p^yV^qp PPp/fr P ' -.' r; '-'.I 00 00 OO ' y-^OWOOWOOOOOOyyyyy < V3Bwj&$Q&&&&&. "OO.OP Op OpO t ; ; &0 O y y O y g y .y ^gMllP SaoaRBK^BBwKWPOwoooootjooQOO. HHKii^ii^i- O 00 00 o o OO o oo o oo o o Q o o oo opp o opt; oo o o oo oo o o oo o o ooo ti o o o o a o o o op o o a O 0000 O o o o o <> ^ OOO OO O O O'O p ^00000. OP y o o o o' - f j a OO O y o Q o y < , JO Ot> OppO wq 00 o o o y o y o y/- it)So ootro o o o o oo o p op OOpoooooooci'Oo.y'j'^0; LIBRARY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA. GIFT Of Y. M. C. A. OF U. Accession Cla&s LOSE A3 BEY HOLY LAND WITH GLIMPSES OF EUROPE AND EGYPT: A YEAR'S TOUR. BY S. DRYDEN PHELPS, D.D. SHELDON & COMPANY, 335 BROADWAY. BOSTON: GOULD & LINCOLN. 1863. Entered according to Act of Congress in the year 1862, BY S. D. PHELPS, In the Clerk's office of the District Court of the District of Connecticut. J. H. TOBITT anfr 1 Franklin Square, New York. LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. MELROSE ABBEY Frontispiece. PALM TREES Title-page. BUNYAN'S COTTAGE AT ELSTOW 25 HOSPICE OF ST. BERNARD 62 FLORENCE FROM THE SOUTH-EAST 102 THE NILE AT OLD CAIRO 162 GHAWAZEE OR DANCING GIRLS 169 RUINS OF KARNAK AT THEBES 173 HOUSE WITH A CHAMBER ON THE ROOF OR WALL. . . 193 HOUSE-TOP OR ROOF AND BATTLEMENTS 193 WOMEN WEEPING AT A GRAVE 198 POOL OF HEZKKIAH, OLIVET, ETC 203 AVAILING PLACE OF THE JEWS 214 ABSALOM'S TOMB (RESTORED) 220 BETHANY . 2*22 BETHLEHEM 242 THE DEAD SEA FROM THE NORTH-WEST 248 THE JORDAN, AT THE SUPPOSED PLACE OF CHRIST'S BAPTISM 252 JERUSALEM FROM THE NORTH-EAST 282 CAPERNAUM AND SEA OF GALILEE . . . . : 356 SKIN BOTTLES AND \VATER-JAR8 360 OF NAZARETH . , . . 366 101798 PREFACE. " WHAT travelers the Americans are ! I find them everywhere," eaid a solid, intelligent, good-natured English lady as she reached, almost out of breath, the top of the last flight of stairs in the lofty tower of the great Cathedral of Notre Dame in Antwerp, and looked a few feet above where I had just climbed to the highest accessible point. She might have added, if she had looked over the lists of our publishers, " and how many books of travels they write !" Every author, I suppose, perceives though others may not reasons sufficient to justify his publication. He differs, per- haps, in some important respects, from others who have gone over the same ground, or he has so wrought up, arranged, and con- densed his materials as to present in a life-like manner just what is most desirable and interesting to readers generally. I have given a sketch of my whole tour in a single volume, and I do not know of another writer who has brought the results of a journey of like extent into so small a space. In this purposed and labored brevity, the first part of the book is necessarily a rapid narrative of sights and scenes by the way ; but the chapters on Palestine a land of the deepest interest to all who prize the sacred Scriptures I have extended and amplified as the subject seemed to demand. I have endeavored to present accurate pictures of the places and scenery where I traveled, so that the reader, by using as it were my eyes, may have a kind of stereoscopic view of IV PREFACE DEDICATION. the same localities. To the general reader, to the student 01 the Bible, to the tourist through the same countries and who does not desire or intend sometime to make the journey ? I trust this volume will be found both useful and entertaining. In preparing the materials of my daily journal for the press, I have consulted several works on the Holy Land, and have derived especial aid from Dr. Thomson's " Land and the Book," Stanley's " Sinai and Palestine," and the " Hand-book of Syria and Palestine," compiled by Rev. J. L. Porter. While visiting, in Florence, the observatory of Galileo where by his improved telescope he made wondrous discoveries in the heavens, the saintly spirit of my precious mother, in her seventy- fifth year, passed to her glorious home beyond the stars. And while ascending the Nile, near the place where the infant Moses was found in the flags of the river, my youngest child, a bright and darling boy in his fourth year, was taken up to the bosom of the Good Shepherd. To their blessed memories, and to my be- loved Christian Flock, by whose approval and kind liberality the journey was undertaken, I dedicate this volume. NEW HAVEN,- Conn., 1862. CONTENTS. I. THE PASSAGE IRELAND SCOTLAND. Embarking Sea-life Icebergs WhalesSaint Johns Services Land ho ! . Queenstown Cork Blarney Castle Sabbath in Killarney The Lakes Gap of Dunloe Fourth of July Celebration Limerick Dublin Presbyterian Assembly Revival Belfast Dr. Cooke Giant's Causeway Round Towers Trip to Scotland The Highlands Lochs Lomond and Katrine Stirling Castle Edinburgh Abbotsford 9 II. ENGLAND WALES NOTED PLACES. Rural Scenery Excursion to Caernarvon Its Castle Liverpool Rev. Stowell Brown Dr. Raffles Bedford Bunyan's Cottage Cardiugton Kettering Northampton Olney Stratford-on-Avon Leamington Oxford South- ampton Stonehenge Isle of Wight 22 III. LONDON BUNHILL FIELDS PREACHERS. Greatness of London Saint Paul's Westminster Abbey British Museum Hampton Court Windsor Castle Houses of Parliament Bunyan's Tomb Smithfield Spurgeon's Preaching Dr. Gumming Hall, Noel, Landels, and Brock Prayer Meetings 31 IV. FRANCE BELGIUM HOLLAND THE RHINE, Across the Channel Rouen Paris Grand Military Pageant American Chapel Churches and Religion The People Parisian Attractions Versail- les Belgian Scenery Brussels King Leopold Waterloo Antwerp- Churches Rubens Dutch-Land, Cities and Scenery Aix-la-Chapelle Tomb of Charlemagne Relics Cologne On the Rhine Drachenfels Mayence Frankfort Heidelberg Baden-Baden Strasbourg A Famous Clock 40 V. SWITZERLAND A TOUR IN THE ALPS. Mountain Scenery Rail-Carriages Geneva Dr. Malan The Arve Mont Blanc Chamouny Flegere Mer de Glace Glaciers Tete Noir Martigny Grand Saint Bernard Dogs The Morgue Moonlight Drive Baths of Leuk Gemmi Pass Thuu Interlachen Swiss Lakes 55 VI. TEE SWISS ALPINE JOURNEYS GERMANY. Characteristics Cottages Productions Sabbath Observance Dust-Stream Wengern Aip Jungfrau Avalanches Grindelwald Great Scheideck Storm Reichenbach Happy Valley Handek Grimsel Rhone Glacier Furca Devil's Bridge Home of Tell Ascent of the Rigi Storm Predica- ment Mount Pilatus Lucerne Zurich Constance John Huss Rhine Falls Lake Constance Augsburg 67 