BATH,November 24,1763
MY DEAR FRIEND:I arrived here,as you suppose in your letter,last Sunday ;but after the worst day's journey I ever had in my life:it snowed and froze that whole morning,and in the evening it rained and thawed,which made the roads so slippery,that I was six hours coming post from the Devizes,which is but eighteen miles from hence;so that,but for the name of coming post,I might as well have walked on foot.Ihave not yet quite got over my last violent attack,and am weak and flimsy.
I have now drank the waters but three days;so that,without a miracle,I cannot yet expect much alteration,and I do not in the least expect a miracle.If they proved 'les eaux de Jouvence'to me,that would be a miracle indeed;but,as the late Pope Lambertini said,'Fra noi,gli miracoli sono passati girt un pezzo'.
I have seen Harte,who inquired much after you:he is dejected and dispirited,and thinks himself much worse than he is,though he has really a tendency to the jaundice.I have yet seen nobody else,nor do Iknow who here is to be seen;for I have not yet exhibited myself to public view,except at the pump,which,at the time I go to it,is the most private place in Bath.
After all the fears and hopes,occasioned severally by the meeting of the parliament,in my opinion,it will prove a very easy session.Mr.Wilkes is universally given up;and if the ministers themselves do not wantonly raise difficulties,I think they will meet with none.A majority of two hundred is a great anodyne.Adieu!God bless you!