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Hague. Walk to Ryswyk, and failure to find Needle of Ryswyk (house chosen for 1697 treaty negotiations because it had several doors, so the ambassadors could enter at the same time without any loss of precedence). Monument to Baron Wassenaar (d. 1665) in Grote of Sint-Jacobskerk very badly executed. States General are sitting - PE has not been, but several members taker the table d'hote at his hotel. (Tuesday, 16th July - Rotterdam) Has paid bill - hotel not clean, but not as expensive as feared (misled by wax rather than tallow candles). Dutch royal family very quiet and modest, without any pomp. Has brought French franks to Holland, but the exchange rate varies. Little book buying in Holland (apart from guides) - 1638 bible by Barker and Bill, and 1597 Euripides apud Commelinum.

Brussels. Arrived on 20th. Tour of Holland - 4 nights in Antwerp, 1 in Breda, 2 in Utrecht, 6 in Amsterdam, 3 in Leyden, 4 in The Hague, 3 in Rotterdam, 1 in Antwerp. All PE's letters have arrived in England, 'though mostly entrusted to complete strangers (inc. a Valentine Dillon of County Mayo, who had just been prosecuted - unsuccessfully - for breach of promise, accompanied by a duel with the lady's brother). Discussion of difficulty of conveying a trunk to Italy - impossible by land, no sea-trade from Holland, therefore leave it in Brussels till his return. Expecting a letter of credit, but it may have been sent straight to Geneva - will not wait for it, since he has spent quite enough time in Holland. Staying at Hotel de Flandre - table d'hote expensive enough to exclude army officers, an expense PE cheerfully bears, since they are noisy and empty and unaccustomed to good society. Considers various means of travelling to Cologne. Much rainy weather - the Dutch do refer to St Swithin (a Saxon bishop), but to St Medard or St Margaret.

Undated and unsigned, but apparently a first draft of the following letter (identical opening sentence, referring to the previous letter). More on the dishonest clerk. Carnival began on PE's birthday, Saturday, 8th February, and continued to Shrove Tuesday, 18th February - subtract 2 Sundays and 1 Saturday, this makes 8 days of carnival proper. Disguises (but not ecclesiastical, under penalty of whipping and excommunication) - devils, harlequins, cuckolds with long horns and most commonly white dresses like a domino. Walk on the Corso and pelt each other with confetti (formerly sugar-plums, but now limes); horse race (but no riders); masquerade at one of the theatres; all very innocent and stupid. Rome even safer to stay in than London. Detained 14 weeks in Rome by a Eur. ms in the Vatican Library. Foolish, having come so far, not to continue to Naples - only 150 miles on a good road, which would take 20 hours in England, but took PE 36 hours in Italy - brief description of route, passing from papal territory into the Kingdom of Naples.

Naples. Ship sailing this evening for Malta. Repeats (in case previous letters have not Arrived) that he has not heard from sister-in-law since November - and to pay the

Florence. Short opening times of the Laurentian library - about 14 hours a week - but able to work in his own room, so does not have to kill time. Italians a race of professed loungers. Loves Florence, but despises the Florentine gentry for their meanness. Depends on expatriate Englishmen for society - many half-pay officers (who would be dandies if they had the means of being so). The Hon. Brownlow-Charles Colyear a good example of the travelling youth of England (died in Rome because of wounds received from bandits whilst en route from Naples - but according to PE from a typhus fever). Dreadful weather over the winter - rain and fog - so cold that the cellars of confectioners contain blocks of ice thick even by English standards. Now lovely, though odd to see the surrounding hills white with snow. The weather changed with the arrival of the Emperor of Austria on 7th March, a person of mean presence. His fourth wife young enough to be PE's daughter - daughter married to Napoleon, and allowed to speak to no one. Florence very cheap - has only spent

Glasgow. Comfortable night at Dalnacardoch. Grounds of Taymouth Castle (but not inside, due to the imminent arrival of Lord Bradalbane and his bride). Killin and the burial ground of the Lairds of MacNab (the current Laird, while wooing a lady, promised her the grandest burial place in Scotland - she refused him). Night at Tyndrum - inns in Scotland inferior to the English, but far superior in terms of wine, rum and brandy (inns in Yorkshire an exception to this). Loveliness of the Vale of Glenorchy and of Loch Awe. Splendours of Inverary Castle...but the town a paltry deception. Description of journey from Inverary to Arrochar. Visited Inchtavannach. Night at Dumbarton (a dirty town, with one dirty inn), and castle before church the next day. Finally to a splendid inn in Glasgow (whose coffee room alone is larger than the assembly room in Ramsgate).

