Florence 287 



The Marchese Ricardi has forty, each of which hath a family of 

 his own, some of them under servants, but all maintained by 

 him. His table is very magnificent, and served with all sorts 

 of delicacies, yet never any company at it except the family, 

 tutors, and chaplains. The house of Ranuzzi hath a greater 

 fortune, and also a greater number of domestics in the same 

 style. No dinners, as in England; no suppers, as in France ; no 

 parties; no expensive equipages; little comfort; but a great 

 train of idle lounging pensioners, taken from useful labour and 

 kept from productive industry; one of the worst ways of spend- 

 ing their fortunes, relatively to the public good, that could have 

 been adopted. How inferior to the encouragement of the fine 

 or the useful arts. The manner in which our little party has 

 passed their time has been agreeable enough, and wonderfully 

 cheap: we have been very well served by a traiteur, with plenty 

 of good things, well dressed, at 4 paiils a head for dinner, and 

 a slight repast at night; sugar, rum, and lemons for punch, 

 which both French and Italians like very well, added a trifle 

 more. These articles, and the apartment, with wood, which is 

 dear, and the weather, as I note, very cold, made my whole 

 expense, exclusive of amusements, 3s. 6d. a day English, which 

 surely is marvellously cheap; for we had generally eight or ten 

 things for dinner, and such a dessert as the season would allow, 

 with good wine, the best I have drunk in Italy. The Abbate 

 Amoretti, who, fortunately for me, arrived at Florence the same 

 day as myself, was lodged with a friend, a canon, who being 

 obliged to be absent in the country most of the time the Abbate. 

 to save the servants the trouble of providing for him only, joined 

 our party, and lived with us for some days, adding to our com- 

 mon bank no slight capital in good sense, information, and 

 agreeableness. Madame de Bouille's easy and unaffected 

 character, and the good humour of the baron, united with Mr. 

 Stewart, and his young friend, to make a mixture of nations — 

 of ideas — of pursuits — and of tempers, — which contributed to 

 render conversation diversified, and the topics more in contrast, 

 better treated, and more interesting; but never one idea or one 

 syllable that cast even a momentary shade across that flow of 

 ease and good humour, which gives to every society its best 

 relish. There was not one in the party which any of us wished 

 out of it; and we were too much pleased with one another to 

 want any addition. Had I not been turning my face towards 

 my family and the old friends I left in England, I should have 

 quitted our little society with more pain. Half a dozen people 



