JKarft xlntonu iolurr COLLECTANEA ANTIQUA, ETCHINGS AND NOTICES OF ANCIENT REMAINS, i ILLU STEATITE OF THE HABITS, CUSTOMS, AND HISTORY OF PAST AGES. BY CHARLES ROACH SMITH, Hon. M R S I, Honorary Member of tile Numismatic Society of London ; Corresponding Member of the Societies of Antiquaries of France, of the “ Societe Frangaise pour la Conservation des Monuments,” of Denmark, of Normandy, of Picardy, of the West of France, of the Morini, of Touraine ; of the Society of Emulation of Abbeville; of the Arclueological Societies of Wies- baden, of Mayence, of Spain, and of Luxembourg : of the Societies of Antiquaries of Newcastle-upon-Tyne, and of Scotland ; of the Arclueological Societies of Cheshire, of Norfolk, of Sussex, of Kent, and of Sur- rey, of the Historic Society of Lanca- shire and Cheshire, etc. VOL. V. PRINTED FOR THE SUBSCRIBERS ONLY; AND NOT PUBLISHED. M.DCCC.LXI. PREFACE. The fifth volume of the Collectanea Antiqua, it is hoped, will not be found less interesting or less worthy of the support it has received than its predecessors. Mr. Fairholt’s “Notes,” which occupy a considerable portion of it, contain much that is not to be met with elsewhere ; opinions on some monuments, which though frequently published are exhaustless in suggesting fresh information to the practised eye ; and observations which will fre- quently be found useful to the antiquary who may travel over the same classical ground. It is most probable that in the next volume some of the archaeological materials he has recently collected in Egypt and. in Italy will be drawn upon. Volume VI. will contain a continuation of the remarks on Roman monuments illustrative of social and industrial life; and, as in the present volume, from remains altogether unpublished or unknown in this country. Not only in the Roman but in other departments of archaeology, our national antiquities to be fully appreciated must be studied abroad as well as at home. Our friends in France and Germany are not generally awake to the importance of an acquaintance with the antiquities of Great Britain, and VI PREFACE. most of our best antiquarian works are unknown to them. In France the abbe Cochet has set an example to his countrymen by the assistance he has gained from our publications, while to us his Normandie Souterraine, and Sepultures Gauloises, Romaines, Fran Raises et Normandes, have been equally serviceable. M. de Caumont also extends the influence of his valuable Bulletin Monumental by the comparison he often makes between the ancient remains of the two countries ; and by publishing the papers of one of our most eminent ecclesiastical antiqua- ries. In Switzerland the Baron de Bonstetten, in his splendid Antiquites Suisses, affords another example of' the advantages of a wider survey, and of the study of the antiquities of neighbouring countries. Within the last two or three years, the energy of a few of our more active and earnest antiquaries has contri- buted to the further illustration of our national ancient remains. The excavations made by Mr. Akerman in Oxfordshire have much increased the materials which serve to reveal the habits and customs of our Saxon fore- fathers, and afford that peculiar kind of information which is so difficult to be obtained by the student, namely, a truthful narrative of authenticated facts. In Cambridge- shire Mr. Joseph Wilkinson has excavated a portion of a Saxon cemetery, the contents of which are very similar to those of the burial-places investigated by the Hon. 11. C. Neville. In Kent Mr. William Gibbs has suc- ceeded in rescuing from imminent destruction numerous Saxon works of art which are second only in intrinsic worth to those of the Faussett collection. A selection is being published by the Kent Archaeological Society, which has also engraved in colours the very important PREFACE. Vll Saxon remains found at Sarre and at Lullingstone. Some of these discoveries will probably be noticed in a future volume of the Collectanea Antiqua. Mr. Jenkins’s disco- very of Saxon architecture in Lyminge church is noticed in the present volume. It is likely that further disco- veries may be made. The columns in the desecrated church of Reculver, which were engraved in The Anti- quities of Richborough, Reculver, and Lymne, from a drawing by Mr. Gandy, R.A., were considered to have been destroyed. Recently they have been discovered by Mr. Shephard of Canterbury, solely in consequence of his acquaintance with the engravings in that volume. It now remains to be seen how far the columns themselves sustain my opinions founded upon the drawing. The excavations at Wroxeter, instituted and conducted by Mr. Wright, it is to be hoped will be assiduously prose- cuted. The enterprise is worthy every encouragement ; but the sums contributed are as yet quite inadequate to the progress of an undertaking so difficult and expensive. The government, with obstinate pertinacity, affords money to every project that is disconnected with our national antiquities. While our splendid tessellated pavements are allowed to decay, those of remote countries are brought, regardless of cost, to the national museum. The villas of Bignor, Bramdean, Woodchester, North Leigh, etc., are far more important, preserved in situ , than de- tached fragments of pavements imported from foreign countries ; they are truly of historical and artistic value, and an enlightened and patriotic government should re- cognize and secure them as public property. The Duke of Northumberland, with high and liberal hand, has caused a survey to be made of our noblest X PREFACE. remains of Koman mural fortifications in this country. This, together with other remains in France, will be found fully described in the present volume. A few considerate and liberal friends, as on former oc- casions, have encouraged my fifth volume with substantial help, which has gone far to counterbalance those ex- penses which even a somewhat long list of subscribers does not fully enable me to surmount. The late Mr. W. H. Knife contributed fifty pounds ; Mr. Joseph Mayer, twenty pounds ; the late Lord Londesborough, plate xxii, and the loan of plates viii and ix ; Mr. H. W. Kolfe, plates x and xi ; Mr. LI. Jewitt, plate xv ; Mr. Waller, plate xxiii ; and Mr. H. W. King, plate xxix. For the loan of some woodcuts I am indebted to Dr. Bruce, Mr. Bateman, and Mr. Hobler. ERRATA. Page 40, line 12, for “ Barcinone” read “ Barcino.” „ 40, „ 25, for “ Trophemus” read “^Trophimus.” „ 46, „ 2 in note, for “ Pyrgos” read “ Pyrgi.” „ 57, „ 17, for “Porta Salara” read “ Porta Salaria.” „ 71, „ 8, for “ Trastavere” read “ Trastevere.” „ 93, „ 1, for “ 1461” read “ 1641.” „ 93, „ 7, for “ horizontally” read “vertically.” „ 251, „ 3, for “ Dart’s” read “ Nash’s.” NOTES OF A JOURNEY THROUGH THE SOUTH OF FRANCE TO ROME IN THE AUTUMN OF 1856. By F. W. FAIRHOLT. PLATES 1 TO VI I. Rome, December 20th, 1856. Dear Roach Smith, — According to the promise I made when I took my leave of you in London, that I would jot down the impressions which a first visit to Italy made upon my mind, I now proceed to give the results of a tour the most important in its associations to myself, and the plea- sures of which could only have been enhanced