VI CONTENTS. VII. BAVARIA AUSTRIA ITALY VENICE. Munich Art Galleries Churches Cemetery Russian Bath German People The Tyrol Salzburg Mozart Kufstein Deep Well A Criminal Inns- bruck Wounded Soldiers Brenner Pass In Italy Verona Attractions of Venice Gondolas Murano and Lido Padua Solierino 62 VIII. MILAN MANTUA BOLOGNA FLORENCE PISA. Milan Cathedral Last Supper Incident Birth-place of Virgil Bologna- Apennines Rural Aspects People Excited Productions Florence Pitti Palace Umzi Gallery Churches Mr. Powers Protestant Services A Sin- gular Prisoner Fiesole Galileo's Observatory Baptism and Funeral Bene- fits of Travel Contrasts Pisa Baptistery Campo Santo Cathedral Lean- ing Tower Leghorn to Rome 94 IX. ROME ITS CHURCHES THE VATICAN TIVOLI. The Eternal City Churches Raphael's House Saint Peter's Interior, Roof, and Ball Saint Paul's Saint John Lateran Holy Staircase Paul's Hired House Mamertine Prison Tasso's Tomb Cemetery of the Capuchins The Vatican Galleries Paintings Quirinal Palace Spada Festival in Sistine Chapel The Pope American College Excursion to Tivoli Hadrian's Villa 109 X.-OLD ROME-COLISEUM-CATACOMBS-CHRISTMAS. Ruins Fountains Capitol Forum Arch of Titus Coliseum Appian "Way- Catacombs Christmas Holidays Pope and Cardinals at Saint Peter's Bam- bino Pope at the Church of the Jesuits Priests and People Romanism at Home Villas and Studios Pincian Hill-Italian Sunset 121 XI.-NAPLES-POMPEII-VESUVIUS-BAIJE-MALTA. New Year Rome to Naples Herculaneum Pompeii House of Diomede Bor- bonico Museum Ascent of Vesuvius-LavaTomb of Virgil Puteoli Lake Avernus-RuinsofBaiae-Malta ...135 XII.-EGYPT-ALEXANDRIA-CAIRO. " Land of Egypt" Oriental Sights Donkey Riding Cleopatra's Needle Pom- pey's Pillar Catacombs Pasha's Palace Bazaars Alexandria to Cairo- Sight of the Pyramids Phases of Eastern Life Wedding Mosques Queer Test Dancing Dervishes Shoobra Gardens Petrified Forest Heliopolis Aged Sycamore Fine Obelisk 144 XIII.-LAND OF MOSES-LIFE ON THE NILE. Sacred Associations Missionaries Sahitation Dragoman Engaged On the Nile- Our Party Climate River Soil Productions Irrigation Scenery- Villages Sand Storms Girls Fellaheen-Our Crew Devotions Fare Festi val Ghawazee Funeral Quarrel 158 XIV. THEBES ITS TEMPLES AND TOMBS DOWN THE RIVER. Grandeur of Thebes Luxor Mustapha Aga-Karnak Temples Colossal Stat- uesTombs of the Kings Mummy Pits Down the Nile Sights Adventures Turkish Dignitary Female Wrath 171 XV. MEMPHIS THE PYRAMIDS THE RED SEA. Pyramids of Sakkara Image of Remeses Tomb of Apis Pyramids of Ghizeh A Dream Insolent Arabs Ascent of the Great Pyramid Interior The Sphinx-Leaving the Nile Excursion The Desert-Mirage-Red Sea-Pas- sage of the Israelites Wells of Moses 182 CONTENTS. vii XVI. PALESTINE JOPPA TO JERUSALEM. Entering the Holy Land Joppa-House of Simon Oranges Gate of the City- Peter's Vision- Dorcas Hedges of Cactus Plain of Sharon Philistia Lydda Ramleh Women Weeping at a Grave Latron Valley of Ajalon Kirjath- jearim First Sight of Olivet and Jerusalem, 191 XVII.-THE HOLY CITY-<>LIVET-CALVARY. Jaffa Gate Mount Zion Hotel Pool of Hezekiah House-top View Walk to Olivet The Kedron View of Jerusalem Panorama Paths of Jesus House of Pilate Temple Area Via Dolorosa Calvary Church of the Holy Sepul- chreTomb of Jesus 202 XVIII.-A WALK ABOUT ZION-BETHANY. A Synagogue Wailing-Place^-Relics of a Great Arch Jews' Quarter Lepers- Armenian Convent Tomb of David American Cemetery Lower Pool of Gi- hon Valley of Hinnom En-Rogel Valley of Jehoshaphat Pool of Siloam Tombs Golden Gate English Church Walk to Bethany Tomb of Lazarus Passage over Olivet Preaching on Mount Zion 213 XIX.-POOLS OF SOLOMON-HILL COUNTRY-HEBRON. Hill of Evil Council Cultivated Fields Well of the Wise Men Plain of Re- phaim Convent of Elijah Sight of Bethlehem Tomb of Rachel Pools of Solomon Fountain Sealed Contrast ''Hill Country of Judea" Tekoa Haunts of David Beth-zur Valley of Eschol Hebron Camping-Ground Cave of Machpelah Tent-Life . . 225 XX. HOME OF THE PATRIARCHS BETHLEHEM MAR SABA. Breakfast Hebron Abraham's Oak Grape Slips Old Aqueduct Vale of Etam Bethlehem Church of the Nativity Stable and Manger Convent of Santa Saba 238 XXI.-THE DEAD SEA AND THE JORDAN. Our Bedawin Guard Approach to the Dead Sea En gedi Robbers Lake Scenery Sea of Death Cities of the Plain A Bath River Jordan Nebo Death of Moses Prophets ef the Jordan Baptism of Christ Bathing of the Pilgrims 247 XXII .-JERICHO TO JERUSALEM. Gilgal Brook Cherith Roman Jericho City of Palm Trees Quarantania Ap- ples of Sodom Fountain ol'Elisha Scripture Sites Adummim Foot-steps of Jesus Place of Thieves Mustapha Bethany 260 XXIII. CITY OF THE GREAT KING-GETHSEMANE. Jerusalem Upper Pool of Gihon Tombs of the Kings Quarry under the City- Tomb of the Virgin Gethsemane Aged Olive-TreesTearful Emotions Prayer-Meeting in the Garden Impressions Pool of Bethesda 270 XXIV.-BENJAMIN-GIBEON-GIBEAH-BETHEL. Mount Scopus Last View of the Holy City Heights of Benjamin Nob Miz- peh Gibeon Sun Standing Still Gibeah Rizpah's Grief Raman Beeroth Bible Topography Bethel and its Associations Abraham and Lot Battle of Ai Rimmon Ophra, 2SO Vlll CONTENTS. XXV.-EPHRAIM-SHILOH-PLAIN OF MOEEH- JACOB'S WELL. fertility Amidst Rocky Desolation Yebrud Fountain of Robbers Picturesque Scenes Shiloh Lebonah Arab Horses Plain of Mukhna Armed Natives- Salutations Jacob's Well 293 XXVI.-NABLUS-SHECHEM-MOUNT GERIZIM. Tomb of Joseph Vale of Nablus Reading the Law Shechem Olive-TreesAs- cent of Mount Gerizim Samaritan Temple A Shrine View from the Summit Samaritan Synagogue An Old Copy of the Pentateuch Lepers Scenes by the Way Shepherds Bedawin 305 XXVII.