It is a circular pool of clear water 
 in a flat meadow, where the spring rises. I could 
 not see it boil, or in any violent motion, yet it 
 runs down with great velocity, is full of fish, 
 and its banks are covered with the Egyptian 
 papyrus. I believe this is the only place in 
 Europe where it is to be found. It is called La 
 Perucca, from the mop form of its head. So 
 much for sweet Syracuse ! 
 
 The next night I passed at Augusta, a town 
 on an isthmus in a beautiful bay. Then came 
 to Catania, the finest city in Sicily. It build- 
 ings are grand and its streets wide, and the 
 disposition of them peculiarly handsome. It is 
 built upon black lava, vomited out of two hills 
 
198 LETTERS FROM THE 
 
 near the foot of Etna in 1669, which is quite 
 different from that of Vesuvius. It is impene- 
 trable, and unproductive of the least dust that 
 might give hopes of a disposition to vegetation. 
 Tiie Prince of Biscari, to whom I brought a 
 letter, has made gardens and walks upon it, but 
 every tree is planted in earth brought from other 
 places. His museum contains many precious 
 articles. His cabinet of cameos and intaglios is 
 a rich one, and his cretas and vases are curious. 
 T spent some days with him very agreeably. 
 There is a very fine convent of Benedictines at 
 Catania. 
 
 The snow la}' too low on Etna to tempt me to 
 climb to its summit ; but I dined in the tree of 
 the Centi Cavalli, which is the most curious, 
 but not the most striking, of the trees thereabouts, 
 for it is not easy at first sight to believe it ever 
 to have been one trunk, though I saw it was so, 
 upon examination. There are some chesnut 
 trees, as yet undivided, of astonishing width ; I 
 measured one seventy-eight feet round — about 
 the size of the dining-room at Capheaton. The 
 wonderful size of Etna makes one think with 
 contempt of the Neapolitan Vesuvius. 
 
 At Taormina, the situation of the theatre 
 upon a lofty narrow promontory running into 
 the sea, and atlbrding a full view of Etna on 
 
COURTS OF PARIS, NAPLES, &C. 199 
 
 one side, and Italy and the harbour of Messina 
 on the other, occupied my attention very agree- 
 ably. The ride to Messina is pleasant along the 
 shore, under woody hills, with many pretty towns 
 on the tops of them. The Palazzata, or semicir- 
 cular range of regular houses, that runs along 
 the port of Messina, is, undoubtedly, the 
 grandest thing of the kind I ever saw ; adding 
 thereto the noble haven, the very fine citadel, 
 and the opposite mountains of Calabria, which 
 do not appear at the distance of a stone's throw. 
 
 The town has two fine streets, and a large ca- 
 thedral remarkable for its ancient columns and 
 the richness of its marbles. The hills behind 
 are handsome, but there are no rides amongst 
 them, nor any other walk at Messina than along 
 the beach. That near the port is a very fine one : 
 many of the buildings are in ruins, others un- 
 finished. 
 
 There is the greatest appearance of depopu- 
 lation everywhere since- the plague, and the 
 ruin of the trade. The harbour is so deep, that 
 ships can only lie close along the qua3^ 
 
 Having waited there six days to no purpose, in 
 hopes of prevailing on a Provencal vessel to carry 
 me to Naples, and the wind being quite fallen, I 
 left my baggage, arms, and almost everything be- 
 
200 LETTERS FROM THE 
 
 hind, and hired a boat with six oars to take me 
 as far towards Naples as it could. 
 
 The tide, which sets very strong into the Faro 
 at stated times, obhged us to He-to all the evening, 
 just without Cape Peloso ; and in the night we 
 sailed and rowed about fifty miles, having a fine 
 moon, and the coast at about ten miles from us 
 on our right, and the Lipari Island about sixt}' 
 on our left. 
 
 Next morning we made the south part of the 
 Gulf of St. Eufemia, and were in hopes of 
 reaching the Cape of Cetraro, but the wind 
 obliged us to put into Tropea, a small bishop's 
 see on a rock projecting into the Gulf. I there 
 hired horses to take me and my two servants to 
 Cosenza. We had delightful weather, and a 
 very pleasant ride to Monteleone, a consider- 
 able town, charmingly situated, where I lodged 
 at a convent, and sauntered about while supper 
 was preparing. It commands a beautiful view 
 of the sea : the olive woods are thick and full- 
 leaved on the slopes of the hills, and the corn- 
 fields intersected by roads of fine green sward, 
 upon which I saw several carriages out on airing, 
 and priests without number enjoying the evening- 
 sun. 
 
 Next day I passed by some rich villages with 
 
COURTS OF PARIS, NAPLES, &C. 201 
 
 great beauty of cultivation about them, passed a 
 large river, and came to sleep at the foot of the 
 mountains at Nicastro. The town is in a valley, 
 with fine woods and lofty mountains ; a very 
 romantic situation. On the following morning 
 we ascended the mountains, and travelled up and 
 down them, in forests of chesnut and oak, of pro- 
 digious bulk and age ; there are immense 
 quantities of fine timber. 
 
 Cosenza is an ugly poor city, built in a narrow 
 pass where two rivers meet, and in winter is 
 seldom without clouds and rain. In summer the 
 air is noxious. The river Crato runs to the east, 
 through an immense plain into the sea, near the 
 ancient Sibaris.* 
 
 I continued my road over the hills to Morano, 
 through a very mountainous country, where the 
 finest views, most noble timber, richest valleys, 
 and pleasantly seated towns, occur in great variety, 
 with beautiful rivers and torrents. I saw from 
 one mountain the seas on either side, and boats 
 upon them. Then to Lago Nero, a large town 
 worse than the wild villages you have passed in 
 the Alps. I rode through the charming plain of 
 Diano : villages line the spurs of the hills on 
 
 * This city was at one time so powerful that it sent 
 300,000 men into the field. The subsequent effeminacy of 
 its inhabitants gave rise to the appellation of a " Sybarite." 
 
202 LETTERS FROM THE 
 
 both sides, for the malaria prevents the lowlands 
 being inhabited. It is a delightful tract of 
 country. At the end of it we came to our inn 
 at La Polla. The river Negro, which runs down 
 the plain, goes underground for above a mile, 
 and bursts out with vast impetuosity at the head 
 of another vale, where it winds its course to the 
 plains of Eboli, waters the royal gardens at Per- 
 sano, and falls into the sea a few miles north of 
 Pesto. 
 
 The views during this day's ride were en- 
 chanting. At " La Duchesse," a royal hunting- 
 box, we came to a good road, and, descending 
 through the king's forest, crossed the bridge of 
 Eboli, and came to the fine" road made by the 
 king of Spain. I took a coach and post-horses, 
 and late that night reached Naples, to my great 
 comfort ; — most happy to get back aii sein de ma 
 famille, and to find all well. 
 
 Considering that we are in the height of car- 
 nival, and that the king and queen are parading 
 the streets in a most superb masquerade, repre- 
 senting the return of the Grand Signer from 
 Mecca, I think you owe me some thanks for 
 having the courage and friendship to retire from 
 all this gaiety, to write you such a voluminous 
 letter. 
 
 This cavalcade is the finest exhibition, perhaps. 
 
COURTS OF PARIS, NAPLES, &C. 203 
 
 ever seen : the dresses, trappings, arms, &c., are 
 de la derniere magnijicence, not excepting a car 
 for the ladies, perfectly in costume. Twenty- 
 four Janissaries go first ; then the king as Aga to 
 twenty-four spahis or horsemen. Then the divan, 
 with four ambassadors from China, Siam, Persia, 
 and Hindostan. The car of Sultanas, of which the 
 queen is one, drawn by eight horses, musicians, 
 vases as presents, perfumes, horses, camels, &c. 
 This is all performed by the noblesse about 
 court, and the king's guards. 
 
 As it has been raining sadly during the car- 
 nival, the king was very much afraid of this 
 brilliant spectacle being frustrated by the wea- 
 ther; therefore he had five hundred masses said, 
 for obtaining fine weather for that one day. It 
 did not rain, and he has been going about telling 
 evei'y body how he prevented it. The masked 
 balls here are extremely splendid this year ; I 
 w-as at one last night with Sir Thomas, who was 
 disguised 6/1 ye?ymie de chamhre, to the great di- 
 version of the king, who took him under his arm, 
 and paraded him about the galleries, ready to 
 die with laughing. Adieu ; this letter is already 
 too long. 
 
,204 LETTERS FROM THE 
 
 Naples, March 25, 1778. 
 
 By a mistake of the banker's, your letter of 
 the 10th of January was sent to Messina, and 
 delayed so long that it only returned to Naples 
 yesterday. I do not think any more of going to 
 England this year, on account of the great trou- 
 ble and expense it would put me to, and because 
 the only affair of consequence that might call 
 me home is the division of the common, which I 
 find from your letter can be transacted just as 
 well in my absence. 
 
 I sent you an account of my Sicilian trip in a 
 long letter some time ago, which I trust you 
 received. Naples is very gay, the balls at court 
 more numerous and brilliant than last year, and 
 the play deeper. 
 
 We have many English here ; the prettiest is 
 Lady Smith, daughter of Tom Delaval.* Lady 
 Maynard is also here, and we have had the devil 
 to pay about her. Lord Maynard has left no 
 stone unturned to get her presented, but in vain; 
 and poor Lady Hamilton has had a great deal of 
 trouble about refusing it. The king has put an 
 absolute negative upon the proposal, and all 
 seems quiet again, though I cannot answer for 
 this cabal permitting the Hamiltons to be long at 
 peace. 
 
 * Lady Smith was the Miss Parsons before alhidcd to. 
 
COURTS OF PARIS, NAPLES, &C. 205 
 
 Sir William and Lady Hamilton are very 
 civil to us, and we live on the most intimate 
 terms with them. We have had a ball at Prince 
 Cariati's, on the occasion of his son's (the Duke 
 of Serainera's) marriage with Donna Margarita 
 Brancaforte. A most noble room was built on 
 purpose ; the French ambassador made one in a 
 rich quadrille of Spaniards. 
 
 Some days ago the king and queen went to 
 Astroni, and we, as well as all the English, were 
 there to see tlie wild boars hunted. The weather 
 was delightful and the locale charming ; the royal 
 pair gracious land affable beyond measure ; but 
 the sport was sad — a mere butchery of hogs. 
 
 The queen and the company were within a 
 palisade, on a rising ground, under some fine 
 oaks. 
 
 The king and several of his courtiers were 
 stationed on horseback, in the plain in front, with 
 large spears in their hands. A body of hunters 
 drove all the game from the hanging woods 
 which line the sides of the immense crater, to the 
 spot where the king was placed ; and this was the 
 best part of the sport, for it was a cheerful scene 
 to see such crowds beat the thicket, and to hear 
 their continued firing, shouting, and hallooing. 
 The boars ran down into the open grounds, and 
 there large hounds were let loose to stop them. 
 
206 LETTERS FROM THE 
 
 in order that the horsemen might come up 
 and spear them ; but as the dogs were too large 
 and too numerous for these tame animals, the 
 poor beasts generally tumbled about sprawliug, 
 for the royal hero to drive his spear into them 
 at his leisure. 
 
 The queen was very chatty, made the ladies 
 sit on fagots near her, and was very attentive to 
 the company. The king ordered a wild boar to be 
 sent to each of the English ladies present. The 
 queen then walked from Astroni to the lake 
 of Agnano, where she sat until dark, con- 
 versing with some foreigners and two or three of 
 her court. Lady Maynard was present at the 
 day's diversion, and with her companions formed 
 a group apart. None but herself could have 
 supported such a disagreeable situation. They 
 say the queen is not unwilling to receive her, 
 but the king will not hear of it. Lord Maynard 
 asked him in the tennis-court, and was refused 
 plump. 
 
 The queen is now thicker than ever with 
 Madame Santo Marco, who patronises Lady 
 Maynard. I saw the latter at a splendid ball 
 given by Lord Tilney, where she and her 
 gang assisted, seceding from the rest of the 
 company to one corner of the room. 
 
 We have a beautiful new ballet just now at 
 
COURTS OF PARIS, NAPLES, &C. 207 
 
 St. Carlo, the " Syrosa Persiana ;" and Le Picq, 
 who is a great favourite with her majesty, 
 dances like an angel. The queen has projected 
 a grand dance, of a Chinese construction, in 
 which she and the king are to take a part. For 
 that purpose, numberless lessons are given, and 
 rehearsals set on foot ; notwithstanding which, I 
 am told this ballet will not take place ; indeed, 
 by all accounts it is a very unbecoming one for 
 sovereigns, full of genuflexions and prosterna- 
 tions. 
 
 The queen has been very kind to my chil- 
 dren, having had them to play with hers, and 
 loaded them with the most expensive toys, 
 silver cages, gilt coaches, &;c. We have taken 
 leave of her, having fixed to set out in a day or 
 two for Rome. She was extremely gracious, 
 and pressingly invited us to return ; indeed I 
 shall be very, very sorry to leave Naples ; maisil 
 faut faire une fin; and although I have no 
 mighty reasons to call me more to one place 
 than another, I cannot reconcile to my con- 
 science the staying so long from Rome, where 
 you know I have never yet been. You must 
 direct to me there at Mr. Byre's. 
 
 We made our last appearance last night at a 
 grand conversazione, given at Caserta, to cele- 
 
208 LETTERS FROM THE 
 
 brate the king's recovery from Iiis inoculation. 
 Gatti was very much fSte. 
 
 Home, May. 
 
 I am happy if ever man was, car me void 
 d Rome, V unique ohjet de mon desiVf *(not ressen- 
 thnent.) We arrived in time to behold, besides 
 all its own intrinsic merits, the ceremony of 
 holy week ; but in these last I confess I am 
 disappointed ; they fall far below my expecta- 
 tions ; there is neither decency nor magnifi- 
 cence. Sucli a noise ! such crowding and diffi- 
 culties ! I have seen finer and more imposing 
 solemnities in a French cathedral than here in 
 Rome, except indeed the pope's high mass in 
 St. Peter's on Easter-day, which is a very noble 
 exhibition. His blessing the people from the 
 windows of St. Peter's is one of the most striking 
 sights in the world, and I think the grandest. 
 
 Pius VI. does it admirably, and exhibits 
 one of the most majestic figures possible, as he 
 rises up, lifts his arms above his head, and 
 blesses the three points of the compass. The 
 
 * Quotation from Corneille's Les Horaces. 
 
COURTS OF PARTS, NAPLES, &C. 209 
 
 Miserere is performed in his chapel by fine 
 voices, without instruments. 
 
 On Thursday night, an illumined cross, let 
 down from the cupola of St. Peter's, had a very 
 grand effect. Many painters came to study and 
 take views from it, as well as of the inside of the 
 church by that light. Some I have seen are 
 singularly beautiful, from the strong contrast of 
 light and shade. 
 
 Sir Thomas and myself were presented to the 
 pope soon after our arrival. He received us at 
 the door of the apartment, as he was going out 
 to walk. Abbe Grant, who conducted us, talked 
 so much, that the pope could not get in a word. 
 His Holiness is a very handsome tall man, with 
 fair hair, half white, and a ruddy face, with 
 a turned-up nose. He speaks French, but did 
 not to us — indeed he addressed himself entirely 
 to Abbe Grant. 
 
 A few days after, Mrs. Swinburne was pre- 
 sented to him, and took the children, as he came 
 up from his devotions in the chapel of the sacra- 
 ment at St. Peter's. She made the children 
 kiss his foot. He then held it out for her to 
 kiss, and next day he sent her some very beau- 
 tiful beads and stones of oriental agate. He per- 
 forms all his ceremonies with much grace, and 
 appears to have practised and studied his actions 
 
 VOL. I. p 
 
'210 LETTERS FROM THE 
 
 before he comes out of his room. He is very 
 proud of his legs and feet, and wears his gown 
 short to show them. He sits up very late, and 
 rises early, but sleeps in the afternoon, and takes 
 a mile walk to Ponte Molle about sunset. 
 
 Abbe Grant, who generally performs the part 
 of cicerone or iutroducteur to the English, is a 
 Scotchman, and was brought up to London as 
 a rebel in the year 1745 — 6, in the same ship 
 with Lords Balmerino, Kilmarnock, &c. Whilst 
 on the voyage, a Scotch servant said to him, 
 " You will be saved ;" Grant shook his head, 
 and replied, " I fear not, friend." " You will," 
 said the other ; " but you will be the only one." 
 
 Not putting any faith in the second sight of 
 his countryman, he had no hopes, both from 
 the inveteracy of the court party, and from his 
 having no friends to intercede for him. By the 
 merest chance no proofs or witnesses appeared 
 against him, and therefore, to his great surprise, 
 he was acquitted. He then immediately set 
 out for Rome, where he has resided ever since. 
 He told me that the cruelty and violence of the 
 Duke of Cumberland's army were incredible, and 
 that a Jacobite house being set on fire, (the in- 
 habitants having been permitted to come out 
 beforehand,) one little girl, crying, said she had 
 forgotten her doll, and ran back up the stairs 
 
COURTS OF PARIS, NAPLES, &C. 211 
 
 for it, upon which a brutal soldier dashed her 
 from the window of the house after her family, 
 and she died on the spot. 
 
 The approach to St. Peter's does not quite 
 please me ; the houses facing the church are 
 so shabby. The vestibule is charming, and the 
 inside divine ; yet in some things I prefer St. 
 Paul's, The great door there has a more solemn 
 general effect ; yet the cupola roof of St. Peter's, 
 and the unity of all the parts, are quite sublime. 
 The two fountains are delightful ; they discharge 
 such a quantity of water in so agreeable a 
 manner, as to realise all my ideas taken from 
 drawings. 
 
 Upon Easter Monday we began our tour of 
 all the antiquities, churches, &c., under the di- 
 rection of Mr. Byres the antiquary, and com- 
 menced by the Campo Vaccino, which was 
 originally a marsh, where the Romans and the 
 Sabines fought. In this marsh Curtius, the 
 Sabine, was drowned, which probably gave rise 
 to the fable of his devoting himself. In the 
 north-west corner of the forum stood the temple 
 of Mars, now the church of San Martino. There 
 lay the statute of Marforio, so called from its po- 
 sition. It is now removed to the court of the 
 Capitol. Its rival Pasquin took its name from 
 a barber, a great newsmonger and encourager 
 
 p 2 
 
212 LETTERS FROM THE 
 
 of seditious wit, near whose door Marforio lay. 
 It was at that time almost the only ancient statue 
 known of above ground. The shop still re- 
 tained the name of Pasquin after his death, and 
 is, to this day, a school for a similar epigrammatic 
 literature. When Alexander VII. (Ottoboni by 
 name) succeeded Innocent X., Pasquin said 
 to Marforio, " Allegrezza ! per un Papa cattivo 
 ahbiamo otto buoni." * 
 
 The arch of Septimius Severus, in the Forum, is 
 covered with rubbish twenty feet higher than 
 the old foundation, although it was the ascent to 
 the Capitol. Next to it is a part of the rampart, 
 on which stands the portico of the Temple of 
 Concord, where Cicero convened the senate in 
 Catiline's conspiracy. It was burnt by the 
 soldiers of Vitellius, and very ill restored, for 
 the Ionic columns do not match ; they are of 
 Egyptian granite, and, like most others brought 
 to Rome, were probably ready cut for other 
 edifices. Next was the arch of Tiberius, of which 
 
 * Another of Pasquin's satii-es on Popes Pio VI. and VII. 
 is worth recording. It was written at the time when the 
 latter went to France and crowned Napoleon. 
 
 '* Romani vi diro un bel quadro — 
 
 D'un santo padre chi fu coronar un ladro. 
 
 Un Pio, per conservar la fede, lascia la sede ; 
 
 Un altro, per conservar la sede, lascia la fede ! " 
 
COURTS OF PARIS, NAPLES, &C. 213 
 
 no vestige remains. All triumphal arches 
 were built over great thoroughfares. 
 
 But I find myself getting into a description 
 of Rome, which you will not thank me for; so 1 
 will tell you of an excursion we made some days 
 ago, to dine at Frescati, with Lady Betty and 
 Mr. Mackenzie, Mr. Dutens, and Abbe Grant. 
 The hills thereabout are beautiful. Cardinal 
 York was officiating in the church when we 
 went in, and immediately sent to tell the ladies 
 they must pull off their hats, or else go out. 
 This peremptory order of the ex-prince could 
 not very easily be complied with, according to 
 the present mode of ladies' hats being fastened 
 on the cushion by long pins, &c., unless his 
 royal highness had provided a perruquier to 
 extricate them. They therefore refused to obey. 
 Many messages passed and repassed. Mrs. S. 
 sent him word that she had not heard mass, and 
 left the omission on his conscience. He is an 
 ugly, foolish -looking, long-visaged fellow, very 
 like his grandfather, full of pride, and just such 
 another obstinate bigot. 
 
 We then walked to the Aldobrandini Villa, 
 and saw the water- works ; one is very pretty, as 
 it is seen tumbling down the hill through a grove 
 of trees. Thence we went to Villa Conti, where are 
 a noble wood, shady walks, and lofty jetsd'eau. 
 
214 LETTERS FROM THE 
 
 After dinner we went through Villa Bracciano, 
 a wood and drive very like Gibride. The views 
 from these villas are extensive, but the Cam- 
 pagna is a horrid object. 
 
 Abbe Grant told us a comical story of Cardinal 
 York and Cardinal de Bernis. They were sit- 
 ting together one day, when the floor of the room 
 gave way, and partly fell in. Frightened to death, 
 and thinking themselves on the verge of eternity, 
 they both called out with a loud voice, the one, 
 " Eccellenza ! assoluzione in articulo inortis ! " 
 the other, ^^ Altezza reale ! assoluzione in arti- 
 culo mortis!" However, their fears were 
 groundless — I do not mean to pun — for the floor 
 did not fall a great way, and they met with no 
 hurt. 
 
 Two days after, we went to Tivoli with the 
 same party. The Campagna is bare, but culti- 
 vated tant bien que mal. The situation of 
 Tivoli is bold and commanding, the cascade 
 grand, and the temple of the sibyl beautifully 
 placed on the point of a rock ; but it would 
 be more conspicuous, were it not for the filthy 
 houses of the town. Its environs are wonder- 
 ful ; below is the grotto of Neptune, where the 
 Teverone rushes through the rocks from preci- 
 pice to precipice, and then glides through a 
 bridge, perhaps of its own forming. From the 
 
COURTS OF PARIS, NAPLES, &C. 215 
 
 walk on the hill-side 3'ou see at once the valley, 
 the winding river, the towns of Tivoli, Cavea- 
 tella, the arches of Msecenas's villa, and the Cam- 
 pagna of Rome ; the sea, St. Peter's cupola 
 and the Alban hill. There is not a richer view, 
 nor one more difficult to paint ; yet I have at- 
 tempted it ; I have also taken a view of Villa 
 Millina. 
 
 The ride is delicious through the gardens of 
 Villa Madama, one much neglected, and up a 
 bank of wood of arbor Judas, flowering ash, and 
 other pretty trees. Villa Millina stands on the 
 point of a hill backed by rows of cypresses, and 
 has by far the finest prospect of Rome. 
 
 There are many musicians here. Nardini, 
 who is the first violin-player in the world, comes 
 to us in the evening, and Ruffina Battoni, daugh- 
 ter of the famous portrait painter, a beautiful girl, 
 has adivine voice, and delights uswith her singing. 
 
 Her father has painted one of the rooms in 
 the palace of Monte Cavallo, which is an enor- 
 mous building in a charming situation. The 
 coff'ee-house where Benedict XIV. received the 
 King of Naples, is a vestibule with a room at 
 each end, and a balcony commanding half of 
 Rome. It contains some fine pictures. 
 
 The Coliseo is a stupendous edifice. The sta- 
 tions and clean walks which have been made in 
 
-16 LETTERS ROM THE 
 
 the inside are very picturesque additions in my 
 eyes, though I would not acknowledge it to an 
 antiquarian ; it was built by Vespasian. 
 
 Villa Albani is airy, rich, and elegant; two 
 noble alabaster vases, one at each end of the hall, 
 are valued at 2,000/. each ; and amidst a profusion 
 of statues and antiques one must notice the basso- 
 relievo of Antinous, which was found in Adrian's 
 villa — perhaps the finest in the world. The 
 owner refused 40,000 crowns for it, offered by 
 the late pope. It is over a chimney, and is an ex- 
 quisite performance. The room it occupies is the 
 richest I ever saw with mosaics and grotesques ; 
 the ceiling, representing Apollo and the Muses, is 
 by Mengs, the first Muse being done to represent 
 Madame de Prie.* 
 
 The family Albani were originally in the ser- 
 vice of the Dukes of Urbino, and the last duke, 
 having been persuaded to resign his duchy 
 during his life to the holy see, chose Albani to 
 go to Rome, to make a formal abdication for him. 
 Albani was aware of the duke's fickle temper, 
 and made no doubt that he would change his 
 mind ; which he accordingly did ; but, being won 
 by the pope, he bribed the messenger (that was 
 sent to bring him back) to return and pretend 
 
 * Mistress to the Duke de Bourbon, regent after the death 
 of the Duke of Orleans. 
 
COURTS OF PARIS, NAPLES, &C. 217 
 
 lie was already in Rome before he reached him, 
 and thus the abdication took place. But the 
 ambassador durst not go back to Urbino; and the 
 pope, whose interests he had served, made him 
 senator of Rome, and his son was afterwards 
 Pope Clement XL The present pope's functions 
 are mostly performed by Cardinal Albani. 
 
 Villa Pamphili is the finest of all the villas 
 for rural beauty ; there is one charming meadow 
 in it, surrounded with stone pines. 
 
 Rome, July 1778. 
 
 On the 28th of last month, the constable of 
 Naples, Colonna, presented the white horses, as 
 a tribute from the king of Naples to the pope. 
 The procession of his coaches was grand, but 
 the ceremony in the church was performed in a 
 very hnrried manner, it being so crowded that 
 the pope and constable had scarce room for their 
 business. 
 
 At sunset, the cupola of St. Peter's was illu- 
 minated with paper lamps and large pots of fire, 
 v^'hich continued to blaze most part of the night ; 
 it was the finest sight of the kind I ever beheld. 
 We saw the fireworks of Castel St. Angelo, 
 which were very fine, from the apartments of 
 
218 LETTERS FROM THE 
 
 Marquis Rossi. The next day being St. Peter's, 
 the church was richly bedecked ; St. Peter's 
 statue was robed in cloth of gold ; fine gold 
 chandeliers were placed on the steps of the altar. 
 There was a brilliant illumination there that night, 
 as well as at the castle and at the constable's. 
 The appearance was very grand. 
 
 We have had the Piazza Navona overflowed in 
 part, and coaches drove about it all night : few 
 go thither now, but it was formerly much re- 
 sorted to. The pope ordered the water to be let 
 off at nightfall, which has spoiled all the sport. 
 The custom began under Innocent X., when 
 Donna Olympia, his sister-in-law, who received 
 company every Sunday, had the Piazza filled 
 with water, to refresh the air in August. 
 
 Many English are at Rome; among others, the 
 famous Duchess of Kingston, alias Countess of 
 Bristol, alias Miss Chudleigh ; also Mr. How- 
 ard, an excellent philanthropist, who makes it 
 the business of his life to travel for the sake of 
 inspecting prisons, and spends his fortune and 
 time in the service of the unfortunate ; Lady Ca- 
 therine and the Miss Beauclercs, Lord and Lady 
 Lucan, and the two Misses Bingham, the Bishop 
 of Derry, Mr. and Mrs. King, the Herveys, Pitts, 
 Molesworths, &c. 
 
 The Duke and Duchess of Lucciano are ar- 
 
COURTS OF PARIS, NAPLES, SiC. '219 
 
 rived, being on their travels by order of the Nea- 
 politan court. It is said the reason of their exile 
 is the queen having found a billet from the 
 duchess in the king's pocket, in which she up- 
 braided him for being led by the nose by the 
 queen. 
 
 We were yesterday at a grand dinner given by 
 the Maltese ambassador, in consequence of the 
 ceremony of the pope's blessing the stucco, or 
 helmet of the grand master of Malta. 
 
 I was present during divine service a few days 
 ago, at the Greek churcli. They say mass behind 
 a screen with three, doors in it. Mr. Sennett, an 
 Irish abbe, who went with me, remarked after- 
 wards to Mrs. Swinburne that it was all said in 
 Greek, except the Kyrie Eleison, which was in 
 Latin ! He is a capital one for Irishisms. He 
 told us some English lady (I forget who) was 
 come to Rome on purpose to sit to Battoni for 
 her son's picture ; and assured me solemnly that 
 my new servant was very likely to shoot me. 
 You may imagine how I was startled, but I sup- 
 pose you are aware that he meant suit. He is 
 very unhappy just now, with remorse for having 
 refused alms to a famous beggar on the steps of 
 St. Peter's, who is just dead, and turns out to be 
 a saint, and is to be canonised. 
 
 Apropos of Irisiimen, I find there has been a 
 
220 LETTERS FROM THE 
 
 cardinal of every nation except an Irish one ; 
 perhaps lest he should encroach upon the au- 
 thority of the pope in making bulls. 
 
 Having obtained permission to inspect the 
 manuscripts in the library of the Vatican, I saw 
 Henry the eighth's letter to his mistress,in French 
 and in English ; legible enough, but very nonsen- 
 sical. The christian museum is curious ; also a 
 fine hall of the Papyri for reading in, the ceiling 
 painted by Mengs ; a collection of medallions ; 
 and some gold ones of Louis XV. 
 
 We see much of Lady Lucan and her daugh- 
 ters, who are veiy accomplished, — sing charm- 
 ingly and paint well, which she herself does 
 likewise. There is a Lady and Miss Knight here, 
 the latter a hel esprit, clever and learned. Her 
 mother is quite the contrary ; she is always mak- 
 ing mistakes which are very amusing; — she ad- 
 dressed the bust of Numa, (whom, from the 
 termination of the name, and from the veil it 
 wears, she took for a female,) with "your most 
 obedient, Mrs. Numa." She talks of the ro- 
 mantic groves where Tasso composed his Ariosto, 
 and of the extraordinary circumstance of a 
 church having been erected in honour of St. John's 
 latter end.* 
 
 * Lady Knight's mistake was not more comical than that 
 of the French tourist who called it St. Jean des Latrines. 
 
COURTS OF PARIS, NAPLES. &C. 221 
 
 I have taken a view of Rome from Monte 
 Testuccio, which hill is one of the greatest cu- 
 riosities I know. If all the pottery ware of the 
 town were brought hither and broken, it M^ould 
 not make such another heap. It must be a pro- 
 duction of the lower ages, for there have been 
 found in it at a great depth two sarcophagi, of 
 the time of Adrian It was probably formed by 
 some pope or christian emperor ordering all the 
 pagan urns to be broken and thrown near it. The 
 prospect from it is beautiful. 
 
 I have seen some men play at the ancient 
 discus, a large flat round wooden thing, with a 
 groove all round the edge ; in this they put a cord, 
 and set it off underhand by a jerk ; they seem to 
 play for length at long bowls. 
 
 We dined yesterday at the Capitol with the 
 Senator Prince Rezzonico, nephew to Clement 
 XIII., in company with Cardinal Rezzonico, 
 Baronessa Gavotta, ambassadress of Bologna, 
 Marchesa Lepri, Monsignor Pignatelli, Comte de 
 Chatelet, and some prelates and abbates, which 
 latter are in abundance here. Where the sena- 
 tor's house is, was the posterna publica, of which 
 the solids of the pillars remain ; close by are 
 three columns of Jupiter Tonnans, of most ex- 
 quisite architecture, a work finished to a sur- 
 prising degree of nicety. Augustus erected this 
 
222 LETTERS FROM THE 
 
 temple after his Spanish expedition, because, 
 when travelling in the night, his litter and torch- 
 bearer were struck with lightning, and himself 
 remained unhurt. 
 
 Below, on the west of Severus's arch, are the 
 dungeons of the Pallian prisons, now converted 
 into chapels ; as it is supposed St. Peter was 
 chained there, and that the well in the bottom one 
 sprang up miraculously, to assist him in baptizing 
 his guards. The Gemonian stairs were adjoin- 
 ing.* The two twin deities holding the horses 
 at the top of the steps represented Caius and 
 Lucius Caesar, Augustus's grandchildren. 
 
 Having carried my little girl toTivoli for change 
 of air, I took the opportunity of riding towards 
 the site of Horace's villa, described by Abbe 
 Chaupy. We passed over low hills, seemingly 
 Volcanelli, like Montenuovo, heaps of lava, pe- 
 perino, cinders, and some ruins of the Via Valeria. 
 Casteldama is situated upon a high hill, crowned 
 with olive, oak, or chesnut, a handsome object 
 over the Teverone. Turning into hollow valleys 
 and a narrow course of the river, we came to a 
 view of Vico Varo, the Varia, where Horace's 
 five peasants went to attend the meeting of the 
 magistrates. The situation of the town, which 
 
 * It was from the top of these stah-s that the bodies of 
 malefactors were cast down to be devoured by dogs. 
 
COURTS OF PARIS, NAPLES, &C. 223 
 
 belongs to the Bolognesi, is delightful. About 
 eight miles from Tivoli the vale of Licenza takes 
 up the course of a small brook or river to Licenza, 
 formerly called Digentia. 
 
