UJJXETVEW01
YALE UNIVERSITY
LIBRARY

Bought with the income
of the
LARNED FUND

TWO HUNDRED AND NINE DAYS ;

on,

THE JOURNAL

TRAVELLER ON THE CONTINENT.
BY
THOMAS JEFFERSON HOGG,
OF THE MIDDLE TEMPLE, ESQ.; BARRISTER AT LAW.
IN TWO VOLUMES.
VOL. U

LONDON:
PUBLISHED BY HUNT AND CLARKE,
4, YORK STREET, COVENT CARDEN.
1827.

JOURNAL, &c.

A person is apt to imagine, that when he enters
Rome for the first time, he is to have his head full of
Romulus and Remus, of Julius Caesar and the Grac
chi ; this perhaps would be the case, if mankind would
let one another alone ; but as they have never done so,
and I fear never will, it is not easy to think much of
the Gracchi, of their mother Cornelia, or of any thing
else. At the gate began the inquiries about passports ;
we were next taken to the custom-house, where we
were detained a long time, and every thing was pulled
about with much rudeness and incivility ; my books
were taken away, and I was told to come for them the
next morning. I found all the hotels full, but I suc
ceeded at last in obtaining apartments in the Piazza di
Spagua. It was now dark, and I might as well have
been in London, except that I should be more com
fortable there ; however, at last, I am in Rome.
VOL. II. B

Friday, November 18. — I went first to the police
about my passport ; they had not sent it to the office ;
I was therefore required to call again. They readily
gave me the address of a secretary of legation ; but
that of a noble lady, who had the good, or bad fortune
to be of a family opposed to the government, and
friendly to human freedom and happiness, they would
not give: they pretended not to know the names of
her father, or husband ; but impertinently said, that
they were the names, perhaps, of some tradesmen ; as
if a foreigner were to inquire in London at the alien
office for the residences of Lord Grey and Lord
Holland, and were to be answered, with a spite not
less ludicrous, than pitiful, — really we never heard
of such people ; that old woman selling apples there is
called Grey, she perhaps can inform you where her
relations live; and the only Holland we know is Holland
the cats-meat man, he will pass this way presently with
his barrow, and you can then deliver your letters to
him. I next went to the custom-house to redeem my
two books, an Itinerary and a German Dictionary ; I
would willingly have presented them to the Pope to
add to the hidden treasures of the Vatican library, but
the Dictionary was given me by a cherished friend, who
is now no more ; thus we are enslaved, in small things
as well as great, by our affections.
To release these two books I was detained a long-

ROME. 3
time, and went to seven different departments of the
custom-house, and procured nearly as many different
signatures. All seemed to strive to be uncivil ; there
was a sort of emulation in rudeness, as if these creatures
sought to please a government, which is hostile to letters
and an enemy of all knowledge, by insulting those
who bring books, on whatever subject, into the country.
Their behaviour was such as to make Shakspeare's
Jack Cade appear to be no caricature ; it was easy to
imagine that one of these literary sentinels would ex
claim with the demagogue, " Thou hast most traitor
ously corrupted the youth of the realm, in erecting a
grammar school ; aud whereas before our forefathers had
no other books but the score and the tally, thou hast
caused printing to be used ; and contrary to the king,
his crown, and dignity, thou hast built a paper-mill.
It will be proved to thy face, thou hast men about thee,
that usually talk of a noun, and a verb; and such
abominable words, as no Christian ear can endure to
hear." To me the literary obstruction was quite unim
portant ; and so far as it showed the spirit and character
of ecclesiastical dominion, desirable : but some unhappy
German architects, who had come to study in Rome*
and had brought a large box of books relating to their
profession, and which were to be the means of earning
their bread, were cruelly annoyed. I saw these modesty
unassuming, and well instructed young men, any one
B t

ROME.

of whom had more knowledge than the whole College
of Cardinals, treated by an ignorant little Jack-in-
office, who was as worthy of contempt, as they were
of respect, in a manner that is a scandal to any civil
ized country, and a disgrace to human nature. I felt
it extremely difficult to repress my indignation ; and it
was only the consideration, that it would probably be
injurious to them, that prevented my giving vent to
it in the strongest terms.
I passed some time in seeking for the residence of
a person whom I wished to find ; it is not an easy
matter to find any one in Rome. A friend, who has
a pleasant house in an elevated situation, led me to the
window, which commauded a noble view over Rome,
and pointed out many interesting objects ; it was my
first enjoyment in this city, at least of an intellectual
kind ; the animal pleasure of sleeping away the enor
mous fatigue of a tedious journey was not trifling. I
had also the satisfaction of finding letters at the post-
office, and of reading good accounts of absent friends;
the kindness with which I was received in every city
by persons to whom I had letters of recommendation,
was pleasing, and tends to give a high opinion of man
kind, of whom I have always been disposed to think
well; but the letters from old friends, who are just as
attentive to one's interests when" absent, as when pre
sent, are more soothing.

I gazed at the great columns of Antonine and Tra
jan; I found my way to the Capitol, a noble pile; to
the Forum, a place half field, half cattle market,
studded with interesting ruins ; I contemplated three
arches,- of which a third part was formerly buried, but
which have been dug out as far as the ancient pavement ;
many persons are displeased at these excavations, they
prefer a half length, or kit-kat; I like a full length
portrait, when it is to be had. I then found the Co
losseum, a wonderful place : it is skilfully repaired, aud
supported in those parts where it shows an inclination
to fall. At physical existences, even at the Colosseum,
one casts a glance, or takes one good look, and can do
no more ; but moral existences attract and detain the
attention. My regards were soon drawn away from
the stone walls, which, however wonderful, are but
stone walls, and addressed to a crowd collected by the
preaching of a capuchin. I joined in the throng, and
listened to his discourse.' He spoke most fluently,
without pause or stop, and gave a strangely acute
accent to the last syllable of every word; the stuff
he uitered was not so bad as might have been ex
pected. He was not in a pulpit, but on a stage,
like a mountebank's, upon which he walked back
wards and forwards in the manner of a wild beast in
its cage at Exeter-change ; nor did he resemble one
of those creatures less in aspect, than in his action.

ROME.

A man kept clinking a box of half-pence all the time,
as an instrumental accompaniment to the preacher's
vocal performance ; it was also meant as a gentle hint
to the pocket ; but the faithful thought it less costly
to be contrite than generous — less painful to grunt
than to give; the ghostly father got more groans
than halfpence. When the discourse was concluded
they knelt down to pray, the monk said a prayer,
and the people repeated it after him ; they then got
tip and walked in procession to the several stations,
singing and making the same loud and doleful noise
that is heard in England in the vicinity of a meeting
house, when the Methodists, or other serious persons
within, are in full operation. A large wooden cross is
planted in the middle of the arena ; from time to time,
women walked up to it and kissed it with a rapturous
fervour ; I felt curious to know how far the cross was
to be envied, supposing it to be sensible of their ca
resses ; I therefore approached it ; and of the many
ladies who kissed it, I cannot say that any one was fit
to kiss any thing but wood ; nevertheless the old ladies
may be very lovely— I speak only of the impression
they made upon me.
I afterwards rambled in the dusk amongst the vast
passages of the Colosseum. There is something fine
in the general aspect of the bronze statue of Marcus
Aureliuson the Capitol, but it has many faults; the

ROME. <j
emperor's horsemanship is not of the best. It is a
favourite amusement in Italian society to make and
guess charades ; but the language has few compound
words and few nouns which are monosyllables : it is not
therefore well suited for charades.
Saturday, November 19. — I walked this day nine
hours and a half in pursuit of lions ; at least I was so
long on my feet, without rest or refreshment, and I did
not feel much fatigue, which satisfied me that I was not
in a very delicate state of health. The exterior aspect
of St. Peter's with its colonnades is striking; a huge
crab with vast claws. The facade is full of faults and
of beauties ; the warm and agreeahle temperature, as
you enter, is remarkable; and the elaborate and costly
beauty of the interior pleases. I wished for it, which
is the best proof that I liked it ; I wished that it were
in London, open at all times, to be visited and ad
mired ; a place to walk in, and to talk in ; a place for
the meetings of friends, and, if love would have it so,
of lovers ; and that we had no hypocrites, or at least
no hypocrites with the power to lock it up ; and through.
the affectation of reverence, and under false pretences,
to turn it into a lucrative show and a source of base
profit. Foolish people have said innumerable foolish
things about this building ; one of the most foolish
is the assertion, that the being really great but appearing

g ROME.
small is a merit, and a proof of the excellence of its
proportions ; but the end of art and of proportion is
not to make the great appear small, but, on the con
trary, to make the small seem great ; it is therefore in
truth a vice in the construction. That it is indeed
great is to be discovered not by comparing it with man,
but it is collected by means of a middle term ; the
canopy of bronze, which covers the high altar in the
likeness of a four-post bed, is a convenient middle
term : by comparing a man with the canopy, and the
canopy with the building, we are enabled to form some
idea of its immense magnitude. The painted cupola
and roof, the mosaics, and the inlaid pavement, the
gigantic statues of marble, and the marble columns,
all harmonize into one beautiful whole, one majestic
tomb to cover the body of —
" The pilot of the Galilean lake,"
who, it is said, reposes in a chapel under the cupola,
where one hundred and twelve lamps of massive silver
are continually burning ; and whither persons flock
from all parts of the Christian world to offer up their
prayers, in the hope of a more favourable hearing hear
the remains of one, whom many have thought worthy
of no common honours, and of such a marvellous
sepulchre. I am not quite sure that I am content
with the gilding of the roof, or that I would ever
admit of gilding; the metallic lustre does not harmo-

ROME.

nize with any thing else, and it soon tarnishes unequally.
The boxes for confession are numerous ; they are de
cidedly an eye-sore, being exactly like cobblers stalls,
in which the cobbler of souls sits with a white wand in
his hand, such as is borne in our courts of justice by
a bound-bailiff, when exercising. the functions of door
keeper. The boxes are inscribed with the names of
the different languages of the Christian world; thus
far they have a picturesque effect ; that around each is
frequently assembled a group of a different nation,
more or less civilized, or uncivilized, according to the
part of the universal world from which the stranger of
the Catholic religion has travelled. Of the monuments,
many are vast and gorgeous ; in one, two lions have
much merit; another represents the busts of three
Stuarts, pretended, or Pretender kings, who are lite
rally and ludicrously placed on the shelf; both these
unequal works are equally from the chisel of Canova.
The interior M this vast, church is the perfection of
loveliness, and surpasses every thing that the imagi
nation can fancy ; in an immense building scarcely one
spot of pavement, roof, or walls, can be found, which
is not as beautiful as art, labour, colours, marble,
gems, and cost can make it; I had no notion what a
temple made with hands may be.
It is strange what erroneous ideas of things one gets : it
appears to me that the first person who writes a book,

10 ROME.
does not visit the country which he describes, and that
others follow his book, not their own eyes. I had always
read that Florence was a cheerful place, and was sur
prized to find that the Old Bailey and Newgate-street
must be the favourite haunts of dimpled Mirth, and that
Laughter might be found holding both his sides in
Warwick-lane, rather than in the gloomyTuscan capital.
At Rome I expected to feel like a worm crawling about
a skull ; that it would be impossible to turn the corner
of a street, or to look out of the window, without
bursting into tears ; but I found that the city upon
seven hills, and upwards, has much of the bright
smart aspect of Bath and Cheltenham. I suppose, by
reflecting upon the theme, that Romulus, and Remus,
and St. Gregory the great, and many others who used
to reside here, are dead, the mind may be attuned to
sorrow ; but when left to itself, I do not think that the
aspect of the place alone would make it sad. There
are ruins in plenty to be sure, but they are white and
handsome, and not of a mournful countenance. I
shall in future distrust all books of travels ; and if I
find either Vesuvius, or the sea, at Naples, I shall
wonder by what strange accident describers have for
once guessed right.
I walked from St. Peter's, by the gate called Cava]-
liggeri, to the Villa Pamfili ; I saw the gardens in an
agreeable manner; the old woman opened the gate,

ROME. 1 1
and permitted me to wander about as I pleased. They
are finely situated on a hill, with noble views of Rome
and St. Peter's; they have walks of evergreens, statues,
fountains, and terraces ; a style of laying out a garden
which has its merits ; but which does not please me so
much as an English shrubbery. A statue that stands
in the open air is broken and mossy; a fountain is
commonly deformed with weeds, and is rarely a pretty
object; one here is an exception, in which a lion's
mouth blows a globe, or great bubble of water, under
large ilexes. I can imagine that in the heat of summer
the murmuring sound, and the draught of air, soothe
and refresh, and the utility of fountains for watering
the thirsty ground is obvious. A wood of pines in
their natural state contrasts well with the more finished
parts of the garden : the small number of small leaves,
which these trees have, if the leaves are really, as Lin-
neeus says, the organs of respiration, show that this
tree requires but little breath. The house, or casino,
has some antiques ; but it is hardly worth a visit, ex
cept, perhaps, for the view from the top.
I entered Rome by the gate of S. Pancrazio, and
passing a noble fountain, came to the church of S.
Pietro in Montorio : the view of Rome is extremely
fine ; the day was very favourable. In the first chapel
on the right hand in entering the church, a fresco of
the Flagellation, by Sebastian del Piombo, attracts

12 ROME.
attention. I visited another fresco in the old church
of S. Cosimato ; the theatre of Marcellus and some
of the neighbouring ruins. The story of a considerable
hill formed entirely of fragments of pottery, seemed
so incredible, that I confess I doubted the truth of it ;
but a long inspection of the Monte Testaceo convinced
me that it was true. The fragments are almost all
red, like tiles, but they are of a spherical form, and
seem to be pieces of amphora, especially as there are
many bits of handles and the knobs from the bottom of
the vessels. It is said, that in the summer a very cool
wind issues from the bottom of the mountain; they
have built cellars round a great part of it for cooling
wine : this seems strange, but I will not doubt it, as
I doubted concerning the structure of the hill ; they
have besides built the cellars, I presume, not in vain.
It is a place of summer resort, and, indeed, the Prim
rose-hill of Rome. I looked at the outside of the
Pyramid of Cestius, and walked at least a mile out of
the gate to see the ruins of the church of St. Paul.
When I got there, a vile priest would not let me see
them, but said it was some feast day, and prated, or
preached, for a quarter of an hour, to show me that he
had reason. He said that he had refused to admit the
wife of the Russian ambassador; and added, "You are
a foreigner, and therefore must know her." Such was
the simplicity, or stupidity, of th^monk: you are a

ROME. 13
foreigner from Patagonia, and must therefore know
Mrs. Smith of Hornsey.
Rome is one great Court of Chancery, not for ex
pense, but for delay ; no one can comprehend that a
few hours, a few days, a few weeks, or a few months,
can make any difference ; they speak with equal pa
tience of what will happen in an hour, the next year,
the next generation, or the next century. When a
man of sense is well off, he is unhappily apt to let well
alone ; I presume, therefore, that the Romans are very
comfortable ; or that they are, and have been, for a
long time so much the reverse, that they are sunk in
listlessness and hopeless despondency.
Sunday, November 20. — The interior of Santa
Maria Maggiore is perfectly beautiful, cheerful, and
fit for a ball-room; it has nothing of the air of melan
choly, which is usually felt in a church; they were
singing the service tolerably well. At one door a
parcel of foolish people were entering on their knees,
whilst some priests were occupied in certain mummeries
and juggling incantations. The Church of Rome re
commends good works, some other churches faith alone ;
if this manner of wearing out the knees of pantaloons
is to be considered a fair sample of good works, and
certain dogmas, which readily suggest themselves, are
to be taken as specimens of what is thought by sundry

14 ROME.

SUver

lien sects the most important to be believed, it is
y hard to say to which system the largest share of
unmitigated contempt is due.
The church of St. John Lateran is a fine edifice in
a bolder style; the facade has a noble air; but what
delighted me most there, was the list of reliques, which
is hung up near the high altar. It contains, amongst
other things, a tooth of St. Peter ; it does not tell us
whether it is one of his wise teeth ; if it be, I should
like to see it ; the hair shift, cilicium of St, Mary
Magdalen, a pretty amorous relique ; and a little baby
shirt, interula, made for the infant Saviour by the
hands of the Blessed Virgin.
Near this church is the Santa Scala ; a portico and
five staircases lead to small chapels: the staircase in
the centre is the Santa Scala; it is said to have been
sent from Pilate's house in Jerusalem to the empress
Helena, and that Christ walked down it as he was led
out to be crucified; people are permitted to ascend it
only on their knees ; the steps are wide and handsome,
and are of white marble; they have been cased with
wood, (as they were wearing out fast from the friction
of the knees of penitents,) but so that the marble be
neath may be seen and touched. Persons of all ages
and ranks ascend them in great numbers; everyone
remembering meanwhile —
"To number Ave Marias on his beads."

ROME. ]5
Whenever I passed the place, I found them constantly
covered with a continuous stream of contrite sinners
flowing slowly up hill. The ascent takes some minutes,
and is probably fatiguing ; they return by one of the
four lateral staircases, which have no extraordinary
sanctity, and may be used in the ordinary manner.
Man is an imitative animal ; I felt a wish to judge prac
tically of the amount of labour and difficulty in this
act of penance; but as I apprehended that there
might be some hitch in it, as there is in all things to
an inexperienced person, besides the great hitch, a
want of faith, I did not indulge my curiosity.
I visited, on horseback, St. Agnes, a church inte
resting for its antiquity, and for some ruins near it.
We had fastened our horses to a gate ; whilst we were
in the church, a fellow, as I had no doubt from his
discontented insolence, untied one, and bringing her
back, as we were coming out, pretended that she had
got loose; he also said that she had run to the gate of
Rome, which is two miles distant ; the aspect of the
mare, and the time elapsed, did not permit this to be
true. He was rewarded, but was not contented with
the money, which was doubled; he still complained,
and offered to give it back. I was sorry that this
matter did not rest with me; I would have found a
medicine for his disease ; I would have removed the
cause, and put it into my pocket; and such is the in-

16 HOME.
revest we feel in our own little personal affairs, that I
should have had more pleasure in this little act of
justice, than in looking at any ruin in the world.
We continued our ride, passing many flocks of sheep,
all black and wild; but less wild than their drivers ;
we crossed a little river, the Teverone, by a steep
ancient bridge, and came presently to the Mons Sacer,
a piece of wretched land elevated a few yards into a
bleak barren hill. Here the celebrated fable of the
belly and the members, which must please at least
all those who think themselves entitled to form a part
of the belly, was first invented, or published. The
neighbourhood of Rome is favourable for horseback
exercise, being intersected by numerous lanes, which
in spring and summer must be delightful. We passed
through some of these, and came to S. Lorenzo, a
fine old church.
Monday, November 21. — The Vatican Museum
is open twice a week only, on Monday and Thursday,
which is not often enough ; especially as it is shut on
certain holidays, whenever they fall on those days, and
the stranger is excluded from its noble galleries and
endless collection of antiques. The head and neck of
the Apollo Belvidere are fine, and the upper part of
the body; the long legs, short thighs, and a certain
extravagance about the hips, displeased me. I was

ROME. 17
better satisfied with the Laocoon, than I had expected
to be; the casts and the great copy at Florence had
prejudiced me against it. The Antinous without arms
is graceful. The Vatican is in every respect worthy
of Rome. The rooms painted by Raphael are in
a good condition. There are a few choice pictures ;
the renowned Transfiguration of Raphael, and an As
sumption, in which is a coffin full of little flowers, and
which contains some faces of extraordinary beauty.
The Romans are still remarkably courteous to
strangers. Burnet found them so in his time; and
attempts to account for it thus : " There is an universal
civility that reigns among all sorts of people at Rome,
which in a great measure flows from their government;
for every man, being capable of all the advancements
of that state, since a simple ecclesiastic may become
one of the monsignori : and of these may be a cardinal,
and one of these may be chosen Pope; this makes
every man behave himself towards all other persons
with an exactness, of respect: for no one knows
what any other may grow to." Whether the "simple
ecclesiastic " has hit upon the proper solution may be
doubtful; that " an universal civility" reigns there is
no doubt. This system of policy in promoting from
the ranks will account better for the great number of
able men that have always been found in the service of
the holy see ; we pray " that a supply of men duly
VOL. IL. c

18 ROME.
qualified may never be wanting in church or state ; "
whilst the more wily church of Rome, by enlarging
as much as possible the sphere of competition, takes
the true method to be uniformly supplied with these
commodities in the greatest abundance.
Tuesday, November 22. — I passed the morning
in the B6rghese palace, which contains an extensive
collection of first rate pictures. I greatly admired
a fine Titian, Christ and the Samaritan Woman at the
Well. I found Vasi's Itinerary of Rome a most
useful book; as I had an early edition, it had the
amusing dedication, which is omitted in the later
editions; this unique composition runs thus : —
" A San Retro,
Principe degli Apostoli,
Primo Vicario
Di Gesu Cristo,
e gran protettore
della citta di Roma,
Mariano Vasi,
Antiquario Romano,
ed Academicb Etrusco
di Cortona,
Ja presente opera
d. d. d."
It is said that the venerable antiquary dedicated the
first edition to the Duchess of Devonshire; but as that
gracious person ungraciously forgot to give him the
usual fee of five louis, and as he could not find any

ROME. 19
one else, who would pay that sum, he dedicated it in des
pair to the prince of the Apostles ; not that he supposed
the first Vicar was more foolish and less economical
than her grace and the rest of the earthly nobility,
and would send him five guineas in this life; but he
hoped that he would show him favour in the next world,
where great benefits are conferred for small consider
ations. That a stupid zealot might perchance dedicate
a volume of controversial Sermons, a Treatise on the
application of the Jewish Prophecies to the present
times, or a Corpus Theologicum, to one of the apostles
is barely conceivable; but that a man of sufficient
understanding to compile a Guide to Rome, to
Brighton, or to Cheltenham, should dedicate his sane
and useful work in this insane and useless manner, is
as strange, as a dedication of "the Rules of Whist by
Bob Short" to St. James the less. This is truly in
structive; and that such a thing should haye been
perpetrated in Rome, shows the state of public intellect,
and the Roman character, better than twenty Corinnas.
Wednesday, November 23. — I visited the Villa
Massimi, where some Germans are engaged in painting
in fresco three small rooms, with stories from Dante,
Tasso, and Ariosto ; each poet is to be confined to his
room. The Germans go back to the old style of Pietro
Perugino, aud others who preceded Raphael, under an
c 2

20 ROME.
ingenious notion and theory, that in order to paint
like him, it is necessary to begin where he did, and to
imitate those masters whom he imitated : that in all
the arts there is a rising, a noon-day splendour, and a
setting : to attain the meridian glory it is not expedient
to imitate it, for it leads on, as has ever been the
case, to the evening only ; that it is advisable to com
mence with the morning to study that, and so to take,
at least, the chance of a bright sun at twelve o'clock,
or of a decidedly bad day. There is some talent in
these works; but the colours are muddy, as if mixed,
contrary to the neat-handed practice of nature, with
dirty water. I here saw clearly the mode of exe
cuting frescos ; for the work was in progress ; they are
painted on the fresh plaster, as the name implies;
but the whole surface of the wall is not covered at one
time, as I had ignorantly supposed ; a small piece only
is laid, as m uch as the artist can cover whilst it is moist ;
some more plaster is then added, either contiguous
to the former, or on any part of the wall that is more
convenient; and thus by degrees the whole is covered:
the joinings of the different portions are distinctly
visible, running in wavy lines, like coasts and rivers on
a map ; but the painter generally contrives that they
should fall in shaded parts, and wherever they will be
least visible and interfere least with the effect of the
picture. The design, a drawing upon strong paper,

ROME. 21
called, from that substance, the cartoon, is placed
against the wall ; and the outlines are traced through
it with the leg of a pair of compasses, or some such
instrument ; which pressing hard upon the paper,
marks the soft plaster behind it : I have always found,
on nearly inspecting a fresco, that the outline was en
graved on the wall. The frescos in the Sestine Chapel
are in good order ; it had been proposed by a modern
artist, that these works of Michael Angelo should be
cleaned with turpentine. The works of Pietro Perugino,
and others of that school, ou the side walls, had already
been cleaned, and did not look ill ; but from some
parts of the Last Judgment, as the figure of St.
Catharine, which had been done as a specimen, we re
joiced that it had just that moment been decided to let
them alone ; and the officious Italian, whose fingers
itched to meddle with the works of his betters, and to
touch a large heap of crowns for his trouble, had been
sent home to devise some other scheme to gratify his
restlessness and his cupidity. It would be perilous to
meddle with such a work as the Last Judgment.
The colouring and the chapel are very dark ; and
although the day was favourable, it was impossible to
see it distinctly ; but such a subject requires a certain
degree of obscurity and mystery. The barbarians
who have the care of it, have placed an altar before it ;
the altar alone would not do much harm, but it has a

22 ROME.
back and canopy like a bed, which hide one of the
best groups in the picture — the angels blowing the
trumpets. Amongst the many anecdotes related of this great
work, one is, that Pius IV. was displeased that so
many of the figures were naked, not because he was
so ignorant of antique simplicity as to be offended
himself by a display of nudity ; but he feared, lest the
Protestants should make Use of what, to a gross mind,
would seem to be the immodesty of the picture, as an
argument against the Romish religion ; he mentioned
the affair to Michael Angelo, who wisely thought that
the Catholic faith was in no danger from an objection
of such flagrant vulgarity and ignorance, and refused
to alter his work. The more cautious Pope afterwards
directed Daniel da Volterra to clothe the naked; he
covered up every thing that the reformers could have
taken hold of, and got for his pains the nick-name of
il braghettone, great-breeches, or the breeches-maker.
From the number of figures and the great surface to
be covered, it would appear no inconsiderable con
tract, even to one of our army tailors. Whatever
merit the Last Judgment may have, it is far surpassed,
at least for effect, by the ceiling, where the gigantic
prophets and sybils throw their arms and legs about
in a style better suited for distant frescos. If the
whole chapel had been painted in the same manner as

ROME. 23
the roof, the effect would have been truly noble; but
this building is unfortunately dark.
The best ceiling in Rome, which is lighted in a
surprising manner, still remains blank and unadorned
a bare white-washed desert. If I were a good pajnter
and ambitious of glory, I would paint gratis, even i
I were forced to live upon bread and water the while
the roof of S. Maria degli Apgkli: a most majestic
church formed out of the ruins of the baths of Diocle
tian, from a design of Michael Angelo, in the shape of
a Greek cross. If the Seven Archangels, a fine subject,
as expressing the seven attributes of the Deity, were
painted boldly, and with learning, for without learning
it i§ impossible to please, the artist would be immortal,
and the church perfect.
S. Maria Trastevere is an interesting old church,
and of extraordinary sanctity, as it shpuld seem from
the number of pilgrim? I saw there. These poor
persons, who are attracted by the holy year from various
parts of Italy, dressed in uncouth, but most pictu
resque, costumes of gay colours, red and glowing
scarlet, with various ornaments, scallops, crucifixes,
aud rosaries, with staves, or crosses, in their hands,
many of the women of great beauty, and of simple
and sweet aspect, all usually employed in some strange
mummery, add much to the effect of buildings in
themselves affecting.

24 ROME.
Sterne writes thus of Maria ; " she had since that,
she told me, strayed as far as Rome, and walked round
St. Peter's once; — and returned back — that she fouiid
her way alone across the Appenines — had travelled
over all Lombardy without money — and through the
flinty roads of Savoy without shoes : how she had borne
it, and how she had got supported, she could not tell-
but God tempers the wind, said Maria, to the shorn
lamb." Of the myriads of wanderers who have visited
the tombs of St. Peter and St. Paul, some have no
doubt been equally helpless and destitute. It is said
that many of them are brought to Rome in carts at
the expense of the government; it is certain that they
are all entitled to be entertained here for three days in
a hospital largely endowed for that sole purpose. I
was glad to . meet swarms of them in the Vatican and
the Museum of the Capitol ; it is impossible to con
template the remains of antiquity without improve
ment; they seemed anxious to acquire knowledge; for
when my companion in the Vatican was laying down
the law about some statue, which he was well qualified
to do, touching all works of art, a large party gathered
round him, and listened with modest attention.
The church of St. Cecilia, the patroness of music,
is said to be built on the site of the house of that
person ; and her body, it is said, is buried there. A
graceful statue of the saint lying upon her face, her

ROME. 25
hands tied before her, may be seen in the church ; but
it is preserved with such churlish jealousy by the
Benedictine nuns, that they will not permit a cast of
it, or even a drawing, to be made. It is impossible
not to be affected in contemplating the elegant image
of this poor, patient sufferer; our heart bleeds within
tis, when we reflect upon her sad story, and the hateful
tragedy that, as tradition relates, was acted on this
spot. With what terms of execration shall we not
pursue the memory of the cold blooded, designing
miscreants, who, to further their fraudulent ends, and
for the sake of theatrical effect, could mislead the
mind of a noble and accomplished young female so
far as to subject herself and her family to death and
ruin ?
Persons often admire those institutions which they
have not, and of which they have no opportunity to see
the defects. In England I have heard sensible persons re
mark that the guillotine is a more humane punishment
than hanging, which is odious and disgusting ; here I
found that people are in love with hanging ; they com
plained of the effusion of blood, and said that the body
jumps about, and is convulsed, after the separation of the
head. All unnecessary pain to the unhappy criminal
should be avoided ; but a punishment, which is meant
chiefly as a warning to others, is not the less effectual
because it is shocking. Rome was thrown to-day into

26 ROME.
a bustle, most unusual in such a quiet place, by the
execution of two men for stabbing a person who was
a member of some secret society, and whom they
suspected of an intention to betray them. They met
death with great fortitude ; as they were going to the
place of execution, the Piazza del Popolo, one of
them spoke to a girl, who was his sweetheart, and was.
sitting at a window ; she immediately fainted.
There was a considerable delay in consequence of
their not confessing, which is here considered a neces
sary prelude to execution. I am told that the trial is
always in secret ; that even the accused is not present ;
the public, therefore, can never be satisfied that the
sentence is just. If the investigation be perfectly
public, and conducted in such a manner, that there
can be no reasonable doubt of the guilt of the pri
soner; why require a confession, which is generally
extorted by unworthy arts } It is not to be expected
that a party about to be hanged should be pleased with
the prospect before his eyes ; the operation is not in
tended for his gratification, but for the benefit of society ;
it is not to please, but to displease him, that to a certain
degree trouble is taken and expense incurred. Then
why do we endure the odious hypocrisy of making
him say, I die contented ? If that were true, civil
society would say to him — Oh, you wish to be hanged,
do you ?— then we will not hang you, because our obr

ROME. 27
ject is to punish you ! It is only the conviction that
this assertion is false, that makes it tolerable. The
best reparation that a person in such a situation can
make for the crimes he has committed, is not to say, I
die contented, but, I die exceedingly discontented, and
with extreme reluctance ; I assure all Christians, that
the condemned cell is a dismal habitation, much worse
than I had supposed ; that a near prospect of the new
drop is most uninviting ; and even the assurance, that
in five minutes after the platform falls I shall certainly
be in heaven, which the ordinary always makes upon
his honour as a gentleman, to persons in my situation,
is, I find, but poor consolation. Priests insist much
upon confessions ; because it gives them an opportu
nity of mixing themselves up with an event that creates
a public interest, and of reporting that such things
were confessed as suit the ends of their order. In
this case, they said that the prisoners had acknowledged,
that the first thing they did on entering their secret
society, was to sign a declaration of atheism ; a lady
told me this, her knees trembling and her teeth chat
tering with horror; but I did not believe it; because,
when the sufferers attempted to address the people, the
drums beat ; the drums were in the pay of the priests ;
and what could be better for the priest, than that the
menshouldsayatthe point of death: Romans, it was irre-
ligion that brought us to this; irreligion was our first step,

28 ROME.
you have come to witness our last : beware, Odear coun
trymen, of irreligion ! Besides, robbers are given to idle
ness and low dissipation, not to speculations ; they are
idle vagabonds, not curious inquirers into speculative
opinions ; they are not prone to Jansenism, Atheism,
Catholicism, or Calvinism ; but to practical debauchery.
Priests are so wonderfully incompetent to see what is
expedient for society, even when their intentions are
the best, that it would be a good rule in regulating a
state, to inquire — What have priests uniformly recom
mended ? this we will shun, because it must be hurt
ful. — What have they forbidden ? this we will adopt,
it is doubtless beneficial.
Advertisements of the translation of Mr. Cobbett's
History of the Reformation are stuck up all over Rome ;
I am told that the translation is by no means faithful ;
that many passages are omitted. It is currently re
ported here, that the worthy author has been promised
the first vacant cardinal's hat, and has already ordered
a pair of scarlet inexpressibles ; and that Mrs. Cobbett
is knitting him half a dozen pair of scarlet stockings
to wear with them.
The Jews have always been hardly used in Rome;
they were compelled to live in a particular quarter
called the Ghetto, which is shut in at night with gates;
and they are forced every year to attend a sermon, in
which they are abused and threatened. Over the door

ROME. 29
of a church opposite the gate of the Ghetto, is a raging
text of Scripture, not only in Latin, but in Hebrew also :
" Expandi manus, &c." " I have spread out my hands
all the day unto a rebellious people, which walketh in
a way that was not good, after their own thoughts ; a
people that provoketh me to anger continually to
my face." — Isaiah, chap. 65. It is not necessary to
read to the end of the chapter to see, that this complaint
is not applicable to those sins in the Jewish nation
which provoke the Pope and cardinals to anger ; but
merely to the end of the latter of the two verses, which
are so dishonestly quoted; it goes on — " that sacri-
ficeth in gardens, and burneth incense upon altars of
brick." They bad, however, been permitted to live in
other parts of the city; but an edict has just been
published, in which they are all commanded to reside
in the Ghetto, except a small number of persons,
whose names are specified, who for the present may live
elsewhere. This is not only inconvenient to the Jews,
but it is ruinous to many Christians, who had set up
little shops in the Jews quarter, from which they are
expelled ; as the unbelieving Hebrews are to be kept
in future perfectly distinct from the faithful, lest they
should corrupt their faith, except the few named in
the edict, whose riches render them powerless : the un
happy shop-keepers, being compelled to quit their
shops, lose consequently their customers, their trade,

30 ROME.
and their daily bread. Such are the miseries that a
bigot unhappily has still the power to inflict !
It Would give me much pleasure to hear the annual
sermon against the Jews, and to witness the whole
scene; I wish some traveller would describe those
things that are best worth notice, and would, for
once at least, give Trajan's column and the Colosseum
a holiday. Thursday, November24. — The Sybils of Raphael
in the church called S. M. della Pace pleased me much;
a good engraving of this beautiful work would be a
desirable possession. The frescos of Raphael in the
Farnesina, which consist chiefly of the story of Cupid
and Psyche, are full of beauty.
The Museum of the Capitol would be extremely in*
teresting, if it were only for the extensive collection
of antique busts, which present to us their features,
and make us personally aquainted with the great men
of antiquity. The Dying Gladiator is an exquisite
piece of nature; but I found the grace of the Antinous
more attractive. There are some indifferent pictures
and a few fine ones. The finding of Romulus and
Remus, by Rubens, in which the wolf is most meri
torious ; and a magnificent Europa, by Paul Veronese;
are the most obvious.
Many persons have spoken of the Tarpeian rock, as

ROME. 31
if it would be rather a desirable thing to be thrown
down it ; I must confess that it did not appear so to
me ; and if we consider, that the bottom is doubtless
filled up with rubbish, and that the wall at the top
may be produced to an indefinite height, it is not dif
ficult to conceive, that necks might be broken with
ease and expedition on that classical spot.
The ancient edifices demonstrate that the pavement
of the modern city is elevated considerably above the
ground of ancient Rome ; the classical traveller, there
fore, has not the satisfaction of treading the soil on
which the Csesars and Scipios trod, for he walks m
general some feet higher than the heads of those
heroes. Friday, November 25. — The Vatican Library
consists of rooms of immense extent ; light and cheer
ful ; and painted with the exploits of the Popes : some
childish; others little creditable to the See, as the
journey of the late holy father to France ; this picture
shows how his holiness was forced to get into his carriage
against his will ; and that how he would have been
kicked by a gendarme if he had refused : the general
aspect of the place is pleasing. The rooms are sur
rounded by low presses, which, as I was told, contain
books, but I did not see any of them. I was told also,
that there is no printed catalogue, and that every thing

32 ROME.
is in inextricable confusion. It was only after much
ringing, long waiting, and tedious delays, that I could
gain admittance, although I did not apply without diplo
matic interest ; which is the one thing needful in Rome.
The reading-room they profess to keep open from nine
in the morning until twelve; a small space of time in
itself, and that only when it is not a feast day, or vacation ;
but I was informed, that during the few hours which
are not excepted by these sweeping exceptions, the
treatment, although civil, is such as soon disgusts the
most ardent and patient student. At last the librarian
was hunted out; he is a handsome man, a prelate,
polite, obsequious, dignified, incurably negligent, and
perfectly impenetrable. He asked what manuscripts
we should like to see, as if we were to choose ourselves ;
and then produced the three, which are always shown
to visitors; a fine manuscript of Dante, beautifully
illuminated ; which deserves to be studied ; as the mini
atures might form a commentary on that obscure poem,
the Divine Comedy : a manuscript, which is called a
Virgil, but it is merely some portions of Virgil written
in large capital letters to explain some drawings in the
worst style of those found in childrens books: the
third is the famous Palimpsest, containing fragments
of Cicero's treatise De liepublicA, which had been pol
luted by the absurd commentaries of that absurd
person St. Augustine, on certain psalms written over

ROME. 33
the original work. I had read and believed, like the
rest of mankind, that the first writing had been so
much erased, that it could only be read in the intense
light of the noon-day sun with extreme pain and dif
ficulty, by the eagle eye of a person gifted miracu
lously, through the divine favour, with this especial
grace; and such is the simple credulity of travellers,
more particularly of my countrymen, who fly about
the world, like the ready roasted birds in the "Pais
de Cocagne," crying, " come eat me," or " come cheat
me;" that I have been told, they had seen in the
bright black eyes of Monsignore Angelo Maio, a
peculiar interposition of Providence, or at least a sharp
ness of sight ; that was a strong confirmation of the
assertion, that no other person in being, or to be, could
read the palimpsests. I found, however, on inspection
of the fragments of Cicero, the characters so legible,
that the only miracle, in my opinion, is, that there
should be found on earth impudence to make the as
sertion, and credulity to believe it. The first quality
is in truth the only wonder ; for of the second, there
is an inexhaustible supply; whoever will produce im
pudence may be sure to meet with a corresponding-
quantity of credulity to any extent, and without the
trouble of quitting our sea-girt isle.
I was curious to see something more of this celebrated

34 ROME.
library, but I was informed that I had already been
highly favoured. After complying with the usual
practice of paying the subalterns, for, in an ecclesiastical
metropolis, they who adore, must, like the magi, adore
with gifts, I retired dissatisfied; yet amused at the
idea of paying those who excluded me from treasures
I so much desired ; it reminded me of the execution
of noblemen in our history ; the sufferer always gave,
money to the executioner for taking away his sweet life,
A short visit convinced me, that for the purposes of
ostentation this library is admirable ; for the attainment
of knowledge useless, and even mischievous, as being,
a cheat; that the librarian, far from being rewarded
with fame and medals for publishing palimpsests,
should be well scourged for preventing others from
doing it in a more effectual manner. Would that a
few learned and laborious Germans were permitted to
rummage the presses of the Vatican ! Whether this
favour will be granted when Mr. Cobbett is Pope, I
am unable to judge ; what this chance is worth I know
not ; I fear that we have no other. I wandered a long
time about the baths of Caracalla, a vast and inte
resting mass of ruins.
Saturday, November 26. — I passed some hours
in the palaces Doria and Sciarra ; in the latter are many

ROME. 33
admirable pictures; I was charmed with a portrait of
Titian's mistress by hims-elf; these painters must have
been happy fellows; unless they used, or abused, their
art to make the world believe them happier than they
really were.
I rode into the country in the, German fashion, that
is, a foal of five months ran by the side of the mare;
it was no annoyance, rather a pleasing companion; and.,
the mother went much better than on former occasions,
when her little one had been left at home : this is a
common practice with the Germans, who desire to
have their horses as quiet as possible; and it is said to
be very effectual, for they are thus accustomed from
their earliest days to a constant intercourse with objects
of every kind, and made intimate with all sorts of
persons and things, so as to acquire by times the
habitual ease and pleasant familiar manners of a horse
of the world, and the tone of a perfect mare of fashion.
As this style of riding is not usual in Rome, it attracted
some slight notice and attention in passing through
the streets ; if a person were incautiously to appear
in intolerant London mounted on a mare with the foal
by her side, he would cause a great sensation, and
would create an Epping hunt; the unhappy foal
playing the fatiguing and difficult part of the stag.
We visited a little temple, or tomb, built of brick,
but with a certain elegance; I do not remember its
D 2

36 ROME.
name, if it has one ; it is now a barn. The wife and
privy councillor of the second king of Rome still
supplies waters:
'«• ^Eo-eria est qua? praebet aquas, Dea grata Camoenis :
Ilia Numx conjux consiliumque fuit."
The fountain of iEgeria, of which I tasted, is a
trickling spring, making wet the floor of a temple, or
cave ; at the end is a recumbent statue, said to be that
of jEgeria : but it is manifestly the statue of a man ; of
Mgerius, or of Numa; of a brother, or of the lover,
certainly not of the nymph herself. The present state
of the place would content Juvenal, if any thing
could content that discontented satyrist; at least he
could not complain, that marble violates the grass, or
the native tufo. The temple of the muses, Camcenoe,
is now sacred to Ceres, being used as a barn ; it is a
fine ruin pleasantly situated. The tomb of Cecilia
Metella, a round tower of great strength and solidity,
in the middle ages had been converted into a fortress.
The circus of Caracalla, where men were at work
making excavations, reminded me of the engraving of
the circus in Kennett's Roman Antiquities ; a book dear
to the eyes of school boys : as they had just dug out
the wall that runs along the middle of the arena, which
is inscribed in the print spina, and at the ends meta, the
resemblance was still more perfect. The fervid de
scription of the chariot race in the Electra of Sophocles'

ROME. 37
also occurred to us; and we were tempted to discuss
the meaning of the passage, —
Apofihiv StavXwv TrcvraeSXa. —
I observed that many of the arches in this building
were composed of large earthern vessels walled together,
instead of bricks or stones ; and on pointing out the
peculiarity to my friend, who was better informed on
those subjects than myself, he told me that it is very
common in ancient Roman works for the sake of light
ness: as it must answer that purpose effectually, and
as the strength of a spherical earthen vessel, and its
power of supporting mere pressure, is great ; I should
conceive, that it is well worthy of imitation in modern
structures. The church of St. Sebastian is chiefly re
markable for a fine marble statue of that saint lying
dead, and pierced with arrows.
I dismounted at the tomb of the Scipios, and with
some difficulty found a man, who, with a little bit of a
candle, lighted me through the passages of the tomb ; it
is not unlike a cellar, but it has some inscriptions about
the Scipios, which I never met with in any other cellar.
Sunday, November27. — After many fruitless visits,
with much delay and difficulty, I succeeded to-day in
gaining admittance into the church of S. Gregorio.
Priests delight in shutting up churches ; that is, they
delight in the exercise of power, of petty power. They
have stuck up a notice in the churches, that it is not

38 ROME.
decorous to look at the curiosities during the services,
and at other times they take good care to keep the door
locked. If they could persuade strangers to agree
with them as to their notions of decorum, they would
have the exquisite gratification of being dogs in a
manner; but until strangers become as stupid as the
ox, the dogs will bark in vain.
This church is said to be built on the spot of ground
where the house of St. Gregory the Great stood ; iri
itself it is not very remarkable ; but three little chapels
on the left are worth some trouble and attention. Of
the first, the roof was painted by Guido ; of the second,
the wall on the right is made admirable by a fresco of
Domenichino, representing the Flagellation of St. An
drew ; the wall on the left hand, by a rival fresco of
Guido, which exhibits the same Tutelar Saint of Scot
land, with a faith as difficult to be eradicated as the
thistle, adoring the cross as he is led to execution. The
third chapel is rendered illustrious by a statue of St.
Gregory, commenced by Michael Angelo, and edify
ing by the marble table, at which St. Gregory enter
tained daily twelve beggars ; and at which one day an
angel, who, like the saint, had a taste for low com
pany, or was attracted, as he was flying over, by the
smell of the roast meat, made a thirteenth guest.
I entered the church of St. Clement : it derives in
terest from its antiquity, and from the frescos of
Masaccio, which I irreverently contemplated during

ROME. 39
the performance of the mass. They represent a Cruci
fixion and the Life of St. Catherine : Raphael, it is said,
used to study them with much attention. I visited some
other churches, of which I forget the names, and retain
only an indistinct recollection of what I saw.
I walked much about the streets to look at the na
tives ; I saw many handsome women, more than I had met
with in any other city in Italy. I found the Lungara
one string of carriages, and St. Peter's full of people ;
and long processions of monks, nuns, and various de
votees, with tapers and banners ; some veiled, with two
little holes for the eyes, and all guarded by the Pope's
valiant soldiers. It has always been said, that these
religious processions are very fine ; and therefore every
one cried, " Oh ! how fine ! " I must confess, that, if
I had not been told so, I should not have found
it out.
Monday, November 28. — The Colonna Palace
afforded me much pleasure ; in the large collection of
pictures there are many very excellent. The doors in
the Roman palaces are generally mean ; the Italians
are admirable bricklayers, the masonry in their houses
is remarkably well executed, but they are indifferent
carpenters, at least in ordinary matters ; the joiner's
work, of which the amount is comparatively trifling,
is not well performed,

4 (J KOME.
I visited the studii, or workshops, of Thorwaldsen,
where I found many works of great merit ; they may
be called a manufactory of busts and statues ; so many
men were employed, so much marble was in progress
from chaos to life and form. This great sculptor, and,
as all who know him add, this worthy man, cannot
represent happily the female figure; some of his
gigantic apostles are fortunate ; but the huge Christ is
a complete failure, and to such an extent as to be a
perfect prodigy.
I visited with great delight the studii of other artists,
both painters and sculptors, Englishmen aud foreigners.
I do not remember accurately their names or works ; but
I recollect distinctly, that I was gratified by the beauty
and truth of Mr. Severn's pictures of the peasants
in the vicinity of Rome. One sculptor had made a
statue of a naked female, and called it Juno, with
frightful hardihood : to represent the Queen of Heaven
naked was to tempt the fate of Ixion, by a crime almost
similar ; and to defy, with the rebel giants, the thun
derbolts of Jove : when pious Catholics shall paint a
naked Madonna, then may a good Pagan, for such
are all great sculptors, presume to strip the white-
armed Juno : it was only from her arms that even
Homer himself could judge of the whiteness of her
skin —  &ea \evKiu\tvor; Hpi;.