by your society when examining the finest Roman remains in France and Italy. I am old enough to remember distinctly the almost insuperable delays of a journey from London to Paris, when it occupied one day to get to Dover, another to cross the channel, and then thirty hours continuous travel by diligence through the dreary roads of Picardy before the French capital was reached. Now, thanks to steam and rail, I left London-bridge Station at one p.m., and was walking on the platform of the Paris Station at half-past twelve the same night. This was on the 23rd of October, 1856, the weather warm and bland, and the sea as calm as a lake. VOL. v. B 2 PARIS. Lord Londesborough, by whose invitation I went to Paris, to accompany himself and family to Rome, where they intended to pass the winter, gave me a warm wel- come, and showed me a few fine medieval antiquities he had bought on his road. Among them was the silver reli- quary I have since engraved in the Miscellanea Graphica ; a very curious German statuette of a saint, enriched with goldsmiths 5 work and jewels ; and an ivory memento mori of large size, with some curious characteristic figures round its base. In the afternoon we visited the Musee d’Artillerie, where I was amazed at the enormous quan- tity of fine armour. Often as I had been to Paris, this was my first visit there. I never saw a collection with so many curious suits. It is not so extensive as that in our Tower of London, and is about equal in quantity to the Meyrick collection ; but it surpasses both in rare and singular specimens, particularly German suits, which are quite unique in quaintness of character, many imitating the puffed and slashed dresses of the era of Maximilian I. Thence we went to the cathedral of Notre Dame, which has recently been painted and gilt internally ; it is, how- ever, so tawdry and common in style, that it has lost thereby all its venerable character. In the treasury of this cathedral we were shown some expensive church plate; but all modern: the first great revolution occa- sioned the loss of old examples, which were then reck- lessly broken up or melted. They possess here a vast quantity of valuable dresses, all fabricated since the advent of the first Napoleon, and used for coronations, marriages, and baptisms. The needlework of all is mar- vellous for its taste and beauty ; it is, in fact, an art sui generis. Here also they preserve mementoes of the bishop of Paris, who was accidentally shot at the barricades erected in the revolution which deprived the House of Orleans of PARIS DIJON. 3 the throne. A cast of his face exhibits a fleshy, placid, and humane countenance. There is, however, a more terrible memento of him, consisting of the three verte- brae of his back, showing the fractures made by the shot which killed him. They are placed on a cushion under a small canopy, in a reliquary constructed in the medieval taste, but are far from agreeable to look upon. Hence we went to the Bibliotheque , to see the collection of gems there. Gems indeed ! which no museum can surpass. The antique j ewels and cameos are most wonder- ful ; but the cup carved from an onyx, which once be- longed to the church of St. Denis, is a marvel of antique art. The gold dish from the tomb of Clovis, and the medieval jewellery, are all worthy any enthusiasm that can be rendered to their matchless art-labour. One day only being available for Paris, the next saw us on the rail to Dijon. The country gets very beautiful as you approach this famed capital of the old dukes of Bur- gundy. The slopes of the hills are peculiarly favourable to the growth of fine vines. A soil that seems to possess no nourishment for vegetable life is the one upon which the vine flourishes best. A sort of dry, decomposed rock, exposed to a tropical sun, invariably produces the best fruit and the best wines. We stayed at the Hotel de la Cloche, a very antiquated inn, which had been inhabited by the Emperor en route to Lyons last year, after the fear- ful inundations there. You ascend to the rooms from an open courtyard, up a dark twisting stair, which seemed more fit to lead to a hayloft. The rooms are all low and dark ; but one or two had been made gay by gilded paper, for the especial use of his Majesty. At ten at night I rambled down the street to look at the general effect of the town. I could easily fancy, in the indistinct light, that I was in a city of the middle ages. The deep gables. 4 DIJON. heavy architecture, or fanciful sculpture occasionally dis- played on the old houses, were very quaint and effective. The gloomy old towers, deserted churches, and tortuous lanes unlit by any lamps, combined with the darkness to give a great air of romance to the scene, and I walked dreamily up one lane and down another in total silence until I was suddenly accosted by a gendarme, who quietly asked if I were a stranger, and, on my answering in the affirmative, backed the question by a request to see my passport. The passport I could not show him, as it was at my hotel, so away we walked there together, chatting very sociably ; and after a due examination of the docu- ment, and a franc given him to drink, he walked off with many bows to join two others in plain clothes, who seem to have put my friend upon the scent. It was plain to me from this, that the police have become more vigilant in France of late. My first visit in the morning was to the Museum. It is most appropriately placed in the old palace of the dukes of Burgundy : the building has, however, been much modernized. It contains several rooms filled with Greek and Roman antiquities, but not of a very remarkable kind. In the great hall is a most noble fireplace, beside which the famed old dukes may have often sat. It is a wide open hearth of stone, above which rises floriated gothic tracery reaching to the roof ; canopied niches are on each side, of such grand proportions that they hold complete suits of armour. It occupies one entire side of the hall, and is twenty feet in width by about thirty in height. Here are also the noble tombs of Philip-le- hardi and Jean-sans-peur , both most wonderful works of art. They were executed by Claus Slater, a Dutchman, much patronized by this court, and are considered among the finest monuments of medieval sculpture. They were DIJON. 