YALE UNIVERSITY
LIBRARY

ISABEL;

SICILY.

ISABEL;

OB,

SICILY

a Jltlflrdnage.

' Alas for Sicily! rude fragments now
Lie scattered where the shapely column stood,
Her palaces are dust. In all her streets
The voice of singing and the sprightly chord
Are silent. Revelry and dance and show
Suffer a syncope and solemn pause;
While God performs upon the trembling stage
Of his own works, his dreadful part alone."

BY HENRY T. TUCKERMAN,
AXTTHOK OF THE. " ITALIAN SKETCH BOOK.'

PHILADELPHIA :
LEA AND BLANCHARD,
(successors to CAREY & CO.)
1839.

YALE

Entered according to act of Uongress, in the year 1839, by
Lea & BiANCHARD, in the clerk's office of the district court for the
eastern district of Pennsylvania.

Printed by
Haswell, Barrington, and Haswell.

CONTENTS.

Page

Preface ....

1

The Pilgrims

9

The Quarantine . ;

19

Journey to Catania .

29

Biscari ....

43

Vincenzo BelJini

51

A Walk in Catania

. 61

Syracuse ....

71

Journey to Palermo

83

The Capital ....

95

The Noviciate .

. Ill

Vittorio ....

125

Discussion . . . .

. 145

An Episode ....

157

The Past and Present .

. 169

Segesta and Selinuntium

181

Sciacca . . . . .

. 197

Agrigentnm ....

207

The Reunion . . . .

. 219-

PREFACE.
The celebrated remark of Dr. Johnson respecting
the Hebrides, is siiigUlarly applicable to Sicily. The
antiquities of the island are eminently worthy of
observation; but the inconveniences attending a visit
to them, are such as to suggest, even in the mind of
the enthusiastic traveller, frequent doubts whether
the gratification thus afforded is not more than
counterbalanced by the discomfort consequently in
curred. The scenery, too, is peculiar and often
unsurpassed for beauty and picturesque effect; yet
it is only at certain periods that the weather is such
as to do justice to its characteristic charms. The
long and rigid quarantines to which the voyager is
liable, the want of commodious inns, a:nd the absertce
of carriage roads to some of the most interesting
localities, are also essential drawbacks to the plea
sure of the tourist, especially if he be fresh from the
superior facilities of the' continent. To one Who
sympathizes warmly with Ms race, there are, in addi
tion, many painful associations constantly awakened

PREFACE.

by the existent poverty and degradation of the Sici-
Kans, but ill-calculated to cheer his sojourn. If these
considerations, however, are sufficient to deter the
unadventurous from exploring this remarkable island,
they afford no inconsiderable motive to one whom
circumstances have lured within its fertile precincts,
to attempt to convey an idea to others of what there
has interested his own mind. It is with such a view
that the following pages were written. The form in
which these descriptions and thoughts suggested by
a tour in Sicily are presented, was adopted for the
purpose of avoiding that egotistical tone from which
it is almost impossible to escape in a formal journal,
as well as to obviate the necessity of dwelling upon
those unimportant details and circumstances which
are common to every tour in Europe, and therefore
too familiar to be interesting.

ISABEL;

OR,

SICILY.

THE PILGHIMS.

" Yet to the relics of thy splendor past,
Shall pilgrims pensive, but unwearied, throng."
Childe Hakolu.

There is, perhaps, no approach to the old world
more impressive to the transatlantic voyager, than
the Straits of Gibraltar. The remarkable promontory
which rises abruptly before him, is calculated to
interest his mind, wearied with the monotony of sea-
life, not less as an object of great natural curiosity
than from the historical circumstances with which it
is associated. Anciently deemed the boundary of
the world, it was fabled, that at this point Europe
and Africa were united until riven asunder by Her-
2

10 THE PILGRIMS.
cules, forming the south-western extremity of Anda
lusia, and long occupied as a Moorish fortress, it
awakens the many romantic impressions which em
balm the history of Spain ; constituting, as it were,
the gate of the Mediterranean, the comer from the
new world cannot pass its lofty and venerable form,
without feeling that he has left the ocean whose
waters lave his native shore, and entered a sea
hallowed by the annals of antiquity, and renowned
for scenes of southern luxuriance and beauty.
It was on a fine autumn night that an American
ship, propelled by a regular but gentle breeze, glided
through this celebrated channel. The newly-risen
moon seemed to hang just above the horizon with
that magnified and brilliant aspect which the clear
ness of the atmosphere in these climates occasions.
Her soothing light illumined the Spanish coast, glit
tered on the low crests of the waves, and fell at
intervals upon the prominent points of the majestic
rock. So quiet was the night, that the ripple of the
water, as it parted before the prow of the Ji'essel,
sounded hoarsely, and the occasional orders of the
captain, although uttered in an ordinary tone, came
with a startling distinctness to the ear. Upon fhe
quarter deck stood two spectators ofthe scene, appa
rently absorbed in regarding its novel features, or
yielding to the thoughts it had suggested. The. elder
was a man somewhat beyond the prime of life, with
one of those countenances equally indicative of
shrewdness and benevolence, so frequently encoun
tered in America, and, without boasting any very

THE PILGRIMS. 11
Striking lineament, convey the idea of intelligence
but not necessarily of genius, and good feeling with
out ardor. Beside him, her arm within his, and her
«yes turned in the same direction, stood a girl of
graceful figure and medium height. Her face was
not strictly beautiful, if such a term is only applicable
to great regularity of profile. But td those who,
abjuring this convential ordeal of female loveliness,
regard beauty as chiefly dependant on expression,
her countenance alone wouid excite immediate inte
rest. She was one of those beings who vindicate the
attractiveness of her sex beyond the most perfect
models of beauty ; whose eye, smile, and manner, are
so instantiy and peirfectly inspired by the spirit within
them, that criticism is disarmed, standards ofthe beau
tiful annihilated, and we are only sensible of being
interested without precisely knowing how or why.
Perhaps the secret lies in the very depths of character.
Ingenuousness and enthusiasm were the active ele
ments of her nature, and through their influence it was
that a spirit of beauty lived in her glance, voice, and
manner, more winning than thc finest outline or the
richest tint. It was the beauty of expression, com
bined with the graces of youth and rare natural
gifts — of candid, free, and earnest expression ; and,
therefore, not to be described any more than any
other charm which, like music, addresses at once
both soul and sense.
The father of Isabel Otley began life with a sensi
tiveness of temperament, and depth of feeling, which
ill-fitted him for the constant contact of worldly

12 THE PILGRIMS.
influences which scenes of traffic unavoidably en
gender. Yet at the period when it became necessary
for him to fix upon an occupation, the only interest
his friends were able to exert in his behalf, lay in
the channels of trade, and soon after arriving at man
hood, iie found himself fairly embarked ih mercantile
persuits, in the commercial emporium of the new
world. His attention and probity won him universal
respect and confidence, but the effect of uncongenial
occupation, was to give to his manner a reserve
utterly foreign to his nature, which unhappily pre
vented his associates from' discerning many of the
most estimable qualities of his character. A twelve
month's residence in the south of Europe during his
youth, had, in no small degree, confirmed his natural
aversion to the path of life in which circumstances
had placed him ; but soon after he had entered upon
it, too far to retreat with convenience, a happier
agency mingled with and neutralized the unpromising
hues of his destiny. Iri the course of business it
became necessary for him to visit Virginia. While
there, making one of those brief but pleasant sojourns
at the house of a wealthy planter, which the frank
hospitality of the South renders so dehghtful to the
stranger, he was attacked by a fever. A protracted
convalescence ensued, during which the amplest op
portunity was afforded him of realizing the sympathy
of taste and feeling, existing between his host's only
daughter and himself. Who can wonder that his
heart sprang to meet the boon of love with all its
long-repressed energy ? Frederic Otley left th©

THE PILGRIMS. 13
mansion of his friend, in a mood altogether new and
delightful. An affection had been born in his bosom
which gave new interest to existence, and constant
impulse to action. In a few months life had assumed
a far happier aspect ; for there were hours in every
passing day, and whole weeks in every summer,
when he was at liberty to enjoy nature, books, and
society, with a being whose sympathies were all his
own. Labouring with renewed assiduity, he was
enabled, in the course of a few years, to effect the
object for which he had long toiled, and retire with
his wife and daughter from the cares of business,
and the bustle of the metropolis, to her paternal
home, made solitary long before by the death of its.
venerable proprietor. In this beautiful retreat were
passed the three happiest years of his life — too
tranquil and blessed it would seem to continue, for
its peaceful and happy tenor was suddenly and awfully
interrupted, byjhe death of her who was at once its
hope and inspiration. For a short time the broken
spirit of the mourner appeared to derive consolation
from the scenes once familiar with her presence ; but
in the end they seemed to agonise rather than soothe.
The old elms about the church-yard, as they waved
in the twilight, no longer whispered to his saddened
fancy that her spirit was near and conscious of his
devoted grief, but moaned a melancholy echo to his
own despairing thoughts. The favorite walk, instead
of reminding him that she had been, awakened only
the gloomy conviction that she was not. It was
then that he determined to follow the oft-rej^eated
2*

14 THE PILGRIMS.
advice of his kindred and go abroad. Leaving his
daughter in the care of her aunt, he departed on his
lonely travels, not to forget his bereavement in the
pursuit of pleasure, or veil it in the excitement of
novelty, but to interest, if possible, his mind— now
torpid from inaction and shadowed by wo. The
letters of Otley, dated from different parts of the
continent, constituted for several years one of the
chief pleasures of the retired family. Through them
his daughter karned to estimate the mind and princi
ples of her father, and combined with her childish
recollections of him, they served to cherish in her
breast a sentimentof filial love, as profound as it was
fervent. Often in these epistles had he spoken of
returning, buttthe intention was always contravened
by some new plan or unexpected circumstance.
Indeed, the attraction of European life is generally
enhanced by a return to it, after an interval spent in
other scenes. It is on revisiting southern Europe,
especially, that an American is best prepared, justly .
to estimate, and duly to feel, all tlmt is pecuhar in the
two hemispheres. The scene before him no longer
excites by its noveltj'. He is no longer a bewildered
stranger. With a more chastened, but deeper interest,
he regards the objects around him. With a calmer
and more intelligent patriotism he recals the charac
teristics of his native land. The foreign insignia
which meets his view has something of a well
known aspect; and the eager gaze of curiosity is
exchanged for the quiet glance of recognition. Annoy
ances which he once strongly deprecated now pro-

THE PILGRIMS. 15
voke a smile, for old acquaintance has softened them ;
and happy influences wake a thrill of delight, for
they are symbols of past pleasure, as well as guer
dons of future enjoyment. The landscape is arrayed
in new charms, tlie church breathes a dearer
solemnity, the picture glows 'with a brighter expres
siveness, for often since he saw them last, has memory
brooded over their quiet spells, amid the noisy activity
of his distant country. The favourite aria rises with
a richer cadence, the chime of the campanile steals
upon the night-breeze with a holier music, and the
soft accents of the South seem thrice beautiful ; for,
since last heard, they have again and again been
borne, on the wings of fancy, across the trackless
deep to his delighted ear. Absence has endeared what
taste holds sacred in the old world, while a return to
the bracing air of a young republic has retaught the
inestimable value of the principles which have fled
thither for nurture, from the clogged and heavy
atmosphere of the old monarchies. In truth, no ideas
can be more false than many of those which it re
quires at least one sojourn of an American in Europe
to correct. There is a vague notion prevalent among
the untravelled, that abroad there are many and
peculiar means of enjoyment. In one sense this is
true ; but is it enough borne in mind, that the only
worthy pleasures peculiar to Europe, are those of
taste, and that to enjoy these, a certain preparedness
is requisite? The truth is the legitimate gratifica
tions of southern Europe are eminently meditative.
They are alike incompatible with a spirit of restless

16 THE PILGRIMS.
ambition, or gainful passion. They address them
selves to the imaginative and enthusiastic, to the
contemplative and intellectual ; to those who believe
there is a greater good than worldly success, a richer
boon than the distinctions of office; to those who
believe that the process of improvement does not
consist wholly in action; to those who do not measure
individual advancement merely by the direct results
of intellect ; to those who have faith in the refining
influences of art and nature, and a life of ' meek self-
content,' passed in the free and independent exercise
of thought, imagination, and love ; and who, while
fhey acknowledge fealty to the demands of active
duty, recognise the truth, that the mind, like the earth,
is enriched by lying fallow, and that a tranquil life, if
permitted by an individual's destiny, maybe rendered
more truly profitable th&n one. passed in the most
successful and renowned course of active usefulness.
In such considerations lay the spell which prolonged
the exile of Otley.
In the meantime Isabel had reaped the advantages
of a faithful private education and occasional visits to
the principal cities of her country, and found herself,
on her eighteenth birthday, happily domesticated in
the home of her childhood, with the relatives who
had fulfilled towards her the duties of parents. At
this time she unfolded to her uncle the long-cherished
design of seeking and surprising her father in Europe.
He heard the proposal with surprise, but could not
long withhold his consent, and as Otley's last letter
expressed an intention of making the tour of Sicily,

THE PILGRIMS. 17
it was soon determined that they should take advan
tage of an excellent opportunity which presented
itself, and sail directly for that island. In assenting
to the wishes of Isabel, to whom he was strongly
attached, her uncle, who had travelled extensively in
early life, was influenced rather by a conviction
that the tour would benefit her mind and health than
from any deep sympathy in her views. Clifford
Frazier was a great admirer of the institutions an4
manners of his country, and a thorough utilitarian.,
Isabel Otley was an ardent and gifted idealist. In
her character were combined earnest and affectionate
feeling, with singular strength and independence of
mind. There are natures which seem, by virtue of
some innate principle, to preserve, almost miracu
lously, their original beauty and freshness. Thus
was it with her. SJie possessed that depth of senti
ment, that earnest sympathy with what is deep in
the experience of the heart, and what is exalted in
the aspirations of the soul, which gives to the gifts
and graces of female character an angelic semblance.
She had not learned to repose upon a mere conven
tional philosophy. The blighting breath of artificial
life had not crept like a frost over the fair and flowery
domain of her truthful spirit. Powers of no ordi
nary strength and captivation were enshrined in an
inner and holy light, which chastened and rendered
star-like the native brilliancy of her mind, and sub
dued to a deeper flow the earnest current of her
feelings.

THE QUARANTINE.

" The doing evil to avoid an evil
Cannot be good." ~"
Wallexstein.

On a lovely afternoon they approached the harbor
of Messina. The scene was surpassingly beautiful
as the sun descended. On the one side rose the high
hills of Calabria, and on the other thc noble range of
the Sicihan mountains. The broadly undulating
shapes of the latter were clothed with the vivid
verdure of the lemon and orange trees, and the darker
evergreen of the olive. On their tops, at intervals.
volumes of pearly mist reposed, and elsewhere the
edge of their summits was marked viith the distinc-
ness of a chiselled line upon the clear back-ground
of the horizon. The blue smoke of the coal pits
above, wreathed itself peacefully along the green slopes,
and up into the bright sky. Clusters of white habi
tations were planted here and there in the midst of
the verdant shrubbery, some of them seeming to hang

20 THE QUARANTINE.
from an impending cHff. At a short distance from
these groups of habitations, rose the square, white
towers of the churches pointing from the greensward
to the serene heaven above, their ancient hue con
trasting finely with the freshness of the beautiful
temple of nature amid which they were reared.
Nearer the shore, broad hnes of sandy earth indicated
the track of some mountain torrent, and the many
and rich tints of the withered vineyards reflected,
in brilliant masses, the lateral rays of the setting
sun. To give life to the view, the figure of a passing
pedestrian occasionally flitted across the beach, and
a knot of fishermen appeared near the line of blue
water, watching the progress of the vessel. The
clear chime of the .^vi Maria stole softly from the
valleys. All waspeacful, rich, and lovely as theland
of promise ; and when the sound of the vesper bell
thus floated over the sea, it seemed to Isabel as if
Nature was whispering a call to her children from
one of the fairest of her sanctuaries, to lure them to
join in her evening prayer.
Before midnight the ship was safely moored on
that side of the port of Messina appropriated to ves
sels in quarantine, and the morning light revealed
yet another prospect of singular beauty. At the
foot of the picturesque range of mountains, a part of
which they had so attentively viewed the previous
evening, appeared the city, the lofty dome of its
cathedral, and the finely-wrought towers ofthe church
of St. Gregorio rising con.spicuously among the dwel
lings. Half way up the hills behind the town, stand

THE QUARANTINE. 21
two old forts, one of which rises from a grassy es
planade in admirable keeping with its massive grey
walls, and between these fortifications is reared the
venerable monastery, with its dark rugged tower, in
which Richard Coeur de Lion took refuge on his way
to tho Holy Land. At the water's edge appears
the Marina, lined with spacious buildings; and, here
and there, half-hidden by the shipping at the quay,
groups might be seen scattered along this wide pro
menade, and vehicles moving to and fro in rapid
succession. Yet delightful as was the landscape,
Isabel and her uncle would gladly have abandoned
their favourable position, and joined those who con
stituted the moving figures of the panorama, for
before their mental vision was the less cheering
prospect of a Sicilian quarantine. Not without
grateful emotions, however, did Isabel turn to th©
lovely picture which, during many days of anxiety
and weariness, was thus spread out before them. O
Nature ! how like a kind mother thou art I when
thy wayward children are so ingenious in devising
methods of mutual torment, with what a quiet and
constant tenderness dost thou minister to their plea
sure ! How often did Isabel forget the ennui of con
finement, and lose, in bright imaginings, all sense of
her restricted condition, in perusing the landscape
before her. She beheld it in every variety of aspect;
at sunrise, and in the mellow light of evening, when
clouds rested over it as a canopy, and when lit up
into cheerfulness by the noonday glare. She saw it
when rendered still more enchanting by the moon-
3

22 THE QUARANTINE.
beams ; and watched the shadows of night as they
stole over it, till nought but the dark forms of the
mountains, and the flickering lamps of the town were
visible. She beheld it shrouded in the gloom of the
storm, and spanned by the glowing rainbow.
" Of life's annoyances," said Frazier, " few are
more severe than a Sicilian quarantine. A man of
sense can always derive consolation when suffering
from the regulations of government, if he is able to
perceive the utihty of their enforcement. It is gra
tifying when our convenience is invaded by the
operation of law, to feel there is reason for our dis
comfort, that we are making an appropriate sa
crifice to the general good. Such a consideration is
sufficient to still the voice of complaint in every re
flecting bosom. It is the irrational and indiscriminate
course pursued here which renders the quarantine so
vexatious. The slightest rumour, the most unauthen-
ticated report, or the veriest whim is deemed sufficient
ground for sending away ships of every nation, or
consigning them to an indefinite suspension of inter
course. It is now doubtful whether the time assigned
will behold us at liberty ; and the healthiness of the
place ofour embarkation, the unquestionable validity
of our bill of health, and the excellent condition of
of all on board will not weigh a feather in the scale.
The low damp chambers of the lazzaretio are quite
calculated to induce sickness, while the fastidious are
in no degree likely to be cheered by the prospect of
being buried ' unknelled and uncoffined,' in a hastily-
dug pit and covered with quick-lime."

THE QUARANTINE. 23
Surrounded by vessels of every name and nation,
they eagerly looked for the arrival of Christmas, the
period designated for their landing. Sometimes,
attended by a guard, they perambulated the yard
of the lazxaretto, or conversed with acquaintances
through a high railing. On these occasions it was
sometimes their fortune to behold the letters they had
carefully prepared for distant friends, cut unceremo
niously, bathed in vinegar, and smoked in sulphur,
till all their decent aspect was destroyed, and half
their contents obliterated. Another time, they heard
vague reports that their durance would be prolonged ;
and returned to the narrow precincts of the vessel
in a state of the most unenviable suspense. Some
times they amused themselves in watching the fish
and sea-nettles in the clear tide around ; and at others,
in tracing with a spy-glass some distant line of the
prospect, or endeavouring to discern the signal of an
approaching ship. At night, the monotonous cheer
ing of the guards, as they vociferously passed the
watch-word from vessel to vessel, or the twang of
an antiquated violin with which some neighbor be
guiled the hours, disturbed their slumbers.
The festive day drew nigh, on the eve of which
the Italians feast upon eels, and the morning of which
the strangers fondly hoped would shine upon their
landing. Ere then they received notice that, until
further orders, they could not be admitted to pra
tique. Such is a quarantine in Sicily. Bribing will
evade almost any of the legal penalties of the coun
try, but the sanitary. laws are enforced with a rigid-

24 THE QUARANTINE.
ness worthy of more important objects connected
with the general welfare. The joyous anniversary
arrived. Isabel pictured its celebration across the
wide waters in the circle of her friends. - She saw,
in fancy, the glad meeting about the fire-side ; she
heard well linown voices interchange" the gratula-
tions of the season ; she beheld dear forms moving
up the aisle her infant feet had trod ; she felt the glow
of devotion stirred by the preacher's earnest, descrip
tion of His meekness and self-sacrifice who, centuries
past, was born in Bethlehem. She saw her kindred
gather around the festive board, and caught the tone
of loved voices breathing fond hopes for her welfare.
She cared not to trace the picture farther, for she
had taken the blessed thought to her heart — that she
was remembered.
For two days the wind had been free and strong,
and on this night it increased to a gale. The moon
alternately shone clearly forth, and illuminated the
edges of an intervening cloud, sending down a pale
and melancholy light. In an hour it blew a hurri
cane ; one of those sudden storms, pecuhar to the
Mediterranean, whose desolate howlings and sudden
gusts drowned all other sounds. Suddenly, as they
stood upon the quarter deck, a noise like the snap
ping of metal-bars was audible, and one of the many
craft around shot from among the vessels, and
dashed forth steadily and with a startling rapidity,
as if under a press of canvas. Her masts and dark
tracery were reUeved against the half-clear, half-sul
len atmosphere. All was hushed, save the deep

THE QUARANTINE. 25
solemn roar of the gale. She seemed not a thing
subject to human government, and as she silently
passed onward, and was lost to sight in the gloom,
the legends she had read of spectre ships carae forci
bly to the mind of Isabel. A few moments passed,
and the whole fleet begide them broke their moor
ings. Then as the vessels were thrown together,
and spars and cordage intermingled, the crash of
yards, the bursting of ropes, the grating of chains,
the voices of command, and the exclamations of fear,
uttered in Italian, German, and English, mingled with
the unceasing roar of the tempest. Now and then
it lulled, only to be renewed with greater violence.
The iron rings imbedded in the old wall of the lavia-
retto, which held the flotilla, had burst asunder, and
thus caused the accident. It was startling to see the
fleet which had surrounded them with a forest of
masts, as it were by magic, in the space of a few
moments all at once depart. It was thrilling to look
over the bulwarks, and behold the broad bay covered
with foam, and perfectly solitary ! Most 'of the vessels
were thrown on a strip of land not far distant, and all
of them, in some degree, damaged. Those which had
nearly performed the required quarantine, being
brought in contact with the non-admitted vessels, were
declared sfratto (expelled). There was enough of des
truction around, to enable Isabel to reahze the sufferings
of those exposed to the unmitigated fury of the storm.
At every new onset of the invisible, but resistless
power, she seemed to see the surges whelming some
hapless bark, and feel the shudder which follows the
3*

26 THE QUARANTINE.
first deep* crash of the careening fabric. In the
pauses of the storm, she thought her ear caught the
quickly whispered prayer, and, on its rising whirl,
the last agonizing cry seemed fo come. The next
day brought them accounts of the disasters of the
night. "If all this damage," observed Frazier,
" had been incurred in an Atlantic port, it would be
instantly repaired by government or individuals. All
the losses are attributable to the insecurity of- the
fastenings. A Sicilian quarantine exposes a man to
the combined evils of an abridgment of liberty, dis
comfort, suspense, and loss." During fhis, and many
other of her uncle's complaining moments, Isabel was
quietly regarding the scene around her, now clothed
with renewed bea uty, and meditating upon the prospect
of that re-union, the hope of which had brought her ¦
thither. When an important object is ever present
to the mind, lesser evils vanish ; and so much of
uncertainty hung over the enterprise of the fair
pilgrim, that she scarcely knew what circumstances
were best adapted to promote it, and therefore was
more resigned to the course of events. Her uncle
buoyed by no such faith, or expectancy, felt more
keenly the inconveniences of the pilgrimage.
There are few situations, however, of unalleviafed
discomfort, and accordingly it was not long before
an agreeable circumstance enlivened the monotony
of their durance. On board the adjoining vessel,
they had frequently observed a young man of grace
ful mien, and handsome, intelligent features, ap
parently the only passenger ; and, on one occasion,

THE QUARANTINE. 27
when they were visited by some friends fVom shore,
he was introduced to their acquaintance. Thence
forth their intercourse was constant and interesting.
Count Vittorio was a native of Sicily, and had just
returned from a visit to one of the Italian cities. To
the engaging manners and enthusiasm of fhe South,
he united talents of rare native power, greatly im
proved by study and travel. His society proved
invaluable to the strangers, and he was no less
delighted to hold communion with two such pleasing
representatives of a country in whose institutions he
felt deeply interested. Frazier was happy to find so
attentive an auditor, and never became weary of
expatiating on the political advantages, and moral
pre-eminence of his native, land ; while Isabel found
still greater pleasure in the vivid descriptions the
Count eloquently furnished ofthe arts, literature, and
antiquities of the classic region with which he was
so familiar. In such conversations, many hours of
the tedious day were beguiled of fheir weariness.
The acquaintance thus formed, soon ripened into
mutual confidence ; and it was arranged that they
should proceed in company through the island.
Their hopes were soon unexpectedly gratified, by
receiving on a dehghtful evening permission to land.
How eagerly did they spring from the boat's prow
upon the beach, and hasten fo the yard of fhe
Health-office ! a few moments of ceremony sufficed ; .
fhe little iron gate was thrown open, and they gladly
hurried through, like emancipated prisoners.

JOURNEY TO CATANIA.

" Travel in the younger sort is the part of education ; in thc
elder, the part of experience." — Lobb Bacoic.

It was noon before the travellers left Messina.
On emerging from the suburbs into the open country,
while the cheerful sunlight was around them, showers
were visible in the distance. There is something
exhilarating, in the highest degree, in the propitious
commencement of a journey. Never till this moment
did it seem to Isabel that her pilgrimage had actually
begun ; and as she cast her eyes over the blue waters ,
to the pretty town upon the Calabrian coast, — that
Rhegium whither St. Paul repaired after his ship
wreck, — ^now enveloped in a transparent mist, and
glanced af the bright leaves of the orange trees near
by, a pleasing confidence took possession of her
mind, which seemed the happy assurance of success.
The road displayed at every turn the most delightful
scenery. On the one side stretched the sea; on fhe
other rose the mountains. Etna, covered with a

30 JOURNEY TO CATANIA.
snowy drapery, reared itself above them ; and olive
plantations lay immediately beneath fheir gaze.
Sometimes they crossed afiumare — the broad bed of
a mountain torrent covered with stones, and extend
ing from the midst of the hills down to fhe shore.
These long and stony tracks shooting through the
trees and herbage, with their barren and stern aspect,
are no ordinary emblems of destruction. The water,
collected in some natural basin in the mountains,
rushes impetuously down, sweeping everything be
fore it, and leaving a long fine of rocks and earth
to mark its devastating course. It is but a few years
since this carriage road was completed, and the part
of it which our party were now traversing, gives
ample evidence of fhe labour it cost. In many places
lofty hills have been excavated, and massive ranges
of rock cut through. The rough sides thus presented
to view display the various oxydes which constitute
the soil. Some of these cliffs, when moistened by a
recent rain, fndicafe, in bright tints, the different
strata of which they are composed, and, as one
hurries by them, afford a sfriking evidence of fhe
geological richness of the island.
Night fell before they reached the village destined
for their quarters. It consisted of two long rows of
stone houses, separated by a muddy street, so narrow
as scarcely to permit the passage of a carriage. As
they entered, its appearance struck Isabel, whose
fancy contrasted it with the thriving and cheerful
villages of her own country, as the most dreary
assemblage of human dwelhngs she had ever seen.

JOURNEY TO CATANIA. 31
Here and there a light glimmered from one of the
low doors, or an old crone, in ragged habihments,
raised a torch above her head, and speered curiously
at the rumbling vehicle. The dogs of the place,
lank, wretched curs, rushed forth and barked at the
horses. All else was still and gloomy. Isabel drew
her cloak about her and descended at the locanda,
in a mood quite the reverse of that which had marked
the early part of her ride. Wo to fhe fastidious
traveller who has been only accustomed to fhe de
lightful accommodations of an English inn, when
first he enters a Sicihan locanda ! All the visions of
comfort which have lightened the weariness of his
evening's fravel, are dissipated in a moment. He
ascends a long and steep flight of stone steps, and
enters a cold chlamber, in which are a few. chairs
and an old table. At one end of the room are two
or three alcoves containing iron bedsteads, and di
vided from the apartment by dingy curtains. A
few time-stained pictures hang about the wall. The
hostess appears bearing a brazier filled with ignited
charcoal, which she places under the table. By the
light of a lamp of ancient form she spreads the
meagre repast; after which you are at liberty to
retire, and dream, if you can, of a blazing fire, a
corpulent host, and excellent cheer. The novelty of
the scene was amusing to Isabel, and sweet slumbers
soon made her forget its forbidding features.
Early the next morning, their journey was resumed.
The country now presented an appearance of
still greater fertility. Plains, covered with fields of

32 JOURNEY TO CATANIA.
flax, and lupens, extensive vineyards, now denuded
of their foliage, but planted in a soil of the finest
loam, and mulberry trees, of the most fantastic
shapes, diversified the face of fhe country. As the
dawn advanced, every object acquired a fresher tint,
and at the instance of Isabel they all left the car
riage fo enjoy the scene more freely.
" I have heard much of the deceptiveness of ap
parent distances,'-' said Isabel, " but fhis strikes me
as the most remarkable I ever knew. Are you quite
sure, uncle, that we are eight miles from yonder
snow?" pointing to the summit of Etna, which was
seemingly but a short distance on fheir right.
" It is at least as far off as that," he replied, " al
though we feel so keenly the cold air it engenders. -
And mark, Isabel, what a contrast is before us. In
this field the laborers are mowing a fine crop of
green barley, which looks as well as the grass of our
meadows in June ; while beside us, the sides of the
mountain are deeply covered with snow. We seem
hterally walking between summer and winfei'." At
this moment, the dark cloud which hung along the
eastern horizon became fringed with hues of gold ;
the vegetation around assumed more vivid tints ;
the villages scattered over the broad sides of Etna,
seemed to smile in the growing light, and directly
above the cold, hoary summit of the volcano, a
single star gleamed forth from the pale azure sky.
" How glorious !" exclaimed Isabel, " what sacri
fices is not a scene like this worth !"
" It reminds me," said the Count, " of that noble

JOURNEY TO CATANIA. 33
production of Coleridge — the hymn in the vale of
Chamouni : — '

' Hast thou a charm to stay the morning star.
In his swift course'! so long he seems to pause
On thy bald awful head, 0 sovran Blanc I'

And then the invocation which the view inspires,
how true and expressive ! —

' Awake, my soul ! not only passive praise
Thou owest ! not alone these swelling tears.
Mute thanks, and secret ecstasy ! Awake
'Voice of sweet song ! awake my heart, awake !
Green vales and icy cliffs — all join my hymn.' "

Subdued, and at the same time exalted by the pre
sence of Nature in a new form, Isabel yielded her
spirit to the influences of the quiet hour and impres
sive scene, and wandered in silent delight, till her
uncle's voice calHng her to re-enter fhe carriage
awakened her from her day-dream.
In an hour they drew up before the public house
of Giarra. As they entered this town, the first of its
rank which Isabel had seen, she noted the objects
around with curiosity. Here were piles of cauli
flowers exposed for sale, there long strings of mac-
caroni suspended upon cane-poles fo dry ; here
were a group of villagers from the mountain feeding
their mules ; and on the sunny side of the street a
4

34 JOURNEY TO CATANIA.
knot of women plying the distaff. It was soon de
termined to improve the fine weather, and make an
excursion^ upon the side of Etna, which rose so
invitingly before them. Mules were procured, and
they commenced ascending a very rugged ravine
choked up with black lava-stones. After nearly two
hours of very fatiguing ascent, they stopped at a cot
tage to rest. It was built of lava and fronted by a
littie yard, in which its mistress was sitting in the
sun, spinning flax. She was nearly a hundred
years of age. Her face was strongly marked, and
brought forcibly to-Frazier's mind some ofthe Dutch
portraits he had seen in the collections of Italy,
where the painter's aim seems fo have been to copy
nature with a fidelity which betrayed all the painful
hneaments of age. Deep furrows indented her dark
visage, and a tuft of white hair protruded from be
neath the hood that enveloped her head. A large
black pig, and several fowls, were straying about
the yard, and constituted the chief of the old woman's
substance. She invited them to enter her cottage.
One room answered all the purposes of the family.
Here were two beds, an old loom, a wax figure of
the virgin and child, and, in one corner, a huge butt
of sour wine.
" You see how these people live," said fhe count,
" this hut, built of the fatal material which has de
stroyed so many human beings, has been inhabited
for more than fifty years by this poor creature. To
visit the nearest village, and bend at the altar of the
old church, fo bask in the sun in winter, and sit in