Home. 41
Tuesday, November 29.— Of the Pantheon, the
portico is noble ; and the interior more striking than
any thing I have yet seen : it has been objected, that,
by reason of the shortness, or lowness, of what may be
called the cylindrical part, the effect of the cupola, or
hemispherical part, is heavy ; that it seems to overlay the
rest : but the chief beauty and peculiarity of the edifice
is the great effect which the cupola produces ; if the
walls that support it were raised, this would be dimi
nished. It is impossible to do two incompatible things,
to have a cake and to eat it : where the cupola is hoisted
up on high, as in St. Peter's, and our St. Paul's, the
effect of other parts may be increased, but that of the
cupola itself is lost. The whole of the light being ad
mitted through the round hole at the top, is a beautiful
arrangement ; that the hole should be open pleases me
much ; and the naked sky appearing through it, con
nects the internal with the external world in a noble
manner. At night, when all within is perfectly dark,
the moonlight that comes quietly through, must be soft
and pleasing ; and the sight of the stars, gently creeping
across the zenith : even the rain, pouring down upon the
pavement, is graud ; the distance between this aperture
and the walls is such, that they may be adorned with
all that is costly in art, and will remain undamaged,
whilst the shower rattles upon the marble floor, which
is gently inclined to the centre, and there pierced with

holes, so that the rage of the elements glides away
without injury. A patch of snow in the middle of the
floor, must strike the eye ; but this is a rare occurrence ;
the small tract that is exposed to the storms is more
frequently white with hail.
As Athens, once the seat of liberty and learning, is
now the abode of slavery and barbarism, so the church
of S. Maria sopra Minerva is planted upon the ruins
of a temple of Minerva : it contains pictures and sta
tues, which I examined, book in hand, and have duly
forgotten. The French nation built in honour of their
Royal Saint a church, called S. Loigi de' Francesi;
it is very handsome, and has pictures and statues; and
in a chapel on the right, two frescos b}' Domenichino ;
one is the Death of St. Cecilia ; in the other, that lady
distributes all her personal estate, which consists chiefly
of fine clothes, to the poor. The same Domenichino has
likewise adorned the church named S. Carlo ai Catinari,
with four figures of the cardinal virtues in the four
angles of the cupola.
The ponderous and vast Farnese Palace is chiefly
remarkable for the frescos of Hannibal Caracci, which
represent Bacchus and Ariadne, Acis and Galatea, and
other mythological subjects, in the utmost perfection
of the art. It is a painful consideration, that these sur
prising works, the fruit of inconceivable pains, and of
the labour of eight years, were so ill rewarded by the Car-

ROME. 43
dinal Farnese ; that the painter, who bore the character
of a friendly, plain, honest, and open-hearted man —
with so much enthusiasm as to desire to be buried in
the same grave with Raphael ; and so much generosity
as to keep his .money in the same box with his colours,
that his scholars might have recourse to either, as they
had occasion — was so deeply wounded by the injustice,
and this cruel and dishonest treatment increased his
natural melancholy to such a degree, that at times he
was deprived of his senses, and it made him resolve
never more to touch his pencil ; which resolution, how
ever, his necessities compelled him to break.
The Corsini Palace abounds in fine pictures; too
many to be remembered : the famed Herodias of Guido ;
a Murillo ; and the Woman Taken in Adultery, by
Titian ; alone cling to the memory. I visited, in the
dark, the church of S. Giovanni dei Fiorentini ; a little
priest showed me a Salvator Rosa, and, I think, a
Cigoli, which, he said, were very fine ; and I believed
him, because I had heard the same thing from better
judges, and more veracious persons.
Wednesday, November30. — There is no despatch
in the eternal city : much may be seen in a fortnight ;
but if the Romans had the least notion of the value of
time, much more might be done. Go where you will,
it is always, come again in half an hour, in an hour, in

44 ROME.
the evening, to-morrow : the priests continually con
template eternity, and look upon time as an infinitely
short space, in which men may be infinitely listless. I
went to three palaces this morning : at one the custode,
or keeper, was not to be found ; at another, come again
in the afternoon ; at the third, any other day ; and when
I went there on another day, I was told that a written
order was necessary.
The Villa Albani is elegant as a house, and interest
ing as containing stores of antiquities almost inexhaust
ible; it is painful to see it falling to ruin. The Villa
Borghese has Italian gardens in the highest perfection ;
they afford a most agreeable and frequented walk.
All persons of property in the Roman States are
deeply involved in the intricacies of inextricable law
suits : the law, as I was informed by advocates, is a
complete chaos, a mass of endless confusion ; and es
pecially the titles to real property are so uncertain, so
complicated, so various, and so unintelligible, that, as
far as I was able to comprehend this difficult subject,
our system of conveyancing, shameful and utterly
abominable as it is, appears in comparison simple and
rational, pellucid as amber, and beautifully perspi
cuous. I heard from lawyers various instances of
extraordinary and absurd injustice in late decisions
respecting marriages : priests delight in exercising an
execrable jurisdiction in matrimonial causes; if they

ROME. 45
have little idea of justice, or expediency in any case,
they have less in these than in any other. Blackstone
writes, with no less truth than force : " If we consider
marriages in the light of mere civil contracts, they do
not seem to be properly of spiritual cognizance. But
the Romanists having very early converted this contract
into a holy sacramental ordinance, the church of course
took it under her protection, upon the division of the
two jurisdictions. And, in the hands of such able
politicians, it soon became an engine of great im
portance to the papal scheme of an universal monarchy
over Christendom. The numberless canonical impe
diments that were invented and occasionally dispensed
with by the holy see, not only enriched the coffers of
the church, but gave it a vast ascendant over princes
of all denominations ; whose marriages were sanctified
or reprobated, their issues legitimated or bastardized,
and the succession to their thrones established or ren
dered precarious, according to the humour or interest
of the reigning pontiff: besides a thousand nice and
difficult scruples, with which the clergy of those ages
puzzled the understandings and loaded the consciences
of the inferior orders of the laity ; and which could
only be unravelled by these their spiritual guides.
Yet, abstracted from this universal influence, which
affords so good a reason for their conduct, one might
otherwise be led to wonder, that the same authority

46 ROME.
which enjoined the strictest celibacy to the priesthood,
should think them the proper judges in causes between
man and wife. These causes indeed, partly from the
nature of the injuries complained of, and partly from
the clerical method of treating them, some of the im-
purest books that are extant in any language, are those
written by the Popish clergy on the subjects of matri
mony and divorce, soon became too gross for the
modesty of a lay tribunal." — Blac. Comm. v. 3. p. 92.
As the learned commentator on the laws of England
is not always insensible to the force of truth, and
occasionally assumes the tone of a man by no means
indifferent to the best interests of his fellows, we can
not wonder, that he has drawn down upon his head
the censures of a high legal authority, who has laid
his excellent work under an interdict, and fulminated
this anathema against it : " Blackstone's Commentaries,
are a nasty bad book, full of extravagant notions about
a wild kind of liberty : I would as soon put a razor into
the hands of a young gentleman to cut his own throat
with, as that book ; it has done a great deal of harm ! "
Thursday, December 1 — The mausoleum of Au
gustus is now converted into a theatre for bull-baiting ;
it is not interesting in any respect. The Barberini
Palace contains much trash and many fine pictures;
of the latter, especially in the last and innermost room,

ROME. 47
where some hajf-dozen shine forth like meteors; the
Fornarina almost naked, by Raphael ; the Baker's Wife,
to whom that painter was addicted, is beautiful as a
picture, but not as a woman; Titian's Mistress in full
dress, as both : theCenci,by Guido, shrouded in white
garments and looking over her left shoulder, is but too
lovely — her eyes pierce into the soul, and her smile is
fascination ; but in my opinion the expression of the
countenance of Beatrice is cold, heartless, and wickedi
I would paint her as a Dalilah, a Judith, a Herodias,
or any other, if such there be, more hateful than these.
The mother Cenci did not please me ; but my com
panion, who is a better judge than myself, said that
the expression was good ; the character of the face is
extremely Italian, even Jewish, and to my imagination
represented Jael, the monster of treachery, who vio
lated the hospitality of the tent.
The studio of Canova contains many excellent
things; with all his faults, he has more beauties than
any other sculptor of modern times.
Friday, December 2. — The Aurora of Guido,
painted in fresco on the ceiling of the saloon in the
Casino in the garden of the Ruspigliosi Palace, pleased
me much, .perhaps even more than any work of art I
had seen in Rome ; the subject is classical, and agree- ,
able, and truly gratifying to an eye fatigued with

48 ROME.
viewing the numberless representations of the absurd
juggling of some knavish saint, or the martyrdom of
a wretched fanatic, or of a poor misguided girl.
I found out through mud and dirt, and in the dusk,
the Cenci Palace ; it is close to the Ghetto, or Jews
quarter, in a small square, called Piazza di Cenci;
in London it would be considered a large house ; it is
of three stories, has seven windows in front, and five
in the side ; there is a small court within, with arcades;
the first floor was uninhabited, the windows were broken
and ruinous. This was a wet and most disagreeable
day ; and what was worse, it was the feast of Santa
Bibiaena, who is the St, Swithin of Rome ; if it rain
on this day, the proverb threatens, that it will rain
for forty days and a week ; the lady is more cruel in
this respect than the bishop ; if it be wet on the 15th
of July, the day of his translation, it will rain for
forty days, more or less; but the period is not so long
by a week, and it has the consolatory qualification of
more or less, which the more peremptory Bibiaena
will not admit. In Rome, as might be expected, the
trouble of procuring a passport is great, and also the
expense. Saturday, Decembers — I walked, to the Latin
Gate, a place celebrated for the unsuccessful attempt
that was made there by the Emperor Domitian to boil

ROME. 40
St. John the Evangelist, in oil, on the 6th of May, which
day is therefore called, St. John ante port. lat. : there
is a small church upon the precise spot where the caul
dron of oil stood ; for the Roman marty rologists are not
less exact in pointing out the places, than the dates,
of the events which they record : the church is called
S. Giovanni in Oleo. This situation is only interesting
on account of the past ; the Latin Gate has been
walled up.
I walked to the church of St. Sebastian, to see the
catacombs ; at the door of the church I was tormented
by a hedger and ditcher, who earnestly intreated me to
buy a vessel of red earthenware, which he had just dug
out, and to give him some aqua vitae : I cheerfully
complied with the latter request, and presented him
with twO baiocchi, with which he was contented ; but
not with my assurance, that I would not carry the pot
ter's vessel to Rome, if he would give it me for nothing,
and a crown piece besides, for my trouble. I descended
into the catacombs, which are low, damp, and unin
teresting ; I confess I do not believe they are as exten
sive as they are said to be ; and the only wonder, in my
opinion, is the monstrous exaggerations to which' they
have given rise.
The day was fine and warm, Santa Bibiaena not«
withstanding. VOL. II, Z

50 ROME.
Sunday, December 4.— The walls of Rome have
a peculiar effect : they are almost entirely built of brick,
and are arched on the inside like an aqueduct ; there is
no ditch, but you pass close on the outside, so that
you walk under the walls of the city, as under a garden
wall ; the top is jagged and broken off, but what re
mains is still very high. It is always a melancholy
thing to leave a place, and I felt sad to-day at leaving
Rome, which is certainly a city that gains upon one.
I met with an English architect, who had left behind
him in England books that were necessary to his studies,
because he had been frightened by the report of the
difficulty of bringing books into Rome. What a dis
grace to the government of priests ; many Vatican li
braries, many palimpsests, will not wipe away this
stain, and remove the foul imputation of being enemies
to knowledge and improvement. I was told that the
Neapolitan government was, if possible, worse than
the Papal in this respect ; I therefore left my few books
at Rome, and took nothing but an Itinerary, which I
carried in my pocket.
I was hurried to the post-office at half-past three in
the afternoon, and I waited at least half an hour in a
little room, on one side of which was a picture of his
present holiness, on the other of his predecessor: we
amused ourselves in considering the routine of human
greatness ; the late pope is translated to the opposite

ROME. 51
t.
side of the room, to give place to his successor. At
present Leo XII. is in the post of honour, Pius VII.
is on the opposite wall : when Leo dies he will take the
place of Pius, who will be carried away, and most likely
will be painted over with the face of a Leo theXIIIth,
or a Pius the VIHth, with the visage of a person who
assumes a false name, for under this government every
thing must be false, even the name ; the impious man
takes the title of Pius; the ass, together with the lion's
skin, wears also the name of Leo. The face of his pre
sent holiness is just such an one as the clown at Astley's
would make his constant study, and strive to imitate ;
the right eyebrow has a certain air of the blockhead,
trying to look knowing in the full spirit of fool knavery,
that would make the fortune of any mountebank, prac
tising in what is esteemed a lower, but a more reputable
branch, of the same profession, who could catch it ;. as
it has, most probably, of its present master.
The price of a place by the courier is most exorbi
tant ; as much dearer than the mail in England, as it
is inferior to that conveyance in every respect. At four
we started in a heavy carriage, with insufficient room for
the legs ; that the lower extremities should have ample
space, is a great desideratum on a long journey. It
was amusing to observe the courier, who affected to be
in a great haste : a Roman in a hurry is a creature quite
out of his element ; he scolded all the coachmen he met,
t.%

52 TERUACINA.
without rhyme or reason ; and heaped maledictions upon
a pig that was crossing the road leisurely before us, and
that pursued its course, from the Santa Scala towards
the church of St. John Lateran, with as much unaf
fected meekness, asif in a Catholic country it had been
bred a Quaker. The courier was a civil fellow, but a
good practical illustration of the adage — Great haste
and little speed. It has long been the fashion to extol the
road from Rome to Naples, and probably with reason;
but either from the indifferent architecture of the car
riage, which was built at Vienna, or from the many
holes and inequalities in the ancient Appian Way, our
course was very uneasy ; whenever I attempted to sleep,
the side of the carriage seemed to try to knock my
brains out.
Monday, December 5. — At half-past four we ar
rived atTerracina, where there was a delay of an hour;
I walked up and down the street, looking at the moon,
the sea, the lone pole star and his shining brethren;
bright potentates, being comely in the aether —
Aa/nrpug Svvattac, t/nrpewovfas aiSept,
my thoughts straying homewards the while to the quiet
pillows of my friends. Close by the sea, at the coldest
time in the morning, on the 5th of December, .the air
was mild, warm, and pleasant; it was agreeable to
wander on the beach ; in England, at this season, and

FONDI. 53
at this hour, however fine the weather might be, the
sea shore would be so bleak, so wild, that the imagina
tion shrinks from the idea of visiting it. For the poor,
so fine a climate must be a great advantage ; but for-
the rich, for persons in moderate affluence, there is a-
certain positive enjoyment in nestling in bed under an
additional blanket ; in finding an excuse for drawing
nearer to the fire, for another shovelful of coals, for a
little more tea, wine, or punch ; which is perhaps worth
the negative enjoyment of never feeling cold : excess in
eating and drinking is ungraceful and odious; but a
slight relaxation of the usual temperance, as inducing
a spirit of festivity, is commendable. I doubt whether
an English Christmas could exist under the climate of
Naples. So long as we kept close by the sea, I had the win
dow open ; when we quitted it, I relapsed into a sort
of sleep, until the morning appeared ; then it was im
possible to refrain from gazing at the heavens : the Ita
lian sky is certainly beautiful ; would to God that it
covered a more happy country ! I changed my courier
at Fondi, and got into a ruder carriage ; this occupied
some time : I walked about the streets of that abode of
filth and poverty, and was hunted by beggars.
On the right-hand side of the road, near Itri, is a
ruined tower, called the tomb of Cicero,, who had:a.

54 capuX.
villa in the neighbourhood, hear which he was assassi
nated by the orders of Anthony. The description of
this event by Plutarch came into my head, and in the
midst of these thoughts we reached Mola di Gaeta,
where, in the Albergo Reale, in a room commanding a
fine view of the quivering, sparkling sea, I had a good
breakfast ; an acceptable incident to a famished and
half-starved person. At noon we passed the Liris, or
Garigliano, by a bridge of boats ; and afterwards by a
stone bridge, the Vultumus : and in the dusk we arrived
at Capua.
The slaves of the wretched governments had de
manded my passport at every town, and village, and
gate; and begged money under that pretence, or as
custom-house officers. I had, on entering Capua,
showed my passport; I had given it to be registered,
whilst they were changing horses in the city ; and in
going out of the gate, the soldier again asked for it;
I was tired with the jolting, and had a head-ache; I
therefore scolded him, and said I had shown it twice
already : he answered firmly and somewhat loudly, but
not uncivilly, that it was his duty to ask for it : a Ser
jeant, who overheard, thinking that his answer was too
manly for the spirit of despotism, which is of a civil
and somewhat sneaking nature, came out, and assured
me that I was perfectly in the right. I arrived at the

NAPLES. 55
post-office in Naples at half-past nine, much fatigued ;
and after some Neapolitan importunity, at a hotel in
the Largo (for so they name a square here) del Castello.
Tuesday, December 6. — In my course through
the streets, I saw nothing to distinguish this celebrated
place from any other sea-port : from the barbarous
noises and the continual discordant bagpipe, I might
have fancied myself at Dunbar or Leith, in Scotland,
not in Italy. I was unfortunate in the date of my tour ;
for of the two great wonders of Italy, the Pope had been
too ill to appear in public during my stay in Rome ;
and Vesuvius, I was told, had retired from business.
Naples must be a delightful residence for a donkey that
is fond of society ; in no city in the world will he find
so many of his fellows. There are plenty of fine asses
carrying burdens ; a load of dung, or sometimes a priest,
who appears to ride very comfortably, and usually has an
ample cloak and a basket of provisions, and is attended
by a boy with an umbrella. I called upon a banker, and
ascended to the top of a very high house by a most filthy
staircase; I was amused by seeing "studio" painted-
over the door of his bank or counting-house ; at first it
seemed strange that banking should be reckoned as one
of the fine arts, as a science, or a branch of liberal
knowledge ; but upon reflection, I think it is correct.
We say the study of an alchemist; and if it be alchemy to

56 NAPLES.
transmute the baser metals into gold, it is a much higher
and nobler alchemy to turn paper into gold and silver;
which is done by bankers, as those who have studied
the subject say, to the great benefit of the human race.
The mole, or pier, has a good view, but not so good
as it ought to have ; for it is difficult to get at any part
in order to enjoy the prospect. They have built a
castle upon it ; they make it abominably filthy ; they
employ upon it hosts of galley slaves in dragging wood,
and of females in beating hemp.
The chief part of this city, the metropolis of Punch,
consists of narrow and dirty streets, redolent of fish,
and of all odious things ; but the Chiaia, which is
the Promenade, and a few other parts, are agreeable.
The noise, especially in the principal street, called
the Strada Toledo, is equal to that of London, and of a
more barbarous kind ; the crowd is nearly equal, and
the number of horses and carriages. It was a fine, but
somewhat wild day.
Wednesday, December 7. — It blew a gale; the
dust flew into the eyes ; it was not easy to retain a hat,
or even a cap, upon the head : the sea was rough, and
the day rude and unpleasant, but the air still bland
and warm. People carry on their operations and ex
ercise their trades in the open air ; men were forging
iron bedsteads in the streets ; every place resounds with

NAPLES. 57
importunate beggars, and more importunate hackney-
coachmen. The cathedral, dedicated to St. Januarius, has less
that is remarkable, except perhaps some pictures, than
is usual in Italy : the church of Santa Restituta, which
is contiguous, has some curious old frescos ; and the
chapel of St. Januarius, where his precious and lique-
fiable blood is conserved, has, besides magnificent
frescos by Domenichino, and other masters, a fine pic
ture by him, and another by Spagnoletto.
At the Museum, or Studii, I was courteously re
ceived by the Canonico di Jorio ; he was polite and
explanatory, and is a person of considerable attainments
as an autiquary. He has published a great many useful
guides ; but is a little too anxious to sell them. To an
English traveller, it is peculiarly distressing to find a
gentleman puffing his own works, as it is so totally
different from our habits ; and with all strangers, it
must have a tendency to impede the end proposed, the
sale of the books ; for the often reiterated recommen
dations must lead them to suspect, that they do not
possess the merit which they really have.
He showed me a large collection of what are called
Etruscan vases ; some were entire; others that appeared
so, had been broken into a hundred pieces, and joined
together with great neatness and accuracy. Cork
models of the temples at Paestum, of the buildings at

58 NAPLES.
Herculaneum and Pompeii ; bronzes and various arti
cles from the buried cities, of which some were eatables*
as bread and figs ; many vessels of glass, in the manu
facture of which the ancients seem to have been as much
our superiors as in several other arts; as was demon
strated by the accuracy, variety, and delicacy of the
forms into which they had moulded it. I remarked,
that of the glass much was not transparent, or at least
very imperfectly so ; but my instructor showed me, that
the surface had been decomposed, as we find it soon
becomes in the windows of stables, and the oxidized
surface is tinged with diverse, and sometimes beautiful
colours. The canon conducted me to a large library in
a noble room, which I understand is open to all upon
liberal terms ; many persons were then actually availing
themselves of the liberty to study there. He also showed
me the famous papyri : the appearance of these rolls is
as unpromising as of coal or a burnt stick ; the disco
very that they might be unfolded by means of gold
beater's skin, was ingenious. The manipulation, ormode
of handling them, is less difficult than I had imagined,
and I had no clear idea of it ; I had falsely supposed,
that a large sheet of goldbeater's skin was placed on
the back, whereas little pieces of intestine, as large
perhaps as the inscribing, or circumscribing, square of
a sixpence, are stuck on the back with glue, which is
applied with a pencil of camel's hair, a little overlaying

NAPLES. 59
one another ; when a part of the back is thus covered,
the roll is gently and slowly unfolded by threads, which
are also attached with glue to the skin : if the process
be carefully performed, the glue brings off with it one
layer only of the charred papyrus, or at least seven
eights of it, for it fails in places; the lacunae must be
supplied from the context by ingenious conjectures.
The characters are not by any means difficult to be
discerned, they are seen shining on the dull burnt
surface. There were many persons employed, but I
cannot say that they seemed to be very diligent : if I
were the possessor of these treasures, and really desirous
of unfolding them, and sufficiently wealthy to hire
labourers to perform this delicate task, I would employ
half the number of learned and trustworthy persons,
not at a yearly salary, but, like an engrossing clerk, at
so much a folio. The yearly salary converts the under
taking into a public office ; and persons paid thus de
mean themselves like the gentlemen whom we see in
such situations; they incessantly vary their occupations,
which consist mainly in reading the newspaper, and
discoursing concerning its contents ; in cutting their
nails, or their pens; in stirring the fire; in yawning*
or looking out of the window ; or at their watches :
we found the unrollers of the papyri thus engaged; we
interrupted them for a short time, that we might see
the mode of operating ; they unfolded very dexterously

60 NAPLES.
a quarter of an inch, and then returned to their ac
customed avocations. To have the contents rapidly
discovered, to be able to publish the whole in a reason
able time, the work should be paid for by the piece;
and to prevent the damage to the manuscripts, which
the over alacrity and excessive zeal, which this mode of
payment is apt to generate, a system of forfeits, or a
mode of contracting, might be adopted, to obviate
the inconvenience. An agreement of this kind might
be made, according to the condition of the manuscript,
and other circumstances, of which the contractor would
be ableto form an estimate. The roll is worth 500/. ;
if it be destroyed, that sum must be forfeited; if it
is unrolled, and seven letters in eight copied, the party
is to receive 500/. ; if six letters in eight, 300/. ; if one
half, 100/. ; if three eighths, 50/. ; if one quarter,
nothing; if one eighth, he is to forfeit 300/.; and if
less than one eighth, the roll is to be considered as
destroyed, and the 500/. forfeited.
There is an immense collection of statues ; many of
them are first rate: the Farnese Hercules, a Flora,
and the Venus Callipygis; the last is a beautiful statue,
especially in those regions, from the beauty of which
she derives her name. Until to-day 1 had no idea how
excellent a thing a good bronze is; and that in some
respects it is superior to a marble statue.
The galleries are open every day, but not so open

NAPLES. 6l
as they ought to be ; there is much locking and un
locking, and feeing servants ; not that, the sums ex
pected are great, because I was taught by a Prussian,
who had long resided in Naples, that copper does as
well as silver on all occasions ; so that you give, it
matters not how much, or how little ; but to make
these frequent and trifling donations is an interruption
of the perfect freedom essential to study. The fee of
a farthing for every ten pages of text, and of another
farthing for the twentieth word looked out in a lexicon,
would be no obstacle in point of expence, to lovers of
Greek literature; but the trouble of such payments,
if an annual, or a weekly, composition were not per
mitted, would be a considerable impediment to the
study of that language.
The Neapolitans delight in gilding ; churches, car
riages, and furniture, are all gilded. The glazed and
coloured tiles, with which the buildings and cupolas
are covered, and the pavements formed, have a good
and an Eastern effect. The terras roofs are excellent;
many hours of enjoyment in the summer nights are
found on the flat tops of the houses.
The villas and gardens in the neighbourhood,
amongst steep and broken ground, are beautiful ; the
eye is never satiated with admiring the orange trees
laden with a vast profusion of golden fruit.
I went into a little church, and found good music ;

62 NAPLES.
hardly any one was present to listen to it ; from some
funereal trappings, I conjectured that it was performed
in honour of atiead man, or woman ; a man in black,
with a powdered head and a conceited air, was beating
time with a piece of paper folded like a brief ; and at
frequent intervals made a smack, that would have
killed a hornet, to the great interruption of the music
and sweet voices. Human sacrifices in honour of the
dead, which were once prevalent, have unfortunately
become quite obsolete; if the fashion of the times
would have permitted it, it would have been very de
sirable to have offered up the fellow with the white head,
as a little compliment to the manes. The church of
Santa Chiara is large, well lighted, and well painted ;
and has such a cheerful aspect that it is scarcely
like a church.
I met swarms of people on foot, on horseback, and
in carriages, returning from a horse-race conducted in
the English fashion, at which the king had assisted.
The periods of the theatre of S. Carlo are said to be
so irregular, that it is difficult, if not impossible, to
predict when it will be open. I heard here more freely
uttered the same kind of complaints, which the Romans
made secretly of his Holiness ; they complain with rea
son that the Holy Father will neither get well, nor die;
which is very unchristian-like behaviour: as he cannot
strip off his papacy, and is only kept for show, and is

NAPLES. GS
not fit to be shown, they should dispose of him like an
old pointer, and send him off early some morning to
the tan-pits with a rope and a shilling,
The night was most furious, with torrents of rain
and a violent wind.
Thursday, December 8. — It was a wild and dis
agreeable morning; the houses are only fit for fine
weather. Panoramas are flattering ; they do not and
connot paint the smell of fish, the showers of sand,
the fierce wind, and the disagreeables of the sea-shore.
About noon it held up ; I ventured to go forth, and
walked along the Chiaia ; the wind and sea were furious ;
there were no boats out; the waves dashed wildly over
the road.
I ascended to the Grotto of Posilipo, a wonderful
work for its great length, and still more wonderful for
its surprising height ; it is like the nave of a cathedral.
On account of the height and of certain windows or
apertures at the top, it is not dark, notwithstanding its
length ; but some lamps, which are suspended in the
middle are advantageous. From the nature of the
stone it is perfectly dry ; and for a cavern, on other
days, it may be tolerably agreeable; to-day a strong
wind blowing through rendered it most unpleasant.
I had hardly emerged from the further end before I
was required by a barefooted young man to go with

64 NAPLES.
him to the Grotta del Cane; he assured me that the
distance was uot great ; as it was indispensably neces
sary to visit this place, I followed him over .sandy
roads. I observed, that, through time and ill treatment,
the hat of my guide had assumed the exact shape of
the petasus of Mercury ; except that it wanted the
wings. We came suddenly upon the lake Agnano ;
a pretty little lake in a romantic situation. The
dog was caught for the experiment ; he showed some,
but not much reluctance ; enough however to excite
my compassion ; as I could not expect to make any
discovery by half suffocating him, I was unwill
ing to put the poor animal to pain, so nothing more
was required of him ; what was formerly miraculous,
through the improvements in chemistry, is now barely
wonderful. I contented myself with observing the
locality of the famous grotto ; it is like a well in the
side of a hill, and is hardly worth visiting,
I returned with my guide, and repassing the Grotto
of Posilipo, ascended the hill on the left as wereturned ;
we were admitted into a little garden, or vineyard, in
which is an ancient tomb, said to be that of Virgil.
It is close to the entrance of the Grotto of Posilipo ;
a window in the rock looks into the top of that lofty
cavern. It is a pleasant resting place for one, who
was tired with singing, « Pascua, rura, duces;" or
for any person after the toils of life, whether they con-

NAPLES. 65
sisted in composing Georgics, in kissing Dido and
founding the Roman name, in turning the clods, or in
knocking and being knocked on the head. On the
top of the tomb was a small laurel, which had been
lately planted there, as the keeper of the tomb said ;
it was nearly stripped of its leaves, for every visitant
takes one. The wind is tempered to the shorn lamb ;
on this occasion I was the good tempered wind, and
I refused the offer of a leaf; if the bay had been
rich enough to have spared one, I should have been
glad of it as a memorial ; but it looked as leafless as
one of the trees in the landscape of Raphael's pictures ;
and I pitied the poor tree of glory planted there, like
many of its predecessors, to be put to a lingering death.
A young English ladyhas lately been interred within
a few yards of Virgil's tomb ; I can pardon almost any
thing to parental fondness and regrets, but not this
desecration : perhaps Dante, or Milton, might have
been buried there ; but even these mighty men are
better lodged in any other place ; if good taste is to
be perfectly inviolate. A brother may be much to his
brother; a son to his parents; a wife to her husband;
but to the world, they are absolutely nothing; whilst
great names are dear to the world at large : private grief
only ceases to be respectable and deserving of sym
pathy, when it would presumptuously encroach upon
the more sacred sentiments of public feeling. A point

66

NAPLES.

in the garden commands a fine view of Naples and
the bay ; a French general has placed there a bench
with an inscription in his language, in which he recom
mends faithful friends to sit there and tighten their
knots, " resserrez vos noeuds ! " If this advice presents
any image to the imagination, it is a ludicrous one ;
friends seated upon the general's bench busy in
tying their neck-cloths closer, fastening their braces
and shoe-strings, and drawing in the tapes of waist
coats and waistbands: and ladies lacing their stays,
knotting the strings of petticoats, and securing their
garters. Why will the French, who are excellent in
many important matters, as making coffee and acting
comedies, meddle with figurative language? The
important advice should be written up at the frontiers
abovethe lilies; « Alltropesand figuresare prohibited."
In this garden was a crop of peas, five or six inches
long, growing as well on the 8th of December, as in
May or June.
In the evening I visited the theatre of San Carlo. The
interior is golden ; the blue lining of the boxes and their
embossed gold and silver fronts have a rich effect ; per
haps, if the middle of the ceiling were not painted, but
all were blue and gold and silver, like the edges, it would
be better: it is more like a piece of plate finely chased
than a theatre. It is commodious and well conducted,
as well as the King's Theatre in the Haymarket is ill

NAPLES. 67
managed ; which is saying all that can be said in praise
of a place of this kind. The price of admission is by
no means high. It has the usual defect, that the seats
in the pit are not sufficiently raised one above another ;
because architects in all countries fill their heads with
the old rules about Ionic and Corinthian, and become
too conceited to think of any thing else; and least of
all, of utility. The ballet was splendid in scenery and
dresses; and interesting, because the story was kept
up from the beginning to the end : with us they set out
with a story, which is presently lost sight of; and
nothing survives, but jumping, kicking, and flinging:
even here the dancers exerted themselves too violently ;
the soul of grace is ease ; as soon as exertion is apparent,
grace ceases : the ladies also thought it necessary to kick
up their petticoats and to show the soles of their feet to
the inhabitants of the pit, than which, surely nothing
is more odious or impudent. A person, or a statue,
or a painting, may be perfectly naked, and yet from
an air and expression of innocence may be even more
modest, than if clothed from the chin to the feet, like
a Roman matron ; but for a female, who wears petti
coats, to kick them up in the manner of the figurantes,
must always be disgusting and offensive to persons of
good taste.

r!

68 NAPLES.
Friday, December g.—When I left the theatre last
night, the rain fell in torrents ; it continued all night,
and the greater part of this day. The houses in Naples
are scarcely habitable in bad weather : it is necessary to
live out of doors here, like the birds ; and it is im
possible to write, and difficult to read, with comfort
and advantage, out of doors. I can not therefore con
ceive how very learned men could grow up here; it
seems that learning must be reared within doors, in
sheltered rooms, and by the fireside ; this climate is
favourable only for such a growth of intellect as may
be attained by lazzaroni with a canvass shirt and
drawers, a red night-cap, and a great coat with a hood.
Yet Naples was famous for eminent lawyers ; and they
cannot be made without severe study ; perhaps it was
read by them in the shady houses, and in the middle of
the day, during the heats of summer. That this was
not by any means a lack-learning city, but of extra
ordinary opulence in members of the legal profession,
is evident from the well-known story, that, when
Innocent XI. had desired the Marquess of Carpio to
furnish him with thirty thousand head of swine, the
marquess answered him, that as for his swine, he could
not conveniently spare them ; but if his holiness had
occasion for thirty thousand head of lawyers, they
were at his service : the noble marquess, it seems, did

NAPLES. 69
not place pearls before swine, but swine before pearls,
at least in point of value.
I visited the studii again, and was hunted about by
hungry servants seeking carlini; Italy is the land of
craving, insatiable beggars — shy and mistrustful; and
Naples is the metropolis of that nation. I saw the
usual Egyptian remains in the Egyptian room ; and a
gallery of pictures ; many with great names, but nothing
that caught my attention remarkably.
I entered a church where a man was preaching, not
from a pulpit, but he stood upon the steps of the altar ;
a priest was kneeling all the time upon the steps on the
opposite side ; I sat down and heard his discourse to the
end; he spoke fluently, and not very ill; he professed
great willingness to become a martyr ; and declared
that, if he were required by a king, or judges, to re
nounce the faith, he would cheerfully suffer death at their
hands ; and asked, and appealed to the kneeling priest,
whether he would not do the like, and he assented.
He spoke very courageously ; and perhaps he might
not know, that under the present government, there
was no great danger of being put to the trial, either by
the king, or his judges. All the time he was preaching,
a man kept chinking a box and collecting copper; this
is the constant accompaniment to a sermon : the
preacher appeared to think, that a martyr, who was so
willing to die, ought, for the credit of the church, to

70 NAPLES.
die like a gentleman, with a few halfpence in his pocket.
The church of the Dominicans is dark and old, full
of altars and monuments, and with a certain barbaric
splendor : the church called Trinita Maggiore is well
lighted, cheerful, and handsome.
I saw many bookstalls in Naples ; a soul-gladdening
sight : with a little time and a little money, what deli
cious odd volumes might be picked up here ; but the
heavy duty on the importation of books spoils all : why
is an oppresive tax, that would be disgraceful to Goths,
to Huns, and Vandals, suffered to exist ? And why
do we not cause to be repealed, the odious imposition
which makes it necessary, for the protection of our
booksellers, to exclude foreign works — the duty on
paper ? The Reformation has not even yet purged us
thoroughly of the spirit which prevails so fiercely in
that sink of iniquity, the Roman custom-house.
Saturday, December 10. — The journey to Pa?s-
tum is the mill-stone that hangs about the neck of my
speeding, and makes it impossible accurately to cal
culate the times of going out and coming in ; I there
fore anxiously watch the weather, which to-day is better.
I procured a passport for Psestum ; and as no gains
are too mean for a mean and fraudulent government,
they charge a fee for it.
I climbed up a steep hill to the castle of St. Elmo,

NAPLES. 71
which commands a noble view of Naples and its bay,
and the surrounding country. The Certosa adjoins the
castle ; the Carthusians have been dispossessed, and
the convent converted into a barrack ; men, who
tyrannize over their fellows by means of temporal
fears, now sleep in the cells of those who played the
tyrant through the influence of spiritual terrors. The
church is much smaller than the Certosa near Pavia ;.
but it is inlaid and decorated within in the same costly,
style; the pavement is very superior, and is indeed
perfectly beautiful ; there are many fine pictures, es
pecially of Spagnoletto, whose masterpiece, the Three
Maries, is in the sacristy ; and it is an excellent work.
I feasted my eyes again with the fine view, and then
descended through foul lanes and by stairs decorated
with linen hanging upon lines to dry. Surely this is
a most nasty city ; it cannot enter into the heart of
man to conceive a more filthy place ; but I must con
fess I did not suppose, that there was such a demand
for clean linen in Naples, as the quantity exposed to
dry indicates.
I walked for a considerable distance, some miles out
of the city, by the Mergellina, and along the new road,
the work of Murat ; and which is still unfinished: the
view is beautiful, especially in returning ; but it has
the great defect of all views on the sea shore, that every
thing is seen at once ; there is no change, no variety,

NAPLES.

no succession of objects; all is opened at the first
glance. I saw in a garden a fine date-palm in full
health and beauty ; I gazed at it for some time, and
was delighted to find one of those celebrated trees
growing in the open ground.
As I returned, I perceived that a considerable body
of troops had got between me and my dinner, and for
some time cut off my resources. I looked at the men
as they marched past ; to an unpractised eye, both
Austrians and Neapolitans had the same soldier-like
aspect ; but, I suppose, the former would remain in
any given spot all day, exposed to a heavy fire, and
would fill up their ranks as the men were swept away ;
but that the latter would disappear, like chaff before
the wind, at the mere invitation to pass a morning in
that manner.
I visited in the evening a theatre, named Teatro del
Fondo ; there was an opera and a ballet ; the per
formance was good, the house commodious, and the
price of admission moderate ; but great was the smell
of garlic. At a small theatre this was to be expected;
for at the great theatre of S. Carlo, I had complained,
that my place was too remote, and was brought much
nearer the stage amongst a higher order of beings into a
sort of fops-alley ; but the fops smelt so strong of garlic,
that it was difficult to live in the atmosphere of this more
refined society. I had frequent examples of what I had

NAPLES. 73
heard before, that when the Italians are pleased with a
performance, they hiss, to command silence and atten
tion ; the opera, and especially the ballet, were received
this evening with much hissing, that is, they gave great
satisfaction. At the end of the ballet, the audience
called for the ballet-master ; the curtain was drawn up
immediately, and a melancholy man in a suit of black
was led on the stage between Cupid and Psyche, in
the midst of the smoke and flames with which the
piece had concluded ; to express, as I was told by a
lady, who, perceiving that I was a stranger, kindly took
much pains to make me understand the whole allegory,
the glowing ardours of love; he was hailed with loud
applauses, and retired bowing, with an air of modest
confusion, that would have been becoming even to
Psyche herself.
Sunday, December ij. — The night was cloudy
when I went to bed, and I was awakened in the night
by the unwelcome sound of rain ; most unwelcome to
one who was anxious, for many reasons, to get the ex
pedition to Pcestum over. If Vesuvius should cease
to act the great part of a volcano, it would be a seri
ous loss to Naples ; much of its importance depends
upon these performances ; and if it should sink into
an ordinary mountain, Naples would sink into an
ordinary city in a pleasant situation.

74 NAPLES.
Italy was formerly in advance as to civilization; but
it has remained long stationary ; and at present, it is
two hundred years behind a great part of Europe.
I walked out of the city towards Portici ; the day
sensibly improved ; I saw exposed for sale on the quays,
besides the usual fruits, including pomegranates, water
melons, and pine-kernels, the fruit of the arbutus, and
the Indian fig. The appearanceof theorangesand lemons
on the stalls is beautiful and inviting, because they are
commonly gathered with a stalk, and two or three of
the leaves. The road was filled with a frequent crowd ;
many were going or returning ; on foot, on horseback,
on asses, or in carriages. I went on the sands ; they
are black, and of a volcanic nature ; from thence I en
joyed a fine view down the bay : I found a few shells,
many bits of pumice, some parts of the cuttle-fish,
and pieces of sponge ; a few corallines, and still fewer
sea-weeds ; I think not any crustaceous animals, nor
any portions of their crusts. I had only seen in Naples
one basket of live lobsters ; they were of a purple cast,
and without the large claws.
On the bridge of La Maddalena, in addition to the
ordinary patron of bridges, St. John Nepomucene, is
a statue of St. Januarius; because, by a miracle, he
had stopped the lava at that point ; from the distance of
the mountain, the real miracle seems to have been, not
that the lava did not go farther, but that it advanced

PORT I cr. 75
so far. There were many persons in the streets, and a
band of music on the public walk ; some women were
walking, and many more at the windows — but all, I
am sorry to say, extremely plain. Whatever improve
ments have been made at Naples, are to be attributed
to the dynasty of Napoleon ; the Mergellina, the im
proved road to Portici, the public walk, and some al
terations in the grotto of Posilipo, are the works of
Murat. Monday, December 12. — It was fortunately a fine
morning ; we started at six, in an open carriage with
three horses abreast, adorned like Mephistopheles, if
not with a cock's feather, at least with the tail of a
pheasant in their heads. We rattled briskly along, and
passed the museum at Portici with reluctance ; having
taken a slight breakfast at a coffee-house, we continued
our jingling course. The country soon assumed a
truly volcanic aspect, with black fields of undecom-
posed lava, and vast rocks of the same substance ; we
passed over the town of Torre del Greco, which in
modern times was overwhelmed by an eruption, like
Herculaneum in ancient days. The morning was clear,
and we not only enjoyed a fine view down the bay of
Naples and of the opposite coasts, but a near prospect
of Vesuvius.
My companions, who had ascended the mountain,

70 POMPEII.
assured me, that what seemed to be a cloud resting on
the top, was white smoke ; it appeared, upon attentive
inspection, to be circumscribed by the limits of the
crater; but not as issuing from it, at least from the
point where I saw it ; it differed little from the cloud
which usually sits on mountains of a like height. I
was somewhat disappointed in this respect ; for the idea
which I had formed of a volcano was, that of a moun
tain smoking gallantly like a forge or chimney.
In the midst of discussions, inquiries, conjectures,
and reminiscences concerning burning mountains, we
suddenly turned down a sort of lane : " This is Pompeii
lane," some one observed — all were hushed with ex
pectation ; I reflected upon having heard that it was
worth coming from London to see this place alone ; I
thought how much fatigue I had suffered, of home,
and of the pains of absence : after a few yards, and a
few moments, our carriage stopped, and we alighted ;
a man dressed as a soldier told us, that he was a
Cicero. We entered at a gate, where were a few soldiers,
and we were in the street of tombs. We would
willingly have examined the tombs, or any thing that
came first, with a young impatience ; but we were led
to the villa of Diomedes, which is situated without the
walls of the city : it is built on the side of a hill; this
circumstance favours, and perhaps renders necessary,

POMPEII. 77
two stories ; it is, I think, the only exception — the only
house with more than one story : it must have been a
commodious dwelling ; rooms, courts, and passages,
grow out of one another with an agreeable luxuriance.
In the wall between two small rooms is a small hole; in
this hole was found a lamp, and the hole was glazed with
a pane of glass : it is a question, whether the ancients
were acquainted with glass windows; this, it was said,
was a proof that they had them ; it was answered, how
ever, that this was not a window, but only a kind of
lantern. Our Cicero showed me an exterior window,
in which he said glass and frames were found ; it may
be that he was mistaken. Be this as it may, the
structure of the houses in Pompeii, and the climate,
do not require glass ; they have no windows towards
the streets; the courts are surrounded by cloisters,
into which the rooms open. It is a common remark,
that the rooms and shops are extremely small; I was
informed by an architect, that this is a mistake; that
he had measured many of them, and that they were of
the usual dimensions; and that rooms always appear
small when the roof is wanting : I have often observed
the same thing in examining the foundations of houses.
I stepped some apartments ; many were twenty feet
square ; one, I think in the house of Pansa, was thirty
feet by twenty feet. The shops are like those of Naples,
and the surrounding towns and villages : they have no

78 POMPEII.
windows ; yet the Neapolitans are acquainted with the
use of glass; but they have a large door, like a coach
house, and a stone counter : from the grooves in the
thresholds it should seem that the doors were not on
hinges, but were fixed, like the shutters of our shops.
We returned to the street of tombs, and examined
some of those interesting remains ; in one tomb was a
triclinium for funeral suppers : we laid ourselves up,
and endeavoured to comprehend one of the most in
comprehensible things in the ancient world, namely,
how they contrived to eat when lying up at meals.
The couches are not flat, but inclined outwards ; the
feet, which were outwards, were therefore lower than
the head, which was of course within and nearer the
table that stood in the middle, and was surrounded
on three sides by the couches, the whole apparatus
being therefore named triclinium, or a set of three
couches ; on each couch three persons reclined; if the
inequality was further assisted by cushions, it was not
quite such a desperate case as it at first appears ; but
it still seems difficult to imagine how a good dinner
could have been made in this posture. The best solu
tion of the difficulty, after all, is the answer of a quaint
old schoolmaster to his boys, who inquired of him how
the ancients managed to eat, to carve, and to cut their
meat, whilst they were lying at supper : " Why, I'll
tell you what, my boys," he said, " these Greeks were

POMPEII. 79
such clever fellows, they could do any thing ; they would
stand upon their heads, and take a roast goose, and help
you to a side-bone in a minute ; or eat a bason of peas-
soup, and not spill a single drop on the cloth ! " There
is a trottoir for foot passengers in all the streets, and
stepping-stones at the crossings ; all is intended to last
for ever ; the huge blocks of lava with which the city
is paved, are fastened down with large iron wedges.
The whole circuit of the walls, three miles and a half,
has been dug out by Murat ; a judicious excavation ;
which shows the extent of the city, and affords a mea
sure of the quantity explored. The gates, I think they
are four in number, must lead to the principal streets,
and serve to guide future inquiries. We regretted that
we had not time to make the circuit of the walls.
The more I examined the place, the more incon
ceivable was it, how such a city could be so buried ; the
first and lowest stratum that covers it, consists of
pumice-stones and ashes ; the second, and most fatal,
which penetrated every where, was mud and large
quantities of water. Vast bodies of water are always
discharged in great eruptions ; which fact favours the
modern theory, that they are caused by the chemical
decomposition of water. Pompeii had suffered much
from an earthquake ; many of the buildings had been
injured by it ; they were repairing some, and had com
menced others anew, when the city was finally de-

SO POMPEII.
stroyed : the earthquake appears to have made the ill-
fated inhabitants exceedingly religious, if we may
judge from the number of temples they were erecting;
but all was in vain.
To those who have not seen the two panoramas of
Pompeii exhibited in London, the sight of the city
must be more striking ; but they are so faithful, so
exact, and give such a clear idea of the most important
parts of it, that little more is to be learned, as to those
portions which they represent, from seeing the place
itself. A person, who wishes to believe that the sight
of this city alone is worth so long a journey, should not
visit the panoramas; or having visited them, he should
spare himself the trouble, which is not inconsiderable,
of coming here. I would, however, except all such
as do not know how to employ themselves in their own
country ; for to those any suffering is a pleasure ; be
cause, however great it maybe, it is less than the pains
of ennui.
The excavations are slowly continued ; a house has
been lately discovered, which is called the house of the
poet ; it is a good house, and has some interesting
frescos. That there should be poets in a city without
garrets, where all the dwellings are one story high,
seems strange ; and still more so, that a poet should
have a house, and a good one too.
Some public baths have also been lately dug out;

POMPEII. 81
the warm bath ; the sudatorium, or vapour bath ; and
the cold bath, are nearly entire : by studying these at
tentively, much might doubtless be learned, as to the
best construction of baths; a subject which, like
many others, the ancients understood well, and on
which we are deeply and darkly ignorant. The re
mains of antiquity are the objects of a vague wonder,
or playthings for the childish great, but are never con
templated with a view to practical improvement in the
arts of life : because men are too apt to overlook entirely
what ought to be the end and aim of all knowledge —
utility. Warm baths were favourite luxuries with the
ancients ; the use of them is very refreshing, and favours
cleanliness and health ; they appear to have been well
skilled in the economy of fuel , which is the only expence ;
aud must have been able to heat a large quantity of
water with small means ; as the low price of admission
proves. In some of the baths I remarked, that the
floor is raised two feet, and there is a space under it ;
and the walls are covered with tiles, which are fastened
at the distance of about three inches from the walls' by
a projection in the middle of the tile, which is pierced
with a hole for the nail that secures it to the wall; the
tiles are then covered with a coat of plaster. A large
and handsome brasier, or fire-place, of bronze, was
found in the sudatorium; it is judiciously suffered
to remain there, and it adds to the illusion, and

63 POMPEII.
gives an agreeable reality to the scene. The course
of bathing, as is well known, was threefold ; firet, the
warm bath, which cleansed the bathers, and with
the utility and comfort of which we are familiar;
secondly, the sudatorium, the hot, or vapour bath ; and
thirdly, the cold bath, into which they suddenly
plunged to close the pores after they bad been opened
by the second process: we are unacquainted with the
two last operations, but they are practised in Russia,
and in the East, it is said, with a beneficial effect.
The tragic and comic theatres, and the amphitheatre,
are very entire, and exceedingly interesting ; from a
rational study of these, and the other ancient theatres,
much might be learned to enable us to improve the
very defective structure of our own ; but so long as
the present odious and illegal monopoly is permitted
to exist, by the absurd and criminal patience of the
public, the theatres in London will continue tobe too ex
pensive and too vile to be the objeets of great, orfrequent
interest. For the young, and for persons of a humble
rank, no school would be so instructive, as a well con
ducted play-house; morality can not be taught so im
pressively and so agreeably in any other method as in a
historical, or a domestic tragedy ; the public virtues
in the former, and the private virtues in the latter: it is
perfectly impossible for any being, possessed of moral
sense, to witness a good representation of a

POMPEII. S3
drama, and not to become, at least for some hours, and in.
feelings and intentions, a better man : nor is it easy to
believe that any abuse, imposition, or quackery, would
be able to withstand tbe well-directed satire of free and
unrestrained comedy. Yet so powerful is our predi
lection for misgovernment, that we consent to forego
these vast advantages, and, as is usually the case,.
without conferring thereby a solid benefit upon one
single individual.
The temple of Isis is magnified in description ; iii
itself it is by no means remarkable; the staircase, and
passage, and the situation of the statue, are pointed
Out as very mysterious ; and it is Said, that the priests
ascended the secret stairs, and, by means of the secret
passage, were able to give out oracles to the people:
the structures seemed to me to be ill adapted for the
purpose ; the present priests of this country gladly
seize, or invent, an opportunity to speak ill of their
predecessors; but why should they speak ill of them >
they surely need not fear them as rivals ; and the podr
fellows were of the right sort ; the}' died game ; they
were at dinner in the refectory when the eruption carrie,
and would not leave their meal : their skeletons were
found amongst egg shells, and the bones of chickens
and of fish. Our Cicero had been in the British service
in Portugal, which had opened his eyes a little; he
showed me the altars, and said, " Here the priests burned

84 POMPEII TO SALERNO.
the bones, and ate the flesh, and deceived the people;
the poor world has always been deceived, and priests
have always been the same." If these opinions be
come, as is to be desired, a little more general in this
country, the lazy monks will be made useful, and, in
spite of themselves, even respectable; they will be em
ployed in scraping the roads and in cracking stones.
We passed from the amphitheatre to the road, re
mounted our carnage, and continued our journey.
The country is fruitful and well cultivated ; the poplars
are not polled, but are suffered to grow to their full
height, and the vines climb up to the top : a very
long ladder, and some dexterity, must be necessary to
prune them and to gather the fruit. I saw many gi
gantic vines ; the stem as thick as the thigh, or even
as the body, of a man, far surpassing the stem of the
celebrated and noble vine at Hampton Court, in size:
their magnitude justifies what Alcaeus writes; that
you cannot plant a better tree than the vine ; the quan
tity of wood in these would satisfy the word StvSptov,
even in plain prose.
There are some small plantations of cotton near
Naples ; it is thought that they will not succeed : a
boy offered us some of the wool-bearing pods, as a
curiosity : I was happy to see a plant to which I am
under many obligations ; and they are here increased ;
for I found pillows and mattresses stuffed with the

POMPEII TO SALERNO. 85
vegetable wool. I was glad to look at my old friends
the poplars, in their utmost glory, spiring up with a
prodigious growth, perhaps as large as those at
Neuwied ; I speak with diffidence, for I did not land
there ; and a portentous vine ascending each tree ;
climbing to the very top, and diffusing itself on all
sides amongst the branches: an auspicious union, ac
ceptable to the gods ; the stately tree strictly embraced
by his lovely and fruitful wife. Hercules bibux is a
favourite device on antique gems: Hercules in con
junction with Bacchus: these trees, by an agreeable
emblem, or allegory, brought to my mind the beau
tiful and affecting tragedy of Alcestis ; and particularly
the speech, which begins —
Ovrog, rt <t£fivov teat trtfypovTiKOQ (3\sir£ig ;
and was delivered when the rare and well-requited hos
pitality of Admetus had warmed with wine the heroic
brains of the son of Alcmena.
We ascended gradually to La Cava, where the
country is remarkably picturesque ; it is said that
Salvator Rosa used to study there; from the number
of priests we met, and of convents seated on the hills;
we concluded that the wine and provisions were gOod
and abundant. We descended more rapidly through
a lovely valley ; and the gulf of Salerno, which is, per
haps, even more beautiful than that of Naples, sud
denly broke upon us.