5 both executed at the very beginning of the fifteenth cen- tury, and represent the dukes in recumbent attitudes, the sides of each tomb being carved into enriched canopies or arcades, filled with a multitude of figures of monks, in every variety of attitude, expressive of regret for the deceased princes. Nothing can exceed the extraordinary variety, truthfulness and beauty of these little figures. Beside these tombs is a model of the exquisite Sainte Chapelle, once the chief ornament of Dijon; but which was sold for building materials in 1807, having been desecrated in the great revolution. On the walls of this room are hung the portable carved altar-pieces used by the old dukes. They are Flemish works, crowded with figures ; and upon one of the folding shutters is the curious figure representing St. George of England, which is celebrated for the complete example it affords of armour at a time when it assumed very peculiar forms, and of which no such perfect specimen exists elsewhere. In a glass case beside these, are preserved some of the toilet implements of the Duchess of Burgundy, as well as older relics of great interest : among them is the crozier of St. Robert, a work of the eleventh century ; and the wooden cup used by St. Bernard in the era of the Crusades. There are also in this Museum some few old paintings, and among them some peculiarly interesting portraits of the early dukes. It is this desire to make the French local museums the repositories of the relics of their own peculiar past history, that gives to each and all so much interest in the eyes of visitors. You go to see them, as- sured that you will find in each something which will aid you in understanding the locality in which they are placed the better for your visit. You do not find the same ex- clusive love for stuffed birds and beasts as among our- selves. Many a country curator in England will put him- 6 DIJON. self to much trouble and expense in procuring specimens of natural history, and, when all is done, only have a very incomplete series ; while the antiquities of the district, which would be of the greatest possible value to the archaeologist and historian, and from which alone we have to gather the early history of our forefathers, are neglected, or totally unappreciated. Englishmen are con- tinually boasting of their love of country, but there are probably no persons in the world who show, or feel, less interest in the historic memorials of the past. In nothing is the difference between the two nations more strongly seen than in this leading idea for the construction of museums : thus while all French museums are primarily established for the proper exposition of the monuments of the country and the people, the English museums, including the great national establishment in London, devote their best ener- gies to those of any other country rather than their own. Our pride of country is all concentrated in the time present : the time past, which has helped to make us what we are, is ungratefully consigned to oblivion ; and it is too fre- quently a thankless labour which the historic student devotes to its elimination. This town is full of relics of its past greatness. Many of its houses are richly carved in stone, and the elabora- tion of design exhibited upon some of them is indicative at once of the wealth and taste of their originators. The Notre Dame has still upon its roof the old clock, noted by Froissart as one of the most remarkable productions of his day. It was brought by Duke Philip-le-hardi from his rebellious city of Ghent in 1382, and was made by a Flemish mathematician named Jaques Marques, hence the term “ Jacquemars,” popularly applied by the Dijon- nais to the figures which strike the hour on the bell : they are, however, not the originals ; but have evidently been LYONS. 7 renovated at the early part of the seventeenth century, inasmuch as they wear the well-defined costume of that period, and the male figure smokes a pipe ! The church of St. Michael is remarkable for the elaboration and beauty of its details, which are early and fine examples of the Renaissance, more purely Italian than it appears on our buildings, and possessing features which may safely allow it to be considered of “ the Burgundian style.” The church of St. Beninge has a singular wooden spire, twisted like the famous English example at Chesterfield. It is of very graceful proportions, and enjoys much cele- brity in the district. There are many fine old churches in this town desecrated into markets, warehouses, and stables ; one, near St. Beninge, used as a granary, struck me by the Bembrandt-like effect of the interior ; it was crammed with corn, and a strong stream of sun-light breaking through the crannies of the roof dimly disclosed the threshers who were busy on the floor at their labours. The mid-day train carried us to Lyons, which we reached at half-past seven p.m., in a fog that would not have dis- credited London. The museum at Lyons is a noble building, well filled. It is a valuable historic record of the past greatness of the town from the days of the Romans. One of its most in- teresting relics consists of the bronze tablets, on which are inscribed the speech made by Claudius when Censor, in the Roman Senate (a.d. 48), moving that the men of Lyons should be admitted to the rights of Roman citizen- ship. Claudius was born at Lyons ; and this important relic was discovered in 1528 on the heights of St. Sebas- tian. In the cases which surround the walls are numer- ous antiquities of the Roman era, and a few good bronzes : the centre of the room is occupied by a fine mosaic floor, discovered at Ainay in 1800, representing a chariot race in 8 LYONS. the circus, all the details of the building being given with curious truthfulness. There are other fine pavements also in these rooms discovered in or near the city. M. Comarmond, the keeper, showed me in his private room fragments of a bronze statue found in the Saone. It is executed in a very grand style of art, and must have been at least twenty feet in height. The arcades all round the court-yard of the building are filled with Roman statues and inscriptions, proving the greatness and grandeur of this city in the Roman era. I was particularly struck with the curiosity of one stone sarcophagus (marked 350 in the collection). It is forty-five inches broad and thirty-six high, and is of the kind used for the deposit of glass ves- sels in cremation. It has a sunken panel in the centre filled with sculptured figures of the Dese Matres ; beneath is inscribed math avg phlegn med* There is another stone (marked 51) in the same collection, which once formed the front of a similar sarcophagus, having the same group and the same inscription. The most curious * I may refer to vol. ii of the Collectanea for a paper on the Deae Matres, with illustrative engravings. LYONS. 9 peculiarity of this sarcophagus is yet to be noted, and this consists in the insertion of small unguentaria of terra cotta in the front and sides ; they are imbedded to half their depth in cement, in small spaces cut to their shape in the stone, and which fits them with great exactitude. The second day in Lyons I occupied in visiting the heights of Fourvieres, passing through some old streets chiefly inhabited by weavers. The summit commands a wonderful view in clear weather, bounded by Mont Blanc, nearly one hundred miles off. Of course this is guide- book knowledge, for the mist hung over the whole country so completely as to shut out all view beyond about three miles around the spot, and that not very distinctly seen. On these heights was the palace of the Homan emperors, and here both Claudius and Caligula were born. The old cathedral at the base has some fine sculptures upon its facade, though frightfully injured by the Huguenots. I noted an external bracket, with a charming group of a knight and lady (fourteenth century), remarkable for the sweetness of its feeling and the beauty of its execu- tion, particularly in the draperies. There are several curious bible scenes, in a series of panels on each recess of the