JOURNEY TO CATANIA. 35
the shade in summer, to eat her small allowance of
roasted chestnuts, and drink her daily pitcher of
thin wine-^this is her life ; she knows no other, and
perhaps can conceive of no better." The old wo
man's daughter now made her appearance, robed in
black, with a white mantilla thrown over her head,
and a crucifix and beads suspended from her neck.
She was what is called in Sicily a nun of the house,
that is, a woman who has takeh vows of celibacy,
and to perform certain acts of ceremony and pe
nance, but is not obliged to immure herself in a
religious asylum. The nun busied herself in pre
paring the food which Vittorio had ordered from
one of the little villages through which fhey pass
ed, occasionally glancing, with deep interest, at
the fair stranger and her companions. After their
repast, fhe son, a bright and active striphng, guided
them on their way. They soon arrived at a clump
of fine old chestnut frees, whose gnarled and far-
spreading branches betokened sylvan antiquities of
no ordinary worth. Five of these trees surrounding
a wide space, according to tradition, are but the
dissevered trunk of one huge tree, and therefore
called fhe tree of the hundred horses, because it is
said that that number of steeds could make the cir
cuit of fhe hollow trunk. Another, and more proba
ble reason for the appellation is that the tree, in its
flourishing days, could shelter a hundred mounted
hprsemen. Frazier was a connossieur in forest trees,
and, while he did not imphcitly credit this marvel
lous tale, yet dwelt with strong interest upon fhe

36 JOURNEY TO CATANIA.
rough features of these woodland patriarchs. The
agile peasant ran up info the branches of the old
chestnuts, like a monkey, ever and anon thrusting his
head from some hollow, and smiling upon the travel
lers. He wore a long cap of white cotton, and an
old velvet jerkin, and as he thus appeared, peering
from some hole in tiie massive branches, Isabel
wished there had been time to sketch fhe curious
picture which the contrast produced. But the sun
was fast descending, and they turned their faces
towards the town beiow. Then burst upon their
sight, one of fhe richest and most variegated land
scapes it had ever been the lot of either to witness.
The broad plains of Mascaii were spread out like a
map beneath them. Fields covered with dry canes
of a light yellow hue, patches of green grain and
dark masses — the site of vineyards or arable land,
combined to form a parterre which, as fhe setting
"sun fell richly over it, had all the effect of an exten
sive garden. Beyond was fhe Mediterranean flecked
vi'ith a few snow-white sails; far away to the left,
Taormina hanging, as it were, on a bold promontory,
on the summit of which are the remains of an exten
sive amphitheatre, and nearer around, the slopes
and valleys, the lava-beds and frees of fhe venerable
mountain. If the morning's prospect inspired some
thing of awe, that of fhe evening only excited glad
some sensations. It spoke of plenty, of fertility, of a
bounteous and beautiful country.
" How unutterably sad," said Vittorio, as they
were slowly descending,. " that so fair a heritage

JOURNEY TO CATANIA. 31
should be so unhappily peopled — that superstition
and ignorance should overshadow so rich a domain,
and that where we rejoice so highly in the exuber
ance and fine array of nature, we must mourn most
deeply for the poverty and wretched condition of
humanity." " One would think," replied Isabel, " that to hve
amid such influences as these, to have sweet har
mony breathed upon the soul from such aspects of
creation, day by day, and year by year, would im
part a blessedness which even the degrading agencies
at work upon these poor people could not super
sede." " Government is more of a reality to most men
than nature," drily observed her uncle.
" Happily, however," she replied, "nature operates
silently, and may produce effects upon character of
which the casual spectator dreams not."
" Yes," added the Count, " and it is a happy
thought, that many a noble aspiration or grateful
sentiment may have been aroused in the breast of the
poor villager, as lie descended this path, with no
companion but his mule, and looked forth, as we
now do, upon the luxuriant earth and the glad sea.
There is a lesson for the wisest, and a balm for the
most stricken in this landscape."
For some moments they continued the descent in
silence, till an exclamation from one of the party
caused them to look back. From the white and
lofty cone of Etna, a dense column of smoke wa.'^
rising majestically. To the height of several yards,

38 JOURNEY TO CATANIA.
it ascended in a perpendicular line, and then grace
fully turning, floated in a wide and saffron-coloured
streak, along the face of the sky.
" This is all you wanted to complete your day's
good fortune," said fhe guide; "if is not for every
stranger that the mountain will smoke." They con
tinued to watch fhis interesting phenomenon long
after tl:eir return to Giarra ; and when night had
overshadowed the scene, a few flashes of flame
from the awakened crater, and an almost constant
effusion of sparks, amply repaid them for their vigil.
The next day proved as fine as the preceding, and
to obtain a more pleasing succession of prospects, it
was determined to prosecute the remainder of their
journey by the mule path. As the distance was
but about twenty miles, it was not deemed desirable
to depart before early noon. Isabel devoted the in
tervening time to repose ; Vittorio went to make the
necessary arrangements ; and Frazier repaired fothe
adjoining village to visit a Vi'ine-merchant withwhom
he had been acquainted many years before in Eng
land. When the party again came together and re
sumed their journey, they found themselves for some
time upon the carriage-road and in view of scenery
not differing essentially from that of the preceding
day. Occasionally they passed large flocks of goafs,
driven by boys who carried the young kids siung
upon their shoulders, or a company of peasants each
with his donkey, bearing, in long, narrow barrels,
hung like panniers, wine from the hills into thc neigh
boring town.

JOURNEY TO CATANIA. 39
" My friend told me," said Frazier, " that the chief
employment of these people is to transport the wine
in this manner. It is taken from large butts, such as
we saw at the cottage yesterday. Each of those
little casks contains about eighteen gallons of the
most ordinary wine the country produces. It is
chiefly used for distillation, yielding about one part
in seven of pure spirit. The compensation these
carriers obtain would not be considered in America
as equivalent for an hour's work. But in time of
vintage their pay is increased, and after all, in this
country, it requires little to support life."
" No," said Vittorio, " give a Sicilian peasant a httle
fennel or roasted pulse, a small dish of maccaroni,
or a few pounds of bread, with a mug of common
wine, and he fares like a lord."
" But seldom acquires the strength of a man,"
replied Frazier, "for notwithstanding their broad
chests and muscular limbs, they cannot be called
strong, at least in proportion to appearances."
" You have told us nothing uncle," said Isabel,
"of your visit to Riposte. How did you. find your
old friend V
" I found him sitting on an old sofa, in a bare
looking room, stirring the coals in a brazier with the
key of his magazine. I rallied him upon his faste in
preferring so dreary a life on the coast of Sicily to
the comforts of old England. But he declared him
self well satisfied with his lot. There he was, sur
rounded with coopers, stills, freighting boats, jackasses,
a few chemical books, and a set of half-civihsed Sici-

40 JOURNEY TO CATANIA.
lians — all the paraphernalia of e wine-merchant on
the coast ; as busy and happy in his exile as many
who had never been away from the light of their
own firesides. Such is the force of habit. In prac
tical application, in forwarding, however humbly, the
economy of life, almost any man may enjoy a con
tented existence."
" A contented, granted, uncle," said Isabel, " but
not necessarily a happy or an improving one."
" Riposto," continued Frazier, " fifty years since
was a meagre collection of cane-huts. Now, there
are many substantial dwellings, but like every house
•in this region, miserably planned, cold, dark and
comfortless. The beach is covered with barrels.
Coasting vessels are continually launched loaded
with wine, and the little town looks quite bustling.
Were it situated, with all its local advantages, in
New England, they would connect it forthwith with
the capital by a rail-road, speculate in the land for
miles around, and prophesy a city charter for it in less
than a twelvemonth."
The mule-path, into which they now entered, was
through a lava soil At one point the old lava, lying
in masses half covered with vegetation, indicates
the scene of that eruption which stayed the progress
of the Roman army on its way to quell an insurrec
tion in Syracuse, and obliged them to turn and make
the circuit of the island in another direction. Pass
ing through the broad clear street of Aci Reale,
Isabel looked up to the decayed palaces, and on the
groups of well-cloaked loiterers in the piazza, and

JOURNEY TO CATANIA. 41
forcibly felt the impoverished condition of even fhe
finest localities. Sometimes she amused herself with
noting the defaced escutcheon upon an ancient gate
way, sometimes in watching the thin, white line of
smoke hanging over Etna, and at others, in seeking
amid the surrounding trees, for the oak and the fir,
the pleasant emblems of her native land, which, at
intervals, varied the scene. The increase of fhe
lava-beds, and the greater prevalence of the olive-
tree, at length evidenced that they were near their
destination. And soon after they paused at a little
'elevation, and, with new delight, Isabel beheld upon
a verdant plain near the sea, the Saracenic domes
and wide-spreading dwellings of Catania.

BIS CARL

" I have learned
To look 01 Ncture, not as in the hour
Of thoughtless youth, but hearing oftentimes
The still sad music of humanity." WoRDSWOHTH.

The late Prince of Biscari was the Roscoe of
Catania. Affluent as well as nobly born, instead of
leading the selfish and dissipated life too common
ainong the Sicilian nobility, he assiduously devoted
his wealth and influence to the cause of liberal taste.
Many works of public utility, entirely the result of
his enterprise and philanthropy, are to be seen both
within and without his native city. His house was
the resort of strangers, fo whom he extended the
greatest hospitality. The beautiful granite columns
attached to the cathedral of St. Agatha by Roger,
the traces of baths in the vaults beneath, a few arches
of an aquaduct in the campagna, and fhe subterra
nean remains of an amphitheatre near one of the

44 BISCARI.
gates, would be fhe chief antiquities of which the
Catanese could boast, had it not been for the exer
tions of Biscari. At his expense nearly fhe whole of
a Greek theatre has been excavated, and many
valuable relics collected and arranged in a museum,
which bears his name. These labors would, doubt
less have proceeded much farther, and been pro
ductive of the most pleasing fruits, had the life of
the generous nobleman been spared. Enough, how
ever, was accomplished to render his name illustrious
as a public benefactor, and to exemplify how widely
useful wealth may becoriie, in the hands of one with
liberality freely to bestow it, and judgment wisely to
direct its disbursement.
As Isabel, Vittorio, and Frazier were on their
way fo visit these vestiges of antiquity, they were
struck with the unusual number of devotees sur
rounding a shrine under a long archway. The ob
ject of their reverence was a celebrated madonna,
exquisitely painted upon a slab of lava. Though
quite ancient, the colors wore a fresh appearance,
and the face was in that pecuhar style of meek and
pensive beauty, which distinguishes these products
of the pencil. Around the picture were hung human
limbs moulded in wax, and the figures of infants,
upon which were colored the tokens of disease.
" These," said Vittorio, " are the emblems of miracu
lous cures, and are placed there as grateful offerings
by the sufferers, whose prayers this virgin is supposed
fo have answered. This is a common method of
acknowledging the favors of saints in Sicily."

BlSCARl. 45
Near the principal ruin stands the frame work of
a lesser theatre", wherein the musicians rehearsed
Beneath the dingy hues of time, and the marks of
violation, it is still possible to descry a few architec
tural indications of what the edifice formerly was.
But the travellers were principally struck with the
contrast between the original purpose and present
appropriation of the building. It is, and has been
for years, the dwelling place of a score of poor
families, whom long usage, more than right of pro
perty, has left in undisputed possession.
" Here is a change, indeed," said the Count, " the
temple of harmony converted into a poor house ; the
spot consecrated to the study of an elevating science,
where Grecian professors were wont fo vie with
each other in melodious strains, become fhe last
refuge of fhe sons of want. Where rich cadences
echoed, half starved children cry; where the dark
clear eye of fhe enthusiastic musician kindled, are
the haggard faces of beggars. Sounds of complaint,
and emblems of squalid misery fill the walis where
a luxurious art was cultivated; and fhe victims
of indigence throng the once gay resort of the
votaries of Euterpe !"
They passed on and entered the area of the thea
tre. Several rows of stone seats are here discoverable,
overgrown with weeds, and at their base flows a
limpid spring. To Isabel the scene was altogether
new. She traced fhe passages along which the
spectators passed, the places assigned to fhe distin
guished among fhe audience, and endeavoured to
5

46 BISCARI.
picture the whole fabric, of which the portion now dis
cernable was evidently but a small part. She fancied
the brilliancy of the scene, when the cold stones
around her were hidden by the assembled multitude;
when ranges of human faces were turned in my
riads toward the scena ; when the profound stillness of
attention, the deep murmur of approval, and the loud
acclamations of delight alternately stirred fhe now
still air. She thought of the eyes that once glistened
with emotion in that place, now rayless, of the hu
man hearts which responded, in tumultuous beatings,
to the voice of song or the appeal of eloquence, now
pulseless forever. She thought of fhe efforts of
thought, the thrills of feeling, and the beamings of
inspiration, which this deserted scene might have
witnessed ; and as she musingly gazed upon the
marble half covered with lava, corroded by time,
and clad in fhe rank herbage which shrouds fhe
neglected works of man, — a new and solemn sense
of the revolutions of time stole over her, like the
slowly gathering shadows of an autumn evening,
chastening each passion for earthly meeds, and
bringing home to the heart the truth, that that alone
in man is eternal which alhes him fo his maker.
With torches they explored the damp and lonely
corridors. Vittorio plucked a rose from a little bush
which had taken root in one of the interstices of the
seals, and gave it to Isabel as a memento of fheir
visit. " Thus," said he, " nature flourishes amid the
decay of art, as the mind's flowers bloom o\:er and
survive the destruction of its tenement. It has been

BISCARI. 47
asserted, and with some reason, that Alcibiades once
dehvered an oration in this theatre. There can be
no doubt that it has beheld some master efforts of
Grecian genius. And what though solitude and ruin
mark the spot? What, though fhe voice whose ac
cents roused every heart is hushed ? What, though
the people that once congregated here are extinct ?
Their essence lives, fheir poetry and philosophy,
their history is deathless. What was false in their
principles has been superseded; what is true has
been propelled into the eternal tide of humanity, and
is immortal."
In the little chamber of the museum devoted to
bronzes, Isabel noted with curiosity fhe implements of
domestic economy, and the symbols of a period and a
people long since passed away. To Vittorio who was
familiar with the Vatican and the Museo Borbonico, the
collection, though interesting, was not so impressive
as to the less experienced mind ofhis fair companion.
She handled the curiously-wrought lamps which once
illuminated the dwelling of a Grecian family, and
inspected the little images which had constituted its
household gods, with mingled interest and incredulity.
It had not been difficult for her to reahze the ancient
origin of the temple whose decayed magnificence
speaks eloquently of the past, but to feel that she
was surrounded by the domestic utensils, fhe ob
jects anciently famihar to that people whom she had
been wont fo regard with such reverence, seemed
scarcely possible,
" The more I view the emblems of antiquity," she
remarked, " the more vividly I feel the truth of that

48 BISCARI.
trite saying — that ours is a common nature, that fhe
same passions have swayed and fhe same general
constitution characterised man from fhe earliest ages.
I know not how it is, but 1 have never been able to
feel tin now that the ancients were men, such men
as now people fhe earth, only differing in mode of
life and method of development. But when I look
upon these things, I feel that their wants were like
ours, that the same burden of necessity was laid
upon fhem, but that in fhe earnest culture of the in
tellectual and ideal, they beautified, as it were, the
rough pathway of destiny, and warmed the weary
atmosphere of being with the heavenly glow of
enthusiasm." " What more sfriking evidence of the universal love
of distinction which distinguishes fhe world, can we
have than this ?" inquired Vittorio, pointing to some
bronze toys.. " These were fhe playthings of the
patrician children'; opposite are fhe same devices,
wrought in the more humble material of terra cotta,
for the diversion of the poorer class. The higher
ranks then hadjaewafes and lamps of metal, the lower
of earth ; now, in these streets, the duke wears a
cloak of fine cloth, fhe laborer a garment of cotton.
Such are fhe poor badges of earthly distinction."
They turned to look for Frazier. He was standing
with folded arms, attentively regarding a birchen
canoe — an American trophy. Isabel, too, paused
before the same object ; and for some moments her
mind wandered from the Grecian era fo her father
land. Visions of blue lakes, and green forests, rose

BISCARI. 49
to view. She thought of her pleasant home, and
mused upon the object of her pilgrimage, and her eye
grew dim, as she remembered how doubtful it still
was whether she should ever retrace those scenes
as the companion of her father. Vittorio was mean
while admiring the splendid Torso, which adorns
the collection, and is a master-piece of Grecian
sculpture. " You talk of fhe Greeks," said Frazier, to his
niece ; " but who shall say that the rude people whom
this canoe represents, understood not as much of the
philosophy of life ? You smile ; but remember,
Isabel, that the ancients were a luxurious race.
They often cultivated the ornamental at the expense
of the useful. They environed themselves with ar
rangements expensive and enervating. Their baths
and theatres, fheir statues and paintings were agents.
of improvement, it is frue, but how often did the}-
become fhe means of voluptuous ease and selfish in
dulgence. The sons of the forest, on the other hand,
cherished an active, free, and noble life. Their bodies
expanded as the Creator intended fhey should : and
habits of graceful activity and stern endurance mark
ed them for men.
" Yes," said Isabel, smiling at his warmth ; " and
for symbols of fhe beautiful they had no need. Ar
chitecture they beheld in the vaulted sky, in the erect
shaft of the forest tree, in the green and gloomy aisles
of the woodland. Statuary was finely illustrated in
their own persons, and for the most magnificent land*
scapes they had but to gaze upon fhe western horizon,
5*

50 BISCARI.
or into the clear mirror of the placid lakes. Thus
furnished, their minds were nurtured, perhaps, but
unfortunately for your theory never progressed."
" I pray you," said Vittorio, " mark well these two
busts, for they represent personages who are inti
mately associated with Sicily. That large head, gar
landed with ears of corn, is Ceres. Would you have
thought the goddess df so masculine and rustic a
mien? There is fhe bust of one of the most distin
guished generals of that nation whose incursions
have so often ravaged the fair face of this island.
Note the stern and heavy features, the bald head, and
that deep scar ; fhey proclaim Scipio Africanus. Po
lished lava, Sicihan marbles, and a few little cabinets
in the several departments of natural history, served,
for a while longer, to entertain the visitors. The fi
gures of a dead maiden and a laughing boy, illustrated
the devotion to nature which, more than any other
characteristic, is evinced in the specimens of Greek
sculpture. A few pretty examples of the chisel of
Call, the .most celebrated modern Catanese sculptor,
also drew their attention.. After viewing fhe Etrus
can vases, one or two of which are of a rare order,
and lingering among the fine old columnar fragments
in the court, fhey left fhe quiet precincts of the
museum.

VINCENZO BELLINI.

" Point not thes^ mysteries to an art.
Lodged above the starry pole ;
Pure modulations flowing from the heart
Of divine Love, where wisdom, beauty, truth.
With order dwell in endless youth V WonDSWOKTH.

In the narrow stx'cet of St. Christofero, in Catania,
and near the little church of the same name, in a
dwelhng of the humblest order, now superseded by a
larger edifice, was born the most beautiful composer
of our times. To fhe imaginative mind of Isabel,
his name and memory were sacredly endeared. It
has been said, that no after maturity of judgment
can dissolve the spell, by which the first poet we
ever understood and enjoyed is hallowed in our
estimation. On the same principle, the composer
whose works are the means of awakening in our
hearts a new sense of fhe wonder and power of his
art, whose compositions sway our spirits as no others
have done, and address our associations with an elo-

52 VINCENZO BELLINI.
quence, compared with which all similar language is
unimpressive, holds a place in our estimation and
affections second to that of no intellectual benefactor.
He has opened fo us a new world. He has brought
a hitherto untried influence fo stir the ocean of
feehng. He has created yet another joy in the dim
circle of our experience; and woven a fresh and
perennial flower into fhe withered garland of life.
With fhe thought of Belhni embalmed in such a sen
timent of gratitude, Isabel, accompanied by the Count,
who had arranged the visit for her gratification,
went forth to view fhe memorials of fhe departed,
that were in the possession of his family.
" The young Vincenzo," said Vittorio, " from his
earhest infancy, gave evidence of the genius of his
nature. His susceptibility to musical sounds was
remarkable. He could be moved, at any time, to
tears or laughter, to sadness or ecstacy, by the voice
of harmony. While a mere child, after hearing on
public occasions a new air, he would, on returning
home, from memory transcribe it. At eight years
old, his little hands ran over the keys ofthe organ at
the Benedictine Convent, with surprising facihty. His
first compositions were occasional pieces of sacred
music. It was early discovered that he was a
proper object of patronage, and, soon after arriving
at manhood, he was sent at fhe expense of govern
ment, to study at Naples and Rome. The result of an
acquaintance with what had been effected in his
art, was to make more clearly perceptible to his
mind the necessity of a new school. The history of

VINCENZO BELLINI. 53
genius in every department is almost always a re
cord of conflicts — of struggles against what is domi
nant. Thus the early efforts of Belhni were fre
quently unappreciated and misunderstood. Still he
persevered in consulting fhe oracle of his own gifts,
and in developing the peculiar, and now universally
admired style, which marks his compositions. The
first of his successful operas was the Pirata, then fhe
Straniera, then fhe Sonnambuia, and then Norma.*
In each successive work we can trace a decided
progression. The first is pretty, often beautiful ; the
last is throughout beautiful, and frequently sublime.
It is a delightful thought, that in a country where
literary talent is repelled by the restrictions on fhe
press, musical genius is unframmeled, and human
sentiment may, through fhis medium, find free and
glorious development."
"I have always regarded music," said Isabel, " as
the perfection of language."
"Undoubtedly it should so be considered, and al
though fhe censors jealously guard the actual verbal
expressions attached fo operas ; to a frue imagina
tion and just sensibihty, the mere notes of masfer-
* L'Adelson e Salvini, represented before the Institution at
Naples, was the first open experiment of Bellini's genius,
followed, in 1826, by Bianca e Fernando, at the St. Carlo
Theatre. II Pirata and La Stranierg, successively produced at
the Scala in Milan, completely established his reputation.
The Montecchi e Capuleti, was brought out soon after at
¦Venice. The Sonnambuia and Norma at Milan, and the
Puritani in Paris.

54 VINCENZO BELLINI.
pieces are perfectly distinguishable, as expressive of
the thousand sentiments which sway the heart.
Bellini, it is believed, was one of that secret society,
which has for some time existed, under the title of
" Young Italy," whose aim is the restoration of these
regions to independence; and we can read, or rather
feel, the depth and fervor of his liberal sentiments,
breathing in the glowing strains of his last opera —
the Puritani."
Thus conversing, they arrived at the residence of
his family, where, with emotions of melancholy in
terest, they viewed fhe tokens of his brief, but bril
liant career. There were little remembrancers
whose workmanship testified that they were wrought
by fair hands ; — the order of fhe legion of honor, a
rich carpet worked by fhe ladies of Milan, with fhe
names of his operas tastefully interwoven; and
many fantasies and fragments written by his own
hand. There was something indescribably touching
in the sight of these trophies. Isabel felt, as she
gazed upon fhem, how empty and unavailing are the
tributes men pay to living genius, compared with
that heritage of fame which is its after-recompence.
What were these glittering orders fo the breast they
once adorned — now mouldering in the grave ? And
these indications of woman's regard, which, perhaps,
more than any other, pleased the heart of the young
Catanese — how like the deckings of vanity did they
seem now, when he for whom fhey were playfully
wrought, was enshrined among the sons of fame !
How sad, too, to behold the slight characters and

VINCENZO BELLINI. 55
unconnected notes — fhe recorded inspiration of him,
who alone could rightly combine, and truly set forth
their meaning ! How affecting to look upon these
characters — the pencilings of genius, and remember
that fhe hand which inscribed them was cold in the
tomb ! But Isabel dwelt longest and most intently,
upon a miniature of Bellini, taken at the age of
twenty-three, aftet the representation of the Pirata.
It portrayed the youthful composer, with a pale,
intellectual countenance, an expansive and noble
brow, and hair of the lightest auburn. There was a
sfriking union of gentleness and intelligence, of lofty
capacity and kindly feeling in tiie portrait. " How
unlike the generality of his countrymen !" exclaimed
Isabel, who had looked for the dark eye and hair of
the nation. " Nature, in every respect," replied Vit
torio, " marked him for a pecuhar being. Yet the
softness and quiet repose of fhe countenance is like
his harmony. The mildness of fhe eye and the deli
cacy of the complexion speak of refinement. The
whole physiognomy is indicative of faste and senti
ment, a susceptibility and grace almost womanly,
and, at fhe same time, a thoughtfulness and calm.
beauty, which speak of intellectual labour and suffer
ing. The face of Bellini here depicted is like his
music — moving, expressive, and graceful. I have seen
portraits faken af a later age with less of youth, and,
perhaps, for that reason, less of interest in their
expression. During his lifetime, all he received for
his works, not absolutely requisite for his support, was
immediatey sent to his family. And now his aged

56 VINCENZO BELLINI.
father may be said, in a double sense, to five on the
fame of his son, since in consideration of that
son's arduous labours in fhe cause of music, which in
Southern Europe may be considered, perhaps, the
only truly national object of common interest, the
old man receives a pension from government, quite
adequate fo his maintenance."
" I think," said Isabel, as the party were seated in
the opera-house, fhe same evening, " that the great
characteristic of Bellini, is what may be called his
metaphysical accuracy. There is an intimate cor
respondence between the idea of the drama and the
notes of the music. What a perfect tone of disap
pointed affection lurks in the strain, ' Ah ! perche
non posso odiarti ?' — the favourite air in thc Son
nambuia ; and who that should unpreparedly hear
the last duet of the Norma, would not instantly feel
that if is the mingled expression of despair and fond
ness? How warlike and rousing are the Druidical cho-
russes, and what peace breathes in the Hymn to the
Moon ! It is this delicate and earnest adaptation of
the music to the sentiment, this typifying of emotion
in melody, that seems to me lo render Bellini's strains
so heart-stiring."
" In other words," said Vittorio, " he affects us
powerfully, for the same reason that Shakspeare, or
any other universally acknowledged genius, excites
our sympathy. His music is true. He has been
called the Petrarch of harmony; that poet being
deemed by the Italians the most perfect portrayer of
love."

VINCENZO BELLINI, 57
" And would that his fate had been more like that
bards' !" exclaimed Isabel. " How melancholy that
he should have died so young, in fhe very moment,
as it were, of success and honor ! I shall never forget
the sorrow I felt when his death was announced to
me. I was in a ball-room. The scene was gay and
festive. The band had performed in succession fhe
most admired quadrilles from his operas. I was
standing in a circle which surrounded a party of
waltzers, and expressed the delight I had received
from the airs we had just heard. My companion
responded, and sighing, calmly said, ' what a pity he
will compose no more !' When I thus learned the
fact of his death, and afterwards the particulars, a
gloom came over my spirits which, during the eve
ning, had been uncommonly buoyant. I retired to
the most solitary part of the room, and indulged the
reflections thus suddenly awakened, ' how few,
thought I, of this gay throng, as they dance to the
enhvening measures of Bellini, will breathe a sigh
for his untimely end, or give a grateful thought to
his memory.' Some of the company passed me on
their way to the music room. I joined them. A
distinguished amateur, with a fine base voice, had
faken his seat at the instrument. For a moment he
turned over the book listlessly, and then, as if
inspired by a pleasing recollection, burst forth in that
mournfully beautiful cavatina, ' Vi ravisso luoghi
ameni.'' He sang it with niuch feeling. There was
silent and profound attention. The tears rose to my
eyes. To my excited imagination we seemed to be lis-
6

58 VINCENZO BELLINI.
tening to the dirge of Bellini ; and, as the last length
ened "note died on the lips of the vocalist^ — thus,
thought I, he expired. Little did I then think I
should ever see the native city of the composer, or
sit in the opera-house which he doubtless fre
quented." " It but this moment occurred to me," replied Vit
torio, " that, perhaps, in this very place, Bellini first
learned to appreciate the science he afterwards so
signally advanced ; to realize the expressiveness of
the agency he afterwards so effectually wielded, to
feel the power of the art to whose advancement he
afterwards so nobly contributed. Perhaps' here first
dawned on his young ambition the thought of being
a composer. Perhaps, as fhe breathings of love,
grief, fear, and triumph here stirred his youthful
breast, the bright hope of embodying them in thrilling
music, and thus living in 'his ' land's language,' rose,
like fhe star of destiny, before his awakened fancy."
There is a narrow but sequestered road leading
from Catania to Cifali just without the Porta D' Aci.
A low, plaster wall separates it on both sides from
extensive gardens — the site of an ancient burial
place where memorials of the dead have been fre
quentiy disinterred. Over the top of these bounda
ries, the orange and almond trees, in fhe season of
spring, refresh the pedestrian with their blossoms and
perfume. In the early mornings of summer, or at
the close of day, this road is often sought by the
meditative, being less frequented than most of fhe
other highways leading from the city. There one

VINCENZO BELLINI. 59
can stroll along, and interest himself with the thought
of the now extinct people near whose ruined sepul
chres he is treading ; or gaze upon the broad face
and swelling cone of Etna which rises before him.
At an agreeable distance from the commencement of
fhis path is an old monastery of Franciscans. The
floor of the venerable church is covered with the
deeply-carved tablets, beneath which are the re
mains of fhe Catanese nobility, their arms elaborafel}'
sculptured upon the cold slabs; Strangers sometimes
visit a chapel adjacent fo see a ¦well executed bust
which displays the features of fhe nobleman who lies
beneath, and is thought to be the ca-po d'opera of a
Roman sculptor. The adjoining chapel is assigned
as the last resting place of Vincenzo Bellini, whose
monument will soon exhibit its fresh-chiselled aspect
amid the time-worn emblems around. Thither, one
morning, Isabel and the Count wandered, and after
leaving the church sat upon a stone bench which
overlooked fhe scene, and fo her enquiries as fo the
funeral honors paid, in his native island, to the me
mory of fhe composer, he replied, " You should have
witnessed in order to realize the universal grief of
the Catanese. Business was suspended. Every voice
faltered as it repeated the tidings ; every eye was
moistened as if marked the badges of mourning. In
the Capital the same spirit prevailed. There but a
few months previous, the king entered the city and
no voice hailed him, because the professions made
af the outset of his reign were unfulfilled. The gifted
composer came, and acclamations welcomed him.

CO VINCENZO BELLINI.
Every testimony of private regard and public honor
was displayed. His sojourn was a festival. So the
news of his death created universal grief. Here, in
the spirit of antiquity, an oration was pronotinced in
the theatre, his favourite airs performed, and actors,
in fhe old Sicilian costume, represented the effect of
his death by an appropriate piece, with mournful
music. In the streets were processions, in the
churches masses, and in the heart of every citizen
profound regret."
" And this," said Isabel,- glancing over the scene,
" is a fit ])lace for his repose. He will sleep at the
foot of Etna, amid the nobles of his native city. The
ladies of this villa, as they wander through the gar
den in fhe still summer evenings, will sing, his most
soothing strains. The peasant as he rides by on his
mule, at fhe cool hour of dawn, will plky upon his
reeds the gladdest notes, the choir in the church will
chant fhe anthems, and the blind violinist, as he rests
by fhe road side, cheer himself with the pleasant
music of the departed composer."
They rose to depart. As Isabel looked back, and
began to lose sight of the ancient convent, she observed
a lofty cypress at the corner of the road. As its
dense foliage waved solemnly, and its spire-like cone
pointed heavenward, it appeared to her saddened
fancy, like a mournful sentinel standing to guard
from sacrilege, and point out for homage the last
resting place of Bellini.

A WALK IN CATANIA.

" Gentle or rude,
No scene of life but has contributed
Much to remember." ROOEBS,

" What wise book so engages your attention ?"
asked Isabel of her uncle, who had been for some time
intent upon a little parchment-bound volume. "If is a
hterary curiosity, given me by our host fo amuse myself
with fill we go out, being nothing more nor less than
his album, wherein his merits are set forth in all lan
guages, and in every variety of terms. One praises
him as a cicerone in ascending the mountain, one as
a caterer, and another as a nurse. There is an essay
on tlie instability of fame, and a warning fo beware
of the moroseness of declining years. An Italian
merchant reiterates again and again, that what he
says in the landlord's praise is true, as if he realized
fhe slight tenure of his nation's reputation for infeg-.
rify ; and an Enghshman begs leave to recommend
the inn to his countrymen, as if no other individuals
6*

ba a walk in CATANIA.
in the wide world were worthy of fhe honor. There
are sonnets and aphorisms, quotations and parodies,
and I cannot tell whether the volume owes its variety
to the quaint mood of the travellers, or the peculiar
quahty of our host's wine."
" Not less than half the inhabitants of this town,"
said the Count, as they went forth on their proposed
walk, " derive their subsistence from the silk manu
facture. Half the houses are provided with looms ;
and the raw material, purchased at fairs of the coun
try people, is woven by the poorer class of citizens,
and sold fo the fabricant, who, in liis turn, executes
fhe orders of the merchant."
" Pride, if not policy," said Frazier, as they passed
the immense skeleton of a palace, " would lead an
American or an Englishman to finish such an edifice
when so far completed."
"Economy is a more powerful motive here," re
plied Vittorio ; " the noble proprietor after proceeding
to this extent in erecting his dwelling found tliat the
opposite wing was sufficient for his purposes ; and
therefore took possession of it, leaving, without a
particle of compunction, this unsightly wail to deform
the street."
A number of young men wearing cocked hats, and
another group in flowing gowns of red bombazine,
passed by and attracted the notice of Isabel. " Here
you see," said tiie Count, "a good ihustration of the
efforts constantly made in this part of the world fo
divide fhe ranks of society. That first knot of youths
are the sons of noblemen, and members of a college

A WALK IN CATANIA. 63
founded by a princely family ; the other charity-
students. The cafi. at that corner is frequented only
by fhe nobility; fhe one at fhis by the citizens."
The lofty court-yard of the college, the massive front
or commanding position of a convent, or the exten
sive structures appropriated as hospitals, by turns
excited the inquiries of fhe strangers. They strolled
along fhe small but pleasant marina, and marked the
mole formed by fhe lava, as it was arrested after
invading the sea, and the narrow bed of fhe river
filled with women busily washing. They paused in
the principal piazza to observe the old statue of fhe
elephant bearing a small Egyptian obelisk; and stood
for some time in the sacristy of the cathedral, before
a rough fresco painting, representing the eruption of
1669. As they were walking up fhe Strada Etnea,
and admiring the fine vista, an old gateway at one
end and the mountain at fhe other, they perceived a
crowd entering a church. Joining the throng, they
found themselves suddenly removed from fhe noise
and bustle of a public street into the solemn pre
cincts of a religious temple, and in view of an affect
ing ceremony. It was fhe funeral of a nun. Behind
a temporary partition, covered with black cloth, and
marked with the effigies of death, a band of musi
cians were performing. At several of the altars
priests were celebrating mass Far above, fhfough
gilt gratings, appeared the sisterhood, their heads
concealed in white folds, and their dark eyes bent
through fhe apertures, down upon the crowd. The
marble floor was quite covered with kneeling figures.