 At the confluence of the Teverone is San Co- 
 simato, a romantic convent on a hill. In the 
 angle where these valleys meet, stand Cantalupo 
 and Bardillo, the ancient rugosus Pagus Mandela. 
 Then following up this riotous little torrent, I 
 came to the Castello of Rocca's Giovane, perched 
 upon a rock. The vale then widens into a kind 
 of plain, planted with poplars, vines, and fruit 
 trees, and in front is the village of Licenza, on 
 a peaked rock, half hid by a chesnut wood, 
 which forms the extremity of a ridge of fine 
 cultivated grounds, joining Monte Gennaro, 
 (Lucretilis,) near which was Horace's bathing 
 pavilion. 
 
 The Temple of Vacuna stood on the side of an 
 opposite hill, where its ruins are still to be seen. 
 Fine small meadows, with noble walnut and oak 
 scattered over them, render this a beautiful place 
 to spend a summer's day in ; the Ratini, or Ho- 
 race's fountain, rises in the middle, which the 
 Orsini proprietors have collected in a basin and 
 brought into a cascade. The fountain springs 
 out high up the mountain, and is always abun- 
 
224 LETTERS FROM THE 
 
 dant, sometimes committing great disorders, and 
 tinging everything of a whitish clay colour. 
 
 On a line with the cascade, on the brow of the 
 hill, is a platform, near the little casino of Orsini. 
 Here stood the main body of Horace's house, and 
 from the plan one may imagine that his baths 
 were at the extremity of his garden, on the flat 
 top of the long ridge. I saw two bits of column 
 and of a capital or cornice : there are many 
 pieces of blue and red stucco in the ruins of the 
 pavilion. Abbe Chaupy's description is very ac- 
 curate. It must have been a charming summer's 
 retreat, literally a latehra ; for, till you have ad- 
 vanced a mile or two up the valley, you can see 
 nothing even of Licenza, nor suspect, when look- 
 ing from the Via Valeria, that any such beautiful 
 spot exists. On my return to Rome, I found it 
 many degrees hotter than Tivoli. 
 
 The churches called Basilica are those which 
 were originally palaces. In all tliese there was 
 a hall of judgment, as every patrician had one in 
 his house for the use of his clients ; all the 
 ancient kings were lawgivers and interpreters, 
 therefore the courts of justice were held in their 
 palaces. 
 
 The Palatine hill was, till lately, occupied by 
 the Orti Farnesiani and the Villa Magnani, both of 
 
COURTS OF PARIS, NAPLES, &C. 225 
 
 which have been destroyed to dig for the antiquities 
 and bricks of the golden house of Nero. The 
 latter is now the property of the present French 
 king's valet de chambre, Laborde, or rather of 
 Madame du Barre, for whom it was bought. 
 The view from the hill is fine, as it commands 
 almost every considerable object. Under some 
 clumps of evergreen oaks, they have collected 
 many pieces of cornices, &c., formerly ornaments 
 of the imperial halls : they are finely wrought and 
 very curiously finished. One may easily trace 
 the origin of the Ionic capital from this sample. 
 Suppose the first builder to have erected a cork 
 tree to support his roof, and finding it not stand 
 even, put a piece of the bark at top to make it 
 level : dryness made the bark curl downwards, 
 which thus gave the curves of the capital ; the 
 angular volute was probably taken from a ram's 
 head, and acanthus grows in plenty in their 
 gardens. 
 
 There were two hippodromes ; one is still en- 
 tire, with a music-room in the middle of its length. 
 One of these opened into magnificent baths, now 
 far underground : the ceiling is gilded and 
 painted, and is still very fresh. There are many 
 remains of underground apartments. 
 
 Between the Palatine and Aventine hills was 
 the Circus Maximus : the emperor could enjoy the 
 
 VOL. I. Q 
 
226 LETTER FROM THE 
 
 spectacle from his palace, and the seats were dis- 
 posed against the terrace and slopes of the hills. 
 JuliusCeesarwas the first who had permanent seats 
 made ; before him each person erected booths and 
 scaffolds, which his family occupied or let. 
 
 At the foot of the hill were the temple of Nep- 
 tune and altar of Hercules, where Evander was 
 sacrificing when ^Eneas came, and from whence 
 (the only place it can be done from) he showed 
 him the different hills of Rome. 
 
 " Miratur, facilisque oculos fert omnia circum, 
 -^neas, capiturque locis." 
 
 Near this is the fountain ofJuturna, sister to 
 Turnus, king of the Rutuli, whom Jupiter changed 
 into a fountain for rejecting his addresses. The 
 twin founders were discovered at this place, and 
 near the spot where their temple afterwards 
 stood, Castor and Pollux were seen watering 
 their horses, after assisting the Romans in the 
 battle of Lake Regillus. 
 
 Rome, Jan. 8, 1779. 
 
 Since the dreadful loss I met with of my 
 angelic child,* I have been thoroughly inca- 
 pacitated from continuing any correspondence, 
 or troubling myself with any of the occurrences 
 
 * A fine boy, who fell a victim to the malaria. 
 
COURTS OF PARIS, NAPT.ES, &C. 227 
 
 around me. We have since learnt the death of 
 the eldest prince of Naples, which has plunged 
 his mother into the greatest affliction. He was 
 a sweet boy of four years old, courteous and 
 clever in all his little actions, but weakened by 
 too much care. He was the favourite of both his 
 father and his mother. 
 
 The letter we have received on the subject from 
 Lady Hamilton contains this remarkable pas- 
 sage. " Never was anything more terrible than 
 the combination of accidents which contributed 
 to make the scene of the death of the hereditary 
 prince of Naples more horrible. The queen did 
 not suspect his danger till the moment the phy- 
 sicians declared there were no hopes, at which 
 news one of the women, going to call the king, 
 dropped down in convulsions ; her companion 
 fell into the same state, and they could not be re- 
 moved out of the queen's hearing. Six men 
 could not hold them, and at that moment one of 
 these was struck with apoplexy. It blew a dread- 
 ful hurricane from the mountains, the roof of the 
 house took fire, and to add to the distress and dan- 
 ger, all the corridors had been filled with hay to 
 prevent noise." 
 
 Sympathy of feeling has induced my wife to 
 rouse from the lethargy of grief she has been 
 plunged in these last four months, and for the 
 
 Q 2 
 
228 LETTERS FROM THE 
 
 first time since her affliction to take a pen in her 
 hand, to write a letter of condolence to the queen, 
 who just before this death sent some kind mes- 
 sages to her through Lady Hamilton on the ill- 
 ness of our little boy. I enclose you a copy of 
 Her Majesty's answer. 
 
 I have been staying a few days in the country 
 with Count Gastaldi, at Monte Rotondo, fifteen 
 miles up the Tyber, which is an agreeable mix- 
 ture of hill and dale. The views are fine on the 
 river, and extend over the plains towards Monte 
 San Gennaro, Tivoli, and Palestrina. We rode 
 through vineyards and villa gardens to Lamen- 
 tana, the ancient Nomentum, a small place with 
 a large palace of Prince Borghese, (^Salentinae,) 
 on the brow of a hill. Then to Ponte Lamen- 
 tana, on the Anio, where the prince has some 
 game preserves in his noble hanging woods. 
 
 I have formed an acquaintance with the Car- 
 dinal de Bernis, who is a clever man, and has 
 seen much of the world. His exterior is pleasing, 
 and his manners agreeable. When very young, 
 and an abbe, he solicited preferment, and for 
 that purpose begged an audience of the Cardinal 
 de Fleury, the minister and ruler of France. 
 That minister happened to have taken a great 
 dislike to him, and said very crossl}^ — " Mon- 
 sieur Vahhe, vos sollicitations sont inutiles, et soyez 
 
COURTS OF PARIS, NAPLES, &C. 229 
 
 sur que vous naurez i^ien durant ma vie." " J'at- 
 tendrai, Monseigneiir," was his reply. Nor did 
 he wait in vain, for he was in course of time 
 raised to the post of minister of foreign affairs, 
 but afterwards disgraced in consequence of a 
 quarrel he had with Madame de Pompadour, 
 who had till then been his benefactress. He 
 was succeeded by the Due de Choiseul. 
 
 The Duchesse de Noailles has left Rome to 
 return to Paris, having finished her journey, 
 undertaken for the purpose of speaking to the 
 pope on the subject of the Jesuits. Mr. Jenkins 
 tells me he has seen a letter from their principal 
 at Vienna to Ricci, (the general of the Jesuits,) 
 who had great confidence in the justice and 
 piety of Marie Therese, and thought she 
 would prove a buckler to the order in their 
 distress, and resist the attempts of the French 
 cabinet for its destruction. His correspondent 
 answered his hopes thus : " Depend not upon 
 her, for if every drop of blood of the Jesuits 
 were demanded, and necessary for the marriage 
 of her daughters, she would without hesitation 
 spill it !" 
 
 The frost now at Rome is prodigious ; I 
 walked on a pool of water quite hard, and the 
 fountains on the hill of St. John are full of 
 icicles. The travellers for Naples have been 
 
230 LETTERS FROM THE 
 
 detained at San Marino, by the snows of La 
 Faiola. 
 
 Last month and October, which is the villeg- 
 giatura season here, there were great fetes at 
 the casino of villa Borghese ; I did not go to 
 them, but heard from those who did, that it was 
 very splendid and agreeable. The prince gave 
 music and refreshments there, with many sorts 
 of diversions, such as tilting at the ring, and 
 grand balls in the evening. There is an in- 
 sciiption there of Cardinal Scipio's putting 
 up, which gives leave to all comers to do what 
 they please there, as the gardens are more for 
 the public than the master. It is near the bust 
 of an emperor which I take to be Adrian, with a 
 curled head, and his hair turned back and 
 twisted on the crown like that of a woman. 
 
 The Borghese palace has a vast collection of 
 pictures, and not a good room in it ; it is built 
 in the shape of a harpsichord. 
 
 I was persuaded some nights ago to attend 
 the opera at the Argentina. It was " Adriano 
 in Siria,'' the music bad and the theatre dirty, 
 old, and dark, with a great show of diamonds 
 in the boxes. Monsignor Spinelli had published 
 an edict, prohibiting any clapping or hissing, 
 which kept all as still as a mouse, contrary to 
 the custom of preceding years, when there was 
 
COURTS OF PARIS, NAPLES, &c. 231 
 
 nothing but riot and confusion, the men stand- 
 ing up in the pit waving handkerchiefs, and the 
 ladies holding out their cloaks as flags of tri- 
 umph. The music was so dull, that I thought 
 this universal silence and attention rather de 
 trop. The singers, however, were good ; Ronca 
 was the prima, and David the tenor. He sang 
 so well that he was applauded by the governor, 
 who, having tried the dastardly spirit of the 
 Romans, enjoyed his victory, and gave leave to 
 clap twice. The dancers are horrid jumping 
 things, and the fellows in women's clothes (for 
 females are not here allowed to exhibit on the 
 stage) are too ridiculous. 
 
 The Irish Dominicans have made an excava- 
 tion at Santo Sisto, which I walked to see. 
 They have found a rough column, consisting of 
 a very valuable piece of Giallo Antico. The 
 saw was in it, and had already cut off a large 
 slice; they value it at four thousand crowns ; also 
 fine slabs of porphyry and green marble : nothing 
 is at present in hand for St. Peter's, in the 
 shape of mosaics. There are fifteen thousand 
 colours among the pastes in the magazines ; 
 one man alone has the secret of making them, 
 and he has only imparted it to his sons. 
 
 The origin of the story of St. Luke having 
 been a painter is, that about the time of the 
 
232 LETTERS FROM THE 
 
 taking of Constantinople by Mahomet 11. , 
 the most famous painter of Madonnas was one 
 Luke, and he being looked upon as a holy man, 
 perhaps a martyr, his pictures came to be held 
 in high estimation, and he was very soon con- 
 founded by the barbarous western devotees with 
 his namesake the evangelist. 
 
 That wonderful picture, the Transfiguration, is 
 at San Pietro, in Montario. No miniature can 
 be more highly finished, nor can anything be 
 more admirable, or better connected, in spite of 
 all the French criticisms on this last work of 
 Raphael. It was done for France, but stopped 
 by the Medici family, and given to the church. 
 At Raphael's funeral this exquisite work of his 
 was carried in procession. Its preservation is 
 very good, and being on the high altar the light 
 is favourable. Another favourite picture of 
 mine is Guido's Madonna, at the Bolognesi 
 palace : its wonderful expression of devotion and 
 inward pleasure is most admirable. 
 
 A story concerning the Duke Mattel is much 
 talked of. In rummaging over his family 
 papers, he found, in the handwriting of one of 
 his ancestors, a note, which gave the following 
 renseignement : — ** Go to the garden, and so 
 many feet from such a corner you will find a 
 bronze nail driven into the wall ; take it out, and 
 
COURTS OF PARIS, NAPLES, &C. 233 
 
 behind that place you will see a bronze key, 
 with which open a door that you will find built 
 up SO many yards north of the nail ; enter this 
 door, and go down the ten steps ; you will then 
 come to another door, which the key will open, 
 and this leads to a long gallery. You must then 
 break open the wall at the bottom, and in a 
 nitch behind it you will discover very consider- 
 able treasures of my hiding." 
 
 The duke went immediately to the garden ; to 
 his great joy found the nail, and set to work 
 with great secrecy to discover the rest, ^y the 
 truth of the second and third circumstances, he 
 judged of the certainty of the rest, — and having 
 associated proper persons, and enjoined caution 
 and secrecy, proceeded in his excavation. Every- 
 thing answered to the directions, and when they 
 came to the last wall, they broke it down, 
 with the full confidence that their labours would 
 be crowned with success : when behold, in the 
 nitch was an enormous pair of horns, which the 
 jocose ancestor had placed there. 
 
 Under the Palazzo Massimi great treasures 
 are supposed to be hid, because in the sack of 
 Rome the principal Romans carried their wealth 
 thither, and walled it up in the cellars under- 
 neath ; they have attempted to open these vaults, 
 but the level of the water is now so much above 
 
234 LETTERS FROM THE 
 
 that of tlie floor that they have never been able 
 to proceed. 
 
 From the Queen of Naples to Mrs. Stvi7ihurne. 
 
 Madame, 
 
 La consolation que je ressens du retablisse- 
 ment de votre cher et aimable fils m'anime a vous 
 ecrire. J'ai voulu le faire il y a quelques mois, 
 pour vous assurer du vif interet que je prenois a 
 tout ce qui vous regarde ; je n'ai jamais eu le 
 courage de rouvrir votre playe par des inutiles 
 consolations, et j'en ai gemi en silence, me con- 
 tentant de ra'informer de votre sante, avec cet 
 interet et amitie que vos estiraables qualites 
 m'ont inspire pour votre digne personne. 
 
 A present, que par le plus aff'reux des malheurs, 
 j'ai eprouve quelle douleur c'est pour une mere 
 de perdre son enfant cheri, celui sur lequel elle 
 fonde toutes ses esperances, consolations et, com- 
 plaisances. J'ai ete d'autant plus sensible a la 
 maladie du charmant Henry, et infiniment con- 
 sole de son retablissement. Que Dieu vous benisse 
 et votre charmante famille, vous le meritez, etant 
 si digne et bonne mere ; comme telle, je suis sure 
 que vous aurez eu compassion du coup afireux 
 qui m'a enleve mon cher, beau, et parfait Charles. 
 
COURTS OF PARIS, NAPLES, &C. 235 
 
 Cet enfant etait d'une sante parfaite, augmente 
 en beaute et capacite, at parfaitement robuste. En 
 moins de 60 heiires je I'ai perdu. Ce sent de ces 
 douleurs qui aneantissent. Vous en comprendrez 
 toutela force, et me plaindrez; mais j'oublie que 
 je n'ai ecrite celle-cy, que pour vous assurer de 
 ma satisfaction sur le retour de la sante du cher 
 Henry, et point pour renouveller votre juste 
 douleur en vous parlant de la mienne ; mais c'est 
 que ne pensant a autre chose j'y reviens toujours. 
 Saluez de ma part votre aimable epoux ; j'em- 
 brasse la chere Fanny et le beau Henry : soyez 
 sure, Madame, que je suis, avec une veritable 
 estime 
 
 Votre tres afFectionee amie, 
 
 Charlotte H. N. 
 
 Rome, February 8, 1779. 
 We have great crowds and regularity on the 
 Corso, but no show. The Maltese ambassador 
 makes use of his privilege, and drives down the 
 middle of the street. The Zagorolo and Ceri 
 families were drest like Turks, in blue and 
 white ; the other masks were vulgar. I think 
 little of this famous sight. Prince Pirratino 
 went out of his place, and was fined very smart- 
 
236 LETTERS FROM THE 
 
 ly ; the officer on duty was sent to prison for 
 permitting it — a good sample of Governor Spi- 
 nelli's spirit. 
 
 The masquerade at the Teatro Aliberti was 
 well lighted up, with very few good masks ; 
 some figures of Terminus Pan not amiss. 
 The American provinces were represented by 
 thirteen men and women, meant for quakers, 
 dressed in round pink hats, encircled with rib- 
 bons, on which were inscribed M. W. M. C. and 
 '^ devinez ;" short coats, white and pink, with 
 slashed sleeves. Themen wore long beards. They 
 gave away English engravings, of an angel break- 
 ing the chains of a negro. There was no fun, no 
 noise, no gaiety, no humorous characters. These 
 entertainments do not begin till midnight, after 
 supper. 
 
 We went last evening to the Torredinoni thea- 
 tre, near the ponte St. Angelo. It was the 
 siege of Jerusalem by the crusaders, intermixed 
 with humours of Punch and Briscotto, who beino- 
 both in love with Armida's maid, they cut cards 
 for her, then fought, and Punch lopped off" his an- 
 tagonist's arm, leg and head, which she put on 
 again. The whole of this motley exhibition is 
 too stupid for a rational creature to sit out. 
 
 We have had an elegant dinner at the sena- 
 tor's, with the repetition of Salieri's new opera 
 in the evening. Sir Thomas has brought us the 
 
COURTS OF PARIS, NAPLES, &C. 237 
 
 Petroni collection of medals from Naples. He 
 says Lord Maynard having attended and cured 
 the prince of Marino with James's powders, has 
 made Lady Maynard quite popular, and she 
 and Santo Marco are great friends. We have 
 had a pleasant dinner at Duke Grimaldi's. The 
 Ducliess of Cori and tlie Misses Bingham sang 
 in the evening. 
 
 Two evenings after, the duke gave the 
 Intermezzi of Valli, by Cimarosa, to a very 
 splendid audience of cardinals and ladies and 
 gentlemen in masquerade dresses, in the theatre 
 of his palace, with supper, &c. 
 
 The festinos here are crowded and brilliant, 
 but there is no wit or drollery. The last day 
 of the carnival the people walk about singing 
 the dirge for the funeral of the carnival, the 
 houses being all illuminated. 
 
 There is a considerable feud among the 
 English.* Lady Susan will not visit Lady 
 Berkeley. The latter gave a ball, and many 
 
 * It is singular that at all periods English, when abroad, 
 seem to enjoy no sport so much as that of quarrelling with 
 their fellow countrymen and women. Go where one j,wi]l, 
 to Rome, Paris, Brussels, or elsewhere, the same detestable 
 system of backbiting, defamation, and illiberality, is to be 
 found. Never did any nation so completely depart from 
 the sensible and charitable proverb of Vivre et laisser vivrt. 
 
238 LETTERS FROM THE 
 
 English absented themselves ; we did not, for 
 Mrs. S. is the friend of her amiable dauohter 
 Lady Louisa, who is very musical, and sings 
 charmingly to the harp. 
 
 At the Duke of Ceri's we heard a cantata of 
 Metastasio's, (X<2 pace tra la vertu i la bellezza,) 
 music by Boron, the singers (amateurs) ex- 
 cellent. 
 
 Lady C. Beauclerk has had a raffle of a bas- 
 relief of Casper and Alcyone by Mr. Bankes, 
 which I won and gave to Sir Thomas. The 
 Lucans have given some pleasant dances. 
 
 The pope was walking to-day through the 
 piazza di Spagna, and I was struck by the 
 majesty of his figure. They say he is very 
 rich. 
 
 I went with some Russians to see the statues 
 of the Vatican by torch-light. It is surprising 
 what a different effect they have, and how much 
 better the expression and merits are understood 
 by these means, than when seen by the false 
 lights all of them are placed in. The Apollo is 
 really a divinity. 
 
 I have been spending my mornings in the 
 Vatican library, collating Horace for Galiani, 
 and met there the cosmopolite and his family. 
 He is the king of the mountebanks. The 
 history of this charlatan is curious. In his youth 
 
COURTS OF PARIS, NAPLES, &C. 239 
 
 he served a doctor in Peru, and was heir to his 
 secrets. Afterwards he travelled as a quack 
 over Europe ; then into the East, where he was 
 lucky enough to cure the scaldhead of some 
 bashaw or nabob, who made him a present of 
 such a large sum of money as enabled him to 
 draw 12,000 crowns a year from the bank of 
 Genoa, where he placed the capital. He travels 
 now with a superb retinue, merely for his 
 amusement ; has three servants on horseback, 
 with rich red liveries, and sits himself in a gilt 
 coach. Some people think he has found the 
 philosopher's stone. 
 
 My walk to-day was out of Porto San Sebas- 
 tian©, where the meadows are pleasant. Under 
 a little hill is the fountain of the nymph Egeria, 
 an arched grotto, picturesque enough. Near 
 this cave is the church of St. Urban, evidently 
 a temple of Bacchus. In the valley not far off, 
 near the rivulet, is a brick temple, said to be 
 erected to the god of Ridicule, to deride Hanni- 
 bal for approaching thus near to the walls of 
 Rome. Near the gate of St. John is the church 
 of Santa Croce, restored and spoilt by Benedict 
 XIV., by whose order the porphyry columns 
 were closed up in huge pilasters and arcades, 
 being the barbarous taste of Borromini's school. 
 
240 Ll.TTKKS FROM THE 
 
 Rome, March 2. 
 
 I can now give you an account of an excursion 
 I made with Sir Thomas to Terni. Our first 
 post was a villa of Li via's. The hills there are 
 naked and unpleasant, and the air pestilential. 
 The V'ia Flaminia remains entire for many miles, 
 and, j^oz^r le malheur des voyageurs, serves for a 
 road still. Near Castel Nuovo is a forest-like 
 country of stunted oaks, with an immense 
 view over Sabina and the Campagna. About 
 Castel Regnano the country is fine, full of olives 
 and vines. Thence to Civita Castellana is a 
 beautiful country, Mount Soracte or St. Oreste 
 on the right rising up singly on the plain. 
 
 Civita is the ancient Vici, so long the enemy 
 of Rome. The castle was built by Michael 
 Angelo, and seems a large magnificent fortress, 
 like f^astle St. Angelo at Rome. A handsome 
 bridge y)ins the insulated rock to the country ; 
 from thence to the hill, which hangs over the 
 Tyber at Borghetto, is one of the prettiest land- 
 scapes imaginable, with woods and groves of 
 oaks, bounding green fields. The mountain of 
 Viterbo is on the left, where Capriola, a grand 
 palace, is distinctly seen, though ten miles oflP. 
 At Borghetto we crossed the river at tlie Ponte 
 
COURTS OF PARIS, NAPLES, &C. 241 
 
 Felice, and re-ascended to Otricoli, which com- 
 mands a wonderfully fine view, with all the 
 windings of the Tyber, and a multitude of 
 houses on the heights, hedges of pyracantha in 
 berry, and a great variety of landscape, through 
 a woody vale to Narni, a town of some 
 size built on unlevel ground. The view from 
 it over the immense vale of Terni is mag- 
 nificent. The Nera winds so very intricately, 
 the numberless convents and cottages are so 
 white and beautifully placed, the plains so 
 richly cultivated and wooded, the tints of the 
 vines, elms, poplars, so various, and the moun- 
 tains of such different hues and appearances, 
 that I cannot but think it matchless. 
 
 Ten miles of low roads among vineyards 
 brought us to Terni, a well-built town in the 
 plain, very thin of inhabitants. The palace of 
 the Spada is its most showy building. The 
 walks about it are pleasant, and the rides delight- 
 ful. 
 
 The next day we hired horses, and rode early, 
 through vineyards and olive woods, to see the 
 famous cascade. On the way we came to a 
 turn where we had a pleasing view of the Nera, 
 as it winds out of the mountains between two 
 very high rocks. A couple of villas at the 
 bottom, with their orange gardens, enlivened the 
 
 VOL. I. 11 
 
24*2 LETTERS FROM THE 
 
 scene. The village of Papilla is on a point to 
 the right ; the road cut up on the rock, and a 
 ruin on its summit, are fine additions. By a 
 steep winding road we got to the level of the 
 cascade, or the vale of Ricti. The rock at the 
 point was blown up, and the passage widened 
 round it about twenty years ago. 
 
 We crossed a kind of canal cut in the petri- 
 faction which is upon the rocks, and were 
 brought by our cicerone, a ragged tailor, to a 
 point where we had a near view of the tre- 
 mendous fall, being on its left side, a few yards 
 lower than the level of the top. 
 
 The Velino rushes out of a long canal between 
 two rocks overshaded with wood, and precipitates 
 itself downwards above two hundred feet, with 
 several lesser falls, before it comes to the Nera in 
 the valley. It is wonderfully fine. Unfortunately 
 there was not much water, and one side was 
 dry ; but there was enough to make it a noble 
 sight. The steam, or cloud, arising from it, is 
 very considerable, and everything partakes of the 
 petrifaction that is sprinkled by it. Very fine 
 spunges, or petrified mushrooms, are found. I 
 got a piece of a petrified bough. 
 
 This cut was made by Curius eighty-five 
 years before Christ, to drain the vale of Ricti. 
 There is a sluice of iron to prevent more than a 
 
COURTS OF PARIS, NAPLES, &C. 243 
 
 certain quantity of water from coming over, lest 
 the too sudden discharge, at certain periods of 
 the year, should lay Rome under water. At 
 that time the Velino overflows its banks pro- 
 digiously, and does a great deal of damage ; but 
 as it vents part of its overplus into the lake of 
 Pie di Luco, the harm is not so great as it 
 might be. 
 
 Having seen all we wished at the cascade, we 
 rode up the narrow vale, and, coming in sight 
 of an opening in the mountains, had a pretty 
 peep of the lake through the trees. 
 
 Desirous of spending some hours of a most 
 delicious day on the water, we dismounted, and 
 got into a crazy ferry-boat, paddled along by 
 one man with two shovels. He rowed us up 
 the canal which communicated between the 
 lake and the river. The w^aters of the lake are 
 clear, but not like those of Keswick ; they are 
 said to have a petrifying quality. The lake is 
 deep, and surrounded by a great variety of lofty, 
 well-wooded mountains, where we heard the 
 noise of people hunting wild boar, 
 
 Pie di Luco stands prettily round the foot of a 
 conical hill, on the top of which is a ruined 
 castle. The fishery is abundant in tench, pike, 
 barbel, and trout of a wonderful size. The fish- 
 
 R 2 
 
244 LETTERS FROM THE 
 
 ing in nets is confined to the proprietors, but 
 angling with lines is open to the whole world. 
 People row about in slender flat boats, scarcely 
 sufficiently fastened to be safe. 
 
 After enjoying the charms of the prospect, and 
 the different appearances of the land and water, 
 we returned to Papilia, where, leaving our horses, 
 we crossed the bridge, and through the gardens 
 of a ruined villa of Count Castellis, we trudged 
 up the narrow ridge, along the water-side, under 
 thick woods and impending rocks, till we came 
 in full front of the cascade. Glorious indeed ! 
 but from the position of the sun we had no rain- 
 bow ; the steam or cloud was driven about by the 
 wind, but as no rays reached it, the usual phe- 
 nomenon was not produced. 
 
 There is a curious tradition concerning this 
 cascade having been formed by the lava of the 
 neighbouring mountain of St. Arcangelo, which 
 throws back the Velino, so as to form the lake of 
 Pie di Luco. What great antiquity would not 
 that evince, as it was in the time of the Roman 
 republic that the cut was made, to give vent to 
 the Velino ! 
 
 Our horses were sent down to meet us, and 
 we made the best of our way to Terni. We 
 slept at Narni, and saw the bridge built by 
 
COURTS OF PARIS, NAPLES, &C. 245 
 
 Augustus over the Nar. One arch is entire, of 
 large stones without mortar ; the present bridge 
 looks like a dwarf near it. 
 
 TO MRS. s. 
 
 Rome, May 5. 
 
 The heat was insufferable all the way to Ca- 
 pua, nor did I once look out on the country, as I 
 usually do, or make any remarks ; for my 
 thoughts were full of Naples, and the dear objects 
 it contained. 
 
 We supped and slept at St. Agatha, where we 
 met two ladies who looked like actresses. They 
 had been ordered out of the kingdom, and were 
 on their road, escorted by two ministri.* 
 
 Sleeping was out of the question, for my slum- 
 bers were disturbed by the nightingales, which 
 made a dreadfully loud concert all night under 
 my window. You will compare me as a Vandal 
 to old Walton, who complained of the horrid 
 smell of fresh violets in the fields disturbing the 
 scent for the hounds. 
 
 Next morning we crossed the ferry of the Ga- 
 rigliano, the tower of which passage stands near 
 the ruins of Minturnae. From Mola da Gaeta 
 
 * Officers of the police. 
 
246 LETTERS FROM THE 
 
 we took a boat and crossed over to Gaeta, from 
 whence the view is noble all round, especially 
 the orange groves of Mola and Castiglione. I 
 was better able to enjoy my journey than the 
 day before, and took notes as I went, which I be- 
 lieve was a great bore to my companion, qui ne 
 se sonde pas de la belle Nature. We dined, on 
 our arrival here, at Mr. Monson's vineyard, and 
 met several people we knew. All Rome is in 
 distress at the death of the Marquise de Puymont- 
 brun, niece to Cardinal Bernis. She fell a vic- 
 tim to the small-pox. 
 
 Florence, May 13. 
 On leaving Rome we passed through the 
 valley of Terni, than which nothing can be more 
 refreshing and agreeable. It is a very close and 
 winding dale, with tliick young woods of oak and 
 common pine, and old olive trees. Spoleto may 
 well have served as a barrier to Rome against 
 Hannibal. It stands on the slope of a very high 
 round rock. A river, which at present has no 
 water in it, almost makes it an island. Its 
 castle, where the governor lodges, is on the top, 
 and water is conveyed into the city from the op- 
 posite mountains by an aqueduct. The plain 
 begins at the low town, and extends beyond 
 Foligno. 
 
COURTS OF PARIS, NAPLES, &C. 247 
 
 The hills behind Spoleto are beautifully wooded 
 and cultivated, and studded with convents and 
 casinos. The city is neatly built, and well enough 
 paved. In the middle of every street is a row of 
 bricks, which make it pleasant walking. 
 
 As soon as I had dined I took a ragged cice- 
 rone, and walked up the hill to see the curiosities 
 of the place, amongst which is Porta Fuga, which 
 stretches across a street, with an inscription, de- 
 noting Hannibal to have been driven from this 
 gate ; but I believe it is a piece of building 
 posterior to the Roman empire. There is an 
 arch dedicated to Tiberius. 
 
 The cathedral was shut, and the sacristan 
 asleep ; so I saw nothing of it. We turned off be- 
 low the aqueduct, which at present conveys very 
 little water. It is on many narrow^ arches of a 
 most stupendous height. Upon the woody 
 mountain, which is connected with the town by 
 the aqueduct, are a convent and about a dozen 
 hermitages, called Monte Luco, full of devotees. 
 Those in the hermitages beg; but the persons in 
 the convent are in easy circumstances, and do 
 not make vows. The situation is beautiful. 
 Charles Vernet has put the aqueduct and castle 
 into one of his views of the Apennines. 
 
 Hence to Foligno, the mountain on our right 
 hand is full of villages, convents, and country 
 
248 LETTERS FROM THE 
 
 houses, the largest of which belongs to a Spoletan 
 marquis. At a place called Campetti, a few 
 yards beyond the post-house at Le Vene, so called 
 from the sources of the Clitumnus, a small an- 
 cient chapel on the rock is supposed to have 
 been dedicated to the god of the river. In the 
 early days of Christianity, paganism being ousted, 
 it was consecrated to Giesu Salvatore. Its archi- 
 tecture is almost Gothic. Indeed the Christians 
 have added ornaments in the solid of the pedi- 
 ment — a cross and grapes in flourishes. These 
 ornaments, and much work in all the architecture, 
 bespeak a decline in the art. Upon the whole, 
 there is nothing very elegant in this temple. 
 That of the Sibyl at Tivoli had quite another 
 effect upon me. 
 
 Just above is Perignano, then a village called 
 Juri. Foligno in the plain is a relief to the eye, 
 after the ups and downs of Spoleto. Raphael's 
 famous picture at the Comtesse is painted on 
 wood. It is much chipped, as if burnt by the 
 sun. The colours are lively. The Virgin in 
 the clouds is very beautiful ; the cherubims be- 
 hind her look like a cloudy sky. Directly under 
 her is a pretty angel holding a scroll ; behind, a 
 landscape with figures, and a village which gives 
 a crooked look to the whole. On the Virgin's 
 right is St. John the Baptist ; before him kneels 
 
COURTS OF PARIS, NAPLES, &.C. 249 
 
 St. Francis, marked with his stigmates ; on the 
 other side is a bishop, with his hand on the head 
 of a man kneeling. The latter, who wears a 
 scarlet robe, and tunic lined with ermine, is sup- 
 posed to be St. Jerome ; but that is impossible, 
 as he has no beard, and no lion near him. It is 
 probably some cardinal saint, or the man who 
 bespoke the picture. 
 