86 SALEK.NO-
We arrived at Salerno about five, at an inn, which
the sign board designated as the "Nobile locanda del
Sole." After some wrangling, the price.to be paid for
our accommodations was fixed, and wewalked out on the
beach ; it was a fine evening ; we talked of the beauty
of the scene, and of the noble view that might be seen
from the castle, that towers on a mountain behind the
town. It soon became quite dark and we returned to
our inn. The nature of the roads, the structure of
the carriages, the rate of motion, the excitement of
so many new objects, the everlasting torment and
worrying of the people; some, or all of these causes,
fatigue the traveller beyond measure ; after a sqppev
by no means ignoble, or unworthy of the noble hotel
of the Sun, I retired to a bed sufficiently comfortable,
and slept with eagerness and voracity.
Tuesday, December 13. — The chamberlain of the
Sun came by candle-light to wake the dead, who re
luctantly obeyed him ; the first anxious thought of re
viving animation was concerning the weather: in this
wonderful climate it is permitted at five in the morning,
in the middle of December, to jump out of bed, to
open wide the window, and to stand in a shirt and
study the weather. There had been a good deal of
rain in the night, but the morning was fine. We took
a substantial breakfast ; and packed up a couple of

SALERNO. 87
roast fowls, bread, and pears, to befriend us in the
wilderness. Congratulating ourselves on the clemency
of the skies, we continued our course ; the lovely bay
was on our right, and a fine range of mountains
on the left. About a mile from the city, in a
garden of orange-trees on our left, we saw, with admi
ration, a noble date-palm standing proudly as the tree
of victory. We met many tall mules laden with
burdens, or carrying a wild Calabrian peasant in pic
turesque attire ; the hat is precisely that of the round
heads, and brings to mind the engravings of the trial
and execution of Charles I. of the long parliament, :
and of other matters, when republicanism was so great
a favourite in England, that it was proposed to sub
stitute "thy commonwealth come," for "thy kingdom
come" in the Lord's prayer. We saw many fine oxen,
and many of those ugly monsters, the mis-shapen buf
faloes. The plain became more extensive and swampy, but
it is in general well cultivated. Near Eboli we turned
to the right, and quitted, the high road from Naples to
Messina. We passed on the left a hunting palace of
the king of Naples, with a pretty little river and a vast
forest, said to be full of game —
" Ubi cerva sylvicultrix, ubiaper uemorivagus," ...
We wished in vain to join for a short time in his plea
sures, and to share in Iris sports. I observed large

88 PiESTUM.
thickets of myrtle covered with black berries, and many
lentiscks, or mastick-trees. We came to a piece of
road, about three miles in length ; so bad, that we had
some difficulty in getting through it; we passed a
wooden bridge over the river Sele, which Murat had
substituted for the delays and difficulties of a ferry
boat ; we were detained some time in repairing with
sods and stones a bridge over a ditch ; and in getting
the carriage across ; having at last succeeded, we went
on slowly, and the temples of Poestum were pointed
out to us. About a mile from Poestum we passed the
spot where, by a cruel fate, Mr. and Mrs. Hunt were
murdered ; the robbers had concealed themselves be
hind the low walls on both sides of the road.
We soon entered the gate of the once populous city
of Neptune, and after him called by the Greeks,
Posidonia, as Pliny says, "Poestum Grascis Posido-
nia appellatum," and Velleius Paterculus calls it
Neptunia; the circuit of the walls is still visible; it
contains at present three ruined temples, two small
cottages, and two large farm houses. The situation is
agreeable; about a mile and a half from the sea, in a
pleasant little plain, at the foot of lofty and picturesque
mountains. The Cicero of the place, a loquacious
old man of eighty-four, offered his services, which
we accepted ; but we entered one of the cottages and
first despatched the fowls with an excellent appetite,

POESTUM. 89
and brought the stomach into a state of subordination :
so that it not only did not impede, but mainly assisted,
our minds in the contemplation of the beautiful.
We walked first to the middle ruin, the temple of
Neptune, which is the best preserved ; and is, in my
opinion, alone, worth the other two, and more besides.
Except three or four of the small columns within, the
roof only is wanting, which want I regret the more,
because this is the part of the edifice that I can least
comprehend, and the nature and structure of which I
never heard explained. The ground near this temple was
thickly covered with the milk-thistle. The end next
the sea, about twenty years since, was struck by the
lightning, which cracked the pediment, broke off a
large piece of one of the columns, and touched one
of the inner pillars ; it has been carefully repaired ;
so also have those buildings in Pompeii where re
pairs were necessary. The low pediment does not de
stroy and overlay the grand effect of the columns and
entablature. After the temple of Neptune, the basilica and the
temple of Ceres are not striking; partly because little
of. the rest of the entablature, save the architrave, re
mains; and partly, because the style is less majestic.
We may fancy, that a colony of Sybarites did their
best for Neptune; that they had vowed a handsome
temple, if their voyage was prosperous ; that they were

fjO IMSSTUM.
well pleased with the voyage and their new country,
and that they showed their gratitude by this noble
structure. Whilst we viewed the ruins, we were attended by a
guard of three dirty soldiers, whom we fouud in the
cottage jvhere we dined; they quietly stood by and said
nothing, and did not ask for money ; but three or four
of the inhabitants were most indefatigable in tormenting
us for charity all the time; they, most uncharitable
souls, had not the charity to suffer us to see in peace
what we had come so far to see.
The stone of which these buildings are formed, is as
remarkable as the buildings themselves ; it is called
travertine, and is evidently formed of petrified straws,
canes, and reeds; that is, the deposit upon these sub*
stances has hardened into most durable stones; the
straws, canes, and reeds have perished, but they have
left their forms impressed on the stone. Travertine
is an indurated, calcareous deposit from water, and has
its name from the Teverone, or Auio, near which river
it is found in abundance. The ancients called it ti-
burtine, that is, of Tibur, or Tivoli. Our ultra octo-
generian led us to a large pillar near the river, which is
an excellent specimen of the formation ; the striating,
or fluting, of the reeds, may be distinctly traced in
many places. The stones are of the colour of cork,
and full of flaws and holes, so large that you may put

P.ESTUM. 91
your hand, or fist, into them ; the cork models, there
fore, represent these temples, even more faithfully than
other buildings. It is said, that the stone was formed
in the river. The river may possibly form smaller
stones ; but it seems impossible, that all should have
been taken from the bed of a small streamy many
rocks in this neighbourhood appear to be of the
same kind- I suppose the geologists have allu
vial, and diluvial, waters in abundance, ready to ac
count for this formation, on principles strictly Mosaical ;
and in a manner that would satisfy not only Noah him
self, but Deucalion and Pyrrha likewise ; who could
make more of stones than any other persons that ever
took them in hand : —

Missa viri mauibus faciem traxere virilem ;
Et de femineo reparata est femina jactu.
Inde. genus durum sumus."- 
I tasted the water of the little river ; it was extremely
brackish : if it was the same in former days, I should
imagine, that the Sybarites, who were not genus durum',
a hard race, legitimately descended from the stones;
but a very dainty people, took but little of it.
When we had finished our observation of the Temple
of Ceres, we sat on a wall till the carriage came up ;
the descendants of the luxuriousSybarites kept steadily
begging all the time. I questioned one of them, a little
boy ; he told me, that his name was Hilary, that he was

92 P^JSTUM.
ten years old, that his father was dead, his mother alive ;
that he had three brothers and one sister. I had no small
money ; it had all been begged away long ago; but
1 gave him a piece of bread, which I had in my pocket ;
at -first he put it into the crown of his puritanical hat ;
but he soon took it out, and commenced eating it with
a tone of feeling that convinced me the boy was hungry,
but he did not look miserable. I should have been
glad to have learned something of his mode of life;
but I got on slowly with his Calabrian dialect, and the
carriage soon drove up.
It is generally prudent in Italy, at least for persons who
have a prejudice against being starved to death, to carry
some bread in their pockets ; I have frequently given
part of it to beggars as a test, that I might estimate
their poverty from the manner in which it was received :
I have always found that, however stale it might be, it
was an acceptable donation. When I have been at my
solitary meal at an inn, two or three famished cats have
often come about me, with thin flanks, asking looks,
and hungry mewings ; if I threw a crust of bread to
them, far from rejecting the offer, as in England, they
would scramble for it and devour it greedily; wherever
I found that the cats would fight for a morsel of bread,
I was convinced that there were many empty stomachs
near, both, of men and animals, and that hunger
reigned lord paramount.

PyfcSTUM; 93
When we left the city, one of the soldiers got up
behind the carriage to guard us; he continued with us
for two miles, and then quitted us without asking for
money. A boy had undertaken to conduct us by a
road, so as to avoid the broken bridge over the ditch ;
he took us across fields and over the green corn ; but
there was no one to complain of our trespass : we
avoided the ditch, and at last regained the road. The
san soon set, the twilight was very short, and it became
dark, except the bright stars and a clear new moon ;
to which luminaries we were under great obligations ;
for we had hardly entered upon the worst part of the
road, when the carriage stuck fast in the mud : we got
out to lighten it, but the horses were unable to move it;
and were so much disheartened, that they would not
draw. We pushed behind, assisted the wheels, raised
it up, dug away the mud, attempted to turn and to
back ; changed, and re-changed, and changed agaia
the places of the horses ; coaxed and flogged them, and
scolded the driver ; we tried to find a house, that we
might get assistance of men, horses, or oxen — but in
vain ; we shouted, but in this vast solitude there was
no one, friend or foe, to hear. We said that we had
paid dearly for the sight of the temple of Neptune,
and. the rosaries of the twice bearing city, " biferique
rosaria Paesti," and jested about robbers, and con
sidered seriously, whether we should walk on, and leave

94 POESTUM.
the driver, his carriage, and the three horses, to blind
Fortune and the three Fates.
After an hour and a half spent in these speculations,
and in vain and various attempts, the carriage yielded
to a happy and vigorous effort. We were afraid to get
in, lest our weight should sink our vehicle into a simi
lar mishap ; we walked, therefore, for about three
miles, through bad roads, amongst ditches, in mud,
over uneven ground, and by an uncertain light ; after
much wading, stumbling, and perplexity, we at last
got upon the hard road, and seated ourselves in the
carriage. We were extremely hot in consequence of
our exertions, and the heavy dews were falling. We did
not relish this chill upon our heated bodies : we spoke
of the strange circumstance of these ruins remaining
so long unknown, of their discovery, and of its be
coming suddenly the rage, and a sort of fashionable
disease for all persons, architects or not, to visit them ;
and of the young couple who fell a sacrifice to this*
mania. That they should continue so long unknown
is the more remarkable, because, as Salerno can be
plainly and distinctly seen from the temples, they, of
necessity, must be visible from Salerno. In the midst
of these discussions, we suddenly bethought ourselves
of a small piece of bread, and a very small quantity
of rum, that were still left ; we divided tbe bread and
drank the little remaining liquor out of the same bottle,

EBOLI. 95
like friends ; this refreshment served so well to keep up
the vital heat, that we spoke only of the obligations
we were under to the moon ; that if it had been quite
dark, and above all rainy, we must have remained on
the road all night : and we speculated upon the inte-
restingtopic of a colony of Greeks arriving on the desert
shores of Pa?stum} and bringing with them the deep
sense of the beautiful, which characterized that re
markable people.
We arrived late at Eboli, at a large house that bad
been lately a convent, with long corridors, and, for
bed-rooms, cells : they gave us an eatable suppen
The beds in Italy are always good, sweet, and free
from vermin, though homely and cheap. A slight iron
bedstead of the most simple form — a rectangular frame
supported by four legs, all of iron ; three or four
planks are laid across, and sustain a large bag of
canvass, or ticking, filled with the husks of the Indian
corn, a rustling bed, but dry and sufficiently soft and
elastic, because it is at least two feet in depth ; there is a
slit in tbe middle of the bag ; and the mode of making
the bed is, to thrust in tbe arm and rout the husksabaut :
it is very common also to borrow a handful to light a fire j
a pair of coarse linen sheets, and a quilt, which is really
a quilt, that is, wool, or cotton-wool, quilted between
two pieces of silk, or more usually calico of a chintz
pattern, and a pillow stuffed with cotton, having -a

96 EBOLI.
border, or frill, the only piece of superfluous finery,
round the edge, like a baby's pincushion, complete the
nest — into which I crept, truly and heartily tired, and
immediately fell into a deep sleep.
I was entertained all night with a dream, that I was a
carpenter and had made a door, so accurately, that I
kept fitting together the various parts; taking it to
pieces, and joining them again, with new pleasure: if
the trade of a carpenter be as agreeable waking as
sleeping, it is an enviable employment. A thin mat
tress of cotton-wool is sometimes interposed between
the bed and the sheet with a good effect. I prefer the
beds of" Indian corn to feather beds; the animal odour
of feathers is always more or less unpleasant ; the ve
getable bed is less heating, more healthy, and its soft
ness is more elastic ; I have no doubt, that clean straw
would answer the purpose equally well, if put in
loosely, and routed about, whenever the bed is made ;
the stratum ought to be at least two feet in thickness.
Our straw mattresses are very faulty ; they are not suf
ficiently thick, they are crammed too full, and there
is no aperture for a kind hand to raise the contents :
such an obdurate mattress is too often to be found in
Edinburgh, where, as if to make it still more un
yielding, the name is pronounced with an accent on the
last syllable ; a plank, so that it be only of deal, is a
less uncomplying couch ; and less apt, I am disposed

SALERNO. 97
to think, to make the sleeper stubborn and inflexible
in argument.
Wednesday, December 14. — I was roused from
my pleasing and harmless vision at an early hour by an
old woman with a candle ; and was compelled, un
willingly, to arise. We set out immediately for Salerno ;
there was a certain pleasure in quitting the convent ;
a very slight acquaintance with the inhabitants of these
places renders it impossible to connect other ideas than
those of disgust with the sight of any thing monastic.
It soon became light; the morning was fine; and we
were glad to see, once more, the noble hotel of the
Sun, and to enjoy the welcome refreshment of break
fast. We visited the cathedral of Salerno ; a bar
barous building, with some columns, sarcophagi, and
a bason, which were brought from Passtum ; it con
tains also mosaics, pavements, altars, and pulpits,
which some stupid priests said were also from that
city; but this seems improbable. We repassed La
Cava, and admired again, with increased pleasure, the
beautiful scenery.
At Portici we visited the museum of paintings from
Herculaneum ; these frescos are full of spirit, truth,
grace, and beauty ; the style of execution often has
merit ; it is often hasty, and sometimes bad : I am in
clined to agree with those, who think that they are

98 PORTICI.
copies of the works of great masters ;. that the outline
was mechanically traced, and the rest filled up, usu
ally by a common artist. It is to be wished, that such
a tasteful and agreeable mode of adorning the walls of
a house could be adopted in these times and in our own
country. One fresco represents the death of Sopho-
nisba ; there is a portrait of Scipio, and another head
was thought to resemble Napoleon ; this was told at
Paris, and the imperial baby desired that it should be
copied, and the copy sent by return of post ; which
.was accordingly done.
Adventurous persons have asserted, that, because
some of the drawings of buildings and scenery are
deficient in correctness, the ancients were ignorant of
-perspective ; there are others that prove abundantly,
how well they were skilled in it : besides it would be
•absurd to suppose, that they could attain to such sur
prising excellence in the fine arts ; and to an extensive
knowledge of geometry, without acquiring proficiency
in an art which is founded on a few simple and evident
¦principles, by no means difficult in application.
The custode told us, that an enormous fascinum,
which had been found at Herculaneum, was formerly
exhibited publicly with the other rarities, until the
Queen of Naples one day took offence at the harmless
amulet, and declared, that it was an unseemly thing,
and that she would break this huge relic of heathen

HEIiCUI.AXEU.M. ()9
superstition ; but the Ring, Charles III., would not
suffer her, and said : " No : it shall be locked up in a
private room ; and when great personages come to visit
us, we will show it to them : " and this decision pre
vailed. We saw the shall of a female, said to be that of the wife
of Diomedes of Pompeii ; the custode assured us, that
her eyebrows might be seen ; it was so dark that I did
not see them : on the lava, or rather hardened mud,
was the impression of her cheek and bosom: my com
panions instantly began to admire the form of her
bosom from the impression which it had made ; I could
hardly distinguish it: in this instance, at least, I was
insensible to the impression of a lovely bosom.
We descended with torches by many steps into Her-
culaneum ; which is chiefly interesting as manifesting to
what an immense depth successive eruptions have bu
ried the city in a solid rock. We explored passages
that showed us tolerably well the various parts of the
theatre ; the sound of the carriages over our heads ex
actly resembled the applauses of the gods in a modern
playhouse. We saw the peasant's well, which first dis
covered the long lost city. We were informed, that
the other excavations had been filled up, lest the ground
should fall in ; as a creep is not thought desirable under
the town of Portici,. which, with a royal palace and
many fine villas, is unhappily situated exactly above

100 HERCULANEUM.
the buried city. The depth of the grave of Hercu-
laneum, aud the extreme hardness of the lava, which
is excellent for paring roads and streets, must make it
a costly undertaking to work this mine of ancient
wealth. The covering of Pompeii is shallow, and con
sists only of ashes, or mud ; but unfortunately, it is the
least important place; the chief objects of interest
having been found at Herculaneum : besides the ex
pense of labour, it is necessary to purchase the ground,
which is fertile, and covered with valuable vineyards;
and also a place near at hand to receive the earth that
has been removed. To disinter an "ancient city is,
therefore, an expensive work : if these remains were in
England, or even if British capital might be applied
freely and securely, companies would, no doubt, soon
be formed ; and the joint-stock resurrection-men
would carry on with great spirit the business of
snatching the whole body from the tomb : as for
the rubbish, the improvements in machinery are so
rapid and wonderful, that it will soon be easy to
run it up to the top of Vesuvius, and shoot it into
the crater from whence it came : the fires of the
volcano may be applied to heat the water, and
create steam for the purpose; and the silly Vesu
vius will thus be made an assistant in the appro
priate punishment of being compelled to eat his own
dirt.

NAPLES. 101
Having explored the little that Herculaneum affords,
we returned to-day, or rather to-night, and soon after
wards to Naples ; rejoicing at haviug executed with
such fine weather, and so little difficulty, the journey
to Paestum; which we had all considered the most
arduous part of our several schemes. The Neapolitans
are fond of good living; the repasts in Naples are
plentiful and excellent, and the wine is sound and
good; after short commons exhibited in the rough,
we were not sorry to regain the luxurious fare of the
capital. Thursday, December 15. — It rained furiously all
day ; little could be done, except some matters of
business. We took Forsyth with us to Paestum ; I
was disappointed, whenl first read this book, whicfi,
like many of the works of his countrymen, has been in
dustriously praised and extolled more than it deserves ;
and in looking it over again, I was even less satisfied
with it. He certainly has the merit of sometimes
thinking and speaking for himself; but the style is
clumsy and heavy ; it is the book of a schoolmaster,
not of a gentleman. " Joseph," as his biographer fa
miliarly calls him, had not learned the common de
cencies of life from " the conscientious superintend-
ance of nearly one hundred boarders," (what scenes of
blue milk, lean rice puddings, and tough, white-.

102 NAP I. IS.
grained mutton ; of spare diet and salutary coercion ;
does this canting phraseology present to the terrified
imagination!) "at Newington Butts." For the fol
lowing paragraph, " Joseph" ought to have had one
of his best birch rods laid to his conscientious tail : —
" Moncenni, the banker's daughter, was married here
by proxy, to a rich young man, whom she had never
seen, who is imbecile in mind and body, goes some
times on all-fours, and strangles dogs aud cats, and is
physically unable to consummate the rite. But that
the bride is indifferent about; she told my friend
Brown, on the eve of the marriage, that she must first
go to Florence to meet her husband, but next day she
should enter into all the rights of an Italian wife, and,
be glad to receive his addresses. The Arciprete Luti,
the president of the university, boasted before me,
in Sa Cattarina Spannocchi's box, of the immoral
tie which he had formed in the morning. The
bride's mother acted like a procuress to her daughter;
I saw her encourage her dalliance with Brown, but
complained that English lovers were but birds of pas
sage." — 2d Ed. p. 450. If he did not approve of pro
ceedings less square than his own, he ought to have
remained at Newington Butts; he certainly ought not
to have exposed, and decorated with his own monstrous
and absurd exaggerations, the secrets of a society into
which he was admitted, and kindly tolerated by the

NAPLES. 103
ladies ; and, as it seems, even treated to the play. For
this he is not to be pardoned; we can more easily
forgive " Joseph " for disliking a joke : when he was
introduced to the Cardinal York, the old gentleman
observed, that he had often heard in Scotland of second
sight, but never of Forsyth (foresight), which was very
smart and happy for a king, either real or pretended ;
but it gave great offence : and it is possible to sympa
thize in this feeling ; for any light jest must grievously
annoy a pedagogue, whose proceedings are always
heavy, and fundamentally serious.
The King of Naples can trust the Pope ; but the
Pope will not trusttheKing of Naples : at Rome I took
my place to this city, and paid at once for the whole
distance ; but here I could only take it with the courier
to the frontier, Terracina. It is the present fashion,
or policy, of monarchs, to discourage as much as pos
sible commerce and communication. I was informed
by a friend, who sent a box of clothes from Vienna to
Venice, that he was employed for three hours at Vienna,
and went to seven or eight different offices, and paid
sundry fees- to dispatch it : aud that at Venice, when
he received his box, he was obliged to undergo the
like trouble. The King of Naples has raised greatly
the import duties of late. Happily nothing is so likely
to bring down a speedy punishment on the heads of
tyrants, as the attempt to make their subjects pay

104 NAPLES,
dearly for bad commodities ; for no other nation iu the
world is so patient of taxation as the English, or
would calmly bear so much ; as for example — to be
almost entirely deprived of wine ; and to buy any
article of extensive consumption at the price and in
the manner we obtain our tea. The Grand Duke of
Tuscany is conspicuous for illiberality, even amongst
the present governors of Italy : he will not permit the
Pope's diligences to pass through his dominions.
In the evening I went to the little theatre of San
Carliuo : the first piece was a serious affair about Se-
janus ; the diversion of which consisted in imitations
of the different peculiarities of the chief tragic actors :
as I had not seen the persons imitated, I was not much
amused ; but there was so much manner aud character,
that I have no doubt that they were hit off well. Then
followed the famous Pulcinella, who was more enter
taining; he is a personification of the character of a
Neapolitan, as John Bull is of an Englishman : it is
hardly necessary to add, that no two characters can
possibly be more opposite. The Neapolitans speak so
rapidly, so indistinctly, so inarticulately, and so bar
barously, that it is extremely difficult, even after a long
residence, to comprehend their jargon. If the imagi
nary character of the people of Naples was unlike the
general picture of the English nation, of whom John
Bull is supposed to be the type, I nevertheless per-

PUZZUOLI. 105
ceived a striking resemblance between Punch and the
ideal picture of an inhabitant of London, a cockney,
as represented by Mr. Liston, and other artists : it is
easy to believe, that a certain general likeness'pervades
the inhabitants of populous and luxurious cities.
Friday, December 16. — I rose at half past five to
go to Baioe : the early morning was dubious, and it
soon began to rain violently; every appearance was
most inauspicious ; at last, about nine, our patience
was rewarded ; it cleared up, and we drove through
the grotto of Posilipo. Fish it is said is always scarce
and dear at Naples ; the inhabitants are particularly-
fond of eels, and they make a point of eating a vast
quantity dressed with garlic on Christmas-day ; as the
cockneys considered it a duty to have a roast turkey
on that day ; many are caught in the Lago di Patriae
but so great is the demand for them, that they are
always dear, especially at Christmas, when they rise
to an enormous price. This fish is eaten there as a
matter of religion, in order to bruise the serpent's head :
yet it is hard to believe, that Eve was misled by the
sophistry of an eel !
We soon came to the bay of Puzzuoli, which is very
lovely, and observed the isle of Nisita, once a villa of
Brutus, now a lazzaretto. The late gale had greatly
damaged the road, wherever it passes near the sea.
Solfaterra, once the crater of a volcano, and aptly

106 AVERNUS.
named by the ancients Forum Vtdcani, is now over
grown with bushes of myrtle, lentisck, and arbutus;
but the earth sounds hollow beneath the feet, and by
digging a foot or two in some places, the earth is found
to be warm ; and in one corner is a tiny volcano, which
smokes, and steams, and burns, and fumes with brim
stone, and ejects yellow, red, and green matters,
poisons, or combustibles : it is, I think, the most cu
rious and the most nasty little thing I ever saw. The
mode of obtaining sulphur is easy ; they fill earthen
vessels with the earth, of which one-third part is sulphur,
and placing fire below, it melts and runs off into other
vessels: the flour of sulphur forms pretty crystals on
the lids of the pots, and on many of the rocks in this
volcanic territory.
Of the temple of Jupiter Serapis, the ichnography,
or ground plan, remains, and little else ; a few frag
ments, three columns still standing, and some baths ;
the area was full of water.
After much wrangling, we procured a boat, and em
barked ; we soon passed some slight ruins of Cicero's
villa; a house that had been washed down in the late
gale; and Monte Nuovo, a little mountain now over
grown with trees, which an earthquake raised out of
the Lucrine lake. We landed near the remains of this
lake, which are close to the sea : we soon came to the
celebrated Avernus, a lake by no means gloomy, and
in a pleasant situation. We entered by torch light a

AVERNUS. 107
long passage, called the Grotto of the Sybil, and were
carried on the backs of our guides into three little
chambers, in which the water was two feet deep ; one
is called the Bath of the Sybil ; there is nothing to be
seen in these little dens ; it is not agreeable to be car
ried thus through water under low roofs or rocks ; the
air is suffocating, and we came out, our faces blackened
with the smoke of the torches. I never found any
thing remarkable in any of the subterranean places I
have ventured into : with iEneas it was otherwise, and
Orpheus regained his Eurydice, and, if he had had
self denial enough, he might have kept her: but times
are much altered ; in future, I think I will confine my
inquiries to the surface of the earth. We read on the
shores of the lake Avernus as much of the sixth jEneid,
as has any reference to these regions; but the majestic
verses of Virgil do not greatly illustrate the present
appearance of the country ; aud the descriptions of
poets are usually vague and indistinct.
We returned to the sea, re-embarked, and landed
again at the baths of Nero. Two of my companions
stripped themselves, and went to bathe, if it may be
so called ; they entered the narrow passages, and re
turned in a few minutes, streaming with perspiration,
blackened with the smoke of torches, and highly de
lighted. The guide, or genius of the place, brought
a bucket of the water; it is so hot that the finger is

108 BAIJS.
not willing to remain ; and two eggs were boiled in
it, or at least cooked sufficiently: they were voted
to the bathers by general consent, as a mark of respect
for their public spirit, who ate them, and reported
that they were very good.
We discharged our boatmen, and walked through a
short passage and along a narrow path, which com
manded a fine view of the bay and the surrounding
country. The late gale had enabled the sea to destroy
the road, and to beat down the well-built walls of
stone and brick, which had supported it ; and to dis
cover some ancient arches and vaults behind, butwhich
were not interesting, and a poor compensation for the
loss of the road.
The situation of Baiae is favourable for those who
like to look upon the sea ; which I confess I do not ;
but in the intolerable heats of summer, the sea breeze
is without doubt refreshing : the whole side of the hill
is covered with ruins, that point out the sites of ancient
villas. We entered a miserable inn ; the woman who
kept it was a victim of the malaria; her countenance
had that expression of languor which is said to be
always found in persons thus afflicted ; she appeared
however to be in the family way ; but as this appearance
was attributed also to her disease, the patient herself
was appealed to : the lady told us that the air, although
it had much to answer for, was not responsible for this ;

fus'aro. 109
she fully exculpated it of the sin of bad taste. Is the
air solely to be blamed for the bad health of these
persons ; do not an unwholesome mode of living, and
the continual and excessive filth, in which the wretches
rive, contribute largely to their maladies ? She de
manded a high price for some very bad wine, but this
might be fair enough, because of the situation: when
we passed the door again, she pretended that she had
not been paid. This was a sample of that folly and
fraud which assist to keep these unhappy creatures in
their degradation and misery.
The Neapolitans are sober and without brutality.
Had they but drunkenness and ferocious brutality,
they would be quite Irish ; we -find the same dirty,
squalid poverty, the same dishonesty and mutual dis
trust, the same treachery and cowardice, the same un
ceasing attempts to betray, deceive, supplant, and
vilify each other ; in short, all the worst vices of savages ;
and I believe the government is nearly as bad.
We examined the ruins of two or three temples,
which have formerly been tolerably handsome; and we
crossed the hill to Fusaro. Our time would not permit
us to pay the trumpeter of .Eneas the compliment of
a visit to his promontory ; amongst the troop pf im
portunate beggars, who follower! us, was a boy of ten
years, a victim of malaria; his face was languid, his
stomach swollen, and his whole aspect pale and

11,0 KUSARO.
wretched ; his clothes could not be useful as a covering,
but only to illustrate the extreme of raggedness. We
gave him bread, but his hunger did not seem to be
present, as he stowed it away for futureuse, and money,
"more than is usually given ; but he coutinued his im
portunities so as to convert pity into dislike, Thus. in
small things, as in great, this ill-starred people will not
suffer their friends to be their friends ; but pertina
ciously torment and deceive them into enemies. At
Fusaro we found a villa, or hunting box, of the king;
a place of no beauty ; and a salt water lake. The king
was expected on the morrow to hunt; and all the
peasants, or bogtrotters, were assembled to drive the
game : his sacred majesty is said to be so greedy and
selfish, that he will not suffer any one, not even his
own family, to shoot in his forests. We bought some
of the celebrated oysters from the lake, and sat down
on the grass to eat them without the necessary imple
ments, and surrounded by a troop of clamorous beg
gars: the oysters were salt, and without being large,
were very coarse ; in London they would be ranked
low. Here we found our carriage, which had been
sent round; we ascended it and drove to Cumae, where
we saw a grass-grown 'amphitheatre now buried in the
earth. The easiest and the cheapest mode of making
an amphitheatre would be to dig a circular, or ellip
tical hole, and to form the edges into steps for seats,

C'UM/E. Ill
either of the turf or covered with bricks, upon which
chairs, or benches, might be placed for the occasion ;
the visitors would descend to their places from above,
and one or two subterranean passages might be made
to the arena: it ought to be on the top of a hill,
that the water might drain off, otherwise it would be
a pond, and not a theatre : a chalk hill would answer
best, because it is perfectly dry ; but a good amphi
theatre might be carved out of Primrose-hill ; exca
vations at the top of a hill are not expensive, because
the earth is easily carried down : at certain seasons
labour is cheap ; and indeed there are frequently hosts
of paupers, for whom it is not easy to devise an
employment ; with a good plan, that is an exact ad
measurement of some one of the ancient amphitheatres,
unpolluted by the impertinent alterations of modern
architects, the execution would be by no means dif
ficult: the place would be useful for various amusing
and instructive representations; and a temporary
scaffold might be erected in the arena for dramatic
exhibitions. There are many days in the year, even
in England, when it is agreeable to sit in the open
air. A lofty gateway, which is called Arco Felice, is a
happy piece of brickwork ; from the top we gazed on
the sea and mountains, and saw a long lake, called
Lago di Licola, at our feet ; and at a distance, the

112 NAPLES.
larger lake of Patria, which supplies Naples with its
Christmas eels ; and whither sportsmen repair to shoot
wild fowl. Before us was the island of Ischia, celebrated
for its wines and figs : I am told that it nearly resembles
one of the Greek islands in the nature of the place
and the appearance of its inhabitants ; I would gladly
have visited it ; but the shortness of my stay, and the
stormy season, would not permit me. The isle of
Capri is on many accounts interesting, as well as the
coast of Sorrento ; but these, and much more, I was
forced to forego. We descended from the top of the
Arco Felice, and seating ourselves in the carriage, we
returned on a most lovely evening to Naples, wherewe
arrived in the dusk.
Saturday, December 17. — After bargaining for
some time with a charioteer, I got into one of those
round utensils, which abound in Naples, and was
carried swiftly over the pavement with many a rude
jolt, by a single steed; his harness shining with brass,
and studded with brass nails, like a trunk, and his
head bearing the pheasant's tail. The ascent of Ve
suvius has long been a well-organized bore ; I had not
left Naples before a person got up behind; and asked if
" my excellency " meant to ascend Vesuvius, and went
on with many impertinent interrogatories ; the strict
silence of my excellency tired out the garrulity of the

RESIN A. 113
Neapolitan, in about ten minutes he slunk away. We
had hardly entered Portici, when' a man on a wild
pony tried to persuade me to mount it; I was not per
suaded ; others offered mules, asses, poles, and them
selves : when I reached Resina, and the house of the
person, who had been recommended as a guide, the
yard was full of loud claimants; with some trouble I
made my way through them all, and found the guide,
who had just descended the mountain ; having passed
the morning there with a party to see the sun-rise : lie
put his staff into my hand, and recommended me to
his son, who immediately mounted me on a large ass,
and we took our way and went slowly up a narrow,
stony, steep lane, between stone walls, that enclosed
vineyards. My guide kept up a conversation with the donkey in
the asinine dialect of the Neapolitan tongue ; which is,
perhaps, a dialect of the Italian, which is a dialect of the
Latin, which is a dialect of the iEolic, which is a dialect
of the Greek, which, with. a slight admixture of Pe-
lasgic, is doubtless a dialect of the Sanscrit :. this highly
derivative language is not wanting in powers of persua
sion, especially as the eloquent youth suited the. action
to the word with a short heavy cudgel ; and the very re
luctant hearer was induced to step forward with alacrity.
My guide attempted to higgle about the reward he was
to receive ; he also took out bits of stone aud offered
VOL. II. I

114 VESUVIUS.
to sell them, and to bargain about the price; but, as I
had a strange fancy for attending to the objects before
me, I would not indulge him with a discourse about
value and price. When we emerged from the lane,
and turning to the left were really upon the mountain,
he was obliged to content himself with telling me the
dates of the different torrents of lava.
We crossed the bed of a little torrent of water which
had cut through the ground: this, said my guide, is
the same robe, without meaning to be figurative, roba,
which covers Pompeii ; the funeral robe and shroud
of this unhappy city consists of a deep bed of pumice
stones, hardened mud, and ashes. The more recent
lava is black, hideous, and rugged ; that which had
been exposed to the air, for forty or fifty years, was
slightly tinged with the first vegetation, a small whitish
lichen. At the Hermitage, the hermit, or a man in
monkish weeds, came slowly forth and saluted me ; I
returned his salute ; and reflecting that a bore is still a
bore, albeit in full canonicals, I turned my donkey's
head to the right, and left the holy anchorite in the
lurch. We continued our course over a ridge of earth,
and afterwards on the lava of the last eruption that had
issued from a small crater at the foot of the cone ; into
which, as my guide told me, a Frenchman, a modern
Empedocles, threw himself.
At the foot of the cone we left the donkey in the care

VESUVIUS. 115
of a boy, and I began to climb on foot : the cone is
steep and formed of loose cinders intermixed with some
stones ; the ascent is neither more nor less than a walk
of forty minutes up an ash-heap : the sun shone with
great force on my back ; and my guide walked before,
and implored me, in vain, to take hold of the bridle
which he had put round his waist for that purpose.
When we had got about half way, we had a very fair
prospect of being knocked on the head-: a person on
the top, who Could not go so far out of himself, as to
conceive, that a stone thrown from an eminence, where
he was placed, might be inconvenient to those below,
was amusing himself by throwing stones down the side
of the mountain, which set many others in motion ; and
a hundred large fragments were bouncing, bounding,
rolling, and leaping about ; there was no cover to
shelter us ; and it was equally vain to advance, or re
treat, as before a cannonade; we shouted as loud as we
could and for the present, we could only wait patiently
the pleasure of the fool and the stones : we stood
quietly therefore a few minutes, wishing that his mad
ness was confined in a madhouse ; or, like "that of
Empedocles, would take a direction inwards towards
the crater.
Not having been knocked on the head, we continued
our walk, as soon as the batteries had ceased to play,
and I reached with much pleasure the summit ; and
iS

1 lG VESUVIUS.
stood on a ridge of ashes two or three yards wide ; and
looked into the crater, which was quite clear, but
smoking a little in a few small places: itisonemileand
upwards across, and three and a half miles round, and
of great depth ; the walls are perpendicular, and con
tinually falling inwards like the cliffs on the sea shore;
portions fell from time to time with the sound of an
avalanche; and carried the fancy back from scenesof fire,
sulphur, and cinders, to the snow and ice of the glaciers
of the Shrekhorn and the Jungfrau. I listened at a
crack in the rock, and heard the rustling of fire; a bundle
of dry fern, which was thrust in, immediately caught
fire and flamed. The footman of an English party
eagerly burned the corner of his pocket-handkerchief,
as a memorial of the burning mountain ; a present for
the cook, and a type of the state of his heart ; how it
is consumed, not at one corner only, but at all four,
and with a large hole right through the middle, by the
fiercer fires of her more volcanic beauty. I saw
some persons on the opposite side of the crater : it is
not difficult to walk round it; I suppose one of them
was the man of stones. I walked a little way to the
right, so as to enjoy the view fully and to see Pompeii,
and gazing for some time alternately at the crater and
at the prospect of land and sea, and resting after the
toilsome ascent, I remained as long as time would
permit.

NAPLES. 117
The day was beautiful ; several other parties took
advantage of it. I found a boy seated at the summit
with a basket of refreshments; a small glass of wine
and amorsel of bread were not unwelcome after fau-sjinsj
up the cone. The descent is more easy and more
rapid ; half sliding, half walking, amongst the loose
ashes. Having emptied my shoes of various volcanic
products, I mounted my ass. As we passed the Her
mitage, the hermit made another sally, but was repulsed
without slaughter. The vineyards on this mountain
prod uce the Lacryma Christi, a strong, deep coloured,
red wine. I discharged my guide and his beast at
Resiua, and returned to Naples in the circular carriage.
Between Portici and Naples I passed a man, who was
carrying an enormous bunch of jonquils. At twelve
at night the porter of the courier came to take me and
my bags to the post-office.
Sunday, December 18  It was a fine starlight
morning, but cold : persons who cannot be punctual,
whenever they are resolved not to be too late, are much
too early ; I waited an hour and a half in the cold
coachhouse-like office, from which the courier sets out.
The delight of priests is to exercise power and to give
trouble ; here they gratify this propensity, by making the
couriers hear mass before they depart : at the unseason
able hour of midnight they make these men go to mass..

