YALE UNIVERSITY
LIBRARY

ITALY; WITH SKETCHES OF
SPAIN AND PORTUGAL.
VOL. I.

LONDON :
PRINTED BY SAMUEL BENTLEY,
Dorset Street, Fleet Street.

ITALY;

WITH SKETCHES OF

SPAIN AND j^OR^UGAL.

i ' ¦- .- '' '¦

"*&»<.->•*,

........ i i
BY THE AUTHOR OFWATHEK."

SECOND EDITION, REVISED.
IN TWO VOLUMES.
VOL. I.

LONDON:
RICHARD BENTLEY, NEW BURLINGTON STREET,
ftitbUsfjer tn <©itftnaii> to %)k fiflajesti).
1834.

YALE

ADVERTISEMENT.

Some justly admired Authors having conde
scended to glean a few stray thoughts from
these Letters, which have remained dormant a
great many years ; I have been at length em
boldened to lay them before the public. Perhaps,
as they happen to contain passages which per
sons of acknowledged taste have honoured with
their notice, they may possibly be less unworthy
of emerging from the shade into daylight than I
imagined. Most of these Letters were written in the
bloom and heyday of youthful spirits and youth
ful confidence, at a period when the old order of
things existed with all its picturesque pomps and
absurdities ; when Venice enjoyed her piombi and
vol. i. b

ii ADVERTISEMENT.
submarine dungeons; France her bastile; the
Peninsula her holy Inquisition. To look back
upon what is beginning to appear almost a fabu
lous era in the eyes of the modern children of
light, is not unamusing or uninstructive ; for, still
better to appreciate the present, we should be
led not unfrequently to recall the intellectual
muzziness of the past.
But happily these pages are not crowded with
such records : they are chiefly filled with delinea
tions of landscape and those effects of natural
phenomena which it is not in the power of revo
lutions or constitutions to alter or destroy.
A few moments snatched from the contem
plation of political crimes, bloodshed, and treach
ery, are a few moments gained to all lovers of
innocent illusion. Nor need the statesman or the
scholar despise the occasional relaxation of light
reading. When Jupiter and the great deities are
represented by Homer as retiring from scenes of
havoc and carnage to visit the blameless and
quiet Ethiopians, who were the farthest removed

ADVERTISEMENT. Ill
of all nations, the Lord knows whither, at the
very extremities of the ocean, — would they have
given ear to manifestos or protocols ? No, they
would much rather have listened to the Tales of
Mother Goose.
London, June 12th, 1834.

b 2

CONTENTS OF
THE FIRST VOLUME.

THE LOW COUNTRIES AND GERMANY.
LETTER I.
Passage to Ostend. — The Capuchin church. — Ghent. —
Quiet and Content, the presiding deities of Flanders. —
Antwerp. — The Place de Meir. — Silence and solitude of
the town, contrasted with the tumult and uproar of Lon
don.  Page 3
LETTER II.
Visit to the cabinets of pictures in Antwerp. — Monsieur
Van Lencren's collection. — The Canon KnyfF's house and
gallery of paintings. — The Canon himself. — His domestic
felicity. — Revisit the cathedral. — Grand service in honour of
Saint John the Baptist. — Mynheer Van den Bosch, the or
ganist's astonishing flashes of execution. — Evening service
in the cathedral. — Magical effect of the music of Jomelli.
— Blighted avenues. — Slow travelling. — Enter the United
Provinces. — Level scenery. — Chinese prospects. — Reach
Meerdyke. — Arrival at the Hague  14

vi CONTENTS.
LETTER III.
The Prince of Orange's cabinet of paintings.— Tempta
tion of St. Anthony, by Breughel.— Exquisite pictures by
Berghem and Wouvermans.— Mean garrets stored with ines
timable productions of the Indies.— Enamelled flasks of
oriental essences.— Vision of the wardrobe of Hecuba.—
Disenchantment. — Cabinet of natural history. — A day dream.
— A delicious morsel. — Dinner at Sir Joseph Yorke's. —
Two honourable boobies.— The Great Wood.— Parterres
of the GrefEer Fagel. — Air poisoned by the sluggish canals.
— Fishy locality of Dutch banquetting rooms. — Derivation
of the inhabitants of Holland. — Origin and use of enormous
galligaskins. — Escape from damp alleys and lazy waters. 24
LETTER IV.
Leave the Hague. — Leyden  Wood near Haerlem. —
Waddling fishermen. — Enter the town. — The great fair. —
Riot and uproar  Confusion of tongues. — Mine hostess. 32
LETTER V.
Amsterdam. — The road to Utrecht. — Country-houses and
gardens. — Neat enclosures. — Comfortable parties. — Ladies
and Lapdogs  Arrival at Utrecht, -y- Moravian establish
ment. — The woods. — Shops. — Celestial love. — Musical
Sempstresses. — Return to Utrecht. ... 35
LETTER VI.
Arrival at Aix-la-Chapelle  Glimpse of a dingy grove 
Melancholy saunterers. — Dusseldorf Gallery  Nocturnal
depredators. — Arrival at Cologne. — Shrine of the Three
Wise Sovereigns — Peregrinations of their beatified bones.
— Road to Bonn. — Delights of Catholicism. — Azure moun
tains. — Visionary palaces.  39

CONTENTS. Vll
LETTER VII,
Borders of the Rhine. — Richly picturesque road from Bonn
to Andernach. — Scheme for a floating village. — Coblentz.
— A winding valley — The river Lahn  Ems  The pla
net. — A supposed Apparition. — A little sequestered Para
dise. .  47
LETTER VIIL
Inveterate Idlers. — The planet Orloff and his satellites.
— A Storm — Scared women. — A dreary Forest. — Village
of Wiesbaden. — Manheim. — Ulm. — The Danube — unli
mited plains on its margin. — Augsburg. — Sketch of the
Town. — Pomposities of the Town House. . . 53
LETTER IX.
Extensive woods of fir in Bavaria  Grand Fair at
Munich  The Elector's country palace. — Court Ladies. —
Fountains. — Costume. — Garden and tea-room. — Hoydening
festivities there. — The Palace and Chapel. — Gorgeous riches
of the latter  St. Peter's thumb. — The Elector's col
lection of pictures. — The Churches — Hubbub and con
fusion of the Fair. — Wild tract of country. — Village of Wol-
frathshausen. — Perpetual forests. — A Tempest. — A night
at a cottage  63
LETTER X.
Mittenwald. — Mountain chapels. — Saint Anna's young
and fair worshippers  Road to Inspruck — Maximilian's
tomb.  Vast range of prospects. ¦ — A mountain torrent —
Schonberg.  73
LETTER XI.
Steinach. — Its torrent and gloomy strait. — Achievements
of Industry. — A sleepy Region. — Beautiful country round
Brixen  84

via CONTENTS.

ITALY. LETTER I.
Bolsano. — Indications of approaching Italy. — Fire-flies.
— Appearance of the Peasantry. — A forest Lake. — Arrive
at Borgo di Volsugano. — Prospect of Hills in the Venetian
State. — Gorgeous Flies  Fortress of Covalo. — Leave the
country of crags and precipices and enter the territory
of flie Bassanese. — Groves of olives and vines. — Classic ap
pearance of Bassano  Happy groups. — Pachierotti, the
celebrated singer. — Anecdote of him. ... 89
LETTER II.
Villa of Mosolente. — The route to Venice. — First view
of that city. — Striking prospect from the Leon Bianco. —
Morning scene on the grand canal. — Church of Santa
Maria della Salute. — Interesting group of stately buildings.
— Convent of St. Giorgio Maggiore. — The Redentore 
Island of the Carthusians  .97

LETTER III.
Church of St. Mark  The Piazza  Magnificent festi
vals formerly celebrated there. — Stately architecture of San-
sovino. — The Campanile. — The Loggetta. — The Ducal Pa
lace. — Colossal Statues — Giants' Stairs. — Fit of enthu
siasm. — Evening-scene in the great Square  Venetian
intrigue. — Confusion of languages — Madame de Rosenberg.
— Character of the Venetians. . . . . 1 1 1

CONTENTS. IX

LETTER IV.

Excessive heat — The Devil and Senegal. — A dreary
shore. — Scene of the Doge's nuptials with the sea. — Return
to the Place of St. Mark. — Swarm of Lawyers. — Receptacles
for anonymous accusations. — The Council of Ten. — Ter
rible punishments of its victims. — Statue of Neptune. —
Fatal Waters. — Bridge of Sighs. — The Fondamenti Nuovi. —
Conservatory of the Mendicanti. — An Oratorio. — Profound
attention of the Audience  123
LETTER V.
M. de Villoison and his attendant Laplander. — Drawings
of ancient Venetian costume in one of the Gradanigo pa
laces. — Titian's master-piece in the church of San Gio
vanni e Paolo. — The distant Euganean hills. . 132
LETTER VI.
Isles of Burano, Torcello, and Mazorbo. — The once popu
lous city of Altina. — An excursion. — Effects of our music
on the inhabitants of the Islands. — Solitary fields infested
by serpents. — Remains of ancient sculpture. — Antique and
fantastic ornaments of the Cathedral of Torcello. — San Lo
renzo's chair. — Dine in a Convent. — The Nuns. — Oratorio
of Sisera. — Remarks on the music. — Singing of the Mar-
chetti  A female orchestra. .... 137
LETTER VII.
Coast of Fusina. — The Brenta. — A Village of Palaces.
— Fiesso. — Exquisite singing of the Galuzzi. — Marietta
Cornaro. — Scenes of enchantment and fascination. 145
LETTER VIIL
Reveries. — Walls of Padua. — Confused Pile dedicated to
Saint Anthony. — Devotion at his Shrine. — Penitential

X CONTENTS.
Worshippers. — Magnificent Altar  Sculpture of Sanso-
vino.— Colossal Chamber like Noah's Ark. . . 149
LETTER IX.
Church of St. Justina.— Tombs of remote antiquity.— Ridi
culous attitudes of rheumatic devotees.— Turini's music. —
Another excursion to Fiesso. — Journey to the Euganean
hills. — Newly discovered ruins — High Mass in the great
Church of Saint Anthony. — A thunder-storm  Palladio's
Theatre at Vicenza. — Verona. — An aerial chamber. —
Striking prospect from it. — The amphitheatre. — Its inte
rior. — Leave Verona. — Country between that town and
Mantua. — German soldiers. — Remains of the palace of the
Gonzagas. — Paintings of Julio Romano. — A ruined garden.
— Subterranean apartments. .... 153
LETTER X.
Cross the Po. — A woody country. — The Vintage. —
Reggio. — Ridge of the Apennines. — Romantic ideas con
nected with those mountains.-^- Arrive at Modena. — Road to
Bologna. — Magnificent Convent of Madonna del Monte. —
Natural and political commotions in Bologna. — Proceed to
wards the mountains. — Dreary prospects. — The scenery
improves. — Herds of goats. — A run with them. — Return
to the carriage. — Wretched hamlet. — Miserable repast. 166
LETTER XI.
A sterile region. — Our descent into a milder landscape.
— Distant view of Florence. — Moonlight effect. — Visit the
Gallery  Relics of ancient credulity  Paintings. — A
Medusa's head by Leonardo da Vinci. — Curious picture
by Polemberg. — The Venus de Medicis. — Exquisitely
sculptured figure of Morpheus. — Vast Cathedral. — Gar
den of Boboli. — Views from different parts of it. — Its re
semblance to an antique Roman garden. . . 173

CONTENTS. xi

LETTER XII.

Rambles among the hills. — Excursions with Pacchierotti.
— He catches cold in the mountains  The whole Republic is
in commotion, and send a deputation to remonstrate with
the Singer on his imprudence  The Conte Nobili. — Hill
scenery — Princely Castle and Gardens of the Garzoni
Family — Colossal Statue of Fame. — Grove of Ilex. —
Endless bowers of Vines  Delightful Wood of the Mar-
chese Mansi. — Return to Lucca. . . . 186
LETTER XIII.
Set out for Pisa. — The Duomo. — Interior of the Cathe
dral. — The Campo Santo. — Solitude of the streets at midday.
— Proceed to Leghorn. — Beauty of the road. — Tower of
the Fanale.  193
LETTER XIV.
The Mole at Leghorn. — Coast scattered over with Watch-
towers  Branches of rare coral unexpectedly acquired. 200
LETTER XV.
Florence again. — Palazzo Vecchio. — View on the Arno.
— Sculptures by Cellini and John of Bologna. — Contempt
shown by the Austrians to the memory of the House of
Medici. — Evening visit to the Garden of Boboli  The
Opera. — Miserable Singing. — A Neapolitan Duchess. 203
LETTER XVI.
Detained at Florence by reports of the Malaria at Rome.
— Ascend one of the hills celebrated by Dante. — View from
its brow  Chapel designed by Michael Angelo. — Birth of
a Princess. — The christening. — Another evening visit to
the woods of Boboli  209

xii CONTENTS.

LETTER XVII.
Pilgrimage to Valombrosa.— Rocky Steeps.— Groves of
Pine  Vast Amphitheatre of Lawns and Meadows.— Re
ception at the Convent. — Wild Glens where the Hermit
Gualbertus had his Cell. — Conversation with the holy
Fathers  Legendary Tales. — The consecrated Cleft. — The
Romitorio. — Extensive View of the Val d'Arno. — Return
to Florence. .  214
LETTER XVIII.
Cathedral at Sienna — A vaulted Chamber. — Leave Sienna.
— Mountains round Radicofani  Hunting Palace of the
Grand Dukes  A grim fraternity of Cats. — Dreary Apart
ment.  224
LETTER XIX.
Leave the gloomy precincts of Radicofani and enter the
Papal territory — Country near Aquapendente.— Shores of
the Lake of Bolsena. — Forest of Oaks. — Ascend Monte
Fiascone. — Inhabited Caverns  Viterbo  Anticipations
of Rome  228
LETTER XX.
Set out in the dark. — The Lago di Vico  View of the
spacious plains where the Romans reared their seat of empire.
— Ancient splendour  Present silence and desolation 
Shepherd huts.— Wretched policy of the Papal Government.
— Distant view of Rome — Sensations on entering the City.
—The Pope returning from Vespers — St. Peter's Colon
nade. — Interior of the Church. — Reveries  A visionary
scheme. — The Pantheon  230

CONTENTS. Xlll

LETTER XXI.

Leave Rome for Naples. — Scenery in the vicinity of Rome.
— Albano. — Malaria. — Veletri.— Classical associations. — The
Circean Promontory. — Terracina. — Ruined Palace. —
Mountain Groves. — Rock of Circe. — The Appian Way. —
Arrive at Mola di Gaeta. — Beautiful prospect. — A Deluge.
— Enter Naples by night, during a fearful Storm. — Clear
Morning. — View from my window. — Courtly Mob at the
Palace. — The Presence Chamber. — The King and his Cour
tiers. — Party at the House of Sir W. H. — Grand Illumina
tion at the Theatre of St. Carlo  Marchesi. . 240
LETTER XXII.
View of the coast of Posilipo. — Virgil's tomb  Super
stition of the Neapolitans with respect to Virgil. — Aerial
situation. — A grand scene  253
LETTER XXIII.
A tamble on the shore of Baii — Local traditions. — Cross
the bay. — Fragments of a temple dedicated to Hercules. —
Wondrous reservoir constructed for the fleet of Nero 
The Dead Lake. — Wild scene. — Beautiful meadow. —
Uncouth rocks. — An unfathomable gulph. — Sadness in
duced by the wild appearance of the place. — Conversation
with a recluse. — Her fearful narration. — Melancholy even
ing.  258
LETTER XXIV.
The Tyrol Mountains. — Intense cold. — Delight ori behold
ing human habitations  280

XIV CONTENTS.

SECOND VISIT TO ITALY.
LETTER I.
First day of summer  A dismal plain. — Gloomy entrance
to Cologne. — Labyrinth of hideous edifices. — Hotel of Der
HeiligeGeist  285
LETTER II.
Enter the Tyrol. — Picturesque scenery. — Village of Nas-
seriet. — World of boughs. — Forest huts. — Floral abun
dance  288
LETTER III.
Rapidity of our drive along the causeways of the Brenta.
— Shore of Fusina. — A stormy sky. — Draw near to Venice.
— Its deserted appearance  Visit to Madame de R. —
Cesarotti  290
LETTER IV.
Excursion to Mirabello. — Beauty of the road thither. —
Madame de R.'s wild-looking niece. — A comfortable
Monk's nest.  294
LETTER V.
Rome. — Strole to the Coliseo and the Palatine Mount.
— A grand Rinfresco. — The Egyptian Lionesses. — Illu
minations. . ....... 297
LETTER VI.
The Negroni Garden.— Its solitary and antique appear
ance.— Stately Porticos of the Lateran. — Dreary Scene. 299
LETTER VII.
Naples. — Portici.— The King's Pagliaro and Garden 
Description of that pleasant spot. . . . 302

CONTENTS. XV

GRANDE CHARTREUSE.
LETTER I.
Determination to visit the Grande Chartreuse. — Reach the
Village of LesEchelles. — Gloomy region  The Torrent. —
Entrance of the Desert. — Portal of the consecrated Enclosure.
— Dark Woods and Caverns.— Crosses  Inscriptions. 307
LETTER II.
Thick forest of beech-trees. — Fearful glimpses of the tor
rent  Throne of Moses. — Lofty bridge. — Distant view of
the Convent. — Profound calm. — Enter the convent gate. —
Arched aisle. — Welcomed by the father Coadjutor. — The
Secretary and Procurator. — Conversation with them. — A
walk amongst the cloisters and galleries. — Pictures of diffe
rent Convents of the order  Grand Hall adorned with
historical paintings of St. Bruno's life. . . . 314
LETTER III.
Cloisters of extraordinary dimensions. — Cells of the
Monks. — Severity of the order. — Death-like calm. — The
great Chapel. — Its interior. — Marvellous events relating to
St. Bruno. — Retire to my cell. — Strange writings of St.
Bruno. — Sketch of his Life. — Appalling occurrence. — Vision
of the Bishop of Grenoble.— First institution of the Carthu
sian order  Death of St. Bruno — His translation. . 324
LETTER IV.
Mystic discourse. — A mountain ramble. — A benevolent
Hermit. — Red light in the northern sky. — Lose my way in
the solitary hills. — Approach of night. . . . 335
LETTER V.
Pastoral scenery of Valombre. — Ascent of the highest
Peak in the Desert  Grand amphitheatre of Mountains. —
Farewell benediction of the Fathers. . . . 342

XVI CONTENTS.

SALEVE. LETTER I.
Revisit the trees on the summit of Saleve. — Pas d'Echelle.
— Moneti. — Bird's-eye prospects.— Alpine flowers. — Exten
sive view from the summit of Saleve. — Youthful enthusiasm.
— Sad realities  357
LETTER II.
Chalet .under the Beech-trees. — A mountain Bridge. —
Solemnity of the night. — The Comedie. — Relaxation of
Genevese Morality.  366

THE LOW COUNTRIES

GERMANY.

VOL. I.

THE LOW COUNTRIES

GERMANY.

LETTER I.
Passage to Ostend. — The Capuchin church — Ghent. — Quiet
and Content, the presiding deities of Flanders. — Antwerp.
— The Place de Meir. — Silence and solitude of the town,
contrasted with the tumult and uproar of London.
Ostend, 21st June, 1780.
We had a rough passage, and arrived at this
imperial haven in a piteous condition. Notwith
standing its renown and importance, it is but a
scurvy place — preposterous Flemish roofs dis
gust your eyes when cast upwards — swaggering
Dutch skippers and mongrel smugglers are the
principal objects they meet with below ; and then
the whole atmosphere is impregnated with the
b 2

4 OSTEND.
fumes of tobacco, burnt peat, and garlick. I should
esteem myself in luck, were the nuisances of this
seaport confined only to two senses ; but, alas !
the apartment above my head proves a squalling
brattery, and the sounds which proceed from it
are so loud and frequent, that a person might
think himself in limbo, without any extrava
gance. In hope of some relief, I went to the Capuchin
church, a large solemn building, in search of
silence and solitude ; but here again was I dis
appointed. There happened to be an exposition
of the holy wafer with ten thousand candles ; and
whilst half-a-dozen squeaking fiddles fugued and
flourished away in the galleries, and as many
paralytic monks gabbled before the altars, a
whole posse of devotees, in long white hoods and
flannels, were sweltering on either side.
This papal piety, in warm weather, was no
very fragrant circumstance ; so I sought the open
air again as fast as I was able. The serenity of
the evening — for the black huddle of clouds,
which the late storms had accumulated, were all
melted away — tempted me to the ramparts.
There, at least, thought I to myself, I may range

OSTEND. 5
undisturbed, and talk with my old friends the
breezes, and address my discourse to the waves,
and be as romantic and fanciful as I please ;
but I had scarcely begun a poetic apostrophe,
•before out flaunted a whole rank of officers, with
ladies and abbes and puppy dogs, singing, and
flirting, and making such a hubbub, that I had
not one peaceful moment to observe the bright
tints of the western horizon, or enjoy those ideas
of classic antiquity which a calm sunset never
fails to bring before my imagination.
Finding, therefore, no quiet abroad, I returned
to my inn, and should have gone immediately to
bed, in hopes of relapsing into the bosom of
dreams and delusions ; but the limbo I men
tioned before grew so very outrageous, that I
was obliged to postpone my rest till sugarplums
and nursery eloquence had hushed it to repose.
At length peace was restored, and about eleven
o'clock I fell into a slumber. My dreams antici
pated the classic scenes of Italy, the proposed
term of my excursion.
Next morning I arose refreshed with these
agreeable impressions. No ideas, but such as
Nemi and Albano suggested, haunted me whilst

6 GHENT.
travelling to Ghent. I neither heard the coarse
dialect which was talking around me, nor noticed
the -formal avenues and marshy country which
we passed. When we stopped to change horses,
I closed my eyes upon the dull prospect, and
was transported immediately to those Grecian
solitudes which Theocritus so enchantingly de
scribes. To one so far gone in the poetic lore of ancient
days, Ghent is not the most likely place to recall
his attention ; and I know nothing more about
it, than that it is a large, ill-paved, plethoric,
pompous-looking city, with a decent proportion
of convents and chapels, monuments, brazen
gates, and gilded marbles. In the great church
were several pictures by Rubens, so striking, so
masterly, as to hold me broad awake ; though, I
must own, there are moments when I could con
tentedly fall asleep in a Flemish cathedral, for the
mere chance of beholding in vision the temple of
Olympian Jupiter.
But I think I hear, at this moment, some grave
and respectable personage chiding my enthu
siasm — " Really, sir, you had better stay at
home, and dream in your great chair, than P-ive

FLEMISH VILLAGES. 7
yourself the trouble of going post through Europe,
in search of places where to fall asleep. If Flan
ders and Holland are to be dreamed over at this
rate, you had better take ship at once, and
doze all the way to Italy." Upon my word, I
should not have much objection to that scheme ;
and, if some enchanter would but transport me
in an instant to the summit of iEtna, anybody
might slop through the Low Countries that
pleased. Being, however, so far advanced, there is no
retracting ; and I am resolved to journey along
with Quiet and Content for my companions. These
two comfortable deities have, I believe, taken
Flanders under their especial protection ; every
step one advances discovering some new proof of
their influence. The neatness of the houses, and
the universal cleanliness of the villages, show
plainly that their inhabitants live in ease and
good humour. All is still and peaceful in these
fertile lowlands : the eye meets nothing but round
unmeaning faces at every door, and harmless stu
pidity smiling at every window. The beasts, as
placid as their masters, graze on without any dis
turbance ; and I scarcely recollect to have heard

8 ANTWERP.
one grunting swine or snarling mastiff during
my whole progress. Before every village is a
wealthy dunghill, not at all offensive, because but
seldom disturbed; and there sows and porkers
bask in the sun, and wallow at their ease, till the
hour of death and bacon arrives.
But it is high time to lead you towards Antwerp.
More rich pastures, more ample fields of grain,
more flourishing willows ! A boundless plain lies
before this city, dotted with cows, and speckled
with flowers ; a level whence its spires and quaint
roofs are seen to advantage ! The pale colours
of the sky, and a few gleams of watery sunshine,
gave a true Flemish cast to the scenery, and
everything appeared so consistent, that I had not
a shadow of pretence to think myself asleep.
After crossing a broad expanse of river, edged
on one side by beds of osiers beautifully green,
- and on the other by gates and turrets prepos
terously ugly, we came through several streets of
lofty houses to our inn. Its situation in the
" Place de Meir," a vast open space surrounded
by buildings above buildings, and roof above roof,
has something striking and singular. A tall
gilt crucifix of bronze, sculptured by Cortels of

ANTWERP. 9
Malines,* adds to its splendour ; and the tops
of some tufted trees, seen above a line of mag
nificent hotels, add greatly to the effect of the
perspective. It was almost dusk when we arrived ; and as I
am very partial to new objects discovered by this
dubious, visionary light, I went immediately a
rambling. Not a sound disturbed my medita
tions : there were no groups of squabbling child
ren or talkative old women. The whole town
seemed retired into their inmost chambers ; and
I kept winding and turning about, from street to
street, and from alley to alley, without meeting
a single inhabitant. Now and then, indeed, one
or two women in long cloaks and mantles glided
by at a distance ; but their dress was so shroud
like, and their whole appearance so ghostly, that
I should have been afraid to accost them. As
night approached, the ranges of buildings grew
more and more dim, and the silence which
reigned amongst them more awful. The canals,
* This crucifix was made of the bronze which had formed
the statue of the terrible Duke of Alva, swept in its first
form from the citadel where it was proudly stationed, in a
moment of popular fury.

10 ANTWERP.
which in some places intersect the streets, were
likewise in perfect solitude, and there was just
light sufficient for me to observe on the still
waters the reflection of the structures above
them. Except two or three tapers glimmering
through the casements, no one circumstance in
dicated human existence. I might, without being
thought very romantic, have imagined myself in
the city of petrified people which Arabian fabu
lists are so fond of describing. Were any one
to ask my advice upon the subject of retirement,
I should tell him — By all means repair to
Antwerp. No village amongst the Alps, or her
mitage upon Mount Lebanon, is less disturbed :
you may pass your days in this great city with
out being the least conscious of its sixty thousand
inhabitants, unless you visit the churches. There,
indeed, are to be heard a few devout whispers,
and sometimes, to be sure, the bells make a little
chiming ; but, walk about, as I do, in the twi
lights of midsummer, and be assured your ears
will be free from all molestation.
You can have no idea how many strange, amus
ing fancies played around me whilst I wandered
along ; nor how delighted I was with the novelty

ANTWERP. 11
of my situation. But a few days ago, thought I
within myself, I was in the midst of all the
tumult and uproar of London : now, as if by
some magic influence, I am transported to a city
equally remarkable indeed for streets and edifices,
but whose inhabitants seem cast into a profound
repose. What a pity that we cannot borrow
some small share of this soporific disposition !
It would temper that restless spirit which throws
us sometimes into such dreadful convulsions.
However, let us not be too precipitate in desiring
so dead a calm ; the time may arrive when, like
Antwerp, we may sink into the arms of forget-
fulness ; when a fine verdure may carpet our
Exchange, and passengers traverse the Strand
without any danger of being smothered in crowds
or crushed by carriages.
Reflecting, in this manner, upon the silence of
the place, contrasted with the important bustle
which formerly rendered it so famous, I insensibly
drew near to the cathedral, and found myself,
before I was aware, under its stupendous tower.
It is difficult to conceive an object more solemn
or more imposing than this edifice at the hour
I first beheld it. Dark shades hindered my

12 ANTWERP.
examining the lower galleries ; their elaborate
carved work was invisible ; nothing but huge
masses of building met my sight, and the
tower, shooting up four hundred and sixty-six
feet in the air, received an additional importance
from the gloom which prevailed below. The
sky being perfectly clear, several stars twinkled
through the mosaic of the pinnacles, and in
creased the charm of their effect.
Whilst I was indulging my reveries, a ponder
ous bell struck ten, and such a peal of chimes
succeeded, as shook the whole edifice, notwith
standing its bulk, and drove me away in a hurry.
I need not say, no mob obstructed my passage.
I ran through a succession of streets, free and
unmolested, as if I had been skimming along
over the downs of Wiltshire. The voices of my
servants conversing before the hotel were the
only sounds which the great " Place de Meir"
echoed. This characteristic stillness was the more
pleasing, when I looked back upon those scenes
of outcry and horror which filled London but a
week or two ago, when danger was not confined
to night only, and to the environs of the capital,

ANTWERP. 13
but haunted our streets at mid-day. Hero, I
could wander over an entire city ; stray by the
port, and venture through the most obscure
alleys, without a single apprehension ; without
beholding a sky red and portentous with the light
of houses on fire, or hearing the confusion of
shouts and groans mingled with the reports of
artillery. I- can assure you, I think myself very
fortunate to have escaped the possibility of an
other such week of desolation, and to be peace
ably lulled at Antwerp.

14 ANTWERP

LETTER II.
Visit to the cabinets of pictures in Antwerp. — Monsieur Van
Lencren's collection. — The Canon Knyff's house and gal
lery of paintings. — The Canon himself. — His domestic
felicity. — Revisit the cathedral. — Grand service in honour
of St. John the Baptist. — Mynheer Van den Bosch, the
organist's astonishing flashes of execution. — Evening ser
vice in the cathedral. — Magical effect of the music of
Jomelli.— Blighted avenues. — Slow travelling. — Enter the
United Provinces. — Level scenery. — Chinese prospects. —
Reach Meerdyke. — Arrival at the Hague.
Antwerp, 23rd June, 1780.
After breakfast this morning I began my pil
grimage to all the cabinets of pictures in Antwerp.
First, I went to Monsieur Van Lencren's, who
possesses a suite of apartments, lined, from the
base to the cornice, with the rarest productions
of the Flemish school. Heaven forbid I should
enter into a detail of their niceties ! I might as
well count the dew-drops upon the most spangled
of Van Huysum's flower-pieces, or the pimples

ANTWERP. 15
on their possessor's countenance ; a very good
sort of man, indeed \ but from whom I was not
at all sorry to be delivered.
My joy was, however, of short duration, as a
few minutes brought me into the court-yard of
the Canon KnyfFs habitation ; a snug abode,
well furnished with ample fauteuils and orthodox
couches. After viewing the rooms on the first
floor, we mounted an easy staircase, and entered
an ante-chamber, which they who delight in the
imitations of art rather than of nature, in the
likenesses of joint stools and the portraits of
tankards, would esteem most capitally adorned :
but it must be confessed, that amongst these
uninteresting performances are dispersed a few
striking Berghems and agreeable Polembergs.
In the gallery adjoining, two or three Rosa de
Tivolis merit observation ; and a large Teniers,
representing the Hermit St. Anthony surrounded
by a malicious set of imps and leering devilesses,
is well calculated to display the whimsical buf
foonery of a Dutch imagination.
I was enjoying this strange medley, when the
canon made his appearance ; and a most prepos
sessing figure he has, according to Flemish ideas.
In my humble opinion, his reverence looked a

16 ANTWERP.
little muddled or so ; and, to be sure, the descrip
tion I afterwards heard of his style of living
favours not a little my surmises. This worthy
dignitary, what with his private fortune and the
good things of the church, enjoys a spanking
revenue, which he contrives to get rid of in
the joys of the table and the encouragement of
the"pencil. His servants, perhaps, assist not a little in the
expenditure of so comfortable an income ; the
canon being upon a vef y social footing with them
all. At four o'clock in the afternoon, a select
party attend him in his coach to an ale-house
about a league from the city ; where a table, well
spread with jugs of beer and handsome cheeses,
waits their arrival. After enjoying this rural
fare, the same equipage conducts them back
again, by all accounts, much faster than they
came ; which may well be conceived, as the coach
man is one of the brightest wits of the enter
tainment. My compliments, alas ! were not much appre
ciated, you may suppose, by this jovial personage.
I said a few favourable words of Polemberg, and
offered up a small tribute of praise to the memory
of Berghem ; but, as I could not prevail upon

ANTWERP. 17
Mynheer Knyff to expand, I made one of my
best bows, and left him to the enjoyment of his
domestic felicity.
In my way home, I looked into another cabinet,
the greatest ornament of which was a most sub
lime thistle by Snyders, of the heroic size, and so
faithfully imitated that I dare say no Ass could
see it unmoved. At length, it was lawful to
return home ; and as I positively refused visiting
any more cabinets in the afternoon, I sent for a
harpsichord of Rucker, and played myself quite
out of the Netherlands.
It was late before I finished my musical ex
cursion, and I took advantage of this dusky
moment to revisit the cathedral. A flight of
starlings had just pitched on one of the pinnacles
of the tower, whose faint chirpings were the only
sounds that broke the evening stillness. Not a
human form appeared at any of the windows
around ; no footsteps were audible in the opening
before the grand entrance ; and during the half
hour I spent in walking to and fro, one solitary
Franciscan was the only creature that accosted
me. From him I learned that a grand service was
to be performed next day in honour of St. John
the Baptist, and the best music in Flanders would
vol. i. c

18 ANTWERP.
be called forth on the occasion, so I determined
to stay one day longer at Antwerp.
Having taken this resolution, I availed myself
of a special invitation from Mynheer Van den
Bosch, the first organist of the place, and sat next
to him in his lofty perch during the celebration of
high mass. The service ended, I strayed about
the aisles, and examined the innumerable chapels
which decorate them, whilst Mynheer Van den
Bosch thundered and lightened away upon his
huge organ with fifty stops.
When the first flashes of execution had a little
subsided, I took an opportunity of surveying the
celebrated Descent from the Cross. This has ever
been esteemed the master-piece of Rubens, which,
large as it is, they pretend here that Old Lewis
Baboon* offered to cover with gold. A swingeing
St. Christopher, fording a brook with a child on
his shoulders, cannot fail of attracting attention.
This colossal personage is painted on the folding-
doors which defend the grand effort of art just
mentioned from vulgar eyes ; and here Rubens
has selected a very proper subject to display the
gigantic boldness of his pencil.
* The History of John Bull explains this ridiculous
appellation.

ANTWERP. 19
After I had most dutifully surveyed all his
productions in this church, I walked half over
Antwerp in quest of St. John's relics, which were
moving about in procession. If my, eyes were
not much regaled by the saint's magnificence, my
ears were greatly affected in the evening by the
music which sang forth his praises. The cathe
dral was crowded with devotees, and perfumed
with incense. A motet, in the lofty style of
Jomelli, performed with taste and feeling, trans
ported me to Italian climates ; and I grieved,
when a cessation dissolved the charm, to think
that I had still so many tramontane regions to
pass before I could in effect reach that classic
country. Finding it was in vain to expect pre
ternatural interposition, and perceiving no con
scious angel or Loretto-vehicle waiting in some
dark consecrated corner to bear me away, I
humbly returned to my hotel.
Monday, June 26th. — We were again upon
the pav6, rattling and jumbling along between
clipped hedges and blighted avenues. The
plagues of Egypt have been renewed, one might
almost imagine, in this country, by the appear
ance of the oak trees : not a leaf have the insects
spared. After having had the displeasure of
c 2

20 UNITED PROVINCES.
seeing no other objects for several hours but
these blasted rows, the scene changed to Vast
tracts of level country, buried in sand and
smothered with heath ; the particular character
of which I had but too good an opportunity
of intimately knowing, as a tortoise might have
kept pace with us without being once out of
breath. Towards evening, we entered the dominions of
the United Provinces, and had all their glory of
canals, treck-schuyts, and windmills, before us.
The minute neatness of the villages, their red
roofs, and the lively green of the willows which
shade them, corresponded with the ideas I had
formed of Chinese prospects ; a resemblance
which was not diminished upon viewing on every
side the level scenery of enamelled meadows,
with stripes of clear water across them, and in
numerable barges gliding busily along. Nothing
could be finer than the weather ; it improved each
moment, as if propitious to my exotic fancies ;
and, at sun-set, not one single cloud obscured the
horizon. Several storks were parading by the
water-side, amongst flags and osiers ; and, as far
as the eye could reach, large herds of beautifully
spotted cattle were enjoying the plenty of their

MEERDYKE. 21
pastures. I was perfectly in the environs of Can
ton, or Ning Po, till we reached Meerdyke. You
know fumigations are always the current recipe
in romance to break an enchantment ; as soon,
therefore, as I left my carriage and entered
my inn, the clouds of tobacco which filled every
one of its apartments dispersed my Chinese
imaginations, and reduced me in an instant to
Holland. Why should I enlarge upon my adventures at
Meerdyke ? To tell you that its inhabitants
are the most uncouth bipeds in the universe
would be nothing very new or entertaining; so
let me at once pass over the village, leave Rot
terdam, and even Delft, that great parent of
pottery, and transport you with a wave of my
pen to the Hague.
As the evening was rather warm, I immediately
walked out to enjoy the shade of the long avenue
which leads to Scheveling, and proceeded to
the village on the sea coast, which terminates
the perspective. Almost every cottage door
being open to catch the air, I had an oppor
tunity of looking into their neat apartments.
Tables, shelves, earthenware, all glisten with
cleanliness ; the country people were drinking

22 MEERDYKE.
tea, after the fatigues of the day, and talking
over its bargains and contrivances.
I left them to walk on the beach, and was so
charmed with the vast azure expanse of ocean,
which opened suddenly upon me, that I remained
there a full half hour. More than two hundred
vessels of different sizes were in sight, the last
sunbeam purpling their sails, and casting a path
of innumerable brilliants athwart the waves.
What would I not have given to follow this
shining track! It might have conducted me
straight to those fortunate western climates,
those happy isles which you are so fond of
painting, and I of dreaming about. But, un
luckily, this passage was the only one my neigh
bours the Dutch were ignorant of. It is true
they have islands rich in spices, and blessed with
the sun's particular attention, but which their
government, I am apt to imagine, renders by no
means fortunate.
Abandoning therefore all hopes of this adven
turous voyage, I returned towards the Hague,
and looked into a country-house of the late
Count Bentinck, with parterres and bosquets
by no means resembling, one should conjecture,
the gardens of the Hesperides. But, consider-

THE HAGUE. 23
ing that the whole group of trees, terraces, and
verdure were in a manner created out of hills of
sand, the place may claim some portion of merit.
The walks and alleys have all the stiffness and
formality which our ancestors admired ; but the
intermediate spaces, being dotted with clumps
and sprinkled with flowers, are imagined in Hol
land to be in the English style. An English
man ought certainly to behold it with partial
eyes, since every possible attempt has been made
to twist it into the taste of his country.
I need not say how liberally I bestowed my en
comiums on Count Bentinck's tasteful intentions ;
nor how happy I was, when I had duly serpen tized
over his garden^ to find myself once more in the
grand avenue. All the way home, I reflected
upon the unyielding perseverance of the Dutch,
who raise gardens from heaps of sand, and cities
out of the bosom of the waters. I had, almost
at the same moment, a whimsical proof of the
thrifty turn of this people ; for just entering the
town I met an unwieldy fellow — not ill clad —
airing his carcase in a one-dog chair. The poor
animal puffed and panted, Mynheer smoked, and
gaped around him with the most blessed in
difference.