 The cathedral is plain, but sufficiently dis- 
 tinguished. There is a pretty semicircular walk 
 on the ramparts, with seats, from which one has 
 a fine view of the country. 
 
 The better sort of women here wear blue veils; 
 the peasants wear large square Tovaglie on their 
 heads, with a double white veil falling very low 
 behind. 
 
 We went on to Spillo, the ancient Flaminia, 
 and to La Madonna degli Angeli, a large con- 
 vent of Franciscans, who have a vast chapel and 
 cupola. In the middle is the house of their 
 founder. 
 
 I walked two miles up to Assisi, a large town 
 on the side of a steep mountain, with a great 
 patriarchal convent about the middle of the 
 ascent. It has a noble refectory, with a large 
 Last Supper by Salernino. There are eighty 
 friars. In the upper part of the town is the front 
 of a temple of Minerva, now a church. This 
 
250 LETTERS FROM THE 
 
 antiquity consists of six fluted Corinthian columns, 
 on separate bases, or steps between each. It is 
 a precious monument, a pleasing piece of archi- 
 tecture. I wonder at its being so little known 
 or copied, for I have never seen a print or draw- 
 ing of it. 
 
 A hilly road brought us to Perugia, which 
 stands in the form of a star, on the crown of a 
 very high eminence. The streets are large, the 
 buildings showy ; the santo aneUo, or wedding 
 ring, of the Blessed Virgin, their grand relic, 
 being exposed for rain, made the domo a place 
 of general resort that morning, and most of the 
 pictures were covered with damask hangings. 
 The beautiful Descent from the Cross, by Bar- 
 biero, was luckily not among the number of 
 clothed ones, and a wonderful picture it is. 
 Abbe Tonelli, the cicerone, joined us, and took us 
 to the Cambio, a kind of exchange, low and 
 dark, all painted by Pietro Perrugino, with many 
 admirable figures and fine colours. There are 
 also at St. Agostino's many chefs d'ceuvres by 
 the same hand ; and a billet of his writing is 
 kept in the sacristy, very ill written and ill spelt. 
 At the Nuns of Monteleone is an Assumption, 
 supposed to be by Raphael — his last work. 
 
 I crossed the Tyber, which is here a pretty 
 clear river, with fine poplar groves and vine- 
 
COURTS OF PARIS, NAPLES, &C. 251 
 
 yards along its banks. I observed that the men 
 I generally met all over this country had roses 
 stuck behind their ears, which brought to my 
 mind FalstafF's witticisms, and shows that the 
 same customs were once common in England. 
 The women of Perugia wear black gauze coifs 
 over their hair. The men are very smart. 
 
 After passing through very bad roads, we tra- 
 versed a high hill, finely wooded, to theTorricella, 
 or the Trasimene lake, which is the most beau- 
 tiful piece of water I ever saw. It has not the 
 wild and grand sublimity of Keswick, nor the 
 monstrous mountains of the Leman; but softness 
 of contour and pretty turns mark it strongly 
 with a character of Greek beauty. A woody 
 range of hills advances into its waters, with a 
 tower on a rock at the extremity of each pro- 
 montory. Two or three islands, one of which 
 has a picturesque steeple on it, mark the different 
 lines of distance : a high, conical mountain ap- 
 pears far off. The shore is flat, and full of reeds. 
 A boat or two gave life to the surface of the 
 water. 
 
 For many miles we had a dreadful road, over 
 the ground where .Hannibal vanquished Fla- 
 minius. As soon as we got on the T'lscan ter- 
 ritories, which are not designated by any guards, 
 
252 LETTERS FROM THE 
 
 barriers, or boundary monuments, I found the 
 roads much better. 
 
 We slept at Carnotria, and I was pleased to 
 see all the country girls with little smart round 
 straw hats, coquettishly tied. The faces of the 
 people were quite altered. Here we saw round, 
 chubby cheeks, and small features in proportion 
 to the face ; whereas further south the very re- 
 verse is remarkable. I no longer perceived the 
 grand large nose and expanded eye. 
 
 We walked to Cortona, a very steep mile, and 
 had a fine view every way, especially towards 
 the lake. Cortona is a melancholy town. The 
 day was extremely hot, and no horses being at. 
 the post, I took refuge from a broiling sun in the 
 church porch, where I found several grave citizens 
 seated in the shade. They were discoursing 
 concerning a girl that positively refused to own 
 who was the father of her child. They guessed 
 everybody they could think of, but decided on 
 none. At last one wiser than the rest exclaimed, 
 " Do not trouble yourselves with guessing ; you 
 W'ill soon learn who the man is, for the Grand 
 Duke is to be here in a few days, and he is sure 
 to find out, for you know he pries into every 
 thing, and knows all that passes." 
 
 This royal inquisitor seems, however, to be 
 
COURTS OF PARTS, NAPLES, &C. 258 
 
 very popular among the common people, and 
 takes great pains in making improvements. He 
 is now busy in opening a canal from the lake, to 
 render the navigation of the Chiena more con- 
 stant, as well as useful. 
 
 We next came through Arezza, a large well- 
 built town, and along the rich vale of Arno, to 
 Florence. I lodge at Mrs. Hatchfield's, and 
 dined, on my arrival, at Sir Horace Mann's, 
 where I met Harvey Aston, Smith Barr^^ 
 Falkenor, Vernon, and Crosbie. 
 
 We went to the opera, where, for the first 
 time, I beheld the poor unhappy representative 
 of the Stuart race in the Comte d'Albanie. He 
 goes regularly to the theatre, and always falls 
 asleep in a corner of his box, at the end of the 
 first act, being generally intoxicated. His face 
 is red, and his eyes are fier}'^, otherwise he is not 
 an ill-looking man. The countess is not hand- 
 some, being black and sallow, with a pug nose. 
 She always wears a hat, Alfieri, the Piemontese, 
 is a constant attendant in her box, with her 
 dame de compagnie, Madame Malgan. 
 
 Le Carcine is a delightful place, along the 
 Arno, with woods and meadows exactly like an 
 English plantation, and a fine ally of stone pines, 
 that grow like fans. 
 
 You shall have an account of the gallery, &c,, 
 in my next. 
 
254 LETTERS FROM THE 
 
 Florence, June 10. 
 
 We saw the collection of gems, and the ca- 
 binet of medals, which are thrown about in a 
 strange confusion ; all metals and all sizes, ac- 
 cording to chronology — a most uncertain and 
 puzzling mode of arrangement. 
 
 Lord Tilney gave us a dinner, where we met 
 a great number of Neapolitans. We dined also 
 with Lady Orford at her villa at Fiesole, in a 
 glorious situation for views, and a very convenient, 
 elegant house, perhaps the best furnished in 
 Italy for neatness and propriety, but too high, 
 too much confined, and on a rock which reflects a 
 burning heat in summer. 
 
 The society here seems on a pleasant footing. 
 There appear to be no feuds, no opposition sets, 
 which, among the English, is too often the 
 case. Sir Horace Mann's keeping open house 
 is probably a preventive, being a sort of cen- 
 tre, or j)Oint de reunion. We see a good deal 
 of Lord and Lady Cowper, whose house is very 
 pleasant. Mrs. S. went with her to Castello, to 
 deliver her letter to the grand duchess, and we 
 were at the opera with them last night. On com- 
 ing out, we passed close to the Pretender, who 
 was carried away, at the end of the performance, 
 
COURTS OF PARIS, NAPLES, &C. 255 
 
 being half asleep, and completely intoxicated, 
 which is his invariable custom every night. 
 Such is the force of habit.* I drew my wife's 
 attention to this undeserving object of all her 
 Jacobitical adoration. 
 
 Cavalier Mozzi is here, and the Chevalier Lo- 
 renzi, a man of great wit and naivete. He lived 
 much at Paris among the unbelievers and philo- 
 sophers of both sexes, Madame du Deffand, Ma- 
 dame de Boufflers, &c. When he returned to 
 Florence he heard a church bell ringing, upon 
 which he exclaimed, " What is that for ?"" — 
 " For illness," was the reply. ^^ Et quoi,'' cried 
 
 * Habit or custom is sometimes exemplified in a mannei* 
 less filthy than that cited of the Pretender. Segur men- 
 tions two instances, both equally pleasant. The Duke de 
 
 had been in love during twenty years with Madame 
 
 de , and had been in the habit of passing almost every 
 
 evening of his life at her house. At length her husband 
 died, they were married, and of course she removed to the 
 duke's mansion. After dinner, upon the first day, the 
 duchess, seeing her husband absorbed in meditation, said to 
 him, " Quavez-vous, monami? A quoi revez-vous ?" '•'•Ma 
 foi, mon aniie,'' replied he, "je songois a. une chose assez em- 
 barrassante. Oii irai-je at avenir passer mes soirees?" The 
 second example is that of the learned Marsais, the gram- 
 marian. Finding his death approaching, he called to a bro- 
 ther academician who stood by his bedside, and said, " Go 
 tell, tell the academy queje men vais, ou queje men vas, cur 
 lun et X autre peuvent se dire" 
 
256 LETTERS FROM THE 
 
 Lorenzi, " 07i dit encore la messe dans ce pays- 
 ci r 
 
 A quack doctor was called to attend a friend 
 of Lorenzi's who was dangerously ill, and order- 
 ed him to take forty of his pills. " // est mort 
 au quatyidme" said Lorenzi, in a rage, as he told 
 the story ; ^^ jugez s'il les eut toutes prises /" 
 
 We intend leaving this place in a day or two 
 for Vienna through Bologna, and I have agreed 
 with a Mantuan vetturino to take us with thir- 
 teen horses to Bologna, and nine to Vienna, in- 
 cluding all expenses for eating, lodging, &c., for 
 us, our children, and five servants ; — the price 
 two hundred sequins, — about twenty too much. 
 
 Turin, June 14. 
 
 Your letter, which I found here on my arrival, 
 was an agreeable surprise. We came from Flo- 
 rence to Pisa, which is a fine city, and has some- 
 thing grand and noble even in its present desert- 
 ed condition, that in a melancholy manner re- 
 minds one of its former splendour. It is large, 
 well built, and well paved, but so desolate that 
 grass grows in tlie streets. As a formidable re- 
 public, it formerly poured out its citizens to the 
 conquest of distant countries ; though now it 
 
COURTS OF PARIS. NAPLES, &C. 257 
 
 wears the livery of despotism, misery, and depo- 
 pulation. The benefits of LeopoWs improve- 
 ments have not yet extended thither. 
 
 The Arno, which at this spot is a tolerably large 
 river, divides the city in two almost equal parts. 
 The best bridge is all marble, and it is there 
 that the two divisions of the town meet every 
 third year, to assert, with clubs and coats of 
 mail, the honour of St. Anthony's hog and St. 
 Mary's kitten. 
 
 The cathedral is a fine gothic pile of marble, 
 supported on twenty-six antique granite pillars ; 
 the roof grand and richly gilt, and the gate of 
 carved bronze. At one end of the church is the 
 famous leaning tower, of white marble. It 
 really bends one way fifteen feet from the per- 
 pendicular. Whether built so on purpose, or sunk 
 by accident, is doubtful, and I am inclined to be 
 of the first opinion, as the pillars on the under- 
 most side are longer than the others, and the 
 little turret at top is much more upright than the 
 rest of the steeple.* 
 
 At the other extremity of the square, about 
 
 * A similar curiosity may be seen at Bridgnorth, where 
 there is an ancient tower, whose summit extends to some 
 distance over the base. This has given rise to the pro- 
 vincial expression of "all on one side, like Bridgnorth 
 tower." 
 
 VOL. I. S 
 
258 LETTERS FROM THE 
 
 the dome, is the battistero of marble ; an octa- 
 gonal, gothic temple, ornamented all round with 
 columns of divers sorts and figures. The inside 
 is supported on pillars that leave a passage 
 round, and give a light easy air to the edifice. 
 The echo of this building is very strong. 
 
 But the most curious place at Pisa is the Campo 
 Santo, near the battistero ; a long, square gothic 
 cloister of white marble. In the middle is a 
 caemiterium of earth brought from the Holy 
 Land, as ballast to the Pisan galleys, in the days 
 of the republic. In the vaults of the cloister 
 repose the bones of the old citizens of Pisa. 
 Around on the wall are fresco paintings done by 
 the first restorers of the art in Italy — which, al- 
 though they fall infinitely short of the perfection 
 that Raphael long afterwards arrived at, have 
 great merit in the airs of the heads, and also in the 
 whimsical ideas they have introduced into their 
 pieces, some of which would make you laugh. 
 I was myself diverted by the sight of the pro- 
 fessors of the university, stalking up and down 
 the town with huge spectacles on their noses. 
 
 From Pisa I entered a more interesting 
 though much less famous republic, I mean the 
 existing one of Lucca, the prettiest little toy of 
 a commonwealth imaginable. The city, situated 
 in the midst of a small but rich and beautiful 
 
COURTS OF PARIS, NAPLES, &C. 259 
 
 plain, hemmed in on every side by woody hills, 
 is quite round, well fortified, and solidly but not 
 showily built. The ramparts are planted with 
 trees, and afford the most agreeable walk. I 
 have scarce ever felt greater satisfaction than 
 that I enjoyed at the air of plenty, riches, and 
 content, this little tract of land wears ; it is the 
 emblem of real liberty. The government is 
 aristocratic, and has a gonfaloniere and nine 
 anziani at its head, that are changed every two 
 months. It really looks upon its subjects as 
 children, for everybody seems to thrive, and dou- 
 ble crops are reaped here for one that is pro- 
 duced in other states. 
 
 When there was a scarcity of bread some 
 years since throughout Italy, the Lacchese set 
 sentries to prevent exportation of corn, and then 
 distributed it out of the public granaries to the 
 villages, &c., on the easy condition of being 
 reimbursed in the space of nine years. 
 
 The nobility are very rich ; the men the best 
 made in Italy ; extremely polite and affable to 
 strangers. I had an opportunity of knowing 
 some of the Lucchese ladies and gentlemen 
 during the few days I stayed there, having 
 brought a letter from Sir Horace Mann, and was 
 much pleased with their civility and manners. 
 
 I could almost have kissed their state's motto, 
 
 s 2 
 
260 LETTERS FROM THE 
 
 Lihertas^ at the proofs I had of its salutary 
 effects, and should have preferred if, instead of 
 a black, foolish daub, (done, as they say, by 
 Nicodemus,) which they call II porto santo, and 
 which is stamped on their coins, they had done 
 honour to the cap and staff of liberty. 
 
 The sumptuary laws, which forbid the wearing 
 anything but black, is the only thing I should 
 wish altered in this little paradise, as it gives a 
 rather dismal cast to a naturally gay scene.* 
 
 From thence, along the coast, through woods 
 of corks and evergreen oaks, we came to a most 
 picturesque country ; the hills woody, and 
 crowned with ruined castles ; the river Magra 
 rolling through vast plains, planted with mul- 
 berry trees ; the valleys enclosed, full of corn- 
 fields thick set with trees, on which the vines 
 hang from branch to branch along the road. 
 
 We passed through the mountains which 
 
 * Although Lucca is no longer a republic, it enjoys as 
 much liberty, and infinitely more tranquillity and happiness, 
 than perhaps was the case in the days of its independence. 
 His Royal Highness the reigning Duke is universally 
 beloved, and has no other object in view, at least as regards 
 the Duchy of Lucca, than the welfare of his subjects. 
 People may wear what colours they please, and say and do 
 what they please. This is real liberty, and is felt to be so, 
 for Lucca is at present a place of refuge to many who can 
 find no shelter elsewhere. 
 
COURTS OF PARIS, NAPLES, &C. 261 
 
 contain quarries of the famous Carrara marble ; 
 embarked in a felucca at Lerici, and passed to 
 the Gulf of Spezzia, a place replete with every 
 beauty which land and water, united in a populous 
 country, can procure. 
 
 Imagine a large basin of seven miles diameter 
 every way, with three large cultivated islands in 
 the mouth, and Porto Venere and another tower 
 to defend the passage. There are many large 
 fortresses on the shore, along which stand several 
 considerable towns and villages, and round the 
 gulf is a range of beautiful hills rising one 
 above another, entirely covered with olive and 
 fig trees. 
 
 We passed this charming bay too quickly, for 
 soon after we had nothing before us but bare 
 brown mountains and rugged rocks. Night 
 luckily relieved us from this ugly view, and next 
 morning, on doubling the cape, about twenty 
 miles from Genoa, we coasted for many miles 
 under the beautiful mountains which form the 
 Riviera di Levante, covered with buildings, 
 allotted to the velvet manufactories; and as we 
 approached Genoa the fairy landscape increased 
 in beauty. 
 
 At a few miles distance I enjoyed the grandest 
 and most agreeable view imaginable. The am- 
 phitheatre formed by the hills round the city, 
 
262 LETTERS FROM THE 
 
 the palaces and churches, the moles, the light- 
 house, and fine populous coast, are fine beyond 
 description. The port is most beautifully formed 
 by nature, in an exact half-moon. 
 
 I took a sketch of the famous light-house, as 
 well as Fcould by stealth, for nobody is allowed 
 to make draughts of any part of Genoa. In 
 point of beauty of situation that city may vie 
 with any, perhaps, in the world. It is built on a 
 small tract of even ground, which seems stolen 
 from the sea, and occupies principally the eastern 
 part of the crescent. The hills that rise im- 
 mediately above it are covered with villas, which 
 at a distance appear to be part of the town. 
 
 Fish is not very plentiful in the harbour, but 
 the Gulf is much better stocked than is gene- 
 rally imagined ; but, as every fisherman is 
 forced to give to the state the third part of his 
 capture, besides heavy entrance duties, they 
 prefer carrying their fish anywhere rather than 
 to the capital. I saw them take many loassi, 
 sardines, and other fish. At night the port is 
 full of boats with lights, at which a certain sort of 
 fish leaps up, and then lies on the surface of the 
 water, stupified with the glare, till the boatman 
 lances his harpoon into it. 
 
 Towards the land, for a good way, are the 
 palaces of nobles, painted as most of the houses 
 
COURTS OF PARIS, NAPLES, &C. 263 
 
 there are, and very lofty, with terraces to the 
 sea. The roofs of the town houses are covered 
 with earth, and serve as gardens to the great 
 mansions beneath them, being railed round with 
 marble banisters, and ornamented with urns and 
 statues. 
 
 The custom of painting the outsides of the 
 houses with representations of deities, &c., and 
 the dissensions in the families, gave rise to a sort 
 of proverb in the Genoese patois, which is some- 
 thing to this purport : — 
 
 Walls thick and servants thin, 
 
 The gods without, and the devil within. 
 
 The lower class of people inhabit another 
 quarter, near the gate of the old mole, where the 
 burgesses of the city mount guard, in a guard- 
 room situated near the edge of the rock. 
 
 I visited the fortification erected by M. de 
 Boufflers in 1748, when he came to defend the 
 Genoese against the Germans, who had been let 
 into the town by capitulation, and whose troops 
 were quartered in the Borgo di San Pietro 
 d'Arena, and in the mountain near the Borgo 
 della Bisogna. , Their officers had the key of the 
 gate which leads to Turin, and the inhabitants 
 could neither go in nor out without their per- 
 mission. The Genoese nobles, being bound by 
 oath to submit, remained quiet ; but the populace, 
 
264 LETTERS FROM THE 
 
 with three determined leaders, rose, and at length 
 drove the Austrians out of both walls. 
 
 The ringleaders of this rising were Spagnoletto, 
 a shoemaker, Barbarossa, a peasant, and Car- 
 borre, a servant. They fixed a gallows in the 
 piazza della Nunziati, and decreed to hang up all 
 those who should refuse to take arms. They 
 seized on the arsenal, notwithstanding the pro- 
 testation of the doge. One of their chiefs, on 
 being asked what recompense he demanded, 
 contented himself with asking to be made 
 courier, or postman to the republic. The others 
 were made colonels, and received the pay of that 
 rank for their lives. When the Germans returned 
 the French were come, and their fresh attack 
 proved fruitless. 
 
 We stayed a very short time at Genoa. Our 
 road to Campo Marone was all along the river. 
 Upon the hills are an amazing number of 
 country seats, churches, and villages, which, 
 being all white, form a lively prospect, joined to 
 the greenness of the gardens, which are very 
 plentiful thereabouts. We had then a long 
 ascent tlirough a very rough road, and had a fine 
 view of the sea from the summit of the hills. 
 
 The haystacks there are made in a particular 
 manner, and so contrived as to resist the fury of 
 the winds, that blow violently on those heights. 
 
COURTS OF PARIS, NAPLES, &C. 265 
 
 They have a thatched roof, fastened at each 
 corner to a thick pole, which serves, when 
 squeezed down, to keep it fixed. The houses of 
 some of the villages are thatched, a thing not 
 common in Piedmont. 
 
 In the way to Voltagio the mountains are 
 dull and uninteresting — no rocks, no woods, no 
 variety. This part of the Apennines is far 
 inferior to the Alps in diversity of romantic 
 scenes, and the many pleasing prospects amidst 
 rushing waters, huge rocks, and stupendous 
 precipices, which occur in travelling through the 
 latter. 
 
 The road was paved, but very rough ; a tor- 
 rent, scarcely perceptible, rolls along in the hol- 
 low beneath. There is a kind of aqueduct in the 
 valley. These defiles are called La Bocchetta. 
 
 Beyond Voltagio the road runs along the sides 
 of stupendous precipices, which are very disa- 
 greeable sights. On a high rocky mountain in 
 the midst of the Apennine is the fort of Gavio ; 
 the village is at the foot of the hill. The river 
 Leone runs below in the valley : the sand of its 
 bottom is green. 
 
 The women in these mountains and the coun- 
 try about Genoa are very ugly ; all black as 
 gipsies. They plait and twist their coal-black 
 
266 LETTERS FROM THE 
 
 hair in a round upon the crown of their head ; 
 then fasten it together with a large silver or 
 steel bodkin. The front is cropped and kept 
 back with pomatum. In winter they wear a veil 
 of white linen, checked with red flowers, which 
 they throw over their heads ; it falls down to the 
 hips, and some of them hide almost all their faces 
 behind it. 
 
 We passed many mulberry trees planted 
 among vines, and came to Novi, the last town in 
 the Genoese dominions. Its houses are painted 
 on the outside with several colours. 
 
 The country about Alessandria is very like 
 that near most of the fortified towns in French 
 Flanders, — low, bare, and intersected with in- 
 numerable roads. 
 
 Alessandria delta paglia is called so, as some 
 say, from its ancient walls being only dirt and 
 stones, and therefore so nicknamed by the Em- 
 peror Frederick Barbarossa. Others pretend that 
 it was out of derision for the abuse of the great 
 name of Alexandria ; or, more likely, the appella- 
 tion may have come from the great quantity of 
 straw which the capital of so large a corn country 
 might have brought to market. The buildings 
 of this town are poor, the streets narrow. The 
 coaches seem very crazy, for the coachmen stop 
 
COURTS OF PARIS, NAPLES, &C. 267 
 
 short at every gutter to go over quietly, for fear 
 of shaking them to pieces. The Alessandrines 
 have a peculiar jargon of their own. 
 
 We dined late at Asti. The fortifications of 
 this ancient city (formerly Hasta Pompeia) are 
 now quite demolished. It seems to have had a 
 double wall, and what remains of the outwork is 
 singularly constructed, being all built with small 
 arches, only open towards the town. 
 
 We passed San Michaele and Piorino ; the 
 latter town cuts a good figure, as it is situated on 
 the brow of a hill, which terminates a low watery 
 valley. From thence to Turin we travelled in 
 the dark, but we could just see the snowy top of 
 Monte Viso, rising above the rest of the Alps in 
 a conical form. 
 
 Turin, June 6, 1779. 
 
 We liave taken up our abode at " I'Aubetye 
 RoyaUy Soon after our arrival we had a visit 
 from Mr. Poyntz, the charge d'affaires, who ob- 
 tained leave for us to attend the king's ball at La 
 Venerie, his country palace, about three miles from 
 Turin. There was a brilliant assemblage there, 
 of men in showy uniforms, being the elite of the 
 Sardinian army. They are dressed in blue ; the 
 infantry wear white waistcoats and breeches ; the 
 
268 LETTERS FROM THE 
 
 cavalry bufF : a shoulder-knot distinguishes the 
 latter. The officers wear broad laced button- 
 holes, but no epaulettes. Rows of lace distinguish 
 ranks. The uniforms are very neat. 
 
 I was introduced to one or two of the principal 
 Sardinian officers, who spoke to me in Italian. 
 I noticed the peculiarity of their using the B 
 instead of V in their dialect, which illustrates 
 the Sardinian proverb. 
 
 " Felices quibus vivere est bibere." 
 
 The other sense of it is, I understand, equally 
 correct. There being no minuets, the ball was 
 not 30 formal as those things usually are, but the 
 room was a perfect Calcutta. 
 
 The king was on the point of speaking to us, 
 but his bashfulness could not be surmounted, and 
 he sheered offi The Prince of Piedmont spoke 
 to us, and said he recollected Sir Thomas and 
 Mr. Dillon. He is thin and sickly, like a worn- 
 out man. His wife, Madame Clotilde of France, 
 is as fat as butter, very merry and good-natured. 
 She has no children. The Duke de Chablais 
 seems to be a mere driveller — the rest of the 
 princes are absolute Corsican fairies.* The sub- 
 stance and strength of the stock seems quite ex- 
 hausted in them. They are the smallest, under- 
 
 * Alluding to a famous dwarf so styled. 
 
COURTS OF PARIS, NAPLES, &C. 269 
 
 formed things I ever saw, the Corsican fairy 
 excepted. The queen looks like an old woman 
 of ninety, totally withered and worn out. She has 
 had twenty-one children. The Duchess of 
 Chablais is pretty, like Madame d'Artois. The 
 youngest princess is very pretty, light and ele- 
 gant, but very short. The Prince and Princess 
 of Carignan were absent on account of mourning. 
 
 Many of the ladies who danced were particu- 
 larly handsome, and more especially Madame 
 d'Arza. The Spanish ambassador. Villa Her- 
 mosa, is a most easy, polite, good sort of man, 
 just like an Englishman in his manner. We re- 
 turned to Turin at ten o'clock, by moonlight. 
 
 I have since been to their palace in the morn- 
 ing. The first apartment is a large square hall, 
 the ceiling of which is painted in pannels, but 
 spoilt by the fire the French set to it, when they 
 plundered the palace, during the war in the be- 
 ginning of the century. There are ten large 
 pictures of ladies hunting, and below ten hunting 
 pieces of Daniel Mieli, which are full of figures, 
 dressed in the habits of his time. The great gal- 
 lery is superior to that of Versailles for length, 
 height, and breadth, but not so handsomely or- 
 namented. The stables are very extensive;, and 
 the orangery well worth seeing. The church 
 is very fine ; it has a dome in the form of a 
 
270 LETTERS FROM THE 
 
 Greek cross ; its proportions are admirable, and 
 the architecture noble and elegant. There is plenty 
 of game and deer in the park, and a theatre 
 made by plantations of trees ; a labyrinth of horn- 
 beam hedges, a menagerie, several fine broad 
 alleys, and a long mall ; but water is pro- 
 digiously wanted. 
 
 We dined at Mr. Poyntz's with Mr. Head, 
 Mr. Maxwell, and Count Castel Alfieri, a young 
 Piedmontese of the academy. There are few 
 English here, except some youths with their 
 tutors. We drove post to the Valentin, a noble 
 avenue, where we saw several beautiful women ; 
 then to the Italian comedy, where the Arlechino 
 was execrable ; and after that we paid a visit to 
 Madame de St. Gilles, a very agreeable person. 
 
 Turin is supposed to have existed long before 
 Rome, and to have been the capital of the Tau- 
 rini. There are but few remains of antiquity to 
 support its pretensions. When the old walls of 
 the town were destroyed, to make the square 
 near the porta palazzo, many ancient altars and 
 stones were dug out of the foundations, with in- 
 scriptions on them. These are fixed on the 
 walls of the university. The emblem of a bull 
 is supposed to be derived from the ancient 
 Taurini. 
 
 The fortifications are strong, and all the walls 
 
COURTS OF PARIS, NAPLES, &C. 271 
 
 are planted with fine old oaks, which afford a 
 very pleasant shade. The citadel is very strong, 
 and underwent a close siege in 1706, till Prince 
 Eugene drove off the French by the victory he 
 gained in the plains on each side of the Dora. 
 It was there, at the Porte de Secours, that Victor 
 Amedius came to get admittance after his abdi- 
 cation, and was refused by the Baron de Remy. 
 The French made several violent attacks upon 
 this place, but were always repulsed. 
 
 A soldier in the corps of miners, one Pietro 
 Molo, blew himself up, with several companies 
 of French grenadiers, in order to save the fort, 
 which the enemy was on the point of taking. 
 His children enjoy a pension from the king. His 
 noble intention was confided to his companions, 
 whom he desired to get away, and recommend 
 his family to the duke, having resolved to sacri- 
 fice himself for his country. 
 
 Turin is divided into two parts, the old and the 
 new. The new is well built, and chiefly inhabited 
 by the nobility, whose palaces are elegant, and 
 contribute to the embellishment of the town. 
 The interior of them is generally well furnished, 
 with extensive collections of paintings, particularly 
 those of the Marquesses de Fana and d'Ormea. 
 
 We went to the little opera house of Farignan, 
 which is the only one open at this time of the 
 
272 LETTERS FROM THE 
 
 year. No one seems to attend to the music or 
 representation. The ladies receive visits in 
 their boxes, e fanno conversazione. This thea- 
 tre is but ill lighted. It does to dance in dur- 
 ing the carnival, when the opera is held at the 
 grand theatre adjoining the palace, which is 
 very large, and one of the most magnificent in 
 Italy. Its form is exactly that of the section of 
 an e^g ; the stage is very extensive, and they 
 often have twenty or thirty horses upon it. 
 
 The Jews here have a quarter of their own, 
 called Gheto, with a synagogue and burial-place. 
 Every Jew is obliged to wear a yellow ribbon, 
 sewed on the breast of his coat. 
 
 The street which leads to the gate of the Po is 
 the grandest in the city, and probably the finest 
 in Europe. The palace of the Prince of Pied- 
 mont is very handsome. I have not sufficient 
 time at present to give you an exact idea of this 
 small but beautiful city. 
 
 Lyons, June. 
 From Novalesa we set out en j)orteurs, at three 
 o'clock. The heat was excessive, at which our 
 carriers seemed enchanted ! We were seated 
 
COURTS OF PARIS, NAPLES, &C. '273 
 
 on a little stool with a back to it, fixed on poles, 
 which two men bore like chairmen ; and a rope 
 was placed so as to swing our legs upon. In 
 this equipage we were carried up for three hours, 
 through roads where no horsemen could attempt 
 to ride. 
 
 On one side of us, from a cavern in the top of a 
 high rock, gushed forth the river Cencola, which, 
 after falling in several cascades, takes its course 
 along the valley, and discharges itself into the 
 Dora. No words can describe the badness of 
 the roads, which turn incessantly from left to 
 right, from right to left, over rocks and loose 
 stones. A ravine, through which some furious 
 torrent has dashed headlong, and torn up every- 
 thing before it, is a turnpike compared to this. 
 
 We saw no uncommon insects or beasts in our 
 journey. As we ascended, I beheld in succes- 
 sion hawthorn, oak, juniper, larch, laurestinus, 
 beech, barberry, hazel, gooseberry, brier, ash, 
 cherry and sloe, before we reached La Ferriere ; 
 afterwards larch, and crimson polyanthuses. 
 
 A covered way is constructed here, in order to 
 prevent accidents from avalanches. The pastures 
 in the plains are enamelled with red, white, yel- 
 low, and purple pansies, a small flower of bright 
 blue, and plenty of flox adonis. The high peaks 
 on the left are called la come rouge, and la 
 
 VOL. I. T 
 
274 LETTERS FROM THE 
 
 glacihre de Bar. In front is one of the pret- 
 tiest cascades in the Alps. After La Ferriere 
 the larch woods cease. There are, however, 
 many hardy pines. 
 
 From thence to La Grande Croix is a plain, 
 full of white clover, large blue flowers, and a small 
 yellow cistiis. The pastures are covered with 
 white ranunculi, and white heart's-ease. 
 
 I thought the lake small and ugly. The 
 larches near it were blighted. The rocks are of a 
 friable marble, like salt. 
 
 After descending a short distance, we came to 
 the large woods, which are very fine. Soon after 
 begin the spruce firs intermingled with larches 
 and pines, forming a noble forest. 
 
 We arrived at eight at Lans le Bourg, but the 
 baggage did not get down until ten that night, 
 and the carriage not till six the next morning. 
 
 The women on this side of Mont Cenis 
 wear an odd head-dress ; it consists of a piece of 
 blue cloth drawn together, which binds up their 
 hair behind; and in the middle of their fore- 
 head is a square bit of red or green velvet, with 
 some tinsel sewed round it. 
 
