But If In The Time Of A Minority,
The Power Of The Government Should Be Divided Among Different
Competitors For
The regency, the parliaments and people will find
it still more easy to acquire and ascertain the liberty at which
They aspire, because they will have the balance of power in their
hands, and be able to make either scale preponderate. I could say
a great deal more upon this subject; and I have some remarks to
make relating to the methods which might be taken in the case of
a fresh rupture with France, for making a vigorous impression on
that kingdom. But these I in list defer till another occasion,
having neither room nor leisure at present to add any thing, but
that I am, with great truth, - Dear Sir, Your very humble Servant.
LETTER XXXVII
NICE, April 2, 1765.
DEAR DOCTOR, - As I have now passed a second winter at Nice I
think myself qualified to make some further remarks on this
climate. During the heats of last summer, I flattered myself with
the prospect of the fine weather I should enjoy in the winter;
but neither I, nor any person in this country, could foresee the
rainy weather that prevailed from the middle of November, till
the twentieth of March. In this short period of four months, we
have had fifty-six days of rain, which I take to be a greater
quantity than generally falls during the six worst months of the
year in the county of Middlesex, especially as it was, for the
most part, a heavy, continued rain. The south winds generally
predominate in the wet season at Nice: but this winter the rain
was accompanied with every wind that blows, except the south;
though the most frequent were those that came from the east and
north quarters. Notwithstanding these great rains, such as were
never known before at Nice in the memory of man, the intermediate
days of fair weather were delightful, and the ground seemed
perfectly dry. The air itself was perfectly free from moisture.
Though I live upon a ground floor, surrounded on three sides by a
garden, I could not perceive the least damp, either on the
floors, or the furniture; neither was I much incommoded by the
asthma, which used always to harass me most in wet weather. In a
word, I passed the winter here much more comfortably than I
expected. About the vernal equinox, however, I caught a violent
cold, which was attended with a difficulty of breathing, and as
the sun advances towards the tropic, I find myself still more
subject to rheums. As the heat increases, the humours of the body
are rarefied, and, of consequence, the pores of the skin are
opened; while the east wind sweeping over the Alps and Apennines,
covered with snow, continues surprisingly sharp and penetrating.
Even the people of the country, who enjoy good health, are afraid
of exposing themselves to the air at this season, the
intemperature of which may last till the middle of May, when all
the snow on the mountains will probably be melted:
Enter page number
PreviousNext
Page 251 of 276
Words from 129832 to 130351
of 143308
