The only likeable Frenchman of the trip was a criminal

Tobias Smollett traveled through France and Italy while maintaining a very dark opinion of the local population. In Lyon, he hired the services of a coachman named Joseph, whom he later described as the only Frenchman worthy of his satisfaction. This devoted man nevertheless hid a heavy past as he was a former criminal who had served his sentence, a former companion of fearsome highwaymen.