 Our road from Modane to St. Michel, a mi- 
 serable inn, lay over rocks and precipices, the 
 mountains above us being covered with firs and 
 birch trees. From thence the rocks above the 
 
COURTS OF PARTS, NAPLKS, &C. 275 
 
 highway are quite perpendicular. They consist 
 of a kind of coarse marble, of a bluish gray co- 
 lour. About St. Jean de Maurienne, goitres 
 are numerous. Indeed, most of the inhabitants of 
 these countries are affected with them, as well as 
 many of the Turin nobility. This protuberance 
 is attributed to the melted snow, which is drank 
 here in spring. 
 
 We travelled along the road above the banks 
 of the Arco, that flows amidst rocks and woods 
 in continual cascades, and crossed it on a bridge 
 of stone and another of wood. The industry of 
 the Savoyards is great ; they improve every little 
 spot of land they find among the rocks. 
 
 We stopped at Aiguebelle, a small town at 
 the bottom of a hill, hemmed in on every side 
 by the mountains. The setting sun afforded us 
 a sight only to be seen in such a country ; its 
 rays, gilding the snowy summits of the mountains, 
 made them appear of a bright fiery colour, and 
 above them the thick white clouds were streaked 
 with three or four reflections of a beautiful rain- 
 bow. 
 
 We travelled all the way to Chambery be- 
 tween ridges of mountains which kept the sun 
 off" us ; — their tops were almost always hid 
 amongst the clouds, and their flanks girded with 
 woods. 
 
 T 2 
 
•276 LETTERS FROM THE 
 
 Montmeilian, noted for its good red wine, 
 stands on the declivity of a hill. High on the 
 top is the fort which was besieged by the French, 
 and taken after a short resistance, in the last 
 wars of Italy. The town is half in ruins, having 
 never been rebuilt since that destructive period. 
 Sudden storms of violent rain prevented our see- 
 ing the convent of the Grande Chartreuse, which 
 is much cried up by travellers. Every stranger 
 is treated with a supper, bed, and breakfast. We 
 travelled beneath the shade of the mountains 
 which encompass it, and slept at Chambery, 
 where there is little to be seen. 
 
 As we proceeded from thence, we enjoyed the 
 sight of a noble waterfall. It issues out of a 
 cleft on the very summit of a lofty mountain, 
 rushes down its side upon a precipice, over which 
 it sprouts with great violence upon the rocks be- 
 low, and forms a most agreeable cascade. The 
 height from its source, as our guide assured us, 
 is more than two hundred toises. After the 
 melting of the snow in spring, it falls down with 
 such force that it comes close to the road, which 
 is at a considerable distance. 
 
 We next reached a spot where the road is cut 
 through a very large rocky mountain, called La 
 Grotta. Charles Emmanuel, second Duke of 
 Savoy, had it blown up, and a pavement made. 
 
COURTS OF PARIS, Is'APLES, &C. '277 
 
 The road is broad but steep, between vast rocks 
 that hang: over it, and at the entrance is an in- 
 scription in Latin, denoting that, in the year 
 1G63, the passage had been cut by the Duke, for 
 tlie relief and convenience of travellers. 
 
 From the top of the cliff", through a cavity, 
 rushes down a stream so strongly impregnated 
 with iron as to stain the rock red ; and further 
 on there is a large grotto, out of which a consi- 
 derable brook rolls forth, and forms a cascade. 
 There is also a spacious cavern without water. 
 
 We dined at Les Echelles, a small place, near 
 which, on two eminences, are the ruins of two old 
 castles. At a little distance from thence, a guide 
 led us up the hills, to the place where a separa- 
 tion has been made of the Savoy from the French 
 territories. A mountain was blown up with 
 gunpowder, and a passage through the middle of 
 t made for the Guyer, which ran before through 
 several holes in the rock. 
 
 We passed along the side of a high smooth 
 rock, polished by the hand of man. The narrow 
 road is rendered safe by a wall of stone cut out 
 of a great crag, which hangs over the precipice. 
 At the end of this passage is a little door, hewn 
 through the stone, by which we came to a narrow 
 wooden bridge, in the centre of which is a pillar 
 with the ileurs de lys on one face, and the white 
 
278 LETTERS FROM THE 
 
 cross on the other. It joins the two roads toge- 
 ther. The water beneath rolls over huge stones 
 and precipices, upon which one can hardly look 
 without dread. The prospect terminates in a 
 vast rocky mountain, from behind which the 
 river pours forth its angry waters. The crags on 
 each side are immensely high, and quite im- 
 practicable. Their summits bend over the 
 valley, almost near enough to touch each 
 other. 
 
 Many ruined castles exist in this part of Savoy, 
 and among them the Chateau de Roquefort, 
 where Mandrin, a famous French smuggler, was 
 taken. The road winds about incessantl}'^, until 
 at length we found ourselves at a surprising 
 height, amidst rocks and precipices, tlirough 
 which rushes the river that separates France 
 from Savoy. The way is hewn out along the 
 side of a large rocky mountain, whose head is 
 covered with clouds. Parapets keep the traveller 
 from tumbling over, which might otherwise hap- 
 pen, as the passage is narrow and slippery. 
 Thickets and rocks hide the precipices ; box 
 bushes are common thereabouts. 
 
 Pont de Beauvoisin is the frontier town of 
 France and Savoy. The little river Guyer 
 divides the town, and the two kingdoms ; the 
 latter join in the middle of the bridge, which 
 is of stone. 
 
COURTS OF PARIS, NAPLES, &C. 279 
 
 On entering- France, chesnut and walnut trees 
 are planted in plenty along the road side, and 
 stone pillars are set up at the distance of every 
 half league. 
 
 I looked back to take leave of the scenery of 
 Savoy, just after a heavy shower of rain, which 
 had refreshed all the atmosphere, and beheld a 
 ridge of mountains tipped with clouds as white 
 as milk ; below, mists rising slowly from the 
 valley, hills covered with wood on one side, on 
 the other rocks of enormous size and height ; 
 hamlets and enclosures without number spangled 
 the valley, and a complete rainbow overarched 
 the whole. 
 
 Lyons is enclosed with a wall of masonry ; it has 
 six gates, all of which are shut at night. The 
 houses near the river are very lofty, and built of 
 white stone. There is one belonging to a ma- 
 gistrate, let out to a number of different families, 
 which brings in 20,000 livres a year to the pro- 
 prietor. The Place Louis le Grand is spacious 
 and well built, with the statue of that monarch 
 in the middle. 
 
 Close to the quay is a famous manufactory of 
 silk and brocades; the designs of which are most 
 delightfully imagined, and the prices of the work 
 reasonable. 
 
 The " Charite' is a building of surprising 
 
280 LETTERS FROM THE 
 
 extent, capable of containing ten thousand people. 
 Here the old and decrepit poor are employed at 
 some easy work, according to their capacity, and 
 here likewise vagabonds are shut up and forced to 
 work ; for not a beggar is suffered in the streets 
 of Lyons. The work of these poor people is so 
 beneficial, that, besides what is sufficient for the 
 nourishment of those within, every week they 
 distribute fifteen hundred loaves of bread to the 
 indigent in the town. 
 
 In front of this building are the ramparts, 
 where the inhabitants take the air in their coaches, 
 as far as the confluence of the two rivers, Rhone 
 and Saone. The difference between the waters 
 of each is as easily perceptible as those of the 
 Rhine and Moselle at Coblentz. The Rhone, 
 rough and impetuous, rushes with fury against 
 the opposite rocks, and daslies back the sleepy 
 waters of the silent Saone a considerable way. As 
 the winds that blow through the openings in the 
 mountains are violent, sudden and unsettled 
 here, no windmills succeed ; therefore watermills 
 are built on the Saone, which renders its naviga- 
 tion extremely dangerous. 
 
 Desirous of seeing the antiquities, I climbed up 
 a steep hill to an open place, where the convents 
 of the Minimes and the Ursulines are built. The 
 gardener of the latter admitted us into the garden. 
 
COURTS OF PARIS, NAPLES, &C. 281 
 
 and led us by the light of a candle down a few 
 old steps into a cavern, which was anciently a bath, 
 or more probably a reservoir, of the Romans, for 
 the waters that were conveyed thither over the 
 hill by aqueducts. This subterranean building 
 is a quadrangular vault, divided into two square 
 rooms, with four doors each, and a gallery that 
 runs quite round them. The walls, roof, and 
 floor are laid with cement, several inches thick, 
 and so hard that not a flaw can be perceived in 
 it, except where it has been broken by hammers, 
 out of curiosity. Two holes are in a corner, one 
 of which served to admit the water, the other to 
 let it run off" when too full. 
 
 In the vineyard of the Minimes are the re- 
 mains of a Roman amphitheatre, which anciently 
 had a communication with the palace of the 
 Roman governors, that stood on the ground where 
 a convent of Visitandine Nuns has since been 
 erected. The good fathers have built their house 
 of the stones of this theatre, and are daily de- 
 stroying it more and more. 
 
 From their convent I walked further up the 
 mountains, to the church of Saint Irenaeus, a 
 bishop who suflered martyrdom in this place. It 
 is the most ancient in Lyons, and built over a sub- 
 terranean chapel, where the primitive Christians 
 hid themselves, and secretly performed the sacred 
 
282 LETTERS FROM THE 
 
 rites, until they were discovered and dragged out 
 to death. The saint's body and that of his com- 
 panions lie in this chapel. On its door is an in- 
 scription in Latin verse, and half way up the hill, 
 against the front of a cottage, are the following- 
 words, engraved on marble : — " Souvenez vous, 
 passans Chretiens, que le sang de nos saints martyrs 
 a coule dans ce chemin-ci, pour la foi de Jesus 
 Christr 
 
 On this mountain stood the ancient Lugdunum. 
 Its old walls yet remain. On its summit are the 
 ruins of a once magnificent aqueduct, which con- 
 veyed water over the mountains from a place 
 eight leagues off. A portion of it is still remain- 
 ing, very solid and thick, built with pebbles, ce- 
 mented together with a bitumen scarcely to be 
 broken with hammers. 
 
 Paris, June. 
 
 AVe passed to Chalons through Villefranche. 
 Its steeple and bridge, with a kind of ruinous 
 citadel behind it, have a lively effect. The men 
 wear little round hats, tied on the top of their 
 heads, with crowns too little to fit. 
 
 Near Beaune we entered the famous wine 
 country of Burgundy. The vines are low, and 
 
COURTS OF PARIS, NAPLES, &C. 283 
 
 are trained to little stakes, or oaken ^chalas^ 
 We passed through a hilly country to Dijon. 
 Its environs are bleak, but the gothic steeples 
 and well-grown trees afford an agreeable view 
 of the city from many points. The streets are 
 wide. There is an equestrian statue of Louis 
 XIV., and in the church two white marble 
 monuments ; the one of Philip, first Duke of 
 Burgundy,* of the second race, and the other of 
 his son John, and that son's wife, a Bavarian. 
 He is styled son of Philip of Burgundy, and Jane 
 the daughter of the king of Bacigne. What this 
 means heaven knows — it may be Boheme ; but 
 Philip married Margaret. of Flanders. 
 
 We passed a pleasant village, where the Bishop 
 of Dijon is building a fine house. There is 
 hereabouts abundance of excellent fruit. Next 
 day we travelled in an ugly open country, near 
 the serpentining river Yonne, down which 
 much wood is floated to Paris. 
 
 The approach to Auxerre is picturesque. Its 
 lofty steeples have a handsome appearance, and 
 the walks round the town are pleasant. 
 
 * Philip of Burgundy, called the Bold, was married at 
 Ghent, in 1639, to Margaret, daughter of Louis de Male, 
 Count of Flanders. She had been previously married to 
 Philip de Rouvre, Duke of Burgundy, in 1534, he being 
 seven, and she only four years old. He died ere he attained 
 manhood. 
 
284 LETTERS FROM THE 
 
 Joigny stands well on the river. Sens is an 
 ugly, ill-built city. Its cathedral is large and 
 gothic. In the choir is the mausoleum of the 
 late dauphin and dauphiness, by Gorton ; a piece 
 of true French confusion, allegory, and want of 
 taste. The country improves near Maret. 
 
 We rested at Fontainbleau, where I visited 
 the palace. The king enters it by the gate 
 which opens upon the Bourbonnois road, and 
 leads into a large court. The apartments which 
 are built round this court are of brick, and are 
 allotted for the reception of officers of state and 
 foreign ministers. The Mathurins, who perform 
 in the chapel, live at one end of it. 
 
 Two flights of steps carry you up to the 
 palace. The gallery of stags is one of the most 
 curious things to be seen there. It is long and 
 well lighted. Between every two windows are 
 placed, on pillars, stags' heads of plaster, with 
 real horns stuck in them. Every pair differs in 
 something from the rest. Some are of an odd 
 form by accident, some by nature, but all are 
 equally surprising, whether by the redundancy 
 or the scarcity of the antlers, and the positions 
 they grew in. Underneath each, is an inscription, 
 denoting the date of the death of the stag they 
 belonged to. The first are of Henry the Fourth's 
 killing. It was in this gallery that Christina 
 
COURTS OF PARIS, NAPLES. &C. 285 
 
 queen of Sweden caused her favourite Mo- 
 naldeschi to be murdered.* 
 
 There is another gallery made by Francis I,, 
 crowded with pictures, each supported by two 
 large figures in stone, and each pannel filled 
 with the cipher and emblem of the founder, viz. 
 a salamander. This gallery was one of the 
 first architectural essays after the restoration of 
 the arts in France. 
 
 The chapel is very long ; full of ancient gild- 
 ings and ornaments. On the ceiling is painted 
 the history of the creation of the world. The 
 pavement is of blue and white marble. The 
 apartments of the royal family are not very ex- 
 traordinary. In one of the queen's rooms is a 
 ceiling and floor, which my guide assured me 
 had been there since the days of St. Louis. 
 
 I saw a great deal of fine tapestry, among the 
 rest Le Brun's battles of Alexander, copied at 
 
 * An Italian by birth, who had long been master of 
 the horse, confident and favourite to Christine. Becom- 
 ing tired of him at length, she determined to have him 
 murdered, and she put her resolve into execution with so 
 much sang froid, that she sent a confessor to him, and bade 
 him prepare for death. Neither the supplications of the 
 victim, nor the remonstrances of her own confessor, could 
 turn her from her purpose. The unfortunate wretch was 
 assassinated by one of her own servants, in the gallery des 
 Cerfs, at Fontainbleau, in 1057. 
 
286 LETTERS FROM THE 
 
 the Gobelins. There is a good picture of Louis 
 XIII. m the king's bedchamber ; the wainscot 
 panels of which are as fine as gold and allego- 
 rical paintings can make them. The bed is blue, 
 embroidered with silver. 
 
 Next to these is a council-room, where the 
 preliminaries of peace were signed in 1763 by 
 the Dukes of Bedford and Praslin.* In one of 
 the courts is a large piece of water, stocked with 
 carp of a most amazing magnitude. 
 
 Fontainbleau is situated in the midst of an 
 extensive sandy valle}^ encompassed on every 
 side by barren craggy hills or woods. An infi- 
 nity of straight paths are cut through the forest on 
 every side, for the convenience of stag-hunting. 
 We travelled through a delightful wilderness of 
 young trees and brushwood, and saw at a dis- 
 tance eminences of stone, covered with heath and 
 small birch trees. They convey an idea of the old 
 tumuli raised to the honour of deceased heroes, 
 in the northern parts of Europe. 
 
 We proceeded through thick woods of tall old 
 
 * John, Fourth Duke of Bedford, who was appointed am- 
 bassador to the Court of Versailles in 1762, and on the 10th 
 of February 1763 signed the peace between England, France, 
 Spain, and Portugal, called the peace of Fontainbleau. M. de 
 Praslin, cousin to the Duke de Choiseul, was minister of 
 Marine. 
 
COURTS OF PARIS, NAPLES, &C. 287 
 
 oaks, that intertwined their branches across the 
 road, and arrived about two at the Royal Hotel 
 in Paris. I lost no time in sending the Queen of 
 Naples's letter to her ambassador, Casafacioli, to 
 deliver to her sister the Queen of France. 
 
 London, July. 
 
 I stopped at Chantilly in my way from Paris. 
 It is low and ugly. The most ridiculous serpen- 
 tine walks are made round a square pond, with- 
 out shrubs or variety ; and on one side a channel 
 following it, as broad as a basin. We slept at 
 Clermont. Fitzjames is extensive, but dull. The 
 cathedral makes a good figure at Amiens. 
 
 We met at Calais the Duchess of Devonshire, 
 with Lord and Lady Spencer, and Lady Anne 
 Spencer, on their way to Spa ; — and I had the 
 first sight of my Spanish travels in print, which 
 were lent me by the charming duchess, in the 
 most flattering manner. She has an exquisite 
 figure, and a sweet countenance, though I have 
 seen many more striking as to beauty ; but she 
 seems the picture of candour and innocence. 
 
283 LETTERS FROM THE 
 
 Hamsterley, Sept, Ath, 1779. 
 
 I have spent three weeks agreeably at my 
 brother's new lodge at Mounces, on the Moors, 
 where we had fine weather and excellent sport ; 
 also some pleasant parties at Lord Percy's castle at 
 Keelder, with Lord and Lady Percy, Lord Ayles- 
 ford, Mr. Charlton, and Mr. Hall. We had the 
 border toast, viz. "The sheep of the border, that 
 claes onr back and crams our weam, and may 
 the shank bane of every sheep mak a whittle 
 haft to cut the throats of our enemies wi'." 
 
 At Keelder is a large stone or tomb, called 
 Brand's Well, a famous, but now unknown hero 
 of these hills. 
 
 I rode to the head of the Tyne, which is at a 
 sulphureous cold well, where people come to 
 bathe ; it is in a wide vale, with bare hills on both 
 sides, from north to south. The place where the 
 water rises is the highest point of the valley, and 
 swells up so as to be able to let the water out 
 either way ; the bathers lodge in a kind of village 
 close by. However, I am inclined to think the 
 source of the Tyne is really at the head of Dead- 
 water, a current which comes out east from the 
 northern hills, but is not called Tyne till it joins 
 Keelder at the lodge, where stood Bells chapel, 
 
COURTS OF PARIS, NAPLES, &0. 289 
 
 of wliicli nothing remains but part of a cross, and 
 some large grave-stones. 
 
 I dined at Beaufront with Mr. Errington, who 
 is as cracked as ever man was. I wonder he is 
 still allowed to be at large, and to see company. 
 He has the mania of fancying he has been 
 created Duke of Hexham. He has erected a 
 pillar in his grounds, with the ducal arms, sup- 
 porters and coronet, on Stagshaw bank ; a most 
 public station, as it is the rendezvous of an 
 annual fair. A foreign title is his idea, for a 
 foreign crown is over his door. 
 
 I joined my brother at Capheaton, who is not 
 a little glad to get home, after having been taken 
 prisoner.* We had a large party on the oc- 
 casion. Lord Adam Gordon and many officers. 
 Sir M. Ridley, Mr. Riddell of Swinburne, &c. 
 Mem. Sir M. Ridley's father was the miller of 
 Blao:don mill. Mr. Riddell's father lived at Fen- 
 ham, and was called " the auld fox of Fenham", 
 as old Sir John Swinburne was styled "the 
 auld carl of Capheaton.'' 
 
 I send you my adieus to Mounces. 
 
 Je quitte done deniain ce montagneux asile, 
 Ou le ciel, a mes vceux rendu moins difficile, 
 
 * He was taken prisoner on board a ship coming from the 
 Continent. 
 
 VOL. I. V 
 
290 LETTERS FROM THE 
 
 A permi pour un terns I'oubli de mes malheurs. 
 
 Ah ! puis-je le quitter sans repandre des pleurs? 
 
 Loin de tous les objets ou mon ame ulceree, 
 
 Revoit sous maintes formes une image adoree.* 
 
 Loin des ennuis mortels, qu'entraine un peu de bien, 
 
 J'avais pu m'etourdir en ne pensant a rien. 
 
 Demain done finira ce train de vie aimable, 
 
 Mes soucis renaitront — mon bonheur est au diable. 
 
 Que le sommeil est doux I le reveil prompt et frais ! 
 
 Quand les premiers rayons eclairent nos volets, 
 
 De la cime obscurcie ecartant les nuages, 
 
 Le soleil nous annonce un jour libre d'orages. 
 
 Ardens et pleins d'espoir, nos chasseurs empresses, 
 
 Grimpent sur ces monts noirs, I'un sur I'autre entasses. 
 
 Oil I'industrie humaine inconnue 
 
 Laisse voir la Nature originelle et nue — 
 
 Adam les reverroit avee affection, 
 
 Porter en corps I'habit de leur creation. 
 
 Le chien hardi, nerveux, sur un terrain immense, 
 
 Passe comme un eclair, vers le gibier s'avance, 
 
 Le suit, s'arrete et reste immobile — attentif — 
 
 Le chasseur suit de pres d'un pas ferme et hatif — 
 
 Un cri s'eleve — on part — c'est le coq de bruyere I 
 
 Mais il tombe a I'instant sous Farme meurtriere. 
 
 Pres du faite ondoyant de ces Alpes du Nord, 
 
 Une eau fraiche et limpide echappe sans effort ; 
 
 En vain veut elle fair — la mousse, la fougere, 
 
 Par un mur spongieux arretent sa carriere. 
 
 Ici sur le midi, content de nos succes, 
 
 Nous portons au diner grand faim, peu d'apprets ; 
 
 Puis sur I'herbe etendus, (sofa doux quoique agreste) 
 
 Nous digerons en paix, et dormons la sieste. 
 
 * His daughter. 
 
COURTS OF PARIS, NAPLES, Scc. 291 
 
 Le zephir parfume, I'air pur, delicieux, 
 Assoupissent nos sens — ainsi dormoient les dieux. 
 
 Plymouth, Oct. 2. 
 
 From Newby, (Lord Grantham's,) a finely 
 furnished house with capital antiques, Sir Thomas 
 and I set out for the camp of cavalry at Exeter. 
 The country is hilly about there, with much 
 moor, and very bad roads, and horrible bridges. 
 
 I visited Mr. Parker at Saltram, where we 
 met Lord Grantham, Mr. and Miss Robinson, 
 the Duke and Duchess of Rutland, Colonel 
 Hervey, and Admiral Shuldham. Saltram is in 
 a noble situation, commanding a view of Cat- 
 water, Plymouth citadel and Mount Edgcumbe, 
 and has a fine hanging wood and walk of two 
 miles about the water. The house is grand. 
 
 Our first expedition from thence was up the 
 Plym, a charming ride for miles, through vales 
 and hanging oak woods of vast extent. Salmon 
 abounds in this little river. From the Barn, four 
 miles south of Saltram, is a glorious view of all the 
 Sound, Plymouth, its forts and islands, the Ha- 
 moaze, docks, shipping, Mount Edgcumbe, and 
 the camps. 
 
 Our next course took us across the Lavy at 
 
 u 2 
 
292 LETTERS FROM THE 
 
 low water, and we rode through Plymouth, which 
 is ill paved and ugly ; thence two miles further 
 on to Dock, on as bad a road as any in England ; 
 took boat at Malton Cove, crossed the Narrows, 
 and landed near the low gate of Mount Edg- 
 cumbe. Avenues lead up to the house ; a good ap- 
 proach, low gardens, charming views of the sea, 
 shipping, fort, islands, &c. 
 
 The vegetation is surprising — such handsome 
 evergreens, cypresses, magnolias, myrtles, all 
 blooming in the open air. The house is gothic 
 and ill constructed, with an ugly hall of Devon- 
 shire marble ; but tliere is no describing tlie gran- 
 deur of the prospects. 
 
 There is a new road cut along the side of the 
 hill towards the sea, through a wilderness of pines, 
 arbutus, and other evergreens. Close to the park is 
 Maker Church, from the steeple of which are made 
 the signals ; and near it is an encampment. 
 
 The dock-yard is a grand piece of work. All 
 the buildings are constructed of the materials 
 dug out to form the docks — a marble excellent 
 for lime. 
 
 We went with a large party to meet the Duke 
 of Rutland's regiment, commanded by Colonel 
 St. Leger, coming into barracks ; then went on 
 board the Ocean, Capt. Ourry, and sailed into 
 the Sound, saluting the Lord Admiral, &c. 
 
 Next day we left Saltram for Bath. 
 
COURTS OF PARIS, NAPLES, &C. 293 
 
 London, Jan. 5, 1780. 
 
 I am just returned from a visit at Belvoir 
 
 Castle, in company with Sir Thomas G . It 
 
 is the worst disposed and coldest house in England, 
 and I doubt whether anything can ever be made 
 of it, on account of its exposed bleak situation, 
 and the inconvenient plan it is constructed upon.* 
 The oldest parts are Rose's and Stanton's tower ; 
 the latter so called, because the holder of Stan- 
 ton estate is obliged to come, on summons, with a 
 hundred men, to defend that tower. The cellar 
 under it is curious for its roof. The chapel 
 seems ancient ; the rest is modernized and very 
 ugly. Long reaches of even wall render the 
 general appearance of Belvoir, from below and 
 from the other hills, like a Patagonian sheep- 
 fold. The gallery is low, but very long, and the 
 picture-room is good. The bed-chambers are 
 bad ; all too low in the ceilings. 
 
 The Duke and Duchess were very polite and 
 hospitable. It is impossible to do the honours 
 better than she does, or to be more pleasing ; 
 indeed, to look at her is of itself a gratification, 
 
 * This opinion has not been confirmed; for the skill of 
 the architect, and the good taste of the present Duke, have 
 rendered Belvoir Castle one of the most comfortable, as it 
 is one of the noblest, habitations in Great Britain. 
 
294 LETTERS FROM THE 
 
 for she is extraordinarily beautiful.* They have 
 three little children. 
 
 The party in the castle, besides ourselves and 
 the famil}^, consisted of Lord Chatham, the 
 Thorotons, Messrs. Pulteney,t Taylor, and 
 Crofts, Sir Joshua Reynolds, and Mr. Chamber- 
 layn, a blind man who rides extremely hard 
 fox-hunting, and tells wonderful stories.]; The 
 hours were very irregular. 
 
 * Few women in Europe surpassed either of the two last 
 Duchesses of Rutland, in grace, beauty, and every good qua- 
 lity that can exalt or adorn the sex. Mr. Swinburne of 
 course alluded to the Duchess Isabella, daughter of Charles, 
 fourth Duke of Beaufort. 
 
 f Afterwards Sir James, who was seci'etary at war and 
 married Lady Bath. 
 
 X One of the stories attributed to him, though it has been 
 given to another equally celebrated dealer in fiction, runs 
 thus : He was talking of his travels in Switzerland, where, par 
 parenthese, he had never been ; so some one asked him if he 
 recollected Mont Blanc. " I shall not easily forget it," re- 
 plied he, " for I never had such sport in all my life — Nim- 
 rod the hunter, who did things in good form, never bagged 
 such game." " Sport on Mont Blanc !" exclaimed the 
 other. " Yes. " " What ! chamois I" " No, sir, cheru- 
 bim — ah, you may well stare ! But cherubim, I repeat, as 
 sure as they and seraphim continually do cry." Being 
 pressed to explain, he continued, — " Egad, I had scarcely 
 reached the summit before Bang, my pet spaniel, bolted for- 
 ward, and in a few seconds ran back wagging his tail, and 
 — may I be set down as a goose if he did not drop a che- 
 rubim at ray feet. Poor little thing — it had evidently 
 staid out rather late, lost its way among the clouds, and had 
 
COURTS OF PAKIS, NAPLES, &C. '295 
 
 There is an extensive, but interesting view 
 from the brow of the hill. The castle looks well 
 from some points of the woods. The library is 
 well stored with old books of history, antiquity, 
 and jurisprudence. 
 
 I accompanied Sir Thomas and Sir Joshua to 
 Burleigh, where we saw the pictures. It is far 
 from being a capital collection. The Raphael is 
 undoubtedly a copy, and the Carlo Dolci a very 
 ignoble character. Some heads and sketches 
 are excellent. Two monkeys in fine habits, by 
 Teniers, are very good. 
 
 I have, since my return, been to see Sir Joshua's 
 picture of the Nativity, for the new college at 
 Oxford, where it is to be executed on glass. 
 Non mi place! It is a sad, monstrous, bad-co- 
 loured thing. 
 
 We were at a pleasant dinner yesterday at 
 Mr. John Pitts, where were Lord and Lady 
 Edgcumbe, * with their cub of a son in a high- 
 been half frozen; so I just wet its lips with a little brandy, 
 placed it in my bosom, and carried it down to Chamouny, 
 where it quickly revived. I then put it into a cage, and had 
 the pleasure to hear it sing. I intended to bring it over as 
 a present to Wilberforce, but my pious intentions were 
 frustrated." " Why! what became of it ?" " Confound it, 
 sir, the cursed cat ate it." 
 
 * The then Viscount Edgcumbe, who was raised to the 
 earldom of Mount Edgcumbe in 1789. The youth in the 
 highland dress was the present earl's father. 
 
296 LETTERS FROM THE 
 
 land dress; and Mrs. Greville, a charming wo- 
 man, whom I sat next to, and whose agreeable 
 way of conversing delighted me. From thence 
 we went to Lady Lucan's rout. Her own draw- 
 ings and paintings furnish the rooms. 
 
 Oslend, Feb. 17. 
 
 We were tempted by Mr. Elliot, the British 
 envoy at Brussels, to come hither in his sloop 
 from Margate, after paying a visit to Lord Hol- 
 land at Kingsgate, so called from the landing of 
 Charles and James in 1683. We embarked at 
 seven in the evening; the sea was extremely 
 rough, and we rolled much all night. Our 
 people appeared to know little of the coast, for 
 when we discovered at daybreak the Flemish 
 downs, they disputed about which was Nieuport, 
 and which Ostend. I convinced them that what 
 we saw was neither one nor t'other, but a place to 
 the north of Ostend ; so we had to veer about, and 
 with such unskilful steersmen and so feeble a 
 crew, that it was a work of great difficulty and 
 danger. 
 
 By the help of some Tuscan mariners, who 
 were passengers, we accomj)lished it, and bore 
 
COURTS OF PARIS, NAPLES, &C. 297 
 
 away fifteen miles soutliward along the shore, 
 running with the strength of a high tide over 
 sandbanks and shoals, where few ships ever 
 passed with impunity. About one we came off 
 the harbour of Ostend, but as the tide ebbed, we 
 could not get in. The rain and wind increased ; 
 the sea ran mountains high, and the ship tossed 
 about so cruelly, that we boldly ventured into an 
 English boat, and got safe into Ostend, though 
 with great risk and a complete wetting. The 
 ship did not get in till seven hours after. 
 
 Mr. Elliot set off for Brussels. We were com- 
 pelled to remain for want of horses. Many 
 Dutch, English, and Baltic trading ships are in 
 the harbour. Its entrance is dangerous, and 
 many vessels are lost there. The women dress 
 here in coloured camlet hoods and cloaks ; the 
 mariners in blue tunics over red waistcoats. 
 
 Rheims, Feb. 23. 
 
 We left Ostend on the 18th, hired four carriage 
 horses very dear, on account of the tricks of the 
 postmasters, but had no trouble at all at the 
 Douane. We traversed an ugly country to 
 Ypres. They give the horses brown bjead in a 
 
298 LETTERS FROM THE 
 
 trough. The price of posting is expensive in 
 
 the empress queen's dominions. 
 
 Passed Menin, a dismantled frontier town. 
 
 Its remaining gate has the French arms over it. 
 
 There are a number of harpies in the shape of 
 
 covimis on both frontiers, but a few sous set all 
 
 right and easy. 
 
 The road to Lille is almost impassable. The 
 
 streets are quite infectious, from the cartloads of 
 
 dirt carried out for manure. 
 
 We travelled through avenues of Lombardy 
 
 poplars to Cambray, in frost and snow. They 
 
 advertise there the sale of red and black ashes 
 for manure. I bought some ruSies,fabjique dii 
 
 pays. 
 
 From Cambray we had most abominable roads, 
 over woody hills and deep fields, to Laon ; it was 
 hard labour to get there at all. The king's 
 founderies are near La Fere. About Laon we 
 began to get into a wine country. Laon is a 
 small city of an oblong form, situated upon a 
 commanding eminence. The steeples of the 
 cathedral are singular and intricate ; the outside 
 is supported by pillars. 
 
 We arrived at Rheims after a tedious drive ; 
 for the narrow wheels of the carts and wagons 
 cut up the roads, and render them very rough. 
 Tlie country is bare and ugly. My sister, Mrs. 
 
COURTS OF PARIS, NAPLES, &C. 299 
 
 Charlton, who resides here, was much pleased 
 to see me, and persuaded me to remain a couple 
 of days with her. 
 
 Rheims is ill built, the houses of wood, and 
 the streets narrow, with a broad kennel in the 
 middle. The great square is handsome. There 
 is a bronze statue of Louis XV,, a very middling 
 performance, the hands and arms long and 
 withered, the attitude heavy and ill expressed. 
 It bears an inscription something to this purport — 
 
 De I'amour des Fran^ais instruisez la terre, 
 Louis fit ici le serment d'etre leur pere, 
 Serment qu'il ne viola jamais, &c. 
 