doors, along with others which exhibit scenes of everyday life, and are of great interest to the student of manners and customs. There is ball and buckler play, knights armed by ladies, and many whimsical realizations of the wonderful monsters described in the Bestiarium, a work which had great charms in the middle ages. Beside the cathedral, in a conventual building, is still to be traced a very curious and early cornice, supported on corbels very like Byzantine work. But of all things in Lyons the most interesting to me is the old church of Ainay, once a suburb, now a part of the city. Its exterior is most rich in Byzantine details, having VOL. v. c 10 LYONS— VIENNE. been built before a.d. 987. The cupola within is supported by four columns of granite, formed by cutting in half the two pillars which formerly stood on each side of the famous altar erected by the men of Lyons to the Emperor Augustus at the confluence of the Rhone and Saone. This church is more Italian-looking than any I have seen before in France in its internal decoration, while the exterior, with its irregularity of design, and small cu- polas on the roof, reminds one of the conventional repre- sentations of churches in old Greek pictures. In the sacristry are the remains of the apse of a very old chapel, having a mosaic floor ; this was erected over the dungeons where the early Christians, Pothinus and Blandina, are said to have been immured previous to their martyrdom (a.d. 177). A few steps lead down into a small vaulted chapel, the walls of which have been recently elaborately painted and gilt with emblematic figures and ornament. On each side is a cell, made in the thickness of the wall, and not more than five feet in length by three in width, and perhaps four in height : there is neither light, air, nor space to move in these horrible stone cages, in which the inmate cannot properly lie down or sit up. Each is entered by a small aperture about three feet square, which is closed by a massive iron grating. There is no better authenticated legend than that of the martyrs once im- mured in these cells. Pothinus was the Christian bishop of Lyons, and was ninety years of age when he was thrust into this horrid hole ; he died after two days of confine- ment. But the female, Blandina, was cruelly tormented, and then cast to the beasts in the amphitheatre. “ Butchered to make a Roman holiday !” The next day, being unexpectedly detained on our route, I took the opportunity of going by rail to Vienne, VIENNE, 11 a lonely old town on the banks of the Rhone, about seventeen miles from Lyons. It is one of the most ancient in France, and is mentioned by Caesar, Tacitus, and Mar- tial, the last of whom calls it “ pulchra Vienna,” and is said to have been a flourishing community of traders before Lyons was founded. It was afterwards the cradle of west- ern Christianity, and is everyway remarkable in history. It is now a lonely, dirty, neglected place. In the midst of the town, and near the cathedral of St. Maurice, is a small square temple, constructed by the Romans in honour of Augustus. In the front of the temple is a series of nail- marks which indicate the position and form of the bronze letters once affixed there by the original builders : a patient antiquary, M. Schneider, has studied these marks, and believes they indicate the dedication of the temple to Augustus and Livia :* it was afterwards converted into a church in the middle ages, the columns being filled in with masonry, cut down rudely to the level of the * The temple is in the Corinthian style ; the pillars are thirty- five feet in height and three feet in diameter. 12 VIENNE. walls, and Gothic windows inserted. It will be best understood by the appended sketch, which exhibits the progress made, in the restorations and repairs which were going on while I was there, and brought to light some peculiarities of the building, showing its great similarity to the more renowned Maison Carree at Nismes. One of the old Gothic windows was also uncovered between the columns, exhibiting the style of architecture adopted at the era when the Pagan temple did duty as a Christian church. This building was recently used as the museum ; but the objects in it were inaccessible to visitors at this period, as they were under safeguard at the Mairie during the excavation and re- storation of this place. At the upper part of the town, in the quaint old Place du Pilori, a noble arch and vault lead into a small space which was once occupied by the forum.* The arch is very grand in style, supported on fluted pilasters of marble ; but the basement is buried deep in the earth. The most important relic and the grandest of * It is, however, right to state, that some antiquaries believe the whole to be therm ce. LYONS. 13 all is the Roman obelisk, called V Aiguille, which is situated on the low land near the river, in the midst of vineyards, about half a mile beyond the town. It is seventy-six feet in height, and rests on a base composed of four arches with pillars at each angle ; it is of excel- lent masonry, but the pillars are clumsy in their propor- tions ; it is evidently a work of the later Roman era, pro- bably about the time of Honorius. The stones are fas- tened by iron clamps, and the appearance of the monu- ment has been much injured by chipping the stones to get at this metal, a custom which appears to have been very prevalent among the barbaric tribes who succeeded to the Romans. There is no trace whatever of an inscrip- tion. With the exception of the loss of a few stones from the summit and the wanton injuries already noted, this monument is in a very perfect state, and its general ap- pearance is very striking from whatever point of view it is observed.* Returned by rail to Lyons, and in the evening amused myself by going the round of the places of popular amuse- ment of the cheaper kind, all of which were crammed to repletion. There were many cafes, where men and women, mounted on small stages, sang songs ; and some few of the better sort were fitted like a theatre with pit and gallery, set out with tables at which refreshments of all kinds were to be had. No charge was made at the doors for admission, but after certain portions of the perform- * This monument was once popularly known as “ the tomb of Pilate,” in the same way his name is now attached to the more modern castle of the town, which is called “ Pilate’s Prison”; both designations arise out of the narrative of Euse - bius, who says that the Jewish ruler was banished to Vienne after he had returned to Rome from Judea. 