Chap. IV. through 1 
ing loft the Collecftion at Sea, ! can only give fuch as 
I accidentally remembered and fince fet down, viz. 
the Caryoph. Alpin. minor in prodigious Qiiantities % the 
German. Columhinum^ and v^hat is more remarkablcj the 
Geran. Argent. Alpinum % the Cranes-bill ; the Hyacinth. 
Caruleus Ger. or Racemofus carul. minor^ C. B. Jnncifol, 
toward the Bottom out of Flower ; Calceolus Maria.> ad 
Ger. Elleborine major. Park, ftell. flor. rotund. C. B. 
About the Bottom, Helleborine flor. alb. C. B. or Dama- 
fonium Alpinum J. B. the little, wild, white Hellebore ; 
Iris fl. albo ; the great whice-flower’d Iris, or Flower de 
Luce wild ; the Herba Paralyfls or Paralytica Alpina, 
out of Flower ; the Caryophillat. Montan. or Cdryophillat , 
Alpin. Lutea j Cafp. F». yellow Mountain \ Avens,flos Ca- 
ryophill. Alpinus pumilio ditlus ; the little Dwarf- moun- 
tain Pink, or rather a Lychnis, agreeing with the De- 
fcription of Ger. who from its callslt of t\\t Lychnis 
Kind ; Sedum Alpinum, Exigui fol. C. B. Sedum Alpin. 
minim, flor. carneo, Schol. Botan. Helleborus niger. Lob ; 
verus Park. Ger. yl Albo Atro rubente j the black Hel- 
lebore, Gentian, maj.fl. lut. &c. 
I took this Opportunity to make a ftridl Examination 
of the Snow, as it lay incruftated in hard Cakes on the 
very Top of the Mountains ; fome of thefe are fuch as 
have lain there for feveral Years, the Sunbeams not be- 
ing able to diftblve them quite, by reafbn of their vaft 
Thicknefs. 
In the Midft of the Top of Mount Cenis, near the 
^ Road, (which is flank’d by other higher Rocks) you 
fee a pretty large Lake gather’d, queftionlefs, by the 
melted Snows, as the Coldnefs of the Water feems to 
teftify ; in the Midft of it the Duke has, a handfome 
Houfe, and another juft by the Road ; one for Devo- 
tion (of which the Priefts take Care) and the other for 
his Diverfion, which lies almoft in Ruins by Negleft. 
Here it is you take Carriages to defcend the Mountain, 
being only wooden Chairs carried by two Poles : By this 
Carriage you are convey’d down the rocky Precipices, 
which are however not fo dangerous or dreadful as 
fome have reprefented them ; for though your Florfes 
are led about a further W^av, you may dclcend, for the 
moft part, without much Difficulty on Foot, which I 
chofe rather to do, than be jolted in thele uneafy Chairs. 
Here is alfo a little Hofpital for fuch as fail fick by the 
"Way, and a fmall Chapel to bury fuch as perifh in the 
Snow, from thence called xFtLranfit. The Plain on 
the Top of this Mountain (which is about four Miles 
long) has alfo an Inn for the accommodating Paften- 
gers, fuitable to the Circumftances of the Place : The 
Alcent is accounted four Miles, but the Defcent no 
more than tv^o. Novalefle has not any Thing remark- 
able, except its being the utmoft Frontier of S'avoy 
near the River Semar, which joins its "W^aters with the 
Loria at Sufa, where begins the Principality of Pied- 
mont. 
1 8. Though the French live under the moft difpo- 
tick Government in Europe, yet are they fo fond of it, 
that they laugh at other Governments, which do not 
come up to that abfolute Power, of which they frame 
themlelves fuch pleafant Imaginations, that in the Midft 
of their SLvery they find out an Oligarchy in their 
Council of State, an Ariflocracy in tlieir Parliaments 
and a Democracy in their City Governments, adminiftred 
by Provofts, Mayors and Merchants, and thereby would 
introduce into the World the moft perfeCft Mixture of a 
Commonwealth j when, to fpeak truly, all thefe differ- 
ent Qualifications make up but one entire Chain of 
Slavery. They boaft of the Policy of France as loudly 
as of their Conquefts and it muft be confefs’d that 
in their Military Affairs they follow, in many Thino-s 
the Footfleps of the ancient Romans, but want their Ho- 
nefty and true Generofity. The Body of the People is 
wmpofed of the Nobility, Husbandmen, Artificers and 
Traders ; the Peafants, being condemned to perpetual 
Drudgery, furniffi the Field with Labourers and Sol- 
diery for when they are fuck’d to the very Marrow by 
the Gentry and Tax-gatherers, they muft either chufe 
to ftarve at Home, or feek for a Livelihood (fuch an 
one as it is) in the King’s Armies. Artificers and Tra- 
ders are much encouraged in France, being the Courts 
V®!.. II. 119. 