 Two colossal statues support the pe(J^stal, 
 which I took for Peace or Abundance, and Forti- 
 tude ; but I ought to have suspected French alle- 
 gory of lying deeper, for in the description of 
 the place I find that one (a woman with a lion 
 and rudder) is moderate government, and the 
 other, (a man sitting leaning on his arm,) the 
 happiness of the people under that government. 
 Oedipus himself would have been puzzled to 
 make out this enigma. 
 
 The abbey of St. Nicaise is a beautiful gothic 
 church. It contains an ancient sarcophagus of 
 great size, with basso relievos representing a 
 hero hunting a lion, attended by figures dressed 
 
300 LLTIIRS FROM THE 
 
 as Daciaiis ; one has a Phrygian cap, and, but 
 for their beards, they might all be Phrygians ; but 
 I do not recollect ever to have seen that nation 
 portrayed with beards. The sculpture is not 
 of the best time, but before Constantine. 
 
 The St. Ampoule is kept at the Benedictine 
 Abbey of St, Remy ; * a very ngly old gothic 
 edifice, of the first ages of French devotion, with 
 stumpy, thick pillars clustered together, and 
 clumsy capitals, some of which have binds — an 
 old mode in the gothic style. This architec- 
 ture, though shorter in its proportions, has a 
 great affinity with that of Durham Abbey. 
 
 The cathedral in the centre of Rheims is a 
 stup^dous pile, and as much crowded with 
 statues as the Domo of Milan. Thouoh a won- 
 derful piece of gothic magnificence, I confess 
 that York Minster pleases me more. The paint- 
 
 * The St. Anipoule, or holy phial, which contains the con- 
 secrated oil made use of to anoint the French monarchs 
 from Clovis down to Charles X., was, according to tradition, 
 brought down from heaven by a dove, and delivered into the 
 hands of St Remy, who was apprized of its object by a 
 vision. This holy phial was taken from the abbey in 1793, 
 and broken to atoms by one of the sacrilegious deputies of 
 the National Convention ; but the clergy now assert, at least 
 they did so prior to the coronation of Charles X., that the 
 phial broken by the terrorists was not the real St. Ampoule, 
 but a f'ac-simile, the true relic having been secreted and 
 preserved. 
 
COURTS OF PARIS, NAPLES, &C. 301 
 
 ed glass is admirable ; the fine red purple 
 among- it is peculiarly pleasing to the eye. 
 
 To end the evening, my sister took me to au 
 assembly and supper, of very queer-looking folk, 
 but, en i^evanche, we had excellent champagne. 
 
 Paris, March 1, 1780. 
 
 From Rheims the country improves, and about 
 Fismes grows hilly and agreeable. Soissons has 
 a good appearance, though it is rather a desolate 
 city. We passed extensive forests of beech and 
 other timber of considerable size, cut into rides, 
 belonging to the Duke of Orleans, who has a 
 seat thereabouts. We slept at Villers Cotterets, 
 and next day reached Paris, through avenues 
 pruned up like broomsticks. 
 
 I have seen Jerningham, Laville, and my two 
 nephews at the English Monks, where I dined 
 with them, and supped with Madame Martin- 
 ville, with the Due de Lauzun and M. de 
 Vismes. 
 
 I went last night to see the opera of Atys — the 
 words by Quenault. That horrid screamer, 
 Mile, des Plant, was worse than ever. The 
 dances were moelleuses ; but young Vestris and 
 
302 LETTERS FROM THE 
 
 Madame Theodore were charming. Edward 
 Dillon has just got the regiment of Guienne 
 infantry. 
 
 {Without date.) 
 
 We left Paris on the second, on our way to 
 Fontainbleau, where the quantity of country 
 seats on the verge of the forest has a fine effect in 
 the landscape. Madame de Montesson's villa is 
 one of the largest, and commands a noble pros- 
 pect : — the forest, even without leaves, is magni- 
 ficent. We came in sight of the Loire, near Briare, 
 about noon, and enjoyed the grand and unequalled 
 prospects which that noble river affords — such a 
 fine reach of winding water, with a noble breadth 
 of surface, such luxuriance of culture, and variety 
 of country. As w^e advanced, all these beauties 
 increased upon us. From the brow above Pouilly 
 is the most enchanting coup d'ceil imaginable. 
 
 Nevers is an ugly town. The motto over its 
 northern gate is a sample of French flattery, 
 viz. — " Au grand homme modeste, au pere de son 
 peuple, au maitre de nos coeurs.'" This was meant 
 for Louis Quinze, dans les beaux jours de son 
 regne* 
 
 * The name given to Louis XV., dans les beaux jours de 
 son regne, was " le bien aim'e,'' an honourable epithet that he 
 
COURTS OF PARIS, iNAPLES, &C-. 303 
 
 Moulins is a pretty city, with walks and foun- 
 tains. The bridge over the AUier is handsome. 
 There are many mulberry trees, and the envi- 
 rons are gay and pleasant : the female knife- 
 sellers are as tormenting as Italian beggars. 
 
 We breakfasted at La Palisse, an ugly seat of 
 the Chabannes family, who reside there half the 
 year. The Loire begins to be navigable about 
 Roanne. Crowds of long slender boats, that ply 
 on it, are loaded with all sorts of merchandise 
 from Lyons, and many with a bad kind of coal. 
 The president de St. Vincent has a large country- 
 house there, with terraces one above the other, 
 and a fine stream below. 
 
 At Chateau Morand, a seat of the Mirepoix, 
 one enjoys a most extensive prospect to the 
 north, where the view is only arrested by the 
 dimness of the horizon. From thence are steep 
 
 did not long retain ; for the love of his subjects was soon 
 converted into hatred and contempt. The following lines 
 were in the mouths of all the people many years before his 
 death : 
 
 Le bien aime de I'Almanac, 
 
 N'est pas le bien aime de la France ; 
 
 II fait tout ab hoc ab hac, 
 
 Le bien aime de I'Almanac. 
 
 II met tout dans le meme sac, 
 
 Et la justice et la finance ; 
 
 Le bien aime de I'Almanac, 
 
 N'est pas le bien aime de la France ! 
 
304 LETTERS FROM THE 
 
 mountains with snow on their summits, and a 
 most wild landscape. We descended the long 
 Montague de Tarare, through eminences of 
 very agreeable aspect, and fine woods of oak and 
 silver firs, with country-seats and villages below. 
 The vale of Bresle is very rich and handsome ; 
 but the roads are most abominable. 
 
 We met the Baron de Polnitz at Lyons, and 
 went to see " Les Plaideurs^ of Racine, 
 wretchedly acted. The afterpiece was Midas, 
 with Gretry's music, but so ill sung, that Midas 
 himself, so far from being wrong in his judg- 
 ment, would have deserved his ass's ears if he 
 had not condemned Apollo. It was a full house, 
 with innumerable ugly women. 
 
 We aoreed with a vetturino to take us to 
 Turin in seven days, for twenty-four louis, and 
 found it a very comfortable way of travelling, 
 having laid in a good stock of hermitage and 
 tongues. The rivers are delightful on entering 
 Savoy, and we had good roads, which were more 
 enjoyable for being a novelt}'. 
 
 At Turin we dined at Lord Mountstuart's, (the 
 British envoy,) with Lord Herbert, &c. ; next 
 day, at the Comte de Monstresol's. We then 
 continued our route through Alessandria to Fio- 
 renzolo. 
 
 I remarked the method of dressing vines in 
 
COURTS OF PARTS, NAPLES, &C. 305 
 
 this part of Lombardy. Among the rows of 
 corn is a row of fallow, in the midst of which 
 grows the vine, supported by small poles stuck 
 in lattice wire. On each side, the twigs are 
 carried out to larger poles, stuck into the ground 
 so as to slope out very much at top ; and the ar- 
 rangement altogether forms a funnel. 
 
 On the 22d we ariived at Parma. Went to 
 the Boschettina. I admired the Madonna della 
 Scobella of Correggio, particularly the Infant 
 Jesus — his eyes and graceful attitude ; it is 
 Divinity itself. What I found fault with, (if 
 such an expression can be allowable,) was the 
 heaviness of the clouds. 
 
 We visited the Benedictine refectory, to see 
 Correggio's Last Supper. I learnt here the man- 
 ner of the death of the late Infant Don Philip, 
 who fell from his horse, and was devoured by his 
 own hounds.* It was given out that he was taken 
 ill at Alessandria, where he had been to see a 
 favourite lady whom he wished to marry. 
 
 His son, now reigning, is a fat fool, doats upon 
 the Dominican friars, gets up at daybreak to 
 go to matins, and plagues the poor priests out of 
 their lives if they do not attend to all their duties. 
 His wife, the Archduchess Maria Amelia, is a 
 
 * The Infanta Don Philip of Parma is said by his biogra- 
 phers to have died of small-pox in 1759. 
 
 VOL. I. X 
 
306 LETTERS FROM THE 
 
 very bad paymistrcss. She buys a horse one 
 day upon tick, to sell it the next for half price, 
 to raise the wind. The Grand Master of Loretto 
 is just returned hither from Parma, where he 
 has been in vain soliciting payment for his bill 
 of expenses, (400 sequins,) whilst she was at his 
 house. The hereditary prince has a separate 
 household. 
 
 There are two pieces of the divine Correggio 
 in a side chapel of the cathedral, which is as 
 dark as pitch. 
 
 The palace is pitiful. The plan M. du Tillot 
 had adopted for building it was sumptuous, but 
 as he opposed the duke's marriage with the arch- 
 duchess, she has taken care it should be laid 
 aside. The old palace was never finished ; in it 
 is the great Farnesian theatre, last made use of 
 when Don Carlos was here. It is in the style 
 of a Roman theatre. The orchestra is on the 
 right hand of the audience, in a recess of the 
 pit. There are no stage-boxes, nor any partitions. 
 The pit can be filled with water, if required, for 
 Naumachias. It holds 14,000 persons, and 
 would require 11,000 francs worth of wax to illu- 
 minate it. It is now useless. 
 
 There is a bad French bust there of the Infant 
 Don Philip, and one of the empress his daughter, 
 (Elizabeth, first wife of Joseph II.) She was a 
 
COURTS OF PARIS, NAPLES, &C. 307 
 
 most accomplished creature; — but to what end 
 were all her talents and charms ! In a humble 
 sphere I could furnish a parallel. 
 
 I saw many good Parmeggianos, one Schidone, 
 and the beauty of beauties, the Correggio, as fresh 
 as the day it was painted. I could have gazed 
 on it for ever. Such brilliancy, such expression, 
 such truth of colour ! The smile of the Virgin 
 is so noble, natural, and complacent, no copy 
 would ever come up to it, and not Raphael him- 
 self, divine as he is, ca,n do more for my feel- 
 ings than Correggio. It is on figtree wood. The 
 picture was painted in 1523, for Donna Cola, 
 wife of Orazio Mergongi, for four hundred livres, 
 equal to one hundred sequins now. She was so 
 pleased with it, that she gave him over and above 
 his bargain a sow, two loads of fagots, and some 
 sacks of corn. This account is taken from a 
 MS. of the Custodes Batistero, and contradicts 
 the story of Correggio having been ill paid, and 
 dying from the fatigue of carrying the picture. 
 
 We journeyed to Modena, and saw the hospital 
 built by the late duke, called Pantheon Atestinum. 
 His statue is in coarse white marble, looking 
 like a fool as much as the original could do. 
 The Duomo is gloomy. 
 
 We next passed through a country producing 
 little corn, but studded with elms, pollarded to 
 
 X 2 
 
308 LETTERS FROiM THE 
 
 death. At San Arcangelo is a brick and stucco 
 arch, erected to Pope Ganganelli, who was born 
 here. The cultivation is very poor throughout 
 this most charming country. 
 
 Near Rimini I came in sight of the Adriatic 
 Sea ; the shore is planted with mulberries and 
 vines to the water's edge. The tints in the 
 waves were very singular and strangely marked ; 
 the first line dark bluish green, going off into a 
 bright yellow green, terminating near the land 
 in a muddy yellow. 
 
 Rimini is large and ugly ; the famous bridge 
 of Augustus, though of marble, resembles Tibur- 
 tine stone. Its architecture is simple. 
 
 At the other end of the town is a triumphal 
 arch, erected in honour of Augustus, repaired 
 with brick. The unfinished Franciscan church 
 was erected in 1450, by Sigismund Pandolfo 
 Malatesta, Lord of Rimini. It is crowded in 
 every part with his cipher and arms. The 
 inside is heaped with statues and embroidered 
 with foliages, of the time of the first revival of 
 arts in Florence. 
 
 We passed through Cuma, a large city, 
 prettily situated, the native place of Pius VI., and 
 slept at Pesaro, near which is Gradasa, a seat of 
 the Marchesa Mosca, formerly the villa of the 
 Dukes of Urbino. It is delightfully situated, 
 
COURTS OF PARIS, NAPLES, &C. 309 
 
 with a fine land and water prospect, and has a 
 pleasant walk along the river down to the port 
 on the sea. Not a shell is to be found on the 
 sea shore. Tamarisks grow in the hedges, 
 and lambs without end are selling for Easter 
 Sunday. 
 
 Pesaro was the winter residence of the sove- 
 reigns of Urbino, and at that time the most 
 agreeable place in Italy, and the school of 
 politeness and gallantry. It is a large well- 
 built city, with many palaces, monuments of its 
 ancient grandeur. It is inhabited by a poor 
 nobility, and almost ruined by the change of 
 masters ; which is the case of almost all the lesser 
 towns on the coast. The air of Pesaro is not 
 good in summer. 
 
 There are very pretty women about Fano, a 
 pleasant town on the beach. Sinigaglia is a 
 more stirring place, and has a canal and quay, 
 with a whole quarter newly built, amongst which 
 the unfinished college of the Jesuits cuts a great 
 figure. The view from thence of Ancona is 
 beautiful ; its promontory and buildings ad- 
 vancing into the sea are noble objects ; the 
 richest cultivation on all its hills renders its 
 environs delicious. The Lazaretto is a grand 
 pentagon in an island. The ascent and descent 
 to and from the town are veiy steep, but the 
 
310 LETTERS FROM THE 
 
 roads are good. Trajan's arch is on the pier, 
 several ships are there, French and English. 
 
 We journeyed on to Loretto, through a most 
 beautiful country. It stands on the summit of 
 a loft}^ eminence that commands views over a 
 rich and hilly country on every side, and the sea 
 at four or five miles distance. Its population 
 seems numerous ; the buildings are paltry, except 
 the church and great hospital. The outside of 
 the church is not of a pleasing architecture, and 
 the inside is greasy and smoky. I never was in 
 a dirtier place, nor one so crowded with the 
 most filthy nauseous beings in the human form. 
 Villains of all denominations and countries come 
 as pilgrims, through devotion, idleness, or a 
 desire of atoning for their crimes. 
 
 We were ordered to leave our canes at the 
 door, and then the soldiers made way for us into 
 the Casa Santa, which is in a blaze of light, from 
 the quantity of lamps reflected by heaps of dia- 
 monds, and plates of gold and silver, that cover 
 all the walls. The basso relievos are very fine ; 
 the ex votos of numberless crowned heads hang 
 in clusters about the inside, and seem neglected, 
 notwithstanding their immense value. The 
 treasury is a large room, with cupboards, con- 
 taining incredible riches in diamonds, precious 
 stones, pearls, <Scc. What a pillage may, per- 
 
COURTS OF PARIS, NAPLES, &C. 311 
 
 haps, be made here at a future day, by some now 
 unborn Vandal ! — enough to buy kingdoms.* 
 There is a fine Madonna by Raphael. 
 
 We set off at noon, through a charming 
 country enclosed with olive plantations, vines, 
 and corn, and pulse of all the sorts, except rice. 
 We passed through the gates of Maurata, a large 
 city on the brow of a hill, a picturesque object, 
 with its domes. We got back into the mountains, 
 where the valleys are delicious, but the roads 
 narrow and dangerous ; which we experienced by 
 the postilion not locking the wheel, and being 
 obliged to drive full gallop above a mile down 
 the winding roads, with rocks on one hand and a 
 precipice on the other. We slept at Tolentino. 
 
 Next day we ascended to a large circular 
 meadow on the highest point of the road, called 
 Col Fiorito. The water is marshy, and here 
 rise the brooks that run different ways — one into 
 the Adriatic, the other into the Tyber. These 
 places must have been craters of volcanos, extinct 
 for many ages, and now are subterranean lakes, 
 or reservoirs, covered with a thin coat of soil. 
 Here very lately was committed a great robbery. 
 
 * The Vandals were born, for the repubhcan armies 
 quickly disposed of these treasures, and what little escaped 
 the first pillage was afterwards swallowed up by the Imperial 
 legions. 
 
312 LETTERS FROM THE 
 
 Forty ruffians plundered a number of merchants 
 going to the fair of Sinigaglia. 
 
 We came to Palo, a village famous for its 
 paper-mills and grotto, a cavern full of crystal- 
 lizations, &c. Through a long and superlatively 
 beautiful descent, varied by grand views from 
 Foligno, we arrived at Rome. Fireworks were 
 going on at the Castle St. Angelo. We 
 stayed only to dine with the senator, and left the 
 eternal city for Naples. 
 
 Naples, May 25. 
 
 We went a day or two ago to Pompeii, and 
 dined in the country house. The city was built 
 on various lavas. Tlie ruins of the temple are of 
 the same order of architecture as those of Paestura. 
 The paintings of the rooms delighted me as much 
 as ever. The shops, with their stone parapets, 
 are exactly like the modern ones of Naples and 
 Rome. 
 
 I have made several excursions with Minasi. 
 We sailed on the gulf, and ran into Meta, at the 
 end of the plain of Sorrento ; dined at a fishing- 
 house ; then walked up the rich plain, the high 
 
COURTS OF PARIS, NAPLES, &c. 313 
 
 cultivation of which exceeds that of the Terra di 
 Lavoro. Another day we went to Vietri, where 
 we lodged at the Dominican convent. 
 
 In the mountains above Tropea are large tracts 
 of chestnuts, and the small-leaved ash, the 
 omas, which produces the manna. They do not 
 plant it, but cut down the strong stems, and 
 spring it from the old stocks. In July they make 
 a small gash leaning upwards, the second day 
 another, and form cups with maple leaves, into 
 which the gum exudes. 
 
 The tyranny exercised on the poor peasants in 
 this article is very great. The manna is farmed 
 out, and a certain number of countrj^men are 
 appointed to gather it, during which time they 
 are not at liberty to absent themselves, or under- 
 take the most necessary labours for themselves. 
 They scarcely derive any benefit from their work, 
 as they are paid five carlini for a rotolo of manna, 
 (thirty-three ounces,) which the farmers sell in 
 Naples for nine carlini a pound (twelve ounces). 
 If they burn or destroy the trees, though wild, 
 their punishment is very severe ; and if the 
 smallest quantity is found in their houses, they 
 are sent to prison. Eight hundred poor men, 
 thus oppressed, contributed two carlini a piece 
 for a memorial to the king, but no notice was 
 taken of it. 
 
314 LETTERS FROM THE 
 
 Vesuvius is now in flames and smoke, and 
 seems to tlireaten worse. 
 
 The queen, on taking leave of us, made a present 
 to Mrs. S. of a pair of diamond bracelets, with 
 her picture and ciphers, and two fine medals. 
 
 Rome, June 1. 
 
 On leaving Naples we slept the first night at 
 Terracina, and the second at Velletri, at the 
 Palazzo Lancelotto. We travelled twenty miles 
 on the Appian Way, whicli has been lately re- 
 paired ; it was a glorious sight. The canal is 
 fine. They have lowered the road, although 
 Trajan had raised it, out of economy ; but I fear 
 it will afford the water greater ease in overflowing- 
 it again. 
 
 There is to be a town built at Mesa. The 
 Forum Appii is a large building of white marble. 
 We dined at Sermonata, and came on next day 
 through new Albano, round by Gensano and the 
 vale of La Riccia, to Rome. 
 
 I have had an audience of Pius VI. in the 
 Vatican. He received me very graciously, and 
 conversed familiarly on political subjects for 
 
COURTS OF PARIS, NAPLES, &C. 315 
 
 about half an hour, during which time lie sat 
 
 at a table, and I stood by it. We talked 
 Italian. 
 
 Florence, June 27. 
 
 We left Rome on the 20th, with vetturini ; hired 
 horses and mules, and put the heavy baggage 
 in a cart. The appearance of the Campagna di 
 Roma is very desolate ; scarcely a house to be 
 seen ; a few ruined towers, scattered trees, and a 
 feeble cultivation of arable land left to itself to 
 weed and ripen. If it were well peopled the air 
 would lose its pestilential quality, and this 
 would be a pretty country, though I imagine it 
 would always suffer from want of water. 
 
 We dined at POsteria di Bacano, a single 
 house in the middle of a large volcanic crater, 
 quite round and free from water, except what 
 is wasted from a fine fountain, or trough, from 
 the houses at Ronciglione, a large town on a 
 high hill, in a pretty vineyard country. A 
 strong sulphureous smell exhaled from a small 
 lake, or pond, with fine poplar groves on its 
 edge. 
 
 We went down the chain that forms the crust 
 
316 LETTERS FROM THE 
 
 or wall of the crater of the Lake of Vico, 
 into one of the most delightful scenes in the 
 world, skirting the edge of a fine large irregular 
 lake, the waters of which are smooth as glass. 
 Moderate eminences, with many pleasing varia- 
 tions of height, covered with woods of aged oaks, 
 beech, and chestnut, encircle the lake. Between 
 them and the water is a stretch of wide meadow 
 land, full of cows and horses grazing. A large 
 cone rises up on one side of the water, and throws 
 it back in a picturesque manner, contributing to 
 a beautiful irregularity of shape on the lake. 
 The woods are noble ; they grow thinner as they 
 descend, forming clumps and groves. Near the 
 water's edge are scattered on the green swarth 
 some fine single trees. 
 
 We climbed up the opposite mountain, which 
 is woody, steep, and long ; it is called La 
 Montagna di Viterbo, and in ancient days was 
 Mons Ciminus. Its passage was the cause of a 
 triumph to Fabius. 
 
 Many of the trees on the hills, viz. oak, beech, 
 chestnut, flowering ash, and large sycamores, 
 are decaying from age. 
 
 We passed through Viterbo, where nothing is 
 remarkable. It stands on a slope at the foot of 
 the high mountain. There is a tiresome ascent 
 through noble woods and rocks of tufo. After 
 
COURTS OF PARTS, NAPLES, &C. 317 
 
 crossing a large plain, we came to the hill of 
 Montefiascone, a large village on the top of the 
 ridge that forms the bank or coast of the vale of 
 the lake of Bolsena, entirely of tufo and lava; and 
 under the town are vaults cut in them, where the 
 delicious white wine of the same name is kept as 
 fresh as in snow. 
 
 We slept at a solitary house at the foot of the 
 hill of Montefiascone, and had a noble view of the 
 hill of Bolsena, with a fine tract of country behind 
 it. The two islands in the middle of the water 
 have a fine effect; so also have the rich vineyards 
 and olive yards between the town and the lake. 
 
 I never had a pleasanter morning's journey 
 than that of our next day, amidst noble hanging 
 woods down to the lake of Bolsena, through 
 scenes as varied as they are enchanting. The 
 town stands at the head of the lake, picturesquely 
 embosomed in the rich woods that clothe the 
 side of the hill behind. 
 
 The fine expanse of water, with two handsome 
 islands and beautiful eminences, with woods and 
 towns upon them on every side, and the smiling 
 appearance of the lowlands we passed through, 
 are the faint outlines of this handsome picture. 
 
 You will laugh at my enthusiastic description 
 of a country which all the world has (and your- 
 self perhaps) passed through. But you must 
 
318 LETTERS FROM THE 
 
 recollect what Bacon says, that " the eye of a 
 painter sees more than other eyes." All is inte- 
 resting to one who delights in taking views from 
 nature ; a cloud, a wave, is an object of remark, 
 which another takes no notice of. 
 
 A party of gentlemen were preparing their 
 repast on the grass, in consequence of a fishing 
 expedition, and seemed to be carousing in high 
 glee. We turned off from the lake to the ruined 
 town of St. Lorenzo, which stands on a small 
 eminence in a most delightful spot, near a fine 
 stream. Unfortunately such situations in this 
 climate are, in summer, subject to the influence 
 of a most noxious air ; which induced Clement 
 XIV. to remove the inhabitants to a bare hill 
 above, where a new village was built under his 
 auspices, in a regular form, with a circular place 
 in the centre, and a church. 
 
 From all I hear, that Pope also appears to 
 have taken great pains for the benefit of his ter- 
 ritories, and that so public-spirited a sovereign 
 should have had enemies is surprising ; yet there 
 is no doubt of his having been poisoned. Abbe 
 Grant told me that whilst Ganganelli was say- 
 ing mass on Holy Thursday before his death, 
 his maggiordomo prepared as usual his choco- 
 late in a small antechamber. Being curious to 
 know how far the service was advanced, he 
 
COURTS OF PARIS, NAPLES, &C. 319 
 
 Stepped to a door to peep into the church, and 
 almost immediately turned back to the " buffet;' 
 but as he returned, he perceived a man passing 
 like lightning from the opposite door. The Pope 
 then came in, and directly took up the cup of 
 chocolate, of which he drank half, but refused 
 the remainder, as he said it had a bad taste. He 
 was not long without being attacked by a mortal 
 disorder, which was of such a virulent and pu- 
 trid character that his body fell to pieces, nor 
 could his head be kept on his shoulders after 
 death. A nun at Viterbo, who passed for a pro- 
 phetess, had announced his death, and letters 
 were chalked on the walls of the Vatican, im- 
 plying that he would not outlive the September 
 of that year. 
 
 Pius VI. had a fright like this about two years 
 ago. He was then so burnt up that he could not 
 bear the pressure of his shirt, which was kept 
 from his body by hoops, and his flesh almost 
 burnt the hands of his attendants when they 
 touched it. 
 
 We passed through woods of ancient oak to 
 Aquapendente, an ugly ruinous place, on the 
 brink of a precipice, without any appearance of 
 water, but with very beautiful landscapes ; and 
 descended a long woody hill, to a river and a good 
 bridge. This vale is full of charming flowers. 
 
320 LETTERS FROM THE 
 
 We dined at a single house at the foot of the 
 mountain, then ascended the hill of Radicofani, 
 along a steep but good road. We got to the top 
 by the help of oxen. 
 
 The master of the posthouse would not receive 
 us, so we proceeded, by starlight, six miles 
 down the northern side, to Ricorsi, a lonely barn; 
 so bad a one that we preferred passing the night 
 in our carriage. We had a little before crossed 
 a rivulet of white sulphurous water, where the 
 incrustations of white travertino are made, of 
 which models are taken off in different moulds. 
 The water falls from on high upon a pavement, 
 where the mould is set sloping to face it, and re- 
 ceives the sprinklings, which in a very short time 
 form a thick crust on the mould, and give a very 
 fine hard basso-relievo of the subject. 
 
 Radicofani is a fortress and village on the 
 summit of an extinct volcano. All near it seems 
 to be confusion. On the northern side is a large 
 tract covered with detached rocks of lava. It is 
 seen a vast way off on both sides, and forms the 
 boundary of Tuscany and the papal territories. 
 The country is fine on the Roman side, but the 
 appearance of the natives improves as one en- 
 ters Tuscany. There are more houses scattered 
 about, more signs of industry, and attempts to 
 improve the cultivation ; the people also are bet- 
 
COURTS OF PARIS, NAPLES, &C. 321 
 
 ter drest. Gentlemen's seats appear on the emi- 
 nences, and many houses have a general look of 
 comfort and industry. 
 
 We dined at Buonconvento, and had excellent 
 wine of Montepulciano, sweet and white, like 
 good mild cider. We then proceeded to Sienna, 
 which stands on the crown of a lofty eminence, 
 and is very conspicuous from all sides. 
 
 The Augustines is a handsome modernised 
 church, with large paintings. The most conspi- 
 cuous are, one of St. Anthony, by Spagnoletti, 
 and a fine Christ bearing the Cross, by Salvator. 
 The church has pleasant cloisters, and a good 
 library. The grates of one of the chapels are of 
 bronze work, representing knotted ropes. 
 
 The domo is gothic, of white and black marble ; 
 the outside front is loaded with statues, busts» 
 and paintings ; the inside is ugly, except the pul- 
 pit, which is of white marble, worked elegantly, 
 in the style of the Cinque centi. The stairs are 
 the best thing there; some of the ornaments are 
 charming. 
 
 The Chizi chapel is brilliant from the lapis 
 lazuli of the altar, and from the verde antico 
 columns, and rosso antico arms. 
 
 Next da}^ we reached Florence, passing Poggi- 
 bonzi, and through a beautifully hilly country, 
 superior to any other in Italy. We lodge at 
 
 VOL. 1. Y 
 
322 LETTERS FROM THE 
 
 Veneni's, where we found many of our acquaint- 
 ance, and also a general invitation from Sir 
 Horace waiting for us. 
 
 Verona, June 21. 
 
 We left Florence on the 14th, and slept at 
 Pietra Mala, a horrid inn. Dined next day at 
 Pianora, and thence to Bologna. Saw some fine 
 pictures ; Domenichino's martyrdom of St. 
 Agnes — the agony and expression very fine ; 
 St. Cecilia, by Raphael ; and at the Capuchins, 
 the famous crucifixion, by Guido. 
 
 I walked three miles, up to the Madonna della 
 Guardia, under a brick portico, built by sub- 
 scription and ex votos. There is nothing re- 
 markable about the church but the view, and 
 the image, called a work of St. Luke, now in 
 great vogue during all the earthquakes. 
 
 We arrived on the 19th at Modena, and saw 
 the palace, where there are grand apartments 
 allotted to stranger princes. The arsenal is full 
 of arms, and in good order. The great albergo 
 is a noble building and establishment, where old 
 and young, when left unprovided for, are received, 
 nourished, and, if capable, employed. 
 
 We went to see a collection of curious medals 
 
COURTS OF PARIS, NAPLES. &C. 323 
 
 belonging' to a Jew, some of which are very fine. 
 He assured us that the king of Naples had 
 offered four hundred ounces for leave to select 
 forty pieces. This we would scarcely give credit 
 to, knowing how little his Neapolitan majesty 
 cares about anything beyond macaroni. The 
 Jew supported his fibs by laying his hand upon 
 his heart, and saying " Je vousjure sur mon ame, 
 que je vous dis la vhite." " I suppose he is a 
 Sadducee," said Mrs. S. to me. 
 
 Our road from Modena lay through a flat 
 country, the most richly cultivated perhaps in 
 the world. La Mirandola is poorly built, and 
 has a desolate appearance ; the grass grows in 
 its streets. The prebendaries wear a crimson 
 ribbon round their necks. The castle is modern, 
 though ruinous. 
 
 We took the Verona road, through a wet, en- 
 closed, but luxuriant country, with farmhouses 
 and cottages in plenty, but no villages. With 
 the least rain there would have been no chance 
 of getting on. As it was, we found it far from 
 pleasant. 
 
 On reaching Revera, a village on the Po, we 
 crossed in a strong roomy ferry-boat, and slept at 
 Ostiglia, on the north side of the river. The next 
 day we were obliged to have three pair of oxen 
 to travel across the low country, which is inter- 
 
 Y 2 
 
•*324 LETTERS FROM THE 
 
 sected in so many directions, that the numbers 
 of steep, narrow brick enclosures can scarcely be 
 counted. Horses could hardly have tugged up 
 the carriages. 
 
 We entered the Venetian territory at Ponte 
 Molino, a ruinous looking castle, which we passed 
 through. The doganista (custom-house officers) 
 let us proceed very quietly. Tliere are rice- 
 grounds on the flat. We dined at Isola. Plenty 
 of mulberry trees and Indian corn. 
 
 Verona seemed of an immense size as we ap- 
 proached it. We passed tlirough a vast length 
 of town. 
 
 Next day I walked out of the east gate, and 
 back down to the river side, where I took a sketch 
 of the bridge, — one of the finest possible, not 
 unlike that upon the Saone at Lyons, but hand- 
 somer. The castle and walls are fine objects over 
 the bridge. There is also an exquisite prospect 
 from the castle San Felice. 
 
 We went to San Georgio, a convent of nuns 
 built by San Michele, a Veronese architect, about 
 the time of Palladio, whose style his resembles, 
 and he has imitated it in many houses of the town. 
 The church has a lightsome, elegant cupola, 
 but from the shake of an earthquake it has been 
 necessary to support it by cross bars, which have 
 a bad effect. 
 
COURTS OF PARIS, NAPLES, &C. 325 
 
 An antique tomb, serving for a gate near the 
 old castle, has the name of Vitruvius on it ;* and 
 as that great architect was of this city, it is sup- 
 posed to be his, but I think it a modern inscrip- 
 tion. In the church of the Franciscans the cha- 
 pel of the family Pellegrini by Michele, in gray 
 marble, is reckoned by Dutens the ne plus ultra 
 of architecture. I think it not to be compared 
 to the Corsini chapel, in St. John Lateran at 
 Rome. Near this chapel is a gate of a gothic 
 order, not opened, and called porta stoppa. 
 
