/ LFb » ►^ n x> ^ J;« O 3 ft H 2 -I p c rr. » 3 i-> ri. ^ Q^ 1-. (T) ^ 3 w >n o • • CI- &. • . o • . D ^^ ° .?^ CO ^ 4^ O &, W CO » n^ VO t^ n cr CTQ p n> 3 oo cr <1 fl> p ^ n o g ID ^^ n jirt B V ^ 3 o l-( :> 21' C 3 crq - i^3- M cr o O 3 D n ^ ft is, 'Jfu,4 U'l'--^ ' I'.y f riL pp. i — 25 CHAP. H, Departure from Brunswick. Arrival at Hanover. Reception. Description of Hanover. Fortifications. ^Military Force. Palaces and Gardens. Departure for Pyrmont. Description of the Spa. Accommodation for Strangers, &c. The Prin- cess takes leave of her brother the Duke, and proceeds on her Route. Arrival at Paderborn, Description. Curious Springs. Departure for Gottingen. Description of the Country. Fortifications, Views, Walks, and University. pp. 26—33 CHAP. HI. Arrive at Ca';sel. Description. Temple and Cascade of Wasen- stein. Manners of the German Courts. Carnival. Theatre. Arrival at Marpurg. Description, Account of the Teutonic Knights. Proceed to FrankCort. Recc])tion. Description of the City. Curious custom of the Inhabitants, and attachment to Psalm-singing. Mode of conducting Funerals. Condition and treatment of the Jews. State of Society. Amusements. Government of the City, &c. &c. Arrival at Darmstadt, Splendid Reception. Grand Hunt given in honour of the Princess. Description of Hesse Darmstadt. Mode of guard- ing the town, &c. Arrival at Mentz. Description of tliat City. Mountain of Altonigcr. Sublime view of the risino- Sun from its summit. Cross the Rhine. Arrival at Worms. Description of the Country. Historical account of the City. Cathedral and Churches, Mint. Bones and figures of Giants, IV CONTENTS. Proceed to Manheim. Arrival at Heidelburg. Descriptipn. Holy Mountain. Famous Tun of Heidelburg, Proceed to Spire. Description and historical account. The word Pro- testant. Arrival at Philipsburg. Historical account of that City. pp. 34—68 CHAP. IV. The Princess and Suite enter the Circle of Suabia. Arrive at Stuttgard. Reception by the Royal Family. Description of the Palace, Museum, and Arsenal. Visit the Palace of Lud- wigsburg. Return to Stuttgard. Description of that City. Baden famous for Baths. Depart for Tubingen in company with the King of Wurtemberg. Description of Tubingen. Arrival at Ulm. Description of the City and the Grand Cathedral. Departure for SchafFhausen. Description of the City, and the celebrated Cataract, termed the Fall of the Rhine^ at LaufFen. . p. 69 — 78 CHAP. V. Departure from SchafFhausen, and arrival at Zurich. General description of Switzerland, Mountains, and Glaciers. Ibex, Chamois, and Marmont, Description of Zurich. Arsenal. William Tell's bow and arrow. Institutions for Education. Curious Manuscripts in the Public Library. Singular Law respecting abandoned Females. Departure for Zug. Descrip- tion. Protected by Saint Oswald, King of Northumberland. Enter the Canton of Uri. Description of tlie Lake of Lu- cerne. Mount Pilatus. Curious Statue in a Cavern at its summit. Arrival at Altorf. Stone Pillars, to mark the spot where William Tell shot the apple from his Son's head. Ar- rival in the Valley of Urseren. Description of Mount St. Gothard. pp. 79—91 CHAP. VI. The Princess crosses the Alps. Roads. Italy infested by Bixn- ditti. Some particulars concerning these Maurauders. Anec- dote of the supposed capture of Lucien Buonaparte. Enter the valley of Piedmont. Cultivation and Fertility of this re- gion. View from Montcallier. Arrival at Turin, pp. 92 — 107 CHAP. VII. Departure from Turin. The Plain of Turin. Rivers. Lakes. Observations on the Lakes. Comparison between the Italian and British Lakes. Colossal Statue of immense size. Passage of the Simplon. Lago Magglore. Milan. pp. lOS— 138 CONTENTS. CHAP. VIII. Arrival at Milan. General account of that City. Its remarkable public Buildings and Establishments. Remarkable account of an exemplary and exalted Character, Saint Charles Borromeo. The Colleges and Hospitals of Milan. General Characterlof its Inhabitants. Her Majesty's reception^ and Society at Milan. pp.'l39— 158 CHAP. IX. Departure from Milan for Naples, by way of Florence and Rome. Description of the approach to Florence. Its situa- tion and surrounding Scenery. Description of the City. The Cathedral. Delightful Excursions in the vicinity of the City. A singular Burning Mountain. Beauty of Florence. Man- ners of the Florentines. Climate, &c. Lucca. Interesting account of its advantageous circumstances. pp. 159 — 200 CHAP X. Florence. Traverse the Maremme, or region of the Malaria. Vale of Arno, Interesting account of its Agriculture. Vol- terra. Its melancholy decline. Present condition. Con- verted into a grazing country. Terni. Interesting account of its famous Cascade. Nera, The ancient Bridge of Augus- tus. The Tiber. Extreme grandeur of the ancient approach to Rome. First view of St. Peter's. Reflections on the pre- sent state of Rome. pp. 201 — 222 CHAP. XI. Splendour of the Roman Forum. The Coliseum. The palace of imperial Rome. Burying-place. The extraordinary ex- tent and grandeur of the Roman Baths. The Baths of Cara- calla. Nero's Palace. The Temple of the Sun. The Cam- pus Martins. The venerable pile of the Pantheon. The Trajan Pillar. Bridges. The great Circus. Causes of the destruction and disappearance of such vast edifices. pp. 223—236 CHAP. XII. Description of modern Rome. It's Population. State'of its Streets. Squares, Fountains. Tombs. The Castle of St. Angelo. Palaces of the Popes. Palace of the Vatican. Prin- cipal Clmrch. pp. 237—252 Yl CONTENTS. CHAP. XIII. Description of Divine Service as performed by the Pope on high festivals. Grand Spectacle in St. Peter's on the night of Good Friday. Temple of Romulus. Circus of Caracalla. Her Royal Highness leaves Rome for Naples. Route. Vellotri. Pomptine marshes. Terracina. Gaeta. Approach to Naples. Arrival at Naples. pp. 253 — 268 CHAP. XIV. General account of Naples. Its public Buildings, Churches, Hospitals. Its charitable Institations. Moral character of Inhabitants. Amusements. Opera. Her Royal Highness attends the Opera and Masqued Ball. Her assumed Character there. Excursions to Pozzuoili, Baja, and Mount Vesuvius. pp. 269— 2S1 CHAP. XV. Description of the Isle of Ischia in the Gulf of Naples. Account of an excursion to Mount Vesuvius. Description of the mountain, and its prospects. Portici and Herculaneum. Pompeii. Description of its present state. pp. 282 — 293 CHAP. XVI. Peculiarity of Manners of the Neapolitan People. The Lazza- roni. Popular view of the Italian national Character. Cou- rage. Information. Hastiness of temper. Industry. Her Royal Highness leaves Naples for Rome, on her way to Genoa. Route from Rome to Civita Vecchia. Embark for Genoa. Isle of Elba. The Voyage. Leghorn. Genoa. pp. 294—327 CHAP. XVII. Her Royal Higeness's residence at Genoa. Her Visitants and Society. The Route from Genoa to IMilan. Novi Marengo. Great beauty of the surrounding Country. Pavia. The mag- nificence of the abbey Chiaravalle. Arrival at [Milan. Tour to Mount St. Gothard. Leave Milan for the Lake of Como. Her Royal Highness establishes a residence at the Villa D'Este, on the Lake. pp. 32S— 345 CHAF. XVJH. Her Majesty proceeds to Venice. Description of the Cities on the route. Verona. Its noble Am])hitheatre. Vicenza. Re- markable for its grand Olympic Theatre and Academy. Am- CONTENTS. VU val at Venice, Description of the City. Character, Manners and Customs of the Venetians, Padua. Mantua. Her Ma- jesty determines on an extensive Tour to Greece and the Holy Land. pp. 346—368 CHAP. XIX, Her Majesty embarks at Genoa for Sicily. Arrival at the Isle of Elba. Palermo. The Lipari. Stromboli. Its remarkable Volcano and Eruptions. Messina. Coast of Calabria. Dan- ger encountered by Her Majesty at sea. Arrival off Catania. Syracuse. Murderous Grotto of Dionysius. Extensive and remarkable Catacombs. Singular mode of travelling to Cata- nia. Mount Etna. General account of its Wonders. Her Majesty quits Sicily and embarks for Africa. pp. 369 — 414 CHAP. XX. Departure from Tunis. Voyage. Storm at sea. Danger of Shipwreck. Succeeded by a beautiful Calm. Delightful se- renity of the climate of Greece. Scene at sunset. General Character of the Greeks. Their personal Beauty. Arrival at Athens. General account of its Antiquities. pp. 415 — 445 CHAP. XXI. Account of the ancient Monuments of Athens continued. Her Majesty's Excursions in Athens, and its neighbourhood. The Harbours of Phalereus, and Piraevis. The supposed Site of the Temples of Juno and Ceres. The Tomb of Aristides. Monu- ment imagined to be that of Themistocles. Impressive Soli- tude of the Athenian Harbours. The Temple of the Winds. Remarkable Religious Ceremonies observed there by Der- vises. Mussulman Women. Reflections on their condition. Their singular Ceremonies in the contraction and consumma- tion of Marriage described. pp. 446 — 457 CHAP. XXII. Modern Excavations among the Greek Tombs. Remarkable aspect of solemnity of Athens. The appearance of the City in a general prospect. Depredations on its Antiquities. The Acropolis. The Parthenon. Immense and beautiful piece of ancient Greek Sculpture. Gipsy Straw-hats worn by the an- cient Greeks. Ancient gilt Statues. The Propylea. Its immense Blocks of Marble. The Theatre of Regilla. Erected in honour of a Wife. Greek Theatres. pp. 458 — 473 CONTENTS. CHAP. XXIII. Description of the Greek Theatres. The Areopagus. The pre- cise spot on which St. Paul preached to the Athenians. Re- flections on the importance and jjerils of his undertaking. Impressive beauties of the scene. Temple of the Winds. The Bazar, or Market, State of the Arts and Manufactures in Athens. The Gymnasium of Ptolemy. Ancient Marble?. Temple of Theseus. The place of Interment of Mr. Twed- dell, an English traveller of modern times. Description of the Temple. pp. 473 — 4S3 CHAP. XXIV. An ancient equestrian Statue of Beauty, by Praxiteles. The Pnyx, or place of Parliament of the ancient Athenians. Sin- gular alterations of its arrangement by a tyrannical Govern- ment. Reflections on these circumstances. Monument of Philopappus. Theatre and Cave of Bacchus. The elegant and remarkable Monument of Thrasyllus. The Pillars of the Emperor Hadrian. pp. 484 — 491 CHAP. XXV. Visit to the river Ilissus. A famous Fountain of Antiquity. The noble Stadium, or theatre for gymnastic exhibitions. The Sepulchre of Herodes. Extraordinary panoramic j)rospect from Mount Anchesnius, Description of the various objects. Excavation'of ancient Tombs and Wells, in search of cm-ious remains of Antiquity. Description of the articles obtained. pp. 492—498 CHAP. XXVI. Visit to Mount Hymettus. Temple of Diana. Monastery of Saliani. Temple of Venus, and Fountain said to be condu- cive to Pregnancy. Glorious prospect from the summit of Mount Hymettus. Grandeur of the view of Corinth from tlie Parthenon of Athens. pp. 499 — 504 CHAP. XXVII. Departure from Athens, for the Peloponnesus. First view of the Acropolis, or citadel of Corinth. Remains of a Temple of .Tupiter. Ignorance of the Greek Pilots. Greek Medals. In- teresting and pastoral character of the surrounding country. Specimens of the Albanian Peasantry, and their mode of life. pp. 505—510 CONTEXTS. IX CHAP. XXVIII. Arrival at Coroni. Singular race of Dogs. Greek Game. Im- mense ancient Theatre cf Polycletus. Jom'ney to Argos. Beauty and Fertility of the Country. A public Rejoicing. Scene of Greek Wrestling. The Pyrrhic, or War-dance of the an- cient Gi'eeks. . pp. .511 — 515 CHAP. XXIX. Arrival at Argos. Population. State of the Town. Public Schools. Antiquities. Priestcraft. Curious discovery of a pretended Oracle. Extensive and beautiful Plains of Argos. Mycenae. The supposed Tomb of Agamemnon. Immense scale of its Masonry. pp. 516 — 522 CHAP. XXX. Albanians. Their habits and modes of living. Nemesean River. Arrival at Sicyon. High state of preservation of its Theatre. Its extensive prospects. Corinth. Extraordinary fertility of the neighbouring Country. Arrival at Corinth. Ancient Grecian method of plating marble edifices with Metal. Cli- mate of Corinth. pp. .523-'530 CHAP. XXXI. The Isthmus of Corinth. The ancient Canal of the Emperor Nero. Stupendous rock of the Acrocorinthus. Delightful prospect from its summit. Her Majesty engages a Vessel to coast the Islands. Cromyon. Peasantry of the country. Resemble the Highlanders of Scotland in their habits and manners. Eleusis. Exquisite prospect of Athens. Remark- able Grove of Olive-trees. Description of the Olive-wood. Stupendous Statue of Ceres. Negociation with the Authorities respecting its purchase. Difficulties of removal. Methods devised to effect it. Superstitious fears of the Inhabitants. Remarkable Prediction respecting the Statue of the Goddess — fulfilled in an astonishing manner. pp. 531 — 543 CHAP. XXXII. Visit the Seraglio of the Bey of Corinth. Embark on an ex- cursion to the Island of Antiparos. Curious and splendid natural Grotto. Encounter a violent Storm. Sagacity and nautical skill of Greek Navigators. Isle of Naxos. Embark for Constantinople. Arrival at Constantinople, pp. 544 — 551 X CONTENTS. ..^.,., CHAP. XXXIII. Arrival off the Isle of Tenedos. Pass Gallipoli. First view of Constantinople. Extreme grandeur and imposing effect of the prospect. Description of the environ Buitere. Description of that beautiful retreat. Turkish Pleasr»'e-boats. Extraor- dinary Procession of the Grand Signior. Mosques of Con- stantinople, pp. 552 — 563 CHAP. XXXIV. Ceremonies of the Howling Dervishes and Fire-Eaters. Com- mon Misconceptions respecting; the Magnificence of Dwel- lings in the City of Constantinople. Turliish Splendour con- sisting in the Luxui-ies not the Comforts of life. pp. 66'4 — 5/0 CHAP. XXXV. Her Majesty's departure from Constantinople. The Passage of the Dardanelles. Feat of swimming across tlie Hellespont. Wine of the Dardanelles, Expedition planned by Her Ma- jesty to visit the Plains of ancient Troy. Voyage down the Hellespont. pp. 571 — 584 CHAP. XXXVI. Arrival at Rhodes. Delightrjl Orange and Citron Groves. Anti- quities. Remarkable Castle. Dexterity of its Divers. Curious instance of it. Sail for Acre. Arrival, and general description of it. Rosetta. Arab Seamen. Rachmanie. Climate of Egypt. Ophthalmia. Buffaloes of the Nile. Whirlwinds of Sand. pp. 585—598 CHAP. XXXVII. First View of the Pyramids. Tlie impression produced by their distant appearance Arrival at Cairo. The Plagues of Egjpt, Arab Manners and Dress. Arab mode of riding. Their sin- gular personal concealment. Return to Acre. Sail thence for Jaffa. Difficulty of obtaining Passports. Her Majesty compelled to return to Acre. Passports granted. Her Ma- jesty's Retinue and Escort assembled. The Journey commenced. Description of the Retinue and Preparations. pp. 599 — 606 CHAP. XXXVIII. Her Majesty's progress to Nazareth. Arrival there. Objects of interest. Fountain of the Virgin Mary. Entertainment of Her Majesty. Convent of Franciscans. Extraordinary Su- perstitions of the Inhabitants respecting it. Holy Relics. Stone on which Christ sat with the Disciples after the Resur- rection. Her Majesty leaves Nazareth for a Tour of Galilee. Proceeds to Galilee and the Lake of Gennesareth. ViFageof CONTENTS. XI Cana. Fountain of the water converted into \^Ine at the marriage feast. Field in which the Disciples plucked the ears of corn on the Sabbath. The spot on which Christ fed the Multitude. Grand scenery of the Lake of Gennesareth. Town of Tiberias. One of the earliest Christian Churches sup- posed to have been built by Peter. pp. 607 — 619 CHAP. XXXIX. Violent and oppressive Heat of the climate. Picture of Arab Manners. Remarkable attachment of the Arabs to their Horses. Arrival at an antique Castle of strength. Scene of Feudal Magnificence. Military Grandeur. Napolese. Its rich and varied prospects. Gardens and Groves. Pier Ma- jesty proceeds to Jerusalem. Ramla. Her Majesty's recep- tion at a Convent. An oriental Sun-rise. pp. 620 — 632 CHAP. XL. First view of the City of Jerusalem. Its extraordinary effect. Reception of the Cavalcade by the Turkish authorities. Gene- ral view of the city. A Turkish Palace. The supposed site of the Judgment-hall in which Christ was condemned. The Holy Sepulchre. Remains of the Church in which the Body of Christ was anointed. A column of Granite said to belong to the palace of Pontius Pilate. Mount Calvary. An excur- sion to Bethlehem. Star of Bethlehem. Site of the Holy Manger. pp. 633 — 645 CHAP. XLI. Leave Bethelem. The Valley of Jehoshaphat. The Field of Blood. Ancient Monuments. Tomb of Isaiah. Bethany, Place of the Ascension. Venerated impression of the feet of Christ. Tombs of Joseph, James, Anne, and the Virgin Mary. Army of the Pacha of Damascus. Particular descrip- tion of Jerusalem. pp. 646 — 653 CHAP. XLII. Description of Jerusalem continued. Mahometan Superstitions. Mosques. Singular Ablution of the Holy Temple by Saladin. The Walls of Jerusalem. Present depopulated state of the city. Sepulchres of the Kings. Bazars. Trade. Christian Females. Climate of Jerusalem, Its Manufactures. pp. 654 — 665 CHAP XLIII. Her Majesty makes a Journey to Jericho. Escort. Dismal approach. Its present miserable state. Sacred Relics. Women of Jericho. Plant from which the Crown of Thorns was formed. XU COI-TTENTS. The River Jordan. Dead Sea. Pillar of Salt. Site of Sodom and Gomorrha. A Monastery. Her IMajesty's munificent Donations in Jerusalem. Institution of the Royal Order of Knighthood of St. Caroline of Jerusalem. pp 666 — 675 CHAR XLIV. Her Majesty leaves Jerusalem. Reflections. Proceed to Jaffa, l^isit the celebrated Ruins of Ascalon. Beautiful scenery of Jaffa. Her Majesty's reception. Departure. Ascalon. Its interesting; Ruins. Temple of Venus. Armour of the Crusaders found amidst these ruins. pp. 676 — 6SI CHAP. XLV. Her Majesty s Embarkation. Vessel, and mode of equipment. Nautical arrangements. St. Jean D'Acre. Her Majesty's Vessel finally quits the coast. Danger of Pirates. Precautions. Rhodes. Candia. Detention there by stress of weather. Sketch of the Country. pp. 682 — 693 CHAP. XLVI. Her Majesty, on her return to a Christian country, attends divine service in public, to offer thanksgiving for the consummation of her perilous journeys by sea and land. Facts and circum- stances relating to the Barbary Pirates. Put to sea from Syra- cuse. Her Majesty engages the convoy of an Austrian frigate. Catania. Messina, Quarantine. Arrival in the Bay of Naples. Arrival at Gaeta. Terracina. Landing by special permission of his Holiness the Pope. Her Majesty has an audience of the Pope. Leaves Rome for Milan. Route, Florence. Bo- logna. Modena. Parma. Milan. Arrival at Her Majesty's Villa D'Este. pp. 694— 720 CHAP. XLVII, Her Majesty's arrival at the Villa D'Este. Reflections on the happy termination of Her Majesty's remarkable undertaking. The improvements projected by Her Majesty for the embel- lishmeni of the Villa, and the general advantage of the country. Her Majesty's Establishment and Suite at the Villa D'Este. Purchase and Establishment of a rural ViUa. Journey to the Tyrol. pp. 721 — 725 CHAP. XLV III. Her Majesty's Tour into Germany. The Lodesan. Trent. The famohs Council of Trent. Savage scenery. Halle. City of Inspruck. Salt Mines. Saltzburg. \'ienna. Return to the Villa D'Este. Journey to Rome. Purchase of a Roman Villa. Return to Como. Jouineys to Switzerland. Her Majesty determines to quit Italy for England. Con- cluding Reflections and Observations. pp. 726 — 755 VOYAGES AND TRAVELS OF HER Mx4JESTY CAROLINE QUEEN OF ENGLAND. Ssc, CHAPTER I. Departure of tJie Princess and suite from London. — Arrival at Brighton. — Embarkation on board the Jason. — Departure from the English Coast. — Society on Ship-board. — Anchor in the Elbe. — Arrival in Hamburgh. — Descriptioti cf that city. — Departure. — Arrival at Bremen. — De- scription. — Mummies ejhibited in the vault of the^ CatJiedral. — Verden described. — Historical and Geographical account of Zell. — ylrrival at Brwiswich. — Reception. — Description of Pa- laces., 8^c. — Caverns in the Hart %- country. N the 9th of August 1814, Her Majesty Caroline Queen of England, (then Princess of Wales,) and suite, departed from London for Brighton, in order to proceed to Germany and other parts of the Continent of Europe. The Princess's suite consisted of Lady Charlotte Lindsay and Lady Ehzabeth Forbes, Maids of Honour; Colonel St. Leger and Sir William Gell, Chamberlains ; Captain Hesse, Equerry ; Dr. Holland, Physician; and master William Austin, her Royal Highnesses protegee. Besides B 2 DEPARTURE FROM BRIGHTON. the ladies and gentlemen here enumerated, there were others, who filled various departments in Her Royal Highness's household. The Princess and suite arrived at the Steync Hotel at half-past four o'clock in the afternoon ; but Captain King, of the Jason frigate, not being in readiness to receive her. Her Royal Highness gave orders to proceed to South Lancing, two miles from Worthing, where she went on board the Jason, in Captain King's own barge. From the barge the Princess viewed, with mingled regret, sorrow, and benevolent feeling, the vast concourse of spectators, who had followed her to the beach, on foot, on horseback, and in carriages. She repeatedly kissed her hand to the assembled mul- titude, who, with sorrow on their countenances at seeing her quit the land of her early hopes, waved their handkerchiefs aloft, in token of attachment to her person. These signs of regret, and encouragement to repose her fortunes on the love of her future subjects, deeply penetrated the Princess's heart. A few tears fell, but, hastily brushing them aside, her Roj^al Highness turned her head towards the ship, which was in readiness to receive her on board. In the barge's progress to the frigate, the deepest silence prevailed ; and this not being interrupted by the spectators on shore, the parting was truly affecting. On ascending the ship's side, the Princess con- templated the scene before her : with tearful eyes she beheld England retiring from her view ; and JASON FRIGATE. 3 with her hands raised towards heaven, she implored a blessmg on its inhabitants. After a short time had elapsed in these mournfal duties, the Princess retired to her apartment, where, in secret, but with her manifold sorrows bursting on her afresh, she renewed her prayers for the welfare of the generous and noble nation, whose coasts were every moment becoming more distant. The Princess, having been prevailed on to take some refreshment, retired to rest. Next morning she was observed to have considerably recovered her usual spirits; and the weatlier being parti- cularly fine, the whole party greatly enjoyed the voyage. As every possible mark of respect was religiously and willingly paid to Her Royal Highness by all on board ; and as the arrangements had been such as to render her situation comfort- able and pleasant, the Princess had leisure to mature her future plans of travelling on the Continent. She conversed cheerfully with the several dis- tinguished members of her suite ; but when any subject was touched upon, which involved a recollection of her own misfortunes, or her daughter s future prospects, she was observed to heave a deep sigh ; after which she was usually silent for a few minutes. Every means, however, were used, and with success, to divert Her Royal Higlmess's attention from the consideration of former events. The elasticity of her mind, or rather, her habitual serenity, was soon evinced by ^4 JASON FRIGATE. the facility with which she seemed to forget her own misfortunes ; also by conversing freely with her attendants on many subjects of science and art, and on various matters which bore no immediate nor remote relation to her own interests. Some of her suite were exceedingly surprised to hear an English Princess descant on the uses of various articles belonging to a ship of war ; whilst others, who had been travellers in their youth, were no less astonished at her geographical information, and the retentive powers of her memory ; which were frequently exercised in correcting the mistakes of her distinguished companions, relative to the situation and boundaries of various districts of Europe. Nor were her powers dormant when natural science was the subject of conversation. On the several topics of natural history and philosophy, she exhibited a mind replete with solid information. This general development of the powers of her mind was entirely divested of pedantry: but although the conversation was free for the whole company to join in, still the Princess so far preserved a becoming dignity and reasonable reserve, as prevented the least approach to undue familiarity. In fact, the Princess of Wales has always been looked up to, by those who were near her person, more in the light of a kind and con- siderate parent, than in that of an austere mistress. Thus in our little circle, no one (save the unfortu- nate Princess) could be unhappy for a moment ; JASON FRIGATE. ^ for the desire to please transfused into our minds by Her Royal Highness, was so contagious, and so general, that every one congratulated himself on his good fortune in being honoured by her acquaint- ance. Alas! how different are the practices of other Courts, — where every vice, where every folly is sanctified by being enshrined in Royalty ! — where the crowned imbecile from the cradle of state, graciously nods on his fawning flatterers, in token of approbation of their servility ! — where the royal ear is poisoned by the slanders 'of the syco- phant ; — and where Virtue scorns to dwell ! Nor were the Princess's cares restrained within the confines of innocent amusement, or personal interest. No : her soul was ever open to the distresses of the unfortunate. Two accidents (one of trifling import) happened during the voyage ; and certainly no individual in the ship felt more anxiety for the health of the sufferers than the Princess of Wales. But her generous feelings were not confined to mere anxiety ; the contents of her purse were the constant reward of attention to the welfare of the sick. Her Royal Highness generally spent a part of each day in private reading and meditation ; and as the education of master Austin was entirely under her own superintendence, it may be imagined that time did not hang heavy on her hands. In this round of mutual instruction and amusement did we pass the whole time of our voyage until the Jason anchored in the Elbe. 6 HAMBURGH. The Princess and suite remained in Hamburgh only three days, in which time they visited the principal places in and without this great com- mercial city. The Recorder and other magistrates paid Her Royal Highness every attention befitting her rank; and many of the principal inhabitants vied with each other in preparing entertainments in honour of her arrival in their city. But the Princess, being anxious to proceed to Bruns^vick, declined many civilities offered to her, contenting herself, for the present, with merely viewing the city ; the following observations on which were made during her short stay there. Hamburgh is a free imperial city, independent of any other power but the Emperor of Germany, to whom it pays homage. It is distant about seventy miles from the influx of the Elbe into the ocean, and properly, situated on the rivers Elbe, Alster, and Bille. The Elbe at Hamburgh, includ- ing the islands on which part of the town stands, is not less than four English miles wide, forming two spacious harbours, and running through most parts of the city in canals, which, being generally pretty broad and deep, are of great convenience to the merchants, whose houses stand on them. Some of the warehouses are from five to seven stories high, and, owing to want of cellaring, even their wines are kept in upper floors. The merchants make their halls into ware-rooms, and they live upon the first floor. In the canals, as well as iu the river itself, even to the distajice of HAMBURGH. 7 twelve or sixteen miles above Hamburgh, the tide ebbs and flows twice a-day. This is serviceable to the inhabitants, but subjects them to inunda- tions, when the wind blows strong at north-west ; at which time, the lower buildings and cellars are filled with water. There arc eighty bridges over the canals, many of them paved like the streets, and on a level with them, houses being built on each side. Within the city are many water-mills and wind-mills, six sluices, and six large markets. The streets are for the most part of considerable breadth, but the houses recommend themselves more by their inward conveniencies, and by the gardens with which they are interspersed, (but more especially by their situation for trade,) than by any outward ornaments of architecture. Some of the streets have a good appearance ; but on the other hand several of them are very narrow and crooked. The walls form a circle of nearly five miles and a half, and the number of inhabitants, exclusive of Jews, is estimated at one hundred thousand. In Hamburgh there are many charitable institu- tions. The house of correction is a very large building, and the persons committed to it, (among whom are all who are found begging in the streets,) are employed in various kinds of labour, particu- larly in rasping Brazil and other kinds of wood. The Waysenhaus is a place where orphans arc maintained and educated; the Pesthof, where lunatics are confined, and these sometimes to the 8 HAMBURGH. number of one thousand ; the Pockcnhaus, "(inhere those are received who are afflicted with contagious disorders ; and the Spenhaus, where prostitutes and such-like offenders are reformed. Many others are instituted for the relief of the deserving poor ; so that not a beggar is seen. There is one place where children are educated, gratis ; and another where unmarried women may be admitted for a small sum, and maintained during life. There is also an institution for the redemption of sea- faring persons taken by the corsairs of Barbary ; with others no less deserving of commendation. To all these charitable foundations Her Royal Highness ordered several handsome donations. "With respect to fires, such regulations are made that every one knows the part he is to act ; the town being regularly watched, and wnse precau- tions being taken to prevent fires from breaking out. The fortifications of this city are in the old Dutch style; viz. a high wall and a vast ditch, made deep and Avide, with some outworks ; the ramparts being lofty, covered with grass and planted with trees, and of such a breadth that several carriages may go a-breast. On these ramparts any one is at liberty to take the air. The Hamburgerberg may be styled a suburb, but it is not environed by any works : the houses in it extend almost as far as Altona, (a town belonging to Denmark,) so that a ditch merely separates the one from the other. HAMBURGH. 9 To the city are some capital gates ; but these are not so much frequented as the two entrances by water from the Elbe, that is to say, the upper and lower basons. Through the latter all ships pass, going to, or coming from sea. Every morning at the opening of it, is seen a multitude of boats and small barks, whose cargoes consist of milk, fruits, and all kinds of provisions, all rushing in at the same time ; and in this manner the country people, together with a great number of others on the land side, daily bring in part of the subsistence necessary to the city. In the north of the town is another entrance by water, which, in this part, runs into the city, so as to form a kind of lake; and is included within the fortifications. Here, in summer time, the inhabitants amuse themselves in barges, some of which have cabins, and are called arks. Near this port too, up the river Alster, is a w^alk, consisting of a double row of trees, of considerable length, which in summer evenings is crowded with people, and is called the Young Ladies' "Walk. The churches of Hamburgh, with their lofty steeples, make a grand appearance. There are nine capital churches, in all of which is something worthy of notice ; such as tombs, splendid altars, organs, and paintings. The houses are chiefly built with a bad-coloured brick, and the city appears, on the whole, not more elegant than Bristol, though much larger. The burghery of Hamburgh is divided into five c 10 HAMBURGH. parishes^ according to the five principal churches ; and the magistracy is composed of thirty-six persons, with a recorder at their head. It is above two hmidred years, since Lutheranism has been the established religion of this city; and none other, except the Jewish, is tolerated. But Roman Catholics, and Calvinists, have an opportunity of attending the worship of the envoys of the emperor and other sovereigns. Hamburgh is so occupied by trade and manu- factures, that scarcely any diversions are to be met with, except bilhards, coffee-houses, and concerts. The principal merchants have private concerts at their houses ; but there is an inelegance througliout every thing, — some few houses, of the more wealthy inhabitants, excepted. The highest appearance of luxury in this city, or, at least, of unnecessary expcnce, is, in the entertainments given at taverns, at weddings, christenings, burials, &c. In these, many of the wealthy ex- pend large sums ; and they entertain at the death, as weil as at the birth, of their relations. This city, on the whole, is not a place where a stranger would resort for pleasure, for the people are enveloped in trade. Their numerous markets afford but indifferent provisions ; their meat is not excellent, and their fish not of the best sort. Formerly the principal occupation of the in- habitants (commerce excepted) consisted in brewing, and making cloth'. At present, the chief manufactory is refining of sugar. The cotton HAMBURGH. 11 stocking, gold thread, riband, and velvet manu- factures here, with others, are much esteemed abroad. With respect to its several branches of commerce, — linen, cloth, silk-ware, wine, sugar, coffee, colours, spices, metals, tobacco, wood, leather, grain, dried and salt fish, train oil, and furs, are accounted the most considerable. Tlie exchange is always crowded at one. This building is half covered and half open, being composed of an area or square, surrounded with covefed piazzas. Hamburgh is, without comparison, the most flourishing commercial city in all Germany. Ex- cept London and Amsterdam, there is hardly a port in which so many ships are constantly seen. This city may be said to abound in libraries, every church having one. There are many public schools also: in a word, few places equal it in its several institutions for the liberal and religious education of youth. Among the fine arts, music is particularly encouraged; painting also is not without its admirers and connoisseurs ; and it were well for the pubhc, if architecture and mechanics were a little more in vogue. There is a city militia, consisting of five regiments, belong- ing to the five parishes. The regular forces consist of twelve companies of infantry, and one troop of dragoons ; also a company of artillery. The night- guard, like a regular corps, has its several officers, parades every evening, and calls the hours. In some houses of the rich merchants, are seen taste, cleanliness, magnificenccj and even at times •|2 HAMBURGH. profusion ; nor is there a place in the world where there are more refinements in sensnal pleasure. They collect from all points of the compass, what eveiy country produces peculiar to itself, and costly for the table. Few assemblies of Pa- risians are more brilliant than the parties which meet in villas here ; but they scarcely play so high. The Hamburghers of the higher class are more jovial, more happy, more conversible, and more facetious, than the Saxons. As most young people are sent abroad to form trading connexions in the several ports, of London, Pe- tersburg, Calais, Bourdeaux, &c. in all which the Hamburghers^ have houses ; a stranger is sure to meet mth some persons who are acquainted with his native country. The women of this place are handsome, genteel, and freer in their man- ners than they are generally in protestant coun- tries. One of the great pleasures of this city arises from the Alstersluss, before alluded to. It comes from the north, passes through the middle of the city, and forms a lake in it nearly eight hundred paces in circumference. In a summer evening this lake is almost covered with gondolas, which have not such a melancholy aspect as the Venetian ones ; they are filled with families, or other par- ties, and often have boats in attendance upon them, "^vith music. The whole has an astonishing good effect, which is still greater from there being a much-frequented pubUc walk by the lake; the BREMEN. 