Volume III Part 5 (1/2)

I bade his E the honour to be admitted to his _petit lever_, the felicity to kiss his hand and receive his Benediction, and the distinction of being conducted down the Back Stairs by his Maitre d'Hotel, and let out by a Side Door in the Garden-wall of his Mansion A close Chariot tookof '58 to the Barriere de Lyon, and there I found a Chaise and Post-horses, and was soon on my road to the South, with three hundred Louis in Gold in my Valise, and a Letter of Credit for any sum under five hundred at a time, I liked to draw, in my Waist-belt I was Richer in Purse and more bravely Dressed than ever I had been in my life, and travelled under the name of the Chevalier Escarbotin; but I was a Spy, and in mine own eyes I was the Meanest of the Mean

A happy Mercurial Temper and cheerful Flow of Spirits soon, however, revived within ues of my Journey were over, the Chevalier Escarbotin becaerous ”I ork the Mine of my Manhood,” I cried out in the Chaise, ”to the last Vein of the Ore _Vive la Joie!_” Yet in my innermost heart did I wish o of the dear old _Marquis_, or else a Peaceful Merchant at Aues and sluts in the Rasphuys O Mr

Vandepeereboom, Mr Vandepeereboom!

Six days after my departure from Paris, I embarked from Marseille on board a Tartane bound for Genoa We had fine sailing for about three days, till by contrary winds ere driven into San Re to the Genoese This abounds so es, Lemons, and other Delicious Fruit, that it is called the Paradise of Italy So on to Genoa, where the Beggars live in Palaces cheek by joith the nobles, who are well-nigh as beggarly as they; and the Houses are as lofty as any in Europe, and the Streets between them as dark and narrow as Adam and Eve Court in the Strand The Suburb called San Pietro d'Arena very pretty, and full of commodious Villas There are thirty Parish Churches, and at San Lorenzo they show a large DishSolo and industrious People, with a great gusto for the Arts, but terrible Thieves The Governe, that is chosen every two years fro the nobility, and e, and no Byblow He cannot so ht out of the City, without leave had from the Senate When he is elected, they place a Crown of Gold on his Head, and a Sceptre in his Hand His Robes are of Crimson Velvet, and he has the title of Serenity

Here I did business with several Persons of Consideration; the Senators B--c--i and Delia G----, the rich Banker L----, and Monsignore the Archprelate X---- So by Cortona, where there is a strong Castle on a Hill, to Pavia, an old decaying City on the River Tessin, which is so rapid that Bishop Burnet says he ran down the Stream thirty miles in three hours by the help of one Rower only Thisvery little faith in the veracity of these Cat-in-Pan Revolution Bishops Here (at Pavy) is a Brass Statue of Marcus Antoninus on Horseback; though the Pavians will have it to be Charles the Fifth, and others declare it to be Constantine the Great

After two days here, waiting for Despatches from his Eminence, which came at last in the False Botto by a Billet discreetly buried in the recesses of a large Bologna Sausage, I posted to Milan, through a fertile and delicious country, which some call the Garden of Italy A broad, clean place, with spacious Streets; but the Wine and Maccaroni not half so good as at Genoa The Cathedral full of Relics, soh as Abraham In the Ambrosian Library are a power of Books, and, what is st others, that of our Bishop Fisher, who his Supremacy About two , where, if you fire off a Pistol; the Sound returns about Fifty times 'Tis done, they told th, which reverberate the Sound to each other till the undulation is quite spent The which, being so infor the Echo as I had been before

It was n to have proceeded from Milan either to Venice or to the famous Capital City of Rome; but Instructions from his Eminence forced me to retrace my steps, and at Genoa I embarked for Naples This is a very handsooverned in a most Despotic Manner Nearly all the Corn Country round about belongs to the Jesuits, who h, and laid on Wine, Meat, Oil, and other Necessaries of Life; indeed on every thing eatable except Fruit and Fohich you ners who have here purchased Estates are loaded with Extraordinary Taxes and Is, Waistcoats, Breeches, and Caps; Soap, Perfume, and Snuff-boxes They cool their Wine with Snohich they get out of pits dug in the Mountain-sides Near here, too, is a Burning Mountain they call Vesuvio

