I find I omitted to give you before I left _Nismes_, some account of
Monsieur _Seguier_'s cabinet, a gentleman whose name I have before
mentioned, and whose conversation and company were so very agreeable to
me. Among an infinite number of natural and artificial curiosities, are
many ancient Roman inscriptions, one of which is that of _T. Julius
Festus_, which _Spon_ mentions in his _Melanges D'Antiquite_. There are
also a great number of Roman utensils of bronze, glass, and
earthen-ware. The Romans were well acquainted with the dangerous
consequences of using copper vessels[E] in their kitchens, as may be
seen in this collection, where there are a great many for that purpose;
but all strongly gilt, not only within, but without, to prevent a
possibility of _verdigris_ arising. There is also a bronze head of a
Colossal statue, found not many years since near the fountain of
_Nismes_, which merits particular attention, as well as a great number
of Roman and Greek medals and medallions, well preserved, and some which
are very rare. The natural curiosities are chiefly composed of fossils
and petrifications; among the latter, are an infinite number of
petrified fish _embalmed_ in solid stones; and where one sees the finest
membranes of the fins, and every part of the fish, delineated by the
pencil of nature, in the most exquisite manner; the greater part of
these petrifications were collected by the hands of the possessor, some
from _Mount Bola_, others from _Mount Liban_, _Switzerland_, _&c._
[E] See Dr. FALCONER, of _Bath_, his Treatise on this subject.
Mr. _Seguier_'s _Herbary_ consists of more than ten thousand plants; but
above all, Mr. _Seguier_ himself, is the first, and most valuable part
of his cabinet, having spent a long life in rational amusements; and
though turned of four-score, he has all the chearfulness of youth,
without any of the garrulity of old age. When he honoured me with a
visit, at my country lodgings, he came on foot, and as the waters were
out, I asked him how he _got at me_, so dry footed? He had walked upon
the wall, he said; a wall not above nine inches thick, and of a
considerable length!
And here let me observe that a Frenchman eats his _soup_ and _bouille_
at twelve o'clock, drinks only _with_, not _after_ his dinner, and then
mixes water with his _genuine_ wine; he lives in a fine climate, where
there is not as with us, for six weeks together, easterly winds, which
stop the pores, and obstruct perspiration. A Frenchman eats a great
deal, it is true, but it is not all _hard meat_, and they never sit and
drink after dinner or supper is over.--An Englishman, on the contrary,
drinks much stronger, and a variety of fermented liquors, and often much
worse, and sits _at it_ many hours after dinner, and always after
supper. How then can he expect such health, such spirits, and to enjoy a
long life, free from pain, as most Frenchmen do; When the negro servants
in the West-Indies find their masters call _after_ dinner for a bowl of
punch extraordinary they whisper them, (if company are present) and ask,
"_whether they drink for drunk_, or _drink for dry_?" A Frenchman never
drinks for _drunk_.--While the Englishman is earning disease and misery
at his bottle, the Frenchman is embroidering a gown, or knitting a
handkerchief for his mistress. I have seen a Lady's sacque finely
_tamboured_ by a Captain of horse, and a Lady's white bosom shewn
through mashes netted by the man who made the snare, in which he was
himself entangled; though he made it he did not perhaps know the powers
of it till she _set it_.