Hague. Visit (by canal) on July 7th to last day of Haarlem fair. Failure to hear Haarlem organ because of a lengthy sermon. Wonderful flowers and gardens. 7 hour voyage to Leyden on 9th July. University on vacation, so town is peaceful and pleasant. Thomas Gaisford (regius professor of Greek) in Leiden for a few months collating mss. - they visit Daniel Wyttenbach, who expresses surprise that such a learned scholar as PE could be so merry (quite the opposite to Valckenaer and Ruhnken) - when Gaisford reports the story to his wife, she says that the household consider PE a vast deal more 'vrolijk' than Gaisford. 3 nights in Leyden (because of presence of Gaisfords), staying on Golden Lion, then on to The Hague. House names displayed prominently (usually compounds of pleasure, rest or prospect). Failure to find intended hotel because of language difficulties - ends up at Marechal de Turenne, which he suspects will be expensive. (Sunday, 14th July). Does not think The Hague as pretty as the Dutch do. Walked yesterday and saw many groups of ragged boys playing cards on the pavement - perhaps Jews keeping the sabbath holy. The common people (who cannot all be Jews) are as ragged and filthy as the Jews themselves. Vieille Cour only building to arrest attention. 2 mile walk to Scheveningen (past an odorous cemetery).

Rome. Letters not getting to England, because a dishonest clerk has been pocketing the postage. Arrived in Rome 14/11 - account of letters which might have gone astray (inc. one concerning a guitar being ordered from Naples for Miss Bigge [qv]). Now pretty much done with sightseeing in Rome. Spends some hours (9.00 till 1.00ish) in Vatican Library (mss of Eur.) - exactly 30 mins walk from lodgings in Via de Due Macelli (four doors from Piazza di Spagna); then a stroll in St Peter's to warm up, and home to write up his notes. A stroll at about 4.00, usually on the Pincian hill. until dinner. Then tea- or ice- or scandal-parties. Attended a poetry meeting of the Accademia Tiberina - the Italians adopt literature as a substitute for politics; the meeting was preceded by a prose essay on the historical, moral and logical aspects of Carnival. Carnival nominally lasts from Boxing Day until Shrove Tuesday, but is concentrated on the last 10 or so days; on Saturday 10 days before there is a public guillotining, as a reminder of what may happen if the bounds of licentiousness are transgressed. Comments on the mild weather - fine weather is a large part of happiness. Dislikes his lodgings. Roman water is excellent, as are the vegetables - half the ground within the city walls is occupied by kitchen gardens. Looks forward to Naples, which at first he had not intended to visit - but a shame not to, especially since he knows so many people there (inc. the Duchess of Devonshire and her son and daughter, who has left her husband, an act more conducive to peace and tranquillity than to reputation). Asks his sister-in-law to look out for a place for his envisaged return in September, about the same distance from London as is her place in Ealing.

Naples. Please pay

Naples. Boarded the Ranger brig bound for Malta and Egypt (but didn't get to latter). Palermo - Trapani (3 nights at sea from Palermo!) - Malta - Messina. Voyage partly undertaken for the health of Lady Harriet Drummond, but her sea-sickness caused the abandonment of the original plan of going to Athens. PE not as sea-sick as he thought he might be - only sick so as to make a discharge on one day. Will ignore Malta and Sicily till they meet, because he needs to address a letter from his sister-in-law - but Valetta very pretty - after 20 odd years of rule the English have introduced cleanliness, but have yet to set up a church. Sister-in-law's poor health caused by the weather - but the spring in Naples was just as raw as in England. Thanks for offer to look after PE's exports from Italy. Miss B. (Bigge?) has married. Various business matters. Mrs Bedford has died - PE has not heard from Bedford the son, but he himself could not write to anyone after his own mother's death. Some gossip from Grote concerning the love affairs of one Diana. Comments on the will of Mr Carew. Plans to return to England via Rome, Florence and Venice.