ACCOUNT OF BOOKS. 
could ,be more animated than the 
scenery ; ’twas not in human nature 
to present astronger contrast to the 
gloomy character and squalid indo- 
lence of the Castilians. | And what 
is it, which constitutes this marked 
distinction between such near neigh- 
bours, subjects of the same king, 
and separated from each other only 
by anarrowstream? Itis because 
the regal power, which in Castile is 
_arbitrary, is limited by local laws in 
Catalonia, and gives passage for one 
ray of liberty to visit that happier 
and more enlightened country, 
‘* From Mondragone we went 
to Villa Franca, where we dined, 
and finished our twelfth day’s jour- 
ney at Tolosa; the country still 
presented a succession of the most 
enchanting scencry, but | was now 
become insensible to its beauties, 
being so extremely ill, that it was 
not without much difficulty, so ex. 
cruciating were my pains, that I 
reached Tolosa, Here I staid three 
days, and when J found my fever 
would not yield to James’s powder, 
I resolved to attempt getting to Ba- 
yonne, where I might hope to find 
medical assistance, and better ac- 
commodation. 
‘¢ On the seventeenth day, after 
suffering tortures from the rough- 
ness of the roads, I reached Bayon- 
ne, and immediately put myself un- 
der the care of doctor Vidal, a Ilu- 
guenot physician, Here I passed 
three miserable weeks, and though 
_ ina state of almost continual de- 
lirium throughout the whole of this 
time, I can yet recollect that under 
providence it is only owing to the 
unwearicd care and tender attentions 
of my ever-watchful wife, (assisted 
by her faithful servant Mary Sam- 
son) that I was kept alive; from 
her hands | consented to receive 
1087 
sustenance and medicine, and to her 
alone in the disorder of my senses I 
was uniformly obedient. 
*s [t was at this period of time 
that the aggravating news arrived 
of my bills being stopped, and my 
person subjected to arrest. I was 
not sensible to the extent of my 
danger, for death hung over me, and 
threatened to supersede all arrests 
but of a lifeless corpse: the kind 
heart however of Marchetti had 
compassion for my disconsolate con- 
dition, and he found means to sup. 
ply me with five hundred pounds, as 
I havealready related. It pleased 
God to preserve my life, and this 
seasonable act of friendship presery- 
ed my liberty. ‘The early fraits of 
the season, and the balmy tempe- 
rature of the air in that delicious cli- 
mate, aided the exertions of my phy- . 
sician, and [ was at length enabled) 
to resume my journey,takiig a day’s 
rest in the magnificent town of 
Bourdeaux, from whence through 
Tours, Blois and Orleans I proceed- 
ed to Paris, which however [ enter- 
ed in a state as yet but doubtfully 
convalescent, emaciated to a skele- 
ton, the bones of my back and 
clbows still bare and staring through 
my skin, 
‘¢ J had both Florida Blanca’s 
and count Montmorin’s passports, 
but my applications for post. 
horses were in vain, and here [ 
should in all probability have ended 
my career, as I felt myself relaps- 
ing apace, had I not at length ob- 
tained the long-withheld permission 
to pass onwards. They had pound- 
ed the king of Spain’s horses: also 
for the space of a whole month, but 
these were liberated when I got my 
freedom, and I embarked them at 
Ostend, from whence I took my 
passage to Margate, and arrived at 
my 