24 THE HAGUE.

LETTER III.
The Prince of Orange's cabinet of paintings.— Temptation of
St. Anthony, by Breughel. — Exquisite pictures by Berghem
and Wouvermans. — Mean garrets stored with inestimable
productions of the Indies. — Enamelled flasks of oriental
essences. — Vision of the wardrobe of Hecuba. — Disen
chantment. — Cabinet of natural history. — A day dream. —
A delicious morsel. — Dinner at Sir Joseph Yorke's. — Two
honourable boobies.— The Great Wood. — Parterres of the
Greffier Fagel. — Air poisoned by the sluggish canals.— -
Fishy locality of Dutch banquetting rooms. — Derivation
of the inhabitants of Holland. — Origin and use of enor
mous galligaskins. — Escape from damp alleys and lazy
waters. 30th June, 1780.
I dedicated the morning to the Prince of
Orange's cabinet of paintings and curiosities
both natural and artificial. Amongst the pictures
which amused me the most is a temptation of the
holy hermit St. Anthony, by Hell-fire Breughel,
who has shown himself right worthy of the title ;
for a more diabolical variety of imps never en
tered the human imagination. Breughel has made
his saint take refuge in a ditch filled with harpies

THE HAGUE. 25
and creeping things innumerable, whose malice,
one should think, would have lost Job himself
the reputation of patience. Castles of steel and
fiery turrets glare on every side, whence issue a
band of junior devils. These seem highly enter
tained with pinking poor Anthony, and whisper
ing, I warrant ye, filthy tales in his ear. Nothing
can be more rueful than the patient's counte
nance; more forlorn than his beard; more piteous
than his eye, forming a strong contrast to the
pert winks and insidious glances of his perse
cutors ; some of whom, I need not mention, are
evidently of the female kind.
But really I am quite ashamed of having de
tained you in such bad company so long ; and
had I a moment to spare, you should be intro
duced to a better set in this gallery, where some
of the most exquisite Berghems and Wouvermans
I ever beheld would delight you for hours. I do
not think you would look much at the Polem-
bergs ; there are but two, and one of them is
very far from capital ; in short, I am in a great
hurry; so pardon me, Carlo Cignani! if I do not
do justice to your merit; and forgive me, Potter!
if I pass by your herds without leaving a tribute
of admiration.

26 THE HAGUE.
Mynheer Van Something was as eager to
precipitate my step as I was to get out of the
damps and perplexities of Sorgvliet yesterday
evening; so, mounting a creaking staircase, he
led me to a suite of garretlike apartments; which,
considering the meanness of their exterior, I was
rather surprised to find stored with some of the
most valuable productions of the Indies. Gold
cups enriched with gems, models of Chinese
palaces in ivory, glittering armour of Hindostan,
and Japan caskets, filled every corner of this
awkward treasury. The most pleasing of all its
baubles in my estimation was a large coffer of
most elaborate workmanship, containing enamell
ed flasks of oriental essences, enough to perfume
a zennana. If disagreeable fumes, as I men
tioned before, dissolve enchantments, such aro
matic oils have doubtless the power of raising
them; for, whilst I scented their fragrancy, I
could have persuaded myself, I was in the ward
robe of Hecuba, —
" Where treasured odours breathed a costly scent."
I saw, or seemed to see, the arched apartments,
the procession of matrons, the consecrated vest
ments : the very temple began to rise upon my
sight, when a sweltering Dutch porpoise ap-

THE HAGUE. 27
proaching to make me a low bow, his com
plaisance proved full as notorious as Satan's,
when, according to Catholic legends, he took
leave of Luther, that disputatious heresiarch.
No spell can resist a fumigation of this nature ;
away fled palace, Hecuba, matrons, temple, &c.
I looked up, and lo! I was in a garret. As
poetry is but too often connected with this lofty
situation, you will not wonder much at my flight.
Being a little recovered from it, I tottered down
the staircase, entered the cabinets of natural his
tory, and was soon restored to my sober senses.
A grave hippopotamus contributed a good deal
to their re-establishment.
The butterflies, I must needs confess, were
very near leading me another dance : I thought
of their native hills and beloved flowers, on the
summits of Haynang and Nan-Hoa;* but the
jargon which was gabbling all around me pre
vented the excursion, and I summoned a decent
share of attention for that ample chamber which
has been appropriated to bottled snakes and
pickled foetuses.
After having enjoyed the same spectacle in the
British Museum, no very new or singular objects
* Hills in the neighbourhood of Canton.

28 THE HAGUE.
can be selected in this. One of the rarest articles
it contains is the representation in wax of a
human head, most dexterously . flayed indeed!
Rapturous encomiums have been bestowed by
amateurs on this performance. A German pro
fessor could hardly believe it artificial ; and,
prompted by the love of truth, set his teeth in
this delicious morsel to be convinced of its
reality. My faith was less hazardously estab
lished ; and I moved off, under the conviction
that art had never produced anything more
horridly natural.
It was one o'clock before I got through the
mineral kingdom; and another hour passed before
I could quit with decorum the regions of stuffed
birds and marine productions. At length my
departure was allowable ; and I went to dine at
Sir Joseph Yorke's, with all nations and lan
guages. Amongst the company were two ho
nourable boobies and their governor, all from
Ireland. The youngest, after plying me with a
succession of innocent questions, wished to be in
formed where I proposed spending the carnival.
" At Tunis," was my answer. The questioner,
not in the least surprised, then asked who was to
sing there ? To which I replied, " Farinelli."

THE HAGUE. 29
This settled the business to our mutual satis
faction ; so after coffee I strayed to the Great
Wood, which, considering that it almost touches
the town with its boughs, is wonderfully forest
like. Not a branch being ever permitted to be
lopped, the oaks and beeches retain their natural
luxuriance. In some places their straight boles
rise sixty feet without a bough ; in others, they
are bent fantastically over the alleys, which turn
and wind about just as a painter would desire.
I followed them with eagerness and curiosity ;
sometimes deviating from my path amongst tufts
of fern and herbage.
In these cool retreats I could not believe my
self near canals and windmills ; the Dutch forma
lities were all forgotten whilst contemplating the
broad masses of foliage above, and the wild
flowers and grasses below. Hares and rabbits
scudded by me while I sat ; and the birds were
chirping their evening song. Their preservation
does credit to the police of the country, which is
so exact and well regulated as to suffer no out
rage within the precincts of this extensive wood,
the depth and thickness of which might other
wise seem calculated to favour half the sins of a
capital.

30 THE HAGUE.
Relying upon this comfortable security, I lin
gered unmolested amongst the beeches till late
in the evening; then taking the nearest path, I
suffered myself, though not without regret, to be
conducted out of this fresh sylvan scene to the
dusty, pompous parterres of the Greffier Fagel.
Every flower that wealth can purchase diffuses
its perfume on one side ; whilst every stench a
canal can exhale poisons the air on the other.
These sluggish puddles defy all the power of the
United Provinces, and retain the freedom of
stinking in spite of any endeavour to conquer
their filthiness.
But perhaps I am too bold in my assertion ;
for I have no authority to mention any attempts
to purify these noxious pools. Who knows but
their odour is congenial to a Dutch constitution?
One should be inclined to this supposition by the
numerous banquetting-rooms and pleasure-houses
which hang directly above their surface, and seem
calculated on purpose to enjoy them. If frogs
were not excluded from the magistrature of their
country (and I cannot but think it a little hard
that they are), one should not wonder at this
choice. Such burgomasters might erect their
pavilions in such situations ; but, after all, I am

THE HAGUE. 31
not greatly surprised at the fishincss of their
site, since very slight authority would persuade
me there was a period when Holland was all
water, and the ancestors of the present inhabit
ants fish. A certain oysterishness of eye and
flabbiness of complexion, are almost proofs suf
ficient of this aquatic descent: and pray tell me
for what purpose are such galligaskins as the
Dutch burthen themselves with contrived, but
to tuck up a flouncing tail, and thus cloak the
deformity of a dolphinlike termination ?
Having done penance for some time in the
damp alleys which line the borders of these lazy
waters, I was led through corkscrew sand-walks
to a vast flat, sparingly scattered over with vege
tation. There was no temptation to puzzle my
self in such a labyrinth ; so taking advantage
of the lateness of the hour, and muttering a few
complimentary promises of returning at the first
opportunity, I escaped the ennui of this endless
scrubbery, and got home, with the determination
of being wiser and less curious if ever my stars
should bring me again to the Hague.

32 LEYDEN.

LETTER IV.
Leave the Hague.— Leyden. — Wood near Haerlem. — Wad
dling fishermen. — Enter the town. — The great fair. — Riot
and uproar. — Confusion of tongues. — Mine hostess.
Haerlem, July 1st, 1780.
The sky was clear and blue when we left the
Hague, and we travelled along a shady road for
about an hour, when down sunk the carriage into
a sand-bed, and we were dragged along so slowly
that I fell into a profound repose. How long it
lasted is not material ; but when I awoke, we
were rumbling through Leyden. There is no need
to write a syllable in honour of this illustrious
city": its praises have already been sung and said
by fifty professors, who have declaimed in its
university, and smoked in its gardens. Let us
get out of it as fast as we can, and breathe the
cool air of the wood near Haerlem.
Here we arrived just as day declined : hay
was making in the fields, and perfumed the

HAERLEM. 33
country far and wide with its reviving fragrance.
I promised myself a sentimental saunter in the
groves, took up Gesner, and began to have
pretty pastoral ideas as I walked forward ; but
instead of nymphs dispersed over the meadows,
I met a gang of waddling fishermen. Letting
fall the garlands I had wreathed for the shep
herdesses, I jumped into the carriage, and was
driven off to the town. Every avenue to it
swarmed with people, whose bustle and agitation
seemed to announce that something extraordi
nary was going forward. Upon inquiry I found
it was the great fair at Haerlem ; and before we
had advanced much farther, our carriage was
surrounded by idlers and gingerbread-eaters of
all denominations. Passing the gate, we came
to a cluster of little illuminated booths beneath a
grove, glittering with toys and looking-glasses.
It was not without difficulty that we reached
our inn, and then the plague was to procure
chambers ; at last we were accommodated, and
the first moment I could call my own has been
dedicated to you.
You will not be surprised at the nonsense I
have written, since I tell you the scene of the
riot and uproar from whence it bears date. At
VOL. i. d

34 HAERLEM.
this very moment the confused murmur of voices
and music stops all regular proceedings : old
women and children tattling; apes, bears, and
show-boxes under the windows ; French rattling,
English swearing, outrageous Italians, frisking
minstrels ; tambours de basque at every corner ;
myself distracted ; a confounded squabble of
cooks and haranguing German couriers just
arrived, their masters following open-mouthed,
nothing to eat, the steam of ham and flesh-pots
all the while provoking their appetite ; squeak
ing chamber-maids in the galleries above, and
mine hostess below, half inclined to receive the
golden solicitations of certain beauties for ad
mittance, but positively refusing them the mo
ment some creditable personage appears ; eleven
o'clock strikes ; half the lights in the fair are
extinguished; scruples grow faint; and mam
mon gains the victory.

AMSTERDAM. 35

LETTER V.
Amsterdam. — The road to Utrecht. — Country-houses and
gardens. — Neat enclosures  Comfortable parties. —
Ladies and Lapdogs. — Arrival at Utrecht. — Moravian
establishment. — The woods. — Shops. — Celestial love. —
Musical Sempstresses. — Return to Utrecht.
Utrecht, 2d July, 1780.
Well, thank Heaven ! Amsterdam is behind
us ; how I got thither signifies not one farthing ;
it was all along a canal, as usual. The weather
was hot enough to broil an inhabitant of Bengal;
and the odours, exhaling from every quarter,
sufficiently powerful to regale the nose of a
Hottentot. Under these pungent circumstances we en
tered the great city. The Stadt-huys being the
only cool place it contained, I repaired thither
as fast as the heat permitted, and walked in a
lofty marble hall, magnificently coved, till the
dinner was ready at the inn. That despatched,
we set off for Utrecht. Both sides of the way
d 2

36 UTRECHT.
are lined with the country-houses and gardens
of opulent citizens, as fine as gilt statues and
clipped hedges can make them. Their num
ber is quite astonishing : from Amsterdam to
Utrecht, full thirty miles, we beheld no other
objects than endless avenues and stiff parterres
scrawled and flourished in patterns like the
embroidery of an old maid's work-bag. Not
withstanding this formal taste, I could not help
admiring the neatness and arrangement of every
inclosure, enlivened by a profusion of flowers,
and decked with arbours, beneath which a vast
number of consequential personages were solac
ing themselves after the heat of the day. Each
lusthuys we passed contained some comfortable
party dozing over their pipes, or angling in the
muddy fish-ponds below. Scarce an avenue but
swarmed with female josses; little squat pug-
dogs waddling at their sides, the attributes, I
suppose, of these fair divinities.
But let us leave them to loiter thus amiably
in their Elysian groves, and arrive at Utrecht ;
which, as nothing very remarkable claimed my
attention, I hastily quitted to visit a Moravian
establishment at Ziest, in its neighbourhood.
The chapel, a large house, late the habitation of

UTRECHT. 37
Count Zinzendorf, and a range of apartments
filled with the holy fraternity, are totally wrap
ped in dark groves, overgrown with weeds,
amongst which some damsels were straggling,
under the immediate protection of their pious
brethren. Traversing the woods, we found ourselves in a
large court, built round with brick edifices, the
grass-plats in a deplorable way, and one ragged
goat, their only inhabitant, on a little expiatory
scheme, perhaps, for the failings of the frater
nity. I left this poor animal to ruminate in
solitude, and followed my guide into a series of
shops furnished with gew-gaws and trinkets said
to be manufactured by the female part of the
society. Much cannot be boasted of their
handy-works : I expressed a wish to see some of
these industrious fair ones ; but, upon receiving
no answer, found this was a subject of which
there was no discourse.
Consoling myself as well as I was able, I put
myself under the guidance of another slovenly
disciple, who showed me the chapel, and ha
rangued very pathetically upon celestial love.
In my way thither, I caught a glimpse of some
pretty sempstresses, warbling melodious hymns

38 UTRECHT.
as they sat needling and thimbling at their
windows above. I had a great inclination to
approach this busy group, but the roll of a
brother's eye corrected me.
Reflecting upon my unworthiness, I retired
from the consecrated buildings, and was driven
back to Utrecht, not a little amused with my
expedition. If you are as well disposed to be
pleased as I was, I shall esteem myself very
lucky, and not repent sending you so hasty a
narrative.

AIX-LA-CHAPELLE. 39

LETTER VI.
Arrival at Aix-la-Chapelle. — Glimpse of a dingy grove. —
Melancholy saunterers. — Dusseldorf Gallery. — Nocturnal
depredators. — Arrival at Cologne. — Shrine of the Three
Wise Sovereigns. — Peregrinations of their beatified bones.
— Road to Bonn. — Delights of Catholicism. — Azure moun
tains. — Visionary palaces. *
We arrived at Aix-la-Chapelle about ten at
night, and saw the mouldering turrets of that
once illustrious capital by the help of a candle
and lantern. An old woman at the gate asked
our names (for not a single soldier appeared) ;
and after traversing a number of superannuated
streets without perceiving the least trace of Char
lemagne or his Paladins, we procured comfort
able though not magnificent apartments, and
slept most unheroically sound, till it was time to
set forward for Dusseldorf.
July 8th. — As we were driven out of the town,
I caught a glimpse of a grove, hemmed in by

40 DUSSELDORF.
dingy buildings, where a few water-drinkers were
sauntering along to the sound of some rueful
French horns; the wan greenish light admitted
through the foliage made them look like un
happy souls condemned to an eternal lounge for
having trifled away their existence. It was not
with much regret that I left such a party behind ;
and, after experiencing the vicissitudes of good
roads and rumbling pavements, crossed the Rhine
and travelled on to Dusseldorf.
Nothing but the famous gallery of paintings
could invite* strangers to stay a moment within
its walls ; more crooked streets, more indifferent
houses, one seldom meets with ; except soldiers,
not a living creature moving about them ; and at
night a complete regiment of bugs " marked me
for their own." Thus I lay, at once the seat of
war and the conquest of these detestable animals,
till early in the morning (Sunday, July 9th),
when Morpheus, compassionating my sufferings,
opened the ivory gates of his empire, and freed
his votary from the most unconscionable ver
min ever engendered. In humble prose, I fell
fast asleep ; and remained quiet, in defiance of
my adversaries, till it was time to survey the
cabinet.

DUSSELDORF. 41
This collection is displayed in five large gal
leries, and contains some valuable productions of
the Italian school; but the room most boasted
of is that which Rubens has filled with no less
than three enormous representations of the last
day, where an innumerable host of sinners are
exhibited as striving in vain to avoid the tangles
of the devil's tail. The woes of several fat lux
urious souls are rendered in the highest gusto.
Satan's dispute with some brawny concubines,
whom he is lugging off in spite of all their re
sistance, cannot be too much admired by those
who approve this class of subjects, and think
such strange embroglios in the least calculated
to raise a sublime or a religious idea.
For my own part, I turned from them with
disgust, and hastened to contemplate a holy
family by Camillo Procaccini, in another apart
ment. The brightest imagination can never con
ceive any figure more graceful than that of the
young Jesus ; and if ever I beheld an inspired
countenance or celestial features, it was here :
but to attempt conveying in words what the
pencil alone can express, would be only reversing
the absurdity of many a master in the gallery
who aims to represent those ideas by the pencil

42 COLOGNE.
which language alone is able to describe. Should
you admit this opinion, you will not be surprised
at my passing such a multitude of renowned
pictures unnoticed ; nor at my bringing you out
of the cabinet without deluging ten pages with
criticisms in the style of the ingenious Lady
Miller. As I had spent so much time in the gallery,
the day was too far advanced to think of travel
ling to Cologne ; I was therefore obliged to put
myself once more under the dominion of the
most inveterate bugs in the universe. This go,
vernment, like many others, made but an indif
ferent use of its power, and the subject suffering
accordingly was extremely rejoiced at flying from
his persecutors to Cologne.
July 10th. — Clouds of dust hindered my
making any remarks on the exterior of this cele
brated city ; but if its appearance be not more
beautiful from without than within, I defy the
most courteous compiler of geographical dic
tionaries to launch forth very warmly in its
praise. But of what avail are stately palaces,
broad streets, or airy markets, to a town which
can boast of such a treasure as the bodies of
those three wise sovereigns who were star-led to

COLOGNE. 43
Bethlehem ? Is not this circumstance enough to
procure it every kind of respect? I really be
lieve so, from -the pious and dignified content
ment of its inhabitants. They care not a hair
of an ass's ear whether their houses be gloomy
and ill-contrived, their pavements overgrown
with weeds, and their shops half choked up with
filthiness, provided the carcasses of Gaspar, Mel-
chior, and Balthazar might be preserved with
proper decorum. Nothing, to be sure, can be
richer than the shrine which contains these pre
cious relics. I paid my devotions before it the
moment I arrived; this step was inevitable: had
I omitted it, not a soul in Cologne but would
have cursed me for a Pagan.
Do you not wonder at hearing of these venera
ble bodies so far from their native country ? I
thought them snug under some Arabian cupola
ten feet deep in spice ; but who can tell what is
to become of one a few ages hence 1 Who knows
but the Emperor of Morocco may be canonized
some future day in Lapland ? I asked, of course,
how in the name of miracles they came hither ?
but found no story of a supernatural conveyance.
It seems that great collectress of relics, the holy
Empress Helena, first routed them out : then

44 COLOGNE.
they were packed off to Rome. King Alaric,
having no grace, bundled them down to Milan ;
where they remained till it pleased Heaven to
inspire an ancient archbisKop with the fervent
wish of depositing them at Cologne ; there these
skeletons were taken into the most especial con
sideration, crowned with jewels and filigreed
with gold. Never were skulls more elegantly
mounted ; and I doubt whether Odin's buffet
could exhibit so fine an assortment. The chapel
containing these beatified bones is placed in a
dark extremity of the cathedral. Several golden
lamps gleam along the polished marbles with
which it is adorned, and afford just light enough
to read the following monkish inscription : —
"CORPORA SANCTORUM RECUBANT HIC TERNA MAGORUM :
EX HIS SUBLATUM NIHIL EST ALIBIVE LOCATUM."
After I had satisfied my curiosity with respect
to the peregrinations of the consecrated skele
tons, I examined their shrine ; and was rather
surprised to find it not only enriched with bar
baric gold and pearl, but covered with cameos
and intaglios of the best antique sculpture.
Many an impious emperor and gross Silenus,
many a wanton nymph and frantic bacchanal,
figure in the same range with the statues of

BONN. 45
saints and evangelists. How St. Helena could
tolerate such a mixed assembly (for the shrine,
they say, was formed under her auspices) sur
passes my comprehension. Perhaps you will
say, it is no great matter ; and give me a hint
to move out of the chapel, lest the three kings
and their star should lead me quite out of my
way. Very well ; I think I had better stop in
time, to tell you, without further excursion, that
we set off after dinner for Bonn.
Our road-side was lined with beggarly chil
dren, high convent walls, and scarecrow cru
cifixes, lubberly monks, dejected peasants, and
all the delights of Catholicism. Such scenery
not engaging a share of my attention, I kept
gazing at the azure irregular mountains which
bounded our view, and in thought was already
transported to their summits. Vast and wild
were the prospects I surveyed from my imaginary
exaltation, and innumerable the chimeras which
trotted in my brain. Under their capricious
influence my fancy built castles and capitols in
the clouds with all the extravaganza of Piranesi.
The magnificence and variety of my aerial struc
tures hindered my thinking the way long. I
was walking with a crowd of phantoms upon

46 BONN.
their terraces, when the carriage made a halt.
Immediately descending the innumerable flights
of steps which divide such lofty edifices from
the lower world, I entered the inn at Bonn, and
was shown into an apartment which commands
the chief front of the Elector's residence. You
may guess how contemptible it appeared to one
just returned from palaces bedecked with all the
pomp of visionary splendour. In other respects
I saw it at a very favourable moment, for the
twilight, shading the whole facade, concealed its
plastered walls and painted columns.

BORDERS OF THE RHINE. 47

LETTER VII.
Borders of the Rhine.— Richly picturesque road from Bonn
to Andernach. — Scheme for a floating village. — Coblentz.
— A winding valley. — The river Lahn. — Ems. — The
planet. — A supposed Apparition. — A little sequestered
Paradise. July 11, 1780.
Let those who delight in picturesque country
repair to the borders of the Rhine, and follow
the road from Bonn to Coblentz. In some
places it is suspended like a cornice above the
waters ; in others, it winds behind lofty steeps
and broken acclivities, shaded by woods and
clothed with an endless variety of plants and
flowers. Several green paths lead amongst this
vegetation to the summits of the rocks, which
often serve as the foundation of abbeys and cas
tles, whose lofty roofs and spires, rising above
the cliffs, impress passengers with ideas of their

48 ANDERNACH.
grandeur, that might probably vanish upon a
nearer approach. Not choosing to lose any
prejudice in their favour, I kept a respectful
distance whenever I left my carriage, and walk
ed on the banks of the river.
Just before we came to Andernach, an an
tiquated town with strange morisco-looking
towers, I spied a raft, at least three hundred
feet in length, on which ten or twelve cottages
were erected, and a great many people em
ployed in sawing wood. The women sat spin
ning at their doors, whilst their children played
among the water-lilies that bloomed in abund
ance on the edge of the stream. A smoke,
rising from one of these aquatic habitations,
partially obscured the mountains beyond, and
added not a little to their effect.
Altogether, the scene was so novel and
amusing, that I sat half an hour contemplating
it from an eminence under the shade of some
leafy walnuts ; and should like extremely to
build a moveable village, people it with my
friends, and so go floating about from island to
island, and from one woody coast of the Rhine
to another. Would you dislike such a party?

MAYENCE. 49
I am much deceived, or you would be the first
to explore the shady promontories beneath
which we should be wafted along.
But I do not think you would find Coblentz,
where we were obliged to take up our night's
lodging, much to your taste. It is a mean,
dirty assemblage of plastered houses, striped
with paint, and set off with wooden galleries, in
the delectable taste of old St. Giles's. Above,
on a rock, stands the palace of the Elector,
which seems to be remarkable for nothing ex
cept situation. I did not bestow many looks
on this structure whilst ascending the moun
tain across which our road to Mayence conduct
ed us.
July 12. — Having attained the summit, we
discovered a vast, irregular range of country,
and advancing, found ourselves amongst downs
purpled with thyme and bounded by forests.
This sort of prospect extending for several
leagues, I walked on the turf, and inhaled with
avidity the fresh gales that blew over its herb
age, till I came to a steep slope overgrown with
privet and a variety of luxuriant shrubs in blos
som. A cloudless sky and bright sunshine made
VOL. i. e

50 EMS.
me rather loth to move on ; but the charms of
the landscape, increasing every instant, drew me
forward. I had not gone far, before a winding valley
discovered itself, inclosed by rocks and moun
tains clothed to their very summits with the
thickest woods. A broad river, flowing at the
base of the cliffs, reflected the impending vege
tation, and looked so calm and glassy that I
was determined to be better acquainted with it.
For this purpose we descended by a zigzag
path into the vale, and making the best of our
way on the banks of the Lahn (for so is the
river called) came suddenly upon the town of
Ems, famous in mineral story ; where, finding
very good lodgings, we took up our abode,
and led an Indian life amongst the wilds and
mountains. After supper I walked on a smooth lawn by
the river, to observe the moon journeying
through a world of silver clouds that lay dis
persed over the face of the heavens. It was a
mild genial evening; every mountain cast its
broad shadow on the surface of the stream ;
lights twinkled afar off on the hills ; they burnt

EMS. 51
in silence. All were asleep, except a female
figure in white, with glow-worms shining in her
hair. She kept moving disconsolately about ;
sometimes I heard her sigh ; and if apparitions
sigh, this must have been an apparition.
July 13. — The pure air of the morning invited
me abroad at an early hour. Hiring a skiff, I
rowed about a mile down the stream, and landed
on a sloping meadow, level with the waters, and
newly mown. Heaps of hay still lay dispersed
under the copses which hemmed in on every
side this little sequestered paradise. What a
spot for a tent ! I could encamp here for
months, and never be tired. Not a day would
pass by without discovering some untrodden
pasture, some unsuspected vale, where I might
remain among woods and precipices lost and
forgotten. I would give you, and two or three
more, the clue of my labyrinth: nobody else
should be conscious even of its entrance. Full
of such agreeable dreams, I rambled about the
meads, scarcely aware which way I was going ;
sometimes a spangled fly led me astray, and,
oftener, my own strange fancies. Between both,
I was perfectly bewildered, and should never
e 2

52 EMS.
have found my boat again, had not an old Ger
man naturalist, who was collecting fossils on the
cliffs, directed me to it.
When I got home it was growing late, and
I now began to perceive that I had taken no
refreshment, except the perfume of the hay and
a few wood strawberries ; airy diet, you will ob
serve, for one not yet received into the realms
of Ginnistan.

EMS. 53

LETTER VIIL
Inveterate Idlers. — The planet Orloff and his satellites. —
A Storm — Scared women. — A dreary Forest. — Village
of Wiesbaden. — Manheim  Ulm. — The Danube — un
limited plains on its margin. — Augsburg; — Sketch of the
Town. — Pomposities of the Town House. Ems, July 14.
I have just made a discovery, that this place
is as full of idlers and water-drinkers as their
Highnesses of Orange and Hesse Darmstadt can
desire ; for to them accrue all the profits of its
salubrious fountains. I protest, I knew nothing
of all this yesterday, so entirely was I taken up
with the rocks and meadows ; and conceived no
chance of meeting either card or billiard players
in their solitudes. Both however abound at
Ems, unconscious of the bold scenery in their
neighbourhood, and totally insensible to its
charms. They had no notion, not they, of ad
miring barren crags and precipices, where even

54 EMS.
the Lord would lose his way, as a clumsy lubber
decorated with stars and orders very ingeniously
observed to me ; nor could they form the least
conception of any pleasure there was in climb
ing like a goat amongst the cliffs, and then
diving into woods and recesses where the sun
had never penetrated ; where there were neither
card-tables prepared nor sideboards garnished ;
no jambon de Mayence in waiting ; no supply
of pipes, nor any of the commonest delights, to
be met with in the commonest taverns.
To all this I acquiesced with most perfect
submission, but immediately left the orator to
entertain a circle of antiquated dames and wea
ther-beaten officers who were gathering around
him. Scarcely had I turned my back upon this
polite assembly, when Monsieur V Administrateur
des bains, a fine pompous fellow, who had been
maitre d'hdtel in a great German family, came
forward purposely to acquaint me, I suppose,
that their baths had the honour of possessing
Prince Orloff, " avec sa crande rnaidresse, son
shamperlan, et guelgues tames donneur :" more
over, that his Highness came hither to refresh
himself after his laborious employments at the
Court of St. Petersburg!!, and expected (grace auv

EMS. 55
eauxl) to return to the domains his august
sovereign had lately bestowed upon him, per
fectly regenerated.
Wishing Monsieur d'Orloff all possible suc
cess, I should have left the company at a greater
distance, had not a violent shower stopped my
career, and obliged me to return to my apart
ment. The rain growing heavier, intercepted
the prospect of the mountains, and spread such
a gloom over the vale as sank my spirits fifty
degrees ; to which a close foggy atmosphere not
a little contributed. Towards night the clouds
assumed a more formidable aspect ; thunder
rolled along the distant cliffs, and torrents be
gan to run down the steeps. At intervals a
blue flash of lightning discovered the agitated
surface of the stream, and two or three scared
women rushing through the storm, and calling
all the saints in Paradise to their assistance.
Things were in this state, when the orator
who had harangued so brilliantly on the folly of
ascending mountains, bounced into the room,
and regaled my ears with a woeful narration
of murders which had happened the other day
on the precise road I was to follow the next
morning.

56 EMS.
" Sir," said he, " your route is, to be sure, very
perilous : on the left you have a chasm, down
which, should your horses take the smallest
alarm, you are infallibly precipitated ; to the
right hangs an impervious wood, and there, sir,
I can assure you, are wolves enough to devour a
regiment ; a little farther on, you cross a deso
late tract of forest land, the roads so deep and
broken, that if you go ten paces in as many
minutes you may think yourself fortunate.
There lurk the most savage banditti in Europe,
lately irritated by the Prince of Orange's pro
scription ; and so desperate, that if they make
an attack, you can expect no mercy. Should
you venture through this hazardous district to
morrow, you will, in all probability, meet a com
pany of people who have just left the town to
search for the mangled bodies of their relations;
but, for Heaven's sake, sir, if you value your
life, do not suffer an idle curiosity to lead you
over such dangerous regions, however pictu
resque their appearance."
It was almost nine o'clock before my kind
adviser ceased inspiring me with terrors ; then,
finding myself at liberty, I retired to bed, not
under the most agreeable impressions.

MANHE1M. 57
Early in the morning we set forward ; and
proceeding along the edge of the precipices
I had been forewarned of, journeyed through
the forest which had so recently been the
scene of murders and depredations. At length,
after winding several hours amongst its dreary
avenues, we emerged into open daylight. A few
minutes more brought us safe to the village
of Wiesbaden, where we slept in peace and
tranquillity. July 16. — Our apprehensions being entirely
dispersed, we rose much refreshed ; and passing
through Mayence, Oppenheim, and Worms, tra
velled gaily over the plain in which Manheim
is situated. The sun set before we arrived
there. Numbers of well-dressed people were amusing
themselves with music and fireworks in the
squares and open spaces ; other groups appeared
conversing in circles before their doors, and
enjoying the serenity of the evening. Almost
every window bloomed with carnations ; and we
could hardly cross a street without hearing the
sound of music. A scene of such happiness and
refinement formed a most agreeable contrast
to the dismalities we had left behind. All

58 ULM.
around was security and contentment in their
most engaging attire.
July 20.— After travelling a post or two, we
came in sight of a green moor, of vast extent,
with insulated woods and villages ; here and
there the Danube sweeping majestically along,
and the city of Ulm rising upon its banks. The
fields in the neighbourhood of the town were
overspread with cloths bleaching in the sun,
and waiting for barks, which convey them down
the great river in twelve days to Vienna, and
thence, through Hungary, into the midst of the
Turkish empire.
You never saw a brighter sky nor more glow
ing clouds than those which gilded our horizon.
For ten miles we beheld no other objects than
smooth unlimited levels interspersed with thick
ets of oak, beyond which appeared a long series
of mountains. Such were the very spots for
youthful games and exercises, open spaces for
the race, and spreading shades to skreen the
spectators. Father Lafiteau tells us, there are many such
vast and flowery Savannahs in the interior of
America, to which the roving tribes of Indians

ULM. 59
repair once or twice in a century to settle the
rights of the chase, and lead their solemn dances ;
and so deep an impression do these assemblies
leave on the minds of the savages, that the
highest ideas they entertain of . future felicity
consist in the perpetual enjoyment of songs and
dances upon the green boundless lawns of their
elysium. In the midst of these visionary plains
rises the abode of Ateantsic, encircled by choirs
of departed chieftains leaping in cadence to the
sound of spears as they ring on the shell of the
tortoise. Their favourite attendants, long sepa
rated from them while on earth, are restored
again in this ethereal region, and skim freely
over the vast level space ; now, hailing one
group of beloved friends ; and now, another.
Mortals newly ushered by death into this world
of pure blue sky and boundless meads, see the
long-lost objects of their affection advancing to
meet them, whilst flights of familiar birds, the
purveyors of many an earthly chase, once more
attend their progress, and the shades of their
faithful dogs seem coursing each other below.
The whole region is filled with low murmurs and
tinkling sounds, which increase in melody as its

60 AUGSBURG.
new denizens proceed, who, at length, unable to
resist the thrilling music, spring forward in
ecstasies to join the eternal round.
A share of this celestial transport seemed com
municated to me whilst my eyes wandered over
the plains, which imagination widened and ex
tended in proportion as the twilight prevailed,
and so fully abandoned was I to the illusion of the
moment, that I did not for several minutes perceive
our arrival at Giinzburg ; whence we proceeded
the next morning (July 21) to Augsburg, and
rambled about this renowned city till evening.
The colossal paintings on the walls of almost
every considerable building gave it a strange
air, which pleases upon the score of novelty.
Having passed a number of streets decorated
in this exotic manner, we found ourselves sud
denly before the public hall, by a noble statue
of Augustus ; which way soever we turned, our
eyes met some remarkable edifice, or marble
basin into which several groups of sculptured
river-gods pour a profusion of waters. These
stately fountains and bronze statues, the extra
ordinary size and loftiness of the buildings, the
towers rising in perspective, and the Doric
portal of the town-house, answered in some mea-

AUGSBURG. 61
sure the idea Montfaucon gives us of the scene
of an ancient tragedy. Whenever a pompous
Flemish painter attempts a representation of
Troy or Babylon, and displays in his back
ground those streets of palaces described in the
Iliad, Augsburg, or some such city, may easily
be traced. Frequently a corner of Antwerp dis
covers itself; and sometimes, above a Corinthian
portico, rises a Gothic spire: just such a jumble
may be viewed from the statue of Augustus,
under which I remained till the concierge came,
who was to open the gates of the town-house and
show me its magnificent hall.
I wished for you exceedingly when ascending
a flight of a hundred steps ; I entered it through
a portal, supported by tall pillars and crowned
with a majestic pediment. Upon advancing, I
discovered five more entrances equally grand,
with golden figures of guardian genii leaning
over the entablature ; and saw, through a range
of windows, each above thirty feet high, and
nearly level with the marble pavement, the whole
city, with all its roofs and spires, beneath my feet.
The pillars, cornices, and panels of this striking
apartment are uniformly tinged with brown and
gold ; and the ceiling, enriched with emblema-

62 AUGSBURG.
tical paintings and innumerable canopies and
pendents of carved work, casts a very magisterial
shade. Upon the whole, I should not be sur
prised at a burgomaster assuming a formidable
dignity in such a room.
I must confess it had a somewhat similar
effect upon me ; and I descended the flight of
steps with as much pomposity as if on the point
of giving audience to the Queen of Sheba. It
happened to be a high festival, and half the
inhabitants of Augsburg were gathered together
in the opening before their hall ; the greatest
numbers, especially the women, still exhibiting
the very dresses which Hollar engraved. My
lofty gait imposed upon this primitive assembly,
which receded to give me passage with as much
silent respect as if I had really been the wise
sovereign of Israel. When I got home, an exe
crable sourcroutish supper was served up to my
majesty ; I scolded in an unroyal style, and soon
convinced myself I was no longer Solomon.

