A Year's Journey through France and Part of Spain, 1777 - Volume 1 (of 2) by Philip Thicknesse
page 51 of 146 (34%)
page 51 of 146 (34%)
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whom I had a personal regard; he loaded me with civilities, nay, made me
presents, before I had the most distant suspicions _how_ he became in a situation to enable him so to do. He made every profession of love and regard to me; and I verily believed him sincere; because I knew he had been obliged by a part of my family; but when I found a coach, a country-house, a good table, a wife, and servants, were all supported by the _chance_ of a gaming-table, I withdrew myself from all connections with him; for, I fear, he who lives to play, may _play_ to _live_. Upon the whole, I think it is next to an impossibility for a young man of fortune to pass a year or two in _Paris_, the southern parts of France, Italy, &c. without running a great risque of being beggared by sharpers, or seduced by artful women; unless he has with him a tutor, who is made wise by years, and a frequent acquaintance with the customs and manners of the country: an honest, learned Clergyman tutor, is of less use to a young man in that situation, than a trusty _Valet de Chambre_. A travelling tutor must know men; and, what is more difficult to know, he must know women also, before he is qualified to guard against the innumerable snares that are always making to entangle strangers of fortune. It is certainly true, that the nearer we approach to the sun, the more we become familiar with vices of every kind. In the _South of France_, and _Italy_, sins of the blackest dye, and many of the most unnatural kind, are not only committed with impunity, but boasted of with audacity; and, as one proof of the corruption of the people, of a thousand I could tell you, I must tell you, that seeing at _Lyons_ a shop in which a great variety of pictures were hung for sale, I walked in, and after examining them, and asking a few questions; but none that had the least tendency to want of decorum, the master of the shop turned |
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