DEAR DICK,

To Dr. LEWIS.

I HAVE done with the waters; therefore your advice comes a day too late-I grant that phyfick is no mystery of your making. I know it is a mystery in its own nature; and, like other mysteries, requires a ftrong gulph of faith to make it go down

Two days ago, I went into the King's Bath, by the advice of our friend Ch-, in order to clear the ftrainer of the skin, for the benefit of a free perspiration; and the first object that faluted my eye, was a child full of fcorphulous ulcers, carried in the arms of one of the guides, under the very noses of the bathers. I was so shocked at the fight, that I retired immediately with indignation and disgustSuppofe the matter of thofe ulcers floating on the water, comes in contact with my fkin, when the pores are all open, I would ask you what must be the confequence?-Good Heaven, the very thought makes my blood run cold; we know not what fores may be running into the water while we are bathing, and what fort of matter we may thus imbibe ; the king's-evil, the fcurvy, the cancer, and the pox; and, no doubt, the heat will render the virus the more volatile and penetrating. To purify myfelf from all fuch contamination, I went to the duke of Kingston's private Bath, and there I was almost fuffocated for want of free air, the place was fo fmall, and the fteam fo ftifling. Det

After all, if the intention is no more than to wash the skin, I am convinced that fimple element is more effectual than any water impregnated with falt and iron; which, being aftringent, will certainly contract the pores, and leave a kind of crust upon

the

the surface of the body. But I am now as much afraid of drinking, as of bathing; for, after a long converfation with the doctor, about the conftruction of the pump and ciftern, it is very far from being clear with me, that the patients in the Pumproom dont fwallow the fcourings of the bathers. I can't help fufpecting, that there is, or may be, fome regurgitation from the bath into the ciftern of the pump. In that cafe, what delicate beveridge is every day quaffed by the drinkers; medicated with the fweat, and dirt, and dandriff; and the abominable discharges of various kinds, from twenty different difeafed bodies, parboiling in the kettle below. In order to avoid this filthy compofition, I had recourfe to the fpring that fupplies the private baths on the Abbey-green; but at once perceived fomething extaordinary in the taste and smell; and, upon inquiry, I find that the Roman baths in this quarter, were found covered by an old burying ground, belonging to the abbey; thro' which, in all probability, the water drains in its paffage: fo that as we drink the decoction of living bodies at the Pumproom, we swallow the ftrainings of rotten bones and carcafes at the private bath-I vow to God, the very idea turns my ftomach!-determined, as I am against any farther use of the Bath waters, this confideration would give me little disturbance, if I could find any thing more pure, or lefs pernicious, to quench my thirft; but, although the natural fprings of excellent water are feen gufhing fpontaneous on every fide, from the hills that furround us, the inhabitants in general make use of well-water, fo impregnated with nitre, or alum, or fome other villainous mineral, that it is equally ungrateful to the taste and mischievous to the couftitution. It muft be owned, indeed, that here in Milfhamftreet we have a precarious and fcanty supply from the hill; which is collected in an open bafon in the Circus,

Circus, liable to be defiled with dead dogs, cats, rats, and evey fpecies of naftinefs, which the raf cally populace may throw into it, from mere wantonness and brutality.

Well, there is no nation that drinks fo hoggishly as the English-What paffes for wine among us, is not the juice of the grape. It is an adulterous mixture, brewed up of naufeous ingredients, by dunces, who are bunglers in the art of poifonmaking; and yet we and our forefathers, are and have been poifoned by this curfed drench, without taste or flavour-The only genuine and wholesome beverage in England, is London porter, and Dorchefter table-beer; but as for your ale and your gin, your cider and your perry, and all the thrashy family of made wines, I deteft them as infernal compofitions, contrived for the destruction of the human fpecies.But what have I to do with the human fpecies? except a very few friends, I care not if the whole was

Hark ye, Lewis, my mifanthropy increases every day-The longer I live, I find the folly and the fraud of mankind grow more and more intolerable-I wish I had not come from Brambleton-hall; after having lived in folitude fo long, I cannot bear the hurry and impertinence of the multitude; befides, every thing is fophifticated in thefe crowded places. Snares are laid for our lives in every thing we cat or drink: the very air we breathe is loaded with contagion. We cannot even fleep, without rifque of infection. I fay infection-This place is the rendezvous of the diseased-You won't deny, that many diseases are infectious; even the confumption itself is highly infectious. When a perfon dies of it in Italy, the bed and bedding are deftroyed; the other furniture is expofed to the weather, and the apartment white-wafhed, before

it

it is occupied by any other living foul. You'll allow, that nothing receives infection fooner, or contains it longer, than blankets, feather-beds, and matraffes-'Sdeath! how do I know what miferable objects have been stewing in the bed where I now lie! I wonder, Dick, you did not put me in mind of fending for my own matraffes-But, if I had not been an ass, I fhould not have needed a remembrancer-There is always fome plaguy reflection that rifes up in judgment against me, and ruffles my fpirits-Therefore, let us change the subject— I have other reasons for abridging my stay at Bath-You know fifter Tabby's complexion-If Mrs. Tabitha Bramble had been of any other race, I should certainly have looked upon her as the most -But, the truth is, she has found means to interest my affection; or, rather, fhe is beholden to the force of prejudice, commonly called the ties of blood. Well, this amiable maiden has actually commenced a flirting correspondence with an Irish baronet of fixty five. His name is fir Ulic Mackilligut. He is faid to be much out at elbows; and, I believe, has received false intelligence with respect to her fortune. Be that as it may, the connexion is exceedingly ridiculous, and begins already to excite whifpers. For my part, I have no intention to difpute her free agency; though I shall fall upon fome expedient to undeceive her paramour, as to the point which he has principally in view. But I don't think her conduct is a proper example for Liddy, who has also attracted the notice of fome coxcombs in the rooms; and Jery tells me, he fufpects a strapping fellow, the knight's nephew, of fome design upon the girl's heart. I fhall, therefore, keep a ftrict eye over her aunt and her, and even shift the fcene, if I find the matter grow more ferious-You perceive what an agreeable

tafk

task it must be, to a man of my kidney, to have the cure of fuch fouls as thefe-But, hold, you shall not have another peevish word (till the next occafion) from

yours,

Bath, April 28.

MATT. BRAMBLE.

To Sir WATKIN PHILLIPS, Bart. OF JESUS COLLEGE, Oxon.

DEAR KNIGHT,

I THINK thofe people are unreafonable, who complain that Bath is a contracted circle, in which the fame dull fcenes perpetually revolve, without variation-I am, on the contrary, amazed to find so small a place, fo crowded with entertainment and variety. London itself can hardly exhibit one fpecies of diverfion, to which we have not fomething analogous at Bath, over and above those fingular advantages that are peculiar to the place. Here, for example, a man has daily opportunities of feeing the most remarkable characters of the community. He fees them in their natural attitudes and true colours; defcended from their pedestals, and divefted of their formal draperies, undifguifed by art and affectation-Here we have minifters of ftate, judges, generals, bishops, projectors, philofophers, wits, poets, players, chemifts, fidlers, and buffoons. If he makes any confiderable ftay in the place, he is fure of meeting with fome particular friend, whom he did not expect to fee; and to me there is nothing more agreeable, than fuch casual rencounters - Another entertainment, peculiar to Bath, arises from the general mixture of all degrees affembled in our public rooms, without distinction of rank or fortune. This is what my uncle reproVOL. I. bates,

D