MUNICH. GH

LETTER IX.
Extensive woods of fir in Bavaria. — Grand fair at Mu
nich. — The Elector's country palace. — Court Ladies. —
Fountains. — Costume. — Garden and tea-room. — Hoyden
ing festivities there. — The Palace and Chapel. — Gorgeous
riches of the latter. — St. Peter's thumb. — The Elector's
collection of pictures. — The Churches. — Hubbub and
confusion of the Fair. — Wild tract of country. — Village of
Wolfrathshausen. — Perpetual forests. — A Tempest. — A
night at a cottage. July 22.
Joy to the Electors of Bavaria ! for preserving
such extensive woods of fir in their dominions
as shade over the chief part of the road from
Augsburg to Munich. Near the last-mentioned
city, I cannot boast of the scenery changing
to advantage. Instead of flourishing woods and
verdure, we beheld a parched dreary flat, diver
sified by fields of withering barley, and stunted
avenues drawn formally across them ; now and
then a stagnant pool, and sometimes a dunghill,
by way of regale. However, the wild rocks of

64 MUNICH.
the Tyrol terminate the view, and to them ima
gination may fly, and ramble amidst springs and
lilies ofher own creation.. I speak from autho
rity, having had the delight of anticipating an
evening in this romantic style.
Tuesday next is the grand fair at Munich,
with horse-races and junketings : a piece of news
I was but too soon acquainted with ; for the
moment we entered the town, good-natured
creatures from all quarters advised us to get out
of it ; since traders and harlequins had filled
every corner of the place, and there was not a
lodging to be procured. The inns, to be sure,
were hives of industrious animals sorting their
merchandise, and preparing their goods for sale.
Yet, in spite of difficulties, we got possession of
a quiet apartment.
July 23. — We were driven in the evening to
Nymphenburg, the Elector's country palace, the
bosquets, jets-d'eaux, and parterres of which are
the pride of the Bavarians. The principal plat
form is all of a glitter with gilded Cupids and
shining serpents spouting at every pore. Beds
of poppies, hollyhocks, scarlet lychnis, and other
flame-coloured flowers, border the edge of the
walks, which extend till the perspective appears

MUNICH. 65
to meet and swarm with ladies and gentlemen
in party-coloured raiment. The queen of Gol-
conda's gardens in a French opera are scarcely
more gaudy and artificial. Unluckily too, the
evening was fine, and the sun so powerful that
we were half roasted before we could cross the
great avenue and enter the thickets, which
barely conceal a very splendid hermitage, where
we joined Mr. and Mrs. Trevor, and a party of
fashionable Bavarians.
Amongst the ladies was Madame la Comtesse,
I forget who, a production of the venerable
Haslang, with her daughter, Madame de Baum-
garten, who has the honour of leading the
Elector in her chains. These goddesses step
ping into a car, vulgarly called, a cariole, the
mortals followed and explored alley after alley
and pavilion after pavilion. Then, having
viewed Pagodenburg, which is, as they told me,
all Chinese ; and Marienburg, which is most
assuredly all tinsel ; we paraded by a variety of
fountains in full squirt, and though they certainly
did their best (for many were set agoing on pur
pose) I cannot say I greatly admired them.
The ladies were very gaily attired, and the
gentlemen, as smart as swords, bags, and pretty
VOL. i. f

66 MUNICH.
clothes could make them, looked exactly like
the fine people one sees represented on Dresden
porcelain. Thus we kept walking genteelly
about the orangery, till the carriage drew up
and conveyed us to Mr. Trevor's.
Immediately after supper, we drove once more
out of town, to a garden and tea-room, where
all degrees and ages dance jovially together till
morning. Whilst one party wheel briskly away
in the waltz, another amuse themselves in a
corner with cold meat and rhenish. That des
patched, out they whisk amongst the dancers,
with an impetuosity and liveliness I little ex
pected to have found in Bavaria. After turning
round and round, with a rapidity that is quite
astounding to an English dancer, the music
changes to a slower movement, and then follows
a succession of zig-zag minuets, performed by
old and young, straight and crooked, noble and
plebeian, all at once, from one end of the room
to the other. Tallow candles snuffing and
stinking, dishes changing at the risk of shower
ing down upon you their savoury contents, heads
scratching, and all sorts of performances going
forward at the same moment ; the flutes, oboes,
and bassoons, snorting, grunting, and whining

MUNICH. 67
with peculiar emphasis ; now fast, now slow, just
as Variety commands, who seems to rule the cere
monial of this motley assembly, where every dis
tinction of rank and privilege is totally forgotten.
Once a week, on Sundays that is to say, the
rooms are open, and Monday is generally far
advanced before they are deserted. If good hu
mour and coarse merriment are all that people
desire, here they are to be found in perfection.
July 24. — Custom condemned us to visit the
palace, which glares with looking-glass, gild
ing, and furbelowed flounces of cut velvet, most
sumptuously fringed and spangled. The chapel,
though small, is richer than anything Croesus
ever possessed, let them say what they will.
Not a corner but shines with gold, diamonds, and
scraps of martyrdom studded with jewels. I had
the delight of treading amethysts and the richest
gems under foot, which, if you recollect, Apu-
leius* thinks such supreme felicity. Alas ! I
was quite unworthy of the honour, and had
much rather have trodden the turf of the moun
tains. Mammon would never have taken his
eyes off the pavement ; mine soon left the con-
* Apuleius Met : Lib. 5.
Vehementer iterum ac saepius beatos illos qui
Super gemmas et monilia calcant !
F 2

68 MUNICH.
templation of it and fixed on St. Peter's thumb,
enshrined with a degree of elegance, and ad
orned by some malapert enthusiast with seve
ral of the most delicate antique cameos I ever
beheld ; the subjects, Ledas and sleeping Ve-
nuses, are a little too pagan, one should think,
for an apostle's finger.
From this precious repository we were con
ducted through the public garden to a large hall,
where part of the Elector's collection is piled up,
till a gallery can be finished for its reception.
It was matter of great favour to view, in this
state, the pieces that compose it, a very imperfect
one too, since some of the best were under opera
tion. But I would not upon any account have
missed the sight of Rubens's Massacre of the
Innocents. Such expressive horrors were never
yet transferred to canvass. Moloch himself
might have gazed at them with pleasure.
After dinner we were led round the churches ;
and if you are as much tired with reading my
voluminous descriptions, as I was with the con
tinual repetition of altars and reliquaries, the
Lord have mercy upon you ! However, your
delivery draws near. The post is going out,
and to-morrow we shall begin to mount the cliffs

BAVARIA. 69
of the Tyrol ; but, do not be afraid of any long-
winded epistles from their summits : I shall be
too well employed in ascending them.
July 25. — The noise of the people thronging
to the fair did not allow me to slumber very
long in the morning. When I got up, every
street was crowded with Jews and mountebanks,
holding forth and driving their bargains in all
the guttural hoarseness of the Bavarian dialect.
Vast quantities of rich merchandise glittered in
the shops as we passed to the gates. Heaps of
fruit and sweetmeats set half the grandams and
infants in the place cackling with felicity.
Mighty glad was I to make my escape ; and
in about an hour or two, we entered a wild tract
of country, not unlike the skirts of a princely
park. A little farther on stands a cluster of
cottages, where we stopped to give our horses
some refreshment, and were pestered with swarms
of flies, most probably journeying to Munich
fair, there to feast upon sugared tarts and honied
gingerbread. The next post brought us over hill and dale,
grove and meadow, to a narrow plain, watered
by rivulets and surrounded by cliffs, under which
lies scattered the village of Wolfrathshausen, con-

70 BAVARIA.
sisting of several remarkably large cottages,
built entirely of fir, with strange galleries pro
jecting from them. Nothing can be neater than
the carpentry of these complicated edifices, nor
more solid than their construction ; many of
them looked as if they had braved the torrents
which fell from the mountains a century ago ;
and, if one may judg*e from the hoary appearance
of the inhabitants, here are patriarchs coeval
with their mansions. Orchards of cherry-trees
cover the steeps above the village, which to our
certain knowledge produce most admirable fruit.
Having refreshed ourselves with their cooling
juice, we struck into a grove of pines, the
tallest and most flourishing we had yet beheld.
There seemed no end to these forests, except
where little irregular spots of herbage, fed by
cattle, intervened. Whenever we gained an
eminence it was only to discover more ranges of
dark wood, variegated with meadows and glit
tering streams. White clover and a profusion of
sweet-scented flowers clothe their banks ; above,
waves the mountain-ash, glowing with scarlet
berries : and beyond, rise hills, rocks and
mountains, piled upon one another, and fringed
with fir to their topmost acclivities. Perhaps

BAVARIA. 71
the Norwegian forests alone, equal these in
grandeur and extent. Those which cover the
Swiss highlands rarely convey such vast ideas.
There, the woods climb only half way up their
ascents, which then are circumscribed by snows :
here no boundaries are set to their progress, and
the mountains, from base to summit, display rich
unbroken masses of vegetation.
As we were surveying this prospect, a thick
cloud, fraught with thunder, obscured the hori
zon, whilst flashes of lightning startled our horses,
whose snorts and stampings resounded through
the woods. The impending tempests gaVe addi
tional gloom to the firs, and we travelled several
miles almost in total darkness. One moment
the clouds began to fleet, and a faint gleam
promised serener intervals, but the next was all
blackness and terror ; presently a deluge of rain
poured down upon the valley, and in a short
time the torrents beginning to swell, raged with
such violence as to be forded with difficulty.
Twilight drew on, just as we had passed the
most terrible ; then ascending a mountain, whose
pines and birches rustled with the storm, we saw
a little lake below. A deep azure haze veiled its
eastern shore, and lowering vapours concealed

72 WALCHEN-SEE.
the cliffs to the south; but over its western
extremities hung a few transparent clouds ; the
rays of a struggling sunset streamed on the sur
face of the waters, tingeing the brow of a green
promontory with tender pink,
I could not help fixing myself on the banks of
the lake for several minutes, till this apparition
faded away. Looking round, I shuddered at a
craggy mountain, clothed with forests and almost
perpendicular, that was absolutely to be sur
mounted before we could arrive at Walchen-see.
No house, not even a shed appearing, we were
forced to ascend the peak, and penetrate these
awful groves. At length, after some perils but
no adventure, we saw lights gleam upon the
shore of the Walchen lake, which served to
direct us to a cottage, where we passed the
night, and were soon lulled to sleep by the fall
of distant waters.

WALCHEN-SEE. 73

LETTER X.
Mittenwald. — Mountain chapels. — Saint Anna's young
and fair worshippers. — Road to Inspruck. — Maximilian's
tomb. — Vast range of prospects. — A mountain torrent. —
Schonberg. July 26.
The sun rose many hours before me, and
when I got up was spangling the surface of the
lake, which spreads itself between steeps of
wood, crowned by lofty crags and pinnacles.
We had an opportunity of contemplating this
bold assemblage as we travelled on the banks of
the lake, where it forms a bay sheltered by
impending forests ; the water, tinged by their
reflection with a deep cerulean, calm and tran
quil. Mountains of pine and beech rising above,
close every outlet ; and, no village or spire
peeping out of the foliage, impress an idea of
more than European solitude.

74 BAVARIA.
From the shore of Walchen-see, our road led
us straight through arching groves, which the
axe seems never to have violated, to the summit
of a rock covered with daphnes of various species,
and worn by the course of torrents into innu
merable craggy forms. Beneath, lay extended a
chaos of shattered cliffs, with tall pines springing
from their crevices, and rapid streams hurrying
between their intermingled trunks and branches.
As yet, no hut appeared, no mill, no bridge, no
trace of human existence.
After a few hours' journey through the wilder
ness, we began to discover a wreath of smoke ;
and presently the cottage from whence it arose,
composed of planks, and reared on the very brink
of a precipice. Piles of cloven fir were dis
persed before the entrance, on a little spot of
verdure browsed by goats; near them sat an
aged man with hoary whiskers, his white locks
tucked under a fur cap. Two or three beautiful
children with hair neatly braided, played around
him; and a young woman dressed in a short
robe and Polish-looking bonnet, peeped out of a
wicket window.
I was so much struck with the appearance of
this sequestered family, that, crossing a rivulet,

BAVARIA. 75
I clambered up to their cottage and sought some
refreshment. Immediately there was a conten
tion amongst the children, who should be the
first to oblige me. A little black-eyed girl suc
ceeded, and brought me an earthen jug full of
milk, with crumbled bread, and a platter of straw
berries fresh picked from the bank. I reclined
in the midst of my smiling hosts, and spread
my repast on the turf : never could I be waited
upon with more hospitable grace. The only
thing I wanted was language to express my
gratitude ; and it was this deficiency which
made me quit them so soon. The old man
seemed visibly concerned at my departure ; and
his children followed me a long way down the
rocks, talking in a dialect which passes all un
derstanding, and waving their hands to bid me
adieu. I had hardly lost sight of them and regained
my carriage before we entered a forest of pines,
to all appearance without bounds, of every age
and figure ; some, feathered to the ground with
flourishing branches ; others, decayed into shapes
like Lapland idols. Even at noonday, I thought
we should never have found our way out.
At last, having descended a long avenue, end-

76 TYROL.
less perspectives opening on either side, we
emerged into a valley bounded by hills, divided
into irregular inclosures, where many herds were
grazing. A rivulet flows along the pastures
beneath ; and after winding through the village
of Walgau, loses itself in a narrow pass amongst
the cliffs and precipices which rise above the
cultivated slopes and frame in this happy pas
toral region. All the plain was in sunshine, the
sky blue, the heights illuminated, except one
rugged peak with spires of rock, shaped not
unlike the views I have seen of Sinai, and wrap
ped, like that sacred mount, in clouds and
darkness. At the base of this tremendous mass
lies the hamlet of Mittenwald, surrounded by
thickets and banks of verdure, and watered by
frequent springs, whose sight and murmurs were
so reviving in the midst, of a sultry day, that we
could not think of leaving their vicinity, but
remained at Mittenwald the whole evening.
Our inn had long airy galleries, with pleasant
balconies fronting the mountain ; in one of these
we dined upon trout fresh from the rills, and
cherries just culled from the orchards that cover
the slopes above. The clouds were dispersing,
and the topmost peak half visible, before we

TYROL. 77
ended our repast, every moment discovering
some inaccessible cliff or summit, shining through
the mists, and tinted by the sun, with pale
golden colours. These appearances filled me
with such delight and with such a train of ro
mantic associations, that I left the table and ran
to an open field beyond the huts and gardens to
gaze in solitude and catch the vision before it
dissolved away. You, if any human being is
able, may conceive true ideas of the glowing
vapours sailing over the pointed rocks, and
brightening them in their passage with amber
light. When all was faded and lost in the blue
ether, I had time to look around me and notice
the mead in which I was standing. Here, clover
covered its surface ; there, crops of grain ; fur
ther on, beds of herbs and the sweetest flowers.
An amphitheatre of hills and rocks, broken into
a variety of glens and precipices, open a course
for several clear rivulets, which, after gurgling
amidst loose stones and fragments, fall down the
steeps, and are concealed and quieted in the
herbage of the vale.
A cottage or two peep out of the woods that
hang over the waterfalls ; and on the brow of

78 TYROL.
the hills above, appears a series of eleven little
chapels, uniformly built. I followed the narrow
path that leads to them, on the edge of the
eminences, and met a troop of beautiful pea
sants, all of the name of Anna (for it was St.
Anna's day) going to pay their devotion, seve
rally, at these neat white fanes. There were
faces that Guercino would not have disdained
copying, with braids of hair the softest and most
luxuriant I ever beheld. Some had wreathed it
simply with flowers, others with rolls of a thin
linen (manufactured in the neighbourhood), and
disposed it with a degree of elegance one should
not have expected on the cliffs of the Tyrol.
Being arrived, they knelt all together at the
first chapel, on the steps, a minute or two,
whispered a short prayer, and then dispersed
each to her fane. Every little building had now
its fair worshipper, and you may well conceive
how much such figures, scattered about the
landscape, increased its charms. Notwithstand
ing the fervour of their adorations (for at in
tervals they sighed and beat their white bosoms
with energy), several bewitching profane glances
were cast at me as I passed by. Do not be sur-^
prised, then, if I became a convert to idolatry in

SCHONBERG. 79
so amiable a form, and worshipped Saint Anna
on the score of her namesakes.
When got beyond the last chapel, I began to
hear the roar of a cascade in a thick wood of
beech and chestnut that clothes the steeps of a
wide fissure in the rock. My ear soon guided
me to its entrance, which was marked by a shed
encompassed with mossy fragments and almost
concealed by bushes of rhododendron in full
red bloom — amongst these I struggled, till reach
ing a goat-track, it conducted me, on the brink
of the foaming waters, to the very depths of the
cliff, whence issues a stream which, dashing im
petuously down, strikes against a ledge of rocks,
and sprinkles the impending thicket with dew.
Big drops hung on every spray, and glittered on
the leaves partially gilt by the rays of the declin
ing sun, whose mellow hues softened the rugged
summits, and diffused a repose, a divine calm,
over this deep retirement, which inclined me to
imagine it the extremity of the earth — the portal
of some other region of existence, — some happy
world beyond the dark groves of pine, the caves
and awful mountains, where the river takes its
source! Impressed with this romantic idea, I
hung eagerly over the gulph, and fancied I could

80 SCHONBERG.
distinguish a voice Tsubbling up with the waters ;
then looked into the abyss and strained my eyes
to penetrate its gloom — but all was dark and
unfathomable as futurity ! Awakening from my
reverie, I felt the damps of the water chill my
forehead ; and ran shivering out of the vale to
avoid them. A warmer atmosphere, that reign
ed in the meads I had wandered across before,
tempted me to remain a good while longer col
lecting dianthi freaked with beautifully varied
colours, and a species of white thyme scented
like myrrh. Whilst I was thus employed, a
confused murmur struck my ear, and, on turn
ing towards a cliff, backed by the woods from
whence the sound seemed to proceed, forth
issued a herd of goats, hundreds after hun
dreds, skipping down the steeps : then followed
two shepherd boys, gamboling together as they
drove their creatures along : soon after, the dog
made his appearance, hunting a stray heifer
which brought up the rear. I followed them
with my eyes till lost in the windings of the val
ley, and heard- the tinkling of their bells die gra
dually away. Now the last blush of crimson left
the summit of Sinai, inferior mountains being long
since cast in deep blue shade. The village was

INSPRUCK. 81
already hushed when I regained it, and in a few
moments I followed its example.
July 27- — We pursued our journey to In-
spruck, through the wildest scenes of wood and
mountain, where the rocks were now beginning
to assume a loftier and more majestic appear
ance, and to glisten with snows. I had pro
posed passing a day or two at Inspruck, visiting
the castle of Embras, and examining Count
Eysenberg's cabinet, enriched with the rarest
productions of the mineral kingdom, and a com
plete collection of the moths and flies peculiar to
the Tyrol ; but, upon my arrival, the azure of
the skies and the brightness of the sunshine
inspired me with an irresistible wish of hasten
ing to Italy. I was now too near the object of
my journey, to delay possession any longer than
absolutely necessary, so, casting a transient look
on Maximilian's tomb, and the bronze statues of
Tyrolese Counts, and worthies, solemnly ranged
in the church of the Franciscans, set off im
mediately. We crossed a broad noble street, terminated
by a triumphal arch, and were driven along the
road to the foot of a mountain waving with
fields of corn, and variegated with wood and
vol. 1. G

82 SCHONBERG.
vineyards, encircling lawns of the finest verdure,
scattered over with white houses. Upon ascend
ing the mount, and beholding a vast range of
prospects of a similar character, I almost re
pented my impatience, and looked down with
regret upon the cupolas and steeples we were
leaving behind. But the rapid succession of
lovely and romantic scenes soon effaced the for
mer from my memory.
Our road, the smoothest in the world (though
hewn in the bosom of rocks) by its sudden turns
and windings, gave us, every instant, oppor
tunities of discovering new villages, and forests
rising beyond forests ; green spots in the midst
of wood, high above on the mountains, and
cottages perched on the edge of promontories.
Down, far below, in the chasm, amidst a con
fusion of pines and fragments of stone, rages the
torrent Inn, which fills the country far and wide
with a perpetual murmur. Sometimes we de
scended to its brink, and crossed over high
bridges ; sometimes mounted halfway up the
cliffs, till its roar and agitation became, through
distance, inconsiderable.
After a long ascent we reached Schonberg,* a
* Schonberg, beautiful mountain.

SCHONBERG. 83
village well worthy of its appellation : and then,
twilight drawing over us, began to descend.
We could now but faintly discover the opposite
mountains, veined with silver rills, when we came
once more to the banks of the Inn. This tur
bulent stream accompanied us all the way to
Steinach, and broke by its continual roar the
stillness of the night, half spent, before we
retired to rest.

84 STEINACH.

LETTER XI.
Steinach. — Its torrent and gloomy strait — Achievements of
Industry  A sleepy Region. — Beautiful country round
Brixen. July 28.
I rose early to enjoy the fragrance of the ve
getation, bathed in a shower which had lately
fallen, and looking around me, saw nothing but
crags hanging over crags, and the rocky shores
of the stream, still dark with the shade of the
mountains. The small opening in which Steinach
is situated, terminates in a gloomy strait, scarce
leaving room for the road and the torrent, which
does not understand being thwarted, and will
force its way, let the pines grow ever so thick,
or the rocks be ever so formidable.
Notwithstanding the forbidding air of this
narrow dell, Industry has contrived to enliven
its steeps with habitations, to raise water by
means of a wheel, and to cover the surface of

STEINACH. 85
the rocks with soil. By this means large crops
of oats and flax are produced, and most of the
huts have gardens filled with poppies, which
seem to thrive in this parched situation.
" Urit enim lini campum seges, urit avenae,
Urunt Lethaso perfusa papavera somno."
The farther we advanced in the dell, the
larger were the plantations which discovered them
selves. For what specific purpose these gaudy
flowers meet with such encouragement, I had
neither time nor language to enquire ; the moun
taineers stuttering a gibberish unintelligible
even to Germans. Probably opium is extracted
from them ; or, perhaps, if you love a conjecture,
Morpheus has transferred his abode from the
Cimmerians to a cavern somewhere or other in
the recesses of these endless mountains. Pop
pies, you know, in poetic travels, always denote
the skirts of his soporific reign, and I do not re
member a region better calculated for undisturbed
repose than the narrow clefts and gullies which
run up amongst these rocks, lost in vapours
impervious to the sun, and moistened by rills
and showers, whose continual trickling inspire
a drowsiness not easily to be resisted. Add to
these circumstances the waving of the pines,

86 BRIXEN.
and the hum of bees seeking their food in the
crevices, and you will have as sleepy a region as
that in which Spenser and Ariosto have placed
the nodding deity.
But we may as well keep our eyes open for
the present, and look at the beautiful country
round Brixen, where I arrived in the cool of
the evening, and breathed the freshness of a
garden immediately beneath my window. The
thrushes, which nest amongst its shades, saluted
me the moment I awoke next morning.

ITALY.

ITALY.

LETTER I.
Bolsano. — Indications of approaching Italy. — Fire-flies. —
Appearance of the Peasantry. — A forest Lake. — Arrive
at Borgo di Volsugano. — Prospect of Hills in the Venetian
State. — Gorgeous Flies. — Fortress of Covalo  Leave
the country of crags and precipices and enter the territory
of the Bassanese. — Groves of olives and vines. — Classic
appearance of Bassano. — Happy groups. — Pachierotti,
the celebrated singer. — Anecdote of him. July 29, 1780.
We proceeded over fertile mountains to Bol
sano. It was here first that I noticed the rocks
cut into terraces, thick set with melons and
Indian corn; fig-trees and pomegranates hang
ing over garden walls, clustered with fruit. In
the evening we perceived several further indi
cations of approaching Italy ; and after sun-set
the Adige, rolling its full tide between preci
pices, which looked terrific in the dusk. My
riads of fire-flies sparkled amongst the shrubs on

90 BERGINE.
the bank. I traced the course of these exotic
insects by their blue light, now rising to the
summits of the trees, now sinking to the ground,
and associating with vulgar glow-worms. We
had opportunities enough to remark their pro
gress, since we travelled all night ; such being
my impatience to reach the promised land !
Morning dawned just as we saw Trent dimly
before us. I slept a few hours, then set out
again (July 30th), after the heats were in some
measure abated, and leaving Bergine, where the
peasants were feasting before their doors, in
their holiday dresses, with red pinks stuck in
their ears instead of rings, and their necks sur
rounded with coral of the same colour, we came
through a woody valley to the banks of a lake,
filled with the purest and most transparent
water, which loses itself in shady creeks, amongst
hills entirely covered with shrubs and verdure.
The shores present one continual thicket,
interspersed with knots of larches and slender
almonds, starting from the underwood. A cor
nice of rock runs round the whole, except where
the trees descend to the very brink, and dip
their boughs in the water.
It was six o'clock when I caught the sight of

BORGO DI VOLSUGANO. 91
this unsuspected lake, and the evening shadows
stretched nearly across it. Gaining a very rapid
ascent, we looked down upon its placid bosom,
and saw several airy peaks rising above tufted
foliage. I quitted the contemplation of them
with regret, and, in a few hours, arrived at
Borgo di Volsugano ; the scene of the lake still
present before the eye of my fancy.
July 31st. — My heart beat quick when I saw
some hills, not very distant, which I was told lay
in the Venetian State, and I thought an age, at
least, had elapsed before we were passing their
base. The road was never formed to delight an
impatient traveller; loose pebbles and rolling
stones render it, in the highest degree, tedious
and jolting. I should not have spared my exe
crations, had it not traversed a picturesque
valley, overgrown with juniper, and strewed
with fragments of rock, precipitated, long since,
from the surrounding eminences, blooming with
cyclamens. I clambered up several of these crags,
Fra gli odoriferi ginepri,*
to gather the flowers I have just mentioned, and
found them deliciously scented. Fratillarias,
* Ariosto Orlando Furioso.— Canto 7, stanza 32.

92 COVALO.
and the most gorgeous flies, many of which I
here noticed for the first time, were fluttering
about and expanding their wings to the sun.
There is no describing the numbers I beheld,
nor their gaily varied colouring. I could not
find in my heart to destroy their felicity ; to
scatter their bright plumage and snatch them for
ever from the realms of light and flowers. Had
I been less compassionate, I should have gained
credit with that respectable corps, the torturers
of butterflies ; and might, perhaps, have enriched
their cabinets with some unknown captives.
However, I left them imbibing the dews of
heaven, in free possession of their native rights ;
and having changed horses at Tremolano, entered
at length my long-desired Italy.
The pass is rocky and tremendous, guarded
by the fortress of Covalo, in possession of the
empress queen, and only fit, one should think, to
be inhabited by her eagles. There is no attain
ing this exalted hold but by the means of a cord
let down many fathoms by the soldiers, who live
in dens and caverns, which serve also as arsenals,
and magazines for powder; whose mysteries I
declined prying into, their approach being a
little too aerial for my earthly frame. A black

COVALO. 93
vapour, tinging their entrance, completed the
romance of the prospect, which I never shall
forget. For two or three leagues there was little varia
tion in the scenery ; cliffs, nearly perpendicular on
both sides, and the Brenta foaming and thunder
ing below. Beyond, the rocks began to be man
tled with vines and gardens. Here and there a
cottage shaded with mulberries, made its appear
ance, and we often discovered, on the banks of
the river, ranges of white buildings, with courts
and awnings, beneath which numbers of women
and children were employed in manufacturing
silk. As we advanced, the stream gradually
widened, and the rocks receded ; woods were
more frequent and cottages thicker strown.
About five in the evening we left the country
of crags and precipices, of mists and cataracts,
and were entering the fertile territory of the
Bassanese. It was now I beheld groves of olives,
and vines clustering the summits of the tallest
elms ; pomegranates in every garden, and vases
of citron and orange before almost every door.
The softness and transparency of the air soon
told me I was arrived in happier climates ; and
I felt sensations of joy and novelty run through

94 BASSANO.
my veins, upon beholding this smiling land of
groves and verdure stretched out before me.
A few hazy vapours, I can hardly call them
clouds, rested upon the extremities of the land
scape ; and, through their medium, the sun cast
an oblique and dewy ray. Peasants were re
turning home, singing as they went, and calling
to each other over the hills ; whilst the women
were milking goats before the wickets of the
cottage, and preparing their country fare.
I left them enjoying it, and soon beheld the
ancient ramparts and cypresses of Bassano ;
whose classic appearance recalled the memory of
former times, and answered exactly, the ideas I
had pictured to myself of Italian edifices. Though
encompassed by walls and turrets, neither sol
diers nor custom-house officers start out from their
concealment, to question and molest a weary tra
veller, for such is the happiness of the Venetian
state, at least of the terra firma provinces, that
it does not contain, I believe, above four regi
ments. Istria, Dalmatia, and the maritime
frontiers, are more formidably guarded, as they
touch, you know, the whiskers of the Turkish
empire. Passing under a Doric gateway, we crossed the

BASSANO. 95
chief part of the town in the way to our locanda,
pleasantly situated, and commanding a level
green, where people walk and take ices by
moonlight. On the right, the Franciscan church,
and convent, half hid in the religious gloom of
pine and cypress ; to the left, a perspective of
walls and towers rising from the turf, and mark
ing it, when I arrived, with long shadows, in front ;
where the lawn terminates, meadow, wood, and
garden run quite to the base of the mountains.
Twilight coming on, this beautiful spot swarm
ed with company, sitting in circles upon the
grass, refreshing themselves with fruit and sher
bets, or lounging upon the bank beneath the
towers. They looked so free and happy that I
longed to be acquainted with them ; and, thanks
to a warm-hearted old Venetian, (the Senator
Querini,) was introduced to a group of the prin
cipal inhabitants. Our conversation ended in a
promise to meet the next evening at the villa of
La Contessa Roberti, about a league from Bas
sano, and then to return together and sing to the
praise of Pachierotti, their idol, as well as mine.
You can have no idea what pleasure we mutu
ally found in being of the same faith, and be
lieving in one singer ; nor can you imagine what

96 BASSANO.
effects that musical divinity produced at Padua,
where he performed a few years ago, and threw
his audience into such raptures, that it was some
time before they recovered. One in particular,
a lady of distinction, fainted away the instant
she caught the pathetic accents of his voice, and
was near dying a martyr to its melody. La Con
tessa, who sings in the truest taste, gave me a
detail of the whole affair. " Egli ha fatto vera-
mente un fanatismo a Padua," was her expres
sion. I assured her we were not without idolatry
in England, upon his account ; but that in this,
as well as in other articles of belief, there were
many abominable heretics.

BASSANO. 97

LETTER II.
Villa of Mosolente. — The route to Venice. — First view of
that city. — Striking prospect from the Leon Bianco. —
Morning scene on the grand canal. — Church of Santa
Maria della Salute. — Interesting group of stately buildings.
— Convent of St. Giorgio Maggiore. — The Redentore. —
Island of the Carthusians. August 1st, 1780.
The whole morning not a soul stirred who
could avoid it. Those who were so active and
lively the night before, were now stretched lan
guidly upon their couches. Being to the full as
idly disposed, I sat down and wrote some of this
dreaming epistle ; then feasted upon figs and
melons ; then got under the shade of the cypress,
and slumbered till evening, only waking to dine,
and take some ice.
The sun declining apace, I hastened to my en
gagement at Mosolente (for so is the villa called)
placed on a verdant hill encircled by others as
vol. i. H

98 BASSANO.
lovely, and consisting of three light pavilions
connected by porticos ; just such as we admire
in the fairy scenes of an opera. A vast flight of
steps leads to the summit, where Signora Roberti
and her friends received me with a grace and
politeness that can never want a place in my me
mory. We rambled over all the apartments of
this agreeable edifice, characterised by airiness
and simplicity. The pavement encrusted with a
composition as cool and polished as marble ; the
windows, doors, and balconies adorned with silver
iron work, commanding scenes of meads and
woodlands that extend to the shores of the Adri
atic ; slender towers and cypresses rising above
the levels ; and the hazy mountains beyond Pa
dua, diversifying the expanse, form altogether a
landscape which the elegant imagination of Ho-
rizonti never exceeded.
I gazed on this delightful view till it faded in
the dusk ; then returning to Bassano, repaired to
an illuminated hall, and heard Signora Roberti
sing the very air which had excited such transport
at Padua. As soon as she had ended, a band of
various instruments stationed in the open street
began a lively symphony, which would have de
lighted me at any other time ; but now, I wished

VENICE. 99
them a thousand leagues away, so pleasingly me
lancholy an impression did the air I had been
listening to leave on my mind.
At midnight I took leave of my obliging hosts,
who were just setting out for Padua. They gave
me a thousand kind invitations, and I hope some
future day to accept them. August 2.
Our route to Venice lay winding about the
variegated plains I had surveyed from Moso
lente; and after dining at Treviso we came in
two hours and a half to Mestre, between grand
villas and gardens peopled with statues. Em
barking our baggage at the last-mentioned place,
we stepped into a gondola, whose even motion
was very agreeable after the jolts of a chaise.
We were soon out of the canal of Mestre, termi
nated by an isle which contains a cell dedicated
to the Holy Virgin, peeping out of a thicket,
whence spire up two tall cypresses. Its bells
tingled as we passed along and dropped some
paolis into a net tied at the end of a pole stretch
ed out to us for that purpose.
As soon as we had doubled the cape of this
diminutive island, an expanse of sea opened to
our view, the domes and towers of Venice rising
h 2

100 VENICE.
from its bosom. Now we began to distinguish Mu-
rano, St. Michele, St. Giorgio in Alga, and several
other islands, detached from the grand cluster,
which I hailed as old acquaintances ; innumerable
prints and drawings having long since made their
shapes familiar. Still gliding forward, we every
moment distinguished some new church or palace
in the city, suffused with the rays of the setting
sun, and reflected with all their glow of colouring
from the surface of the waters.
The air was calm ; the sky cloudless ; a faint
wind just breathing upon the deep, lightly bore
its surface against the steps of a chapel in the
island of San Secondo, and waved the veil before
its portal, as we rowed by and coasted the walls
of its garden overhung with fig-trees and sur
mounted by spreading pines. The convent dis
covers itself through their branches, built in a
style somewhat morisco, and level with the sea,
except where the garden intervenes.
We were now drawing very near the city, and
a confused hum began to interrupt the evening
stillness ; gondolas were continually passing and
repassing, and the entrance of the Canal Reggio,
with all its stir and bustle, lay before us. Our
gondoliers turned with much address through a

VENICE. 101
crowd of boats and barges that blocked up the
way, and rowed smoothly by the side of a broad
pavement, covered with people in all dresses and
of all nations.
Leaving the Palazzo Pesaro, a noble structure
with two rows of arcades and a superb rustic,
behind, we were soon landed before the Leon
Bianco, which being situated in one of the broad
est parts of the grand canal, commands a most
striking assemblage of buildings. I have no
terms to describe the variety of pillars, of pedi
ments, of mouldings, and cornices, some Grecian,
others Saracenic, that adorn these edifices, of
which the pencil of Canaletti conveys so perfect
an idea as to render all verbal description super
fluous. At one end of this grand scene of per
spective appears the Rialto ; the sweep of the
canal conceals the other.
The rooms of our hotel are spacious and cheer
ful ; a lofty hall, or rather gallery, painted with
grotesque in a very good style, perfectly clean,
floored with a marbled stucco, divides the house,
and admits a refreshing current of air. Several
windows near the ceiling look into this vast apart
ment, which serves in lieu of a court, and is ren
dered perfectly luminous by a glazed arcade,

102 VENICE.
thrown open to catch the breezes. Through it
I passed to a balcony which impends over the
canal, and is twined round with plants forming a
green festoon springing from two large vases of
orange trees placed at each end. Here I estab
lished myself to enjoy the cool, and observe, as
well as the dusk would permit, the variety of
figures shooting by in their gondolas.
As night approached, innumerable tapers
glimmered through the awnings before the win
dows. Every boat had its lantern, and the gon
dolas moving rapidly along were followed by
tracks of light, which gleamed and played upon
the waters. I was gazing at these dancing fires
when the sounds of music were wafted along the
canals, and as they grew louder and louder, an
illuminated barge, filled with musicians, issued
from the Rialto, and stopping under one of the
palaces, began a serenade, which stilled every
clamour and suspended all conversation in the
galleries and porticos ; till, rowing slowly away,
it was heard no more. The gondoliers catching
the air, imitated its cadences, and were answered
by others at a distance, whose voices, echoed by
the arch of the bridge, acquired a plaintive and
interesting tone. I retired to rest, full of the