118 CAPUA.
If we allowed as much power to this tyrannical order
in England, we should find, on going to the Bull and
Mouth, one of the guards preaching, on compulsion,
a sermon to his fellows ; or keeping an act in theo
logy, and maintaining one of the thirty-nine articles
against all the objections which the coachmen and
horsekeepers could offer, before he was allowed to
mount his seat and blow his horn. Why should not
the porter at the White Bear in Piccadilly, since we
can never have too much of a good thing, as well as
the professor of divinity at Cambridge, be, what Dr.
Watson called " Malleus Haereticorum," to contund,
pertund, and detund, as with a hammer, all perverse
reasoners ?
When the mass was said, and the nobler parts of the
couriers were in a fit state for travelling, we started; it
was a cold, bright, starlight night ; the bitter north
wind blew into our open carriage ; I felt strangely
chilled, and my feet seemed to be frozen. We stopped
at Capua, but I tasted none of its delights ; we were
bothered for half an hour about letters and passports ;
I walked up and down the the street to warm myself.
At Naples, the insolence of tyranny respecting pass
ports is at its highest ; it requires three days and two
piastres to arrange this troublesome business ; and they
do not content themselves with bedevilling the old one,
as elsewhere ; but a king, who is kept on the throne by

mola. 119
foreign arms, of which he cannot pay the hire, has the
audacious impudence to require that a new and sepa
rate passport should be takenoutfrom his own wretched
minister. In the morning I discovered the cause of
the strange cold I had felt during the night; the King
of Naples had sent to the Prince of Lucca two sacks
of oysters ; the courier, a stupid old man, but meek,
civil, and I think not dishonest, had placed them at
the bottom of the carriage. The unhappy oysters (one
always finds others more unhappy than oneself, which
is said to be very consoling) opened their shells in the
night, and let out floods of water, so that my feet stood
in a pool all night ; and my carpet bag, which lay at
the bottom of the carriage, was embued with the liquor.
I found out this misery too late and too early ; too late
to remedy the evil, and sufficiently early to waste much
time in scolding the dull blockhead my companion.
As the haste of the courier was so much greater than
his speed, I had only time to swallow a cup of coffee
at Mola di Gaeta, and to carry off a piece of bread
in my hand.
The country is by no means beautiful on this road,
yet the rocky mountains have something picturesque
and interesting. Gardening must have been at a very
low ebb, when Italy was called the Garden of Europe.
Perhaps, there is no country in Europe, save the plains
of Lombardy, where there is less garden ground, except

120 TERRACINA.
Sweden. We cannot wonder that the vine and olive were
called the gifts of the gods, of Bacchus, and Minerva;
not only because they are so much superior intrin
sically to all other productions of the earth ; but be
cause they seem peculiarly a God-seud ; as they flourish
on mountains and barren rocks, where nothing better
than pasture for a few goats could be otherwise obtained.
We arrived at Terracina at about five in the after
noon ; after the usual folly of passports, and the ex
amination of my little baggage, I was taken to the
Grande Albergo, a large new inn, extremely dear,
dirty, and, if not absolutely bad, certainly very far
from good. My room was within a few yards of the
sea; which raged, as it is said usually to rage here at
Auxur, and kept me awake, although greatly tired.
Monday, December 19. — It rained violently all
the morning; I was not able to see the antiquities,
which I was told were not worth staying to see ; but
staying, they were worth seeing. I took a little turn
on the beach, and I observed some pieces of sponges ;
perhaps one better versed in corallines might have
found something of interest. I climbed to the dirty
city, and observed in the gardens many fine palms;
I found in a small square, an old, ugly, dirty, and
barbarous church, or cathedral ; which had nevertheless
something of barbarous magnificence: they boasted,

ROME. 121
in inscriptions, of possessing the bodies of four or
five martyrs; and in the portico, to the right as you
enter, I saw a large bath, sarcophagus, or soros, of
granite, with an inscription, which said, that many of
the Christians had been tortured in this vessel before
Apollo, and referred to Paulinus, Epist.-12. ad Seve-
nim. In his twelfth epistle to Sulpicius Severus, Saint
Paulinus gives a tedious description of two churches;
but I cannot find any thing in the one cited, or in any
other of the letters of this most tiresome bishop to that
person, about Christians being tortured, in that, or in
any other bath, for the honour, or the diversion, of the
God of Day, or any other god or goddess.
At three in the afternoon, 1 set out with the Roman
courier in a less incommodious vehicle, and was hurried
over the Pontine marshes in a heavy rain. I had in
tended to have stopped at Albano ; and to have given
a day to its lake and interesting vicinity ; but the hour
and the weather were equally unfavourable ; I therefore
went on to Rome.
At the gate of Rome, a fellow in a rough great-coat,
all dripping with wet, had the impudence to get into
the carriage, and to place himself between us; he was
an officer of the custom-house; he had been lately ap
pointed, and joyfully - informed the courier of the
history and particulars of his appointment ; he owed
it to the interest of a certain Dominican, a great friend

] 2-2 ROME.
of his mother ; I presume, more friendly to his mother
than to his mother's husband ; he told me that he would
not give me much trouble about my luggage ; and asked
me over and over again, with an earnest and supplicatory
solicitude, whether I intended to give him any thing:
I assured him that I did, but my assurances did not
appease him ; he persisted to the last in his anxious
inquiries. He did not meddle with my bags; the
scoundrel betrayed his trust for a shilling ; the Vicar
Apostolical himself could not have acted more basely.
Tuesday, December 20. — We arrived at the post-
office at four in the morning ; the rain had ceased and
the stars were shining ; I was glad to get into a hotel
and to bed. The day was fine; I set out therefore to
visit whatever still remained unexplored.
I entered the pyramid of Caius Cestius by a modern
passage ; the ancient entrance is narrow, and descends
by steps. The sepulchral chamber is painted with some
frescos of female figures, which are much defaced.
Of the English cemeteries, as they are called, the older
contains the tombs of all nations, of many Germans,
of a Pole, and there is one epitaph in the Russian lan
guage. The more modern cemetery has as yet but few
graves : in this, perhaps the most interesting, corner of
the most interesting city of the world, it is situated be
tween the pyramid of Caius Cestius and the Monte

ROME. 123
Testaceo, within two or three yards of the walls of
Rome, in the corner of a ruined tower, of which the
narrow limits do not admit intruders, upon ground a
little elevated above the rest, some cypresses have been
planted and are growing straight and well ; they will
soon serve both to conceal and to point out the " un
timely tomb," where a young poet sleeps; who has
happily characterized himself : — -
" By solemn vision and bright silver dream,
His infancy was nurtured. Every sight
And sound from the vast earth and ambient air,
Sent to his heart its choicest impulses.
The fountains of divine philosophy
Fled not his thirsting lips ; and all of great,
Or good, or lovely, which the sacred past
In truth or fable consecrates, he felt
And knew." &c. — Alastov.
It is virgin soil ; preceding generations have not
been buried there; and in digging graves, they do not
find skulls aud bones, as in other cemeteries; but
ancient vessels, marbles with inscriptions, and frag
ments of columns and capitals: the whole aspect of
the place breathes antiquity, and has a classic air. No
society of the dead can be more select; they consist of
persons, who were snatched away suddenly by fevers
in a foreign land; or who had sought relief in vain in
a warmer, but less healthy climate ; who loved the arts,
and the recollections of former times. Some have been
the victims of strange accidents; of the two nearest

124 ROME.
graves, the occupier of one, a young artist, died sud
denly of disease occasioned by his too great zeal in
copying and studying, during the heats of summer,
certain temples in Sicily; of the other, the youthful
tenant had fallen, by his foot slipping into a cascade
at Tivoli.
The church of St. Paul without the walls is a fine
ruin ; the effect of the fourfold ranges of columns
must have been very powerful ; a wood, or at least a
stately avenue of pillars : except this effect, there seems,
as far as it is possible to judge from what remains, to
have been little to regret ; the church appears to have
been naked and bare. Whenever a church is burned
down, the consecrated sluggards, whose only ostensible
business in life is to take care of it, should be heavily
fined for their great negligence; so as to put them
upon short commons ; for a monk can only be addressed
through the stomach ; where, as in some other animals,
that are low in the scale of being, all the organs of
sense are concentrated. It is always urged in excuse,
that these accidents happen through the carelessness
of workmen ; but why are they suffered to be careless ?
why is not one of the idlers placed as a sentinel over
them ? The undisguised rapacity of the monks is one
of the many disgusting traits of which their character
is compounded ; I gave a piece of money to a man in
the dress of a soldier for letting me in, or rather for

ROME. 125
letting me out of the church of St. Paul ; almost
before the money was out of my hand, a monk, who
stood by, said to him, "How much?" "So much,"
answered the soldier: "Very well," replied the monk.
I had seen stuck up all over Rome, side by side
with the notices of the translation of Mr. Cobbett's
History of the Reformation, an advertisement of a
book by one Jabalot, concerning the Jews, and their
relation with the Christian world: I met with the
pamphlet this evening, and read it; it is a violent
tirade against the Jews; the author pretends that
the Christian world is in imminent danger of falling
under their tyranny; and exhorts all Christians to
strive to shake off the Hebrew yoke, aud to persecute,
as of old, "these Deicides." This wicked production
at present excites, even amongst the most bigoted, no
other feeling than contempt and ridicule; the Italians
nickname the author, by a pun, Diavolo. Under the
cloak of a religion that commands man to love his
fellow, the devilish priests preach hate, inveterate,
unrelenting hate.
Wednesday, December 21. — I rode to the temple
of Minerva Medica ; a most picturesque ruin ; situ
ated in the midst of gardens of artichokes, endive, and
fine Roman broccoli ; the roof is much cracked, and
threatens to fall down.

] J6 ROME.
I had made many fruitless efforts to see the circular
church, called S. Stefano Rotondo ; and I had conse
quently seen an antique figure of a ship in white
marble, which is near, and is esteemed curious, oftener
than I had wished : the only human being I ever found
in this solitary district was an old woman, who was
passing by one day. I asked her if it was possible to
see the church ; she answered " Yes, there is a priest
to us," " Si c'e un prete;" and taking up a large
stone, she beat the great unpainted wooden gates vio
lently; after continuing her labours for about five
minutes, as no one answered, she threw down the stone,
and saying, " The priest is not to us," " II prete non
c'e," she went her way. I accordingly gave up all
hopes of entering the round church of St. Stephen.
To-day, as I was passing, I perceived that the door was
open ; I walked in, and was gratified by examining this
interesting piece of architecture; and amused with the
numerous and extraordinary martyrdoms painted on
the walls.
As the health of his holiness was somewhat better, the
Romans were less dissatisfied with him ; he officiated
last Sunday in St. Peter's, at the important functions
of making, not a saint, because the family of the de
ceased could not afford to pay the enormous expenses;
but a beato, a beatified person : during his short pon
tificate he had already made two full saints.

ROME. 127
Thursday, December22. — It is pleasing to wander
about Rome, because one is sure to meet with some
thing to engage the attention, and to occupy the
thoughts ; and an object is more engaging, when stum
bled upon unawares, than when regularly hunted out.
This morning I went to put a letter in the post ; and
wandering to the Pantheon, I found, as I read an inscrip
tion, the monuments of Raphael and of Hannibal Ca-
racci. I spen^some time in the Vatican ; the galleries
were filled with immense swarms of pilgrims ; the smell
of these devout people was quite appalling ; one of the
best of the institutions of the ancients has been the least
imitated — public baths ; it would be a great blessing
to the human race to diminish the mass of noisome
effluvium that must necessarily be inhaled by poor
suffering mortals during the long pilgrimage of life.
Many of the girls were pretty, and had a simple, modest
look ; and many of the dresses were picturesque. The
men seemed to be attentive to the surrounding objects,
alid inquisitive : they asked the names of various things
with much freedom, but of course were quite inca
pable of understanding the answers. I am told that it
is not permitted to make uotes in the galleries of the
Vatican, or to copy any thing; because, it is said, they
have been published by the government, which desires
to have an odious monopoly. In Naples, on the con-

128 ROME.
trary, I was informed that nothing may be copied; be
cause the works have not yet been published.
The Vatican and Capitoline Museums are only open
two days in the week, on Monday and Thursday, a
shameful niggardliness : — Why are they riot open every
day ? It is to be lamented, that works of art have, by
a strange error, been hitherto considered, not as the pos
sessions of the public, but as the private property of
princes : they are accordingly exhibited in a sparing
manner for ostentation rather than use : the most
powerful feeling that fills the mind when contemplating
the precious remains of antiquity, is usually a strong
wish that they were in better hands.
I found St. Peter's hung with crimson damask, the
leavings of last Sunday's spiritual debauch, the beati-1
fication : the effect was rich and handsome. The
breadths of the silk are marked out and joined together
by a ytllow list; on the pilasters these lines correspond
with the flutings ; but on the frieze they are mischievous,
as they are perpendicular, and consequently disturb
the lines of the entablature, which are all horizontal.
The beatified person was a Capuchin ; and I was ill-
formed, that at the Capuchin Convent, on Sunday
evening, the Capuchins might be seen firing little
cannons, but with a ludicrous attention to their own
safety, in honour of the new saint, or beatified spirit,

ROME. 12£»
and of their own order. The, life of this person had
been printed, and was distributed to those who attended
the ceremony ; I did not find any thing in it to con
tradict the assertion, " that a sour retreat from mankind,
a fiery zeal against heterodoxies, a set of chimerical
visions, or of whimsical penances, are generally the
qualifications of a saint. It is the policy of the Roman
church not to allow the honour of canonization ordi
narily, until fifty years after the death of the person
who. is candidate for it ; in which time it may be sup
posed, that all his contemporaries will be worn out,
who could contradict a pretended miracle, or remember
any infirmity of the saint." The standing order
respecting the time of the admission of the Capuchin
into heaven had been strictly complied with ; and the
scene of his miracles was also chosen at a convenient
distance, in an obscure place in the remote and un
civilized district of Calabria.
Friday, December 23. — I applied at an old con
vent, or rather charity school for little girls, in a street
behind the ruins, and after a long, search for the key, I
was permitted to go on the top of the Temple of Peace ;
the, ascent is by stairs, and is commodious : there is a
large space at the top, overgrown with grass and
bushes, and covered with a profusion of jonquils, and

130 ROME.
narcissus in full flower ; my guide soOn gathered for
me a large handful, both white and yellow, and ex
tremely fragrant. It commands a fine view of the
Forum and of the adjoining district. There was a
considerable piece of ground belonging to the con-vent,
inhabited by large quantities of cocks and hens, and
planted chiefly with articholces— a favourite article of
food in this city ; where they eat, not only the parts
which we consider esculent; but they stew, fry, and
cook, in various ways, the stalks and leaf-stalks. I
observed growing against a wall, a great many enor
mous lemons ; they are called citrons, and are singu
larly handsome ; they stand in the same relation, as to
size, to the lemon, as the shaddock to- the orange.
I visited the baths of Titus, and the palace of Nero;
extensive and well preserved ruins ; consisting chiefly
of large arched halls : much has been excavated, and
many fine things found ; amongst others, the famous
Laocoon ; much still remains to be excavated, and I
hope, also to be found. On the roofs are some ara
besques in fresco ; from them it is said that Raphael
took the idea, of his loggie, which, indeed, exactly
resemble these ancient paintings; from some fragments
which I examined,, they appear manifestly to have
been stencilled from designs full of spirit and "race ;
this mode, therefore, of adorning the walls must be

ROME. 131
easy as well as beautiful ; it would be well, instead
of bestowing so much useless wonder on such things,
to try to imitate them.
There is still some conversation and vague speculation
respecting the projects of changing the course of the
Tiber for a time, and exploring the bed of that river,
as there seems to have been in the days of Addison ;
who writes — « The great magazine for all kinds of
treasure is supposed to be the bed of the Tiber. We
may be sure, when the Romans lay under the appre
hensions of seeing their city sacked by a barbarous
enemy, as they have done more than once, that they
would take care to bestow such of their riches this way
as could best bear the water  At Rome they
have so general an opinion of the riches of this river,
that the Jews have formerly proffered the Pope to
cleanse it, so they might have for their pains what they
found in the bosom of- it. I have seen the valley near
Ponte Molle, which they proposed to fashion into a
new channel for it, until they had cleared the old for
its reception."
The day had been wild, unpleasant, and threatening;
at noon it began to rain in torrents, and continued all
day ; many of the spouts poured down more water into
the streets, and from a greater height, than some re
nowned and much visited waterfalls ; and some of the

132 ROME.
flooded streets were more formidable and less fordable
than the Arno, and certain often-sung Italian rivers}
and had more curling waves than they shed from their
scanty urns. The umbrella is in general use in Rome,
even amongst the most simple rustics ; its form and
structure tend to show, that it is not of modern intro
duction ; unlike the horse with bis tail tied to the manger,
its head is not where its tail should be, that is, when
folded up, it is carried, as anciently, erect, and not
inverted, according to the modern fashion, with its apex
turned towards the earth : when it is open, it is much
expanded and nearly flat, like a fully ripe mushroom,
that is black in the gills, and familiarly called a cat-
supper, or ketsupper: it is covered with coarse oil
cloth, and there is neither brass, nor whalebone in its
composition ; as the framework is all of light wood,
perhaps of willow, fastened together in the same manner
as in a certain convenient kind of reel, or winders, it is
neither very -heavy, nor very elegant ; but if of a suffi
cient diameter, it is doubtless a very efficient protection
from the rain ; and will keep the artless swain, who puts
his trust in it, perfectly dry.
I passed some time in the palace of the Conservatori
in the capitol ; I observed, amongst many other inte
resting objects, the bronze wolf, which was formerly
in the temple of Romulus; and which is said to be the

ROME. 133
same that was struck by the lightning on the day of the^
death of Julius Caesar, when —
" The graves stood tenantless, and the sheeted dead
Did squeak and gibber in the Roman streets." —
The marks of such an accident are visible on the hind
legs : the Fasti Consulares, or rather, the remains of
them, which are fastened in the wall of one of the apart
ments; and frescos of Pietro Peru gino, showing some
of the acts of Hannibal. Prodigies precede the birth
or death of warriors and conquerors only ; but not of
artists, great in other and more useful callings. When
the man of blood comes into the world, or quits it,
there is a shower of stones : Why did it never happen
before the nativity, or decease, of some eminent tailor,
to rain bacon and greens incessantly for three successive
days ?
Saturday, December 24. — I explored the church.
of St. Theodore, formerly the temple of Romulus; a-
curious, little, round old place, with ancient bronze
doors ; the tribune is adorned with an antique mosaic,
the row of sheep at the bottom of which is remarkable.
The'Orti Farnesiani have a good view of Rome; con
siderable ruins of the palace of the Caesars, and the
baths of Livia ; in which an old woman lighted a taper
at her chafing dish of earthen ware, stuck it in the
usual manner at the end of a long cane, like a fishing

134 ROME.
rod, held it up to the roof, aud showed me some ara
besques, like those in the palace of Nero, and the
loggie of Raphael.
St. Sabina, on the Aventine Mount, is a large
church, with some good antique columns; a quiet cat
was straying about the empty building; and a woman
at the door was nursing a child, and at the same time
knitting; she was a chatty person ; and her story, with
some slight variations of time, place, rank, and other
unimportant circumstances, resembled that of Dido,
as related by Virgil ; and by another great poet, more
briefly thus : —
"Queen Dido at her palace gate
Sat darning of her stocking O !
She sung, as she drew the worsted through,
Her foot the cradle rocking, O !
What a fool was I to be diddled by
A lad without a sixpence, O ! " &c.
From the neighbouring priory of Malta is a superb
view of Rome. It seems strange that the weather
should be so mild when so many of the neighbouring
mountains are white with snow. Soracte was not one
of these ; but I have been informed by persons who
have resided in Rome, that they have seen that moun
tain, once sacred to Apollo, as white as the rest ; that
this occurs about once in five years ; it*is consequently
a sign of unusual severity in the winter ; and an urgent
reason for Thaliarchus to dissolve his cold ; to make a

ROME. 135-
large repository of wood on the hearth ; to draw forth,
with uncommon benignity, the unmixed four years old
wine ; and to permit the Gods to take care of all et
caiteras. I observed a fine palm tree near the church of S.
Pietro in Vincoli, but not so large as those at Naples,
Terracina, and Salerno: the church is illustrious,
because it is the depository of the gigantic statue of
Moses ; it is impossible to deny that this work of
Michael Angelo has a certain Sublimity, or that it is
too much like a huge goat ; it is too hairy even for the
abstract idea of the utmost perfection of hairiness ;
and taking the horns into account, the similarity to that
animal is remarkable. The picturesque style in painting
is susceptible of great excellence; but it cannot exist
in sculpture. Michael -has attempted it in this instance,
and has failed. I observed some monstrous dispro
portion in the figure ; I think between the thighs arid
legs, or in the smallness of the feet.
At three in the afternoon we set out in a coach for
St. Peter's^ a great stream of people was flowing in
the same -di recti on ; and we fonnd an immense crowd
in the Piazza di S. Pietro, which had a fine effect :
from the great magnitude Of the buildings, the people
looked like insects, like bees before a hive. Although
the crowd was immense, the persons seemed to be
comfortable, and at their ease ; a lady might have

130 ROME.
passed through the midst in a gala dress without!
disordering herself; it is only in London that great
crowds are distressing ; because in Loudon we have
the worst police in the world : with just enough power
and activity to be a nuisance to every one, but
without power or activity enough to protect any one:
they seem likewise studiously to strive to make large
assemblies intolerable, with the purpose of causing it
to be believed, that popular governments are also in
tolerable. The crowd had collected under a suppo
sition, that part of the ceremonies were to take place
on the outside : it may be, that this supposition was en
couraged by the authorities ; and that the crowd was
collected under false pretences, which must ever be
dear to, and fondly cherished by, ecclesiastical rulers.
I eritered without difficulty ; and through the kind
ness of a diplomatic friend, and by his assistance, I
got an excellent post immediately opposite the throne
intended for his holiness. The ceremony was to take
place in the portico; it is ill suited for the purpose;
being long and narrow, or rather, perhaps, wide and
short ; when I am Pope, and close the holy door, I
will close it on the other side, so that all persons in St.
Peter's will see the solemnity ; which I doubt not will
be a popular measure. When I arrived, the place was
already filled with Swiss guards, ecclesiastics, ambas
sadors, and ladies: the male spectators were chiefly

ROME. 137
English. The loss of England was a cruel loss to the
holy see ; no nation is so apt to be gulled by quacks
of all kinds ; in no country had the church so much
power, or such inordinate possessions ; if the holy
father is acquainted with English affairs, and knows
how grossly the majority are still duped by the various
impudence of sectarian jugglers, his heart must bleed,
when he reflects, that our loyalty is even greater than
our ered ulity, and that we wereaccordingly all converted
and reformed, when our king, the first defender of the
faith, commanded us. Bishops and cardinals dropped
in ; the latter had white robes, and white mitres,
emblems of their innocence, and the purity of their
intentions. A Greek bishop, I think of Dalmatia,
was the bear of the party, and the beauty of hairiness.
At four punctually the sound of trumpets was heard;
a procession issued from the church, passing through
the holy door ; in the midst was the Pope ; he was also
clothed in white, and wore a gold mitre, or fool's cap,
than which nothing can be imagined more ugly ; he
seated himself on his white throne, and remained quiet
for some minutes; he was greeted with loud hisses,
which are here a token of respect, and command silence.
He then descended and performed some ceremonies;
I did not distinctly see them ; but if they were not
childish, foolish, and unmeaning, I beg pardon of his
holiness, for forming an erroneous estimate of their

138 ROME.
importance. He returned to his throne; there was
some music : I must say, that the old gentleman did
all in his power to make himself agreeable : he read us
some prayers, and even sung us a song, attempting at
the end a regular flourish, than which nothing could
be worse; whether his infallibility extends to chess,
backgammon, and whist, I cannot decide; it certainly
does not include vocal music. I sincerely pitied the
poor old man ; he looked the picture of death, and
had been raised from his bed to personate St. Peter,
to deceive nobody, and to make a few English stare :
he appeared to sink under the weight of his robes ; his
cumbrous mitre oppressed his aching head ; he raised
his heavy eyes, and his bloodless hands, and seemed to
say, — how painful are hypocrisy, folly, and fraud, to a
sick and dying man : Why had he not strength of mind
to strip off his gilded trumpery, and standing up in a
plain black coat, to say — may God bless yon all, good
people, and forgive me; I am sick and tired of the
cheat, let me go home, and lie in bed, and cower over
the fire, till I die ? The cardinals came about him in
a fawning manner, and changed a part of his dress.
As to the closing of the door, we were somewhat
disappointed ; we had expected to " hear a trowel tick
against a brick : " the Italians are, and always have
been, unrivalled masons ; and we hoped to have seen
the Pope, with native bricklaying genius, boldly smack

K0ME. 139
the mortar on the holy threshold, plant a brick in the
midst of it, loudlyknock it into its place with the handle
of his trowel, and then, with the point, neatly shave
away the projecting mortar, and so on, toties quoties ;
applying from time to time the plumb-line, with the
knowing look of a master mason, to see that all was
square, until the holy aperture was rendered impervious
by a fair brick wall. But alas ! we beheld only the
feeble pottering of an impotent and fumbling old
man : he blessed the golden trowel with its handle of
mother of pearl ; he blessed the mortar, he blessed
the bricks ; the poor old creature blessed every thing
that came in his way ; but whoever wished to build,
either a pig-stye, or a wall, would choose a workman,
who blessed less, and effected more. He contrived to
lay three bricks in the holy door-way, using his mortar
sparingly, as if it had been lip-salve; the. door was
then closed symbolically, -a white satin curtain deco
rated with a cross in golden embroidery was drawn
over it ; it was like the rest, a type, that is, a falsehood.
The stopping up the extraordinary road and short cut
to divine favour was announced by the firing of cannon,
whether in token of joy, or sorrow, no one, not even
the gunners themselves, knew. The holy father re
turned to his throne, and with much theatrical gesti
culation, gave us his blessing ; which concluded the
business. I had heand it remarked by others, and on

140 ROME.
this occasion I remarked myself, that the papal cere
monies do not terminate gracefully ; the actors do not
go away in procession ; but after looking at one another
for some time, they slink away, as if ashamed.
In returning to our carriage, we had an opportunity
of observing an instance of the ignorance of the Pope's
soldiers of the effect of the bayonet on the human
body, and of the use, or even the abuse of arms; one
of them held his musket in a horizontal position with
the bayonet fixed, and was punching a woman, who
had intruded, in the ribs with the but-end, and the
bayonet was playing about backwards and forwards in
the crowd : happily, although the holy door was shut,
there was still some grace, or good luck, left in the
world, and the dangerous weapon did no harm to any
:one. Sunday, December 25. — I was foolish enough to
o
walk at one in the morning to the church of S. Maria
Maggiore, in the belief that some fine ceremonies were
to be performed there at that early hour. I found a
few pilgrims lying on the steps, huddled together like
sheep, the church being shut, and four or five carriages
filled with gullible English. The night was cold ; the
sky threatened rain ; after waiting for some time, I
inquired of a woman, what was doing ; she said, that
they were making a baby Jesus, a Gesu Bambino, in

ROME. 141
the church, and that it would not be open till three ;
this kind of baby making seemed cheerless and un-
genial ; from the femall number of persons assembled,
and the absence of all preparation, I judged' that the
ceremonies would not be in every sense imposing: my
zeal waxing cool, I thought it advisable to go home
and warm it in bed. The church was open all night
until lately; but, as it was imperfectly lighted, certain
Christians could not be content with types and figures ;
and their souls seeking after sensible objects, they
attempted to make babies there in a manner, perhaps,
nearly as mysterious, but much less mystical ; genuine
piety being, on thewhole, no gainer by this arrangement,
the church is now shut, until the religibus operations
actually commence.
It was a fine day ; I repaired at eleven to St. Peter's,
to witness the papal benediction : the Piazza di S. Pietro,
the large -open space before the church, was filled with
spectators ; the loggia, the gallery, or box, over the
principal entrance had been liiied and fitted up with
crimson, and a large sail or awning was extended above
and in front; some men and cardinals were there. At
noon, punctually and precisely, the persons in the box
were in motion, and presently the Pope appeared,
borne aloft on a litter; he was dressed in white satin
robes, and wore" the tiara, or triple crown, as king of
earth, of heaven, and of hell — of all three equally no

142 ROME.
doubt ; there were two large white fans, like the tails
of white peacocks, one on each side of him : the whole
appearance had much of barbaric magnificence. He
remained perfectly still a few moments, then crossed
himself slowly and with much action ; and pulling up
his petticoats majestically, he rose gradually to a great
height ; I should imagine that he contrived to get up
backwards into his chair, and to stand where he had
before been sitting : his manner of rising had a grand
effect; if I were a player I would study this stage
trick, it would be of great use in the way of my trade.
It was a commentary on the passage in the Hymn to.
Ceres : —  Kat pa fieXa&pa
Kvps Kapr\ 
" Tiabem-tecti tetigit capite."
A god, or goddess, used to enter a man's house by the
door, like any other body, without stooping ; and* when
he had entered, his head seemed to touch the ceiling of
a lofty hall. Having thus risen to a god-like stature,
his holiness gave the blessing with much solemnity and
theatrical gesticulation ; two papers were thrown down ;
some say, that they were the bulls of indulgence for
lent ; others, for concluding the holy year ; and he was
carried away. The cannons from the castle of St.
Angelo fired a salute. The benediction is certainly a
striking ceremony ; I had never before seen a man so

ROME. 143
much elevated above his fellows with a glorious ma
jesty- '?
I had heard yesterday evening, that the nightly ce
remonies in the church of S-. Luigi dei-Francesi were
to be very splendid. In order to judge how much I
had lost by not going there, I visited the church this
morning; a great quantity, perhaps three chests, of
candles were lighted up at the altar ; I observed no
thing else that.was remarkable.
With the same view> I went at three in the afternoon
to the church of S.Maria Maggiore ; it was very "full'
and lighted up; a little miserable old cardinal, and
a few other persons, walked in procession. I saw a
piece of plate, which I should have called a silver
soup-tureen, on the altar ; instead of a crest, there
was a small figure of a babe on the lid ; they called
it a- cradle, and a manger; it was better suited for
a man to eat out of, than an ox, or an ass; it had been
brought out of the chapel in which it is kept, at three
in the morning, and was to be taken back with a
like procession this evening. There was some good
music ; a musico sung some difficult pieces extremely
well, with a fine, unnatural voice. As I had preferred
my bed to seeing the tureeu brought out, so I preferred
my dinner to seeing it put up again.
The ceremonies in Rome at Christmas, like many

144 ROME.
other much vaunted things, are but trifling : I am sure
that Christmas-day causes a greater sensation, and that
more is done and suffered, even putting the turkies out
of the question, in London on that festival, than here,
in the metropolis of Christianity.
Monday, December 26. — The Vatican Museum
is open only two days in the week, and is shut on feast
days ; of which this is one. It is a pity that the an
tiquities and the curiosities of the world should be in
the hands which hold the golden keys. Why are not
the galleries open every day ? It is said that it would
be inconvenient to the Pope, who resides in the Vatican ;
then let him live in the Quirinal, or some other palace ;
or let him take a lodging, furnished, or unfurnished ;
it is of no importance to the world that the infallible
old gentleman should live in the Vatican ; — that they
should see its precious contents is of the greatest.
I visited the collection of an artist, Cammuccini ;
his pictures are made the most of, and are varnished to
the utmost ; he has some excellent works ; and they
are shown to visitors with much civility and liberality.
I tried to ascend St. Peter's; but in idle, dilatory
Rome, it is always necessary to apply twice at least :
they told me to come again at two.
Meanwhile I walked to the palace of Spada, and

ROME. 145
saw there in a dark, damp, dungeon of a room, the
statue of Pompey,* at the base of which Caesar fell.
" And, in his mantle muffling up his face,
Even at the base of Pompey's statue,
Which all the while ran blood, great Ca;sar fell."
" But when he saw Brutus's sword drawn, he covered
his face with his robe, and quietly surrendered himself,
till he was pushed, either by chance, or by design of
the murtherers, to the pedestal on which Pompey's
statue stood, which by that means was much stained
with his blood ; so that Pompey himself may seem to
have had his share in the revenge of his enemy, who
fell at his feet, and breathed out his soul through his
multitude of wounds." — Plutarch.
The woman, who showed the place, told me with
breathless hurry, that it was the statue of Pompey,
that the French had cut off the right arm, that the
Prince Spada would sell some reliefs, which were
placed against the wall, for five thousand crowns ; and
thrust a sort of placard into my hand with a notice to
that effect; from the appearance of the premises, I
inferred that the prince does not find a ready sale for
his reliefs, the most beautiful in Rome, as he calls
them in his puff; and that he has lived for some time
on water gruel ; so let him live.
I climbed to the church of St. Peter in Montorio,
which commands, I think, the best view of Rome :

146 ROME.
it was a beautiful day, and I feasted my eyes for "a
long time with the lovely sight : Rome on the 26th of
December was as free from smoke, as if there had been
no city, but meadows, or corn fields, where it stands.
The absence of smoke is very agreeable ; but I must
confess, that the absence of fire, which causes it, is
not always equally pleasant. A city, where in every
sitting-room, and iu many bed-rooms, there is a good
fire, and in every kitchen a large joint of meat roasting
and a pot boiling, must, of necessity, be wrapped in a
cloud of smoke; but the capital, in which a room
with a chimney is a rarity, and in which only a few
pounds of charcoal are consumed in a day by the whole
population, to take the chill off the water, that is to
pass for soup, to stew the stalks of an artichoke, or to
fry an egg, may well be clear and transparent, as a
dew-drop ; as exempt from soot and all traces of fire,
and from all hurtful excess in' eating, as the snowy
summits of the Alps, or the open sea.
I went out of the city by the gate of S. Pancrazio,
and turning to the right, passed close under the walls
and entered by the gate Cavalliggeri ; this walk gives
an excellent view of St. Peter's.
I returned to St. Peter's, and after waiting for some
time, was at last permitted to ascend. The holy door
had already been walled up and plastered over ; and
a stone, which records the opening and shutting, had

ROME. 147
been placed over it ; and the stone, which told of the
like events having happened fifty years before, had
been removed, to be placed, like an old family picture,
in the garret. I actually met with the former records;
they w.ere fixed in the wall of the staircase leading to the
top of the church, where, amongst other royal lumber,
was a tomb containing the heart of one Clementina, a
Stuart and a queen.
The ascent to the top of the body of the church is
easy and commodious ; so easy, that it would be pos
sible to ride up, or down, on a donkey. The roof of
the church is a pleasant promenade; it is covered, not
with lead, slates, or tiles.; but with brick-work, a stone
pavement, or terras : it affords a fine view of Rome,
and of the adjacent country. The ascent to the top of
the cupola is less convenient; the stairs are extremely
narrow, by reason of the proximity of the outer and
inner cupolas ; one part especially, is of a curious con
struction, but not incommodious ; it may be termed
Jacob's Ladder; the young female pilgrims were the
angels, and it was indeed an angelic sight to stand at
the bottom whilst they were ascending and descending
in lovely flocks.
The cupola is covered with lead ; many pieces are of
the colour of copper; I was desirous to know which of
the two metals it was, as it has been the subject of
dispute and controversy. There were such crowds of
x.8

148 ROME.
pilgrims, who were admitted like myself, gratis, /that
it was difficult to ascend and descend ; I wished to go
up to the ball ; but so great was the concourse, that it
would have been a most unpleasant undertaking; I
waited for some time, and like many others returned,
reinfecta; we lost only the satisfaction of saying, that
we had been in the ball; and of perceiving actually,
what it is not difficult to believe, that, like other things,
it is much larger when seen near, than it appears to be
at a distance.
The temperature of St. Peter's is agreeable; when
you enter at this season from the open air it feels warm.
Tuesday, December 27. — As it is the fashion to
go to Tivoli, I felt myself bound to follow the fashion ;
I was called at half past five, and set out at six, alone,
in a carriage open in front, on a bright moonlight
morning. We drove through the quiet streets of
Rome, and were detained a few minutes at the gate of
S. Lorenzo, until it was opened. When we had got a
little way out of the city, it became light; it was
intensely cold, and there was a thick fog; it would
be difficult to conceive a more disagreeable morning ;
and, as the event showed, a more changeable climate.
We set out with every sign and every promise of a fine
day; before we had got half way, it began to look
black on the right : the clouds gathered, and it rained

TIV0LI. 149
iii torrents. The road was abominable ; in many
places nearly impassable; the driver wished to turn
back; but I was resolved to see Tivoli. We had
passed the ruins of some ancient tombs, and a few farm
houses, the very pictures of squalid horror and mise
rable poverty; the country was black, ugly, and
barren, or fertile only in weeds. We crossed a little
river of Harrowgate water, the sulphureous smell of
which might be perceived at a distance ; it was perhaps
four yards wide, and was running swiftly ; the water
was of a fine blue colour.
At ten I arrived, cold and comfortless, at a dreary
inn in Tivoli, and was glad to take such a breakfast as
the place afforded. I had anticipated seeing the
wonders in the midst of torrents of rain ; but just as I
set out, it began to be fair, and I had a walk of three
hours, by a sort of miracle, without wet. We visited
the temple of Vesta, a beautiful ruin ; the grotto of
Neptune, and the various points for viewing the cas
cades : I desired my Cicero to show meevery thing; and I
believe he did as he was desired. They had commenced
excavations at the villa of Plancus, where are consider
able ruins ; a church, or chapel, is said to occupy the
site of Horace's villa; it is a pleasant spot. The
distant view of Rome is interesting, and of the sul
phureous lake, which, it is said, produces floating
islands. The cascatelle are peculiarly elegant ; indeed

150 TIVOLI.
the Teverone, or Anio, is unrivalled in the formation
of various and beautiful waterfalls: the ground is
picturesque ; every turn presents a new point of view.
The extensive ruins of the villa of Maecenas command
a noble prospect, especially the terrace; which, if
itbe so engaging on a wet, foggy, winter's day, must
be extraordinarily delightful on a' fine, clear, se
rene, summer's evening. The waters of the Anio,
like those of the yellow Tiber, were of the colour of
strong coffee with plenty of milk in it — cqffi'e au lait-
Tivoli swarms with beggars ; and from having been
always a show, and the resort of strangers, the people
are demoralized, and have lost all respect for them
selves, or for others. How much this place, like most
others here, loses by not being seen in its native
simplicity; the manners of Italy are unfortunately
those of a harlot ; she is beautiful, but, to a feeling
mind, almost intolerable. The day was too short to
afford me time to visit the villa of Adrian ; I relinquished
it with regret ; but I was afterwards told, that I did
not omit much that was important ; it is a vast, but
not a very instructive, mass of ruins.
As soon as I mounted my carriage to return, the
rain recommenced ; the road had always been bad, but
in consequence of the deluge, it was now much worse;
we virere continually in danger of being overturned; at
last, about three miles from Rome, one wheel being

ROME. 151
on a piece of hard road, the other on mud, soft to an
infinite depth, the vehicle turned over and laid itself
on its right side : the driver was rolled off his box, and
covered with mud ; for his face and hands he appeared
to care little; but for his brown cloak lined and em
broidered with green, he evidently felt deeply: I re
mained in the fallen carriage, and placing my feet
where my cheek had lately been, I stept out. Some
muleteers, who chanced to be at hand, with some dif
ficulty, and with many efforts, restored the vehicle to
its erect condition : one of them replaced the cushions,
and a rope, which had been in the seat, and had fallen
out ; facetiously observing, with a significant gesture,
but a grave aspect, as he put the rope in its place,.
that we had very precious luggage. I resumed my
seat, and we entered the eternal city in the dark, at
half past five.
Wednesday, December 2«. — This day was spent
in making calls, and in other preparations for leaving
Rome. It was a fine day. In walking home, at one
o'clock, on a fine light night, for a considerable dis
tance, and through the most frequented parts of Rome,
I did not meet one individual.
Thursday, December 29.— The most painful part
of travelling is, that one makes acquaintance with

152 ACQUA PENDENTE.
amiable and interesting persons, and is soon obliged
to leave them without any early, or even reasonable
prospect, of seeing them again. I was conducted to
the post-office by a most friendly escort ; and at four
in the afternoon, I quitted Rome with the courier,
perhaps, for ever. We were jolted cruelly over the
uneven road, and were guarded, in many places at
least, by two dragoons, who rode by the side of the
carriage ; in going to Naples and in returning, one had
been thought a sufficient escort. My companion was
a tall, handsome young fellow ; I asked him some
question respecting his business as courier, which set
him off; he discoursed all night about the arrange
ments of the post-office in the papal states, with great
fluency, and the most surprising vehemence and action.
Friday, December 30  I had passed in the dark,
the only part of the road which is said to be interesting,
the lake of Bolsena; at day-break we came to Aequo.
Pendente, "hanging water," as the small town is called,
with a classical simplicity, because there are some fine
waterfalls near it. Here we changed carriages and
couriers ; I found an open inconvenient carriage and
a dull heavy courier : here also I was allowed a moment
to swallow a cup of muddy coffee and a little biscuit.
A journey of twenty-eight hours, in the depth of winter,
without more rest or refreshment than this, is too

MONTE PULCIANO. 153
large a demand upon poor human nature. The whole
distance from Rome to Sienna is hilly ; the number of
our cattle varied from two to six horses. About Ra-
dicofani, the country is wild and rocky ; it reminded
me of Stanmore. We passed some coffee-coloured
rivers, which I suppose in summer are dry. Soon after
entering Tuscany, the fertile mountain named Monte
Pulciano, is seen on the right ; once famous for pro
ducing wine, which the poet and physician Redi calls
the king of every wine, in the well known line —
" Montepulcian che d'ogni vino e ilre.5'
The vineyards were the property of the Jesuits, and
were sedulously cultivated by them : since the sup
pression of that learned and pains-taking order, the
fame of the wine has gradually declined ; and, like
many other excellent things, it now lives only in verse.
Our post-boys were strange figures, I think the oddest
specimens of that odd animal I ever met with; one of
these parasitical creatures, beings that dwell only upon
the bodies of others, troublesome insects that infest
the back of the horse, as I have no doubt the natural
ists amongst horses, if such there be, define them,
amused me this afternoon; he was a supernumerary,
and made an irregular demand for a fee, which is only
given to the true postilion ; I shortly answered him
with a negative, which displeased him much ; if I would
not give him money, I might do the next best thing —

154 SIENNA.
wrangle with him : he said in a great rage, " No, Not
You answer, No, No ! Why will you not dispute
with me? You sit up there looking as majestic as if
you were the Emperor of Austria — you might at least
be angry with me !"
At half past seven I arrived at the Aquila Nera, in
Sienna, cold, famished, and beyond measure weary.
Nothing can be more cheerless than to arrive thus at an
Italian inn ; or can afford a more complete contrast to
every thing which one finds in a comfortable house in
England, and would desire to find every where. The
rain fell in torrents all night.
Saturday, Df.cember31. — The morningwas un
promising ; but it cleared up, and became a fine day ;
I went forth to see Sienna. In the church of the Do
minicans is an ugly painting on wood, of the date of
1221, by Guido of Sienna; and a fresco of Sodoma,
in which a group of three females in white garments,
one of whom is St. Catherine fainting, is very striking.
The building is more like a vast refectory, or college-
hall, than a church.
The Gothic cathedral is a complete magpie, being
built of black and white marble both within and with
out; but it is a handsome magpie; the effect is fine
and striking ; it is rich in pictures, statues, and reliefs.
The celebrated pavement, by Beccafumi, is very re-

sienna. 155
markable : the best portion is covered with boards to
preserve it ; and a part only can be seen as a sample of
the whole : instead of the boards it would be much
better to put low rails round it, as they defend, but
at the same time exhibit, the ancient tessellated pave
ments in museums; there would be ample space for
persons to pass and repass at the sides on those parts
of the pavement, which are not covered at present.
I took notice of the monument of a lawyer, one
Malavolta, "bad-turn;" the inscription boasted that he
had made more money by his profession than any other
person : four bas-reliefs represented him sitting in his
chambers, reading his briefs and answering cases ; in
one, the learned gentleman was mending his pen. Ad
joining the cathedral is a sort of sacristy, I think they
called it la libreria: it is adorned with paintings in
fresco by Pinturicchio ; the first of the series is said to be
by Raphael, and there is a figure of a youth riding a
chesnut horse, which is said to be a portrait of that
painter; they tell the life and death of JEneas Sylvius,
Pope Pius II. who was a native of Sienna, and are as
fresh and fair as if they had just been completed.
The Palazzo del Pubblico contains many curious
old frescos by painters of the Siennese school, repre
senting the times of the republic, portraits of the
cardinals, who were natives of the city, and a few good
pictures. The church of the Agostiniani is a fine

156 sienna.
specimen of the architecture of Vanvitelli : it is rich
in paintings ; a noble Crucifixion, by the admirable
Pietro Perugino ; and excellent productions of Carlo
Maratti and Romanelli. There are fine views from
various parts of the city greatly resembling, but infe
rior to, the vicinity of Perugia. The Lizza is a
pleasant public walk ; I saw there, and in other places,
many pretty girls.
This city is celebrated for a peculiar game at ball ;
it is played in the foss, which has a very high wall,
and it is not unlike a tennis-court; the ball is very
large, and appears to be inflated with air; the arm
is defended by a guard, a small board ; at certain
periods of the game, one of the players runs down a
spring-board, and throwing the whole of his weight,
momentum, and strength upon the ball, as itis thrown
towards him, he strikes it to an astonishing distance :
the "pilavelox" is a good manly game, and must
afford vigorous exercise. It is said that this is the game
at which Maecenas played when at Capua ; but neither
Horace, nor Virgil, for different reasons : —
" Lusum it Maecenas, dormitum ego Virgiliusque ;
Namque pila lippis inimicum etludere crudis."
Sunday, January 1, 1826. — I rose at five; and
having taken some coffee, set out at six, by a vetturino,
with two companions, Italians of the state of Sienna,

POGGIBONSI. 157
dirty and civil ; and continued my hilly journey from
Rome to Florence. On the right, at the distance of a
few miles from Sienna, they showed me a large villa in
a cold and barren spot; which was then building,
evidently at a great expense, both for the house aud
grounds : they said that it belongs to a merchant of
Sienna; I was glad to find that, under a government
which discourages and impedes commerce, a merchant
may still make money.
The morning was fine, the road bad in consequence
of the late heavy rains; the country mountainous and
not uninteresting ; wild, barren, and picturesque. If
the climate of Italy were such, that the vine and olive
would not grow, it would beone of the most miserable
countries in the world, except the fine plains of Lom
bardy ; it has a deliriously mild climate, but it greatly
needs it.
After many hills, we came to Poggibonsi at ten.
There was nothing to be seen in this small town, or
large village ; not even in the church; and as I felt
cold and hungry, I ate some boiled mutton and a plate
of roast thrushes ; " accepi pulcherrimos turdos," „as
Pliny writes to bis Flaccus'; and walked about in the
sun. How are these thrushes caught ? it cannot be
possible to shoot them in detail, they would,, not pay
for the powder; as they are such good fare, and as we

158 P0GGIB0NSI.
have plenty of them in England, the question is an
interesting one to a lover of his country.
Poggibonsi is pleasantly situated ; I saw some good
looking girls; I believe it is reckoned to be fertile in
beauty. There was an air of comfort about the town,
both in the dress and the habitations of the people :
when I remarked this to one of my companions, he told
me that there was much luxury in the place. I saw an
old man with two wigs; whether through luxury, to
display his wealth, to captivate some fair Poggibonsian,
to act as a charm, or simply to keep his head warm, I
cannot pretend to determine.
At noon we re-embarked in our vettura ; and after-
climbing many hills, of which one was especially long,
we presented ourselves before the Roman gate of
Florence, which was shut : the vetturino knocked for a
long time with a brickbat, but there was no answer;
la bella was not at home ; Firenze la bella, the beau
teous city, was not within ; Florence had gone to drink
tea with Lucca, or with some sister city, and had taken
the key in her pocket; or, peradventure, Lydia was
asleep : — " Me tuo longas pereunte noctes,
Lydia, dormis?"
As it is the profound policy of the Grand Duke to
ipoxt oak to the southward, after five o'clock in the

FLORENCE. 159
afternoon, we went round to the Leghorn gate, and,
as this great potentate does not fear any danger from
the west, after some delay about our passports, we
were admitted, but not without a paper lantern.
The police will not suffer a carriage to pass through
the streets without a light ; a paper lantern was pur
chased at the gate; one of the party held it up at the
window ; and, like a meteor, or the moving stall of an
apple woman, we glided along; and at half past six
arrived at the large hotel of Schneiderff.
I had the pleasure of coming unexpectedly upon
my brother, who was on his way from Germany to
Rome; we had a joyful meeting on new-year's day. I
was informed that it had rained in Florence almost
without intermission during the two months I had been
absent. Monday, January 2. — I spent some time in the
galleries, and walked along the banks of the Arno,
which the late rains have swelled into a rapid muddy
stream, to the Prato, a pleasant promenade, swarming
with pheasants. The day was extremely cold. w
A young female, who was in love with a youth, but,
as she had already had a child by another man, his
parents would not consent to their union, and were
about to send him away from Florence, to prevent it,
having first visited all the churches, threw herself into

100 FLORENCE.
the river from the lowest bridge ; but was fortunately
saved by two men, who witnessed the desperate attempt.
Tuesday, January 3. — I found the Madonna della
Seggiola as lovely as ever. We saw in the Pitti Palace
a room newly painted in fresco with the exploits of
Hercules ; it is neither very bad, nor very good ; but
the whole work seemed as if it had been (touched up,
and hatched with a pencil, or black chalk. I have ob
served the same hideous defect in most of the modern
attempts at fresco; the painter, unable to produce a
sufficient relief by means of his colours, has endea
voured to throw out the figures by this vile hatching.
When an artist has done his utmost, his best, or his
worst, with colours, let him spare the poor wall ; the
effect may be bad enough, but it will be much worse
if scratched over with black lines.
I passed some time in the Spegola, and admired
again the wax anatomical figures; the fungi are well
modelled in wax, and many of the flowers are happily
imitated, except in the colours, which perhaps have
faded, for they are not good. There is a large collection
of minerals, especially of hard stones, agates, jasper,
&c. There is a strange troop of stuffed animals, some
of them are curious. The botanical garden must have
some merit in the summer; it is an invidious thing
to examine a garden in winter. We saw an excellent

FLORENCE. l6l
copy of a picture of Correggio, the St. Jerome, by a
Mr. Wallis; the original is at Parma; the figure of the
young Magdalen, who is kissing the feet of the infant
Jesus, is full of grace, interest, aud beauty ; and gives
a high idea of the taste and various merits of this re
nowned painter; some other figures, and chiefly an
angel, are quizzical, as I have no doubt they are in the
original. A raw cold assailed us walking in the Prato; when
ever it feels thus in England, we say, and often truly,
it is certainly going to snow.
Wednesday, January 4 — The morning was even
colder than yesterday ; but it was clear and bright.
When I first saw Florence, I thought it dark, gloomy,
and almost ugly ; but on acquaintance it improves,
and grows upon one ; I now am of opinion that it even
deserves the title of la bella. There is something pe
culiar and graceful in the architecture ; the style of
the houses is the same, yet infinitely varied ; the over
hanging roofs, and the open arcades at the top of the
houses, have an agreeable effect.
We examined thoroughly the church of Santa Cf ce
and in order to warm ourselves, we walked up to Fie-
sole ; where, in spite of an impertinent boy, who would
show us the antiquities, and of an old woman, even
more troublesome, who begged continually, werejoiced

162 fiesole.
in the view, and wondered at the countless villas scat
tered about amongst the unceasing olive grounds. A
landscape without wood, water, and turf, must be very
imperfect, however picturesque the form of the ground
may be. Ariosto wittily observes, that if all the villas,
which seem to spring from the earth in the neighbour
hood of Florence, like offsets and suckers, were col
lected within one wall, and called by one name, they
would form a city twice as large as Rome.
We entered the church in the town, or village of
Fiesole; it is large; but we found nothing to attract
attention, or to draw forth a remark ; except a large
arm-chair in a glass case, and an inscription, which said
that it belonged to some one called Andrew Corsini,
and that by the providence, almost divine, of some
pope, it had been placed in that case.
Thursday, January 5. — The Corsini Palace is
pleasantly situated on the Lungo l'Arno ; the stair
case is handsome ; it is well furnished, and would be a
comfortable residence. Amongst much rubbish are a
few good pictures : the Poetry, which is considered as
the masterpiece of Carlo Dolci, is a beautiful woman,
and is finely painted, and has fewer of the faults of
that painter than any other of his works ; of which the
chiefest is perhaps an excessive and affected sweetness,
bo abundant and redundant in the faces delineated by

FLORENCE. lfj3
Sweet Charles, who might therefore more fitly be named
Mawkish Charles. ,
Critics obj ect, that the lady does not look like Poetry ;
it is perhaps not easy to imagine how Poetry herself
ought to look; for mankind have not yet agreed upon
what appearance is befitting her sons. Some maintain
that a poet should be a bit of a dandy ; others would
give him a spice of the madman ; certain of the tuneful
worshippers of nature, have clothed their glowing
thoughts with a neat and well powdered wig; whilst
others, who wake the living lyre, garnish their wayward
brains with ragged locks, as indispensable accom
paniments to fervour and ecstacy. Two landscapes by
Salvator Rosa in this palace are truly estimable.
The Medicean library is so rich in manuscripts, that
I am afraid to say how many there are : they are not
placed on shelves, but are laid upon solid, handsome,
and commodious desks ; each volume is secured by a
chain : it is said that the library is freely open to all
every day ; if this be really so, it is well. We were
shown in a glass vessel, placed upon an elevated stand,
a curious relic — a dry and mouldering finger; it is
said to be the fore finger of the right hand of Galileo,
with which he first pointed out the satellites of Jupiter.
It was his fortune to be treated like a saint in his life
time and also after his death ; to be persecuted, when
living, and to have his crumbling remains exhibited
m2

104 FLORENCE.
when dead ; to be denied rest even in the grave. We
saw in a glass case the celebrated Virgil written in
capital letters, it is fresh and very legible : and the
more celebrated manuscript copy of the Pandects,
which is as fresh as if newly transcribed. There was
a book, I think a Horace, which had belonged to
Petrarch; and what is now the original of the De
cameron of Boccaccio, viz. a copy taken from the
original, which was burned : the Travels of a Grand
Duke of Tuscany in England, with views of the
principal cities ; a large, long, or rather wide, book ;
and some other manuscripts, and illuminated missals.
In the entrance to the Medicean chapel are monu
ments, the works of Michael Angelo, with the cele
brated statues of a Grand Duke, of Day, Night,
Morning, and Evening ; they are unfinished, and pos
sess, in a high degree, the merits and defects of that
extraordinary man, who was great in three branches of
art — sculpture, painting, and architecture. The chapel
is unfinished, but in progress ; it is an octagonal
building, and will be as rich as marbles can make it;
Benvenuti, the artist who painted the Labours of
Hercules in the Pitti Palace, is engaged for the sum of
thirty-two thousand crowns to paint the cupola. It is
a disgusting thing to see men making such a costly
and gorgeous burial place for their worthless bodies,
And a magnificent monument to their own glory.

