Observations and Reflections Made in the Course of a Journey through France, Italy, and Germany, Vo | Page 6

her bosom;--and the Virgin Mary's sign at an alehouse door, with these
words,
Je suis la mere de mon Dieu, Et la gardienne de ce lieu[C].
[Footnote C: The mother of my God am I, And keep this house right
carefully. ]
I have, however, borrowed Bocage's Remarks upon the English nation,

which serve to damp my spirit of criticism exceedingly: She had more
opportunities than I for observation, not less quickness of discernment
surely; and her stay in London was longer than mine in Paris.--Yet,
how was she deceived in many points!
I will tell nothing that I did not _see_; and among the objects one
would certainly avoid seeing if it were possible, is the deformity of the
poor.--Such various modes of warping the human figure could hardly
be observed in England by a surgeon in high practice, as meet me about
this country incessantly.--I have seen them in the galleries and
outer-courts even of the palace itself, and am glad to turn my eyes for
relief on the Duke of Orleans's pictures; a glorious collection! The
Italian noblemen, in whose company we saw it, acknowledged with
candour the good taste of the selection; and I was glad to see again
what had delighted me so many years before: particularly, the three
Marys, by Annibale Caracci; and Rubens's odd conceit of making
Juno's Peacock peck Paris's leg, for having refused the apple to his
mistress.
The manufacture at the Gobelins seems exceedingly improved; the
colouring less inharmonious, the drawing more correct; but our
Parisians are not just now thinking about such matters; they are all wild
for love of a new comedy, written by Mons. de Beaumarchais, and
called, "Le Mariage de Figaro," full of such wit as we were fond of in
the reign of Charles the Second, indecent merriment, and gross
immorality; mixed, however, with much acrimonious satire, as if Sir
George Etherege and Johnny Gay had clubbed their powers of
ingenuity at once to divert and to corrupt their auditors; who now carry
the verses of this favourite piece upon their fans, pocket-handkerchiefs,
&c. as our women once did those of the Beggar's Opera.
We have enjoyed some very agreeable society here in the company of
Comte Turconi, a Milanese Nobleman who, desirous to escape all the
frivolous, and petty distinction which birth alone bestows, has long
fixed his residence in Paris, where talents find their influence, and
where a great city affords that unobserved freedom of thought and
action which can scarcely be expected by a man of high rank in a

smaller circle; but which, when once tasted, will not seldom be
preferred to the attentive watchfulness of more confined society.
The famous Venetian too, who has written so many successful
comedies, and is now employed upon his own Memoirs, at the age of
eighty-four, was a delightful addition to our Coterie, Goldoni. He is
garrulous, good-humoured, and gay; resembling the late James Harris
of Salisbury in person not manner, and seems justly esteemed, and
highly, by his countrymen.
The conversation of the Marquis Trotti and the Abate Bucchetti is
likewise particularly pleasing; especially to me, who am naturally
desirous to live as much as possible among Italians of general
knowledge, good taste, and polished manners, before I enter their
country, where the language will be so very indispensable. Mean time I
have stolen a day to visit my old acquaintance the English Austin Nuns
at the Fossée, and found the whole community alive and cheerful; they
are many of them agreeable women, and having seen Dr. Johnson with
me when I was last abroad, enquired much for him: Mrs. Fermor, the
Prioress, niece to Belinda in the Rape of the Lock, taking occasion to
tell me, comically enough, "That she believed there was but little
comfort to be found in a house that harboured _poets_; for that she
remembered Mr. Pope's praise made her aunt very troublesome and
conceited, while his numberless caprices would have employed ten
servants to wait on him; and he gave one" (said she) "no amends by his
talk neither, for he only sate dozing all day, when the sweet wine was
out, and made his verses chiefly in the night; during which season he
kept himself awake by drinking coffee, which it was one of the maids
business to make for him, and they took it by turns."
These ladies really live here as comfortably for aught I see as peace,
quietness, and the certainty of a good dinner every day can make them.
Just so much happier than as many old maids who inhabit Milman
Street and Chapel Row, as they are sure not to be robbed by a
treacherous, or insulted by a favoured, servant in the decline of life,
when protection is grown hopeless and resistance