VENICE. 103
sound ; and long after I was asleep, the melody
seemed to vibrate in my ear. August 3.
It was not five o'clock before I was aroused
by a loud din of voices and splashing of water
under my balcony. Looking out, I beheld the
grand canal so entirely covered with fruits and
vegetables, on rafts and in barges, that I
could scarcely distinguish a wave. Loads of
grapes, peaches and melons arrived, and dis
appeared in an instant, for every vessel was in
motion ; and the crowds of purchasers hurrying
from boat to boat, formed a very lively picture.
Amongst the multitudes, I remarked a good
many whose dress and carriage announced some
thing above the common rank ; and upon enquiry
I found they were noble Venetians, just come from
their casinos, and met to refresh themselves with
fruit, before they retired to sleep for the day.
Whilst I was observing them, the sun began
to colour the balustrades of the palaces, and the
pure exhilarating air of the morning drawing me
abroad, I procured a gondola, laid in my provi
sion of bread and grapes, and was rowed under
the Rialto, down the grand canal to the marble
steps of S. Maria della Salute, erected by the

104 VENICE.
Senate in performance of a vow to the Holy
Virgin, who begged off a terrible pestilence in
1630. The great bronze portal opened whilst I
was standing on the steps which lead to it, and
discovered the interior of the dome, where I ex
patiated in solitude ; no mortal appearing except
an old priest who trimmed the lamps and mut
tered a prayer before the high altar, still wrapt
in shadows. The sun-beams began to strike
against the windows of the cupola, just as I left
the church and was wafted across the waves to
the spacious platform in front of St. Giorgio
Maggiore, one of the most celebrated works of
Palladio. When my first transport was a little subsided,
and I had examined the graceful design of each
particular ornament, and united the just propor
tion and grand effect of the whole in my mind, I
planted my umbrella on the margin of the sea,
and viewed at my leisure the vast range of
palaces, of porticos, of towers, opening on every
side and extending out of sight. The Doge's
palace and the tall columns at the entrance of
the place of St. Mark, form, together with the
arcades of the public library, the lofty Campa
nile and the cupolas of the ducal church, one of

VENICE. 105
the most striking groups of buildings that art
can boast of. To behold at one glance these
stately fabrics, so illustrious in the records of
former ages, before which, in the flourishing
times of the republic, so many valiant chiefs and
princes have landed, loaded with oriental spoils,
was a spectacle I had long and ardently desired.
I thought of the days of Frederic Barbarossa,
when looking up the piazza of St. Mark, along
which he marched in solemn procession, to cast
himself at the feet of Alexander the Third, and
pay a tardy homage to St. Peter's successor.
Here were no longer those splendid fleets that
attended his progress ; one solitary galeass was
all I beheld, anchored opposite the palace of the
Doge and surrounded by crowds of gondolas,
whose sable hues contrasted strongly with its
vermilion oars and shining ornaments. A party-
coloured multitude was continually shifting from
one side of the piazza to the other ; whilst sena
tors and magistrates in long black robes were
already arriving to fill their respective offices.
I contemplated the busy scene from my peace
ful platform, where nothing stirred but aged
devotees creeping to their devotions, and, whilst
I remained thus calm and tranquil, heard the

106 VENICE.
distant buzz of the town. Fortunately some
length of waves rolled between me and its tu
mults ; so that I ate my grapes, and read Meta-
stasio, undisturbed by officiousness or curiosity.
When the sun became too powerful, I entered
the nave.
After I had admired the masterly structure of
the roof and the lightness of its arches, my eyes
naturally directed themselves to the pavement of
white and ruddy marble, polished, and reflecting
like a mirror the columns which rise from it.
Over this I walked to a door that admitted me
into the principal quadrangle of the convent,
surrounded by a cloister supported on Ionic pil
lars, beautifully proportioned. A flight of stairs
opens into the court, adorned with balustrades
and pedestals, sculptured with elegance truly
Grecian. This brought me to the refectory,
where the chef-d'oeuvre of Paul Veronese, repre
senting the marriage of Cana in Galilee, was
the first object that presented itself. I never
beheld so gorgeous a group of wedding-garments
before ; there is every variety of fold and plait
that can possibly be imagined. The attitudes
and countenances are more uniform, and the
guests appear a very genteel, decent sort of peo-

VENICE. 107
pie, well used to the mode of their times and
accustomed to miracles.
Having examined this fictitious repast, I cast
a look on a long range of tables covered with
very excellent realities, which the monks were
coming to devour with energy, if one might
judge from their appearance. These sons of
penitence and mortification possess one of the
most spacious islands of the whole cluster, a
princely habitation, with gardens and open por
ticos, that engross every breath of air ; and, what
adds not a little to the charms of their abode,
is the facility of making excursions from it,
whenever they have a mind.
The republic, jealous of ecclesiastical influ
ence, connives at these amusing rambles, and,
by encouraging the liberty of monks and church
men, prevents their appearing too sacred and
important in the eyes of the people, who have
frequent proofs of their being mere flesh and
blood, and that of the frailest composition. Had
the rest of Italy been of the same opinion, and
profited as much by Fra Paolo's maxims, some of
its fairest fields would not, at this moment, lie
uncultivated, and its ancient spirit might have
revived. However, I can scarcely think the

108 VENICE.
moment far distant, when it will assert its natural
prerogatives, and look back upon the tiara, with
all its host of scaring phantoms, as the offspring
of a feverish dream.
Full of prophecies and bodings, I moved
slowly out of the cloisters ; and, gaining my
gondola, arrived, I know not how, at the flights
of steps which lead to the Redentore, a structure
so simple and elegant, that I thought myself en
tering an antique temple, and looked about for
the statue of the God of Delphi, or some other
graceful divinity. A huge crucifix of bronze
soon brought me to times present.
The charm being thus dissolved, I began to
perceive the shapes of rueful martyrs peeping
out of the niches around, and the bushy beards
of capuchin friars wagging before the altars.
These good fathers had decorated the nave with
orange and citron trees, placed between the pi
lasters of the arcades ; and on grand festivals, it
seems, they turn the whole church into a bower,
strew the pavement with leaves, and festoon the
dome with flowers.
I left them occupied with their plants and
their devotions. It was mid-day, and I begged
to be rowed to some woody island, where

VENICE. 109
I might dine in shade and tranquillity. My
gondoliers shot off in an instant ; but, though
they went at a very rapid rate, I wished to ad
vance still faster, and getting into a bark with
six oars, swept along the waters, soon left the
Zecca and San Marco behind ; and, launching
into the plains of shining sea, saw turret after
turret, and isle after isle, fleeting before me. A
pale greenish light ran along the shores of the
distant continent, whose mountains seemed to
catch the motion of my boat, and to fly with
equal celerity.
I had not much time to contemplate the beau
tiful effects on the waters — the emerald and
purple hues which gleamed along their surface.
Our prow struck, foaming, against the walls of
the Carthusian garden, before I recollected
where I was, or could look attentively around
me. Permission being obtained, I entered this
cool retirement, and putting aside with my
hands the boughs of figs and pomegranates, got
under an ancient bay-tree on the summit of a
little knoll, near which several tall pines lift
themselves up to the breezes. I listened to the
conversation they held, with a wind just flown
from Greece, and charged, as well as I could

110 VENICE.
understand this airy language, with many affec
tionate remembrances from their relations on
Mount Ida.
I reposed amidst fragrant leaves, fanned by a
constant air, till it pleased the fathers to sefld
me some provisions, with a basket of fruit and
wine. Two of them would wait upon me, and
ask ten thousand questions about Lord George
Gordon, and the American war. I, who was
deeply engaged with the winds, and a thousand
agreeable associations excited by my Grecian
fancies, wished my interrogators in purgatory,
and pleaded ignorance of the Italian language.
This circumstance extricated me from my em
barrassment, and procured me a long interval of
repose.

VENICE. HI

LETTER III.
Church of St. Mark. — The Piazza. — Magnificent festivals
formerly celebrated there. — Stately architecture of San-
sovino. — The Campanile. — The Loggetta. — The Ducal
Palace. — Colossal Statues. — Giants' Stairs. — Fit of en
thusiasm. — Evening-scene in the great Square. — Venetian
intrigue  Confusion of languages. — Madame de Rosen
berg. — Character of the Venetians.
The rustling of the pines had the same effect
as the murmurs of other old story-tellers, and I
dozed undisturbed till the people without, in the
boat, (who wondered not a little, I dare say,
what was become of me within,) began a sort of
chorus in parts, full of such plaintive modula
tion, that I still thought myself under the in
fluence of a dream, and, half in this world and
half in the other, believed, like the heroes of
Fingal, that I had caught the music of the spi
rits of the hill.
When I was thoroughly convinced of the
reality of these sounds, I moved towards the
shore whence they proceeded : a glassy sea lay

112 VENICE.
before me ; no gale ruffled the expanse ; every
breath had subsided, and I beheld the sun go
down in all its sacred calm. You have expe
rienced the sensations this moment inspires ;
imagine what they must have been in such a
scene, and accompanied with a melody so simple
and pathetic. I stepped into my boat, and now
instead of encouraging the speed of the gon
doliers, begged them to abate their ardour, and
row me lazily home. They complied, and we
were near an hour reaching the platform in front
of the ducal palace, thronged as usual with a
variety of nations. I mixed a moment with the
crowd; then directed my steps to the great
mosque, I ought to say the church of St. Mark ;
but really its cupolas, slender pinnacles, and
semicircular arches, have so oriental an appear
ance, as to excuse this appellation. I looked a
moment at the four stately coursers of bronze
and gold that adorn the chief portal, and then
took in, at one glance, the whole extent of the
piazza, with its towers and standards. A more
noble assemblage was never exhibited by archir
tecture. I envied the good fortune of Petrarch,
who describes, in one of his letters, a tournament
held in this princely opening.

VENICE. 11.1
Many are the festivals which have been here
celebrated. When Henry the Third left Po
land to mount the throne of France, he passed
through Venice, and found the Senate waiting
to receive him in their famous square, which by
means of an awning stretched from the balus
trades of opposite palaces, was metamorphosed
into a vast saloon, sparkling with artificial stars,
and spread with the richest carpets of the East.
What a magnificent idea ! The ancient Ro
mans, in the zenith of power and luxury, never
conceived a greater. It is to them, however,
the Venetians are indebted for the hint, since
we read of the Coliseo and Pompey's theatre
being sometimes covered with transparent can
vas, to defend the spectators from the heat or
sudden rain, and to tint the scene with soft
agreeable colours.
Having enjoyed the general perspective of the
piazza, I began to enter into particulars, and ex
amine the bronze pedestals of the three standards
before the great church, designed by Sansovino
in the true spirit of the antique, and covered with
relievos, at once bold and elegant. It is also to
this celebrated architect we are indebted for the
stately facade of the Procuratie nuove, which
VOL. i. i

114 VENICE.
forms one side of the square, and presents an un
interrupted series of arcades and marble columns
exquisitely wrought. Opposite this magnificent
range appears another line of palaces, whose
architecture, though far removed from the Gre
cian elegance of Sansovino, impresses veneration,
and completes the pomp of the view.
There is something strange and singular in
the Tower or Campanile, which rises distinct from
the smooth pavement of the square, a little to
the left as you stand before the chief entrance of
St. Mark's. The design is barbarous, and termi
nates in uncouth and heavy pyramids ; yet in
spite of these defects it struck me with awe. A
beautiful building called the Loggetta, and which
serves as a guard-house during the convocation
of the Grand Council, decorates its base. Nothing
can be more enriched, more finished than this
structure ; which, though far from diminutive, is
in a manner lost at the foot of the Campanile.
This enormous fabric seems to promise a long
duration, and will probably exhibit Saint Mark
and his Lion to the latest posterity. Both ap
pear in great state towards its summit, and
have nothing superior, but an archangel perched
on the topmost pinnacle, and pointing to the

VENICE. 115
skies. The dusk prevented my remarking the
various sculptures with which the Loggetta is
crowded. Crossing the ample space between this grace
ful edifice and the ducal palace, I passed through
a labyrinth of pillars and entered the principal
court, of which nothing but the great outline was
visible at so late an hour. Two reservoirs of
bronze richly sculptured diversify the area. In
front a magnificent flight of steps presents itself,
by which the senators ascend through vast and
solemn corridors, which lead to the interior of
the edifice. The colossal statues of Mars and
Neptune guard the entrance, and have given the
appellation of scala dei giganti to the steps be
low, which I mounted not without respect ; and,
leaning against the balustrades, formed like the
rest of the building of the rarest marbles, con
templated the tutelary divinities.
My admiration was shortly interrupted by one
of the sbirri, or ofiicers of police, who take their
stands after sunset before the avenues of the
palace, and who told me the gates were upon
the point of being closed. So, hurrying down the
steps, I left a million of delicate sculptures un
explored ; for every pilaster, every frieze, every
i 2

116 VENICE.
entablature, is encrusted with porphyry, verde
antique, or some other precious marble, carved
into as many grotesque wreaths of foliage as we
admire in the loggie of Raphael. The various
portals, the strange projections ; in short, the
striking irregularity of these stately piles, delight
ed me beyond idea ; and I was sorry to be forced
to abandon them so soon, especially as the twi
light, which bats and owls love not better than
I do, enlarged every portico, lengthened every
colonnade, and increased the dimensions of the
whole, just as imagination desired. This faculty
would have had full scope had I but remained
an hour longer. The moon would then have
gleamed upon the gigantic forms of Mars and
Neptune, and discovered the statues of an
cient heroes emerging from the gloom of their
niches. Such an interesting combination of objects,
such regal scenery, with the reflection that many
of their ornaments once contributed to the deco
ration of Athens, transported me beyond myself.
The sbirri thought me distracted. True enough,
I was stalking proudly about like an actor in an
ancient Grecian tragedy, lifting up his hands,

VENICE. 117
to the consecrated fanes and images around,
expecting the reply of his attendant chorus,
and declaiming the first verses of Oedipus Ty-
rannus. This fit of enthusiasm Mas hardly subsided,
when I passed the gates of the palace into the
great square, which received a faint gleam from
its casinos and palaces, just beginning to be
lighted up, and to become the resort of plea
sure and dissipation. Numbers were walking
in parties upon the pavement ; some sought
the convenient gloom of the porticoes with their
favourites ; others were earnestly engaged in con
versation, and filled the gay illuminated apart
ments, where they resorted to drink coffee and
sorbet, with laughter and merriment. A thought
less giddy transport prevailed ; for, at this hour,
anything like restraint seems perfectly out of the
question ; and however solemn a magistrate or
senator may appear in the day, at night he lays
up wig and robe and gravity to sleep together,
runs intriguing about in his gondola, takes the
reigning sultana under his arm, and so rambles
half over the town, which grows gayer and gayer
as the day declines.

118 VENICE.
Many of the noble Venetians have a little suite
of apartments in some out-of-the-way corner,
near the grand piazza, of which their families
are totally ignorant. To these they skulk in the
dusk, and revel undisturbed with the companions
of their pleasures. Jealousy itself cannot discover
the alleys, the winding passages, the unsuspected
doors, by which these retreats are accessible.
Many an unhappy lover, whose mistress disap
pears on a sudden with some fortunate rival, has
searched for her haunts in vain. The gondoliers
themselves, though the prime managers of in
trigue, are often unacquainted with these interior
cabinets. When a gallant has a mind to pursue
his adventures with mystery, he rows to the
piazza, orders his bark to wait, meets his goddess
in the crowd, and vanishes from all beholders.
Surely, Venice is the city in the universe best
calculated for giving scope to the observations
of a devil upon two sticks. What a variety of
lurking-places would one stroke of his crutch
uncover !
Whilst the higher ranks were solacing them
selves in their casinos, the rabble were gathered
in knots round the strollers and mountebanks,

VENICE. 119
singing and scaramouching in the middle of the
square. I observed a great number of Orientals
amongst the crowd, and heard Turkish and Ara
bic muttering in every corner. Here the Sclavo-
nian dialect predominated ; there some Grecian
jargon, almost unintelligible. Had Saint Mark's
church been the wondrous tower, and its piazza
the chief square, of the city of Babylon, there
could scarcely have been a greater confusion of
languages. The novelty of the scene afforded me no small
share of amusement, and I wandered about from
group to group, and from one strange exotic to
another, asking and being asked innumerable
ridiculous questions, and settling the politics of
London and Constantinople, almost in the same
breath. This instant I found myself in a circle
of grave Armenian priests and jewellers ; the next
amongst Greeks and Dalmatians, who accosted
me with the smoothest compliments, and gave
proof that their reputation for pliability and
address was not ill-founded.
I was entering into a grand harum-scarum
discourse with some Russian counts or princes,
or whatever you please, just landed with dwarfs,

120 VENICE.
and footmen, and governors, and staring like me,
about them, when Madame de Rosenberg arrived,
to whom I had the happiness of being recom
mended. She presented me to some of the most
distinguished of the Venetian families at their
great casino, which looks into the piazza, and
consists of five or six rooms, fitted up in a gay
flimsy taste, neither rich nor elegant, where were
a great many lights, and a great many ladies
negligently dressed, their hair falling very freely
about them, and innumerable adventures written
in their eyes. The gentlemen were lolling upon
the sofas, or lounging about the apartments.
The whole assembly seemed upon the verge of
gaping, till coffee was carried round. This magic
beverage diffused a temporary animation ; and,
for a moment or two, conversation moved on
with a degree of pleasing extravagance ; but the
flash was soon dissipated, and nothing remained
save cards and stupidity.
In the intervals of shuffling and dealing, some
talked over the affairs of the grand council with
less reserve than I expected ; and two or three
of them asked some feeble questions about the
late tumults in London. It was one o'clock

VENICE. 121
before all the company were assembled, and I left
them at three, still dreaming over their coffee
and card-tables. Trieze is their favourite game :
uno, due, tre, quatro, cinque, fante, cavallo re,
are eternally repeated ; the apartments echoed no
other sound.
I wonder a lively people can endure such
monotony, for I have been told the Venetians
are remarkably spirited ; and so eager in the
pursuit of amusement as hardly to allow them
selves any sleep. Some, for instance, after de
claiming in the Senate, walking an hour in the
square, and fidgeting about from one casino to
another till morning dawns, will get into a gon
dola, row across the Lagunes, take the post to
Mestre or Fusina, and jumble over craggy pave
ments to Treviso, breakfast in haste, and rattle
back again as if the Devil were charioteer : by
eleven the party is restored to Venice, resumes
robe and periwig, and goes to council.
This may be very true, and yet I will never
cite the Venetians as examples of vivacity. Their
nerves unstrung by early debaucheries, allow no
natural flow of lively spirits, and at best but a
few moments of a false and feverish activity. The

122 VENICE.
approaches of sleep, forced back by an immode
rate use of coffee, render them weak and listless,
and the facility of being wafted from place to
place in a gondola, adds not a little to their in
dolence. In short, I can scarcely regard their
Eastern neighbours in a more lazy light ; who,
thanks to their opium and their harems, pass
their lives in one perpetual doze.

VENICE. 123

LETTER IV.
Excessive heat — The Devil and Senegal  A dreary, shore.
— Scene of the Doge's nuptials with the sea  Return to
the Place of St. Mark. — Swarm of Lawyers. — Receptacles
for anonymous accusations. — The Council of Ten. — Ter
rible punishments of its victims. — Statue of Neptune. —
Fatal Waters. — Bridge of Sighs  The Fondamenti Nuovi.
— Conservatory of the Mendicanti. — An Oratorio. — Pro
found attention of the Audience. August 4th, 1780.
The heats were so excessive in the night, that
I thought myself several times on the point of
suffocation, tossed about like a wounded fish,
and dreamt of the Devil and Senegal. Towards
sunrise, a faint breeze restored me to life and
reason. I slumbered till late in the day, and
the moment I was fairly awake, ordered my gon
dolier to row out to the main ocean, that I might
plunge into the waves, and hear and see nothing
but waters around me.
We shot off, wound amongst a number of
sheds, shops, churches, casinos, and palaces,

124 VENICE.
growing immediately out of the canals, without
any apparent foundation. No quay, no terrace,
not even a slab is to be seen before the doors ;
one step brings you from the hall into the bark,
and the vestibules of the stateliest structures lie
open to the waters, and but just above their
level. I observed several, as I glided along,
supported by rows of well-proportioned columns,
adorned with terms and vases, beyond which the
eye generally discovers a grand court, and some
times a garden.
In about half an hour, we had left the thickest
cluster of isles behind, and, coasting the Place
of St. Mark opposite to San Giorgio Maggiore,
whose elegant frontispiece was distinctly re
flected by the calm waters, launched into the
blue expanse of sea, from which rise the Car
thusian and two or three other woody islands.
I hailed the spot where I had passed such a
happy visionary evening, and nodded to my
friends the pines.
A few minutes more brought me to a dreary,
sun-burnt shore, stalked over by a few Sclavo-
nian soldiers, who inhabit a castle hard by, go
regularly to an ugly unfinished church, and from
thence, it is to be hoped, to paradise ; as the air

VENICE. 125
of their barracks is abominable, and kills them
like blasted sheep.
Forlorn as this island appeared to me, I was
told it was the scene of the Doge's pageantry at
the feast of the Ascension ; and the very spot to
which he sails in the Bucentaur, previously to
wedding the sea. You have heard enough, and
if ever you looked into a show-box, seen full
sufficient of this gaudy spectacle, without my
enlarging upon the topic. I shall only say, that
I was obliged to pursue, partly, the same road
as the nuptial procession, in order to reach the
beach, and was broiled and dazzled accordingly.
At last, after traversing some desert hillocks,
all of a hop with toads and locusts (amongst
which English heretics have the honour of being
interred), I passed under an arch, and suddenly
the boundless plains of ocean opened to my view.
I ran to the smooth sands, extending on both
sides out of sight, and dashed into the waves,
which were coursing one another with a gentle
motion, and breaking lightly on the shores.
The tide rolled over me as I lay floating about,
buoyed up by the water, and carried me where
soever it listed. It might have borne me far out
into the main before I had been aware, so totally

126 VENICE.
was I abandoned to the illusion of the moment.
My ears were filled with murmuring undecided
sounds ; my limbs, stretched languidly on the
surge, rose or sunk just as it swelled or subsided.
In this passive state I remained, till the sun cast
a less intolerable light, and the fishing-vessels,
lying out in the bay at a great distance, spread
their sails and were coming home.
Hastening back over the desert of locusts, I
threw myself into the gondola ; and, no wind
or wave opposing, was soon wafted across to
those venerable columns, so conspicuous in the
Place of St. Mark. Directing my course imme
diately to the ducal palace, I entered the grand
court, ascending the giants' stairs, and examined
at my leisure its bas-reliefs. Then, taking the
first guide that presented himself, I was shown
along several cloisters and corridors, sustained
by innumerable pillars, into the state apart
ments, which Tintoret and Paolo Veronese have
covered with the triumphs of their country.
A swarm of lawyers filled the Sala del Mag-
gior Consiglio, and one of the first advocates in
the republic was pleading with all his might,
before a solemn row of senators. The eyes and
ears of the assembly seemed equally affected.

VENICE. 127
Clouds of powder, and volleys of execrations
issuing every instant from the disputants, I got
out of their way ; and was led from hall to hall,
and from picture to picture, with exemplary
resignation. To be sure, I was heartily tired,
but behaved with decency, having never once
expressed how much I wished the chefs-d'oeuvre
I had been contemplating, less smoky and nu
merous. At last, I reached once more the colonnades at
the entrance, and caught the sea-breeze in the
open porticoes which front San Giorgio Mag
giore. The walls are covered in most places
with grim visages sculptured in marble, whose
mouths gape for accusations, and swallow every
lie that malice and revenge can dictate. I
wished for a few ears of the same kind, dispersed
about the Doge's residence, to which one might
apply one's own, and catch some account of the
mysteries within; some little dialogue between the
three Inquisitors, or debate in the Council of Ten.
This is the tribunal which holds the wealthy
nobility in continual awe; before which they
appear with trembling and terror ; and whose
summons they dare not disobey. Sometimes, by
way of clemency, it condemns its victims to

128 VENICE.
perpetual imprisonment, in close, stifling cells,
between the leads and beams of the palace ; or,
unwilling to spill the blood of a fellow-citizen*
generously sinks them into dungeons, deep under
the canals which wash its foundations ; so that,
above and below, its majesty is contaminated by
the abodes of punishment. What other sove
reign could endure the idea of having his imme
diate residence polluted with tears ? or revel in
his halls, conscious that many of his species were
consuming their hours in lamentations above his
head, and that but a few beams separated him
from the scene of their tortures ? However
gaily disposed, could one dance with pleasure on
a pavement, beneath which lie damp and gloomy
caverns, whose inhabitants waste away by painful
degrees, and feel themselves whole years a-dying ?
Impressed by these terrible ideas, I could not
regard the palace without horror, and wished for
the strength of a thousand antediluvians, to level
it with the sea, lay open the secret recesses of
punishment, and admit free gales and sunshine
into every den.
When I had thus vented my indignation, I
repaired to the statue of Neptune, whom twenty
ages ago I should have invoked to second my

VENICE. 129
enterprise. Once upon a time no deity had a
freer hand at razing cities. His execution
was renowned throughout all antiquity, and
the proudest monarchs deprecated the wrath of
KPEION ENO2IX0ON. But, like the other
mighty ones of ancient days, his reign is past and
his trident disregarded. Formerly any wild spirit
found favour in the eyes of fortune, and was led
along the career of glory to the deliverance of
captives and the extirpation of monsters ; but, in
our degenerate times, this easy road to fame is
no longer open, and the means of producing such
signal events are perplexed and difficult.
Abandoning therefore the sad tenants of the
Piombi to their fate, I left the courts, and
stepping into my bark, was rowed down a canal
overshadowed by the lofty walls of the palace.
Beneath these fatal waters the dungeons I have
also been speaking of are situated. There the
wretches lie marking the sound of the oars, and
counting the free passage of every gondola.
Above, a marble bridge, of bold majestic architec
ture, joins the highest part of the prisons to the
secret galleries of the palace ; from whence crimi
nals are conducted over the arch to a cruel and
mysterious death. I shuddered whilst passing
VOL. I. K

130 VENICE.
below ; and believe it is not without cause, this
structure is named PONTE DEI SOSPIRI.
Horrors and dismal prospects haunted my fancy
upon my return. I could not dine in peace, so
strongly was my imagination affected; but snatch
ing my pencil, I drew chasms and subterraneous
hollows, the domain of fear and torture, with
chains, racks, wheels, and dreadful engines in the
style of Piranesi. About sunset I went and re
freshed myself with the cool air and cheerful
scenery of the Fondamenti nuovi, a vast quay or
terrace of white marble, which commands the
whole series of isles, from San Michele to Torcello,
" That rise and glitter o'er the ambient tide."
Nothing can be more picturesque than the
groups of towers and cupolas which they present;
mixed with flat roofs and low buildings, and now
and then a pine or cypress. Afar off, a little
woody isle, called II Deserto, swells from the
ocean and diversifies its expanse.
When I had spent a delightful half-hour in
viewing the distant isles, M. de Benincasa accom
panied me to the Mendicanti, one of the four
conservatorios, which give the best musical edu
cation conceivable to near one hundred young
women. You may imagine how admirably those

VENICE. 131
of the Mendicanti in particular are taught, since
their establishment is under the direction of Ber-
toni, who breathes around him the very soul
of harmony. The chapel in which we sat to
hear the oratorio was dark and solemn ; a screen
of lofty pillars, formed of black marble and highly
polished, reflected the lamps which burn per
petually before the altar. Every tribune was
thronged with people, whose profound silence
showed them worthy auditors of this master's
music. Here were no cackling old women, or
groaning Methodists, such as infest our English
tabernacles, and scare one's ears with hoarse
coughs accompanied by the naso obligato. All
were still and attentive, imbibing the plaintive
notes of the voices with eagerness ; and scarce
a countenance but seemed deeply affected with
David's sorrows, the subject of the performance.
I sat retired in a solitary tribune, and felt them
as my own. Night came on before the last cho
rus was sung, and I still seem to hear its sacred
melody.

k 2

132 VENICE.

LETTER V.
M. de Viloison and his attendant Laplander. — Drawings of
ancient Venetian costume in one of the Gradanigo pa
laces. — Titian's master-piece in the church of San Gio
vanni e Paolo. — The distant Euganean hills.
August 18, 1780.
It rains ; the air is refreshed and I have cour
age to resume my pen, which the sultry weather
had forced to lie dormant so long. I like this
odd town of Venice, and find every day some
new amusement in rambling about its innu
merable canals and alleys. Sometimes I pry
about the great church of Saint Mark, and ex
amine the variety of marbles and mazes of deli
cate sculpture with which it is covered. 'The
cupola, glittering with gold, mosaic, and paint
ings of half the wonders in the Apocalypse, never
fails to transport me to the period of the Eastern
empire. I think myself in Constantinople, and
expect Michael Paleologus with all his train.

VENICE. 133
One circumstance alone prevents my observing
half the treasures of the place, and holds down
my fancy just springing into the air : I mean the
vile stench which exhales from every recess and
corner of the edifice, and which all the incense of
the altars cannot subdue.
When no longer able to endure this noxious
atmosphere, I run up the Campanile in the piazza,
and seating myself amongst the pillars of the gal
lery, breathe the fresh gales which blow from the
Adriatic ; survey at my leisure all Venice beneath
me, with its azure sea, white sails, and long tracks
of islands shining in the sun. Having thus laid
in a provision of wholesome breezes, I brave the
vapours of the canals, and venture into the most
curious and murky quarters of the city, in search
of Turks and Infidels, that I may ask as many
questions as I please about Cairo and Damascus.
Asiatics find Venice very much to their taste,
and all those I conversed with allowed its cus
toms and style of living had a good deal of con
formity to their own. The eternal lounging in
coffee-houses and sipping of sorbets agree per
fectly well with the inhabitants of the Ottoman
empire, who stalk about here in their proper
dresses, and smoke their own exotic pipes, with-

134 VENICE.
out being stared and wondered at as in most
other European capitals. Some few of these
Orientals are communicative and enlightened;
but, generally speaking, they know nothing be
yond the rule of three, and the commonest trans
actions of mercantile affairs.
The Greeks are by far a more lively genera
tion, still retaining their propensity to works of
genius and imagination. Metastasio has been
lately translated into their modern language,
and some obliging papa or other has had the
patience to put the long-winded romance of
Clelia into a Grecian dress. I saw two or three
of these volumes exposed on a stall, under the
grand arcades of the public library, as I went
one day to admire the antiques in its vestibules.
Whilst I was intent upon my occupation, a
little door, I never should have suspected, flew
open, and out popped Monsieur de Viloison,
from a place where nothing, I believe, but
broomsticks and certain other utensils were ever
before deposited. This gentleman, the most
active investigator of Homer since the days of
the good bishop of Thessalonica, bespatters you
with more learning in a minute than others
communicate in half a year; quotes Arabic,

VENICE. 135
Greek, Hebrew, Syriac, &c. with formidable
fluency ; and drove me from one end of the
room to the other with a storm of erudition.
Syllables fell thicker than hail, and in an in
stant I found myself so weighed down and
covered, that I prayed, for mercy's sake, to be
introduced, by way of respite, to a Laplander
whom he leads about as a curiosity ; a poor
harmless good sort of a soul, calm and indif
ferent, who has acquired the words of several
Oriental languages to perfection : ideas he has
in none.
We went all together to view a collection of
medals in one of the Gradanigo palaces, and
two or three inestimable volumes, filled with
paintings that represent the dress of the an
cient Venetians ; so that I had an oppor
tunity of observing to perfection all the Lap
land nothingness of my companion. What a
perfect void ! Cold and silent as the polar re
gions, not one passion ever throbbed in his
bosom ; not one bright ray of fancy ever glit
tered in his mind ; without love or anger, plea
sure or pain, his days fleet smoothly along :
all things considered, I must confess I envied
such comfortable apathy.

136 VENICE.
After having passed an instructive hour in
examining the medals and drawings, M. de Vil
oison proposed conducting me to the Armenian
convent, but I begged to be excused, and went
to San Giovanni e Paolo, a church to be held
most holy in the annals of painting, since it
contains that masterpiece of Titian, the martyr
dom of the hermits St. Paul and St. Peter.
In the evening I rowed out as usual
" On the clear hyaline, the glassy sea,"
to observe the effect of sunset on the tufted
gardens of the Giudeca, and to contemplate
the distant Euganean hills, once the happiest
region of Italy ; where wandering nations en
joyed the simplicity of a pastoral life, long
before the arrival of Antenor. In these pri
meval days deep forests and extensive pastures
covered the shores of the Adriatic, and innu
merable flocks hung on the brow of the moun
tains. This golden period ended upon the in
cursion of the Trojans and Heneti ; who, led
by Antenor, drove away the unfortunate savages,
and possessed themselves of their habitations.

VENICE. 137

LETTER VI.
Isles of Burano, Torcello, and Mazorbo. — The once popu
lous city of Altina. — An excursion.- —Effects of our music
on the inhabitants of the Islands. — Solitary fields infested
by serpents. — Remains of ancient sculpture. — Antique
and fantastic ornaments of the Cathedral of Torcello. —
San Lorenzo's chair. — Dine in a Convent. — The Nuns. —
Oratorio of Sisera. — Remarks on the music. — Singing of
the Marchetti. — A female orchestra.
I am just returned from visiting the isles of
Burano, Torcello, and Mazorbo, distant about
five miles from Venice. To these amphibious
spots the Romans, inhabitants of eastern Lom
bardy, fled from the rapine of Attila ; and, if
we may believe Cassiodorus, there was a time
when they presented a beautiful appearance.
Beyond them, on the coast of the Lagunes,
rose the once populous city of Altina, with its
six stately gates, which Dandolo mentions. Its
neighbourhood was scattered with innumerable
villas and temples, composing altogether a pro
spect which Martial compares to Baise :
" iEmula Baianis Altini littora villis."

138 VENICE.
But this agreeable scene, like so many others,
is passed entirely away, and has left nothing, ex
cept heaps of stones and mis-shapen fragments,
to vouch for its former magnificence. Two of
the islands, Costanziaco and Amiano, that are
imagined to have contained the bowers and
gardens of the Altinatians, have sunk beneath
the waters ; those which remain are scarcely
worthy to rise above their surface.
Though I was persuaded little was left to
be seen above ground, I could not deny myself
the imaginary pleasure of treading a corner of
the earth once so adorned and cultivated; and
of walking over the roofs, perhaps, of undis
covered palaces. M. de R. to whom I com
municated my ideas, entered at once into the
scheme ; hiring therefore a peiotte, we took
some provisions and music (to us equally ne
cessaries of life) and launched into the canal,
between Saint Michael and Murano. Our in
struments played several delightful airs, that
called forth the inhabitants of every island, and
held them in silence, as if spell-bound, on the
edge of their quays and terraces, till we were
out of hearing.
Leaving Murano far behind, Venice and its

VENICE. 139
world of turrets began to sink on the horizon,
and the low desert isles beyond Mazorbo to
lie stretched out before us. Now we beheld
vast wastes of purple flowers, and could dis
tinguish the low hum of the insects which hover
above them ; such was the stillness of the place.
Coasting these solitary fields, we wound amongst
several serpentine canals, bordered by gardens of
figs and pomegranates, with neat Indian-looking
inclosures of cane and reed : an aromatic plant,
which the people justly dignify with the title
of marine incense, clothes the margin of the
waters. It proved very serviceable in subduing
a musky odour, which attacked us the moment
we landed, and which proceeds from serpents
that lurk in the hedges. These animals, say
the gondoliers, defend immense treasures which
lie buried under the ruins. Woe to those who
attempt to invade them, or to pry too cautiously
about !
Not choosing to be devoured, we left many
a mound of fragments unnoticed, and made the
best of our way to a little green, bounded on
one side by a miserable shed, decorated with
the name of the Podesta's residence, and on
the other by a circular church. Some remains

140 VENICE.
of tolerable antique sculpture are enchased in
the walls ; and the dome, supported by pillars of
a smooth Grecian marble, though uncouth and
ill-proportioned, impresses a sort of veneration,
and transports the fancy to the twilight glim
mering period when it was raised.
Having surveyed what little was visible, and
given as much career to our imaginations as
the scene inspired, we walked over a soil com
posed of crumbling bricks and cement to the
cathedral; whose arches, in the ancient Roman
style, convinced us that it dates at least as high
as the sixth or seventh century.
Nothing can well be more fantastic than the
ornaments of this structure, formed from the
ruins of the Pagan temples of Altina, and en
crusted with a gilt mosaic, like that which co
vers our Edward the Confessor's tomb. The
pavement, composed of various precious marbles,
is richer and more beautiful than one could.have
expected, in a place where every other object
savours of the grossest barbarism. At the far
ther end, beyond the altar, appears a semi
circular niche, with seats like the gradines of a
diminutive amphitheatre ; above rise the quaint
forms of the apostles, in red, blue, green, and

VENICE. 141
black mosaic, and in the midst of the group
a sort of marble chair, cool and penitential
enough, where Saint Lorenzo Giustiniani sat to
hold a provincial council, the Lord knows how
long ago ! The fount for holy water stands by
the principal entrance, fronting this curious re
cess, and seems to have belonged to some place
of Gentile worship. The figures of horned imps
clinging round its sides, more devilish, more
Egyptian, than any I ever beheld. The dra
gons on old china are not more whimsical ;
filled with bats' blood it would have been an
admirable present to the sabbath of witches,
and have cut a capital figure in their orgies.
The sculpture is not the most delicate, but I
cannot say a great deal about it, as very little
light reaches the spot where it is fixed : indeed,
the whole church is far from luminous, its win
dows being narrow and near the roof, with
shutters composed of blocks of marble, which
nothing but the whirlwinds of the last day, one
should think, would move from their hinges.
By the time we had examined every nook and
corner of this singular edifice, and tried to catch
some small portion of sanctity by sitting in San
Lorenzo's chair, dinner was prepared in a neigh-

142 VENICE.
bouring convent, and the nuns, allured by the
sound of our flutes and oboes, peeped out of
their cells and showed themselves by dozens at
the grate. Some few agreeable faces and in
teresting eyes enlivened the dark sisterhood ; all
seemed to catch a gleam of pleasure from the
music ; two or three of them, probably the last
immured, let fall a tear, and suffered the re
collection of the world and its profane joys to
interrupt for a moment their sacred tranquillity.
We stayed till the sun was low, on purpose
that they might listen as long as possible to
a harmony which seemed to issue, as the old
abbess expressed herself, from the gates of pa
radise ajar. A thousand benedictions conse
crated our departure ; twilight came on just
as we entered the bark and rowed out upon
the waves, agitated by a fresh gale, but fear
ing nothing under the protection of Santa
Margherita, whose good wishes our music had
secured. In two hours we were safely landed at the
Fondamenti nuovi, and went immediately to the
Mendicanti, where they were performing the
oratorio of Sisera. The composer, a young man,
had displayed great fire and originality in this

VENICE. 143
performance ; and a knowledge of character
seldom found in the most celebrated masters.
The supplication of the thirsty chieftain, and
Jael's insinuating arts and pious treachery, are
admirably expressed ; but the agitation and
boding slumbers which precede his death, are
imagined in the highest strain of genius. The
terror and agony of his dreams made me start,
more than once, from my seat ; and all the hor
rors of his assassination seemed full before me.
Too much applause cannot be given to the
Marchetti, who sang the part of Sisera, and
seconded the composer's ideas by the most
feeling and spirited execution. There are few
things I shall regret more on leaving Venice,
than this conservatorio. Whenever I am musi
cally given, I fly to it, and hear the most strik
ing finales in Paesiello's and Anfossi's operas, as
long and often as I please.
The sight of the orchestra still makes me
smile. You know, I suppose, it is entirely of
the feminine gender, and that nothing is more
common than to see a delicate white hand jour
neying across an enormous double bass, or a pair
of roseate cheeks puffing, with all their efforts, at
a French horn. Some that are grown old and

144 VENICE.
Amazonian, who have abandoned their fiddles
and their lovers, take vigorously to the kettle
drum ; and one poor limping lady, who had been
crossed in love, now makes an admirable figure
on the bassoon.
Good night ! I am quite exhausted with com
posing a chorus for this angelic choir. The
poetry I send you. The music takes up too
much room to travel at present. One day or
other, perhaps, we may hear it in some dark
grove, when the moon is eclipsed and nature in
alarm. This is not the last letter you would receive
from Venice, were I not hurrying to Lucca,
where Pacchierotti sings next week, in Bertoni's
opera of Quinto Fabio.