14 LYONS. anccs were over, persons were expected to give fresh orders for liqueurs, etc., or leave their seats. A notification to that effect was appended to the drop scene of the theatre ; any of the seats once deserted were rapidly filled by new comers, and generally from twenty to fifty persons were waiting at the doors for the finish of each act. These little plays are generally constructed for two or three performers only, and reminded me very forcibly of the interludes of the ancient stage, being equally barren of incident and of the slightest possible construction. Re- freshments at these places are, of course, a little dearer than elsewhere ; but as the charge covers all expenses of singers, actors, musicians, house-rent, etc., the wonder is the moderation of the charge. There was a great deal of taste displayed in the fitting up of many of these places. One was very elegantly enwreathed with artificial flowers till it formed a perfect bower ; the gas lamps seemed sus- pended by similar wreaths ; another had the singers’ stage constructed like a grotto, with rockwork and plants, amid which the vocalists were seated. The audience seemed all to be of the labouring classes, and enjoyed themselves thoroughly with the simple drinks and light cakes pro- vided for them. It was pleasant to see the sociality and good temper of these poor hardworking people : I was better pleased with them than with the performances, which had so little merit, that one wondered how so much enjoyment could be felt in seeing them as was evinced by the spectators. Had the theatre been open this night, I should certainly have gone to see “ Paradise Lost,” if only for the curiosity of noting the costumes of our first parents in the Garden of Eden, which formed the scene of the first three acts. I was also somewhat startled by the title of a sentimental melo-drama in five acts, an- nounced at another theatre. It was called “ La Grace de NISMES.- 15 Dieu/’ and I could not help fancying the peculiar effect that would be produced in London if such a play were announced in plain English in the bills of the Adelphi. The journey to Nismes was performed next day by rail in five hours. It is a very pleasant railway by the banks of the Rhone the whole way. The day was sun- shiny* and hot as it is (or rather as it ought to be) with us in J uly, and this was the 29th of October. At Montelimart is a savage old castle, that looks the worthy scene of any medieval atrocity ; it is a gloomy fortress, solidly built of stone, with only a few loophole windows in the upper rooms ; it is as if its builder had thought with Macbeth, “ Our castle s strength can laugh a siege to scorn.” On nearing Orange, the enormous mass of masonry which formed the scena of the Roman theatre came in sight I imagined it to be a great fortress or palatial building. It towers above the puny toVn so nobly, that it at once impresses the spectator with the most vivid idea of the grandeur of conception and the power of execution bestowed by the old Romans on their public works. The view across the plain opposite the town, with the noble peak of Mont Ventoux and the lower Alps beyond, is very fine indeed. It is said to be almost identical with the scenery of Greece near Mount Pentilicus. The vegeta- tion here is quite different to other parts of France. The country is rocky and arid : vines and olives abound ; there is, however, no verdure or large trees, and the whole district seems baked dry in the sun. At Avig- non, the palace of the popes is the great feature of the town, which is still surrounded by medieval fortifications, and seems to be a delightful place for an antiquarian sojourn. The train, however, flits rapidly by and Taras- con is reached, where a very noble old castle is still pre- 16 NISMES. served and used as a prison, in which the troubadour-king Rene of Anjou held his feastings in the days of Frois- sart, and on one occasion appeared in the habit of a shepherd amid his merry masquing courtiers. Arrived at Nismes about three p.m., and walked about the town till five. It is a remarkably clean and cheerful place, with a boulevard all round it and many good shops. The interior of the town thus encircled, is a dense mass of narrow tortuous lanes, quite like a medieval city crammed within its fortifications. In front of the cathedral is a sculptured frieze of very early work, representing scenes from the book of Genesis. It appears to have been exe- cuted in the ninth or tenth century. On the esplanade is a charming modern fountain by Pradier, one of the best in France ; it represents Nismes as a turreted female genius, at whose feet sit four tributary river gods and goddesses. Near it is the glorious amphitheatre it is amazingly perfect, and is occasionally used for exhibitions of horse-riding at the present day. By a very little study the most minute peculiarities of its construction can be made out. It has suffered less than any similar relic, and strikes with astonishment by its state of preserva- tion. The large flag-stones, which form a sort of wall to the arena, are standing, and upon some of the seats are still inscribed the number and quality of the persons to whom they were apportioned. This theatre is larger than that at Verona, and is capable of holding seventeen thousand persons. There are thirty rows of seats, and some of the stone slabs used in their construction are twelve feet in length and two in width. Stones still more enormous are used to roof the arcades of the building. Above this upper row of arcades, which surround the entire structure, you can still see many specimens of the hollow brackets, or consoles, through which the masts NISMES. 17 were inserted to support the velaria , when the sun became oppressive to the spectators within. The mast rested on the lower cornice, and the wall was also grooved to hold it more firmly, as will be well understood by the en- graving here given of one of the best preserved examples. A short distance from the amphitheatre, in the midst of a small square opposite the modern theatre, stands the most celebrated antique building in France, the Maison Carree (as the little Corinthian temple is popu- larly called), which, conse- crated in the reign of Augus- tus, has served the purposes of a public building up to the present time. It is now the museum and picture gallery, containing much of local interest in antiquities ; and a picture by Delaroche, with which all Englishmen are familiar, “ Cromwell looking on the body of Charles I,” a remarkable work, but most probably representing an event that never happened. All round the enclosure are many sculptured stones, collected in the neighbourhood ; and among them a very well- executed figure of a winged Priapus guided by a female genius, a relic of a worship which gave celebrity to the city of Nemausus in the Roman era. Following the line of the Boulevard you reach a ruined Roman gate, with an in- scription to the honour of Augustus ; it consists of a double arch, with two smaller side arches for the conve- nience of foot-travellers. The inscription above is per- vol. v. D 18 NISMES. feet (all but a few letters) and interesting, and is as follows : — IMP * CLESAR • D1YI • F • AVGVSTVS ’ COS ' X I ‘ TRI B V 1 POTEST * VIII PORTAS * ET • MVROS ’ COL ' DAT. A single arch, of Roman work, originally forming ano- ther of the gates, is on the opposite side of the town ; it is known as the Porte de France, and is in a line with the Via Domitia. It is surmounted by an attic, decorated with four square pilasters, and was originally flanked by round towers. The grand mass of ruin called “ La Tourmagne”, in- duced me to ascend the hill above the town for an inspec- tion. It is an enormous mass of brickwork ; but its object is not very clear, unless it formed one of the towers of defence for the town below.