-SAMARIA-DOTHAN-PASSES OF MANASSEH. The " Hill Samaria" Church of Saint John Grand Colonnade Inhabitants- Bible Events Jeba Plain of Sanur Tell Dothain Pits or Dry Cisterns Jo- seph Sold A Celestial Army Kubatieh Jenin 315 XXVIII. PLAIN OF ESDRAELON JEZREEL SHUNEM NAIN. Valley of Megiddo Verdure Gilboa Jezreel Naboth's Vineyard Bethshean Gideon's Army Battle of Mount Tabor Bedawin Tents The Shunamite Woman Little Hermon Visit to Nain Endor Saul and the Witch 324 XXIX. MOUNT TABOR AND THE SEA OF GALILEE. Ascent of Tabor First Sight of the Sea of Galilee Magnificent View Scene of the Transfiguration Trial of Baal at Carmel The New Prophet Fine Morn- ingSons of Ishmael On the Bank of the Lake Tiberias Hot Springs.. .334 XXX. PLADl OF GENNESARETH CAPERNAUM SEA OF GALILEE. Along the Shore Magdala '< Land of Gennesaret" Chinnereth Bethsaida Capernaum Home of Jesus Back to the Tents Sunday at the Sea of Galilee Services Last View of the Lake Poem 345 XXXI MOUNT OF BEATITUDES CAN A NAZARETH. Sermon on the Mount Battle of Hattin Cana Vale of Nazareth Church of the Annunciation Work-shop of Joseph Mensa Christi Girls at the Foun- tain of the Virgin Evening in Nazareth Fine View from the Hill Foot- prints of Jesus Sefurieh Mt. Carmel Thunder-storm Plain of Acre 357 XXXII. PHCENICIA COAST OF TYRE AND SIDON. Saint Jean d'Acre Achzib High Promontory Alexander's Tent Ladder of Tyre Ras el-'Ain Aqueducts Tyre, its Present Aspect and Ruins Paul's Visit River Leontes A Curious Story Roman Relics Sarepta The Poor Widow Footsteps of Jesus Approach to Sidon Fruit Gardens A Christian Family Sidon to Beirut : 369 XXXIII. BEIRUT SMYRNA -CONSTANTINOPLE ATHENS HOME. Situation of Beirut Dr. Thomson Sabbath Service Farewell to the Holy Land On the Mediterranean Cyprus Rhodes Patmos Sights in Smyrna Mitylene Ilium Situation of Constantinople Saint Sophia Mosques- Tombs Seraglio Palace Bosphorus to Black Sea Golden Horn Classic Shores and Islands Athens ; its Scenery and Temples Mars' Hill Mount . declaring that Yictor Emanuel is their king. They will not be satisfied with anything less than the free- dom which Sardinia enjoys. They are almost unani- mous against the return of the Grand-Dukes ; and should Austria attempt to reinstate them, there would be war at once. Yenetia would revolt without delay, if she felt able to throw off the Austrian dom- ination. We heard the complaint at Venice Why 5 98 PRODUCTIONS FLORENCE PITTI PALACE. should we have these soldiers, who cannot speak our language, quartered upon us ? Many thousands have left that Province for the freer atmosphere of adjoin- ing States. The Pope, doubtless, fears that his tem- poral power will soon pass from him ; and with the loss of that, the Papal Church must necessarily be weakened. Italy at present is a sort of seething caul- dron, and what the issues will be, it is difficult to foretell. May her star ascend ! On our first entrance into Italy, we saw fields of In- dian corn and yellow pumpkins, reminding us of simi- lar sights in New-England. Mulberry, chestnut, pear and apple trees, are plenteous; and about Florence there are olives, figs and pomegranates, with their pendant fruits. The climate is much milder than in the same latitude with us. Roses are now blooming in open gardens. Chestnuts are found everywhere, in the market and on the table. They are very much larger than ours, and are usually eaten roasted. Yon see women all along the streets, with their charcoal fire and pan of roasting chestnuts. They are quite a large item in the food of the peasants. The lower classes throughout Europe do much of their house or shop work, their cooking, and eating and drinking, out of doors. Florence has a variety of attractions. The streets, with a few exceptions, are narrow and unpleasant. Its buildings, generally, are not elegant. The muddy Arno divides the city. Its environs are be-eutiful. One may walk or ride for hours in the Boboli Gar- dens or the Cascine, with delight. Evergreens and statues adorn the paths. In the Pitti Palace you find UFFIZI GALLERY CHURCHES POWERS. 90 paintings that have a world-wide fame. The beautiful creations of Raphael, especially, including his cele- brated Madonna della Seggiola, long detain you in rapt admiration. The tables of mosaic are wonderful specimens of that art, carried to such perfection here. The Ufnzi Gallery is scarcely less attractive. Many of its pictures and statues are known the world over Here is the famous Venus de Medici, so exquisite and graceful. It is intensely interesting to survey these works of the old masters and of more recent artists. The dome of the Cathedral is more ample than that of St. Peter's at Rome, and was greatly admired by Michael Angelo. Two of the bronze doors of the Baptister} r , covered with exquisite bas-reliefs, occupied the artist forty years. The church of Santa Croce, the West- minster Abbey of Florence, contains the remains of Michael Angelo, Galileo, Machiavelli, and others, with their massive marble monuments, adorned with rich and emblematic sculptures. A fine cenotaph of Dante, who lived in Florence, but died in Ravenna, stands with them. The church of San Lorenzo, and the Medicean Chapel connected with it, contain the re- mains, tombs and cenotaphs of the celebrated Medici family. The chapel alone cost $17,000,000 and is yet unfinished. Its interior walls are of variegated marbles and precious stones, and its dome is covered with splendid frescoes. It 4 is a monument of folly. We passed an hour very pleasantly in the studio of our countryman, Hiram Powers. We found him exceedingly agreeable and entertaining ; and the .specimens from his chisel, including a bust of Franklin and Proserpine, and a full length figure, California, 100 FLORENCE PKOTESTANT SERVICES. which he kindly showed us, are certainly among the finest sculptures we have ever seen. It is pleasant to turn away from decorated churches, where unintelligible mummeries are being constantly repeated, and enter a humbler place of Protestant worship, and listen to the simple preaching of the Gospel of Christ. There are two such places of wor- ship in this city, at both of which we attended on the Sabbath. One is an English Episcopal church, and the other a Scotch Presbyterian. They both have excellent evangelical chaplains. Happy will it be for Italy when the day shall come that the Gospel, in its purity and power, is preached to her people, and prac- ticed in their lives. Heaven speed that day, and io seems to be at hand. While taking tea with the Scotch Presbyterian minister, the Rev. J. It. McDougal, at his invitation and residence, he gave an interesting account of an evangelical religious movement now in progress in Florence, and extending to adjacent localities. In the Revolution in 1848, some copies of the Bible came into circulation, and were eagerly read by persons who had obtained the idea that the progress of liberty was identified with that book. A number were thus made wise unto salvation, and they took measures to diffuse the truth more widely. Among these was the Madai family, whose imprisonment excited so much interest in our country. That family lived in apartments adjoining the one in which I obtained these facts. Converts increased, and Bibles were multiplied. The priests were alarmed, and the civil authority was invoked to stop the movement. Numbers were arrest- A SINGULAR PRISONER FIESOLE. 