uch imposition? I will tell
you--I have more than once in my travels made a formal complaint of the
exorbitancy of a publican, to the magistrate of the place; but I never
received any satisfaction, and have lost abundance of time. Had I
proceeded to manual correction, I should have alarmed and terrified the
women: had I peremptorily refused to pay the sum total, the landlord,
who was the post-master, would not have supplied me with horses to
proceed on my journey. I tried the experiment at Muy in France, where I
put myself into a violent passion, had abundance of trouble, was
detained till it was almost night, and after all found myself obliged
to submit, furnishing at the same time matter of infinite triumph to
the mob, which had surrounded the coach, and interested themselves
warmly in favour of their townsman. If some young patriot, in good
health and spirits, would take the trouble as often as he is imposed
upon by the road in travelling, to have recourse to the fountain-head,
and prefer a regular complaint to the comptroller of the posts, either
in France or Italy, he would have ample satisfaction, and do great
service to the community. Terni is an agreeable town, pretty well
built, and situated in a pleasant valley, between two branches of the
river Nera, whence it was called by the antients, Interamna. Here is an
agreeable piazza, where stands a church that was of old a heathen
temple. There are some valuable paintings in the church. The people are
said to be very civil, and provisions to be extremely cheap. It was the
birthplace of the emperor Tacitus, as well as of the historian of the
same name. In our journey from hence to Spoleto, we passed over a high
mountain, (called, from its height, Somma) where it was necessary to
have two additional horses to the carriage, and the road winds along a
precipice. which is equally dangerous and dreadful. We passed through
part of Spoleto, the capital of Umbria, which is a pretty large city.
Of this, however, I give no other account from my own observation, but
that I saw at a distance the famous Gothic aqueduct of brick: this is
mentioned by Addison as a structure, which, for the height of its
arches, is not equalled by any thing in Europe. The road from hence to
Foligno, where we lay, is kept in good order, and lies through a
delightful plain, laid out into beautiful inclosures, abounding with
wine, oil, corn, and cattle, and watered by the pastoral streams of the
famous