He did us the
favour to dine with us, by my uncle's invitation; and next day
squired my aunt and me to every part of Bath; which, to be sure,
is an earthly paradise. The Square, the Circus, and the Parades,
put you in mind of the sumptuous palaces represented in prints
and pictures; and the new buildings, such as Princes-row,
Harlequin's-row, Bladud's-row, and twenty other rows, look like
so many enchanted castles, raised on hanging terraces.
At eight in the morning, we go in dishabille to the Pump-room
which is crowded like a Welsh fair; and there you see the highest
quality, and the lowest trades folks, jostling each other,
without ceremony, hail-fellow well-met. The noise of the music
playing in the gallery, the heat and flavour of such a crowd, and
the hum and buz of their conversation, gave me the head-ach and
vertigo the first day; but, afterwards, all these things became
familiar, and even agreeable. -- Right under the Pump-room
windows is the King's Bath; a huge cistern, where you see the
patients up to their necks in hot water. The ladies wear jackets
and petticoats of brown linen with chip hats, in which they fix
their handkerchiefs to wipe the sweat from their faces; but,
truly, whether it is owing to the steam that surrounds them, or
the heat of the water, or the nature of the dress, or to all
these causes together, they look so flushed, and so frightful,
that I always turn my eyes another way -- My aunt, who says every
person of fashion should make her appearance in the bath, as well
as in the abbey church, contrived a cap with cherry-coloured
ribbons to suit her complexion, and obliged Win to attend her
yesterday morning in the water.
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