SIR,

I am very certain that a man may travel twice through Spain, and half

through France, before he sees a woman of so much beauty, elegance, and

breeding, as the mistress of the house I lodge in near this city. I was

directed to the house, and recommended to the lady, as a lodger; but

both were so fine, and superior in all respects to any thing I had seen

out of Paris, that I began to suspect I had been imposed upon. The lady

who received me appeared to be (it was candle-light) about eighteen, a

tall, elegant figure, a beautiful face, and an address inferior to none:

I concluded she was the daughter, till she informed me, that _Mons.

Saigny_, her husband, was gone to _Avignon_. What added, perhaps, to

this lady's beauty in my eyes, or rather ears, was her misfortune,--she

could not speak louder than a gentle whisper. After seeing her sumptuous

apartments, I told her I would not ask what her price was, but tell her

what I could afford only to give; and observed, that as it was winter,

and the snow upon the ground, perhaps she had better take my price than

have none. She instantly took me by the hand and said, she had so much

respect for the English nation, that my price was her's; and with a

still softer whisper, and close to my ear, said, I might come in as soon

as I pleased--"_Quand vous voudrez, Monsieur_," said she. We accordingly

took possession of the finest apartments, and the best beds I ever lay

on. The next day, I saw a genteel stripling about the house, in a white

suit of cloaths, dressed _en militaire_, and began to suspect the virtue

of my fair hostess, not perceiving for some hours that it was my hostess

herself; in the afternoon she made us a visit in this horrid

dress,--(for horrid she appeared in my eyes)--her cloaths were white,

with red cuffs and scarlet _lappels_; and she held in her straddling lap

a large black muff, as big as a porridge-pot. By this visit she lost all

that respect her superlative beauty had so justly entitled her to, and I

determined she should visit me no more in man's apparel. When I went

into the town I mentioned this circumstance, and there I learnt, that

the real wife of _Mons. Saigny_ had parted from him, and that the lady,

my hostess, was his mistress. The next day, however, the master arrived;

and after being full and finely dressed, he made me a visit, and

proffers of every attention in his power: he told me he had injured his

fortune, and that he was not rich; but that he had served in the army,

and was a gentleman: he had been bred a protestant, but had just

embraced the true faith, in order to qualify himself for an employment

about the court of the Pope's _Legate_ at _Avignon_. After many

expressions of regard, he asked me to dine with him the next day; but I

observed that as he was not rich, and as I paid but a small rent in

proportion to his noble apartments, I begged to be excused; but he

pressed it so much, that I was obliged to give him some _other reasons_,

which did not prove very pleasing ones, to the lady below. This fine

lady, however, continued to sell us wood, wine, vinegar, sallad, milk,

and, in short, every thing we wanted, at a very unreasonable price. At

length, my servant, who by agreement made my soup in their kitchen, said

something rude to my landlord, who complained to me, and seemed

satisfied with the reprimand I had given the man; but upon a repetition

of his rudeness, _Mons. Saigny_ so far forgot himself as to speak

equally rude to me: this occasioned some warm words, and so much

ungovernable passion in him, that I was obliged to tell him I must fetch

down my pistols; this he construed into a direct challenge, and

therefore retired to his apartments, wrote a card, and sent it to me

while I was walking before the door with a priest, his friend and

visitor, and in sight of the _little female captain his second_, and all

the servants of the house; on this card was wrote, "_Sir, I accept your

proposition_;" and before I could even read it, he followed his man, who

brought it in the true stile of a butler, rather than a butcher, with a

white napkin under his arm. You may be sure, I was no more disposed to

fight than _Mons. Saigny_; indeed, I told him I would not; but if any

man attacked me on my way to or from the town, where I went every day, I

would certainly defend myself: and fortunately I never met _Mons.

Saigny_ in the fortnight I staid after in his house; for I could not

bear to leave a town where I had two or three very agreeable

acquaintance, and one (_Mons. Seguier_) whose house was filled as full

of natural and artificial curiosities, as his head is with learning and

knowledge. Here too I had an opportunity of often visiting the

Amphitheatre, _the Maison Carree_, (so Mons. Seguier writes it) and the

many remains of Roman monuments so common in and about _Nismes_. I

measured some of the stones under which I passed to make the _tout au

tour_ of the Amphitheatre, they were seventeen feet in length, and two

in thickness; and most of the stones on which the spectators sat within

the area, were twelve feet long, two feet ten inches wide, and one foot

five inches deep; except only those of the sixth row of seats from the

top, and they alone are one foot ten inches deep; probably it was on

that range the people of the highest rank took their seats, not only for

the elevation, but the best situation for sight and security; yet one of

these great stones cannot be considered more, in comparison to the

whole building, than a single brick would be in the construction of

Hampton-Court Palace. When I had the sole possession (and I had it

often) of this vast range of seats, where emperors, empresses, Roman

knights, and matrons, have been so often seated, to see men die wantonly

by the hands of other men, as well as beasts for their amusement, I

could not but with pleasure reflect, how much human nature is softened

since that time; for notwithstanding the powerful prevalency of custom

and fashion, I do not think the ladies of the present age would _plume_

their towering heads, and curl their _borrowed_ hair, with that glee, to

see men murdered by missive weapons, as to die at their feet by deeper,

tho' less visible wounds. If, however, we have not those cruel sports,

we seem to be up with them in prodigality, and to exceed them in luxury

and licentiousness; for in Rome, not long before the final dissolution

of the state, the candidates for public employments, in spite of the

penal laws to restrain it, _bribed openly_, and were chosen sometimes

_by arms_ as well as money. In the senate, things were conducted no

better; decrees of great consequence were made when very few senators

were present; the laws were violated by private knaves, under the colour

of public necessity; till at length, _Cæsar_ seized the sovereign power,

and tho' he was slain, they omitted to recover their liberty, forgetting

that

"A day, an hour, of virtuous Liberty

Is worth a whole eternity of bondage."

_Addison's_ CATO.

I can almost think I read in the parallel, which I fear will soon be

drawn between the rise and fall of the British and Roman empire,

something like this;--"Rome had her CICERO; Britain her CAMDEN: Cicero,

who had preserved Rome from the conspiracy of _Catiline_, was banished:

CAMDEN, who would have preserved Britain from a bloody civil war,

removed." The historian will add, probably, that "those who brought

desolation upon their land, did not mean that there should be no

commonwealth, but that right or wrong, they should continue to controul

it: they did not mean to burn the capitol to ashes, but to bear absolute

sway in the capitol:--The result was, however, that though they did not

mean to overthrow the state, yet they risqued all, rather than be

overthrown themselves; and they rather promoted the massacre of their

fellow-citizens, than a reconciliation and union of parties,"--THUS FELL

ROME--Take heed, BRITAIN!