64 A WALK IN CATANIA.
some in dark silk hoods and mantles, some with light
shawls thrown shghtly over their shoulders, and
others in bonnets and cloaks. Behind the railing,
near one of the altars, extended upon an open bier,
and shrouded in black, was seen the corpse. A
bunch of artificial flowers nodded over the head, a
crucifix lay upon the breast, and fresh ro.se leaves
were scattered over the shroud. Prayer after prayer
was said, response after response uttered, and strain
after strain of sacred music performed, fill the body
was borne away for interment, and the crowd
dispersed. When Isabel again joined fhe passing multitude it
was with a mind solemnized by this unexpected
scene. Vittorio had met an acquaintance in the
church and learned something of the nun's history.
"The poor girl," said he, " was not twenty years old
on fhe day of her death. Her father was a wealthy
tradesman, and was very wihing his daughter should
take the vows, as tlie cost of an entertainment con
sequent upon her profession would not by any means
equal the dowry which might reasonably be demanded
in case of her marriage. The one cost a few hund
reds ; the other would have required thousands. She
was therefore unhesitatingly consigned to the con
vent ; and every one praised the munificence of her
father when they beheld fhe fireworks and tasted the
comfits provided at his expense, on fhe evening of
her initiation. It was but seven months since ; and
now she is in her grave. To such intensity of selfish
ness will avarice and superstition sometimes bring

A WALK IN CATANIA. 66
a father ; to such a melancholy end will mistaken
piety lead a woman."
" Perhaps," said Isabel, " she was unhappy in her
home. Perhaps she pined for a love not there vouch
safed her. Perhaps her young heart was wasted and
worn with unavailing yearning, her best feelings check
ed by repeated disappointments ; her warm affections
chilled and blighted by neglect. Then it was but
natural that she should turn from her home, and seek
such an asylum as she would a living death. I
fancied I could read fhe hnes of care as well as fhe
ravages of disease upon her dead face."
" At all events," said Vittorio, " her course was
fhe reverse of woman's lot as Heaven ordained it. No
more certain is it that the flower was made to waft
perfume than that woman's destiny is a ministry of
love, a life of the affections. And she who volunta
rily abandons the world, resigns the part assigned
her by the Creator in the elevation of society, in
refining, soothing, and making happy the human
heart. She abandons fhe sick couch whose weariness
none else can assuage ; she leaves fhe world's denizen,
whose woridliness she- could best have tempered ;
she quits fhe despondent, whom she might have
cheered, and the young being whose delicate impulses
she is best fitted fo guide to virtue. Her duty, toil
some and self sacrificing as it often is, is yet noble,
and may be made angelic."
" Did you remark," enquired Isabel, " that people
of every description were continually entering the
church during the funeral ? Idle young men, roughly-

66 A WALK IN CATANIA.
attired country-people, servants on their way from
market, and children returning from school — all went
in, breathed a prayer for the dead, and then hastened
away on their several errands. I could not but think,
with all my protestant prejudices, how salutary might
sometimes be fhe effect of such ceremonies encoun
tered as they are in every state of mind and without
warning." No brighter hour had smiled upon fheir pilgrim
age than when fhey reached fhe beautiful convent
of the Benedictines. Passing through fhe magnifi
cent entrance, and up the lofty staircase, they threaded
the spacious corridors lined with the chambers of the
fraternity, over the doors of which are full-length
pictures of saints, and entered the superb garden ofthe
monastery. Isabel wandered away from her com
panions, and paced the neatly-paved walks in silent
delight. The deep and compact verdure of fhe cy
press and myrtles, trimmed in the Enghsh style into
fine artificial forms, refreshed fhe eye on every side.
Roses flaunted their rich tints in the morning breeze ;
geraniums perfumed the air, and fhe yellow blossoms
of the cassia tree waved in rich contrast with its
soft green leaves. Little white monuments, planted
at intervals among the shrubs, basins of gold-fish,
and neatly decorated terraces, combined to form a
scene more like the sweet pictures of Eastern climes
than a present reality. From tire extremities of the
walks, far round the massive enclosure, was visible, in
crude and heavy piles, fhe lava of 1669, which
stayed its fatal course only at the walls ofthe convent ;

A WALK IN CATANIA. 67
its rough, black aspect relieved by fhe only vegeta
tion which seems congenial to so unkindly a soil —
the thick and heavy branches of the prickly pear.
Above towered Etna ; around spread the olive hills.
Never had Isabel beheld so dehghtful a garden.
Seated upon one of fhe stone benches, or slowly
walking to and fro in the cheerful alleys, she long
fingered in the pleasant domain, while her uncle
sought in the museum of the monastery, entertainment
more accordant with his taste. One of the old gard-
ners gathered her a bouquet, and another preferred
a large cluster of blood-oranges plucked from an
overladen free.
" And this is winter !" she exclaimed to the Count.
" It. is surely no great merit to prefer so lovely a
retreat to the rude highway of the world. In read
ing and communing with Nature, methinks life might
pass here in quiet but enviable enjoyment, did I not
know that local circumstances, however auspicious,
could not satisfy the wants of fhe soul, that the fairest
flowers of earth could not atone for neglected affec
tions, nor the most delightful scenery brighten info
beauty the desert of inaction."
" You speak most truly. Yet of the many monas
tic retreats which I have visited, no one seems half
so inviting as this. There is a peculiar gloom in
most of the convents on the continent, and a stern
look about the fraternities. Here, on fhe contrary,
you perceive a light and elegant air pervading the
whole institution. The members of this convent are

68 A WALK IN CATANIA.
all nobly-born Sicilians ; no others are admitted.
Their library is excellent, and the situation and ar
rangement of their abode, as you see, most charming.
But I have ever thought that solitary and barren
prospects were more in unison with the spirit and
aim of monachism. If it is for human good fo be alto
gether absorbed in self-contemplation, then let not
Nature and Art be invoked for their treasures. Let
there be no symbol of beauty fo call off the spirit
from meditation, and no hue of freshness fo divert
the ever-present thought of death. In this very
clinging to the fair emblems of nature and humanity,
which we see in the monks, I find an evidence of the
fallacy of their theory."
" What an irrational investment of an income of
more than twenty thousand dollars!" said Frazier,
who now joined' them, " to feed and clothe a body of
men, who have ignobly turned aside from the war
fare of life. Were I king, or raflier president of
Sicily, I would, in my first message to congress,
recommend that these sleek gentlemen should be
punished for such a selfish appropriation of their
patrimonies, by being obliged to transfer them to the
public treasury for a charity fund."
" This picture," said Vittorio, as they entered fhe
church, " represents St. Benedict receiving into fhe
convent two princes, presented fo him by their
father. What a benignant expression glows in the
old man's face! It is one of the finest pictures
in Catania. Most of the other paintings are of

A WALK IN CATANIA. 69
secondary merit, and illustrate tales of the greatest
superstition. Do you see those gaily-pictured Turks,
and that flying figure drawing up the boy through
the ceiling? That child, they say, was stolen from
Catania, by the infidels, and employed as a house-
servant. One day, as he waited on them at dinner,
he was observed to weep, ' Why do you grieve ?'
asked his master. ' Because,' said the child, ' to-day
is a great festival in my counfry — fhe feast of St.
Nicholas, and I was thinking of my father and mo
ther, my brothers and sisters — how happy they are,
and I in a foreign land and a slave !' Upon fhis the
Turks abused him, and ridiculed his faith to such a
degree, that St. Nicholas, feeling his dignity insulted,
came through the wall and bore the child away by
the hair of his head, before the eyes of the astonished
infidels, as you see there depicted." Before his
auditors could comment upon fhis characteristic
miracle, their attention was more pleasingly arrested.
The thrilling notes of the splendid organ, one of the
most celebrated in Europe, resounded through the
church. Now breathing in soft, flute-like cadences,
now ringing like a fine harp string, and anon peahng
forth with the sound of a trumpet, it vibrated upon
the ear, and entranced the heart of Isabel. The
spirit of devotion awoke as she hstened. She silentiy
commended herself to heaven. The music ceased,
as they stood within fhe richly-carved choir, and
directly over fhe tablet behind fhe altar, beneath
which the brotherhood are buried. Impressed with
7

70 A WALK IN CATANIA.
the morning's experience fhey turned to leave the
spacious temple ; Frazier lamenting its inutility,
Vittorio regretting the distasteful lightness which mars
its just effect, and Isabel rejoicing in its holy influ
ences.

SYRACUSE.

•' 'Where the gray stones and unmolested grass.
Ages, but not oblivion, feebly brave.
While strangers only not regardless pass." '
CarLSE Hakold.

Upon thc eastern coast of Sicily, at the distance of
about twelve leagues from Catania, a broad neck of
land stretches into the Mediterranean, which divides
it by a very narrow channel from the shore, thus
justifying its claim to the appellation of an island.
This spot is covered with the compact buildings of
an ancient town, and being surrounded by a double
wall, and several lines of neat, though low ramparts,
presents to the approaching traveller a secure and
interesting appearance. This is the site of one of
the five cities, which together constituted the great
est metropohs of the island, and one of fhe most
renowned of the ancient world. The adjacent plain
contains numerous, though, comparatively insignifi
cant remains of fhe other sections of that illustrious

72 SYRACUSE.
region. Above, and around them, the fall grain and
scarlet poppy wave in fhe sea-breeze, and countless
fig-trees and low vines spread their broad leaves to
the sun, through fhe whole extent of eighteen miles,
once covered with magnificent dwelhngs, temples,
and sfreets, and so often alive with the tumult of
warfare. A long, bright day had passed with our
pilgrims as fhey traced the relics, and revived the
associations of Syracuse ; and at its close, they sat by
the open window of fhe hotel, watching the sun's last
glow as it fell over the tranquil waters of the great
harbor — that beautiful and capacious bay upon
which the fleets of Athenians, Carthagenians, and
Romans had so often manceuvered, and which is now
so admirably adapted to secure to fhe city at whose
base it rolls the palm of commercial prosperity ;
yet is scarcely stirred, save by fhe oars of the fisher
man, or the shallow keel of a Maltese speronare.
The same stagnation which has calmed its clear,
blue surface, broods over fhe old city, and as the
strangers gazed from their retired position, in the
soothing light of eventide, no sound of human enter
prise came up from the narrow streets, and fhey
dwelt upon the past without being conscious of the
present. It is one of the true delights of travelling,
that when the day's fatigues are over, we can recal
its experience denuded of the weariness and unto
ward circumstances which may have marred its
just impressiveness. We can revoke the interesting
and forget the disagreeable. We can combine into
pleasant forms fhe light and shade, the relievo and

SYRACUSE. 73
the back-ground of the actual picture, and transform
it to fairy-beauty in the magic glass of imagination.
It is delightful to converse and reflect upon the asso
ciations of a memorable place when fhe locahty is
fresh in the memory, when we are standing on the
hallowed ground, and breathing the inspiring air of a
scene whose history is written among Time's earliest
chronicles. Within the few preceding hours the
little party had traced the boundaries of Acradina,
Tyche, Neapolis, and Epipoife. They were already
within Ortygia. They had ascended fhe narrow
mouth of the Anapus, and seen the ancient papyrus
growing on its banks. Frazier had measured the two
remaining columns of the temples of Olympic Jove, Isa
bel had gathered from fhe walls of the celebrated prison
of the Syracusan tyrant, a -bunch of that delicate
green weed which hangs in such graceful festoons
from the damp stones of ruins, called by the Italians
the hair of Venus, and Vittorio had lifted up there
his finely modulated voice, and called forth that mar
velous echo, which so often carried to the ears of
the listening tyrant the secret converse of his prison
ers. They had traced the wheel marks in the an
cient streets, and stood amid broken tombs whose
very ashes fhe breath of ages has long since scat
tered. They had seen the moss-grown seats of the
amphitheatre and the crumbhng arches of the aque
ducts. They had leaned over the triangular parapet
and gazed down upon a clear, shallow stream gurg
ling over stones and filled with sun-burnt and bare
legged washerwomen, and tried, to realize that if was

74 SYRACUSE.
the fountain of Arethusa. They had roamed over
the field where the Roman army were so long en
camped, and fhey had looked upon Mount Hybla.
However disappointment might have cooled, as it
ever will, the zeal of the imaginative when they
compare the actual with the ideal, there was enough
in the mere outline of the day's observation to furnish
subjects for musing and discussion. " We have seen
to-day," said Isabel, " the miserable relics of a once
splendid city. Let us now speak of those whose
names are identified with its history, and the remem
brance of whom constitutes, after ah, the true ro
mance of this spot. Come, Count, I call upon you
for the classical retrospect. For notwithstanding
my limited acquaintance with such subjects,
' 1 love the high mysterious dreams.
Born 'mid the olive woods by Grecian streams.' "
" The prettiest fable," replied he, " that I remember
connected with Syracuse is that of Arethusa. You
know she was one of Diana's attendant nymphs, and
returning from hunting, sat near the Alpheus and
bathed in its waters. The river-god was enamoured
of her, and pursued her till ready to sink with fatigue,
she implored the aid of her mistress who changed
her into a fountain. The unfortunate lover imme
diately mingled his wafers with hers. Diana opened
a passage for her under fhe sea and she rose near
Syracuse. The Alpheus pursued, and appeared near
Ortygia, so that it was said that whatever is thrown into

SYRACUSE. 75
the Alpheus at Elis, rises in the Arethusa at Syracuse.
There are facts and real personages enough, how
ever, in Syracusian history, to obviate the necessity
of resorting to fable. And first, this place is indis
solubly associated with the memory of the most fa
mous tyrant of antiquity. If may be that his early
banishment from his native city awakened a spirit of
revenge and domination which was the germ of that
tyrannical spirit he afterwards so licentiously in
dulged. When by successful policy he succeeded in
obtaining a command in the war then waging against
the Carthagenians, his first step was to intrigue
against his colleagues and flatter those below him,
until step by step, he succeeded in placing himself
in a position where he could establish that military
organization which is fhe legitimate enginery of
despotism. Once having assumed power, and tri
umphed over the confidence of his countrymen, he
established the quarries and prison the remains of
which we have visited, and confirmed the authority
he had gained by policy through fhe blighting agency
of fear. His fierce wars with the Carthagenians prove
his courage and talent as a soldier. Yet we know
that he feared death, and was the victim of suspicion
to a degree the most weak and cowardly. He would
allow no one but his daughter to shave him, had his
bed surrounded by a trench and drawbridge, and
did not permit even his son or brother to approach
him unsearched. Such is the awful penalty which
men pay who violate the sacred rights of humanity.
With all his power and wealth he trembled at a

76 SYRACUSE.
shadow. He felt himself cut off from human confi
dence. Perhaps he feared the perpetuity of his title,
and anticipated that future ages would know him as
the tyrant of Syracuse. It may have been this feeling
which awoke literary ambition in his breast, and led
him, year after year, to send poems to the Olympic
games, and rejoice so greatly when his tragedy
gained the prize. Perhaps he hoped to vindicate his
right to a better fame, and obliterate the memory of
his thousand acts of capricious and cruel domination;
or, when he had fried fo its full extent the value of
mere physical authority, and proved its worthlessness,
perhaps a higher ambition inspired him, and he longed
to'obf ain a conquest over men's minds, and establish a
heritage in the immortal kingdom of letters. If
such thoughts sprang up in his guilty heart, they
came too late or were too feebly cherished. His
ambition was a gross passion for dominion. Had it
but aimed at a nobler object how different would be
his remembrance ! Had its gratification been sought
in the empire of fhe heart, and its end been human
good instead of destruction, the traveller, instead of
turning with pity from these sad trophies of cruelty,
would associate the name of Dionysius with those <3f
Gelon and Hiero — the beneficent rulers of fhis
realm." " There are brighter pictures," said Frazier, " in
fhe annals of Syracuse. You remember fhe ruins of a
tomb by the road side, which we stopped to regard
just before entering the town. If is said to be fhe
sepulchre of Archimedes, who overcome a whole Ro-

SYRACUSE. 77
man army with his machines, and ¦was the scientific ge
nius of his age ; — the Franklin of his day. These are
the characters I like fo contemplate ; — men who have
given a mighty impulse to science, discovered an
available truth, promulgated an universal law, and
thus practically proved themselves benefactors, com
pared with whom the greatest generals are not
worthy of a thought, unless indeed they have exhi
bited the noble feeling which swelled fhe heart of
Marcellus when he wept on this very spot, at the
thought of the suffering his army were about fo in
flict upon the Syracusans. In that age, such a feel
ing indicates that he, too, with the opportunity
might have been a philanthropist."
" And do you not remember," said Isabel, " that
this is the scene of that beautiful ihustration of
human friendship which has been reverently handed
down from remote antiquity ? I first read it as a
school-girl, with that genuine glow of the heart which
the story of true magnanimity awakens. And shortly
after the impression was deepened, by seeing it per
formed on the stage in what, to my then untutored
judgment, seemed a style of superlative excellence.
I can now scarcely believe I am amid the scenes
of that noble story. Yet we can weU imagine,
that on the site of one of fhe villas we passed, rose
fhe mansion of Damon, whence he fore himself from
fhe embraces of his wife to meet an undeserved and
ignominious fate, and that in one of the dismal pri-
gons — perhaps in the renowned Ear of Dionysius
itself — his trusting friend confidently awaited fhe

78 SYRACUSE.
return of him whose hostage he had voluntarily be
come. Over yonder hill, perhaps, as the light of day
was fading from the horizon, as at this hour, furi
ously rushed the steed which bore the father and the
patriot to destruction, and over this calm bay, it may
be, echoed the shout of the multitude when, worn,
haggard, and covered with dust, fhe noble victim of
tyranny, sprang from his horse al the foot of the
scaffold, prepared to redeem his pledge. How anxi
ously did fhe eyes of the devoted friends watch, on
that evening, the sun's decline ! How did their very
breath quiver with his dying rays ! What a world
of emotions must have lived in fhe bosoms of both
during those few hours of separation ! What a thrill
of gladness must each have known, when the tyrant
himself, overcome by so rare an example of genero
sity, reprieved his victim !" " And," said the Count,
" how little did he think that this one act of virtue
would be the brightest spot in his heritage of fame,
or that this glorious example of friendship, in two
citizens, would outhve in the admiration of men the
renown of all his military achievements and deep-
laid pohcy ! How little did he think that the future
explorer of the ruins of Syracuse, would turn with
contempt from the thought of Dionysius, at fhe pin
nacle of his power; and delightedly conjure up the
picture of Damon upon the fatal platform, hearing
him in fancy exclaim,
' I am here upon the scaffold ; look at me :
I am standing on my throne, as proud a one

SYRACUSE. 79
As yon illumined mountain, where the sun
Makes his last stand ; let him look on me too ;
He never did behold a spectacle
More full of natural glory.
All Syracuse starts up upon her hills.
And lifts her hundred thousand hands.
She shouts ; hark how she shouts !
Shout again ! until the mountains echo you.
And the great sea joins in that mighty voice.
And old Enceladus, the son of earth.
Stirs in his mighty caverns.' " *
When, on the ensuing morning, they came upon the
carriage road which extends only fo fhe distance of
a few miles from the walls, the quiet and solitude
which prevailed so near a well-peopled city excited
their observation. Reining fheir horses, they paused
upon a little eminence, and gave a farewell gaze to
Syracuse. Its capacious and finely-protected bay,
its thick grey bastions, and the trees which covered
the surrounding country, were all defined in the morn
ing light, with that relievo and vividness whicli every
object in the landscape assumes in the peculiarly
clear atmosphere of these regions. " Few cities of
antiquity," observed Frazier, " were more visited by
illustrious men than this in the day of its glory.
Cicero was long proconsul here, and often alludes in
his writings, with no ordinary interest, to his re
sidence," " Yes," said the Count, "and a still more illustrious
personage no less than thrice dwelt here. He about
* Shiel's Damon and Pythias.

80 SYRACUSE.
whose infant mouth fhe bees of Hymefus clustered,
and of whom Socrates dreamed that a cygnet rising
from an altar dedicated to Cupid took refuge in his
bosom, and then soared towards heaven singing
richly as he rose — presages of gifts and graces which
after age amply fulfilled ; he who taught that our
highest emotions are but the beamings which me
mory imparts of an existence antecedent to our
birth; he who had faith in the beautiful idea of an
original, native affinity between souls in which con
sisted love ; he who bade all men who would be true
to themselves reverence fhe dreams of their youth ;
who, unenlightened by revelation, felt that the soul
was immortal, and with a capacity of thought beyond
his age, and a love of the spiritual which fhe mass
of beings around him could not appreciate, combined
with a spirit of divine philosophy, the truthful feeling
and winning simplicity of childhood. Yes, the favorite
pupil of Plato was Dion — a Syracusan."
"There was,- too," said Isabel, "in a later age,
another noble being who for three days, we are told,
abode in Syracuse. One who cast aside the allure
ments which superior education and social advan
tages offered, and became the advocate of a despised
religion; one whose strength of mind and natural
gifts of intellect were only equalled by the fervor of
his feelings and the decision and dignity of his cha
racter ; one who was enthusiastic without extrava
gance and zealous without passion ; whose tones were
so deep, calm, and earnest, that fhe potentate before
whom he was arraigned, exclaimed that he too was

SYRACUSE. 81
' almost persuaded to be a Christian,' and then Paul,
in what always seemed to me the most thrilling pas
sage of his history, standing in the midst of an inimi
cal assembly, and in the presence of regal authority,
surrounded by guards, and on trial for his life, raised
his calm countenance to the enthroned judge, and
hfting those arms which had so often moved in fhe
graceful gestures of scholastic eloquence, but on
which fetters now rankled, in firm, impassioned, and
clear accents replied, 'I would to God that not only
thou, but also all that hear me this day, were both
almost and altogether such as I am, except these
bonds.'' He walked where Plato had before trod, and
taught to fhe Syracusans that new religion which is
now the faith of Christendom."
" It is not a little curious," observed Frazier, " to
note the results of that ceaseless spirit of change,
which in this age, if never before, is so wizard-like,
that wonder itself is well nigh exhausted. As an in
stance, consider the fact that the only event which
for many years has given a temporary activity to
the aspect and energies of Syracuse, was the win
tering of the American fleet there a few years since.
It is thought of and reverted to with a frequency and
emphasis which indicates how much it was consi
dered." " Thus," said the Count, " a few of the ships of a
people unknown to the ancient world, lying in that
fine harbor was a memorable circumstance in the
annals of a city once containing twelve hundred
thousand inhabitants, — the object of innumerable
8

82 SYRACUSE.
wars, the seat of arts, and the mart of wealth ; now
reduced to an inconsiderable and impoverished town,
sought rather by the curious traveller than the vo
tary of commerce, and its pavements more familiar
with the slow tread of the mendicant than the rapid
roll of luxurious equipages ; and beneath this sky,
where once rose the hum of martial preparation, fhe
shout of triumph, the breath of song, the music of
eloquence, and the joyous laugh of prosperity, may
be heard the rusthng of the bearded grain in its sum
mer fulness, or the wild moan of the ocean wind,
like the requiem breathed by Nature over the desolate
remains of human grandeur."

JOURNEY TO PALERMO.

"He was fresh and vigorous 'vrith rest; hewas animated witli
hope ; he was incited by desire ; he walked swiftly forward over
the valleys, and saw the hills gradually rising before him." Itasselas.

Through fields of lava, in which the broad, dense
leaves of the Indian fig flourished in rank luxuriance,
the travellers, having once more left Catania, pro
ceeded on their way, and were soon on the mountain-
road. Nothing could exceed the abject wretchedness
of the towns through which they passed, choked up
with filth and seemingly populated by beggars ; and
the heart of Isabel was alternately sickened by
the insignia of misery, or chilled by the scenes of dis
comfort which met her view. To an American who
has been almost wholly unnused to the palpable evi
dences of poverty, it is inconceivably trying to be
forced to witness the haggard visage, the impotent
limb, or the miserable covering of fhe beggar ; to
hear his supplicating tones ever sounding in the ear,

84 JOURNEY TO PALERMO.
to see his eager and wo-begone eye regarding him
enviously through the, window of fhe cafi, and his
attenuated form following him like a shadow at every
turn. How depressing, tlien, were such objects to
the mind of Isabel, thronging as fhey did every vil
lage in the route. Aged men with white beards and
hollow temples, women prematurely palsied, children
half-naked and already taught to attune their half-
articulating voices to the language of importunity;
and these beings not scattered here and there among
the multitude, but crowding every square and mur
muring beneath every hill-side; — creatures whom
civilization, if not humanity, has elsewhere consigned
to hospitals ; victims of disease for whom, in almost
every land, asylums are provided, fhe maimed, the
blind, the paralysed, the bowed-down with age and
the stricken with famine, all urging every feeble nerve,
and straining every lingering art to prolong a wretched
existence. Let no one fancy he has witnessed the
lowest degree of human destiny until he has seen
the mendicants of Sicily.
" What a relief," said Isabel, after leaving behind
fhem one of these villages, " to be again in the open
country. What though the mountains are wi>d and
dreary ? The sheep on the slope yonder browse con
tentedly, and the' sparrows chirp as fhey pick the
scattered berries. There is nothing that speaks of
human suffering, nothing to remind us of wants we
cannot alleviate and degradation apparently irretrie
vable." " There," observed Frazier, " pointing fo a finely-

JOURNEY TO PALERMO. 85
situated convent, behold the cause of what you la
ment. It is a violation of the law of the social
universe that any part of the human family should
withdraw themselves from their allotted share in the
toil and responsibility of life. The very money that
supports the priests of Sicily in idleness, would more
than maintain her paupers ; the hands of the idle
priesthood if judiciously employed, would double in
a short time the productiveness of fhe island, and the
day that witnessed the annihilation of priestcraft,
would give the death-blow fo beggary."
During their day's ride the most interesting ob
jects presented were three old castles, built af fhe period
of the Norman conquest, and affording very good
specimens of the gloomy architecture of the middle
ages. At one of their evening stopping-places, after
they had finished fhe meal composed chiefly of the
viands with which their Catania friends had loaded
fhe carriage, Frazier, whose principle it was to im
prove every opportunity, however unpromising, fo
acquire information, began by the help of Vittorio to
enter into conversation with the women ofthe locan
da. These two crones were old and remarkably
ugly. As Isabel looked upon their distorted features
and rude attire, she could recal no figures resem
bling" them except one or. two she had seen, in
America, personate the witches in Macbeth. Her
uncle's attempt to extract a grain or two of know
ledge about fhe crops proved vain, as there -was but
one topic upon which they seemed inclined fo en
large, and this was the miracles ofthe patron Saint of
8*

86 JOURNEY TO PALERMO.
their village. Frazier had not the patience fo hsten
to their stories ; but Isabel, to whom every chapter
in the volume of human experience was interesting,
was pleased to avail herself of their kind interpreter
and hear the hostess's account of St. Vito.
" His father was a Turk, eccellenza, and angry at
his conversion, threatened fo boil him in oil if he did
not retract. Though only thirteen years old, the boy
maintained his faith ; and when put into fhe cauldron
received not the least injury. He became a Saint at
once and is ever woi'king miracles. A neighbor of
mine had a sick mule ; he carried him into the church,
he knelt before St. Vito and was immediately cured.
A woman of the next village was bitten by a mad
dog ; and came fo pray to the Saint, but the people
wouid not admit her for fear of being infected by the
madness ; they however brought a piece of holy wafer
from the Saint's shrine to the gate, and gave it to
her. No sooner had she eaten if, than- five very
smah dogs jumped from her mouth and fell dead in
the street. O, signora, he is a beautiful Saint, and if
you will go to the church to-morrow, and make the
sign of the cross before him, you will go to our
country, our most happy counfry — paradise."
" But," said Isabel, amused with the old woman's
ardor, " I think I have some guardian angel, for I
came over the wide sea in safety."
" That," replied the crone, " was only the grace of
God, for in your counfry you have no saint."
" Yes, we have."
" What do you call him ?"

JOURNEY TO PALERMO. 87
" It is a woman of noble countenance and majestic
mi^n, called Santa Liberta."
" Ah !" exclaimed both the old women in rapture,
grinning horribly, and dancing with delight ; " then
you are a Christian."
"I hope so," quietly replied Isabel, smihng af
their joy.
" Then we'll bring you a Saint Vito fo kiss, and
you can have a crucifix and some holy water in your
room." " There's time enougii to-morrow," replied she,
beginning to be alarmed at the penances they might
inflict. " If is time to retire."
" Good night," said fhe Count, " I commend you
to the care of your true patron, St. Isabel." And in
thus canonizing her name, he had a deeper meaning
than is often contained in fhe language of compli
ment. He referred fo that self-dependence, that trust
in individual mind and energy, that confidence in
the native and personal power of fhe soul, charac
teristic of northern nations, and than which there is
no greater mystery of character to a southern Euro
pean. When the traveller's route lies through a region
of no peculiar interest or beauty, the prevalence
of mountains, while it augments the toil, greatly
lessens fhe ennui of his journey. The wild, sweep
ing curves of the hills bring him continually in
view of new prospects. Now he ascends a steep
elevation, and thence beholds, far and wide, others
of various forms and altitude rising above him ;
now an abrupt and curiously shaped chff meets

88 JOURNEY TO PALERMO.
his eye, and, anon, a fine green valley suddenly
breaks upon his sight. Here is a natural amphi
theatre, there a rocky precipice ; and this changing
scenery is ever arrayed in the light and shade, the
mists and clearness which vary the aspect of the
mountains. Our little party realized this, perhaps
unconsciously, as they advanced on their course.
The motion of a carriage amid the hills induces a
meditative mood which is unfavourable to conversa
tion, and as the coach wound up and down the
dreary ranges beneath a gloomy sky, they yielded to
this influence, and were quite lost in their individual
reflections. Sometimes for miles the sohfude was
uninterrupted save by the little carts of the country
passing with blocks of sulphur from the mines, or the
picturesque appearance of a shepherd lying on some
broad hill side, with his flock scattered before and
his dog crouched beside him.
" May I know your thoughts, Isabel?" said Fra
zier, after one of their reveries had continued for an
unwonted space. " I was thinking," she replied,
" how melancholy must be companionless travel
here, at stich a season, for one inclined to sad fan
cies. Where nature looks so lonely and man so
cheerless, fhe solitary traveller must have a gay-
spirit to go singing on his way."
" And I was thinking," said her uncle, " of the
scene at the little church at fhe last village where
we stopped. I strolled in there while the horses were
feeding. The damp floor was covered with a wretch
ed looking set of kneeling women ; and behind fhe

JOURNEY TO PALERMO. 89
altar, three or four fat and well-clad priests were
carelessly chaunting. I was thinking how powerful
is superstition, since a carved railing and a few
words of Latin, can thus cheat human beings into
the surrender of fheir highest rights."
" And I was thinking," said Vittorio, pointing to
several large crows that were cleaving the air above
them, " how times change, but principles live. Cen
turies ago, perhaps on this very spot, the flight of
these birds was watched as fhe intimation of destiny.
Now they soar unregarded, save by the jealous hus
bandman, while fhe same feeling of our nature
which then caused them to be regarded as ominous,
is still abused by fhe professors of a purer faith for
like purposes of selfish aggrandisement."
Nearly all fhe towns on the way appeared crown
ing some lofty height, and presenting very interesting
objects viewed from a distance. One of the best of
these the Count pointed out to Isabel, at an early
stage of their journey, as the birth-place of Diodorus
Siculus, the historian ; and on a mild afternoon he
called her attention to fhe fields they were crossing.
" These plains," said he, " constitute fhe country
which, according to the ancient writers, was under
the peculiar care of Ceres. Here Agriculture was
born; and even now you see these fields are covered
with newly-sprouted grain. You remember the
classic legend. Proserpine it seems, like many maid
ens, had a strange fancy for solitary rambling, and
while culhng a nosegay here was surprised by Pluto,
who came up through a lake, and carried off to

90 JOURNEY TO PALERMO.
the infernal dominions the lovely daughter of Ceres.
Her poor mother found her girdle on a fountain, and
disconsolate sought her everywhere. Arethusa at
length informed her of the abiding-place of Proser
pine ; she appealed to Jupiter for her release, and
the father of gods promised her return provided she
had not eaten. But unhappily the unfortunate dam
sel had devoured seven seeds of a pomegranate in the
Elysian fields. As usual in the case of clandestine
affairs a compromise was eflected. She was to
remain one half of fhe year with Pluto and the other
with her mother. She presided over death, and if
was fabled that no one could die if she or her minis
ters did not sever a lock of hair from the head of
the expiring mortal. Glance over this landscape, for
it is 'That fair field
Of Enna, where Proserpine gathering flowei-s.
Herself a fairer flower, by gloomy Lis
Was gathered, which cost Ceres all that pain
To seek her through the world.'*
In summer the unfilled land around us is enamelled
with floral beauty. Castro Giovanni, which rises so
nobly on fhe hill to fhe left, was the ancient Enna
and the favorite abode of Ceres. It is said to stand
in the very centre of fhe island."
Many an hour of fheir weary ride was beguiled
by such allusions fo ancient times which the various
places on the road suggested. Every where fhe
* Paradise Regained.