'jig liveliness of which corresponds, very pleasingly, with that of the people on the water. Near the city are some villages on the Elbe, called the Four Lands, which are, in summer, also a rendezvous of pleasure. The farmers, who live in these villages, are in very good circumstances, and take a prodigious sum of money from the town, for their excellent vegetables. Every day, during the summer, parties from the city resort here, who are as conspicuous for their genteel appearance, as for their excesses in eating and drinking. The country round about Hamburgh, though a flat, is extremely pleasant ; the various and flourish- ing agriculture gives it a very gay appearance, and the water contributes much to its beauty. Not- withstanding the quantity of water, and the low situation, the air is very good. Every thing having been got in readiness for the Princess's departure, the whole party left Ham- burgh on the fourth day, for Bremen, the capital of the duchy of that name, and about fifty-five miles south-west from Hamburgh. They arrived in Bremen the same night, and were greeted on their entrance by the acclamations of many of the inhabitants. Next morning, after breakfast, the Princess proceeded to view the town, and was greatly gratified, not only by the curiosities of the place, but by the general respect with which she was received, by all classes of the people. Bremen stands in a fruitful plain; it is an aneient^ 14 BREMEN. large, populous, flourishing city, and fortified by- nature as well as by art ; the whole country being easily laid under water by cutting the banks of the Weser, which frequently overflows its banks, and enriches the sandy soil about it. It has a gymna- sium under seven masters, an episcopal palace, a chapter-house containing two hundred dwellings, an orphan-house, and two abbeys. The cathedral has the controul of fourteen country parishes, and this belongs to the king of Great Britain. The chief curiosity here is some human bo- dies wonderfully preserved without embalming. Under the Cathedral church there is a vaulted apartment, supported on pillars, nearly sixty paces long and thirty broad ; the light and air are ad- mitted into it by three windows, though it is several feet beneath the level of the ground. There are five large oaken coffers, each containing a corpse. The most curious and perfect is that of a woman. Tradition says she was an English countess, who, dying at Bremen, ordered her body to be placed in this vault uninterred, in the apprehension that her relations would order it over to her native country : they say it has lain here two hundred and fifty years. Though the muscular skin is totally dried in every part, yet so little are the features of the face sunk or changed, that nothing is more certain than that she was young, and even beauti- ful. It is a small countenance, and round, in its contour : the cartilages of the nose, and the nostrils have midergone no alteration; the teeth are all BREMEN. |J firm in their sockets, but the lips are drawn away from over them ; the cheeks are shrunk in, hnt yet less than in embalmed bodies. The hair of the head is more than eighteen inches long, very thick, and so fast, that one of the party heaved the corpse out of the coffin by it ; the colour is a light brown, and as fresh and glossy as that of a living person. That this lady was of high rank seems evident from the fineness of the linen which covers her body. A gentleman of Bremen, who was present, said that he remembered it for forty years past, and during which time there M^as not the least per- ceptible alteration in it. In another coffer is the body of a workman, who is said to have tumbled off the church, and was killed by the fall. His ^features evince an accident of this sort most forcibly. Extreme agony is marked in them, his mouth is wide open, and , his eye-lids the same ; the eyes are dried up. His breast is unnaturally distended, and his whole frame betrays a violent death. A little child, v/ho died of the small-pox, is still more remarkable. The marks of the pustules which have broken the skin on her hands and head, are very discernible ; tho' one would suppose that a body which died of such a distemper, must contain in a high degree, the seeds of putrefaction. There are in this vault, likewise, turkeys, hawks, weasels, and other ani- mals, which have been hung up here from time immemorial, and are in the most complete state of preservation; the skins, bills, feathers, being all j0 BREMEN, unaltered. The cause ofthese phenomena is doubt- less the dryness of the place. It is in vain to seek for any other. The magistrates do not permit any fresh bodies to be brought in, and there is no other subterraneous chamber that lias the same property. It would have made au excellent mi- racle in proper hands, two or three centuries ago ; but mankind are now grown too wise. Bremen is situated on the same river as Verden, but here it is known by the name of Weser. Vessels of burden lie twelve or fifteen miles below the city, there not being sufficient depth of water higher up. It contains forty-five thousand inhabi- tants, and, it is said, would exceed even Ham- burgh in commerce, if the river was not an impedi- ment. It is a free city, under tlie protection of the emperor, but, on the money struck here, it styles itself a republic. The king of England, as elector of Hanover, has however some important rights within the place ; and not only the cathedral belongs to him, but a considerable number of buildings, public and private. He possesses like- wise a species of supreme judicial power; for, though the magistrates take cognizance of all crimes within the territory of Bremen, his dele- gate must pronounce sentence. Most of the streets are narrow, but many of the buildings make a handsome appearance, and the shops are full of merchandize. In the market-plac e is the figure of a giant fourteen feet high, clothed in armour ; and is said to represent a general who BREMEN .5 17 saved the city when it was in the utmost danger from its enemies. The great dome of the ci.tlie- dral before noticed, which is devoted to the Lu- theran religion, is the most remarkable structure in the place. It is built in the Gothic style, and as was observed possesses the qualit}^ of preser\ing the bodies of the dead from corruption. The vicinity of Bremen being subject to inimda- tions, a long causeway is raised for the convenience of travelling. By the municipal laws, all the race of Abraham is excluded from trading or residing here ; each Jew being obliged to pay a duty of a ducat (near ten shillings) a day; so that not one is seen. Plutus and Bacchus are the chief deities vene- rated in this city, and, like the senate in the time of Tiberius, they will not admit the gods of strangers. Pleasure under every shape, of dance, of comedy, and of masque, they have a dislike to. The most polite manner of spending an evening, known for several centuries past at Bremen, has been that of meeting in small boxes about twenty feet long and six wide, in the public cellar, where they drink hock under a cloud of smoke raised from their own pipes. Women, the only venial objects of idolatry, seem not here to hold any rank in society, or to form the connecting charm which binds the jarring principles of human nature to- gether. Bremen carries on a large trade in iron, flax, hemp, and linen, with France, England, Spain, D |g VERDEN. and Portugal ; taking back other provisions, with which it supplies Westphalia, and the countries about Hanover. This city is celebrated for old hock ; the wine is all brought here from the banks of the Rhine by land carriage, and deposited in the public cellars, which are wonderfully capacious, running beneath the town-house and exchange. Every thing having been prepared. Her Royal Highness and suite pursued their route next morn- ing ; and breakfasted at Verden, a town in the duchy of that name, situated about five miles south-east from Bremen. The duchy of Verden is small, about twenty- four miles square. It consists chiefly of heath, and high, dry land, but has good marsh land near the rivers Weser and Aller. The city of Verden is seated on the Aller, and contains five churches. The cathedral is an object of some curiosity, from the remote antiquity to which its foundation as- cends. It is said to have been first erected in the year 786, by Charlemagne, after his conquest over the Saxons. The portraits of all the bishops from that era to 1556, when the Lutheran religion supplanted the Catholic, are painted on the walls of the choir. The first of them was, as it ap- pears by the inscription over his head, a saint, a count, and an abbot, but, notwithstanding all his titles, secular and ecclesiastical, he was mur- dered soon after his investiture, by the Pagan Saxons, who paid no sort of deference either to his coronet ox crosier. The present cathedral is ZELL. 19 not so old as Charlemagne ; it was built about the middle of the fourteenth century, the former one having been reduced to ashes in 1313. An anti- quai'ian might find ample food for investigation in it, the whole floor being paved with tombs, on which are effigies and inscriptions, many of which are now mutilated or illegible. Before the high altar is a mantle monument, of costly workman- ship, erected to a Philip Sigismund, born in 1568, and who was both duke of Lunenburg and bishop of Verden. The see is now extinct. Verden was purchased by George I. from Fre- derick IV. king of Denmark, who had rendered himself master of it, during Charles XIl's confine- ment in Turkey, to whom it previously belonged. The town contains only about five hundred inha- bitants, exclusive of a battalion of Hanoverian soldiery. It has scarcely any trade ; the inhabitants therefore are, in general, very poor. Having viewed the cathedral, the Princess and party set off for Zell ; to which place a courier had previously been sent, to order dinner. Zell is situated on a sandy plain, near the con- flux of the AUer and the Enhse, twenty-four miles north of Hanover, and forty-seven south of Ham- burgh. The town is ancient, and consists of three streets, that run parallel ; it is well fortified, the ramparts being broad and high, and well mounted with cannon, but not regular. Here are held the chief courts of judicature for this duchy. In 1485 its duke (Henry) built a palace near that 20 ZELL. called Hanover Gate, which is a square building, with four platforms at the four corners, moated round. Several coaches may go in front on the terrace round the town, which is adorned with trees planted all along; and the adjacent fine gardens, orchards, and grottos, form a very agree- able landscape. There is but one church in the town, and that without a steeple. The French refugees have their church in the surburbs, which are very large. All j^e buildings are of timber, except the churches, the castle, and the house of correction, which are of brick. The elector has a regency here, which judges all causes without any appeal but to the council of state at Hanover. Betwixt this town and Hamburgh it is a sandy road, with scarcely any thing but heath. The post- stages, which are of four miles, are very ill served, and the inns the worst in Germany. Though there is much heath betwixt this town and Hano- ver, yet the country is well cultivated; for the inhabitants not only make turf of the heath for fuel, but it also serves for pasturage and manure. There is a trade from hence to Bremen, by the river Aller. The castle near the town is a stately building, surrounded by a moat, and strongly fortified. It was formerly the residence of the dukes of Zell, and was repaired by order of the king of Great Britain, for the reception of his unfortunate sister. The apartments are spacious and convenient, and handsomely furnished, but the country on every BRUNSWICK. 21 side is barren, sandy, and unpleasant. About twenty miles from Zell, on the southern side of the river Aller, is the little palace, celebrated for the imprisonment of the electress Sophia, ^vife of George the First of England ; where she died a short time before the accession of her son, George the Second. It is said that the latter once attempted to see his mother, whilst under confinement. Having separated himself from his attendants in hunting, he came unexpectedly to the palace ; but those, to whose care she was en- trusted, refused him admittance. During the war in 1757, a most barbarous transaction reduced the inhabitants of Zell to great distress ; for the Duke de Richelieu ordered not only the surburbs of Zell to be burnt, but even the orphan-house, which contained a great number of children. The whole was reduced to ashes, together with the innocent children who were its inmates ! ! This instance of cruelty is scarcely to be paralleled in all history. In Zell, the royal party rested for the night ; and about noon, next day, set off for the Duke's palace at Brunswick. From Zell the Princess and her suite pro- ceeded to Brunswick, where Her Royal High- ness had the felicity of embracing the Duke her brother. Here she was joined by another of her chamberlains, the Honourable Keppel Craven. Brunswick, the capital of the country of that name, and the residence of the Duke, lies on the 22 BRUNSWICK. Oder, which enters the [town by two branches, but within, it divides itself into a great number, uniting again in one stream as it leaves the town. The fortifications are pretty strong ; and, on some occasions, have been of service to the place, parti- cularly in 1761, when the city, though closely besieged, was reheved by Prince Frederick. The town is of a square form, and upwards of three English miles in circumference. It has a citadel, erected by the Duke of Brunswick Wolfenbuttle, when he conquered it in 1671. The duke's palace and the stadthouse are magnificent buildings ; the former of which is surrounded by a fosse, and contains a great number of apartments. The walls of every room are hung with prints, from the roof to within two feet of the floor. In the library of the palace is a valuable collection of scarce and curious Bibles, in various languages, to the number of one thousand volumes, collected by Elizabeth, ^vidow to duke Augustus, in 1731. In this city is an opera-house and a theatre, some good public foundations, and several manufactories. The first spinning wheels were invented here, in 1530, by Jurgen, a statuary. The academy at Brunswick is in considerable reputation, and students resort to it from many parts of Germany, and some have even been sent from Britain. Such as were intended for a military life could no where find more advantages united, than at the academy of Brunswick; nor have fewer temptations to dissipation and expence. WOLFENBUTTLE. 33 The palace of Saltzdahlen stands above a German mile from Brunswick^ and is chiefly con- structed of timber, lined with painted cloth, which gives the apartments an air of grandeur at a small expence. The picture gallery is a noble apartment, and contains many capital productions of the pencil. The left wing is furnished in a grotesque taste, with porcelain ; and another is filled with painted enamelled-ware, a great part of which is said to have been executed by Raphael d'Urbino, while he was enamoured of the potter's daughter. Among the most celebrated paintings are, Adam and Eve viewing the dead body of Ah el ^ and trying to open his eyes ; — Abraham embracing his son, after the trial which God had jnade of his faith ; — Peter delivered from j)rison by the angel ; — Judith and her attendant holding the head of Ho~ lofernes, which still seems to retain the last traces of life ; — Cephalus and Procris ; and various others. WoLFENBUTTLE is thc cliicf rcsidcncc of the duke of Brunswick-Wolfenbuttle, and is also situated on the river Ocker, seven miles south of Brunswick, and thirty west of Halberstadt. It is surrounded by bogs and morasses, and strong by nature and art. This place is the strongest town in Germany. It is well fortified, and eleg^ant in appearance. The public library is very considerable, and reck- oned one of the most complete in Germany, con- taining upwards of two hundred thousand volumes, among which are many curious manuscripts, some of which were written by the two leaders of the 24 HARTZ-COUNTRY.' reformation, Luther and Calvin. In the palace there is a cabinet of porcelain, containing between seven and eight thousand pieces ; and in another smaller cabinet is shown a collection of coarse plates, valuable only on account of their having been painted after the designs of Raphael. The circumjacent country is very picturesque and pleasing. A person is agreeably surprised on beholding the number of seats and noble man- sions ; a sight very rare in Germany, where, if one avoids the towns and courts, you may travel over a great extent of country, without perceiving houses for any order of men between the prince and the peasant. Some of the Princess's suite having been informed of the existence of an immense but curious cavern, a few miles south of Brunswick, and situated in the Hartz Country, (the Hyrcanian forest of the Romans,) prepared to visit it. The Hartz is so cold a country, that the snow lies on its mountains till midsummer, and affords little corn ; but the valleys are filled with cattle. The inhabitants are strong and vigorous, and many of them live to a very great age. There are iron mines in the mountains ; one of which, called Brocken, or Broksberg, (the Bructerus of the Latins,) is reckoned the highest in Ger- many. Betwixt Blankenburg and Elbingerode, is the remarkable cave, called Buman's Hole, (from its discoverer, Buman) : it has a narrow entrance, but HARTZ-COUNTRY. 25 no one ever found the end of it ; though some of the miners have affirmed they have gone as far in it as Goslar^ which is twenty miles. Largebones of strange creatures have been often found in it, which the neighbouring gentry kept as rarities ; and, among others, the skeleton of a giant. There are two great rocks near the convent of Michaelstein, and not far from Blankenburg, which represent two monks in their proper habits, as nicely as if they were carved out, and therefore are called the Monks' Craigs. Many castles are found in these counties on the top of inaccessible rocks, and some actually hewn out of the rocks ; but they arc not re- garded. The most remarkable of them is that near Broksberg, which, the inhabitants say, was built three hundred years before Christ, by the Chauci, a branch of the Saxons, who had an idol and temple of Saturn here, which were destroyed by Charlemagne, who called the place Hartzburg. A salt-spring being discovered at the bottom of this hill, in the time of Julius, duke of Brunswick, he built a small town for the workmen, called Julius Hall, which is now grown rich and large, by the trade in salt, copper kettles and pots, wire, &c. The people of this country arc represented as the dullest in all Germany, and mere bigots to the institutions and customs of their ancestors, B 26 CHAPTER II. Departure from Brunswick. — Arrival at Hanover. Reception. — Description of Hanover. — Fortifi- cations. — Military Force. — Palaces and Gai^- dens. — Departure for Pyrmont. — Description of the Spa. — Accommodation for Strangers, S^c. The Princess takes leave of her brother, the Duke, and pi^oceeds on her Route. — Arrival at Paderhorn. — Description. — Citrious Springs. — Departure for Gottingen. — Description of the Country. -Fortifications, f^iewSf Walks, and University. Her Royal Highness having viewed the halls of her fathers, and visited the scenes of her juvenile recreations ; and having recognised many friends and relatives for whom she had felt a lasting attachment from her youth upwards, the Princess resolved to proceed in her route for the pre- sent, and to return to Brunswick at a future period. In the mean time she invited her brother, the Duke, to accompany her to Hanover, which she proposed to visit, before she took her departure for Italy. According to previous agreement. Lady Charlotte Lindsay and Colonel St. Leger having taken an affectionate leave of the Princess, Her Royal Highness and suite immediately set off for Hanover, about twenty-seven miles south- west from the tQ\Y\\ of Brunswick. Here they arrived the same^day ; and, on their entrance into HANOVER. ^^ the city, they were received with' the highest honours. Hanover, the metropoHs, is situated in a sandy soil, on the river Leine, which is navigable here for small boats. It v-as anciently called Lawen- roda, from a neighbouring castle, subject to the counts of that title. It is divided by the river into the New and Old Towns. Hanover is regularly fortified ; and the ravelins before the gates are well mounted with cannon. The palace is a large structure of freestone, with several square courts, and a fine staircase. It is adorned with fine tapestry and paintings, and very richly furnished. Here is a cabinet of curiosities, with a noble collection of medals, ancient and modern ; and a very fine chapel. There is a con- siderable number of Roman Catholics ; but the nobility and gentry are almost all Lutherans. The princess Sophia caused a new church to be built here for the French refugees ; to which King William III. was also a benefoctor. Besides a house for orphans, there is one hospital within the town, and another without. This city has acquired new lustre since the accession of the illustrious house of Hanover to the electoral college in the diet of the empire, but more especially since its advancement to the throne of Great Britain ; and is of particular note for the famous treaty concluded here in 1725, to counter- balance that of Vienna. The fortifications are regular^ and the works are 2S HANOVER, in excellent order. The troops are sober, and perfect in every part of their duty, though disci- pline is less strict than in other parts of Germany. The Hanoverian infantry, being all volunteers, do not make the same majestic appearance as some other German troops, because they are not select men ; but it is allowed, that no body of men can behave better in action ; nor is desertion at all frequent among them. In the environs are several rural seats, particu- larly one called the Fancy, or Whim ; and another. Mount Brilliant, or Mount Pleasant^ which were built by two sisters-in-law, Madame de Kilmansec, and the Countess of Platen. These lead to the pleasant palace of Herenhausen, a castle built on the river Leine, by order of the prince who was the first elector, about the same distance north from Hanover as the palace of Kensington is from that of St. James's. A straight walk leads up to the house, which is adorned with charming gar- dens ; a wilderness of evergreens ; one of the largest and noblest orangeries in Europe ; a perfect theatre cut out into green seats, with arbors and summer houses on both sides of it, set off with fine statues, many of them gilt ; and, above all, here are noble fountains, with very large basons, beautiful cascades, and water-works, that throw the water much higher than the famous fountain at St. Cloud in France, which was always looked upon as the most considerable of the kind, till this was set up, by the direction of a very capital ■ PYRMONT. 29 English artificer^ under the patronage of the Elector, in 1716. On the third day from their arrival, the Princess and suite, with her royal brother, the Duke, departed for Pyrmont. Pyrmont lies jjetween the bishopric of Pader- born and the electorate of Hanover. The lower part of it contains an uncommonly beautiful and pleasant vale, which extends four miles in length, and as many in breadth . All around is environed by lofty green mountains. In this vale are the celebrated mineral springs and steel-waters. These waters are much frequented by persons of the highest rank. They are exceedingly palatable, and come nearest to the Seltzer waters, in their taste and other qualities. Pyrmont is about a day's journey from Hanover; to this place there is a very fine road, most part of the way, with very large and well engraved stones, every quarter of a German mile, mentioning the exact distance from Hanover ; a circumstance very unusual on the continent. In the season, there is much com- pany from Hanover, and the other large cities in the north of Germany. There is a very magnificent hotel or inn, for the accommodation of strangers, where the apart- ments are fitted up in the most modern taste, and the charges not so extravagant as the appearance of the outside of the building is magnificent. This hotel is much superior to any even at Spa. There isj as in most inns of Germany, an exceedingly 30 PADERBORN. good tahle d'Hote, of two or three courses, with a variety of good wines at moderate prices. Were not the approach to this place, on the side of Holland and France, so exceedingly disagreeable, owing to the heavy sands of West- phalia, ,it would be much more frequented than it is at present. They have their public rooms every night, and their assemblies, and their pharo- banks, as in other watering places, but every thing here is on a small scale, to what it is at Aix-la- Chapellc and at Spa ; neither is the country round about it so diversified and picturesque. The country is more open and more level ; nor are the mountains so finely w^ooded. On the contrary, the rooms where the company meet, lie, as it were, in a hole, near the spring head ; and not only carry with them the appearance of great antiquity, but they are also very gloomy, and seem situated, as it were, in a swamp, surrounded with wood. For those, however, to whom the drinking of the waters is any inducement for repairing hither, there are but few watering places where they will meet with such excellent accom- modations, more resources of amusement, or a greater variety of respectable company. The Princess having, at Pyrmont, taken an affectionate leave of her brother, the Duke, pro- ceeded to Paderborn, a town about eight miles distant. The city of Paderborn, which is one of the Hans-Towns, is a large, well-built, fortified, and PADERBORN. 3| populous city. This city was imperial till 1604!, whenTheodorCj its bishop, became both its spiritual and temporal sovereign. Some of its churches are magnificent. Its cathedral is a grand fabric, inferior to few in the empire. Otho II. gave a golden crucifix to it, of sixty pounds weight, to the value of sixty thousand guilders, or about eight thousand pounds sterling. The bishop's palace is a decent structure ; but the bishops, when they vouchsafe to visit this small benefice, which is not very often, reside seven miles off, at Nienhus, a castle built in 1590. A university was founded here in 1592, by the bishop of Furstenburg ; and though this city stands not far from the Lippe, which joins with the Ulme, near Nienhus ; yet it has its name from the Pader, a rivulet which has its rise just under the high altar of its cathedral, and Born, i. e. a spring. In the Transactions of the Royal Society of London, for December 1665, there is an account of a spring in this territory, which loses itself twice in twenty-four hours ; but returns with a great noise, and such force, as to turn three mills not far from its source ; for which reason it is called Bolder Born, i.e. Boisterous Spring. There is another remarkable fountain, called Methorn, two miles from Paderborn, which is a treble spring ; two parts of which, not a foot and a half from each other, have very different qualities : the one limpid, bluisli, lukev/arm, and containing sal ammoniac,, ochre, iron, vitriol, alum^ sulphur, 32 GOTTINGEN. nitre, and orplment ; the other cold as ice, turbid, and whitish, with much the same contents, but stronger in taste, and heavier, than the before - mentioned. It is said to be a perfect cure for worms. All fowls that drink it are immediately thrown' into convulsions, but soon recovered by an infusion of common salt and vinegar. The third spring, which is about twenty paces from the other two, is of a greenish colour, but very clear, tastes both sour and sweet, and is supposed to be a mixture of the other two. In Paderborn the Princess and suite took up their residence for the night, and next morning the party departed for Gottingen, where they arrived to breakfast. Gottingen is situated in a spacious, fertile, and pleasant vale, along the water called the New Leine, which is a canal drawn from the river of that name, the town being about one hundred rods from it. This capital separates the old from the new town ; and, about the distance of a mile, joins the Leine again. The ramparts around the town, which are about six hundred and ninety rods in circum- ference, command a delightful prospect of gardens of all kinds, with meadows, fields and eminences ; and would form a most delightful walk, were the useless breast-works on it removed, and the wall levelled and planted with lime-trees. The town itself consists of upwards of one thousand houses, and about eight thousand people ; and, since the erection of the university, has been so embellished GOTTINGEN. 33 with new buildings, and the old so repaired, that it is, at present, one of the best built towns in all Lower Saxony ; and for the fine free-stone pave- ments on both sides of its streets, may be said to have few equals. In winter the town is illumi- nated with lamps. It has five parochial churches, and one for the Calvinists. The Roman Catholics here celebrate worship in a private house. The principal ornament and advantage of Got- tingen is the university, founded in 1734, by George II. of England ; which, by the care of its curator, has acquired a very distinguished reputa- tion and pre-eminence over the other universities of Germany, and indeed throughout the whole republic of letters. It has been full of Russian, Danish, Swedish, and English students. The library is one of the most capital, not only in Germany, but even in all Europe. A society of sciences, founded in 1751, and a royal German society, form part of the university. It has also a fine observatory, and an exquisite physic garden ; with an anatomical theatre, of ingenious construc- tion; a school for teaching midwifery, and an academy of exercises. ( 34 ) CHAPTER III. Arrive at Cussel — Description — Temple and Cas- cade of Wasenstein — Manners of the German Courts — Carnival — Theatre — Arrival at Mar- vnrg — Description — Account of the Teutonic Knights — Proceed to FranJfort — Reception- — Description of the Citij — Curious Custom (f the Inhabitants, and attaclimoit to Psalm-singing — Mode of conducting Funerals — Condition and Treatment of the Jews — State of Societij — Amusements — Government of the City, 8 Courland, Semigallia, and Livonia ; but. afterwards lost them all. The superior of this spiritual order is styled the Grand and Teutonic Master, adminis- trator of the Grand Masterdom in Prussia, Master of the Teutonic order in Germany and Italy, and Lord of Freudendal and Eulenberg. He is a prince of the empire, and, as such, has a seat and. G ♦'.• 42 MARPURG. vote in the diets. Both Ptoman Catholics and Pro- testants may be invested with the order; and the Protestant knights are permitted to marry. The estates, which they are possessed of in Ger- many, were partly obtained by purchase, and partly by donation, and consist of what is properly called the Masterdom of Mergentheim, and twelve bailiwicks. The Grand IMaster is chosen by the chapter, consisting of the counsellors and com- manders, tlie latter of whom are administrators and judges of the bailiwicks and commanderies ; but in weighty matters, an appeal lies from them to the Grand Master. The counsellors and com- manders are chosen by the chapter, the latter out of the former, and confirmed by the Grand Master. The arms and ensigns of this order are, an erect cross sahle in a field argent ; which arms. Pope Celestine III. granted to it. In the field is a cross, or, which was conferred by King Henry of Jerusalem ; and in the centre is to be seen the imperial eagle, bestowed by the Emperor Frede- rick II. At each of the four corners is a lily, or, which was added to these arms by Saint Louis of France. Having taken a cursory view of Marpm'g, Her Koyal Highness and suite repaired to their car- riages, which Vv^ere in waiting, and immediately proceeded on their route. It being the Princess's wash to reach Frankfort that night, the whole cavalcade used the greatest speed, and arrived there about ten o'clock. The distance of Marpurg FRANKFORT ON THE MAINE. 43 from Frankfort being about twelve German,- or forty-five English miles, and the roads none of the best, (though agreeably diversified by beautiful scenery,) the Princess felt greatly fatigued, and im- mediately retired to rest : the ladies and gentle- men of her suite speedily followed her example. On the following day, the PrcEtor, and other authorities of Frankfort, applied at the Princess's hotel, to pay their respects to Her Royal Highness. The Princess received them with that gracious affability which never fails to secure the affections and services of all who know her. The magis- trates respectfully offered her their attendance to the public places of Frankfort ; which Her Royal Highness courteously accepted. Several of the nobility also earnestly invited the Princess to their parties ; but this Her Royal Highness, in a great measure, declined ; as her stay in Frankfort was only to be for three days. The populace, too, evinced considerable curiosity to view the future Queen of England ; and eagerly pressed round her carriage, as she proceeded to view the remarkable buildings, &c. in this fine city. The few obser- vations, which our short stay in Frankfort enabled us to make, shall be given as concisely as possible. The imperial and free city of Frankfort on THE Maine was anciently called Francofordia, that is. The Ford of the Franks ; for the Franks used to cross the river here, in order to make their incursions upon the Saxons; on which account the latter, at length, built this city to 44 FRANKFORT ON THE MAINE. restrain their ravages. It is now called FrmiT^- fort on the Maine, not only on account of its being situated on that river, but to distinguis,h it from Fraiihfort on the Oder. It is eighteen miles east of Mentz, and twenty from the Rhine. It is spacious, populous, and opulent ; one of the Hans- Towns, and the seat of the imperial diet. The river intersects and divides it into two parts, Frankfort and Saxenhausen, which have a commu- nication by means of an elegant stone bridge ; but the whole is under the jurisdiction of the same magistrates. The river is about half as broad as the Thames at London. The town is surrounded by walls, encompassed with deep ditches of run- ning water, and fortified with eleven bastions, suitable counterscarps, outworks, &c. The Maine, Rhine, &c. render its situation admirable for trade, particularly for bringing great quantities of corn and M'inc from Franconia and the Palatinate. It has two annual fairs, which are frequented by merchants with various commodities, particularly "books, from most parts of Europe, of which they distribute printed catalogues ; so that there is a greater choice here than in any town in Christen- dom, during the mart, which lasts three weeks; but at other times the booksellers have scarcely any business. There are three marts every year ; and the names of the foreign merchants are written over the arch before the doors of their shops, which, -when the marts are ended, are shut up. All strangers visit the town-house, to see the FRANKFORT ON THE MAINE. 45 chamber where the emperor is elected. And it would be reckoned a want of taste not to see the famous golden hull which is kept here, an exhibition of which costs a ducat; a sufficient price surely for a glance at an old piece of parch- ment, which few can read. A countryman of ours complained of the impo- sition ; and hearing a German talk of the high price which every thing bore in England, retorted on him in these words : II n'y a rien en Angleterre^ si cher que votre taureau cCor a Frankfort. A singular custom is observed here : Two women appear every day at noon on the battle- ments of the principal steeple, and play some very solemn airs with trumpets. This music is accom- panied with vocal psalmody, performed by four or five men, who always attend the female trumpeters for that purpose. The people here, indeed, have a great taste for psalm-singing. There are a considerable number of men and boys who follow this, as their only profession. They are engaged by some families to officiate two or three times a-week in the morn- ing, before the master and mistress of the family get out of bed. "When a person in tolerable circumstances dies, a band of these sweet singers assemble in the street before the house, and chant an hour every day till the corpse, is in- terred. They likewise follow the funerals^ which are conducted with great solemnity. The magistrates and city officers profess Luther- 46 FRANKFORT ON THE MAINE. anism, which is the established religion ; but most of the churches, and those the chief, are in the hands of the Catholics. German Calvinists are numerous here, and are the richest of the inhabi- tants. There is a common saying at Frankfort, that " the Roman Catholics have the churches, the Lutherans the magistrates, and the Calvinists the money." Funerals are conducted with an uncom- mon degree of solemnity in this town; a man, dressed in a black cloak, and carrying a crucifix at the end of a long pole, leads the procession. A great number of hired mourners, in the same dress, each with a lemon in his hand, march after him. Then come the singers, followed bv the corpse in a hearse ; and, lastly, the relations, in mourning coaches. The crucifix is carried in this manner at all funerals, Protestant or Roman Ca- tholic. The Jews have a public, and a very considerable synagogue ; their number is about six thousand : they are confined to a certain narrow street, built at one end, with a gate at the other, and are regularly shut up at a certain hour of the night. There are some who are very opulent, and vie with the Christians in every article of ex- pence. Their industry is not to be conceived ; they are language-masters, fencing-masters, dancing- masters, writing and arithmetic-masters. Those who go into their street are much annoyed by them ; they fall upon strangers, and compel them to buy their wares. It is difRcuit for a man to FRANKFORT ON THE MAINE, 47- disentangle himself from them ; and they call to strangers from the distance of three or four hundred paces. The houses of their well-encom- passed street are filled with inhabitants ; but, on the other hand, there is often only one family in the houses belonging to the rich. This is the sign of affluence ; for house-rent is dearer in this street than in any part of London, Paris, or any other ^reat city. There is a law which forbids the Je^vs to live any where out of their own quarter; but the magistrate connives at breaking it; and only renevv^s it, from time to time, to extort money from those who chuse to live elsewhere. The Jews are obliged to fetch water, when a fire happens in any part of the city; and the magistrates, in return, permit tliem to chuse judges from their own sect, for deciding disputes among themselves. Cabinets of Curiosities are found here, as in almost every considerable town in Germany; a great number of private collections are also made. Strangers cannot pay their court better, to such collectors, than by requesting permission to see their museum ; but the misfortune of attendin*^ them is, that the proprietor waits on you himself, and gives you the history of every piece of ore, petrifaction, and rarity, he has ; and, as this lecture is given gratis, he assumes the right of making it as long as he pleases, till it becomes tedious. The sti-eets of Frankfort are spacious, and well paved, the houses stately, clean, and convenient; the outsides of them are splendid, and the style of 48 FRANKFORT ON THE MAINE. the architecture shews that the inhabitants know how to kiy out their money with taste. There are many opulent inhabitants in this place ; the furni- ture of their houses, their gardens, their equipage, dress, and female ornaments, bespeak a state abov'e the ordinary citizen, and approaching to the ex- treme of magnificence. Excepting Hamburgh, this is the only imperial city which keeps up all its pristine splendour. The inns, for cleanliness, conveniency, and number of apartments, are superior to any we saw on the continent, and vie with our most magnificent inns in England. What are called colleges, consist of associations of people of some rank, who assemble on a certain day. There are colleges of nobility, of artists of all kinds, of booksellers, of doctors of law and physic ; and, in short, of all orders. It is not difficult for a stranger to be introduced to these ; and the advantage he derives by it, of being acquainted, in an hour, with the most respectable people of his own nink, is incredible. Society is divided into noblesse and burgeois ; the first con- sists of some noble families from various parts of Germany, who choose this place for their residence, and a few original citizens of Frankfort, who have attained the rank of nobility : some of these nobility take pains to point out the essential difference there is, and the distinction that ought to be made, between them and the burghers ; who always, in their opinion, retain a vulgarity of sen- fRANKFORT ON THE MAINE. 4^ timent and manners^, iinkno^\Ti to those whose blood has poured through several generations, unmixed -svith that puddle which stagnates in the veins of plebeians. But the plebeians, in return, smile at such noblesse, and take pains, by a magnificent show, to convince the world they are the greatest men of the two. We daily see the same distinctions and rivalship at home, viz. between the English nobility, and the worthy London citizens. Riding along the banks of the Maine, in the territories of the Elector of Mentz, we observed a building, which seemed to be the residence of some prince, or sovereign bishop, at least ; and were surprised we had never heard it spoken of^ it having a more magnificent appearance than any modern building we had seen since our arrival in Germany. We rode up, and, on entering it, found that the apartments within, though not laid out in the best taste, seemed to correspond, in point of expence, with the external appearance. On en- quiry, we were informed that this palace belonged to a tobacconist in Frankfort ; where he still kept shop, and had accumulated a prodigious fortune by making and selling snuff. There is a public assembly at Frankfort once a-week, for the nobility ; at which they drink tea, converse, and play at cards, from six till ten. On the other nights, the same company meet alter- nately at each others houses, and pass the evening in the same manner. None of the hurgeois families H 50 FRANKFORT ON THE MAINE. are invited to these parties ; but they have assem- blies of the same kind among themselves ; and often entertain their friends and strangers in a very hospitable manner. The nobility, Vvdio reside at Frankfort, and the nobility of all degrees- and every nation, who accidentally pass through it, cheerfully accept of these invitations to dine with the citizens ; but none of the German ladies of quality condescend so fi\r. Distinction of ranks is observed in Germany, with all the scrupulous precision that a matter of greater importance de- serves. We attended a public concert in Frankfort, supported by subscription. One would imagine that the subscribers should take their seats as they entered the room, and that those who came earliest would have their choice, as in England — not so. The first t^vo rows are kept for the ladies of quality ; officers, and daughters of the citizens, must be contented to sit behind. The theatre being opened by a troop of German comedians, we were present ; and, previous to the play, there was a kind of allegorical compli- ment to Her Royal Highness. This was per- formed by Justice, Wisdom, and Plenty, each of whom appeared with the usual attributes. The piece was a German trcmslafion of the English plai/ of George Bannvell, with considerable altera- tions. Barnwell is represented as an imprudent j^oung man, but does not murder his uncde, as in the English play, or commit any gross crime. The FRANKFORT ON THE MAINE. ^l translator, therefore, instead of hanghig, marries him, at the end of the piece. Braunfield, which was formerly the emperor's palace, is now the mansion-house of the Teutonic knights, where debtors have a sanctuary for four- teen days, after which they maybe taken up. There is a port or harbour, and the citadel or fortress of Saxenhauscn. There are also several noble fountains in the city, and particularly three, in the great market-place ; and divers mineral springs and baths belonging to the city. The city is governed by a praetor, twelve bur- gomasters, fourteen cschevins or aldermen, (one of wdiich is always a burgomaster,) and forty-two common council. The senate, which chooses two burgomasters annually out of their own number, is divided into three benches ; the first is that of the cschevins ; the second is the literati, or learned, out of which the first bench is supplied in case of a vacancy ; and the third is that of tradesmen, who never rise higher. The grand bailiff, who is always president of the council, is chosen from the eschevins ; his office is for life, as well as that of the cschevins. Besides these, there are syndics, whose power is much limited. The magistrates are chosen from among the nobihty, but named by all the corporations of tradesmen. The govern- ment here is milder than in most of the imperial towns; and their liberties, which they boast of holding originally from Charlemagne, seem better estabhshed. 52 DARMSTADT. Saxenhaiisen formerly belonged to the Elector of Mentz, but was bartered for the town of Hochst, which depended on Frankfort ; and since this change, one of the city council must reside at Saxenhausen. Having viewed all the remarkable places in Frankfort worthy of notice, we left it on the fourth day for Darmstadt, the residence of the Prince of Hesse Darmstadt. Here the Princess's reception was extremely gratifying: the car- riages having driven to the Prince's palace, the Prince ordered every attention and respect to be paid to Her Pvoyal Highness, and most urgently invited her to rest at Darmstadt for a week ; but, for reasons before mentioned, the Princess declined his courteous offer. On our arrival, the whole of the palace wore the appearance of a festival ; for every thing was in the most splendid style, and the utmost gaiety per- vaded the countenance of every one, from the court-lady to the humble domestic. Having par- taken of a most elegant dejeune, at which the most distinguished members of the court were present, the carriages were ordered ; and whilst Her Royal Highness, attended by the Prince of Hesse, proceeded to view the town and the plea- jsure grounds, every thing was got in readiness for a grand hunting party in honour of the Princess of Wales. Accordingly, about twelve o'clock, the Prince having given orders for all his attendants to DARMSTADT. 53 mount, handed the Princess and her ladies into their carriage. He, himself, momited on a fine hunter, rode by her side till we reached the field ; when, an immense number of peasants being col- lected, the hunt began. BuiRGER has so happily, and so poetically, de- scribed the pleasures and dangers of the chace, in his beautiful poem of the Wild Hunter, that any further description is rendered absolutely unneces- sary. The following translated extracts from this celebrated composition, are calculated to rouse the most inanimate. " His bugle-horn the Margrave sounds. Halloo-loo-loo ! to horse, to horse ! The brisk steed neighs, and forward bounds 3 The pack uncoupled join his course; With bark and yelp, they brush and rush Thro' corn and thorn, thro' wood and bush. Yolohee ! dash athwart the train. With trampling haste the Margrave rides; When lo ! the horsemen speed amain. To join the chace from different sides. — ''Be welcome, sirs, we're starting now. You hit the nick of time and place; Not earth nor heaven can bestow A princelier pleasure than the chace." — Giving his steed a hearty slap. He wav'd aloof his hunter's cap. With sixteen antlers on his head, A milk-wliite stag before them strode : — Soho ! hurrah ! at once they sped O'er hill and wood, o'er field and flood. Aleft, aright, beside the knight Rode all the huntsmen, black and white. 