* It rises from an octan- gular base, but the upper part looks like a series of segments of circles, and is altogether difficult to describe or understand. The interior is hollow and conical like a kiln. The view from this site is very grand and extensive, and you may trace the Rhone nearly to its junction with the Mediterranean. Descending the hill by a shady walk which leads to the public gardens, you reach at its base the ruined building known as “ the temple of Diana.” It is a graceful fragment, once evidently enriched with the best sculpture and marbles the devotion of the people could obtain, and still evincing the taste and fancy of its builders. A clear stream of water bursts from the rock beside it, forming a bath, which the Romans used ;f the * The present name is derived from Turris magna, “ the great tower.” f Ausonius mentions the fountains here, which appear to have been highly valued by the Roman inhabitants of this opulent city of Nemausus, which owned twenty-four smaller tributary villages beneath its sway. ARLES — SALON. 19 semi-cii cular steps which lead into it still exist, and are the work of that people ; other portions of their labours, in the formation of channels and bathing-places, are dis- tinguishable in the ornamental waters which are con- ducted over these gardens, and were laid out as we now see them by Louis XIV into a series of straight walks and canals, which, though somewhat formal, are very stately, and in some parts beautiful ; but by this arrange- ment all the antique features of the place have been con- fused or lost. Ihe rail hence to Marseilles passes the neglected- looking town of Arles, and so over a very singular tract of land termed the Crau, consisting of a desert tract of pebble and shingle imbedded in sand ; but the mass of small stones so deep and dense that no vegetation can thiive upon it. It was well known to the ancients, who have made it the scene of the combat between Hercules and the Ligurians, and accounted for this large quantity of stones by assuring us that Jupiter aided his son in the battle by showering them down, after Hercules had ex- hausted his arrows. One cannot help feeling how con- fidently a pious Homan might have defended the truth of the legend by an appeal to this convincing state of the land ; nor can we also help feeling that many a saintly legend rests on proof not nearly so satisfactory, or so well capable of ocular demonstration. AVe now emerge from the high land, and get a peep at the blue sea near the town of Salon ; having on the hill above us the old castle of the celebrated astrologer Nostradamus. He died here in 1566, and is buried in the old church. It is just the wild and solitary spot that seems fitted for the residence of so strange a student, and the grim old castle looks suf- ficiently mystic in its savage gloom. The aspect of the sea is extremely beautiful from this point ; the deep blue 20 MARSEILLES. fades into varied tints of green as it nears the yellow sands ; and the rows of palm-trees that fringe the bay give a new and tropical character to the scene. That it is equal to the East in its temperature, may be proved by the free growth in the open air of plants and shrubs which we never see in England out of hothouses. I caught also near Marseilles a living specimen of the Chinese insect “ the praying mantis”, which was em- ployed in catching flies in its hooked claws, as they dashed past us on the wing. The neighbourhood of Mar- seilles is singularly beautiful ; the country houses of the wealthy merchant-men, in the midst of lovely gardens, look toward the sea ; and the whole district has a beauty ol vegetation, and a picturesque disposition, which cannot fail to charm. Marseilles is imposing in the distance; but not so agreeable when examined : in spite of much solicitude on the part of the inhabitants to make it pleasant by long avenues of trees, it is a confined and disagreeable locality; while the bad drainage, and the fearful putridity of the water in the harbour, make it nearly impossible for a stranger to walk in some parts of the town. I had four days in Marseilles, an abundance of time to see all that is to be seen, and which might by some travellers be seen in one day. It was a saint s day when we reached it, and all the shops were rigorously shut, much more so than on a Sunday. All the inhabitants seemed to have turned into the streets, and the noise and dust were excessive. In the upper part of the town a grand religious festival was taking place, amid the booming of cannon at the elevation of the host. I he streets weie strewn with herbs and hung with flowers, and the houses decorated with flags and hangings. I noticed several persons in the long white robes of penitents, with conical caps, and coverings hanging over the face exhibiting the MARSEILLES. 21 eyes only through two openings in front. In the lower part of the town the motley assemblage of persons which the shipping traffic has brought to this port from Africa, Greece, Turkey, and the entire shores of the Mediter- ranean, gave the scene a sort of Vauxhall-masquerade look as they moved among the trees. At one corner of the square a female mountebank, dressed in the first style of Parisian fashion, had mounted her phaeton, with a pierrot and drummer behind her, and was descanting on the virtues of her nostrums, in a torrent of eloquence only interrupted by some sufferers from tooth-ache, who ascended her carriage and placed their heads between her knees, as she stood on the seat behind them and relieved them of their refractory molars. In the principal square is a statue to the memory of the good Bishop Belzunce, who heroically remained to succour the inhabitants of the city during the fearful pestilence of 1720, when upwards of forty thousand per- sons perished. It is impossible to walk about the town without feeling, that the great pestilences which have depopulated Marseilles, seem to be only lying in wait to burst out at any moment. There is no tide to cleanse the bay, and the drainage of the town from the time of the Romans lies festering in the sun. The town is fully ex- posed to an extreme heat, which seems to whiten the red tiles of the houses. The Jardin Napoleon, on the hill above the bay, com- mands a magnificent view of the town and a fine prospect to seaward. But the aspect is that of a scorched country ; the houses like burned clay ; the rocky coast as if formed of calcined stone, which had split irregularly by the action of fire ; dry, treeless, and savage is the character of the coast. There is a fine drive called “ the Prado”, which reaches from the foot of this hill to the bay oppo- 22 FRKJUS. site the Quarantine Island, on the other side of the har- bour. It is a continued alley of trees for two miles ; on each side are the bastides or summer-houses of the Mar- seillaises. Tropical trees grow freely here, and a gigantic reed grass, reminding one of pictures of sugar plantations. The regularity with which our course towards Rome had been pursued now received a sudden check. It was produced by a letter, announcing the impossibility of se- curing the palazzo in which Lord Londesborough and his household were to be located in the