101 ed and imprisoned for propagating tlie evangelical faith. On one occasion, the authorities found a large number of Bibles, and apprehended them and put them in prison. The people, hearing of this, were curious to know what sort of a book it was that was thus treated. They flocked to the prison to see copies of it ; and the keeper, perceiving an opportunity to turn the matter to his own account, sold a good many copies to those who were anxious to buy the singular prisoner. So the Word of God was not bound, but had free course, and was glorified in securing further triumphs. From that day to this, the good work has been extending. Regular religious meetings are held, in a quiet way, in various places, conducted by con- verted Italians, much in the manner of our conference meetings, with reading of the "Word of God, prayer and singing. Bibles, tracts, and religious books, are circulated. I have seen several of these publications and among them a translation of the "Philosophy of the Plan of Salvation," a work which thoughtful Italians read with much interest. Every year some are arrested and imprisoned, but the number of such cases is diminishing, and true converts are increasing. This is certainly an interesting and hopeful move- ment. I made several delightful excursions among the en- virons of Florence y and to the summits of the hills that look down upon the beautiful vale of the Arno, in which it is situated. Fiesole is about five miles to the north, a city older than the Tuscan capital, and a thousand feet above it. Portions of old Roman ruins are still visible. But I was vastly more pleased with an excursion in the opposite direction, to a liigli emin- ence, surmounted with a tower, called Galileo's Obser- vatory. Part of the building was over a broad, fine road, between lofty cypresses, interspersed with oak and larch, and which leads to an imperial palace, where, a few nights before, a grand ball had been given by the city authorities and attended by about three thousand guests. Strangers were not numerous, and the times rather dull in Florence ; and this ball was, no doubt, mainly designed for the benefit of the shopkeepers, who furnished the materials of dress and display. Even kings and emperors are often obliged to resort to similar expedients, to allay the complaints and retain the favor of their subjects. From the top of Galileo's Tower one gets an entranc- ing view of the city and adjacent country. The val- ley for many miles, with the winding course of the Arno, is spread out like a map. Ranges of Apennine hills on the east hide Yallambrosa from view. WQ went to the villa of Galileo, near by, where that phil- osopher lived and died, and where Milton, during his visit to Italy, held interviews with him. From tins Observatory, it is said, Galileo made those discoveries, in regard to the moon, to which Milton, in the Paradise Lost, alludes, when saying that the shield of Satan " Hung o'er his shoulders like the moon, whose orb Through optic glass the Tuscan artist views At evening from the top of Fiesole, Or in Valdarno, to descry new lands, Rivers or mountains, in her spotty globe. 5> Entering the Baptistery one day, which is a large octagon or circular edifice, near the Cathedral, I wit- A BAPTISM AND FUNERAL. 103 nessed the ceremony of baptizing an infant. The little, well attired subject, who had evidently not yet seen two Sabbaths, was brought into the building by a woman, accompanied by a young man, when two priests made their appearance, and these seemed to be all the persons any way concerned in the matter. One of the priests took the child, while the other stood by, holding a huge lighted wax candle, three or four feet long. The officiating priest breathed in the baby's face, and made the sign of the cross on its forehead and breast, and gave it to the arms of the young man, and proceeded to read something from a book, while the other priest frequently responded, Amen. This over, the first priest took from a little box a pinch of salt, and put it into the mouth of the child. Then they all went to the font, the young man repeating something as lie carried the infant. The officiating priest now touched his own tongue, and then the baby's face, with his finger. Then pulling back the child's cap, he held the little creature upright over the font, crossed it, rubbed some oil on its neck and fore- head, and bending its head downward, he dipped up a dish of water, and poured it liberally on its head. This caused the child to cry, and that was the end of the ceremony. Returning one evening from a pleasant social circle of Americans, for the most part, I encountered on one of the the numerous bridges of the Arno,a singular funeral procession. The coffin, on a bier, and draped in black, was borne on the shoulders of several men, strangely appareled in long dark robes and ghastly-looking masks. They were preceded and followed by a mini- 104: FLOEENCE BENEFITS OF TKAVEL. ber of others in similar costume, and carrying elevated torches. Florence improves upon acquaintance. I first entered it at evening, in a violent rain, and fora week or two the weather was anything but pleasant or mild, making everything seem cheerless, and my first im- pressions not very agreeable. But when the weather became settled, the skies delightfully clear, and the air pure and invigorating, things wore a new and more pleasing face. New and congenial acquaintances were formed, and repeated visits to the wonderful creations of art and genius rendered my stay in the city increas- ingly attractive ; while the streets and buildings assumed an improved appearance, and the muddy Arno sometimes really had a transparent aspect, espe- cially under a glorious Italian sunset, or the glitter of a thousand lamps that line its borders at night. Travel brings pleasures and benefits, and a kind of education, that can be acquired in no other way Opportunities are constantly afforded for observing the grand and beautiful works, both of nature and art, as well as for studying the character and habits of dif- ferent peoples. No day need pass without something of good or profit seen, learned, or experienced. Even the annoyances that one meets constantly the discom- forts and perplexities of journeying where passports, custom-houses, and various hungry officials detain and tax you ; the swarm of beggars, including the lame, the blind, and the diseased, as well as the destitute and the lazy, who beset you like a pack of ravenous wolves ; the ignorance and degradation that surround you ; the blind and puerile superstitions of the people, CONTRASTS IN ITALY. 