54 DARMSTADT. > Louder their bugle-horns they wind. The horses swifter spurn the ground ; And now before, and now behind, Crush' d, gasping, howls some trampled hound The quarry seeks the ripening corn. And hopes to find a shelter there. See, the poor husbandman forlorn With clasped hands is drawing near : " Hare pity, noble Sir, forbear ! My little, only, harvest spare." Now swiftly over ditch and bank The Margrave gallops at a bound ; And with him pours in rear and flank. The train of man, and horse, and hound. Horse, hound, and man, the corn-field scour. Its dust and chaff the winds devour. Affrighted at the groVing din. The timid stag resumes his flight. Rung up and down, and out and in, Until a meadow strikes his sight ; There, couch'd among the fleecy breed. He slily hopes to hide his head. But up and down, and out and in. The hounds his tainted track pursue 3 Again he hears the growing din, Again the hunters cross liis view. Now sounds the bugle, — loo-loo-loo ! The dogs come yelping at the sound 5 With fury fierce, the eager crew Pounce on the herd that stand around. Rous'd by the murderous whoop so near. The stag once more his covert breaks; Panting, in foam, with gushing tear. The darkness of the wood he seeks. And, where a lonely hermit dwells. Takes refuge in the hallow'd cells. DARMSTADT. r 55 « With crack of whip, and blore of horn, Yolohee ! on ! hurrah ! soho ! Rash, rush the throng- thro' bush and thorn. And thither still pursue the foe. At once has vanish'd all the rout, Margrare and huntsmen, stag and hound; Nor whip, nor horn, nor bark, nor shout. Amid the dark abyss resound. — Dim chilly mists their sight appal j A deadly stillness swallows all ! " "When the hunt, in which three fine deer were killed, was ended, the Prince of Hesse rode up ta the Princess of Wales's carriage to pay his re- spects, and the Princess was pleased to compli- ment him on his agility and success. The whole party now rode towards the palace, where a most elegant and expensive entertainment awaited them. In the evening there was a splendid ball, to which many of the neighbouring nobility were invited. The Princess of Wales, after thanking the Prince of Hesse for his marked hospitality, retired early, but several of the suite remained dancing till a late hour. The following observations on the situation of Darmstadt were hastily put together during our short stay. Darmstadt is seated on a river of the same name, in a fruitful and pleasant country. Its fer- tility may be inferred from the largeness of the as- paragus. The gardeners lay small sticks over the beds when they begin to shoot, to shelter them from the weather and cold winds. Darmstadt contains a new palace, one church, the burial 56 ^* DARMSTADT. » place of the family, a regency, a court of appeals, a consistory, a criminal court, a grammar-school, and an orphan-house. There is no regular fortifi- cation round the town, but a very high stone wall, not so much to defend it from an enemy, as to prevent desertion. Sentinels are placed at small distances all round the wall, and are obliged to be extremely alert. One soldier gives the words. All is well, in German, to his neighbour on the right, who immediately calls the same to the sen- tinel beyond him ; and so it goes roun.d till the first soldier receives it from the left, wh.ich he transmits to the right, as formerly : thus the call circulates, without intermission, through the whole night. Every other part of garrison duty is performed with equal exactness, and neglects are as severely punished, as if an enemy was at the gates. The men are seldom in bed more than two nights out of three. This, with the atten- tion requisite to keep their clothes and accoutre- ments clean, is very hard duty, especially when the frost is uncommonly keen, as it often is, and the ground covered with snow. The Prince has a small body of cavalry, dressed in buff coats, and magnificently accoutred ; these are his horse guards; and they are all not less in height than six feet three inches ; several of them consider- ably above it. In this town the Germans first gave over tilts ; because, in 1403, the Franconians and Hessians having challenged one another to this exercise, several of the Franconian nobility. MENTZ. 57 and nine of the Hessians^ were killed on the spot. . Darmstadt is a small, but pleasant place, with charming society. It lies in the midst of several large cities, not far distant from each other. The air is good, and the inhabitants have it in their power to unite the city and country life. Add to this the popularity of the court, the English garden open to every one, the magnificent parade, the number of agreeable women, and the hunting parties, which are made at a moderate expence, — all these render it a most desirable habitation. The place abounds with fruit, and yields annually great quantities of rich wines. There is no part of Germany more proper for hunting; or of Europe, where there are more deer. These are very troublesome to the peasants, who are abroad day and night to watch their fields, and guard them from their encroach- ments. On the following morning, Her Royal Flighness and suite were all up betimes. The Prince also, and his household, had risen early, to give every facility for the Princess's safe conduct to Mentz, where it Avas proposed to breakfiist. The Prince of Hesse, and four of his principal officers, accom- panied us to this toAATi, and remained in it until the Princess was ready, next morning, to proceed towards the south. The following is an impartial description of the city of Mentz. Mentz, which stands on the Rhine, near where the Maine falls into it, is the capital of the arch- I 58 MENTZ. bishopric and electorate. It is a large and popva- loiis city ; but most of the streets are narro^v^ and the common buildings very plain and irregular. The elector has several palaces in and about the city, most of which are ornamented with extensive gardens. It was made an archbishoprick in 729, by Pepin and Pope Gregory III. The cathedral is a lofty vaulted building' ; and in it are som.e fine monuments, erected to the memory of deceased Electors. The Elector s chief palace is built of reddish marble, embellished with orna- ments, and is regular and magnificent, though but two stories high, and built after the old German manner. Besides the cathedral, there are many collegiate and other churches, with several monas- teries, nunneries, and hospitals. Here are like- wise an university, founded in the year 1482, by the elector Diether ; a bridge of boats over the Rhine; manufiictories of stockings and stuffs ; and t^vo yearly fairs. But the most considerable build- ing in this city is the charter-house, which, for ele- gance and extent, is one of the finest in Europe. It has apartments large and commodious enough to lodge a sovereign and his retinue, and is beauti- fully situated on an eminence fronting the Rhine. At the foot of this house stands the Favorita, a small, but elegant, electoral palace, with most delightful gardens. Mentz has a flourishing trade, especially in Rhenish ^nnes, of which the vineyards in this neighbourhood yield the best ; particularly those of ALTKONIGER. 59 Hockliam, from whence the finest sort of Rher^ish wine has obtamed the name of Old Hock. The city of Mentz claims the invention of the art of printing, which, if not invented, was at least much improved, by John Faust, or, as others say, by John Guttenburg, about the year 1450. In the territory of Mentz, behind Cronberg, is a mountain called Altkoniger, or the Old King, which raises its head above the ridge of hills that protects the fine plain along the side of the Maine, between Frankfort and Mentz, from the rude north winds. We ascended this mountain for the sake of viewing the rising sun : to the south, it over- looks a plain thirty- three miles broad, terminated by the mountains Spessart and Odenwalde : the forest of Spessart, adjoining, has a road through it sixteen miles long, but very safe to travel ; being guarded by hussars. In this plain are seen all the villages, hamlets, and to^vns, between Frankfort and the Maine; the eastern view is closed by the Spessart, fifty-one miles distant. All the country along the Maine and Neckar lies like a map under the feet. In order to enjoy the sight of the rising sun from this mountain, we wrapt ourselves in furs, though in August, and made a fire of wood in the night, but the break of day fully overpaid the toils of the night. Never did we feel our existence, or that of the Being that animates all nature, more fully, than at the instant in which the first ray of the sun gilded the tops of the Spessart and Odenwalde ; both of which, at a 50 ALTKONIGER. distance, appeared to be islands of fire. As far as this hill, all wsls thick darkness, but this eastern Tiew appeared like an illuminated island swimming in the black ocean of night. The morning spread- ing wider and wider, shewed us the most beautiful landscape, in miniature, that we had ever seen ; we beheld villages afar off in the shade, the dark- ness of which, one ray of the morning sun broke through and dispelled. By degrees we saw the separation of the hills, with their several tracks and windings ; every thing appeared as a fine and well illuminated landscape through a perspec- tive glass. A sensation never before experienced took possession of us : — in beholding the scene, we felt as if expanded, as if a weight were taken off our hearts, and as if we breathed a purer air. But the first break of the sun surpassed all the beauties of the dawn ; the grandeur, variety, and magnifi- cence of this appearance, is above description. The plain, seventy-five miles long, and forty-two broad, which lies between the Spessart, the Don- nersberg, the eastern part of the Odenwalde, and our hills, were overspread with large streaks of light, contrasted in the strongest manner, with the thickness of the shade. The top of the Don- nersberg was gilded over, whilst deep darkness brooded at his feet, and over all the Rhine be- neath. We were ourselves in light, but the plains and villages below were in a kind of half dark- ness, broken only by the reflection of the light from the hills on which we stood ; the elevated ALTKONIGER. g| parts of the immense plains which lay before uSj broke through that darkness, with a cheerful- ness which brought them much nearer to our view, and produced the most agreeable deception. Now a spire emerged from the gloom, next the sum- mit of a hill covered with wood, and then a whole village, with its trees, seemed to swim upon the earth; here lay a corn field in sight, and, as it were, raised up from the country around it. The river Maine, which hitherto appeared like a dark stripe of the prospect, began also to be illumined with silver ; and the Rhine, in a similar manner, was soon brought nearer to our eyes ; this was followed with such a blaze, such a flood of light — but I feel, I am attempting to describe a scene that is indescribable, and to which I am inade- quate. In short, I ha^'e often seen the sun rise, but never so magnificently as on tlie Altkoniger. A man may travel through many countries, and not meet with so favourable a spot as this for such an object. Having breakfasted early, the Princess of Wales made many acknowledg-ments to his Highness for his attention, and gave orders for departure. The Prince of Hesse and suite pro- ceeded homewards, whilst we pursued our course towards the south, and soon entered the bishoprick of Worms. This district, which is not large, is, generally speaking, barren, mountainous, and woody ; though there are some patches, here and there, which produce a tolerable quantity of corn « 62 ' WORMS. and grapes. The Bishop's revenue is small, not exceeding 2,500/. About nine o'clock, however, on crossing the Hhine, we beheld one of the finest countries in the world. The spacious and beautiful plain, in which Worms is situated, abounds with corn, vines, and various kinds of fruit trees. We learned tliat a particular sort of wine, called Our Ladys Blilk, is peculiar to this spot. Our forenoon's repast at Worms was composed of the greatest delicacies, which are here produced in profusion ; after which, the magistrates Avaited on Her Royal Highness, to make a tender of their services, in exhibiting their ancient city. The Princess, having acknowledged her grateful sense of their civility, gave orders for her suite to accom- pany her. We spent about two hours in viewing the curiosities and jnibHc places of Worms ; the fol- lowing short description of which was drawn up, as the Princess's party proceeded on their journey. Worms is situated on the west side of the Rhine, at the distance of twenty-six miles south of Frank- fort on the Maine. While the imperial chamber was kept here, it was one of the most considerable cities in the whole empire. It is celebrated for the gi-eat diet in the year 1521, to which Luther came according to summons, though his friends would fain have dissuaded him, by reminding him of John Huss, (who was burnt by a decree of the Council of Constance, notwithstanding the pass- port granted him by the Emperor Sigismund ;) but WORMS. gg Luther, far from being terrified, came hither, and made such a defence of his doctrine, that he was proscribed, and obliged to abscond ; during which time he wrote the book, called his Works from the Desart. The Lutherans have only one church for their use, and the Catholics have all the rest of the churches. The Calvinists have one at Newhausel, half a league out of the city, where the Lutherans sometimes scruple not to have their children baptized, contrary to the custom of Frankfort. The town has no other fortification than a double wall ; and is as large as Frankfort, but thinly peopled, and poor. It was often taken and retaken, during the civil wars in Germany ; but suffered most by the French, who, in 16B9, laid in ashes, in a few hours, what had been the work of ages. The Roman Catholics, who are very numerous here, have the cathedral ; but the magistrates, and most of the inhabitants, are Lutherans. There is as much vacant ground in the town, as, being' planted with vines, yields an immense quantity of wine, which is so much esteemed, that the magistrates make presents of it, with fish, to tra- vellers of quality. The present of the fish is to denote their right of fishery on the Rhine. The churches of St. Paul, and St. John, are very ancient. The latter is built of vast square stones, in an irregular manner, with narrov/ windows, and galleries round the outside, just under the roof; the walls are twelve feet thick; so that it seems to ^4 WORMS. have been designed for a fort rather than a cimrc/i. The cathedral is a long, high, and strong structure; with a tower at each of the four corners. The ornaments are gothic ; and over one of the gates is an hieroglyphic, being a figure of the size of an ass, with four heads, viz. those of a man, an ox, an eagle, and a lion. The two first are looking upwards, and the other two downwards. It is supposed to be a representation of the four beasts in Ezekiel's vision ; or, as some think, of the hiero- glyphics of the four Evangelists. There are two public halls here, in one of which the magistrates assemble twice a-week for matters of state, and in the other for the adminis- tration of justice. There is also a mint, which is a noble structure, with a spacious portico, where a vast number of bones and horns hang between the arches; the former of these, they say, are those of giants, who lived among the ancient Vangiones ; and ,the latter, the horns of the oxen that drew the stones which built the cathedral. The outside of the house is adorned with many pictures, particularly some of those giants in armour. Since this city was laid in ashes, by the French, in 1693, it has little more than the shadow of its for- mer beauty. The richest traders, considering how much both they and their ancestors had suffered by lying so open to France, retired to Holland and Frankfort: so that its chief supports are the Bishop and Chapter. But the Bishop, being always a MANHEIM. gg pluralist, and often an ecclesiastical Elector^ very seldom resides here. Having bade the worthy magistrates adieu, we left their city, and proceeded along the left bank of the Rhine, w^hich we re-crossed at Manheim. Our ride was extremely pleasant, and the whole party seemed to enjoy the beautiful and extended view of the well-cultivated plain which lay before us. The sensation felt on emerging from a mountain- ous region, and entering into a fruitful cham- paigne country, is indescribable. We reached Manheim about four o'clock. It is a strong fortress on the right bank of the Rhine, and situated on a low plain, similar to that on the left. Manheim is considered to be one of the most beautiful cities in Germany ; the streets being quite straight, and intersecting each other at right angles. Stopping no longer at Manheim, than whilst changing horses, we proceeded, with considerable rapidity, towards Heidelberg, about twelve miles south-east. The whole of the Palatinate, of which the last-mentioned city is the capital, is highly cultivated, and abundantly fruitful. Besides this, the scenery, from a mixture of hill and dale, is exceedingly picturesque ; the eminences being clothed with vines, almond, walnut, and chesnut- trees. This district also yields a variety of other fruits, and plenty of every sort of grain. We arrived at Heidelberg about seven o'clock, where dinner had been previously ordered, and which was served up in very splendid style. The K 66 HEIDELBERG. fruits, which were of the choicest sort, were in the greatest profusion ; and the wines, which were of the most delicious flavour, no less deserved our praise : in short, our hotel was marked for civility, neatness, and plenty. On the follow^ing day we proceeded to view the city and its neighbourhood. Heidelberg is situated near the river Neckar, in a good air, encompassed on all sides, except to the west, with hills covered with vines. It takes its name from Heldel, which signifies a myrtle, and Berg, a jnountain; there being plenty of those trees on the mountains in the neighbourhood. It is an ancient city, and has been frequently besieged and taken, plundered and destroyed. Though it is at present small, it is neat and well built. The electoral palace is an antique building, but, stand- ing on a hill, commands a fine prospect. As to the famous library here, many valuable books and manuscripts were taken from it in 1662, (when General Tilly made himself m.aster of the town) and sent to Rome, Vienna, and Munieh. The professors of the university here are partly Cal- vinists, and partly Roman Catholics. The Calvinists are possessed of St. Peter's Church, the Lutherans of the church of Providence ; but the next church is divided into two apartments, in one of which the Protestants, and in the other the Roman Ca- tholics, perform public M-orship, — a singular proof of their moderation. Besides these there is a fine college, and six cloisters, all with churches, and an university, with Calvinist and Roman Catholic professors. The bridge on the Neckar is covered. SPIRE. 57 From Heidelberg runs an avenue to Schwetzingen, a hunting palace of the Elector^ lyi^g" ^t one hour's distance from the city. Opposite to Heidelberg is a high mountain, on which the Romans had a Castle. It is now called the Holy Mountain, from a cloister, erected in 1023, to which frequent pilgrimages are made. The famous Tan of Heidelberg, which stood in a cellar under one of the towers of the electoral palace, and contained GOO hogsheads of wine, was destroyed by the French in 1688, but the Elector, Charles-Lewis, caused a new one to be made of much larger dimensions. We nov/ set forward, crossed the Rhine again to the city of Spire, which we reached about three in the afternoon. This city is situated on the same delightful plain as V/orms. Spire was erected before the time of our Saviour, and the see was founded in the fourth century. The magistrates and many of the inhabitants are Lutherans ; but the Roman Catholics have many churches and convents in Spire. The French, who burnt this city in the year 1689, murdered indis- criminately men, women, and children ; destroyed several marble monuments of Emperors and Em- presses ; even ransacked the graves, and scattered about the bones of the dead. Previous to this devastation. Spire was the scat of the imperial chamber. The city was rebuilt with additional beauty, but the chamber was removed. At the diet held here in 1529, the word Protestant took its rise, from a number of the followers of Luther 68 PHILIPSBURG. protesting against several of the Romish doctrines. It is singular that the Bishop is not permitted to reside in Spire ; and even when he is chosen, he must redress all complaints, before he is suffered to enter the city. Leaving Spire about five, we re-crossed the Khine a second time, and proceeded to Philips- burg, a town eight miles southwards ; where we were to rest for the night. We entered it about half past six. Philipsburg, before 1443, was but a small town ; but, having been encompassed by a wall, it was erected into a city. Being conveniently situated for the command of the adjacent country, Philips- burg was fortified by Philip, Bishop of Spire, in 1629, and called by his name. The Elector Palatine, Frederick the Fifth, suspi- cious of the Bishop's designs in fortifying this place during peace, ordered him to desist : but he re- fused, alleging that he had the Emperor's proclama- tion for his warrant. Accordingly the Elector raised troops and demolished the fortifications. For this, the Emperor summoned him and his confederates before the chambers of Spire, designing to proceed against them with the utmost severity. These transactions, with other causes, produced the civil wars which distracted all Germany. Philij)sburg has stood several stout sieges ; but the fortifications still remain, having been repaired from time to time. Several good views are seen from the walls. ( 69) CHAPTER IV. The Princess and Suite enter the Circle of Suahia. Arrival at Stuttgard. — Reception by the Royal Family. — Description of the Palace, Museum, and Arsenal. — Visit the Palace of Ludwigshurg. Return to Stuttgard. — Description of that City. Baden famous for Baths. — Depart for Tubingen in Company with the King of If^urtemburg. Description (f Tubingen. — Arrival at Ubn. — De- scription of the City and of the grand Cathedral. Departure for Schaffhausen. — Description of the City, and the celebrated Cataract, termed the Fall of the Rhine, at Lauffen. The Princess having left Philij^sburg, which is the most southern town in the circle of the Upper Rhine, entered Suabia. In her progress through the kingdom of Wurtemburg, towards Stuttgard, the capital, she was much gratified by viewing the fertility of the country, and the very many proofs of industry in the inhabitants. She was received with much affection on her entrance into Stuttgard, by the present King, who conducted her to the palace, where she was greeted by her sister-in- law, the present Queen Dowager, and formerly the Princess Royal of England. In Stuttgard the Princess remained two days, which were passed in vie^ving every thing curious and remarkable in and near that city. The King's palace is a noble fabric, constructed 70 STUTTGARD. of free-stone. It is well fortified, b^ing flanked at each angle by a tower. It is also adorned with elegant groves and gardens, an orangery almost unequalled, grottos, curious labyrinths, and water- works. All this beauty, however, is disagreeably contrasted with the unsightly appearance of ditches, which wash the palace walls. These, which are relics of feudalism, give the palace an appearance of a prison. In the interior of this palace there is a vast deal of ornament. The rooms are magnificent, particularly those appro- priated to the gentlemen of the court. In tliese rooms tables have been spread for three hundred foreigners ; and it was here, that the French Emperor Napoleon was so sumptuously enter- tained by the Princess Royal of England, at a time when he was carrying on so hot a contest with her father, George the Third, King of Great Britain. The royal party having crossed the moat, which surrounds the palace, by a handsome antique bridge, viewed the king's aviary, which contains a most ex- tensive collection of birds of all nations. The moat in question is not a mere ditch ; it contains not only plenty of every sort of fresh-water fish, but there are also an innumerable quantity of swans and other water-fowl continually skimming along its surface. On the banks are to be seen various herds of fine deer, grazing, and adding to the beauty of the landscape. Having passed the thea- tre, which they were to visit in the evening, the \y STUTTGARD. 71 royal party proceeded to view the chancery office. This structure, which contains, hkewise, a fine museum and extensive arsenal, is situated opposite to the palace, and displays a most magnificent appearance. In the museum is an excellent collection of antique busts, and basso-relievos. The piece which most deserves attention is the statue of Jupiter Dolichenus, brought from Mar- seilles. It is a representation of that deity in armour, standing on the crupper of an ox, just in the same attitude as he is copied from the orginal in the antiquities of Montfaueon. Here are abun- dance of urns, lamps, little lares or household gods, and ancient coins both of silver and gold, with shells, petrifactions, fossils, exotic plants, monstrous productions, the exmase of animals, &c. besides the dresses and weapons used in the most remote countries. The hall is a most spacious room, finely adorned in fresco, with representa- tions of various huntings ; in each of which pieces the duke of Wurtemburg may be distinguished, with the princes and princesses of his family, in whose time they were performed. There is an arsenal, in which appears a series of the dukes of Wurtemburg on barbed horses, richly armed, and accoutred after the fashion of the age they lived in, as large as the life, and the name and eulogium of every one set forth on the opposite wall ; which is graced also with standards and other trophies gained by the dukes in their several actions, parti- cularly the skin of a favourite horse killed under 72 LUDWIGSBURG. the duke who commanded under prince Eugene and the duke of Marlborough at the battle of Hochstet. On the ceiling of this arsenal are some noble representations of battles, wherein some of the ancient dukes of Wurtemburg lost their lives in the service of their country, under the emperors of the Saxon and Suabian race. In the evening the Princess was highly enter- tained by the exhibition of Schiller's Tragedy of Don Carlos, performed by the king's company of players. After this, was performed a grand con- cert, in the first style : the music was selected from Mozart, Rassini, and other eminent com- posers. On the return of the royal party to the palace they were presented with a most elegant supper, consisting of all the delicacies which this country so abundantly affords ; and about 12 o'clock the company removed to the beforementioned hall, which was now magifi- cently fitted up for dancing. The King and Queen vied with each other in their attentions to the Princess, who was highly gratified by every honour done her by her royal relatives. At nearly two in the morning Her Royal Highness was conducted by the King and Queen to her apartments, where, having taken an affectionate leave for the night, she retired to rest. Next day the royal party visited the king's palace at Ludwigsburg, about six miles from Stuttgard. Here similar sumptuous preparations were made in honour of the ariival of Her Royal LUDWIGSBURG. 73 Highness. This palace was formerly but a farm- house for breeding cattle, but is nov/ acknow- ledged to be one of the finest edifices in all Germany. The looking - glass and lacquered closet are very curious ; and so is the gi'eat stair- case for the ambassadors, with its magnificent cieling, and the gallery of pictures ; among these are some admirable night pieces, and a great many pictures of horses and dogs, and likewise the picture of a black v/olf, which was kept for a long time at court. The chapel belonging to the J^alace is very elegant, but rather too small. Here is another curious aviary of foreign fowl. Having dined at Ludwigsburg, the royal party returned to Stuttgard, and passed some time in viewing the city. Stuttgard stands in a fruitful plain, surrounded by very high hills : the town is divided into two parts by the Neckar, over which is a handsome bridge. Although this town is rather dirty, still it is very gay, being in the neigh- bourhood of the Court, and being much fre- quented on account of its hot baths. It has its name from having been anciently occupied by a large stud for breeding horses. There is another town, famous for its baths, about twenty miles west from Stuttgard, named Baden. The number of baths here are three hundred; they are scalding hot, and as they issue from rocks of salt, alum, and brimstone, they taste strongly of those minerals. One of them boils and bubbles, as if it stood over a burning furnace. Among other L 74 TUBINGEN.— ULM, distempers, these baths are famous for curing the cramp and gout. These virtues bring a great resort of company to Baden. Ha^^ng resolved to proceed on her route, Her Royal Highness accepted the offer which the present King made her, of accompanying her to Tubingen; accordingly the carriages were or- dered, and the Princess, having bade her royal sister adieu, set off on her journey. In Tubingen, the Princess, who was always attached to classical recollections, viewed the ancient seat of the Roman emperor Caracalla, who in this city built some noble edifices for the exhibition of public games to entertain the ancient Germans. In this city is held the high court of justice for the kingdom. There is also an university extremely well at- tended. Besides the university, which is in great rep-ute, there is a coUegium illustre for the educa- tion of princes and young noblemen. In the town-house is a very curious clock, which deserves the attention of travellers. In the vicinity is a medicinal bath. The Princess, having here bid her royal relative adieu, proceeded eastward to the city of Ulm, which she reached about six in the evening. Ulm, which stands on the west side of the Danube, is an imperial city, though in Charlemagne's time it was but a little village. It is now a populous city, with regular fortifications, and wide deep ditches, filled by the waters of the Danube and the Blaw ; but it is so situated that it would not be able to ULM. 75 sustain a long siege. It has a bridge over the Danube, the entrance of which is defended by fortifications ; and there is a little suburb of pleasure-houses, and large gardens. There are in the city two squares, in the largest of which is the town-house, a stately building where the senate meets. At one end of the town there is an arsenal. The river Blaw turns mills for several occupations ; there being a great number of hands employed in the manufactories of stuffs, linen, cotton, and fustians ; in dressing leather ; and in the iron and other manufactories, as well as clock- work; by which this is become one of the richest cities in Germany. Large quantities of wine are brought here from the Rhine, the Neckar, and from Constance, to be transported down the Danube. That which enofasj-es the attention of travellers in this city, is the cathedral, not to be equalled by any in Germany, that of Strasburg excepted. The steeple is four hundred and one steps high : nothing can be finer than the prospects from the top of it, the whole country round it being entirely level. In case of fire, especially from lightning, sixty three large copper kettles, always filled with water, are hung up in different parts of the tower, and on the roof of the church, with a machine for drawing up provisions for the watchmen in the tower. In Ulm Her Royal Highness rested for the night, and next morning proceeded to Schaffhau- 76 SCHAFFHAUSEN. sen, on the borders of Switzerland. The face of the country between Uhn and this place, is very fertile and pleasant. ScHAFFHAUSEN, wliich is the capital of the Canton of the same name, is a tolerably well built tovv^n ; its population is supposed to be about thirty thousand. About a league from this city is situated the celebrated fall of the Rhine, generally termed the Cataract of Schaffhausen, though, properly speaking, its name is Lauffen. The country round about is most picturesque and agreeable. The Princess and party having dined at Schaffhausen, proceeded to view this cele- brated cataract. Having advanced to the edge of the precipice, they looked down, and saw the river tumbling over the sides of the rock with amazing impe- tuosity. They then descended, and stood close to tiie fall. A scaiTolding is erected in the very spray of this tremendous cataract, and upon the most sublime point of view. The scene exceeds description. About one hundred feci: from the scaffolding two crags rise in the middle of the fall, the nearest of which is perforated by the constant action of the water, and allows a vent for a part of the tumultuous waves. Crossing the river at a place where it was ex- tremely agitated, they enjoyed another perspective of this grand scene. The most striking objects are the castle of Lauffen, erected on the very edge of the precipice, a church and some cottages, and SCHAFFIIAUSEN. 77 a cluster of tlie latter near the fall. In the back ground are rocks skirted with vines, or tufted with pendent woods, a beautiful little hamlet, the great mass of vv^ater, and the two crags already men- tioned, having their tops sprinkled with shrubs, and dividing the cataract into three principal parts. Below the fall, the river widens considerably: at the spot of precipitation it appears to be three hundred feet broad. As to its perpendicular height, travellers vary much ; but ^ve think that between fifty and sixty feet may be near the truth. It is certain this astonishing cataract has under- gone several important changes ; and it is pro- bable that, in the lapse of years, the tvv^o crags, which now rise in the middle of the stream, vvill be undermined and carried away. At SchafFhausen there was once a very extra- ordinary bridge over the Rhine, justly admired for the singularity of its architecture. The river is extremely rapid, and had already destroyed several stone bridges of the strongest construc- tion, when a carpenter of Appenzel oftered to throw a wooden bridge of a single arch across the river, which is nearly four hundred feet wide. The magistrates, howTver, required that it should consist of two arches, and that he should, for that purpose, employ the middle pier of the old bridge. Accordingly the architect was obliged to obey; but he contrived to leave it a matter of doubt, v/hether the bridge was supported by the middle pier, and whether it would not have been 78 SCHAFFHAUSEN. equally as safe, if formed solely of one arch. The sides and top were covered, and the road, which was almost level, was not carried, as usual, over the top of the arch, but, if the expression may be allowed, let into the middle of it, and therefore suspended. A man of the slightest weight felt it tremble under him ; though waggons heavily laden might pass over without danger. Consider- ing the boldness of the plan and construction, it must appear extraordinary, that the architect was only a carpenter, without the least tincture of literature, totally ignorant of mathematics, and not versed in the theory of mechanics. His name was Ulric Grubenman. The bridge was finished in less than three years, and cost about eiglit thousand pounds sterling. It was burnt by the French when they evacuated Schaffhausen, after being defeated by the Austrians, April 13, 1799. f ( 79 ) CHAPTER V. Departure from Schaffhausen^ and arrival at Zurich. — General Description of' Switzerland, Mountains, and Glaciers. — Ihex, Chamois, and Marmont. — Description of Zurich. — Arsenal. — JVilliam TeU's Bow and Arrow. — Institutions for Education.— Curious Manuscripts in the Public Library. — Singular Law respecting abandoned Females. — Departure for Zug. — De- scription. — Protected by Saint Oswald, King of Northumberland. — Enter the Canton of Uri. — Description of the Lake of Lucerne. — Mount Pilatus. — Curious Statue in a Cavern at its Summit. — Arrival at Altorf — Stone Pillars, to mark the Spot where fVilUam Tell shot the Apple^fro7n his Sons Head. — Arrival in the F alley of Urseren. — Description of Mount Saint Gothard. 1 HE Princess and party having departed from S chaff haus en, entered Zurich. Before entering on a description of the various towns and other places passed through, in our route through Switzerland, it will be necessary to take a cursory view of the general features of the whole of this interesting country. Switzerland being a moun- tainous region, lying upon the Alps, (which form an amphitheatre for more than one hundred miles.) the frosts are very severe in winter ; and many of the hills and mountains are covered with snow, from one end of the year to the other. Where, only one generation back, the most fertile alpine pastures were seen, there is now eternal 80 SWITZERLAND. ice ; and the line of snow seems, in the course of time, to descend lower and lower from the summit of the mountains, towards the plains and valleys. In summer the inequality of the soil renders the same province very unequal in its seasons. On one side of those mountains the inhabitants are often reaping, while they are sowing on another. The valleys are warm and fruitful, and well cultivated ; and nothing can be more delight- ful than the summer months in this country. It is subject to rains and tempests, for which reason public granaries are every where erected, to supply the failure of their crops. The water of Switzer- land is generally excellent, and often descends from the mountains in large or small cataracts, which have a delightful effect. There is, probably, no country in the world where the advantageous effects of unwearied and persevering industry are more remarakbly conspi- cuous than in Switzerland. In passing over the mountainous parts, the traveller is struck with ad- miration, to observe rocks, that were formerly bar- ren, now planted with vines, or abounding ^vith rich pasture ; and to mark the traces of the plough along the sides of precipices so steep, that a horse could not even mount them without great difficulty. In short, the inhabitants seem to have surmounted every obstruction which soil, situation, and climate, have thrown in their way, and to have spread fertility over various spots of the country, SWITZERLAND. g| which nature seemed to have consigned to ever- lasting barrenness. The feet of the mountains, and somtimes also the very summits, are covered with vineyards, corn fields, meadows, and pasture- ground. Other parts of this country are more dreary, consisting almost entirely of barren and inaccessible rocks, some of which are continually covered with snow or ice. The valleys between these icy and snowy mountains appear like so many smooth frozen lakes, and from them vast frag- ments of ice frequently fall down into the more fruitless spots beneath. In some parts there is a regular gradation from extreme wildness to high cultivation ; in others the transitions are very abrupt, and very striking. Sometimes a continued chain of cultivated mountains, richly clothed v/ith wood, and studded over with hamlets, cottages above the clouds, pastures which appear suspended in the air, exhibit the most delightful landscape that can be conceived ; and in other places appear rugged rocks, cataracts, and mountains of a pro- digious height, covered with ice and snow. No subject in natural history is more curious than the origin of the Glaciers, which are immense fields of ice, and usually rest on an inclined plane; being pushed forwards by the pressure of their own weight, and but weakly supported by the rugged rocks beneath. They are intersected by large transverse crevices, and present the ap- pearance of walls, pyramids, and other fantastic shapes, observed at all heights, and in all situa- M g2 SWITZERLAND. tions, wherever the declivity is beyond thirty or forty degrees. In this mountainous country, where the works of nature are exhibited on a grand scale, Mont Blanc and Mont Rosa are particularly distin- guished for their amazing elevation. Their summits and sides are perpetually clothed with a mantle of snov/, in which a single speck of rock is not to be seen. This uninterrupted whiteness gives thess mountains a most singular and glaring appearance. Mont Blanc is estimated to be 15,(300 feet high, and Mont Rosa 15,800, so that they stand in proud preeminence far above all the other mountains of Europe. Among the animals peculiar to the Alps, may be mentioned the ibex, or goat of the rocks. This animal resembles the common goat, but the horns are uncommonly long and thick, and of such strength as to save him, in headlong descents from precipices. The hair is long and ash- coloured, with a black streak along the back. The female is -one third less than the male, and her horns are small, while those of the male are about two feet six inches in length. The ibex will mount a perpendicular rock of fifteen feet at three springs, bounding like an elastic body struck against a hard substance. In the day he seeks the highest summits, but in the night the nearest woods, browsing in summer on aromatic and dwarf plants, and in the winter on lichens. His common cry is a sharp short whistle. The chace is rashly dangerous^ and exposed to many ZURICH. 