winter. This threw out all our arrangements ; but after some thought, Lord Londesborough decided on going to Cannes and person- ally inspecting a house which had been offered him as a purchase. On the 4th of November we left Marseilles in a baking sun, up a mountainous road, more dusty than ever I saw a road before ; the wheels sunk in it halfway to the axles, and its appearance was almost like plaster of Paris. The leaves of the trees were whitened by its de- posit. By noon we reached the high land, among plenty of verdure, and the views were frequently delightful. Brignolles is a busy-looking country town with a very Italian look, the streets extremely narrow, the houses high, with small windows, and deficient of all architec- tural taste or decoration. Le Luc is more picturesque, and Vidauban is well situated ; but the most interesting town on the route is that usually chosen as the resting place for the night — Frejus. It is a small neglected place, in which the people seem to be living among ruins of the Roman era. Outside the walls are considerable remains of the Forum Julii, as it was called. There is also the remains of a circus ; and one of the gates of the town wall is of very peculiar construction, the walls forming a seg- ment of a circle towards the gate, as if intended to give the town-guards the advantage of annoying an advancing enemy. FREJUS. 23 The cut gives a plan of this portion of the walls. A represents the principal gate, with a smaller entry on each side of it for foot-passengers, b b denote the situa- tion of the towers, which protect the angle where the flat and circular walls meet. Very near this is a well en- tirely built of Roman tile ; and continuing round the walls to the other side of the town, we come in sight of a noble arch, constructed of stone with layers of tile between, and popularly known here as La Porte doree. The engraving represents this noble fragment, which looks toward the sea, and is be- lieved to have been the water-gate of the city. It now stands in an olive garden. In construction it is most massive. The stones are neatly squared, and the binding courses of tiles have equal sym- metry ; but they are in deeper layers than we see them in Roman works in England, and vary from three to six layers of tile in the various courses. In the upper part of the wall we observe the same square 24 FREJXJS. holes, so constantly seen in our British examples, and which builders term “put-log holes”; they received the posts which held the scaffolds of the workman employed on the walls. The arch is formed of very large stones, handed round by a single row of flat tiles. Opposite this arch, withinside the town, is the fragment of a wall, having the foundations of arcades in its surface. In juxtaposition with this are many more fragments of Roman work, which exist in profusion in and around the town, rendering it worthy of more attention than has yet been bestowed upon it by antiquaries. In the days of Rome’s greatness this town was an im- portant seaport ; and here Augustus harboured the three hundred galleys he had obtained from Antony at Actium ; it is now, however, filled with sand, and the sea is distant fully a mile and a half from the town. Many good antiqui- ties have been found here ; but there is no local museum. Lord Londesborough purchased a good antefix, which has upon its front a female head, carefully modeled and finished by hand ; it exhibits more of the pure feeling of Roman art as practised in Italy, than we see in antiques of the same era further north, where patronage and taste would natur- ally ebb.* Outside Fre- jus, on the road to Cannes, is a noble series of arches, fragments of a grand * His lordship has since presented this to Mr. Roach Smith, as a memorial of friendly remembrance in travel. FIIEJUS. 25 aqueduct, which conducted water for the use of the town from the hills above. Its course has been traced for more than twenty-four miles up the valley of the Ciagne. The channel by which the water was conveyed to the town can be clearly seen. The engraving will convey an idea of the grandeur of this work ; it was sketched about half a mile from Frejus, on the roadside. The sloping blocks which now support the piers are not antique, but have been added in modern time to preserve all that remains of the antique work. It is gratifying to notice this loving care for national antiquities in France, which can extend itself a§ far as this lonely and now unimportant town, and occupy itself in the apparently thankless task of pre- serving masses of ruined stone ; fortunately, however, the French nation have less of the utilitarian spirit than we possess, and consequently less desire for “ clearing” the ground. Many may cavil at considering this feeling “ fortunate” for France. But a great nation should not be entirely governed by the trade-spirit alone ; and the absorbing love of it, which closes the heart and mind of VOL. v. E 26 CANNES. many persons in England, is rather to be deplored than encouraged. A wealthy ignorance can never be an object for gratulation, either individually or nationally. The country a short distance beyond this becomes very beautiful. The entire vegetation is unlike what we see in England. The cork tree, umbrella pine, cypress, and ever- green oak, are mingled with the olive, arbutus, cactus, and aloe, while here and there the palm waves its graceful branches. It is impossible to imagine a more lovely country. The passes of the mountain range nearer Cannes, known as Les Esterels, furnish views of the noblest kind ; they are covered with verdure, and the valleys are luxu- riant in their growth ; the tints of the sunlight on the porphyry rocks (whence the ancients obtained their mar- bles) are very beautiful. As you approach the sea, Cannes comes in view : it is a small town, built in a half circle round the bay, having a quadruple row of trees in front of the houses, used as a public promenade. On one side of the bay, the height called Mont Chevalier is crowned by a very ancient castle and church. This is the only anti- quarian feature in the town ; but the ascent from the lower part is very curious : it is a long street of stairs, crossed here and there by roads to the other streets on different levels up the mountain side, and crowned by the towers above. The view from the bay embraces the islands of St. Marguerite and St. Honorat, at about two miles and a half distance. The former is remarkable as the prison of the far-famed f ‘ Man with the Iron Mask.” This celebrated state-prisoner, once supposed to have been the elder brother of Louis XIV, and rightful heir to the French throne ; or some other important individual, according to the varied conjectures of such as wished to penetrate the carefully-kept secret ; has been satisfactorily proved by Lord Dover to have been Hercules Anthony ISLE OF ST. MARGUERITE. 