It reat a Nuisance and Perpetual Alarazine Very often this Vesuvio gives itself up to hideous Bellowing, causing the Windows, nay the very Houses, in Naples to Shake, and then it vomits forth vast Quantities of melted Stuff, which strea over So a kind of Eclipse; then a Pillar of Black Sht in the air, and the nextyou will find the Court and Terrace of your House, be it ten miles away, all streith Fine Ashes from Vesuvio

CHAPTER THE SEVENTH

I FALL INTO THE HANDS OF RECREANT PAYNIMS, AND AM SEDUCED TO A STATE OF MISERABLE SLAVERY

I THINK I should have beenat Naples, I had fallen into the blazing Crater of Vesuvio, and have cast up again into the air in the shape of Red-Hot Ashes I think it would have been better for me to be Bitten by the Tarantula Spider (which is about the size of a s, and when it bites a person throws hi, Crazy Talk, and Wild Actions, accoone upon the pretty Dance I was destined to Lead However, there was no disobeying the commands of his Eminence, who, in his Smooth Italian way, told me at Paris that those of his Servants who did not attend to his Behests, wereSuddenly after Supper; and so, willy-nilly, I sped upon my Dark Errand

Business now took nificence of its nobles and the Extent of its Coe is only a Su vested in the Seignory, or Council of Ten, that carry ive Satisfaction both to the Quality and the Common

Here are numbers of Priests of a very Free Life and Conversation, and swar the Carnival (a very faes, and fall intotheir Profession The Venetian Nuns are the merriest in all Europe, and have a not hters of the nobility, who dispose of 'e 'em at home They wear no Veils; have their Necks uncovered; and receive the Addresses of Suitors at the Grates of their Parlours The Patriarch did indeed at one time essay to Reform the abuses that had crept into the Nunneries; but the Ladies of San Giacoan, told him plainly that they were noble Venetians, and scorned his Regulations Thereupon he attempted to shut up their House, which so provoked 'e to set Fire to it; but the Senate interposing, commanded the Patriarch to desist, and these Merry Maidens had full liberty to resume their Madcap Pranks

Here they lasses and Mirrors; likewise Gold and Silver Stuffs, Turpentine, Cream of Tartar, and other articles

The Streetsthro' 'e to and fro done in Boats called Gondoles,--a dis kind of Wherry, with a prow like the head of a Bass-Viol, and rowed, or rather shoved along with a Pole by a Mad, Ragged Fellow, that bawls out verses froreat Sight at Venice, after the Grand Canal and St Mark's Place, is the Carnival, which begins on Twelfth Day, and holds all Lent

The Diversion of the Venetians is now all for Masquerading Under a Disguise, they break through their Natural Gravity, and fall heartily into all the Follies and Extravagances of these occasions With Operas, Plays, and Gaet all Habits, Customs, and Laws; lay aside all cares of Business, and swaives rise to a variety of Love Adventures, of which the less said the better; for the Venetian Bona Robas, or Corteggiane, as they call 'em now, are a most Artful Generation The pursuit of Amours is often accompanied by Broils and Bloodshed; and Fiery Temper is not confined to the Men, but often breaks out in the Weaker sex; an instance of which I saw one day in St Mark's Place, where two Fine Women, Masked, that were Rivals for the favour of the sa one another, they fell out, went to Cuffs, tore off each other's Mask, and at last drew Knives out of their pockets, hich they Fought so seriously, that one of them was left for Dead upon the Spot

Another Frolic of the Carnival is Ga, which is commonly in noblemen's Houses, where there are Tables for that purpose in ten or twelve Rooms on a floor, and seldom without abundance of Company, who are all Masked, and observe a profound Silence Here one meets Ladies of Pleasure cheek by joith Ladies of Quality, who, under the protection of a convenient piece of Black Satin or Velvet, are allowed to enjoy the entertainenerally attended either by the Husband or his Spies, who keep a watchful eye on their Behaviour

Besides these Ga-Rooms, there are others, where Sweetmeats, Wine, Lehty nobility of Venice not disdaining to turn Tavern-keepers at this season of the year Here it is usual for Gentlemen to address the Ladies and employ their wit and raillery; but they must take care to keep within the bounds of Politeness, or they may draw upon themselves the Resentment of the Husbands, who seldoh perhaps only i a severe Satisfaction For the Colers, Rope-dancers, Fortune-tellers, and other Buffoons, who have stages in the Square of St Mark, where, at all ti the Carnival, 'tis al to the crowd of Masqueraders Bull Baitings, Races of Gondoles, and other Amuse the several Shohich attract the eyes of the Populace, I cannot forbear describing one which is remarkable for its oddity, and perhaps peculiar to the Venetians A number of Men, by the help of Poles laid across each other's Shoulders, build themselves up al one above the other, and lessening as they advance in height, till at last a little Boy forms the Top, or Point, of the Structure After they have stood in this azed at, some time, the Boy leaps down into the arms of people appointed to catch him at the Bottom; the rest follow his example, and so the whole Pile falls to Pieces

