; there was
no lack of male and female beauty, singing and dancing; and there were
here many from the street of Pride, who came to receive praise and
adoration. In the interior of the houses I could see people on beds of
silk and down, wallowing in voluptuousness; some were engaged at billiard-
playing, and were occasionally swearing or cursing the table keeper;
others were rattling the dice or shuffling the cards. My guide pointed
out to me some from the street of Lucre, who had chambers in this street;
they had run hither to reckon their money, but they did not tarry long
lest some of the innumerable tempting things to be met with here should
induce them to part with their pelf, without usury. I could see throngs
of individuals feasting, with something of every creature before them;
oh, how every one did gorge, swallowing mess after mess of dainties,
sufficient to have feasted a moderate man for three weeks, and when they
could eat no more, they belched out a thanks for what they had received,
and then gave the health of the king and every jolly companion; after
which, they drowned the savour of the food, and their cares besides, in
an ocean of wine; then they called for tobacco, and began telling stories
of their neighbours--and, I observed, that all the stories were well
received, whether true or false, provided they were amusing and of late
date, above all if they contained plenty of scandal: there they sat, each
with his clay pistol puffing forth fire and smoke, and slander to his
neighbour. At length I was fain to request my guide to permit me to move
on; the floor was impure with saliva and spilt drink, and I was
apprehensive that certain heavy hiccups which I heard, might be merely
the prelude to something more disagreeable.

From thence we went to a place where we heard a terrible noise, a medley
of striking, jabbering, crying and laughing, shouting and singing.
"Here's Bedlam, doubtless," said I. By the time we entered the den the
brawling had ceased. Of the company, one was on the ground insensible;
another was in a yet more deplorable condition; another was nodding over
a hearthful of battered pots, pieces of pipes, and oozings of ale. And
what was all this, upon enquiry, but a carousal of seven thirsty
neighbours--a goldsmith, a pilot, a smith, a miner, a chimney-sweeper, a
poet, and a parson who had come to preach sobriety, and to exhibit in
himself what a disgusting thing drunkenness is. The origi