THE BRENTA. 145

LETTER VII.
Coast of Fusina. — The Brenta. — A Village of Palaces. —
Fiesso. — Exquisite singing of the Galuzzi. — Marietta
Cornaro. — Scenes of enchantment and fascination.
I was sorry to leave Venice, and regretted
my peaceful excursions upon the Adriatic. No
bright rays illuminated my departure, the sun
was concealed in clouds ; but the coolness and
perfume of the air made ample amends for his
absence. About an hour's rowing from the isle of Saint
Giorgio in Alga, brought us to the coast of
Fusina, right opposite the opening where the
Brenta mixes with the sea. This river flows
calmly between banks of verdure, crowned by
poplars, with vines twining round every stalk, and
depending from tree to tree in beautiful festoons.
Beds of mint and iris clothe the brink of the
stream, except where interrupted by a tall
VOL. I. L

146 THE BRENTA.
growth of reeds and osiers. The morning con
tinued to lower as we advanced ; scarce a wind
ventured to breathe : all was still and placid as
the surface of the river. No sound struck my
ears except the bargemen hallooing to open the
sluices, and deepen the water.
As yet I had not perceived an habitation, nor
any other objects than green inclosures and fields
of Turkish corn, shaded with vines and poplars.
It grew late before we glided along by the Mira,
a village of palaces, whose courts and gardens,
as magnificent as statues, terraces, and vases can
make them, are far from composing a rural
prospect. Such artificial scenery not engaging much of
my attention, we stayed no longer than our dinner
required, and reached the Dolo an hour before
sunset. Passing the great sluices, whose gates
opened with a thundering noise, we continued
our course along the peaceful Brenta, winding
its broad full stream through impenetrable
copses. Day was about to close when we reach
ed Fiesso ; and it being a misty evening, I could
scarcely distinguish the pompous facade of the
Pisani palace. That of Cornaro, where we were
engaged to sup, looks upon a broad mass of foliage

FIESSO. 147
which I contemplated with pleasure as it sank
in the dusk.
We walked a long while under a pavilion
stretched before the entrance, breathing the
freshness of the wood after a shower which had
lately fallen. The Galuzzi sang some of her
father Ferandini's compositions with surprising
energy ; her cheek was flushed, her eyes glisten
ed ; the whole tone of her countenance was that
of a person rapt and inspired. I forgot both
time and place while she was singing. The
night stole imperceptibly away, before I awoke
from my trance.
I do not recollect ever to have passed an even
ing, which every circumstance conspired to ren
der so full of charm. In general, my musical
pleasures suffer terrible abatements from the
phlegm and stupidity of my neighbourhood ; but
here, every one seemed to catch the flame, and
to listen with reciprocal delight. Marietta Cor
naro, whose lively talents are the boast of the
Venetians, threw quick around her the glancing
fires of genius.
What with the song of the Galuzzi, and those
intellectual meteors, I scarcely knew to what
element I was transported, and doubted for seve-
l 2

148 FIESSO.
ral moments, whether I was not fallen into a
celestial dream : to wake w#s painful, and it was
not without much lingering reluctance I left
these scenes of enchantment and fascination,
repeating with melancholy earnestness that pa
thetic sonnet of Petrarch's —
O giorno, o ora, o ultimo momento,
O stelle cohgiurate a' impoverirme I
O fido sguardo, or che volei tu dirme,
Partend' io, per non esser mai contento ?

PADUA. 149

LETTER VIIL
Reveries — Walls of Padua. — Confused Pile dedicated to
Saint Anthony — Devotion at his Shrine. — Penitential
Worshippers. — Magnificent Altar. — Sculpture of Sanso
vino. — Colossal Chamber like Noah's Ark.
The splendour of the rising sun, for once in
my life, drew little of my attention. I was too
deeply plunged in my reveries, to notiee the
landscape which lay before me ; and the walls
of Padua presented themselves some time ere I
was aware. At any other moment, how sensibly
should I have been affected with their appear
ance! How many ideas of Antenor and his
Trojans, would have thronged into my memory !
but now I regarded the scene with indifference,
and passed many a palace, and many a woody
garden, with my eyes riveted to the ground.
The first object that appeared upon lifting them
up, was a confused pile, of spires and cupolas, de
dicated to blessed Saint Anthony, one of whose
most eloquent sermons the great Addison has

150 PADUA.
translated con amore, and in his very best
manner. You are too well apprised of the veneration
I have always entertained for this inspired
preacher, to doubt that I immediately repaired
to his shrine. Mine was a disturbed spirit, and
required all the balm of Saint Anthony's kind
ness to appease it. Perhaps you will say I had
better have gone to bed, and applied myself to
my sleepy friend, the pagan divinity. It is pro
bable that you are in the right; but I could
not retire to rest without first venting some
portion of effervescence in sighs and supplica
tions. The nave was filled with decrepit women
and feeble children, kneeling by baskets of vege
tables and other provisions ; which, by good An
thony's interposition, they hoped to sell advan
tageously in the course of the day. Beyond these,
nearer the choir, and in a gloomier part of the
edifice, knelt a row of rueful penitents, smiting
their breasts, and lifting their eyes to heaven.
Further on, in front of the dark recess, where
the sacred relics are deposited, a few desperate,
melancholy sinners lay prostrate.
To these I joined myself. The sunbeams had
not yet penetrated into this religious quarter ;

PADUA. 151
and the only light it received proceeded from
the golden lamps, which hang in clusters round
the sanctuary. A lofty altar, decked with the
most lavish magnificence, supports the shrine.
Those who are profoundly touched with its sanc
tity, may approach, and walking round, look
through the crevices of the tomb, which, it is
observed, exude a balsamic odour. But sup
posing a traveller ever so heretical, I would
advise him by no means to neglect this pilgrim
age ; since every part of the recess he visits is
decorated with exquisite sculptures. Sansovino
and other renowned artists have vied with each
other in carving the alto relievos of the arcade,
which, for design and execution, would do honour
to the sculptors of antiquity.
Having observed these objects with less exact
ness than they merited, I hastened to the inn,
luckily hard by, and one of the best I am ac
quainted with. Here I soon fell asleep in defi
ance of sunshine. It is true my slumbers were
not a little agitated. The saint had been deaf
to my prayer, and I still found myself a frail,
infatuated mortal.
At five I got up ; we dined, and afterwards
scarcely knowing, nor much caring, what became

152 PADUA.
of us, we strolled to the great hall of the town ;
an enormous edifice, larger considerably than
that of Westminster, but free from stalls, or
shops, or nests of litigation. The roof, one
spacious vault of brown timber, casts a solemn
gloom, which was still increased by the lateness
of the hour, and not diminished by the wan
light, admitted through the windows of pale
blue glass. The size and shape of this colossal
chamber, the arching of the roof, with enor
mous rafters stretching across it, and, above
all, the watery gleams that glanced through the
dull casements, possessed my fancy with ideas of
Noah's ark, and almost persuaded me I beheld
that extraordinary vessel. The representation
one sees^ of it in many an old Dutch Bible,
seems to be formed upon this very model, and
for several moments I indulged the chimera of
imagining myself confined within its precincts.
Could I but choose my companions, I should
have no great objection to encounter a deluge,
and to float away a few months upon the waves !
We remained till night walking to and fro in
the ark ; it was then full time to retire, as the
guardian of the place was by no means formed to
divine our diluvian ideas.

PADUA. 153

LETTER IX.
Church of St. Justina — Tombs of remote antiquity. — Ridi
culous attitudes of rheumatic devotees. — Turini's music. —
Another excursion to Fiesso. — Journey to the Euganean
hills. — Newly discovered ruins. — High Mass in the great
Church of Saint Anthony  A thunder-storm. — Palladio's
Theatre at Vicenza  Verona. — An aerial chamber. —
Striking prospect from it. — The Amphitheatre. — Its in
terior. — Leave Verona. — Country between that town and
Mantua — German soldiers. — Remains of the palace of
the Gonzagas. — Paintings of Julio Romano. — A ruined
garden. — Subterranean apartments.
Immediately after breakfast we went to St.
Justina's. Both extremities of the cross aisles are
terminated by altar-tombs of very remote anti
quity, adorned with uncouth sculptures of the
evangelists, supported by wreathed columns of
alabaster, round which, to my no small astonish
ment, four or five gawky fellows were waddling
on their knees, persuaded, it seems, that this
strange devotion would cure the rheumatism, or
any other aches with which they were afflicted.
You can have no conception of the ridiculous

154 PADUA.
attitudes into which they threw themselves ; nor
the difficulty with which they squeezed along,
between the middle column of the tomb and
those which surround it. No criminal in the
pillory ever exhibited a more rueful appearance, ,
no swine ever scrubbed itself more fervently than
these infatuated lubbers.
I left them hard at work, taking more exercise
than had been their lot for many a day ; and,
mounting into the organ gallery, listened to
Turini's* music with infinite satisfaction. The
loud harmonious tones of the instrument filled
the whole edifice ; and, being repeated by the
echoes of its lofty domes and arches, produced
a wonderful effect. Turini, aware of this cir
cumstance, adapts his compositions with great
intelligence to the place. Nothing can be more
original than his style. Deprived of sight by an
unhappy accident, in the flower of his days, he
gave up his entire soul to music, and can scarcely
be said to exist, but from its mediums.
When we came out of St. Justina's, the
azure of the sky and the softness of the air
inclined us to think of some excursion. Where
could I wish to go, but to the place in which I
* A nephew of Bertoni, the celebrated composer.

FIESSO. 155
had been so delighted ? Besides, it was proper
to make the Cornaro another visit, and proper
to see the Pisani palace, which happily I had
before neglected. All these proprieties consi
dered, Madame de R. accompanied me to Fiesso.
The sun was just sunk when we arrived. The
whole ether in a glow, and the fragrance of the
arched citron alleys delightful. Beneath them
I walked in the cool, till the Galuzzi began once
more her enchanting melody. She sang till the
fineness of the weather tempted us to quit the
palace for the banks of the Brenta. A profound
calm reigned upon the woods and the waters,
and moonlight added serenity to a scene na
turally peaceful.
We supped late : before the Galuzzi had re
peated the airs which had most affected me,
morning began to dawn. September 8th.
The want of sound repose, after my return
home, had thrown me into a feverish and im
patient mood. I had scarcely snatched some
slight refreshment, before I flew to the great
organ at St. Justina's ; but tried this time to
compose myself, in vain.
Madame de Rosenberg, finding my endeavours

156 THE EUGANEAN HILLS.
unsuccessful, proposed, by way of diverting my
attention, that we should set out immediately
for one of the Euganean hills, about six or seven
miles from Padua, at the foot of which some
antique baths had been very lately discovered.
I consented without hesitation, little concerned
whither I went, or what happened to me, pro
vided the scene was often shifted. The lanes
and inclosures we passed, in our road to the
hills, appeared in all the gaiety that verdure,
flowers, and sunshine could give them. But my
pleasures were overcast, and I beheld every
object, however cheerful, through a dusky me
dium. Deeply engaged in conversation, distance made
no impression, and I found myself entering the
meadow, over which the ruins are scattered,
whilst I imagined myself several miles distant.
No scene could be more smiling than this which
here presented itself, or answer, in a fuller de
gree, the ideas I had always formed of Italy.
Leaving our carriage at the entrance of the
meadow, we traversed its surface, and shortly
perceived among the grass, an oblong basin,
incrusted with pure white marble. Most of the
slabs are large and perfect, apparently brought

THE EUGANEAN HILLS. 157
from Greece, and still retaining their polished
smoothness. The pipes to convey the waters are
still perfectly discernible; in short, the whole
ground-plan may be easily traced. Near the
principal bath, we remarked the platforms of
several circular apartments, paved with mosaic,
in a neat simple taste, far from inelegant.
Weeds have not yet sprung up amongst the
crevices ; and the freshness of the ruin every
where shows that it has not long been ex
posed. Theodoric is the prince to whom these struc
tures are attributed ; and Cassiodorus, the prime
chronicler of the country, is quoted to maintain
the supposition. My spirit was too much en
gaged to make any learned parade, or to dis
pute upon a subject, which I abandon, with all
its importance, to calmer and less impatient
minds. Having taken a cursory view of the ruins, we
ascended the hill just above them, and surveyed
a prospect of the same nature, though in a more
lovely and expanded style than that which I
beheld from Mosolente. Padua crowns the land
scape, with its towers and cupolas rising from a
' continued grove ; and, from the drawings I have

158 THE EUGANEAN HILLS.
seen, I should conjecture that Damascus presents
somewhat of a similar appearance.
Taking our eyes off this extensive prospect,
we brought them home to the fragments beneath
our feet. The walls exhibit the opus reticulatum,
so common in the environs of Naples. A sort
of terrace, with the remaining bases of columns
which encircle the hill, leads me to imagine here
were formerly arcades and porticos, constructed
for enjoying the view ; for on the summit I could
trace no vestiges of any considerable edifice, and
am therefore inclined to conclude, that nothing
more than a colonnade surrounded the hill, lead
ing perhaps to some slight fane, or pavilion, for
th© recreation of the bathers below.
A profusion of aromatic flowers covered the
slopes, and exhaled additional perfumes, as the
sun declined, and the still hour approached,
which was wont to spread over my mind a divine
composure, and to restore the tranquillity I might
have lost in the day. But now it diffused its
reviving coolness in vain, and I remained, if pos
sible, more sad and restless than before. September 9th.
You may imagine how I felt when the hour
of leaving Padua drew near. It happened to

VICENZA. 159
be a festival, and high mass was celebrated
at the great church of Saint Anthony in all
its splendour. The ceremony was about half
over when such a peal of thunder reverberated
through the vaults and cupolas, as I expected
would have shaken them to their foundations.
The principal dome appeared invested with a
sheet of fire ; and the effect of terror pro
duced upon the majority of the congregation,
by this sudden lighting up of the most gloomy
recesses of the edifice, was so violent that they
rushed out in the wildest confusion. Had my
faith been less lively, I should have followed their
example; but, absorbed in the thought of a sepa
ration from those to whom I felt fondly attached,
I remained till the ceremony ended ; then took
leave of Madame de R. with heartfelt regret,
and was driven away to Vicenza. September 10th.
The morning being overcast, I went to Pal
ladio's theatre. It is impossible to conceive a
structure more truly classical, or to point out
a single ornament which has not the best an
tique authority. I am not in the least sur
prised that the citizens of Vicenza enthusiasti
cally gave in to this great architect's plan,

160 VERONA.
and sacrificed large sums to erect so beau
tiful a model. When finished, they procured,
at a vast expense, the representation of a Gre
cian tragedy, with its chorus and majestic de
corations. After I had mused a long while in the most
retired recess of the edifice, fancying I had
penetrated into a real and perfect monument of
antiquity, wliich till this moment had remained
undiscovered, we set out for Verona. The situa
tion is striking and picturesque. A long line of
battlemented walls, flanked by venerable towers,
mounts the hill in a grand irregular sweep,
and incloses the city with many a woody gar
den, and grove of slender cypress. Beyond
rises a group of mountains ; opposite to which
a plain presents itself, decked with all the va
riety of meads and thickets, olive-grounds and
vineyards. Amongst these our road kept winding till we
entered the city gate, and passed (the post
knows how many streets and alleys in the way !)
to the inn, a lofty handsome-looking building;
but so full that we were obliged to take up with
an apartment on its very summit, open to all the
winds, like the magic chamber Apuleius men-

VERONA. 161
tions, and commanding tlie roofs of half Verona.
Here and there a pine shot up amongst them,
and the shady hills, terminating the perspective
of walls and turrets, formed a romantic scene.
Placing our table in a balcony, to enjoy the
prospect with greater freedom, we feasted upon
fish from the Lago di Guarda, and the delicious
fruits of the country. Thus did I remain, so
lacing myself, breathing the cool air, and re
marking the tints of the mountains. Neither
paintings nor antiques could tempt me from
my aerial situation ; I refused hunting out the
famous works of Paul Veronese scattered over
the town, and sat like the owl in the Georgics,
Solis et occasum servans de culmine summo.
Twilight drawing on, I left my haunt, and
stealing down stairs, enquired for a guide to
conduct me to the amphitheatre, perhaps the
most entire monument of Roman days. The
people of the house, instead of bringing me a
quiet peasant, officiously delivered me up to a
professed antiquary, one of those precise plau
sible young men, to whom, God help me ! I have
so capital an aversion. This sweet spark dis
played all his little erudition, and flourished
away upon cloacas and vomitoriums with eternal
VOL. I. M

162 VERONA.
fluency. He was very profound in the doctrine
of conduits, and knew to admiration how the
filthiness of all the amphitheatre was dis
posed of.
But perceiving my inattention, and having
just grace enough to remark that I chose one
side of the street when he preferred the other,
and sometimes trotted through despair in the
kennel, he made me a pretty bow, I threw him
half-a-crown, and seeing the ruins before me,
traversed a gloomy arcade and emerged alone
into the arena. A smooth turf covers its surface,
from which a spacious sweep of gradines rises
to a majestic elevation. Four arches, with their
simple Doric ornament, alone remain of the
grand circular arcade which once crowned the
highest seats of the amphitheatre ; and, had it
not been for Gothic violence, this part of the
structure would have equally resisted the rava
ges of time. Nothing can be more exact than
the preservation of the gradines ; not a block
has sunk from its place, and whatever trifling
injuries they may have received have been care
fully repaired. The two chief entrances are re
built with solidity and closed by portals, no
passage being permitted through the amphi-

VERONA. 163
theatre except at public shows and represen
tations, sometimes still given in the arena.
When I paced slowly across it, silence reigned
undisturbed, and nothing moved, except the
weeds and grasses which skirt the walls and
tremble with the faintest breeze. Throwing my
self upon the grass in the middle of the arena, I
enjoyed the freedom of my situation, its pro
found stillness and solitude. How long I re
mained shut in by endless gradines on every side,
wrapped as it were in the recollections of perished
ages, is not worth noting down ; but when I
passed from the amphitheatre to the opening
before it, night was drawing on, and the grand
outline of a terrific feudal fortress, once inhabited
by the Scaligeri, alone dimly visible. September 11th.
Traversing once more the grand piazza, and
casting a last glance upon the amphitheatre, we
passed under a lofty arch which terminates the
perspective, and left Verona by a wide, irre
gular, picturesque street, commanding, when
ever you look back, a striking scene of towers,
cypress, and mountains.
The country, between this beautiful town
and Mantua, presents one continued grove of
M 2

164 MANTUA.
dwarfish mulberries, with here and there a knot
of poplars, and sometimes a miserable shed.
Mantua itself rises out of a morass formed by
the Mincio, whose course, in most places, is so
choked up with reeds as to be scarcely discern
ible. It requires a creative imagination to dis
cover any charms in such a prospect, and a
strong prepossession not to be disgusted with
the scene where Virgil, was born.
The beating of drums, and sight of German
whiskers, finished what croaking frogs and stag
nant ditches had begun. Every classic idea
being scared by such sounds and such objects,
I dined in dudgeon, and refused stirring out till
late in the evening.
A few paces from the town stand the remains
of the palace where the Gonzagas formerly
resided. This I could not resist looking at, and
was amply rewarded. Several of the apartments,
adorned by the bold pencil of Julio Romano,
merit the most exact attention ; and the ara
besques, with which the stucco ceilings are co
vered, equal those of the Vatican. Being painted
in fresco upon damp neglected walls, each year
diminishes their number, and every winter mould
ers some beautiful figure away.

MANTUA. 165
The subjects, mostly from antique fables, are
treated with all the purity and gracefulness of
Raphael; the story of Polypheme is very con
spicuous. Acis appears, reclined with his be
loved Galatea, on the shore of the ocean, whilst
their gigantic enemy, seated above on the brow
of iEtna, seems by the paleness and horrors of his
countenance to meditate some terrible revenge.
When it was too late to examine the paint
ings any longer, I walked into a sort of court,
or rather garden, which had been decorated with
fountains and antique statues. Their fragments
still remain amongst weeds and beds of flowers,
for every corner of the place is smothered with
vegetation. Here nettles grow thick and ram
pant; there, tuberoses and jessamine spring from
mounds of ruins, which during the elegant reign
of the Gonzagas led to grottoes and subterranean
apartments, concealed from vulgar eyes, and
sacred to the most refined enjoyments.

166 MANTUA.

LETTER X.
Cross the Po  A woody country. — The Vintage. — Reggio. —
Ridge of the Apennines. — Romantic ideas connected with
those mountains. — Arrive at Modena. — Road to Bologna.
— Magnificent Convent of Madonna del Monte. — Natural
and political commotions in Bologna. — Proceed towards the
mountains. — Dreary prospects. — The scenery improves.
— Herds of goats. — A run with them. — Return to the
carriage. — Wretched hamlet. — Miserable repast.
September 12th, 1780.
A shower having fallen, the air was refreshed,
and the drops still glittered upon the vines,
through which our road conducted us. Three
or four miles from Mantua the scene changed
to extensive grounds of rice, and meads of the
tenderest verdure watered by springs, whose fre
quent meanders gave to the whole prospect the
appearance of a vast green carpet shot with silver.
Further on we crossed the Po, and passing Guast-
alla, entered a woody country full of inclosures
and villages ; herds feeding in the meadows, and
poultry parading before every wicket.

reggio. 167
The peasants were busied in winnowing their
corn ; or, mounted upon the elms and poplars,
gathering the rich clusters from the vines that
hang streaming in braids from one branch to
another. I was surprised to find myself already
in the midst of the vintage, and to see every
road crowded with carts and baskets bringing it
along ; you cannot imagine a pleasanter scene.
Round Reggio it grew still more lively, and
on the other side of that sketch-inviting little
city, I remarked many a cottage that Tityrus
might have inhabited, with its garden and wil
low hedge in flower, swarming with bees. Our
road, the smoothest conceivable, enabled us to
pass too rapidly through so cheerful a land
scape. I caught glimpses of fields and copses as
we were driven along, that could have afforded
me amusement for hours, and orchards on gentle
acclivities, beneath which I could have walked
till evening. The trees literally bent under their
loads of fruit, and innumerable ruddy apples lay
scattered upon the ground.
Beyond these rich masses of foliage, to which
the sun lent additional splendour, at the utmost
extremity of the pastures, rose the irregular ridge
of the Apennines, whose deep blue presented a

168 MODENA.
striking contrast to the glowing colours of the
foreground. I fixed my eyes on the chain of
distant mountains, and indulged a thousand
romantic conjectures of what was passing in
their recesses — hermits absorbed in prayer —
beautiful Contadine fetching water from springs,
and banditti conveying their victims, perhaps at
this very moment, to caves and fastnesses.
Such were the dreams that filled my fancy,
and kept it incessantly employed till it was dusk,
and the moon began to show herself ; the same
moon which but a few nights ago had seen me
so happy at Fiesso. I left the carriage, and run
ning into the dim haze, abandoned myself to the
recollections it excited.
At length, having wandered where chance
or the wildness of my fancy led, till the late
ness of the evening alarmed me, I regained the
chaise as fast as I could, and arrived between
twelve and one at Modena, the place of my des
tination. September 13th.
We traversed a champagne country in our
way to Bologna, whose richness and fertility en-
creased in proportion as we drew near that cele
brated mart of lap-dogs and sausages. A chain

BOLOGNA. 169
of hills commands the city, variegated with green
inclosures and villas innumerable. On the high
est acclivity of this range appears the magnificent
convent of Madonna del Monte, embosomed in
wood and joined to the town by a corridor a league
in length. This vast portico ascending the steeps
and winding amongst the thickets, sometimes con
cealed and sometimes visible, produces an effect
wonderfully grand and singular. I longed to have
mounted the height by so extraordinary a passage ;
and hope on some future day to be better ac
quainted with Santa Maria del Monte.
At present I have very little indeed to say
about Bologna (where I passed only two hours)
except that it is sadly out of humour, an earth
quake and Cardinal Buoncompagni having dis
arranged both land and people. For half-a-year
the ground continued trembling ; and for these
last six months, the legate and senators have
grumbled and scratched incessantly ; so that,
between natural and political commotions, the
Bolognese must have passed an agreeable summer.
Such a report of the situation of things, you
may suppose, was not likely to retard my jour
ney. I put off delivering my letters to another
opportunity, and proceeded immediately after

170 BOLOGNA.
dinner towards the mountains. We were soon in
the midst of crags and stony channels, that stream
with ten thousand rills in the winter season, but
during the summer months reflect every sunbeam,
and harbour half the scorpions in the country.
For many a toilsome league our prospect con
sisted of nothing but dreary hillocks and interven
ing wastes, more barren and mournful than those
to which Mary Magdalene retired. Sometimes a
crucifix or chapel peeped out of the parched fern
and grasses, with which these desolate fields are
clothed ; and now and then we met a goggle-eyed
pilgrim trudging along, and staring about him as
if he waited only for night and opportunity to have
additional reasons for hurrying to Loretto.
During three or four hours that we continued
ascending, the scene increased in sterility and de
solation ; but, at the end of our second post, the
landscape began to alter for the better : little green
valleys at the base of tremendous steeps, discover
ed themselves, scattered over with oaks, and fresh
ened with running waters, which the nakedness of
the impending rocks set off to advantage. The
sides of the cliffs in general consist of rude mis
shapen masses; but their summits are smooth
and verdant, and continually browsed by herds

BOLOGNA. 171
of white goats, which were gambolling on the edge
of the precipices as we passed beneath.
I joined one of these frisking assemblies, whose
shadows were stretched by the setting sun along
the level herbage. There I sat a few minutes
whilst they shook their beards at me, and tried
to scare me with all their horns. Being tired
with skipping and butting at me in vain, the
whole herd trotted away, and I after them. They
led me a dance from crag to crag and from
thicket to thicket.
It was growing dusky apace, and wreaths of
smoke began to ascend from the mysterious
depths of the valleys. I was ignorant what mon
ster inhabited such retirements, so gave over my
pursuit lest some Polypheme or other might make
me repent it. I looked around, the carriage was
out of sight; but hearing the neighing of horses at
a distance, I soon came up with them, and mount
ed another rapid ascent, from whence an extensive
tract of cliff and forest land was discernible.
A chill wind blew from the highest peak of the
Apennines, and made a dismal rustle amongst the
woods of chesnut that hung on the mountain's side,
through which we were forced to pass. Walking
out of the sound of the carriage, I began inter-

172 BOLOGNA.
preting the language of the leaves, not greatly to
my own advantage or that of any being in the
universe. I was no prophet of good, and had I but
commanded an oracle, as ancient visionaries were
wont, I should have flung mischief about me.
How long I continued in this strange temper
I cannot pretend to say, but believe it was mid
night before we emerged from the oracular forest,
and saw faintly before us an assemblage of miser
able huts, where we were to sleep. This wretch
ed hamlet is suspended on the brow of a bleak
mountain, and every gust that stirs, shakes the
whole village to its foundations. At our ap
proach two hags stalked forth with lanterns and
invited us with a grin, which I shall always re
member, to a dish of mustard and crows' gizzards,
a dish I was more than half afraid of tasting, lest
it should change me to some bird of darkness,
condemned to mope eternally on the black rafters
of the cottage.
After repeated supplications we procured a few
eggs, and some faggots to make a fire. Pitching
my bed in a warm corner I soon fell asleep, and
forgot all my cares and inquietudes.

FLORENCE. 173

LETTER XI.
A sterile region. — Our descent into a milder landscape —
Distant view of Florence  Moonlight effect. — Visit the
Gallery. — Relics of ancient credulity  Paintings. — A
Medusa's head by Leonardo da Vinci. — Curious picture
by Polemberg. — The Venus de Medicis  Exquisitely
sculptured figure of Morpheus. — Vast Cathedral. — Gar
den of Boboli  Views from different parts of it. — Its
resemblance to an antique Roman garden.
September 14th, 1780.
Tbe sun had not been long above the horizon,
before we set forward upon a craggy pavement
hewn out of rough cliffs and precipices. Scarcely
a tree was visible, and the few that presented
themselves began already to shed their leaves.
The raw nipping air of this desert with difficulty
spares a blade of vegetation ; and in the whole
range of these extensive eminences I could not
discover a single corn-field or pasture. Inhabit
ants, you may guess, there were none. I would
defy even a Scotch highlander to find means of
subsistence in so rude a soil.

174 FLORENCE.
Towards mid-day, we had surmounted the
dreariest part of our journey, and began to per
ceive a milder landscape. The climate improved
as well as the prospect, and after a continual
descent of several hours, we saw groves and
villages in the dips of the hills, and met a string
of mules and horses laden with fruit. I pur
chased some figs and peaches from this little
caravan, and spread my repast upon a bank, in
the midst of lavender bushes in full bloom.
Continuing our route, we bade adieu to the
realms of poverty and barrenness, and entered
a cultivated vale, shaded by woody acclivities.
Amongst these we wound along, between groves
of poplar and cypress, till late in the evening.
Upon winding a hill we discovered Florence at
a distance surrounded with gardens and terraces
rising one above another ; the full moon seemed
to shine with a peculiar charm upon this favoured
region. Her serene light on the pale grey of the
olive, gave a visionary and Elysian appearance
to the landscape, and I was sorry when I found
myself excluded from it by the gates of Florence.
I slept as well as my impatience would allow,
till it was time next morning (Sept. 15,) to visit
the gallery, and worship the Venus de Medicis.