FLORENCE. 165
The beauties of Florence, and this perhaps is the
test of true beauty, do not strike at first, but gain upon
us after a longer acquaintance : the gloomy grandeur
of the interior of the cathedral wins our admiration ;
the elegant campanile, and the magnificent church
of the Annunziata, become more delightful on a
closer inspection. We spent two hours in examining
the frescos in the cortile of that church by Andrea del
Sarto, and his scholars : the females in one, which re
presents the Birth of the Virgin, are perfect models
of moral and physical beauty : another, in which a
drowned boy is restored to life, is very admirable
In our way to the Prato, we passed through S..M.
Novella, which is equally winning; it is also interesting,
as being the spot where the party was formed, as
Boccaccio feigns, that were the heroines and the heroes
of his Decameron ; a work, which, to say the least of
it, contains many most amusing stories related in highly
idiomatic language ,* and according to its idolaters, the
whole circle of human science, all actual aud potential
knowledge, and all past, present, and future wisdom,
power, and goodness. The introduction to that en
tertaining collection of tales informs us, that — "nella
venerabile chiesa di Santa Maria Novella, un martedl
mattina, non essendovi quasi alcuna altra persona,
uditi gli divini uficj in abito Itigubre, quale a si fatta
stagione si richiedea, si ritrovarono sette giovani donne,

166 FLORENCE.
tutte I'una all'altra o per amista, o per vicinanza, o
per parentado congiunte, delle quali niuna il venti et
ottesimo anno passato avea, ne era minor di diciotto,
savia ciascuna, e di sangue nobile, e bella di forma,
et omata di costumi, e di leggiadria onesta."
This being the eve of the feast of the three kings, or the
Epiphany, la Beffania, the hoax, as with a ludicrous
ambiguity it is called, the boys took great pains to pro
claim the event to the Gentiles, by blowing long glass
horns, which made a most discordant noise ; carts drawn
by donkeys, filled with people, and decorated with ever
greens, preceded and followed by torches and links,
paraded through the streets; the people were very
orderly, and contented themselves with blowing the
long glass tubes, and carrying about a piece of burning
rope, to light home any one of the magi, whoj- not
seeing the star, might chance to lose his way.
Friday, January 6. — There was some singing in
the churches, and some walking in the streets in the
best clothes ; but I think that the Carnival at Florence
-is not a less sorrowful thing, than Christmas at Rome.
The church of San Michele in Orto is to be observed
for the architecture and the statues of the exterior, and
for its large, lofty, inlaid, Gothic altar. The frescos of
Masaccio in one of the side chapels of the large church
of the Carmelites have heads full of character and

FLORENCE. 167
expression; but they are deficient in beauty; which is
the great charm of works of art.
It was in this little chapel that Michael Angelo's nose
was put out of joint by a brother artist. In the life of
Benvenuto Cellini, Pietro Torrigiani is introduced as
giving the following account of the battery : "This
Buonarotti and I," says Pietro, "went, when we were
boys, to learn to draw at the chapel of Masaccio, in the
church of the Carmelites ; and it was customary with
Buonarotti to rally all those who were learning to draw
there; one day amongst others,- a sarcasm of his having
stung me to the quick, I was provoked to an uncommon
degree; and having doubled my fist, I gave him so
violent a blow upon the nose, that I felt the bone and
cartilage yield under my hand, as if they had been
made of paste ; and the mark I then gave him he will
carry to his grave."
We walked through the venerable church of Santa
Maria Novella to take a parting look at that lovely
building, the delight of Michael Angelo, who called
it the new married bride — nova nupta; we found- the
fat canons in the party coloured habits of Dominicans
bellowing out their service, and sprinkling and being
sprinkled with holy water, with the accompauiment of
a fine sonorous organ.

]G8 FLORENCE.
Saturday, January 7. — The Magliabecchian li
brary contains a good collection of old books ; from
looking round the rooms at the backs of the books, it
seemed to be extremely rich in the least useful, but
by 110 means the least amusing, of all works, the
volumes of the Spanish casuists. The library in the
Riccardi Palace has a smaller collection, but some
good books ; it is, as well as the former library, open
to the public every day, until three in the afternoon,
except on feasts.
The cieling of a large and richly gilded saloon in
this palace is esteemed the masterpiece of Luca Gior
dano; it is lively, lightsome, and pleasing; it is full of
figures, the animals are especially happy and spirited :
the painter has made the Three Fates of different ages,
and he has represented the female of a middle age, with
a bald forehead like a man ; which has an odd and
most unusual effect. He has misplaced the wound of
Adonis against authority, and against probability, as
it is situated too high to have been inflicted by a wild
boar. I was pleased with one of the mottos, " Vitio
poena vitium ; " it is a parody upon " Virtuti praemium
virtus ; " but I think the parody is an improvement
upon the original. Some paintings on glass mirrors by
the same artist are well executed ; especially one, in
which some Cupids are shooting water-fowl with their
arrows; the whole is full of spirit; the birds, and more

FLORENCE. 1G9
particularly the ducks, and one that is struggling to
get away, is admirable.
Luca Giordano was so remarkable for the celerity of
his pencil, that he acquired the nickname of Luca fa
presto, "Luke Make-haste;" and was in this respect
a contrast to Carlo Dolci, who was singularly slow in
his manner of working; and it is reported of him,
that his braiu was affected by seeing Luke dispatch
more business in four or five hours, than he could have
done in so many months.
The courier professed to set out at four in the after
noon ; but as he did not leave the post-office till near
five, I had a good opportunity of studying the Piazza
di Gran Duca, and its tower, which was well adapted
for the old style of warfare, for throwing stones upon
the assailants.
A few minutes before five I embarked alone, except
the courier, in a carriage open in front, well contrived
for the admission of wind, and ill contrived for seeing
the country ; but in other respects not incommodious.
The soldier at the gate asked for my passport, which
by this time had increased to the size of a book ; a cu
rious monument of the folly and cowardice of the
present rulers of Europe ; in five minutes he returned,
folding up the roll of a book, and restored it to me,
saying in words, a good journey; but in looks and
gestures — give me a paul, half a pau I, a farthing, or

170 FLORENCE TO BOLOGNA.
half a farthing, or any thing you please ; I gave him
my blessing, for I wished the fellow was at the plough,
or had any other honest means of getting his bread. I
put the passport into my pocket ; the soldier looked
as if he was to have no brandy to-night ; the courier
said, "Goon!" and ' on we went. At six or seven
miles from Florence, the postillion drove us into the
ditch, but without overturning us, because, as I un
derstood, the drag chain broke in going down a hill;
we got out of the vehicle ; I stood in the rain and
dark for half an hour, until by various awkward ex
pedients, and after much talking, they had extricated
the carriage.
We continued our mountain journey in the dark ;
the night was wet, cold, aud miserable ; and indeed
intolerable, until I put my cloak over my face to
shield me from the driving wet and cold wind ; my
companion was restless, being perpetually occupied in
giving and receiving letters, and in disputes with the
drivers of the horses and of the oxen which had drawn
the carriage over the mountains : I passed the night in
a state of irritated patience. I forgot to inquire for a
little volcano called the Wood Fire, Fuoco del Legno,
which maybe seen always burning on the right hand of
the road, about half way.

BOLOGNA. 171
Sunday, January 8. — When it was light I un
covered my face, and found that we were crossing a
little river. At nine in the morning. I arrived at the
post-office in Bologna, and soon after at the Albergo
di San Marco. I thawed my frozen limbs over a wood
fire, and comforted my famished stomach with some
coffee. The day was wet, foggy, raw, and cold; I
have never experienced a worse in London. I found a
lovely and graceful young wife, the mother of three
children, to whom I had a letter of introduction, at
home. I passed some time in her agreeable society ;
which was no trifling refreshment of the spirits after an
intercourse with couriers and postillions..
The great peculiarity and pride of this city is, that
almost all the streets are adorned with arcades on both
sides, not low and mean as these buildings usually are,
but high and handsome, and well floored with stucco.
The next objects that attract the attention are two very
remarkable towers ; the one called degli Asinelli, is of
a prodigious height, extremely slender, and therefore
not inelegant ; from the top, it is said, may be seen
one hundred and three cities — the three cities are Bo
logna, Ferrara, and Imola — a little town called Cento,
which is rendered illustrious by being the birth-place
of John Francis Barbieri, named Guercino da Cento,
makes the hundred by its name alone. Tbe other tower
is called La Garisenda, or Carisenda, or the lopped

172 BOLOGNA.
or truncated tower, la Torre Mozza ; it is much lower,
being only one hundred and forty feet in height, and
has a lopped and curtailed appearance near its taller
neighbour ; it is like a candle, of which a great part
has been burned, by the side of one newly lighted ; it
is a leaning, or falling tower, and has an inclination of
eight or nine feet : like the tower of Pisa, it deceives
the expectation ; but the tower of Pisa inspires fear
lest such an elegant structure should fall, and be no
more seen : the Garisenda, on the contrary, a false
hope, that it will fall and no longer offend the sight.
Dante was so little pleased with this building, that he
compares it to giant Antaeus, whom he makes the next
door neighbour of Lucifer himself: —
" Qual pare a riguardar la Carisenda
Sotto'l chinato, quand'un nuvol vada
Sovr'essa si, ched ella incontro penda ;
Tal parve Anteo a me." 
The two towers are close together ; they are square,
without ornament, and built of brick.
I entered the large Gothic church of St. Petrouius ;
and observed on its pavement the celebrated meridian
line of Cassini ; an excellent astronomer, who first as
serted the dignity and importance of comets; and re
pelled the unworthy suspicion, that those great bodies
were only accidental meteors.
I entered also a church, in which a priest was

BOLOGNA. 173
preaching ; he was walking to and fro, and his audience,
chiefly females, were sitting, or kneeling round him :
his subject was the great respect that is due to the
minister of a parish; he enlarged upon the respect,
but did not think it necessary to give any reasons for
what was so evident. Three pretty girls were talking
a- little, but not so as to pass the bounds of fair criti
cism, which is allowed in all public assemblies ; he
thought it was a trespass upon the respect which he
was inculcating, and accordingly stopped and said,
" They are talking there : " the fair ones changed their
places, and remained silent. I walked quietly about
the church, and examined the paintings ; the preacher
looked at me, but not in a cross, or sulky manner,
as these persons are wont ; esteemed he a good tem
pered fellow; perhaps he thought it a good prac
tical illustration of the respect due to the minister of a
parish, that strangers should think it worth while to
come from a distance to admire his parish church. In
the evening I was too much fatigued to undertake any
duty more arduous than sitting over the fire ; and I
went to bed early.
Monday, January g. — It snowed in the morning;
and it continued to snow all day, with an air of cool
deliberation, that convinced me it was not the first

1/4 BOLOGNA.
offence. The paintings in the Marescalchi Palace are
on sale ; many have been sold ; but enough still re
main to make it a most splendid collection. Of the
two Correggios, the one which represents the Redeemer
in Glory, certainly fails in so high an object; to speak
as a critic, it shows only a short, squat, Dutch-built
man, issuing from a stack of wet linen, and surround
ed by little angels, who. have evidently merit, and
the face and hair of the principal figure are also
striking. With the other I was more pleased; the
countenances of the four saints are beautiful ; but one
of them, a lady, is quietly strangling a dragon about
the size of a small goose ; there is a string round its
neck, her foot is upon its head, and she is drawing the
string tight with her hand ; a fair lady is not well em
ployed in strangling any thing ; it is no great triumph
to kill such an animal as this ; we accordingly blame
her cruelty, and pity the poor little dragon.
The public gallery is full of the masterpieces of
Guido, Domenichino, Guercino, and the three Ca-
racci ; and has besides the St. Cecilia of Raphael, and
a fine Pietro Perugino. I find much beauty in the
faces of the last ; and whether it be because it really
suits my taste, or because I had been talked into it, I
am greatly pleased with his style ; and I find more to
admire in the works of Peter, than of almost any other

BOLOGNA.

175

master. I saw a portrait of St. Andrew Corsini, whose
arm-chair was quite safe in the church at Fiesole last
Wednesday. The university has a good library ; the librarian, an
ecclesiastic, is one of the wonders of the place. He
has the reputation of knowing twenty-five languages ;
without being well skilled in any of them, he may pos
sibly know them all better than our vaunted and vaunt
ing linguist Sir William Jones understood any one of
his many tongues. Except a facility in acquiring
languages, I was informed, that the priest, like the
learned judge, was utterly destitute of all other kinds
of talent. I regret, however, that I did not see the
reverend polyglott.
There is a fine collection of philosophical instruments
in the university, and the usual collections for natural
history; a museum of anatomy, of which the wax
figures would be very wonderful to one who had not
seen the more wonderful models at Florence, and a
museum of parturition, with numerous figures, repre
senting the various conditions and positions of the
foetus, and all obstetrical matters, of the scientific merit
of which I cannot pretend to be a judge; but as works
of art they are somewhat clumsy and inelegant, aud
might be much improved: an inscription over the door
teaches, that they were presented to the university by
a pope — I think Benedict XIV. It is an odd depart-

176 BOLOGNA.
ment of science for a pope to meddle with, unless it
were in his capacity of an old woman ; a character in
which, I presume, the holy father, like other venerable
personages, has sometimes been known to appear.
If the museums are open to the public, they will no
doubt be useful ; if they are only shown by a keeper,
as I saw them, however intelligent the keeper may be,
they can be of no use whatever. They may, however,
be readily inspected in this manner at any time; for they
are not exhibited grudgingly, and eagerly locked up,
like the Hunterian Museum. It might be fit to divide
the ancient and worshipful Company of Barber Surgeons
into two portions, and to carve out of it the modern
body, named the Royal College of Surgeons ; but it is
exceedingly to be lamented, (the error, if possible,
ought to be speedily repaired,) that the museum was
not bestowed upon the barbers, who are proverbial for
their communicativeness ; had it been placed in the
hands of the hair-dressers, the curious inquirer might
have examined the valuable collection, without the
absurd formality of a ticket, signed by a friseur, his
treasurer, or secretary ; not on one or two days of the
week only, and at an hour specified pragmatically by
Shrewsbury clock, and at two several goes, but all at
once ; and at any reasonable time. We should have
wanted the twenty-four annual lectures no doubt, as
the shavers could not have spared so much of their

BOLOGNA. 177
valuable time, as the composition, or rather the delivery
of these performances, would demand ; but the free use
of the museum would be infinitely more improving,
than the physiological mares-nests that have already
been found, or that ever will be discovered by any
royal college in the world.
I saw in a church a Madonna, by Guido, exhibited like
a Jack-in-a-box — I did not not admire it ; and in the
cathedral, an Annunciation in fresco, the last work of
Lodovico Caracci : it was so dark, and the painting
was so far off, that I could not form any judgment of
its merit.
Tuesday, January 10.— It snowed all night ; in
the morning the roofs were white, and- the streets deep
with snow. I saw inscribed on a stone, fixed in a wall,
in characters which were not as old as the date, these
whimsical lines : —
" Si procul a Proculo Proculi campana fuisset,
Nunc procul a Proculo Proculus ipse foret.
a. n. 1393."
The solution of the enigma is by no means obvious ;
it is this — they had been baptizing a bell in the church
of San Proculo, an abbey of Benedictines ; and after
the accustomed ceremonies and benedictions, and the
prayer, that the bell might do good to all, and hurt

178 BOLOGNA.
nobody, the first time of ringing it, it fell upon the poor
sexton who rang it, and who had taken more care for its
spiritual interests, in getting it solemnly baptized, than
for its temporal concerns, in having it properlj' hung
and securely fastened, and broke his neck, and also
itself into a thousand pieces. The name of the sexton,
after his church and saint, was Proculus. The distich
was made to perpetuate the memory of the accident;
and engraved on a stone near the church, to say, that
if the bell of S. Proculo had been far from Proculus
the sexton, Proculus the' sexton might be at present
far from the church of S. Proculo, alive and well, or
at least buried in another place.
I visited the churches which I had not seen. In that
of the Dominicans was a picture of the fathers inqui
sitors, with the assistance of an angel, and a pair of
spectacles, burning wicked books. In the same church
we met a procession, with lights, psalm singing, and
an umbrella, returning from giving the sacrament to a
sick person. My guide remarked, that in the time of
the French they could not do so ; but that one man
whipped his lordship (inuendo the host) under his cloak,
and ran along with him as fast as he could. Near the
church are the tombs of some of the earliest lawyers —
this city has always been famous for law and lawyers ;
and even in these degenerate days, it is decorated by

BOLOGNA. 179
the presence of a considerable number of advocates ; of
one, to whom I was recommended, it is impossible
not to form a high estimate.
I saw, in various palaces, sundry pictures of Cor-
reggio, Domenichino, Guido, Guercino, the three
Caracci, and of their scholars and imitators, of various
merit : most of the pictures are on sale, which adds not
a little to the inconvenience of visiting the galleries, for
the unhappy spectator is tormented with Italian assi
duity to buy something. In one palace, of which I
forget the name, celebrated only for its fine furniture,
and this I was not permitted to see, I was conducted
up stairs to admire the staircase, a specimen of the
architecture of Palladio : it had just been whitewashed.
The house of the Caracci, an old, but rather comely
edifice, and for an artist large, is pointed out to
strangers. My guide did not fail to offer to sell me one
of the phosphoric stones of Bologna, which seems (on
being exposed to the air) to the eye, but not to the
touch, a live coal. As there are no large streets, or
squares, and no river larger than the little Reno, as it
is called, and by reason also of the arcades, it is by no
means easy to find one's way about the streets of
this city.
The delight and pride of the Bolognese appears to
be to build porticos ; if they have much weather like
¦ to-day, there is some reason for this taste ; and if they

180 BOLOGNA.
really extended all over the town, they would be in
valuable : but there are many intervals, and in passing
these intervals it is easy to get wet, at least as to the
feet, which are the part where wet is most injurious.
In a portico that leads from the city to the church of
Madonna di San Luca, they have indulged their taste
to the utmost ; it consists of six hundred and fifty
arches, regularly numbered ; and is three miles in
length. It is like an arcade from London to Hamp-
stead, or rather to Highgate, for the last half of the way
is a steep ascent. The arches seem to be the gifts of
individuals, each rich and public spirited person having
given one, or two, or three, which are inscribed with the
record of the munificence of the donor. Some parts
are even painted in fresco. Passengers are warned not
to write or draw on the walls, under the penalties of the
law, and the more serious consequences of the Blessed
Virgin's displeasure, under whose protection the place
is : but notwithstanding this caution, many have ven
tured to inscribe the names of themselves and their
sweethearts, and to give vent to the usual ebullitions of
facetiousness, which are to be found in plenty, both in
alphabetic characters and in the more ancient mode of
hieroglyphics ; many of the latter are of such a nature,
that it would be quite impossible for a virgin to under
stand them.
There is a fine view from the summit of the hill, of

BOLOGNA. 161
the Appenines, of an extensive plain, and of Bologna ;
but the appearance of the city is less striking than its
fame deserves : to-day every thing was white with snow.
There is a church at the top ; it was locked ; but a
man, who was clearing away the snow, told me where to
apply, and I procured a woman to open the door, and
found to-day the greatest wonder I ever met with in
Italy, for she went away without waiting for, or demand
ing, any thing. I am inclined to think, that no other
traveller in this country ever met with a man or a
woman who opened a door for him without asking
for payment — it is so great a miracle, that I almost
doubt whether she was not the Madonna herself; she
vanished so suddenly, that I had not time to inquire if
she were a virgin, had I been so disposed. The interior
of the church is neat, and it is of a great religion, but
it is not otherwise remarkable. At the bottom of the
hill, and about half way from Bologna, arcades branch
off to the Campo Santo; but they are not completed;
when the rest are finished, the people of Bologna
will be able to walk under cover from their city to the
burial-ground. At eight in the evening I went to the Teatro Com-
munale, which is large and handsome ; persons used
to our more modern theatres would think it heavy.
The opera was Clotilda ; the prima donna, an English
woman, named Ayton, a pretty girl, who sings well ;

182 BOLOGNA.
she seemed to be a great favourite with the audience.
The opera here is not an expensive amusement, the
price of admission to the pit is only sixpence ; ^ part
of the price in London for the same entertainment. It
was a miserably cold night.
Wednesday, January 11. — It snowed all day. I
visited the church of St. Stephen, which is, in fact, a
nest of seven churches adhering together. Amongst
many other wonders, is a column of the exact height of
the Saviour; it was, of course, satisfactory to find, that,
without my shoes, I should be of precisely the same
stature. It is possible to pervert a church of Fran
ciscans, and to apply it to even worse purposes than
the superstitious rites of bigoted monks ; for a large
Gothic church of that order in this city, has been con
verted into a custom-house ; and whatever it may have
been before, whether a house of prayer, or any thing
worse, it is now most assuredly a den of thieves.
I saw two palaces ; one has a large collection of
pictures. I remember the Fortune of Guido, a naked
female flying over the world, and scattering money
from a purse, and Love is following her ; and aLeda,
by Titian. In the other palace the cielings are painted
with the exploits of Hercules; of three rooms each
one is the work of one of the three Caracci ; there are
other frescos by Guercino. I examined these exquisite

BOLOGNA. 183
paintings, and looked in vain for the black penciling
with which modern frescos are disfigured. All the
pictures in this palace are being sold off; the frescos
also would have been bought by an Englishman, but
it was found, as the cielings are arched with brick, that
they could not be cut out.
I had heard so much of the C.ampo Santo, that in
spite of the snow I determined to walk there ; I found
the road better than I had expected ; it is two miles
from the city. It was formerly a convent of Carthusians,
but was converted by the French into a burial-ground.
In the church there is little remarkable, except the
chains of Christian captives, redeemed from captivity
amongst the Turks and Algerines, which had been
hung up as votive offerings; some antiquities of no
great curiosity ; and many ugly old portraits of the
Madonna, collected from various churches. The clois
ters and large courts of this extensive convent make
an excellent cemetery ; the poor" are buried in the
open courts, which are planted with cypresses ; richer
persons purchase the whole, or part, of an arcade, and
inter their relatives under the pavement of the cloisters;
and erect against the wall monuments of marble,
stucco, or terra cotta ; or even paint one on the wall ;
of which kind there are many executed with much
spirit. There are many small courts, porches, and
galleries : the spacious site is singularly well adapted

194 BOLOGNA.
to the purpose of interment. This place is the pride
of the Bolognese, and with some reason ; it is a judicious
and interesting mode of disposing of the dead ; and with
a few improvements, which experience and good taste
would suggest, it is worthy to be imitated in all cities;
and it makes death less odious than the barbarous,
frightful, and detestable places and practices of the
tasteless Protestants who inhabit London. There is
a small court for the disgusting Capuchins, in which
these fellows, who are not content with shocking public
decency, and' outraging common sense, in their obscene
and filthy lives, are permitted, by a strange indulgence,
even after death, to continue to merit the hatred and
contempt of mankind, by exposing their skulls, and
making an exhibition of their mouldering bones. A
little more of the air of a garden would improve the
effect of the Campo Santo, which nevertheless is very
good ; trees, shrubs, and flowers, and the green turf,
are the best and most natural set-off of cheerfulness,
against the melancholy of death and dead things.
The great forte of the English is in planning
gardens, shrubberies, and pleasure-grounds : they want
the sense of beauty in almost all other things; but
they have it in an eminent degree in laying out
grounds : this talent might be well applied to adorn
ing the cemeteries in the vicinity of large cities, in
honour of the dead ; if our saturnine souls were not

BOLOGNA. 185
saturated with a dark and gloomy superstition on these
points, as hostile to the spirit of true religion, as of
true taste. The Italians wisely abstain from the
hideous apparatus of hearses and hat-bands, so re
dundant in our funerals; they bury their dead in a
plain and economical manner ; and expend whatever
sum is adjudged fitting and prudent, on the permanent
decoration of a handsome monument ; and in the en
couragement of more agreeable and elegant arts than
the breeding of black horses, and the manufacture of
black crape. Their epitaphs are always neat, and
frequently happy ; the traveller would seek in vain for
any such exhibitions of folly, stupidity, and iguorance,
as are always furnished by the disgraceful inscriptions
in our church-yards.
I had already done wonders ; the shortness of the
days, and the inclemency of the weather, being con
sidered ; I was not able however to make an ex
cursion to the church of S. Michele in Bosco, in order
to look down upon the city, and to see the cloisters,
which are painted in fresco, by that all glorious painter
Lodovico Caracci. As a little addition to the inevi
table discomfort of cold weather, the Italians serve up
the dinner all at once, to give the various dishes an
opportunity of cooling; they have unhappily no notion
of warming a plate. The celebrated Bologna sausages
would not be more or less eatable than the German

186 MALALBERGO.
sausages of London, if they were unpolluted by that
truculent herb garlic :—
•• Parentis olim si quis impia manu
Senile guttur fregerit,
Edat cicutis allium nocentius.
O dura messorum ilia ! "
To the nose of the guiltless, garlic is certainly far
more noxious than hemlock, for of this the guilty eat
but once — would that that also had the like potency !
Thursday, January 12. — I got up at six, on a
cold frosty morning, and at seven I placed myself in
the cabriolet of a vettura ; in the inside were two Eng
lishmen ; and there was soon added to these a Sicilian,
from Messina, who had studied medicine at Bologna,
and was going to prosecute his studies at Padua : we
presented our passports at the gate, and were drawn
slowly along a snowy road, by three white horses. At
noon we baited at Malalbergo, and banished hunger by
means of fine pork chops, and part of the intense cold
by a fire of vine-cuttings. We continued our journey,
and soon came to the Reno, which we crossed in a ferry
boat ; the carriage was driven upon the deck. The
country was flat, in some places flooded; planted with
pollard poplars, which support vines; at this season
the vines can only be seen on a narrow examination ;
there was little, therefore, in the appearance of the
country; and still less in the sensations of the body,

FERRARA. 187
and the total want of sensation in the hands and feet,
to distinguish our journey from what one experiences
in travelling northwards from York.
At about three in the afternoon we came in sight of
Ferrara ; the aspect of a large city on a plain is noble ;
so is it when seated on a hill — which is the most im
posing ? At four we reached the gate, and were
detained there at least half an hour, when time was so
exceedingly precious ; after the examination of our
passports, we drove to the Tre Mori, (who were the
three Moors ?) an indifferent inn, or a different inn,
differing in many respects from a good one. We set
out immediately in a trot, to see the city. The houses
are low, and the place is not so handsome as it is
generally reported to be ; the roofs are destitute of
spouts, which is no small evil when the snow is melting.
We passed through the Ghetto, which has gates to shut
in the Jews, (to whom we owe so much pleasure for the
institution of the Sabbath,) at nine o'clock in the
evening. In the library of the university we saw the
monument of Ariosto, which had been removed, why,
it is hard to say, from a church in this city; the
chair and bronze inkstand of that poet ; the manuscript
of his works ; of the Gerusalemme Liberata, of Tasso;
and of the Pastor Fido, of Guarini ; all in the hand
writing of their respective authors. We passed through

188 FERRARA.
the Corso, a long, wide, straight street, but not very
handsome. We presented ourselves at the hospital of Santa
Anna, and asked to see the prison of Tasso ; we were
told that it is not permitted after Ave Maria ; we per
sisted, and were admitted ; or rather they did not pre
vent our entrance into the dungeon, which had been
newly plastered and white-washed ; it is not unlike a
London coal-hole; the top of the door had been robbed
by visitors — a morsel of the wood had been sent to me
in a letter, seven or eight years before. The adjoining
wall was inscribed with the names of pilgrims to a
spot, consecrated by the tradition of a poet's sufferings;
our guide showed that of Lord Byron, and of S.
Rogers, whom he called San Rogers, supposing, no
doubt, that he was some English saint; but with all
our enthusiasm for a paper currency, we have never
gone so far as to canonize a banker ; perhaps, when we
are reconciled to the church of Rome, by the powerful
preaching of the nuncio, Mr. Cobbett, we shall make
either saints or martyrs of some of these discounting
gentlemen. A little discussion has been thrown away
lately, -to prove that this was not the dungeon of
Tasso ; it is a cruel thing to disturb our harmless faith,
and innocent worship, by useless and uncomfortable
doubts. Is not nauseous and tiresome pedantry suf-

FERRARA. 1 8fl
ficiently offensive in itself, without being thus obtruded
upon our innocuous and pleasing errors ? In these
instances let us err agreeably with Plato, and hope that
puerility will find for itself some other boyish employ
ment, such as slily throwing a stone through a window ;
and will refrain from demolishing our frail and brittle
credulity. The castle, or palace of Este, now the residence of
the cardinal legate, isalarge building with four towers,
surrounded by a wide ditch full of water ; it has a
handsome feudal air : it is the place where the kiss was
perpetrated, for which, under pretence of madness,
the Duke of Ferrara shut up the unhappy poet in
the hospital of St. Anne ; the brother paid but an ill
compliment to his sister's charms, by proclaiming to
the world, that no one but a mad man would think of
kissing Leonora. So much of our time had been con
sumed by the miscreants at the gate, that we were
unable, it being now dark, to visit the cathedral : in
a city governed by a cardinal legate, a fee is of course
exacted by the eminent extortioner, for adding to the
vast- accumulation of nonsense indorsed upon the
passport. The intense cold compelled us to give up
our purpose of judging for ourselves of the theatre,
which is of some celebrity.

igo THE PO.
Friday, January 13. — We rose early in the cold,
and as it was intolerable in the cabriolet, I took the
vacant place within. We soon came to the Po at the
bridge of Lagoscuro ; the floods had damaged the place
of embarkation ; we were delayed some time until it
was repaired. Our passports were examined. At last
we got upon the flying bridge, the deck was white with
the hoar frost, and the cold was intense. The Po is here
a wide large river ; it was full of water, and the stream
was running down rapidly. The banks are flat and
planted with poplars, that recalled the line —
" Faster than poplars by the hanks of Po."
As I was standing shivering on the deck, and swing
ing slowly across, Lucian's account of his inquiries
about the amber on this river, in his short declamation,
entitled ritpi tov KXeicrpa, i) toiv Kvkvuv, came into my
head and amused me. " You also most likely believe
the fable about amber ; " Lucian writes with astute
simplicity, "that the poplars on the river Po wept,
lamenting for Phaeton, and that those poplars are the
sisters of Phaeton ; for bewailing the youth they were
changed into trees, and their tears still drop from them
iu amber. For I myself by chance hearing these things
from the poets who sing of them, expected, if ever I
should happen to be upon the Po, to go under one of
the poplars, and spreading out my garments to catch a
few of the tears, and so get some amber. And indeed not

THE HO. lt)|
long ago, although for a different purpose, I went to
those countries, and I was obliged to sail up the Po ;
yet I neither saw any poplars, although I looked about
every where, nor the amber ; moreover the people of
the country did not even know the name of Phaeton.
When I inquired and asked, when shall we come to the
poplars that yield the amber ; the sailors laughed, and
begged me to tell them more plainly what it was I
meant: then I related to them the fabler — that Phaeton
was the son of the sun, and when he grew up, he begged
of his father to let him drive his chariot and make one
day ; that the father permitted him, and he was thrown
out of the chariot and killed ; and that his sisters grieving
for him somewhere hereabouts in your country, where
he fell into the Po, became poplars, and weep amber
for his sake. 'What cheat and lying fellow told you
these things ? ' they said, ' for we never heard of any
vetturino who was thrown out, nor of the poplars,
which you say we have : if there was any thing of the
kind, do you suppose we would row for two soldi, and
arag the boats up against the stream, when we might
get rich by collecting the tears of the poplars ? ' This
speech confounded me not a little, and I held my
tongue, for in truth I had behaved like a boy in giving
credit to the poets, who invent such incredible things,
that it should seem nothing sound is agreeable to them.
Having been thus disappointed in one expectation,

192 THE-PO.
and that not a trifling one, I was as much cast down,
as if I had lost the amber out of my possession ; for I
had already begun to consider how much there would
be, and what use I should make of it." However it
may have been in the times of Lucian, there are now
poplars in plenty, at least on this part of the Po: as I
looked at the rude sailors, I could not help thinking,
that if I had asked the same questions, I should have
received precisely the same answers.
They had the like difficulty in consequence of the
floods to get the carriage on shore, that they had had
to embark it. An Austrian Serjeant received us as we
landed and conducted us to a house, where, to our great
joy, was a German stove ; round which we stood and
warmed ourselves, to the discomposure of the dignity
of the officers of the police, who seemed to expect
that we should stand cap in hand at the door : they
examined our passports minutely, and asked some
questions as to our luggage ; particularly if we had any
books ; but they did not open any thing : from the
English they received very crusty answers : the Sicilian
was more submissive ; he was accordingly interrogated
with greater strictness. When these gentlemen had
exhausted with great civility all their tedious imperti
nence, we were permitted to continue our journey.
The road was terribly bad ; the country flat, fertile,
and uninteresting; we were cold and hungry. We

MONSELICE. 1Q3
came to Rovigo about one ; here they took our pass
ports at the gate as we entered, again whilst we were at
the inn, and a third time at the gate as we left the place.
So slow, so numb, so torpid a thing is that German
despotism, which would enthral Italy ! The poor
Sicilian fared worse than we did ; they sent for him,
and would not suffer him to proceed, because his pass
port had not been despatched from Bologna to Rome,
for the signature of the Austrian minister. The poor
student was greatly annoyed at being detained here,
and with reason ; they ought to have told him at
Bologna, when he presented himself before the police,
that these slow-witted tyrants would not suffer him to
travel without the signature of his excellency the
victual-sack at Rome. An Austrian, from his voracity
and dulness, is called throughout Germany a victual-
sack, speise-sack.
Having taken some rest, warmth, and nutriment,
we set out again, and soon came to the Adige; which
we crossed at a village with ease and without delay in a
boat. We arrived in the dark at Monselice, where we
had a good, but somewhat scanty supper ; and some
tolerable red wine, which we mulled into a very drink
able liquor: the cold was excessive, but it was soon
forgotten in sleep and a comfortable bed.

194 PADUA.
Saturday, January 14. — We set out again early
on a fine, cold, frosty morning ; the road was now
pretty good, and frozen hard ; the country was fertile
and highly cultivated : on the right it resembled Flan
ders, or even Holland ; but on the left were high hills
covered with snow. ¦JWe passed many large villas ;
some were handsome ; the greatest part adorned with
statues; many in what we consider a cockney taste.
We looked anxiously along the straight road, and
at last discovered Padua. Our impatience was re
tarded for some time at the gate, by the usual non
sensical formalities about passports ; we were obliged
to send them to the police; and they were again de
manded on quitting the town. Having taken a good
breakfast at noon, somewhat in the English taste, we
set out to see as much as time would permit.
We visited the cathedral, peeping first into the bap
tistry, which is painted in the old style, and deserves
more attention than I could give it : there was a
child brought in a pretty cradle to be baptized ; the
mother asked me to be godfather, I suppose for luck ;
a stranger, and so great a stranger, ought to brino-
good fortune with him ; I regretted that time would
not allow me to comply with her request ; had I been
alone I would willingly have sacrificed half an hour,
especially as she appeared to desire it more than her
modest manner at first would lead one to believe; but

PADUA. 195
I did not feel justified in detaining my companions.
The cathedral is bare within ; and is chiefly remarkable,
because Petrarch was a canon of this church for some
time ; I remembered that the roof once resounded
with his voice ; certainly, if that tender and elegant
poet bellowed out the litanies behind the altar in the
same manner as canons now are wont. There is a
monument erected by one of the canons ; it is in good
taste ; and a cenotaph for his tomb is at a short
distance from the city, at a place called Arqua, whither
travellers resort to see it and his villa. The poet
Bembo was also a canon. Under the cathedral is a
crypt, containing the head of a saint and some good
reliefs. The sacristy was locked ; we could not see the
paintings of Giotto, as time would not allow us to wait
for the key.
I observed the works of a celebrated native of this
city exposed for sale on a stall, the historian of Rome,
Livy. We were much pleased with the beautiful and
simple style of the church of Santa Giustina, which
was built from a design of Palladio. The seats in the
choir, of carved oak, are remarkable ; and there is an ex
cellent picture of the martyrdom of the saint, by Paul
Veronese. The church of the protector of Padua, St.
Anthony, is a fine Gothic building, and deserves much
study, as it is rich in old paintings, and in the sculp
tures of Donatello and others. We passed in the
o 2

196 PADUA.
street an old monument, with an inscription in Gothic
characters ; it is said to be that of Antenor, the
founder of the city, according to our guide, aud to
Virgil : — " Antenor potuit, mediis elapsus Achivis,
Ulyricos penetrare sinus 
Hie tamen ille urbem Patavi, sedesque Iocavit
Teucrorum 
 nunc placida compostus pace quiescit."
In the Palace of Justice is a hall, three hundred feet
in length, one hundred in height, and eighty in width ;
the walls painted by Giotto ; it is, however, ugly, and
cannot be compared with Westminster Hall. We
continued our journey, and leaving the city soon came
to the Brenta, which we crossed ; and for some dis
tance travelled by its side ; on the banks are large
palaces, and many villas, apparently comfortable ; the
window shutters were gay with green paint; which is a
sign that the inhabitants are well off; as men will natu
rally purchase bread, meat, wine, fire-wood, and cloth
ing, before they spend their money upon green paint.
In several places the road had been much injured by
the late floods.
We arrived at Fusina by the light of the moon and
stars, and soon embarked with our baggage in a gon
dola ; we were shut into the little cabin, which would
have been comfortable enough, but the cold was in
tense. We stole quietly away without seeing where

VENICE. 197
we went. We passed a barrier ; and at another place
our passports were taken away, and the usual tickets
given instead; and a man asked for money for not ex
amining our baggage : we were then told, that we had
entered the Canal Grande, and could j ust see houses
on each side ; and soon after, that we were passing
under the Rialto, of the shadow of which we were
sensible ; and immediately afterwards were landed at
the Scudo di Francia in Venice, hungry, and almost
starved with cold.
Sunday, January 15. — As I looked from the
window upon the Canal Grande, I thought that,
although it is handsome, yet too much has been said
in its praise ; it is not very wide ; the houses are neither
large nor lofty, nor of very noble architecture. The
celebrated Rialto is a good bridge ; high in the middle,
like the roof of a house ; to be ascended and descended
by steps ; and, as the guide-books say, adorned — but
I should say, disfigured — by a double row of shops :
it has long been a wonder, because it is a bridge over
the great canal ; we now wonder that it is the only
bridge. After breakfast we sallied forth, crossed the Rialto,
and wandered in a maze of courts and canals, in
search of St. Mark's Place ; thinking the effect
would be more striking, if we could contrive to

198 VENICE.
stumble upon it by accident, than after a regular and
formal introduction by a guide. A street in Venice
is not called via, as in Rome ; or strada, as in the other
cities of Italy ; but by the Spanish appellation of calle.
The other canals and bridges are mean, insignificant,
and ugly ; we came to some fine points of view ; and
at last, from a promontory, saw the tower and cupolas
of St. Mark's, on the opposite side of the Canal
Grande; we puzzled out our way with difficulty to
the Rialto, and recrossing it, we arrived at an arched
gateway, on issuing from which we suddenly entered
the Piazza S. Marco. The gaudy cathedral ; the tall
square brick tower ; the columns, of which one is sur
mounted by the lion of St. Mark ; the three long masts,
and the buildings and porticos ; realized the paintings,
engravings, and panoramas which we had seen.
We entered St. Mark's; it is chiefly remarkable
for a certain air of barbaric and Eastern magnificence ;
the roof and the five cupolas are inlaid with gold
mosaic ; they seem as if they were lined with gilt leather ;
such at least is the ground, for there are figures upon
it of all kinds, in bright gay colours. The pavement
is also inlaid tastefully with coloured marbles, in
various patterns; but by some accident it is very
uneven, and as it were warped ; and like every thing
else in this city, exceedingly slippery : the interior of
the church is enriched with every kind of ornament.

Venice. igg
We continued our walk to the public gardens,
which, it is said, were made by the French, who delight
in a promenade ; in any other city they would seem
poor, but in Venice they are a great acquisition : we
met crowds of people there, and on the road ; many
pretty girls and women ; but not any, I think, of ex
traordinary beauty ; they wore good clothes, and were
dressed neatly. I never found so great a variety of
colours ; there was no fashionable, or prevailing colour ;
each woTe what fancy, taste, or the want of taste
dictated. There are fine views from the gardens of
Venice ; of the port, the islands, the sea, and the snowy
mountains. The cold was intense ; I never suffered more than at
present from its effects. The mountains were com
pletely white with snow ; whatever water was spilled
on the pavement, was speedily converted into solid ice;
the rooms are so little fitted for winter, that the pierc
ing wind enters at a thousand crevices; and although
crouching over the fire, it is necessary to wear a great
coat, or cloak, and a cap, to be comfortable, or even
reasonably uncomfortable ; ths fire-wood is not of a
good quality ; it is not wood, but mere sticks ; the
loppings of the pollard poplars; so that the few
faculties of the mind that are suffered to remain, are
entirely absorbed in attending to and keeping alive a
fire of sticks.