105 amid magnificent temples apparently devoted to God's service ; the great poverty of lands rich in natural capabilities and varied beauties all these things make you grateful for the land of your birth, and lead you to prize more highly its people, its government, its religion, and all its good institutions. Here, and in fact throughout Italy, great contrasts nre continually meeting the eye. Go into the galleries of painting and sculpture, enter many of the cathe- drals, churches, palaces, and other public or private buildings, and often as you walk along some street or open piazza, you behold beautiful and astonishing creations of art and skill pictures and statues that have a world-wide fame, and in the contemplation of which you are lost in admiration and delight ; and then as you turn away from these, and look upon the realities of life around you, you see sad and disgusting evidences of mental darkness, wretchedness, and low, groveling tastes and habits. Go out into the country ? and you are struck often with the beauty and richness of valleys, hill-sides, and table-lands ; you see numer- ous evergreen trees, cultivated and trained in gardens ? whose walks, arches, bowers, and fountains are like the enchantments of Aladdin's Lamp ; you see a flour- ishing growth of olives-, oranges, figs and pomegran- ates ; and though on the verge of winter, and in sight of snow on mountain peaks in the horizon, whose cool breath you feel, you are greeted by the way with beautiful hedges of roses, in bud and bloom, as they adorn the grounds of some villa, or hang over the high walls by the road-side. And while some of the more pretending villas, or humbler cottages, please you with 5* 106 FLORENCE TO PISA THE BAPTISTERY. their beauty and neatness, you will not fail to observe many a filthy and miserable habitation, with inmates to correspond ; ragged women at work in the fields ; donkeys and cows yoked together, with plows, carts and other agricultural implements of rude and awk- ward construction. Hands in the city are making tables and jewelry of exquisite mosaics that cause you to w r onder at the perfection of human ingenuity ; and hands in the country are using various uten- sils of tillage so clumsy and ungainly that a Yan- kee would hardly deem them fit for fire-wood or old iron. On the afternoon of the 25th of November, we left Florence for Pisa, where we arrived by railway, just at evening, and from an elevated window of our hotel, first got a glimpse of the Leaning Tower. Familiar from childhood with the pictures and accounts of that remarkable structure, could it be that my eyes were now really beholding it ? In the morning we hastened to the spot where it stands in connection with three other objects of unusual interest the Baptistery, the Campo Santa, and the Cathedral. The Baptistery, erected in the twelfth century is a beautiful building of white marble, circular and dome-like, relieved in the exterior by fine Corinthian columns. The interior is mostly marble also, and exquisitely finished. In the center is a large font, fourteen feet in its longest diam- eter, adapted and probably used for the immersion of candidates for baptism. The large room rising into the high dome, afforded delightful echoes ; and when a few of us sang a part of the hymn, CAMPO SANTA CATHEDRAL LEANING TOWER. 107 " My heavenly home is bright and fair, Nor pain nor death shall enter there" the fullness and prolongation of the sounds were organ- like and charming. The Campo Santa is a cemetery an immense oblong structure, with cloisters extending around it, and the open space within filled with earth, to the amount of fifty-three ship loads, brought from Calvary. There are numerous monuments in the clois- ters, and some striking frescoes. One of the latter, representing the Last Judgment, has a touch of satire, as well as truth, no doubt ; for the artist has mixed kings and queens and monks with the wicked. The Cathedral is spacious and splendid. "The doors are of bronze, the roof is of carved and gilded wood, the floor of marble white and yellow ; statues of exquisite workmanship adorn the walls, while a dim light spreads through the painted windows, and clothes with a mel- lowing softness, the stupendous columns." But I was in- terested most of all in the Campanile or Leaning Tower. It is a beautiful marble structure, fifty-three feet in diameter at the base, and about one hundred and eighty feet high, inclining toward the south more than thirteen feet from the perpendicular. My first view of the Mediterranean was from its top ; and what thoughts such a sight awakens? The waters of that sea lave the shores of Palestine, and are linked with the stirring events of ancient and modern history. A prophet was once cast into it, and an apostle wrecked upon it. At Leghorn, a considerable commercial town, we took steamer for Civita Yecchia, the port of the Papal 108 LEGHORN TO EOME. States, where we arrived in about twelve hours ; and after many annoyances and taxes of patience and purse, we were on the railway for Home. A ride of three hours through an uninteresting country, brought us in sight of the domes and towers of the eternal city ! IX. Its Cfjttttjps % Mrau IM. ROME ! How interesting tlie place ! How suggest- ive the word! What a train of associations it awakens ! The records of the past are unrolled; great characters in history stand before us ; and events that filled the world with their grandeur and significance seem to be transpiring again. Who has not desired to see Rome ! What student of classical literature, what lover of eloquence and poetry, what admirer of art, and mental power in its various exhibitions, has not longed to visit Rome, and wander amid the ruins of its former greatness and glory ? to look