 The museum of the Philharmonic, adjoining the 
 theatre, is handsome enough. There is an aca- 
 demy for poetry and music, and an association of 
 nobility for exercise, riding, &,c. The outer part 
 of the amphitheatre is all destroyed except four 
 arches, but the circus is entire, and has lately been 
 repaired at great expense. This society has great 
 revenues in houses, Sec, and a body of gentlemen 
 to direct its funds. The building contains room 
 for thirty-six thousand people sitting, and six 
 thousand in the arena. They are now busy 
 taking away the earth, and reducing it to the 
 ancient level. 
 
 * M. Vitruvius PoUio, according to the best authorities, 
 was born at Formiae. He lived in the time of Augustus. 
 
326 LETTERS FROM THE 
 
 Clagenfurth, July 1. 
 
 We came from Verona along the Adige, through 
 a level plain of vines, trees, corn, &c. Dined at 
 Dolci, and slept at Borghetto, the first place in 
 the Trentin. Our trunks were superficially ex- 
 amined and sealed. We slept next night at Alia. 
 La Chiusa is a very narrow pass between rocks on 
 the river, which is of a bad muddy colour, but 
 rapid and full. Roveredo is an extensive town, 
 with pretty environs. Trent is a large ugly city. 
 The palace is half gothic. We entered the Tyrol 
 near a torrent, two miles from thence. We had 
 payments of barriers without end. 
 
 The women wear grey or green caps, like the 
 crown of a hat without brim, or green round 
 hats, which the men have also, or black fly caps 
 fastened behind with a bodkin through the hair. 
 The men wear straps over each shoulder, of green 
 list, like porter's straps, to keep up their lower 
 garments. 
 
 We dined at Salerno, where we saw some 
 pleasant rivers and pine woods, resembling those 
 of Tarare, the vale growing narrower and more 
 romantic as we advanced. 
 
 Botzen is a large town, at the junction of two 
 valleys ; a pretty country surrounds it. We 
 crossed the Adige, which is here a rapid, broad 
 
COURTS OF PARIS, NAPLES, &C. 327 
 
 torrent ; the mountains then closed in upon us, 
 and there was scarcely room for a road along the 
 water's edge. Noble hanging woods and per- 
 pendicular rocks, with patches of cultivation, 
 afford beautiful prospects hereabouts. 
 
 We dined at a single house a mile beyond the 
 post of Deutschen, an old mansion belonging to 
 a priest, a most romantic spot ; and from thence 
 we had a charming drive to Kollmann, a small 
 village on the hill, commanding such views as 
 can but seldom be matched. A fine castle on the 
 point of a rock, on the other side of the river, is 
 a grand object ; and the rivers, fields, hills, and 
 woody mountains are sublime. Behind the town 
 falls a beautiful cascade of sheets of water, from 
 the summit of a mountain. This place reminded 
 me of Bagneres. 
 
 We travelled next day through a most beauti- 
 ful country to Brixen, a large town on the river, 
 in a broad plain, with several valleys ending in 
 it. Here the Inspruck road falls into that of 
 Styria. It was a long evening's drive to Brun- 
 ecken, through a charming country. Here 
 we found a good inn. The town is moderately 
 sized, with a castle prettily placed on the hill, 
 and has some great works for iron manufacture. 
 
 We ascended the course of the Adige, through 
 a delicious valley closed in by laurels and spruce 
 firs. The forests are the most extensive that I 
 
328 LETTERS FROM THE 
 
 ever passed through, with numberless trees, but 
 no large-sized timber. Between Niederdoif and 
 Sillian, we came to the highest lands in the 
 valley. The Adige, which is here only a torrent, 
 descends by a narrow gulley of dark woods from 
 the bare white rocks, which rise loftily behind 
 the woody mountains, which are still full of snow. 
 These are the boundaries of Italy, and are called 
 Staur. 
 
 We slept at a single house called Mitterwald, 
 in a dark glen close by the river Drau. We 
 dined at Ober Drauburg, a village belonging to 
 Prince Portia, and thence came to Greiffenberg, 
 a clean village, with good accommodations. We 
 entered Carinthia, near Lienz, and after a few 
 miles of narrow passes came to a very beautiful 
 plain, and dined at Spital, a large seat of Prince 
 Portia, who resides there constantly, being a 
 sort of sovereign prince under the emperor. 
 
 The saint of the Tyrol is Saint Florianus, re- 
 presented by a soldier, with a flag, pouring a 
 bucket of water on a house on fire. 
 
 We now passed a charming tract of country. 
 The river flows through the midst of a large plain 
 of flax and meadow land, with many villages ; and 
 a ridge of hills running between it and the lii^h 
 mountains is covered with magnificent woods. 
 I saw one spruce fir of thirteen feet in circum- 
 ference. 
 
COURTS OF PARIS, NAPLES, &,C. 329 
 
 At St. Paternion, the next village we came 
 to, we found a variation in the dress of the 
 people, the women wearing black hats with bu- 
 gle bands, and a brass or studded leathern girdle, 
 from which hangs a knife. Goitres are almost 
 universal here, and there are many idiots. 
 
 We passed the confines of the Venetian states, 
 and dined at Villach. an ill-built town on the 
 Drau, in a beautiful country. Velden, where 
 we slept, is a neat house, on the borders of a fine 
 lake, which seems to be man}^ miles long. Here 
 stands a ruinous pile of buildings, formerly the 
 residence of some great chief. It belongs to 
 Count de Dietrichstein, and serves as a post- 
 house. The women here wear men's shirts, with 
 a red girdle and large flat hats. 
 
 We travelled on the side of the lake called 
 the Wertsee, the borders of which are finely 
 wooded, and have many picturesque buildings, 
 especially a church on a rocky peninsula. A 
 canal through a vast plain leads to Clagenfurth, 
 the capital of Carinthia, which is a well-built city, 
 with large though low houses. The streets are 
 straight and wide, but none of them are paved, 
 except the main one. In the great square, Her- 
 cules, like a buffoon, is grinning and wielding his 
 club at a colossal dragon, (the arms of the city.) 
 
 The fortifications are in the modern style. 
 
330 LETTERS FROM THE 
 
 Vienna, July 10. 
 
 From Clagenfurth we journeyed to St. Veit, 
 the poor suburb of a small town in a flat ; after 
 which, we passed through rich vales, with woods 
 on each side, and iron mills, in a romantic 
 country ; and then entering Styria reached Neu- 
 markt, a small walled town. Thence to Unzmarkt 
 were the finest larches in the world in great quan- 
 tities, and spruce firs of large size and beauty. 
 I will not reckon among the pleasant objects of 
 the landscape a great many gibbets, with men 
 hanging on them, and heads exposed on wheels, 
 ignobly placed near the road, as a terror to the 
 robbers, which, till lately, infested these parts. 
 Maria Theresa's emissaries have been indefatiga- 
 ble in putting' them down. 
 
 We saw an innumerable number of Martasfon 
 lilies among the corn and flax fields. The Mans, 
 a considerable river, flows through tlie valley 
 past Unzmarkt to Judenburg, a large ugly town, 
 in a plain surrounded by woody hills. The 
 drive from the pretty hamlet of St. Laurent, 
 along the banks of the Muhr, was beautiful. It 
 wound beneath the hanging fir woods to Leo- 
 ben. 
 
 The roads in Styria are much cut up, and very 
 unpleasant. Leoben is pretty and clean, though 
 
COURTS OF PARIS, NAPLES, &.C. 331 
 
 built in a barbarous taste. The walls of the 
 houses are decorated with armorial bearings, 
 figures of saints, stories out of sacred history, 
 and various ornaments of architecture. The 
 town stands on the river Muhr, which is the 
 prettiest stream I have seen since I entered the 
 Tyrol. 
 
 We dined at M'arzhofen, a j3opulous hamlet, 
 and slept at Krieglach. Next day we passed 
 M'arzzuschlag, famous for its iron forges, in a fine 
 valley overhung with mountains and pines. We 
 ascended the hills which divide Styria from 
 Austria. It is a noble road, with a grand view 
 towards the plain of Vienna. Schottwien is a 
 most romantic little town, amidst a defile of rocks 
 and woods, beautifully thrown upon each other, 
 with fine streams running down on each side, 
 and a hundred charming points of view. The 
 castle of the seigneur (the Count de Reicheg) 
 is on the summit of one of the highest hills. 
 
 We had a fine entrance into the plains of 
 Neustadt, a large walled town, which stands in 
 the plain near a river. A dusty, dreary level 
 took us to Neunkirchen, between which and Neu- 
 stad is a long village of several houses and a 
 church, lately built on each side of the road, 
 with paled-off gardens, enclosures, vineyards, 
 and walks. This new settlement is called Tere- 
 
332 LETTERS FROM THE 
 
 sia. The women here wear handkerchiefs about 
 their necks and faces — a frightful costume. 
 
 We had a good view of Vienna from the hill ; 
 it resembles the situation and country about 
 Paris. The architecture also resembles that of 
 the French capital in the best sort of houses. 
 We passed along a dusty suburb round the town, 
 which is as ugly as anything can be, to the cus- 
 tom-house, where we underwent a severe exami- 
 nation, and paid thirteen florins, duties, for 
 mere trifles ; we then established ourselves in 
 tolerable lodgings at the Glanderfirchen Haus in 
 the Ober Bresmer Strass. I called, soon after my 
 arrival, upon Sir Robert Keith, who came di- 
 rectly to see Mrs. S. He had just received 
 accounts from England of the dreadful riots in 
 London. 
 
 Vienna, July 24. 
 The evening after our arrival, we went to the 
 German play, with Sir Robert Keith and the 
 Comtesse de Thun. The theatre is middle sized 
 and well lighted up, but the boxes are extremely 
 small ; yet the price of one of them is £100 a year. 
 The greatest part of the pit is taken up for the 
 parterre noble, where ladies and gentlemen go 
 as to the boxes. 
 
COURTS OF PARIS, NAPLES, &C. 333 
 
 Sir Robert took us to Prince Kaimitz's, after 
 the theatre, where a luinierous party of ladies, 
 ministers, &c., were assembled.* There were 
 cards and billiards. 
 
 Next morning we walked in the Lausgarten 
 with Madame de Thun, who is a charming 
 woman, all attention and kindness to us. She 
 has three daughters, all handsome ; but Elizabeth, 
 the eldest, is quite a beauty. t We went with 
 her to the widowed Princess Esterhazy, and then 
 to Prince Kaunitz, who has a reunion every 
 night. 
 
 The HofFgarten is a very fine public garden, in 
 an island of the Danube, with charming shady 
 walks, and a great variety of views over the city, 
 suburbs, and hills. The Danube, which flows 
 majestically through the lofty woods and level 
 fields, is traversed by two wooden bridges. 
 
 * Prince Kaunitz Rietberg, the celebrated minister of 
 Marie Therese, was born in 1710, and destined for the church; 
 but having come into possession of the family estates by the 
 death of his elder brother, he embraced the diplomatic 
 career, was appointed ambassador to Louis XV., and succeed- 
 ed in forming the famous league between Austria and France 
 against Prussia. This gained him so much credit, that he 
 was appointed prime minister, and continued to enjoy the 
 favour of the crown until his death, which occurred in 1798. 
 
 -j- The Countess de Thun, daughter to Prince Kaunitz. 
 Her daughter afterwards married Count llazamowski, fa- 
 vourite to the Czarina Elizabeth. 
 
334 LETTERS FKOM THE 
 
 We paid several visits during the next even- 
 ing, and on the 13th breakfasted with Prince 
 Galitzin, at his casino in the Prater ; a jDretty box, 
 in a large grove of old trees, with a little garden, 
 like a citizen's world in an acre of ground. We 
 were regaled with a most splendid breakfast, and 
 met a great deal of good company. Most of the 
 ladies came on horseback, riding a VAnglaise. 
 We went afterwards, in Sir Robert Keith's car- 
 riage, to dine with Prince Kaunitz at Laxen- 
 burg, two leagues distant from Vienna. There 
 are avenues of horse-chesnut and lime-trees all the 
 way, in an open even country. Laxenburg is a 
 small town in the hollow part of the great plain. 
 There is an old chateau, newly patched up, and a 
 strange low palace, the residence of the imperial 
 family. The generality of the nobility have 
 their houses here ; but that of Prince Kaunitz 
 is the only grand one, and he has laid out a great 
 deal of money upon it. There is one noble 
 room ; the rest are low and small for a person of 
 such consequence. 
 
 At dinner we had the Count de Burghausen, 
 the Comtesse de Thun, the Comtesse de Clary, a 
 young widow, the favourite of Kaunitz, and 
 Baron Swieten, son of the famous physician, Mr. 
 Beaky. After dinner the prince treated us with 
 the cleaning of his gums ; one of the most nau- 
 
COURTS OF PARIS, NAPLES, &C. 353 
 
 seous operations I ever witnessed, and it lasted a 
 prodigious long time, accompanied with all 
 manner of noises. He carries a hundred imple- 
 ments in his pocket for this purpose — such as 
 glasses of all sorts for seeing before and behind 
 his teeth, a whetting steel for his knife, pinchers 
 to hold the steel with, knives and scissors with- 
 out number, and cottons and lawms for wiping 
 his eyes. His whims are innumerable. Nothing- 
 allusive to the mortality of human nature must 
 ever be rung in his ears. To mention the small- 
 pox is enough to knock him up for the day. I 
 saw an instance of this ; for Burghausen, having 
 been long absent, came out with it, and the 
 prince looked as black as could be all the rest of 
 the day. To derange the train of his ideas puts 
 iiim sadly out of sorts. The other day, he sent a 
 favourite dish of meat as a present to an aunt of 
 his, four years after her decease, and would not 
 have known it but for a blundering servant, who 
 blabbed it to him. 
 
 He is full of childish vanities, and wishes to 
 be thought to excel in everything. He used to 
 have a spiral glass for mixing the oil and vinegar 
 for salads, which he shook every day with great 
 parade and affectation. At last the bottle broke in 
 his hands, and covered him and his two neigh- 
 bouring ladies with its contents. A gentleman 
 
3.36 LETTERS FROM THE 
 
 not oj3ening a bottle of champagne to his mind, 
 he called for one to give the company a lesson 
 in uncorking and frothing the liquor : unluckily 
 he missed the calculation of his parabola, and 
 poured out the wine into his uplifted sleeve, as 
 well as into his waistcoat, &c. By-the-bye, he is 
 dressed very oddly ; his wig comes down upon 
 his nose, with a couple of small straggling curls 
 on each side, placed in a very ridiculous manner. 
 He is extremely fond of adulation, will swallow 
 anything in its shape, and indeed lays it upon 
 himself with a very liberal hand. One of his 
 peculiarities is a detestation of musk. He is a 
 sovereign Count of Rietberg, in right of his 
 mother, which brings him in about £3,000 a 
 year. His paternal fortune is £4,000. He has 
 enormous debts, but gets £10,000 a year from 
 the empress, and is never stinted by her. His 
 expenditure in fancies and trifles is incredible. 
 He studied at Leipsic with great reputation, and 
 is an excellent Latin scholar, but no Grecian ; 
 he understands English, French, and Italian, 
 very perfectly, and reads a great deal, or rather 
 a great deal is read to him. He has good taste, 
 and has raised the arts from barbarism to great 
 perfection at Vienna. In business he is intelli- 
 gent, and far above any mean subterfuges or 
 falsehoods. He is always silent when he does 
 
COURTS OF PARIS, NAPLES, &C. 337 
 
 not choose to express his real sentiments.* It 
 was he who made the alliance with France, but 
 he has long since been convinced of his error, 
 and would willingly retrieve it ; but the times 
 are not proper for a change. 
 
 Having never lived much in the world before 
 his present elevation, Prince Kaunitz has neither 
 bosom friends nor bitter enemies ; he is cold and 
 insensible ;t has made no man's fortune, nor 
 ruined any one. 
 
 His wife was a Messalina, and after her death 
 he took to actresses, whose dupe he was, to his 
 cost. He has no affection for his children. The 
 two eldest sons are hormtSj but gentle, worthy 
 
 * " Tongues," said Prince Talleyrand, " are given to men, 
 in order that they may disguise their real sentiments ;" a 
 maxim that he pilfered from Euripides, who says that each 
 person has two tongues, — one to tell the truth, and the other 
 to use according as occasion may require. Erasmus employs 
 the same axiom in his " Eulogium on Folly." Prince Kau- 
 nitz's system was the most moral, for he preferred silence to 
 telling untruths. 
 
 f Helvetius (de L'Esprit, vol. i.) says, " If a minister 
 were deaf to the solicitation of relatives and friends, and 
 only raised men of pre-eminent merit to the first places, this 
 just minister would pass in the world as useless, heartless, 
 and perhaps dishonest. To the shame of the age be it said, 
 (he adds,) men high in office rarely ever owe their repu- 
 tation of being good friends, relations, benevolent and virtuous, 
 except to acts of nepotism and injustice. 
 
 VOL. I. Z 
 
338 LETTERS FROM THE 
 
 creatures ; the third and fourth absolute non- 
 entities ; the fifth a sad roue. 
 
 Kaunitz rides very well, and is fond of show- 
 ing off. The empress ordered his picture to be 
 taken, and gave the inscription to be placed un- 
 der it, denoting him to have been for three 
 years her minister, her friend and her confidant. 
 The emperor once entertained a great aversion 
 for him, and a few years ago, Kaunitz, who fan- 
 cies he can do everything, drew up the plan of a 
 campaign, so supremely ridiculous, that the em- 
 peror was convinced he had nothing more than 
 the pretensions and arts of a state quack. Of 
 late, however, il en est I'evenu sur son compte, 
 and is now convinced of his abilities, and is very 
 intimate with him. 
 
 After dinner we walked in the gardens and 
 woods, through^ canopies of fine old oaks and 
 pretty woodland paths, — pleasant enough, were 
 it not for the gnats, which quite devoured me. 
 Xa petite Veuve^ Madame de Clary, lives by 
 play, does the honours of the house, and has 
 likewise her afi'ectations. She was married at fif- 
 teen to Count Clary, of seventy-five, and soon 
 became a widow. She seems good-natured, and 
 understands English perfectly — which indeed 
 most of the German ladies do. 
 
 There is a heronry here, and much hawking. 
 
COURTS OF PARIS, NAPLES, &C. 339 
 
 We heard two French horns in the woods. They 
 ahnost make that instrument too fine, and unna- 
 turally learned. 
 
 The emperor is allowed no power. He wishes 
 exceeding'l}^ to go to Flanders, having much at 
 heart a new system for restoring that country to 
 its ancient state of a great mart. But Prince 
 Charles of Lorraine is such a favourite with the 
 empress that he is never to be contradicted, and 
 the emperor does not go for fear of quarrelling 
 with him, which would inevitably be the case, 
 their ideas on the subject not agreeing. 
 
 The Prater is a superb park, with a long 
 avenue of horse chesnuts. The banks of the 
 Danube are long and woody. Many hinds and 
 stags graze on both sides, and there is fine scope 
 for riding and driving. 
 
 In the Graben is a house so long, and divided 
 into so many apartments, that it lets for thirty- 
 six thousand florins a year. Near it is the stump 
 of an aged tree, leaning against the wall, into 
 which every one, who is made free of the Black- 
 smith's company, is obliged to drive a nail up to 
 the head. The number of nails already sticking 
 in it renders it difficult now to find a spare place. 
 There is no populace in Vienna, everybody be- 
 longing to some company or association. 
 
 We had a great dinner at Sir Robert Keith's. 
 
 z 2 
 
340 LETTERS FROM THE 
 
 The principal persons present were Mr. and 
 Madame Tliun, and their daughters, Mr. and 
 Madame de Walthen, the Lucchese and Hanove- 
 rian envoys, Starsa and Swieten, with Fludyer, 
 Stratton and Madame de Basso virtz. I after- 
 wards accompanied Baron de Swieten on a visit 
 to the old Prince of Saxe Hildburghausen, who, 
 at eighty years old, can raise a weight of three 
 hundred pounds. He always retires to his rest at 
 eight o'clock, and as he walks from the salon to his 
 bedchamber, has men posted, who pull off his 
 wig and clothes, so that he is ready for his bed 
 by the time he gets to the door of his bedcham- 
 ber. Thus scarcely two minutes suffice for his 
 toilette. We have since dined with him at the 
 Belvedere Gardens, and went afterwards to 
 Sch(3nbrun, to wait upon the grande maitresse of 
 the empress, and of the Archduchesses Elizabeth 
 and Marianne. 
 
 Schonbrun palace is of an immense length, 
 and of unequal heights, but with nothing pleas- 
 ing or really grand in its architecture. It was 
 built at many different periods; that is, when- 
 ever the empress had occasion for an increase of 
 apartments. At first it was notliing but a rendez- 
 vous de chasse of Cliarles VI. It was the only 
 place the empress had to live in, when first she 
 came to the throne, being then immersed in a 
 
COURTS OF PARIS, NAPLES, &C. 341 
 
 long and dangerous war ; and when peace was 
 signed, and all became quiet, she had become 
 too much attached to the j3lace to leave it. Its 
 situation is far from agreeable, being close to the 
 little river Wien, without any pleasant object in 
 sight. The gardens are fine in their way. Op- 
 posite the palace is a hill, with a long portico 
 kind of building upon it, as ugly as possible. 
 It is Prince Kaunitz's masterpiece, and what he 
 particularly prides himself upon. Fifty thou- 
 sand pounds, at least, have been spent in altering 
 and modelling this hill. 
 
 The empress has such an internal fever and 
 heat of blood, that she cannot bear to have the 
 window closed at any season of the year. Some- 
 times the wind is so strong during the night, that 
 it throws down tlie chairs in her room, blows 
 the curtains against her face, and awakens her. 
 Her son, the emperor, is extremel}^ chilly, not- 
 withstanding all her children were brought up 
 in so hardy a manner, that their attendants were 
 almost starved. The emperor still sleeps upon a 
 a bed of skins. 
 
 The empress is generous even to prodigality, 
 and would be miserable if she knew of any one 
 in want that it was not in her power to relieve. 
 The Duke of Saxony, and his wife the Arch- 
 duchess Christina, drain her prodigiously. The 
 emperor calls him his dear brother-in-law. 
 
342 LETTERS FROM THE 
 
 Kaunitz used always to shut the windows when 
 he came into the empress's apartments, but now 
 he will not come to council any more. 
 
 We have innumerable visits and evening 
 parties, and find the society very agreeable. Our 
 presentation to the empress has taken place. 
 The two Archduchesses and the Archduke Maxi- 
 milian were with her. She received us in her 
 salle d' audience, was very gracious, and conversed 
 about our family and that of the queen of 
 Naples. She stood all the time fanning herself, 
 then nous congedia with a polite bow. 
 
 The Archduchess Marianne is pleasing, and 
 like a woman of the world. The Archduchess 
 Elizabeth was beautiful before she had the small- 
 pox, but is now plain. She complains of never 
 seeing any one, except in her sister's company, 
 who, as the eldest, engrosses the conversation. 
 She is naturally lively, and very volatile, and 
 suffers sadly from ennui. A short time ago an 
 ulcer came in her cheek, which ate it quite 
 through, and confined her many weeks to her 
 room. On Sir Robert Keith coming to condole 
 with her on this accident, she burst out laughing, 
 and told him he was wrong to think it a subject 
 of condolence. " Cj-oyez-moi" said she, "pou?- 
 line Archiduchesse de quarajite ans, qui nest point 
 mariee, un trou a lajoue est un amusement; for," 
 
COURTS OF PARIS, NAPLES, &C. 343 
 
 added she, " no event which breaks through the 
 sameness and tediousness of my life ought to be 
 considered as a misfortune." She told him it 
 was a blot on the reian of Marie Therese to have 
 kept her old daughters under restraint like 
 children, and denied them the pleasure of mixing 
 in society. 
 
 Maximilian is a good-natured, neither-here- 
 nor-there kind of youth. 
 
 Prince Auersberg is a surprising man of 
 eighty-six, who rides, eats, drinks, and walks, as 
 if he were but thirty. He was in England the 
 year Queen Anne died. 
 
 The ramparts are the general place of meeting 
 in the evening. Their circumference is about 
 three miles. 
 
 The soil whicli produces the fine Tokay has so 
 much heat, that Count Collar, the Hungarian 
 vice-chancellor, tells me he went that way last 
 December, through ice and snow, and found 
 none upon that spot. No snow ever lies on the 
 salt-mines either. He also assured me that the 
 Tokay sometimes shoots forth bits of gold, which 
 has been sucked up in the growth of the vine. 
 
 The Calvinist reform is tolerated in Hungary, 
 but not the Lutheran. There is no punishment 
 of death in Bohemia. The court wish to make a 
 reform there, by abolishing the corvee, viz. the 
 
344 LETTERS FROM THE 
 
 obligation of working for the lords, and giving 
 leases to the peasants ; but it has not yet been 
 able to accomplish its desire. 
 
 In Poland the nobility contract their marriages 
 in such a manner as always to leave a doubt, and 
 a way of proving their nullity ; which gives rise 
 to numberless divorces, and it sometimes happens 
 that a woman sits at a table with three men who 
 had been her husbands, without her character 
 being at all infringed upon in consequence. 
 How the nuncios make out the legality of these 
 dispensations I know not. 
 
 August 4. 
 The other day I accompanied Mrs. S. to 
 Schonbrun, where we walked in the gardens. 
 The temple, or portico, of Doric arches, is a 
 strange concern. There was a sale going on in 
 the middle of it. The empress sent for us to her. 
 She was sitting in a corner of the palace, at a 
 table, parfilant. She spoke very pleasingly and 
 good-humouredly, and after some time made a 
 sign to Mrs. S. to sit down, then asked her many 
 questions, and at last told her the Archduchess 
 Marianne wished to see her. Taking this as a 
 
COURTS OF PARIS, NAPLES, &C. 345 
 
 conge, we waited upon the archduchess, and 
 were deb'ghted with her. She seems very 
 amiable, showed us great kindness, and appears 
 to have taken a great fancy to Mrs. S. 
 
 The empress has a fine f^ce, but is enormously 
 fat and unwieldy. A few days ago her cham- 
 berlain, Sinzendorff, waited on her with a petition 
 from some part of her territories, which was very 
 interesting to her. They were alone in the 
 apartment, both standing whilst he read to her 
 the document. Sinzendorff is a thin old man, stiff 
 and erect, and troubled with a rheumatic com- 
 plaint, which has in some measure paralysed his 
 frame. It happened that the paper fell to the 
 ground. The empress bade him pick it up. *' He- 
 las ! madame," said he, ^^ il y a mngt annees que 
 je ne me suis courhe /" She would have stooped 
 for it herself, but was too unwieldy ; he was ac- 
 cordingly obliged to ring the bell for the 
 purpose, and the groom of the chambers, on 
 entering, found her imperial majesty in a violent 
 fit of laughter. "^ 
 
 * A similar anecdote is related of George the Fourth 
 (when Regent) and Lady H — d, with this difference, that 
 the latter is said to have dropped her handkerchief when she 
 had a bad cold. Neither being dressed for stooping, and her 
 ladyship's nose requiring assistance, the bell was obliged to 
 be rung, and a fresh kerchief asked for. 
 
346 LETTERS FROM THE 
 
 Vienna, ]3th. 
 
 On the afternoon of Thursday we went to the 
 empress's drawing-room at Schonbrun, held upon 
 the occasion of the Archduke Maximilian being 
 elected coadjutor and successor to the Elector of 
 Cologne. There was an immense crowd, con- 
 sidering the time of the year, when many of the 
 nobility are absent on their estates. The empress 
 and the ambassadors played at cards, but the 
 former rose often from her seat, to address and 
 coax the French ambassador, (Breteuil,) whom 
 she took extraordinary notice of, indeed rather 
 fulsomely, probably on account of France having 
 suffered the coadjutorship to pass uncontested. 
 She also spoke long and kindl}^ to Mrs. S., who 
 certainly had no hand in the election. 
 
 We were there presented to the Duke Albert, 
 and the Archduchess Christina. She is very 
 handsome, and has the most beautiful hand in 
 the world; indeed that is a characteristic of her 
 family. The divine Metastasio was also present. 
 He is a little, old, sheepish-looking, peaked faced 
 abbate, with a curled wig, just like those worn 
 fifty years ago. His name was originally Raspi, 
 or rather, I believe, Trapassi. 
 
 There was also Marshal Laudohn,* a thin man, 
 
 * The celebrated Marshal Laudohn, who commanded the 
 Imperial armies during a portion of the seven years' war. It 
 
COURTS OF PARIS, NAPLES, 8cc. 347 
 
 with a very withered face ; Marshal Haddick, 
 fat and jolly ; and Marshal Lacy, thin and 
 amiable looking. 
 
 Mrs. S. now frequently spends her evenings 
 with the Archducliess Marianne, and sometimes 
 with the empress. At Kaunitz's we generally 
 adjourn after dinner to his garden, and have 
 fruit and refreshments under the trees. 
 
 "lAth. 
 
 I have been presented to Joseph II., who is 
 just returned to Vienna. Some other English 
 were presented at the same time, viz. my nephew 
 Bedingfeld, Messrs. Sheldon, Chaplin, and 
 Stratton. The emperor spoke to me very gra- 
 ciously, and said his mother had mentioned us to 
 him. He is less than I expected, and much 
 better looking. He has harassed himself much, 
 and does not seem strongly built. 
 
 The next day the empress herself presented 
 Mrs. S. to the emperor at Schonbrun, where 
 
 was to him that Frederic the Great paid the compHment of 
 saying, '■'■ Placez vous d cote de moi; je naimepas vous avoir en 
 facer Laudohn's name inspired so much terror in Germany, 
 that it was long used to frighten the naughty children. 
 Simm dich in acht! Der Landohn ist da! was a constant 
 exclamation, just as our nurses talk of " raw-head-and-bloody- 
 bones." 
 
348 LETTERS FROM THE 
 
 she remained to dine with Madame de Salmour, 
 grande maitresse to the Archduchess Marianne, 
 the widow of a Piedmontese nobleman, and 
 herself a Pole, being daughter to Lubienski, a 
 Polish grandee. On the partition of Poland 
 taking place, the whole court was assembled in 
 an antechamber, in order to proceed regularly to 
 the chapel, and hear a grand Te Deiim com- 
 posed for the occasion. Madame de Salmour 
 was among the company, being in attendance on 
 the archduchess^ The empress said to her, 
 " Madame de Sahnour, je vous dispense d'y aller."" 
 " Voire majesie a raison," she replied ; 'y?/ serais 
 peut-etre tentee d'y faire des voiux contre les op- 
 presseurs de ma patrieP'' Her remark did not 
 offend, for the successful are seldom cross. 
 
 All the Poles were presented to Joseph on his 
 return from Russia — that is to say, those whose 
 property was included in his share of Poland. 
 Most of them were dressed in the French fashion, 
 and acquitted themselves respectfully of their 
 homage. A few were in the Polish habit ; 
 among the rest an old man, grave, sullen, and 
 backward. Perceiving that he did not approach, 
 the emperor went up to him, addressing him in 
 a courteous manner. The Pole remained sulky 
 and shy. Joseph asked if he amused himself at 
 Vienna. "Very little," was the reply. "I 
 
COURTS OF PARIS, NAPLES, &C. 349 
 
 wonder at that," said the emperor, good- 
 humouredly, " for there never were such a vast 
 number of your countrymen here as there are at 
 this moment." " Nay,*' said the Pole, '* I have 
 heard that about a Imndred years ago Vienna 
 was filled with Poles !"* The emperor, who tells 
 this story himself, declares he was quite con- 
 founded at this speech, and totally unable to say 
 another word; but he was so pleased with the man's 
 boldness and amor patrice, that he felt almost 
 inclined to shake hands with him. 
 
 Madame de Salmour told me that when she 
 was Madame de Lubienski, she knew the king 
 of Poland, and that he was so fond of Corregio's 
 Magdalene, one of the forty pictures he bought 
 of the Duke of Modena, that wherever he went, 
 this picture accompanied him in a case, and was 
 hung up in his apartments. 
 
 Our friend Madame d'Ulsfield has given us 
 many particulars of the empress's life. The 
 day of her appearing before the Hungarian 
 nobles, they were in a large hall, where a ba- 
 lustrade was put up to keep off the crowd. 
 
 * Alluding to the year 1683, when John Sobieski, king of 
 Poland, marched to the relief of Vienna, then besieged by the 
 Turks, whom he attacked and routed, and thus not only 
 liberated that capital, but Hungary, which had been overrun 
 by the Ottomans. 
 
350 LETTERS FROM THE 
 
 She came in deep mourning, with her infant son 
 in her arms, and began a Latin speech, but as 
 she pronounced the first words of it, — viz. 
 " Affiicto rerum statu" the tears suffocated 
 her, and impeded her utterance. The whole 
 assembly with one movement rose, and, with 
 their fingers upraised, called out, " Mor lemur 
 pro regina Thei^esa." 
 
 When Francis died, she was given to under- 
 stand, from caballing courtiers, which equally 
 exist in all countries, that Joseph would pro- 
 bably seize the reins of empire ; and being now 
 emperor (having been elected king of the Ro- 
 mans previous to his father's death), would not 
 consent to be subservient to his mother. She 
 therefore felt uneasy and uncomfortable ; but he 
 soon put an end to her fears, for, the first time 
 they met, he threw himself at her feet, saying, 
 " Je serai toujours voire JidHe Joseph, le plus de- 
 voue de vos sujets .'" 
 