33 accidents. Another singular animal is the chamois, a species of the antelope, and is commonly seen in herds of twenty or thirty, with a sentinel, wlio alarms them by a shrill cry. The colour is a yel- lowish brown, but they sometimes occur speckled. Their food is the lichen, with shoots of pine or fir. The blood of these animals is of so hot a nature, that some of the mountaineers, Avho are much subject to pleurisies, take a few drops of it, mixed with water, as a remedy for that disorder. The marmot is common on the Swiss mountains. In summer they feed upon alpine plants, and live in societies, digging dwellings in the ground for summer, and others for winter. About the be- ginning of October, having provided hay, they retreat to the latter, where they remain torpid till tlie spring. The skin of this little animal is used in the manufacture of furs. The marmot may be tamed, and shev/s considerable docility ; its size is between that of the hare and the rabbit. As Zurich and the other northern cantons of Switzerland are not so mountainous as those which lie towards Italy, our journey was extremely plea- sant, whilst our route was by no means impeded. On our arrival at the capital town, several of the principal inhabitants came out in their carriages to meet the Princess. On the following morning we were attended by the same distinguished personages in our progress to view this ancient town, which is said to present the same appearance as it did in the thirteenth 34 ZURICH. century : the suburbs, however, are strengthened by modern fortification. The inhabitants carry on various manufactures, the principal of which are those of linens, cot- tons, muslins, and silk handkerchiefs. The streets are generally narrow ; and the houses and public buildings accord rather with the simple and plain manners of the people, than with our ideas of a capital. Tlie environs are extremely populous, and are the princijml residence of manufacturers and their labourers. This is greatly conducive to the health and pleasure of those whose employ- ments are sedentary ; more particularly as the close neighbourhood of the lake of Zurich affords them every opportunity for angling, sailing, and other agreeable employments. The public walk is pleasantly situated on a law^i, at the junction of the Limmat and the Sil, and is shaded by a double row of lime-trees. Having surveyed the city and suburbs, we pro- ceeded to view the arsenal, which is w^ell supplied with arms and ammunition. Here are to be seen the two^ hundred sv/ords and massy armour of the old Swiss warriors ; and the bow and arrow with which William Tell is said to have cleft the apple placed on the head of his son. In Zurich there are several excellent public establishments, such as an orphan-house, and a chirurgical seminary, both extremely well con- ducted. The public education is under the imme- diate protection of government. The office of a ZURICH. g5 professor gives rank and estimation, and is often held by a member of tlie senate, or of the great covmcil. The learned languages, divinity, natural history, mathematics, and, in short, every species of polite learning, as well as the abstruse sciences, are here taught at a small expense, and with abundant care. In consequence of this laudable attention to form the minds of youth, and to fan the flame of genius, no town in Switzerland has produced more eminent men than Zurich. Among others may be enumerated Zuinglius, Lavater, and Solomon Gesner : the first of these was the great religious reformer of Switzerland ; the second, the cele- brated physiognomist ; and the third, the charming author of the beautiful poem of the Death of Abel. In Zurich, as in the city of Berne, dissolute women, when become notorious, are apprehended, and sentenced to cleanse tlie public streets. Four, and sometimes six, are harnessed or linked to the scavengers' cart, which, on pain of the lash, they are sentenced to drag, step by step, through the streets ; while others sweep, gather up the soil, and shoot it into the cart. An officer, something like one of our parish beadles, superintends the execution of this punishment ; and if any rela- tions or friends of the delinquents presume to afford them assistance, or even murmur at their sentence, they are immediately put in their places, to undergo the same disgrace and drudgery. The Public Library of Zurich contains upwards g(5 ZURICH. of 25,000 volumes, and some curious manuscripts. Among the latter is the original copy of Quintilian found in the library of St. Gallen, from which the first edition of that great rhetorician was published ;- — the Psalms in the Greek tongue, wi'itten on violet- coloured parchment, supposed to have come from the Vatican at Rome ; — several manuscripts of Zuinglius, which evince the indefatigable industry of that celebrated reformer ; — and three Latin letters from Lady Jane Grey to Bullinger, in 1551, 2, 3. These letters, wTitten with her own hand, breathe a spirit of unaffected piety, and prove the uncommon progress which this unfor- tunate, but accomplished woman, had made in various branches of literature, though only sixteen years old. Zurich was the first place in Switzerland that separated from the church of Rome, being con- verted by the meek and moderate Zuinglius, a man who did credit to Christianity, by his love of peace, and hatred to strife. Far from sup- porting his peculiar dogmas with an intolerant zeal, he was persuaded, that, provided christians could agree in the most essential articles, they ought meekly to bear with any difference on points controvertible, and which do not neces- sarily influence the morals. Having acknowledged the honours, civilities, conferred on us by the inhabitants, the Princess, after an early dinner, gave orders for our departure. Accordingly, leaving Zurich about zuG. 87 three o'clock, we travelled southwards, and about six arrived at Zug, the capital of the canton of the same name. This tov/n is situated on the edge of the beautiful lake of Zug, in a fertile valley. The whole canton is populous and fruitful ; — the lakes abound with fish, and the wood with game. Oswald, one of. our old British kings, is the titular saint of Zug. In the church is his statue, with this inscription : — Sanetus Oswaldus Rex Anglise Patronus hiijus Ecclesige. This Oswald was a king of Northumberland, in the seventh century. He was much reno\vned for chastity, and some supposed miracles which he is said to have performed. Early next morning we left Zug, and, crossing the eastern portion of the Canton of Schweitz, we entered that of Uri, having passed by the celebrated lake of Lucerne. This lake, from the sublimity as well as variety of its scenery, is perhaps the finest body of water in S^vitzerland. It is bounded, toward the town of Lucerne, by cultivated hills, gradually sloping to the water, contrasted on the opposite bank by an enormous mass of sterile craggy rocks. Mount Pilate rises boldly from the lake, and its elevation is not less than six thousand feet. Another brancli of the lake, called that of Schweitz, is environed by more lofty and more varied mountains ; some covered to their very tops with the most vivid verdure ; others perpendicular and craggy : in one place S8 MOUNT PILATE. forming vast amphitheatres of wood ; in another, jutting into the water in bold promontories. In the close neighbourhood of this lake is Mount Pilate, formerly called Mons Pileatus, from its top being generally covered with a cloud, or cap. This word has been corrupted into Pilate, and a thousand ridiculous stories have been invented to account for the same. Among others, it is said, that Pontius Pilate, being seized Avith remorse, made an excursion into Switzerland, and drowmed himself in a lake at the top of that mountain. At the elevation of five thousand feet, and in the most perpendicular part of Mount Pilate, is observed, in the middle of a cavern, hollowed in a black rock, a colossal statue of -white stone. It is the figTire of a man, in drapery, standing, leaning his elbow on a pedestal, with one leg crossed over the other, and so regularly formed, that it cannot be supposed to be a lusiis 7iaturce. To this statue the peasants give the name of Dominic, and frequently accost it. By wiiom, or in vrhat manner it could be placed in such a situation, wiiich has hitherto proved in- accessible to all, it is difficult to conceive. About the beginning of the present century, one Huber, a native of a neighbouring village, attempted to descend into the cavern by means of ropes let down from the summit of the rock. He suc- ceeded so far as to gain a near view^ of this singular phenomenon, and was again drawn up in safety. On a second trial he was suspended ALTORF. 89 in the air, and was endeavouring to draw himself into the cavern by fixing a grapple to the statue. At this instant the cord broke, and he was dashed to pieces. Having breakfasted at Lucerne, we proceeded towards Altorf, where we arrived, and dined about three in the afternoon. Altorf is the principal town of Uri, and is seated near the mouth of the Hea, on the lake of Lucerne. Here are two stone pillars, one hundred and thirty paces from each other, at which distance Tell is said to liave shot the apple from his son's head. This deliverer of his country lived at Biorgli, near this place, and his cottage is changed into a chapel, where mass is solemnly said. In this town the tyrant Gesler exposed his hat to be saluted ; which, with other enormities, laid the foundation of the liberties of Switzerland ; near Altorf, the cantons of Uri, Schweitz, and Underwald, agreed to a perpetual alliance, that served as a basis for the illustrious confederation which ensued. In the year 1798, a large body of Swiss were defeated here by the French. About eleven in the forenoon, the carriages and horses were in readiness for our conveyance to Urseren, a beautiful plain, surrounded by high mountains capped with snow : — here we arrived at about eight in the evening. Near the middle of this plain, is the valley of St. Gothard, filled with the ruins of broken mountains, and washed by the rapid and furious Reuss, which rolls 90 ST. GOTHARD. through blocks of granite, with irresistible im- petuosity. This valley is remarkably dreary. It contains no vestige of a human habitation, nor does it produce a single tree. The extremity is closed by the still ruder and naked rocks of the Feudo, supporting- in its hollows vast masses of snow, while the superb glacier of the Locendro towers above the adjacent heights. The Princess and the whole party having refreshed, and engaged guides to Milan, retired early to rest, after the long, mountainous, and weary journey, which they had performed throughout the day. The canton of Uri abounds with mountains, the chief of which is St. Gothard, just mentioned. Over it is carried a fine road, in one continued ascent of eight hours, to the very summit. This road deserves particular notice, being, in most parts, six feet wide, and every where well paved during its whole ascent. The Reuss runs by its side ; over which are several handsome bridges. This road, in summer, is perfectly safe, not only for horses, but even for carriages ; though, in winter, the fall of masses of snow has proved fatal to many travellers. It lies between very high mountains, the lower parts of which are covered with i:hick woods, but above are quite bare. Several parts exhibit the most beautiful cataracts, either from the Reuss, or other smaller streams ; while many of them, by reason of the rocks which obstruct their passage, are thrown ST. GOTHARD. gj into a mist, which, by the refracting rays of the sun, form a variety of rainbows, and at the same time both charm and cool the traveller. But as he advances, he is terrified at the vicAV of frightful rocks hanging over the road, and so worn out underneatli, that they appear as if they w^ere going to fall and crush him to atoms. On the other hand, when he finds himself shut in on all sides ^by such stupendous mountains, of vastly different aspects, some bare, and others tufted with trees, and abounding with various sorts of medicinal herbs, he has reason to admire the wonderful Avorks of the Creator, and to extol the industry and ingenuity of the inhabitants, who, at an immense hazard, toil, and expence, keep these roads open. For this purpose they join rocks together by arched bridges cut away through several rocks ; and, when the road seems ready to sink, support it by stout walls and buttresses, with great posts, which they drive deep into the the earth, and stones, which they fasten to one another by iron hooks. ( 92 ) CHAPTER VI. The Pr'uicess crosses the Alps. — Roads. — Italy infested by Banditti. — Some particulars con- cerning these Maurauders. — Anecdote of the supposed Capture of Lucien Buonaparte. — Enter the Valley of Piedmont. — Cultivation and Fer- tility of this Region. — VieivfromMontcallier.- — Arrival at Turi?i. tVhilst crossing the Alps, it was impossible to be insensible of the emotions which their history, ruggedness, elevation, and present improvements inspired. The magnificent roads which have lately been opened amidst these precipices, have destroyed the barriers which nature had bestowed on Italy. These vast works are, doubtless, the noblest proofs of civihzation ; but in levelling the rocks, the Alps have been lowered, and the illu- sions of this romantic scenery have been partially destroyed. These vast mountains no longer inspire terror by their mere name ; but civilization has not proceeded so far as to divest them of other terrors ; viz. those which arise from the numerous banditti which infest them and the other mountainous districts of Italy. The existence of these bands of robbers is no problem but to those who are ignorant of Italy. Even in Piedmont, which, from its fertility and other natural blessings, should be the most civihzed- ym ITALY. 93 country in the worlds many of the peasants have enriched themselves by assassination and robbery. The vigorous measures of the French Govern- ment, whilst they had possession of Italy, certainly contributed much to allay these shameful disorders, and the traveller no longer trembled in the centre of Europe, for the safety of his life or his hberty. But the evil has since returned ; and has pro- ceeded to a more enormous and incredible extent than ever. These bands are chiefly composed of inhabitants or disbanded soldiers, who were first driven to this course by want of employment and extreme distress, but who now find it a trade, which from day to day grows more and more lucrative — a trade of which the infamy falls less, undoubtedly, upon the men who pursue it, than upon the government by whom it is protected, not only by the absence of all measures of suppression of the evil, but by direct capitulations which some of the Italian governments have signed with these robbers. Concealed within the mountains bordering upon the great roads, the intrepidity, the coolness, and above all the tactics of these men, too plainly betray the former profession of their leaders. They have their spies in the towns, in the inns, and on the roads. The moment their prey presents himself, already acquainted with the value of the prize, they pour down upon him, and their number and resolution render resistance useless, and even 94 ITALY. extremely dangerous. These men, who, m fact, want nothing but your purse, are not generally so ferocious as their appearance would seem to aimounce. Very rarely do they proceed to acts of cruelty, except when their own. personal safety demands such acts : in a word, they never kill but to avoid being killed. As soon as they see the traveller's carriage approaching, they draw a strong cord across the road in front of him, and this either throws or stops the horses. One of the gang goes to the head of the horses, others cut the traces, and others seize the luggage and carry it off; meantime two of them open the doors of the carriage, make the travellers descend, and, in the most profound silence, with their pistols at their breasts, keep them in avre, while others search their persons, and sometimes abridge their work by cutting the traveller's clothes by pieces from off his back. All this is the business of a few minutes : and occurs regularly two or thres times a month, in spite of pretended guards, placed from distance to distance to escort the traveller. Whilst we were travelling from Rome to Naples, several of these brigands, who had been shut up for some time in a castle, were on the point of marching out, and actually did aftenvards march out, in virtue of a capitulation signed by them and the govern- ment of the church. The banditti of Sicily, at least the men whom Brydone calls such, are scrupulous and honourable ITALY. 95 people, and very little to be feared, compared with those. The Sicilian robber attacks or defends you, kills you or hinders your being killed, according to the compact you make or neglect : their bands are true insurance companies ; the policy once signed, the chances are thenceforth at their risk. More cruel and more fierce than the African pirate, the ItaUan banditti make not only your liberty, but your life dependent on the pay- ment, of your ransom. By an audacity which is shamefully suffered to show itself with impunity, they treat daily with the relatives or friends of those who have fallen into their hands : a bill of exchange, extorted from the captive, is coolly presented by one of the robbers to his relations, or his banker, and the prisoner's head answers to the banditti for the payment. Twenty examples of this kmd, known to all Italy, might be set down here ; but I content myself with the follow- ing, because of its great interest. On the hills which overlook Frescati, a to^vii situated about three leagues from Rome, are the ruins of the famous Tusculum. In the midst of these ruins, rises a handsome modern house, named Ruffinella, which belonged to Lucien Buo- naparte. Robbers, at noon day, penetrated into the gardens of this dwelling. Lucien was walking there, saw them, and, guessing their design, flew to a pavilion where his family were assembled. His haste to open the door hindered his attempt : and, to screen himself from his enemies, he threw 96 ITALY. himself into a neighbouring plantation. The cry which he uttered, drew his principal secretary to • the spot where he had been, which he reached in the same moment as the robbers ; he was taken by them for Lucien, and they seized and carried him away to the mountains. This faithful servant knew well that he was taken for his master, and left them in their error, to give Lucien and his family time to escape. The next day all Rome knew the fact. At the end of a few days more, a man delivered a letter to Lucien. The letter set an enormous price as a ransom for him whom the robbers still took for Lucien. The police of Rome knew all this, and remained quiet : the ransom was paid, and the generous friend of Lucien was set at li- berty ; but still the police of Rome remained neu- tral and quiet. Lucien never more set foot on this estate ; and the most frightful misery at pre- sent weighs down a country into which he had introduced comfort and happiness, the fruit of employment and industry. We, however, were under no great apprehension from these banditti, on account of a well-armed escort which the Princess had previously hired at Altorf : consequently, having nothing to fear, the whole party enjoyed the scenes exhibited in these alpine regions, which the philosophic mind cannot help contemplating with wonder and admiration. Having crossed the Alps, we entered Piedmont, which is the most northern state of Italy. PIEDMONT. 97 This country, which was formerly named Lom- bardy, extends from the foot of the Alps to those of the Apennines, over a vast plain watered by the Po. This extensive region may be termed the garden of Europe, and is unquestionably, of all its countries, the most favoured by nature. The soil deposited by the waters, as rich as it is deep, is almost every where of a perfect level. It is only in the immediate vicinity of the mountains that stony banks are found : the whole of the plain consists of a black earth of great fertility. The lofty mountains by which Lombardy is every where surromided, pour into it a prodigious number of streams, which art has not yet suc- ceeded in entirely controlling, but whose currents are broken into an infinite number of canals for irrigation ; so that there is scarcely a farm, or a meadow, which has not one of these canals, with its sluice, at command. This copious irri- gation, in so fine a climate, combines with the action of a southern sun, to produce the utmost luxuriance of vegetation. These great natural advantages have, from a remote period, filled Lombardy with an immense population, and its usual consequences ; such as numerous towns, and consequently markets, ex- cellent roads leading from all parts of the country, and the subdivision of the land into innumerable small farms, each with a farm-house in the centre of it, together with a system of skilful cultivation, which allows neither time nor room to be lost. o 98 PIEDMONT. The harvests are inclosed by plantations of fruit- trees of all kinds, intermixed with mulberries; poplars, and oaks. The last two are not planted merely for their shade, but as supports for the vines, the branches of which, spreading in every direction, cover them as it were with a canopy, and fall in festoons. The luxuriance of the plantations throughout Lombardy is such, that the eye is unable to pene- trate them ; the horizon of the traveller is always contracted, and opens only as he advances. The succession of landscapes thus presented, which continually excites the imagination with the ex- pectation of something new ; the verdant freshness ; the innumerable habitations, uniting a sort of elegance to commodiousncss ; the fields, whose shady inclosures have an agreeable air of wildness, while their rich cultivation announces all the economy of rural wealth ; present at once a contrast and an harmony, which no other country possesses in an equal degree. The tra- veller finds, not the gigantic and monotonous vegetation of India ; nor the extensive farms which occupy the uniform plains of the North ; nor those savage scenes in which the cool vales of Switzerland are embosomed ; but he traverses a region which partakes of the character of each of these diversities of scenery, and reminds him of them by seeming to unite them all. From ISIontcallier, near Turin, on the summit of which stands a mansion, formerly the residence PIEDMONT. 99 of the royal fomily, but which is now uninha- bitablcj and retains nothing of its ancient grandeur but the fine landscape which it commands, the eye follows the river Po, winding in numerous meanders through the country ; its shores covered with plantations, which partly conceal the farm- houses and hamlets scattered among them. At the termination of the plain, the view is bounded by the majestic inclosure of the Alps and Aj^pen- nines, which rise like a noble amphitheatre to guard these fertile vales. These bulwarks of nature still strike the imagination, at the same time that they teach us that the globe has no longer any ramparts insurmountable to the genius and enterprise of man. The number of towns in Piedmont is surprising ; and yet thi« limited country, having a great part of its surface occupied by mountains, after satis- fying its own wants, supplies the territory of Genoa, Nice, and even the port of Toulon, with corn and cattle. On entering Turin, we were agreeably surprised to find it in every respect a handsome, flourishing, and bustling city. It is the capital of Piedmont, and may boast of a display of merchandise in the shops, equal almost to any city in France or Italy. Our hotel presented every appearance of comfort and luxury ; and iji short, every thing throughout the city presented so pleasing an appearance, that, had not the Princess previously 100 ITALIAN determined on residing at Milan, she doubtless would have been induced to remain at Turin. Italy, the very sound of whose name conveys to a cultivated mind, ideas of delightful tranquillity, of a refined enjoyment, now lay, as it were, at our feet. The situation and climate of Italy give it a beauty and fertility which is unequalled; it is justly termed the garden of Europe, and is perhaps the most delicious region on the surface of the whole globe. The extreme purity of the atmosphere, the consequent brightness of the light, and the distinct appearance of remote objects, give an almost magical effect to the landscape scenery of Italy. The effect of this universal stillness and serenity upon so favoured a region, at once delights and astonishes. Nature seem.s here to have collected all her means of ornament, all her arts of pleasing ; fertile and extensive plains, varied with gentle swells and bold elevations ; mountains, of every shape, outline and degree, sometimes advancing, sometimes retiring, but always in distinct view, presenting in one place their shaggy declivities darkened with woods, in another a long line of brown rugged precipices, now lifting, as it were to the sky, a head of snow, and now a summit of the most beautiful purple tint ; unfolding, as you advance, and discovering in their windings, the richest val- leys, populous villages, the bright expanded lake, the winding river sparkling in its course, convents, SCENERY. 101 and cities : these^ the true materials of picturesque beauty, are the constant and almost invariable features of Italian scenery. Such scenes are hailed with delight, as the harbingers of repose^ even by those who seek it but fi'om the lighter cares of life ; the greater necessity of such tranquillizing objects to our illustrious Princess may be readily conceived. To contemplate a country, every spot of which, every river, every mountain, and every forest, which adorns and diversifies it, has been distinguished by the noblest energies of the human mind, and are become monuments of intellectual worth and glory, enlarges the understanding, and inspires generous and exalting sentiments ; the overcharged heart finds relief in the variety and dignity of such objects, and, as its acquaintance with them is extended, becomes softened and amended, in the same proportion. With such reflections, which must prevail in every cultivated and well con- stituted mind, did* we leave the Alps, those stupendous barriers which nature seems to have planted for the defence, and as'an everlasting line of distinction between this lovely country and less favoured climates. These mountains no longer separate the nations between whom they are placed, and the facility of communication tends to efface the originality of national character ; a similarity of manners is acquired with similar habits and similar necessities; national pecu- liarities gradually disappear amidst a community 102 TURIN. of all the customs of life ; and the European traveller finds himself, wherever he goes, sur»- rounded by the same comforts and conveniencies. We were struck with this sentiment on our arrival at Turin. I could have fancied myself in some large and handsome town of France ; so great a resemblance was there in all the objects that met the eye. One would have supposed that the dresses, the ornaments, the shops, the prome- nades, and the placards in the streets, had been sent from Paris. Om* hotel afforded every appearance of comfort and modern refinement, and the general air of the city was suflticiently attractive to invite longer stay, if the Princess had not previously determined to make Milan her first place of residence. Turin is the capital of the pro\ance of Pied- mont, and is of very ancient origin, but of comparatively modern fame. Its importance commenced in the thirteenth century, when it became the residence of the princes of Savoy, and assumed the honours of a capital. Since that period, it has continued in a progressive state of improvement, and became, about the middle of the last century, one of the most populous and flourishing cities in Italy. Turin is beautifully situated on the northern branch of the river Po, at the foot of a fine ridge of hills, which rise southward, beyond the river ; while northward there lies an extensive plain bounded by the Alps, which here present a scene TURIN. 103 of singular beauty ; they ascend in some places in groups of gigantic dimensions, like battle- mented towers, whilst, in other parts, they exhibit detached points, which seem to dart to the clouds like the most magnificent spires, glittering with unmelted icicles, and with snows that never yield to the rays of summer. The interior of the town is not unworthy its fame and situation ; its streets are straight, and of a handsome width, intersecting each other at right angles, and running in a direct line between its four gates, taking their course through many lajge and regular squares. The royal palace is spacious, and surrounded with gardens of great beauty and extent. There are many edifices, both public and private, which present extensive and magnificent fronts, and these, intermingled with at least one hundred churches of an elegant and imposing character of architecture, give the whole city a rich and most splendid appearance. The churches and palaces are very richly embellished; marble of every variety of vein and colour is lavished with prodi- gality, and decorations of every kind are scattered v/ith profusion. The four gates of the city were formerly adorned with pillars, and cased with marble ; and are represented as extremely striking and majestic entrances. Turin was, in the days of its prosperity, possessed of the most magnificent establishments; an ^icademy, the regulations of which were singularly advantageous to its students, who were con- 104 TURIN. sidered as a part of the court, and were admitted to all its amusements. Its university was also of great importance : it occupied a very extensive range of buildings, containing a library of more than fifty thousand volumes ; a museum furnished with a numerous collection of exquisite statues, vases, and other antiques of various denomina- tions ; an excellent collection of medals ; a hall of anatomy, admirably furnished ; and an astro- nomical observatory. It was endowed for twenty four professors, all of whom delivered daily lectures, and were generally authors, and men of great reputation in their respective departments of science. Two colleges were dependent upon the university, remarkable also for their spacious- ness and magnificence, as well as the number of their students; the whole arrangement forming an establishment for the purposes of public educa- tion of the most noble description. Turin was also at that period richly endowed in hospitals. One of these deserves particular remembrance; it furnished at the same time provisions and employment to the poor, education to orphans, an asylum to the sick and the de- cayed, and a dowry to marriageable girls. Many establishments of a similar nature, but on a more confined scale, contributed to the same objects in different parts of the city, and left no form of misery without the means of adequate and speedy relief. « While this city continued to be the residence of TURIN. 105 its sovereigns, it was thus animated, populous, and flourishing. The court was equally remarkable for its polished character, and its regularity ; and was much frequented by foreigners, because justly considered as affording the best introduction to the manners and language of Italy. This prosperity of Turin, and its celebrity, is in justice to be ascribed to the spirit, the prudence, the activity, and the genius of its princes. Its disasters, and decline, have arisen from its close vicinity to a powerful and ambitious neighbour. The armies of France have, at different periods during the last five centuries, repeatedly overrun its territories, assailed its defences, destroyed its suburbs, and, in various degrees, according to the circumstances of their ability, injured its edifices. A city of such celebrity, so justly remarkable both in its prosperity and its sufferings, the first naturally resulting from the virtuous government of its princes, the latter clearly arising from the worst passions of mankind, could not, as may well be imagined, be passed over by Her Royal Highness without commiseration ; a mind fraught with intelligence, and itself deeply wounded by the wanton abuse of power, must be expected to have viewed these fallen monuments of human wisdom with regret: establishments calculated to ameliorate the character and the condition of the human race, and which were deserving objects of imitation to all nations, had been indiscriminately swept away by the hand of caprice and barbarism. The country in the immediate vicinity of the 106 TURIN. city possesses considerable beauty and diversity. Its first and most conspicuous feature is the river Po, which gives its name to the principal street of Turin, and rolls in all its grandeur under the very walls. The depth of this river is so great and remarkable, that it obtained in ancient times the appellation of Bodinco, or bottomless. This ex- traordinary and magnificent stream takes its rise about twenty-five or thirty miles from Turin to the westward, in the recesses of a mountain. It be- comes completely navigable even before it reaches Turin, though so near its source, and in a course which, including its windings, extends to three- hundred miles, in which it receives thirty rivers, washes the walls of fifty towns and cities, and con- fers life and spirit, fertility and opulence, to the celebrated plains called from it, Regio Circumpa- dana. Its average breadth from Turin to Ariano, is about twelve hundred feet ; its depth is every where considerable, and its current strong and equal. It is justly called the king of Italian rivers, and is ranked among the principal streams of mo- dern Europe. It is continually seen in its beau- tiful and various meanderings by the traveller be- tween the Alps and Appennines, and from its own magnificent effect, as well as the air of grandeur and richness which it imparts to the surrounding country, it is always beheld with interest and admiration. Although our stay at Turin was but short, ano- ther object of interest could not but attract our notice, the mountain of the Superga, and the TURIN. J 07 lofty temple which crowns its summit. The great elevation of the hill itself, its highly pictm-esque appearance, the cause, the destination, and the corresponding magniiicence of the edifice, are strong claims upon the curiosity of even an inat- tentive traveller. The Superga is about five miles from Turin, the ascent is gradual, and the road good. It was on the summit of this hill, that dur- ing the famous seige of Turin, in the year 1706, by the French, Prince Eugene held a consultation with Victor Amadeus, and formed the plan for the attack of the besieging enemy, and the deliver- ance of the town. The sovereign made a vow, if heaven prospered his arms, to build a church on the very spot, as an eternal monument of his gi'a- titude. He succeeded ; the French wete defeated with great slaughter, the siege of the town was abandoned, and the church was built. The edifice is worthy of its origin. It is really a grand me- morial of royal and national acknowledgment. Its situation is peculiarly well adapted to its ob- ject. Placed on the utmost pinnacle of a lofty mountain, it is distinctly visible, not only to the inhabitants of Turin, but of the whole country for many miles round, and instantly catches the eye of every traveller. The church is of circular form, supported by pillars ; the portico is ornamented with pillars, and the dome rises on pillars. All these columns are of beautiful marble of different colours, and give the edifice an appearance unusually rich and stately. ( 108 ) CHAPTER VII. Departure from Turin. — The Plain of Turin. — Rivers. — Lakes. — Observations on the Lakes. — Comparison between the Italian and British Lakes. — Colossal Statue of immense size.- — The Passage of the Simplon. - Lago 31aggiore. Milan. Her Royal Highness took her departure from Turin, without any alteration in the arrangement of her suite, and proceeded direct to Milan. Our course lay over a flat and fertile country, which has been the theatre of numerous sanguinary contests between the French, Spaniards, and Austrians, during the two last centuries. In our progress we crossed several small rivers, which still retain their ancient appellations. The striking superiority of the lakes of Italy, over those of Great Britain, renders them objects of great interest with the traveller ; her Royal Highness's taste, which led her eventually to fix a residence on the banks of one of these charming scenes, will be admired and applauded in propor- tion as we render ourselves acquainted with their singular beauties and advantages. The lakes of Westmoreland and Cumberland are to England, what those of the Milanese ter- ritory are to Italy : but in beauty, magnitude, and LAKES OF ITALY. 109 grandeur, there is scarcely any comparison to be drawn. Although England is considered^ as re- gards the face of the country, to be a fine minia- ture picture of Europe at large, yet with respect to its lakes and mountains, it is very far inferior ; the lakes and hills of Britain sink into insignifi- cance, when compared with similar objects in the Alpine regions. To a traveller accustomed to the prodigiously grand scenery of this, and indeed every part of Italy, our boasted Windermere be- comes a lifeless pool, our lofty Skiddau shrinks into a hillock. The lake of Ullswater alone, in comparative boldness of its banks, may perhaps present a faint resemblance to some parts of the Lago di Como, but the parallel is confined to that single feature. The rocks of Buttermere are certainly of a grand character, but the sheet of water beneath them is insignificant. Our famous Scotch lake. Loch Lomond, has a certain simila- rity to the Benacus of Italy, in its width of expanse and the gradual swell of its banks, but the re- semblance goes no farther ; the little islands which are interspersed in the broadest part of Loch Lo- mond, possess a considerable share of beauty ; but the heavy form of Benlomond, its heathy sides and naked brow, with the lifeless masses around it, which are, however, the only grand features the prospect can pretend to, are very in- different substitutes for the noble ridge of the Alps that borders the Benacus, and presents every mouutam form and colour, from the curve to the 110 GENERAL FACE OF THE COUNTRY. pinnacle, from the deep tints of the forest to the dazzling brightness of snow. When to these con- spicuous advantages we add the life and interest which such scenes derive from churches, villas, hamlets and towns, placed as if by the hand of a painter in the most striking situations, so as to contrast with the surrounding picture and give it relief, we describe the peculiar and characteristic features which distinguish the lakes of Italy, and give them an undisputed superiority. At this point of our progress, it Avill greatly conduce to a clear understanding of the scenes to be described, if a distinct idea be obtained of the general face of the country to be passed over. It is probably within the familiar knowledge of most of our readers, that Italy is separated from the countries which border, it at its northern ex- tremity, by the Alps, the highest ridge of moun- tains in the ancient world. It is bounded on its eastern side by the Adriatic Sea, or Gulf of Ve- nice, on the west by the Mediterranean, and on the south by the Ionian seas ; numberless islands line its shores ; and its general figure and course is that of a narrow strip of land running in the direction of north and south. Such are its exter- nal circumstances. In the interior, the mountains called the Appennines extend through its whole length, and, branching out into various ramifica- tions, divide it into several provinces, materially differing in their climates and productions. The geographical situation of Italy exposes it to a con- GEOGRAPHICAL SITUATION. ^H siderable degree of heat in summer, and of cold in winter ; but the influence of the seas and of the mountains that surround or intersect it, coun- teracts those effects, and produces a temperature that excludes all extremes, and renders every sea- son delightful. The action of these causes is, however, unequal, and the climate of the country at large, though every where in a high degree ge- nial and temperate, varies considerably, and more so in some instances than the distances of the places so differing might induce the traveller to expect. Without entering tediously into these variations, which are the effect of the various bear- ings of the different ranges of mountains, it Avill be sufficient to consider Italy as divided into four principal regions, which, although possessing in climate, scenery, and productions, many features in common, have also each a characteristic pecu- liarity. The first of these regions is the vale of the Po, or the territory vulgarly termed Lom- bardy ; this is sometimes spoken of as the territory of Milan, or the Milanese. This region extends about two hundred and sixty miles in length, and in breadth, in the widest part, one hundred and fifty. It is bounded by the Alps and the Ap- pennines on the north, west^ and south, and on the east lies open to the Adriatic. The second is the tract enclosed by the Appennines, forming the Ro- man and Tuscan territories. The third is con- fined to the Campagna Felix and its immediate dependencies, such as the borders and the islands 112 MILANESE TERRITORY. of the Bay of Naples, and of the plains of Paestum. The last consists of Labruzzo, Apulia, Calabria, and the southern extremities of Italy. The first of these regions or climates, or the Milanese, has been represented by many as per- haps the most fertile and the most delicious terri- tory in the whole universe. This is the particular division of Italy which is designated the garden of Europe, and is properly the agricultural district of the country. It will be recollected, that her Royal Highness's residence at Milan, and also her esta- blishment at the Villa D'Esti, on the borders of the Lake of Conio, are situated in this part of Italy. The Milanese country derives its extraordinary fertility from the numerous streams that descend from the bordering mountains, and furnish a constant supply to the majestic river that inter- sects it, the Po. But while the mountains thus fertilize it with their innumerable rills, they also send down occasional gales, to cool it in summer, and blasts that sometimes chill its climate, and give its winter some features of northern severity^ slight indeed, but sufficient to check the growth of such plants as the orange and the almond, which shrink from frost in its most mitigated aspect. The vine, though common and indeed luxuriant, is supposed not to prosper in this part of Italy, from the wines being thin and sour; this defect however must not be ascribed solely to the climate, which, in warmth and uniformity, far excels that of the famous French PLAINS OF APULIA. J|3 provinces of Champagne and Burgundy, but to the Italian mode of cultivation. In Italy the vine is allowed to raise itself into the air, to spread from branch to branch, and equal its surrounding elms and poplars in elevation and luxuriancy of growth. This, though beautiful to the eye, and delightful to the fancy, is not so favourable to the quality of the wines, which are well known to become richer and stronger when the growth of the plant is repressed, and its energies confined within a smaller range. The second climate is protected from the blasts of the north by an additional ridge of mountains, so that it is less obnoxious to the action of frost, and is indeed less liable to be incommoded by the heats of summer than by wintry cold. Its productions accordingly improve in strength and flavour; its wines are more generous, and its orchards are graced with the orange. Even this part of the country is however exposed occasionally to chill piercing blasts, and is not entirely free from the frosts and snows of the less favoured countries beyond the Alps. In the third climate, that is, in the delightful plains of Campagna, so much, and so deservedly celebrated by travellers, painters, and poets, nature seems to pour out all her treasures with complacency, and confides, without sparing or distrust, her most delicate productions to ever genial gales, and a sky uniformly serene. The plains of Apulia, that lie beyond the Q 114 MOTIVES POR CHANGE OF RESIDENCE. Appennines, opening to the rising sun, with the coasts of Abruzzo and Calabria, from the last and fourth division, differing only from that which precedes in increasing warmth, and in productions more characteristic of a southern latitude, such as the aloe and the majestic palm ; objects which, though not common, occur often enough to afford novelty and variety to the scenery. This distinc- tion of climate is, strictly speaking, confined to* the plains, as the mountains that limit them vary according to their elevation, and, at the same time, enclose in their windings, valleys which enjoy in the south the cool temperature of the Milanese, and in the north glow with all the sultriness of Abruzzo. Such, in few words, is the real geography of Italy. By a clear recollection of these differences of climate and circumstances, or by having reference to them, the reader v\ill, in many cases, find himself in possession of the true reason of Her Royal Highness's changes of residence, which have in too many instances been most unfairly and mischievously tortured into a needless desire of change, or a blameable impatience of the restraints of society at particular places. To a reader thus acquainted with the differences of climate which occur in Italy, the various journeys, and the changes of residence, of the Princess of Wales, will satisfactorily appear to have been dictated by a cultivated taste and sound intelligence; and to have been exactly such as might have been expected, and would have CLIMATE OF ITALY. 