upon the Seven Hills where the city of the Caesars was en- throned to walk beneath the massive arches where they led their triumphant processions to muse amid the broken columns of the Forum, where Cicero and other orators swayed assembled throngs to linger under the shadow of the Coliseum, and think of the exciting scenes it once witnessed and to trace the footsteps of the great Apostle to the Gentiles, who, prisoner though he was, wielded an influence under God that was felt through the city, and pervaded even the Imperial Palace ! Who has not had a curiosity at least to look upon the sources of that mighty religious organism and power, that have so long exercised a tre- 110 EOME ITS CIIUfiCHES. mendous influence on human destiny, and still retain so much of their old energy, superstition and sway ? The dream of years has at length been realized, and what only was known by the hearing of the ear, is now familiarized by the seeing of the eye. On the 28th of November, I entered the gate of the so-called Eternal City. But how, in these brief and hasty way-notes, can I adequately describe what I have observed of ancient and modern Rome ? There are about as many churches in Rome as there are days in a year. The majority of them are very ordinary structures ; and sometimes, when the exterior is quite plain and even forbidding, you will find the interior elaborately ornate and gorgeous. There is but one Gothic church in Rome, and very few of these edifices have painted windows. The principal materi- als of ornamentation are marbles of various colors, and other rare stones, statuary, paintings, silver and gild- ing. You will sometimes find nearly the whole interior of a church, its floor, its columns, its walls, its altars and chapels, gleaming with polished and exquisitely carved and finished marbles of almost every hue. The niches are filled with statues and pictures monuments of Popes, Cardinals, Bishops and Saints, and paintings of Scripture scenes, in which dignitaries of the Church are often strangely blended ; while crucifixes and Ma- donnas everywhere abound. Frequently most horrid scenes of martyrdom, agony and blood are represented. Everything that can affect the senses, and through them move the passions, finds a place in these ecclesi- astical decorations and emblems. One of the first churches the stranger visits, is that Ill great and wonderful edifice, St. Peter's, whose magni- ficent dome reflects the unrivaled genius of Michael Angelo. Its construction occupied centuries, and the most renowned architects lavished their skill upon it. A great part of the incredible amount of money ex- pended upon it, was realized from the sale of indul- gences. In going to St. Peter's, a friend pointed out the house where Raphael, the prince of painters, lived. It is in a narrow, mean and dirty street, and the house itself is only worthy of its location. Looking up its dingy front, I saw a clothes-line, well laden with nether and other garments, hanging along its windows, and partially intercepting the view. After crossing the muddy Tiber by the Bridge of St. Angelo, amid colos- sal marble statues, with the immense circular Tomb of Hadrian, now a fortress and prison, rising before you, and passing some distance along a narrow, filthy street, lined with huckster-shops, you come to the large, open, oval Piazza of St. Peter's. On either hand is a magnificent range of colonnades or porticoes, with four rows of massive round pillars, over sixty feet high, while along the top are standing some two hundred statues, which the imagination might easily transform into celestial visitants come to watch the trains of earthly worshipers. Before you is a large Egyptian obelisk, and on each side, beautiful fountains throwing their crystal jets and spray into the air, and which often have a halo of rainbows about them. Be- yond these, rises the imposing facade of the great edi- fice, and crowned with gigantic statues of the twelve Apostles. This view excites your profound admira- tion, and though the enclosure embraces about ten 112 ROME ST. PETER'S INTERIOR ROOF AND BALL. acres, there is such harmony of outline and propor- tion, that it does not seem half so large. You enter this church, as you do others at Rome, by lifting a heavy leather curtain, and then your eyes mqet a sight, for vastness and majesty, richness and grandeur, afforded by no other religious temple in the world. Amplitude and height, massiveness and splen- dor, characterize the interior. Look up into the sub- lime dome, and you do not wonder that Michael Angelo called it "a firmament of marble." The pictures are all in mosaic, and are finely wrought. Amidst all this display of rich ornamentation, you see much that you deem neither agreeable nor in good taste. A double flight of stairs leads down to the reputed tomb of Peter, above and around which over a hundred lights are constantly burning. Near by, elevated a few feet above the floor of the church, is a black statue of the Apostle, before which you see persons come and kneel, and rise and kiss the great toe of the projecting foot, which is considerably short- ened by this unceasing labial attrition. On my next visit to St. Peter's, I ascended to the roof, which is quite a plateau, or place containing dwellings and families living there ; and then to the base of the dome, and then to near its crown, from whence you look down the frightful distance to the floor of the church, where men and women, and pro- cessions of priests seem but creeping pigmies. Finally I went to the very top, and squeezed through the narrow entrance into the ball ! Fine views of the city and the Campagna might have been had, but for -HOLY STAIRCASE. 