JOURNEY TO PALERMO. 91
tokens of Roger's dominion were visible. The lofty
sites of the towns were strikingly indicative of the
period of fheir foundation — an era when the secure
fortification of cities was indispensably necessary,
especially in an island continually exposed to the
invasion of the corsairs. It was not diflScult at
times to imagine that, in the marked features of the
people, starting as it were from the shaggy hoods of
their brown cloaks, was discernible something of the
acuteness and fire of their Greek progenitors. Some
portions of the highway, composed of argillaceous
earth, were passed with difficulty from the inunda
tion of recent rains ; and one evening, when near fhe
end of their journey, it was found necessary to stop
for the night at a locanda in the campagna. On en
tering this house Isabel, fatigued as she was, paused
to observe a pictorial effect worthy of the pencil of
Murillo. Leaning against fhe doorway of the inner
room, stood a girl of apparently fifteen, shading the
lamp with her hand in order to obtain a better view
of the strangers. Its rays were thus cast up upon a
face more bright and expressive than any which
she had seen in Sicily. But what chiefly riveted
her gaze were the eyes of the damsel — so black,
clear, and expressive, as almost to facinate, while
they surprised fhe beholder.
" Did you remark the face of that young girl ?"
enquired Isabel of her uncle when they were seated
sit supper.
" Yes," he rephed ; " and could not but think what a

92 JOURNEY TO PALERMO.
treasure to a city belle would be her magnificent
eyes and snowy teeth."
"By nature," observed fhe Count, "that maiden is
endowed with an intelligent mind ; you can read it
in those flashing orbs. By nature, she is gifted with
an amiable disposition ; you can perceive it in her
good-humored smile. What an ornament to society
might not education make her ! And yet, such is the
seeming waywardness of fate, fhis being, thus capa
ble of exerting an extensive and happy influence,
win live and die more hke a vegetable than a human
creature ; her powers cramped by ignorance and
overshadowed by superstition. The exalted distinc
tion of your country is that there i§ a fair field for
the gifted ; whether peasants or citizens they can
freely exert fheir prerogatives, for the light of
knowledge and the atmosphere of freedom is around
them ah. This poor giri has no more opportunity to
do justice to herself than the pearl in the ocean
depths fo display its richness, or the diamond in its
rocky bed to exhibit its brilliancy."
" Yet it is from such truths," replied Isabel, " that
many delight to draw fhe inference of a future and
less-bounded being. The endowments of a human
soul, though latent throughout life, become not fn
consequence extinct. The pearl or the diamond may
repose for ages in obscurity, or be dissolved info
their pristine elements, but spiritual attributes, if once
created, live on forever, and in some epoch of their
existence must, I would fain believe, shine forth in
the glory ordained them."

JOURNEY TO PALERMO. 93
On the following day they crossed the narrow but
swollen river, which anciently formed the boundary
between the Greeks and Carthagenians ; on fhe next,
passed fhe celebrated battle ground of Rugiero, and
soon after came in sight of the sea. Isabel's heart
expanded af the view of that element which con
nected her with her country. It was dearly familiar
to her eye. The carriage turned an angle of the
road, and directly before them rose the abrupt pro
montory of Monte Pelegrino ; fhe telegraph rising
distinctly from its summit, while on the plain below
appeared the city of Palermo, environed by ohve-
groves on the one side, and the Mediterranean on
the other.
Whether the metropohs which greets the eye of
fhe traveller be an inland city, or reared on the
borders of the deep, let him mark well its distant
aspect. Whether Genoa rise hke^ an amphitheatre
of palaces and orange-groves to his sea-worn eye,
or Florence repose amid its olive-clad hills beneath
his entranced gaze ; whether it be the swelling dome
of St. Peter's, or the oriental cupola of St. Mark's,
which crowns the prospect, let him mark well its
distant aspect ; let him patiently trace every hne of
the landscape ; lef him watch the sunlight and shade,
as they alternately play upon the edifices, and the
verdure, the heavy wall and fhe light-springing
tower ; let him earnestly ponder the scene, even as
he dwelt upon the last fading landscape of his native
land ; let him hoard up the associations of the— novel
spectacle aqd feel, from a distant position, the iiispi-
9

94 JOURNEY TO PALERMO.
ration of the renowned locality ; for when he has
once plunged info the narrow thoroughfares, and
mingled with fhe motley crowds within the circle of
fhe fairy scene, how much of the romance if awakens
will be rudely dispelled ! how many of its brightest
suggestions will be coldly overshadowed !, But Isabel
gazed upon Palermo, not only with the curiosity of a
traveller, and the interest of an enthusiast ; she
looked long and earnestly upon its dense buildings
and numerous domes, as if she would ask the fair
Capital if within its wide walls was the father she
sought.

THE CAPITAL.

' To see the wonders of the world abroad."
Ttao Gentlemen of Verona.

The Cassaro of Palermo presents the usual scene
of mingled pomp and poverty observable in the
main street of every European city. To one whose
eye has been familiar with fhe red bricks and slated
roofs, the green bhnds and cheerful portals of fhe
American dwelhngs, such thoroughfares are rife with
novelty. He has been accustomed to the click of fhe
mason's trowel, and the hasty greetings of hurrying
pedestrians, eager fo reach the scene of traffic or the
sanctuary of home. All around him has worn an
aspect of freshness ; everything has been symbohcal
of newness and growth. How different the view
now presented ! The high stone walls of the edifices
throw a gloomy shade over fhe broad flags. There
is the gay uniform of the soldier, and the dark robe
of the priest. At his side the mendicant urges his
petition. Near yonder shrine a kneeling peasant

96 THE CAPITAL.
prays. In the centre of the street a richly-dressed
cavalier displays his exquisite horsemanship. Against
the adjacent palace-wall, a poorly-clad old man urges
his donkey, whose slender proportions are almost
hidden beneath a towering load of vegetables. In
the cafi opposite, groups are composedly discussing
the merits of the new prima donna ; and near the
door, a knot of porters are vociferously disputing
about fhe division of a penny. This dazzling equipage
in fhe carriage of the archbishop ; that stripling
with sheep-skin hose, is driving his goats into a yard
to milk them for the table of some English resident
who can afford the luxury. These half naked boys
are gambling away, on the sunny curb-stone, fhe few
grains which some passer has thrown them in charity ;
the other cluster of untidy women are ridding each
other's heads of vermin — an incessant and conspicu
ous employment. From the overhanging balconies
flaunts the wet linen hung out fo dry ; and the ven
ders, with baskets of fish, pulse, and herbs, dexter
ously wend their way through the vehicles and,
loungers, and announce their commodities above the
hum and shouts ofthe crowd. Sternly a file of soldiers,
awkwardly shrouded in loose gray coats, conduct
a band of miserable prisoners chained together ; and
morosely glides by a Capuchin friar with bare head,
long beard, and enormous sack, in search of alms
for the expectant poor.
Through this heterogeneous assemblage, as Fra-
zier's carriage was one day passing, Vittorio asked
them to observe a building of unusual extent. " This

THE CAPITAL. 97
is one of the two remaining establishments," said he,
" formerly possessed in Palermo by that once weal
thy and powerful community — the Jesuits. The
broad airy court of fhe college is surrounded by
spacious corridors, conducting to chambers where
instruction is gratuitously given in the various
branches of literature and science. This society is
one of the few truly useful fraternities of priests ex
isting in Sicily. They are the ministers of education,
and engage in their mission with a zeal, and an in
terest worthy of the cause."
" It is remarkable," said Frazier, " how that in
triguing association, whose influence was once so
widely felt, has dwindled into insignificance. Who
would imagine that in those quiet looking young
men promenading in the yard, we see members of
that sect whom we read of as the secret devotees
of ambition in the courts of princes."
" An incident occurred af their institution not long
since," said Vittorio, " which would indicate that
they are still not deficient in cunning. One of their
number who acted as treasurer, embezzled a sum. of
money, and gave it as a dowry to his sister on her
marriage. As he had entered fhe society quite poor,
when the rumor of his generous donation reached
the ears 'of the br&fhren, they held a council, and
having no doubt of the fraud, ordered hini info their
presence with the determination to banish him from
the college. Upon being asked if he had presented
his sister with the specified sum, he replied affirma-
9*

98 THE C,\PITAL.
tively ; and when questioned as to the source of this
sudden wealth, answered quite unabashed, that he
had taken it from fhe common fund. " For," he
added, " is not our creed that we are all bound
together by the fie of Christian fellowship ; and arc
obligated in weal and wo, to afford mutual aid ? I
took the gold, and appropriated it as a dowry for our
sister in the faith, in accordance with those princi
ples of charity and love which we profess." The
sincerity of fhe delinquent's manner, with fhe force
ofhis arguments, sealed fhe lips of the council, and
he was acquitted."
At I no great distance are fhe Quartro Cantoni,
where the two principal streets of fhe metropolis
intersect each other at right angles, and whence one
can gaze through fhe long and crowded vistas to
the four gates. Upon the huge, dark corners of
the adjacent palaces are hung the. theatre adver
tisements, and below, several fountains fall into
old marble basins. No one can pause at this
spot without feeling that he is in the very cen
tre of a populous city. Beyond, and separated fi;om
the street by a spacious square, is the Cathedral.
Its interior is wanting in effect from fhe lightness
which distinguishes and deforms the churches of the
island.. After regarding the cluster of sarcophagi
which contains the ashes of fhe Sicilian sovereigns,
the travellers passed on and entered a chaste little
chapel on the- riglif of the main altar. " These basso-
relievos," said the Count, " are the work of Gaggini

THE CAPITAL. 99
The finest represents the angel of fhe Lord driving
away War, Famine, and Pestilence,^ — the enemies of
mankind, from Palermo, at fhe intercession of St.
Rosaha, whom you see kneeling at the feet of Jesus
and smiling at the success of her petition. That cir
cular portrait over the altar is a representation of the
fair saint, and beneath are preserved, in a box of
silver studded with jewels, her mortal remains. The
tradition is that ages ago Rosalia, the daughter of a
wealthy and noble house, turned aside from fhe al
lurements of pleasure and youth and retired fo the
bleak summit of mount Pelegrino, fo give her life to
prayer. Centuries of change rolled away, and the
story of fhe lovely anchorite was lost in obscurity;
when fhe plague visited Palermo. At the very height
of its ravages, a poor man of the city dreamed that
an angel appeared fo him in fhe form of St. Rosalia,
directing him to tell the archbishop to seek on the
mountain, beneath her ancient refreat, for her bones,
and bear them in solemn procession through the
streets, when he was assured the pestilence would
instantly cease. This was done amid much pomp
and solemnity, and the promised miracle wrought.
The senate immediately declared St. Rosalia the pro
tectress of Palermo, and ever since she has been
worshipped as their patron saint. For five days in
July a feast is held in celebration of this event, ex
ceeding in magnificence every similar festival. Fire
works, social gaiety, triumphal processions, illumina
tions and music, are the uninterrupted announcements

100 THE CAPITAL
of these greatest of Palermitan holidays ; and fhe
flower-decked car of the saint, drawn by fifty oxen
covered with garlands, moves gaily along the thronged
Toledo." At a short distance from fhe cathedral is the
royal palace, where an ancient chapel and one of the
finest observatories in Europe interested fhe strangers.
Returning, Vittorio bade them note the building now
devoted fo fhe tribunals in the Piazza Marina. If is
a Saracenic structure, formerly fhe seat of the in
quisition, and bears interesting evidences of fhe date
of its erection. The best monument, however, of
this period of Sicilian history, an epoch involved in
great obscurity, is a large fabric at Olivuza, Hear the
city, calied fhe ziza, and supposed to have been an
emir's residence.
" The contrasts, however, between the old and new
world are not confined to fhe results of Art. Around
the congregated dwellings of both hemispheres
is spread the varied scenery of Nature ; and the
sojourner, if he be not an inveterate worlding, has
been wont fo repair thither for solace and refresh
ment. Yet how different are the emblems of her
benignant presence from those fo which he has been
accustomed ! at home, he gazed upon the flowing
stream whose greatest charm is its bright hue and
crystal clearness ; in fhis distant region, he roams
beside a turbid river only attractive from fhe events
of which if has been the scene, oi' fhe classic legend
which arrays it in fictitious glory. At home, his

THE CAPITAL. 101
eye rested upon cottages of wood with orchards be
side them, vegetable gardens in the rear, and hard-by
the long well-pole poised in the air ; now he beholds
the peasants cottage of stone, and the ohve, aloe, In
dian fig, or grape-vine constitute the verdure
around it. There the little belfry of the village school
rose conspicuous ; here the open shrine of some local
saint ; there the forest outspread in wild majesty ;
here the campagna [stretches iu peaceful undu
lations. There fhe chirp of'the cricket announced
the close of day ; here the tinkhng bell of fhe return
ing mules, and Av6 Maria steahng on the breeze, usher
in the evening. There many an uninvaded haunt
repays the wanderer with romantic dreams; here
the spell of some ruined temple entrances his fancy
with hours of retrospective musing. Still Nature's
votary feels that the same gentle companionship is
with him ; and recognizes the invisible spirit of the
universe endeared by communion in another land ;
for there is a well known voice with which she greets
her children in every chine.
One of the most pleasing characteristics of fhe
Sicilian Capital is the beauty of its environs. If is a
curious fact that one ofthe mosl conspicuous of fhe
mountains which environ the city is strikingly simi
lar to Vesuvius, while Mount Pelegrino, from one
point of view, presents the same form and general
aspect as the rock of Gibraltar. Many happy hours,
when fhe state of the elements was auspicious, were
passed by Frazier, his niece, and their friend, in rides

102 THE CAPITAL.
and walks amid the quiet and fertile country about
Palermo. Sometimes, on horseback they ascended
to Monreale, a picturesque town about four miles
from the city, where the Norman kings are buried.
The old church here situated was built by William I.,
and is hned with mosaics, which serve admirably to
awaken the associations of that primitive era after
the establishment of Christianity, when the zeal of
her advocates was expended upon gorgeous temples
and elaborate ornament. Still higher, a rich convent
of Benedictines affords another fine point of view.
When fhe visitor has satisfied his curiosity in noting
the marble and alabaster, the literary rarities and
antique relics which enrich this establishment, tenant
ed like the one at Catania, exclusively by noblemen ;
when his gaze is weary with regarding tfie paint
ings of Monrealese — the best of Sicilian artists —
which decorate its walls ; he can survey fhe broad
and verdant plain, fhe distant city and its sea-bright
boundary spread out in rich contrast below. A still
more favorite observatory, nearer the metropolis, is the
site of an old asylum of fhe followers of St. Francis —
the monastery of Maria di Gesii, on the -side of fhe
opposite mountain. From the path constructed along
the cliff, one can look forth upon this picture, pausing
at will, to mark its varying features as he ascends
the umbrageous hill-side. Indeed the public and
private edifices which command views of this un
rivalled scene, are numerous enough fo satisfy the
taste of fhe most fastidious admirer of the pic-

THE CAPITAL. 103
turesque ; and no more delightful excursion can be
imagined than fhe circuit of the entire plain on a
fine day. It is adorned by the villas of many noble
families, which are surrounded with enclosures well-
stocked with every description of tree, shrub, and
flower. The beautiful effect of these gardens is en
hanced by statues, whose white hue is reheved by
the evergreen around their pedestals, and many
ingenious devices to amuse and surprise the visiter.
One of these domains, erected by the late king, is
arranged in the Chinese style.
How peace-inspiring seemed that valley to the
eye of Isabel, reposing with its grain fields and ohve
orchards, many of them planted by the Saracens, its
orange clusters and cypresses, its villas and almond
trees, with the mountains encircling, like majestic
sentinels, its fertile precincts, fhe domes and roofs
of Palermo rising time-haUowed from amid its green
beauty, and beyond all, the wide and sparkhng sea !
In early spring, all there is perfume and song, and
not even when the snow lies in heavy masses upon
the hill-tops, does it cease fo cheer fhe sight with its
evergreen garniture.
" Let us pause," said Vittorio, one day when they
had arrived at a solitary and elevated part of the
rocky environment. They stood still and looked forth
upon fhe vale. " The first impression, I think," con
tinued he, " is that of abundance. We do not merely
see, we feel, as it were, the luxuriance of fhe earth.
A new sense of nature's productiveness is borne to
the mind, as it contemplates such verdure and plenty.

104 THE CAPITAL.
But while we gaze, another and higher feehng pos
sesses us. The tranquihity of the landscape soothes
every common passion into quietness, and lures all
care-born resflesness fo sleep. Something of tl.e calm
happiness of primeval existence seems to breathe
from so Eden-like a prospect ; and from the lulled
waters of the spirit, as the ancients fabled of the
birth of beauty, emerges fhe brightest creation of
thought, the fairest offspring of emotion ; — a sentiment
of confidence in our origin and destiny, a speechless
gratitude, an undefined hope, a selfTContent ahke
inexplicable and blessed. Is it that we imbibe the lan
guage of the universe, or are exhilirafed by her
music ? Is it that we momentarily lose the weight
of life's burden, or forget in so cheering a presence
that the earth is not a garden?"
" It is, perhaps," rephed Isabel, " that we realize
anew the goodness of the Creator, and thus renew
our faith in his paternity. The world often seconds
fhe chill and dark creed of the sceptic, while Nature
.ever encourages the hopes of the heart. We see the
beauty lavished upon the physical universe, and
comes there not thence an assurance that if fhe
domain of matter is thus cared for and enriched, the
quenchless, living spirit is destined to renewal, pro
gression, and happiness?"
From the upper end of the Marina, if fhe eques
trian inclines fo the right, he comes out upon a
broad, level space called the plain of Erasmus. A
group of bare-legged fishermen, with fheir nets
spread out for repair upon fhe green sward, two or

THE CAPITAL. 105
three cord-weavers, or a knot of the country guards
lounging in the noon-fide sun, appeared scattered
over fhis field ; after crossing which, one passes a
pretty little church where fhe victims of the law are
buried, and soon arrives at the old Saracenic bridge
that spans the Oreto. This river, now shrunk to the
dimensions of a mere brook, constituted the scene of
a noted galley combat which is said to have oc;
curred near Monreale. Its wide bed and high em
bankments are stiU easily traced. The aspect of
this vicinity is rendered picturesque by masses of
broken wall half-covered with vegetation, and several
tall, square water pillars wreathed with thick hang
ing weeds. It was a mild and autumn-like day, and
already long past noon, when fhe travellers, return
ing from a sequestered road, along which their horses
had been slowly pacing for a considerable time,
found themselves again in this somewhat familiar
spot. There was a freshness as well as solemnity in
the appearance of a cypress grove which rose be
fore them ; and they readily turned into the almost
deserted way, left their steeds at*the gate, and en
tered the Campo Santo. As they did so, two men,
bearing a black sedan chair — the bier of the lower
orders — appeared proceeding slowly up the grassy
pathway. No other moving object disturbed fhe
profound repose of tbe burial-place, save the swaying
fops of the gloomy trees and fhe nodding of some
spire of herbage which had shot up higher than its
fellows. Rows of square flag-stones intersected the
10

106 THE CAPITAL.
ground af equal distances, denoting the huge pits into
which the naked corpses are promiscuously thrown
with as little ceremony, and less feeling perhaps, than
fhe fish-packers ofthe neighboring coast manifest in
arranging fheir prey. A low, rude cross placed near
one of the reservoirs indicated that it was unsealed
for the day's interments, if so rude a disposition of
fhe dead merits the name. The strangers involunta
rily paused. They had been inhaling the balmy and
hving breath of nature ; fhe hum of a populous city
had scarcely died away upon fheir ears; fheir con
versation had been lively and hopeful, for few can
resist the exhilarating influence of a ride on horse
back beneath a lovely sky, and in sight of evergreen
foliage and blue-waving hills; and now they were in
the silent precincts of a grave-yard surrounded by
fhe emblems of death. An old and miserably clad
friar emerged from the building which bounds fhe
opposite side of the cemetery, and approaching fhe
group, offered fo display fhe wonders of fhe estab
lishment, with as much complacency as the cicerone
of a gallery of art or continental museum would have
manifested. To one who travels not so much to ac
quire miscellaneous information as to realize truth ;
not with a view to court novelty but to awaken
thought ; not-merely to be amused but to enjoy asso
ciations and feast imagination r fo one, in a word,
who seeks in foreign scenes congenial mental in
citement, there is nothing more vexatious than fhe
officiousness, intrusion, and affected jargon of those

THE CAPIT.'IL. 107
who act as guides and showmen about fhe interest
ing localities of Europe. Isabel shuddered as she
beheld this veteran dweller among the dead, and
marked the indifference to scenes of mortality which
familiarity had induced. Frazier followed the monk,
while Isabel and the Count walked to and fro in an
area of fhe sunny enclosure. " This," said he, " is
the burial-place of fhe poorer classes. Their ideas
of doing honor to the dead are quite peculiar. Those
who have the means engage the old friar and his
assistants to preserve fhe embalmed bodies or skele
tons of their friends, which are placed in hideous
array, some of fhem decked out in the gayest dresses,
in the lower chambers of that edifice. The poor re
latives of fhe deceased yearly renew the vesture and
ornaments of the withered bodies, deeming this a
testimony" of their remembrance. What a dismal
manner of manifesting fhe sentiment ! Yet how af
fecting is fhis clinging to the mere casket of life !
How does it proclaim fhe earnestness with which the
most unenlightened repel the thought of annihilation !
But does not such n.ttachment to the mortal remains
evince how dimly the idea of immortality has dawn
ed upon the minds of these ignorant people ? Is it not
another proof of the unspiritual tendency of their
religion as popularly believed ? Intelligent men often
ridicule what they call the visionary tenets of some of
the more refined sects — but what can obviate the
appalhng impression that death and decay awaken,
— but a faith, ' not merely general but elaborately
constructed from our inmost experience, and vivified

108 THE CAPITAL.
by revelation — a faith that recognizes an existence
perfectly independent of physical hfe — a faith that
habitually regards the tides of thought and love as
already mei'ged in the ocean of eternity, though now
connected by a narrow and ever-evaporating stream
with the river of Time ?"
" Still," said Isabel, " it is not every one who can
best keep alive the glorious truth of an after existence,
by thus maintaining a sense of the distinctness of our
two lives. With many fhey are too much inter
woven ; and with all the inner and the outer world
more or less commingle. Therefore it is, I think,
that the cemetery should be hallowed by nature and
rendered eloquent by art. It seems to me that many '
of the customs of Europe in regard fo the dead evi
dence anything but Christian civilization, and I turn
with pleasure aiid gratitude from this horrid recep
tacle, to the picture my memory affords of the beau
tiful cemetery af New Haven and the quiet and
soothing precinct of Mount Auburn, where nought
meets the eye but chaste marble memorials, the re
freshing hue of the greenwood, and the flowers which
enamel the graves."
" That is happy," said the Count. " Such scenes
should not remind us of the earthly remains but of
the enfranchised spirit. Who would linger over the
clay when fhe friend it impersonated has vanished?
An accustomed walk or a favorite book is more
emblematical of the departed than his senseless frame ;
for, the first ministered to his deathless self; with the
last his connexion has utterly ceased. To preserve

THE CAPITAL. 100
and cherish so wretched a memorial, so earth-born
and material a symbol, is as soulless as for the pri
soner to fix his eye upon fhe dim walls of his dungeon,
when a star beams radiantly through his cold grate,
as if to call his gaze heavenward."

10*

THE NOVICIATE.

' But when it happens that of two sure evils
One must be taken, where the heart not wholly
Brings itself back from out the strife of duties,
Then 'tis a blessing to have no election." Walienstein.

The prevalence of monastic institutions is one of
the most striking features of Sicily. Originated dur
ing the dominion of the Spainards, hke ill-weeds they
have taken deep roof and quite overrun the verdant
island. In the counfry fhey occupy the most desirable
sites, and in almost every street of the capital the
high gratings of the nunneries appear protruding from
their lofty walls. Thousands of the fairest daughters
of fhe land are immured within these spacious
asylums. Among such a multitude, some doubtless
are devoted fo that religious meditation which is fhe
professed object of their seclusion ; but the majority

112 THE NOVICIATE.
manifest as lively an interest in the world they have
renounced as the busiest of its denizens. By means
of their friends they are constantly informed of the
events ofthe day, and manage to maintain a surprising
acquaintance with the intrigues and doings of the
metropolis. Indeed, a half hour's chat with one of
these fair recluses is said to subserve the purposes of
the gossip better than a gazette of which there is
quite a dearth. And in i-efurn for the sweet scandal
the wicked world provides them, they are constantly
distributing presents of comfits. By fhis demi-infer-
course with their fellow-beings, and in attending to
their share of the duty and ceremonial of fhe house,
their hours glide by, and every year ' adds to their
number. Isabel availed herself of an occasion which
offered to witness the rite by which a noviciate was
entered upon. The daughterof amerchantwith whom
Frazier was acquainted being about to perform
these vows, he invited the strangers to attend fhe
function. It was the last day of the month. As the carriage
rolled over the flat pavements through, fhe crowdeiJ
Toledo, lights gleaming from fhe cafis and shops,
feh on groups of mechanics toiling by the wide
thresholds, shelves of confectionary thrust forth to
tempt the passers, and now and then revealed a set
of grofesquely-clad buffoons — the light-hearted cele-
brators of the carnival, surrounded by a laughing
mob. Now fhey passed an elegant equipage with
its complement of dashing footmen ; and now
the white robes of a Dominican friar fluttered by>

THE NOVICIATE. 113
One moment Isabel admired the dexterity of fhe
coachmen as they drove furiously on, the wheels of
their vehicles almost in contact, another gazed
upon a fountain murmuring amid its old sculptured
ornaments and weed-grown inscriptions ; and the
next instant they turned into a narrow street, dark,
and silent but for the clear echo of their horses' feet
as they struck the flag stones. Riding rapidly through
the sfreets of an European city produces in the
stranger's mind a novel excitement. One thought
predominated in fhe mind of Isabel. She remembered
that fhe insignia of life, of active and cheerful exis
tence, whose inspiration she then felt was about fo
be abandoned by her whose vows she was soon fo
hear. She endeavoured fo imagine her own feelings,
if such were her lot. " It is not love of what is called
the world" — (thus she mused) — " that would make
such an hour dismal to me. I am not indissolubly
wedded to the pursuit of pleasure. Long since I
have realized the vanifyof the petty triumphs sought
in artificial society. I should mourn to quit life
because it is the arena of experience, fhe sphere of
duty, the lot of my race. I would not, if I could,
escape the common destiny of a human being. I
would share in the toil, anxiety, and suffering, I
would take part in the higher enjoyments, I would
have my inheritance in the kingdom of thought and
affection, because it is human. A mightier will than
mine placed me here ; a holier agency than that of
accident creates fhe circumstances of life. Let the
afflictions, fhe temptations, the cares of being be en-

114 THE NOVICIATE.
dured ; let me be free to commune with nature and
society, let me courageously^ fulfill my destiny ; and
for the truth that shall guide and protect me, let me
trust to the paternity of God." The strain of her
meditations was abruptly broken by their arrival at
fhe convent. They, en tered the parlatorio, or con
versation room. It was already half-filled with
company who, fo judge by their gay dresses, and fhe
occasional laughter and lively discourse with which
they were beguiling fhe time, one would suppose
had aseembjed for some purpose of glad festivity.
At the head of the room, surrounded by the ladies
of her family, and the companions of her youth,
sat the maiden on whose account they had assembled.
Sire was tali, and of that form which, at a glance,
we are apt to denominate genteel. A dress of
white satin richly decorated with lace, showed to
the best advantage her fine, intelligent face, dark
eyes shaded with long black lashes and head of hair,
amid the ebon masses of which clusters of diamonds
glittered beneath a knot of snow-white ostrich fea
thers that nodded above, and gave to the tout ensem
ble, a queen-like aspect. This impression was en
hanced by the air and manner of the lady. Occasion
ally turning to a party of nuns who clustered about
the open door which formed the limits of their asy
lum, she replied to their words of encouragement
with an affable dignify. Sometimes addressing her
mother who sat beside her she seemed to perform
the same kind office of consolation fo her. At fhe
entrance of one of fhe friends whose society had

THE NOVICIATE. 115
enlivened, with girlish playfulness, many an hour of
her young life, she rose and gracefully, often even
joyously, saluted her as if she were^ receiving the
grat ulations of a bride. Sometimes she caressed her
little brother, a pretty boy of five or six, apparently
delighted at the brilliant costume of his lovely sister :
af others, although but momently, she would sit si
lently looking around her, as if called for the first
time to play the part of an entertainer, and, as yet
unskilled in disguising fhe Vv'eariness which too often
renders that character one of the most onerous in fhe
whole range of social requisitions. A bhthe tone,
pleasant, faliiative mood, and happy smile distin
guished her from the other young ladies upon whose
faces seriousness would oftener rest, and glarfces of
thoughtful regret not unfrequently be cast towards
their smiling friend. Isabel watched the scene, and
recalled the beautiful simile which compares ~an
unconscious sufferer to the sacrificial victim that
wears proudly, and playfully nibbles the flowery
garlands that to aU else are emblems of its approach
ing fate. Ices and sweetmeats were distributed. The
buzz of conversation rose and fell. There were plea
sant jests and calm discussiohs among the party, and
as little apparent commiseration as fhe ancient as
semblies at the gladiatorial combats, were wont to
show for the beings whose death was to be bar
barously consummated for their amusement. Isabel
was separated from her friends, and found herself
near some acquaintances with whom she had little
sympathy ; and after fhe ordinary greetings were in-

116 THE NOVICIATE.
terchanged, was at liberty to entertain herself with
her own thoughts. These were presently entirely
engrossed in attempting to conjecture the motives
and present feelings ofthe noviciate. She was soon
convinced that there was a deep sentiment veiled by
the blitheness of her manner; an eye and a contour
so speakingly intelligent, she was convinced apper
tained to a mind that could pierce the shadows of
gross superstition, and a heart with a capacity of
feeling which had, or would ere long, occasion its
possessor intense suffering. Thus her sympathy was
earnestly excited ; nor could she relieve fhe longing
she felt to interfere with the proposed vows, fill she
was assured that after a year's trial the novice
would-be at liberty to leave the convent. This con
sideration, however, would not have greatly solaced
Isabel, had she been aware ofthe means assiduously
used fo rivet the chain of motives which first allure
the young to make trial of conventual life. From
tire parlatorio the company adjourned fo the church,
which was brilliantly lighted for fhe ceremony.
Isabel, as a stranger, was provided with a place near
the grate, about which a dense crowd soon collected.
The priest at the main altar commenced a mass.
An orchestra stationed in a high gallery began a
sacred strain, and turning fo the chapel she saw a
procession of the sisterhood approaching, bearing
hghfed tapers, and in the midst walked the novice.
They encircled a little platform, placed just within
fhe lattice, on which sat the abbess and her assist
ants, and at the feet of the former, kneeled the de-

THE NOVICIATE. 117
voted maiden. She was still apparelled in her ball
room attire, but a crown of flowers was substituted
for fhe jewels and plumes, and in her right hand she
bore a wand of palm. Af Isabel's side, in a high
chair covered with crimson velvet, saj; the officiating
priest. The aged mother of the institution threw
back her silken cowl, drew forth and assumed her
tortoise-shell spectacles, and opened the ritual. Isabel
noted the picture as the soft radiance of the numerous
lights fell on the upturned face of the novice, and
the time-withered lineaments of the abbess. In fhe
one she read youth and innocence — the harmony of
a confiding and undimmed nature ; in the other, tho
traces of experience, the expression of command, fhe
quiet and fixed features of that epoch in life, when
Hope's visions have melted away, and the listless con
tent of subdued feeling, like the calm surface of a
summer sea, reflects what is around, but stirs not in
the exhausted breeze of fresh emotion. She observed
the bright eye of the maiden glance kindly at
the younger nuns, and, as the monotonous recitative
of fhe priest succeeded that of fhe women, on her
fresh lips stole such a smile, as she caught the eye of
the old lady, as would have provoked a responsive
look from one more sensible to such an appeal or
less disciplined in self-control. A lock of the dark
hair was severed, and fhe silken curtain drawn. In a
few moments if was again thrown back, and, array
ed in the black robe and white cape of a nun,
appeared -the inducted novice. The dress was sin
gularly becoming — more so than that it had displaced.
11

