He had formerly found much relief from

.

bleeding, but had left it off for many months, on a fuppofition that it had loft all effect; and he had allowed an iffue to be healed, on the fame fuppofition; though he ftill perfevered in a milk regimen. I mentioned to him the cafe of the young lady, as it is above recited. He immediately took the refolution to confine himself to bread and grapes for almost his only food. I advised him at the fame time to have the iffue opened, and to continue that drain for fome time; but this he did not comply with. He forfook, however, the town for the country, and paffed as much of the morning on horseback, as he could bear without fatigue. He foon was able to bear more; and after about three weeks or a month, his cough had greatly abated. When he had perfifted in this regimen between two and three months, he had very little cough; and what he spit up was pure phlegm, unmixed with blood or matter. He has now been well above a year; and although

although I understand that he occafionally takes animal food, he has hitherto felt no inconveniency from it. He paffed the fecond autumn, as he had done the firft, at a house in the country, furrounded with vineyards. The greater part of his food confifted of ripe grapes and bread. With fuch a diet, he had not occafion for much drink of any kind; what he used was simple water, and he made an ample provifion of grapes for the fucceeding winter.

Though I have no idea that there is any specific virtue in grapes, for the cure of the pulmonary confumption, or that they are greatly preferable to fome other cooling, fub-acid, mild fruit, equally agreeable to the taste, provided any fuch can be found; yet I thought it right to particularize what was used on those two occafions; leaving it to others to determine, what fhare of the happy confequences I have enumerated were owing to the change of air, how much may have flowed from the exercise, how

much

much from the regimen, and whether there is reason to think, that the favourable turn in both cafes depended on other circumftances, unobferved by me.

I have now, my dear Sir, complied with your requeft; and although I have endeavoured to avoid technical verbosity, and all unneceffary detail, yet I find my letter has fwelled to a greater fize than I expected. I shall be exceedingly happy to hear that any hint I have given has been ferviceable to our friend. If the cough fhould ftill continue, after he has paffed two or three months at Bristol, I imagine the most effectual thing he can do will be, to take a voyage to this place; he will by that means escape the feverity of a British winter. The voyage itself will be of fervice, and at the end of it he will have the benefit of the mild air of the Campagna Felice, be refreshed and nourished by the fineft grapes, and, when tired of riding, he will have continual op portunities of failing in this charming bay.

LETTER LXIII.

Naples.

A$

men, T.

SI was walking a few days fince in the street with two of our countryand N, we met fome people carrying the corpfe of a man on an open bier, and others following in a kind of proceffion. The deceased was a tradesman, whose widow had beftowed the utmost attention in dreffing him to the greatest advantage on this folemn occafion; he had a perfectly new fuit of clothes, a laced hat upon his head, ruffles, his hair finely powdered, and a large blooming nofegay in his left hand, while the right was very gracefully ftuck in his fide. It is the cuftom at Naples to carry every body to church in full drefs foon after their death, and the nearest relations display the magnitude of their grief

VOL. II.

S

grief by the magnificent manner in which they decorate the corpfe. This poor woman, it seems, was quite inconfolable, and had ornamented the body of her late husband with a profufion fhe could ill afford. When the corpfe arrives in church, the service is read over it. That ceremony being performed, and the body carried home, it is confidered as having no farther occafion for fine clothes, but is generally ftript to the shirt, and buried privately.

"Can any thing be more ridiculous," fays N," than to trick a man out in "his beft clothes after his death?" "No"thing," replied T-; "unless it be to order a fantastical dress at a greater

expence on purpose, as if the dead "would not be fatisfied with the clothes

"they wore when alive, but delighted in long flowing robes in a particular style "of their own."

T

has long refided abroad, and now prefers many foreign cuftoms to those

of