113 the smallness of the apertures opening to the world without. The interior of the church of St. Paul, outside the walls of the city, is in some respects quite equal, if not superior, to that of St. Peter's. The splendid mon- olithic columns, the rich altars of malachite, the costly portraits in mosaic of the successive Popes, and other exquisite pictures, excite your wondering gaze. The St. John Lateran, is scarcely inferior in the rich and costly finish of its architecture and embellishment. Its cloisters contain relics which an attending priest is ready to exhibit. He shows the stone well-curb, by which Jesus conversed with the Samaritan woman ; the two halves of a column rent at our Lord's crucifix- ion ; the porphyry table on which His raiment was divided ; and that also on which He and His disciples partook of the Last Supper. He shows a stone slab, too, with a hole in it, and says that a priest once, doubting the Eeal Presence, dropped the wafer, and it went miraculously through the table ! So, I suppose, lie was cured of his unbelief. Near this church is a building, called the Baptistery, in the center of which is a porphyry font, sufficiently large for immersion, in which Constantine was baptized, as it is said. In this vicinity is the church of the Holy Staircase. The Santa Scala, or Staircase, consists of twenty-eight marble steps, covered with boards, and said to belong to the house of Pilate ; and not only that, but they are affirmed to be the very stairs on w T hich our Lord descended from the Judgment Hall. Hence great virtue is attached to them, and to go up them on one's knees, and pay a fee for it, produces great blessings to f OF f UNIVERSITY ) \ OF / 114: KOME PAUL'S HIKED HOUSE MAMERTTNE PRISON. the devotee here and hereafter. So an attending priest assured us, though we did not make the trial. Others, however, were continually plodding up, and kissing the stairs as they proceeded. It was on these stairs, I think, that Luther's eyes were measurably opened to see the absurdities of Romanism. It is quite common in Catholic countries to erect a church over some spot that, by tradition or otherwise, is regarded as sacred. St. Peter's occupies the site where the Apostle, whose name it bears, is said to have been buried, though there is no reliable evidence that he was ever in Rome at all. The splendid Basilica of St. Paul stands without the walls in a low and unhealthy location, that it may cover the place where the Apostle to the Gentiles is supposed to have had his sepulchre. A church on the Corso St. Maria in Yia Latta is regarded as occupying the site of Paul's hired house, where he lived two years in the charge of a soldier. You are guided to dark rooms under the church, and are shown portions of the old house where the Apostle lived ; and the priest points to a spring or well which he says was miraculously provided, curb and all, so that Paul could there bap- tize his converts. A church has been built over the old Mamertine Prison, in whose dark dungeons tradi : tion says Peter and Paul were confined. It is not unlikely that the latter was taken from this place to his martyrdom, having first written here the glorious words to Timothy: "Iain now ready to be offered, and the time of my departure is at hand. I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith ; henceforth there is laid up for me a crown 115 of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, shall give me at that day, and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing." We may readily believe that here Jugurtha was starved to death, and the companions of Catiline strangled. Here, also, in the floor of the prison, we were shown a mira- culous fountain, and on the wall a rough bas-relief of Peter baptizing the jailer. I suppose it would not be difficult to find other springs, by making similar exca- vations at the foot of the same Capitoline Hill. The church of St. Pietro in Yincoli was built to preserve the chain with which Peter was bound at Jerusalem. I was interested in this church, not on account of this relic, but from the fact that here Hildebrand was crowned Pope, with the title of Gregory VII. in 1073. Here, also, is a magnificent statue of Moses, by Michael Angelo, in which the majesty and meekness of Israel's lawgiver are wonderfully blended. I went to the church of St. Onofrio, on the Janiculum, to see the last resting-place of Tasso, the immortal author of Jerusalem Delivered. The poet died in Rome in 1595, at the age of 51. Recently a very richly-carved mon- ument in marble has been erected to his memory. In the church of the Capuchins is Guido's Archangel standing on the neck of Lucifer, a remarkable painting. The Lucifer is said to be a likeness of a Cardinal, after- wards Pope Innocent X., whose criticisms had dis- pleased the artist. The grave of Cardinal Barberini, by whom this church was built,, is marked by this sim- ple and singular inscription : Hicjacet pulms, cinis et nihil. Under the church are four rooms, used as a cemetery, the earth in them having been brought from 116 ROME THE VATICAN ITS GALLERIES. Jerusalem. They present the most singular and unique appearance imaginable. They are all filled with human skeletons and bones, arranged with a taste and skill, for beautiful forms and figures, that would do honor to an artist. The ceilings and walls are cov- ered with bones, so placed as to resemble the most beautiful ornaments in plaster. There are festoons of these bones, and the chandeliers hanging from the ceilings are made of them. Some entire skeletons have drapery on them, and on some of the skulls I noticed the names of the persons to whom they belonged, and the dates of their birth and death. When a monk dies, he is buried in the oldest grave, from which the skeleton is exhumed, clothed, and placed in one of the rooms, where a previous skeleton stood or lay, but is now removed, and its bones piled up or distributed in the curious manner described. Who has not heard of the Vatican, if he has not heard its thunders ? It is an irregular pile or collec- tion of buildings, adjoining St. Peter's on the right, and embracing some thousands of rooms and halls. Squads of French soldiers are continually standing around the entrance, and one generally finds a large number of them paraded or being drilled in the square of St. Peter's. Several long and broad staircases lead to the halls and museums of the Vatican, where are gathered raid preserved an immense number of works of art. The sculpture galleries are very extensive, and you range through them in delighted admiration of the ancient, interesting, and beautiful or grand productions of the chisel. You linger long before such statues as the Laocoon and Apollo Belvedere, and wonder at CELEBRATED PAINTINGS QUIEINAL PALACE. 