118 THE NOVICIATE.
Again she kneeled and fhe preacher commenced his
exhortation. Fervently did he congratulate the fair
girl on her choice. Eloquently did he picture the
evils she had escaped and the blessings she had
secured. There was sincerity in his tones ; but Isa
bel remembered fhe silver sweetness of voice which
the novice's responses had betrayed, and the spell of
the speaker's was lost. She turned to the mother and
saw the tears roll down upon the lace 'kerchief
which covered fhe breast whereon this lovely crea
ture had so often reposed. The httle brother of the
noviciate, whether offended by her new array or
touched with the solemnity of the scene, became
very restless, and after many vain attempts fo attract
his mother's attention, began to cry piteously as if in
remonstrance to fhe vows with which they were
severing from him, perhaps forever, an indulgent and
fond sister. His wailing was not suffered to inter
rupt fhe orator who continued his discourse. The
child was hurried from the crowd. Isabel observed
that throughout the ceremony, fhe novice ventured
not a glance towards her kindred and friends gather
ed about the tressil-partif ion ; but she saw her breast
heave beneath the folds of her sacred habit, and fan
cied that not one of her mother's sighs escaped her
ear. When the address was brought to a close, the
nuns pressed forward and embraced the new mem
ber of their society. The company in the church
slowly withdrew. Isabel followed the ladies to the
parlatorio, and entered just as the mother and daugh
ter were tearfully embracing. A throng of congratu-

THE NOVICIATE. 119
lating friends encircled the noviciate. Isabel wished
for her sake that all was over. But soon fhe maiden
eagerly inquired for her father. He was in a distant
corner of fhe apartment. When he approached, his
beautiful daughter, clad as it seemed to the strangers
in the habiliments of a hving grave, kissed him affec
tionately. Isabel saw him whisper to the abbess
and doubted not it was a request to treat his child
kindly. She thought of her own parent and asked
herself whether he could thus leave her to linger out
a sad existence in the cloister. The idea chilled her
very soul; and seizing the proffered arm of her
uncle, they hurried from the place.
The Marina of Palermo is one of fhe most admi
rable promenades in Europe. By many continental
travellers it is deemed unsurpassed. The broad,
blue expanse of the bay rolls fo the very base of the
long and smoothly-paved walk ; a spacious and level
road for carriages lies between this and fhe range of
palaces and gardens which bound it on fhe opposite
side ; while at both extremities, the noble promontO'.
ries, which rear themselves protectingly and enclose
the harbor, shield the beautiful resort and gratify the
eye of the visitor. Thus the imposing vicinity of fhe
finest edifices, fhe verdure and perfume of a public
garden, and the cool, bright sea are concentrated, as
it were, around fhis magnificent Marina. Those
who dishke the vicinity of vehicles and horsemen,
can repair to the terrace which, rises, above the road
and extends to hajf the length of the drive. The

120 THE NOVICIATE.
continuance of this upper walk is all that is wanting
to complete the splendid promenade. On gala
days nothing can exceed the cheerful and elegant
aspect of this scene. Equipages of every degree of
richness pass, in Jong lines, fo and fro through the
cenfre, and fhe walks appear thronged with the va
rious costumes of Southern Europe. And daily, at
all seasons, the stranger about two hours after m.id-
day, may find it more or less fashionably occupied.
But it is in the summer evenings that the Marina' of
¦Palermo appears to the greatest advantage, and is
most generally and consciously enjoyed. Half the
population repair thither fo enjoy fhe sea-breeze.
The distant mountains are robed in a greener hue; the
adjacent groves are clothed in the richest tints ; the
ocean cooly murmurs and stretches, like a crystal
plain, before the eye wearied with fhe scorching
heat of these southern skies. Tbe burning sun is
slowly sinking in the west. Then fhe nobihty seek
in fheir open carriages the refresiiing breeze from the
ocean. The fat priest seats himself on one of the
marble benches; the soldier leans upon his musket
and raises his heavy cap to catch the delicious air ;
the freed child gambols along the terrace-walk; the
languid beauty readily accepts the ice which her gal
lant proffers at the side of her landau ; and to stir
the serenity of the scene with a congenial excitement,
music from a band stationed about the centre of the
drive, in a temporary theatre,' steals forth to cheer
and to charm fhe gay multitude. Such is the Mari-

THE NOVICIATE. 121
na on a summer night. But when Frazier and the
Count, obeying the suggestion of Isabel, left the car
riage at one of the gates and came out upon the
promenade, it was almost entirely solitary. In the
distance, the figure of a single individual might he
seen hurrying along; and at one or two points, a
knot of fishermen were arranging their nets. High,
dark, and towering rose the mountains, and the foliage
seemed blent in one heavy mass. But over the face of
the sea and on fhe palace-roofs, the beams of the full
moon glittered ; and the foam-streaks shone in the
mild hght, as they ran with a plaintive and hollow
murmur alone the stones. As Isabel and her com-
panions gained the walk, and felt the soothing effe&t
of a promenade by the sea at so quiet an hour, they
wondered that so few had improved fhe privileged
time. But her mind ¦was intent upon the scene she had
left. The light demeanor of fhe young noviciate, the
interesting expression of her face, the solemnity of
the rite remained vividly impressed upon her mind ;
and she was eager in her inquiries of Vittorio as to
the views of the parent and the feelings of the child.
" You must have observed me," he replied, " con
versing with a young man in the parlatorio, who
was seated near your uncle. That youth, more than
two years since, became enamoured of the novice.
He had a small income, not however sufficient to
warrant his marriage unassisted by additional means.
His affection was reciprocated. The father of the
young lady is a man of weahh. At the commence-
11*

122 THE NOVICIATE.
ment of the suit he objected fo its consummation on
several trivial grounds. These difficulties were at
length obviated ; but the father at last peremptorily
refused to advance his daughter fhe sum requisite for
her establishment. There is no doubt that he could
have done this without any actual sacrifice ; but he
is a man who has gained his property slowly, and in
its acquisition, acquired that base love of 'wealth for
its own sake, which too often shows itself stronger
than those affections which are the deepest, and
should be the most inviolate sentiments of the heart.
The daughter wearied with fhe disappointment and
suspense of her situation, and despairing of any fa
vorable change, resolved to quit the world."
" This accounts," said Isabel, " for the smiling
manner in which she went through the ceremony.
It was the levity of hopelessness, the mock-playful
ness of despair."
" And wonder not," resumed Vittorio, " that she
should find little to interest in this world after her
prospects were thus blighted. She has seen only
or chiefly fhe worst side of human nature. She has
reason to believe in the universal reign of selfishness ;
for this, .society and her own kindred have taught
her. Her passion was not a violent one. She sought
in the cloister, not so much a refuge from disap
pointed affection, as an asylum adapted to one who
is indifferent fo fhe world because she has nothing
to hope from it."
*' The more shame to the land of her birth 1" ex-

TBE NOVICIATE. 123
claimed Frazier, " since there was in fhe circle of
her experience, no human being whose example in-
spii-ed her with an amJDifion fo be useful ; no one of
her sex whose character and domestic influence
suggested fhe idea of living for fhe improvement of
others ; no instance of female devotion in the path of
single life. In America, thank heaven, there is
scarcely a family, where there is not a genuine sister
of charity, in fhe shape of what is vulgarly called an
old maid." Isabel smiled, and said, when they were
again seated in the carriage, " there is to my mind
something awful in the idea of so young and gifted
a woman incarcerating herself thus without even the
supporting motive of devotional enthusiasm. Her
blithe manner when kneehng iu that cloistral garb
was more touching to me than would have been her
tears. It spoke of a light estimation of life and its
blessings, a want of perception of human responsibi
lity, an utter insensibihty to that spiritual destiny
which can throw over fhe most objectless existence,
an infinite interest and a superhuman dignify. Of
this not a thought seems to have dawned upon that
maiden's mind."
" No," said the Count, " she has gone in all her
loveliness and innocence from fhe home of her child
hood. She has left fhe circle her presence should
have gladdened ; the kindred whose happiness should
have been hers. Talents of untried power, love of
unfathomable intensify will be palsied by a round of
mechanical rites and trivial occupations. Yet nega-

124 THE NOVICIATE.
five and blighting as I feel such a fate to be, con
sider how I am obliged to reproach my country,
when I say that, in all probability, her life as a
Catholic nun will be infinitely happier than that of a
Sicihan wife."

VITTORIO.

" The spirit culls
Unfaded amaranth, when wild it strays
Through the old garden-ground of boyish days." Keats.

The site of the Villa Giulia, or public garden of
Palermo, with fhe exception of its low and therefore
somewhat humid position, is singularly felicitous.
It is separated, in its whole length, from the sea
only by fhe Marina, and as there are no intervening
buildings, the whole extent of fhe bay is open to the
eye of fhe wanderer through its verdant precincts.
And however warm may be the season, one can
scarcely fail before noon, or at sunset, to discover
some shady recess which is freely visited by the
breeze from the water. Adjoining fhis favorite
retreat is the Botanical garden, whose lofty palm trees
rise picturesquely fo the eye, giving an aspect of
oriental beauty to that portion of the prospect. It was
through this enclosure, that during the late seige the

126 VITTORIO.
troops from Naples affected their approach to the
waUs, and the rich exotics which adorned the es
tablishment were crushed beneath the ruthless feet
of the soldiery. The more public grounds of the
adjacent garden once witnessed a still more sacrile
gious scene. During the sway of fhe Inquisition, a
priest and nun were burnt alive on this spot, in the
presence of an immense assemblage, for having de
clared themselves favored by miraculous visions.
There is nothing now to remind the visitor of these
or similar events. The noble entrance of the Bo
tanical institution conducts him into a circular apart
ment classicahy adorned, whence a fine vista of
foreign trees, and several, admirably constructed
stuffos, are discoverable ; and the utmost neatness,
order, and beauty, gratify the eye. The Villa is
somewhat more extensive, and is tastefully laid out
info aheys shaded with the interwoven branches of
the orange frees, and diversified with parterres of
flowers, statues, and fountains ; forming one of those
quiet and delightful resorts which are planted, with
such beautiful wisdom, amid fhe dense buildings and
confined thoroughfares of European cities. For
several hours during Sunday, in the spring and sum
mer, a band stationed about the centre of the garden
enhven the throng with a variety of airs ; and the
scene, at these periods, is one of the most pleasant
imaginable, as all classes of citizens are seen strolling
in parties through fhe paths, clustered listlessly about
the fountains, or conversing in groups, in some retired
nook of the extensive grounds.

VITTORIO. 127
It was during one of their promenades in this
favourite spot, on a clear bright morning, that Count
Vittorio was induced, at the earnest wish of his
companions, to speak of his former life. The garden
was almost solitary. The season and the spot
awakened the early associations of the Count ; and
the sight of a rosy little child, setting at defiance the
entreaties and threats of his nurse as he shouted and
gambolled along the walks, carried him back to the
well-remembered days when he had sported in that
very garden under similar surveillance. Yeilding to
the impulse of awakened memory, he imparted to
his attentive and deeply-interested friends a sketch
of his experience, in that spirit of confidence and
freedom, which the breath of Nature and fhe spell of
congenial companionship naturally awakens.
" The memory of my earhest years confirms fhe
general idea that the first epoch in life, however dis
tinguished by exuberance of feeling and earnest cu
riosity, is not necessarily the period when the leading
traits of character are manifested, or its highest
principles formed. I remember my early boyhood
as a period pf intense pleasure and frequent though
not lasting disappointment. Every object and agency
which appealed to natural sentiment found an in
stant response in my heart. For several years my
daily pastime consisted in gazing from the balcony
of our palace which overlooked the principal street.
The narrow bounds of this little gallery constituted
the sanctum of my childhood. I ran to and fro over
its filed floor, and peeped through the iron-wrought

128 VITTORIO.
balustrade; while my mother sat at her embroidery
frame near the open window, watching my sports.
Here dawned upon my young mind its first notions
of the world. Hour by hour, I gazed down upon the
passing crowd, and to the silent observation of those
childish days I can trace many of the opinions and
prejudices of after years. T saw a moving pano
rama of human life, and deeply sank its lessons info
my mind. There were two classes of men who, even
af that hour, were the objects of my dislike, and
against whom there grew up in my breast an invete
rate antipathy, which after experience, unhappily,
has not tended fo remove. These were soldiers and
priests. The former I detested partly perhaps on
account of their stern manner, but chiefly because I
saw them conducting fhe prisoners, whose fettered
limbs and miserable appearance excited my pity.
The latter awakened my abhorrence from fhe mo
ment that I was the witness of the overbearing
demeanor of one of their fraternity who visited our
house, and with a cold pertinacity which roused my
impotent anger, persisted in being informed of every
detail of our domestic affairs. I was especially an
noyed at the number of these two - classes which
mingled in the passing crowd; and when any priest
ly procession or regiment of soldiers entered the
Toledo, instead of remaining at my post, I would run
to fhe very extremity of fhe saloon and shut my ears
against fhe sound of the approaching drum or fhe
rising chant. This conduct surprised my mother, and
she endeavored, but without effect, fo correct these

VITTORIO. 129
prejudices, particularly that against the priests; for
being herself a strict cathohc, she considered the
feeling I manifested toward the professed ministers of
the faith as fraught with danger. Her apprehen
sions, however, were much lessened by the pleasure
I, evinced in attending fhe functions on feast days at
St. Giuseppe. She knew not that it was the grand
strain of the organ and the solemn architecture
which charmed me, and that often, as I was kneeling
beside her on the marble floor, my imagination
awakened by these incentives was wandering in
wild dreams and vague speculations, while my lips
mechanically repeated the words of fhe mass. My
other great source of pleasure was listening fo the
singing of the daughter of one of our neighbors.
This lady, hke most of the Sicilians, had large eyes
of the most brilliant jef. Her voice was of great
compass and she sang with much naivete and pathos.
She was very partial fo me, and as often as I could
obtain permission to visit her house, she would sing
my favorite airs, and bend her dark eyes in kindness
upon me as I sat, lost in delight, upon a stool at her
feet. These amusements, with occasional pic-nic ex
cursions in fhe summer, made up the history of my
childhood. Simple as the circle of this experience
seems, it was not altogether inadequate fo fhe nature
to which it ministered. My affections — those eternal
fountains in whose freshness, purify, and freedom fhe
happiness of humanity is most deeply involved — were
gratified and cherished. My mind — that intelligent
power in fhe expansion and culture of which so much of
12

130 VITTORIO.
human progress and energy consists — feasted on the
glory of nature and the variety of the human world.
Curiosity was not then satiated ; the sense of wonder
had not become palsied ; feeling was vivid, respon
sive and earnest, glowing with fhe intensify of its
celestial origin. When first I began to reason, it
seemed fo me men were prone to exaggerate the
happiness of childhood. I thought it so glorious a
thing fo inquire, to unroll fhe scroll of knowledge, and
to see everything in fhe light of science. The illu
sion was temporary. I soon learned that the less of
the spontaneous there is in character, the less also is
there of interest ; that technicality can petrify truth,
and that the sooner the rosy glow of life's morning
fades from the spirit's domain, the faster gathers
over it fhe chill shadow of fhe world and the dim
atmosphere of Time.
" But long before childhood was merged in youth I
was called to trial. My mother died. Every cir
cumstance of this event remains impressed upon my
mind, but it was not until years after its occurrence
that I realized its consequences. The greatest mis
fortune that can happen to a young man is such a
bereavement. Nought can recompense him for the
loss of a mother. A father's affection is generally
more worldly. It is too often graduated by fhe de
gree of success with which his son may meet in the
pursuit of wealth or fame. A mother's love is more
of an inborn and self-nourished sentiment. I know
we have recorded signal instances of parental ambir
tion in women ; but it has far oftener been my lot to

VITTORIO. 131
Witness fhe manifestations of an attachment infinitely
purer. To a man of true and deep sentiment there
is no greater consolation in fhe whole range of his
affections, than fhe consciousness that there is one
being who loves him for his own sake ; whose devo
tion the changes of his fortunes will not influence,
and fo whose eye the fairest laurels cannot make
him dearer; who loves him individually and regards
the circumstances, fhe wealth, fhe honors that may
environ him only as temporary means of his enjoy
ment — a graceful drapery which, if the rude blast of
misfortune throws off, will but make her clasp him
closer fo her heart and more tenderly cherish him in
her love. But if was only by slow degrees that the
extent of this early loss came home to my mind ;
and its memory proved one of fhe most subduing and
chastening thoughts which visited my impetuous
youth. Another of its good effects was its influence
upon my social life. I cultivated from a mere boy
such female society as was calculated to elevate niy
mind and call forth my best feelings. My heart has
never been suffered to indurate from the absence
of that gentler companionship, without the influence
of which all that is most refined m man would be
superseded. There has ever been within the scope
of my acquaintance some fair being who hits found
the time and the feeling amid more binding relations,
to evince a soi.-soothing interest which cheered my
orphanage. I have never been wholly motherless.
" My father's mind was now entirely devoted to po
litical schemes. He was an ardent republican, and

132 VITTORIO.
for many years had been secretly engaged in a con
federacy to secure the independence of Sicily. And
when fhe dearest of his domestic fies was severed,
all the energy of his nature was concentrated upon
fhis darhng purpose. Although I was but a child,
yet from my reflective turn my father reposed a
confidence in me which I have since recalled with
wonder. I was his sole companion at home, and'
after returning from fhe conclave, he would sit in the
hall, now bereft of fhe presence which hallowed
it fo his view, and drawing me fo his side, half-
soliloquize over his past happiness and present ob
jects, while I looked my sympathy and caught, per
haps, more of fhe spirit of his designs than he could
have imagined. How vivid is the retrospect of those
hours ! I can see before me now fhe long and lofty
apartment, its rangep-, of Sofas, and gilded cornices^
fhe brightly-painted frescos on the ceiling, the table
covered with httle memorials (fhe delight of my
childhood) of my mother's tasteful handiwork, the
alabaster vas6 daily filled with flowers ; and, in the
shade ofthe curtains, the figure of my father in his
sable dress, his pale features shaded by a cap of
black velvet, and his eye resting musingly and mourn
fully on me, as he unconsciously poured forth the
feelings which overcharged his breast. To the solem
nising effect of these seasons, I attribute mnch of the
thoughtfulness which distinguished my youth. I felt
myself marked out and signalised by being thus made
the confidant of my father. The sense of character
soon dawned upon me. The idea of responsibility

VITTORIO. 133
was precociously developed. I began early to think.
Xhough mute on fhe great subject of my parent's
thoughts, though inadequate to comprehend the
extent of his aim and the importance of his object,
yet I understood distinctly, I felt deeply that my
country was depressed, subject to an exterior domi
nation, and that her enfranchisement was in contem
plation. I cannot fell you how the grandeur of this
design delighted my young fancy. It was fhe sub
ject of each day's musing and each night's dreams.
The very vagueness of my conceptions increased
their power. Often have I left fhe servant who at
tended me, at fhe church of St. Rosalia, and climbed
fo the telegraph on the summit of Mount Pelegrino,
and gazing thence over the lovely valley of Palermo,
and sea-ward fo the Eolian isles — thought of fhe new
glory which would illumine fhe scene beneath fhe
smile of Liberty. True, I knew not clearly the nature
of fhe blessing ; but I had learned to think that in its
train all others came, and I understood if to be espe
cially inimical to soldiers and priests — the objects of
my boyish detestation. 1 knew something, too, of
the history of my native island, and images of ancient
glory, ill-defined but glowing, fed the flame of my
enthusiasm. It was June. The luxuriance of sum
mer without its scorching heat breathed, like a con
scious presence, around the dense confines of the
city. To my young being the timiC was full of inspi
ration ; and one breezy evening as I sat on a granite
bench upon yonder terrace, looking on the gay
groups below, and feehng fhe exhilarating breath of
12*

1 34 VITTORIO.
the sea, I followed a poetical vein which I had often
indulged, and wrote upon my tablets an Invocation to
my counfry. These verses, some years afterwards
when I was learning your language, I translated, and
I'epeat fhem, because they will give you a good idea
ofthe wild wishes ofthat hour.

¦¦Gaze around o'er your country 1 — Sicilians, and start
From the impotent sleep of degenerate slaves ;
Like the eagle long poised, now triumphantly dart
On the minions that trample your ancestors' graves.

'Gaze around o'er your country 1 — the erystal-blue deep
With pearl-flashing foam-wreaths encircles the land.
And the sentinel hills in wild majesty sweep
From western horizon to orient strand.

' The orange-groves gleam mid the dark olive-bowers,
Like gold drops which wood nymphs have sportively thrown,
'Where the broad thorny cactus and aloe strew flowers.
And the emerald shafts ofthe cypresses moan.

' Gaze around o''er your country ! — in many a dale
Some beautiful temple with ivy-leaves wreathed.
Like a voice from Time's dark and mysterious vale.
Proclaims where the spirit of liberty breathed.

' Gaze around o'er your country ! — old Etna unfurls
Her wide, saffron banner along the clear sky.
Or from her white summit indignantly hurls
The blaze of her beacon-flame lurid and high.

VITTORIO. 135
'And often the streams in stern solitude gush
From thy mountain-clouds into some lofty ravine,
And then, like an army, in fierce triumph rush
Through rugged defiles and o'er valleys serene.

'0 where are the men who for Sicily fought
'With warrior-zeal in the van of each war f
And the maidens who proudly their dark tresses wrought
Into bow-strings to drive the invaders afar 1*

'Forth scions of pride I — your high titles retrieve.
Forth sons ofthe deep ! leave your nets on the shore.
Forth children of Ceres ! your corn cease to weave.
To the altars ye women ! for freedom implore.

'From ancient Charybdis, where swift eddies play.
From Fassaro's beach where the green waters smile,
To the proud cliff that looms o'er Palermo's bright bay,
Strike, strike for Sicilia, your foe-stricken isle I

' What Nature's fresh glory has robed to allure.
Let Valor redeem, and let Virtue endear,
Rise, Sicily, rise ! and no longer endure
The base hireling's scoffer the patriot's tear.'

" The secret party of which my father was so de
voted a member were doomed fo disappointment,
from a causewhich has often occasioned fhe failure of
* It is a historical fact, that at the siege of Messina the
women braided their hair into bow-strings for the use of the
archers.

136 VITTOR O.
popular movements — premature action on fhe part of
those least fitted fo assume the responsibility. Among
the many ancient traditions relative to this island is
that which asserts that it once formed part of the
mainland. If there is any truth in this, it might
appear, that with the convulsion of Nature which
divided it from fhe continent, sprang up a similar hne
of demarcation between the inhabitants ofthe two terri
tories ; for the present, cordial hatred existing be
tween the Sicilians and Neapolitans is an antipathy
inherited from the earliest time, and at no period
have the inhabitants of Sicily been reconciled to the
idea of forming a constituent part of the kingdom of
Naples. If any other motive had been requisite fo
render their independence more obviously desirable,
it was furnished by'the experience they had of the
Enghsh constitution during the brief continuance of
the British domination. In the summer of 1820, the
popular feeling on fhis subject reached its acme. At
the feast of St. Rosalia, while mass was celebrating
at the cathedral, the first indication of an approaching
tumult was given by some person in the crowd sud
denly and repeatedly exclaiming " Liberty, and the
¦ Constitution !" In the evening three soldiers passed
through fhe streets wearing the badge of fhe Carbo
nari. The commanding officer went in person to
arrest fhem, but was surrounded by the people, and
narrowly escaped with his life. The next day the
populace forced from the aruthorities an order of
admittance into the arsenal, and there supplied them
selves with arms. This success emboldened them.

VITTORIO. 137
beyond measure. A Franciscan friar, whom intoxi
cation had infuriated, appeared in their midst, urging
them on to sanguinary effort. Their latent supersti
tion was awakened. They looked upon the long
beard and sacred habit of their monkish leader and,
with one voice, declared him fo be Moses commis
sioned by Heaven to secure their independence. The
prison was thrown open and the city echoed with fhe
noise of conflict. For several days anarchy reigned
in Palermo. The rabble intoxicated with their tem
porary triumphs, gave themselves up to indiscrimi
nate rapine and butchery. The horrid scenes then
enacted, fhe license and brutality which prevailed
indicated the utter unfitness of the people for the dig
nity and blessings of political freedom. Slowly but
surely this impression gained upon the reluctant mind
of my father. Still he exerted himself to wrest the
newly-acquired power from the mob, and restore order
and peace. After sometime this was affected. A
provisional government was established, and for a
few months the capital of Sicily was nomina:lly inde
pendent. But small was the satisfaction which this
long-desired condition brought to the minds of the
intelligent pafriots. They could effect no unity of
sentimennt or action between fhe different parts of
the island. Messina, mindful of her long rivalry with
the meti-opohs, refused to take part in the cause.
Tho Neapolitan troops stationed themselves near the
walls, and after repeated repulses were finally ad
mitted within the gates. A year afterwards the in
habitants were prohibited from holding arms without

1 38 VITTORIO.
a hcense, fhe usual enginery of despotism was re
established, and the leaders of the struggle and known
advocates of liberal principles were executed or
banished. The latter was my father's fate ; and as
the mountains of our native island faded from our
view, the last hope of patriotic success vanished
drearily from his mind, and the first bright and ab
sorbing dream of boyhood melted liiie a mist from
my sanguine heart.
" We soon repaired to England. There, when
habit had somewhat reconciled me to the reserve of
northern manners, and practice had given me the
command of your native tongue, I was conscious
of a new and important era of mental experience.
I became deeply interested in fhe study of Enghsh
literature. I communed with fhe master-spirits ofthat
noble lore, enriching my mind with philosophical truth
and my imagination with poetic beauty of a deeper
and more elevating character than the prevailing
literature of the South had afforded me. But from
these studies I gained general ideas rather than fixed
principles. This was the more to be regretted as I
soon arrived at one of those gloomy epochs of life,
more or less known to us all, where " of necessity
the soul must be its own support." My father, wea
ried with disappointment and rendered restless by the
changes which had followed in such rapid succession
upon his declining years, sunk under the effects of a
fever, and grief and anxiety would have soon laid
me beside him had I not yielded to the urgency of
friends and changed fhe scene and climate. I selected

VITTORIO. 1 39
Malta for the place of my destination chiefiy because
of its contiguity to my native island. I little thought,
in the dejected mood in which I embarked, of the
consolation there awaiting me. So happy is the
retrospect of my visit, notwithstanding it occurred
at one of the saddest periods of my hfe, that I dwell
upon every circumstance attending it with unabated
pleasure. The day of my arrival and those imme
diately succeeding it are thus brightly present fo my
memory, because fhey are associated with one of t^e
most blessed occasions of my youth. It was then
that I gained one of the greatest of human acquisi
tions, a sense of important truths, in the light of which
the darkness and doubt which over-shadowed my
spirit were suddenly dissipated.
" The sun shone clearly as we neared Malta. The
warmth of the atmosphere, the deep blue tint of the
water, and the tones in which we were greeted, made
me realize that I had once more entered fhe precincts
of Southern Europe. In the distance, more like a
pictorial than a real scene, rose the ancient city. Its
pecuhar hue, fhe long hne of massive battlements, and
the darkly -wrought domes chained our attention. In a
few moments we were at anchor in the quarantine
harbor between two forts. A clump of verdure
reheved the eye as it rested on the heavy walls, all
wearing the same dim yellow or greyish shade ; and
the picturesque figures ofthe Highland regiment gave
animation to the scene. The view was beautiful after
the moon rose. The shadow of the dark wall on fhe
calm tide, the soothing reflection of the light, fhe perfect

140 VITTORIO.
repose, was all in striking contrast to fhe scenes of
bloodshed, and the sounds of death with which my
memory was busy. On the evening of fhe next day we
received permission to go round fo the grand harbor.
As, towed by fifteen boats, we slowly proceeded, af
sunset, from every new point, the city spread out
before us, — fhe long bastions dotted with moss, at
whose wave-washed foundations the' restless tide
now moaned ; above them dark ranges of buildings,
and around various craft plying. We entered the
harbor between the memorable castles of St. Elmo and
St. Angelo, and were soon moored by fhe quay, along
which were swarming the motley crowd ever fo be
seen af night-fail in such a place. If was not until
the succeeding evening that we obtained pratique.
As 1 walked up fhe Nix-Mangare stairs, the suppli
cating voices of the beggars, the silent sternness of
the soldiery, the . clanking fetters of the convicts
sweeping fhe sfreets, and here and there a shrine,
carried me at once back fo my home and fhe days of
childliood. The intervening space of time seemed
annihilated. Nor was fhis feeling lessened on enter
ing our hotel, which had been a knight's palace. The
stone floors, painted walls, and lofty ceilings, were
strangely familiar. A new sense of my loneliness,
of all that I had lost and suffered came over me. I
felt more keenly than ever that I was an orphan and
an exile.
" My companions, without understanding the nature
of my melancholy, strove to divert if, and dragged
me that very evening to a ball given by fhe officers

VITTORIO. 141
of the regiments then quartered in fhe island. The
display was very brilliant. At the entrance of the
hall were four suits of ancient armour arranged at
fhe corners of a kind of military tent, and at fhe
head of fhe ball-room was a fine staff of colors sur
rounding the British escutcheon. The scarlet uni
form ofthe mihtary, and the neat blue of the naval
officers, the calm faces and light ringlets of the
English damsels, contrasting with the dark hair and
eyes of fhe Maltese, fhe national banners and fresh
garlands on fhe walls, rendered the pageant quite
dazzling. This insignia of joy into which I had
suffered myself to be drawn, instead of alleviating,
served to deepen the gloom which oppressed me.
Gla.dness was upon every face, and I asked myself
whether there was one amid the multitude, who was
an outcast hke myself. As the idea presented itself,
my eye fell upon a countenance which seemed almost
to answer fhe unutfered inquiry. It was that of a
man beyond the prime of life, whose expression
would have' denoted no common familiarity with
sorrow, were it not for a certain tranquil dignity
and benign spirit which softened and elevated its
aspect. As the gaze ofthe stranger mef'my own, I
felt that instinctive consciousness of sympathy which
is so impressive yet inexplicable. I watched his
movements ; I followed his eye and endeavored to
image his thoughts, till a call to the supper-room in
terrupted my sight for a few moments, after which
I discovered that he had left the assembly. My
pillow was haunted by that thoughtful and kindly
13

142 VITTORIO.
face. Its remembrance comforted me as if I had
read there a message of love. I could not account
for these vagaries ; and on the following morning
stole away from my companions, and went forth fo
make the circuit of the ramparts, to see what effect
a solitary walk would have in dispelling my gloomy
mood. Upon one of the saluting batteries are several
monuments tastefully adorned with trees. Here is a
pleasant promenade. Below, various vessels are
moored ; far away to the left is the wide sea, and
immediately beneath, the dingy houses and narrow
streets of fhe town. Altogether the prospect was
impressive and pleasing. The adjacent memorials
ofthe dead, the refreshing hue of the shrubbery and
the hum of busy life, with fhe ocean stretching inimi
tably, and shadowed only by a passing cloud or the
wing of a sea-bird, combined to form one of those
happily blended landscapes which embody in mingled
and striking symbols, the idea of nature and art, of
ancient times and modern characteristics, of man
and his Creator. I leaned over the parapet and en
deavoured to catch something of its calm and plea
santness. But it came not ; and I applied earnestly
to myself the words ofthe poet:
'Alas! I have nor hope nor health.
Nor peace within, nor calm around ;
Nor that content surpassing wealth
The sage in meditation found.'
" As if to bless me with the last boon, I saw ascend-

VITTORIO. 143
ing to the bastion, the gentleman whose appearance
had so interested me at the ball. We exchanged
salutations and then spoke of fhe prospect before us.
The voice and manner of the stranger were singu
larly winning. By degrees our acquaintance ad
vanced, and in a week there was knit between us a
bond of sympathy which time cannot sever. I im
parted to my friend what you have so patiently heard.
He repaid me by unfolding the theory of his faith,
which . has been my consolation from that hour.
Yet his history, his very name is unknown to me.
Our interviews took place during our daily pro
menades, and just as he was about to fulfil his
promise and confide his own experience to me, the
vessel in which he had taken passage for the East
was suddenly ordered to sail, and I had not even an
opportunity of bidding him farewell. The following
day, receiving official permission to return fo Sicily,
I immedisrtely embarked, and arrived here an al
tered being; for those characteristics and views
which you have so often wondered should appertain
to a- native of these regions, are but the result of my
communion with that stranger-friend."

DISCUSSION.

" The only truly liberal subjects of conversation are thoughts and
actions of universal interest." Dk Stael..