27 Matthioli, the favourite minister of Ferdinand Charles, the fourth Duke of Mantua. He had promised to aid in selling the principality to the French king ; but failing in his promise, he was secretly entrapped by Louis, in May 1679, and immured in the fortress of St. Marguerite in 1687, where he remained eleven years. In the autumn of 1698 he was taken to the Bastille, where he died on the 19th of November, 1703. He was 24 years strictly confined, but lived to the age of sixty-three. These facts have been elicited from the books taken from the Bastille when it was destroyed in the great French Revo- lution, and would probably never have been made public but for that event. It further appears that the mask he always wore was of black velvet, not iron ; and he was so closely concealed, and strictly watched, because Louis had no shadow of right thus to entrap, and cruelly confine, the free subject of another state, who committed no crime but that of refusing to betray it. Obtaining a boat, bearing the classic name of Pericles, we crossed to the fortress, and obtained permission of the governor to go over the prisons. The internal buildings are all comparatively modern ; the old prisons are a range of five cells built in a row on the scarp of the rock, and remain in their original state That in which the world- renowned prisoner was located for so many dreary years is a large vaulted room, with a very high ceiling, and one large window looking over the sea toward the bay of Cannes. The wall is about 14 feet thick, and there are three rows of iron grates in the arched window formed in this wall, and a double folding glazed window inside ; a small fire-place is beside it, above which are some shelves. These are the only features to break the monotony of the blank walls. In comparison with much of this kind that I have seen at home and abroad, this did not strike 28 ISLE OF ST. MARGUERITE. me as a gloomy or inconvenient prison. It is a very large airy hall, and the view from the window is cheerful. I would not say aught to lessen the indignant sense of cruelty and injustice all should feel who read the story of the man thus dishonourably entrapped : I but speak of the comparative state of this place with such frightful cells as we still see in the old German towns of Ratisbon, or Nuremberg, or the horrid prisons of Venice, con- structions that seem to justify the scorn and contempt of a Byron for human nature, thus perverted into fiendishness. The entire fortress was at the time of our visit occupied by prisoners of war, consisting of two Bedouin chiefs and about seventy of their followers. I was much struck by the noble bearing of the principal men, who possessed a native dignity that commanded respect. Another striking thing was the total apathy or want of curiosity among them all. They scarcely condescended to bestow a look as we passed, or to take the slightest notice of our presence even when we walked through the bed-rooms, where they lazily reclined smoking or chatting. Many of the lower class were seated in their picturesque dresses on the sunny side of the walls, with their chins resting on their knees, and their ample burnous wrapped all round them. Others were huddled in a close ring upon the ground playing some simple game, which consisted in placing small pebbles in a series of pits made in a circle. Others were employed to cook, and fetch water, and the whole island was allowed them to range in. On the adjoining island of St. Honorat stand an old castle and a church. They seem to be the work of the eleventh or twelfth century, and are said to have been used by the Christians and Turks, as each got the mastery. There is a curious legend told of the division of these islands, which were originally one, and inhabited by the ISLE OF ST. HONORAT. 29 saints whose names they bear. It reports that St. Honorat was attacked by scruples of conscience as to the propriety of being alone on the island with a female saint as com- panion ; and that in consequence of his prayers, the sea flowed between them. St. Marguerite was in despair, and, strong in her own virtue, hit on an expedient to procure herself the society of the less trustful St. Honorat. She knew his weakness for strawberries, and exacted a promise that he should visit her, as usual, when they were in season. So reasonable a request could not be refused, and the lady took such great care to select her plants, and tend them, that the fruit were ripening at all seasons : St. Honorat could not resist the miracle, and the daily visits were resumed as heretofore. On arriving again at the boat, we found that the sailors had been busily employed in fishing during our absence. They had caught among the rest a huge polypus, which measured half-a-yard across from the tips of its arms, which twisted about horribly; this they were about to take home as a great delicacy: they cut it into fibres, which somewhat resemble cod sounds. Another dainty was procured by the boat-hook from the rocks ; this was the echini, which creep about in great numbers by the aid of their spines : they clear the shell of the spines with a knife, then crack the shell all round, turning out the body of the creature, and retaining the lower half, upon which are deposited four ridges of spawn, which is eaten raw, swept off the shell by a piece of bread. I was urged to taste this delicacy, and did so ; but I could not help observ- ing that the bread was the best part of it. We rode across the country next day to Nice. The views all along the high ground are singularly beautiful. Near Cannes, the ground is entirely employed in the cultivation of scented plants for the use of the perfume 30 ANTIBES — NICE. manufactures of Grasse (about four miles beyond it), and it is impossible to imagine a more exquisite scene. The double row of mountains that rise above this favoured district, and form a barrier to the north wind, sufficiently explain the geographical reason for its continued blandness. The entire road to Antibes is charming, and the town it- self very picturesque, and apparently strongly fortified. The gardens by the roadside are all fenced with wild aloes, which make a very strong quickset hedge. Beyond this, the river Var forms the boundary of Provence and Savoy, and passing it we are in Sardinia. It is a broad, shallow stream, with little water at present, but bears evidence of being most boisterous in winter, when it flows down from the mountains carrying great boulders in its way. It is possible in all these river-beds to trace the sudden destruction they occasionally produce after storms in the high lands ; but they generally, in summer, look so shallow and insignificant, as they trickle in the midst of a dry plain of stones, that the stranger at first looks on them with a sort of contempt : this is checked, however, some- what speedily when he regards the broken bridges and twisted trees which mark their winter power. Nice is a remarkably pretty place, consisting of a large number of showy hotels and lodging-houses. It is more like an English watering-place than any I ever saw on the continent ; the streets are well paved and clean, the houses in good order, excellent shops, and the whole plan equal to, and very like Brighton. There is a lovely look- out to sea, and a grand range of mountains behind the town, which is replete with every comfort and conveni- ence. But to my mind it is too English, and too formal ; and opposed to that ease and freedom which should be the great charm of sea-side relaxation. Lord Londesborou