117 the genius that could invest marble with such elements of life, passion and power. You see many busts of per- sons distinguished in historical and classical literature, and are gratified with a truthful representation of their faces and features. Two of the most celebrated pic- tures in the world are in the Yatican. The Last Judg- ment by Michael Angelo, covers entirely the farther wall of the Sistine Chapel. The light is not good, and one fails of the profoundest impression this great paint- ing is adapted to produce. I was better pleased with Raphael's inimitable picture of the Transfiguration. It was his last and best work ; and before he had quite finished it, he was suddenly cut off by death at the early age of thirty-seven. This glorious painting, bearing the last and fresh traces of his master-hand, was suspended over the couch where the dead body of the illustrious artist lay in state, and at his funeral it was borne in the train immediately preceding his remains. Raphael sleeps in the Pantheon, a grand old temple, built before the Christian era, and in a bettei state of preservation than any contemporary building in Rome. The Pope resides in the Yatican, except during four months in the summer, when he occupies the Quirinal, or Pontifical Palace on Monte Cavallo. Our Consul gives Americans permission to visit this palace. It has extensive apartments, many of which are adorned with fine paintings, tapestries and furniture. The adjoining garden is shady with lofty box and cypress, relieved with statues and fountains. In one part of the grounds is an organ played by water, and a large number of hidden pipes, which at the will of an at- 118 KOME SPADA FESTIVAL IN SISTINE CHAPEL. tendant, throw jets of water in all directions, causing, the visitors to make a hasty retreat to an open build- ing at hand. The Pope ought to be satisfied with his accommodations; and yet his head must sometimes be uneasy even under the triple crown. From the Vatican to the Castle of St. Angelo, formerly Hadrian's Tomb, but now a strongly fortified and guarded place," there is a walled passage by which, in case of disturbance or danger, the Pope may escape to the castle for safety. There are numerous palaces in Rome, containing galleries of paintings and sculptures of more or less merit. In the Spada stands the colossal statue of Poni- pey, at the base of which the great Julius Caesar was assassinated. On one of its legs is a dark spot, said to have been made with the blood of the renowned victim. On the 8th of December occurs the Festival of the Immaculate Conception, when the Pope and his Car- dinals officiate at the Sistine Chapel in the Vatican. In going up the long flight of stairs leading to the Vatican, I found a couple of waiters to take my over- coat and hat, for which they must be paid a small sum in advance. Perceiving I had on a frock coat, they undertook to pin back the skirts to make it resemble a dress coat ; but did it so bunglingly, that though the guard at the door let me in, the ushers inside, casting significant glances at my wardrobe, would not allow me to take a seat with those who were more for- tunate in the cut of their coats, but gave me a good standing-place among some priests. A gentleman immediately behind me, and in the same fix, could not THE POPE CARDINALS AMERICAN COLLEGE. 119 get in at all. I suppose the Pope's version of a cer- tain passage is, God is no respecter of persons, l)ut he is of coat-tails. The ladies were required to dress in black, and wore only veils on their heads, of the same color. The Cardinals came one after another to the number of twenty-five or thirty. They ride each in a splendid carriage, with gorgeous and glaring equipage, and three or four attendants bedizened with livery, while they themselves are covered with scarlet and gilt robes, which are held up by two or three persons as they enter the chapel and go to their seats. The Pope enters by a side door in his rich robes and miter, and sits on his throne-like elevation covered with a sort of silver drapery. Two or three persons stand by him continually to take off and put on his big head-cover- ing, and to adjust his robes. He is a pleasant-looking old man, and when he waved his hand in benedictions toward the audience, there was among the faithful a general prostration and crossing themselves. The services were very uninteresting, consisting of the usual turnings and bowings and mummery. One priest made a short address in Italian. On the 10th I attended the opening of the American College in Rome. This institution is designed for the education of young men from America for the Romish priesthood. A number of such students was present, and among them an African. Good music, a spirited address in Italian by Cardinal Barnabo, burning in- cense, and elevating the Host, with the usual genuflec- tions, constituted the exercises. The graduates of this college, I suppose, are intended to return to America, to diffuse the leaven of Romanism in our land. "We must meet them with our own educated and God-sent ministry, in the propagation of the pure and blessed Gospel of Christ. On the preceding day, we made a delightful excur- sion to Tivoli, some eighteen miles nearly east from Rome. We passed the massive tomb of Plautius, and crossed a considerable stream of a milky hue, and filling the air for some distance with a strong odor of sulphur. Tivoli is most romantically situated on a hill of the Alban group, and we passed an extensive olive orchard as we ascended to the village, which in itself has few attractions, its houses being forbidding and filthy. The old Temple of the Sybil, perched on a most commanding site, is a beautiful and interesting ruin. We wandered with great delight among the declivities, the grottos, and along the waterfalls, which constitute the chief charms of the place. We looked at the ruins of the Villa of Msecenas, who was the patron and entertainer of Horace. Orators, philo- sophers, and poets, were accustomed to make their homes or haunts amid the localities of Tivoli. On returning we rambled over the extensive ruins of Hadrian's Villa, in a suburb of the village, and won- dered at the grandeur of the monarch, when that vast field was covered with the architectural glory with which he invested the place. We returned under a clear mild sky, and the exquisite purple tints of a glo- rious sunset faded from the Alban and Sabine hills, only to be succeeded by the soft splendors of a full and glorious moon, that made our homeward drive most charming. X. Stow