It was the custom of the little party whose jour
neyings we have followed, to pass the evenings not
devoted to some engagement, in conversing upon the
experience of the day. Not infrequently the ladies
of Isabel's acquaintance insisted upon her society in
a morning's ride or day's excursion, and the gentle
men were left fo seek amusement by themselves.
They atoned, however, for these occasional interrup
tions to their mutual intercourse, by relating on meet
ing all that had interested them or was likely to
divert their gifted companion from the sad musings
into which, when unexcited by attractive conversa
tion, she would almost invariably fall. One evening,.
however, both her uncle and Vittorio were unusually
13*

146 DISCUSSION.
silent. They seemed quite thoughtful and abstracted,
and Isabel herself began to wonder at the spiritless
mood which had overtaken them all; and eagerly
inquired what had occupied her companions since
breakfast. "We have been," replied her uncle, "in scenes
well calculated to awaken thought; we have been
contemplating the states to which all human beings
are liable; we have been among the insane and the
dead." " I am, perhaps, to blame," said fhe Count, " for
having faken your uncle to, two such places in one
day, but it was quite accidental. We first went to
the Capuchin Convent and descended into the cata
combs. An old brother of Portuguese origin, who
speaks a little English, was our guide. He seemed
pleased with fhe opportunity thus afforded for exer
cising his almost forgotten acquisition, and continu
ally, as we threaded these sepulchral chambers,
repeated verse after verse from that impressive
chapter of Ecclesiastes descriptive of fhe vanity of
life. As hc preceded us, with his coarse brown robe
and grey beard descending over his breast, ever and
anon reciting in a hollow tone these memorable pas
sages, so appropriate fo tho scene, I could not but
think fhe. guide was singularly adapted to his voca
tion. The long, wide galleries of this extraordinary
sepulchre are crowded with niches, in which stand
fire frames of men, dressed in their professional
garbs, — the priest with his cassock, the friar with
his hood ; tiieir fleshless eye-sockets and set teeth

DISCUSSION. 147
glaring, as it were, upon the intruder into fheir sub
terranean halls. The floor is covered with coffins ;
the sides walled with skeletons; every thing beto
kens, the abode of the dead, and the light of day and
echo of a hving footstep seem startingly unnatural.
A tinsel crown clasps the bare skull of fhe king of
Tunis ; and there is one long room in which the
female bodies appear in glass cases, like those in
which the Parisian shopkeeper displays his valuables,
decked out in gay silks and tawdry ornaments, in
horrible contrast with fhe mouldering bones. Alto
gether the spectacle is one of the most singular and
revolting imaginable."
" The scene at the Insane Asylum," said Frazier,
" was more satisfactory, though not less dispiriting.
The evidences of care and kindness bestowed upon
beings who in less civilized times were treated as
outcasts, is truly delightful. The Baron Pisani who
originated and now superintends the estabhshment,
attends to his duty with an intelligence and philan
thropy which merits imitation. There are gardens
and grottoes, and even a little amphitheatre fo amuse
the inmates. Frescos on every side please fhe eye;
fountains murmur fo soothe the ear. Work is pro
vided fo distract the attention of fhe insane from fhe
single corroding idea in which their malady so often
consists ; and firmness and affection seem to be the
ever-present principles by which fhe wayward crea
tures are ruled and guided."
" It is the boast of many of these deranged people,"
continued the Count, " that they have constructed

148 DISCUSSION.
the embellishments of their asylum. There is a little
song in vogue among them, declaring that it is not
they that are mad, but the unhappy toilers for this
world's aims who are without the walls of their
retreat. Indeed every thing is done to banish from
their minds all consciousness of fheir desolate state,
and they cherish an affectionate respect for the
Baron, the manifestations of which are truly beau
tiful. Still, no arrangements, however excellent,
can obviate the painful impression of such a scene.
In our walk round the institution we beheld every
degree and variety of this terrible form of human
suffering. The cries of the frantic echoed from
their gloomy cells; here sat a miserable hypochon
driac to whose eyes God's sunlight brings no glad
ness, swaying to and fro his attenuated frame
bowed down with unutterable dejection ; there
walked, in restless misery, a priest upon whose pale
brow brooded fhe most abject despair. Upon a bench
in a lonely corner, crouched an old man who had
once excelled in science, and is now lingering out
existence in speechless wo. There was a Greek
woman with a fine, open countenance, and pleasant
eye singing to herself. She believes that a superior
intelligence is enamoured of her charms, and fhe
idea, instead of flattering. her vanity, preys upon her
mind as a most undesirable and inauspicious circum
stance. An old artillery captain, with a guitar, was
reciting with much gusto, some passage from Meh,
whose especial panegyrist he considers himself. A
painter, whom disappointment in his art rendered

DISCUSSION. 149
mad, has now nearly recovered the tone of his mind,
and the walls of fhe house and corridors testify to
his industry and skill. As one wanders amid these
stricken beings, how valueless seem the objects, idola
try to which are such prolific causes of madness — ¦
gain and ambition ! Yet before these perishable
shrines men prostrate their noblest endowments, and
lose in the whirlwind of passion fheir most distin
guishing and god-like attributes. Some, indeed, have
become insane from more touching causes — blighted
affection, wounded honor, bereaved friendship. What
cause for gratitude have we, while we can think
rationally, while the hght of reason burns clear, and
the soul possesses herself in peace ; while the har
mony of creation steals with an unbroken cadence
upon the spirit, and the rays of truth fall full and
brightly over fhe heart; while the blessings of exist
ence descend gratefully upon fhe path of life, and the
darker passes of experience throw over it only a
solemnizing shadow and not an impenetrable gloom !"
The sound of bells ringing the Av6 Maria now
rose to the ears of fhe coterie. " That chime," said
Frazier, "rung not so psacefully over Palermo some
centuries back, when it ushered in a night of fhe most
horrible massacre recorded in history. There is a
tradition current, I believe, among fhe islanders, that
this exterminating plot, known under fhe name of fhe
Sicilian Vespers, was brought about by a poor fellow
who had suffered greatly from the tyranny of the
French, and who, pretending to be deaf, made the

150 DISCUSSION.
four of Sicily on foot, whispering in every Sicilian
ear, that on the thirtieth of March, at this hour, all
residents were to be put fo death who could not pro
nounce the word ciceri (vetches), a fest that 'would
infaUibly betray a Frenchman, ho'wever well versed
in the dialect of the country."
"Whatever foundation fhis story may have in
truth," said the Count, " the better informed are more
fond of priding themselves upon the address of Gio
vanni di Procida, in bringing about that sangui
nary event. He went to Constantinople and informed
the emperor that it was the intention of Charles of
Anjou to attack that city, and recommended him to
furnish funds to the Sicihans to aid their proposed
revolution, which would divert the arms of Charles
from himself The assistance being promised, he
returned fo Sicily and engaged a confederacy of
noblemen to relinquish the island to fhe King of
Aragon. With the contract in his bosom, he then
repaired to Rome, and obtained the written sanction
of the Pope. Then visiting Peter of Aragon, he
easily persuaded him to proceed with a fleet to the
Mediterranean, and await the rising of the Sicilians,
to seize upon fhe island. Giovanni then returned
here and completed fhe arrangement which termina
ted in the Sicihan Vespers. This master stroke of
policy, by which the several powers were so art
fully deceived, and the cruel Charles overthrown,
has ever been highly, appreciated, for cunning is a
weapon of the value of which fhe Sicihans entertain

DISCUSSION. 151
a deep sense. The exploit of this diplomatist has
formed fhe subject of several tragedies, the best of
which was written by Niccolini of Florence."
"But have you no talented authors?" inquired
Isabel. " Sicilian literature is at present in a very
low state. The strict censorship exercised over the
press is alone sufficient to damp the ambhion of those
best fitted to do honor to their country through its
medium. Our national poet is Meli. His poems are
of a pastoral character, descriptive of the beauties
of the country, and filled with the most accurate
pictures of peasant life. To one who understands
the Sicilian dialect, his writings abound in graphic
beauty. He paints altogether from nature, and has
fulfilled to the scenery and manners of Sicily, the
same office of poetical yet true interpretation which
Burns has to those of Scotland. Many of his idyls
are in circulation orally among the common people,
and all classes glory in his fame. There are many
mediocre writers, but the generality who have a
taste for intellectual pursuits, turn their attention to
antiquarian researches or scientific studies. Some
have contributed, as magazine writers and historians,
minor pieces of some merit to fhe meagre stock of
Sicilian literature. These are written in Italian.
But it is useless to expect great literary results among
a people so situated and educated. It is only where
a sphere is open and education general, that fhe
foundation may be laid and the motive afforded for
literary development. Men are then interested in

1.52 DISCUSSION.
the mental cultivation of their childrens' minds; a
nation of readers springs up, and there will be
writers to meet their wants."
" And it is not 6nly thus with literature," said
Frazier) " the low estimation in which integrity —
that key-stone of the social arch is held, may be
traced fo want of reverence for those primary ties
which form the basis of every community. In a
counfry where wine and oil, fruits, grain, and mine
rals are so abundantly produced — where crops, by
judicious cultivation, might be trebled, where there
are such excellent facilities for commerce and fish
eries, the want of prosperity cannot be ascribed to
the absence of natural "advantages."
" No," replied the Count, " the existing poverty of
this beautiful island, which Cicero called the granary
of Rome, is chiefly attributable fo inherited evils of
government, and habits of idleness and vice^ a dis
proportionate nobility, a pampered priesthood, and
an utterly unenlightened lower order. One of the
immediate causes of the reduced circumstances of
fhe higher rank of Sicilians, is fhe change made
about twenty years since in the law of primogeniture.
The property which then enabled the eldest son to
live in splendor is now distributed among all the
children, and being still farther subdivided by mar
riages, reduces the fortunes of the barons to a score
of slender patrimonies. The immense tax upon
landed property is another drain upon their resources.
The earnings of fhe common people are half con-

DISCUSSION.

153

sumed by gambling. The royal lottery is constructed
on such a scale as to allow the hazard of the smallest
sums with a proportionate prize in prospect. They
generally select numbers from the intimation of
dreams." " I fancied a half hour's walk the other morning,"
rejoined Frazier, " afforded me a tolerable idea of
the state of things. A delicate looking child begged
a bioch ; I was passing on when my servant urged
me to regard fhe petitioner ; " for, Eccefienza," said
he, " if is fhe son of a marquis who has lost his all
in law-suits." A moment after, we encountered a
pale, bright-eyed boy going fo school, '' what do
you study ?" I asked. " The life of St. Luigi, Sig
ner." We passed through a market-place. I saw
people of respectable appearance buying everything
for the day's use, even to fhe charcoal for cooking
and the oil for the night's burning. I never knew
what hving from hand fo mouth meant before."
They were interrupted by one of these visits to which
every traveller is exposed. An agate merchant
asked leave to display his rare specimens. A Fran
ciscan monk tendered some fine olives — fhe produce
of his convent-garden, and begged an eleemosy
nary remembrance, while a picture dealer brought a
long roll of certificates to prove that the Madonna he
offered for sale, was a genuine Monrealese. At length
the several claims of these personages were consi
dered, and fhey bowed themselves out of the room,
after bestowing more titles upon the kind-hearted re-
14

154 DISCUSSION.
publican than, in his whole life, he had been honored
with before.
" If these people had more to do," said he, " they
would not be so prodigal of their compliments."
" Nay, uncle," said Isabel, " there is certainly a kind
liness in their greetings which might well be adopted
by our more laconic people. I know that fhe bless
ing they invoke when one sneezes, their wishes for a
good appetite, and pleasant slumber, their eccellenzas,
and exaggerated epithets of welcome and reverence
¦are often subjects of ridicule; but in a broad .view
are they not gratifying 1"
" Yes," replied the Count, " may we not exclaim
with Sterne : ' Hail ye small, sweet courtesies of hfe,
for sweet do you make the road of it?' I think we
may justly consider one of the redeeming traits of
the Sicilian character, a spontaneous regard, a senti
ment of attachment, and an interest in others, the very
semblai;ice of which is cheering to the heart. An
American in judging of European character, should
bear in mind fhe circumstances of his own country.
The restless energies of a young nation have been
unfolding around him. He has been encircled by
the machinery of an advancing civilization. He has
been witnessing the phenomena of national growth.
He has lived amid the excitement of constant ex
periments. He has been listening fo the warfare of
unshackled opinion. The spirit of society around him
has been nicely regulated and duly restrained ; social
intercourse checked by mutual reserve, and the ex-

DISCUSSION. 1 55
pression of feehng restricted by custom, graduated
by rule, and chilled by the influence of a northern
chme, as well as a calmer national temperament.
Here he is environed by a people wedded to the
customs of past ages, unfamiliar with many of the
improvements of the day, and in some of the arrange
ments of life, far behind the age in which they live;
where time is still reckoned by the primitive method,
where the lottery courier outstrips the post, and the
balcony takes the place ofthe fireside; a people who
display emotion with the freedom of children, who
observe much and reflect little, who enter with child-
hke eagerness into gaiety, and, at every age, court
the pleasures of companionship with the ardor of
youth. And who shall say to what extent these
diversities are attributable in the one nation to freedom
and prosperity, and in the other to political depression,
and that hopeless and anti-progressive state into
which the prospects of individuals are thrown by a
long series of despotic influences 1 Men are generahy
thoughtful as they have responsibilities, and energetic
in proportion to their hopes. If the quickness of ap
prehension and general talents of the Sicilians were
balanced by reflection, and cultivated by education,
they would become a distinguished people. You
may now witness an aptitude for intrigue displayed
in compassing some trivial end, which if properly
directed might form admirable scientific professors or
diplomatic characters. They understand a foreigner
with remarkable readiness ; thoy converse with fheir

1 56 DISCUSSION.
eyes and expressive gestures with astonishing tact.
They are sanguinary under the infiuence of passion,
but kind when in the least encouraged. In such a
character there are elements of untried force and
progress,"

AN EPISODE.

" The low, the deep, the pleading tone
With which he told another's love,
Interpreted his own.'' Genevieve..

Commend me to travel as fhe occasion of love.
The crowded assembly and the fashionable prome
nade are alike inimical to that free expression of
thought and natural flow of feehng, through which
alone the points of sympathy are discoverable. It is
true that in these scenes fhe first impression is often
made which eventuates in attachment ; but amid
them the best gifts of intellect, and fhe finest traits of
sentiment are too frequently veiled by an artificial
manner, or concealed beneath fhe many external
graces which it is the office of Fashion to call forth.
When, however, we feel ourselves separated for
awhile from fhe restraints of general society, and
exposed to the free influence of nature and the incite-
14*

158 AN EPISODE.
ment of variety, we resume our original, native spi
rit, and think, act, and feel with renewed energy
and truth. Few situations, therefore, are more con
ducive to the mutual development of character than
that of two companions travelling together through
scenes of interest and beauty. Mingling their admi
ration in view of each novel object, suffering the
same inconveniences, exposed to the same dangers
and, for days, dependant upon each other's society
for solace and amusement, — if even a spark of con
geniality exist, such auspicious circumstances will
fan if to a flame. The recorded conversations of
Isabel and the Count have been of a general charac
ter. Yet in fhe course of these interviews, glances
and tones had been exchanged, which a more ima
ginative observer tlian Frazier could not have failed
to interpret into indications of a regard, somewhat
deeper and more permanent than mere intellectual
sympathy. Still, no direct or positive expression
had been given to the sentiment which had insensibly
usurped the place of friendship. Happy in the daily
interchange of mind wliich her present circumstances
permitted, Isabel thought of the future only with
reference to her father, while she was unconsciously
cherishing, or rather allowing to flourish in her breast,
another affection calculated to ennoble or embitter
her whole future hfe. But the Count, whose con
sciousness was not dazzled by an anticipation such
as filled the mental vision of his fair companion, had
long since confessed to himself that she had inspired
qin interest too earnest to be easily overcome, and too

AN EPISODE. 159
delightful not to be indulged ; and, although he had
determined fo postpone until the conclusion of their
pilgrimage, any declaration of his feelings, they were
ere long incidentally eheited. On a warm but de
lightful evening, the little party were present at a
conversazioni, at one of the most beautiful villas in
the vicinity of Palermo. Its somewhat elevated
position rendered fhe view from the balconies exten
sive and various, while fhe neighborhood of fhe
mountains and sea exposed if to every breeze which
might stir the quiet atmosphere of summer. The
house was situated at some distance from the road,
and behind it a spacious garden was tastefully laid
out. After passing several hours in fhe crowded
rooms, Isabel gladly accepted the Count's invitation
to repair to the garden, where many of the guests
were promenading. They followed a path shaded
by the embowering branches of fhe orange trees ;
through which the moonlight fell in chequered lines
upon the walk. At its extremity, near a small foun
tain, were several marble benches. As they ap
proached, Isabel ardently expressed her delight at
the picturesque charms of the retreat, and when they
were seated, fhe Count related the following anec
dote.

THE SECOND COURTSHIP.
" The former proprietor of this villa was a most
elegant and interesting man. In his youth he had

160 AN EPISODE.
passed several years in Great Britain, and returned
to his native city at the period when the Enghsh
had possession of fhe island. As he spoke their lan
guage perfectly, and was an intelligent and agreeable
companion, there was no Sicihan more frequently fo
be found in their circles, or one who was more de
servedly popular among them. At that time there
was residing in Palermo the ward of an English offi
cer committed to his care by her father, an old
friend who died many years previous in England.
Carohne Walter was not only beautiful, but so fasci
nating in her manners, that she was fhe object of uni
versal admiration. To fhe exfreme mortification of
many of her countrymen she received without dis
pleasure the marked attentions of Palma, the inheritor
of fhis beautiful domain. They were, in truth, admir
ably fitted for each other. His chief fault was an im
petuosity of feeling, which sometimes urged him into
acts of foolish precipitancy ; but in mind and principle
he was infinitely superior fo the generality of his coun
trymen, and it was the virtues of Caroline Walter
not less than her personal graces which had won his
heart. You are aware of fhe inveterate prejudice
which fhe Enghsh entertain towards foreigners; and
you must have perceived how strongly it is cherished
in the case of the Sicilians. There are, indeed; dis
crepancies of temperament and character between
the two people to a<;count for, if not fo justify some
degree of such a" feeling, and the want of education,
and moral, degradation too prevalent among fhe
inhabitants of this island, is sufficient to explain fhe

AN EPISODE. 161
little favor they find in the eyes of one of fhe most
enlightened nations of the earth. But this, like all
other prejudices, is too indiscriminate, and therefore
unworthy of being entertained by any liberal or phi
losophical mind. The known virtues of Palma did
not weigh with the friends of Caroline Walter. She
was assailed on every side and in every manner to
induce her to renounce her lover, because he was a
Sicilian, but in vain. She could not appreciate fhe
argument ; and having found him honorable, gifted,
and especially possessed of tastes and sentiments
accordant with her own, she hesitated not to recipro
cate his ardent and disinterested attachment. After
their marriage, they were for a short time absent
upon the continent, and then returned hither and
established themselves at this villa. The sight of
their domestic enjoyment re-awakened disappoint
ment in the breasts of some of the young English
oncers, and there were two of fhem especially, who
resolved, if possible, to disturb the happiness which
they had not the magnanimity fo rejoice in. How
to sow the seeds of discord where harmony was so
complete was a question they could not easily solve.
To attempt to impair the confidence of the wife fhey
knew would be vain, and, moreover, there was a
dignity and independent superiority in her character
which awed them into silent respect. Unfortunately,
they were aware of the weakness of Palma, and
upon this they determined to play. Industriously
circulating reports that his wife repented of her con
nexion, they took measures that not a day should

162 AN EPISODE.
pass but some insinuation reached his ears calculated
fo excite that jealousy which belongs to fhe Sicilian
temperament. For a long tiine these rumors affected
him not. He knew the propensity of his country
men for scandal ; and, if for a moment, a doubt had
darkened his mind, one glimpse at the ingenuous and
noble countenance of his- lovely wife, or a single tone
of her sweet welcome, dispelled it in a moment. One
day, however, when Several Enghsh officers, and
among them the two hypocrites were dining here, one
of them, after the repast, took Palma aside, and after
extorting many promises of secrecy, and making
innumerable professions of friendship, like a second
lago, advised him to watch narrowly lest his domes
tic peace was invaded. This ambiguous warning
conveyed thus solemnly, alarmed Palma. He re
turned thoughtfully towards the house. Caroline's
joyous laugh reached his ear. For the first time
there was something unmusical in it. He raised his
eyes to yonder terrace, and saw her promenading,
and apparently in the pleasantest conversation with
the accomplice of him who had just poisoned his ear,
and who no sooner caught a glimpse of his host than
he fhi'ew info his manner as great an air of confi
dence and familiarity as possible. This little inci
dent, though of no importance in itself, served to irri
tate Palma into a fit of jealous musing. Surmises,
as baseless as air, were brooded over till they grew
info positive doubts beneath fhe fructifying influence
of a southern imagination. And when the visitors
had departed, in a moment of passion, he appeared

AN EPISODE. 163
before his astonished wife, and charging her with
having deceived and lost all affection for him, if, in
deed, she ever had any, rushed from her presence,
drove rapidly to town, and embarked that very eve
ning, in a steam-packet for Malta. Mount Pelegri
no had not faded from his sight, before he regretted
the step he had taken. His self-reproaches were
increased to agony when an acquaintance, one of his
fellow-passengers, after warmly eulogizing his wife,
began to praise his forbearance towards those who
endeavoured to mar his happiness fo gratify fheir
spleen. All at once he saw his error, and mourned
over his precipitancy. In three days he returned to
Palermo, and sought this retreat where his injured
wife was secluded. He longed to throw himself at
her feef and demand forgiveness, but so great was
his mortification, and so unpardonable in his own
eyes seemed his conduct, that he had not the courage
to approach her. He remembered the sad look of silent
yet eloquent reproach with which she had gazed upon
him as he left her presence. He recalled fhe pride
of her character and dreaded fhe effect of his weak
and violent behaviour. He knew not but her esteem
for him had gone forever. In this state of indecision
and perplexity he remained for several days in fhe
neighborhood. One afternoon, towards dusk, he
approached fhe house, and saw Carohne seated near
fhe window, but as he drew near she abruptly left
the spot. He believed she had recognised, and thus
purposely avoided him. The next evening he again
approached. She was in the same place, and half-

164 AN EPISODE.
rose as he drew near, but perceiving him pass the
door, she remained and formally returned hisproffered
recognition. His impression then was that she thought
him insane. In short, I cannot tell you by what
gradual steps he progressed towards a reconciliation.
No lover for the first time delicately shaping his way
fo the heart of his mistress, could have acted more
timidly, or been more tremblingly alive fo every faint
indication of success. It was, in truth, a second
courtship. At last, one lovely evening, such as this,
he threw off fhe cloak which had hitherto concealed
him from observation, and entering that grove just
opposite his wife's balcony, began to sing several of
her favorite airs in a feigned voice. There lived in
the neighborhood an old blind man who had frequently
amused them in this manner, and he knew she would
come to the terrace fo throw him the customary
gratuity. After a short time he heard the window
open and saw her step forth into the moonhght. It
was the first time he had seen her distinctly since
their separation; She was paler than usual, and a
sad expression mellowed into pensive beauty the
spirited lovehness of her countenance. She leaned
over the rail, and seemed about fo call the unseen
vocalist, when he, anticipating her purpose, slightly
softening his voice, commenced an Italian air which
they had often sang together. The half-uttered word
died on her lips, she stood still and listened and,
presently, as if overcome by the associations thus
awakened, fhe fears fell thick and fast from her eyes.
The repentant husband saw that the favorable mo-

AN EPISODE. 165
ment had arrived. He suddenly paused, and struck
at once, with his natural voice, into a little English
song of his own composition, with which he had
serenaded her on the night when they first exchanged
vows of eternal fidelity. At the first tone of that
well-known voice she started, and turned towards
the open window, but as the feeling notes rolled on,
she paused as if entranced, and as the last stanza was
concluded, he sprang from his concealment, and was
on fhe terrace and af her feef in a moment. He was
forgiven. And the stream of affection thus tempora
rily divided, reunited with new force and a more
gladsome murmur, and flows on in rich and fertilizing
beauty to fhis hour."
When fhe Count had related this story, Isabel
begged to hear fhe song which had been the occasion
of so -iiappy a reunion. The scattered guests had
left the walks to attend a summons to the refreshment-
room. The music from the saloon stole with a
softened cadence through the trees ; and occasionally
fhe laugh of some light-hearted being near one of the
windows, reached their ears ; but otherwise the gar-
- den was so quiet, that the silvery dripping of fhe
fountain sounded clearly in the pauses of their con
versation. Isabel in her white dress, and with her
luxuriant hair arranged with beautiful simphcity, and
her expressive features radiating the quiet happiness
which the scene inspired, had never appeared more
lovely in fhe eyes of Vittorio ; and he threw into his
voice an expression of earnestness eloquently indica
tive of the secret emotions he cherished.
15

166 AN EPISODE.

SONG OF THE FOREIGN LOVER.
" Yes, 'tis true thine eyes are azure,
And thy brow is pale and high, '
And 'tis true thy golden tresses
Bespeak a northern sky ;
I know thy kindred live afar,
Where the ancestral tree
Waves greenly o'er their dwelling,
Beyond the sparkling sea.
" Yet, if a darker orb replies
Most earnestly to thine.
And ebon locks bow truthfully
Before thy beauty's shrine ;
And if the accents ofthe South
Breathe love's sincerest tone.
Why wilt thou still remember
This land is not thy own ]
" Are not the kindred of the heart
More blest than ties of birth ?
And the spot affection brightens
Dearer than native earth ?
Love, lady, hallows every clime
To which his children roam,
And with him for a household god,
Ml places will be home."
Shelley has somewhere compared the effect of an
impassioned sentiment to " the voice of one beloved
singing to you alone." He understood the poetry of

AN EPISODE. 167
the heart. The scene and its associations entirely
overcame the previous resolutions of Vittorio, and
when Isabel quietly thanked him and rose to return
to the house, he gave earnest expression to his at
tachment. That hour was like an age in the histoiy
of her feelings. But she replied by calmly alluding
fo the object of her pilgrimage, and declared that
until that was accomplished she could not hsten fo a
word on fhe subject. Yet her manner, her look, was
enough to satisfy Vittorio, and when he rejoined fhe
conversazione, it was with the delightful conviction of
possessing her affections.

THE PAST AND PRESENT.

"It is the Past
Contending with the Present ; and, by turns,.
Each has the mastery." Rogers.

Few evidences of decay are more striking than
those which mark the estates and arrangements of
an impoverished nobihty. A ruin that speaks of a
bygone people, however it may awaken reflection,
calls for little exertion of sympathy. Those fo whose
pride or comfort it originally ministered, have long
since departed. There is no lone member of the
race to sigh over the ashes of past magnificence.
The material fabric has survived its founder and, in
its ivy-buried ruins, serves but to remind us of anti
quity. It is otherwise with the memorials of less
ancient times. We cannot see the. descendant of a
once wealthy nobility, lingering about the time-worn
and poverty-stricken home of his fathers, without a
15*

170 THE PAST AND PRESENT.
keen sense of fhe vanity of human grandeur. We
cannot witness fhe vain struggles of a pennyless no
bleman fo preserve fhe appearance of ancient splen
dor, without realizing the changeful moods of for
tune. And when something of high and chivalrous
sentiment ennobles the unfortunate inheritor of a title
without the means of supporting its dignity, our com
passion is instinctively awakened. We feel some
thing of that pity which the tale of young Ravens-
wood's bitter reveries in the deserted mansion of his
ancestors, excites in the breast. There is a strong
appeal to our feehngs in the sight of one who, with
the ambition, has outlived the glory of his house.
Although the aggravation of elevated feelings may
not often increase the mortification of the poor no
bihty of the island ; yet many evidences of their
fallen lot are observable in Sicily. As -the stranger
threads the crowded thoroughfares of Palermo, he
continually sees the high fronts of palaces blackened
by age. Iron-wrought balconies protrude from the
spacious windows, and fuffs of weed or lines of mould
indicate the ravages of neglect. Some of these ex-.
tensive buildings are tenanted by a score of families
who occupy the diflerent ranges of apartments,
while others are still inhabited by the descendants of
the original proprietors ; but very few are able to
preserve a style of living corresponding with the
grandeur of fheir dwellings. More frequently upon
entering these palaces, the visitor will pass through
long suits of lofty rooms with richly painted walis
and brightly-tiled floors-^cold, bare, and deserted. In

THE PAST AND PRESENT. 171
some distant chamber, perchanpe, he will find the
occupant seated in a massive old chair, a deer skin
beneath his feet, and his snuff-box in hand — ponder
ing upon the chances of some proposed game at
hazard, or the best manner of once more evading
some long deferred obligation. If would rouse the
very hearts of fhe old nobility to catch a glimpse of
some of fheir proud abodes, and see halls adorned
with the richest frescos and marbles, tenanted by
the most plebeian citizens, converted into magazines
for foreign merchants or consigned to the destruc
tive hand of abandonment and decay.
Not only within the city did these objects afford
occasion to - Frazier for grave reflections on the
utility of republicanism, and incite Isabel's fancy to
picture the past. Bagaria, in fhe environs, was a fa
vorite resort of the wealthy Palermitans, in fhe sea
son when fhe counfry is most inviting. The road
thither lies along fhe sea, over a fertile plain thickly
studded with olive and cypress trees, amid which the
pleasant seats are finely located. Some of fhe rich
worthies who were wont fo retire fo fhis delightful
spot, must have been endowed with whimsical taste,
if we may judge by the ornaments of their estates.
One especially amused Isabel, and provoked the
anger of Frazier at what he was pleased to term the
ridiculous extravagance of the proprietor. Around
the roofs of the offices, and wherever an opportunity
occurs on the main building, are figures carved in
stone of every imaginable form, — monsters, deformed
beasts,, and grotesque men. Within the palace is a

172 THE PAST AND PRESENT.
room the walls of which are wrought in glass of dif
ferent hues into various devices, while the ceihng is
composed of mirrors. Although much of this fantas
tic work is dimmed and mutilated, the effect when
the apartment is illuminated must be curious and
brilhant. An adjoining and more spacious saloon,
walled and floored with the finest marble, is, how
ever, more worthy of admiration. The clear, fresh
hues of this princely material from which, at inter
vals, start forth the statues and basso-relievos which
vary its surface, and thc brightly polished floors
combine to convey an impression of strength, rich
ness, and splendor much more pleasing than the
gaudy and peculiar chamber adjacent. The furni
ture of many of the rooms in these decayed palaces,
remain very much as the more prosperous occupant
left it ; and, wearied with fheir wanderings through
the cold halls, the visitors were glad to rest in the
antiquely embroidered chairs,
" Look around upon these ancient portraits," said
Vittorio. " How little thought fhe proud noble who
had his paternal walls thus decorated, that they
would, in a few short years, become the gaze of
sfrangers. This fine-looking old gentleman and that
lady in the dress of olden time, have doubtless often
breakfasted in this very apartment, perhaps at that
little tortoise-shell table. I delight to invoke the
Past, and the quiet and venerable air around us is
favorable fo such a pastime. Let us imagine this
stately couple in the days of their pride. Hither they
came on fhe first summer after fheir bridal'. Nature

THE PAST AND PRESENT. 173
wore an aspect of unwonted beauty, for she was
beheld in the light of young love. Here, perhaps,
the cheerful morning smiled upon their sweet coun
cils, as the day's pic-nic or the evening's conversa
zione was laughingly planned. From this window
they gazed in fhe deepening twihghf, .and silently
imbibed the spell ofthat hour in gladness of spirit.
Yonder hall, perhaps, witnessed the early triumphs
of the young bride in fhe circles of society. There
sped the dance and coursed the jest tifl early dawn.
Years rolled away, and the saloon which had beheld
the rich content of affection, echoed to the restless
tread of ambition. A new epoch of life had arrived.^
The love of companionship and pleasure had become
merged in a thirst for power. He 'sought it in poli
tical schemes ; she in the petty rivalries of her
courtly acquaintance. Time passed on ; and at
length, at the accustomed season, one only came
hither and in mourning weeds, and soon returned
no more. The paths of the once neatly kept garden
are grass-grown. The throng of liveried servants
have dwindled to a few ill-clad menials. The chorus
of the banquet song has long since died away. The
ornamental devices, upon which so much pains were
lavished, serve only to amuse the curious traveller;
and their proud originator is forgotten. Such is hu
man history."
There is a summer house attached to one of the
villas at Bagraia, fitted up in imitation of a convent.
The figures, disposed in different cefls, are not ill-
executed in wax. Age, however, has diminished

174 ' THE PAST AND PRESENT.
their life-like hues. The order represented is that of
La Trappe, and the whole is intended to memorialize
the story of Adelaide and Commegio — the cloister
lovers. The fondness for amusement which dictated
at an earher period these fantasies, still lives in the
hearts of the Palermitans, although the means for its
gratification have so much diminished ; and, on fhe
evening of the day that our travellers had visited
this scene of former grandeur, they found themselves
in the midst of one of fhe festive diversions, still
occasionally indulged in by fhe restricted nobles.
In observance ofthe last day of Carnival one ofthe ex
tensive rooms of the Royal 'theatre was illuminated,
and crowded with the gay attendants on a Festa di
Ballo. Minor apartments were arranged for conver
sation and refreshments; and, after the opera, the
theatre itself was thrown open to the dancers, while
the boxes were appropriated to those who preferred
being spectators, and here entertainments were richly
served to select parties of friends. One can scarcely
fancy a more gay sight than the wide area of a
European theatre converted into a ball-room, while the
tiers of dress boxes present the lively appearance of so
many little banquet-rooms. The most novel feature
of fhe scene, however, to Isabel, was the fancy cos
tumes. To the sound of martial music, the persona-
tors of various characters marched in procession,
from an adjoining chamber into the saloon. Then
as they divided and mingled with the crowd, the
rich colors of their foreign garbs were displayed in
dazzling relief, and as Isabel in her wanderings sud-