115 formed the arrangement of every rational and en- lightened traveller of Her Royal Highness' s rank. The English reader may indeed find some difficulty, when he observes the taste always displayed, the fearless spirit of enterprise always evinced when the object of research required such exertion, the gentleness and amiable condescension of de- meanour on all occasions, and the high-toned liberality and kindness of sentiment under a voluntary limitation of means ; an observing reader, I say, will be at a loss to reconcile these traits of a truly royal character, with the tasteless profusion, the capricious movements, the eternal vacillations, and, above all, the evident want of an active and enquiring mind, in the conduct of other exalted personages to whose unlimited means he daily contributes a serious portion of his necessary comforts. The climate of Italy is therefore now, as it was anciently, temperate, though incHned to heat. The rays of the sun are powerful even in winter ; and the summer, particularly when the Sirocco wind blows, is sultry and sometimes oppressive. The heat, however, is never intolerable, as the air is frequently cooled by breezes from the moun- tains, and on the southern coast refreshed by a regular gale from the sea. The breeze rises about eight in the morning, and blows without inter- ruption till four in the afternoon, delightfully tempering the burning suns of Naples, and sweeping before it the sullent vapours that 116 CLIMATE OF ITALY. brood over the torrid regions of the Campagna. The windings and recesses of the mountains also afford as they ascend several retreats, where, in the greatest heats of summer, and during the very fiercest glow of the dog-days, the traveller may enjoy the vernal coolness and the mild temperature of England. Of this description are the baths of Lucca, situated in a long withdraw- ing vale, and shaded by forests of chesnuts ; such is Vallombrosa, encircled by the forests of the Appennine; and such too is the situation of the Sabine Villa of Horace, concealed in one of the woody dells of Mount Lucretilis, where the oak and the ilex v/aft a refreshing coolness and secure the most delightful shade. Though rain is not frequent during the spring and summer months, yet occasional showers fall in sufficient abundance to refresh the air and re\Tive the face of nature. These showers are generally accompa- nied by thunder storms, and when these occur at the untimely season of the harvest, they often are the occasion of considerable mischief. Such periodi- cal rains, and the accidental showers, the local effects of the surrounding mountains and seas, and even the clouds and storms of winter, are but transient and temporary interruptions of the general sere- nity that constitutes one of the principal advan- tages of this delightful climate. A traveller re- turning to England, and finds himself T\Tapped in the impenetrable gloom of a London fog, or sees the gay months of May and June clouded ^\ith CLIMATE OF ITALY. 117 perpetual vapours, cannot but turn his reeoUec-- tion with complacency to the pure azure that canopies Rome and Naples, and contemplates in thought and with regret the splendid tints that adorn the vernal skies of Italy ; a countiy, in truth, which none ever saw for the first time but with astonishment and delight, quitted it without reluc- tance, or revisited but with renewed pleasure. In the midst of such considerations, let us never lose sight of the peculiar circumstances under which our illustrious and beloved traveller was compelled both to commence and close her tra- vels. Her Royal Highness quitted the duller cli- mate of England, to seek repose and protection in a country, whose circumstances might produce a dignified employment for the mind, and whose cUmate should be conducive to health. As Prin- cess of Wales, she voluntarily put aside the frivo- lous round of pomp, magnanimously refused to increase the burthens of the British people by accepting an increase of revenue voted her by Parliament ; and to avoid the bitter cup of perse- cution continually forced upon her, she sought the refui^e which a visit to the land of her birth and to Italy might be rationally expected to af- ford ; and when, as far as circumstances would permit, the quiet she sought was obtained, her ardent mind was further engaged in learned re- searches of enterprise and danger. But even here, and in this honourable path of distinction, the wanton spirit of persecution which drove her from 1X8 VERCELU. England, unrelentingly pursued her to her digni- fied retreat ; and in the character of Queen Consort of Great Britain, she justly considered herself im- pelled to quit scenes in which, in her former sta- tion, she might have enjoyed quiet, and vindicate the insulted laws of morals and humanity, by an appeal to her sympathising and generous-hearted subjects. To estimate properly Her Majesty's suf- ferings, we must therefore take into account the frequency and the nature of the disturbing inter- ruptions with which the hand of power has as- sailed her ; and the clear and defined knowledge of the countries in which she was resident, is strictly essential to this point. To return to our route in the Milanese, in which district was the first residence of the Princess. It will be proper to remind the reader, that this is properly the agricultural part of Italy; and the management of which most nearly assimilates to our notions of agricultural management, although differing sufficiently to make a particular account of it highly interesting to us. From Turin, on the way to Milan, lies Vercelli, a city of great antiquity, which still retains its Roman name, and probably containing as great a population as in Roman times. It enjoyed a tran- sient gleam of liberty and independence in the middle ages, but never rose to any extraordinary celebrity. It is at present a handsome and flou-, rishing town ; but, except the beautiful portico of its cathedral, it possesses few remarkable objects. STATUE OF ST. CHARLES BORROMEO. J 19 At Arona, a traveller's attention is strongly ex- cited by the extraordinary colossal statue of St. Charles Borromeo, an exemplary archbishop of Milan. The statue is erected on the summit of a hill near the town. It represents the archbishop in an attitude equally appropriate to his office and to his benevolent feelings, as turned towards Milan, and with an extended arm imploring the benediction of heaven upon its inhabitants. It is supported by a marble pedestal of forty-two feet in height, and is itself seventy ; it is of bronze, and is supposed to be very finely executed. St. Charles seems more fully' entitled to the ho- nours of a statue, than most of the exalted per- sonages to whom we are accustomed to see them erected. He claims it under a double capacity, both as a blameless and virtuous priest, and as a public benefactor. It must also be acknowledged, that such a monument of public gratitude and ve- neration is highly honourable to the people who conceived and erected it. It bespeaks public feel- ings grand and capacious, and, while it far sur- passes the diminutive distinctions of modem na- tions, it emulates the style and imperial honours of the Romans. A little above the town of Arona stands a castle now in ruins. It was once the principal residence of theBorromean family, where St. Charles was born ; yet neither this circum- stance, nor its strength and commanding position, could secure it against neglect and decay. In this immediate neighbourhood is the Sem- J 20 THE SIMPLON. pione, or Simplon, a remarkable mountain, the highest of the Italian Alps; it is covered M^th perpetual snow, and is of some celebrity, from the passage of the French armies over it previous to the battle of Marengo. A road is now formed over it upon a grand scale, by the French govern- ment, for the purpose of opening an easy and commodious communication with Milan. The most difficult part of the road commences at the spot where a torrent bursts through a vast chasm in the rock, and rushes headlong into a valley. A bridge is thro\vn over this chasm, and the road then, like all the passages of the Alps, follows the windings of the defile and the course of the torrent, sometimes on a level with its bank, and at other times raised along the side of the mountain, and on the verge of a precipice. The solid rock has been blown up by mining with gimpowder, for the enlargement of the passage ; and in one spot, where the mass of granite which overhung the torrent was too vast to be misplaced, and too pro- minent to be worked externally, it was hollowed out, and an opening made of about sixty feet in length, twelve in breadth, and as many in height. The descent is very gradual, and in the highest de- gree safe and commodious. It now forms the principal communication between Italy, France, and Switzerland ; since no art or labour can ren- der the neighbouring mountains, Cenis, St. Ber- nard, or St. Gothard, by any means so secure and jpracticable. The village which gives its name to LAKE MAGGIORE. 121 the mountain, does not stand on, but near the summit, and is called by its inhabitants Sempelen- dorf. A few miles to the northward of Arona lies the celebrated Lake Maggiore ; on the lake is situated a large and handsome village, called Laveno ; and close to this, on the northern side, there rises a rough and craggy mountain, that pours a constant stream in a cascade from its front. In the front of the village spreads the widest expansion of the lake. The ancient name of this lake was Verbanus ; its modern appella- tion is derived from its greater magnitude, or rather from its superior beauty, for in this latter quality only is the neighbouring lake of Como inferior to it. Opposite the bay of the village Laveno there opens another bay, and in the centre of the latter rise the Borromean islands, which are considered the principal ornaments of the lake, and are ranked indeed among the wonders of Italy. The widest part of the Lago Maggiore is about seven or eight miles, while the depth is not less than one thousand eight hundred feet ! The imagination takes alarm at the idea of skimming, in a light and frail boat, over the surface of such a tremendous abyss. The first island of this lake in fame, as well as the most attractive in appearance, is called the Isola Bella, or the Beautiful Island ; it derives its appellation of Beautiful from the palace and gardens which cover its surface. The palace stands on the extremity of the island, and almost hangs over R 122 THE BEAUTIFUL ISLAND. the water. The scenes here, mdeed, seem to realize the tales of fau*y landj and a traveller from the heavy and busy scenes of England moves and breathes as it were in a new element. It contains upon the lower story a suite of rooms fitted up in the style of grottoes, and is paved, lined, and even arched with spars, shells, and party-coloured marbles, and in appearance de- lightfully cool and refreshing. Two magnificent saloons in the principal story form the state apartments. The garden occupies nearly the whole island. It consists of a vast pyramid, formed of ten terraces rising above each other, and terminating in a square platform. These terraces have gravel walks their whole length ; they are bordered with the most exquisite flowers, and their walls are covered with the choicest fruit-trees. Rows of orange and citron shade the walks, and gigantic statues, which when viewed at near distances appear grotesque, crowd the angles and front of the palace. These delightful parterres are watered by fountains that rise in different parts of the edifice, and fall in sheets from marble vases. The area of the pyramid covers a space of four hundred feet square ; the platform on its summit is fifty feet square, and its elevation about one hundred and fifty. The terraces are supported by arcades, which form so many grand galleries or green- houses, in which the more delicate plants and flowers are placed during the winter season. THE BEAUTIFUL ISLAND, 123 The form and arrangement of this splendid g;arden have been the subject of great admiration during part of the last century, and the Isola Bella has been represented by many as a terrestrial para- dise, an enchanted island. The most respectable writers and travellers have pronounced it to be the finest and most charming summer residence in the known world, and considered the epithet " enchanted" as scarcely misapplied to it. The diiference of taste in landscape gardening has however in modern times moderated the ex- uberance of this praise ; but if the spot was before too highly extolled, it must be said that it is now too much neglected. Praise is certainly due to the man who had taste and discernment enough to select such a spot for his residence, and the more as it was originally a bare and craggy, or rather shapeless rock, and had no recommendation, its site beinff till then unnoticed. In the next place it would be unjust not to applaud the nobleman, who, instead of wasting his income in the fashionable amusements of a neighbouring capital, devoted it to works which gave employment to thousands of hands, diffused riches over a large extent of country, and converted barren rocks into productive and populous islands. Edifices that give a permanent beauty to a country ; that exercise the taste and the talents of the age in which they are erected, and become monuments of that taste and of those talents to posterity, 124 THE BEAUTIFUL ISLAND. ; are proofs of public spirit, and deserve our praise and acknowledgment. To us as English- men, and more especially to our Royal traveller, these feelings are forced upon us by the contrast between these scenes and the tasteless and unaccountable extravagance of our own rulers in the erection of their palaces. To this w'e may add, as to the Isola Bella, that if pleasant walks at all seasons, and the most delicious fruit in abundance, be objects of importance in gar- dening ; we must allow the merit of utility to an arrangement which multiplies space, sunshine, and shade, and adapts itself in some measure to the state of the weather and to the fancy of the proprietor. However, even modern taste will be gratified and delighted with a grove, lining the north side of the garden, formed of various evergreens, but particularly of the bay-laurel, of great height and most luxuriant foliage. A path winding in an easy curve through this thicket, leads to a town, and thence to a palace. This grove, from its resemblance to domestic scenery, awakens pleasing recollections in the mind of an English traveller. A high wall surrounds the whole island, but it is so constructed as to form a terrace, and thus to aid the prospect. This prospect, particularly from the top of the pyramid, is truly magnificent — The vast expanse of water immediately under the eye, with the neighbouring islands, covered with houses and trees ; the bay of Magotzo, bordered with lofty SURROUNDING SCENERY. J 25 hills westward; eastward the town of Laveno, with its towering mountain; to the south Stresa ; the winding of the lake, with numberless villages, sometimes on the margin of the water, sometimes on gentle swells, and sometimes on the sides and craggs of mountains ; to the north, first the little town of Palanza at the foot of a bold promontory, then a succession of villages and mountains bordering the lake as it stretches in a bold sweep towards the Alps, and loses itself amid their vast snow-crowned pinnacles. The banks of the lake are well wooded, and finely varied with a perpetual intermixture of vineyard and forest, of arable and meadow, of plain and mountain. This latter circumstance indeed par- ticularly characterizes the Lago Maggiore, and distinguishes it from the others, which are enclosed in a perpetual and uninterrupted ridge of mountains ; while here the chain is frequently broken by intervening plains and expansive valleys. This interruption not only enlivens its surface by admitting more light and sunshine, but apparently adds to its extent, by removing its boundaries, and at the same time gives a greater elevation to the mountains, by bringing them into contrast with the plains. Another circumstance, common indeed to all these lakes, contributes much to enliven their borders ; it is, that all the villages, with their churches, are built of white stone, and have, particularly in 126 SURROUNDING SCENERY. distant perspective and in high situations, a very splendid and palace-like appearance. The bank nearest to the Isola Bella is formed of a bold swell covered with a forest, and inter- sected by several dells, which are the beds of mountain-torrents. The foliage of this forest was even at this season of a fresh and vivid green, and it harmonized admirably with the gleam of the waters below, and the deep azure of the firmament above. On the side of the island that faces this forest, a church with a few houses form a little village. About half a mile westward from the Isola Bella is the Isola dei Pescatori (or of Fishermen) so called from the ordinary occupation of its inhabitants. It is nearly covered with houses, and with its church forms a pretty object in the general view, but has no claim to nearer inspection. Its population amounts to about one thousand. The Isola Madre rises at the distance of a mile north from the Isola Bella. The southern part of this island is occupied by terraces ; its northern side is covered with a wood ; its summit is crowned with a villa. The terraces are formed on the slope of the hill, and may be considered almost as natural ; the villa is spacious, but looks cold and uncomfortable. The wood is formed of laurel, cypress, and pine, and is the more beautiful for being neglected. This island MAGOT.ZO. 127 is indeed, in the whole, less disfigured by ill- directed art, and for that reason more picturesque, and more likely to please English travellers, than the Isola Bella, notwithstanding the more flattering appellation of the latter. About three miles from Isola Madre, up the bay of Magotzo, and lying full west, lies the town of Magotzo. The little town of Magotzo is situated on the western extremity of a lake which is nearly oval, three miles in length, in breadth one and a half, bordered on the south and north by hills, bold, but not too steep, wild, yet finely wooded. It is separated from the Lago Maggiore by a plain of luxuriant verdure, divided by rows of poplars into numberless meadows, and intersected by a narrow stream winding along the road side, and navigable only when swelled by abundant rains. This streamlet forms a communication between the two lakes. In this neighbourhood is situated Domo d'Ossola ; the approach lies through one of the most delightful valleys that perhaps alpine soli- tudes enclose, or the foot of the traveller ever traversed. It is from two to seven miles wide, encompassed by mountains, generally of a craggy and menacing aspect, but not unfrequently softened by verdure, v/ood, and cultivation. It is closed at one end by the towering summit of the Simplon, whitened with everlasting snows. Through the middle of the valley meanders 128 TOWN AND LAKE OF COMO. a river called Tosa, wide and smooth, narrow and rough, alternately. The road sometimes crosses meadows, sometimes borders the stream, shaded by the poplar, the lime, and the weeping birch : here it winds up the mountains, and edges the brink of the precipice, and there intersects groves and vineyards, passing under vines which are carried over it on trellis-work, and interwoven into arbours of immense length and impenetrable foliage. The town and lake of Como, so famous as a residence of her Majesty during part of her stay in Italy, next claims attention. It lies about twenty- six miles distant from Milan. Como is like most of the towns between the Alps and Apennines, of great antiquity, and, like them, also owes its origin to a Gallic tribe, and its importance to Roman colonization. For the latter benefit it was indebted partly to the father of Pompey, and partly to Julius Csesar. It has never fallen to its lot to make a figure in the world, nor indeed to attract the attention of the historian, either by its glories or by its reverses ; and it seems to have derived from its humble mediocrity a greater degree of security and quiet in the numberless disasters of Italy, than any of the more powerful and more illustrious cities can boast of. Its principal advantage is its situation, and its greatest glory is the reputation of one of its antient denizens, Pliny the younger. Its situation is of the most beautiful description. TOWN AND LAKE OF COMO. 121) On the southern extremity of the lake it commands a fine prospect of that noble expanse of water, with its bold and varied borders. It is covered behind, and on each side, with fertile hills. It is an episcopal town of some extent, and altogether of most pleasing appearance. The cathedral is of white marble and of a mixed architecture : the front is of light and not inelegant Gothic ; the nave is supported by Gothic arches, the choir and transepts are adorned with composite pillars ; and a dome rises ovej' the centre. The eifect of the whole, though the mixture is architecturally in- correct, is not unpleasant. In the front of the cathedral, there is a statue of Pliny, with bassQ relievos alluding to his writings ; and on esich side of the grand entrance is an inscription in his honour. A writer so much attached to his country, and so fond of fame as Pliny seems to have been, may be supposed to look down with complacency on the honours thus zealously paid in his beloved Como ; and certainly these honours are justly due, not to his reputation only, but to his public spirit, as few citizens seem to have conferred so many solid benefits on their country as he did on Como : he established or contributed, both by his example and munificence, to the establishment of a school, with an able teacher at its head ; he provided a fund for the support of free children ; built a temple to contain the busts of the emperors, which he had presented to his fellow citizens ; adorned a temple with a bronze statue of exquisite s 130 TOWN AND LAKE OF COMO. workmanship ; voluntarily resigned a legacy in favour of Como ; and in short seized every occa- sion of manifesting his affection for the town and its inhabitants. Few characters, in truth, appear more accomplished and more amiable than that of Pliny the younger. Indefatigable both in the discharge of his duties and in the prosecution of his studies, frugal in the management and generous in the disposal of his fortune, gentle iri the private intercourse of society, but firm and intrepid in his public capacity, grateful and affectionate as a husband and friend, just as a magistrate, and high-minded as a senator, he seems to have possessed the whole circle of virtues, and acted his part in all the relations of life with grace and with propriety. Nothing can be more pleasing than the account he gives of his domestic occupations ; and few lessons are more instructive than the transcript which we find in his epistles, of his sentiments and feelings on every occasion where friendship, merit, virtue, and patriotism are interested. Let us never lose sight of the elevated cast of mind, and the pure taste, which led Her Royal Highness to appreciate the dignity as well as the beauties of this spot. A place which possessed a double claim to her close attention ; its intrinsic valti^e as one of the most magnificent and charming spots to be found in Italy, and the degree of veneration which the inestimable character just '^^scribed has conferred on it. TOWN AND LAKE OF^ COMO. 13] To those who best know Her Majesty, the selection of the Lake of Como as a place of resi- dence appeared perfectly natural. We may collect that at so remote a date as that of Pliny, Como was a rich flourishing city, adorned with temples, statues, porticos, and pillared gates, and encircled with large and splendid villas; that it was governed by decu- rions, inhabited by opulent citizens, and endowed with rich lands. In most of these respects modern Como does not perhaps yield to the ancient city. The cathedral, in materials, magnitude, and probably in decoration though not in style, equals the temple of Jupiter ; and ten or fifteen other churches, four or five of which are remarkable for some peculiar excellence or other, may be deemed as ornamental to the city as half the number of temples. One of these churches, that of St. Giovanni, is adorned by several pillars which are supposed to have belonged to a portico which Pliny mentions as erected in his days. Three colleges of reputation, and as many public libraries, are modern advantages, which Pliny would have then extolled with rapture ; and far superior, in usefulness it must be owned, even to his collection of imperial statues, or the temple erected for their reception. To complete the resemblance or the equality, Como is still governed by persons of birth and property, and contains a population of nearly twenty thousand souls. The view of the lake from the town is confined j3'2 LAKE OF COMO. to a small bay that forms the harbour oi Como; but the view of the town from the lake, taken at the distance of a mile from the quay, is extremely beautiful. The expanse of water imme- diately under the eye, the boats gliding across it, and beyond it the town, with its towers and domes, situated at the foot of three conical hills, all of them green and wooded ; that in the middle is crowned with a crested castle, extending its rampart down the declivity, and on both sides bold eminences, chequered with groves and villas, form altogether a varied and most enchanting picture. On passing the little promontory that forms the harbour, there appears a fine sheet of water of seven miles, with the pretty little town of Carnobio full before us, and on our left an opening between the hills, through which may be discovered Mount St. Bernard, covered with perpetual snows. The mountains on both sides rise to a great elevation, sometimes ascending abruptly from the lake itself, and sometimes swelling gradually from its borders, but always shaded with forests of firs and chesnuts, or clad with vines and olives. But whether steep or sloping, the declivities are enlivened by num- berless villas, villages, convents, and towns, seated sometimes on the very verge of the water, sometimes perched on craggs and precipices; in some places embosomed in groves, in others towering on the summits of the mountains. This mixture of solitude and of animation, of grandeur I.AKE or CO MO. 133 and of beauty, joined with the brightness of the sky, the smoothness of the lake, and the warm beams of the sun playing upon its surface, give inexpressible interest to the scene, and excite delight and admiration in the highest degree. The lake of Como retains its anticnt dimensions unaltered, and is fifty miles in length, from three to six in breadth, and from forty to six hundred feet in depth. Its form is serpentine, and its banks are indented with frequent creeks and harbours ; it is subject to sudden squalls, and sometimes even when calm to swells, violent and unexpected, both of which are equally dan- gerous. The latter are more frequently expe- rienced in that branch of the lake that terminates at Como, than in the other parts, because it has no outlet. The mountains that border the lake are by no means either barren or naked ; their lower regions being generally covered with olives, vines, and orchards ; the middle is en circled with groves of chesnut of great height and expansion, and the upper regions are either downs, or forests of pine and fir, with the exception of a few ridges of great elevation, which are necessarily either naked, or covered with eternal snow. Their sides are seldom formed of one continued steep, but usually interrupted by fields and levels, extending sometimes into wide plains, which supply abundant space for every kind of cultivation. These fertile plains are generally at one-third, and sometimes 134 BUILDINGS, &e. at two-thirds of the total elevation. On or near these levels are most of the towns and villaoes that so beautifully diversify the sides of the mountains. Cultivation is not, however, the only source ot the riches of the territory of Como ; various mines of iron, lead, and copper, are now, as Ihey were antiently, spread beneath its surface, and daily opened in the bowels of its mountains ; besides quarries of beautiful marble, which supply Milan and all the neighbouring cities with the materials and ornaments of their most magnificent churches. Nor are the borders of the lake destitute of literary establishments. Several convents and collegiate churches keep or patronize schools, and spread knowledge and civilization over the surface of a country apparently rugged and aban- doned. Collegiate churches, especially where all the canons, without exception, are obliged to reside (as in the district of Milan, and indeed in all Catholic countries) nine months in the year, have always appeared to me of great utility in the country in general, and particularly in remote tracts and unfrequented provinces. The persons promoted to stalls in these establishments are generally such as have acquired reputation as authors, distinguished themselves in universities and colleges as professors, or rendered themselves serviceable as tutors in private education. To these we may add, that the decorations, both external and internal of these churches, and of VILLA or VUNY. 135 the buildinos annexed to them, not only give employment ahiiost constant to numerous artisans, but moreover inspire and keep alive a taste for the fine arts ; and to the number of such esta- blishments, and to their splendid embellishments^ we may perhaps ascribe that relish for music, painting, sculpture and architecture, and that nice discernment in these arts, so generally pre- valent in Italy, and observable even in their peasants and labourers. On doubling a verdant promontory on the right, and bending towards the eastern bank, we landed at a villa called Pliniana ; it owes this appel- lation, as the reader will easily guess, to a famous intermitting fountain, minutely described by the younger Pliny. It is situated on the margin of the lake at the foot of a precipice, from which tumbles a cascade, amid groves of beeches, poplars, chesnuts, and cypresses. A ser- pentine walk leads through these groves, and discovers, at every winding, some new and beautiful view. The famous fountain bursts from the rock in a small court behind the house, and passing through the under story falls into the lake. Pliny's description of it is inscribed in large characters in the hall, and is still supposed to give an accurate account of the phenomenon. It is rather singular that the intervals of the rise and fall of this spring should be stated differently by the elder and the younger Pliny, both of 136 VILLA OF FLLNY. whom must have had frequent opportunities of observing it. The former represents it as in- creasing and decreasing every hour; the latter thrice a-day only. According to some modern observers, the ebb and flow are irregular; but the greater number, with the inhabitants of the house, assure us, that now, as in Pliny's time, it takes place usually thrice a-day ; usually, be- cause in very stormy and tempestuous weather the fountain is said to exhibit the influence of the disordered atmosphere, and to vary consi- derably in its motions. Some writers have supposed that one of the villas which Pliny possessed in the neighbour- hood of Como occupied this site ; but though he had many in the vicinity of the lake, he yet describes only his two favourite retreats, and the situation of the Pliniana corresponds with neither. The one was, it seems, on the very verge of the lake, almost rising out of the waters, and in this respect resembled the Pliniana. The other villa might possibly have stood on the neighbouring promontory of Torno, whence it might have commanded two bays. There are indeed many situations on the banks of the lake which correspond with Pliny's descriptions, and, consequently, leave us at a loss to guess at the particular spots to which he alludes. A little farther on, the lake flrst contracts itself at Brienno, remarkable for its flourishing laurels, TEMPLE OF DIANA. -[37 and then expands again and makes a line sweep, which forms the bay of Argegno, a busy little town and the mart of the neighbouring valleys. The banks still continued to present the same bold and woody scenery, (as Pliny the elder expresses it) which is the constant characteristic feature of the lake and territory. As we advance, we pass some beautiful bays and promontories, with their villas and villages. Among these are Balbiano, Lenna, where, some years ago, a subterraneous temple was discovered with a marble statue of Diana, and on the margin of the *ake, which took its name without doubt from the superior extent or magnificence of the man- sion which formerly occupied the same spot, the remains of pillars are discernible, in calm weather, under the water close to the shore. Some antiquaries suppose this to be the real site of Pliny "s villa : he could not indeed have chosen a more beautiful spot, nor, if we may believe the general opinion, a more genial climate. Hence its productions, such as aloes, capers, &c. seem to belong to a more southern sky, and surprise us by their blooming appear- ance under the snowy brows of the Alps. This particular description of Como, and its singularly beautiful lake and scenery, as well as that of the lake Maggiore, although Her Royal Highness made no stay in that neighbourhood at this time, will yet be deemed of sufficient impor- T J38 OBSERVATIONS tance to the reader, inasmuch as, independent of the peculiar interest of the scenes described, it affords a key, and gives the character of Her Royal Highness's tastes, and her intentions from the time of her first arrival in Italy. From Como we proceeded to Milan, which is at the distance of about twenty-six British miles southward, over good roads. We arrived there after four hours pleasant travelling. ( 139 ) CHAPTER VIII. Arrival at Milan. — General Account of that City. Its remarhable public Buildings and Establish- inents. — Remarhable Account of an exemplary arid exalted Character, Saint Charles Borromeo. The Colleges and Hospitals of Milan. — Ge?ieral Character of its Inhabitants. — Her Majesty's Reception, and Society at Milan. JtIiLAN may be ranked among the few cities of Italy which have risen superior to the devas- tation of ages, wars, and revolutions, and brought down to modern times the greatest part, if not the whole, of their ancient celebrity. This city may, during certain periods of her history, have enjoyed greater independence; but it may be doubted whether for any length of time she could ever boast of so exuberant a population, so wide a circumference, or such a durable peace and prosperity, as from the middle to the end of the last century. Many, we well know, are the blessings which accompany independence ; but independence or exemption from foreign in- fluence, is only a partial advantage if it be not perfected by liberty. This is in a peculiar manner elucidated by the history of Milan, which, from its situation, the fertility of the surrounding country, and the mildness of the climate, soon reached a respectability of condition in this 140 CATHKDRAL OF MILAN. respect, more difficult of attainment in less fa- voured countries. Milan is a great and splendid city, near eleven miles in circumference, containing about one hundred and fifty thousand inhabitants. Its general appearance does not however corres- pond with its reputation ; the streets are not always either wide, or regular, or well built; and it presents few edifices of magnificence or beauty sufficient to attract particular attention. Of these, the cathedral, without doubt, is the principal. It is situated almost in the centre of the city, and occupies part of the great square ; it is of gothic architecture, and its materials are white marble. In magnitude this edifice yields to few in the universe. Inferior only to the Vatican of Rome, it equals in length and in breadth surpasses the cathedrals of Florence, and Saint Paul's ; in the interior elevation it yields to both ; but in its exterior it exceeds both; in its fretwork, carving, and statues, it goes beyond all churches in the world. Saint Peter's itself even not excepted. Its double aisles, its pillars, its lofty arches, the lustre of its walls, its numberless niches all filled with marble figures, give it an appearance, novel even in Italy, and singularly majestic. In the front of the chancel, and almost immediately above the steps, rises on four additional steps the altar, and behind it the choir in a semicircular form. The pillars of the cathedral of Milan are more PROSPECTS FROM MILAN. •[4| than ninety feet in height, and about eight in diameter. The dimensions of the church at large are as follow : in length four hundred and ninety feet, in breadth two hundred and ninety-eight, in interior elevation under the dome two hundred and fifty-eight, and four hundred in exterior, that is, to the summit of the tower. The pavement is formed of marble of different colours, disposed in various patterns and figures. The number of niches is very great, and every niche has its statue, which, together with those placed on the ballus- trade of the roof, are reported to amount to more than four thousand. Many among these are said to be of great merit. Over the dome rises a tower or spire ; in ascend- ing this, the traveller will observe that the roof of the church is covered with solid blocks of marble, which are connected together by a powerful cement, which possesses not only the durability and hardness, but the colour also of the marble itself; so that the eye of the observer scarcely perceives the points and lines in which the joinings are made, and the whole roof appears to be com- posed of one immense piece or sheet of the finest white and polished marble. The singularity and uncommon splendour of this roof cannot perhaps be adequately described. The prospect of the surrounding country and objects from the summit of this tower is grand and very extensive ; it in- cludes the whole city and the luxuriant plain of Milan ; shews its intersection in every part \vith ]42 REMARKABLE CHAPEL. rivers and canals, its beautiful display of gardens, orchards, vineyards, and groves; and its numerous and interesting villages and towns ; and extends to the neighbouring Alps, which unite their bleak ridges with the milder and more distant Apen- nines, and seem to compose a grand and natural frame to this picture of beauty and interest. In its materials the cathedral of Milan certainly surpasses all the churches of the universe, the noblest of which are only lined and coated w^ith marble, while this is entirely built, paved, vaulted, and roofed with the same substance, and that of the whitest and most resplendent kind. The most remarkable object in the interior of this churcli, is the subterranean chapel, in which the body of Saint Charles Borromeo reposes. It is immediately under the dome, its form is octan- gular, and is lined with silver; its exterior is divided into panels, representing the principal actions of the life of the saint. The body is deposited in a shrine of rock crystal, on, or rather behind, the altar ; it is stretched at full length, dressed in pontifical robes, with the crosier ai;id mitre. The face is exposed, very improperly, because much disfigured by decay ; a deformity which is increased and rendered more hideous by its contrast with the splendour of the vestments which cover the body, and by the pale ghastly light that gleams from the aperture above. The inscription over this chapel or mausoleum was dictated by Saint Charles himself, and breathes EXExMPLAIlY CHARACTER. ^43. that modesty and piety which so peculiarly marked his character. If ever a human being deserved such honours from his fellow creatures, it was Saint Charles Borromeo. Princely birth and fortune, the highest dignities, learning, talents, and accomplishments, qualities so apt to intoxicate the strongest mind, even in the soberness of mature, I might say, in the sullcnness of declining, age, shone in him, even when a youth, without imparing that humility, simplicty of heart, disinterestedness and holiness, which constituted his real merit and formed his most honourable and permanent distinction. It was his destiny to render to his people those great and splendid sendees which excite public applause and gratitude, and to perform at the same time those humbler duties which, though perhaps more meritorious, are less conspicuous, and sometimes produce more obloquy than acknowledgment. Thus he founded schools, colleges, and hospitals, built parochial churches, most affectionately attended his flock during a destructive pestilence, erected a lazaretto, and served the forsaken victims with his own hands. These are uncommon duties; they are magnificent and heroic, arid are followed by fame and glory. But to reform a clergy and people, depraved and almost barbarized by ages of war, invasion, internal dissension, and by their concomitant evils, famine, pestilence, and general misery; to extend his influence to every part of an immense diocese, including some of the 144 ST. CHARLES. wildest regions of the Alps, to visit eveiy village in person, and inspect and correct every disorder, are offices of little pomp and of great difficulty. Yet this laborious part of his pastoral charge he went through with the courage and the perseve- rance of an apostle ; and so great was his success, that the diocese of Milan, the most extensive per- haps in Italy, as it contains at least eight hundred and fifty parishes, became a model of decency, order, and regularity, and in this respect has excited the admiration of every impartial observer. The good effects of the zeal of St. Charles extended far beyond the limits of his diocese ; and most of his regulations for the reformation of his clergy, such as the establishment of seminaries, yearly retreats, &c. were adopted by the Gallican church, and extended over France and Germany. Many of his excellent institutions still remain, and among others that of Sunday schools ; and it is both novel and affecting to behold on that day, the vast area of the cathedral filled with children, forming two grand divisions of boys and girls ranged opposite each other, and these again sub- divided into classes, according* to their age and capacities, drawn up between the pillars, while two or more instructors attend each class, and direct their questions and explanations to every indivi- dual without distinction. A clergyman attends each class, accompanied by one or more laymen for the boys, and for the girls by as many matrons. The lay assistants are said to be oftentimes per- n'TJl-TC KS'IABI-ISUMKNIS. 