FLORENCE. 175
I felt, upon entering this world of refinement, as
if I could have taken up my abode in it for ever,
but, confused with the multitude of objects, I
knew not on which first to bend my attention,
and ran childishly by the ample ranks of sculp
tures, like a butterfly in a parterre, that skims
before it fixes, over ten thousand flowers.
Having taken my course down one side of the
gallery, I turned the angle and discovered an
other long perspective, equally stored with mas
ter-pieces of bronze and marble. A minute
brought me to the extremity of this range, vast
as it was ; then, flying down a third, adorned in
the same delightful manner, I paused under the
bust of Jupiter Olympius ; and began to reflect
a little more maturely upon the company in
which I found myself. Opposite, appeared the
majestic features of Minerva, breathing divinity :
and Cybele, the mother of the gods.
Having regarded these powers with due vene
ration, I next cast my eyes upon a black figure,
whose attitude seemed to announce the deity of
sleep. You know my fondness for this drowsy
personage, and that it is not the first time I have
quitted the most splendid society for him. I
found him at present, of touchstone, with the

176 FLORENCE.
countenance of a towardly brat, sleeping ill
through indigestion. The artist had not con
ceived very poetical ideas of the god, or else he
never would have represented him with so little
grace and dignity.
Displeased at finding my favourite subject
profaned, I perceived the transports of enthu
siasm beginning to subside, and felt myself calm
enough to follow the herd of guides and specta
tors from chamber to chamber, cabinet to cabi
net, without falling into errors of rapture and
admiration. We were led slowly and moderately
through the large rooms, containing the portraits
of painters, good, bad, and indifferent, from
Raphael to Liotard ; then into a museum of
bronzes, which would afford both amusement
and instruction for years.
When I had rather alarmed than satisfied my
curiosity by rapidly running over a multitude of
candelabrums, urns, and sacred utensils, we en
tered a small luminous apartment, surrounded
with cases richly decorated, and filled with the
most exquisite models of workmanship in bronze
and various metals, classed in exact order. Here
are crowds of diminutive deities and tutelary
lars, to whom the superstition of former days

FLORENCE. 177
attributed those midnight murmurs which were
believed to presage the misfortunes of a family.
Amongst these now neglected images are pre
served a vast number of talismans, cabalistic
amulets, and other grotesque relics of ancient
credulity. In the centre of the room I remarked a table,
beautifully formed of polished gems, and, near it,
the statue of a genius with his familiar serpent,
and all his attributes ; the guardian of the trea
sured antiquities. From this chamber we were
conducted into another, which opens to that part
of the gallery where the busts of Adrian and
Antinous are placed. Two pilasters, delicately
carved in trophies and clusters of ancient armour,
stand on each side of the entrance ; within are
several perfumed cabinets of miniatures, and a
single column of oriental alabaster about ten feet
in height, Lucido e terso, e bianco, piu che latte.
I put my guide's patience to the proof, by
lingering to admire the column and cabinets.
At last, the musk with which they are impreg
nated, obliged me to desist, and I moved on to a
suite of saloons, with low arched roofs, glittering
with arabesque, in azure and gold. Several
VOL. I. N

178 FLORENCE.
medallions appear amongst the wreaths of foliage,
tolerably well painted, with representations of
splendid feasts and tournaments for which Flo
rence was once so famous.
A vast collection of small pictures, most of
them Flemish, covers the walls of these apart
ments. But nothing struck me more than a
Medusa's head by Leonardo da Vinci. It ap
pears just severed from the body and cast on the
damp pavement of a cavern : a deadly paleness
covers the countenance, and the mouth exhales a
pestilential vapour ; the snakes, which fill almost
the whole picture, beginning to untwist their
folds ; one or two seemed already crept away,
and crawling up the rock in company with toads
and other venomous reptiles.
Here are a great many Polembergs : one in
particular, the strangest I ever beheld. In
stead of those soft scenes of woods and water
falls he is in general so fond of representing, he
has chosen for his subject Virgil ushering Dante
into the regions of eternal punishment, amidst
the ruins of flaming edifices that glare across the
infernal waters. These mournful towers harbour
innumerable shapes, all busy in preying upon
the damned. One capital devil, in the form of

FLORENCE, 179
an enormous lobster, seems very strenuously em
ployed in mumbling a miserable mortal, who
sprawls, though in vain, to escape from his claws.
This performance, whimsical as it is, retains all
that softness of tint and delicacy of pencil for
which Polemberg is so renowned.
Had not the subject so palpably contradicted
the painter's choice, I should have passed over
this picture, like a thousand more, and have
brought you immediately to the tribune. Need
I say I was spell-bound the moment I set my feet
within it, and saw full before me the Venus de
Medicis ? The warm ivory hue of the original
marble is a beauty no copy has ever imitated,
and the softness of the limbs exceeded the live
liest idea I had formed to myself of their per
fection. When I had taken my eyes reluctantly away
from this beautiful object, I cast them upon a
Morpheus of white marble, which lies slumbering
at the feet of the goddess in the form of a grace
ful child. A dormant lion serves him for a pil
low ; two ample wings, carved with the utmost
delicacy, are gathered under him ; two others,
budding from his temples, half-concealed by a
flow of lovely ringlets. His languid hands scarcely
n 2

180 FLORENCE.
hold a bunch of poppies : near him creeps a
lizard, just yielding to his influence. Nothing can
be more just than the expression of sleep in the
countenance of the little divinity. His lion too
is perfectly lulled, and rests his muzzle upon his
fore paws as quiet as a domestic spaniel. My
ill-humour at seeing this deity so grossly sculp
tured in the gallery, was dissipated by the grace
fulness of his appearance in the tribune. I was
now contented, for the artist had realized my
ideas ; and, if I may venture my opinion, sculp
ture never arrived to higher perfection, and, at
the same time, kept more justly within its pro
vince. Sleeping figures with me always produce
the finest illusion ; but when I see an archer in
the very act of discharging his arrow, a dancer
with one foot in the air, or a gladiator extending
his fist to all eternity, I grow tired, and view
such wearisome attitudes with infinitely more
admiration than pleasure.
The morning was gone before I could snatch
myself from the tribune. In my way home, I
looked into the cathedral, an enormous fabric,
inlaid with the richest marbles, and covered with
stars and chequered work, like an old-fashioned
cabinet. The architect seems to have turned his
building inside out ; nothing in art being more

FLORENCE. 181
ornamented than the exterior, and few churches
so simple within. The nave is vast and solemn,
the dome amazingly spacious, with the high
altar in its centre, inclosed by a circular arcade
near two hundred feet in diameter. There is
something imposing in this decoration, as it sug
gests the idea of a sanctuary, into which none
but the holy ought to penetrate. However pro
fane I might feel myself, I took the liberty of
entering, and sat down in a niche. Not a ray of
light reaches this sacred inclosure, but through
the medium of narrow windows, high in the
dome, and richly painted. A sort of yellow tint
predominates, which gives additional solemnity
to the altar, and paleness to the votary before it.
I was sensible of the effect, and obtained at least
the colour of sanctity.
Having remained some time in this pious hue,
I returned home and feasted upon grapes and
ortolans with great edification ; then walked to
one of the bridges across the Arno, and from
thence to the garden of Boboli, which lies be
hind the Grand Duke's palace, stretched out on
the side of a mountain. I ascended terrace after
terrace, robed by a thick underwood of bay and
myrtle, above which rise several nodding towers,
and a long sweep of venerable wall, almost en-

182 FLORENCE.
tirely concealed by ivy. You would have been
enraptured with the broad masses of shade and
dusky alleys that opened as I advanced, with
white statues of fauns and sylvans glimmering
amongst them ; some of which pour water into
sarcophagi of the purest marble, covered with
antique relievos. The capitals of columns and
ancient friezes are scattered about as seats.
On these I reposed myself, and looked up to the
cypress groves which spring above the thickets ;
then, plunging into their retirements, I followed
a winding path, which led me by a series of
steep ascents to a green platform overlooking
the whole extent of wood, with Florence deep
beneath, and the tops of the hills which encircle
it jagged with pines ; here and there a convent,
or vilia, whitening in the sun. This scene ex
tends as far as the eye can reach.
Still ascending I attained the brow of the emi
nence, and had nothing but the fortress of Bel
vedere, and two or three open porticos above me.
On this elevated situation, I found several walks
of trellis-work, clothed with luxuriant vines. A
colossal statue of Ceres, her hands extended in
the act of scattering fertility over the country,
crowns the summit.
Descending alley after alley, and bank after

LUCCA. 183
bank, I came to the orangery in front of the
palace, disposed in a grand amphitheatre, with
marble niches relieved by dark foliage, out of
which spring cedars and tall aerial cypresses.
This spot brought the scenery of an antique
Roman garden so vividly into my mind, that,
lost in the train of recollections this idea ex
cited, I expected every instant to be called to
the table of Lucullus hard by, in one of the
porticos, and to stretch myself on his purple
triclinias ; but waiting in vain for a summons
till the approach of night, I returned delighted
with a ramble that had led my imagination so
far into antiquity.
Friday, Sept. 16. — My impatience to hear
Pacchierotti called me up with the sun. I
blessed a day which was to give me the greatest
of musical pleasures, and travelled gaily towards
Lucca, along a fertile plain, bounded by rocky
hills, and scattered over with towns and villages.
We passed Pistoia in haste, and about three in
the afternoon entered the Lucchese territory, by
a clean paved road, which runs through chestnut
copses bordered with broom in blossom, and an
immense variety of heaths; a red soil peeping
forth from the vegetation, adds to the richness
of the landscape, which swells all the way into

184 LUCCA.
gentle acclivities : and at about seven or eight
miles from the city spreads all round into moun
tains, green to their very summits, and diversified
with gardens and palaces. More pleasing scenery
can with difficulty be imagined : I was quite
charmed with beholding it, as I knew very well
that the opera would keep me a long while
chained down in its neighbourhood.
Happy for me that the environs of Lucca were
so beautiful ; since I defy almost any city to
contain more ugliness within its walls. Nar
row streets and dismal alleys ; wide gutters and
cracked pavements ; everybody in black, accord
ing with the gloom of their habitations, which
however are large and lofty enough of consci
ence ; but having all grated windows, they con
vey none but dark and dungeon-like ideas. My
spirits fell many degrees upon entering this sable
capital ; and when I found Friday was meagre
day, in every sense of the word, with its inha
bitants, and no opera to be performed, I grew
wofully out of humour. Instead of a delightful
symphony, I heard nothing for some time but
the clatter of plates and the swearing of waiters.
Amongst the number of my tormentors was a
whole Genoese family of distinction ; very fat
and sleek, and terribly addicted to the violin.

LUCCA. 185
Overhearing my sad complaint for want of music,
they most generously determined I should have
my fill of it, and, getting together a few scrapers,
began such an academia as drove me to the fur
ther end of a very spacious apartment, whilst
they possessed the other. The hopes and heir
of the family — a chubby dolt of between eighteen
and nineteen, his uncle, a thickset smiling per
sonage, and a brace of innocent-looking younger
brothers, plied their fiddles with a hearty good
will, waggled their double chins, and played out
of tune with the most happy unconsciousness, as
amateurs are apt to do ninety-nine times in a
hundred. Pacchierotti, whom they all worshipped in
their heavy way, sat silent the while in a corner ;
the second soprano warbled, not absolutely ill, at
the harpsichord ; whilst the old lady, young lady,
and attendant females, kept ogling him with
great perseverance. Those who could not get
in, squinted through the crevices of the door.
Abbates and greyhounds were fidgetting con
tinually without. In short, I was so persecuted
with questions, criticisms, and concertos, that,
pleading headach and indisposition, I escaped
about ten o'clock, and shook myself when I got
safe to my apartment like a worried spaniel.

186 LUCCA.

LETTER XII.
Rambles among the hills. — Excursions with Pacchierotti.—
He catches cold in the mountains. — The whole Republic is
in commotion, and send a deputation to remonstrate with
the Singer on his imprudence. — The Conte Nobili. — Hill
scenery. — Princely Castle and Gardens of the Garzoni
Family. — Colossal Statue of Fame. — Grove of Ilex. —
Endless bowers of Vines. — Delightful Wood of the
Marchese Mansi. — Return to Lucca. Lucca, Sept. 25, 1780.
You ask me how I pass my time. Generally
upon the hills, in wild spots where the arbutus
flourishes ; from whence I may catch a glimpse
of the distant sea ; my horse tied to a cypress,
and myself cast upon the grass, like Palmerin of
Oliva, with a tablet and pencil in my hand, a
basket of grapes by my side, and a crooked stick
to shake down the chestnuts. I have bidden
adieu, several days ago, to the visits, dinners,
conversazioni, and glories of the town, and only
go thither in an evening, just time enough for
the grand march which precedes Pacchierotti

LUCCA. 187
in Quinto Fabio. Sometimes he accompanies
me in my excursions, to the utter discontent
of the Lucchese, who swear I shall ruin their
Opera, by leading him such extravagant ram
bles amongst the mountains, and exposing him
to the inclemency of winds and showers. One
day they made a vehement remonstrance, but in
vain ; for the next, away we trotted over hill and
dale, and stayed so late in the evening, that a
cold and hoarseness were the consequence.
The whole republic was thrown into commo
tion, and some of its prime ministers were de
puted to harangue Pacchierotti upon the rides he
had committed. Had the safety of their mighty
state depended upon this imprudent excursion,
they could not have vociferated with greater
violence. You know I am rather energetic,
and, to say truth, I had very nearly got into a
scrape of importance, and drawn down the exe
crations of the Gonfalonier and all his council
upon my head by openly declaring our intention
of taking, next morning, another ride over the
rocks, and absolutely losing ourselves in the
clouds which veil their acclivities. These ter
rible threats were put into execution, and yes
terday we made a tour of about thirty miles

188 LUCCA.
upon the high lands, and visited a variety of
castles and palaces.
The Conte Nobili, a noble Lucchese, born in
Flanders and educated at Paris, was our con
ductor. He possesses great elegance of ima
gination, and a degree of sensibility rarely met
with. The way did not appear tedious in such
company. The sun was tempered by light
clouds, and a soft autumnal haze rested upon
the hills, covered with shrubs and olives. The
distant plains and forests appeared tinted with
so deep a blue, that I began to think the azure
so prevalent in Velvet Breughel's landscapes is
hardly exaggerated.
After riding for six or seven miles along the
cultivated levels, we began to ascend a rough
slope, overgrown with chestnuts ; a great many
loose fragments and stumps of ancient pome
granates perplexed our route, which continued,
turning and winding through this wilderness, till
it opened on a sudden to the side of a lofty
mountain, covered with tufted groves, amongst
which hangs the princely castle of the Garzoni,
on the very side of a precipice.
Alcina could not have chosen a more romantic
situation. The garden lies extended beneath,

LUCCA. 189
gay with flowers, and glittering with compart
ments of spar, which, though in no great purity
of taste, strikes for the first time with the effect
of enchantment. Two large marble basins, with
jets-d'eau, seventy feet in height, divide the
parterres ; from the extremity of which rises a
rude cliff, shaded with cedar and ilex, and cut
into terraces.
Leaving our horses at the great gate of this
magic enclosure, we passed through the spray of
the fountains, and mounting an endless flight of
steps, entered an alley of oranges, and gathered
ripe fruit from the trees. Whilst we were thus
employed, the sun broke from the clouds, and
lighted up the green of the vegetation ; at the
same time spangling the waters, which pour co
piously down a succession of rocky terraces, and
sprinkle the impending citron-trees with per
petual dew. These streams issue from a chasm
in the cliff, surrounded by cypresses, which con
ceal by their thick branches a pavilion with
baths. Above arises a colossal statue of Fame,
boldly carved, and in the very act of starting
from the precipices. A narrow path leads up to
the feet of the goddess, on which I reclined ;
whilst a vast column of water arching over my

190 LUCCA.
head, fell, without even wetting me with its
spray, into the depths below.
I could hardly prevail upon myself to abandon
this cool recess, which the fragrance of bay and
orange, maintained by constant showers, ren
dered uncommonly luxurious. At last I con
sented to move on, through a dark wall of ilex,
which, to the credit of Signor Garzoni be it
spoken, is suffered to grow as wild as it pleases.
This grove is suspended on the mountain side,
whose summit is clothed with a boundless wood
of olives, and forms, by its willowy colour, a
striking contrast with the deep verdure of its
base. After resting a few moments in the shade, we
proceeded to a long avenue, bordered by aloes
in bloom, forming majestic pyramids of flowers
thirty feet high. This led us to the palace,
which was soon run over. Then, mounting our
horses, we wound amongst sunny vales, and in-
closures with myrtle hedges, till we came to a,
rapid steep. We felt the heat most powerfully
in ascending it, and were glad to take refuge
under a continued bower of vines, which runs
for miles along its summit. These arbours af
forded us both shade and refreshment; I fell

LUCCA. 191
upon the clusters which formed our ceiling, like
a native of the north, unused to such luxuriance :
one of those Goths, Gray so poetically describes,
who Scent the new fragrance of the breathing rose,
And quaff the pendent vintage as it grows.
I wish you had journeyed with us under this
fruitful canopy, and observed the partial sun
shine through its transparent leaves, and the
glimpses of the blue sky it every now and then
admitted. I say only every now and then, for in
most places a sort of verdant gloom prevailed,
exquisitely agreeable in so hot a day.
But such luxury did not last, you may suppose,
for ever. We were soon forced from our covert,
and obliged to traverse a mountain exposed to
the sun, which had dispersed every cloud, and
shone with intolerable brightness. On the other
side of this extensive eminence lies a pastoral
hillock, surrounded by others, woody and irre
gular. Wide vineyards and fields of Indian
corn lay between, across which the Conte Nobili
conducted us to his house, where we found pre
pared a very comfortable dinner. We drank
the growth of the spot, and defied the richest
wines of Constantia to exceed it.

192 LUCCA.
Afterwards, retiring into a wood of the Mar-
chese Mansi, with neat pebble walks and trick
ling rivulets, we took coffee and loitered till
sunset. It was then time to return, as the mists
were beginning to rise from the valleys. The
calm and silence of evening threw us into our
reveries. We went pacing along heedlessly,
just as our horses pleased, without hearing any
sound but their steps.
Between nine and ten we entered the gates
of Lucca. Pacchierotti coughed, and half its
inhabitants wished us at the devil.

PISA. 193

LETTER XIII.
Set out for Pisa — The Duomo. — Interior of the Cathedral.
— The Campo Santo — Solitude of the streets at midday.
— Proceed to Leghorn. — Beauty of the road. — Tower of
the Fanale. Leghorn, October 2nd, 1780.
This morning we set out for Pisa. No sooner
had we passed the highly cultivated garden-
grounds about Lucca than we found ourselves
in narrow roads, shut in by vines and grassy
banks of canes and osiers, rising high above our
carriage and waving their leaves in the air.
Through the openings which sometimes inter
vened we discovered a variety of hillocks clothed
with shrubs, ruined towers looking out of the
bushes, not one without a romantic tale attend
ing it.
This sort of scenery lasted till, passing the
baths, we beheld Pisa rising from an extensive
plain, the most open we had as yet seen in
Italy, crossed by an aqueduct. We were set
vol. i. o

194 pisa.
down immediately before the Duomo, which
stands insulated in a vast green area, and is
perhaps the most curious edifice my eyes ever
viewed. Do not ask of what shape or architec
ture ; it is almost impossible to tell, so great is
the confusion of ornaments. The dome gives
the mass an oriental appearance, which helped to
bewilder me ; in short, I have dreamed of such
buildings, but little thought they existed. On
one side you survey the famous tower, as per
fectly awry as I expected ; on the other the
baptistery, a circular edifice distinct from the
church and right opposite its principal entrance,
crowded with sculptures and topped by the
strangest of cupolas.
Having indulged our curiosity with this sin
gular prospect for some moments, we entered
the cathedral and admired the stately columns of
porphyry and of the rarest marbles, supporting
a roof which, like the rest of the building, shines
with gold. A pavement of the brightest mo
saic completes its magnificence : all around are
sculptures by Michael Angelo Buonarotti, and
paintings by the most distinguished artists. We
examined them with due attention, and then
walked down the nave and remarked the strik-

pisa. 195
ing effect of the baptistery, seen in perspective
through the bronze portals, which you know,
I suppose, are covered with relievos of the finest
workmanship. These noble valves were thrown
wide open, and we passed between them to the
baptistery, where stands an alabaster font, con
structed after the primitive ritual and exquisitely
wrought. Our next object was the Campo Santo, which
forms one side of the area in which the cathedral
is situated. The walls, and Gothic tabernacle
above the entrance, rising from the level turf
and preserving a neat straw colour, appear as
fresh as if built within the present century.
Our guide unlocking the gates, we entered a
spacious cloister, forming an oblong quadrangle,
which encloses the sacred earth of Jerusalem,
conveyed hither about the period of the cru
sades, the days of Pisanese prosperity. The
holy mould produces a rampant crop of weeds,
but none are permitted to spring from the pave
ment, which is entirely composed of tombs with
slabs, smoothly laid and covered with monu
mental inscriptions. Ranges of slender pillars,
formed of the whitest marble and glistening in
the sun, support the arcade of the cloister,
o2

196 pisa.
which is carved with innumerable stars and
roses, partly Gothic and partly Saracenial.
Strange paintings of hell and the devil, mostly
taken from Dante's rhapsodies, cover the walls
of these fantastic galleries, attributed to the
venerable Giotto and Bufalmacco, whom Boc
caccio mentions in his Decamerone.
Beneath, along the base of the columns, are
placed, to my no small surprise, rows of pagan
sarcophagi ; I could not have supposed the
Pisanese sufficiently tolerant to admit profane
sculptures within such consecrated precincts.
However, there they are, as well as fifty other
contradictory ornaments.
I was quite seized by the strangeness of the
place, and paced fifty times round and round
the cloisters, discovering at every time some
odd novelty. When tired, I seated myself on
a fair slab of giallo antico, that looked a little
cleaner than its neighbours (which I only men
tion to identify the precise point of view), and
looking through the filigreed tracery of the
arches observed the domes of the cathedral,
cupola of the baptistery, and roof of the leaning
tower rising above the leads, and forming the
strangest assemblage of pinnacles perhaps in

pisa. 197
Europe. The place is neither sad nor solemn ;
the arches are airy, the pillars light, and there
is so much caprice, such an exotic look in the
whole scene, that without any violent effort of
fancy one might imagine one's self in fairy land.
Every object is new, every ornament original ;
the mixture of antique sarcophagi with Gothic
sepulchres, completes the vagaries of the pro
spect, to which, one day or other, I think of re
turning, to hear visionary music and commune
with sprites, for I shall never find in the whole
universe besides so whimsical a theatre.
The heat was so powerful that all the inhabit
ants of Pisa showed their wisdom by keeping
within doors. Not an animal appeared in the
streets, except five camels laden with water,
stalking along a range of garden walls and
pompous mansions, with an awning before every
door. We were obliged to follow their steps,
at least a quarter of a mile, before we reached
our inn. Ice was the first thing I sought after,
and when I had swallowed an unreasonable por
tion, I began not to think quite so much of the
deserts of Africa, as the heat and the camels
had induced me to do a moment ago.
Early in the afternoon, we proceeded to Leg-

198 PISA — LEGHORN.
horn through a wild tract of forest, somewhat in
the style of our English parks. The trees in
some places formed such shady arbours, that
we could not resist the desire of walking be
neath them, and were well rewarded ; for after
struggling through a rough thicket, we entered
a lawn hemmed in by oaks and chesnuts, which
extends several leagues along the coast and con
ceals the prospect of the ocean ; but we heard its
murmurs. Nothing could be smoother or more verdant
than the herbage, which was sprinkled with dai
sies and purple crocuses as in the month of May.
I felt all the genial sensations of Spring steal
into my bosom, and was greatly delighted upon
discovering vast bushes of myrtle in the fullest
and most luxuriant bloom. The softness of the
air, the sound of the distant surges, the evening
gleams, and repose of the landscape, quieted the
tumult of my spirits, and I experienced the calm
of my infant hours. I lay down in the open turf-
walks between the shrubberies, and during a few
moments had forgotten every care ; but when I
began to enquire into my happiness, I found it
vanish. I felt myself without those I love most,
in situations they would have warmly admired,

LEGHORN. 199
and without them these pleasant lawns and
woodlands looked pleasant in vain.
We had not left this woody region far behind,
when the Fanale began to lift itself above the
horizon — the very tower you have so often men
tioned ; the sky and ocean glowing with amber
light, and the ships out at sea appearing in a
golden haze, of which we have no conception in
our northern climates. Such a prospect, toge
ther with the fresh gales from the Mediterra
nean, charmed me ; I hurried immediately to the
port and sat on a reef of rocks, listening to the
waves that broke amongst them.

200 LEGHORN.

LETTER XIV.
The Mole at Leghorn. — Coast scattered over with Watch-
towers. — Branches of rare Coral unexpectedly acquired.
October 3rd, 1780.
I went, as you would have done, to walk on
the mole as soon as the sun began to shine upon
it. Its construction you are no stranger to ;
therefore I think I may spare myself the trouble
of saying anything about it, except that the
port which it embraces is no longer crowded.
Instead of ten ranks of vessels there are only
three, and those consist chiefly of Corsican gal
leys, that look as poor and tattered as their
masters. Not much attention did I bestow upon
such objects, but, taking my seat at the extre
mity of the quay, surveyed the smooth plains
of ocean, the coast scattered over with watch-
towers, and the rocky isle of Gorgona, emerging
from the morning mists, which still lingered
upon the horizon.

LF.OHORN. 201
Whilst I was musing upon the scene, and call
ing up all that train of ideas before my imagina
tion, which pleased your own upon beholding it,
an ancient figure, with a beard that would have
suited a sea-god, stepped out of a boat, and tot
tering up the steps of the quay, presented himself
before me with a basket in his hand. He stayed
dripping a few moments before he pronounced a
syllable, and when he began his discourse, I was
in doubt whether I should not have moved off in
a hurry, there was something so wan and singu-
gular in his countenance. Except this being, no
other was visible for a quarter of a mile at least.
I knew not what strange adventure I might be
upon the point of commencing, or what message
I was to expect from the submarine divinities.
However, after all my conjectures, the figure
turned out to be no other than an old fisher
man, who having picked up a few branches of
the rarest species of coral, offered them to sale.
I eagerly made the purchase, and thought myself
a favourite of Neptune, since he allowed me to
acquire, with such facility, some of his most beau
tiful ornaments.
My bargain thus expeditiously concluded, I
ran along the quay with my basket of coral, and,

202 LEGHORN.
taking boat, was rowed back to the gate of the
port. The carriage waited there ; I shut myself
up in the grateful shade of green blinds, and
was driven away at a rate that favoured my
impatience. We bowled smoothly over the lawns
described in my last letter, amongst myrtles in
flower, that would have done honour to the island
of Juan Fernandez.
Arrived at Pisa, I scarcely allowed myself a
moment to revisit the Campo Santo, but hurried
on to Lucca, and threw the whole idle town into
a stare by my speedy return.

FLORENCE. 203

LETTER XV.
Florence again. — Palazzo Vecchio. — View on the Arno. —
Sculptures by Cellini and John of Bologna. — Contempt
shown by the Austrians to the memory of the House of
Medici. — Evening visit to the Garden of Boboli. — The
Opera. — Miserable singing. — A Neapolitan Duchess.
Florence, October 5th, 1780.
It was not without regret that I forced myself
from Lucca. We had all the same road to go
over again, that brought us to this important
republic, but we broke down by way of variety.
The wind was chill, the atmosphere damp and
clogged with unwholesome vapours, through which
we were forced to walk for a league, whilst our
chaise lagged after us.
Taking shelter in a miserable cottage, we re
mained shivering and shaking till the carriage
was in some sort of order, and then proceeded so
slowly that we did not arrive at Florence till late
in the evening, and took possession of an apart-

204 FLORENCE.
ment over the Arno, which being swollen with
rains roared like a mountain torrent. Throwing
open my windows, I viewed its agitated course
by the light of the moon, half concealed in
stormy clouds, which hung above the fortress of
the Belvedere. I sat contemplating the effect of
the shadows on the bridge, on the heights of
Boboli, and the mountain covered with pale olive
groves, amongst which a convent is situated,
till the moon sank into the darkest quarter of
the sky, and a bell began to toll. Its mournful
sound filled me with gloomy recollections. I
closed the casements, and read till midnight some
dismal memoir of conspiracies and assassinations,
Guelphs and Ghibelines, the black story of an
cient Florence. October 6th.
Every cloud was dispersed when I arose, and
the purity and transparence of the aether added
new charms to the picturesque eminences around.
I felt quite revived by this exhilarating prospect,
and walked in the splendour of sunshine to the
porticos beneath the famous gallery, then to an
antient castle, raised in the days of the Repub
lic, which fronts the grand piazza. Colossal
statues and trophies badly carved in the true

FLORENCE. 205
spirit of the antique, are placed before it. On
one side a fountain, clung round with antick
figures of bronze, by John of Bologna. On the
other, three lofty pointed arches, and under one
of them the Perseus of Benvenuto Cellini.
Having examined some groups of sculptures
by Baccio Bandinelli and other mighty artists, I
entered the court of the castle, dark and deep, as
if hewn out of a rock, surrounded by a vaulted
arcade covered with arabesque ornaments and
supported by pillars almost as uncouthly de
signed as those of Persepolis. In the midst ap
pears a marble fount with an image of bronze,
that looks quite strange and cabalistic. I leaned
against it to look up to the summits of the walls,
which rise to a vast height, from whence springs
a slender tower. Above, in the apartments of
the castle, are still preserved numbers of curious
cabinets, tables of inlaid gems, and a thousand
rarities, collected by the house of Medici, and
not yet entirely frittered away and disposed of
by public sale.
It was not without indignation that I learnt
this new mark of contempt which the Austrians
bestow on the memory of those illustrious patrons
of the Arts ; whom, being unwilling to imitate,

206 FLORENCE.
they affect to despise as a race of merchants
whose example it would be abasing their dignity
to follow.
I could have stayed much longer to enjoy the
novelty and strangeness of the place ; but it was
right to pay some compliments of form. That
duty over, I dined in peace and solitude, and
repaired, as evening drew on, to the thickets of
Boboli. What a serene sky ! what mellowness in the
tints of the mountains ! A purple haze concealed
the bases, whilst their summits were invested with
saffron light, discovering every white cot and
every copse that clothed their declivities. The
prospect widened as I ascended the terraces of
the garden.
After traversing many long dusky alleys, I
reached the opening on the brow of the hill, and
seating myself under the statue of Ceres, took a
sketch of the huge mountainous cupola of the
Duomo, the adjoining lovely tower and one more
massive in its neighbourhood, built not impro
bably in the style of ancient Etruria. Beyond
this historic group of buildings a plain stretches
itself far and wide, most richly studded with villas

FLORENCE. 207
and gardens, and groves of pine and olive, quite
to the feet of the mountains.
Having marked the sun's going down and all
the soothing effects cast by his declining rays on
every object, I went through a plat of vines to a
favourite haunt of mine : — a little garden of the
most fragrant roses, with a spring under a rustic
arch of grotto-work fringed with ivy. Thousands
of fish inhabit here, of that beautiful glittering
species which comes from China. This golden
nation were leaping after insects as I stood
gazing upon the deep clear water, listening to
the drops that trickle from the cove. Opposite
to which, at the end of a green alley, you dis
cover an oval basin, and in the midst of it an
antique statue full of that graceful languor so
peculiarly Grecian.
Whilst I was musing on the margin of the
spring (for I returned to it after casting a look
upon the sculpture), the moon rose above the
tufted foliage of the terraces, which I descended
by several flights of steps, with marble balus
trades crowned by vases of aloes.
It was now seven o'clock, and all the world
were going to my Lord T  's, who lives in a

208 FLORENCE.
fine house all over blue and silver, with stuffed
birds, alabaster cupids, and a thousand pretti-
nesses more ; but to say truth, neither he nor his
abode are worth mentioning. I found a deal of
slopping and sipping of tea going forward, and
many dawdlers assembled.
As I can say little good of the party, I had
better shut the door, and conduct you to the
Opera, which is really a striking spectacle. The
first soprano put my patience to severe proof,
during the few minutes I attended. You never
beheld such a porpoise. If these animals were
to sing, I should conjecture it would be in his
style. You may suppose how often I invoked
Pacchierotti, and regretted the lofty melody of
Quinto Fabio. Everybody seemed as well con
tented as if there were no such thing as good
singing in the World, except a Neapolitan duchess
who delighted me by her vivacity. We took our
fill of maledictions, and went home equally pleas
ed with each other for having mutually execrated
both singers and audience.

FLORENCE. 209

LETTER XVI.
Detained at Florence by reports of the Malaria at Rome. —
Ascend one of the hills celebrated by Dante. — View from
its brow. — Chapel designed by Michael Angelo. — Birth
of a Princess. — The christening. — Another evening visit
to the woods of Boboli. October 22nd, 1780.
They say the air is worse this year at Rome
than ever, and that it would be madness to go
thither during its malign influence. This was
very bad news indeed to one heartily tired of
Florence, at least of its society. Merciful powers !
what a set harbour within its walls ! * * *
You may imagine I do not take vehement de
light in this company, though very ingenious,
praiseworthy, &c. The woods of the Cascini
shelter me every morning ; and there grows an
old crooked ilex at their entrance, twisting round
a pine, upon whose branches I sit for hours.
In the afternoon I am irresistibly attracted to
VOL. i. P

210 FLORENCE.
the thickets of Boboli. The other evening, how
ever, I varied my walks, and ascended one of
those pleasant hills celebrated by Dante, which rise
in the vicinity of the city, and command a varie
gated scene of towers, villas, cottages, and gardens.
On the right, as you stand upon the brow, appears
Fiesole with its turrets and white houses, cover
ing a rocky mount to the left, the Val d'Arno
lost in the haze of the horizon. A Franciscan
convent stands on the summit of the eminence,
wrapped up in antient cypresses, which hinder its
holy inhabitants from seeing too much of so gay
a view. The paved ascent leading up to their
abode receives also a shade from the cypresses
which border it. Beneath this venerable avenue,
crosses with inscriptions are placed at certain
distances, to mark the various moments of Christ's
passion ; as when fainting under his burden he
halted to repose himself, or when he met his
afflicted mother.
Above, at the end of the perspective, rises a
chapel designed by M. A. Buonarotti ; further on,
an antient church, encrusted with white marble,
porphyry, and verd antique. The interior pre
sents a crowded assemblage of ornaments, elabo
rate mosaic pavements and inlaid work without

FLORENCE. 211
end. The high altar is placed in a semicircular
recess, which, like the apsis of the church at Tor
cello, glitters with barbaric paintings on a gold
ground, and receives a fervid glow of light from
five windows, filled up with transparent marble
clouded like tortoiseshell. A smooth polished
staircase leads to this mysterious place : another
brought me to a subterraneous chapel, support
ed by confused groups of variegated pillars, just
visible by the glimmer of lamps.
Passing on not unawed, I followed some flights
of steps, which terminate in the neat cloisters of
the convent, in perfect preservation, but totally
deserted. Ranges of citron and aloes fill up the
quadrangle, whose walls are hung with super
stitious pictures most singularly fancied. The
Jesuits were the last tenants of this retirement,
and seem to have had great reason for their
choice. Its peace and stillness delighted me.
Next day I was engaged by a very opposite
scene, though much against my will. Her Royal
Highness the Grand Duchess having produced a
princess in the night, everybody put on grand
gala in the morning, and I was carried, along
with the glittering tide of courtiers, ministers,
and ladies, to see the christening. After the
p 2

212 FLORENCE.
Grand Duke had talked politics for some time,
the doors of a temporary chapel were thrown
open. Trumpets flourished, processions marched,
and the archbishop began the ceremony at an
altar of massive gold, placed under a yellow silk
pavilion, with pyramids of lights before it. Wax
tapers, though it was noon-day, shone in every
corner of the apartments. Two rows of pages,
gorgeously accoutred, and holding enormous
torches, stood on each side his Royal Highness,
and made him the prettiest courtesies imagin
able, to the sound of an indifferent band of
music, though led by Nardini. The poor old
archbishop, who looked very piteous and saint
like, led the Te Deum with a quavering voice,
and the rest followed him with thoughtless ex
pedition. The ceremony being despatched, (for his Royal
Highness was in a mighty fidget to shrink back
into his beloved obscurity,) the crowd dispersed,
and I went, with a few others, to- dine at my
Lord T  's.
Evening drawing on, I ran to throw myself
once more into the woods of Boboli, and re
mained till it was night in their recesses.
Really this garden is enough to bewilder an

FLORENCE. 213
enthusiastic spirit ; there is something so solemn
in its shades, its avenues, and spires of cy
presses. When I had mused for many an in
teresting hour amongst them, I emerged into
the orangery before the palace, which overlooks
the largest district of the town, and beheld, as I
slowly descended the road which leads up to it,
certain bright lights glancing about the cupola
of the Duomo and the points of the highest
towers. At first I thought them meteors, or
those illusive fires which often dance before the
eye of my imagination ; but soon I was con
vinced of their reality ; for in a few minutes
the lantern of the cathedral was lighted up by
agents really invisible ; whilst a stream of torches
ran along the battlements of the old castle which
I mentioned in a former letter.
I enjoyed this prospect at a distance : when
near, my pleasure was greatly diminished, for
half the fish in the town were frying to rejoice
the hearts of his Royal Highness's loyal subjects,
and bonfires blazing in every street and alley.
Hubbubs and stinks of every denomination drove
me quickly to the theatre ; but that was all glit
ter and glare. No taste, no arrangement, paltry
looking-glasses, and rat's-tail candles.

214 FLORENCE.

LETTER XVII.
Pilgrimage to Valombrosa  Rocky Steeps. — Groves of
Pine. — Vast Amphitheatre of Lawns and Meadows. —
Reception at the Convent. — Wild Glens where the Hermit
Gualbertus had his Cell. — Conversation with the holy
Fathers. — Legendary Tales. — The consecrated Cleft.-
The Romitorio. — Extensive View of the Val d'Arno. —
Return to Florence. October 23rd, 1780.
Do you recollect our evening rambles last
year, in the valley at F  , under the hill of
pines ? I remember we often fancied the scene
like Valombrosa ; and vowed, if ever an occasion
offered, to visit its deep retirements. I had put
off the execution of this pilgrimage from day to
day till the warm weather was gone ; and the
Florentines declared I should be frozen if I
attempted it. Everybody stared last night at
the Opera when I told them I was going to bury
myself in fallen leaves, and hear no music but
their rustlings.

