Years Journey through France and Part of Spain | Page 2

it was with some difficulty he found out, that there
were shops in the town where opium was sold, and even then, it was
with greater, he could prevail upon the vender of it to let him have
above half an ounce: if he were questioned, why all these precautions?
he would tell them, laughingly, that Englishmen believe opium to be a
deadly poison, and those people suspected that he either meant to kill
himself, or to poison another man with it.
A French gentleman, who travelled some years since into Spain, had
letters of recommendation to a Spanish Bishop, who received him with
every mark of politeness, and treated him with much hospitality: soon
after he retired to his bedchamber, a priest entered it,[A] holding a
vessel in his hand, which was covered with a clean napkin; he said
something; but the Frenchman understanding but little Spanish,
intimated by signs his thanks, and desired him to put it down, believing,
that his friend, the Bishop, had sent him a plate of sweetmeats, fruit,
iced cream, or some kind of refreshment to eat before he went to bed,
or to refresh his exhausted spirits in the night; but his astonishment was
great indeed, when he found the priest put the present under the side of
the bed; and more so, when he perceived that it was only a _pot de
chambre_;--for, says the Frenchman, "in Spain, they do not use the
chaise percee!" The Frenchman is surprized at the Spaniard, for not
using so convenient a vehicle; the Englishman is equally surprized, that
the Frenchman does;--the Frenchman is always attentive to his own

person, and scarce ever appears but clean and well dressed; while his
house and private apartments are perhaps covered with litter and dirt,
and in the utmost confusion;--the Englishman, on the other hand, often
neglects his external dress; but his house is always exquisitely clean,
and every thing in it kept in the nicest order; and who shall say, which
of the two judge the best for their own ease and happiness? I am sure
the Frenchman will not give up his powdered hair, and laced coat, for a
clean house; nor do I believe those fineries would sit quietly upon the
back of an Englishman, in a dirty one. In short, my dear sir, we must
take the world, and the things in it, as they are; it is a dirty world, but
like France, has a vast number of good things in it, and such as I meet
with, in this my third tour, which shall be a long one, if I am not
stopped by the way, you shall have such an account of as I am able to
convey to you: I will not attempt to top the traveller upon you, nor
raise monuments of wonder, where none are to be seen; there is real
matter enough to be found upon this great continent, to amuse a man
who travels slowly over it, to see what is to be seen, and who wishes
not to be seen himself. My style of travelling is such, that I can never
be disturbed in mind for want of respect, but rather be surprised when I
meet with even common civility. And, after all, what does it signify,
whether Monsieur ou Tel travels in a laced coat _et très bien mis_,
attended by half a dozen servants, or, as Pope says,
"will run The Lord knows whither in a chaise and one."
I am, your's &c.
[A] The Bishops in Spain are attended and waited upon by inferior
clergy.

LETTER II.
June 25th, 1766.
Before I leave Calais, let me remind you, that an English guinea is
worth more than a _Louis d'or_; and observe, that the first question

_my friend Mons. Dessein_, at the _Hotel D'Angleterre_ will put to
you, (after he has made his bow, and given you a side look, as a cock
does at a barley-corn) is, whether you have any guineas to change?
because he gets by each guinea, full weight, ten Sols. By this hint, you
will conclude, he will not, upon your return, ask you for your French
Gold; but in this too you will be mistaken, for he finds an advantage in
that also; he will, not indeed give you guineas, but, in lieu thereof, he
has always a large quantity of Birmingham Shillings, to truck with you
for your _Louis d'ors_. I am afraid, when Lord North took into
consideration the state of the gold coin, he did not know, that the better
state it is put into in England, is the surest means of transporting it into
France, and other countries; and that scarce a single guinea which
travellers carry with them to France, (and many hundred go