145 sonages of the first distinction. Tables are placed in different recesses, for writing. This admirable practice, so beneficial and so edifying, is not con- fined to the cathedral or even to Milan. The pious archbishop extended it to every part of his im- mense diocese, and it is observed in all the paro- chial churches of the Milanese, and of the neigh- bouring dioceses, of such at least a-s are suffragans of Milan. The private virtues of St. Charles, his humility^ self command, temperance, industry, prudence, and fortitude, were not inferior to his public endo^nuents. His table was for his guests ; his o^vn diet was confined to bread and vegetables ; he allowed himself no amusement or relaxation, alleging that the variety of his duties was in itself a sufficient recreation. His dress and establish- ment was such as became his rank, but in private he dispensed with the attendance of servants, and wore an under-dress coarse and common ; his bed was of straw; his reposes short; and in all the details of life, he manifested an utter contempt of personal ease and indulgence. The immense charities of St. Charles exceed the income and magnificence even of sovereigns. In every city in which he had at any time resided, he left some monument of useful munificence, a school, a fountain, an hospital, or a college. Ten of the latter establishments, five of the preceding, and the former without number, still remain at Pa via, Bologna, Milan, and in all the to^vns of its u 146 RETLECl lONi. diocese. Besides these public foundations, he bestowed annually the sum of thirty thousand crowns on the poor, and added to it, in various cases of public distress during his hfe, the sum of two hundred thousand crowns more, not including numberless extra benefactions conferred upon in- dividuals, whose situations claimed peculiar and perhaps secret relief. The funds which supplied these boundless charities were derived partly from his own estates, and partly from his archiepiscopal revenue. The former, as he had no expensive tastes or habits to indulge, were devoted entirely to beneficence ; the latter he divided, according to the ancient custom, into three parts ; one of which was appropriated to the building and reparation of churches, and edifices connected with them; the second was allotted to the poor, and the third employed in the domestic expenditure of the bishop. But of the whole income, the humble and disinte- rested prelate ordered an account to be submitted annually to the diocesan synod. It is not wonderful that such virtues should have engaged most powerfully the affection of his flock during his life, and that after his death they should be recollected with gratitude and veneration. To the English reader, this most excellent and exemplary conduct may appear extraordinary, and this most unhappily, from the comparison which he will be obliged, however reluctantly, to draw be- tween the labours and virtues of this worthy pre- late, and the general conduct of his own clergy. Cathedral of milan. 147 He will not perhaps be aware, that in the early ages of Christianity, the endowment of the clergy was upon the express condition of thfe due performance of such attentions and such hospita- lities, to the amount of a large and fixed propor- tion of the sum so granted to its care ; and that this state of things actually remained in practice, until the confiscations which took place, among other disgraceful acts of Henry the Eighth. To contemplate the scenes of St. Charles's exertions, and observe the strange coincidences above alluded to, will be allowed to be perfectly natural to Her Royal Highness, and to all those who had the happiness and advantage to be near her, and who were acquainted with the real causes of her sufferings and sorrows. To return to the cathedral : Of the statues crowded in and around the edifice, I have already observed, that many are highly esteemed, and some much admired. Of the latter, that of St. Bartholomew is the first, which stands in the church, and represents the apostle as holding his own skin, which had been drawn off like dra- pery over his shoulders. The play of the muscles is represented with an accuracy that rather ter- rifies than pleases the spectator. The sculptor may have just reason to compare himself, as the inscription implies, to Praxiteles ; but his master- piece is certainly better calculated for a school of anatomy, than for the embellishment of a church. The exterior of the chancel is lined with 148 PUBLIC LIBRARIES. marble, divided into panels, each of which has its basso relievo; the interior is wainscoted, and carved in a veiy masterly manner. The whole of the chancel was erected by St. Charles Bor- romeo : two large pulpits stand on each side of the entrance ; that on the right, appropriated to the reading of the gospel, rests upon four bronze figures, representing the four mysterious animals of Ezekiel ; that on the left is supported by the four doctors of the Latin church, in the same metal. But it is not my intention to enum.erate all the ornaments of this church, but merely to enable the reader to form a general idea of its magnitude and decorations. From these edifices, therefore, we pass to the Ambrosian library, an establishment which owes its existence entirely to the munificence of Car- dinal Federigo Borromeo, nephew of the Saint, and his successor in the See of Milan. This prelate, who seems to have inherited the virtues, if not the talents of his uncle, began to collect books when a student at Rome, and enlarging his plan as he advanced in age and dignities, at length, when raised to the archbishopric, erected an edifice, placed his collection in it, and opened it to the public under the title of Bibliotheca Ambrosiana. It contains about forty thousand volumes, and more, it is said, than fifteen thou sand manuscripts. There is also annexed to this library a gallery of pictures, statues, antiques PUBLIC LIBRARIES. 149 and medals, which formerly contained many arti- cles of great variety and reputation. The ceiling is adorned with paintings, and the space between the bookcases and the cornice filled up by the portraits of the most eminent authors, whose writings are deposited below. It is well known that one of the most valuable articles in this library was a manuscript collec- tion of various works of Leonardo da Vinci, accom- panied with drawings, designs, &c. which had been presented to it by a citizen of the name of Galeas Arconati, who generously refused vast sums offered for this precious deposit ; and, to secure its possession to his country, consigned it to the Ambrosian library, as to an inviolable sanctuary. The reputation of Da Vinci, whose genius ranged over all the sciences at pleasure, and shone with equal lustre in poetry, painting, architecture, and philosophy, gave these volumes, of sufficient importance in themselves, an inesti- mable value in the eyes of his countrymen, who accordingly, with the enthusiasm for the arts which distinguishes the modern Italians, as ho- nourably as it did the ancient Greeks, erected a marble statue to the donor, and enregistered his name among the public benefactors of the city. In the refectory, or hall of the convent of the Dominicans, was, as is well known, the celebrated picture of the Last Supper, of the same painter, and supposed to be his masterpiece. During the invasion of the country by the 150 CONVENTS. French, the convent was suppressed, the halt turned into a store-room of artillery, and the picture served as a target for the soldiers to fire at. The heads of the figures were their favourite marks, and that of our Saviour in pre- ference to the others. Their impiety, though wanton, and to them unprofitable, was impotent, and may be passed over with contemptuous ab- horrence ; but their barbarism in defacing a masterpiece, which, though in decay, was still a model in the art, succeeded to the full extent even of their mischievous wishes, and has erased for ever one of the noblest specimens of paint- ing in the world. It may be doubted whether the annals of war record any such violent and unnecessary outrage. In colleges, hospitals, and establishments of charity in general, Milan was always most splen- didly endowed, owing in a great degree to the princely munificence of St. Charles. Of the former, the college of Brera, once belonging to the Jesuits, is the principal ; it contained twelve hundred students, besides professors, masters, and teachers ; it is of vast extent, and consider- able magnificence. The seminary, and the Hislvetic college, par- ticularly the latter, are adorned in the same manner with courts and porticos, and furnished with noble halls and libraries. The hospital Maggiore is an immense edifice ; its principal court, for it has several, is more >]. BERGAMl. 151 than three hundred feet square; it is lined with a double portico, supported by columns of gra- nite : the lower order is Ionic, the upper Com- posite : it contains more than twelve hundred persons, and has halls appropriated to different trades, and to working convalescents. The Lazaretto is a spacious quadrangle of twelve hundred and fifty feet in length, and twelve hundred in breadth. It contains about three hundred rooms, with fire-places ; is sur- rounded by a stream, and admirably adapted for the residence of epidemical patients, by its airi- ness and cleanness. In the centre of the court stands a chapel, so contrived, that the priest at the altar may be seen by the sick in their beds. The pillars that support the portico are slender, and distant from each other; yet the solidity, uniformity, and immensity of this edifice, give it a grand and very striking appearance. It has in modern times been used as barracks. Shortly after our arrival at Milan, Her Royal Highness determined to discharge one of her couriers, although he remained in the suite until our arrival at Florence. Sir William Gell received Her Royal Highness's directions to engage a person of character as courier, to fill the place of him about to be discharged. Sir William in his enquiries found a gentleman of suitable man- ners and appearance, M. Bergami, who was recommended in the strongest manner by the Marquis Guisillieri, the Austrian Grand Cham- ]52 *^- BEHGAMI. berlain. M. Bergami was represented by the Marquis to be descended from a family of great respectability, but who had lost a fortune during the French revolution. He was recommended to Her Royal Highness's service in the strongest manner, and in the confidence that his fidelity and propriety of conduct would ensure him Her Royal Highness's protection, and a promotion of office ; being in all respects a perfectly honour- able, honest, and trust-worthy person. The pe- culiarly striking manner and appearance of this gentleman, who was now to fill the important post of chief courier to Her Royal Highness, and who came under such high and unusual circum- stances of recommendation, would naturally ex- cite our attention ; but the gross misrepresenta- tions which have since gone abroad respecting M. Bergami, render a more particular account of his circumstances essential to the thread of our narrative. It is therefore necessary to furnish the reader with such particulars as can be relied on, respect- ing the family and connexions of the individual who has become so conspicuous a character in these Travels. On the first introduction of this gentleman into the household of Her Majesty, he held the situa- tion of cabinet courier, an officer entrusted with dispatches of great importance, and a person always entitled to particular confidence. He was a man acquainted with diflferent languages, M. BfiRGAMI. X53 well and long accustomed to travel, of military habits, and deemed, by those with whom he was acquainted, to possess extensive information ; added to this, he was of a most respectable family, which, by unforeseen and unfortunate circum- stances, liadbeen reduced from a state of opulence. Of M. Bergami's three sisters, the first was married to Count Oldi ; the second to M. Server- grini, of an ancient family at Cremona ; and the third to M. Martini de Lodi, brother of the ex-secretary general of the captaincy of Padua, when it was commanded by his excellency the Baron de Goez. M. Bergami, the eldest son, aspiring above his bad fortune, and recollecting the past honourable condition of his family, em- braced a military life, and was attached to the etat-major of the troops commanded by his excellency the general Count Pino, in several arduous campaigns. Her Majesty was not long in discovering in M. Bergami an intelligence above the situation in which he was placed; and as the reward of his faithful services, she gradually raised him to the rank of her first equerry, and from that situation, to that of her chamberlain. She was acquainted with the misfortunes of his family, and long experience increased her confidence in his inte- grity. She became particularly interested in his favour, procured for him a title of barony in Sicily, decorated him with several orders of knighthood, and took every proper opportunity 154 M. BERGAMI. to mark her sense of the repeated proofs which he continually afforded of his attachment to her person and interests during her extensive and arduous tour. On her return to Italy too, she placed two of the brothers of M. Bergarai, and also his sister, into her service. M. Louis Ber- gami presided over her household ; and M. Vol- lotti Berganii, who was formerly under-prefect at Cremona, was made the comptroller of her dis- bursements. Such is the real state of the facts with regard to this highly respectable man. M. Bergami from that time continued in Her Majesty's service to the time of her departure from France for England. He travelled with Her Majesty from Pesaro, leaving his wife and sisters at that place, but bringing with him his daughter, a beautiful and amiable child, then seven years of age, whom Her Majesty, in her accustomed partiality and kindness to children, had adopted, and to whom she was more attached, from its extraordinary acquirements and progress in polite learning at so early an age. This interesting little protege of Her Majesty, was at this tender age a perfect mistress of the French and Italian languages, and possessed no inconsiderable skill in music and the other fashionable accomplish- ments. So strong, however, was her natural attachment to her parent, that she could not be prevailed on to accompany Her Majesty to England, but returned with her father to Pesaro in Italy. Ills INTRODUCTION. 155 In person, M. Bergami is a man of about five feet eleven inches in height, of a decided and military aspect, large mustachios and whiskers, dark com- plexion and eyes, a bold but agreeable counte- nance, of robust form, and altogether of most prepossessing and gentlemanly appearance. The consideration in which M. Bergami was held by persons of the highest rank and conse- quence, may be gathered from a circumstance which, though of no extraordinary importance of itself, as taking place in Italy, where the occur- rence is frequent, and indeed common and uni- versal, will yet seem particularly striking, and singular, to an English reader unacquainted with the manners and customs of Italy. A short time be- fore we left Milan, the Marquis Guisillieri, dressed in his full Austrian uniform of state as grand chamberlain, with his deputy chamberlain, and other of his officers in attendance upon him, happened to meet Her Royal Highness and suite in the public streets ; his Excellency, after paying his respects to Her Royal Highness, observing M. Bergami, who was then in attendance, he in the presence of his officers, and the crowd of persons assembled to observe the ceremony of the meeting, embraced M. Bergami, kissing each of his cheeks, which is the customary mode of salutation in Italy among persons of rank, and who are in general consideration esteemed equals. This open and undisguised proof of the estimation in which this gentleman was held by persons of 156 HIS CHARACTER. the highest consequence in the country, and who possessed the fullest possible opportunities of knowing- thoroughly his character and real worth, speaks volumes, and ought, in common sense, to silence for ever the slightest breath of calumny or evil report respecting him. Her IVIajesty's selection of M. Bergami, for the high and confidential employment he filled in her establishment, was not only in the first instance fully and incontrovertibly justified by the un- equivocal recommendations with which he came introduced to her, by persons of the very first rank and consequence, but ultimately by the arduous and important services which were after- wards required of him, in Her Majesty's perilous and extraordinary mode of travelling, and which, however adventurous to a common observer, was yet not more than necessary to the due prosecu- tion of the enquiry and research her active and enlightened mind had fixed upon. It should here be observed, that in many instances during Her Majesty's various tours, there were occasions of danger, in which insult, robbery, and even the loss of life or liberty might not unreasonably be expected, and in which the presence and assist- ance of an able man, in whom could be reposed the most unlimited confidence, w^ould become absolutely necessary to personal safety, and con- sequently to that equal state of mind, which is naturally required as well to insure health as to secure the objects of the research. In such QUALIFICATIONS. 157 situations it will be readily understood and acknowledged, that such a confidential servant should be a man of great, of tried, and of un- questionable personal bravery, one who enjoys so decided a reputation in those matters, as to command respect among others by his presence; he should be a man of military habits, and of military talent, able alike to provide resources against every possible exigency, to avoid danger with prudence and circumspection while it threatens, or face it with intrepidity when it arrives : to these qualifications should be added, the education, the habits of mind, and the man- ners, of a polished gentleman; one intimately acquainted with the ceremonials of the highest circles of life^ and well accustomed to their in- tercourse ; a striking superiority of personal appearance is not a little important, inasmuch as it is evidently necessary, to a certain degree, to give a finish, to embody, and give efficiency to the other qualifications. That Her Majesty found these recommendations in M. Bergami, may safely be inferred by the unquestionable and highly respectable manner in which he came introduced to her, and that he filled the various duties of the stations asigned him in the service of Her Majesty with fidelity and strict propriety, will not be doubted for a moment, when the reader has gone through the relation of the various circumstances of interest, of difficulty, and of danger, with which Her Majesty's excur- }58 OBSERVATIONS. sions will appear to have been constantly accom- p»anied. Indeed the public discussions on the sub- ject have so satisfactorily explained Her Majesty's reasons, and the necessity for the services of M. Bergami, as well as the effectual manner and the strict propriety with which he discharged his duties, that calumny itself is dumb on that subject; and it has been judged necessary to enlarge upon it, in this stage of Her Majesty's progress, that the reader may follow the relation of the adven- tures of the travels in which the services of this distinguished individual were so constantly and importantly employed, without prejudice, and, with a fair and dispassionate view of Her Majesty's plans and intentions, be thoroughly satisfied that in every determination and arrange- ment there existed a strict necessity, and that in the adjustment and prosecution of every design the nicest sense and observance, of propriety. ( ^59 ) CHAPTER IX. Departure from 3Iilan for Naples, hy way of Florence and Rome. — Description of the ap- proach to Florence. — Its Situation and sur- rounding Scenery. — Description of the City. — The Cathedral. — Delightfd Excursions in the Vicinity of the City. — A singular Burning Mountain.— Beauty ' of Florence.— Manners of the Florentines. — Climate, 8^c. — Lucca. — In- teresting Account of its advantageous Circum- stances. It being, from the first entrance into Italy, Her Majesty's intention, from the advanced state of the season, to proceed to Naples by the way of Florence and Rome, onr stay at Milan was necessarily short ; but although circumscribed as to time, it was continually enlivened with the society of the persons of rank and fashion resident in the place, and the high civic authorities, all of whom paid the most sedulous attention to Her Majesty, and vied with each other in their endeavours to shew the respect in which they held her, and to promote the objects of her visit to Italy. After about three weeks' stay, and having completed several minor arrangements, as well respecting the mode of conducting our journey to Rome, and next from thence to Naples, which Her Majesty intended to make her first point of final residence, as to secure proper 160 FLORENCE. accommodation on our arrival there, we set out, accompanied by Her Majesty's full suite, for Florence; taking the route, by easy journeys, of Lodi and Pavia, thence toPlacentiia and to Parma, by Lucca to Florence. The greater part of these places being barren of interest to a reader, and not having been the scene of any particular transaction in our journey, I shall pass over them without detaining the reader with any detail respecting them, and proceed to the description of Florence and Lucca, the first places of note on the route. Florence is seated in a vale, intersected by the river Arno, graced by numberless hills, and bordered, at no great distance, by mountains of various forms rising gradually towards the Apen- nines. The whole vale is one continued grove and garden, where the beauty of the country is enlivened by the animation of the town, and the fertility of the soil is redoubled by the industry of its cultivators. White villas gleam through the extensive orchards on every side, and large populous hamlets border the roads, and almost line the banks of the river. Such is the scene of comfort and prosperity that surrounds the Tuscan capital, raised originally by the genius of liberty, and restored by the grand duke Leopold. The cathedral, with its adjoining baptistery, Saint Lorenzo, and the mausoleum of the Medi- cean family, Santa Maria Novella, and Santa Croce, are the most conspicuous edifices in CATHEDRAL, kc. Jgl Florence, and have each some peculiarity that claims attention. The cathedral, called as usual in Italy II Duomo, is an edifice of great extent and magnificence, and ranks among the first of the kind in Europe. It is in fact, if we consider magnitude and materials, boldness and skill, the second, and in most respects inferior only to the mirivalled Vatican of Rome. Its walls are incrusted, or rather cased, with black and white marble ; it is paved with varieg aed marble, disposed, at least in part, by Michael Angelo himself; it is adorned both within and without by marble statues, most of which are works of most eminent sculptors ; and its paintings are in general master, pieces of the art. But its principal distinction and greatest glory is its dome, prior to that of St. Peter's in time, and little inferior to it in magnitude. It has the advantage of the latter in date, and is represented by the Florentines as having been its model. The churches of Florence possess one charm in a manner peculiar to themselves, and that is an intimate connexion with the memory of the great men who flourished in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, and who from Florence diffused the light of literature and the arts over the western world. There are in fact few churches in this city which are not ennobled by the tombs of some or other of these personages ; scarce one that does not present to the eyes of the traveller, Y 162 MANNERS, CLIMATE, &c. when he enters, inscribed on marble or bronze, some illustrious and well known name. Speaking of Florence, on the whole it may be fairly termed a delightful city, not only from its beautiful situation, but also by its cleanliness, splendid edifices, its cheerful river,- and brilliant streets. The interior of the houses are also, for the most part, clean, elegant, and comfortable. The people are laborious, lively, witty, well made, and have a peculiar charm in their language. There is an abundance and a variety of fruit, vegetables, meat and fish here, which leaves nothing to desire, and particularly from their their style of cooking being excellent. The coffee-houses are well managed, providing ex- cellent chocolate in the morning, refreshing beverages during the day, and in the evening, when they are splendidly lighted up, and even visited by well dressed ladies, orgafes and ices. The Hetrurian wines are also excellent. The autumn is the most delightful season of this happy country. Then the air is so mild and clear, so soft and balsamic, and breathes so delightfully through the ever-green oaks and laurel, that every breath fills the inhabitants with new vigour. The evenings are heavenly ; long- after the sun has set, a stream of light covers the firmament, and vanishes late under the sparkling stars. Then songs and the sound of the guitar are heard, humming through the silence of the night, which covers, under its trusty veil, the ad- MANNERS, CLIMATE, &c. 163 ventures of emboldened love. The lively streets are crowded with happy people, and are bright- ened by the numerous lights in the shops, coffee- houses, and before the holy images. The autumn too is the happy time of the Villeggiatur, which only finishes towards Christmas. The winter seldom lasts very long. The day of Simon and Jude is the grand day for chesnuts, which are then selling in every street, piled up in large bags. Rich and poor eat them on that day, boiled with fennel. On bright cold days, which sometimes happen in November, the inhabitants call the weather freschetto, and remain dressed as if it were in Jidy. The peasants then put on their cloaks, the colour and picturesque folds of which often give them a fantastic appearance. The beau- monde, that on Sundays generally walk under the Loggiato degli Uffizi, now prefer walking under the rays of the sun, near the river. Among the ladies we could not perceive any absolute beauties, but yet a great deal of grace ; burning eyes under dark locks, tenderness and fulness of shape, and loveliness of figure, were not rare among them. But youth fades here quicker than in the north, and wrinkles and all the concomitants of old age appear very soon. The voices, too, of the women are here rather too deep and manly. For the rest, they are witty, cheerful, lively, easy in conversation, full of feeling, and of lively imagination. The husbands are by no means jea- X64 MANNERS, CLIMATE, &c. lous, and their wives, therefore, put themselves under very little restraint. Yet this is not the consequence of coldness and indifference, for most couples seem to live in concord and mutual satis- faction, and the name ofCicisbeois scarcely known. Superior information is seldom to be met with among the women, but in their amiable ignorance, they are without any pretensions. In their hearts, God, a few saints, their husbands, their children, with the rest of their family, together with their love of dress, and the theatre, and other w^orldly trifles, dwell peaceably together, and completely occupy them ; their minds are not tormented by any roving curiosity ; they know that the world beyond the mountains is inhabited by some curious nations, among the number of which are the Germans, drinking beer and smoking pipes. But, nevertheless, women of a truly learned education are yet to be met with. The art of poetry is more common among them. The talent of many is only known to their domestic circle ; but the reputation of many has gone abroad, and among those of the present day, Fantastici and Mazzei, two Florentine ladies, are deservedly distinguished. From the city w'e pass to the neiglibouring country, which presents as great a portion of rural beauty, hill and dale, orchard and vineyard, cottage and villa, as the environs of any of the most favoured capitals in Europe, Naples alone perhaps excepted. Its first feature is the Arno, a SCENERY. 165 river like the Tiber, inferior certainly to many streams in magnitude, but superior to most in renown. The most delightful excursion in the neigh- bourhood of Florence is, without doubt, the abbey of Vallombrosa, a name well known to every British reader, because ennobled by Milton, in his " Paradise Lost." The road to this famed retreat runs for thirteen miles through the vale of Arno, along the banks of the river. A little beyond the town of Pelago begins the ascent of the Apennines, and, winding along their sides, may be enjoyed as you advance, many delicious views of hills crowned with villas, and mountains sometimes covered, and sometimes merely spotted, with the olive, the vine, and the -ilex. The beauty of the scenery increases at every step, and as you pass through the groves of lofty chesnuts intermingled with oak, there may be occasionally caught the view of a torrent tumbling from the crags, a church seated on the bosom of a fertile hill, or a broken ridge of rocks and precipices. At a little distance from the abbey may be observed a large stone cross, placed at the entrance of a wood of firs, thick and lofty, whose deep shade is lighted up by the horizontal rays of the setting sun, that shoot along the arcades formed by their meeting branches. As we entered, the abbey bell tolled to call the monks to the evening service, and continued 165 ABBEY OF PELAGO. tolling till we emerged from the gloom of this path to a little plain, bounded behind by a semi- circular curve of steep mountains, covered to the summit with one continuous forest. Here we beheld the antique towers and pinnacles of the abbey rising full before us ; and on a nearer approach heard the swell of the organ, and the voices of the choir, and, instantly alighting under the archway of the gate^ hastened to the church. The monks were then singing the Qui habitat (ninety-first psalm,) which is part of the evening service. The melody was sweet — and solemn ; a long pause between each verse gave it time to produce its full effect upon the auditor ; and the gloom of the church, the lights on the altar, the chant of the choir, and the tones of the organ, could not fail to awaken in the mind already prepared by the scenery, and circumstances of place and time, a strong emotion of piety, awe and melancholy. When service w^as ended, the monks retired in deep silence, like so many ghosts gliding along the nave, and disappearing in the aisles : we withdrew with regret. We were then conducted, by the father appointed to receive strangers, to the usual apartments allotted to visitants, and treated with unaffected hospitality. These apartments are fitted up in a style of cleanliness and simplicity admirably adapted to the spirit of the place, and of the order. The walls are merely white-washed, without either paper, wainscot, or tapestry, j. Their only de- BURNING MOUNTAIN. 1^7 corations are a few prints of subjects taken from scripture, or connected with the history of the order, or the life of the founder. The furniture consists of a very good bed, a table, a desk for prayer, with a crucifix, and a few chairs, all very plain, but very neat, and evidently designed not for luxury, but convenience. Another pleasant and curious excursion from Florence is to Pietra Mala, a mountain that rises in the middle of the Apennines, on the road to Bologna, about forty miles from Florence. This mountain is rendered remarkable by a flame that spreads over a small part of its surface, and burns almost continually, without, producing any of those destructive effects which accompany volcanic explosions. The flame appears on the side of a mountain, about four miles from Covigliaio, and the road or path thither is rugged enough. The spot where the phenomenon shews itself is on the declivit}', and rather low down ; the flame covered a space of about one hundred and forty feet, run along in crevices, and burnt much stronger in some places than in others. Its colour was either bright yellow or blue, like spirits of wine, and it rose little more . than half a foot from the surface ; but in rainy weather, and particularly in winter, it is said to increase considerably, and mount to the height of six or seven feet. We extinguished it in some places by waving our hats strongly over it, and re-produced it by firing 168 LUCCA. a pistol into a small train of gunpowder, and sometimes by merely throwing a lighted paper on the spot where it had disappeared. It emits a strono' odour similar to that of sether. The city of Lucca is situated about twenty-five miles northward of Florence. This city is one of the most ancient in Italy ; indeed the era of its foundation, and the name of the founder, are equally unknown. It was colonized by the Romans about one hundred and seventy years before the birth of Christ, and from that period began to rise in importance and in celebrity. The most remarkable event however that dis- tinguished it in ancient times, was the interview which took place here between Caesar, Pompey, andCrassus; an interview which attracted half the senate and nobility of Rome, and for a time gave to a provincial town the pomp and splendour of the capital. From the fall of the empire, or rather from the destruction of the kingdom of the Goths, Lucca seems to have been governed by princes of its own, and it is from one of these princes or dukes, Adalberto 11 Ricco, who reigned in the beginning of the tenth century, that the Royal Family of England is supposed to have derived its origin. The magnanimous Countess Matilda, who made so conspicuous a figure in Italy during the eleventh century, and rendered the Roman see such important services, was born princess of Lucca. From the death of this Princess, which ITS HAPPY CONSTITUTION, ] gC) took place in the beginning of the twelfth cen- tury, Lucca has enjoyed, with the exception of a few intervals of domestic usurpation, the honours of independence, and the advantages of a republican government. These advantages are sufficiently conspicious, in the first place, in the cleanliness of the streets, and in the excellent police established in the city; in the industry of the inhabitants, and in the high cultivation of the country ; in the general security and confidence that reign, not in the town only, but in the villages and recesses of the mountains ; and, in fine, in the extraordinary population of the territory, and in the ease and opulence of its inhabitants. One advantage the inhabitants of Lucca enjoy peculiar to themselves, an advantage, whichthough highly desirable, was seldom attained by the an- cient commonwealths, whether Greek or Roman; the cordial and uninterrupted union of the people and their governors. Public good seems at Lucca to be the prime, the only object of government, without the least indirect glance at either private interest or even corporate distinction. With motives so pure, and conduct so disinterested, the nobles are justly considered as the fathers of the republic, and looked up to with sentiments of gratitude and of reverence. One of the grand features of true republican liberty, the constant and perpetual predominance of the law, is here peculiarly visible. It protects all, without dis- tinction; and deprives all alike of the power of 2 170 CHARACTER OF INHABITANTS. attack or annoyance ; hence the noble as well as the plebeian is disarmed, and, like the Romans of old, obliged to look not to his sword but to the law for defence and redress ; the least deviation from justice meets with prompt and rigorous punishment. At Lucca, as in England, rank con- fers no protection ; it only renders the offence and the punishment more notorious. Hence, though the people have much of the courage, perhaps of the fierceness of liberty, yet crimes and even deeds of violence are rare; and the quarrels and murders that so often occur in other cities of Italy, are here absolutely unknown ; a circumstance that proves^ if proofs were wanting, that the modern Italians owe their vices in the greatest degree to the negligence, the folly, and sometimes perhaps to the wickedness of their governments. Another vice with which the Italians are reproached, but (in the opinion of all unprejudiced persons who have travelled in the country, and contemplated its inhabitants and manners with a scrutinizing and liberal mind,) certainly unjustly, is idleness ; but even idle- ness and its concomitant — beggary, seem to be banished from the city and territory of Lucca. None, even among the nobles, appear exorbitantly rich ; but, on the other hand, none seem oppres- sed with poverty. The taxes of the state are light in amount, and few in number; the neces- saries of life are attainable with ease and comfort by the lowest class ; and competency seems to be, SCENERY. 171 and practically is, within the reach of every individual. The territory of Lucca is about forty-three English miles in length, and sixteen in breadth ; of this territory about two-thirds are comprised in the mountains and defiles, the remainder forms the delicious plain immediately round the city. Now this little territory contains a population of about one hundred and forty-thousand souls, a population far surpassing that of double the same extent in the neighbouring provinces, though under the same climate, and blest with the same and indeed superior fertility. This difference, so honourable to Lucca, is the result, and, at the same time, the eulogium of republican govern- ments. The city of Lucca itself is three miles in cir- cumference, surrounded by a rampart, most beautifully planted all round, and converted into a spacious and delightful walk and drive, afford- ing ample room for carriages ; similar but superior in that respect to the ramparts of Douay and Cambray, and other fortresses in French and Austrian Flanders. These walls, thus covered with lofty trees, conceal the city, and give it at a distance the appearance of a forest, with the tower of the cathedral like an abbey rising in the centre. The tov/n is well built, but no edifice in particular can be considered as remarkable. The cathedral was erected in the eleventh cen- tury, and possesses no inconsiderable share of 172 SURROUNDING SCENERY. beauty. The exterior is case -i wi'h marble, and ornamented with rows of small arches. In the inside the buttresses, which form the arcades of the nave, are heavy, but they support a second range of arcades, consisting of pointed arches, light and airy in themselves, and ornamented with fretwork of admirable grace and beauty. The immediate vicinity of Lucca, is a level and smooth plain, but as well planted, cultivated, and embellished as incessant industry can make it ; the remaining part, that is, the principal portion of the republican territory, is mountain- ous, and the traveller has the opportunity of observing its scenery on his way to the celebrated baths of Lucca. These baths are about fourteen miles from the city, in a north-westerly direction, in the windings of the Apennines. The road leading to them, after travelling the plain of Lucca, watered by the river Serchio, still con- tinues to follow the winding bank of that stream, and enters the defile through which the river descends from the mountains at the Ponte Amo- riano. This bridge and two others higher up are of a very singular -form, consisting of two very lofty arches, very narrow, and extremely steep, with a descent in the middle between the arches; they are calculated only for foot passengers and mules. The precise era of their construction has not yet been ascertained. Some suppose that they were erected in the sixth century ; others, with perhaps more probability, assign them to FAMOUS BATHS. I73 tlie eleventh, and to the Countess Matilda. Their grotesque appearance harmonizes with the romantic scenery that surrounds them : banks, lined with the finest poplars ; bold hills, covered with woods, churches, and villas olittering through groves of cypress. From hence the defile continues without interruption to the baths, while the bordering mountains in some places advance in the view, in others recede, incr-.