FLORENCE. 215
Mr.  was just as eager as myself to escape
the chit-chat arid nothingness of Florence ; so
we finally determined upon our expedition, and
mounting our horses, set out this morning, hap
pily without any company but the spirit which
led us along. We had need of inspiration, since
nothing else, I think, would have tempted us over
such dreary, uninteresting hillocks as rise from
the banks of the Arno. The hoary olive is their
principal vegetation ; so that Nature, in this
part of the country, seems in a withering decre
pit state, and may not unaptly be compared to
" an old woman clothed in grey." However, we
did not suffer the prospect to damp our enthu
siasm, which was the better preserved for Valom
brosa. About half way, our palfreys thought proper
to look out for some oats, and I to creep into
a sort of granary in the midst of a barren waste,
scattered over with white rocks, that reflected
more heat than I cared for, although I had been
told snow and ice were to be my portion. Seat
ing myself on the floor between heaps of corn,
I reached down a few purple clusters of Mus
cadine grapes, which hung to dry in the ceiling,
and amused myself very pleasantly with them

216 FLORENCE.
till the horses had finished their meal and it
was lawful to set forwards. We met with no
thing but rocky steeps shattered into fragments,
and such roads as half inclined us to repent our
undertaking ; but cold was not yet amongst the
number of our evils.
At last, after ascending a tedious while, we
began to feel the wind blow sharply from the
peaks of the mountains, and to hear the murmur
of groves of pine. A paved path leads across
them, quite darkened by boughs, which meeting
over our heads cast a gloom and a chilness be
low that would have stopped the proceedings of
reasonable mortals, and sent them to bask in
the plain ; but, being not so easily discomfit
ed, we threw ourselves boldly into the forest.
It presented that boundless confusion of tall
straight stems I am so fond of, and exhaled
a fresh aromatic odour that revived my spirits.
The cold to be sure was piercing ; but setting
that at defiance, we galloped on, and entered
a vast amphitheatre of lawns and meadows sur
rounded by thick woods beautifully green. The
steep cliffs and mountains which guard this
retired valley are clothed with beech to their
very summits ; and on their slopes, whose smooth-

FLORENCE. 217
ness and verdure equal our English pastures,
were dispersed large flocks of sheep. The herb
age, moistened by streams wliich fall from the
eminences, has never been known to fade ; thus,
whilst the chief part of Tuscany is parched by
the heats of summer, these upland meadows re
tain the freshness of spring. I regretted not
having visited them sooner, as autumn had al
ready made great havock amongst the foliage.
Showers of leaves blew full in our faces as we
rode towards the convent, placed at an ex
tremity of the vale and sheltered by firs and
chesnuts towering one above another.
Whilst we were alighting before the entrance,
two fathers came out and received us into the
peace of their retirement. We found a blazing
fire, and tables spread very comfortably before
it, round which five or six overgrown friars were
lounging, who seemed by the sleekness and rosy
hue of their countenances not totally to have
despised this mortal existence.
My letters of recommendation soon brought
the heads of the order about me, fair round
figures, such as a Chinese would have placed
in his pagoda. I could willingly have dispensed
with their attention ; yet to avoid this was

218 FLORENCE.
scarcely within the circle of possibility. All
dinner, therefore, we endured an infinity of non
sensical questions ; but as soon as that was over,
I lost no time in repairing to the lawns and
forests. The fathers made a shift to waddle
after, as fast and as complaisantly as they were
able, but were soon distanced.
Now I found myself at liberty, and pursued
a narrow path overhung by rock, with bushy
chesnuts starting from the crevices. This led
me into wild glens of beech trees, mostly de
cayed and covered with moss : several were
fallen. It was amongst these the holy hermit
Gualbertus had his cell. I rested a moment
upon one of their huge branches, listening to
the roar of a waterfall which the wood con
cealed. The dry leaves chased each other down
the steeps on the edge of the torrents with
hollow rustlings, whilst the solemn wave of the
forests above most perfectly answered the idea
I had formed of Valombrosa,

-where the Etrurian shades

High overarch'd embower.
The scene was beginning to take effect, and
the genius of Milton to move across his favourite

FLORENCE. 219
valley, when . the fathers arrived puffing and
blowing, by an easier ascent than I knew of.
" You have missed the way," cried the
youngest ; " the hermitage, with the fine pic
ture by Andrea del Sarto, which all the Eng
lish admire, is on the opposite side of the
wood : there ! don't you see it on the point
of the cliff?"
" Yes, yes," said I a little peevishly ; " I
wonder the devil has not pushed it down long
ago ; it seems to invite his kick."
" Satan," answered the old Pagod very dryly,
" is full of malice ; but whoever drinks of a
spring which the Lord causeth to flow near
the hermitage is freed from his illusions."
" Are they so ?" replied I with a sanctified
accent, " then I pray thee conduct me thither,
for I have great need of such salutary waters."
The youngest father shook his head, as much
as to say, " This is nothing more than a heretic's
whim." The senior set forwards with greater piety,
and began some legendary tales of the kind
which my soul loveth. He pointed to a chasm
in the cliff, round which we were winding by a
spiral path, where Gualbertus used to sleep,

220 FLORENCE.
and, turning himself towards the west, see a
long succession of saints and martyrs sweeping
athwart the sky, and gilding the clouds with
far brighter splendours than the setting sun.
Here he rested till his last hour, when the bells
of the convent beneath (which till that moment
would have made dogs howl had there been
any within its precincts) struck out such har
monious jingling that all the country around
was ravished, and began lifting up their eyes
with singular devotion, when, behold! light
dawned, cherubim appeared, and birds chirped
although it was midnight. " Alas ! alas ! what
would I not give to witness such a spectacle,
and read my prayer-book by the effulgence of
opening heaven !"
However, willing to see something at least,
I crept into the consecrated cleft and extended
myself on its rugged surface. A very peniten
tial couch! but commanding glorious prospects
of the world below, which lay this evening in
deep blue shade ; the sun looking red and angry
through misty vapours, which prevented our dis
covering the Tuscan sea.
Finding the rock as damp as might be ex
pected, I soon shifted my quarters, and followed

FLORENCE. 221
the youngest father up to the Romitorio, a snug
little hermitage, with a neat chapel, and altar-
piece by Andrea del Sarto, which I should have
examined more minutely had not the wild and
mountainous forest scenery possessed my whole
attention. I just stayed to taste the holy foun
tain ; and then, escaping from my conductors,
ran eagerly down the path, leaping over the
springs that crossed it, and entered a lawn of
the smoothest turf grazed by sheep. Beyond
this opening rises a second, hemmed in with
thickets ; and still higher, a third, whence a
forest of young pines spires up into a lofty
theatre terminated by peaks, half concealed by
a thick mantle of beech tinged with ruddy
brown. Pausing in the midst of the lawns, and
looking upward to the sweeps of wood which
surrounded me, I addressed my orisons to the
genius of the place, and prayed that I might
once more return into its bosom, and be per
mitted to bring you along with me, for surely
such meads, such groves, were formed for our
enjoyment !
This little rite performed, I walked on quite
to the extremity of the pastures, traversed a
thicket, and found myself on the edge of preci-

222 FLORENCE.
pices, beneath whose base the whole Val d'Arno
lies expanded. I listened to distant murmur
ings in the plain, saw wreaths of smoke rising
from the cottages, and viewed a vast tract of
grey barren country, which evening rendered
still more desolate, bounded by the black moun
tain of Radicofani. Then, turning round, I be
held the whole extent of rock and forest, the
groves of beech, and wilds above the convent,
glowing with fiery red, for the sun, making a
last effort to pierce the vapours, produced this
effect ; which was the more striking, as the sky
was gloomy, and the rest of the prospect of a
melancholy blue.
Returning slowly homeward, I marked the
warm glow deserting the eminences, and heard
the sullen toll of a bell. The young boys of the
seminary were moving in a body to their dark
enclosure, all dressed in black. Many of them
looked pale and wan. I wished to ask them
whether the solitude of Valombrosa suited their
age and vivacity ; but a tall spectre of a priest
drove them along like a herd, and presently, the
gates opening, I saw them no more.
The night was growing chill, the winds bois
terous, and in the intervals of the gusts I had

FLORENCE. 223
the addition of a lamentable screech owl to de
press my spirits. Upon the whole, I was not at
all concerned to meet the fathers, who came out
to show me to my room, and entertain me with
various gossipings, both sacred and profane, till
supper appeared.
Next morning, the Padre Decano gave us
chocolate in his apartment; and afterwards led
us round the convent, insisting most unmerci
fully upon our viewing every cell and every
dormitory. However, I was determined to make
a full stop at the organ, one of the most har
monious I ever played upon ; but placed in a
deep recess, feebly lighted by lamps, not cal
culated to inspire triumphant voluntaries. The
monks, who had all crowded into the loft in
expectation of brisk jigs and lively overtures,
soon retired upon hearing a strain ten times
more sorrowful than that to which they were
accustomed. I did not lament their departure,
but played on till our horses came to the gate.
We mounted, wound back through the grove of
pines which protect Valombrosa from intrusion,
descended the steeps, and, gaining the plains,
galloped in a few hours to Florence.

224 SIENNA.

LETTER XVIII.
Cathedral at Sienna. — A vaulted Chamber. — Leave Sienna.
— Mountains round Radicofani. — Hunting Palace of the
Grand Dukes; — A grim fraternity of Cats. — Dreary Apart
ment. Sienna, October 27th, 1780.
Here my duty of course was to see the cathe
dral, and I got up much earlier than I wished,
in order to perform it. I wonder that our holy
ancestors did not choose a mountain at once,
scrape it into tabernacles, and chisel it into
scripture stories. It would have cost them al
most as little trouble as the building in question,
which, by many of the Italian devotees to a
purer style of architecture, is esteemed a master
piece of ridiculous taste and elaborate absurdity.
The front, encrusted with alabaster, is worked
into a million of fretted arches and puzzling
ornaments. There are statues without number,
and relievos without end or meaning.
The church within is all of black and white
marble alternately; the roof blue and gold, with
a profusion of silken banners hanging from it ;

SIENNA. 225
and a cornice running above the principal arcade,
composed entirely of bustos representing the whole
series of sovereign pontiffs, from the first Bishop
of Rome to Adrian the Fourth. Pope Joan they
say figured amongst them, between Leo the Fourth
and Benedict the Third, till the year 1600, when
some authors have asserted she was turned out,
at the instance of Clement the Eighth, to make
room for Zacharias the First.
I hardly knew which was the nave, or which
the cross aisle, of this singular edifice, so perfect
is the confusion of its parts. The pavement de
mands attention, being inlaid so curiously as to
represent variety of histories taken from Holy
Writ, and designed somewhat in the style of that
hobgoblin tapestry which used to bestare the walls
of our ancestors. Near the high altar stands the
strangest of pulpits, supported by polished pillars
of granite, rising from lions' backs, which serve as
pedestals. In every corner of the place some
glittering chapel or other offends or astonishes
you. That, however, of the Chigi family, it must
be allowed, has infinite merit with respect to de
sign and execution ; but it wants effect, as seem
ing out of place in this chaos of caprice and
finery. VOL. I. Q

226 SIENNA.
From the church I entered a vaulted chamber,
erected by the Piccoliminis, filled with missals
most exquisitely illuminated. The paintings in
fresco on the walls are rather barbarous, though
executed after the designs of the mighty Ra
phael ; but then we must remember, he had but
just escaped from Pietro Perugino.
Not staying long in the Duomo, we left Si
enna in good time ; and, after being shaken and
tumbled in the worst roads that ever pretended
to be made use of, found ourselves beneath the
rough mountains round Radicofani, about seven
o'clock on a cold and dismal evening. Up we
toiled a steep craggy ascent, and reached at
length the inn upon its summit. My heart sank
when I entered a vast range of apartments, with
high black raftered roofs, once intended for a
hunting palace of the Grand Dukes, but now
desolate and forlorn. The wind having risen,
every door began to shake, and every board
substituted for a window to clatter, as if the
severe power who dwells on the topmost peak
of Radicofani, according to its village myco
logists, was about to visit his abode.
My only spell to keep him at a distance was
kindling an enormous fire, whose charitable

SIENNA. 227
gleams cheered my spirits, and gave them a
quicker flow. Yet, for some minutes, I never
ceased looking, now to the right, now to the left,
up at the dark beams, and down the long passages,
where the pavement, broken up in several places,
and earth newly strewn about, seemed to indi
cate that something horrid was concealed below.
A grim fraternity of cats kept whisking back
wards and forwards in these dreary avenues,
which I am apt to imagine is the very identical
scene of a sabbath of witches at certain periods.
Not venturing to explore them, I fastened my
door, pitched my bed opposite the hearth which
glowed with embers, and crept under the cover
lids, hardly venturing to go to sleep lest I
should be suddenly roused from it by I know
not what terrible initiation into the mysteries of
the place.
Scarce was I settled, before two or three of
the brotherhood just mentioned stalked in at a
little opening under the door. I insisted upon
their moving off faster than they had entered,
and was surprised, when midnight came, to hear
nothing more than their doleful mewings echoed
by the hollow walls and arches.

q 2

228 RADICOFANI.

LETTER XIX.
Leave the gloomy precincts of Radicofani and enter the
Papal territory. — Country near Aquapendente. — Shores
of the Lake of Bolsena.— Forest of Oaks. — Ascend Monte
Fiascone. — Inhabited Caverns. — Viterbo. — Anticipations
of Rome. Radicofani, October 28th, 1780.
I begin to despair of magical adventures, since
none happened at Radicofani, which Nature
seems wholly to have abandoned. Not a tree,
not an acre of soil, has she bestowed upon its
inhabitants, who would have more excuse for
practising the gloomy art than the rest of man
kind. I was very glad to leave their black hills
and stony wilderness behind, and, entering the
Papal territory, to see some shrubs and corn
fields at a distance.
Near Aquapendente, which is situated on a
ledge of cliffs mantled with chesnut copses and
tufted ilex, the country grew varied and pictu
resque. St. Lorenzo, the next post, built upon
a hill, overlooks the lake of Bolsena, whose

RADICOFANI. 229
woody shores conceal many ruined buildings.
We passed some of them in a retired vale, with
arches from rock to rock, and grottos beneath
half lost in thickets, from which rise craggy pin
nacles crowned by mouldering towers ; just such
scenery as Polemberg and Bamboche introduce
in their paintings.
Beyond these truly Italian prospects, which a
mellow evening tint rendered still more interest
ing, a forest of oaks presents itself upon the
brows of hills, which extends almost the whole
way to Monte Fiascone. It was late before we
ascended it. The whole country seems full of
inhabited caverns, that began as night drew on
to shine with fires. We saw many dark shapes
glancing before them, and perhaps a subterrane
ous people like the Cimmerians lurk in their re
cesses. As we drew near Viterbo, the lights in
the fields grew less and less frequent ; and when
we entered the town, all was total darkness.
To-morrow I hope to pay my vows before the
high altar of St. Peter, and tread the Vatican.
Why are you not here to usher me into the
imperial city : to watch my first glance of the
Coliseo : and lead me up the stairs of the Capi
tol ? I shall rise before the sun, that I may see
him set from Monte Cavallo.

230 ROME.

LETTER XX.
Set out in the dark. — The Lago di Vico. — View of the spa
cious plains where the Romans reared their seat of empire.
— Ancient splendour. — Present silence and desolation. —
Shepherds' huts. — WTretched policy of the Papal Govern
ment. — Distant view of Rome. — Sensations on entering
the City. — The Pope returning from Vespers. — St. Peter's
Colonnade. — Interior of the Church. — Reveries. — A vision
ary scheme. — The Pantheon. Rome, October 29th, 1780.
We set out in the dark. Morning dawned
over the Lago di Vico ; its waters of a deep
ultramarine blue, and its surrounding forests
catching the rays of the rising sun. It was in
vain I looked for the cupola of St. Peter's upon
descending the mountains beyond Viterbo. No
thing but a sea of vapours was visible.
At length they rolled away, and the spacious
plains began to show themselves, in which the
most warlike of nations reared their seat of em
pire. On the left, afar off> rises the rugged chain
of Apennines, and on the other side, a shining

ROME. 231
expanse of ocean terminates the view. It was
upon this vast surface so many illustrious actions
were performed, and I know not where a mighty
people could have chosen a grander theatre.
Here was space for the march of armies, and
verge enough for encampments : levels for mar
tial games, and room for that variety of roads
and causeways that led from the capital to
Ostia. How many triumphant legions have
trodden these pavements ! how many captive
kings ! What throngs of cars and chariots once
glittered on their surface ! savage animals drag
ged from the interior of Africa ; and the ambas
sadors of Indian princes, followed by their exotic
train, hastening to implore the favour of the
senate !
During many ages, this eminence commanded
almost every day such illustrious scenes ; but all
are vanished : the splendid tumult is passed
away : silence and desolation remain. Dreary
flats thinly scattered over with ilex, and barren
hillocks crowned by solitary towers, were the
only objects we perceived for several miles. Now
and then we passed a few black ill-favoured
sheep straggling by the way's side, near a ruined
sepulchre, just such animals as an ancient would

232 ROME.
have sacrificed to the Manes. Sometimes we
crossed a brook, whose ripplings were the only
sounds which broke the general stillness, and
observed the shepherds' huts on its banks, prop
ped up with broken pedestals and marble friezes.
I entered one of them, whose owner was abroad
tending his herds, and began writing upon the
sand and murmuring a melancholy song. Per
haps the dead listened to me from their narrow
cells. The living I can answer for : they were
far enough removed.
You will not be surprised at the dark tone of
my musings in so sad a scene, especially as the
weather lowered ; and you are well acquainted
how greatly I depend upon skies and sunshine.
To-day I had no blue firmament to revive my
spirits ; no genial gales, no aromatic plants to
irritate my nerves and lend at least a momentary
animation. Heath and a greyish kind of moss
are the sole vegetation which covers this endless
wilderness. Every slope is strewed with the
relics of a happier period ; trunks of trees, shat
tered columns, cedar beams, helmets of bronze,
skulls and coins, are frequently dug up together.
I cannot boast of having made any discoveries,
nor of sending you any novel intelligence. You

ROME. 233
knew before how perfectly the environs of Rome
were desolate, and how completely the Papal
government contrives to make its subjects mise
rable. But who knows that they were not just
as wretched in those boasted times we are so
fond of celebrating ? All is doubt and conjec
ture in this frail existence ; and I might as well
attempt proving to whom belonged the moulder
ing bones which lay dispersed around me, as ven
ture to affirm that one age is more fortunate
than another. Very likely the poor cottager,
under whose roof I reposed, is happier than the
luxurious Roman upon the remains of whose
palace, perhaps, his shed is raised : and yet that
Roman flourished in the purple days of the em
pire, when all was wealth and splendour, triumph
and exultation.
I could have spent the whole day by the rivu
let, lost in dreams and meditations ; but recol
lecting my vow, I ran back to the carriage and
drove on. The road not having been mended, I
believe, since the days of the Caesars, would not
allow our motions to be very precipitate. " When
you gain the summit of yonder hill, you will dis
cover Rome," said one of the postilions : up we
dragged ; no city appeared. '' From the next,"

234 ROME.
cried out a second ; and so on from height to
height did they amuse my expectations. I
thought Rome fled before us, such was my impa
tience, till at last we perceived a cluster of hills
with green pastures on their summits, inclosed
by thickets and shaded by flourishing ilex. Here
and there a white house, built in the antique
style, with open porticos, that received a faint
gleam of the evening sun, just emerged from the
clouds and tinting the meads below. Now domes
and towers began to discover themselves in the
valley, and St. Peter's to rise above the mag
nificent roofs of the Vatican. Every step we
advanced the scene extended, till, winding sud
denly round the hill, all Rome opened to our
view. Shall I ever forget the sensations I experi
enced upon slowly descending the hills; and
crossing the bridge over the Tiber ; when I
entered an avenue between terraces and orna
mented gates of villas, which leads to the Porto
del Popolo, and beheld the square, the domes,
the obelisk, the long perspective of streets and
palaces opening beyond, all glowing with the
vivid red of sunset ? You can imagine how I
enjoyed my beloved tint, my favourite hour, sur-

ROME. 235
rounded by such objects. You can fancy me
ascending Monte Cavallo, leaning against the
pedestal which supports Bucephalus ; then, spite
of time and distance, hurrying to St. Peter's in
performance of my vow.
I met the Holy Father in all his pomp return
ing from vespers. Trumpets flourishing, and a
troop of guards drawn out upon Ponte St. An
gelo. Casting a respectful glance upon the
Moles Adriani, I moved on till the full sweep of
St. Peter's colonnade opened upon me. The edi
fice appears to have been raised within the year,
such is its freshness and preservation. I could
hardly take my eyes from off the beautiful sym
metry of its front, contrasted with the magnifi
cent, though irregular courts of the Vatican
towering over the colonnade, till, the sun sink
ing behind the dome, I ran up the steps and
entered the grand portal, which was on the very
point of being closed.
I knew not where I was, or to what scene
transported. A sacred twilight concealing the
extremities of the structure, I could not distin
guish any particular ornament, but enjoyed the
effect of the whole. No damp air or foetid exha
lation offended me. The perfume of incense was

236 ROME.
not yet entirely dissipated. No human being
stirred. I heard a door close with the sound of
thunder, and thought I distinguished some faint
whisperings, but am ignorant whence they came.
Several hundred lamps twinkled round the high
altar, quite lost in the immensity of the pile. No
other light disturbed my reveries but the dying
glow still visible through the western windows.
Imagine how I felt upon finding myself alone in
this vast temple at so late an hour. Do you think
I quitted it without some revelation ?
It was almost eight o'clock before I issued
forth, and, pausing a few minutes under the por
ticos, listened to the rush of the fountains : then
traversing half the town, I believe, in my way to
the Villa Medici, under which I am lodged, fell
into a profound repose, which my zeal and exer
cise may be allowed, I think, to have merited.
October 30th.
Immediately after breakfast I repaired again
to St. Peter's, which even exceeded the height
of my expectations. I could hardly quit it. I
wish his Holiness would allow me to erect a little
tabernacle within this glorious temple. I should
desire no other prospect during the winter ; no
other sky than the vast arches glowing with

ROME. 237
golden ornaments, so .lofty as to lose all glitter
or gaudiness. But I cannot say I should be
perfectly contented, unless I could obtain an
other tabernacle for you. Thus established, we
would take our evening walks on the field of
marble ; for is not the pavement vast enough for
the extravagance of the appellation ? Sometimes,
instead of climbing a mountain, we should ascend
the cupola, and look down on our little encamp
ment below. At night I should wish for a con
stellation of lamps dispersed about in clusters,
and so contrived as to diffuse a mild and equal
light. Music should not be wanting : at one
time to breathe in the subterraneous chapels, at
another to echo through the dome.
The doors should be closed, and not a mortal
admitted. No priests, no cardinals : God for
bid ! We would have all the space to ourselves,
and to beings of our own visionary persuasion.
I was so absorbed in my imaginary palace, and
exhausted with contriving plans for its embellish
ment, as scarcely to have spirits left for the Pan
theon, which I visited late in the evening, and
entered with a reverence approaching to super
stition. The whiteness of the dome offended me,
for, alas ! this venerable temple has been white-

238 ROME.
washed. I slunk into one .of the recesses, closed
my eyes, transported myself into antiquity ; then
opened them again, tried to persuade myself the
Pagan gods were in their niches, and the saints
out of the question ; was vexed at coming to my
senses, and finding them all there, St. Andrew
with his cross, and St. Agnes with her lamb, &c.
Then I paced disconsolately into the portico,
which shows the name of Agrippa on its pedi
ment. Fixed for a few minutes against a Co
rinthian column, I lamented that no pontiff
arrived with victims and aruspices, of whom I
might enquire, what, in the name of birds and
garbage, put me so terribly out of humour ! for
you must know I was very near being disap
pointed, and began to think Piranesi and Paolo
Panini had been a great deal too colossal in
their representations of this venerable structure.
I left the column, walked to the centre of the
temple, and there remained motionless as a sta
tue. Some architects have celebrated the effect
of light from the opening above, and pretended
it to be distributed in such a manner as to give
those, who walk beneath, the appearance of
mystic beings streaming with radiance. If that
were the case ! I appeared, to be sure, a luminous

ROME. 239
figure, and never stood I more in need of some
thing to enliven me.
My spirits were not mended upon returning
home. I had expected a heap of Venetian let
ters, but could not discover one. I had received
no intelligence from England for many a tedious
day ; and for aught I can tell to the contrary, you
may have been dead these three weeks. I think
I shall wander soon in the Catacombs, which I
try lustily to persuade myself communicate with
the lower world ; and perhaps I may find some
letter there from you lying upon a broken sar
cophagus, dated from the realms of Night, and
giving an account of your descent into her bosom.
Yet, I pray continually, notwithstanding my cu
riosity to learn what passes in the dark regions
beyond the tomb, that you will remain a few
years longer on our planet ; for what would be
come of me should I lose sight of you for ever ?
Stay, therefore, as long as you can, and let us
have the delight of dozing a little more of this
poor existence away together, and steeping our
selves in pleasant dreams.

240 ROME.

LETTER XXI.
Leave Rome for Naples  Scenery in the vicinity of Rome.
— Albano  Malaria. — Veletri  Classical associations. —
The Circean Promontory.— Terracina. — Ruined Palace.
—Mountain Groves.— Rock of Circe.— The Appian Way.
— Arrive at Mola di Gaieta. — Beautiful prospect. — A De
luge. — Enter Naples by night, during a fearful Storm. —
Clear Morning. — View from my window. — Courtly Mob
at the Palace. — The Presence Chamber. — The King and
his Courtiers.— Party at the House of* Sir W. H. — Grand
Illumination at the Theatre of St. Carlo. — Marchesi.
November 1st, 1780.
Though you find I am not yet snatched away
from the earth, according to my last night's
bodings, I was far too restless and dispirited to
deliver my recommendatory letters. St. Carlos,
a mighty day of gala at Naples, was an excellent
excuse for leaving Rome, and indulging my
roving disposition. After spending my morning
at St. Peter's, we set off about four o'clock, and
drove by the Coliseo and a Capuchin convent,
whose monks were all busied in preparing the

ROME. 241
skeletons of their order, to figure by torch-light
in the evening. St. John's of Lateran astonish
ed me. I could not help walking several times
round the obelisk, and admiring the noble space
in which the palace is erected, and the extensive
scene of towers and aqueducts discovered from
the platform in front.
We went out at the Porta Appia, and began
to perceive the plains which surround the city
opening on every side. Long reaches of walls
and arches, seldom interrupted, stretch across
them. Sometimes, indeed, a withered pine, lift
ing itself up to the mercy of every blast that
sweeps the champagne, breaks their uniformity.
Between the aqueducts to the left, nothing but
wastes of fern, or tracts of ploughed lands, dark
and desolate, are visible, the corn not being yet
sprung up. On the right, several groups of
ruined fanes and sepulchres diversify the levels,
with here and there a garden or woody enclo
sure. Such objects are scattered over the land
scape, which towards the horizon bulges into
gentle ascents, and, rising by degrees, swells at
length into a chain of mountains, which received
the pale gleams of the sun setting in watery
clouds. vol. i. R

242 VELETRI.
By this uncertain light we discovered the
white buildings of Albano, sprinkled about the
steeps. We had not many moments to contem
plate them, for it was night when we passed the
Torre di mezza via, and began breathing a close
pestilential vapour. Half suffocated, and recol
lecting a variety of terrifying tales about the
malaria, we advanced, not without fear, to Ve-
letri, and hardly ventured to fall asleep when
arrived there. November 2nd.
I arose at day-break, and, forgetting fevers
and mortalities, ran into a level meadow without
the town, whilst the horses were putting to the
carriage. Why should I calumniate the pearly
transparent air ? it seemed at least purer than
any I had before inhaled. Being perfectly alone,
and not discovering any trace of the neighbour
ing city, I fancied myself existing in the ancient
days of Hesperia, and hoped to meet Picus in
his woods before the evening. But, instead of
those shrill clamours which used to echo through
the thickets when Pan joined with mortals in
the chase, I heard the rumbling of our carriage,
and the cursing of postilions. Mounting a
horse I flew before them, and seemed to catch

TERRACINA. 243
inspiration from the breezes. Now I turned my
eyes to the ridge of precipices, in whose grots
and caverns Saturn and his people passed their
life ; then to the distant ocean. Afar off rose the
cliff, so famous for Circe's incantations, and the
whole line of coasts, which was once covered with
her forests.
Whilst I was advancing with full speed, the
sun-beams began to shoot athwart the moun
tains, the plains to light up by degrees, and
their shrubberies of myrtle to glisten with dew-
drops. The sea brightened, and the Circean
promontory soon glowed with purple. All day
we kept winding through this enchanted coun
try. Towards evening Terracina appeared be
fore us, in a bold romantic scite ; house above
house, and turret looking over turret, on the
steeps of a mountain, enclosed with mouldering
walls, and crowned by the ruined terraces of a
palace ; one of those, perhaps, which the luxu
rious Romans inhabited during the summer,
when so free and lofty an exposition (the sea
below, with its gales and murmurs) must have
been delightful. Groves of orange and citron
hang on the declivity, rough with the Indian fig,
whose bright red flowers, illuminated by the sun,
R 2

244 TERRACINA.
had a magic splendour. A palm-tree, growing
on the highest crag, adds not a little to its sin
gular appearance. Being the largest I had yet
seen, and clustered with fruit, I climbed up the
rocks to take a sketch of it ; and looking down
upon the beach and glassy plains of ocean, ex
claimed with Martial :
O nemus I O fontes I solidumque madentis arenae
Littus, et aequoreis splendidus Anxur aquis !
Glancing my eyes athwart the sea, I fixed
them on the rock of Circe, which lies right oppo
site to Terracina, joined to the continent by a
very narrow strip of land, and appearing like an
island. The roar of the waves lashing the base
of the precipices, might still be thought the howl
of savage monsters ; but where are those woods
which shaded the dome of the goddess ? Scarce
a tree appears. A few thickets, and but a few,
are the sole remains of this once impenetrable
vegetation ; yet even these I longed to visit, such
was my predilection for the spot.
Descending the cliff, and pursuing our route
to Mola along the shore, by a grand road formed
on the ruins of the Appian Way, we drove under
an enormous perpendicular rock, standing de
tached, like a watch tower, and cut into arsenals

MOLA DI GAETA. 245
and magazines. Day closed just as we got be
yond it, and a new moon gleamed faintly on the
waters. We saw fires afar off in the bay, some
twinkling on the coast, others upon the waves,
and heard the murmur of voices ; for the night
was still and solemn, like that of Cajetas's funeral.
I looked anxiously on a sea, where the heroes of
the Odyssey and iEneid had sailed to fulfil their
mystic destinies.
Nine struck when we arrived at Mola di
Gaeta. The boats were just coming in (whose
lights we had seen out upon the main), and
brought such fish as Neptune, I dare say, would
have grudged iEneas and Ulysses. November 3rd.
The morning was soft, but hazy. I walked in
a grove of orange trees, white with blossoms,
and at the same time glowing with fruit. The
spot sloped pleasantly toward the sea, and here
I loitered till the horses were ready, then set off
on the Appian, between hedges of myrtle and
aloes. We observed a variety of towns, with
battlemented walls and ancient turrets, crowning
the pinnacles of rocky steeps, surrounded by
wilds, and rude uncultivated mountains. The
Liris, now Garigliano, winds its peaceful course

246 NAPLES.
through wide extensive meadows, scattered over
with the remains of aqueducts, and waters the
base of the rocks I have just mentioned. Such
a prospect could not fail of bringing Virgil's
panegyric of Italy into my mind :
Tot congesta manu praeruptis oppida saxis
Fluminaque antiquos subterlabentia muros.
As soon as we arrived in sight of Capua, the
sky darkened, clouds covered the horizon, and
presently poured down such deluges of rain as
floated the whole country. The gloom was
general; Vesuvius disappeared just after we
had discovered it. At four o'clock darkness
universally prevailed, except when a livid glare
of lightning presented momentary glimpses of
the bay and mountains. We lighted torches,
and forded several torrents almost at the hazard
of our lives. The plains of Aversa were filled
with herds, lowing most piteously, and yet not
half so much scared as their masters, who ran
about raving and ranting like Indians during
the eclipse of the moon. I knew Vesuvius had
often put their courage to proof, but little
thought of an inundation occasioning such
commotions. For three hours the storm increased in vio-

NAPLES. 247
lence, and instead of entering Naples on a calm
evening, and viewing its delightful shores by
moonlight — instead of finding the squares and
terraces thronged with people and animated by
music, we advanced with fear and terror through
dark streets totally deserted, every creature
being shut up in their houses, and we heard
nothing but driving rain, rushing torrents, and
the fall of fragments beaten down by their
violence. Our inn, like every other habitation,
was in great disorder, and we waited a long
while before we could settle in our apartments
with any comfort. All night the waves roared
round the rocky foundations of a fortress beneath
my windows, and the lightning played clear in
my eyes. November 4th.
Peace was restored to nature in the morning,
but every mouth was full of the dreadful acci
dents which had happened in the night. The
sky was cloudless when I awoke, and such was
the transparence of the atmosphere that I could
clearly discern the rocks, and even some white
buildings on the island of Caprea, though at
the distance of thirty miles. A large window
fronts my bed, and its casements being thrown

248 NAPLES.
open, gives me a vast prospect of ocean un
interrupted, except by the peaks of Caprea and
the Cape of Sorento. I lay half an hour gazing
on the smooth level waters, and listening to
the confused voices of the fishermen, passing
and repassing in light skiffs, which came and
disappeared in an instant.
Running to the balcony the moment my eyes
were fairly open (for till then I saw objects, I
know not how, as one does in dreams,) I leaned
over its rails and viewed Vesuvius rising dis
tinct into the blue aether, with all that world of
gardens and casinos which are scattered about
its base ; then looked down into the street, deep
below, thronged with people in holiday gar
ments, and carriages, and soldiers in full parade.
The shrubby, variegated shore of Posilipo drew
my attention to the opposite side of the bay.
It was on those very rocks, under those tall
pines, Sannazaro was wont to sit by moon
light, or at peep of dawn, composing his ma
rine eclogues. It is there he still sleeps ; and I
wished to have gone immediately and strewed
coral over his tomb, but I was obliged to check
my impatience and hurry to the palace in form
and gala.

NAPLES. 249
A courtly mob had got thither upon the same
errand, daubed over with lace and most notably
be-periwigged. Nothing but bows and saluta
tions were going forward on the staircase, one
of the largest I ever beheld, and which a multi
tude of prelates and friars were ascending with
awkward pomposity. I jostled along to the
presence chamber, where his Majesty was dining
alone in a circular enclosure of fine clothes
and smirking faces. The moment he had
finished, twenty long necks were poked forth,
and it was a glorious struggle amongst some of
the most decorated who first should kiss his
hand, the great business of the day. Everybody
pressed forward to the best of their abilities.
His Majesty seemed to eye nothing but the end
of his nose, which is doubtless a capital object.
Though people have imagined him a weak
monarch, I beg leave to differ in opinion, since
he has the boldness to prolong his childhood
and be happy, in spite of years and conviction.
Give him a boar to stab, and a pigeon to shoot
at, a battledore or an angling rod, and he is
better contented than Solomon in all his glory,
and will never discover, like that sapient sove
reign, that all is vanity and vexation of spirit.

250 NAPLES.
His courtiers in general have rather a bar
baric appearance, and differ little in the cha
racter of their physiognomies from the most
savage nations. I should have taken them for
Calmucks or Samoieds, had it not been for their
dresses and European finery.
You may suppose I was not sorry, after my
presentation was over, to return to Sir W. H.'s,
where an interesting group of lovely women,
literati, and artists, were assembled — Gagliani
and Cyrillo, Aprile, Milico, and Deamicis — the
determined Santo Marco, and the more nymph
like modest-looking, though not less dangerous,
Belmonte. Gagliani happened to be in full story,
and vied with his countryman Polichinello, not
only in gesticulation and loquacity, but in the ex
cessive licentiousness of his narrations. He was
proceeding beyond all bounds of decency and
decorum, at least according to English notions,
when Lady H.* sat down to the pianoforte.
Her plaintive modulations breathed a far dif-
* This excellent and highly cultivated woman died at
Naples in August 1782. Had she lived to a later period
her example and influence might probably have gone great
lengths towards arresting that tide of corruption and pro
fligacy which swept off this ill-fated court to Sicily, and
threatened its total destruction.

NAPLES. 251
ferent language. No performer that ever I
heard produced such soothing effects ; they
seemed the emanations of a pure, uncontami-
nated mind, at peace with itself and benevo
lently desirous of diffusing that happy tranquil
lity around it; these were modes a Grecian
legislature would have encouraged to further
the triumph over vice of the most amiable virtue.
The evening was passing swiftly away, and I
had almost forgotten there was a grand illumin
ation at the theatre of St. Carlo. After travers
ing a number of dark streets, we suddenly en
tered this enormous edifice, whose seven rows of
boxes one above the other blazed with tapers.
I never beheld such lofty walls of light, nor so
pompous a decoration as covered the stage.
Marchesi was singing in the midst of all these
splendours some of the poorest music imaginable,
with the clearest and most triumphant voice,
perhaps, in the universe.
It was some time before I could look to any
purpose around me, or discover what animals
inhabited this glittering world : such was its size
and glare. At last I perceived vast numbers of
swarthy ill-favoured beings, in gold and silver
raiment, peeping out of their boxes. The court

252 NAPLES.
being present, a tolerable silence was maintained,
but the moment his Majesty withdrew (which
great event took place at the beginning of the
second act) every tongue broke loose, and nothing
but buzz and hubbub filled up the rest of the en
tertainment.

NAPLES. 253

LETTER XXII.
View of the coast of Posilipo  Virgil's tomb. — Superstition
of the Neapolitans with respect to Virgil. — Aerial situation.
— A grand scene. November 6th, 1780.
Till to-day we have had nothing but rains ;
the sea covered with mists, and Caprea invisible.
Would you believe it ? I have not yet been able
to mount to St. Elmo and the Capo di Monte, in
order to take a general view of the town.
At length a bright gleam of sunshine summon
ed me to the broad terrace of Chiaja, which
commands the whole coast of Posilipo. Insen
sibly I drew towards it, and (you know the pace I
run when out upon discoveries) soon reached the
entrance of the grotto, which lay in dark shades,
whilst the crags that lower over it were brightly
illumined. Shrubs and vines grow luxuriantly in
the crevices of the rock ; and its fresh yellow co
lours, variegated with ivy, have a beautiful effect.

254 NAPLES.
To the right, a grove of pines spring from the
highest pinnacles : on the left, bay and chesnut
conceal the tomb of Virgil placed on the summit
of a cliff which impends over the opening of the
grotto, and is fringed with vegetation. Beneath
are several wide apertures hollowed in the solid
stone, which lead to caverns sixty or seventy feet
in depth, where a number of peasants, who were
employed in quarrying, made a strange but not
absolutely unharmonious din with their tools and
their voices.
Walking out of the sunshine, I seated myself
on a loose stone immediately beneath the first
gloomy arch of the grotto, and looking down the
long and solemn perspective terminated by a
speck of gray uncertain light, venerated a work
which some old chroniclers have imagined as
ancient as the Trojan war. It was here the mys
terious race of the Cimmerians performed their
infernal rites, and it was this excavation perhaps
which led to their abode.
The Neapolitans attribute a more modern,
though full as problematical an origin to their
famous cavern, and most piously believe it to
have been formed by the enchantments of Virgil,
who, as Addison very justly observes, is better

NAPLES. 255
known at Naples in his magical character than
as the author of the ^Eneid. This strange infa
tuation most probably arose from the vicinity of
the tomb in which his ashes are supposed to have
been deposited ; and which, according to popular
tradition, was guarded by those very spirits who
assisted in constructing the cave. But whatever
may have given rise to these ideas, certain it is
they were not confined to the lower ranks alone.
King Robert,* a wise though far from poetical
monarch, conducted his friend Petrarch with
great solemnity to the spot ; and, pointing to the
entrance of the grotto, very gravely asked him,
whether he did not adopt the general belief, and
conclude this stupendous passage derived its ori
gin from Virgil's powerful incantations ? The
answer, I think, may easily be conjectured.
When I had sat for some time, contemplating
this dusky avenue, and trying to persuade myself
that it was hewn by the Cimmerians, I retreated
without proceeding any farther, and followed a
narrow path which led me, after some windings
and turnings, along the brink of the precipice,
across a vineyard, to that retired nook of the
rocks which shelters Virgil's tomb, most vener-
* Mem. pour la Vie de Petrarque, vol. i. p. 439.