RANCE. 
Sponges, from whence they fquee^e Out what Juice they 
have gather’d before by one Means or other. The 
King commonly picks out the moft ingenious among 
them for his own Service, and the reft are employ’d 
in converting the Produdls of France into Manufadlures ' 
exported into Foreign Parcs. 
The Clergy of France has of late been look’d upon 
with fomevffiat of a jealous Eye by the Laity, both by 
Reafon of the Encreafe of their Number^ and feveral 
Ecclefiaftical Ufurpations j thefe Encroachments of the 
Clergy at Home, and the pretended Power from the 
Popes Abroad, has made them revive our Lord Digbyh 
Diffinblion betwixt the Church of Rome and the Court 
of Rome, and not to be fo fond of the Jure Divino 
Doftrine of the Priefthood, but that the Privileges of 
the Gallican Church, and the Regale, have been made * 
to give Laws to both ; witnefs the Synod and the De- 
crees made there in 1682, againft Pope Innocent XI s 
the Profeffion of the Protefiant Religion being to be 
rooted out, fome were for attempting it by mild Ways, 
which were follovv’d at firft, but foon changed for Fire 
and Sword, as the moft effedual Means, either to make 
them fly the Kingdom, or to comply with the King’s 
exprefs Commands. This is differently taken among 
the French, according as they are more or lefs devo- 
ted to that unchriftian Dodrine of the Extirpation of 
Flerefy. 
19. The Remarks of this Gentleman are fuch as 
might be expecled from one of his Education and Pro- 
feffion •, and as he doth not feem to be prepoffeffed in 
Favour of the French, . fo there appear on the other 
Hand no Signs of Prejudice againft them. This may 
be juftly efteemed a peculiar and a confiderable Advan- 
tage to his Writings, for, generally fpeaking, moft of 
our Travellers take one or other of thefe Turns. If 
they are Men of Vivacity, they grow fond of French 
Cuftoms, and of French Notions, receive for Gofpel 
every Thing that they are told, magnifying in their Re- 
lations both the Country and its Inhabitants, and labour 
to periuade fuch as read their Writings, that France is 
the fineft Part of Europe', and the French Nation out 
of all Comparifon the moft powerful People in it. Such 
again as embrace oppofite Sentiments, run with equal 
Violence into the other Extream ; they find nothing 
lovely in the Place, and exclaim perpetually at the Sla- 
very, the Poverty, and the Vanity of the People. Who- 
ever takes his Notions of France, and the French, as a 
Nation, from either of thefe Sort of Writers, will be 
infallibly miffed •, and as in the prefent Situation of 
Things efpecially, Miftakes of this kind may »be ex- 
tremely fatal, by tending to infpire an Apprehenfion, 
that the Power of the moft Chriftian King is irrefifta- 
ble, and therefore it is to no Purpofe to oppofe ; or to 
create an Opinion that the Power of France is a mere 
Bugbear, and that at the Bottom j notwithftanding the 
Noife that is made about it, we have little or nothing 
to fear. To overturn both thefe Errors, and to o-jve 
the Reader as near as may be a true Pidure of the pre- 
fent State of that Kingdom, we will enter into a fhort 
political Anatomy of it, which, as it could not be ex- 
pected from Travellers, fo it may ferve as a Supplement 
at leaft for fome Time, to whatever has been publiffied 
of that kind. We have taken a great deal of Pains 
to become, in fome Meafure, Mafters of this Point, 
and we ffiall report what has been the Refult of our 
Inquiries as concifely, as corredly, and with as much 
Candour as is poffible. 
It is very certain that in Point of Situation and Extent 
the Dominions of the Crown of France are very confi- 
derable, they lie between the forty fecond and the fifty 
fecond Degrees of North Latitude, in the fixth feventh 
and eighth Northern Climates j fo that they enjoy a very 
pleafant and wholfome Air, and generally fpeakincr a 
rich and fruitful Soil, which by the Way however 
is far enough from being improved to the utmoft Ad- 
vantage. From Weft to Eaft, that is, from Point 
Conqueft in Britany, to the City of Strashurgh in Alface, 
they reach pretty near fix hundred Miles, and from 
South to North, that is, from the Frontiers of RoiiflMon 
to Dunkirk, they extend upwards of five hundred Miles. 
9 R But 