^a^ing however in elevation, without any diminution of their verdure and foliage. The village of Dei Bagni stands in the bottom of a valley, on the banks of the river Serchio ; the baths themselves with the lodging houses round them, are situated on the declivity of the hill. The view from thence extends over the dell, deep, broken, and shagged with trees of romantic appearance and character; the torrent rolling over the rocky bottom ; the circumjacent hills richly clad in forests of chesnut; at a greater distance, and surmounting the entire prospect, the pyra- midal summit of the cloud-capped Apennines. The baths are indeed in the very heart of these mountains, but surrounded rather with the beauti- ful than the grand features of their scenery. The road from Lucca is good, but on the sides of the hills in some places too narrow, and incon- veniently near to the edge of the precipice. ( ^74 ) CHAPTER IX. Florence. — Traverse the Maremme, or Region of the Malaria. — J^ale of Arno. — Interesting Ac- count of its Agriculture. — Volterra. — Its rnelan- chollij Decline. — Present Condition. — Converted into a grazing Country/. — TernL — Interesting Account of its famous Cascade. — Nera. — The ancient Bridge of Augustus. — The Tiber. — Ex- treme grandeur of the ancient Approach to Rome. First view of Saint Peter s. — Reflections on the present State of Rome. -TROM Florence we had now to traverse the country known by the title of the Maremme, or the region of the Malaria, which stretches along the Mediterranean, from Leghorn to Terracina, extending inland as far as the first chain of the Apennines. This is a theatre in which are contained the remains of the ancient world, and of its vanished glory ; a land of memory, where the traveller finds nothing but ruins. Nature, exhausted by her former efforts, seems to have renounced the work of production ; the fields are steril and un- inhabited : the waters unwholesome and embued with sulphur : and the forests have no inhabitants but their ancient oaks which bid defiance to time. From Empoli we proceeded directly south- wards, advancing towards the chain of hills which MAREMME. I75 incloses the vale of Arno. We continued our way for another mile, under the verdant bowers which adorn the banks of that river, and then began to ascend the hill which was soon to hide this delicious vale from our sight. With the ascent the vegetation becomes weaker and more scanty. We were still surrounded by vines and olives, but their foliage was pale, like the soil from which they spring. On the other side of the hill, we crossed several small valleys. They were still animated by villages, vineyards, and cultivated enclosures, and watered by a few canals ; but the houses have lost the graceful character of the dwellings of the plain. They are clustered around the churches, and are neither adorned with flowers, nor enlivened by pretty peasant girls. A few villas and country houses are still to be seen, distinguishable, at a distance, by their long plantations of cypresses. The land is here much divided, and occupied by farmers who rent it. It produces good wine, a little oil, wheat, Indian corn, and sorgo ; but inferior both in quality and quantity, the wheat yielding only three for one. Sain-foin is also cultivated, but to no great extent. It is grown for the horses, great numbers of which are kept here, being employed in the carriage of all kinds of goods. This description of country, which is by no means unpicturesque, continues as far as Castel Fio7^entino, situated four leagues from Empoli, on the frontier of the desert. 176 MAREMME. Here all cultivation ceases, and we enter the Maremme. The surface of the country is undu- lated, like the vast waves of an immense ocean, but softened in their forms by time, and the labours of man. On the ridges were to be seen, from time to time, enclosures of mouldering walls and ancient towers, which seem still to make a shew of protection to the houses which were visible through their ruins. In their valleys are a few houses, scattered at great distances from each other, and unsur- rounded by gardens or verdure of any kind. They are merely habitations attached to some plots of Indian corn or sorgo, as if to inform the traveller that a few miserable beings still survived the dissolution of their country. Above all the rest rises the eminence on which the aged walls of Volterra repose. From a distance, that ancient city appears in the horizon like a vast assemblage of walls, steeples, and towers. One might term it the capital of the middle ages, separated, by the wilderness, from all those countries which have forgotten the man- ners of their ancestors, and their respect for times past. The inhabitants of the Maremme fix the period of their decline to about the time of the pestilence which prevailed in the sixteenth century, by which a great part of the population appears to have been destroyed. From that period it has never been sufficiently numerous to resist the destruc- rOPULATION, CLIMATE, &c. I77 tive influence of the Malaria, which augments in proportion as the resistance of civilization diminishes. The decline of the population, by destroying competition, has caused the price of property to fall : at which time the great capitalists of Tuscany obtained possession of it, and, from that moment, all productive activity was banished, without hope of return. The attempts made to plant colonies in the Maremme all failed, the colonists dying of the fever before the settlement could be established. The soil is become sterile, as if utterly exhausted by the labours of man: it presents merely a pure white clay, mixed with sulphur, which forms in great abundance in this region. Sulphureous springs are seen bubbling out of the ground, announcing themselves, at a great distance, by an odour, and by exhalations which give a gloomy aspect to the face of the whole country. There is a frightful appearance about these solfaterre, as they are termed, which drives every inhabitant from their neighbourhood. Fetid flames rise amidst whirls of smoke from these little craters, the sides of which are covered with sulphureous incrustations, while a livid water boils in the centre. There remained, therefore, no way of turning to advantage the soil of these countries, depopu- lated by nature, and fallen into the grasp of the great capitalists, but to abandon it to its indige- nous or natural productions, and to furnish it 2a 178 CATTLE, SOIL, &o. with a migratory population, which should reside there only during the healthy season, and pasture their flocks on the herbage spontaneously yielded by nature. The genial climate permitting the growth of vegetation during the whole winter^ there has been established, between the plains of the Ma- remme, and the mountains of the Apennines, an exchange of population, by means of which, each of these regions is turned to the best account that its circumstances will admit. An intermediate class has naturally placed itself between them, consisting of migratory herdsmen and shepherds, whose only possessions are their flocks ; and who follow them from the mountains to the plain, ac- cording to the season, hiring the pasturage neces- sary for their support, at so much per head. Such is the agricultural system of theMaremme, a system the adoption of which has, in some mea- sure, been produced by circumstances, and which is likely to be permanent ; for without it there would be nothing but a perfect solitude. Its con- tinuance is further secured by other circumstances, both of a local and general nature ; for the sur- rounding countries all depend for their supply of animal food on the produce of the Maremme. Four hundred thousand sheep, thirty thousand horses, besides a vast number of horned cattle and goats, are fed in these regions, and compensate for the total want of breeding stock in the vale of Arno. The effect of this arrangement has no doubt been VOLTERRA. |7g to create a desei-t in the midst of Italy. But this state of things is still more the work of nature than of man; and considerable intelligence is manifested in thus getting possession, as it were, in defiance of natural obstructions, of a tract of country which seemed destined to be the dominion only of death. The soil of the Maremme, at the same time that it has ceased to yield the vegetable productions necessary for the support of man, has become the subject of those chemical combinations by which sulphur, salt, and alum are formed in immense quantities. The collecting of these substances furnishes the means of subsistence to a great portion of the inhabitants, although the employ- ment is only pursued during the season when there is nothing to apprehend from the effects of the air. In some places the roads assume a perfectly white colour, which the sun renders very dazzling. This seems to arise from the alabaster, of which the road is made. We find in this place, an entire mountain composed of it, and it is from hence that the blocks used by the modellers and statuaries are obtained. This road, actually paved as it is with alabaster, gives an idea of an avenue through some enchanted region, and forms a most singular contrast with the scene afforded by the surrounding country. VoLTERRA is situatcd on the summit of an eminence of about half an hour's ascent. The ancient splendour of this city is attested by 180 SITUATION, DECAY, &c. ruined convents of great extent, deserted gar- dens, roofless palaces, and mouldering walls ; and amidst these melancholy remains of former gran- deur, three thousand inhabitants, for the most part peasants, or manufacturers of alabaster, still vegatate. The traces of that gradual decay which silently undermines the works of creation, is no where more awfully impressed than on the walls of Vol- terra. Its pale inhabitants wander like shades, amidst the ruins of magestic grandeur; and, as if dismayed at the sight of the surrounding desola- tion, do not attempt to preserve even their own habitionsfrom the fate which threatens them : they abandon them to the elements, and await, with resignation, the periodical scourge w^hich nature seems to have commissioned to decimate them every year. It is generally supposed that the noxious atmos- phere, which depopulates the plains of Italy, along the shores of the Mediterranean, proceeds from marshes and stagnating waters, which are every where found to render ihe air insalubrious. This may, perhaps, be the case in the Pontine marshes ; but in the Maremme of Tuscany and the Campagna of Rome, it cannot be attributed to this cause ; for these Maremme are an elevated region, where the winds and the air have free circulation, and where there are neither marshes nor stagnant waters ; and yet this scourge is felt with as much violence on the lofty summit of the hills as in the forests. ATMOSPHERE. jgj It would seem probable, that this corruption of the air arises from the chemical constitution of the soil of this volcanic region; a constitution which it has gradually acquired by a process of nature, and a course of events, unknown to us. It is certain at least, that the cause of these constant and terrible phenomena is not yet known. Both the medical men and the chemists, who have attempted to account for them, have alike failed ; for their hypotheses are contradicted by facts, and they have never, to the present moment, been able to discover the source of that mysterious influence which diffuses itself like an invisible fluid ; and the presence of which is not in any way indicated. The sky is as clear, the verdure as fresh, the air as serene, as elsewhere ; the tran- quillity of the scene seems calculated to inspire a feeling of perfect security, and yet I cannot describe the secret dread which one experiences, in spite of one's self, on breathing this air, at once so soft and so deleterious. The eff'ect produced by this slow destruction of the human constitution, cannot be conceived except by those who have actually visited these provinces during the dangerous season. Their dejected inhabitants gradually lose the healthy colour of life ; their complexion becomes livid and yellow: their strength declines daily ; numbers of them perish before the end of the season ; and even those to whom Providence reserves a few more years of existence, have scarcely spirits to desire 182 ATMOSPHERE, EFFECTS, Sec. them. They lose their animation, and fall into a complete despondency ; and this moral debilita- tion tends, perhaps, equally with the pestilential atmosphere, to hasten the termination of their existence. The effect of this physical and moral depression is a periodical suspension of all social intercourse, as well as of all the pursuits of industry ; and the rural economy of these countries has necessarily been arranged with a reference to these circum- stances. This economy I was desirous of studying, because it appears to me to have been misunder- stood by all travellers ; and I shall now attempt to describe it. The great road from Florence to Rome passes through the Maremme of Tuscany as far as Acqua- pendente, where it enters the Roman territory. Here the nature of the soil, and with it the face of the country, changes. The argillaceous hills, whose whiteness and barenness fatigue the eye, have disappeared, and a luxuriant vegetation announces the fertility of the black volcanic sand of which the soil is composed. For several leagues the road successively rises and falls, till it reaches the lakes of Bolseno and Vico, around which immense forests, extending from the Apen- nines to the sea-shore, have grown for centuries. In the midst of these woods, which human industry seems to have forgotten, are openings of great extent, covered, like the savannahs of America, with natural grasses, and plants, whose singular PRODUCE. 193 growth gives a sort of African character to this neglected scenery. The towns are surrounded by fertile gardens and vineyards, where the vines are not trained over trees, as in Tuscany, but against trellises of reed. Fig-trees and aloes grow every where amidst the ruins, and adorn them with their deep verdure and Oriental forms ; while at a distance, corn-fields, interspersed in the openings of the woods, display, amidst the wildness of nature, the only mark of the presence and industry of man. The crops produced by these fields are most luxuriant. The land is previously suflTered to repose, for seven years, in a state of pasturage ; and such is its fertility, that immediately after the crop is off, it becomes spontaneously covered with vigorous herbage. In this state it feeds im- mense herds of horned cattle, horses, and sheep ; but after a few years the turf wears out ; briers, reeds, and broad-leaved plants, cover the soil, and the farmer, after having burned them, ploughs them up. During the year of fallow which suc- ceeds, it is turned over by the spade no less than seven times; and after this labour, which is neces- sary to destroy the roots of the wild vegetables, the corn is sown. The land thus prepared yields a produce of eight for one ; and is then again suffered to return to the state of natural pasture, from which it has been with so much trouble reclaimed. In this part of Italy, therefore, one-seventh only 184 PRODUCE. of the land is in a state of cultivation; the rest being abandoned to its spontaneous vegetation, and to the pasturage of cattle. The whole extent of cleared land is indeed very limited, two-thirds of the country being covered by forests. The vegetation of these majestic woods, che- rished by the hand of nature, is too luxuriant to be employed, as in Tuscany, for pasturage. The eye cannot penetrate their depth ; and the ima- gination peoples their gloom \^ith the spirits of that ancient people, who formrely rendsred these deserts illustrious, and delights in contemplating the solitary shades thus consecrated by their memory. The sound of the axe is rarely heard here, for the value of the timber would by no means repay the expense of felling it. It is only used in work- ing the iron mines of the Island of Elba. There is no other market near enough to render it worth while to cut the timber. As for the consumption of the country, it is so trifling as to be scarcely perceptible. The whole region I have been describing, is divided into vast estates, except the land imme- diately adjacent to the towns, where there are gardens and vineyards. These extensive domains are at once a result, and a cause, of the insalu- brity of the atmosphere, and have long since banished all the rural population from the fields. Throughout the whole country, not a village, not a hamlet, I may even say, not a farm-house, is to be KGNCIGl.lONE. ]g5 seen. The peasantiy live in the cities and towns, where landlords, farmers, labourers, merchants, and artisans, all vegetate together. The only erections that appear in the country are solitary buildings, at great distances from each other, called Casali. They are attached to the several estates, but contain no families, or inhabitants of any kind; being merely a place of shelter, during the working season, for the herdsmen and la- bourers, who retire there in the evening to avoid the humidity of the nights, and to eat the provi- sions which are brought to them from the neigh- bouring town. There is nothing rural, nothing patriarchal, however, about these dwellings. The cattle which rove about these immense farms, under the care of a few herdsmen, are very superior to those found on the scanty pastures of Tuscany. They are of the most stately make and beautiful form, and their immense horns give them a proud and dignified air which is heightened by a certain fierce expression, derived from their wild and savage habits of life. All their move- ments are measured and graceful, and their action is altogether different from the breeds of the north; insomuch that they are employed in every description of work, even in carrying goods; for which purpose they are far preferable to the horses. At Ronciglione, situated at the foot of the mountains of Viterbo, commences the celebrated plain which surrounds the city of Rome. It is *iB 186 SPOLETO. bounded by the sea and by a range of mountains, enclosing it like an amphitheatre, from the pro- montory of Circe to the hills of ancient Etruria. The surface of this plain, which is thirty leagues in length, by ten or twelve wide, is not level and uniform, like those of aqueous formation; but forms a continued suite of undulations. These do not follow any common direction, nor are any of them much higher than others, but they confine the view, so that you only see the country imme- diately around you. The traveller meets with no buildings on the road but a few inns, or post-houses. Those of Baccano, and La Storta, belong to the Princes Chigi and Borghese ; and are built with a magnificence which alone, amidst the desert that surrounds him, reveals to him that he is in the close vicinity of Rome. This he would not other- wise suspect, until he reaches the summit of Monte Mario ; whence the Tiber, and the seven hills with their domes and edifices, burst at once upon the view. To return to the course of our route from Flo- rence, and the principal objects and places worthy the traveller's notice on it, I may observe, the ancient town of Spoletum or Spoleto, is situated a short distance from the high road to Rome on the eastern side, towards the Apennines. It is situated on the side and summit of a considerable hill. It is a well known historical fact, that Hannibal attacked this town, immediately after CATHEDRAL, &c. 1^7 the defeat of the Romans at Thrasimenus ; and the hihabitants to the present day feel themselves entiled to glory in having repulsed the Carthagi- nian general, flushed as he was with conquest, and certain of success. An ancient gate com- memorates this event, so honourable to the people of Spoleto, in an uiscription on the great arch. There seems to exist in Spoleto, as in many Italian towns founded by Roman colonies, a vivid recollection of the glory of their ancestry. Not- withstanding the lapse of so many ages, so many cruel and destructive invasions ; though insulted, plundered, and almost enslaved ; the Italians, as a people, appear to remember, with generous and high-minded pride, that the Romans were their ancestors ; and they cherish the records of their glorious achievements as an inheritance of honour, their birthright to fame. This is, indeed, at all times the only possession which their in- vaders cannot wrest from them. Two other gates appear, by their form and materials to have some claim to antiquity. Some vast masses of stone, forming the piers of a bridge, the ruins of a theatre, and of a temple said to be dedicated to Concord. The cathedral, in a commanding situation, presents a front of five Gothic arches, supported by Grecian pillars ; and within, consists of a Latin cross, with a double range of pillars, of neat and pleasing ar- chitecture. The order is Corinthian. The two side altars are particularly beautiful. Two can- 188 PONTIFF?, WATER, CASTLE. &r. delabra of vast dimensions also deserve particular attention ; and the view from the terrace of the cathedral is very extensive and beautiful. Near it a very fine fountain of a most elegant form pours out a torrent of the purest water. The Koman Pontiffs, it must be acknowledged, have, in this respect, retained the sound maxim of an- tiquity, and studiously endeavoured to unite the useful and the agreeable. In no part of the world is water employed to more advantage, or poured forth in greater abundance, than in the Roman territories. It is sometimes drawn from distant sources, sometimes collected from various springs and gathered into one channel, but always de voted to public and beneficial purposes. The castle is a monument of barbarous anti- quity. It is a vast stone building, surrounded by a stone rampart, standing on a high hill that overlooks the town ; but being itself commanded by another of still greater height, it loses in modern times much of its advantage in case of attack, by the present mode of warfare. Behind the castle, a celebrated aqueduct, supported by arches of an astonishing elevation, run across a deep dell, and by a bridge unites the town with the noble hill that rises behind it, called Monte Luco. This latter is covered with evergreen oaks, and is adorned with the white cells of a tribe of hermits, established on its shaded sides. These hermits are bound in their community by regula- tions entirely different from those which distinguish HERMITS. ]gg most others bearing that name. They are not re- stricted in personal enjoyments by any vows, nor do they distress themselves by the rigid observance of trifling and unimportant ceremonies ; and, not- withstanding this kind of general independence, they are said to lead very pure, and most exem- plary lives. The aqueduct is Roman, but is said to have been repaired by the Goths, The town of Spoleto is in general well built ; and though occa- sionally damaged by earthquakes, — as we were in- formed by various inscriptions on the public build- ings — yet it possesses many noble edifices, and most beautiful palaces, all worthy the attention and enquiry of an intelligent traveller. The road from Spoleto is bordered by a stream on the left, and wooded hills on the right. About two miles from the town, we began to ascend the Somma. The road is excellent, and winds up the steep, without presenting- any thing parti- cularly interesting, till we reached the summit, whence we enjoyed a delightful and extensive view over Spoleto and its plain, or the vale of Clitumnus, on one side ; and on the other towards Terni, and the plains of the Nar. Monte Somma is supposed to have taken its name from a temple of Jupiter Summanus, placed on its summit. It is nearly five thousand feet high ; fertile, shaded with olive, ilex, and forest trees ; well cultivated, and enlivened with several little towns. The descent is long and rapid, and extends to the stage next to Terni. This ancient town retains igO CASCADE OF TERNI. 110 trace of its former splendour, though it may certainly boast of some fine palaces, and, what is superior to all palaces, a most charming situation. Over the gates of the amphitheatre is an inscrip- tion, informing the traveller, that Terni gave birth to Tacitus the historian, and the emperors Tacitus and Florian. Wliat country towns have the honour of three men so truly illustrious amongst their natives ! The principal gloi*y and boast of Terni at the present day is, however, the cele- brated cascade in its neighbourhood ; and which may truly be considered as one of the noblest and most extraordinary objects of this class, not only in Italy, but in the whole universe. To enjoy all the varied beauties of this magni- ficent and wonderful fall of water, it is necessary to take a first view of it from the side of the hill beyond the river Nar. The road to it runs through the valley along the river, sometimes overshaded by the superincumbent mountain, with its groves of pine, ilex, and beech rustling above, and at every turn exhibiting new scenery of rocks, woods, and waters. At length you climb the steep, shaggy sides of the hill, and from a natural platform, behold the cascade in front, in all its imposing beauty and grandeur. The point of view also which enabled us to see with much ad- vantage the second fall, when the river, bursting from the bason into which it was first precipitated, tumbles over a ridge of broken rocks, in sheets of varied character and appearance, and half veiled CASCADE OF TERNI. JQl in spray and foam. From this spot are taken most of the views hitherto published of this wonderful fall ; and when we visited it, there were two artists engaged in studying and sketching from it. It is usual to devote a second day to the ex- amination of the cascade from above, and the excursion is commenced from the earliest dawn. Mules or one horse chairs, are commonly hired, though, if the weather be cool, and the traveller accustomed to walk, it may be pleasantly per- formed on foot. The upper road crosses a plain, which is varied with olives, vines, and corn-fields, and climbs the mountain, through a defile, whose sides are clad with vines below, and with box and ilex above. In the dell the river Nar, of a wheyish colour, bounds along in a foaming state, through the rocky channel. In the centre of the defile rises an insulated eminence, which is topped with the ruins of the village of Papignia, destroyed by the French. Ascending still higher, we arrive at an angle, where the road is worked through the solid rock, and forming a very elevated terrace, gives you a view of Terni and its plain, the dell below, with the Nar, the mountains around, with their woods, and the Velino itself, at a considerable distance, just bursting from the shade, and throwing itself down the steep. The road still continues along the precipice, then crosses a small plain bounded by high mountains ; when you quit it and follow a pathway that brings you to a shed, placed on 192 LAKE PIE DE LUGO. the point of a hill, just opposite to the cascade* and so near to it indeed, that you are occasionally covered with its spray. From this point the magnificent phenomenon may be observed at leisure. At a little distance beyond the cascade, rise two hills, of a fine swelling- form, covered with groves of ilex. The Velino passes near one of these hills, and sud- denly tumbling over a ridge of broken rock, rushes headlong down in one vast sheet, and in three streamlets. The precipice is of brown rock, whose sides are smooth and naked, forming a semicircle crowned with m ood on the right, and on the left rising* steep, and feathered with ever- greens. On the one side it ascends in broken ridges, and on the other sinks gradually away, and subsides in a narrow valley, through which the Nar glides gently along, while the Velino after its fall, rolls through the dell in boisterous agitation. Its artificial bed is straight, but be- fore it reaches it, it wanders through a fertile plain, spread between the mountains, extending to the Lake Pie de Lugo. This beautiful ex- panse of water, about a mile in breadth, fills the defile, and meanders between the mountains for some miles. The way to it from the fall, is by a path winding along the foot of the mountain, and leading to a cottage, where a boat may be taken to cross to a bold promontory opposite. From that point may be enjoyed the view of the waters, the bordering mountains, the towns perched on EXTRAORDINARY ECHO. 193 their sides, the village Pie du Lugo, and, rising behind it, the old castle of Labro, whose dis- mantled towers crown a regular hill, while its shattered walls run in long lines down the de- clivity. We were here entertained with an echo, the most articulate, the most retentive, and the most musical I ever heard; repeating even a whole verse of a song after a singer, in a softer and more plaintive tone indeed, but with surpris- ing precision and distinctness. We remained for some time on the point of the promontory, partly to listen to the strains of this invisible and extra- ordinary songstress, and then crossed the lake to the village. We would willingly have followed the banks of the Velino up to its source, and visited Reiti, with its vale of Tempe, alluded to by Cicero; but the day was on the decline, and it would have been imprudent to have allowed ourselves to be benighted, either amid the solitudes of the mountain, or on its declivity. We therefore returned, again visited the cascade, ranged through a variety of natural grottos and caverns, which were formed in its neighbourhood by the water, before the present spacious bed was opened to receive it ; and, descending the hill, hastened to Terni. The river Nar or Nera, is the southern boun- dary of that portion of the territory formerly- called Umbria; and traverses, in its way to Narni, about nine miles distant, a vale of most delight* 2e J 94 BRIDGE OF AUGUSTUS. ful appearance. The Apennine, but in its mildest form, bounds this plain ; the milky Nera inter- sects it, and a fertility equal to that of the neigh- bouring vales, (but compressed into a smaller space, and of course placed more immediately within the reach of observation,) adorns it on all sides with vegetation and beauty ; so that indeed it resembles an extensive and noble park, the appendage of some princely palace, laid out and cultivated by the hand of taste, to please the eye and amuse the fancy. The ancient Roman colony of Narni stands on the summit of a very high and steep hill ; whose sides are clothed with olives, and whose base is washed by the Nar. At the foot of the hill we alighted, in order to visit the celebrated bridge of Augustus. This noble row of arches, thrown over the stream and the defile through which it rolls, to open a com- munication between the two mountains, and facilitate the approach to the town, was formed of vast blocks of a w hite stone, fitted together without cement. Of this important pile there still remains the piers, and one of the arches ; the other arches are fallen ; and their fall seems to have been occasioned by the sinking of the middle pier : a fabric of so much solidity and massive strength, must otherwise have been ca- pable of resisting the influence of time and the action of the weather. The views towards the bridge on the high road, and the plain on one side ; and on the NAUNI. J 95 other, through the remaining arch along the river, are of uncommon beauty, and unusually pic- turesque and pleasing. We proceeded through this dell, along the Nera, tumbling and murmur- ing over its rocky channel ; and then, with some difficulty, worked our way through the olives and evergreens that line the steep up to the town. We were particularly struck with its romantic appearance. Its walls and towns spread along the uneven summit, sometimes concealed in groves of cypress, ilex and laurel, and some- times emerging from the shade, and rising above their waving tops ; the most delightful prospects of the vales, towns, rivers and mountains opening here and there unexpectedly to the view ; these are all the features of the most pleasing and im- pressive character. But these are even encreased in their effect by a certain loneliness and silence, which prevails even in the streets; the conse-, quence and sad memorial of ages of revolution, disaster, and suffering. In these respects, few Italian towns have suffered more than Narni. From Narni, the road runs through the defile along the middle of the declivity, till, suddenly, the opposite mountain appears as if it burst asun- der, and opens through its wooded and shaggy sides an extensive and interesting view over the plain of the river Tiber, and terminating in the mountains of Viterbo. Here we left the defile and the Nera, but continued to enjoy mountain and forest scenery of the finest description, for 196 THE TIBER. some miles, till, descending the last declivity, a few miles from Orte, in the midst of a spacious and verdant plain, we beheld, for the first time, clear and distinct, glittering in the beams of the sun, and winding along in silent dignity, the Tiber. Orte, the post-town, stands on the side of a hill, about two miles from the ancient town, whence it takes its name. The remains of the latter lie spread in the plain below, along the banks of the Tiber ; and present a considerable heap of fragments, in which the vestiges of a theatre perhaps, and a few porticos may be per- ceived; while the principal features of the town are lost, and hurried in a mass of undistinguish- able ruin. We now crossed the Tiber by the Ponto Felice, changed horses at Borghetto, and arrived, when dark, at Civita Castellana. From Civita Castellana, we passed over a tract of forest country, enjoying beautiful views of the Montes Crinini, with their towns, villas, and vil- lages to the right ; and an occasional glimpse of the town of Soracte to the left. And, having passed the river Falisco, which anciently gave its name to the people and territory of the Falisci, we arrived at Nepi, a small but very ancient episcopal town; whose cathedral, which is built on the scite of a temple, was consecrated, accord- ing to an inscription over one of the doors, by the blood of the inhabitants, in the early period of the year 150. AfPROACH TQ ROMB. |9y It has been supposed by many authors, that, in former times, the road from the town of Nepi, or rather from the Ponte Felice, was actually lined with a succession of magnificent edifices, obelisks, and palaces ; adorned with statues ; and con- ducted, under triumphal arches of the noblest architecture, to the very gates of the imperial city. If this opinion be accurate however, (and it has been very general) it is certainly singular that no traces should now remain of all these splendid monuments. No mounds nor remnants of walls, no mouldering heaps of ruins, scarcely even a solitary tomb has survived the general wreck. On the contrary, beyond the town of Nepi, or rather beyond Monte Rosi, which is the next stage towards Rome, the Campagna, as it is termed, begins to expand its dreary solitudes; and naked hills and swampy plains rise and sink by turns, without presenting a single object worthy the travellers attentive observance. It must not, however, be supposed, that no vegeta- tion decorates these dreary wilds. On the con- trary, verdure but seldom interrupted, occasional corn-fields, and numerous herds and flocks, com- municate some degree of animation to these regions, otherwise so desolate : but descending from mountains (the natural seat of barrenness, where still we had witnessed rural beauty and the highest cultivation) to a plain, in the immediate vicinity of a populous city, where we might naturally expect the perfection of horticulture, J 9^ FACB OF THE COUNTRY. and all the vivacious bustle of a city population, we were doubly struck with the wide waste that spreads around; and could not but wonder what might be the cause that deprived so extensive a tract of its iuhabitants, and the usual indications of cheerfulness. But a certain air of neatness, arid an increased density of population announce the neighbourhood of every common town ; they are the usual accompaniments of capitals, and, in their general occurrence, excite no interest. The solitude that encircles the fallen metropolis of the world is doubly singular and grand ; it well be- comes i s fallen majesty : it awakens a sentiment of reverential awe and melancholy, and is, per- haps, more consonant to the character of the city than more lively and exhilirating scenery. In the instance of Her Royal Highness, it could not be otherwise. Notwithstanding the evident en- deavour to conceal a depression of spirits, and a benevolent desire to communicate happiness to those around her. Her Royal Highness evidently felt an interest in the scene, and dwelt on it with a becoming spirit of philosophy. Baccano, a solitary post-house, bearing the name of an ancient town, stands in a little valley, surrounded on all sides with hills, forming a ver- dant amphitheatre that wants nothing but trees of considerable bulk tobe extremely beautiful. About four miles to the right, is the lake Bracceana. On the heights above Baccano, the carriages sto})ped, and, pointing to a pinnacle that ap- ROME. 199 peared emerging between two hills, — "Roma! Roma!" was the universal exclamation of the Italians of our party. — That pinnacle was the cross of Saint Peter's. — The "Eternal City"' now rose before us. As may well be supposed, we partook largely of this emotion ; and, after a short pause, pro- ceeded towards the ruins of " Imperial Rome," occupied in deep reflection. As the traveller advances over the dreary wilds of the Campagna — where not one object occurs to awaken his attention — he has time to recover from the surprise and agitation which the first view of Rome seldom fails to excite in liberal and ingenuous minds. He may naturally be supposed to enquire into the cause of these emotions, and at first he may be inclined to attribute them solely to the influence of early habits ; and ascribe the feelings of the man to the warm imagination of youth. Without doubt, the name of Rome echos in our ears from our infancy ; our lisping tongues are tuned to her language ; and our first and most delightful years are passed among her orators, poets, and historians. But these are not the real causes. Rome, the mistress of the world, claims our respect and afftection, on grounds which the Christian and the philosopher must admit with grateful acknow- ledgment. Her ancient origin and venerable fame ; her mighty achievements and vast em- pire ; her heroes and her saints; the majesty of 200 ROME. her language, and the charms of her literature, all these — which will perpetuate her name when her very ruins shall have disappeared — are among the real causes of our attachment and our admi- ration. But more than even all these. Rome has been, in the hands of Providence, the instrument of communicating to Europe, and to a considerable portion of the globe, the three great blessings of which human nature is susceptible — Civilization, Science, and Religion. The system of Roman government seems to have been peculiarly adapted to the attainment of this great end ; and the ex- tension of her empire to have been ordained by heaven for its full accomplishment. !