200 Venice.
Monday, January 16. — We ascended the tower
of St. Mark by an inclined plane, which passes round
and round the square chimney, in the middle, through
which the bell-ropes act ; our guide told us, that the
Emperor of Austria rode to the top on a pony ; if he
did not, he might without difficulty : the view is cer
tainly unique, and the day was clear ; but the piercing
wind would not allow us to enjoy it long. The
Manfreni Palace, besides ancient Flemish and Italian
pictures, has a large collection of the best works of
the Venetian school.
Tuesday, January 17. — The church of SS.
Giovanni e Paolo is large and handsome, and full of
monuments of doges; which are magnificent, especi
ally in size ; the inscription on his tomb informs us,
that one unhappy doge was skinned alive by the Turks.
There are many pictures of the Venetian school ; that
of Peter Martyr, by Titian, has extraordinary merit ;
and is, perhaps, even more admirable than the painting
of Domenichino on the same subject. The church is
rich in marble, bronze, and the usual wealth of^such
edifices. S. Francesco della Vigna is a large build
ing ; but after St. John and Paul, it did not strike
us : we visited the Ospidaletto ; S. Lorenzo ; S.
Zacharia ; S. Giorgio dei Greci — the last is a Greek
church, and is fitted up for the Greek religion ; it is

VENICE. 201
full of Greek paintings ; and the tower leans almost as
much as those of Pisa and Bologna ; S. Martino, and
S. Stefano : in all of which we found pictures of the
Venetian school, and specimens of the Venetian style
of architecture.
The exterior of the Palace Grimani is ruinous and
dilapidated ; in the court are statues and inscribed
stones. Old age in the pictures of the Italian masters
had often seemed to be exaggerated ; but in the court of
this palace we found an old woman, the extreme
antiquity of whose aspect justified those imitations.
The interior of the palace is handsome, the style
peculiar, but by no means displeasing ; and after some
acquaintance, may seem beautiful ; for beauty rarely
strikes at first sight. There are paintings by great
names, but not any that I remember. We were
much pleased with a round room, filled with statues
aud marbles ; it is a model for a Lararium. It ap
pears to be the custom to take off the coffin part, or
cover of the gondola, and to keep it in the house ; we
saw it standing in the hall* like a sedan chair.
Wednesday, January 18. — We went to the
arsenal, and were refused admittance, because we had
not our passports with us ; we retired, scolding the
Austrians, to the palace of the doge.
The spacious halls, with gilded and painted cielings,

202 VENICE.
bring to mind the glories of the republic : the victories
against the league of Cambray, and . over the Turks,
have a distinguished share amongst the paintings ; and
there is a large picture of the battle of Lepanto ; at
which place Cervantes lost his hand. The seats and
benches in the hall of the senate still remain, but they
are sentenced to be removed ,- this room reminded us
of Othello, and of his most potent speech, which we
may suppose to have been delivered there.
The hall of the larger and legislative body has been
converted into a library and museum, and has some
good statues, particularly a Bacchus and Faunus ; and
the portraits of doges, in pairs, are painted on the walls :
that of Marino Faliero is supplied by a black curtain ;
the series is continued in an adjoining room, and ends
with him, who abdicated his dukedom, and resigned,
if not his power, his title. The Paradise of Tintoret,
at the end of the library, is an immense work,' full of
figures, with much black ; and I presume for those, who
have time to study it, many beauties. The apotheosis
of Venice, on the cieling, by P. Veronese, is more
obviously beautiful : the small antique group, in
marble, of the eagle flying away with Ganymede, is
suspended at the other end of the room.
We stood upon the Bridge of Sighs ; a covered pas
sage and bridge from the Palace of the Doge to the
prisons : there was a " palace and a prison on each hand ;"

VENICE. 203
that is to say, a palace on the one hand, and a prison
on the other.
Of the prisons of the Inquisition, some are in the
attics ; they must be hot in summer, and cold in winter ;
but, for prisons, they are not otherwise incommodious;
others are below — the lowest tier of these are said to
be below the level of the water in the canal ; they are
by no means desirable places to reside in, but are not
worse than the average prisons in ancient castles ; they
are lined with wood, and are less barbarous than
many of the barbarities of barbarous ages. They are
not numerous, or large, and could not have contained
many prisoners ; they would, I am convinced, in that
respect, make a very insufficient prison for the Court of
Chancery. In one cell a person was confined eighteen
years; this is like an imprisonment for a contempt.
There are some inscriptions, in one by an imprisoned
goldsmith, in another by a priest. They showed us
the corner where condemned persons were strangled ;
and a pulley, by which prisoners were hoisted up by a
rope fastened to the elbows, that were tied behind the
back, and then let down with a sudden jerk, in the man
ner of the Russian knout. The lion's head, through the
mouth of which secret accusations were presented, as
we put a letter into the post office, has been removed ;
but the aperture in the wall still remains, to mark the
place. In the time of the French, the populace were

204 VENICE.
freely admitted to view the prisons ; they have marked,
in very legible characters, their opinion of the In
quisition. We saw a small room, in which the Council
of Ten used to meet, and many other apartments.
This morning there was much ice on the canals ; they
may indeed be said to have been frozen over, as in
some places the ice went across ; this, I am told, is
very unusual, especially so late in the winter ; the
coldest weather is generally in December. The Im
perial Palace is remarkable for a cieling painted in
medallions by the seven great masters of the Venetian
school; three medallions by each master; for some
good paintings brought from the Ducal Palace; and
for being comfortably furnished. We saw one of the
four Hebes of Canova on sale at the house of a German ;
this counterpart, or original, of the quadripartite
statue, was extremely dirty; probably, because the
female cup-bearer had been present at the smoking
banquets of her Teutonic master.
In the morning, in going to the arsenal, we looked
again into the church of S. Giorgio dei Greci ; it was
full of these eastern Christians; who were crossing
themselves in their peculiar maimer, and singing the
service in Greek through their noses, in a less slow and
lugubrious strain, than we hear in the western church ;
there was something sprightly in their monotony, how
ever tiresome: as we walked away we met some she-

VENICE. 205
Greeks on their way to St. George's; they looked so
sweet and amiable, that, even on this cold morning, it
was difficult to believe they had no other thoughts in
their pretty Hellenic heads, than of giving vent to a
litany with a nasal twang.
We visited again the church of St. John aud Paul ;
and saw there, in the chapel of the rosary, some excellent
sculptures in very high relief by Bonazzo and others :
the Nativity, the Adoration of the Magi, and similar
subjects ; they are in a style very different from the
antique, it may be termed the picturesque ; they are
like spirited sketches transferred upon marble ; a small
one, which is the most esteemed, in this instance, but
it is by no means always the case, is also the best ; it
represents Christ disputing with the doctors; the figure
¦of Christ is an absolute model of the attitude of an ac
complished orator ; of animation blended with perfect
grace. The church of Madonna del Orto is celebrated,
because Tintoret took refuge there, and remained in
castigo for offences with le donne, as our guide expressed
it, in the adjoining convent, for twenty-six years :
during his long residence, the dyer's son painted many
pictures, which are still in the church. A large
painting on the right hand, as you enter, represents the
Presentation of the Virgin in the Temple ; the figures
are ascending and descending a long flight of wide stairs ;
(I highly approve of steps and stairs in a picture ; they

206 VENICE,
have a noble effect, and enable the artist to place his
figures in positions of great dignity and variety; were
I a painter living in Italy, I should introduce so many
steps in my works, that I should certainly get some
nickname therefrom ;) the figure of the young Madonna,
who is walking up the stairs to the temple, is full of
grace, beauty, and gentility ; and shows faithfully a
good, quiet young lady of eleven or twelve years, going
to school.
In the evening we went to the opera ; the Othello of
Rossini, an indifferent composition at best, was as ill
got up, as Rossini has ill treated Shakspeare's story.
The ballet, a ballet of action, was comic, and highly
amusing. The theatre is spacious and cheap ; the pit
commodious, and well conducted : and therefore unlike
the pit of a London theatre, which is, especially in the
mode of entering it, the ne plus ultra of human bru
tality : I have never been in the galleries.
Thursday, January 19. — The church of Santa
Maria Gloriosa is vast and handsome, and greatly re
sembles that of St. John and Paul : it has paintings
and huge monuments. Titian is buried there; an
Italiau distich engraved in the pavement marks the spot
and says, that he was the rival of Zeuxis and Apelles.
They were erecting a monument to Canova ; and were
even abusing his abuse of the liberty of making erec-

VENICE. 207
tions in churches ; for an enormous pyramid, on a vast
base, advanced seven or eight yards upon the pavement
and obstructed the passage. In the school of the confra
ternity of San Rocco are many and the best paintings
of Tintoret : they are dark in themselves, and the day
was dark ; besides, it is impossible at one visit to judge
of the merits of a great painter; yet it is easy to see
in a few glances, that the dyer's son was no incon
siderable man: and such was the opinion of Titian,
whose disciple he was ; and who was so apprehensive
of being excelled by his pupil, that he dismissed him
from his school. I thought that in the sketchy style
of his back grounds, there was something that re
minded me of the manner of Rubens. Beauty, dig
nity, and grace, are not apparently the great merits of
his paintings.
The rooms, especially the large one above, give a
high idea of the magnificence of Venice ; the large
square slabs of marble which form the pavement, and
the noble staircase, assist considerably these impres
sions. The church of S. Rocco is also rich in the
works of Tintoret and of other great men.
The cold this day was even more intense than before;
of my two companions, one was quite overcome by it,
and was obliged to confine himself to the house ; and
the other found it so intolerable, that he left me in the
school of S. Rocco, and retreated to the sopha and the

i03 VENICE.
fireside ; I was severely pinched by the frost ; but as,
fortunately, it did not inj ure my health, I was able to
continue my labours.
The church of S. Pietro di Castello is handsome; it
possesses many pictures; some spirited reliefs; and
what are of more value, the marble chair of the Apostle
Peter, which was brought from Antioch ; the body of
St. Helena; and of a Venetian St. Lawrence. I peeped
for a moment in the dusk into the church of S. Giuseppe.
Beppo is a common abbreviation for the name of that
saint, and often occurs here ; and sometimes the femi
nine Beppa, for Josephine. When the doge married
the Adriatic, the consummation of the ceremony must
have been difficult; perhaps, if afresh mermaid was
not to be had, or a seal, he caressed a fishwoman ; of
whom here, as in all other cities, there is an abundance.
At eight I went to the theatre of St. Luke; a large,
commodious, handsome, building; it was not well
filled. The performances were but moderate; they
caricature comedy, make a great noise, and do not
excite mirth; the women were ugly, and bad actresses,
except perhaps a loud old woman : upon the men, the
utter impossibility of looking like gentlemen seemed
to weigh heavily. One buffoon in the play, called
Meneghino, is supposed to be a Milanese, and to
represent the ideal character of the common people of
Milan ; as Pulcinella, or Punch, personifies the Nea-

VENICE. 200
politans: he speaks the dialect of that city, and is a
favourite with the Venetians, who delight in laughing
at their rivals the Milanese. I thought there was a
great sameness in the part of little Dominic (as Menego
signifies Domenico, so Meneghino is Domenichino) ;
but as I could not fully comprehend his strange
jargon, I was unable to judge accurately of the nature
of the supposed character of the people of Milan ;
little Dominic was exceedingly fond of soup, which
is certainly an innocent foible. Of the wives and
daughters of the commons in the pit, many were pretty,
with an engaging gracefulness, an air of good temper,
and a quiet cheerfulness; they were neatly dressed,
particularly as to the hair.
" Even in our ashes live their wonted fires."
On returning from the play such a night as this,- it
was by no means unpleasant to find this line verified,
to detect the —  " Ignes
Suppositos cineri doloso,''
and to revive them ; a wood fire remains so long alive
under its ashes, that it is a good practical commentarv
upon what Homer, by way of simile, says about saving
the seed of fire : —
"Qc 8'bre tiq SaXov airoSiy evticpvipe picXcuvy,
Aypov or' ns-jfarifiQ, 1} p,r\ irapa ytirovtg aXXot,
S7TEp/ta 7rupoc oid^wv, iva p,t) ¦KoSttv aXXoStv ctvoi.

210 VENICE.
Friday, January 20  We were wriggled across the
Canal Grande in a gondola, and visited the Belle Arti ;
this institution, the Royal Academy of Venice, is lodged
in the buildings of a suppressed convent ; the rooms are
not unworthy of Venetian magnificence. The drawings
of the present inhabitants of Venice, which are chiefly
architectural, were exhibited ; they were good and
spirited. There is a large assembly of excellent casts ;
many young persons were engaged in drawing from
the antique. There is a collection, but not a nume
rous one, of the pictures of the best painters of the
Venetian school ; we were especially commanded to
notice a large painting of the Assumption, which is
considered a masterpiece of Titian. I like the dogs
that are so freely introduced by the Venetians in their
pictures: their colouring is always beautiful, and
pleases, because it is natural: they excel in the pomp
of architecture ; and on cielings show admirably the
perspective of columns seen from below : they represent
the backs of figures in the foregrounds ; which make an
agreeable and natural variety from tne sameness occa
sioned by the theatrical courtesy of always turnino- the
face towards the spectators, or, at the utmost, appear
ing only in profile. This sameness is a defect fre
quently to be found in the productions of the modern
French school, as well as all the other faults that the
imagination of the critic can conceive.

VENICE. 311
The barbarous custom of shutting the churches for
the remainder of the day at noon, prevented us from
seeing any thing more : an Englishman, however,
ought to bear this odious practice patiently, through
the habit of being entirely excluded from our cathedrals
at home; and of submitting quietly to the base and il
legal exactions of men, who have an undoubted right
to chaunt the services in the churches, and to preserve
them from injury ; and, if they cannot protect them in
any other manner, they are bound to attend in per
son ; but, who have no more right to shut out the
public, or to demand money for admission, than to
pull down the edifices and to sell the materials.
I found a large, low, ugly church, open in the after
noon, called San Giacomo del Orio, containing some
pictures; of which, from the darkness of the place, I
could not judge. The day was as cold as ever.
Saturday, January 21 — The weather was still
Very cold, but not quite so bad as hitherto. The church
of St. Jeremiah is spacious and handsome ; but in
complete ; the bare bricks of the cupola and vaulting
may be seen, and have not a bad effect. There are
some pictures : the Presentation of the Virgin is a
favourite subject, and an interesting one ; as it gives
an opportunity of introducing a young and innocent
female ; a painting on this subject, on the right hand
f!

212 VENICE.
side as you enter, by Bernardino Lucadello, has some
pretty faces.
The facade of the church of the Scalzi, which is of
the marble of Carrara, is rich with statues ; and when
viewed directly in front is handsome; but if you stand a
little on one side, the brick body may be seen behind ;
as is usually the case in Venice ; it seems, as if not
merely the inhabitants, but their churches also, wear
masks. The interior abounds in marbles, pillars, re
liefs, and statues : the paintings, whether in fresco, or
on canvass, are chiefly by Tiepolo ; the prevailing sub
jects are the raptures and ecstatic devotion of that
most ardent of glowing females, St. Theresa. The
church of Santa Lucia, besides the design of Palladio,
and many of the works of Palma, boasts of two marble
statues, one the announcing angel, the other the an
nounced Virgin, by the master of Canova ; they are
not without merit.
We found, by experience, that a cup of coffee in the
middle of the day within, and an Italian cloak with
out, were excellent defences against the cold.
In the evening we went to the theatre of S. Bene
detto ; most of the theatres are called after some saint,
in whose parish they happen to be situated ; one has even
been called audaciously the theatre of St. John Chry-
sostom. The plaj'house of St. Benedict is large and
convenient ; the seafs in the pit have backs, and are

VENICE. 213
separated by divisions, and they are well stuffed; the
price of admission is about sixpence. It was thinly
attended, especially the boxes ; whether because per
sons of quality did not like the piece, which was a fierce
attack upon the system of tolerating cavalieri serventi ;
or, because it was an old play ; or, because they were
otherwise engaged — I cannot determine.
Perhaps this system, like most others that have pre
vailed to any great extent in the world, was the offspring
rather of necessity than of choice ; the poverty of the
country does not permit a man to marry until he is old ;
when at last he is rich enough to take a wife, his young
spouse naturally desires, in aid of her old husband, a
companion of her own years, at least to chat with ; for
between persons of the same age, the conversational
sympathies are more lively and warm. The narrow
fortune of a family will not allow more thau one son to
venture upon the expences of matrimony ; to keep the
younger brothers therefore in good humour, and to
make them bear their lot without repining, they are
sometimes indulged, by way of a treat, with a walk
arm in arm with the wife of the squire; are suffered to
go to the play with her ; or to use other familiarities.
The harlequin of Italy is not the preternatural cha
racter, the dancing, light-footed magician of our pan
tomimes ; he is a servant, as full of monkey tricks as a
midshipman ; he wears a mask and a sword of lath, but

214 VENIC'l'.
it has no other effect upon those whom he strikes with
it, than any other lath would have ; his party-coloured
dress is made of patches, partly from poverty, partly
from his fantastic disposi ion ; and bears little resem
blance to the glistening, scaly, snake-like attire of our
nimble prince of conjurors; the presiding genius of
Christmas, who fills our nurseries with his fame.
Brighella, as his name implies, is also full of tricks ;
we have not this personage, unless he be our clown ; he
is masked, and his dress is whimsical : so is that of
pantalone, our pantaloon ; a poor, simple, and eccentric
old gentleman.
Colombina is a lady's maid, and does not differ from
the generality of persons in that situation : she is pretty,
smart, and full of gossip and intrigues ; but not the
brilliant, dancing Psyche of our stage. What was
the origin of the characters of harlequin and columbine,
as they are represented in England?
There were two masks in the pit ; boys dressed as
girls, with long white feathers; they sat still and peeped
through the holes in the pasteboard that covered their
faces. The boasted gaiety of the carnival is a fugitive
thing, and most difficult to seize ; if you seek it you
are sure to be a little too early, or a little too late ; it
was last week, if you were absent ; and if you cannot
stay, it will be the next.

VENICE. 215
Sunday, January 22. — We were obliged to go
personally to the police for our passports ; they told us
to take off our hats, with which order we sulkily com
plied ; but they were not bad, as the victual-sacks did
not detain us many minutes, or demand money either of
right or of grace.
The sun shone brightly all day ; it was therefore
more easy to bear the cold. We crossed over to
the church of San Giorgio Maggiore, to examine
a church of the patron of England, and the enemy
of dragons; built by Palladio; rich in a marble
pavement ; in statues of marble and bronze ; in the
carved oak of the choir, representing the acts of St.
Benedict ; in duplicates of the bodies of S. Cosimo
and Damiano (another pair of their bodies, equally
originals, exists at Rome) ; and in the works of Venetian
painters, chiefly of Tintoret.
We went next to the island called Giudecca, which
is the Jews quarter ; and contains the church del SS.
Redentore ; it is considered the masterpiece of the
architecture of Palladio ; but we ought to have seen it
before the larger and handsomer church of St. George ;
it is, perhaps, richer in paintings. We were wriggled
over to the church of Santa Maria della Salute; a
building beautiful in itself, and in its pictures. We
found the church of St. Sebastian shut, and some others.
open ; in most of them was a priest in a, stole, preaching

216 VENICE.
to a few old women from a pulpit, and making a loud
and dreary noise.
If we may believe the guide books, and there is no
reason to distrust them, Venice is an inexhaustible
mine of fine pictures ; they are to be found frequently
in the most out of the way and mean little churches ;
it would seem to be a delightful thing to hunt
them all out ; but there are many causes which make
it less pleasant than one would suppose : of all the
cities in the world this, perhaps, is the least agreeable
to walk in ; and to go about in a gondola is uncom
fortable ; it is not easy to find the small churches open,
or to have them opened ; and even if it be possible to
gain an entrance, the building, or at least that part of
it in which the painting hangs, is usually so dark, that
it is impossible to see it with advantage. It would be
a pious act in the government to collect the pictures ;
to take them from the obscure and distant churches,
perhaps from all, except a few of the principal ones,
and to place them in a public gallery ; this has already
been done in some degree ; but to a very small extent :
if it were completely executed, it would save much
time and trouble to travellers, and be a vast benefit to
artists. Much senseless stuff has been written about gondolas
and gondoliers ; that they are simple guileless people ;
there is no reason why they should be better, and there

VENICE. 217
is no reason why they should be worse, than other per
sons conversant with the water, who are most commonly
canting and brawling rogues, and shameless ex
tortioners. When we came to Venice, our gondoliers exacted
two pieces of money under the pretence of paying two
barriers; we mentioned this to our vetturino, who told
us that it was a fraud that had often been practised on
his passengers, and begged that we would write our
grievance on a slip of paper, that he might show it to
the police, and have the gondola sequestrated. Three
days after the complaint,kwhen we were at dinner, the
gondolier entered the room, and throwing himself on
his knees, begged pardon, and that we would write a
few lines to say we had forgiven him, that his gon
dola might be restored. As the offence is said to be
very common," I thought that the sequestration of an
old boat, probably kept for the purpose by the fra
ternity, as a leaky old scape-goat, was an insufficient
remedy ; I asked him therefore to let me look at the
two pieces of money of which we had been defrauded,
before we certified our pardon to the police: his deli
cacy was evidently wounded at money being mentioned
in a case, which he intended should be quite an affair
of the heart; witli much reluctance, and after long
delay, he produced a part ; and declared, with asseve
rations so solemn, that I had no doubt they were false,

213 \ENICE.
it was all he had in the world; I have little sympathy
with rogues and thieves, and I insisted on receiving the
residue; but one of our party, a young man, to the
credit of his feelings, and the honour of youth, was
affected at the unusual spectacle of a man on his knees;
and his doleful tale about a wife and four children, all
small, and a large abundance of tears, which form part
of the waterman's stock in trade here, as oaths do farther
north; he obliged me to consent to an act of injustice,
to write to the police in his favour, and to allow the
robber to retain a part of his plunder; which I have no
doubt would alone be sufficient to tempt this hero of
romance to go again through the farce of sequestration
the very first opportunity, and to make the same
touching genuflections.
Instead of imprisoning a crazy boat, it would surely
be better to lock up the boatman himself a few days,
to feed on his own calm and pure thoughts, and bread
and water; and it would greatly add to the respectability
of an useful body of men, if, for the second, or third
offence, one of these interesting creatures were to be
whipped along the Canal Grande to the tune of the
Rogue's March.
Monday, January 23. — The Palace Barbarigo on
the great canal is full of Titians ; they are much out
of repair ; a picture, like a man, is seldom the worse

VENICE. 219
for having its face washed ; if they were cleaned they
would still have the great defect of most pictures ; they
are on sacred subjects, which are unfit for painting. In
the evening we went to St. Mark's Place; the coffee
houses were full of men and women ; we entered one,
where a poet was reciting verses; his appearance was
that of a wet parson of fifty years of age, who is a
schoolmaster, and most probably a poet, at least of
nonsense verses, which is the first step, and a considerable
one; one of his poems was on the tomb of Alexander
the Great, the other on Love ; the son of the Muses
carried round his hat for centesimi, little copper coins,
each of which is the hundredth part of an Austrian
livre, or zwansiger, or piece of twenty kreutzers, worth
about nine-pence; and having safely pocketed his small
gains, (each of his audience gave him from one to five of
these eleventh parts of a penny,) he returned thanks to
his munificent patrons in an irregular ode, manifesting,
by its Pindaric fire, the unbounded gratitude of a
susceptible heart, — and then withdrew.
Soon after the bard had retired to supper, three
masks arrived; they were boys dressed as ladies with
ostrich feathers and white satin mantles; they spoke in
a disguised voice, and to the ears of a foreigner they
disguised not only the voice, but the words ; it was
impossible to understand what they said. They ap
peared to afford much pleasure to the Venetians ; they
whispered to the ladies, the men made love to them,

220 VENICE.
and tried to find out who they were; it seemed to be
generally agreed that one was Ferdinando; but the
masked being would not own the name. One of them
addressed me and said that I was a Frenchman, to which,
as every thing was to be in masquerade, I assented ; I
was sorry that I could not understand what the feigned
voice said sufficiently well to answer it more speci
fically. A very young man in the uniform of an Austrian
Serjeant, neat and clean, as the Austrian soldiers always
are, entered the room at our inn, and addressed us in
German, of which we knew but little; and as he spoke
excessively fast, in this instance nothing: we begged
him to speak Italian, but he said he did not understand
that language; he then attempted Latin with more
success, and said that he was waiting for his brother,
who was to come by sea from Trieste ; as far as I could
comprehend what he said, for he would persist in talking
with extraordinary rapidity ; and that he was without
money, and asked for a small sum which he named, I
think a florin : it is worth that at least, to be called
"excelsa dominatio," and it is impossible to refuse a
reasonable request, if made in Latin; a supplicant,
who spoke Greek, would be still more difficult of
denial. Tuesday, January 24. — We committed one of
our party to the fciercy of the winds and waves, to go

MESTRI. 2-21
to Corfu, in a trabaccola ; and having seen him on board
a gondola, (we were not permitted to accompany him
to the vessel, as it was in quarantine,) we took a last
leave of St. Mark's Place, which we had admired so
much the night before by moonlight ; and embarked
at noon in a gondola for Mestri. The weather was as
cold as ever, or nearly so ; pieces of ice, large and
small, were floating about in the open sea, if sea it may
be called, as well as in the canals, in great quantities :
it was a strange sight for an Englishman ; and what he
would look for in the polar seas, rather than in the
Adriatic. We had a kind of Parry's voyage in
miniature ; and it required some skill to navigate our
frail vessel amongst the scraping, grating, and crush
ing little islands of ice. I could hardly believe that
the water, upon which we were, was salt ; I tasted it,
as I had already done several times in the canals, and
soon perceived that it was the true brine.
After the refreshment of a cup of coffee at Mestri,
in a little shop, where every thing was as neat and
bright as in a small country inn in England, we
entered into, and took possession of, our capacious
vettura ; and retraced our steps by the banks of the
Brenta, amongst the villas, and their graven images.
Having been pent up in Venice, we were glad to see
the wide spreading fields, and our old friends the oxen
and horses, and we even admired a Turkey cock, not

222 PADUA.
having beheld so large an animal for some days. I
amused myself by reading Cicero's Oration for Caecina,
as we went along ; we had a lovely sunset ; and arrived
at Padua, at the Stella d'Oro, with an excellent
appetite. At nine we went to the theatre; a fine, handsome
edifice ; neat, clean, and cheerful ; it was full, too full,
as we could only find standing room in the pit. I
had heard that the ladies* of Padua are highly dis
tinguished for their want of beauty ; I do not doubt
however that they are very amiable ; but I think it
was the ugliest audience I ever saw, even in Dublin.
The play was Medea ; the great roaring woman who
enacted the part of the heroine, was making the loudest
and the most frightfully odious noise I ever heard. In
comparison with the Italian, the French tragedy is
simple nature. It seems to argue a strange imbecility
of intellect, that can be pleased with such extravagant
and monstrous rant, and be delighted with an opera ;
in the latter, the overture and the songs may be, and
generally are, very beautiful ; it is only the rest of the
stuff that is groaned, squeaked, or whined out, with a
most tiresome monotony, that is utterly detestable;
but in the tragedy there is no good, for the sake of
which the bad is to be tolerated. A few minutes of
the tragic theatre will cure any man's conceit, who still
imagines that the Italian language, as spoken, is most

PADUA. 223
harmonious ; aud will convince him, that of all tongues
it has the least of harmony : that it is easy to be uttered,
arises from the defective articulation of the Italians ;
their organs of speech are so imperfect, and they are so
indolent, that they have turned the Latin into a sort of
child's language, for their own use; a babe cannot say
mother, it therefore says mamma ; or good bye, which
is changed into tata : thus, for pectus they say petto ;
for dominu, donna ; for flores, fori.
Wednesday, January 25. — The weather was still
cruelty cold, and every thing white with the snow,
which still remained. We set out at nine; and having
shown our passports at the gate, we jogged along an
excellent and perfectly level road. The country on
both sides is fertile, and highly cultivated ; corn
fields surrounded by polled poplars, supporting vines ;
handsome villas, neat villages, and farm-houses. In
the spring, this district must be a sort of fairy-land ;
the young green crop, the young leaves, and the youug
and delicate foliage of the vines, hanging in festoons
from tree to tree, must be beautiful ; yet, as my com
panion, who would hear of nothing but mountains,
said, there would be a sameness, which would fatigue :
it was so at this season ; but I relieved the sameness by
reading Cicero pro Roscio Amerino.
We soon approached nearer to the snowy mountains

224 VICENZA.
of the Tyrol ; and descried the towers of Vicenza ; at
two we arrived at the inn ; having, as usual, given our
passports at the gate to a filthy Italian, dressed out in
the Austrian uniform. We immediately set out to
see the lions, with a valet de place ; having first visited
a large and handsome coffee-house ; where the dandies
of the place were lounging ; they seemed to be suffer-
ino- acutely from their chronic complaint, the slow
motion of time.
In all the cities of the continent, the coffee-houses
are open at all hours, and the most agreeable of all
refreshment may always be procured — a cup of coffee
and a biscuit : in London there are properly no coffee
houses ; the places that are so called are cooks shops,
or taverns, and commonly very bad ones : in that ill-
fated city, this, and almost all other cheap and rational
enjoyments are prohibited and prevented, for wise
reasons no doubt, and chiefly by our magistrates.
We looked at the outside of the Palazzo Pubblico,
a work of Palladio ; it is really a fine building. We
walked out of the city, and ascended a flight of steps,
divided into fives, and so long as to remind us of
Jacob's ladder. We then entered long arcades, that
led to a church on the top of a hill, called Madonna
del Monte ; which brought to mind Madonna di S.
Luca, at Bologna. There is a lovely view on one side,
over an extensive plain to Padua ; on the other, the

VICENZA. 225
city of Vicenza is seen, and the mountains of the Tyrol
covered, as well as all the rest of the landscape, with
snow. In a hall adjoining the church, is a large and
excellent oil painting, of Paul Veronese ; the subject
is the Supper of St. Gregory the Great, who daily
entertained twelve pilgrims, or beggars : at Rome,
where they showed me the identical table, they told
me, that one day an angel came uninvited: here they
have improved upon the story, and say, that Christ
himself assisted at the supper, in the habit of a pilgrim ;
and so the story is represented by Paul of Verona : be
this as it may, the picture is very admirable ; the
figures are full of grace and of nature ; and the colour
ing is so good, that it is difficult to believe it is not a
fresco. In the church there is nothing remarkable ;
some figures painted as sitting on the balcony, round
the bottom of the cupola, give the painful idea that
they will fall over. From the steps of the church, our
guide pointed out a place in the mountains where the
inhabitants speak Welsh, Cimbro. We descended by
a handsome portico, extending nearly to Vicenza.
The public walk seems to have been lately made ;
it is not bad, but might be better. We met a troop
of dirty fellows on horseback, called Hungarian cavalry;
they are said to be good troops ; I do not pretend to
be a judge of such matters ; but it is difficult to imagine,
that men who-keep their horses in such a filthy state,

226 VICENZA.
can be good for much. The cathedral is the most
ugly building I have seen in Italy, and has some ugly
pictures ; there is, however, a handsome flight of steps
of red marble, from Verona. We looked at the ex
terior of many palaces built by Palladio, and other
renowned architects ; some are handsome, some heavy ;
the rustic style has generally the fault of clumsiness ;
they are commonly of brick, covered with plaster ; the
rustic is well expressed here in brick work.
The Olympic Theatre, constructed by Palladio, from
the receipts for an ancient theatre given by Vitruvius,
disappointed me; it is chiefly of wood and plaster, which
are contrary to the solidity of ancient architecture ;
perhaps if I had not seen the real theatres at Pompeii,
I should have been better satisfied with the imitation.
The permanent scenes, which consist of perspective
models of streets, are well adapted for acting a comedy
of Plautus or Terence. Most of the palaces are
in a neglected and desolate state ; we entered one
to see four pictures, by Luca Giordano, and a cieling
by Tiepolo ; the servant who showed them was the
most dirty and poverty stricken fellow I ever beheld.
In the evening we went to the theatre, a small house ;
the Gazza Ladra was tolerably well performed, with
out a ballet. The night was intensely cold.

VERONA. 227
Thursday, January 26. — We set out at nine,
and continued our journey on a good road, through a
flat, fertile country of corn fields, " edged with poplar
pale," with vine -inwoven tresses ; and sometimes
skirted with white mulberry trees, the leaves of which
were to be spun into silk by the silk-worm : the
neighbouring mountains gave a variety to the scenery,
which would otherwise grow tiresome ; although beau
tiful from its fertility and high cultivation. Ourvet-
turiuo stopped at a half-way house, to refresh his
horses ; we walked on for two hours before he overtook
us ; the road was dry, and even dusty ; the sun shone
bright, and we had a most agreeable walk. I observed
that the moles had commenced their subterranean
labours. In several places we remarked that the work
men had deepened the channels, and raised great em
bankments, to carry off, without damage, the mountain
torrents. Many cypresses, and a few pines, growing
upon the hills on our right, gave a pleasing variety to
the scene, and reminded us of Rome. Before the
carriage came up to us, we had nearly lost sight of the
snow, except on the mountains.
We resumed our seats, and as we drew near to
Verona we found meadows well irrigated. I exhibited
my long and tattered passport at the gate ; and passing
through handsome streets, and crossing a bridge over
the Adige, a respectable river, we arrived at four at

228 VERONA.
the Due Torri. We wandered- through the streets;
and after some guesses, and some inquiries, came to
an open space, and to the celebrated amphitheatre :
the exterior disappointed us much ; it should be seen
before the Colosseum : the interior, however, made
some amends ; for it is, or by repairs has been rendered,
nearly perfect. It is greatly disfigured by a building
of rude boards in the arena, a stage on which plays are
acted in summer ; the spectators sit on so many of the
old stone seats as command a view of the stage. We
climbed to the top, and walked round the highest row
of seats, whence there is a good view of Verona, and of
the surrounding country, which is agreeable ; the rosy
light of the sun, still reflected upon the snowy moun
tains after he had set, brought back to my mind the
Alpine scenery of Switzerland. We sat by the fire
side during the evening, and looked over the book of
arrivals, for the names of friends ; or amused ourselves
with the pompous titles of the great personages with
which it is decorated.
Friday, January 27. — The church of St. Ana-
stasia, the largest in Verona, is a handsome edifice; we
saw little remarkable there, except some fine specimens
of marble, in which the neighbouring mountains
abound. In the cathedral is a good Titian, the Assump
tion ; it had been brought back from Paris. The

VERONA. 229
church of St. George, a building of merit, has some
good paintings ; one of Paul Veronese, representing
the martyrdom of that saint, under whose auspices ale
is sold in every town, and in most villages in England,
is fresh and beautiful in its colours, and admirable in
many respects ; it has also made a tour to Paris. The
little church of Santa Maria in Organis, had been
lately painted in fresco ; the colours were somewhat too
dark, which made the effect less cheerful than it ought
to be: there was a picture, by Luca Giordano, of the
Devil cudgelling St. Bernard; the fallen angel was
laying it on, as if he had owed the saint a grudge.
Many of the houses in this city reminded me of the
style of building that prevails in Florence. We visited
the garden of Count Giusti ; it is adorned with some
fine cypresses ; the effect of these green pyramids,
these evergreen poplars, is pleasing — will they not grow
in England ? The garden gate was locked, and the
gardener was not to be found; but we ascended to
the hill above the garden, and enjoyed the same view
of Verona as the garden commands ; and a fine view
it is. We saw some carved Gothic tombs of the family
of Scaliger, the ancient princes of Verona; one of them
was Gran Can della Scala, the great dog of the stairs,
who was a patron of Dante : the critics, Julius Caesar
Scaliger, and his son Joseph, claimed lineage with this
illustrious house. The Piazza de' Signori is a well
built square ; 1 was more pleased with the front of a

230 VERONA.
house there by Sansovino, called il Palazzo del Con-
siglio, than with the heavy Grecian or Roman archi
tecture of Palladio.
The museum of Count Canossa is rich in fossil
shells, and in petrified fish, (the latter are the best
specimens I ever saw,) brought from Monte Bolca, in
the neighbourhood of Verona ; where are found basalt,
coal, and coal-shale, containing the usual ferns and
other plants. Napoleon carried off a former collec
tion, although they were not public property, but
evidently private ; but as the place where these speci
mens are found belongs to the count, the museum has
been renewed : the conqueror, therefore, did a great
injustice ; but, as is not usual with such persons, only
a trifling injury.
We saw a gallery of pictures, of the best masters,
but not of their best works, in the house of Signor
Gazzola ; and at San Bernardino, a pretty circular
chapel, by Sanmichele.
Our pompous Cicerone did not fail to point out to
us a bridge, of which one arch is said to be wider than
the Rialto ; some triumphal arches, of which one, in
scribed with the name of Gallienus, is handsome ; the
exterior of palaces, the works of architects of celebrity,
and the houses in which the several ministers, and
especially the Duke of Wellington, resided at the time
of the ever-blessed and most sacro-sanct Congress of
the Holy Allies.

VERONA. 231
When we had seen and heard all that Cicero chose to
inflict upon us, we took a cup of coffee, and a quiet
walk through the Corso, a wide and even street, paved
with slabs of marble, which are so large at the sides as
to be quite sublime ; and out of the gate, to the end of
an avenue of horse-chesnuts, that have been lately
planted : in returning we enjoyed a most lovely view of
this finely situated place ; and of the snowy mountains
that back it. We met some women with straw hats,
like those worn in the Pays de Vaud, except that they
are truncated ; the pointed top is cut off. The pretty
grey oxen, of the colour of grey, or pepper and salt
cloth, are common throughout Italy.
Saturday, January 28. — My companion set off
for Munich at eight o'clock this morning ; I felt a wish
to accompany him, at least as far as Trent, to see a
place rendered so famous by the council held in the
cathedral of that city, and in the church of S. M.
Maggiore ; an assembly illustrious in itself, and in its
hitorian Padre Paolo Sarpi. I would gladly have
visited Catullus's lake, the Lagodi Garda; Brescia,
which all acknowledge to be an interesting city ; and
Bergamo, the native city of harlequin, who still speaks
the Bergamase dialect ; unwillingly I was compelled
to postpone these visits, until the next time.
At ten I went on board a vettura, alone ; the road

232 MANTUA.
to Mantua is good ; perfectly level ; the country fertile
and flat ; for we turned our backs on the snowy moun
tains. We passed through some large villages, but I
saw nothing of interest : in the morning it was a hard
frost ; but at noon the sun shone with so much force,
that the women were sitting at their doors, in the open
air, spinning; when the horses remained to bait, I
walked on, and found the temperature agreeable.
There were white mulberry trees, poplars, and willows ;
but few other trees. We entered by the citadel, and
then passed a long covered gallery, or bridge ; at three
in the afternoon, we reached the Leon d'Oro ; and I
immediately sallied forth, with a valet de place, to
see Mantua.
The large church of St. Andrew is beautifully
painted in fresco ; not that there are any works of great
merit, but the colours and general effect of the whole
are so good, that I have hardly ever seen a more agree
able interior. The only traces which I saw of Virgil,
were a coffee-house, inscribed Cafe Virgiliano.
Giulio Pippi, of Rome, commonly called Giulio Ro
mano, is the hero of the place : I walked out of the city
by the opposite gate from that by which I had entered it,
to visit his great work, the Palazzo del T ; for so the
palace of the ancient dukes is denominated, from its
form ; as in books of surgery they speak of the T
bandage. The frescos, which tell the story of Cupid

MANTUA. 233
and Psyche ; the fall of Phaeton ; and some other
mythological events, are peculiar and pleasing : the
greatest work is an uncomfortable subject, the fall of
the Titans ; in one of the rooms, which is called there
fore the Hall of the Giants, la Sala dei Giganti, they
are represented as crushed by the rocks ; whilst Jove,
to the astonishment of the other gods, is hurling his
thunder-bolts at the rebels. There are also many
lovely arabesques. The delight of Giulio, and of his
imitators, seems to have been to represent figures, as
seen from below, and to foreshorten them in this un
usual and difficult point of view. One room, of which
the cieling exhibits the sun setting, and the moon ris
ing, is an instance of this practice, carried to an excess.
When a stranger goes to feast his eyes with a fresco of
Venus, by a great master, he is confounded aud dis
appointed, to find the goddess of beauty, and the
mother of the Loves, placed so immediately over his
head, that he can see little more of her than the soles
of her feet and her nostrils — this is pushing too far the
much admired di sotto in su.
The cathedral, which was designed by Giulio, has
five naves, and a four-fold range of columns ; the style
is singular, but not unpleasing. The streets are wide,
with a trottoir of bricks. There are many fine palaces,
of which some are falling to ruin. There is a large

234 MANTUA.
open space within the walls, which was converted by
General Miollis into a public walk.
Mantua, from its situation in the middle of a lake,
formed by the Mincio, is much subject to floods ; a
place was pointed out, where the water had risen to
such a height, that boats must have been necessary in
many parts of the city. The French, it is said, ruined
the nobility ; but they drained the country, and opened
the water-courses. There are a great many Jews in this
city ; some of them are supposed to be wealthy. The
Austrian soldiers bear a good character ; but the
Hungarians are sad rogues and thieves. The bundles
of faggots bring to mind the classical forms of the
ancient fasces, the emblems of consular power ; they
are four or five feet long, the length of the hearth ;
they are burned at three goes ; at first they are laid
upon the iron dogs, till the middle is consumed ; then
one end is thrown into its place ; and lastly, the other
is placed on the dogs, to be consumed : —
" Prada tamen canibus non minus ille fuit."
The scanty supply of firing and the cold of Venice, re
minded me of a story told of an old man, the Portuguese
ambassador at Rome ; when the Pope remonstrated with
him for sleeping between two ladies ; and with great li
berality remarked, that if there were one only he would
not complain, but that to have two at once was as con-

MANTUA. -235
trary to reason, as to public decency; the ambassador
excused himself by saying, that, when he was minister
at Venice forty years before, he had learned that method
as the only effectual protection against the intolerable
rigour of the winter ; that he had steadily persevered
in it ever since ; and having seen no reason to be dis
satisfied with the habit, he could not possibly change
it. With this apology the indulgent Pope declared
that he was satisfied; and that the nocturnal proceedings
of his excellency appeared unreasonable to those only,
who did not understand the solid and rational grounds
on which they were founded.
At half past seven I went to the theatre ; the opera
was about Belshazzar, and was pretty good ; the ballet
was a ballet of action ; comic and highly amusing ; and
excellent both as to acting and dancing. The theatre
was clean and handsome, and there were many ladies
in the boxes. As the ballet occurred between the acts
of the opera, I was fortunately able to leave Belshazzar
in the lurch, and to go to bed in good time.
It appeared to me that the north of Italy is less
dear than the south, but others have thought other
wise; it is sometimes said that the expences increase
from south to north in the ratio of the coins of the
different states : in the gradation of the Carline of
Naples, fourpence-halfpenny ; the Roman Paul, five-
pence ; the Tuscan Paul, sixpence ; the swans-egg,

236 MANTUA.
zwansiger, ninepence ; and the franc, tenpence. That
the Carline will go as far at Naples, as the franc in
France. Perhaps we may add to this series the shilling,
which in England, except in some few instances from
the violence of taxation, or an absurd habit of profuse
liberality, will represent the same value as the other
coins in their respective countries.
Sunday, January 29. — I got up shivering at five;
and after taking some coffee and a warm, set out at
six, alone; my passport was examined at the gate; and
at a short distance from Mantua, I was joined by a
merchant of Cremona, and a young man, a student
of medicine at Padua. There was a thick fog and
hoar frost all day ; and as the sun had little power, it
was intensely cold.
The students luggage consisted of a pair of skates,
and a book on physiology by a professor of Padua,
named, I think, Gallini. I read a little of it; it seemed
to be a caricature of the modern French style of scien
tific writing, in point of pedantic nothingness : it was
in Italian. It must be difficult, if not impossible, for a
nation, that burns wood fires, to have learned and
studious men ; even the Germans, who have naturally
a genius for fagging, are obliged to use stoves.
We passed through the same sort of country as we
had hitherto seen in Lombardy ; and the town, or village

CREMONA. 237
of Bozzolo, where a large fair is held in the square
in the month of November. We crossed the river
Oglio by a bridge, and at noon baited at a small place,
where we remained for two hours, and thawed our limbs
with soup and a fire. We continued our journey, and
at half a mile from the city of Cremona, the student
descended, that he might enter the gates on foot, and
thus escape being asked for his passport, which he
seemed to make a point of honour to be without, and
had rather risk being sent back: from his account of
the treatment of the students by the Austrians he had
much reason for his pique, which I only regret is not
more general. Much flax is grown in the neighbour
hood of Cremona; it is said to be of a good quality.
After the usual ordeal at the gate, we entered this city
of fiddle-making celebrity ; we drove through neat
streets, and through a small square, where wasa cathe
dral with a sort of Saxon front, a good looking tower,
and some arcades; and at six arrived at the inn, La
Colombina, the wife of harlequin.
For a person of great apathy and coldness of blood,
a residence in Italy would be a continual source of
entertainment, by reason of the never-ending intrigues
and ceaseless tricks of the inhabitants; whose sordid
souls are entirely set on getting farthings, no matter
how ; and which are more and more apparent, as the
traveller becomes better acquainted with the country ;

238 CREMONA.
the tricks of my vetturino, a fellow-countryman of
Virgil, who could not get other passengers to Milan,
to induce me to stay a day here, or to go on with another
man in an open carriage, and for various other ends,
were quite a comedy, and would have afforded an ex
cellent subject for a ballet of action : if not sufficiently
cold and phlegmatic, I was at least sufficiently obstinate.
No liberality can appease, it rather inflames, the base
passion for making small additional gains by fraudulent
means; this disposition, and the consequent distrust it
engenders, seems to pervade all ranks of society : the
inhabitants of unhappy Italy cannot confide in one
another ; and as they have uniformly succeeded in dis
gusting all their allies, they have sunk into a state of
slavery and degradation, from which there is too much
ground to fear that they will not speedily recover. False
hood and dishonesty are the grand staples of the priests ;
they infect every society, in which they bear sway, with
these diseases ; that truth and honesty, which are the
real bases of political liberty, may prevail, it is neces
sary to purify society from those noisome vermin ; this
is the first step, and the reformation of ecclesiastical
abuses will alone afford a hope of civil amelioration.
Monday, January 30. — I would gladly have
complied with the request of my old Mantuan, and
have remained a day to see the fine Pordenone in the

CREMONA. 239
cathedral, and the cathedral itself ; and to look at the
tower, which is lofty and handsome, at my leisure; to
have avoided the cold, and to have enjoyed the Co
lombina, a comfortable inn : but time is precious ;
contrary therefore to my own wishes, and to those of
my vetturino, I set out with him at eight. I found in
the carriage the student, who had been permitted to
enter the city on foot without any questions ; what
ever doubts he might entertain as to his right to enter,
he had none as to his right to go out : in this he j udged
correctly, for he was suffered to proceed without oppo
sition. He had added to his luggage his pipe, and a
wooden implement painted red, which we call a penny
trumpet, because it may be bought for a penny ; he
had purchased this musical instrument at Cremona,
for his little cousin, for a smaller sum ; as near as I
can calculate, for five-eighths of a penny, that is to
say, for a halfpenny and half a farthing. He dis
coursed freely of his university ; there were twelve
hundred students at Padua; the majority of them in
medicine : he would have been a lawyer, for the law,
he said, is the most noble profession; but the present
times are not such as a lawyer can hope to flourish in ;
he did not say, whether they are too good, or too bad ;
and I leave the question to the casuists.
There are two universities for the Lombardo- Vene
tian Kingdom, Pavia and Padua ; they are not per-

