It is, contemptible, however, to witness the pride of upstart gentility, with nothing but the mere garnish of wealth to adorn it.
But possibly I may have been led by the force of circumstances to contemplate the present subject in too strong a light; for alas! I have long been incapable of being deceived by the outward appearance of things, and habituated to estimate men by their manners, and conversation, rather than their external and visible signs.
Now peace to the nobles: may they wisdom acquire,
Should their titles have come from their fathers or sire.
I was much surprised one day by a visit from a particular friend, Mrs. R⸺, lately arrived from Paris, whom I had not seen for the last seven years, and supposed to be in the West Indies. This lady did me the favour to introduce me to Mr. and Mrs. K⸺, the friends whom she had accompanied from Paris. Soon after I had the pleasure of becoming acquainted with General B⸺, Mrs. A⸺, and a number of other English residents, whose names it would be tiresome to the reader to enumerate, from whom I afterwards received a series of kind and friendly attentions, for which I feel greatly indebted to them. I cannot, however, avoid particularizing Mr. and Mrs. S⸺, whose permission to make use of their valuable collection of books, proved a source of the highest satisfaction to me.
A very pretty, but small theatre, has been erected at Nice, which was not opened for dramatic representations during my residence there. It was, however, made use of for two grand balls, given by a select party of the nobles and gentlemen of Nice, to the stranger residents; we were also entertained with a public concert in it; we had, besides this, several private amateur concerts, in a large room appropriated for such occasions, and supported by subscription, each subscriber being allowed to introduce a certain number of persons.
Before giving a dance at a private house, it is necessary, unless you intend to break up by ten o’clock, to ask permission of the police, who charge six francs for their licence, and then a soldier is placed at the door of the house.
I accompanied a party of ladies, one Sunday, to the cathedral, to hear an eminent French preacher, which is an unusual occurrence here, for they generally preach either in Italian, or the patois of the country, which is the most harsh and barbarous dialect I ever heard, worse than the patois of Provence, which is bad enough, although somewhat similar. It is however, the common language of the natives when conversing together, notwithstanding most of the respectable inhabitants speak both French and Italian.
I shall now notice various natural and meteorological occurrences which took place during my residence in this city.
On the 3rd of January, the waters of the Paglion came down with so much force, as to carry away the embankment, raised for the protection of the workmen employed at the foundation of a new bridge, just commenced over the river, and which was expected to require two years to complete.