THE PAST AND PRESENT. 175
denly encountered the habiliments of some personages
dear to memory, she caught momentarily that roman
tic impression which these amusements when succes-
fully managed, are well calculated fo convey. But
the illusion was too often dispelled by the ludicrous
grouping of the characters, or some remark of Vit
torio, whose eye pierced fhe velvet doublet and the
embroidered vest, and read much more of actual char
acter than was visible to the strangers.
" That fall and graceful figure in the splendid
attire of Queen Elizabeth's courtiers is intended for
the Earl of Leicester. But look at his boyish face
and eye, never hghted by any fire but that of earth-
born passion ; and picture if you can such an expres
sion upon the lips and brow of the gallant Earl. And
who would suppose the mincing young lady hanging
upon his arm could have the assurance to represent
.A.my Robsart?"
" There, however," said Isabel, " is a face and
form in keeping with fhe costume. Those masses of
light hair so gracefully arranged, that pale and quiet
though lovely face, fhe sad gentleness of fhe expres
sion, the subdued movement, all betoken Parasina."
They joined the spectators surrounding a large
party of waltzers. The combinations were not a
little amusing. Here ihe Sultan Seyd, with his wide
turban and dazzling arms, was whirling round a Swiss
peasant girl. There a fat Tartar with -enormous
mustachios tripped away with the Bride of Abydos.
A young Greek girl was the partner of a Spanish
cavalier with black hat and ebon plume, and a Turk

176 THE PAST AND PRESENT.
flashing with jewels and brightly-dyed merino, grave
ly twirled round the circle a smiling maiden in deep
mourning. To minds utfe;rly unlearned in fhe experience of
fhe deeper and more refined sentiments, there is a
strangeness altogether inexplicable in the impressions
of an ideahst. They cannot comprehend any but
the most superficial suggestions of the natural or
human world. In the view of such, there is a degree
of singularity approaching to mental disease, in the
idea of a young person finding congenial pleasure in
observing such a scene as was now displayed to Isa
bel in the mere hght of fancy and reflection. Yet
thus did it present itself to her eye. She thought of
the various fortunes ofthe seemingly joyous multi
tude, of fhe hidden passions, the concealed cares, the
petty emulation and the secret hopes lying beneath
the sparkling tide of festivity, which mortals so love
fo gather over their individual conditions, and merge,
as it were, in one brilliant iUusion, though but for a
single night, the corroding memories and present
troubles which darken fheir lot. There is rich ma
terial for imagination to weave into golden tissues,
and philosophy fo color with fhe light and shade of
her impressive pencil, in the variety, the loveliness,
the mannerism of a festival. What is the throb of
pleasure which fihs the pulses of the most eager par
taker in the hilarity, to the calm delight of the mu
sing spectator of the pastime '( Lightly glides fhe
fairy form through fhe mazes of the dance; brilliantly
sparkles .the jewel in the waving hair; but more

THE PAST AND PRESENT. 177
swiftly speeds the thoughts of the visionary, and
brighter gleams his fancy's glance, as, excited by the
symbols of human joy, it roams amid the labyrinths
of destiny. O there are rare gleanings for the spe
culative in a ball-room, barren as of all places it is
deemed by the stoic and the misanthrope ! Poets
have spoken of a peculiar inspiration which breathes
from the Spring-awakened life of Nature, of an
intoxicating pleasure caught from the hum of new
born insects and opening vegetation. So to him who
sympathizes fervently with his race, there is an excite
ment in the sight of a gala, a social expression of
enjoyment beyond mere sympathy in the gaiety of
. which it is the type, beyond and independent of if.
And if a stranger be thus surrounded by a festive
multitude, his thoughts thrown back upon himself, do
but engender a more sad, but perhaps a deeper reve
rie. He recals fhe spontaneous delight of childhood.
He pictures the contrast between present appearances
and actual realities. He reads in fhe glowing faces
around, in the interchange of looks, in the language
of manner, many a fale of love, hope, and disappoint
ment. And in this fh^ere is poetry, not always fanci
ful and bright, yet still poetry ; and Isabel felt it.
" Comer from fhe new world !" said the Count to
Frazier (playfully yet 'with earnestness), " where fhe
enervating civilization of Europe has not yet tri
umphed, stand with me in the embrasure of this win
dow, and I will read you a ball-room homily. Fifty
years since,'the female portion of the nobility of which
these are scions, were almost entirely uneducated in
16

178 THE PAST AND PRESENT.
aught save what are called accomplishments. Many
could neither read nor write. Now in some re
spects there is an improvement ; in others a de
cline. Scarcely one of these lovely hypocrites pre
tends to respect her marriage vows. That queenly
form in white is the Duchess of A  ; fhe young
man vivaciously performing a lover's part beside
her is the Marquis  , who a twelvemonth since
married that pale dark-eyed lady who is coquetting
with fhe Duke of A  . The two are not estranged,
for they never had a feeling in common, except the
desire to combine their incomes by marriage, that
they might more freely follow their respective plea
sures. Saw you ever such a magnificent set of
diamonds as those in the hair of fhe Countess of
 ? They are taken out of pawn for the occasion
af an enormous expense. There is not a more gor
geous costume in the room than that Prince  is
now displaying. Its purchase will cost him a year's
support, and swell the long list of his debts. I see
your eye wanders to that thoughtful-looking youth
standing near the grave officer. They are father
and son. The father derives his support solely from
his commission. The latter at the university of
Pisa, where he was educated, contracted a strong
friendship with some young Brazilians overflowing
with file love of liberty. Their views were enthu
siastically adopted by their Sicilian friend. He re
turned an ardent repubhcan, and his poor father is
in continual dread lest by some unguarded expres
sion he should incur the displeasure of government.

THE PAST AND PRESENT. 179
and lose the old gentleman his office and his family
heir only resource. His son himself fears it, and
petitions to go to England where he may enjoy his
iberal pi-inciples in peace. But, glance over the
whole room. Of all these young men, some of
whom wear so spirited a bearing, scarcely one
knows any higher ambition than the temporary dis
tinctions which an occasion like this can gratify.
Among the whole circle of these women you can
with difficulty find one deserving of fhe office or
capable of the duties of a mother. And what better
can you expect in a country where the legitimate
objects of reverence — parents and priesfs set an un
disguised example of libertinism? Is not the una
voidable consequence among fhe higher ranks —
practical atheism ? Comer from the new worid !
Look through the finery around you ; pierce fhe artifi
cial gloss ; read fhe evidences of exhausted resources,
unprincipled hves, and frivolous pursuits which make
up the true history of society here, and thank heaven
your lot was cast in a young republic."
There was a bitterness in the Count's tones which
mellowed into sadness as he concluded, that touched
the heart of Frazier. If there is any spectacle at
once noble and affecting, it is that of a young man
whose moral sensibility is wounded by his country's
decline, who stands aloof from the general corrup
tion of manners, and mourns over it as he would at a
brother's derefiction ; and whose love of truth and
allegiance fo virtue is more earnest than his national
vanity. Frazier felt a new and sincere respect for

180 THE PAST AND PRESENT.
Vittorio. He replied only by pressing his hand, and
then stood lost in a reverie which fhe conversation
had awakened. When he roused himself and turned
to seek his friend, he was no longer beside him. A
few moments passed in threading the dense crowd,
brought him again in view. He was sitting on an
ottoman in the adjoining apartment, every expression
of painful thought banished from his fine countenance,
eagerly hstening to the words of Isabel- What a
consoler is woman! No charm but her presence
can so win man from his sorrow, make placid fhe
knit brow and wreathe the stern hp into a smile.
The soldier becomes a lightsome boy at her feet ; fhe
anxious statesman smiles himself backfo free-hearted
youth beside her ; and the still and shaded counte
nance of care brightens beneath her influence as the
closed flower blooms in the sunshine.

SEGESTA AND SELINUNTIUM.

•' Thy fanes, thy temples to thy surface bow,
Commingling slowly with heroic earth
Broke by the share of every rustic plough.
So perish monuments of mortal birth,
So perish all iti turn save well-recorded worth." Childe Harold:

The rainy season, after several fallacious inter
missions, af last terminated; Its long days of chilly
winds and heavy showers, gloomy skies and darpp
atmosphere, more oppressive to the absentee than the
clear and exhilarating though intensely- cold air of
more northern winters, gave way, all at once, to the
genial breezes and burning sun of a Sicihan spring.
Anxiously had Isabel awaited these indications of
settled and auspicious weather, and no sooner did
fhey appear than she urged upon her companions
the expediency of immediately starting on an excur
sion' info the interior which they had previously plan-
16*

182 SEGESTA AND SELINUNTIUM- ,
ned. Not without difficulty had she persuaded her
uncle to allow her to be the companion of his visit
to the celebrated antiquities in fhe adjoining provinces.
He knew that most of the journey was only to be
performed on horseback, and that much discomfort
must be endured in order fo reach fhe desirable ob
jects in view. But Isabel urged the short period
requisite for the expedition, her great desire to behold
these trophies of antiquity, and that unconquerable
spirit of enterprise and endurance which she had
inherited from her father. These arguments were
not without their influence upon Frazier's mind, but
another consideration tended still more to win from
him a reluctant consent. He saw that Isabel needed
the excitement of change. He remarked, during
the many weeks of rain which had followed the first
bright month of their sojourn in Palermo, that her
thoughts, thrown inward by the outward gloom, which
often made her an unwilling prisoner af home, dwelt
more earnestly and with less of hope upon the idea .
that had drawn her abroad. Her cheek had paled ;
her eye was less cheerful, and the tones of her gentle
voice, never trained to aught but the ingenuous res
ponses of the spirit,, broke forth in a less buoyant and
heart-stirring music than was their wont.. He knew
that a few day's of free communion with Nature, a
short interval of novel observation, and even the brief
courting of fatigue and inconvenience would do much
to divert and reheve her melancholy. Provided.
therefore, with means and appliances almost equal
to those with which caravans enter the precincts of

SEGESTA AND SELINUNTIUM. 183
some desert region, they prepared for a short visit fo
the interior of Sicily. To Isabel the change df scene
was delightful. O thou enhvener of our faculties,
stupified by the monotonous circuit of still life, — thou
reviver of slumbering feelings, — thou awakener of
thought, — thou restless spirit of travel ! how much
dost thou lead us voluntarily to suffer, how many pre
sent blessings to sacrifice, how many penances to
inflict freely upon ourselves ! Urged by thee, 'we
dare the perils of the sea, and go from the serene
safety of home to fhe hazardous highway ofthe world.
We abjure the famihar, the well-tried, and the Well-
known, the attached friends, the accustomed scenes,
and the cherishing kindred, and we go forth to begin
life, as it were, anew, to make ourselves homes abroad,
to commune with foreign lands and customs, to take
upon ourselves the cheerless name and the lonely lot
ofthe stranger. Yet art thou a consolation and a
noble teacher, restless spirit as thou art. Guided
and impelled by fliee,how much do we learn ! How
do our minds expand with liberality that can see
good in all things, and with love that can find brother
hood in every human being ; how do we draw prin
ciples from the mingled teachings of nature and
society as their united voices variously and eloquently
cry to us on our pilgrim path ! We study the great
volume of the world and of creation, not according
to some narrow and local interpretation, but as cos
mopolites, as humanitarians, as men. We weave
ties of fellowship and love, beautiful because so wholly
our own work— rthe result of the contact of our

184 SEGESTA AND SELINUNTIUM.
own natures with what is congenial in spirit,
though in habit and circumstance utterly foreign.
We thus realize the compass ofour minds, the power
of our affections, and the illimitable capacity of our
sympathies. Alas! that the sweet bonds with which
the solitary sojourner binds himself to fhe warm
hearted and the fair of other lands, to the beings who
in each abiding place, cheer him with kindness, and
solace him with affection, should be so transient;
that just as a home-feeling steals over him, he must
renew his pilgrimage ; that af the moment his heart
has made unto itself glad fellowship, he must become
again a wayfarer ! This, to the true-hearted and the
grateful, is the greatest sacrifice which travel de
mands of its votaries, the most severe tribute which
he lays upon her altar; for all of comfort and safety
that he has forgone fades quickly from memory, but
the obligations of the mind and heart are never for
gotten. Thus felt Isabel as she l6oked back from Monreale
upon the valley, sea, and city amid which she had so
long tarried. And the painful sense which ever ac
companies fhe idea of parting faded not from her
mind, until after a long ride among the hills whose
aspect was rather wild and rocky, fhey emerged
from between two rugged chffs, and came suddenly
in view of the green valley of Partinico, spreading
from the sea in the same fertility of aspect and level
expanse, which distinguish the plain around the Capi
tal The remainder of the carriage road winds
through a country resemblingj in every essential fe&-

SEGESTA AND SELINUNTIUM. 185
ture, that which they had passed in previous jour
neyings. Still the olive trees rose thickly in the
fields, fheir ancient and gnarled stumps bearing in
sturdy pride fhe thick and dim mass of fohage,
nourished most mysteriously it would sometimes
seem, through the narrowest possible remnant of the
decayed trunk. Still the hills stretched in dreary
ranges and exhibited masses of oxydated rock ; and
still the way was skirted with the bluish and spear-
hke leaves of the aloe, upon whose thorny edges hung
many a crystal dew drop.
It was but dawn when they left the village which
formed fhe boundary of the carriage road, and guided
their horses into fhe path which leads to the site of
the ancient ^Egesta. The way lay along the edge
of a deep glen. The ranges of mountains opposite
are rock-ribbed, and doffed with cultivated lots, and
the path itself is thickly bordered with overhanging
bushes, clusters of wormwood, and innumerable wild-
flowers. From the more elevated parts of this rug
ged and narrow path, when the wide slopes on the
right, the green defile beneath, and the clear horizon
beyond, were all visible, the scene was remarkably
picturesque. As they wound slowly along, gradually
coming in sight of its different features, the morning
light stole softly and, in gentle gradations, over the
landscape, now falling goldehly , upon some high
mound, now giving a silvery -glow to the polished
leaves of a distant and lofty tree, and radiating more
and more broadly a clear light along the eastern sky.
Isabel's gaze was directed to fhe hills on her left, as the

186 SEGESTA AND SELINUNTIUM.
sun thus silently dispersed from their tops the mists of
night, when, at a break in fheir line, unexpectedly as
a vision, appeared the beautiful temple, standing in
solitary prominence upon a broad, high hill-top.
The early gleam of the sun fell upon its simple
columns, between which glimmered from afar the lucid
horizon. The lonely position of fhis chaste edifice
gives a singular and striking effect to its first appear
ance rising thus to the eye unawares. No trees in
terrupt the view. No adjacent objects distract fhe
attention. Though by no means lofty or commanding
in its proportions, it is placed so high that when seen
from below, and thus distantly, there is a majesty in
its aspect which is deeply impressive. The time-
worn hue, fhe graceful pillars, the airy architecture,
fhe elevated position, induce an immediate and most
pleasing impression. The beholder at once feels
that there is before him a Grecian temple — one of
those few specimens which embalm and illustrate a
principle of art and memoriahze an exploded but po
etical religion. The perfect repose of the hour, the
extensive and varied scenery, fhe lonely position of
fhis fair vestige, and its tranquil beauty were scarcely
realized by the travellers, ere, like a scenic image, it
was lost fo view as suddenly as it had appeared.
The next bend of the mountains veiled it from their
gaze, and left them af liberty to speculate upon its ap
pearance. This momentary ghmpse, however, suf
ficed to strike and arouse Isabel's imagination more
effectually, perhaps, than a nearer and longer inspec
tion. She pondered long upon the devotion to Na-

SEGESTA AND SELINUNTIUM. 187
ture which the site selected for its erection indicated,
upon fhe love of the simple so significantly displayed
in its architecture, upon the delightful union of the
beauty of art with fhe glory of fhe universe, which
the Greeks understood so well how to combine info
one noble influence to arouse human feeling and ad
dress the sense of the ideal. No one, she thought,
possessing one spark of the soul's etherial fire could
encounter such a temple, encircled by fhe green hifls,
and canopied by fhe vaulted sky, — at the solemn
hour- of morning, without thinking of a superior intel
ligence, and yielding to the inspiration of that devo
tional sentiment which prompts the human heart to
seek that which is above and eternal ; in wretched
ignorance too often if may be, with a most dim and
inadequate sense of its object perhaps ; but still
there would be fhe feeling, the idea of devotion — the
struggling of the spirit fo mount — the tending of fhe
soul heavenward, the uplooking, the inclination to
the spiritual which is man's highest attribute. In
such a feehng there is blessedness. How much might
art and society and experience encourage and call
it forth, were men more inchned to lessen the ma
chinery and cherish the poetry of life ! After wind
ing round the base ofthe hills, they came out upon
the almost barren scene which once teemed with the
dwellings of an ancient city. On the summit of a
mountain — itself the centre of an amphitheatre of
hills, are the remains of the amphitheatre of Segeste,
and as one sits upon fhe highest range of stone seats,
the eye glances over a mountainous and wild region.

188 SEGESTA AND SELINUNTIUM.
embracing a prospect of remarkable extent. Below,
upon a lesser elevation, and in the centre of a dale,
appears the temple — fhe only other distinct relic of
the ruined city. Its thirty-six columns are much
indented and shattered, and have been partially re
stored. As fhe strangers stood upon the weedy
ground, beneath the roofless architrave, the winds
sighed through the open pillars as it swept from the
hills. A flock of goafs were ruminating upon fhe
slope which declined from fhe front of the building,
and scores of birds, disturbed by the intrusion, flut
tered and wailed above fheir heads.
" This Doric structure," said Vittorio, " is sup
posed to have been dedicated to Ceres, and is no
unworthy token of the city it has survived, whose
foundations were laid soon after the Trojan war, and
the destruction of which is attributed to Agafhocles.
This tyrant's anger was provoked by the ^Egestans
having asked aid from the Carthagenians to resist
his usurpations. How beautiful appears such an
architectural relic, standing alone in the midst of
these wild sweeping hills— a lone memorial of depart
ed ages — invoking the traveller to remember that
here once flourished the arts of life, and swelled the
tide of humanity in grandeur and prosperity, where
all is now solitude and dreariness ! No sound but the
tinkhng bells of that browsing herd, and the wild
hymn of the free wind meets our ears. No human
figures enhven the scene, save that group of herds
men leaning on their reeds. All is lone and silent.
Yet as we look upon these columns which violence

SEGESTA AND SELINUNTIUM. 189
has mutilated, and time stamped with decay, and
trace the lines of human workmanship; as we at
one view contemplate the regular position of the
pillars, the cornice, the pediment, the broad steps,
the simple majesty of the design, and mark the evi
dences of human thought, — how clearly does this
isolated object bring home to the spectator, the thought
of those who once gathered about fhis portal in fami
liar conclave, and to whose eyes this temple was as
well known as the landscape of our native place fo
us ! For ages the morning has gilded these columns
as at fhis moment ; for ages they have been bedewed
with the tears of tho solemn night. Centuries of
revolution, and of nature's annual decline and reno
vation have passed on, and still it stands venerable
and alone — a mute chronicle, unshadowed by one of
the many edifices that rose around it — the recordless
monument pf the city it adorned."
After leaving this interesting spot, fhe way became
more void of the signs of life and cultivation. Now
and then fhey passed a lettiga with its complement of
passengers and attendants. This is the national car
riage of Sicily. If consists of a kind of box, like the
body of a carriage, rudely painted with the effigies
of saints and martyrs, and secured to two poles
which are supported in front and behind upon the
backs of two mules. The constant tinkling of the
bells, and the uneasy motion of these animals, com
bined with the narrow dimensions of the vehicle,
render it a comfortless conveyance. The extensive
hill sides and plains in this region afford pasturage to
17

190 SEGESTA AND SELINUNTIUM.
numerous flocks of sheep and herds of cattle, and
occasionally patches of more productive soil were
covered with the blue blossom of the flax, or, green
with the newly-sprung grain. There was a forbid
ding aspect, however, in most of fhe scenery, espe
cially when a cloud veiled from its wide surface the
cheerful sunlight. Our travellers were not fhe less
sensible of this lack of pleasing features in t}ie land
scape that they were fresh from the companionship
and living language of a metropolis. Who has not
felt, after a long abode in town, when he has found
himself alone in a thinly populated country, a certain
strangeness of position, arising from the unwonted
absence of the sights and sounds of multitudinous hfe?
"It seems sometimes well," said Isabel, " to quit
thus the circle of busy life, to leave behind us the
symbols of social refinement, and to come forth into
the loneliness of Nature. We return to these enjoy
ments with a new delight."
" I doubt," replied Vittorio, " if any but travellers
can thoroughly appreciate the blessings of civihzation,
the amenities of cultivated society, and what Lamb
calls ' the sweet security of streets.' It is by contrast
that we reahze their charms. And I know no change
more delightful than that from days of wandering in
a scantily habited country, to our accustomed round
of friendly visits, and social pleasures, where are con
gregated the dwellings of our kind environed with
the graces, the courtesies and the refinements of
social existence."
Frazier, who had dismounted and rambled fo a

SEGESTA AND SELINUNTIUM. 191
little distance, returned with his hand full of herbs.
"Look," he exclaimed, "while you have been idly
speculating, I have botanized to some advantage;
for in this little walk I have discovered several wild
plants which, in fheir cultivated state, garnish our
tables. It proves how fertile in useful productions
are even the barrenest parts of the island. Here, for
instance, is a bunch of wild asparagus, almost as
good in appearance as is sold in the markets of
America." " You would find it rather bitter, though,"
said fhe Count, laughing ; " but we are approach
ing a finer illustration of the richness of the Sicilian
soil." As he spoke they came in view of another of
those rich plains, which occur at intervals along fhe
coast, and afford the greatest contrast to the desolate
chains of mountain scenery which extend back for
miles from their borders.
There is an ancient quarry at the distance of a
few miles from the now impoverished town of Casfel-
Vetrano, at which travellers repose on the route we
are describing, if haply they are provided with the
appurtenances to secure comfortable slumber, and
bid defiance to fhe attacks of the insects which infest
the country-houses of the island. The ride thither
is dreary, and the first note-worthy object which
meets the eye, is Pantelleria, looming up from the
sea at a considerable distance, its two mounds, if fhe
day be fine, clearly defined against fhe horizon.
This island is the wretched abode of most of the
state-prisoners of fhe kingdom of Naples. The old
quarry is situated in the midst of a^ cultivated field.

192 SEGESTA AND SELINUNTIUM.
There is a large mass of granite bearing the most
obvious marks of having been anciently cut for ar
chitectural purposes. Two or three circular blocks
of about nine feef in diameter remain standing, and
were evidently intended as parts of enormous columns.
It is curious fo remark that fhe manner of working
this quarry was evidently to cut the blocks for use
directly from the mass, instead of first excavating
fragments and then shaping them as is the modern
custom. Vittorio b&de Isabel notice fhis as a proof
of the economy of ancient labor. The difficulty
there must have been in transporting these huge
segments was another subject of wonderment. " If it
were not for these rank weeds, and this thick coat of
moss," said Frazier, "one would think fhe work
was abandoned but yesterday. Ho'w plainly you can
trace fhe lines of the chisel I Yet this scene of ac
tion was thus suddenly deserted many ages ago, and
has apparently been undisturbed since save by the
traveller's footstep."
On quitting the place to visit the site of Selinuntium,
which city was evidently indebted for its most last
ing material to this very quarry, they found the path
far different from that they had threaded since morn
ing. It was a lane thickly bordered with myrtles
and flowering shrubs, which perfumed fhe air beneath
a sunlight so vivid that they were glad fo guide fheir
horses beneath fhe trees which overhung the way.
There was a mingled wildness and garden-like beauty
in this sequestered road which charmed Isabel, and she
was delighted to find in many of fhe floral emblems,

SEGESTA AND SELINUNTIUM. 193
that seemed to smile upon her from their waving stalks,
or meekly court a glance from below, many of fhe
flowers which at home were deemed worthy of assi
duous culture. Through the openings in the hedge,
here and there, were visible fhe thatched and hive
like tents of carbonari and the cheese-makers. Near
the former a wreath of blue smoke curled gracefully
upward ; and about the latter the cattle lay in groups
with their stag-like heads motionless, giving a rural
and picturesque air to the otherwise deserted scene.
From this shady and soothing way they came out
upon a sandy beach, upon which broke in gentle
murmurings fhe blue waters of the sea, and ascend
ing a high cliff, were at the foot of the lesser pile
of ruins which indicate where stood the ancient
Sehnus. Between this spot and the opposite eleva
tion was the port of fhe city, now choked up with
sand ; and the plain above the farther promontory is
covered for a considerable space around, with the
massive remains of the temples of Sehnuntium.
These fragments, with fhe exception of two or three
columns which still rise in stern pride, seem to have
been, thrown down by some violent convulsion ofthe
earth. They are all in a style of severe simplicity,
and the vestiges of the largest edifice indicate its
size to have been grand beyond conception. There
is something unique, even to one very famihar with
the trophies of antiquity, in fhe appearance of this
mass of ruins. Broken columns', capitals, wall-stones,
and architraves huddled promiscuously together, and
bearing few traces of time's corrosive touch, but
17*

194 SEGESTA AND SELINUNTIUM.
rather wearing a hue of freshness and undiminished
strength. Their position, however, and the herbage
and wild flowers which grow luxuriantly amid and
around them, sufficiently vindicate fheir claim to the
title of ruins. The sea-breeze stirred the flowing
hair of Isabel as she sat upon one of these huge frag
ments between her uncle and Vittorio, while fheir
purveyor arranged their collation upon the wide slab
of a fallen pillar. She looked sea-ward, round over
the verdant plains, and then upon these noble and
prostrate remains, and the glad harmony of Nature
seemed to blend with the solemn music of Antiquity
and move in one deep, rich and softened cadence
over her heart. " If toil and enduring material could
secure fhe perpetuity of human temples," said the
Count, " one would think that these would have
remained unharmed, and stood now in stolid grandeur
as at the hour of their completion. Yet one earth
quake, perhaps of momentary duration, long since,
laid fheir proud columns in fhe dust. How triumph
ant are the energies of N^iture ! How transient the
mightiest efforts of Art ! See what a vine has spread
its tendrils over this capital, and note that brightly-
painted lizard ghde fearlessly over this splendid seg
ment of a majestic column."
" Yet, after all," said Frazier " why morahze over
a few blocks of granite, which were quarried,
carved, and reared info a gigantic structure, and hav
ing served their destined purpose, were hurled down
to crumble on the earth ? Rather look upon these
fertile fields, and that line of fishing boats, and rejoice

SEGESTA AND SELINUNTIUM. 195
that the resources of the earth are ever renewed, so
that with due labor and care men, age after age, are
provided with the necessities of life and the bounties
of Providence."
" It is, I believe," said Isabel, " because the Count
has faith in other wants than such as these that he
speaks mournfully of these ruins. He sees an evi
dence of devotion to something beyond and above
physical life. They are mementos of sentiment,
taste, and mind. They bespeak a love of the grand
and the beautiful, and therefore it is saddening fo
think of their downfall and behold their decay. Yet
methinks it were more consohng to remember the
eternity of the principle that gave fhem birth ; to
think that Art's divinesf product is but faintly typical
of human capacity — to think that the more com
pletely vain seem the embodiements of genius and feel
ing now, the more conscious is the spirit of a nobler
sphere and an immortal destiny." Isabel's eye and
cheek glowed, and her voice was firm in its sweet
ness, as she spoke. Her traveUing hat was thrown
back, that the refreshing air might visit her brow
more freely, and as she thus uttered her young but
warm conviction, even her uncle's smile changed fo
a gaze of, admiring afiection, and fhe earnest eyes of
Vittorio were thoughtfully fixed upon her face. She
seemed fo him like the lovely genius of the scene —
the inspired prophetess heaven-appointed to interpret
its teachings.

SCIACCA.

"Eebellious subjects, enemies to peace,
Profaners of this neighbour-stained steel,
'Will they not hear ? — what ho ! you men, you beasts —
That quench the fire of y<^r pernicious rage.
With purple fountains issuing from your veins,
On pain of torture, from those bloody hands
Throw your mistempered weapons to the ground."liomeo and Juliet.

The path beyond fhe remarkable vestiges of Seli
nuntium, intersects a cork wood of some extent. The
trees 'which compose it are not, however, of that
immense size, which renders these forests so grand
and gloomy in more northern districts of Europe.
They are triennially barked, and, at different times,
have proved highly profitable fo the proprietors. A

198 ' SCIACCA.
broad heath interspersed with masses of tangled
brushwood, opens from the extremity of this grove,
and its barrenness is relieved by the yellow blossoms
of a species of broom which abounds here, of a bell
like form, and pleasant perfume. A rough and pre
cipitous descent conducts the traveller down to the
sea shore, upon which stands fhe town of Sciacca.
There are few among the many picturesque locali
ties of Sicily, which strike the beholder as better
adapted for fhe scenes of romance than this. The
country, for many miles round, is wild and hilly, a
long ridge of lonely beach offers ,the most accessible
road during a considerable space. Several abrupt
mountains are grouped commandingly at a short
distance from the sea, from one of which a constant
stream of sulphur vapor exudes, and at their base
are several warm springs mentioned in ancient
history. Beneath these hills, upon a promontory
jutting info the ocean, appears Sciacca. The pecu
har hue of age which distinguish its compact build
ings and wave-washed ramparts, is in admirable
keeping with the wild adjacent scenery, and bleak
position of the ancient town. The ascent to its walls
is very steep and broken ; and as our travellers were
slowly winding up the rude mule-path, Isabel declared
there must be some fearful legend or historic.interesf
attached to the spot, and turned to the Count for a
confirmation of her surmises. He could not but
credit her sagacity, and when the party were re
freshed, as far as the miserable accommodations of

SCIACCA.

