LIFE OF THE AUTHOR. 77 



eternally beckoned to the unfortunate to come and take shelter 

 under him ! ; 



" Aix-la-Chapelle stands unrivalled in the efficacy of its medicinal 

 waters. I say unrivalled j for although fashion and interest may 

 sxtol the great advantages to be derived from other spas in Germany, 

 I am satisfied that every one of these advantages are to be found at 

 Aix-la-Chapelle ; and that they would be reaped most abundantly, 

 were it not that their salutary effect is neutralised by the dainty 

 cheer, prepared with an unsparing hand, in every hotel of note in 

 this much-frequented town.* Here it is that we see people of 

 dilapidated frame sitting down to a dinner which might vie with 

 Ovid's description of Chaos in its materials, and in the nature of 



them. 



' Frigida pugnabant calidis, humantia siccis, 

 Mollia cum duris, sine pondere habentia pondus.' 



" As the partaker of this heterogeneous display of aliment has to 

 pay for admission to it, he considers that he is entitled to value for 

 value ; and under this impression, his jaws belabour his stomach so 

 unmercifully, that all advantage to be derived from the medicinal 

 waters is completely lost; and his constitution gains nothing in 

 the end for the trouble and expense of a visit to Aix-la-Chapelle. 

 Physicians may write what they please, and prescribe any mode 

 they choose ; but until they can compel their patients to be 

 moderate on plain diet, there will be little or nothing effected in the 

 way of a permanent cure. 



"Nothing can be more charming, in warm and sunny weather, 

 than the rural walks on the wooded hill of Louisberg, just above 

 the town. When you are sitting on the bench at the top near the 

 column, and casting your eye on the surrounding scenery, you will 

 say that, as a whole, there cannot be a finer or a richer sight. The 

 Ardennes appear to great advantage. At my last visit to the Louis- 



* The people of Aix-la-Chapelle for many previous generations appear to have 

 been attentive to the choiceness of their food. Principal Carstairs was there in 

 1685, and mentions, among their peculiar customs, "that when there is a very good 

 and fat ox to be slain by a butcher, he is led through the town, decked with flowers, 

 and a pipe playing before him, that the people may see him, and be induced to 

 buy pieces of him." [ED.] 