 The empress is loved by the people, as well as 
 admired. When she lay dangerously ill of the 
 small-pox, Joseph met an old marshal on the 
 stairs, coming from the anteroom of her apart- 
 ment, where he had been to inquire how she was. 
 He was in a flood of tears, on having learnt that 
 her recovery was despaired of. " Am I then such 
 a tyrant," said the emperor, "that you dread 
 
COURTS OF PARIS, NAPLES. &C. 351 
 
 being governed by me?" " No, sir," said the 
 soldier ; " but we know what we lose !" 
 
 Duke Albert of Saxony is very good looking, 
 and made a conquest, not only of the Arch- 
 duchess Christina, whom he married, but of her 
 sister Josephine, whose nuptials with the king of 
 Naples were fixed upon by her mother. It was 
 not, however, her fate to be queen of Naples ; 
 for, having caught the small-pox, she died the 
 very day that had been fixed on for her depar- 
 ture ; and her sister Carolina was soon after sent 
 in her place. 
 
 The most earnest wish of their mother was ob- 
 tained when she succeeded in making her 
 youngest daughter queen of France. The Arch- 
 duchess Antoinette, was at fourteen extremely 
 pious, and well inclined in every respect ; and 
 when the marriage was arranged, Maria Theresa, 
 whose religion did not prevent her giving way to 
 superstitious propensities, visited a nun of a 
 neighbouring convent, who was considered able 
 to see into the future. She expressed her anx- 
 iety for the soul of her pious, good child, now 
 about to be separated from her for the rest of her 
 life, and going to so depraved a court as that of 
 Louis Quinze. The answer she received was 
 this ; " Elle aura de grands revers, et puis elle 
 redeviendra pieuse.'' Struck by the thought of 
 
352 LETTERS FROM THE 
 
 her good child ceasing to be pious, which was 
 implied by these words, the empress burst into 
 tears, and was with difl&culty restored to calm- 
 ness. She, however, was not sufficiently cre- 
 dulous, or provident, for the happiness of her 
 young daughter, to put an end on that account to 
 the neo'otiations for the archduchess's marriao-e. 
 
 o o 
 
 The empress is extremely imposed upon by 
 hypocrites of all sorts.* Many an officer lias 
 gone to her chapel, and made all the grimaces of 
 a bigot and zealot, which has attracted her no- 
 tice, and procured him promotion; after which he 
 has never appeared there again. She gives 
 money to all the soldiers that do duty about the 
 palace, and on extraordinary occasions to the 
 officers, and throws about ducats among the poor 
 people when she drives about the streets. She 
 was formerly very rigorous, and as bad as an in- 
 quisitor, having ladies and gentlemen carried off 
 for the least irregularity of conduct; which, as 
 
 * Mr. Swinburne mentions this as if it were an uncommon 
 occurrence. It would be difficult to name any sovereign who 
 has not been imposed upon by hypocrites and self-interested 
 sycophants. Half the misfortunes that occur to states arise 
 from monarchs being led, instead of leading. The welfare of 
 the people must be that of all crowned heads, for their own 
 welfare depends upon it. The welfare of courtiers, on the 
 contrary, depends upon the downfal of others. 
 
COURTS OF PARIS, NAl'LES, &C. 353 
 
 King Croquignolet* says of the fillips, exact- 
 ed for his nose, '■'■ fatiguoient heaucoup le pauvre 
 peuple." However, at present, her fervour has 
 abated considerably. Her affairs are wretchedly 
 managed, without intelligence or ceremony. She 
 gives of late much money to priests to distribute 
 in alms, and of course the poor get little or 
 nothing in comparison of what they had when 
 she herself bestowed her charity, without the 
 medium it now passes through. 
 
 Sejjt. V2. 
 
 I rode the other day up the mountain of the 
 Calemberg, towards a house of Count Cobenzel, 
 the view from which place is astonishingly fine. 
 The low mountains of Hungary bound the hori- 
 zon of an immense plain, through which the 
 Danube flows, divided by large woody islands 
 into a variety of lakes and canals. The bridges 
 may be traced all through, and Vienna lies un- 
 der the eye. I have also been up to the Camal- 
 dolin Convent of Calemberg, backed with large 
 woods of oak and beech. It forms one point of 
 the ridge which advances into the plain ; the 
 
 * King Croquignolet, the hero of the fairy tale called 
 Coque d CEuf. 
 
 VOL. I. A A 
 
354 LEITERS FROM THE 
 
 Leopoldsberg, or Schliissel, is the other. This last 
 is a very narrow brow, with a kind of a castle 
 belonoino; to the crown. The view from it is 
 wonderful, in which the Abbey of Kloster Neu- 
 berg is a grand object. 
 
 Our dinners and festive parties are innumera- 
 ble. We breakfasted yesterday with General 
 Pellegrini, at a charming house on the ramparts, 
 delightfully situated, with a fine view of Vienna 
 from its windows. The interior is deliciously 
 fitted up. It contains a salon all painted with 
 cameos well executed. We met the emperor se- 
 veral evenings at Madame de Berghausen's. He 
 was quite easy and chatty ; he listens with atten- 
 tion to what is said by others, and talks freely 
 and merrily. One is apt to expect more 
 from an emperor, and to forget that he is one. 
 His accent is rather harsh and nasal. His French 
 is very good, except a few Germanisms. He 
 sometimes puts on his field -marshal's coat, often 
 drives himself in a low phaeton, with a pair of 
 English horses and two servants behind in gray 
 coats, turned up with yellow, and silver-laced 
 waistcoats and hats. 
 
 Vienna is divided into towns and suburbs. 
 The former is small, not above three miles round. 
 It is hilly, but not much on a slope to a branch 
 of the Danube, on which side the fortifications 
 
COURTS OF PARIS, XAPLES, &C. 355 
 
 are not very considerable. Those on the west, 
 near the Schotten, are extremely lofty, because 
 on that side the ground without is high. The 
 Turks pitched their camp there in the last siege. 
 
 There are eight ways out of the city. The 
 gates are never shut. The streets are crooked, 
 narrow, and indifferently paved ; with many dis- 
 agreeable smells, as there are no sewers to carry 
 off the dirt; but the scavengers are often at 
 work. The houses are high, of brick stuccoed 
 over, with heavy leaden ornaments, and iron bars, 
 as at Rome, to the lower windows. It is usual for 
 several families to occupy the same house. St. 
 Stephen's, the cathedral, has a very curious 
 and lofty filagree steeple. The inside, which is 
 gothic, is exceedingly black and smoky. 
 
 The squares are not large, except the Hof. 
 The fountains, obelisks, and groups in them are 
 in the style of the Agaglii at Naples. The li- 
 brary is a superb building. The palace is conve- 
 nient, but not handsome, although the facade of 
 Prince Colloredo's apartments is showy. The 
 hotel of the council of war is anew grand build- 
 ing. The arsenal contains a vast quantity of 
 arms, and many curiosities ; — viz. trophies of the 
 Turks, Prince Eugene's armour, which in size is 
 like that of a little boy ; also the immense chain 
 w^hich the Turks extended across the river, to 
 
 A A 2 
 
356 LETTERS FROM THE 
 
 prevent succours coming into the town by water; 
 half of it fills the court, round which it is hung 
 on pegs. There is also a monstrous ill-made 
 cannon taken from the Turks. 
 
 There was formerly a Scotch college here, but 
 nothino- now remains of that nation save the 
 name, which the church and gate still retain. 
 The empress has about eighty capital houses in 
 town, where she lodges her officers of state, &c., 
 besides apartments in particular houses, reserved 
 in their leases. Few of the common people live 
 in the city. 
 
 There are two theatres ; the French one is the 
 largest, that of the palace the cleanest and pret- 
 tiest ; many houses have doors opening on the 
 ramparts, wdiich is a great agrement. The cus- 
 tom-house is a handsome quadrangle. The fish 
 market is in a street parallel to the Danube, and 
 beyond the ancient walls, which still appear. 
 
 They say the town is lately much increased, 
 and formerly must have been little more than a 
 castle in size. 
 
 ' Sept. 18. 
 I dined lately in the suburbs, at the magnifi- 
 cent villa of Prince Schwartzenberg, with Sir R. 
 
COURTS OF PARIS, NAPLES, &C. 357 
 
 Keith, Galippi, auditor of Mexico, and Count 
 and Countess Ohenhausen, from Portugal. She 
 is the grand-daugliter of Tavora,* and from a 
 year old was state prisoner with her mother. 
 We also had Countess Daun, and Mr. Harford, 
 son to tJie unfortunate Lord Baltimore. 
 
 We again met the emperor at Madame deBerg- 
 hausen's, where he was extremely merry and talk- 
 ative ; ridiculed the story of the king of Poland's 
 assassination, and talked of Mrs. Macauley and 
 her hatred of kings. He said he understood she 
 had fainted away whenever they were named, 
 and asked if she put three stars whenever she 
 was obliged to mention one in her history. f He 
 spoke with horror of lettres de cachet, and arbi- 
 trary unformal condemnations ; and I make no 
 doubt, from all he seems to think, and from what 
 others say of him, that his accession to power 
 will be the means of bringing liberty and happi- 
 ness throughout his dominions, at least if he has 
 moderation and head enough to begin with pru- 
 dence ; but that is still a problem. Of his in- 
 
 * The Marquis de Tavora, who was implicated with the 
 Duke d'Aveiro in the famous conspiracy and attempt to mur- 
 der Joseph I., king of Portugal, in 1758. The conspiracy 
 was discovered, and all the parties and their families suffered 
 death or unlimited imprisonment. 
 
 f A History of England. 
 
358 LETTERS FROM THE 
 
 tentions there is no doubt, — of his success a 
 great deal. He will have much to cope with. 
 The friars and priests detest and abuse him, and 
 there is a strong party of them.*" They give out 
 that he has no friendship, constancy, or warmth 
 of heart, and tliat he is totally incapable of a 
 generous feeling : in short, they know not how to 
 speak ill enough of him. Mais je 7^'e?^ crois 
 lien : — it is something that a despotic potentate 
 should wish for freedom and liberty among his 
 people, and such a hobby-horse can but be bene- 
 ficial, if only to put it into the heads of others ; 
 for as Laville, when he married, told us as an 
 excuse, " quit faut faire une jin ;'' I say, vice 
 
 * The efforts of the Emperor Joseph to extend reli- 
 gious liberty to the whole of his subjects, and to emancipate 
 the Protestants in his Netherland dominions from the exclu- 
 sive penalties that affected them, were amongst the causes 
 that led to the Brabant revolution in 1789. As a sample of the 
 spirit of the priesthood and of Catholic tolerance, I quote 
 the following reply made to the emperor by the synod of 
 Louvain, when H. T. M. asked their opinion upon his pro- 
 ject of according equal rights and privileges to all classes of 
 his subjects, without distinction of faith. " Tolerance" said 
 the reverend fathers, " ivould be the cause of dissensio7is, 
 hatreds, and interminable discord ; because the Catholic reli- 
 gion regards all heretics, without distinction, as victims devoted 
 to eternal perdition. The Catholic religion impresses this 
 maxim upon her children as an essential dogma and invaria- 
 ble article of her faith. 
 
COURTS OF PARIS, NAPLES, &C. 359 
 
 versa, '■^ qiiil faut d toutes chases iin commence- 
 ment.'' 
 
 Sept. 22. 
 
 Two days ago the emperor sent for me in the 
 evening to Schonbrun, where I walked with 
 him in the gardens. He was very agreeable, 
 and is certainly very clever. He is on the point 
 of setting out for Bohemia, and yesterday rode 
 in the Prater, showing the empress, who was in 
 her carriage, the improvements that are making. 
 He rides very ill. 
 
 I w^as at a large dinner party of all nations, at 
 Foscarini's, the Venetian ambassador's. D'Ohen- 
 hausen mentioned an anecdote of Count Oli- 
 varez : — viz. his artful manner of informino- 
 Philip IV. that Portugal was lost. " I congra- 
 tulate you, sire !" said he ; " the estates of the 
 Duke of Braganza are all fallen to your majesty, 
 for he has dared to seat himself on the throne of 
 Portugal.* 
 
 We had in the evening a pleasant reunion chez 
 Madame de Berghen, where it is the fashion to play 
 at des jeux d'esprit. There is no form, — a most 
 agreeable society, with dancing and supper towards 
 
 * The renowned Gasper Guzman, Conde Duque d'OIivarez, 
 prime minister to Philip IV. of Spain during twenty-two 
 years. He died in disgrace at Toro in 1643. 
 
360 LETIJiKS FROM THE 
 
 the end of the evening. Such parties often take 
 place here, which, in my opinion, are pleasanter 
 than large and formal assemblies and balls. 
 
 I have visited the imperial cabinet of natural 
 history. Baron Baillon, the director, has arranged 
 it systematically, to prove that the polypus sys- 
 tem is not here in all its positions, and that great 
 part of those productions are vegetables, and a 
 chain up to life. The petrified woods are curious; 
 the minerals rich, and the precious stones valua- 
 ble; particularly a large turnip of opal, not to be 
 set a price upon. A Jew offered two hundred 
 thousand florins for it. There is a black diamond, 
 a rainbow diamond, and a nosegay composed of 
 all the precious stones existing. The collection 
 of shells is fine ; some are unique. 
 
 The medals we brought from Italy are much 
 admired here. We went to see Neuman's me- 
 dals, and dined with him at the convent of St. 
 Dorothea : he is a learned man, and oave us his 
 book on Nummi Indefiniti — a strange composi- 
 tion. He told us Edenborg, in Hungary, is said 
 to have been called so by Edgar Atheling, who 
 resided there. 
 
 Oct. 16. 
 Kaunitz is the greatest tyrant and bashaw I 
 ever knew ; he has always some dishes and cakes 
 
COURTS Of PARIS, NAPLES, &C. 361 
 
 (peculiar dainties) reserved for himself, which 
 nobody dares to touch. As he mostly makes 
 me sit near him, Madame de Thun warned me 
 not to transgress, which perhaps put it into my 
 head to do so, for I did not care a halfpenny 
 about him. Accordingly I took an opportunity, 
 and, notwithstanding all the signs and distressed 
 looks of my wife opposite, I succeeded in car- 
 rying off some of his favourite gauffres and sweet- 
 meats. He looked very awkward, grew quite 
 reserved, and me bouda for several days. I took no 
 notice of his pettishness, which amused me ex- 
 tremely, and in about a week he came round of 
 himself. I was walking from dinner through a 
 long string of rooms, talking to the Nuncio, when 
 I felt an arm thrown over my shoulder, and turn- 
 ing round saw it was Kaunitz, in high good hu- 
 mour. He said he wanted my opinion of a va- 
 riety of pictures exhibited for his approbation, 
 by Michel, the engraver of Basle, who makes 
 him his dupe, for these pictures are absolute 
 daubs. Amongst others is one of a pope, which 
 the Nuncio and I thought to be one of those ex- 
 hibited at Rome, at I'Ara de Massimi, price 
 sixteen paoli. 
 
 When the Grand Duke Leopold was to be 
 married at Inspruck to the King of Spain's 
 daughter, Prince Kaunitz went thither before- 
 
362 LETTERS FROM THK 
 
 hand to see that everything was in order for the 
 fete. The opera, among the rest, engaged his at- 
 tention, and he questioned Gliick about it. 
 The composer assured him that the performers, 
 singers, and decorations, were perfect. " Well, 
 then," said the prince, " let us have the opera 
 directly." "How!" exclaimed Gliick, "with- 
 out an audience?" — " Monsieur Gliick," here- 
 plied, " sachez que la qualite vaut Men la quan- 
 iite ; je suis moi seul une audience.'^ He was 
 obeyed, and I heard him tell this with great 
 triumph. 
 
 Kaunitz patronized a Diamice.* One day, 
 when he carried his portfeuille to the empress, she 
 began to upbraid him with the scandal of his con- 
 duct. " Madame,'''' said he, "je suis venu id 
 pour parler des affaires de voire Majeste, non des 
 miennes.'^ 
 
 On the 10th, Mrs, S. had a long audience of 
 the empress, who said, in conversation, she was 
 sure her son the emperor would not live long, as 
 he imitated the King of Prussia in everything, 
 and had not a constitution for it. She also told 
 her she was certain she herself would soon die, 
 and she only regretted life because she had set 
 her heart upon marrying the Archduke Francis 
 
 * A celebrated dancer and courtesan of that period. 
 
COURTS OF PARIS, NAPLES, &C. 863 
 
 to lier gTand-daughter Maria Theresa of Naples. 
 She has since sent Mrs. S. the cross, patent, and 
 statutes of the order of the croix etoilee* 
 
 The emperor is returned from Bohemia. I 
 went to court the day after his arrival, and the 
 same evening to the German theatre, in Count 
 Rosenberg's box, to see Madame Sacco as Medea, 
 in amelodrame. She does it almost alone, and a 
 terrible part it is ; the music is intended to express 
 the passions, so that the words are few. She acted 
 so well that it was too affecting, and is certainly su- 
 perior to anything I know of, on any other stage at 
 present. The emperor, who was in the next box, 
 
 * This order for noble ladies, called the Sternkreuz orden, 
 was instituted by the Empress Eleanor on the 18th of Sept. 
 1668. Its origin is curious. The house of Austria believed 
 that it possessed a small piece of the true cross. This relic, 
 fixed in a small golden crucifix, was constantly worn by the 
 Emperors Maximilian and Ferdinand III. On the death of the 
 latter, Leopold presented it to the widowed Empress Eleanor, 
 who caused it to be mounted in a small but costly reliqua- 
 rium, of gold, enamel, and crystal. On the 2nd of February 
 1666, a fire suddenly broke out in the empress's apartments, 
 and burned with such rapidity and fury, that she had scarcely 
 time to save herself ere the chamber in which the relic was 
 deposited fell in. But, upon examining the ruins some days 
 after, the little case was found almost intact. The empress 
 therefore ordered a procession ; the prince bishop of Vienna 
 drew up aproces verbal commemorative of the miracle; and, 
 to render the circumstance more striking, a bull was obtained 
 from the pope, sanctioning the foundation of the order. 
 
3f)4 LKTTERS FROM THE 
 
 interpreted it verse by verse to Mrs. S. through- 
 out the play as it went on. 
 
 The emperor came one night since his re- 
 turn to Madame Berghen's, and the societ}?^ was 
 not rendered a bit more formal by his pre- 
 sence. He entered into the amusements, and 
 was very good-natured, but did not stay long. 
 He is always thinking of politics, and one even- 
 ing at the play looked out of his adjoining box 
 to tell Mrs. S. that the Dutch were taking the 
 part of the French in the most glaring manner ; 
 and that if Pitt (Lord Chatham) had been 
 alive, he would have declared against Holland 
 six months ago. 
 
 Nov. 29. 
 The day before we left Vienna, we took leave of 
 the empress and the archduchess Marianne, who 
 has desired Mrs. S. to correspond with her. The 
 empress gave watches to the boys. We spent 
 an evening at Madame Berghen's, where a game 
 was played of subjects given around for verses, 
 On that of Vienna I wrote these lines : 
 
 Belle Vienne ! delicieuse gite ! 
 Ville pleine de plaisirs et d'attraits, 
 Depuis le terns heureuxqueje t' habite, 
 Chez toi de jour en jour plus je me plais. 
 
COURTS OF PARIS, NAPLES, &:e. 365 
 
 Mais le tems passe, il faut que je te quitte. 
 Helas ! mon coeur, attriste de regrets, 
 All moment du depart encore hesite 
 A' dire adieu, peut-etre pour jamais ! 
 
 We slept the first night at St. Poellon. The 
 first post after passing Schonbrun is through 
 woody mountains, as handsome as such scenes 
 can be in a tame manner ; not the bold savaae 
 rocks and waterfalls of the Alps, but the rich 
 flowing hills of Sussex and Surrey. We had some 
 transitory peeps of the Danube ; excellent roads ; 
 an innumerable quantity of beggars in every 
 place. There are several country-seats in noble 
 situations. 
 
 Molck has an Abbey of Benedictines, a most 
 superb edifice; its church has a large cupola and 
 two steeples. The lodging part is endless. 
 Its situation, on the point of a rock, looking both 
 up and down the Danube, is very grand, and the 
 edifice affords a striking object to all the countr^^ 
 
 We now drove through a beautiful country 
 with every variety that can be desired in a land- 
 scape ; noble reaches of the river, and the dis- 
 tant blue mountains of Bohemia and Syria. 
 Many towns and large country-seats give life to 
 the vegetative scenery. 
 
 Ens, where we arrived in the evening, is a 
 poor small town, the Lauriacum of the ancients, 
 
366 LETTERS FROM THE 
 
 on the point of a ridge above the river of the 
 same name, which falls into the Danube a quar- 
 ter of a mile below — a delightful position for 
 prospect. Count Aversberg resides in a large 
 chateau at the end, in the finest situation ima- 
 ginable. The air is good, but the cold in winter 
 intense. 
 
 Mr. Bedingfeld was there to meet us, and we 
 went with a letter from the Nuncio to the Au- 
 gustinian College at San Florianus, a most mag- 
 nificent establishment. We were received by 
 the prelate with great politeness. A canon spoke 
 Italian to me, for I am sorry to say I did not 
 learn much German during my residence at the 
 capital, where French is universally spoken. The 
 galleries and apartments for the imperial family 
 are extremely grand. There is the bedcham- 
 ber of Prince Eugene, hung with military tro- 
 phies, &:c. Two good portraits of him and 
 Charles VI. are reckoned the best likenesses of 
 them existino'. There are a fine collection of 
 manuscripts and a cabinet of medals. The church 
 is full of columns of one piece, from the moun- 
 tains of Saltzberg. 
 
 Lintz is a small town, the form of which is 
 square. On the old rampart (for there are no 
 fortifications) is a pleasant walk leading up to 
 the castle — a plain house where Leopold I. 
 
COURTS OF PARIS, NAPLES, &C. 867 
 
 waited the event of the battle of Vienna. It 
 commands an immense view of the Danube, and 
 of the great wooden bridge over it. Boats are 
 constantly passing, laden with cabbages for sauer- 
 crout. It is a beautiful country, with landscapes 
 that might employ a painter for months. 
 
 From Lintz is a charming road by the water 
 side. This picturesque country is all a new ac- 
 quisition of the emperor's. At Scharding, a mid- 
 dle-sized walled town, we crossed the Inn, a 
 broad rapid river, and entered Bavaria, a charm- 
 ing country, like the woody parts of Bedford- 
 shire. The women hereabouts no longer wear 
 the large black hats of the Austrians, but round- 
 eared caps, and their petticoats very short. 
 
 Many parts of our journey resembled a park, 
 and that in the most elegant taste. Vilshofen is 
 prettily situated at the confluence of the Danube, 
 with a small stream of very black water. Strau- 
 bingen is a large ugly town, where we found 
 difficulty in getting horses, as they were reserved 
 for the Archduke Maximilian, in his passage from 
 Magentheim, the residence of the chief of the 
 Teutonic order. 
 
 Ratisbon is a poorly built, uneven, and roughly 
 paved town, with a kennel in the middle of 
 each street. Its cathedral is old and gothic, the 
 steeples poor, being covered with tiles, like houses. 
 
308 LETTERS FROM THE 
 
 There is no monument of any consequence, ex- 
 cept a large statue of a cardinal of the Palatine 
 family. At the Abbey of St. Emerand there is 
 an ugly gingerbread monument of Henry prince 
 of Tour and Taxis, and statues of Charlemagne 
 and St. Henri. The diet is held in an old, dark, 
 dismal town-house. The magistracy, with the 
 Chamberlain, are all Lutherans ; the bishops, 
 monks, and canons, are Catholics, and as free as 
 the burghers, all their houses being asylums. 
 The territories scarcely extend beyond the walls, 
 which go about two miles out. There does not 
 seem to be a handsome edifice in the town. 
 Every prince, free state, abbot, &c., in Germany, 
 has a minister here. The electors have ambassa- 
 dors, among whom that of Mayence ranks the first. 
 
 The roads from thence to Nurember"; are exe- 
 crable. This latter is a larg-e ill-situated town : 
 its houses in the antique German style, painted 
 red and other colours on the outside. 
 
 On entering the territories of the prince 
 bishop of Wurtzburg, appeared vineyards, the 
 first we had seen since we left Vienna. We passed 
 the Mein at Kitzingen. The appearance of 
 Wurtzburg is grand, as the number of steeples cut 
 a great figure, as well as the episcopal palace, 
 which is built of a darkish stone. It is the 
 grandest and best furnished of any I have seen. 
 
COURTS OF PARIS, NAPLES. 8:0. 369 
 
 indeed too large and magnificent for tlie petty 
 sovereign lodged in it ; he has some fine pictures, 
 by Wouvermans and Brughels. The great hall, 
 painted by Tiepolo, is superb, as well as a cabi- 
 net of mirrors painted in grotesques. The 
 bishop has three thousand regular troops, and as 
 many militia, and is allowed forty thousand 
 florins yearly for pocket-money, every other ex- 
 pense being defrayed. 
 
 Next day we entered an immense forest, all of 
 reddish sand, and the stones the same colour. 
 We then reached Aschaffenburg, on the Mein, 
 a town belonging to the elector, who has a sum- 
 mer residence there, and has made drives and 
 walks in the forest The palace of red stone is 
 very unsightly, with tall steeples at each angle. 
 He is brother to the prince of Wurtzburg, and is 
 a cross, ill-looking priest. 
 
 Hanau, on the banks of the river, is a very 
 pretty regular town ; its houses neat and gaily 
 painted. The hereditary prince of Hesse Cassel 
 resides near it, and takes great pains to embel- 
 lish the place with walks, buildings, roads, &c. 
 At a small distance from the town he has created 
 a water - drinking place, called Wilhelmstadt, 
 where everything is laid out in the Vauxhall 
 style. It allures many people from Frankfort. 
 There is a print of him, dressed as a tapster, in- 
 
 VOL. I. B B 
 
870 LETTERS FROM THE 
 
 viting people to his rooms. His grenadiers have 
 caps and curls, and enormous pigtails.* 
 
 At Frankfort, we put up at a very good inn, 
 I'Empereur. The situation of the town is flat. 
 The foitifications are modern, and in good repair. 
 It is a very dear place. There are a few con- 
 vents, and a great many Jews. The proverb 
 current here is, that " the Calvinists have the 
 money, the Catholics the churches, and the Lu- 
 therans the power." We went to see the golden 
 bull of the emperor Charles IV., which is an old 
 parchment rolLj' 
 
 * The attachment of the elector of Hesse Cassel to pig- 
 tails was exemplified in a laughable manner, upon his return 
 to his dominions in 1813. Upon this occasion he was greeted 
 with the liveliest demonstrations of rejoicings and affection ; 
 but nothing seemed to afford him pleasure, or to excite his 
 admiration, until at last an old officer appeared before him 
 with a cue of gigantic proportions. Upon this the elector's 
 countenance expanded, he smiled graciously, and turning 
 round to his principal aide-de-camp, exclaimed : Gott sei/ 
 geloht, der hat ihn nocJu' (God be praised, he has got it 
 still.) 
 
 t The famous golden bull of Charles IV., which was re- 
 garded as the fundamental law and constitution of the Ger- 
 manic empire, was first promulgated at Nuremberg in 1334. 
 Its purport is too well known to require comment, especially 
 as its main object has become a dead letter, by the dissolu- 
 tion of the empire. Amongst other ordinances of this bull, 
 was the constitution of the seven electors, who were thus 
 nominated in honour of the seven candelabras of the Apo- 
 calypse. 
 
COURTS OF PARIS, \APLES, Sec. 371 
 
 As we entered Limburg, an ill-looking fellow, 
 all in tatters, followed by a corporal and two 
 sentinels in the same accoutrements, asked us 
 our names, and told us he was the guard of his 
 serene highness the elector of Treves. It is a 
 middling-sized, ugly town. 
 
 We crossed the Rhine at Ehrenbreitsteiu, on 
 a flying bridge, a convenient invention, prefera- 
 ble to our ferry-boats. Coblentz is a pretty 
 town, in the midst of a thousand natural beau- 
 ties. Bonn is also a pretty town, neatly built, 
 and its streets tolerably well paved, all in black 
 lava. It is situated in a flat near the river. The 
 elector of Cologne's palace faces the south entry. 
 It has no beauty of architecture, and is all plain 
 white, without any pretensions. 
 
 We went to court, and were invited to dine 
 with the elector, (Konigsegge.) He is seventy- 
 three years old, a little hale, black man, very 
 merry and affable. His table is none of the best ; 
 no dessert wines handed about, nor any foreign 
 wines at all. He is easy and agreeable, having 
 lived all his life in ladies' company, which he is 
 said to have liked better than his breviary. The 
 captains of his guard, and a few other people of 
 the court, formed the company, amongst whom 
 were his two great nieces, Madame de Hatzfeld 
 and Madame de Taxis. 
 
 B B 2 
 
872 LETTERS FROM THE 
 
 The palace is of an immense size, the l)all- 
 room particularly large, but low. The cabinet 
 of natural history is rich, and well provided with 
 birds, minerals, and petrifactions. A large hu- 
 man skull petrified, with all its articulations, is a 
 rare piece. There are also various beautiful 
 corals and funguses, and the efflorescence of lead 
 from the Tyrol. 
 
 The elector goes about to all the assemblies, 
 and plays at tric-trac. He asked me to be of his 
 party, but I was not acquainted with their way 
 of playing. There is every evening an assembly 
 or play at court. The elector seems very strong 
 and healthy, and will, I think, hold the archduke 
 a good tug yet. 
 
 There are onl}^ two English here ; one is Mr. 
 Meadows, who is come in search of the Duchess 
 of Kingston, to compromise matters with her ; 
 but he has not yet traced her out. She is said 
 to be at Riga with Prince Radzivil. 
 
 An avenue of limes, with very little interrup- 
 tion, lines the road to Cologne, than which tliere 
 cannot be a worse built, uglier, or more dirty 
 city ; as black as small coal can make it. The 
 cathedral is a gothic structure, unfinished. The 
 choir alone is complete. 
 
COURTS OF PARIS, NAPLES, &C. 373 
 
 Aix-la-Chapelle, Dec. I, 1780. 
 
 We are now at the town where we were mar- 
 ried, and find many old acquaintances still re- 
 siding here. There is a strange medley of ranks, 
 Russian princesses, English ladies, and German 
 burgomistresses. Madame Klotz has still her 
 whist and faro going on. The Nugents, Lalandes, 
 Lady Cooke, and Count Ricci, are here. There is 
 a kind of club instituted, to meet every evening at 
 Les Rois d'Angleterre. 
 
 The Bishop of Osnaburg is arrived here from 
 Spa, and dined with us at the table d'hote.* He 
 is very young, and rather good-looking. Princess 
 Cazerni asked him to a supper at the Redoute, 
 but he declined it. 
 
 I spent a day at Spa, and walked over the 
 hills to enjoy my old dear points of view. Spa 
 seemed still to me the lovely place I always 
 thought it, though the advantage of my honey- 
 moon having been spent there may have en- 
 hanced its charms. Some alterations have taken 
 place. A temple has been built on the hill, and 
 a guingette at " Annette et Lubin's" walk. 
 There are a new ball-room and a playhouse. The 
 last season was very numerous, viz. twelve 
 hundred and thirty persons. Gaming is excessive, 
 
 * H. R. H. the late Duke of York. 
 
374 LETTERS FROM THE 
 
 and the profits of the bank enormous : its 
 effects benefit the country, which is very flourish- 
 ing, and there are great things done in roads, 
 buildings, &c. But the sweet, rural, undressed 
 life and social pleasures of Old Spa are, I fancy, 
 vanished, and there is now as much ceremony, 
 dress, and luxury of all sorts as in a capital. 
 
 Brussels, Feb. 10, 1731. 
 
 On leaving Aix-la-Chapelle we spent two days 
 at Liege. We went to the apartments at court, 
 where the prince bishop recognised us as old ac- 
 quaintances, and asked us to dinner the following 
 day. 
 
 On our arrival at Brussels, where, joor paren- 
 theses we were kept above an hour at the gates, 
 we installed ourselves a I'hotel d'Angleterre, and 
 were visited by our envoy, Mr. Fitzherbert, the 
 Nuncio Davoust, and many more. The houses 
 here are very neat, and those building at the 
 east end are grand. We have dined with Prince 
 Starhemberg and Lord Trentham. 
 
 The Redoute is here a stupid, dirty, ill-lighted 
 ball at the playhouse, with no pretty or well- 
 dressed women, excepting, perhaps, the Duchess 
 d'Arenberg and Countess de Beaufort, nee Me- 
 rode. It was excessively crowded, with a great 
 
COURTS OF PARIS, NAPLES, &C. 375 
 
 deal of dancing. We met many English, and 
 supped at Mrs. St. Leger's. 
 
 We have Lord and Lady Torrington and their 
 daughters, Mr. Taylor with six children, the 
 Duke of St. Albans, Coombe of the Diabo- 
 liad. Lady Juliana and Miss Penn, Lord St. 
 Asaph, &c. 
 