^i!.'i :-,'', pap; .) ■;J^ gi i' K - ',-ici jRg ( m ) CHAPTER X. The Approach to Rome. — lis ancient Importance powerfully contrasted with its present State. — Compared with Jerusalem in its consequence to the World. — Arrival in Rome. — General De- scription of it. — Present desolate Condition. — f^isit to St. Peter s. — Its vast Grandeur. — f^isit to the Capitol. — Its beautiful and interesting Prospects. Other Remains of ancient Rome of general Interest described. In ancient times, the despotism of the eastern monarchies kept mankind in an abject slavery; the narrow policy of the Greek republics confined the blessing of liberty within the precints of their own countries ; Rome, with more generous senti- ments, gradually extended her own rights and privileges to the capitals of her conquered countries, enrolled their natives into her armies, and admitted their nobles into her senate. Thus those who became her subjects by conquest, ad- vanced in honours as they improved in civiliza- tion ; and made hourly approaches to the manners and virtues of the conquerors, till every province became another Italy, every city another Rome. With her laws and her freedom, she communicated to them her arts and sciences. Wherever the Roman eagles penetrated, schools were opened, and public teachers were pensioned. Aqueducts, 2d 202 REFLECTIONS ON ROME. bridges, temples, and theatres were raised in almost every town ; and all the powers of archi- tecture, sculpture, and painting, were employed to decorate the capitals of the most distant pro- vinces. Roads, the mere remains of which surprise us, even in this day, were carried from the Roman Forum, as the centre of this vast em- pire, to its utmost extremities ; and all the tribes and nations that composed it were thus linked together, not only by the same laws, and the same government, but by all the felicities of a com- modious intercourse, and constant intercommu- nication. If the state of ancient Gaul, Spain, and Britain, when covered with numberless cities, and flourishing in all the arts of peace, under the immediate and powerful protection of the Roman empire, be compared with their wild forests, their swamps, and the rude huts of their half- naked, and savage inhabitants, w^ho were thinly scattered over their wastes previous to their sub- jugation, we shall be able to appreciate the bless- ings those countries owed to the conquering arms of Rome. Roilie thus civilized and polished mankind, and prepared them for the reception of Christianity ; and when the world, influenced by her instruc- tions and example, became Christian, she became, by a new and more venerable title, the metropolis of the world ; and assumed, in a more sacred sense, the appellation of the "Holy City," the "Parent of Mankind." Afterwards, when in the course of REFLECTIONS UN ROME. 203 the two succeeding ages, she was stiipt of her iyiperial honours, by the ravages of successive hordes of barbarians, she again renewed her bene- volent exertions ; and sent out — not armies to conquer, as heretofore, — but, in the spirit of Chris- tianity, apostles to reclaim the savage tribes which had wasted her empire. She thus bore the light of heaven into the dark recesses of idolatary ; and displaying all the w isdom and perseverance which had marked her former glo- rious career, she triumphed, and in spite of igno- rance and barbarianism again spread Christianity over the west. The muses, which had followed the Roman eagles in their victorious flight, now accompanied her humble missionaries in their expeditions of charity ; and with them penetrated the swamps, the forests, and the mountains of barbarous and benighted regions. Schools, that vied in learn- ing and celebrity with her own far-famed semina- ries, rose, and the beams of science were diflused over the vast and inhospitable tracts of the north, even to the polar circles. The arts followed the traces of learning : and the untutored savages saw with surprise temples of stone rise in their sacred groves; the venerable forms of the apostles of Christianity in the finest marble replace the uncouth statues of their idolsj. The figure of the Redeemer, till then unknown, seemed to breathe on canvass to their eyes ; and music, far surpassing in sweetness and e:3s:pressipu 204 REFLECTIONS ON ROME. the finest strains of their own bards, announced to them the mercies they were thus summoned to adore. Religion, thus adorned, and thus accom- panied with blessings, was eagerly embraced; and Europe finally settled in Christianity, and en- lightened by science by the exertions of Rome. To conclude these (not perhaps unimportant) reflections. There are, perhaps, in the whole universe but two cities which are interesting alike to every member of the great Christian world, to every member of the civilized commu- nity of whatever tribe or nation — Rome and Jeru- salem. The former calls up the most worthy recollections; the latter awakens every sentiment of devotion ; the one may be said to bring before our imagination all the splendours of the present world ; the other, all the glories of the world to come. The cross which Jerusalem erected on Mount Calvary, Rome fixed on the diadem of her emperors ; and the prophetic songs of Mount Sion, have resounded from the seven hills of Rome to the extremities of the universe. How natural then surely is the emotion which the traveller feels, when he first beholds the distant domes of a city of such figure and importance in the history of the world, of such weight in the destinies of mankind, so familial' to the imagina- tion of the child, so interesting to the feelings of the man ! While occupied in these and such reflections, we passed Monte Mario, and beheld the city REFLECTIONS ON ROME. 205 gradually opening to our view : turrets and cupolas succeeded each other, with long lines of palaces between, till the dome of the Vatican itself, lifting its majestic form far above the rest, fixed the wandering eye, and closed the prospect with becoming grandeur. We crossed the Tiber by the Ponte Molle, and proceeded on the Via Flaminia, through the suburb, entered the Porta del Popolo, admired the beautiful square that re- receives the traveller on his entrance, and drove, in the first instance, to the Piazza d'Espagne. After making the necessary arrangements for Her Royal Highness's comfort and accommodation, some of our party proceeded to take a hasty view of Saint Peter's. We traversed its superb court, contemplated — in silence and in wonder — its obe- lisk, its fountains, its colonade, its lengthening nave, its altar, and its varied beauties. Her Royal Highness's stay in Rome was, at this visit, but short ; being merely taken in the route to Naples, at which place it was already deter- mined to pass the winter. During Her Royal Highness's present residence, she was lodged at the palace Borghesse, where she was constantly visited by all the British nobility and persons of distinction resident at Rome, as well as the Italian nobility. Before I enter into any detailed description of the palaces, temples, and other buildings, which remain of the magnificence of ancient Rome, and which possess so high an interest and curiosity, 206 DESCRIPTION OF ROME. it will be necessary to give the untravelled En- glish reader some general ideas of the present condition and circumstances of Rome, and to mark the distinction between what may be termed ancient and modern Rome. It may be estimated that, from different causes, the population of modern Rome is reduced from one hundred and sixty thousand, (which was the amount twenty years ago,) to one hundred thou- sand ; and there is but too much reason to be satis- fied, that this difference is mainly to be attributed to the effects of the pestilential atmosphere of the surrounding country. So rapid a reduction of the inhabitants necessarily leaves considerable dis- tricts of the city without residents ; and thus whole streets, which were formerly the scenes of opulence and splendour, are now in a state of complete desertion, and gloomy silence. Places which were then crowded with sumptuous equipages and liveries, and decorated with magnificent palaces, in which strangers were received with pressing hospitality, and in which every thing, in short, had an appearance of activity and wealth, are now filled with di'oves of cattle, goats, and half- wild horses ; driven by Tartar-looking herdsmen, armed with long pikes, and filling the air with clouds of dust. These men come every evening, with their flocks, to seek an asylum within the walls of Rome, from the fate which awaits them in the fields. They take possession of the streets, and ITS PRESENT STATE. 207 palaces ; which arc abandoned by the inhabitants, as the population diminishes, and as the advance of the noxious atmosphere drives them towards the centre of the city. The Porta del Popolo, a part of the Corso, the entire quarters of the Qui- rinale, of La Trinity del Monte, and the Tras- tevere, are already deserted ; and the country people have taken up their residence in them. Of the one hundred thousand, to which the popu- lation is reduced, ten thousand are vine-dressers, herdsmen, or gardeners. There are extensive districts in Rome, which are actually nothing more than villages, inhabited by the peasantry, whom the pestilential atmosphere has compelled to abandon their habitations in the country. So rapid a depopulation, in so short a space of time, is almost without example. The political events which have occurred during that period, have no doubt contributed, in some degree, to occasion this reduction; but its principal cause must be referred to the general circumstances of the city, and to the effect of the Malaria. This scourge is every year advancing. Every year it invades some fresh street, some new square or quarter, and every year its terrible influence is augmented ; for it increases precisely in the in- verse ratio of the resistance occasioned by the population. The fewer inhabitants there are, the more victims ; and one funeral is always the fore-runner of many othei*s. It is, therefore, probable, that we are arrived 208 iioi\iE. at that period of the history of this queen of cities, which is destined to strip her of her splendour, and leave to her, of all her glory, nothing but her immortal name. The walls of Rome, in another century, will, probably, contain nothing but a vast assemblage of monuments, palaces, and ruins of all ages. The goatherd, the vine-dresser, and the shepherd, will dwell in her magnificent por- tico, and thus will terminate the history of Rome. She has long survived her rivals; but, like Athens and Persepolis, she must experience the common fate of all that the hand of man hath raised, and be herself destroyed. The city presents every where the appearance of ruin. As there are more houses than inhabi- tants, they are never repaired ; when they be- come out of order, the occupiers remove to others. Neither doors, stairs, nor roof, are ever replaced : they fall to decay, and are left to remain where they fall. Multitudes of convents have thus acquired the appearance of ruins ; and a great number of palaces, no longer habitable, are left without even a porter to take care of them. This universal neglect has, together with the droves of cattle, and Tartar-looking people, which fill the streets, already occasioned a striking appearance of desolation and decay. Amidst this general neglect of all the private structures, a great bustle is seen about all the remains of antiquity which have been spared by time. The government has recently adopted a ITS PRESENT STATE. 209 grand project of removing the rubbish by which they are obstructed, and of connecting, and grouping them together, so as to place these inestimable remains in the most picturesque and advantageous points of view. The whole of the space comprehended within the Capitol, the Temple of Peace, the Coliseum, and the Tiber, is already cleared of all its modern edifices, and of all the walls and mean buildings which were accumulated about the Palatine mount, and which obstructed both the approach and the view of this noble area. It is intended to surround it with a double avenue of trees, within the enclosure of which these ruined temples and triumphal arches will repose on the turf, forming a sort of unique pleasure ground, diversified by the Palatine and Aventine hills, and ornamented by the Capitol and the Coliseum. This vast and noble design, inspired by the veneration of antiquity, is however only a tribute of respect paid to its inanimate remains, and has no influence on the social state of modern Rome. Every thing there appears to be the work of for- mer times : nothing: new is to be seen. Each one c5 uses his possessions to the last; as if a kind of presentiment deterred him from undertaking or attempting any thing : and this species of langour is, itself, a powerful cause of decline, because it extinguishes all productive industry. The labourer and the artisan perish for the want of subsistence ; the whole of the industrious popula- 2 E 210 ROME. tion soon disappears; and the destruction of the class of consumers, ruins, in turn, that of the pro- ducers. There is, in fact, no city where the necessaries of life are so cheap as at Rome ; the supplies pro- vided for a population of one hundred and sixty- six thousand, being" now consumed by one hundred thousand only. The only advantage of this low price is, that it tempts the inhabitants to stay. For a long time to come, it is probable that a certain population, consisting of the possessors of pfoperty, will be concentrated about the middle of the city, and there struggle against the pestilential atmosphere; while all the rest of Rome, abandoned to the elements, will be nothing but a vast heap of solitary ruins. Such is the scene which strikes you on passing through those quarters of the city which have been long deserted, and which present a singular mixture of town and country, of porticos, and of miserable huts. I was, one evening, contemplat- ing this scene, at once so impressive and extra- ordinary, from the garden of a ruined convent, between the Coliseum and the temple of Peace. Before me lay the valley which separates the Palatine hill from Mount Caelius, with the arch of Constantine, and the Via Sacra. On the summit of the hill of the Caesars, rose the palm-tree, dis- playing itself in the azure sky, like a last trophy of glories past; while, on the opposite hill, a row of cypresses extend, like a funeral decoration, to ITS PRESENT STATE. 211 the verge of the horizon, and seemed to mourn that these glories were departed. On the other side of the Tiber, towards the Basilicum of Saint Peter, and the Porta Angelica, I passed through streets entirely deserted, and which were inhabited only by the herdsmen, who, as usual, came to pass the night in this insecure asylum. All the environs of the Vatican were abandoned in like manner. I was particularly struck wdth this loneliness on going early one morning to the church of Saint Peter. The sun was just rising as I was entering the area : the gates of the temple were still closed ; a pro- found tranquillity reigned throughout, interrupted only by the distant tinkling of the bells of flocks which were returning to the pastures. The obe- lisk still rested on its brazen pediment, and the two fountains were pouring forth their everlasting- streams. The pavement was not trodden by a single foot, and I arrived at the vestibule without meeting a human being. The freshness of the morning, and the tints of the dawn, diffused an inexpressible charm over this divine solitude: I contemplated at once the temple, the porticoes, and the heavens ; and, for the first time, felt the full elFect of those magnificent phenomena, with which nature accompanies the rising and the declining day. Our present stay in Rome being short and pre- scribed, the view we were enabled to take of it, although necessarily of less minute detail, as to 212 SAINT PETER'S. ruins, statues, pictures, and objects of minor interest than that of many travellers, was yet methodically arranged, of more solid efficiency, and will be more pleasant and satisfactoiy to the general reader than more laboured descrip- tions. We renewed our visit to Saint Peter's next morning, and examined it m.ore in detail. The pre- ceding day it had been somewhat veiled by the dimness of the evening ; it was now lighted up by the splendour of the morning sun. The rich mar- bles that compose its pavement and line its walls ; the paintings that adorn its cupulos ; the bronze that enriches its altars and railings ; the gilding that lines the pannels of its vault; the mosaics that rise one above the other in brilliant succession, up to its dome, now shone forth in all their varied colours. Its nave, its aisles, its transepts, ex- panded their vistas and hailed the spectator, wherever he turned, with a long succession of splendid objects, and beautiful arrangement; in short, the whole of this most majestic fabric opened itself at once to the sight, and filled the eye and the imagination with magnitude, propor- tion, richness and grandeur. From Saint Peter s we hastened to the Capitol ; and, ascending the tower, seated oiiselves under the shade of its pinnacle, and fixed our attention on the view beneath and around us. That view was no other than ancient and modern Rome. Be- hind us, the modern citv lav extended over the THE CAPITOL. 213 Campus Martins, and, spreading along the banks of the Tiber, formed a curve around tlie base of the Capitol. Before us, scattered in vast shape- less masses, over the seven hills, and through the intervening valleys, arose the ruins of the ancient city. They stood desolate, amidst solitude and silence, with groves of funeral cypress waving over them ; the awful and impressive monuments, not of individuals, but of entire generations ; not of men, but of empires. A traveller feels a strong emotion, a sentiment of melancholy resignation to the common fate of all earthly things, when he beholds, extended in disordered heaps before him, the disjointed " car- case of fallen Rome," once the grand receptacle of nations, " the common asylum of mankind; the fountain of wealth and power, the sensorium of wisdom and valour." To a contemplative mind, the survey is, indeed, awful and impressive. Im- mediately under the eye, and at the foot of the capitol, lay the Forum, lined with solitary co- lumns, and commencing and terminating in a triumphal arch. Beyond, and just before us, rose the Palatine mount, encumbered with the ruins of the imperial palace, and of the temple of Apollo ; and still farther on, ascends the Celian mount, with the temple of Faunus on its summit. On the right was the Aventine, spotted with heaps of stone, which swell amidst its lonely vineyards. To the left the Esquiline, with its scattered tombs, and tottering aqueducts ; and, in the same line, 214 " PROSPECT OF RUINS. the Veriiinil and the Quirinal, terminating in the once magnificent baths of Dioclesian. The baths of Antoninus, the temple of Minerva, and many a venerable fabric, bearing on its shattered form the traces of the iron hand of destruction, as well as the furrows of age, lay scattered up and dow^n in the vast field ; w hile the superb temples of Saint John Lateran, Santa Maria Maggiore, and Santa Crose, arose, with their pointed obelisks, majestic but solitary monuments, amidst the extensive waste of time and desolation; and the ancient walls of Rome, lying in a vast circumference, formed a frame of venerable aspect, well adapted to this picture of ruin, this cemetery of ages. Beyond, the eye ranged over the deserted Cam- pagna, and rested on the Alban mount ; which rose before us to the south, shelving down- wards, on the west tow ards Antium and the Medi- terranean, and on the east towards the plain of Latuim. Here, it presents Tuscuhim in white lines on its declivity ; there, it exhitits the long ridge that overhangs its lake ; once the site of Alba Longa, and towering boldly in the centre, with an hundred tow ns and villas on its sides, it terminates in a point, once crowned with the triumphal temple of Jupiter Latialis. Turning eastward, we beheld the Tibertine hills, with Tiber reclining on their sides ; and behind, still more to the east, the Sabine mountains, enclosed by the Apennines, which, at the varying distance of from forty to sixty miles, swept round to the DELIGHTFUL VIEWS. 215 east and north, forming an immense and bold boundary of snow. The Montes Crinini, and several lesser hills, diverging from the Pater Apenninus, the great parent ridge, continue the chain, till it nearly reaches the sea, and forms a perfect theatre. Mount Soracte, thirty miles to the north, lifts his head ; an insulated, and there- fore a striking feature. While the Tiber, enriched by numberless rivers and streamlets, intersects the immense plain ; and, bathing the temples and palaces of Rome, rolls, like the Po, a current un- exhausted even during the scorching heats of summer. The tract now expanded before us, was the country of the Etrurians, the Latins, the Sa- bines, the Volscians, and other independent states and powers, which, in ancient days, surrounded the Roman territory ; and which was, of course, the scene of the wars and exertions, of the vic- tories and triumphs of infant Rome, during a pe- riod of nearly four hundred years of her history ; a most interesting period : when she possessed and exercised every generous virtue ; and esta- blished, on the basis of justice, wisdom, and forti- tude, the foundations of her future empire. As the traveller looks towards the regions once inhabited by these well known tribes, many an illustrious name, and many a noble achievement, must rise in his memory; reviving too at the same moment the recollection of his early studies, his boyish amusements, and most delightful days; and blending the friendships of his youth with the 216 THE CAPITOL. memorials of ancient greatness. The day was cloudless ; the beams of the sun played over the landscape ; hues of light blue, intermingled with dark shades, deepening as they retired, chequered the mountains. A line of shining white snow marked the distant Apennines; and a vault of the purest and brightest azure covered this glorious scene. We passed a long and delightful morning in its contemplation. The following day was employed in wandering over the city at large, and taking a cursory view of some of its principal streets, squares, build- ings, and monuments. This we did to satisfy the first cravings of curiosity. We then proceeded to the Vatican and Pincian mounts, ranged over the Campus Martins, and along the banks of the river Tiber ; then wandered through the villas, both within and without the city ; and, finally, explored the churches, monu- ments, tombs, hills, and fields, in its immediate neighbourhood. After having thus gratified ourselves with a general and some select views, and formed a toler- ably accurate idea of the most striking features of Rome, we proceeded, on the fourth day, through the II Corso, that is, through " streets of palaces and walks of state," to the Capitolinehill. The capitol was anciently both a fortress and a sanctuary. A fortress, surrounded with pre- cipices, bidding defiance to all the means of attack employed in ancient times ; a sanctuary THE CAPITOL. 217 crowded with altars and temples, the repository of the fatal oracles, the seat of the tutelar deities of the empire. Romulus began the grand work, and it was continued, during a long series of ' years, to its completion, which was with great solidity and magnificence. It was burnt during the civil wars between Marius and Sylla, and rebuilt shortly after ; but again destroyed by fire, in a dreadful contest that took place in the very Forum itself, and on the sides of the Capitoline mount. This event is lamented as the greatest disaster that had ever befallen the city. And, indeed, if we consider that the public archives, and of course the most valuable records of its history, were deposited there, we must allow that the catastrophe was peculiarly unfortunate, not to Rome only, but to the world at large. But the capitol rose once more from its ashes with redoubled splendour, and received, from the munificence of the Em- peror Vespasian, and his son Domitian, its last and most glorious embellishments. The edifices, in site and destination, were probably nearly the same as before the conflagration; but more atten- tion was paid to symmetry, to costliness, and^ above all, to grandeur and magnificence. The northern entrance led, under a triumphal arch, to the centre of the hill, and to the sacred grove, the asylum opened by Romulus, and almost the cradle of Roman power. To the right, on the eastern summit of the hill, stood the temple of 2F 218 TEMPLES. Jupiter Feretrius. To the left, on the western summit, was that of Jupiter Custos. Near each of these temples,were the fanes of inferior divinities; that of Fortune, and that of Fides, alluded to by Cicero. In the midst — to crown the pyramid formed by such an assemblage of majectic edi- fices, and at the same time to afford a becoming residence for the guardian of the empire, the father of gods and men — rose the temple of Jupi- ter Capitolinus, on a hundred steps, supported by a thousand pillars, adorned by all the refine- ments of art, and blazing with the plunder of the world. In the centre of the temple, with Juno on his left, and Minerva on his right side, the thun- derer sat on a throne of gold, grasping the light- ning in one hand, and ih the other wielding the sceptre of the universe. Hither the consuls were conducted by the senate, to assume the military dress, and implore the favour of the gods, before they marched to battle. Hither the victorious generals used to repair in triumph, to suspend the spoils of conquered nations, present captive mo- narchs, and offer up hecatombs to Tarpeian Jove. Here, in cases of danger and distress, the senate was assembled, and the magistrates convened to deliberate, in the presence, and under the imme- diate influence of the tutelar gods of Home. Here the laws were exhibited to public inspection, as if under the sanction of the divinity ; and here also deposited, as if intrusted to his guardian care. In the midst of these magnificent structures, of THE HUT OF ROMULUS. 219 this wonderful display of art and opulence, stood, for many ages, the actual, the humble straw-roofed palace of Romulus, the founder of Rome: a mo- nument of primitive simplicity, dear and venerable in the eyes of the Romans. This cottage, it may easily be supposed, vanished in the first confla- gration. But not the cottage only, the temples, the towers, the palaces also that once surrounded it, have disappeared. Of all the ancient glory of the capitol, nothing now remains but the solid foundation, and vast substructions raised on the rock. Not only is the capitol fallen, but, in modern times, its very name, expressive of dominion, and once fondly considered as an omen of empire, is now almost lost in its present semi-barbarous appellation of Campidoglio. At present the Capitoline Mount is covered with buildings, far inferior, without doubt, to the imperial edifices above described, but yet of grand proportions, and vast magnitude. The northern, still the principal entrance, is an easy ascent, adorned w^ith a marble balustrade commencing below, with two immense lionesses, of Egyptian porphyry, pouring a torrent of water into spaci- ous basons of marble, and terminated above by statues of Castor and Pollux, each holding his horse. Here you enter the square, in the centre of which stands the well known equestrian statue of Marcus Aureli-us. In front, and on each side, are three extensive buildings, erected by Michael 220 THE MUSEUM. Angelo. The edifice before you, of bold eleva- tion, adorned with Corinthian pilasters, and a lofty tower, is the palace of the senator. A double flight of marble steps leads to its portal. In the centre of this staircase stands the genius of Rome, like Minerva, armed with the aegis, and leaning on her spear. A fountain bursts forth at her feet. On her right the Tiber, on her left the Nile, lay reclined, each on its urn. The French, during- the revolutionary wars, carried off the two latter statues, with some other ornaments of the Capi- toline square. In the palace of the senator, and in that of the Conservatori, are several halls and apartments, magnificent in their size and decora- tions. It is to be observed, that the capitol is the palace of the Roman people, the seat of their power, and residence of their magistracy. The statues and other antiques, placed here by the Popes, are dedicated, in the names of the donors, to the Roman people ; and the inscriptions, in general, run in the ancient style. Nor is it un- worthy of its destination. The beauty of its architecture, the magnitude of its apartments, the excellence of its paintings, and the prodigious number of statues and antiques, with which it is decorated, give it a splendour unequalled in any other capital, and only eclipsed, even in Rome itself, by the recollection of its former greatness. The Museum Capitol inum contains, in several large rooms, a most splendid collection of busts, statues, sarcophagi, &c. bestowed by ditferent CONSERVATORY OF ARTS. 221 Popes and illustrious personages on this magnifi- cent cabinet, devoted to the use of the Roman people, or rather of the literary and curious of all nations. One of the most interesting objects in this collection, is an ancient plan of Rome, cut in marble ; once part of the pavement of a temple in the forum, and thence transferred to the capitol, where it lines the walls of one of the grand stair- cases of the museum. But unfortunately it is not entire ; if it were, we should have a most perfect plan of ancient Rome ; the streets, forums, tem- ples, &c. being marked out in the mosl distinct manner. There are, moreover, in the palace of the Conservatory, galleries of paintings, and halls appropriated to the use of young artists, where lectures are given, and drawings taken from life ;. premiums are also bestowed publicly in the grand hall in the senator s palace. In short, the capitol is now consecrated, not, as of old, to the tutelar gods of Rome, but to her arts, to the remains of her grandeur, to the monuments of her genius, and, I may add, to her titles — now, the mere sem- blance of her ancient liberty. The highest and most conspicuous part of the C^pitoline Mount is, however, occupied by a building in an inferior taste, the church and con- vent of Ara Coeli. The ascent from the plain below, by an hundred and twenty-four marble steps, deserves a better termination than its mi- serable portal ; and the various ancient pillars of ^Egyptian granite, that adorn the nave of the 1222 TRIUMPHAL ARCHES. church and the portico of the cloisters, furnish a sufficient quantity of the best materials for the erection and decoration of a very noble edifice. Anciently there were two ways from the capi- tol to the forum ; both parted from the neigh- bourhood of the Tabularium, and diverging as they descended, terminated each in a triumphal arch; that of Tiberius to the west, that of Severus to the east. Of these arches the latter only re- mains ; the triumphal arch of Septimus is nearly half buried in the ground. ( 223 ) CHAPTER XL Splendour of the Ro?ncm Forwn. — The Coliseunu The Palace of Imperial Rome. — Burying Place^ The extraordinary extent and grandeur of the Roman Baths. — TheBathsof Caracalla. — Nero's Palace. — The Temple of the Sun. — The Campus 3Iartius.—The venerable Pile of the Pa?itheon, The Trajan Pillar. — Bridges. — The great Cir- cus. — Causes of the Destruction and Disappear- ance of such vast Edifices. The Roman Forum now lay extended before us, a scene, in the ages of Roman greatness, of un- paralleled splendour and magnificence. It was bordered on both sides with temples, and lined with statues. It terminated in triumphal arches; and was bounded, on one side, by the Palatine hill, with the imperial residence glittering on its summit; and, on the other, by the capitol, with its ascending ranges of porticos and temples. It presented perhaps one of the richest exhibitions that eyes could behold, or human ingenuity in- vent. In the midst of these superb monuments, the memorials of their greatness, the Roman people assembled to exercise their sovereign power, and to decide the fate of nations. This scene of magnificence is now, however, a chaos of ruins. Here and there an insulated column stands in the midst of broken shafts, vast 224 ARCH OF TITUS. fragments of marble capitals and cornices, heaped together in masses, rise to remind the melancholy traveller, that the lonely field he now traverses, was once the Roman Forum. A little farther on commences a double range of treep, that leads along the Via Sacra, by the temples of Antoninus and of Peace, to the arch of Titus. A herdsman, seated on a pedestal while his oxen were drinking from a marble fountain, and a few passengers, moving at a distance in different directions, were the only living beings that disturbed the silence and solitude which reigned around. Thus the place seemed restored to its original wildness, and abandoned once more to flocks and herds of cattle. So far, in fact, have the modern Romans forgotten the theatre of the glory and imperial power of their ancestors, as to degrade it into a common market for cattle, and sink its name, — illustrated by every page of Romanhistory — into the contemptible appellation of Campo Vaccino. Proceeding along the Via Sacra, we passed under the arch of Titus ; but now a mere mass of ruin, insulated walls, immense stones suspended in the air, arches covered with weeds and shrubs, vaults opening upon other ruins ; in short, above, below, and around, one vast collec- tion of magnificence and devastation, of grandeur and decay. This stupendous fabric was erected by the em- perors Vespasian and Titus, out of part only of the U'^.f ■•' - '.^i/ '' «'ii i| ||f ''' #ii'i!i : i,-":^^ NERO'S GOLDEiV HOUSfi. 225 materials, and on a portion of the site of Nero's golden house, which had been demolished by order of Vespasian, as too sumptuous even for a Roman emperor. The Coliseum, owing to the solidity of ats materials, survived the era of barbarism, and was so perfect in the thirteenth century, that games were exhibited in it, not for the amuse- ment of the Romans only, but to all the nobility of Italy . The destruction of this wonderful fabric is interesting. When Rome began to revive, and architecture arose from its ruins, every rich and powerful citizen wished to have, not a commodious dwelling merely, but a palace. The Coliseum was an immense quarry at hand ; the common people stole, the grandees obtained permission to carry off, its materials, till the interior was gradually dismantled, and the exterior half stripped of its ornaments. Benedict xiv. however, a pontiff of great judgment, stayed the depredations, by erecting a cross in the centre of the area, and declared it sacred. The remains were thus protected, and are transmitted to us in their present state. We next passed under the arch of Constantino : this is the only one that remains entire, with its pillars, statues, and basso relievos, all of the most beau- tiful marble, and some of excellent workmanship. They are taken from the arch of Trajan, which was stripped, or demolished, by order of the senate, for that purpose. We then ascended the Palatine Mount. This 2 G 226 BURIAL PLACE. hill, the nursery of infant Rome, and finally the residence of Imperial grandeur, presents now two solitai7 villas and a convent, with their deserted gardens and vineyards. Its numerous temples, its palaces, its porticos and its libraries, once the glory of Rome and the admiration of the universe, are now mere heaps of ruins. The west side of the Aventine looks down on the Tiber, and on the fields called Prati del Popolo Romano. These meadows are planted with mulberry trees, and adorned by the pyramidal tomb of Caius Cestius. This ancient monument remains entire, an advantage which it owes partly to its form, well calculated to resist the influence of the weather, and partly to its situa- tion, as it is joined to the walls of the city, and forms part of the fortification. It stands on a base, about ninety feet square, and rises about a hundred and twenty in height. It is formed or covered with large blocks of white marble : a door in the base opens into a gallery termi- nating in a small room, which is ornamented with paintings on the stucco, in regular compartments. In this chamber of the dead, once stood a sarco- phagus that contained the remains of Cestius. None but foreigners, excluded by their religion from the cemeteries of the country, are deposited here ; and of these foreigners, several were English. The far greater part had been cut off in their prime, by unexpected disease, or fatal accident. What a scene for a traveller! PUBLIC BATHS. 227" far remote from home, and liable himself to similar disasters. Turning from these fields of death, and repassing the Aventine hill, we came to the baths of Antoninus Caracalla. No monu- ment of ancient architecture is calculated to inspire such an idea of Roman magnificence, as the ruins of their baths. To give the untravelled reader some notion of these prodigious piles, I will confine my ob- servations to the latter, as the greatest in extent, and as the best preserved; for though it be entirely stript of its pillars, statues, and orna- ments, both external and internal, yet its walls still stand, and its principal apartments are evidently distinguishable. The length of the bath was one thousand eight hundred and forty feet ; its breadth, one thousand four hundred and seventy-six. At each end were two temples, one to Apollo, and another to Esculapius, as the tutelar divinities of a place sacred to the im- provement of the mind and the care of the body. The 'two other temples were dedicated to Her- cules and Bacchus. In the principal building were, in the first place, a grand circular vestibule, with four halls on each side, for cold, tepid, warm, and steam baths ; in the centre was an immense square, for exercise, when the weather was unfavourable to it in the open air ; beyond it, a great hall, where sixteen hundred marble seats were placed for the convenience of the bathers : at each end of this hall were libraries. 228 ANCIENT MILITARY PARADE. This building terminated on both sides in a court surrounded with porticos, witli an odeum for music, and in the middle a capacious bason for the practice of swimming. Round this edifice were walks, shaded by rows of trees, and in its front extended a gymnasium, for running, wrestling, &c. in fine weather. The whole was bounded by a vast portico, opening into spacious halls, where the poets declaimed, and philosophers gave their lectures to their auditors. This im- mense fabric was adorned, within and without, with pillars, stucco work, paintings, and statues. Descending the Coelian hill, we crossed the Sabrura, the abode of the great and opulent Romans, but now merely two long streets, lined with dead walls, and covered with a few strag- gling houses and solitary convents. Proceeding over the Esquiline mount, we stopped at the baths of Titus, an edifice of un- usual extent and magnificence, though on a smaller scale than those of Caracalla. Towards the extremity of the Esquiline, and not far from the Porta Maggiore, in a vineyard, stands a ruined edifice, called the temple of Minerva Medica. And in its neighbourhood was formerly a palace, from the top of which, or from a tower in the garden,' Nero is said to have contemplated and enjoyed the dreadful spectacle of Rome in flames. From the hills we descended to the Campus Martius, which in the early ages of the republic TEMPLE OV THE SUN. . 22^ \va.§ an open field devoted to military exercises, and well calculated for that purpose, by its level grassy surface, and the neighbourhood of the river winding along its border. We next passed to that elevated site, which branches into the Viminal and Quirinal hills : on this stands one of the grandest remains of an- cient splendour, a considerable portion of the baths of Dioclesian, now converted into a convent of Carthusians. The Viminal hill has no remnant of ancient magnificence to arrest attention in the progress to the Quirinal, once adorned with the temple of Quirinus, whence it derived its name. We may easily suppose that a temple dedicated to the founder of Rome, must have been a structure of unusual magnificence ; and we find accord- ingly, that a noble flight of marble steps con- ducted to its portal, and that it was supported by seventy-six lofty columns. It stood on the brow of the hill, and in such a site must have made a most majestic and splendid appearance. But on the opposite side, and commanding the Campus Martins, rose the Temple of the Sun, erected by Aurelian ; and if we may judge of the building by the accounts given of it, it exceeded in grandeur and decorations all other Roman edifices. The pillars, which appear to have been of the purest marble, of the richest order, and of an immense size and height, and the temple of vast dimensions, must have produced alto- 230 1'"E PANTHEON. gether a most dazzling and gorgeous spectacle. But not a trace of either of these noble and interesting edifices remains ! Of the surviving edifices of Rome, the principal is the Pantheon itself. The Pantheon retains its majestic portico, and presents its graceful dome uninjured : the pavement laid by Agrippa, and trodden by Augustus, still forms its floor ; the com- partments and fluted pillars of the richest marble, that originally lined its vs'^alls, still adorn its inward circumference ; the deep tints that age has thrown over it only contribute to raise its dignity and augment our veneration ; and the traveller enters its portal, through which twice twenty generations have flowed in suc- cession, with a mixture of awe and religious veneration. Yet the Pantheon itself has greatly suffered during eighteen centuries. The flight of steps that conducted to its threshold, the marbles that clothed it, the statues that graced its cornice ; the bronze that blazed on its dome, that vaulted its portico, and formed its sculptured doors ; and the silver that lined the compartments of its roof within, and dazzled the spectator with its brightness ; all have disappeared. The rapacity and the avarice of succeeding ages of barbarians continued to strip it of these splendid decorations ; and time, by levelling many a noble structure in itg neighbourhood, has raised the pavement, and deprived it of all the advantages of situation^ Thetwo celebrated pillars of Antoninus andTrajaa BRIDGES. 231 stand each in its square, but tliey also have lost several feet of their original elevation ; and the colonnade or portico that enclosed the latter, supposed to be the noblest structure of the kind ever erected, has long since sunk in the dust, and its ruins probably lie buried under the" ft)undations of the neighbouring houses. Seven bridges formerly conducted over the Tiber to the Janiculum and Vatican Mount : of these the most remarkable were the first, the Pons Elius ; and the last, the Pons Sublicius ; the former, erected by Adrian, opened a grand communica- tion from the Campus Martins to his mausoleum. It still remains under the appellation of Ponte St. Angelo ; the statues that adorned its balus- trade disappeared at an early period, and have since been replaced by statues of St. Peter and St. Paul, and of several angels, executed by eminent masters, and considered beautiful. The ancient statues were probably thrown into the Tiber, and may probably at some future period be recovered from its channel. The Pons Su- blicius lay much lower, and formed a passage from the Aventine Mount to the Janiculum. Though consecrated by its antiquity, for it was the first bridge built at Rome ; and still more by the heroic exploit of Horatius Codes, who singly