As the situation is low and damp, and the season has been
remarkably wet, my uncle won't suffer me to go thither, lest I
should catch cold: but my aunt says it is all a vulgar prejudice;
and, to be sure, a great many gentlemen and ladies of Ireland
frequent the place, without seeming to be the worse for it. They
say, dancing at Spring-gardens, when the air is moist, is
recommended to them as an excellent cure for the rheumatism. I
have been twice at the play; where, notwithstanding the
excellence of the performers, the gayety of the company, and the
decorations of the theatre, which are very fine, I could not help
reflecting, with a sigh, upon our poor homely representations at
Gloucester -- But this, in confidence to my dear Willis -- You
know my heart, and will excuse its weakness.

After all, the great scenes of entertainment at Bath, are the two
public rooms; where the company meet alternately every evening.
They are spacious, lofty, and, when lighted up, appear very
striking. They are generally crowded with well-dressed people,
who drink tea in separate parties, play at cards, walk, or sit
and chat together, just as they are disposed. Twice a-week there
is a ball; the expence of which is defrayed by a voluntary
subscription among the gentlemen; and every subscriber has three
tickets. I was there Friday last with my aunt, under the care of
my brother, who is a subscriber; and Sir Ulic Mackilligut
recommended his nephew, captain O Donaghan, to me as a partner;
but Jery excused himself, by saying I had got the head-ach; and,
indeed, it was really so, though I can't imagine how he knew it.
The place was so hot, and the smell so different from what we are
used to in the country, that I was quite feverish when we came
away. Aunt says it is the effect of a vulgar constitution, reared