240 CREMONA.
mitted to study out of their own country ; as, for
example, at Bologna or Pisa. It requires five years
standing to take the degree of doctor in medicine. He
spoke of Gallini as a great man ; the other professors,
he said, were sufficient. There is no difficulty in ob
taining subjects for dissection ; as all who die in the
prisons, or in the hospital, may be applied to that
purpose. He drew from his pocket what he called a
divine work, and insisted on my reading it ; I com
plied. It was an oration that had been delivered two
or three days before, in a church at Padua, by an
Abate Barbieri, in honour of the benefactors to the
house of industry, or hospital for the poor. The
speech was deficient in good taste, but not in a certain
kind of talent ; and was a caricature of the style of
Chateaubriand, in mawkish sentimentality and false
brilliancy ; and so full of apostrophe to the shades of
benefactors, to disconsolate widows, weeping orphans,
and blind beggars, that apostrophe was no longer
itself — it ceased to be turning aside for a moment from
the discourse — there was nothing but apostrophe ; and
the reverend orator walked through his sermon sideways,
like a crab ; to read it indeed was to ride upon a very
apostrophizing mule, which would follow every thing
but its own nose. He spoke of justice as a secondary
virtue ; of charity as the main end to be kept in view :
the empty discourse rang with the often repeated

CREMONA. 241
sound — charity ; to leave property, that belonged to
heirs and rightful expectants, to priest-ridden institu
tions ; to purchase with such bequests, and with the
money of others, pardon for a life of inj ustice and ful
some panegyrics ; for he extolled the benefactors and
benefactresses, even by name ; is the perfection of hu
man virtue, and indeed almost divine. Yet what is
ayaxri, which is translated charity ? Certainly not to
sell the alabaster box of precious ointment, and to
give the money away, as thieves who keep the bag tell
us ; because St. Paul himself expressly declares, that
to bestow all a man's goods to feed the poor, is just as
much charity as to speak with the tongues of angels,
and to become a tinkling cymbal. The preacher,
therefore, was manifestly guilty, either of the grossest
ignorance, or of impudent fraud and falsehood.
The admiration of the young man for this tawdry
stuff gave me a low opinion of the state of education
in the university of Padua ; it is somewhat dif
ferent from that in a German university ; and hardly
unworthy of Oxford. A flax-dresser, the flax still
sticking to his coat, who was walking along the road,
made a bargain with the vetturino, and got inside;
he was scarcely seated, before the student insisted
on his reading the divine oration : the worthy man
with much goodnature consented, and went regularly
through it ; only remarking at the top, middle, and

242 L0DI.
bottom of every page : " Corpo ! e lunga — stupen-
damente ! "
We came to the student's native place ; a large village,
in the midst of well-manured and well-watered mea
dows, and famous for its cheese, where he was received
by his mother, a widow, as the only son of a widow
ought to be received ; and, I doubt not, the little
cousin would blow a shrill welcome on the penny
trumpet. I was allowed to pass through a small
fortress, called Pizzighitone, without being asked for
my passport : — O thing incredible and strange ! We
remained two hours at a village to feed ourselves and
our horses.
A lieutenant took the place of the flax-dresser ; he
was a civil, chatty person; and having served some
time in Germany, he had picked up some German,
and had been at Belgrade and seen some Turks, and
had thus added to the natural confusion of his head.
He asked many questions about England ; whether
London is on the sea shore; whether he could go
there by land ; and as to the religion of the English ;
as they are not Catholics, are they Mahometans, like
the Turks ? The English, he thought, resemble the
Turks; they look grave > and speak little, but are
somewhat more civilized.
As we approached Lodi, we found the snow deeper ;
at the Sun, a comfortable little inn, we met with a

lodi. 243
blazing fire in the sala, and several other travellers,
the clients of vetturini, like ourselves : they were from.
Piacenza, and very civil persons ; they did not conr
fine themselves to mere verbal courtesies, but pror
duced some good, sound, strong wine, which was cre
ditable to the Piacentine vineyards. The lieutenant
spoke to me in his German, of which I understood as
much as it was my destiny to comprehend, and -I
answered him in his own language; fortunately for
him it had the desired effect ; for the Italians asked
him, if he did not understand English very well ; he
answered, no — with the tone and air of a man who
does not wish to be believed ; they replied, but you
have been speaking English all the evening to this
gentleman : 1 did not say any thing ; he therefore got
the credit of understanding English ; and was so de
lighted with me for keeping his secret, and for my
acquiescence in his harmless deception, that I narrowly
escaped being kissed by him when he took leave.
The cold, the fatigue of travelling, and the strong
wine of Piacenza, induced drowsiness, and enabled
me to sleep like a steed that does not dream of his
tail :— " This miller hath so wisely bibbed ale,
That as an hors he snorteth in his eleepe
Me of his taile behind he tooke no keepe."

n 2

244 MILAN.
Tuesday, January 31. — I would gladly have
paused at Lodi ; not for the sake of its much-sung
maid ; or its much fought for bridge ; or for any thing
in Lodi ; but to make an excursion from thence to Pia
cenza and Parma ; and to see in tbe latter city the best
works, and especially the frescos of Correggio ; but time
would not suffer me to do otherwise than to continue
my ebbing course to Milan. I therefore left Lodi at
eight o'clock, having exchanged my vettura for a more
commodious carriage, and mySone-eyed Mantuan for
a less suspicious driver.
We rolled over a good, level road to Milan, and ar
rived at the Locanda di Reichmann at half past eleven.
The morning was cold and very foggy ; which I am
told is usually the case, as fogs are common in the
valley of the Po at this season. When I alighted, the
servant, taking me for a German, asked me in that
tongue, if I would have a room with a stove; I gladly
answered, yes ; and thawed myself by means of the
stove, which, when it is not of iron, is the next best
thing to a clear bright fire of coals.
I paid a visit to the Duomo, and still felt the same
admiration for that beautiful building ; I was much
struck with the interior, which is not generally admired;
they had taken away the silly pictures about St. Charles
Borromeo; and not having seen a Gothic cathedral on
a large scale for some time, in spite of my prejudices

MILAN. 245
against that style, arising, perhaps, from associating it
with the many abominations of the middle ages, I felt
that it has great power over the imagination.
At four o'clock we had a table d'hote, at which the
guests were all Germans ; I heard again a Teutonic
language ; and we had a hot and plentiful German
dinner, instead of the cold and scanty Italian fare.
In England our dinners are essentially upon the
Newtonian system; I do not speak of good tables,
but of the treatment that a solitary traveller can meet
with at an inn; or a bachelor at those never enough
to be detested places, the coffee-houses in London.
Dunces maintain, that because Sir Isaac Newton knew
more mathematics than any one else, he therefore
understood all other subjects equally well; but men
of sense believe, that, for that very reason, and from
exclusive attention to one matter only, he was as igno
rant on all other points as a child. Be this as it may in
less important departments of knowledge, he was cer
tainly most rude in culinary affairs : he told his house
keeper, as the joke-books. relate, that a few friends
were coming to dine with him : " What would you
like to have, sir?" she asked; "Oh, a boiled leg of
mutton : " " That will not be enough for them ; "
"Then let there be another : " " That will hardly do,"
said the good woman smiling ; "Then," rejoined the
ignorant philosopher, " Let us have three or four."

246 MILAN.
The ordinary English dinner is strictly Newtonian ; all
variety is excluded; and the unhappy diner proceeds
by simple multiplication; one plate of cold or hot
meat is not sufficient; then two, or four, or
eight, or sixty-four, or n plates; on the supposition
that the leg of mutton given, may be produced to an
infinite length. Why, instead of four mutton chops,
may not one chop only be eaten, and three other things ?
Why, instead of a pound of rump steak, may we not
consume a quarter of a pound of beef, and commute
each of the other three quarters for a plate of nutri
ment, with its peculiar specific difference ? The man,
who gorges like a lion with one substance, becomes
sleepy and stupid as a lion ; why is that important and
delicate organ, the stomach, to be sacrificed to the in
dolence and improvidence of our cooks ?
In the evening I visited the Scala, a most spacious
and magnificent theatre ; well lighted and commodious;
the silk curtains in front of the boxes are handsome and
useful ; they may be drawn close, and the tired spec
tator may go to sleep, as safely as if he were in bed,
without shocking public decency, or impeaching his
good taste ; and by means of this humane and elegant
contrivance, he may be supposed to be enraptured all
the time by theperformance, and thrown into an ecstacy
by the mnsic : an amateur may even gain credit for
attending a whole season,1 without ever leaving his fire-

MILAN. 047
side, by merely giving the box-keeper a shilling to pin
the curtains together once for all. If the curtains were
all of the same colour, perhaps the appearance would
be better ; in one tier of boxes they are yellow, in the
other blue alternately. The opera was Mahomet; the
ballet was splendid ; afterwards was a masked ball, but
I did not stay to witness it.
Wednesday, February 1  I had intended to
have paid another visit to the Brera, and to some other
places; but I was occupied nearly all the day in writing
letters, and in necessary preparations ; I had intended
also to have seen the famous hospital, but I had only
time to look at the outside of that very large edifice,
and to take a walk about the city. In the other cities
of Italy, instrumental music is but little cultivated,
and the pianoforte is of rare occurrence; but in Milan
it may frequently be found, and much time and. great
attention are devoted to it ; it has been introduced by
the Austrians, who, like the rest of the Germans, have a
gre.it fondness for difficult and complicated harmonies ;
the instruments are made at Vienna ; and I have heard
from a competent judge, that they are often very good :
and that amateur performers of considerable merit are
not uncommon.
The inhabitants of Milan are much addicted to horses
and carriages ; and many good specimens of both are

248 MILAN.
to be seen here ; indeed, a good turn out in this way
is more frequently to be met with in Milan, than in
any other foreign city that I have visited. By means of
the avarice and conceit of our tailors co-operating, the
English great-coat has been gradually made to look,
what is considered very neat, that is to say, it is suc
cinct, precise, tight, and scanty ; but it is a most in
sufficient defence against wet and cold, and unworthy
of its name of great-coat : the Italian great-coat still
retains its primitive simplicity and utility ; it seems
always too large for the wearer, who looks like a boy
in a man's coat ; but, by reason of its greatness, by
coming up, down, round, and over well — this ancient
severity of costume is a real protection against the in
clemency of the sky.
Thursday, February 2. — My Teutonic cham
berlain had promised to call me at six ; but the gods,
who are very envious of man's happiness, which, if he
always had a clear stage, and no favour, would be
great, are particularly unwilling that he should be
called punctually ; a most necessary condition of per
fect felicity. I was permitted to sleep till seven ; and
in a great hurry dressed, breakfasted, paid my bill, and
walked a good mile to the coach-office ; and at eio-ht
got into a commodious diligence, with five other per
sons. It was a general thaw, and therefore not nearly

BUFFALORA. 249
so cold as it had been for many days. We were
dragged slowly along a level road by four horses.
Having stopped an hour at Sedriano, to take a second
breakfast, and to warm ourselves, we continued our
journey ; and crossed, by a bridge, the fiue wide canal
which leads from the Lago Maggiore to Milan and
Pavia ; and came to Buffalora ; where our passports
were examined with slow and grave deliberation, as
they had been at the gate of Milan. We crossed the
Ticino, a wide but shallow river, of clear, beautiful
water, by a bridge of boats, most of which were aground ;
but the stones upon which they rested, showed that
they are sometimes afloat.
A little lower down, is a fine bridge, of many arches,
all of the same size, so that the road will be level, like
our Waterloo bridge : it was commenced by Napoleon ;
and after having been neglected for some years, the
works have been resumed by the two governments, of
whose states the Ticino here forms the boundary. I
presume it was left for some time to sweeten, that legi
timate hands might not be defiled by touching the
works of illegitimacy.
I was glad to see the Ticino again ; an old friend,
whom I had viewed rising from the little lake on St.
Gotthard, and afterwards flowing past Pavia, a large
and flooding river. I was glad also to see, once more,
a river of clear water, after the muddy Arno, the

250 NOVARA.
yellow Tiber, and the paltry and unclean streamlets
of Italy : the transparency of this river reminded me
of father Thames, and of the charming scenes where
he flows in his purity, unpolluted by tides. All the
numerous streams which we crossed, were of clear
water. About a mile from the Ticino is the custom-house,
where our passports were examined, the horses taken
out of the diligence, every thing unpacked, and all
our baggage routed out unmercifully ; books were
severely scrutinized; and it was laughable to see a
dirty clerk, on behalf of the king of Sardinia, as igno
rant and as illiterate as his master, or as a marmot,
pretend to read the books that he found in the bags
and boxes of the several passengers ; and being equally
io-norant of all languages, he professed to be con
versant with all : he was told, and he believed, that an
English book was Greek ; a Greek book, English or
German ; but the fellow was too dull for a joke; and
was good for nothing but to be thrown, with a:stone
round his neck, into the Ticino ; and it is by no
means creditable to the persons amongst whom he
lives, and who suffer from his impertinence, that he is
permitted to remain on dry ground. After a delay of
at least two hours, we were allowed to proceed ; at five
we reached the city of Novara, where we found a good
fire, and, in due time, a good supper, with good wine ;

VERCELLI. 251
all the party, save one little Frenchman, who went to
the theatre, retired early to bed.
Friday, February 3. — At two in the morning we
were routed out of our nests ; we arose, execrating the
stupid monarch in whose dominions we then were ;
and by whose dislike of books we were compelled to
rise two hours earlier than would otherwise have been
necessary : our host was, however, kind enough to furnish
us with a cup of coffee, to open our drowsy eyes. We
got into the diligence with a strong reinforcement — not
into the same carriage, but one formed to contain nine ;
and so formed, that we might be creased and tumbled
by close packing, but could not possibly be injured
by shaking loosely about. In much misery, and in
the dark, we passed through the city of Vercelli, with
out stopping to examine, by candlelight, the autograph
of St; Mark's gospel, which is preserved in the treasury
of the cathedral ; it is in Latin : there is, I believe,
another autograph at Venice, so much defaced, that it
is not possible to decide, by inspection, the much
debated question, whether that gospel was written in
Greek or Latin; but nevertheless, all who see it
instantly recognise the handwriting of the evangelist.
When it grew light, we found ourselves in a country
resembling Cambridgeshire; save that the fields were
said to be rice fields ; sayethe mulberry trees and the

252 TURIN.
snowy Alps. After a ride of eight hours, we were
permitted to alight for an hour, to stretch our legs, to
warm ourselves, and to eat. At this inn, by whatever
name it be called, I first met with the bread of an
indefinite length, like reeds, pipe-stoppers, or macaroni ;
as men who live in chalk countries say, that they never
find a flint entire, but that it always seems to have
been broken ; so it may be said, that these filaments of
bread are only entire at one end ; the other appears to
have been broken. They are dry and hard, but less
dry and hard than biscuit ; they would be an inade
quate substitute for bread, but are fully adequate to
supply the place of biscuit, that is to be eaten, not
from hunger, but, by landsmen at least, through
idleness. We continued to approach Turin by a level road,
crossing many clear rivers, for which a toll was generally
paid. We did not see the Po ; but we could trace his
course by a stratum of dense fog, that hovered over
him; the valley of the Po is said to be extremely
subject to fogs. The Alps, on our right, reminded
me of my Swiss labours; and the Grand St. Bernard,
of the night passed amongst the disagreeable fellows
who inhabit its summit.
At five we arrived at Turin ; I was surprised by the
unusual spectacle of a row of handsome houses, in
progress : except at Brussels, I think I had not seen a

TURIN. 253
single house on the stocks since I left London. I was
told, that the Europa, to which I had intended to
betake myself, had vanished ; had possibly eloped with
a bull ; and had left only a trattoria behind. I was
taken therefore to the Hotel of the Universe; a name
sufficiently comprehensive to take in myself and my
carpet bag. We do not venture upon such large signs
in England; or sell beer at the sign of Eternal Du
ration, or Infinity of Space ; they would confound the
art of our sign-painters, however great in their pro
fession. How would they represent the universe? —
by the solar system, surrounded by the stars, with the
milky-way, and a sprinkling of comets ? I do not like
an inn with its name written on a board ; let me have
an honest sign, fairly painted, with the best skill of the
carpenter ; that I may know what I am about ; and
see plainly under what auspices I eat, drink, sleep,
and pay my bill : if it be the George, let us look at
the warrior saint, gallantly breaking a lance with the
pea-green, or sea-green dragon ; if the arms of some
person, or place, let them be properly emblazoned
with their just tinctures. It is sweet to gaze on the
pretty face of the angel ; to see her hold up her celes
tial head, and turn out her little tripping toes, like a
good girl, whilst she waves her sky-blue wings over
her long auburn locks ; and it fills us with noble

254 TURIN.
thoughts to view the black lion, a royal animal, danc
ing and prancing majestically on his hind legs, in
defiance of the old blue boar, which hangs snarling
across the street, gnashing his gilded tusks, and twist
ing his golden tail.
I did not find in the Universe a table d'hote ; but I
found the next best thing, a coffee-room, where it is
dined by the carte ; some persons even prefer this
method of ^ feeding; but I confess that I do not like to
order my dinner ; it is an onerous duty ; my under
standing sinks beneath the task ; I do not think that
the unassisted reason of an ordinary individual of the
human species, is sufficient for the double purpose of
ordering a dinner, and afterwards eating it. I chose
my plates with difficulty; but I cleared them with
ease. Nothing is so delightful as mutual confidence ;
the traveller sometimes, but unfortunately not often,
finds an amiable and intelligent innkeeper, who can
sympathise with his infirmities, to whom he can briefly
say — Give me a dinner at such a price ; if you are
benevolent and Well disposed, it will be good ; but if
you have one spark of humanity, you will not question
me about it ; for nothing that you can furnish was, is, or
ever will be, worth the trouble of asking for. Oh, that
man would not love botheration ! is an ejaculation
uttered aloud twenty times a day. Respecting woman

TBRIN. 255
also, if we are ever tempted to breathe in secret the like
prayer, the most perfect intelligences alone know per
fectly, how utterly vain it is.
I conversed with some Americans, who had just
crossed Mont Cenis, and gave a favourable account of
the pass. I retired early to bed ; a person who has
risen at two in the morning, especially in the wintei,
can sleep without rocking.
Saturday, February 4. — " Heaven first taught
letters ;" this I very much doubt, and do even deny ;
and I dread the sight of a letter; it is sure to bring
more pain than pleasure : from a stranger it is rarely
worth the trouble of reading ; if from a friend, it ge
nerally has painful intelligence. They say at sea, that
" God sends meat, and the Devil sends cooks," (some
of our cooks on shore are no great God-sends.) I can
believe that heaven sends oral messengers, who come
running, breathless with good tidings ; but the evil
principle speeds the letter with bad news, neatly writ
ten, duly folded, sealed arid directed with unerring
aim, like the fatal arrow. That we rarely receive
agreeable intelligence by letter, shows that it is not the
intention of nature, that we should quit our friends :
when we have found a person with whom we would
wish to" correspond regularly, we ought to communicate

256 TURIN.
without the intervention of pens, paper, flaming,
scalding wax, and postmen. A letter, in my eyes,
looks too much — as if it came from the apothecary —
to be palatable ; it resembles too closely the labelled
phial; the neatly folded packet of powders ; the trim
pill-box ; or the envelope of the soul-sickening bolus.
The square, called Piazza di Castello, is spacious
and handsome; the arcades with which it is nearly sur
rounded, are convenient ; I like to oscillate in a portico;
and so far at least I am a stoic, and adopt the phi
losophy of the porch. I was asked by an American, if
I had ever seen a finer square ? I answered, without
hesitation, St. Mark's Place, at Venice ; but it is no
mean square which is second to that, or which can
be named with it : if the American judges, like many
of his countrymen, by the size alone ; the square at
Venice is very inferior in magnitude, and consequently
in transatlantic beauty, to this.
The museum of antiquities, at the university, has
some valuable antiques ; a marble statue of a sleeping
Cupid, is very entire and beautiful, if it were only on
account of its exquisite nature. The museum is rich
in Egyptian matters, and contains the Tabula Isiaca,
which has given rise to so much discussion, as to its
meaning and antiquity. I saw a printed list of the
hours at which the professors lecture, and the subjects

TURIN. 257
of which they discourse ; it was at least sufficiently
long ; a catalogue of the sciences that the professors
teach at our universities would not be very extensive.
The chapel of the Santo Sudario, built by a priest
named Guarini, is a whimsical place of a circular form ;
it is lined with a dark marble, brought from Como,
and is of a sorrowful aspect: it communicates with
the cathedral ; and is indeed a kind of squire's pew, in
which the royal family hear the mass, and are present
privately, in the public church.
There are some good rooms, well fitted up, in the
royal palace ; I observed, that the doors of many of
the apartments, instead of list, had a narrow strip of
fur round them, to exclude the air. There is a noble
collection of paintings by the first masters; and it is
peculiarly rich in the works of Albano. I wished that
they were in a public gallery, open at all fit times to
the curious visitor. There is a building in the middle
of the square, the commencement of an unfinished
palace ; of which the staircase is remarkable.
I visited the cabinets of natural history ; they are
well supplied in the other departments ; but are chiefly
rich in minerals : there are some good models in wax
of fungi, of which this country is said to produce a great
many species; the truffles are famous, and are esteemed
a great delicacy, especially the white ones, which, it is
asserted, are not to be found elsewhere; and of late
VOL. II. S

258 TURIN.
have been scarce, even here. Persons who are very
resolute in finding all things in Scripture, say, that the
truffles are the mandrakes, of which Solomon sings, in
his Song of Songs, " The mandrakes give a smell ;"
and which determined a delicate family dispute between
the two wives of Jacob, in the 30th chapter of Genesis.
The Jews, to whom, perhaps, we ought to allow the
credit of being best able to interpret their own laws,
say that the " dudaim " are violets ; notwithstanding the
Septuagint, where we see pijXa pavSpayapSiv -. whether
violets are to be found in the fields in the days of the
wheat-harvest, the authors of the Talmud were doubt
less aware.
I visited a manufactory to see some carving in ivory,
where my guide told me I was not to pay any thing.
It is seldom agreeable to visit pictures where you are
not allowed to pay, for they look at you as if they
thought you ought to purchase a Correggio or two ;
aud so with other things : when money is current,
a franc is thankfully received, and there the matter
ends. I was told that the great theatre is very handsome,
and that it is open during the Carnival only; that it
is necessary to be there at half- past four to get
a place, and to wait till half-past six : a theatre is
intended to be a place of amusement; and whenever
you can go at any hour of the evening that may be

TURIN. 259
convenient, with the certainty of finding a good seat,
it may be a pleasure ; when it is otherwise, it becomes
a business, and, in my opinion, a very unpleasant
business. The theatre was built by an architect
named Alfieri, the uncle of the person who wrote the
tragedies; and who, strange to say, is called "the poet."
Sunday, February 5. — I visited the churches of
S. Filippo Neri, Santa Teresa, and some others ; they
are only remarkable for pictures ; and these are not
striking. Every morning at eleven, the Marchese
Cambiase, adorned with a pair of emerald ear-ringss
politely shows his collection of paintings, in person, to
foreigners : to-day I was favoured by the sight of some
pictures of the first masters, in the palace of that-
courteous nobleman. A Holy Family, by Correggio,
presents figures of the same broad-faced family which
we recognise in his other works ; it is said, that the
painter always copied his own children, and that the
Madonna in this picture is a portrait of his daughter.
' Pour signatures are requisite to a passport from
hence to Paris ; and the king of Cyprus exacts four
francs from each traveller, who has incautiously entered
his capital, as his share of the plunder. It of course
requires much labour, or, what is the same thing, much
expense, to obtain four signatures ; especially as the
blockheads who represent their respective sovereigns,
s2

260 TURIN.
are too great men to give themselves the trouble of
attending to their business.
The day was fine ; and the sun had so much power,
that it was even warm ; but the worst possible weather
for going about, by reason of the thawing of the deep
snow ; I contrived, nevertheless, to walk, or rather to
wade, round a great part of the city, and to gaze from
various points at the white Alps. I afterwards crossed
the elegant and level bridge of five arches, over the Po ;
and waded through the melting snow, to a pretty royal
villa, named la Vigna della Regina, situated on an
eminence : from the terrace in front, is a fine view of
Turin; of the plain, over which a fog hung, and, as I
was told, ever hangs ; and of the snowy chain of the
Alps. It is a comfortable, unpretending, enviable
villa. The only painting of much merit, that I remem
ber, is the middle of a cieling, by Paul Veronese;
representing, I think, Solomon and the queen of
Sheba. The person, who showed the place, explained
one picture to me, as the Siege of Jerusalem, by Titus
Vespasian, in the time of the crusades. I saw, on the
Po, some boats of a semi-lunar form; these floating
half-moons reminded me of the views of that river.
At four in the afternoon (the king, aud of course all
the rest of the people, dine at one) the streets, and the
Piazza Castello, were crowded with spectators ; as the
king, the royal family, and many of the nobility, it being

TURIN. 261
the last Sunday of the Carnival, were to drive about in
carriages; the more dignified portion in vehicles, like
those of the lord mayor, and the sheriffs of London, and
Mr. Speaker ; others in handsome modern carriages ;
others in moving edifices resembling hackney-coaches.
The good people of Turin, unlike the inhabitants of
any other city, save London, did not think that one
look at a king (no doubt a live king is a very fine sight)
was enough ; but they followed him about, and stared^ —
and stared — and stared again. To a stranger, the view
of a monarch to whom he owed no allegiance, could
awaken no other feelings in his breast, than a desire to
take the father of his people by the ears, and to shake
him, until he disgorged the four francs, of which, like
any other highwayman, taking advantage of the help
lessness of the traveller, the king of Jerusalem, the
successor and lineal descendant of Solomon (to call
the act by its proper name), had plundered him.
I saw many pretty women in the crowd ; the country
women wore white caps, of a whimsical form, like a
helmet ; not of steel, or brass, but of muslin, sustained
by wires in that quaint shape. I met a troop of cara-
biniers, well mounted, well dressed, and well appointed ;
they have large pay and allowances, and find their own
horses and appointments.
The king has a numerous body-guard of Sardes,
who bear a bad character, and are much disliked ; and

262 TURIN.
it is complained, that they are unjustly upheld when
they misconduct themselves towards their fellow sub
jects : it is not an uncommon policy to have a guard of
Janissaries ; and it is not difficult to foresee the con
sequences. For the credit of the island, it is to be
hoped that the mercenaries will earn their pay, when
required, as bravely as the Swiss guards of the king of
France; that some future traveller in Sardinia may
see, as at Lucerne, the end of a rock carved into the
form of a lion, a bear, a bull, or some other untoward
animal, to make perpetual the glory of these little
thievish,. Jewish, bandy-legged heroes.
Monday, February 6. — In the town hall I saw
a room lined, at least in part, with marble ; and a bas
relief of a king of Sardinia, on horseback : it is said
to be a good likeness of his present majesty ; of his
predecessor ; or of some other king.
In all rebgions, high places have been adopted as
possessing an extraordinary sanctity. It is certainly a
mechanical mode of getting nearer to heaven. How
many churches are there of Madonna del Monte ? Of
all the obligations imposed on a traveller, no one is
more irksome than that of ascending, in every city, to
the High Place. At Turin it is called the Superga ;
and it exceeds the utmost license that is usually allowed
to the exactions of this kind ; being perched upon an

TURIN. 263
extremely high hill, at the distance of several, I am
afraid to say how many, of the long miles of the
country ; and is approached by a road which must be
bad at all times ; but during the rapid thawing of a
deep snow, it was most abominable. The church was
built by Victor Amadeus, in consequence of a vow
made when Turin was besieged by the French.
I waded through the dissolving snow and ice ; and
on inquiring the way, had occasion to remark, how
little imagination the common people must have, as
they cannot even go out of themselves so far as to
fancy, that they are the person who asks the road ;
but when- you inquire of those you meet, as they face
you, they describe according to their own position,
and not yours ; they say, therefore, turn to the left,
when they mean to your right ; and vice versa ; they
accompany the direction with a gesture, which points
out, if the inquirer luckily remarks it, the important
correction that is to be made in following their in
structions ; otherwise, the unhappy traveller who asked
for directions, and obeyed them, in the ordinary sense,
would wander for ever, with little chance of finding his
way; or rather, with the absolute certainty of never
arriving at the spot he sought. The first half of the
road is on level ground, by the side of the Po ; the
remainder is an ascent, through a wood of brush-wood,
long and steep ; so much so, that it is given as an

264 TURIN.
example of the astonishing good temper of some in
dividual, that having just descended from seeing the
Superga, a stranger inquired the way, and he was so
obliging as to walk up to the top again, for the
purpose of pointing it out.
When I had reached the summit, I had some diffi
culty in gaining admittance into the church : the
sacristan had gone away with his key, to keep the
Carnival, of which it was the last day but one ; as we
call the penultimate day, it was Collop-Monday. I
waited for some time with wet feet ; at last the man
was found ; he produced his key, and showed me the
royal sepulchres, and the interior of the church, which
is certainly handsome ; it is lined and adorned with a
profusion of second-rate marbles; there is nothing
first-rate, either in the materials, or the style of
architecture : like Turin, it has been far too much
puffed, and is not worth a walk for the sole purpose of
seeing it ; but if the stranger wants an excuse for a
long walk, let him go there. It is a new erection, and
in no respect venerable ; it is therefore a place of no
religion, or peculiar sanctity. To omit nothing of the
usually prescribed dose, I ascended to the top of the
cupola, from whence there is a fine view of the Alps;
as there is from all points near Turin ; the air was
then, and is said to be generally, very foggy ; but it
was said, on the contrary, that when the weather is

TURIN. 265
clear about four o'clock in the afternoon, the Duomo
at Milan may be distinctly seen with a good telescope.
The distance, I suppose, is nearly one hundred English
miles. I descended more easily than I had climbed
up ; and found a better, or at least a pleasanter walk
back, on the raised mound by the side of the Po.
I visited the great theatre in the evening ; it is dark,
heavy, and tawdry ; there was a great crowd, and a
great heat; in these respects it was nearly as uncom
fortable as a theatre in London ; and moreover, the
smell of garlic was so intolerable, that I soon fled for
it. There have been many violent persecutions for mat
ters of opinion and conscience, which appear to concern
but little, any one, save the wearers: but strange to
say, not one for eating garlic. We should suppose, d
priori, that a traveller, who came to a square in
Madrid, and found there a man burning, and was in
formed, in answer to his inquiries, that it was for being
a Jew, like his father before him, aud because he paid a
little too much respect, in the spirit and in the flesh, to
the memory of the Patriarch Abraham ; would probably
think the reason for kindling the fire insufficient; but, if
he were told that the criminal, although often warned of
the consequences, would persist in eating garlic, and
afterwards going into public places, we should imagine,

266 TURIN.
that he would cry, " That is right; if you run short
of faggots, I will give you a few ; help yourselves from
my wood stack ; I will lend you my wife's new pair of
bellows to blow up the fire and singe the monster !"
But experience and history contradict speculations,
which to our reason appear to be so probable.
The ballet was rich, and there were horses upon the
stage; but so powerful was the odour of garlic, that I
soon withdrew, singing, like Solomon : " The man
drakes give a smell ! "
Tuesday, February 7. — I had been told, when I
sent to take a place, that the diligence was full ; but I
was informed this morning, that there was a seat in the
cabriolet : I hurried together my things, and in half an
hour was at the coach-office. I had here the usual scene
with my valet de place, who was of course dissatisfied
with the sum I gave him : after having exhausted the
western eloquence of words, he had recourse to the
eastern style — the eloquence of actions, practical tropes,
and active figures ; he laid down the money upon a
stone, and pretended to go away, but took good care
to watch it ; I went away in earnest, and took possession
of my seat : the good man finding that my eyes were
as deaf as my ears ; that I did not appreciate his per
formances ; and was unmoved even by the oratory of

RIV0LI. 267
types and symbols ; put the money into his pocket,
came and wished me a good journey, and begged me
to recommend him to my friends.
At ten we quitted Turin ; a city which, I must con
fess, disappointed me; it tries hard to be a very fine
place, but in my opinion does not succeed ; it is neither
French nor Italian ; and has none of the excellences
of either country ; it owes its fame, I suspect, to having
been puffed with great diligence, and to the praises of
persons who have seen nothing better ; for many tra
vellers come as far south as this city, and then immedi
ately turn their faces to the north. We were dragged
along an excellent and level road by four heavy horses,
as fat as bullocks, at a pace which I had erroneously
supposed was used only at a Quaker's funeral : we thus
at least escaped the vanity of travelling with all celerity,
as by one of our light coaches ; a vanity against which
Thomas k Kempis warns us in his edifying work;
"Vanitas est, diligere, quod cum omni celeritate
transit." At Rivoli, about ten miles from Turin, I took leave
of the plains of Lombardy, which I had traversed con
tinually from Bologna to this place, and entered a
valley. The usual time required by an Alpine pass
is a day's walk up a valley, which gradually becomes
narrower ; a day's walk over the mountain ; and a day's
walk down a valley, which gradually widens. We kept

2fi8 MONT CENIS.
on at the same phlegmatic pace until near eleven
o'clock ; when, half dead with cold and hunger, we
arrived at Susa; we were tolerably well treated in the
important matters of supper and bed.
Wednesday, February 8. — With exemplary punc
tuality, we were called at a quarter before two, and at
two in the morning took our places. A price must be
paid for every thing ; part of the price, which I paid
for visiting Rome, was to turn out of my warm bed at
two o'clock in the morning in the middle of February,
to sit in the dark in a cold, miserable, and open cab
riolet, in a snowy Alpine valley, the sharp mountain
wind, like good advice seasoned by reproof, blowing
in at one ear, and out at the other; and whistling
shrilly through the head.
We slowly ascended, and at daylight came to a
place where every diligence is unavailing ; our luggage
was unpacked and placed upon a sledge, and we seated
ourselves in another. The vehicle was not incom
modious; it was like part of a drain, or sewer, placed
on a sledge, for it had an arched roof; because such a
roof is less liable to be crushed by an avalanche ; it
contained eight persons ; we were seated face to face
on benches, four on each side, and were drawn up
the mountain slowly over the snow, by six horses in
single file, or tandem fashion. Where the snow was

MONT CENIS. 260
smooth the motion was smooth also, and hardly per
ceptible : it would have been as easy to have written a
letter, if the writer had any thing to say, as in any
situation ; and not more difficult, if he had not. The
rubbing of the bottom of the sledge upon the snow,
caused sounds to be heard, like those so familiar to the
ears of men who have waited in the theatre until the
performances commence; and which arise, when those
persons, who look so indignant when they are called by
the gallery "fiddlers!" I mean the gentlemen of the
orchestra, are tuning their bassviols : we cannot doubt
that the same sounds saluted the ears of Hercules and
of Hannibal, who, it is said, severally crossed the
Cottian Alps at this place, if they rode over the snow
in sledges. We passed many sledges of a rude and
simple structure, laden with merchandize, wood, and
various burdens.
I had formed a wish in Switzerland to see that
country in the winter; to-day I was gratified, as the
nature of the scenery is nearly the same: it is singular,
striking, and interesting ; but less wild and sublime ;
for the covering of snow softens down the rugged
landscape, conceals the rude angles, fills up the hol
lows, and converts the perpendicular precipice into a
gradual declivity. The quantity of snow was unusually
great this year; it was really prodigious, and gave an
enlarged idea of the fertility of the sky in that pro-

270 MONT CENIS.
duction. In many places bouses were buried in it,
and could only be discovered by the ridge of the roof,
or by a chimney. We often slided over snow which
was at least twenty feet above the usual road. At this
season the scene is sufficiently Scythian, orLapponian ;
but in the summer the summit cannot be compared
with the wild horrors of the other passes, especially of
the St. Gotthard; for at the summit is an exten
sive grassy plain, which affords abundant and excellent
pasture ; and the rich cheese of Mont Cenis, the pro
duct of this plain, is very famous. There is also
a large lake, of which the trout are much esteemed ;
they were now, by the care of nature, all potted alive;
for the lake was not only frozen, but deeply covered
with snow ; we could, however, distinctly trace its
shores. At the summit there is also a hospital of the
monks of St. Bernard ; who are hardly needed here,
as there are several other habitations ; there are, I be
lieve, more carabiniers in the hospital than monks : one
of that equestrian order of Coenobites took the trouble
to examine our passports. The air was cold, but the
sun came out with great force, and his rays were re
flected from the snows ; we set open the door of the
sledge, and enjoyed the genial warmth. We left five
of our horses at the top, and descended rapidly with
one : the descent in many places was extremely un
even ; we were jolted with excessive violence, and

LANSLEBOURG. 271
even thrown out of our seats. We had quitted the
waters that pay tribute to the Po, and that fall with
him into the Adriatic; we now saw streams rushing
with equal eagerness to join the Rhone.
About the middle of the day we arrived at the vil
lage of Lanslebourg, at the foot of Mont Cenis ; where
we found two of our party ; who had been induced to
descend in a more rapid manner, on a little sledge
guided by a man ; which they said was a pleasant and
safe conveyance, and glided down the steep side of the
mountain with inconceivable swiftness. We were glad
of meat, drink, and a fire ; and by means of food and
fuel, took away hunger and cold, which subtraction
added greatly to the value of the remainder.
It became necessary here to say adieu, or rather
addio, to the sweet bastard Latin, and to resume the
French, which is not only a bastard, but a deformed
child of the same father : the nose now reassumed its
consequence, and was no longer a mere ornament to
the countenance; but a most important organ of
speech. I was struck, in descending the mountain,
with the effect of the strong contrast of some dark
pine forests with the white and glittering snow.
We left our sledge at Lanslebourg, arid got on board
a most incommodious diligence : this evening only we
changed our horses several times, and advanced con
sequently a little more quickly. We arrived late at

272 VALLEY OF THE ARC.
St. Michel. I was so cold in the cabriolet, that I
doubted whether I could proceed farther ; but fortu
nately I persuaded one of the inhabitants of the in
terior, partly for love, and partly for money, to ex
change places, aud give me his seat in the inside.
Thursday, February 9. — At the same unnatural
and barbarous hour of two, we recommenced our jour
ney ; but I was now rejoicing in the inside, and shel
tered from the cutting mountain blasts, which swept
around the open cabriolet, accompanied at day-break
and night-fall with an intensity of cold that was ab
solutely intolerable. The valley of the Arc is pretty
and well cultivated, and abounds in fine walnut-trees.
The inhabitants are ugly, aud I saw many afflicted with
goitres ; they are said to be by no means addicted to
robbery ; and that the traveller is as safe in Savoy as in
Switzerland. At the doors of many houses I observed
a large bunch of missletoe, or some other evergreen ;
whether they have any superstition of the same kind at
Lent, that we have at Christmas, or whether it only
denoted that wine was sold there, I neglected to in
quire. The restless Arc cannot remain quiet in its bed ; but,
on a small scale, imitates in some places the ravages of the
Rhone in the Valais. At Aiguebelle, the valley is merely
a narrow pass; the mountains on both sides are steep,

CHAMBERY. 273
rocky, and naked ; in the year 1760, the village was
damaged by the fall of part of one. Here we found
rest and refection ; and afterwards continued our down
ward course, until the Arc flowed into the Isere ; we
then followed that river, and passed the city of Mont-
melian-; remarking its citadel, seated on a hill; and
its vineyards, of which the wine is celebrated. We
entered the city of Chambery in the dark, and enjoyed
a good supper and good beds, at a comfortable inn; we
were sufficiently hear France to meet with the French
cookery ; and the French of our party declared, that
the style in which the supper was got up, was quite cor
rect : whatever else I might regret of Italy, I certainly
preferred the savoury kitchen of France to the villainous
culinary deeds of that classic land.
One of our number, a white-faced, demure, silent,
sly looking, little man, petted his soul much more
than his body, as he ate nothing but fish, eggs, and
vegetables ; this seemed to be carrying the wholesome
doctrine of fasting to an excess ; for a lady of the party
(and the fair sex generally take abundant care of their
immortal parts) devoured indiscriminately every thing
that she could lay her hands on ; and said, that " On
a journey we are dispensed from the observance of
fasts." And what is life but one great journey ? Do
not divines and philosophers for once agree ; and what
is still more wonderful, do not divines agree amongst
VOL. II. T

274 PONT BONVOISIN.
themselves, in saying that we are always at an inn ? If
so, then the dispensation is perpetual : this opinion is
so highly probable, that until it is overturned by
weighty reasons, I will abide by it, and omit to fast.
Friday, February 10  At the usual early hour
we were again slowly malting our way; when daylight
appeared, we found ourselves in a remarkable place,
amongst barren, sloping rocks, quite bare of grass,
but full of cracks and crevices, from which shrubs and
bushes sprung up. I should like to see this spot in
early spring; the tender green of the young leaves
must make a striking contrast with the stones, from
the bosom of which they grow 4 a contrast of youth
and age; fertility and barrenness; life and death. We
presently came to a mountain of rock, that rises per
pendicularly like a wall; a passage of considerable
length, and commodious both in height and width, has
been cut through the rock by a duke of Savoy;
through this we passed, and suddenly entered, as by a
door, upon a fertile, extensive, and beautiful country.
We passed through the village of Echelles, and in
due time reached Pont Bonvoisin; we descended from
our carriage, which we changed there; and once or
twice a day, during this journey ; and walked over the
bridge out of the kingdom of Sardinia into that of
France. As we passed the bridge, which is the boundary,

PONT BONVOISIN. 275
the soldiers of Charles, the amiable, gently felt our
ribs, as butchers feel cattle; the character of the
French is certainly (as even the most anti-Gallican
must allow) above all suspicion in this respect; but
in a country where the slightest tinge of cannibalism
remained, suCh a reception would be truly alarming,
not only to the stoutest, but to the leanest also. The
soldiers being satisfied that we had not about our persons
any little comfort or convenience of life from a foreign
country of a lower price, or of a better quality, than
could be made in France ; in which case, and for the
injury of bringing it into their country, we should be
treated as, public enemies, according to the stupid
policy of the dunces, whom men select to govern them ;
permitted us to go to the inn.
The appearance of the' house was uninviting ; and
the dinner, which some English travellers were eating,
frightened me, although hungry, so much, that I beat
a retreat and intrenched, myself in a coffee-house, and
breakfasted agreeably, finding there, coffee, with milk,
bread, butter, and eggs; all good; a warm stove, news
papers, and a gentle landlady.
This state of tranquillity and comfort was soon/ inter
rupted by the prefect of police, who sent for me, and in
sisted upon transmitting to Paris the long web of paper
which I had collected by degrees, and on giving me a
new provisional passport ; I objected to this arrange-
tJ

2^6 PONT BONVOIS1N.
ment, and at once revenged and recreated myself by
making the dirty little animal read all his laws and
orders ; utter various solemn protestations ; pledge his
sacred word of honour, as a Frenchman and a prefect;
and swear all possible oaths by all objects of a sacred
nature, or of a blue colour ; by every thing in short,
which could be placed between the words sacre and
bleu. His mother, a paralytic old woman, assisted him
'with extraordinary earnestness in all his official duties
but swearing, to which, I suppose, she felt herself in
adequate. When I had done my duty in showing a
sufficient contempt for the constituted authorities, and
when the little man began to grow tiresome, I took his
provisional passport, and paid bis paltry provisional
fee, which would buy provisions to sustain his miserable
life, and the still more miserable existence of his aged
mother ; had the fellow asked for the same sum in his
natural capacity of a beggar on the highway, and not
as a high officer of state, he should have received it
without altercation : and I went to the custom-house,
where my baggage was examined in a manner which,
to one who came from Italy, appeared by no means
ungracious. The ceaseless torment of passports is as
useless as it is odious; if after so long an experiment
Messieurs the Bourbons do not find themselves suffi
ciently strong to govern France without annoying the
weary traveller by this absurdity ; and cannot, consist-

BeuR«oiN, 277
-ently with their safety, suffer him to take his breakfast
in peace, they had much better return, to eat, drink*
sing psalms, and pray at Hartwell.
We wasted four hours in this dirty village, and then
continued our slow journey;, we passed through a
pleasant country, where I. had the satisfaction, of seeing
some hedges, the greatest ornament to the fields, and
a sure criterion of agricultural industry. We arrived
at midnight at Bourgoin, where we supped by a stove,
in which coals were burning ; and resumed our seats
again in the diligence..
Saturday, February 11. — When daylight came
we found ourselves in an open corn country, with a row
of white mulberry trees on each side of the road. The
night was frosty, and the ground was frozen hard. The
white mulberry is a pretty tree, somewhat, similar iu
appearance to the lime; they are polled ; but the rami
fication is free and. graceful, and the spreading of the
branches seems to favour the operation of gathering the
leaves. We were cold,. tired, and miserable ; and im
patient to finish our tedious journey by arriving at
Lyons. The pace at which the sluggish brutes dragged along
our heavy and incommodious vehicle, did not cheer us
by its vivacity ; it was mortifying to be continually

278 LYONS.
passed by the dung-carts ; but bad as the conveyance
was during the whole of the way, the real wonder was,
that it was not worse ; mischievous as monopolies are,
they would be still more mischievous, but for a sense
of decency, which makes men ashamed to sink lower
than a certain point of degradation. Bad and dear as
our two great theatres in London are, it is not to be
denied that they might be worse and more expensive.
Messieurs Bonafous have purchased of the king of
Sardinia, the exclusive privilege of having a diligence
on this road; and I feel grateful to those gentlemen for
conveying me from Turin to Lyons, even in four days
and four nights ; I admit that I have been treated with
great generosity ; inasmuch as I am not still a pri
soner in one of their coaches. The king of Sardinia
sold me to them for a slave, as he had a right to do by
the laws' of his happy country ; as we read that our
king Henry the Third sold the Jews to Earl Richard
bis brother, for a term of years, to make what
profit he could of that ancient people ; and as, with
an equal right, and for the same purpose, another of
our kings sold, or granted, all play-goers to his pa
tentees ; I being therefore the property of the Messieurs
Bonafous, was used by them with much humanity; they
did not take my life, as they might easily have done;
they did not imprison me for a very long period, and

LYONS. 27£,
they did not fine me more than three times as much as
I should have paid for my fare, had their business been
free and open to competition.
At nine in the morning we entered Lyons, and crossed
the Rhone by a bridge ; the river sent forth such a fog,
that it was impossible to see any thing ; the Po sends
forth the like at Turin; this price, it seems, must
always be paid for the society of a great river. The
number of carts in the streets bespoke a large trading
town ; and the coals which I saw in some of them, and
a certain blackness in the mud, reminded rne of London..
After some delay I reached a hotel ; I was hungry, tired;
and cold ; and had caught cold; I was glad to wash
and dress, which comforts had been impracticable
during our journey from Turin; to repose by the fire
and to breakfast.
The cheerful and civilized aspect of a Frenchapart-
ment was agreeable to the imagination after the squalid
jail-like air of an Italian bed-room. The French
are unrivalled in the art of making drinks; their, wines
are the best, in the world; if we allow -perhaps, the
single exception of the wines of the Rhine ; their coffee
is nectar; their beer good; their lemonade, orgeat, eau
de groseilles, and all the vast variety of confectionary
fluids; are agreeable; their liqueurs are said to be poi
sons — they are at least specious poisons;, and their
brandy is perfect..

