could not withstand the temptation of buying a cask, for which I was to
pay twelve guineas, and did pay one as earnest, to a very sensible, and
I believe honest and opulent wine merchant, who, however, made me a
present of two bottles when I came away, almost worth my guinea; it is
three livres a bottle on the spot; and he shewed me orders he had
received from men of fashion in England, for wine; among which was one
from Mr. _Ryder_, Sir _Dudley Ryder_'s son I fancy, who, I found, was
well satisfied with his former dealings. Do you know that Claret is
greatly improved by a mixture of Hermitage, and that the best Claret we
have in England is generally so _adulterated_?

The next towns we passed were _Pevige_ and _Vienne_, the latter only
five leagues from this city. It is a very ancient town, and was formerly
a Roman colony. The cathedral is a large and noble Gothic structure, and
in it is a fine tomb of Cardinal _Mountmoin_, said to be equal in
workmanship to _Richlieu_'s in the _Sorbonne_, but said to be so, by
people no ways qualified to judge properly; it is indeed an expensive
but a miserable performance, when put in competition with the works of
_Girrardeau_. About half a mile without the town is a noble pyramidal
Roman monument, said to have stood in the center of the Market-place, in
the time of the Romans. There is also to be seen in this town, a Mosaic
pavement discovered only a few years since, wonderfully beautiful
indeed, and near ten feet square, though not quite perfect, being broken
in the night by some malicious people, out of mere wantonness, soon
after it was discovered.

At this town I was recommended to the _Table Round_; but as there are
two, the _grande_ and the _petit_, I must recommend you to the _petit_
where I was obliged to move; for, of all the dreadful women I ever came
near, Madam _Rousillion_ has the _least mellifluous_ notes; her ill