Travels through France and Italy

Travels Through France And Italy is by Tobias Smollett, with an introduction by Thomas Seccombe. The introduction says that Smollett's fame seems to have fallen upon an unprosperous curve, and that the coarseness of his fortunate rival is condoned while his is condemned without appeal. A bracketed note names Charles Lever, Horace Smith and Wilkie Collins among other literary celebrities connected with the place.

The catacombs, the text says, were in all probability dug, in former times, as places of retreat for the inhabitants upon sudden descents of the Saracens. The tradition of the country is that they reach as far as the ancient city of Cemenelion, but the text calls this an idle supposition. The writer complains that when the time of departure drew near a man refused to take his furniture, insisting upon having the key of the house and garden and on being paid the whole rent directly, though it would not be due till the middle of September.