199

the place permitted, they beguiled the evening with a
glimpse of the history of that now decayed and im
poverished country.
" The ruins of the two castles back of the town,
and an old palace within its walls, are the only exist
ent memorials of the most distinguished among its
ancient families. Nobility and wealth combined to
give the ascendancy in Sciacca, to the houses of
Luna and Perollo. Between these rival barons and
fheir descendants, there existed a feud as inveterate
and deadly, though boasting no such affecting catas
trophe, as that which has immortahzed fhe names of
Capulet and Montague. Its Origin, like that of many
similar quarrels, is attributed to disappointed love.
Arrale Luna and John Perollo were suitors for the
hand of Margaret Peralfa, an accomphshed and
beautiful heiress. At that moment the balance of
worldly advantages preponderated in favor of Luna,
who was. a great favorite at court, and he was ac
cepted, although it is believed fhe lady greatly
preferred his rival. If she did thus sacrifice her
affections to ambition, the usual fatal consequences
of such perversity soon followed, for in a very short
time after his marriage. Count Arrale, having taken
a bath at the foot of yonder mountain, under the
church of St. Barnabas, suddenly died, in June, 1412.
It was currently reported that the bath was poisoned
by the unsuccessful lover. However ill-established
the story was, a mere suspicion of fhis nature, in that
sanguinary age, was sufficient to excite in the minds

200 SCIACCA.
of Luna's immediate descendants a desire and pur
pose of revenge. This was increased by a litigation
between the two houses respecting the barony of St.
Bartolomy then in possession of Perollo. The case
was decided in favor of Luna, and thus a new occa
sion for mutual animosity presented itself Deprived
of his estate by his enemy, -and mindful of his an
cestor's wrong, Perollo determined to inflict summary
vengeance upon his rival, whose very presence, envi
roned as it was with all fhe insignia of successful
ambition and superior wealth, was a source of con
stant annoyance to the haughty baron. The manner
in which he undertook to obtain satisfaction for his
baffled hopes, and satisfy his long cherished hatred,
is a remarkable evidence of the daring and ferocious
spirit of those times. Towards evening, on fhe sixth
of April, 1455, as Luna was walking in procession
with the priests of the Holy Thorn, near the palace of
Perollo, his enemy faking advantage of his defence
less position, rushed forth and stabbed him fill he fell.
Then leaving him weltering in his gore, he hastened
with a party of adherents to the palace of his fallen
foe, and setting it on fire abandoned it fo destruc
tion. Luna's wound was not, however, mortal, and
he gradually recovered from its effects. This fla
grant crime was fhe means of extending the know
ledge of fhe inveterate feud, which had so long dis
turbed the peace, not only of the rival families but of
their whole native city, and, in order, if possible, to
arrest its progress, King Alphonso banished both of

SCIACCA. 201
the fierce barons. In the course of the year 1459,
John of Aragon recalled them, and, whether cooled
by absence or rendered reasonable by advancing
years, on returning to Sciacca they mutually avoided
all occasions of discord, and passed their remaining
days in friendship.
Nearly seventy years had elapsed, and Charles
occupied the throne of Spain and Sicily. It was one
of the most agitated and eventful epochs in the his
tory of the island. The two leading houses of Sciacca
had continued to advance in riches and power, and at
fhis time they occupied relatively the same antago
nist positions. They still were rivals in wealth and
ambition, superior in rank and influence fo all around
them, and sufficiently balanced in the number of
their respective friends, the pride of birth, and fhe
means of acquiring power, to keep alive a constant
and active spirit of rivalry. In accordance, too,
with the notions of the age, it was deemed chival
rous to remember that their ancestors were enemies,
and keep the slumbering embers of past feuds from
being utterly extinguished. The demon of quarrel,
however, for a considerable time, only manifested
itself among the dependants and friends of fhe two
nobles, occasionally breaking out in petty disputes or
bloody encounters. Thus even without the imme
diate agency of fhe principal personages, the order,
security, and quiet of Sciacca were perpetually in
vaded by this long-nurtured feud. The narrow con-
18

202

SOIACOA.

fines of a single city were insufficient to sustain fhe
conflicting pride of two such haughty chiefs ; and fhe
spirit of faction, that enemy of social tranquillity,
raged with unrestrained ferocity and seemingly
deathless energy amid the inhabitants of Sciacca.
An incident soon occurred which roused fhe leaders
to renewed hostilities. Sericano Bassa, a famous
Moorish corsair, who had carried off many of
the inhabitants from the coast of Sicily, and con
signed them to slavery, succeeded in the summer of
1529, in surprising the Baron of-Solanto, while that
noble and his friends •were hunting. Proud of such
a prize, the bold pirate appeared off the shore of
Sciacca and displayed signals for a ransom. Luna
presented himself and made large offers to retrieve
the captive, but his exertions were quite unsuccessful.
Perollo equally anxious to effect the same object, not
only tendered rich presents, but endeavoured to gain
the good-will of the corsair by his attentions and
talents. In a short time, these efforts were so effec
tual, that fhe dreaded pirate not only gave up his
noble prisoner, but solemnly pledged himself to
Perollo never henceforth to cruise near fhe shore of
Sciacca. Thus the Baron not only conferred a
lasting obhgation upon one whose friendship was
eminently desirable, but rendered an important ser
vice, and one which could not but be deeply felt,
upon his native city. This triumph of his rival's,
excited the most rancorous envy in fhe breast of
Luna, and so open was he in his threats of injury,

SCIACCA. 203
having retired to Castabellata and consulted with his
friends as to fhe best means of exterminating his
enemy, that Perollo and his partizans began to con
sider how they could best anticipate his machinations.
Luna and his counsellors deliberately determined
upon the death of his rival, and accordingly sallied
forth, at night, at the head of a hundred soldiers
which, fo avoid suspicion, were dispersed through
the city. Their intended victim having received
timely warning, was shut up in his palace under the
plea of illness. The bravi of Luna succeeded in
taking two well-known friends of Perollo, whom they
instantly despatched, and bore their heads affixed to
poles through the streets of the town. An excellent
and illustrious citizen, heart-sick at this horrible pro
ceeding, attempted to establish a reconcihation, and
appeared before both Barons bearing an olive branch,
and counselling peace, but fhe good old man was seized
by some members of one of the factions who affected
to consider him as a spy, and basely murdered.
When Perollo heard of this' new crime, he appealed
to the viceroy for assistance. . Baron Statella from
Catania was commissioned, in conjunction with fhe
fiscal counsellors and three officers of Sciacca, with
full power. He ordered Luna to disband his troops
and return to Casfabehata ; executed the leading-
ruffians, and took every measure to quell the tumult.
But fhe riotous citizens rose upon him, and Luna,
after dissembling a short time, returned with an in
creased force, and declared himself resolved to pro
secute his purposes. In this emergency Perollo sent

204 SCIACCA.
nis eldest son to solicit succor at Messina, with a
strong attendant guard. Luna took immediate ad
vantage of the diminution of the forces sent to guard
his rival, and having barricaded the streets surrounded
fhe palace where StateUa resided, who was killed, and
his body thrown from the bafflements. PcroUo's
castle was also besieged, and after a prolonged and
desperate assault was on fhe point of being taken,
when the friends ofifs unhappy proprietor once more
endeavored to win Luna to peace. The haughty
Baron refused all overtures, unless his enemy should
kneel to him, ask forgiveness, and kiss his feet. The
bearer of this humiliating proposal having been
severely beaten, Luna was so exasperated, that on
the following morning he renewed his attacks vehe
mently, and having made a breach, penetrated to fhe
interior ofthe castie, and spread ruin and death around
him. PeroUo fled by the southern postern, fhe victor
respected the persons of the fugitive's family, but
turned a deaf ear to fheir tearful prayers for peace.
Perollo took refuge in a house near the sea ; but was
betrayed to Luna by one of his own faction. He
was slain by the daggers of his rival's partizans, and
his body dragged through the streets attached to
the tail of Luna's horse. Frederic Perollo returned
at fhe head of a powerful force, and revenged his
father's death by the massacre of Luna and his
adherents. This last sanguinary scene closed
fhe long and tragic feud of the rival houses, — a
feud unparelleled for its inveteracy, and affording a

SCIACCA. 205
sad illustration of the spirit of those times, — a feud
which for many generations divided and harassed
the people, and signally marred the prosperity of
Sciacca.

AGRIGENTUM.

" What is gray with age becomes reUgion." Wallenstein.

The dreariness of the ride from Sciacca to Gir-
genti, is interrupted orily by the occasional appear
ance of one of the many torrents which rush from
the mountains to fhe sea, and fhe sight of some old
tower crowning a bluff upon the shore. These rehcs
of ancient fortresses are pleasant objects in the
lonely prospects, since they carry back the mind to
one of the most romantic, though least known, of the
eras of Sicihan history. Another striking object
which draws fhe attention of the wanderer through
this sohtary region, is the singular aspect of a little
vUlage on a hill-fop which, about fifty years since,
was deserted by its inhabitants on account of its
bleak position, who erected fheir cottages in the
sheltered vale below, leaving their former dwellings

208 AGRIGENTUM.
to decay. The compact low walls of this group of
grey cottages are conspicuous in fheir desertion, and
when first seen present, in conjunction with the coun
try around them, a melancholy though not displeas
ing picture. It is somewhat startling to the unpre
pared equestrian, after crossing fhe hne of beach
which completes his dreary ride, to find himself upon
the Mole of Girgenti which, although of inconsidera
ble extent, often presents a scene of bustle and ac
tivity. Lines of galley slaves may be seen repairing
fhe mound, the clank of their fetters blending with
the roar of the waves, vessels of no ordinary burden,
lying off the shore to receive their cargoes, boats plying,
and higher up, crowds of porters transporting fhe sul
phur-cake, the great article of export here, or ar
ranging if in long piles to be weighed. As he leaves
this little ma,rt, a more cheerful counfry at once
presents itself, and a level and well-travelled road
echoes cheerUy to the steps of his steed. Small
droves of donkeys, with fheir panniers fiUed with the
firmly moulded product of the mine, wind along the
highway, and far above appears fhe Girgenti on fhe
summit of a mountain. Although this, like most
of the Sicihan towns when viewed from afar, pre-
. sents a, strong, ancient, and really picturesque ap
pearance, when more intimately known it is found
to consist of narrow and filthy streets, where beggary
vaunts its wretchedness, and comfort is almost un
known ; where a splendid church, a few palaces, or
some beautifuUy located convents are in saddening
contrast with the general and too often disgusting

AGRIGENTUM. 209
tokens of neglect and misery. It was perfectly
refreshing to fhe spirits of the strangers fo find them
selves, on a balmy and bright morning, free from fhe
air of the modern town which rose commandingly
above them, and traversing the fertile and noble plain
upon which stand the antiquities they sought.
The day, indeed, was an uncommon one even for
that region. The warm enervating breath of a mild
sirocco wind was tempered by the sea-breeze. The
light fleecy clouds of a summer sky had floated down
to the very edge of the horizon, and fhe broad clear
canopy of heaven was one boundless expanse of
azure, while the sun, as yet devoid of the intense
heat of the a.pproaching season, shone in all the
glory without fhe fervid heat of a southern spring.
It was one of those splendid days which bring to
such as are blessed with health, an unaccountable
exhUaration ; which fill up fhe measure of content,
and charm the senses whUe they animate the soul.
The field through which our little party were pro
ceeding, was vividly green with early grain, as if the
goddess once worshipped in this plain stiU dehghted
fo clothe it with the emblems of her favor. Over
this thickly-woven garniture, fell far and wide the
shadows of innumerable almond and olive trees,
which studded, for a great distance, the plentiful
domain ; the dark and light tints of their foliage inter
mingling in rich variety. Here stood the second
ancient city of Sicily. The remains of a temple
consecrated to Ceres and Prosperine have shared the
fate of many architectural relics of past ages, in

210 AGRIGENTUM.
being transformed into constituent parts of a church.
One column of what is caUed Vulcan's temple is em
bedded in a peasant's cottage, and the only other
remaining one rises at the corner of his garden-wall.
Two columnar fragments, and the staircase of the
temple of Esculapius are in a like situation. But
with these exceptions, the ruins of Agrigentum exist
inviolate to an extraordinary degree, and are less in
vaded by modern and irrelevant circumstances than
is often the case with fhe antiquities of Europe. The
first in tolerable preservation is fhe temple of Juno
Lucina. Its position is beautiful and commanding;
and the foundation of the internal wall, thirteen
perfect and many broken columns of the Doric
order, are still standing. The altar-base is also dis
coverable and one can follow the corridors in their
whole extent. > From the httle esplanade in front, a
view of vastness and beauty expands to the vision.
This space was evidently left for effect, and a few
ancient benches of stone at a sufficient distance fo
command a view of fhe whole edifice, suggest how
much judgment was exercised in fhe location and
arrangement of the edifice. This spot must have
been a favorite retreat for the contemplative. The
sea spreads itself ilhmitably on the one side, and all
the space around is one luxuriant valley bounded by
a fine ridge of mountains, upon one of which the
modern town of Girgenti now stands ; while directly
before fhe spectator rose, with a simple majesty ac
cordant with the spirit of the scene, the noble fabric
whose vestiges stiU awaken admiration.

AGRIGENTUM. 211
" One disposed fo be fanciful," said Vittorio, as
they stood enjoying the prospect, " might almost
imagine that he heard the flutter of a philosopher's
robe in fhis early and invigorating breeze, so well-
adapted seems the spot fo fhe dignify of thought.
And may we not reasonably suppose that this level
space before so beautiful an edifice, has often been
paced by the slow feet of sages as fhey sought, ac
cording to the delightful custom of antiquity, mutually
to impart wisdom, with Nature's restoring breath
playing around, and Art's noblest trophies rising
beside them ? It was within the walls of fhis tem
ple, that the precious painting of Zeuxis, in which
were concentrated the charms of the five most lovely
women of Agrigentum, was preserved."
" It is a fine idea, is it not," said Isabel, " that of
weaving into one perfect whole the beauties which
nature has scattered '( There is poetry in the thought.
So may we gather the volatile light of pleasure by
keeping our spirits clear and open that, like a lens,
they may gather the scattered rays and make them
radiate one warm beam of joy upon the heart."
" And there is philosophy in the thought, also," said
Vittorio. " Thus, too, comes to us wisdom and truth.
Men err most essentially by seeking them from partial
sources ; one from a single science, another from
nature alone, and a third from an abstract theory.
Like the Grecian painter, we should be more uni
versal ; and combine into a luminous ¦whole, the
light that beams from the wide domain of creation,

212 AGRIGENTUM.
and fhe broad universe of humanity. We should
roam, like the blessed founder of a pure religion,
seeking emblems of fhe good and the true in the hly
and the grass, in the humble action of the despised,
and the ostentatious effort of the wealthy, in the
aspect of childhood and the events of time. Glean
ing thus from society and the universe, the garland
we should weave on fhe by-way of time, like fhe
painting of Zeuxis, would blend the various glories
which men too often seek singly, and therefore find
inadequate." Passing on by scattered masses of the ancient
waUs, in which are discoverable the niches for fhe
deposit of funeral urns, fhe next temple is that of
Concord, the most perfect of the antiquities, being
complete with the exception of fhe roof If is situated
a little lower than that of Juno, but is stiU sufficiently
elevated, to command from its fop the same extent
and variety of scenery. At the distance of a few
rods, a line of low wall-stones and a group of columnar
and other fragments, evidence the former mag
nificence of the Temple of Hercules, and farther On,
two or three enormous capitals, and the foundation
layers of the outer wall of the temple of Jupiter
Olympicus, prove it to have been one of the largest
of fhe ancient edifices of Sicily. As the visitor
wanders amid this huge mass of ruins, he discovers
in the midst, a group of stone-work, in which a
little attention wiU enable him to decipher the linea
ments and frame of a stupendous giant. Several
other remnants of this kind are noticeable among

AGRIGENTUM. 213
the massive blocks, and it is conjectured that these
monsters were carved fo form a secondary row of
pillars in this grand structure. In a pleasant dale
below this heap of remains, stand three chaste co
lumns and a cornice, aU that exist entire of the temple
of Castor and Pollux. A square massive tower of
unquestionable antiquity, in the vicinity, is known as
the tomb of Theron, although by some if is supposed
to be the monument of a horse, many of which are
known to have been erected by the Agrigenfines.
After many delightful hours spent in viewing these
various objects, Vittorio suggested that they should
repair to the convent of St. Nicolo, which stands
upon the brow of a mountain above the valley.
This monastery has, for many years,' been deserted
by the Franciscan fraternity, to whose patrfmony it
belongs; but it is still visited occasionaUy by travel
lers on account of the fine view obtainable from its
roof. When they reached this point of observation,
the panorama canopied by a brilhant sky, appeared
to them unparalleled. The surface of the distant sea
was unbroken by a single sail, but the line of foam
evidenced that its wide bosom was stirred far out by
the free wind. The dark tint of the innumerable
ancient ohves, relieved the hg"ht green of the almond
trees, which shared with them the extensive plain.
On a gradually dechning strip of upland, between the
convent and the sea, at a sufficient distance apart to
give due effect to each, appeared the remains of the
city- — ^Juno's line of pillars, the graceful Temple of
Concord, prominent in, its completeness, the dim
19

214 AGRIGENTUM.
masses of Jupiter and Hercules, and in meek beauty,
lightly springing from below, the three columns of
Castor and PoUux. The stone of which these temples
is composed is not of a firm texture, and fhe marine
atoms discernible in its composition prove it to be of
aUuvial formation. It is of a brownish or clay color,
which contrasts finely with the verdure around, and,
with the added advantage of the lucid atmosphere
peculiar to these regions, gives to the several struc
tures an exquisite relief in fhe landscape. The notes
of birds, or the clear chime of fhe bells from the
town above, were the only sounds which disturbed
the reflections of the strangers, as they gazed -from
the lofty convent upon the scene of their ramble.
"Enterprise," observed Frazier, "weU directed in
the excavation of this valley, would, doubtless, bring
to light many valuable relics of antiquity. No one
can inspect fhe meagre collection which has rewarded
the comparatively trifling labor bestowed here in
seeking for vases, without being convinced that there
are innumerable unearthed treasures lying beneath
these grain fields." "It were certainly desirable,"
said Vittorio, " not only here but at Pompeii and
Rome, where fhe sight of such slow and childish
attempts at discovery in a sphere in which one feels
there is so much to seek, is certainly provoking. But
how admirably are these antiquities situated to con
vey an impression ! No pUes of wooden buildings
environ them. The noise and filth of a populous town
obhges not the traveller to seek them by moonlight, as
is the case in fhe Eternal city. They are alone with

AGRIGENTUM. 215
nature. As we look upon them thus, there is no
difficulty in realizing their authenticity. Through
this plain whirled the ivory chariots ofthe Agrigenfines
drawn by horses of unrivalled swiftness and beauty.
Here the tyrant Phalaris practised his cruelties.
From that line of tombs hurried the fear-stricken
soldiers of Hannibal, when the sudden thunder storm
frightened them from fheir sacrilegious purpose. A
little more than four centuries before the Christian era,
a population of eight hundred thousand souls inhabited
this rich valley, now rendered picturesque by a few
remnants ofthe majestic temples of their gods. Over
aU else obscurity has drawn a veU. And long may
these beautiful relics lift their time-worn shapes from
this verdant plain, to solemnize fhe fresh exuber
ance of nature with the emblems of departed time,
and awaken the thoughtful yet pleasing emotions
with which we contemplate fhe mystery of the
Past !"
The return route from Girgenti to fhe capital by the
most direct way, affords a good opportunity fo judge
of the interior features of the island. Perhaps there
are few countries of similar extent, where a greater
contrast is observable than that between the coast
and interior of Sicily. Along the sea and about Etna,
the aspect is fertile and delightful, and the stranger
who should circumnavigate the island during fine
weather, would receive an impression of the richness
and beauty of the country which might reahze his
most romantic dreams of the luxurious south. - Yet
farther back, bare hills and wild torrents constitute

216 AGRIGENTUM.
the predominant scenery, sometimes brightened and
diversified by patches of wild flowers. . The course
which our pilgrims pursued to expedite their return,
led them through long tracks of bleak pasturage, and
they crossed more than thirty times the same cir-
cuifous_^M?wore, then shrunk to comparatively narrow
dimensions, but when at aU swollen by the winter
rains, presenting a complete barrier fo fhe traveller's
progress. Yet amidst these unproductive parts of
fhe island, there are still presented striking evidences
of its natural resources. The low mounds and light
smoke ofthe sulphur mines, of which there are several
of apparently unexhaustible material in Sicily, are
seen at intervals giving signs of life to some lonely
ridge of hills. Still if is a relief to emerge after a
long day's travel, from fhis almost deserted domain
and strike upon fhe fine road which runs through the
island. The occasional appearance of the country
guards, who generaUy move abroad in pairs well
mounted, give an assurance of the neighborhood of
more civilized provinces. These campieri, as they
are called, are selected from the inhabitants of each
viUage, and their commander is responsible for 'all
robberies on the highway during the day, an arrange
ment which has proved very effectual in preserving
the rights of travellers. In fhe neighborhood of Pa
lermo, a broad valley covered with rocks and olive-
trees indicates the scene of a noted brigand-fight, in
which seven of these desperadoes succeeded in keeping
at bay a large number of troops and- nearly a hundred
peasants for several hours, and at length five effected

AGRIGENTUM. 217
their escape. Another scene of interest in the vici
nity is a village founded by a Greek colony, where
one of the dialects of that language is stUl spoken,
and on feast-days the costume of fhe nation worn.
It is one of the customs peculiar to this spot, and a
similar and more distant settlement, that the priesfs are
allowed to marry. In the light of a fine afternoon
the vale of Palermo was once again revealed to the
longing eyes of Isabel, and she could not but compare
the mere curiosity with which she first greeted fhe dis
tant city, with the homefelf emotions which now filled
her heart, as at the presence of a cherished friend.

19*

THE REUNION.

" 0 welcome guest, though unexpected here!" COWPEB.

To acquire true impressions, the traveller should
revisit scenes of natural interest and beauty, and be
hold them in diflerent moods of mind and at different
seasons of the year. If this is true generally, if is
particularly so in regard fo many parts of Southern
Europe, and especially of the island Sicily. A
gloomy sky or chilly wind often dispels all charm
from her fairest prospect, and although the perennial
verdure of the fertile regions, gives them at all times
a cheerful aspect, yet it is wonderful how the feel
ings of fhe stranger who stands beneath fhe cloudless
sky, and in the clear sunlight of spring or autumn,
contrasts with those which he experiences when the
scene is veiled by the winter rain, or parched by
the heat of mid-summer. Our pilgrims were con
scious of this when, for the second time, they ap-

220 THE REUNION.
preached that part of fhe island which, in the view of
the scientific, presents the greatest amount of interest.
One of those beautiful English yachts which may
occasionally be seen cruising on the Mediterranean
coast, had borne them, in a few hours, from Palermo
to Catania. Before" reaching their destination, they
surveyed from thfe sea those remarkable masses of
basaltic rock which rise near the shore, and were
obviously fhe offspring of Etna. To ascend this
mountain was fhe object of their .visit, and on land
ing, Isabel noted with delight the rapidity with
which vegetation unfolded, and the universal hue of
spring which had robed the whole adjacent country.
At such a period, fhe singular prevalence of the lava
is more striking. Indeed, nothing but familiarity with
this wonderful material, prevents its appearance in
such abundance from exciting surprise. The entire
domain for many leagues around fhe volcano, bears
witness fo the frequency and extent of its eruptions.
The lava here lies heaped in rocky masses ; there
reduced to powder it constitutes the road ; decom
posed by time, it forms fhe soil in which every vari
ety of tree and vegetable flourish ; shaped by the
chisel it appears in the form of doorways and pillars,
while its rougli and unhewn fragments serve for the
walls of plantations.
The road to Nicolosi, "which constitutes the first
stage of the ascent, is bordered with vineyards,
. intersected with streams of lava, of later origin than
those which cortipose the soiL With the exception of
these dark ridges, and the fine black dust which flies

THE REUNION. 221
around the traveller, there is little to impress him
with the idea that he is passing over a country once
devastated by a volcanicrnundation. Yet directly be
fore his eye, rise two seemingly low mounds, with se
parate peaks but joined at their bases, of a duU red
color, half covered with shrubbery. This is Monte
Rossi, whence issued the fatal streams of 1669. After
several hours repose, our travellers found themselves
beyond the vUlage, and moving slowly towards fhe
desired summit. It was night. The sky was clear
and the air calm. No sound but the heavy tread of
the mules through the sand-hke path, disturbed the
deep StiUness of fhe hour. The light of a lantern
carried by a boy in advance of fhe guide, glimmered
upon the huge blocks of lava which were widely
scattered around, hke the waves of a mighty sea,
petrified in some moment of convulsion, and dyed
with the ebon blackness of a storm-cloud. Occa
sionally a meteor flashed athwart the star-gemmed
sky, or a breeze from above swept fitfully by. There
was something indescribably Solemn in thus seeking
the summit of one of earth's most venerable moun
tains in the solitude and shadow of night, and for
some time they continued to progress silently, tUl
the Count observed to Frazier, "We have seen
many antiquities, but none of fhem can vie in age
with fhis mountain. If was sought by the wise men
of old not less than by the inquirers of our own age.
It is celebrated by the earliest poets. Pindar sang
its wonders, and fhe mythology of a later epoch
accounted for its mysterious movements by the

222 THE REUNION.
theory of the Cyclops, who, it was fabled, were
forging the armour of Vulcan beneath yonder cone."
"And to us it remains almost as much of a mys
tery," said Frazier", " in many essential respects. As
to its history, it seems to me we can best read it in the
various strata of lava around us, some fhe produc
tion of remote ages, some not yet cooled by fhe
upper air. Who can survey its enormous base, and
note the springs generated in its bosom, the many
colored minerals encrusted on its surface, the sulphu
reous massesembeddedinits sides, the fantastic ridges
chnging around if, fhe masses it has hurled into the
sea, the snow upon its heights, the blaze from its
crater, and the infinite variety of trees and plants
serenely growing over its wide breast, without ac
knowledging it to be one of the greatest wonders of
this wonderful creation ?" Having crossed the woody
region, an extensive tract thinly covered with large
ilexes, with few branches, and almost destitute of fo
hage, they passed a space of more difficult passage,
from the broken fragments of lava and tortuous
channels between fhem, and came to a broad snow
plain, whose hard and slippery surface afforded an
uncertain foothold, and where the cold, keen wind,
and extreme rarification of the air, warned them
that the trials attendant upon the expedition had not
been wholly exaggerated. This sloping area reaches
to the base of the cone. As they moved towards it,
the smoke burst in heavy volumes from its centre,
the dense column ever and anon reddening with a
deep crimson flash, which rose with a kind of supeiv

THE REUNION. 223
natural glare, throwing a dazzling light over the snow,
and looming through the clear atmosphere with a
momentary but startling briUiancy. The young moon
appeared, like a large golden crescent, hanging on the
horizon, when they left the last refuge called the
Casa Inglese, and commenced chmbing toward the
crater over heaps of crumbhng lava. As they were
seated away from fhe immediate influence of the suf
focating exhalation upon the edge of the boUing
abyss, dawn began to ghmmer along the sky, and
far beneath them, at fhe horizon's edge, the sun ap
pearing like an enormous globe of fire, seemed to
start from the mountains of Calabria, scattering over
the smaU fleecy clouds every variety of gorgeous
tint, and bathing the sea and hill-tcps in light. Then
felt the lonely spectators on fhe summit of Etna the
sublimity of fheir position. Volcanic mounds rose
to fheir gaze, like ant-hills, over the whole mountain.
Sicily was spread beneath them — its mountains, cities,
and islands dwindled to the dimensions of minutely-
pictured objects. Syracuse was visible on the shore ;
Castro Giovanni among the hiUs. They descried
Maha, and even fhe distant Adriatic, and fhe shadow
of fhe cone of Etna faUing like a mighty pyramid
over fhe southern side of the island. Who can de
scribe the emotions excited by such a landscape?
They are part of that poetry of lite which whispers
in mystic but thrilling tones of a spirit in the human
breast, above fhe destiny of earth, and immortal as
fhe stars, a spirit which

224 THE REUNION.
" Has power to make
Our noisy years seem moments in the being
Of the eternal silence."
"I am fond of analogies," said Isabel, as they
descended fhe last lava plain — " especially between
man and nature. Is not the volcanic soil of this re
gion like the temperament of the people ? These
rocks are formed by a sudden convulsion at ' once,
and momently; so the feehngs- of the children of
the South, mould themselves into action immediately ;
quick, fervent, and impetuous, fhey rush, forth to
results. In northern countries, the slow processes of
years form the granite ribs of the hUls, and the sons
of those climes are contented with regular, reflective,
and gradually matured feeling." "And remember,"
said the Count, "the crystals found in fhe quickly
smouldered furnace are often as clear and beautiful
as fhe stalactite created by the slow-dropping water
through countless years."
The warm season had now commenced ; and our
travellers found fhe change from the stiU brooding
heat and scorching sirocco of fhe Capital, to the
breezy confines of Messina delightfully refreshing.
There is a certain melancholy, though not displeasing
influence, in the advent of a Southern summer. The
long days when the heat forbids active exercise
abroad, and enjoins quiet at home, following each
other in bright yet monotonous succession, induce a
physical languor which begets a dreamy mood. The
very brilliancy of the weather, unbroken for weeks

THE REUNION. 225
by a single change, chastens the buoyancy which the
variety of other seasons awakens, and fhe many
hours that are passed in fhe airy solitude of lofty
apartments are rather calculated to subdue than ex
cite. The siesta and the bath take the place of the
opera and the promenade. Repose becomes a luxury,
and thrown back upon itself the mind is prone to
quiet musing and the iraagination to soothing flights.
Never had this season dawned so richly upon Isabel,
and yet its music was the saddest strain which re
newed nature had ever breathed upon her spirit.
She found herself at the point whence her journey
ings had commenced, and yet she was apparently
no nearer their object. From the window of their
apartment on the Marina, she watched for hours the
varying tints which played upon fhe opposite moun
tains of Calabria; or tracing the dwarfed line of
contiguous buildings, called to mind the earthquakes
which had transformed that peaceful landscape into
a scene of terror and destruction, fhe effects of
which are still so palpable. But disappointment
shadowed her most tranquil moments. In vain the
Count planned the most pleasant excursions. They
charmed but momentarily. They had often followed,
in fhe calm light of eventide, the long, curving
beach, formed, according to classic fable, by fhe
cycle of Saturn, from the town fo the Faro, and
thence viewed the massive square rock on thc oppo
site coast, and the gurgling -currents near — the once
dreaded dangers of the deep — tiie Scylla and Cha-
20

226 THE REUNION.
rybdis of antiquity; or from some favourable point,
watched fhe twilight gather slowly over the beauti
ful hills which closely environ fhe town, or noted fhe
splendid chiaro of fhe atmosphere, which is nowhere
more strikingly obvious than in this part of the island.
These peaceful evenings, however, solaced Isabel,
and she often returned from such excursions re-ani
mated by the exercise; and as they sat in the stone
balcony, inhaling the invigorating breeze as it swept
through the Faro, and watching the lights of the
fishermen's boats as their red glare flashed over the
calm fide of the harbor, the cheering words of her
uncle, and the tender assiduities of her lover failed
not fo renew her hopes and renovate her spirits.
On one occasion they started on fheir afternoon
expedition in an unusually cheerful mood. Vittorio
was in high glee because he had received intelligence
that a party of travellers had landed some weeks
since at Syracuse, and having explored most of the
island, arrived at Palermo, and were on the point of
visiting Messina; and among them he hoped was fhe
father of Isabel. Frazier was elated from anticipa
ting the arrival of an American frigate, the commander
of which was his intimate friend ; while Isabel having
instinctively caught something ofthe blitheness of her
companions, reciprocated all- their words of encou
ragement, and smiled at every ebullition Of their kindly
wit. Their object on this occasion was to visit one
of the highest hills, where stands the Telegraph, com
manding fhe finest prospect in the vicinity. After

THE REUNION. 227
following for several hours a winding road, overlook
ing precipitous and umbrageous glens, and bounded
by yet more lofty Mils thickly covered with fern, fhey
reached the desired spot, and beheld a scene of fran-
scendant beauty. On the one side were the Lipari
islands, rising at intervals from the sea, the cone-like
mound of Stromboli conspicuous amid the group;
opposite, was the long range of Calabrian hiUs, and
below the Faro, town, and bay — constituting a rich
and finely-varied view, every feature of which was
vividly distinct at that clear and tranquil hour. They
had but rapidly taken cognizance of the several
phases of the picture, when it acquired a new and
unexpected interest. Around the point of the Faro
appeared the American frigate, her majestic form
slowly moving before the wind, and her well-known
flag gaily flaunting in the breeze; and a moment
after a steam-packet shot rapidly through, her smoke
streaming far along the horizon.
Isabel, after returning from this excursion, was
scarcely seated in her favorite balcony, ere Vittorio
entered with a look of delight, which instantly awak
ened the expectancy of his companion. ' " I have,"
said he, " at length once more encountered my Malta
friend ; and with your permission will bring him here
to pass the evening with us." Isabel checked^ the
expression of disappointment which rose to her lips,
and signified her assent. An hour elapsed before the
Count's return. Frazier was so occupied in examining
through his glass the equipments of the frigate, which
was anchored opposite the window, and Isabel was so

228 THE REUNION.
lost in her own thoughts, that they did nofnotice his
entrance, or that he was accompanied by his friend.
They approached the balcony and paused. Isabel
listlessly turned her head, and her eye instantly met
that of fhe stranger. There was a quick, short cry
of jecognition, and the next moment she was in the
arms of her father.

A few days subsequent, the dawn broke with more
than ordinary beauty over the landscape which
greeted the eyes of the pilgrims on their first arrival.
The morning was serene and cool. The blue waters
of the harbor were scarcely rippled. Far away
upon fhe undulating hiUs, sunlight and shade played
fantastically ; and fhe hum of re-awakened hfe rose
with a scarcely audible murmur. Suddenly volumes
of smoke roUed from the dark sides of the frigate, a
sheet of flame shot momently through the vapor, and
then, deep, loud and solemn echoed fhe thunder of
the report. Cloud after cloud wound gracefully
upward, and conjoined above her masts, and the at
tentive eye could occasionally trace a perfect circle
of smoke tUl it floated into the depths of the sky.
This parting salute was not immediately foUowed by
those rapid manoeuvres requisite to put the vessel in
motion. It was evident from the arrangements visi
ble, that some ceremony was to be performed before

THE REUNION. 229
her canvas was spread to the breeze. Shaded by a
broad canopy, the officers were composedly grouped
upon fhe pohshed quarter-deck, and near by were
the now united pilgrims, while below them the men
presented gallant hnes, standing uncovered, and in
such silent array that the flutter of the national bannfer
might be distinctly heard. Beneath that emblem of
her far distant country, the marriage vows of Isabel
were uttered, and at the conclusion of the rite, the
noble vessel stretched proudly away for the neighbor
ing shores of Italy. It is only when we leave the
scene of a pilgrimage that we perfectly realize its inter
esting and characteristic features. As Isabel watched
the diminishing headlands of the island, the experience
of her sojourn was renewed in the retrospective
glance of memory. She recalled the peculiar and
lovely scenery which had so often cheered her sight.
She reverted to fhe numberless beings who were
content fo drudge on in the monotonous circuit of a few
dim thoughts, and the dark requisition of a narrow
creed, and fhe countless victims of ignorance and
poverty that grope abjectly amid such ennobling scenes
of picturesqueness and beauty. She thought of the
noble rehcs of the Past that still sanctify the soil, and
the acts of kindness and words of sympathy which
had solaced ^her exile. The mingled remembrances
grew more vivid as the real picture became dim ; and
with her farewell glance, she breathed an aspiration
spontaneously inspired in every susceptible mind, in
taking leave of Sicily — that fhe time may come when

230

THE REUNION.

the rich resources and beautiful garniture with which
Nature has blessed fhe ancient island, may be hal
lowed ,by a worthier heritage of human freedom,
intelligence, and virtue.

THE END.

LEA AND BLANCHARD,
(successors to CAREY AND CO.)
HAVE RECENTLY PUBLISHED
A Splendid Illustrated Edition of
TBE BOOK OF THE PASSIONS.
BY G. P. R. JAMES, ESQ.
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In one handsome Royal Octavo Volume, printed on fine
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A fine edition in Six Volnmes, Royal 12mo., printed on
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ROB OF THE BO^VL;
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STAiriiEV;
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