 At St. Gudule's the delivery of the keys by 
 Rubens is a fine picture, but the carnations are 
 shaded with blue and other unnatural tints. The 
 drawing is incorrect, and the heads of the sheep 
 not quite exact. At the church, in the Place 
 Royale, monks and nuns were assisting at mass. 
 
 Brussels, April 3, 1781. 
 
 We had, on the emperor's name-day, a superb 
 gala at Prince Starhemberg's. The emperor is 
 expected here. He never would come during 
 the life of Prince Charles, not to displease his 
 mother, with whom the latter was a great favou- 
 rite. They say Prince Charles had grown quite 
 foolish latterly ; but he still thinks a great deal of 
 his own consequence, and whenever anything 
 occurred which did not please him, his usual 
 remark was, " Eh hien, nimporte ; je nen serai 
 pas moins Ic Prince Charles de Lorraine.*''^ 
 
 * This reminds ine of one Mr, Thomas , only son 
 
 of Sir James , a wealthy Irish baronet, whom Scrope 
 
376 LETTERS FROM THE 
 
 I have made acquaintance with Mentelli, au- 
 thor of Cosmographie elementaire^ rather in a cu- 
 rious way. I happened to buy his Geographic 
 Comparee, and finding in it some errors, I made 
 a note of them, and sent them to him, without 
 signing my name. Not long after, the bookseller 
 
 brought me a letter directed to Mr. , and 
 
 insisted upon its being for me, as the writer had 
 desired he should give it to the person who had 
 bought of him the only set sent to Brussels. 
 This letter was so flattering that I answered it in 
 my own name, and liave thus opened a corres- 
 pondence. 
 
 I have made an excursion to Antwerp. Its 
 approach is as pretty as a flat is capable of being 
 made. The fortifications are in poor repair, but 
 the citadel is taken care of. The tower of the 
 cathedral looks beautiful over the town. I climbed 
 to the top of the steeple, which is said to mea- 
 sure four hundred and sixty-six feet. I reckoned 
 five hundred and thirty-five steps, and there is a 
 
 Davies and others were wont to rally for his dulness, and to 
 call him " poor Tom." " Never mind," replied the other 
 one day, " you may call me poor Tom as much as you 
 please, but when my father dies I shall be rich Sir James." 
 Scrope Davies asked Tom's valet what he thought of his 
 master. " Why, sir," rejoined the Le Jasmin, " if I may be 
 so bold, I should say that he is one of the g> cen-hornedest qqix- 
 tlemen I ever saw." 
 
COURTS OF PARIS, NAPLES, &C. 377 
 
 height above, where it is impossible to ascend. 
 From the steeple I saw Bergen-op-Zoom, the sea, 
 and the winding course of the Scheldt, and an 
 immense tract of country. The churches abound 
 with capital works of Rubens, Vandyck, and 
 other Flemish artists. At St. Andre is a very 
 beautiful picture of Mary Queen of Scots, over 
 a monumental inscription erected to her honour. 
 At the cathedral I admired the famous Descent 
 from the Cross, by Rubens. 
 
 Malines is quite in a flat. Its ramparts are 
 out of all repair, and its ditches, overgrown with 
 bushes and green weeds, are quite offensive. 
 The houses are in the old gable-end form. There 
 are many convents. The cathedral makes a 
 great figure, its tower being of an enormous 
 height, and seen all over the country. 
 
 At Vilvorde, the empress has built a stupen- 
 dous workhouse ; but, from an unwillingness in 
 the states to rid the streets of beggars, no use is 
 made of it.* 
 
 Since my return, I have been with a party of 
 friends to see Chateau Charles, a country-house 
 built and left unfinished by the late Prince 
 Charles of Lorraine. It stands well, on a hill 
 
 * This immense building is now converted into a prison, 
 and is in no lack of inmates. It merits a visit from tra- 
 vellers, as the regulations are admirable. 
 
•378 LETTERS FROM THE 
 
 on the verge of the forest of Soignes. One sees 
 from it Antwerp, Malines, Louvain, and Brussels. 
 There is a want of water to this extensive view. 
 The most remarkable things in the house are a 
 japan dressing-room, which is beautiful, and a 
 chair which goes up to the top of the house by 
 machinery. "^ 
 
 Ghent, June. 
 
 We have been remaining here in expectation 
 of seeing the emperor, who, however, went round 
 by Antwerp ; therefore, having my family here, I 
 went to meet him at Ostend. He had arrived 
 there the night before, and had been walking all 
 the morning about the port. I went to him at 
 eleven o'clock, and had a tete-a-tete with him of 
 nearly an hour, after which he received all peti- 
 tions till one. General Terzy was with him. He 
 was in the back or ordinary room, which was 
 seen through and through. Terzy stood in the 
 court, and ushered each petitioner in. When I 
 came, I was pushed in directly. A lady in weeds 
 was there with him. He laughed at the inter- 
 view in public, dismissed her, and began to talk 
 to me of the peace, and made me walk up and 
 
 * This chateau, built by the Archduke Charles of Lor- 
 raine, is no longer in existence. It was situated to the right 
 of the road near the small town of Terveuren. 
 
COURTS OF PARIS, NAPLES, &C. 379 
 
 down the room, forgetting the people waiting. 
 He showed me tlie proposals of the people of 
 Antwerp for opening the port, drawn np by a 
 Mr. Hatfield, an Englishman. The citizens 
 offered to defray the whole expense, and well they 
 might, if what I have heard be true, that the 
 vast capital vested in the commercial houses of 
 that city at the period of that commercial ruin still 
 remains unimpaired, and in great part still in 
 specie. The emperor relishes the idea, but he is a 
 man of half measures — a groper in politics, with- 
 out sufficient steadiness or understanding to adopt 
 and carry through a great and vigorous plan. 
 
 He also communicated to me the proposal he 
 and the Empress of Russia had sent over to 
 Belgioioso, offering their mediation for peace. 
 The plan was to appoint a congress in Holland ; 
 the British and American ambassadors were to 
 take adjoining hotels, and to open a communi- 
 cation, and the other persons were not to enter 
 upon business till those two were agreed. The 
 plan was sent over to Lord Storm ont. The em- 
 peror gave me a copy of it, and promised to 
 give me the answer at Ghent. 
 
 I returned to Ghent that evening, and three 
 days afterward Joseph H. arrived at the inn of 
 St. Sebastian. Next morning he reviewed a 
 battalion of Claiifait's regiment, and d'Arberg's 
 
380 LETTERS FROM THE 
 
 dragoons, and gave audiences till four. After 
 dinner I waited on him at the town-house, 
 where he had received tlie magistrates. He 
 there communicated to me Lord Stormont's let- 
 ter, and refusal of the mediation, at which he 
 felt very indignant. " But,'* said he, " how 
 can one expect anything reasonable in one's 
 concerns with a man que fai vu pendant deux 
 cms fou!" 
 
 He showed me the official answer, and al- 
 lowed me to take a copy of it, as well as of his 
 letter. He seemed quite delighted with the 
 reception he had met with at Antwerp and at 
 Ghent, and declared he believed the people 
 would give him their blood if he asked for it. 
 1 observed that they naturally rejoiced at the 
 sight of a sovereign, not having seen one since 
 Philip n. He started, and said, " Au nom de 
 Dieu ne me comparez pas a lui /" 
 
 The crowd was immense all day and all night 
 at the inn where he lodged ; so that, in order to 
 pay Mrs. S. a visit, (she being at an inn on the 
 same side of the square,^ he and General Terzy 
 were obliged to come by a back way, through 
 little gardens and closes behind the houses, 
 along the river, from one house to the other. 
 When they enfered the court where we occupied 
 the oround-floor, our landh^rd ushered in his 
 
COURTS OF PARIS, NAPLES, &C. 381 
 
 majesty with a taper in eacli hand. He sat with 
 us an hour, then returned the same way. From 
 the silence enforced, and the candles taken 
 about, the people thought it was the sacrament 
 administering to some sick person, and many 
 knelt down. 
 
 He gave an amusing; account of his entry 
 at Bruges, where petitions were presented to 
 him by a " drole de coiy.s, une esphce de fou^ 
 qui avo'it Vaii^ d'lui Marguillier en perruque 
 blanche de travers, qui me parla Italien.^'' Never 
 was anything better painted, especially as I had 
 met the person at Bruges. 
 
 Next day, by his order, I attended him when 
 the crowd was a little dispersed. He had dined 
 early, and was walking about the room eating- 
 strawberries. When he left Ghent he went to 
 Antwerp, making a round b}^ Oudenarde and 
 Alost, without going to Brussels, where the 
 grandees had prepared a brilliant reception. 
 
 June 15. 
 We came by the barge to Bruges, and dined 
 in company with Mr. Burgess, confessor of the 
 Augustine nuns. I could not help laughing wlien 
 I saw him, for it was he who had presented the 
 petitions to the emperor, and whom he had made 
 
«'i82 LETTERS FROM THE 
 
 such a joke of. My risibility was the more ex- 
 cited, when he boasted of his imperial majesty's 
 great politeness and attention to his speech. 
 
 London, July 1. 
 
 Having brought a parcel from his brother, 
 General Langlois, I called upon Mr. Benjamin 
 Langlois, under-secretary of state for foreign af- 
 fairs. The conversation by chance fell upon the 
 question of peace, which he avowed to be the 
 most desirable of blessings, if it could be 
 brought about by any honourable means. I 
 observed, in reply, that it was not likely the 
 present administration should obtain it easily, 
 since they had rejected the mediation of Joseph 
 II., the only friend we had left in the world. 
 
 He stared as I repeated, verbatim, all I knew, 
 without discovering my author. Nothing could 
 exceed his apparent dismay ; he protested that 
 he was the only person not of the cabinet who 
 had seen the letter. I refused to say more, and 
 the next morning I received a note from Lord 
 Stormont, requesting the favour of me to call on 
 him at his office. I complied, and having no 
 reason for further silence, relieved him from his 
 fears of treachery, by acquainting him from 
 whence I liad derived my knowledge. I amused 
 
COURTS OF PARIS, NAPLES, &C. 3813 
 
 myself, however, a little vvith liis perplexity and 
 uneasiness, before I let him into my secret. 
 
 *Lo7idon, April 15, 1785. 
 
 Spent a day and night at York witli my 
 sister, then came to Parlington, where I was 
 received with great cordiality by the Benedict 
 and Benedictina. She does not appear to me 
 any better looking than she was two years 
 ago, when he thought her so plain ; but times 
 and opinions change, one knows not why. I 
 suppose her fondness for dogs has charmed 
 him, though no one is so little of a puppy as 
 himself; the rooms are full of them, big and 
 little. 
 
 In my way 1 went to see Woburn. There is a 
 noble plantation of magnificent timber, fine turf, 
 a large house, but in a hole, and apparently a 
 damp situation. The rooms above stairs are 
 grand, and there is a vast number of valuable 
 portraits, &c. I was much amused by my 
 
 * Here there is a considerable hiatus in INIr. S's. corres- 
 pondence. None of ilie letters written by him from Paris, 
 upon his visit to that place in 1783, are forthcoming : seve- 
 ral others, it must be observed, are also missing. This will 
 account for the want of connexion that is visible now and 
 then. 
 
384 LETTERS FROM THE 
 
 travels to London on liorseback, in the mode of 
 ancient days, when there were neither stage 
 coaches nor good roads. In my opinion it is 
 pleasanter than going in a postchaise ; that is to 
 say, when there is no necessity for so doing ; for 
 necessity, though it has no law, must, by im- 
 posing a restraint, take off all pleasure. However, 
 I conclude they did not mind it formerly, as 
 people would now ; it seemed so much a thing of 
 course. It is recorded of our family, that one of 
 our aunts, or great aunts, rode on a pillion, full 
 dressed in hoop, &c., to a masquerade, from Cap- 
 heaton to Callaby, danced all night, and returned 
 after the ball in the same manner : — about thirty 
 miles distance. 
 
 London is full, and dinners numerous. The 
 pleasantest lounge is Ranelagh, where one meets 
 all the world. The routs do not suit me. I 
 was at one last night at old Lady Littleton's, 
 which would have cured me of liking them, if I 
 had been so inclined. I was almost the only 
 man, certainly the youngest. There were plenty 
 of stiff ladies de Vancienne cour, with Lady Mary 
 Duncan at their head, in saques, hoops, and fly- 
 caps at the tops of their toupees. Lady Littleton's 
 cockatoo was the only tolerable piece of life in 
 the apartment. 
 
 Perhaps you don't know this anecdote of Lady 
 
COURTS OF PARIS, NAPLES, &C. 385 
 
 Mary Duncan. She was an heiress, and Sir 
 William Duncan was her physician during a 
 severe illness. One day she told him she had 
 made up her mind to marry, and upon his 
 askino- the name of the fortunate chosen one, she 
 bid him go home and open the Bible, giving 
 him chapter and verse, and he would find out. 
 He did so, and thus he read — " Nathan said to 
 David, Thou art the man." * 
 
 I have met the Prince of Wales at several 
 assemblies. He is a fine looking, fair young 
 man, said to be very like the Pretender in his 
 early youth, when he landed in Scotland. He is 
 pleasing and well mannered. 
 
 I have been staying at Cashiobury, where the 
 park is extensive. There is a fine hill and 
 
 * A very pretty French widow, Madame Esther de , 
 
 was long the object of the secret affections of a friend of 
 mine, who had not courage to disclose his sentiments. But 
 women's eyes are quick in these matters, and she soon dis- 
 covered the state of his heart. Being together one day, the 
 subject chanced to fall upon the ancient Testament, upon 
 which she said to him, " Do you know which of the kings of 
 that Testament I, and all discreet women, should prefer for a 
 lover ?" '• No," replied he. " I will tell you," answered 
 she. " Oest Assuerus /" " Comment /" exclaimed he. 
 " Mais .'" rejoined the fair widow, with a very significant 
 smile, '' c'est parceque il savoit aimer Esther {et setaire.y My 
 friend took the hint, threw himself at her feet, and was 
 accepted. 
 
 VOL. I. C C 
 
38G LETTERS FROM THE 
 
 hanging wood over a large stream of clear water, 
 full of trout. The house is in the shape of a 
 Greek IT. The left wing is more modern than 
 the right, which is very old. There are fine old 
 trees in the shrubbery, but an air of neglect 
 prevails throughout. 
 
 Sewell, publisher of the European Magazine, a 
 work now in vogue, has written to Elmsley to 
 request memoirs of me, and my picture, to 
 publish in September. He thinks it proper to 
 comply with the request, for fear of some 
 ridiculous misrepresentations. 
 
 London, Feb. 1785. 
 
 In consequence of your request that I should 
 write often and in detail, I will give you some 
 account of our goings on in this gay metropolis, 
 where we have been yet but a short time, but 
 have had plenty to do with many people we 
 know, and dinner invitations pouring in by 
 cartloads. Yet I think you are better off in the 
 country, for the cold weather and the fogs here 
 are very unpleasant. 
 
 My business with ministry occasions my being 
 in town, as it is of no avail to trust one's interests 
 in other hands, without attending to them oneself. 
 
COURTS OF PARIS, NAPLES, &C. 387 
 
 However, I am hitherto not much further ad- 
 vanced, for Mr. Rose cannot get Mr. Pitt to give 
 an answer about the purchase.* I have written 
 to him myself, and received a very polite letter 
 in return, apologizing, and promising an answer 
 as soon as possible ; but that is already a fort- 
 night since. Pazienzal en attendant 'we. amuse 
 ourselves. 
 
 Some time ago, at a great dinner at Mr. 
 Wilkes's, we met Barons Weissembourg and 
 Leinkowitz, Barthelemy, Conway, and Made- 
 moiselle d'Eon, who is a very curious personage. 
 M. de Ste. Foix, who has known her from her 
 first appearance, has given me her story. She 
 was always in male attire, and supposed to be a 
 man. She began by being a commis in the bu- 
 reau of M. de Sauvigny, Intendant de Paris, and 
 as a delassement she attended the fencing- 
 school, where she attained great skill, which 
 gave her an inclination for the military profes- 
 sion, and she obtained from the intendant the 
 post of " lieutenant de milice de I'lsle de France,*' 
 but continued to write in his office. When 
 France wished to renew its connexion with Prus- 
 sia, it was thought proper to send an obscure 
 person, pour tetter le terrain, and sound the in- 
 
 * Alluding to the purchase of Mr. Swinburne's \Yest Indian 
 propeity. 
 
 C C 2 
 
388 LETTERS FROM THE 
 
 clinatlons of that court. One Douglas, a refugee 
 Scotcliman, was chosen for that purpose, and he 
 took d'Eon for his secretary, and employed her 
 in carrying his confidential despatches backwards 
 and forwards ; which brought him acquainted 
 with more people in France, and with Ste. Foix 
 at Vienna, where he was charge d'affaires 
 under Praslin. When the Marquis de THopital 
 was named ambassador to Russia, d'Eon was 
 thought likely to be useful, and was appointed 
 secretary, with the brevet of captain of dragoons. 
 From that time till 1761 she was employed in 
 the diplomatic line, when she asked the 
 Comte de Broglie to make her one of his 
 aides-de-camp, and in that capacity she made 
 half a campaign. Next year she came with 
 Nivernois to England, to settle the preliminaries 
 of the peace ; and, having carried over the ratifi- 
 cation, was decorated witii the croix de St. 
 Louis, and employed under Count de Guerchies. 
 The discovery of her sex, and her being- 
 forced to put on female attire, arose, I believe, 
 from a duel she was engaged in ; but I have 
 not heard this very accurately accounted for, 
 though I am told it was certainly by the orders 
 of the French government. She is very mascu- 
 line looking and ugly, and looks more like a 
 
COURTS OF PARIS, NAPLES, 5:c. 389 
 
 captain of dragoons than a gentle belle. She 
 still wears the croix de St. Louis. 
 
 I thought she appeared quite out of her ele- 
 ment, as she accompanied the ladies up-stairs 
 after dinner, and cast a longing look at the wine 
 she was leaving.* 
 
 I have met Count Oginsky, chief of the con- 
 federates of Poland, a man of spirit and enter- 
 prise, but unfortunately almost the only one of 
 that sort in a nation of degenerate, corrupted 
 wretches. f If Poland had six or seven like him, 
 perhaps Poniatowsky would never have been 
 kino- nor Poland divided bv its ancient ene- 
 mies. 
 
 We had a magnificent concert at Mrs. Con- 
 way's, with all the first-rate performers, — "^Fen- 
 
 * Charles Genevieve Louise Auguste d' Eon de Beau- 
 mont — such were the names of this celebrated personage, who 
 was born at Tonnere in 1728. The motives that induced the 
 court of France to force d'Eon to disguise himself as a 
 woman, have never been cleared up. The doubts that hung 
 over his sex were entirely removed, however, at his death, 
 which took place in London in 1810. A certificate to that 
 effect was signed by Mr. Copeland, the Pere Elysee, and in 
 which it is distinctly stated that d'Eon was a man. 
 
 f The recent struggles in Poland have shown that the 
 people of that unfortunate country do not merit the severe 
 epithets applied to them by Mr. Swinburne. Had he said 
 spirited, but rash and improvident, he would have been more 
 just. 
 
390 LETTERS FROM TH£ 
 
 ducci, Cramer, and Cherubim*. Therese De- 
 camp, a charming girl of fifteen, played, danced, 
 and acted vastly well. The Prince of Wales was 
 there. Mrs. Fitzherbert wears his picture in 
 full view round her neck ; therefore I suppose 
 matters are settled between them. 
 
 I dined shortly after at General Paoli's, Town- 
 ley's, Madame Pinto's, and Mrs. Walsing- 
 ham's,* where we had agreeable parties. The 
 latter is a very pleasant woman, and very dis- 
 criminating, for she has bound up my Spanish 
 tour in the most magnificent folio imaginable, 
 with illustrations of her own putting in, of 
 prints, landscapes, and portraits, appertaining to 
 the work. It was lying on the table, and met 
 my eye one day that I dined there ; so, if I pro- 
 claim her a woman of taste, you will say je suis 
 paye pour cela. Her daughter is just come out 
 in the world, and is highly accomplished as well 
 as amiable. Lord Exeter has had a folio illus- 
 trated of my travels, in the same sumptuous 
 manner as Mrs. W. 
 
 We have morning concerts at Mrs. Hamil- 
 ton's, (Sir William's sister-in-law,) where her 
 second daughter sings extremely well. I met 
 Mrs. Siddons there ; she is handsome, but too 
 
 * Mother to the late Baroness De Ros. 
 
COURTS OF PARIS, NAPLES, 6:c. 391 
 
 stately for common life. I thought her acting in 
 the "Fair Penitent" very fine. I am told she 
 never gets off her tragedy-queen manner ; and if 
 she asks at dinner for " the mustard, if you 
 please," or, " Til thank you for the potatoes," it 
 is in the same dignified style.* 
 
 I went to see Mrs. Abingdon act Scrub in the 
 " Beaux Stratagem," for her benefit, which she 
 made an apology for having chosen, in an epi- 
 logue which was wonderfully well received. But 
 1 confess I was surprised at her making such an 
 extraordinary choice of a part that is totally un- 
 suited to her. She was at Mrs. Walsingham's 
 the other evening playing at cards, when some 
 people came in from the play, in raptures at 
 Miss Farren's performance of Lady Teazle, f 
 She was much piqued at these encomiums : fan- 
 cying them meant at her, she said, " It would 
 
 * This is true. Mrs. Sicklons almost always, to use lier 
 own expression, spoke in the language of Shakspeare, and ac- 
 counted for it by her mind being constantly absorbed in me- 
 ditating upon the works of our immortal bard ; so that she 
 identified herself, as it were, with his phraseology. The last 
 time almost I met her, she said, " How fares your good 
 lady ?" — " Passing well," answered I. " Bear my kind 
 greetings, and commend me to her favour," replied Mrs. Sid- 
 dons, waving her hand. Then again one day at dinner, I 
 proposed to help her to something, " I cry you mercy, ' said 
 she, " I've feasted sumptuously." 
 
 -[ Miss Farren, who married Lord Derby. 
 
39-2 LETTERS FROM THE 
 
 be very strange if she could not play Lady Teazle 
 Avell, she must have seen me in it so often !" 
 
 At Paoli's I met Bosvvell, whose Tour in the 
 Hebrides with Dr. Johnson I had just been read- 
 ing. It entertained me exceedingly, and I think 
 has a fund of good stuff in it. They say he has a 
 constant custom, before he retires to rest, of writ- 
 ing down all the interesting parts of the conver- 
 sations he has had in the course of the day. 
 This practice being known, his brother barristers 
 on the circuit made him sign a paper of penal- 
 ties, to be recovered if he kept any journal or 
 made notes of private discourse during their 
 journey together. He says, Dr. Johnson thought 
 very meanly of Mrs. Montague, and declared he 
 could never get through her book upon Shak- 
 speare. That is my sentiment exactly. 
 
 I have been reading Cagliostro's Memoirs, 
 which are quite a romance. 
 
 People seem to be crazy about balloons, which 
 are quite the rage at present, and even supersede 
 politics, notwithstanding that some of the new 
 Icari seem to have shared the fate of their pre- 
 decessor.* I went to see Arnold's balloon o-o 
 
 fci^ 
 
 Apropos of balloons. This reminds me of Dr. F- 
 
 learned philosopher, aeronaut, and great admirer of the ca- 
 nine race to boot. He had a poodle, to which his family were 
 much attached. " Being desirous to make an experiment 
 
COURTS OF PARIS, NAPLES, &C. 393 
 
 up. From his son's forcing himself in, the bal- 
 loon could not raise the parachute, which was 
 dashed against the pales and torn from the car. 
 Arnold, with half the gallery, was pulled down, 
 and his son left to fly up with only a few ropes 
 to hang by. He ascended rapidly, but soon, 
 from the machine's bursting, or his opening the 
 valve, it descended, and was almost reduced to a 
 heap of flat rags, which brought him down un- 
 hurt into the Thames, where a boat took Piim in 
 directly. It was a very affecting scene ; poor 
 Arnold fainted away. 
 
 March 25. 
 
 At a dinner at Mr. Vaughan's, in the city, I 
 met Romilly, Shipley Bishop of St. Asaph, three 
 Americans, &c. The behaviour of the latter at 
 table was truly ridiculous ; it is not possible to 
 conceive anything more vulgar, and contrary 
 to the manners of polished countries. A low 
 farmer in England would not do so many awk- 
 
 upon the effects of temperature on ' Moustache,' I resolved," 
 said he, " to take him up with me in a balloon ; but was 
 compelled to renounce this interesting project." " Why?'' 
 demanded I." — " Why," replied he, ingenuously, " it blew 
 so hard that my wife interfered, and said it would be too 
 cruel to expose the poor dorj to such peril." 
 
394 LEirERS FROM THE 
 
 ward and improper tilings, because he would feel 
 more shamefaced ness.* 
 
 Mr. Peachey has shown me some curious 
 drawings of the pagoda of Mudina, brought over 
 by Captain Paterson, who also penetrated fifteen 
 hundred miles into the continent of Africa, from 
 the Cape of Good Hope. He shot two came- 
 leopards, one of which the lions ate in the night ; 
 the other he has brought home stuffed. It is the 
 first seen in England, and the first in Europe 
 since the Ceesars. He says the natives spoke 
 confidently of unicorns, and that he was within 
 
 * Amongst other anecdotes illustrative of American man- 
 ners, there is one that I heard lately worth recording, 
 for, si non e vero, e ben trovato. An English officer, Colonel 
 
 A , was travelling in a stage to New York, and was 
 
 extremely annoyed by a free and enlightened citizen's 
 perpetually spitting, across him, out of the window. He 
 bore this patiently for some time, till at last he ventured 
 to remonstrate, when the other said, " Why, Colonel, I 
 estimate you're a poking fun at me — that I do. Now, I'm 
 not a going to chaw my own bilge-water, not for no man. 
 Besides, you need not look so thundering ugly. Why, I've 
 practised all my life, and could squirt through the eye of 
 a needle without touching the steel, let alone such a 
 
 great saliva box as that there window." Colonel A 
 
 remained tranquil for some time ; at last his anger got 
 up, and he spat bang in his companion's face, exclaim- 
 ing, " I beg you a thousand pardons, squire, but I've not 
 practised as much as you have. No doubt, by the time 
 we reach New York, I shall be as great a dab as you are.' 
 The other rubbed his eye, and remained hoiiche close. 
 
COURTS OF PARIS, NAPLES, &C. 395 
 
 a few days' march of the country where they 
 abound. 
 
 We had an agreeable dinner at Lad}^ Betty 
 Mackenzie's ; a small party — Lady Mary Coke, 
 Dutens, William Townsend, Horace Walpole, 
 and Poyntz. Mr. Mackenzie told me several 
 anecdotes, one of Lady Yarmouth. She was at 
 a large dinner, seated at no great distance from a 
 rich clergyman, and some bishopric having just 
 fallen in, he carelessly expressed a wish that he 
 were so lucky to be named to it. " Do you ex- 
 pect it?" said she to him. " No indeed, I do 
 not,'' he replied ; "I fear I am not so fortunate." 
 — " What say you to a bet ?" said she. " I'll bet 
 you five thousand pounds that you will get it." 
 — " Done," said the clergyman ; and soon after 
 he had the vacant see. 
 
 Lady Betty told us, that after her uncle's death, 
 (her father was the great Mac Cullamore, as he 
 was called amongst his clan,) she and her sisters 
 could not bear to recognise as Duke of Argyll 
 their cousin Jack, (first cousin to her father,) 
 liaving always been accustomed to dislike and 
 quarrel with him. * He called on them, and sat 
 some time, but nothing could prevail on these 
 girls to give him the title of my Lord Duke. At 
 
 * John, fourth Duke of Argyll. Lady Betty Mackenzie 
 and Lady Mary Coke weie daughters of John, second Uukc. 
 
396 LETTERS FROM THE 
 
 last he rang the bell for his carriage, and when 
 the servant came he gave no orders, leaving to 
 them to say, " His Grace's carriage ;" but Lady 
 Betty was determined not to do so, and pointing 
 to him, she said, "The carriage ! the carriage I" 
 
 Lady Betty could never have been pretty, but 
 they say Lady Mary was. It must have been 
 in days of yore indeed, for she is now so deadly 
 pale that her face is absolutely cadaverous. They 
 say Mr. Walpole was in love with her, but she 
 was persuaded to marry Lord Coke, who was 
 quite a madman, and shut her up for a long- 
 time in a cage. 
 
 On Thursday, at Almack's, the Prince of 
 Wales never moved from Mrs. Fitzherbert's side, 
 and supped en petit comite with her, Lady Beau- 
 champ, Lady Horatio Waldegrave, and Mrs. 
 Musters, who all paid her the deference they 
 would to a Princess of Wales. About two she 
 yawned, and his Royal Highness, pulling out his 
 watch, showed her the hour. Up she rose, he 
 called her chair, and off she went, he following 
 directly. 
 
 We spent a day at Mrs. Garrick's villa at 
 Hampton, which is very pretty, and must be 
 still more so in the summer. We had Mrs. 
 Walsinghauj, Mrs. Wilmot, Mr. Bowdler, and 
 Miss Hannah More. Mrs. Garrick is a good- 
 
COURTS OF PARIS, NAPLES, 8cc. 397 
 
 natured and rather agreeable woman. She and 
 Garrick were never asunder for twenty-four 
 hours. She was educated and patronised by Lady 
 Burlington, who paid her great attention when 
 she was Mademoiselle Violetta, dancing on the 
 stage. The moment her dance was over, she was 
 summoned to Lady B.'s box, to remain there until 
 it was her turn to perform again. 
 
 She has not the least apj)earance of ever hav- 
 ing been pretty ; has very small eyes, and a wide 
 mouth. Her good-humour and elegance capti- 
 vated the heart of Garrick, and it appears that 
 she not only captured, but retained it during 
 life. She has a box at Drury Lane, bestowed on 
 her by the managers, rather in the skies. She 
 lent it us to see the Beggar's Opera, which was 
 ill attended, not as it must have been in those 
 days when it made Rich gay and Gay rich." 
 
 May 19. 
 
 We had a turtle dinner at Wilkes's yesterday. 
 I had met him the day before on the parade, and 
 the warmth of the weather and walk had carried 
 off all the powder from his bald pate. He is a 
 great complimenter, and would stand talking 
 
398 LETTERS FROM THE 
 
 tome with his hat in his hand. A drummer and 
 his son passed us, and as I was going their way, 
 I overheard their discourse. " What a queer- 
 looking hald fellow that was," said the boy : 
 "Don't you know him?" replied the other; 
 " 'tis Johnny Wilkes, and that bald head has 
 more brains in it than all our regiments put to- 
 gether, drummers and all." I told this to Wilkes, 
 and it made him chuckle. He was very amus- 
 ing, and told me several droll things. 
 
 In 1783-4, the House of Commons went up 
 every day with an address to the King, praying 
 to remove Pitt and his ministry. The King al- 
 waj^s received them on his throne, and gave them 
 an answer. One of these days, at the club, 
 George Selwyn had been asking the Prince of 
 Wales some questions, to which he did not choose 
 to reply otherwise than by " Pshaw ! nonsense !" 
 Not long after, as they were both leaning on the 
 balcony looking at the speaker going to court, 
 the prince said, " I wonder what will be his 
 majesty's most gracious answer." *' I cannot 
 tell," answered George Selw^m, " what may be 
 the gracious answer of hh pi'esent majest}', — but 
 I can tell what will be the answer of our next 
 gracious sovereign." "Well, what will it be?" 
 said the prince. " Nonsense !'* he replied. 
 
COURTS OF PARIS, NAPLES, &C. 399 
 
 The other day, at a dinner, in comjDany with the 
 Prince of Wales, Wilkes being called upon for a 
 toast, gave " The King, and long life to him !" — 
 " Since when have you become so loyal, 
 Wilkes?" said the prince, laughing. " Ever since 
 I have had the honour of knowing your royal 
 highness," said he, with a respectful bow. 
 
 When the prince was a little boy, having been 
 very troublesome in his father's room, and seve- 
 ral times turned out of it by him, he returned at 
 last, and thrusting his head into the doorwav, 
 screamed out, "Wilkes and Liberty!" 
 
 Wilkes told me that Churchill had sold to 
 George Kearsley twelve sermons for five hundred 
 pounds, and that he had only nine to produce. 
 The bookseller would not pay the money unless 
 the number was complete, so Wilkes himself 
 composed the three wanting, which were so much 
 superior, (for Churchill wrote bad prose,) that 
 he was afraid they would be found out not to be 
 bv the same author as the other nine. 
 
 When Churchill was dying at Boulogne, two 
 capuchins insisted upon seeing and exhorting 
 him, which Wilkes daily refused. At last he 
 persuaded them to depart, by hinting the danger 
 they would run of being perverted by the sick 
 man, who was a divine, and one of the most elo- 
 quent of the Church of England. 
 
400 LETTERS, &iC. 
 
 What a fine sample it is of party spirit, to 
 choose Alderman Skinner For the auctioneer of the 
 Portland Museum, — although he does not know 
 a cameo from an intaglio, nor a cockleshell from 
 a nautilus, — merely because he is a stickler in 
 the city for the coalition, and is chairman of the 
 committee formed against the administration. 
 
 END OF VOL. I. 
 
 LONDON : 
 
 IBOTSON AND PALMER, PHINTtRS, SAVOV STREF.T, STRAND. 
 
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