280 LYONS-.
It is not without reason that foreigners complain,
that they cannot get any thing to drink in London ;
the wine, such as can be procured at public places of
entertainment, to say nothing of the monstrous price,
is unpalatable and unwholesome; spirits of all kinds
are uniformly bad ; the beer is very rarely good, being
most usually adulterated and drugged ; the various un-
fermented liquors, in which foreigners delight, are un
known ; and even a glass of iced water cannot be had :
our coffee is an execrable abomination ; and our tea it
self, (which the English alone can enjoy, or understand,)
thanks to the East India Company, is generally grown
on an English hedge. Why are we not permitted to
have caffes,which deserve to be ranked high amongst the
consolations of suffering humanity ? Our coffee-houses
are not entitled to the name; they have sunk into
taverns, where an enormous price is demanded for a
bad and slovenly dinner.
I sallied out for ari hour to reconnoitre my position ;
I soon found a noble river, with handsome quays on
both sides — and bridges, one aucient of stone, one
more modern of wood ; the ancient bridge was free, at
the wooden one a toll was paid ; there were washer
women and floats of timber on the river ; and on the
other side was a town, and the sun was shining across
the water. After gazing for some minutes, I resolved to
plunge into the city ; 1 accordingly turned my back

LYONS. 281
on the river, and walked for no great distance along a
straight and handsome street. I had no doubt that I
had walked straight, and had not turned round imper
ceptibly ; yet I came presently upon a noble river, with
handsome quays on both sides ; and bridges, one an
cient of stone, and one more modern of wood ; the
ancient bridge was free, at the wooden one a toll was
paid ; there were washerwomen and floats of timber
on the river, and on the other side was a town ; but
the sun was behind me and not in front, or on the
opposite side of the river : I looked at it a long time ;
t was evidently the same river, yet I had walked
straight away from it; it was either a reflection in a
mirror, or the city was enchanted. It seemed at last
that I must have turned round without knowing it,
and I resolved, therefore, to walk carefully back, and to
discover the cause of such a ludicrous mistake. I did
so, and on my way I observed in the window of a
bookseller's shop a plan of Lyons, which fully ex
plained the mystery ; and showed me the two rivers,
the Rhone and the Saone, flowing parallel through the
city for a short distance before they concur : I had
expected to find the confluence of these rivers, but not
what I found, two noble streams adorned with quays
and bridges. On another view I discovered sufficient
distinctions to prevent my confounding them again ;

282 LYONS.
but still sufficient resemblance to justify in a stranger
the mistake which I had made.
It is a great pleasure to wander about a strange city
without a guide ; a guide would have told me that
there are two large rivers, the Rhone and the Saone,
flowing parallel through the city, equally adorned with
quays and bridges ; I should doubtless have heard the
truth at once, but I should have lost the whole effect
of the peculiarity, and the magical interest of the de
ception : it is a miserable thing to be mistaken in im
portant matters ; but in unimportant things it is also
miserable to be always in the right.
Sunday, February 12. — It would be difficult to
find a city that has less consideration for the soles of
the feet than Lyons ; it is paved with gravel, with
walnuts, with marbles ; so small and so round are the
stones ; and the streets are filthily dirty with mud. This
day was a great f6te, the last Sunday of the Carnival ;
the crowd in the streets was immense ; men, women,
and children seemed equally to enjoy it. In Italy the
people do not run against one another in the cities ;
they walk slowly and at large, and take plenty of time
to pass from one place, in which they have just been
doing nothing, to another in which they are just going
to do nothing : but the tradesmen of Lyons carry their

LYONS. 283
mercantile habits of haste even into their amusements;
and, like the shopkeepers of England, they repose in
a breathless hurry and lounge in a bustle.
I was pleased with one instance of right feeling in
the active inhabitants of this city ; a fellow in a blue
linen frock, whose aspect sufficiently promised un
relenting brutality, in galloping amongst the crowd in
the Place de Bellecour, rode over a woman and a child,
and threw them down, but without further mischief:
the general feeling of indignation manifested itself so
strongly, that the horseman was obliged to do a violence
to his nature; to return, dismount, explain, and apolo
gize. In London, there would have been no expression
of public displeasure to deter the brute from riding
away laughing. When such injuries are brought into
courts of law, ample justice is done; and the common
law is declared, by the constitutional organs, in a man
ner highly satisfactory to the foot-passenger : but the
spectators always seem to participate and sympathize
strongly, in that strange feeling of the many, the
delight in being oppressed by the few ; and I have
sometimes seen a coachman suffered to drive off with
impunity, in cases where all the marrow of all his bones
ought to have been made to recognise distinctly, and to
repent bitterly, his savage misconduct.
There were many masks, on foot, on horseback, and
in carriages; some were comical figures, especially a

284 LYONS.
man, who was mounted bare-backed, on an old grey
mare, in a general's uniform, and with a barrister's wig.
The good people of Lyons appeared to be truly happy,
and to enjoy the Carnival to the utmost.
The city is, doubtless, handsome ; there are several
good squares, especially the large one, called the Place
de Bellecour ; yet is there little of interest in it. The
cathedral is tolerably good, as a Gothic church ; but
as the cathedral of so important a city, it is small and
mean : although all tbe streets were so much crowded,
it was well filled ; but, it must not be concealed, chiefly
by old women ; they were performing the evening
service in pretty good style; and the canons were
roaring with an earnestness, that must have been
pleasing to devout persons, in a loud, deep, full voice ;
assisted a little by bassoons and serpents.
In the evening I visited the little theatre of the
Celestins ; the theatrical performances commence here
at half-past five ; the theatre is mean and dirty, and
was filled with tradesmen, tradeswomen, and trades-
children ; the vaudeville was well acted ; then came a
melo-drame, which soon drove me away.
Monday, February 13 — The museum contains a
few good pictures of the old masters ; and some inte
resting objects, such as mummies, bronzes, and so
forth : but, for so large a city, it is chiefly remarkable

LYONS. 285
for its poverty. The Hotel de Dieu is an extensive and
celebrated hospital ; it is impossible, in a hasty visit,
to judge of the merits, or defects, of an institution of
this nature.
I walked along the banks of the Rhone, by a long
avenue of poplars, to the confluence of that river and
the Soane : as two rivers seldom flow through the same
kind of soils, their waters are seldom of the same colours :
the Rhone is comparatively clear; it is therefore of a
blueish, whitish, greenish colour; the Soane is muddy,
like the yellow Tiber, and like coffee with milk. In
the evening I ascended a steep and considerable hill
to a church, whence, if it had not been dark and
foggy, I should have had a fine view of Lyons and its
vicinity ; even as it then was, the prospect repaid the
trouble of ascending : I descended part of the way by
a shabby flight of countless steps.
Tuesday, February 14. — I rose at six on St.
Valentine's day ; the morning was cold, and there was
a heavy, dank fog. The habits of a commercial people
are rarely comfortable ; I could not discover any place
at which a breakfast was to be had. I felt the same
inward satisfaction at quitting Lyons, which is always
perceived at leaving a large trading town ; was there
ever a single instance of a man quitting Manchester,
Birmingham, or Sheffield, with regret ? Is it indis-

pensably necessary that a trading people should be
rude and illiterate, and vulgar and barbarous in their
manners, views, and habits ? Might they not be in
structed ? Would not education tell even upon them ?
Would they not still be able, although slightly civilized,
to hurry about; to run against each other; to buy
cheap and to sell dear ; to out bid, and to under sell ;
to give credit, and to stop payment ; and to enter all
these things in a staring hand in their ledgers ?
At seven we quitted Lyons, in a large diligence,
drawn by six horses, yoked three abreast : at ten we
dined, or breakfasted. The sun conquered the fog ;
and the day turned out well. We walked for an hour
and a half up a long hill ; the view was fine, and the
country, during the whole of the day, was interesting.
At the top of the hill we took leave of the waters that
flow into the Mediterranean, and to the south ; and
came to those which, if they do not run directly north
wards, at least are carried by the Loire to the west,
and into the Bay of Biscay.
We had a sulky girl on board : the French women
are, in general, singularly affable and obliging ; never
theless, I think I have met with girls in France more
sulky than in any other country; and who had more
of the predisposing cause, an utter imbecility and want
of understanding. We had also, but unfortunately for
a few leagues only, an old girl, an Iris of all the colours

MOULINS. 287
>o'f the rainbow, and twenty more at least, with a
physiognomy truly French: an old coquette in per
fection, in her utmost simplicity and purity, is to be
met with only in France.
We supped miserably at a paltry pot-house, and
passed the night in great discomfort, being six, or
rather seven in number ; for there was a little girl,
who, as a nuisance, was worth all the rest put together ;
she was sick, and exhibited all the odious phenomena
of a child in a coach. Political economists talk and
write much of the inconvenience of transporting gold
from place to place ; that it is much better to dispose
of the cumbrous metal, " aurum inutile summi ma-
teriam mali ;" and to adopt in its stead a nice paper
currency : of this inconvenience I cannot judge, as I
never had much gold to transport ; but with respect
to children, I can say with confidence, that it would be
much better to pay away your children at the town of
departure, and to take a bill for one, two, or twelve
children, as the case may be, value received in parental
affection, giving or receiving a small premium, accord
ing to the demand for such accommodation, and to
receive a like number, when you arrived.
Wednesday, February 15. — Cold, tired, and
hungry, I reached Moulins at noon. The society one
usually meets with in a diligence, would give a very

288 MOULINS.
low average of humanity in France. I do not doubt,
that travelling may be carried too far ; that it is chiefly
good for the method, like mathematics, and some other
studies, which it would be a miserable thing not to
know at all ; yet to know nothing else, would be almost
more miserable than absolute naked ignorance. The
period usually prescribed, of two years, is, perhaps, too
long ; it makes too large a gap in human life. It is
not necessary to keep bad company, in order to get a
relish for good. There are, besides, many objects at
home well worthy of attention, which travellers are too
apt to neglect : " Ad quoe noscenda iter ingredi,
transmittere mare solemus, ea sub oculis posita neg-
ligimus : seu quia ita natura comparatum, ut prox-
imoruin incuriosi, longinqua sectemur ; seu quod
omnium rerum cupido languescit, quum facilis occasio
est ; seu quod differimus, tamquam ssepe visuri quod
datur videre, quoties velis cernere."
I had not broken my fast ; and was as glad to behold
bread, butter and coffee, at the Hotel d' Allier, as the
whole population of Barbadoes, black, white, and
tawny ; free and enslaved ; cart-whippers and cart
whipped ; orthodox and heterodox ; assenting and
dissenting — were, we are told, to see the new bishop ;
the whole island was drunk with a giddy joy; such
joy as we might conceive would be felt by the herbage
and butter cups, and the red, white, and yellow clover,

MOULINS. 'J89
they had sense enough to feel any thing, when the
lean and hungry bullock enters a deep and rich pasture,
in order to become a fat ox by feeding upon them ;
treading them under foot, and defiling them. This
joy, to the carnal minded, may be somewhat unin
telligible ; but we have only to read the narrative in
the right spirit; in the spirit which St. Augustine
recommends, as cited by a poor, mad, mystic ; and
we shall be rewarded by believing it : as aids to reflec
tion, or rather to credulity, the saint says, " So receive
this that you may deserve to understand it. For the
faith ought to precede the understanding, so that the
understanding may be the reward of the faith." —
" Sic accipite ut mereamini intelligere. Fides enim
debet proecedere intellectum, ut sit intellectus fidei
premium." My joy was intelligible enough without
the aid of St. Augustine, or Aichbishop Leighton,
to explain it, for it was tbe joy of the lean and hungry
bullock. The country round Moulins is flat, but not un
pleasant ; it is by no means romantic, or suited for the
scene of such a story as that of Sterne's Maria. Who
can decide whether this kind of writing be beneficial ?
It is' no doubt good to cultivate the affections ; yet
sentimentality is so false and unreal. " I disco
vered poor Maria sitting under a poplar ; " the aspect
of the neighbourhood is as little adapted for the

290 MOULINS.
tale, as a poplar or a hop-pole can be for poor Maria
to sit under. The little town has a good bridge, of
many arches, over the Allier, a handsome river; and
on its banks a long walk, planted with poplars ; it is a
dull place ; but certain parts of the middle "of the
town, called Cours, are shaded by trees and afford good
houses ; no doubt at an easy rent; where it might be
lived cheaply.
They are building a mansion-house for the mayor,
on an extensive scale ; and a large edifice, named the
Palace of Justice, which is nearly finished ; and there
is also a college, or public school. The short, high,
cathedral, is manifestly only the choir of an unfinished
building, which most certainly will never be com
pleted, for the age of chivalry is past : there are some
pictures, and painted glass, but without merit or
interest. In a corner of the church is a wooden figure
of a disagreeable fellow, with the worms creeping out
at his eyes, ears, and mouth, aud crawling through his
spare ribs, and with this inscription : —
" Olim formoso fueram qui corpore — putri
Nunc sum — tu simili corpore lector eris.''
Why could not the good man write up something
more cheerful ? — eat, drink, and kiss your wife, or
maid, while you may ; or words to that effect.
I heard complaints, that the police are extremely
troublesome at Moulins ; they seemed to take me for

ne\ers. 291
a German, and sent, to speak German to me, a man
who did not know much of that language, or of any
thing else ; perhaps they had received information,
that a very dangerous German was coming, to extirpate
corns and the Bourbons; to cure cancers and legi
timacy ; a foe to tape-worms and the church ; or who
would, peradventure, take rats in such traps as would
catch Jesuits also. I observed, in this city, many
comfortless carriages, called pataches ; and that the
women wore large straw hats, originally round, but
which were converted into half-moons, the brims being
tied close down at the sides, and much turned up
before, and more behind.
Thursday, February 16. — It was a rainy morn
ing ; the diligence arrived at eleven ; I took my place
ih the coupee ; which would be a pleasant seat, if it
were not the station of the conducteur, who was inces
santly getting in and out ; and, in the execution of his
high office, leaving the door open. At noon we started ;
and at nine in the evening we came to Nevers ; of
which city I could only discern, that it is in a marshy
situation, and that the ground was in some places
flooded. I was half starved, and expected to have
eaten, at my leisure, a good supper ; but I was led to
a wretched inn, and told to riiake great haste ; a parcel
of women persisted in teazing the passengers to

292 NEVERS.
buy purses, and other trumpery, made of Venetian
beads ; and the people of the inn, who were well versed
in the nightly fraud, would not bring any thing to eat ;
the whole entertainment consisted of hunger, seasoned
by dishonesty and insolence.
After this rich banquet we hastily resumed our seats ;
it was the intention of the conducteur that night to
have squeezed me flat, like a dried plant, by forcing
himself, as a fourth, into the coupee ; but although I
was a bruised reed, for want of my supper, I was not
disposed to be so broken ; by dint of open, undisguised
rowing, I drove him forth ; and like a scared bird, he
perched himself on the roof, to meditate there, and
watch the effects of the cold night air upon an empty
stomach, leaving me hungry, but with elbow room.
It was a moonlight night ; all night, and for some time
the next day, we had the Loire on our left hand ; as it
flows to the north for some leagues before it turns
away to the west.
Friday, February 17. — We entered a little inn
at eight o'clock : a goose roasting by the fire, was a
pleasing sight to a famished man : —
" Atque hie auratis volitans argenteus anser
Porticibus, Gallos in limine adesse canebat ;''
but that amiable bird was not dressed in the English
fashion, with her proper gravy and stuffing ; and her

NEVERS. 293*
constant attendant and handmaid, the apple sauce :
the savoury fowl was juiceless, and dried up, with the
skin burnt, and the whole body parched : —
" Black, forsooth; coal-black, as jet."
Had any one drawn Priam's curtain, and put a slice
of this woe-begoue food into his mouth, the venerable
monarch, if he had only eaten roast goose, as we have-
it in England, could not have guessed what it was.
We contrived, however, to make a breakfast. The
French cookery is admirable in making indifferent
materials palatable; and is possibly superior to ours;
yet, in some things, it falls far short ; in the mode of
getting up a turkey, a goose, a hare, a pig; in dressing
fish, a haunch of venison, and game.
The day was bad; we continued our journey through-
a flat and most uninteresting country, at a very slow
pace ; the six or seven cart-horses that dragged us,
seemed to have no strength whatever; where the road
was dry and level, they made a kind of trot ; but where
there was an ascent, though hardly perceptible, or the
least mud, they walked. I was sorry to see that most
of the horses were galled from carelessness and the
clumsy harness ; this is real and unpardonable cruelty ;
I should be almost inclined, were I a legislator, to
impose a small fine upon any person who was found
using a galled horse. Nothing can be less interesting
than the journey from Lyons to Paris, or more un-

294 fontainebleau.
comfortable; the diligence has all the defects of the
old diligences united with those of the modern coaches ;
for the passenger is cruelly hurried, and has no time for
any necessary purpose; there is the painful haste with
out the speed, which alone can excuse it. We supped
at night in somewhat better style, and were then
dragged on through sandy roads more slowly than
ever : but little of the road was paved ; for such heavy
carriages pavement apparently answers best.
Saturday, February 18. — At last, at five in the
morning, we reached Fontainebleau. After the re
freshment of lying some hours in bed, of washing
thoroughly, putting on clean clothes and breakfasting,
I went forth to see the castle. The high roofs, attics, and
long chimneys of a French palace, form a contrast with
the Italian mansions, of which the roofs are extremely
low ; the latter are doubtless iu the best taste ; yet the
former have a rich effect. There are many good rooms
and galleries, with French paintings only. We find in
the great houses in different countries, the different
crack productions of those countries; in France, large
mirrors, the porcelain of Sevres, and the tapestry of
Gobelins. A little, shabby, rickety, round table, like those
tables which we see in public houses in the country,
placed before persons, who are drinking spirits and

FONTAINEBLEAU. 295
water, is shown as that on which Napoleon signed the
abdication; the important service, which the table ren
dered on that occasion, is ill engraved on a brass plate
fixed in a place where no one would look for such a
thing, at the top of the stem ; so that when it is doing
duty, as a table, the inscription cannot be seen; it
might remain a whole generation in a family unknown,
and pass unobserved amongst the herd of round tables.
The gardens are in the French style, avenues of
clipped trees, large and long gravel walks and terraces :
I own I like a French garden ; it suits many of the
purposes of life ; to walk in the sun, or the shade, in
the dry, or in the cool, to converse on business, to me
ditate, or to make love, are equally in harmony with
the genius of the place. One charming mixture of
art with nature is only to be found in England ; the
smooth shaven green, the grass plot, kept like a bil
liard-table, which, I presume, originated with all its
trimness in the bowling-green, once universal, but now
of rare occurrence ; nothing so gladdens the sight as a
choice piece of old green sward, carefully cleansed of
dandelion and all unworthy weeds, and duly and re
gularly mown, rolled and watered. Persons of narrow
views, who fancy that there is only one kind of beauty,
the picturesque, will not allow of this ; they would have
every piece of grass rough like a rushy bottom ; they
will not tolerate a terrace, because it is not a mountain ;

296 rONTAINEBLEAU.
or a gravel walk, because it is not a waterfall. The
first crop of peas are very delicious, but they are not
red beet-root ; nor is a cauliflower the worse, because
it is not an artichoke. An anonymous Homer teaches
us, that our English Achilles was fond of the green
turf: he sings thus in a ballad, which has drawn tears
from many bright eyes that have long been closed for
ever; 'and made sad many a brave and generous heart,
that has long ceased to beat : —
" Lay me a green sod under my head,
And another at my feet ;
And lay my bent bow by my side,
Which was my music sweet ;
And make my grave of gravel aud given,
Which is most right and meet.
Let me have length and breadth enough.
With a green sod under my head ;
That they may say when I am dead.
Here lies hold Robin Hood."
The forest, of Fontainebleau, not of Sherwood, seems
to afford, by reason of its extent, a great variety of
pleasant walks : the ground is sandy, it must therefore
generally be dry ; and in many places it is rocky ; the
rocks are an agreeable change in the midst of a flat
country ; the trees are not large, except the pines, of
which some attain to a good size.
As soon as a ship enters a port, harbour, creek, or
navigable river, a pilot comes on board, takes the com-

FONTAINEBLEAU. 297
mand, and supersedes the captain, who is as nothing;
thus in France, when a traveller enters an inn, or
dwelling-house, some female immediately takes upon
herself the absolute disposal of him.
Sunday, February 19. — In France women mingle
themselves much with the affairs and duties of men ;
the maidservant wheeled my baggage in a barrow to
the coach-office. At half past eight I quitted Fon
tainebleau in the coupee of a good diligence, and was
jumbled with tolerable speed along a paved road;
soon after we got out of the forest we saw the Seine on
our right, and had occasional views of that river all
the way. There was nothing of any interest or beauty ;
although France is fertile, the want of hedges and
timber makes it appear bare and sterile. I saw many
large and handsome country-houses, but they had all
an appearance of nakedness; they were generally pro
vided with a long row of tall poplars, which are cut and
lopped to supply the family with fuel. Long straight
lines of poplars delight the French ; they suit the
military turn of the nation, and resemble ranks of
soldiers, into which they delight to form themselves*
to their own impoverishment and to the great annoyance
of their neighbours, for the acquisition of what they
call glory.
I found a little English vulgarity, for once, a great

'298 PARIS.
treat, as it was a full assurance that I was not far from
home. The day was wet, and the road muddy; we met,
nevertheless, when we came near Paris, parties of men
and women issuing from the gates to have a good drink
at the inns without the walls; to save the toll, which is
paid on wine brought into Paris; six sous the litre ; a
heavy duty, amounting, as it was explained to me, to
two-pence a bottle on all wines equally, good and bad,
dear and cheap ; a cruel burden on the lower orders;
a piece of oppression nearly as detestable as our malt
tax, or the still more odious augmentation and four
fold increase of the price of tea.
We arrived in Paris at four in the afternoon ; nothing
can be more abominable than the streets at this season.
In the evening I visited the theatre des Vaudevilles ;
it was crowded, hot, and unpleasant : the acting is
amongst the best in Paris. For a short time these
little pieces are amusing enough ; but after an hour or
two, the fatigued attentiou is very apt to consider them
as childish nonsense.
Persons who visit the theatres abroad for the sake
only of enjoying the noise and tumult which are
abundant in those places in England, or who seek
only the selfish gratification of a broken head, will be
cruelly disappointed. A foreign audience is always
quiet and orderly in entering, abiding, and departing.
The expectations of an amateur may be, however,

PARIS. :2'J9
sometimes deceived even in London ; and a whole
evening may occasionally pass languidly away without
a disturbance. An Irish acquaintance, who had left
" his own green isle " for a few weeks, reading in a news
paper of the improvements that had lately been made
in some theatre, I think the Haymarket, that the
orchestra had been considerably abridged, and conse
quently that " three entire rows had been permanently
added to the pit," repaired thither the first evening of
his residence in London, full of the most pleasing an
ticipations, which were by no means realized ; for all
was quiet ; and when the performance was nearly over,
and he was just trying to begin one row a little, the
barbarians turned him out, and would not return his
money. This stillness has sometimes doubtless been
found, but more usually have the pittites, like Milton's
shepherds — " Sat simply chatting in a rustic row."
Monday, February 20. — I was engaged all day in
reading and writing letters, and in making calls. I
heard a little news about England, a subject which I
had for some time as it were avoided — of breaking and
broken banks. In the evening I found the theatre
Feydeau crowded. The day was gloomy. The streets
of Paris serve to remind us of the early ages of tbe
world, when the gods walked about amongst mortals,

300 rARrs.
for men and cabriolets pass along in common paths.
In London, when in an absent mood, one sometimes
meets a person equally absent, and when he goes to
the right one goes to the right also — when to the left,
to the left; doubt increases doubt, and delay delay,
until the one happily stands still : but here you may,
if you forget yourself for a moment, meet full in the
face, and dodge in the like manner, a coach and pair,
a coach and six, or a coach and nine, with its three
tiers of horses three abreast. Thus, for the first fifteen
hundred years after the creation, a man who was tapped
on the shoulder in the streets, doubted whether it was
by his brother, by the thundering Jupiter, or by a
mere human bailiff. The streets of Paris are also a
curious instance of the readiness of the majorit}' of
those who consequently have really the power,, to sub
mit to the minority, and to those who have it not : the
many on foot skip about with hasty terror, wherever
the few in carriages choose to drive them ; by a proper
application of a fly-flap, or whip, to the faces of the
horses, the few would soon be brought to the same
state of submission in which the many now are ; and
would drive as precariously as the many now walk :
but the many never think of these things.
The high roofs and long chimneys of the French
palaces are an acknowledgment, that the buildings are
wanting in dignity : as a little man confesses the little-

PARIS. 301
ness of his stature, that he is perpusillous and nanous,
by having recourse to a high-crowned hat and a long
feather. Tuesday, February 21. — There is, perhaps, as
much trouble in getting a passport visaed at Paris, as
at any other city I ever visited. I was told that it must
be done in person, and not by deputy; from what I saw
in the course of the business, I was inclined to doubt
the truth of this, at least in part ; but I was not sorry
for the mistake ; if it was a mistake ; as it afforded
me an opportunity of witnessing and estimating the
extent of the oppression. In the first place it is ne
cessary to go to the prefecture of the police, at a dismal
old building in the Island, which was formerly Paris,
to exchange the provisional passport for the original ;
if it has been transmitted from the frontier. After
some delay you are despatched with it to the British
ambassador. Whatever trouble is given by a foreign
- government, at least as much more will surely be given
by our own minister ; that is to say, by the agent and
servant, whom we pay to transact our business. In
stead of sending his secretary to an office in the Island
hear the police, he permits him to live in ¦ his own
house, in the Faubourg St. Honore, at least two miles
distant. The passport is signed by the secretary, not
by the ambassador ; Mr. Secretary, to prove that he
is not unworthy of his master's indulgence, far frorii

302 PARIS.
signing the passport immediately, requires that it be
left,, and you may call for it in two or three hours ;
your residence is, most probably, at some distance,
and you may fill up the interval as you can : I pre
ferred waiting, and accordingly waited in a damp
hole, without a fire ; and by dint of lively remon
strances, obtained my passport in about an hour ;
when, with sulky incivility, it was handed to me, I re
turned with it to the dirty den in the Island ; where I
was detained for some time ; and I was then sent to the
Foreign Office, which is not iu the next building, or
in the next room, as it ought be ; but at as great a
distance as the British minister's. Having arrived
here, a dirty clerk takes the passport, and gives you a
card, and tells you to give the card to another clerk,
as dirty as himself, who sits opposite to, aud within a
few feet of him ; the latter then demands ten francs ;
I presume, as a grateful return to the English nation,
for having found the royal family of France in meat,
drink, washing, and lodging for twenty years ; you are
then told to return in two hours ; and as this office is
probably far from your lodging, you may employ the
interval as you can ; but in the anti-chamber, a person
offers to bring the passport to you in the evening, if
you will leave your address, for which service he of
course receives a fee. This last stroke is plainly a fraud
of the two dirty clerks, who, instead of disburdening
their pens of whatever nonsense they intend to write

PARIS. 303
<upon the passport, and returning it immediately, in
terpose a delay of two hours to earn a fee, to show
that they are not unworthy familiars of the house of
Bourbon ; and to keep the British ambassador in coun
tenance. But, perhaps the shameful exaction of de
manding two guineas for a passport at the Foreign Office
in London, has never been equalled by any govern
ment, certaiuly never surpassed ; whenever we permit
our ministers and servants to become our masters, they
transcend all foreigners in real substantial extortion.
Themorning was consumed in these diplomatic acts;
in the evening I found at the theatre des Varietes, a
large, but shabby audience; and four childish, but
tolerably amusing farces.
Wednesday, Feburary 22. — The dimensions of
Paris are considerably enlarged since the times when it
was the residence of the Emperor Julian ; the historian
of Declining and Falling Rome says, "That splendid
capital which now embraces an ample territority on
either side of the Seine, was originally confined to the
small island in the midst of the river, from whence the
inhabitants derived a supply of pure and salubrious
water. The river bathed the foot of the walls,- and the
town was accessible only by two wooden bridges. A
forest overspread the northern side of the Seine; but on
the south, the ground, which now bears the name of

304 PARIS.
the University, was insensibly covered with houses, and
adorned with a palace and amphitheatre, baths, an
aqueduct, and a field of Mars for the exercise of the
Roman troops." The law is fond of old places and
ancient customs; the courts are therefore still held in
the Island ; and if the judicial sense of France resemble
that of England, I presume they will not take judicial
notice of the continental portion of Paris, but only
of the insular.
I went to the Island and to the Palace of Justice,
where I saw many advocates walking about; I think
even more than are to be met with in Westminster
Hall. I entered a court, in which a gentleman was
speaking fluently concerning the claims of some per
sonal creditors to two houses; I listened to him for
some time, and acquired, as I have often acquired in
the Court of Chancery, a more extended notion of
space, than from Locke's chapter : . I could not con
ceive how the speech could have begun; or how, or why,
it should ever terminate.
I told one of the advocates that I was exceedingly
desirous to hear a trial by jury; he very obligingly
conducted me immediately up stairs to the Court of
Assize, and procured me a good place.
The court was held in a long narrow room, not very
commodious, or well adapted for hearing; persons of
all ranks were freely admitted. Instead of bailiffs to

PARIS. 305
keep the doors, were soldiers, and too many of them ;
perhaps one of these folks in a court of j ustice is too
many. I thought that I could discover in several things,
that they were but young in the art of administering
justice: for example, silence is necessary in a court;
but this maxim was taken in a military sense, and en
forced too strictly, so as to defeat its object: if an ad
vocate whispered to another, " Will such a thing come on
, to day I how long will this last ? " a gendarme inarched
up and silenced him ; to communicate, therefore, it was
necessary to go out ; the advocates were consequently
continually going out and coming in, and made much
more noise in this manner than an occasional whisper
would cause. A juryman could not ask his neighbour
what did the witness say? a counsel could not give a
hint to his friend, without running the risk of being
bayoneted. It seemed also that the different constitu
ent parties of the court, judges, advocates, jury, and
witnesses, were not well brought to bear upon one
another. The president took much pains, and appeared to un
derstand his business ; but was, perhaps, a little garru
lous; the common fault of judges and of old men.
The witnesses were not examined by a series of dis
tinct questions, as with us ; but ran on glibly with a
long story, as if they were reading a lesson, or repeating
something by heart.

306 PARIS.
The prisoners were examined at great length by the
president ; but I must say, that I did not see much use
in what was elicited ; they were made to contradict
themselves, and shown to be liars ; but what of that ?
A is found murdered ; B is such a liar that he is not
to be believed ; does it follow, therefore, that B mur
dered A ?
The advocate-general, or public accuser, or his de
puty, took part strongly against the prisoners, in a way
that was extremely offensive, and contrary to our prin
ciples and practice ; his tone, gestures, insulting man
ner, and continual remarks to the court, jury, and
public, greatly displeased me ; even the circumstance
of his sitting, not at the bar, but on the bench with the
judges, had an air of unfairness : the calm mode in
which pleas of the crown are heard and determined iu
England, is more satisfactory at the time, and must be
still more so on reflection. It is a miserable and un
equal contest, between a poor, needy, ignorant, fool
ish, frightened wretch, and a man of talent and edu
cation, in the full possession of honour and affluence ;
it is, besides, a sorry compliment to truth, to fancy
that it is necessary to allow it the benefit of unfairness.
The examination of the prisoner, for which some
warmly contend, would do little good ; but I believe
would do little harm : the hope that certain facts would
be extracted from him, might sometimes induce prose-

PARIS. "

307

cutors to trust to that hope, and not to bestir them
selves to procure other evidence ; but if the judge
insisted rigorously upon the production of other evi
dence, this mischief might be obviated, and there would
be no other evil than the loss of time : the best proof of
the inutility of these examinations would be, to allow
them to be introduced : I am convinced, that they
would soon fall into -disuse: they were formerly the
course ; but they ceased, because it was found that
nothing more could be discovered than, was already
known : by interrogating the prisoner, the suspicion
that he might be guilty was strongly confirmed ; but
it was already ascertained, that he was a suspicious
person ; if he were not, he would not have been
brought to the bar; these interrogations would never
lead to conviction ; they would never carry the case
beyond suspicion. If the prisoner is to be examined,
it should be conducted by the counsel for the prose
cution — by the judge on no account — the inevitable
effect of permitting the court to interfere, would be
to introduce warmth and passion, and to destroy that
equanimity and coolness, that moral equilibrium, so
essential to a due execution of the judicial functions ;
neither judge nor jury should be suffered, on any pre
text, or under any circumstances, to ask the prisoner
a single question.
The witnesses were sworn by the president ; they
x 2

308 PARIS.
merely held up the right hand, which is more decorous
than our osculation, and more extensively applicable
than " a holy kiss," to which many object. A large
picture of the crucifixion, which is suspended in the
courts, over the seats of the judges, is out of place, and
consequently displeasing ; it is an attempt to mix, in
decently, what ought to be kept distinct — the civil and
the religious; a court of justice is a court of justice; and
a church is a church ; in like manner, a man is a man ;
and a horse is a horse : the union is a centaur — a monster.
The prisoners were defended by counsel, who made
speeches to the jury. All parties took great pains;
but much time was wasted. If the sessions at the Old
Bailey were conducted in the same manner, 1 hey not only
would be made perpetual, but there would soon be as
great an arrear as in the Court of Chancery : all hanging
would be suspended ; and unless the right to a violent
death survived after the natural death of the person
entitled, and his heir, or personal representative, might
serve his turn, the punishment of death would be
abolished ; and the ordinary would become as ordinary
in deed as in name ; for he would be driven to read the
burial service in an ordinary manner, like the rest of his
brethren, to the dead, and not to the living.
The first trial was for assaulting a woman, and caus
ing loss of labour, not in child-bed, but daily occu
pation ; the prisoner was found guilty, and immediately

PARIS. 309
sentenced to three years imprisonment. Three men
were tried together for an attempt to commit larceny ;
they were ill -looking fellows, especially one in a blue
shirt. The advocates wear gowns, and a little black
octangular cap, called toque ; it is convenient to have
a covering for the head, as a defence against cold
draughts in a hot and crowded court; and also to
facilitate the egress and ingress through a crowd, when
the head alone can be seen : the toque is very prefer
able to our filthy wigs ; it is not heavy, but it might
be made lighter.
Thursday, February 23  " Lui jurer que Paris
est toujours plein de fange." It was a most dis
agreeable day ; it is wonderful how the streets of this
city become so dirty ; I presume that they never clean
them ; but this will hardly account for the marvellous
filthiness. I am destined never to see the gallery of
the Louvre ; when I was in Paris ten years ago, it was
shut in the sulks, because the allied powers had caused
restitution to be made of the stolen goods : it was shut
the day before I arrived in Paris this time, because of
some repairs ; I will not come here on purpose to see
it, lest it should be burned down.
Notwithstanding the heavy rain, I walked to the
Jardin des Plantes, for the sake of the Museum of
Comparative Anatomy, which I had not seen. It is

310 PARIS.
good ; but I confess that it disappointed my expec
tations : there is a large collection of preparations ;
but the dry sweetmeats are not beautiful, or tasteful :
and the wet are, no doubt, what they profess to be ;
but they are not well displayed ; they might be any
other pickles, or preserves, whatever. I speak generally,
for there are some exceptions ; all the skeletons are to
be excepted, in which the museum is very rich: the
general aspect of the place reminded me strongly of
modern French scientific works; a collection of out
lines, frame-work, and bones ; dry, accurate, sys
tematic, devoid of beauty, and wanting all the plump
fillings up.
I saw there the mortal remains of a foreign lady, who
was for some time a resident in Piccadilly, and was
much visited by all ranks. The saints of Manchester,
or Birmingham, amongst whom she once lived, con
verted her to Christianity, and baptized Saartdjee
Baardtmann by the name of Sarah Bateman ; the
French anatomists, amongst whom she died, sliced
away all her flesh, fat and lean, even her most prominent
feature, the foundation of all the fame of the Hottentot
Venus, and made a skeleton of poor Sarah. I hope
that her death was easy, and her life happy ; the only
time I beheld the goddess of African beauty, she was,
I remember, very cheerful.
The porter at the Anatomical Museum is a less

PARIS. JU
troublesome fellow than his masters, or I should not
have seen it ; a ticket from some professor is necessary,
to certify that you really wish to be admitted, and that
you have not walked three miles through the rain,
merely to knock at the door with an affected curiosity..
When I arrived it was so late, that if I had gone to look
for a professor, the time would have been past ; the
porter, therefore, kindly took me at, my word, or I
should have waded through the dirt and wet for some
miles, in vain.
At the Museum of Natural History, I met with a
more literal door-keeper, who sent me for a ticket ;
and when I went to get this piece of secondary evidence
of my desire, I was told, that it was too late. I believe
it is necessary to show your passport, to obtain the
document ; but I did not get far enough to encounter
that difficulty.
Surely this is a piece of naked tyranny, and an useless
abuse of power ; it is just possible to conceive, that there
may be reasons for demanding a passport at the fron
tiers, or at the gate of a city ; but what matters it to
the security of the government, whether the person be
disaffected, or otherwise, who looks at the fossil skull
of an otter, or the petrified horns of an elk ? Where is
this scrutiny to end ? If I go into a coffee-house, and
call for a cup of coffee, is the waiter to say to me, " Do
you believe in the infallibility of the Pope ? " " No."

312 PARIS.
" Then I cannot sell you any coffee." " But I have seen-
his holiness ; and the old gentleman has such a sagacious
look, that I think he is as seldom mistaken as any one ;
I have a kind of half belief in his infallibility — will
not that entitle me to half a cup ?" " No— faith is not
to be kept with 'heretics ; coffee is not to be sold to
heretics." Formerly there was great facility in seeing
any thing here ; that, however, is not the case now : by
being ten years under the government of priests, things
have altered for the worse — how could it be otherwise ?
Priests have a natural hatred to knowledge, and every
obstacle placed in the way of intellectual and moral
improvement, is a triumph of their order.
All the understrappers are ready to take advantage of
this disposition in their superiors, with a view to their
own ease and their own gain. A fellow made haste to
shut up his lion before the proper time ; and when I
passed, asked me, if I would not see the lion ? I had
seen a lion before ; and if I had not, I should not have
chosen that opportunity of seeing one, as I understood
his fraud. I had even seen that same lion in entering:.
and I thought that he looked melancholy and hippish ;
whether because of the day, which was sufficiently
gloomy ; or that he was thinking of the law of suc
cession, and fearing that the proposed alteration would
not pdss the Chambers ; and that the lordly lion's share
vvould not become fashionable once more.

BEAUVAIS. 313
As I returned, I met great crowds, chiefly of women,
going to hear preachers, who are at present actively
engaged, and frequently to a late hour in the evening ;
I presume they intend, that their discourses should be
a substitute for the theatres, which no doubt they
would gladly shut ; until they can close the doors of the
play-houses by force, they may preach themselves
hoarse in vaiu. The delight of the ministers of super
stition, is to interfere with the enjoyments of mankind,
and to do mischief by making one man do mischief to
another. Friday, February 24  At half-past eight in the
morning, I got into the interior of the diligence ; the'
coupee had been bespoken for some days ; at nine we
set forth, and continued our journey through a country
agreeably diversified, not wanting in trees and country-
seats ; which, in the summer, must be pleasant for
France, perhaps for any country — until five in the
afternoon, when we dined very ill, and dearly, at
Beauvais. The childish government examined our
passports here, and how often besides I cannot say, as
the conducteur took charge of them. As we had
plenty of room, the vehicle being large, and were but
three, I passed the night not uncomfortably ; except
that I suffered from thirst, and longed in vain for tea,
or even coffee : on this journey the speed was not great ;

314 CALAIS.
the hurry greater, than iu an English mail-coach ; and
the starvation excessive.
Saturday, February 25. — At day-break, at five
in the morning, we were permitted, as a great favour,
(so strangely do passengers submit themselves unani
mously to the authority of coach-proprietors and of their
servants,) to snatchacup of coffee, and to warm ourselves
for a moment ; we then continued our slow course to
Montreuil, where, at noon, we had the luxury of a good
wash, and an excellent breakfast. We came to chalky
downs, which I viewed with much pleasure, as they,
and the heaps of flints by the side of the road, showed
me that I was near England : we also descried the ,
channel. At Boulogne, an English colony, I saw many
of my countrymen ; and what interested me more,
many of my countrywomen walking about the streets.
Our progress was more cruelly slow than ever, chiefly
because our horses were so rarely changed ; one set of
unhappy animals continued to drag us along, with a
progress almost imperceptible, for four hours and a
half. At last, at eleven o'clock at night, we reached
Calais. Our conducteur claimed eight francs a piece, under
various pretexts ; which we refused to pay, as being an
imposition ; and we were otherwise dissatisfied with
the man : we tendered five— a tremendous row ensued ;

CALAIS. 315
the conducteur was supported by the mau at the coach-
office, and far more vigorously by a furious primadonna,
with whose bravura style we were delighted ; after
enjoying the refreshing scene, which warmed us, and,
caused the long stagnant blood to circulate once more
freely through our veins ; when the lady's rage had
sunk from the goddess-like and Junonian, to the pitch
of a heroine, and afterwards to the mere human wrath
of a tragedy-queen, we again proffered the five francs ;
which were accepted ; and we retired, laughing, to
our inn.
We were entertained over our coffee, by a stupid,
vulgar, drunken, young, English sot ; a disgrace to his
country, and to human nature ; who had come over for
a few days : he attempted, in his native and only
tongue, to quiz a young French bagsman, a shrewd
little fellow, who, notwithstanding the inferiority in
command of language, was more than a match for
him. I was much fatigued ; but, nevertheless, could
sleep but little ; because I thought with anxiety of
England. Sunday, February 26. — We were tempted, partly
perhaps by the smallness of the price, and partly from a
desire to encourage competition, and, like the Romans,
to side with the weaker party, to choose the French
steam-packet. After being shamefully and shamelessly

316 DOVER.
plundered under various pretences, by the well-prac
tised robbers of the place ; and having seen, on our
way, just enough to convince us that there is nothing
to be seen in Calais, we went on board at eleven : the
paddle-wheels were soon in motion ; we got the start ;
but the English packet presently followed, passed us,
left us speedily, and finally was out of sight. We re
mained behind to decide, whether we ought to rejoice
at the public triumph of our country, or to lament
our private misfortune. The day was fine ; the wind,
which blew directly in our teeth, was cold ; the
sea rough ; the motion of the steam-vessel, always dis
agreeable, to-day was peculiarly so — as it seemed to
me, who know nothing of these matters, that it was
not well steered, it was not kept steady. The conse
quence was a general sickness : my head did not ache ;
but after having emptied the stomach, the nausea still
continuing, I felt so weak, that I could hardly raise
a finger. By our slow progress we had lost the
tide, and could not enter the harbour of Dover ; it
seemed, as if we were never to arrive ; at last, at sun
set we dropped our anchor, and were immediately
boarded by many boats, and tbe passengers were trans
ferred to them with much rudeness and brutality.
To the young and healthy these things matter little,
and may well pass for fun ; to females and old persons
they are by no means sport. A most exorbitant fee

DOVER. 3ly
•of four shillings a piece was demanded for the work
of ten minutes, which besides was ill-performed ; it
was rudely insisted upon, and could not be refused; as
it was fixed by what is called the law of the greatest
of all nuisances, a little separate jurisdiction, the
.petty corporation of a cinque port ; the most worth
less, wicked, and jobbing of all things ; which, with
many other pests, our stupid countrymen suffer to
exist ; because they are made to believe, that they
are actually so stupid, that they cannot remove those
liberties which are mischievous, without taking away
those liberties also that are beneficial. A dead cat
having been thrown in at my open window by a
waggish boy ; when I am about to apprehend it with
the tongs, and to restore it to its master ; another and
more artful wag, emboldened by the great reputation
of my folly, attempts to hoax me by saying, " Give
it house-room for God's sake ! do not attempt to throw-
it out ; you cannot lift up the cat without tearing up
the floor; and then, not only yourself, whom I esteem
and admire, principally for your wisdom, but your
amiable wife, and the dear little children, will fall
through into the kitchen and perish miserably, to my
great sorrow."
I was glad to set foot on my native land, but I had
not much pleasure this evening ; I cannot agree with
the popular notion, that sea-sickness is a very fine

318 DOVER.
thing; I think it is a very foul thing; and was in a
most exhausted state all the night.
Monday, February 27. — Whatever I had hitherto
seen of superfluous rudeness and unnecessary oppres
sion fell far short of what I here experienced at the cus
tom-house. We had not been allowed to take any thing
on shore the preceding evening, although it was by no
means late when we landed ; but were condemned, with
gratuitous brutality, to pass the night without combs,
brushes, and such little comforts as are the distinctions
between men and beasts. This morning we stood like
thieves at a Police-office, peeping through the bars of
the mean and sordid receipt of custom, until it was
our turn to have our baggage examined; we saw un
happy foreigners, especially ladies, tormented in a most
abominable manner; every thing was routed out of
their boxes; a foreign spoon, or tea-cup, was seized ; a
yard of gauze, silk, or tape measured ; and family por
traits taxed ; the unhappy victims were kept standing
all the time.
It is not easy to persuade foreigners, that the small
sums thus exacted are carried to the public treasury ;
they naturally believe that they remain in the pockets
of the persons who extort them. I was heartily ashamed
of my country, when I was obliged, in the presence of
strangers, to witness proceedings so disgraceful to ci-

canterbury. 319
¦vilization and humanity. Whatever liberties were taken
with my luggage in other countries, my writing-case
had always been respected; it was here only, that im
pudence was sufficiently hardy to require'-it to be
opened. Why is it that in England subordinate offi
cers conduct themselves in a more offensive manner
than elsewhere? Simply, because they are under no
controul; they are not appointed by the ministers;
their appointments are demanded as of right for some
electioneering services; and given as of course, to
secure a majority ; for if there be a slave in the world,
the servant of servants, and the slave of slaves, it is
the minister of a majority.
After being plundered with still greater audacity at
Dover, than at Calais, we mounted the top of an
English stage-coach, whence we admired the horses,
the harness, the style of thing ; the hedges and the
green sward, the gardens and the plgasure-gounds of
"our sea-walled garden." The day was fine ; but the
wind blew so cold, that we were soon glad to retire into
the inside. We had hoped to have had time to have re
vived our recollections of St. Thomas a Beckett, by
visiting the cathedral at Canterbury ; but were disap
pointed. At Rochester the ruined castle was neglected for a
substantial dinner; for the novelties of a joint of meat,

320 LONDON.
good potatoes, and good cheese. When it grew dusk
I fell asleep, and awoke upon Westminster bridge.
I found all things in my chambers, at ten o'clock, as
I had left them at half past seven, on the third of
August. However incredible it may appear to myself
hereafter upon reflection, I thus actually completed
two hundred and nine days, without having once had
recourse to any one of three things, each of which
daily habit had taught me to consider a prime necessary
of life — law, Greek, or an English newspaper.

THE END.

Whiting and Bianston, Printers, Beaufort-house, Strand.