Chapter 12

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_.