A

YEAR'S JOURNEY

THROUGH

FRANCE,

AND

PART OF SPAIN.

BY

PHILIP THICKNESSE.

VOLUME I

DUBLIN

Printed by J. Williams, (No. 21.) Skinner-Row.

M,DCC,LXXVII.

LETTERS:

I.,  II.,  III.,  IV.,  V.,  VI.,  VII.,  VIII.,  IX.,  X.,  XI.,  XII.,  XIII.,  XIV.,  XV.,  XVI.,  XVII.,  XVIII.,  XIX.,  XX.,  XXI.,  XXII.,  XXIII.,  XXIV.,  XXV.,  XXVI.,  XXVII.,  XXVIII.,  XXIX.,  XXX.,  XXXI.,  XXXII.,  XXXIII., 

A JOURNEY, &c.

LETTER I

Dear Sir,

As you are kind enough to say, that those letters which I wrote from this kingdom, nine or ten years ago, were of some use to you, in the little tour you made through France soon after, and as they have been considered in some degree to be so to many other persons, (since their publication) who were unacquainted with the manners and customs of the French nation, I shall endeavour to bring together, in this second correspondence with you, not only some of the former hints I gave you, but such other remarks as a longer acquaintance with the country, and a more extensive tour, may furnish me with; but before I proceed any further, let me remind you, of one great fault I was then guilty of; for though your partiality to me might induce you to overlook it, the public did not, I mean that of writing when my temper was disturbed, either by cross incidents I met with upon the road, or disagreeable news which often followed me from my own country into this. I need not tell a man of your discernment, in what a different light all objects, whether animate, or inanimate, appear to those, whose temper is disturbed, either by ill health, ill treatment, or, what is perhaps more prevalent than either, the chagrin he may feel at not being rated in the estimation of others, according to that value he puts upon himself. Could Dr. Smollett rise from the dead, and sit down in perfect health, and good temper, and read his travels through France and Italy, he would probably find most of his anger turned upon himself. But, poor man! he was ill; and meeting with, what every stranger must expect to meet at most French inns, want of cleanliness, imposition, and incivility; he was so much disturbed by those incidents, that to say no more of the writings of an