The nobility of Venice are remarkable for their Persons as well as for their Polite Behaviour, and have a great deal of Gravity and Wisdoht Cap with a kind of black Fringe, and a long black Gown of Paduan Cloth, as their Laws require; though the English have found'em

Underneath these Gowns they have suits of Silk; and are extres Their Perukes are long, full-bottomed, and very well Powdered; and they usually carry their Caps in their Hands The Woh they endeavour to improve their Complexions with Washes and Paint These of Quality wear such high-heeled Shoes, that they can scarce ithout having two people to support theh their worshi+p is as pompous as Gold and Jewels can make it) the Venetians are very Easy and Unconcerned; and neither Pope nor Inquisition is thought nory For Music in their Churches they have a perfect Passion The City is well furnished with Necessaries; but the want of Cellarage makes all the Wine sour The Inhabitants are of a Fresh Coe, they having so in their day at Sunset, and count one o'clock an hour after, and so on to twenty-four; which is likewise a Custo the Chineses

They bury their Dead within the Four-and-Twenty Hours, and sometimes sooner The Funerals of Persons of Quality are perforreat Pomp and Solemnity; and the deceased are carried to the Place of Interment with their Faces bare Whilst I was in Venice, their Patriarch (who is a kind of Independent Pontiff in his oay; for, as I have said, they reckon but little of his Holiness here) died, and was buried with this Cereht, to St

Mark's Church, which was all hung with Black for the occasion; and next day the Corpse was laid on a Bed in the very middle of the Church, dressed in the Sacerdotal Habit, with the Head towards the Choir, and his Tiara, or Mitre, lying at the feet At each corner of the bed stood a _valet de cha a Banner of Black Taffety, with the Are Wax Tapers were placed in Candlesticks round the bed, and High Mass was sung; the Sopranos very beautiful

After Mass was over, all retired; but the Body lay exposed till evening, when it was stripped of its Vesteous people, they are Economical in their ways), and put into a Leaden Coffin, enclosed in another of Cypress, and was then let down into the Grave 'Tis not usual with the Relations to attend the Funeral, which they look upon as a Barbarous Custoularly than inHabit appears Black fro to be seen

The nature of ht me into intimate Commerce with Monsieur B----, a French Merchant of Lyons, who treatedof assistance to e to Constantinople, whither I was now Bound This Gentleotten a Firman, or passport, to enable him to Travel to that City, and with a proper nuh any part of the Turkish Do though the territories of the Great Turk without such a Protection, nothing could be reeable than the offer he made me of his Company, the more so as his Eminence had enjoinedthat M

B---- said or did He had designed to reach Constantinople by Land through Bosnia, Servia, Bulgaria, and Roumania; yet, in compliance with my Inclination (I wish my Inclination had been at the Deuce), which was all for a Sea Passage, he consented to embark on board a Vessel bound to Candia and other Islands of the Archipelago, froe to the Capital of the Ottoman Empire What h Knowledge of the Trade of the Levant, and the Genius and Temper of the People Thus, he infor with Jews, Ar in Caravans, and the necessary precautions against such Accidents as are ers; and instructed h I think I too could have given hi those Snares which Governors, Military Officers, and Petty Princes make use of in order to plunder Travellers and Merchants Under these favourable Auspices, we e Vessel called the _San Marco_, bound for Candia, but first for Malta, so fahts A fine Gale at North-West carried us pleasantly down the Gulf of Venice, or Adriatic Sea; and on the fifth day we cah Three Hundred years ago, since which tiained its Ancient lustre, but at present well Fortified, and defended by a High Castle, which I have heard the Honourable Mr Walpole, a Fine, Lardy-Dardy, Maccaroni Gentleman, that lives at a place called Strawberry Hill, by Twitnaland, has written a silly Root clear of the Gulf of Venice, and in three daysCape Passaro in Sicily, entered the Haven of Malta

This is an Island that lies between Sicily and the Coast of Africa, and is of an Egg-shaped figure, about twentyand twelve broad