upwards; swaggering Dutchmen and mongrel barbers are the principal
objects they meet with below. I should esteem myself in luck, were
the nuisances of this seaport confined only to two senses; but, alas!
the apartment above my head proves a squalling brattery, and the
sounds which proceed from it are so loud and frequent, that a person
might think himself in limbo, without any extravagance.

Am I not an object of pity, when I tell you that I was tormented
yesterday by a similar cause? But I know not how it is; your violent
complainers are the least apt to excite compassion. I believe,
notwithstanding, if another rising generation should lodge above me
at the next inn, I shall grow as scurrilous as Dr. Smollett, and be
dignified with the appellation of the Younger Smelfungus. Well, let
those make out my diploma that will, I am determined to vent my
spleen, and like Lucifer, unable to enjoy comfort myself, tease
others with the details of my vexatious. You must know, then, since
I am resolved to grumble, that, tired with my passage, I went to the
Capuchin church, a large solemn building, in search of silence and
solitude; but here again was I disappointed. Half-a-dozen squeaking
fiddles fugued and flourished away in the galleries, and as many
paralytic monks gabbled before the altars, while a whole posse of
devotees, in long white hoods and flannels, were sweltering on either
side.

Such piety, in warm weather, was no very fragrant circumstance; so I
sought the open air again as fast as I was able. The serenity of the
evening, joined to the desire I had of casting another glance over
the ocean, tempted me to the ramparts. There, at least, thought I to
myself, I may range undisturbed, and talk with my old friends the
breezes, and address my discourse to the waves, and be as romantic