256 NAPLES.
ably mossed over and more than half concealed
by bushes and vegetation. The clown who con
ducted me remained aloof at awful distance,
whilst I sat commercing with the manes of my
beloved poet, or straggled about the shrubbery
which hangs directly above the mouth of the
grot. Advancing to the edge of the rock, I saw
crowds of people and carriages, diminished by
distance, issuing from the bosom of the moun
tain and disappearing almost as soon as dis
covered in the windings of its road. Clamber
ing high above the cavern, I hazarded my neck
on the top of one of the pines, and looked con
temptuously down on the race of pigmies that
were so busily moving to and fro. The sun was
fiercer than I could have wished, but the sea-
breezes fanned me in my aerial situation, which
commanded the grand sweep of the bay, varied
by convents, palaces, and gardens mixed with
huge masses of rock and crowned by the stately
buildings of the Carthusians and fortress of St.
Elmo. Add a glittering blue sea to this perspec
tive, with Caprea rising from its bosom and Ve
suvius breathing forth a white column of smoke
into the aether, and you will then have a scene

NAPLES. 257
upon which I gazed with delight, for more than
an hour, almost forgetting that I was perched
upon the head of a pine with nothing but a frail
branch to uphold me. However, I descended
alive, as Virgil's genii, I am resolved to believe,
were my protectors.

vol. i.

258 NAPLES.

LETTER XXIII.
A ramble on the shore of Baii — Local traditions. — Cross the
bay. — Fragments of a temple dedicated to Hercules. —
Wondrous reservoir constructed for the fleet of Nero 
The Dead Lake. — Wild scene. — Beautiful meadow.
Uncouth rocks. — An unfathomable gulph. — Sadness in
duced by the wild appearance of the place. — Conversa
tion with a recluse. — Her fearful narration. — Melancholy
evening. November 8th, 1780.
This morning I awoke in the glow of sunshine
— the air blew fresh and fragrant — never did I
feel more elastic and enlivened. A brisker flow
of spirits than I had for many a day experienced,
animated me with a desire of rambling about
the shore of Baii, and creeping into caverns and
subterraneous chambers. Off I set along the
Chiaja, and up strange paths which impend over
the grotto of Posilipo, amongst the thickets men
tioned a letter or two ago; for in my present
buoyant humour I disdained ordinary roads, and

NAPLES. 259
would take paths and ways of my own. A so
ciety of kids did not understand what I meant
by intruding upon their precipices ; and scram
bling away, scattered sand and fragments upon
the good people that were trudging along the
pavement below.
I went on from pine to pine and thicket to
thicket, upon the brink of rapid declivities. My
conductor, a shrewd savage, whom Sir William
had recommended to me, cheered our route with
stories that had passed in the neighbourhood,
and traditions about the grot over which we were
travelling. I wish you had been of the party,
and sat down by us on little smooth spots of
sward, where I reclined, scarcely knowing which
way caprice had led me. My mind was full of
the tales of the place, and glowed with a vehe
ment desire of exploring the world beyond the
grot. I longed to ascend the promontory of
Misenus, and follow the same dusky route down
which the Sibyl conducted .^Eneas.
With these dispositions I proceeded ; and soon
the cliffs and copses opened to views of the
Baian sea with the little isles of Niscita and La
zaretto, lifting themselves out of the waters.
s 2

260 NAPLES.
Procita and Ischia appeared at a distance in
vested with that purple bloom so inexpressibly
beautiful, and peculiar to this fortunate climate.
I hailed the prospect, and blessed the transparent
air that gave me life and vigour to run down the
rocks, and hie as fast as my savage across the
plain to Pozzuoli. There we took bark and
rowed out into the blue ocean, by the remains of
a sturdy mole : many such, I imagine, adorned
the bay in Roman ages, crowned by vast lengths
of slender pillars ; pavilions at their extremities
and taper cypresses spiring above their balus
trades : this character of villa occurs very fre
quently in the paintings of Herculaneum.
We had soon crossed the bay, and landing on
a bushy coast near some fragments of a temple
which they say was raised to Hercules, advanced
into the country by narrow tracks covered with
moss and strewed with shining pebbles ; to the
right and left, broad masses of luxuriant foliage,
chesnut, bay and ilex, that shelter the ruins of
sepulchral chambers. No parties of smart Eng
lishmen and connoisseurs were about. I had all
the land to myself, and mounted its steeps and
penetrated into its recesses, with the importance
of a discoverer. What a variety of narrow paths,

NAPLES. 261
between banks and shades, did I wildly follow !
my savage laughing loud at my odd gestures and
useless activity. He wondered I did not scrape
the ground for medals, and pocket little bits of
plaster, like other inquisitive young travellers
that had gone before me.
After ascending some time, I followed him into
the wondrous* reservoir which Nero constructed
to supply his fleet, when anchored in the neigh
bouring bay. A noise of trickling waters pre
vailed throughout this grand labyrinth of solid
vaults and arches, that had almost lulled me to
sleep as I rested myself on the celandine which
carpets the floor ; but curiosity urging me for
ward, I gained the upper air; walked amongst
woods a few minutes, and then into grots and
dismal excavations (prisons they call them) which
began to weary me.
After having gone up and down in this manner
for some time, we at last reached an eminence
that commanded the Mare Morto, and Elysian
fields trembling with reeds and poplars. The
Dead Lake, a faithful emblem of eternal tran
quillity, looked deep and solemn. A few pea
sants seemed fixed on its margin, their shadows
* The Piscina mirabilis.

262 NAPLES.
reflected on the water. Turning from the lake I
espied a rock at about a league distant, whose
summit was clad with verdure, and finding this
to be the promontory of Misenus, I immediately
set my face to that quarter.
We passed several dirty villages, inhabited by
an ill-favoured generation, infamous for depre
dations and murders. Their gardens, however,
discover some marks of industry ; the fields are
separated by neat hedges of cane, and a variety
of herbs and pulses and Indian corn seemed to
flourish in the inclosures. Insensibly we began
to leave the cultivated lands behind us, and to
lose ourselves in shady wilds, which, to all ap
pearance, no mortal had ever trodden. Here
were no paths, no inclosures ; a primeval rude
ness characterized the whole scene.
After forcing our way about a mile, through
glades of shrubs and briars, we entered a lawn
like opening at the base of the cliff which takes
its name from Misenus. The poets of the Au
gustan age would have celebrated such a meadow
with the warmest raptures, and peopled its green
expanse with all the sylvan demi-gods of their
beautiful mythology. Here were springs issuing

NAPLES. 263
from rocks of pumice, and grassy hillocks par
tially concealed by thickets of bay.
Et circum irriguo surgebant lilia prato
Candida purpureis mista papaveribus.
But as it is not the lot of human animals to
be contented, instead of reposing in the vale, I
scaled the rock, and was three parts dissolved in
attaining its summit. The sun darted upon my
head, I wished to avoid its immediate influence ;
no tree was near ; the pleasant valley lay below
at a considerable depth, and it was a long way
to descend to it. Looking round and round, I
spied something like a hut, under a crag on the
edge of a dark fissure. Might I avail myself of
its covert? My conductor answered in the af
firmative, and added that it was inhabited by a
good old woman, who never refused a cup of milk,
or slice of bread, to refresh a weary traveller.
Thirst and fatigue urged me speedily down an
intervening slope of stunted myrtle. Though
oppressed with heat, I could not help deviating
a few steps from the direct path to notice the
uncouth rocks which rose frowning on every
quarter.. Above the hut, their appearance was
truly formidable, bristled over with sharp- spired

264 NAPLES.
dwarf aloes, such as Lucifer, himself might be
supposed to have sown. Indeed I knew not
whether I was not approaching some gate that
leads to his abode, as I drew near a gulph (the
fissure lately mentioned) and heard the deep
hollow murmurs of the gusts which were impri
soned below. The savage, my guide, shuddered
as he passed by to apprise the old woman of my
coming. I felt strangely, and stared around me,
and but half liked my situation.
In the midst of my doubts, forth tottered the
old woman. " You are welcome," said she, in a
feeble voice, but a better dialect than I had
heard in the neighbourhood. Her look was
more humane, and she seemed of a superior race
to the inhabitants of the surrounding valleys.
My savage treated her with peculiar deference.
She had just given him some bread, with which
he retired to a respectful distance bowing to the
earth. I caught the mode, and was very obse
quious, thinking myself on the point of expe
riencing a witch's influence, and gaining, per
haps, some insight into the volume of futurity.
She smiled at my agitation and kept beckoning
me into the cottage.

NAPLES. 265
" Now," thought I to myself, " I am upon
the verge of an adventure." I saw nothing,
however, but clay walls, a straw bed, some
glazed earthen bowls, and a wooden crucifix.
My shoes were loaded with sand : this my
hostess perceived, and immediately kindling a
fire in an inner part of the hovel, brought out
some warm water to refresh my feet, and set
some milk and chesnuts before me. This pa
triarchal attention was by no means indifferent
after my tiresome ramble. I sat down opposite
to the door which fronted the unfathomable
gulph ; beyond appeared the sea, of a deep
cerulean, foaming with waves. The sky also
was darkening apace with storms. Sadness
came over me like a cloud, and I looked up
to the old woman for consolation.
" And you too are sorrowful, young stranger,''
said she, " that come from the gay world ! how
must I feel, who pass year after year in these
lonely mountains ?" I answered that the wea
ther affected me, and my spirits were exhausted
by the walk.
All the while I spoke she looked at me with
such a melancholy earnestness that I asked the

266 NAPLES.
cause, and began again to imagine myself in
some fatal habitation,
Where more is meant than meets the ear.
" Your features," said she, " are wonderfully
like those of an unfortunate young person, who,
in this retirement  " The tears began to
fall as she pronounced these words ; my curiosity
was fired. " Tell me," continued I, " what you
mean ; who was this youth for whom you are so
interested ? and why did he seclude himself in
this wild region ? Your kindness to him might
no doubt have alleviated, in some measure, the
horrors of the place ; but may God defend me
from passing the night near such a gulph ! I
would not trust myself in a despairing moment."
" It is," said she, " a place of horrors. I
tremble to relate what has happened on this
very spot ; but your manner interests me, and
though I am little given to narrations, for once
I will unlock my lips concerning the secrets of
yonder fatal chasm.
" I was 'born in a distant part of Italy, and
have known better days. In my youth fortune
smiled upon my family, but in a few years they
withered away; no matter by what accident.
I am not going to talk much of myself.

NAPLES. 267
Have patience a few moments ! A series of un
fortunate events reduced me to indigence, and
drove me to this desert, where, from rearing
goats and making their milk into cheese, by a
different method than is common in the Nea
politan state, I have, for about thirty years,
prolonged a sorrowful existence. My silent
grief and constant retirement had made me ap
pear to some a saint, and to others a sorceress.
The slight knowledge I have of plants has been
exaggerated, and, some years back, the hours
I gave up to prayer, and the recollection of
former friends, lost to me for ever ! were cruelly
intruded upon by the idle and the ignorant.
But soon I sank into obscurity : my little re
cipes were disregarded, and you are the first
stranger who, for these twelve months past, has
visited my abode. Ah, would to God its solitude
had ever remained inviolate !
"It is now three-and-twenty years," and she
looked upon some characters cut on the planks
of the cottage, " since I was sitting by moon
light, under that cliff you view to the right,
my eyes fixed on the ocean, my mind lost in
the memory of my misfortunes, when I heard
a step, and starting up, a figure stood before

268 NAPLES.
me. It was a young man, in a rich habit, with
streaming hair, and looks that bespoke the ut
most terror. I knew not what to think of this
sudden apparition. 'Mother,' said he with fal
tering accents, ' let me rest under your roof ;
and deliver me not up to those who thirst after
my blood. Take this gold ; take all, all !'
" Surprise held me speechless ; the purse fell
to the ground ; the youth stared wildly on every
side : I heard many voices beyond the rocks ;
the wind bore them distinctly, but presently
they died away. I took courage, and assured
the youth my cot should shelter him. ' Oh !
thank you, thank you !' answered he, and pressed
my hand. He shared my scanty provision.
" Overcome with toil (for I had worked hard
in the day) sleep closed my eyes for a short
interval. When I awoke the moon was set,
but I heard my unhappy guest sobbing in dark
ness. I disturbed him not. Morning dawned,
and he was fallen into a slumber. The tears
bubbled out of his closed eyelids, and coursed
one another down his wan cheeks. I had been
too wretched myself not to respect the sorrows
of another : neglecting therefore my accustomed
occupations, I drove away the flies that buzzed

NAPLES. 269
around his temples. His breast heaved high
with sighs, and he cried loudly in his sleep
for mercy.
" The beams of the sun dispelling his dream,
he started up like one that had heard the voice
of an avenging angel, and hid his face with his
hands. I poured some milk down his parched
throat. ' Oh, mother !' he exclaimed, ' I am a
wretch unworthy of compassion ; the cause of
innumerable sufferings ; a murderer ! a parri
cide !' My blood curdled to hear a stripling
utter such dreadful words, and behold such
agonising sighs swell in so young a bosom ; for
I marked the sting of conscience urging him
to disclose what I am going to relate.
" It seems he was of high extraction, nursed
in the pomps and luxuries of Naples, the pride
and darling of his parents, adorned with a thou
sand lively talents, which the keenest sensibility
conspired to improve. Unable to fix any bounds
to whatever became the object of his desires, he
passed his first years in roving from one extra
vagance to another, but as yet there was no
crime in his caprices.
" At length it pleased Heaven to visit his
family, and make their idol the slave of an un-

270 NAPLES.
bridled passion. He had a friend, who from
his birth had been devoted to his interest, and
placed all his confidence in him. This friend
loved to distraction a young creature, the most
graceful of her sex (as I can witness), and she
returned his affection. In the exultation of his
heart he showed her to the wretch whose tale
I am about to tell. He sickened at her sight.
She too caught fire at his glances. They lan
guished — they consumed away — they conversed,
and his persuasive language finished what his
guilty glances had begun.
" Their flame was soon discovered, for he
disdained to conceal a thought, however dis
honourable. The parents warned the youth in
the tenderest manner; but advice and prudent
counsels were to him so loathsome, that unable
to contain his rage, and infatuated with love,
he menaced the life of his friend as the obstacle
of his enjoyment. Coolness and moderation
were opposed to violence and frenzy, and he
found himself treated with a contemptuous
gentleness. Stricken to the heart, he wandered
about for some time like one entranced. Mean
while the nuptials were preparing, and the
lovely girl he had perverted found ways to

NAPLES. 271
let him know she was about to be torn from
his embraces.
" He raved like a demoniac, and rousing his
dire spirit, applied to a malignant wretch who
sold the most inveterate poisons. These he in
fused into a cup of pure iced water and pre
sented to his friend, and to his own too fond
confiding father, who soon after they had drunk
the fatal potion began evidently to pine away.
He marked the progress of their dissolution with
a horrid firmness, he let the moment pass be
yond which all antidotes were vain. His friend
expired; and the young criminal, though he
beheld the dews of death hang on his parent's
forehead, yet stretched not forth his hand. In
a short space the miserable father breathed his
last, whilst his son was sitting aloof in the same
chamber. " The sight overcame him. He felt, for the
first time, the pangs of remorse. His agitations
passed not unnoticed. He was watched : suspi
cions beginning to unfold he took alarm, and one
evening escaped ; but not without previously in
forming the partner of his crimes which way he
intended to flee. Several pursued ; but the in
scrutable will of Providence blinded their search,

272 NAPLES.
and I was doomed to behold the effects of celes
tial vengeance.
" Such are the chief circumstances of the tale
I gathered from the youth. I swooned whilst he
related it, and could take no sustenance. One
whole day afterwards did I pray the Lord, that
I might die rather than be near an incarnate
demon. With what indignation did I now sur
vey that slender form and those flowing tresses,
which had interested me before so much in his
behalf !
" No sooner did he perceive the change in
my countenance, than sullenly retiring to yonder
rock he sat careless of the sun and scorching
winds ; for it was now the summer solstice. He
was equally heedless of the unwholesome dews.
When midnight came my horrors were augment
ed ; and I meditated several times to abandon
my hovel and fly to the next village ; but a power
more than human chained me to the spot and for
tified my mind.
" I slept, and it was late next morning when
some one called at the wicket of the little fold,
where my goats are penned. I arose, and saw
a peasant of my acquaintance leading a female
strangely muffled up, and casting her eyes on the

NAPLES. 273
ground. My heart misgave me. I thought this
was the very maid who had been the cause of
such atrocious wickedness. Nor were my con
jectures ill-founded. Regardless of the clown
who stood by in stupid astonishment, she fell to
the earth and bathed my hand with tears. Her
trembling lips with difficulty enquired after the
youth ; and, as she spoke, a glow of conscious
guilt lightened up her pale countenance.
" The full recollection of her lover's crimes
shot through my memory. I was incensed, and
would have spurned her away ; but, she clung to
my garments and seemed to implore my pity with
a look so full of misery, that, relenting, I led her
in silence to the extremity of the cliff where the
youth was seated, his feet dangling above the
sea. His eye was rolling wildly around, but it
soon fixed upon the object for whose sake he had
doomed himself to perdition.
" Far be it from me to describe their ecstasies,
or the eagerness with which they sought each
other's embraces. I indignantly turned my head
away ; and, driving my goats to a recess amongst
the rocks, sat revolving in my mind these strange
events. I neglected procuring any provision for
my unwelcome guests ; and about midnight re-
VOL. I. t

274 NAPLES.
turned homewards by the light of the moon
which shone serenely in the heavens. Almost
the first object her beams discovered was the
guilty maid sustaining the head of her lover, who
had fainted through weakness and want of nour
ishment. I fetched some dry bread, and dipping
it in milk laid it before them. Having perform
ed this duty I set open the door of my hut, and
retiring to a neighbouring cavity, there stretched
myself on a heap of leaves and offered my prayers
to Heaven.
" A thousand fears, till this moment unknown,
thronged into my fancy. The shadow of leaves
that chequered the entrance to the grot, seemed
to assume in my distempered imagination the
form of ugly reptiles, and I repeatedly shook
my garments. The flow of the distant surges
was deepened by my apprehensions into distant
groans : in a word, I could not rest ; but issuing
from the cavern as hastily as my trembling knees
would allow, paced along the edge of the pre
cipice. An unaccountable impulse would have
hurried my steps, yet such was my terror and
shivering, that unable to advance to my hut or
retreat to the cavern, I was about to shield myself
from the night in a sandy crevice, when a loud

NAPLES. 275
shriek pierced my ear. My fears had confused
me ; I was in fact near my hovel and scarcely
three paces from the brink of the cavern : it was
thence the cries proceeded.
" Advancing in a cold shudder to its edge, part
of which was newly crumbled in, I discovered the
form of the young man suspended by one foot to
a branch of juniper that grew several feet down :
thus dreadfully did he hang over the gulph from
the branch bending with his weight. His fea
tures were distorted, his eye-balls glared with
agony, and his screams became so shrill and ter
rible that I lost all power of affording assistance.
Fixed, I stood with my eyes riveted upon the
criminal, who incessantly cried out, ' O God !
O Father ! save me if there be yet mercy ! save
me, or I sink into the abyss !'
" I am convinced he did not see me ; for not
once did he implore my help. His voice grew
faint, and as I gazed intent upon him, the loose
thong of leather, which had entangled itself in
the branches by which he hung suspended, gave
way, and he fell into utter darkness. I sank to
the earth in a trance ; during which a sound like
the rush of pennons assaulted my ear : methought
the evil spirit was bearing off his soul ; but when
t 2

276 NAPLES.
I lifted up my eyes nothing stirred ; the stillness
that prevailed was awful.
" The moon hanging low over the waves
afforded a sickly light, by which I perceived
some one coming down that white cliff you see
before you ; and I soon heard the voice of the
young woman calling aloud on her guilty lover.
She stopped. She repeated again and again her
exclamation ; but there was no reply. Alarmed
and frantic she hurried along the path, and now
I saw her on the promontory, and now by yon
der pine, devouring with her glances every cre
vice in the rock. At length perceiving me, she
flew to where I stood, by the fatal precipice, and
having noticed the fragments fresh crumbled in,
pored importunately on my countenance. I
continued pointing to the chasm ; she trembled
not ; her tears could not flow ; but she divined
the meaning. ' He is lost !' said she ; ' the earth
has swallowed him ! but, as I have shared with
him the highest joy, so will I partake his tor
ments. I will follow : dare not to hinder me.'
" Like the phantoms I have seen in dreams,
she glanced beside me ; and, clasping her hands
above her head, lifted a steadfast look on the
hemisphere, and viewed the moon with an anxi-

NAPLES. 277
ousness that told me she was bidding it fare
well for ever. Observing a silken handkerchief
on the ground, with which she had but an hour
ago bound her lover's temples, she snatched it
up, and imprinting it with burning kisses, thrust
it into her bosom. Once more, expanding her
arms in the last act of despair and miserable
passion, she threw herself, with -a furious leap,
into the gulph.
" To its margin I crawled on my knees, and
there did I remain in the most dreadful dark
ness ; for now the moon was sunk, the sky ob
scured with storms, and a tempestuous blast
ranging the ocean. Showers poured thick upon
me, and the lightning, in clear and frequent
flashes, gave me terrifying glimpses of yonder
accursed chasm.
" Stranger, dost thou believe in our Re
deemer ? in his most holy mother ? in the tenets
of our faith?" I answered with reverence, but
said her faith and mine were different. " Then,"
continued the aged woman, " I will not de
clare before a heretic what were the visions of
that night of vengeance ! " She paused ; I
was silent.
After a short interval, with deep and frequent

278 NAPLES.
sighs, she resumed her narrative. " Daylight
began to dawn as if with difficulty, and it was
late before its radiance had tinged the watery
and tempestuous clouds. I was still kneeling
by the gulph in prayer when the cliffs began
to brighten, and the beams of the morning sun
to strike against me. Then did I rejoice. Then
no longer did I think myself of all human beings
the most abject and miserable. How different
did I feel myself from those, fresh plunged into
the abodes of torment, and driven for ever from
the morning !
" Three days elapsed in total solitude : on the
fourth, some grave and ancient persons arrived
from Naples, who questioned me, repeatedly,
about the wretched lovers, and to whom I re
lated their fate with every dreadful particular.
Soon after I learned that all discourse concern
ing them was expressly stopped, and that no
prayers were offered up for their souls."
With these words, as well as I recollect, the
old woman ended her singular narration. My
blood thrilled as I walked by the gulph to call
my guide, who stood aloof under the cliffs. He
seemed to think, from the paleness of my coun
tenance, that I had heard some gloomy prediction,

NAPLES. 279
and shook his head, when I turned round to bid
my old hostess adieu ! It was a melancholy even
ing, and I could not refrain from tears, whilst,
winding through the defiles of the rocks, the sad
scenes which had passed amongst them recurred
to my memory.
Traversing a wild thicket, we soon regained
the shore, where I rambled a few minutes whilst
the peasant went for the boatmen. The last
streaks of light were quivering on the waters
when I stepped into the bark, and wrapping my
self up in an awning, slept till we reached Puz-
zoli, some of whose inhabitants came forth with
torches to light us home.

280 THE TYROL.

LETTER XXIV.
The Tyrol Mountains. — Intense cold. — Delight on beholding
human habitations -
Augsburg, 20th January, 1781.
For these ten days past have I been traversing
Lapland : winds whistling in my ears, and cones
showering down upon my head from the wilds of
pine through which our route conducted us. We
were often obliged to travel by moonlight, and I
leave you to imagine the awful aspect of the
Tyrol mountains buried in snow.
I scarcely ventured to utter an exclamation of
surprise, though prompted by some of the most
striking scenes in nature, lest I should interrupt
the sacred silence that prevails, during winter,
in these boundless solitudes. The streams are
frozen, and mankind petrified, for aught I know
to the contrary, since whole days have we jour
neyed on without perceiving the slightest hint of
their existence.

THE TYROL. 281
I never before felt so much pleasure by disco
vering a smoke rising from a cottage, or hear
ing a heifer lowing in its stall ; and could not
have supposed there was so much satisfaction in
perceiving two or three fur caps, with faces under
them, peeping out of their concealments. I wish
you had been with me, exploring this savage
region : wrapped up in our bear-skins, we should
have followed its secret avenues, and pene
trated, perhaps, into some inchanted cave lined
with sables, where, like the heroes of northern
romances, we should have been waited upon by
dwarfs, and sung drowsily to repose. I think it
no bad scheme to sleep away five or six years to
come, since every hour affairs are growing more
and more turbulent. Well, let them ! provided
we may enjoy, in security, the shades of our
thickets.

SECOND VISIT TO ITALY.

The following letters, written during a second
excursion, are added, on account of their affinity
to some of the preceding.

SECOND VISIT TO ITALY.

LETTER I.
First day of Summer — A dismal Plain. — Gloomy entrance
to Cologne. — Labyrinth of hideous edifices. — Hotel of
Der Heilige Geist. Cologne, 28th May, 1782.
This is the first day of summer ; the oak
leaves expand, the roses blow, butterflies are
on the wing, and I have spirits enough to write
to you. We have had clouded skies this fort
night past, and roads like the slough of Des
pond. Last Wednesday we were benighted on
a dismal plain, apparently boundless. The moon
cast a sickly gleam, and now and then a blue
meteor glided along the morass which lay be
fore us.
After much difficulty we gained an avenue,
and in an hour's time discovered something like
a gateway, shaded by crooked elms and crowned
by a cluster of turrets. Here we paused and

286 COLOGNE.
knocked; no one answered. We repeated our
knocks ; the gate returned a hollow sound ; the
horses coughed, their riders blew their horns.
At length the bars fell, and we entered — by
what means I am ignorant, for no human being
appeared. A labyrinth of narrow winding streets, dark
as the vaults of a cathedral, opened to our
view. We kept wandering along, at least
twenty minutes, between lofty mansions with
grated windows and strange galleries projecting
one over another, from which depended innu
merable uncouth figures and crosses, in iron
work, swinging to and fro with the wind. At
the end of this gloomy maze we found a long
street, not fifteen feet wide, I am certain ; the
houses still loftier, than those just mentioned,
the windows thicker barred, and the gibbets
(for I know not what else to call them) more
frequent. Here and there we saw lights glim
mering in the highest stories, and arches on
the right and left, which seemed to lead into
retired courts and deeper darkness.
Along one of these recesses we were jumbled,
over such pavement as I hope you may never
tread upon ; and, after parading round it, went

COLOGNE. 287
out at the same arch through which we had
entered. This procession seemed at first very
mystical, but it was too soon accounted for by
our postilions, who confessed they had lost their
way. A council was held amongst them in
form, and then we struck into another laby
rinth of hideous edifices, habitations I will not
venture to call them, as not a creature stirred;
though the rumbling of our carriages was echoed
by all the vaults and arches.
Towards midnight we rested a few minutes,
and a head poking out of a casement directed
us to the hotel of Der Heilige Geist, where an
apartment, thirty feet square, was prepared for
our reception.

288 NASSERIET.

LETTER II.
Enter the Tyrol.— Picturesque scenery.— Village of Nasseriet.
— World of boughs. — Forest huts — Floral abundance.
Inspruck, June 4, 1782.
No sooner had we passed Fuessen than we
entered the Tyrol, a country of picturesque
wonders. Those lofty peaks, those steeps of
wood I delight in, lay before us. Innumerable
clear springs gushed out on every side, over
hung by luxuriant shrubs in blossom. The day
was mild, though overcast, and a soft blue
vapour rested upon the hills, above which rise
mountains that bear plains of snow into the
clouds. At night we lay at Nasseriet, a village buried
amongst savage promontories. The next morn
ing we advanced, in bright sunshine, into smooth
lawns on the slopes of mountains, scattered over
with larches, whose delicate foliage formed a
light green veil to the azure sky. Flights of

NASSERIET. 289
birds were merrily travelling from spray to
spray. I ran delighted into this world of
boughs, whilst Cozens sat down to draw the
huts which are scattered about for the shelter
of herds, and discover themselves amongst the
groves in the most picturesque manner.
These little edifices are uncommonly neat,
and excite those ideas of pastoral life to which
I am so fondly attached. The turf from whence
they rise is enamelled, in the strict sense of the
word, with flowers. Gentians predominated,
brighter than ultramarine ; here and there au
riculas looked out of the moss, and I often re
posed upon tufts of ranunculus. Bushes of phil-
lyrea were very frequent, the sun shining full
on their glossy leaves. An hour passed away
swiftly in these pleasant groves, where I lay
supine under a lofty fir, a tower of leaves and
branches.

VOL. I.

290 PADUA.

LETTER III.
Rapidity of our drive along the causeways of the Brenta. —
Shore of Fusina. — A stormy sky. — Draw near to Venice.
— Its deserted appearance. — Visit to Madame de R —
Cesarotti. Padua, June 14th, 1782.
Once more, said I to myself, I shall have the
delight of beholding Venice ; so got into an open
chaise, the strangest curricle that ever man was
jolted in, and drove furiously along the cause
ways by the Brenta, into whose deep waters it
is a mercy, methinks, I was not precipitated.
Fiesso, the Dolo, the Mira, with all their gar
dens, statues, and palaces, seemed flying after
each other, so rapid was our motion.
After a few hours' confinement between close
steeps, the scene opened to the wide shore of
Fusina. I looked up (for I had scarcely time to
look before) and beheld a troubled sky, shot
with vivid red, the Lagunes tinted like the opal,

VENICE. 291
and the islands of a glowing flame-colour. The
mountains of the distant continent appeared of a
deep melancholy grey, and innumerable gondolas
were passing to and fro in all their blackness.
The sun, after a long struggle, was swallowed
up in the tempestuous clouds.
In an hour we drew near to Venice, and saw
its world of domes rising out of the waters. A
fresh breeze bore the toll of innumerable bells to
my ear. Sadness came over me as I entered
the great canal, and recognised those solemn
palaces, with their lofty arcades and gloomy
arches, beneath which I had so often sat, the
scene of many a strange adventure.
The Venetians being mostly at their villas on
the Brenta, the town appeared deserted. I visited,
however, all my old haunts in the Place of St.
Mark, ran up the Campanile, and rowed back
wards and forwards, opposite the Ducal Palace,
by moon-light. They are building a spacious
quay, near the street of the Sclavonians, front
ing the island of San Giorgio Maggiore, where I
remained alone at least an hour, following the
wanderings of the moon amongst mountainous
clouds, and listening to the waters dashing
against marble steps. u 2

292 VENICE.
I closed my evening at my friend Madame de
Rosenberg's, where I met Cesarotti, who read
to us some of the most affecting passages in
his Fingal, with all the intensity of a poet,
thoroughly persuaded that into his own bosom
the very soul of Ossian had been transfused.
Next morning the wind was uncommonly vio
lent for the mild season of June, and the canals
much ruffled ; but I was determined to visit the
Lido once more, and bathe on my accustomed
beach. The pines in the garden of the Car
thusians were nodding as I passed by in my
gondola, which was very poetically buffeted by
the waves.
Traversing the desert of locusts,* I hailed the
Adriatic, and plunged into its agitated waters.
The sea, delightfully cool, refreshed me to such
a degree, that, upon my return to Venice, I
found myself able to thread its labyrinths of
streets, canals, and alleys, in search of amber
and oriental curiosities. The variety of exotic
merchandise, the perfume of coffee, the shade of
awnings, and the sight of Greeks and Asiatics
sitting cross-legged under them, made me think
myself in the bazaars of Constantinople.
* See Letter VII.

VENICE. 293
It is certain my beloved town of Venice ever
recalls a series of eastern ideas and adventures.
I cannot help thinking St. Mark's a mosque, and
the neighbouring palace some vast seraglio, full
of arabesque saloons, embroidered sofas, and vo
luptuous Circassians.

294 PADUA.

LETTER IV.
Excursion to Mirabello  Beauty of the road thither. —
Madame de R.'s wild-looking niece. — A comfortable
Monk's nest. Padua, June 19th, 1782.
The morning was delightful, and St. Anthony's
bells in full chime. A shower which had fallen
in the night rendered the air so cool and grate
ful, that Madame de R. and myself determined
to seize the opportunity and go to Mirabello, a
country house, which Algarotti had inhabited,
situate amongst the Euganean hills, eight or
nine miles from Padua.
Our road lay between poplar alleys and fields
of yellow corn, overhung by garlands of vine,
most beautifully green. I soon found myself in
the midst of my favourite hills, upon slopes co
vered with clover, and shaded by cherry-trees.
Bending down their boughs I gathered the fruit,
and grew cooler and happier every instant.

MIRABELLO. 295
We dined very comfortably in a strange hall,
where my friend's little wild-looking niece pitch
ed her pianoforte, and sang the voluptuous airs
of Bertoni's Armida. That enchantress might
have raised her palace in this situation ; and,
had I been Rinaldo, I certainly should not very
soon have abandoned it.
After dinner we drank coffee under some
branching lemons, which sprang from a terrace,
commanding a boundless scene of towers and
villas ; tall cypresses and shrubby hillocks rising,
like islands, out of a sea of corn and vine.
Evening drawing on, and the breeze blowing
fresh from the distant Adriatic, I reclined on a
slope, and turned my eyes anxiously towards
Venice; then upon some little fields hemmed
in by chesnuts, where the peasants were mak
ing their hay, and, from thence, to a moun
tain, crowned by a circular grove of fir and
cypress. In the centre of these shades some monks have
a comfortable nest ; perennial springs, a garden
of delicious vegetables, and, I dare say, a thou
sand luxuries besides, which the poor mortals
below never dream of.

296 MIRABELLO.
Had it not been late, I should certainly have
climbed up to the grove, and asked admittance
into its recesses ; but having no mind to pass the
night in this eyrie, I contented myself with the
distant prospect.

ROME. 297

LETTER V.
Rome. — Stroll to the Coliseo and the Palatine Mount. —
A grand Rinfresco. — The Egyptian Lionesses. — Illumi
nations. Rome, 29th June 1 782.
It is needless for me to say I wish you with
me : you know I do ; you know how delightfully
we should ramble about Rome together. This
evening, instead of parading the Corso with the
puppets in blue and silver coats, and green and
gold coaches, instead of bowing to Cardinal this,
and dotting my head to Abbe t'other, I strolled
to the Coliseo and scrambled amongst its arches.
Then bending my course to the Palatine Mount,
I passed under the Arch of Titus, and gained
the Capitol, which was quite deserted, the world,
thank Heaven, being all slip-slopping in coffee
houses, or staring at a few painted boards,
patched up before the Colonna palace, where, by
the by, to-night is a grand rinfresco for all the

298 ROME.
dolls and doll-fanciers of Rome, I heard their
buzz at a distance ; that was enough for me !
Soothed by the rippling of waters, I descended
the Capitoline stairs, and leaned several minutes
against one of the Egyptian lionesses. This
animal has no knack at oracles, or else it would
have murmured out to me the situation of that
secret cave, where the wolf suckled Romulus and
his brother.
About nine, I returned home, and am now
writing to you like a prophet on the housetop.
Behind me rustle the thickets of the Villa Me
dici ; before, lies roof beyond roof, and dome
beyond dome : these are dimly discovered ; but
do not you see the great cupola of cupolas,
twinkling with illuminations ? The town is real,
I am certain ; but, surely, that structure of fire
must be visionary.

ROME. 299

LETTER VI.
The Negroni Garden. — Its solitary and antique appearance.
— Stately Porticos of the Lateran. — Dreary Scene.
Rome, 30th June 1782.
As soon as the sun declined I strolled into the
Villa Medici ; but finding it haunted by pompous
people, nay, even by the Spanish Ambassador,
and several red-legged Cardinals, I moved off to
the Negroni garden. There I found what my
soul desired, thickets of jasmine, and wild spots
overgrown with bay ; long alleys of cypress
totally neglected, and almost impassable through
the luxuriance of the vegetation ; on every side
antique fragments, vases, sarcophagi, and altars
sacred to the Manes, in deep, shady recesses,
which I am certain the Manes must love. The
air was filled with the murmurs of water, trick-

300 ROME.
ling down basins of porphyry, and losing itself
amongst overgrown weeds and grasses.
Above the wood and between its boughs ap
peared several domes, and a strange lofty tower.
I will not say they belong to St. Maria Mag
giore ; no, they are fanes and porticos dedicated
to Cybele, who delights in sylvan situations.
The forlorn air of this garden, with its high and
reverend shades, make me imagine it as old as
the baths of Dioclesian, which peep over one of
its walls.
At the close of day, I repaired to the plat
form before the stately porticos of the Lateran.
There I sat, folded up in myself. Some priests
jarred the iron gates behind me. I looked over
my shoulder through the portals, into the por
tico. Night began to fill it with darkness. Upon
turning round, the melancholy waste of the Cam
pagna met my eyes, and I wished to go home,
but had scarcely the power. A pressure, like
that I have felt in horrid dreams, seemed to fix
me to the pavement.
I was thus in a manner forced to dwell upon
the dreary scene, the long line of aqueducts and
lonesome towers. Perhaps the unwholesome

ROME. 301
vapours, rising like blue mists from the plains,
had affected me. I know not how it was ; but I
never experienced such strange, such chilling
terrors. About ten o'clock, thank God, the spell
dissolved, I found my limbs at liberty, and re
turned home.

302 NAPLES.

LETTER VII.
Naples. — Portici. — The King's Pagliaro and Garden. — De
scription of that pleasant spot.
Naples, July 8th, 1782.
The sea-breezes restore me to life. I set the
heat of mid-day at defiance, and do not believe
in the horrors of the sirocco. I passed yesterday
at Portici, with Lady H. The morning, refresh
ing and pleasant, invited us at an early hour
into the open air. We drove, in an uncovered
chaise, to the royal Bosquetto : no other un
royal carriage except Sir W.'s being allowed to
enter its alleys, we breathed a fresh air, un
tainted by dust or garlick. Every now and then,
amidst wild bushes of ilex and myrtle, one finds
a graceful antique statue, sometimes a foun
tain, and often a rude knoll, where the rabbits
sit undisturbed, contemplating the blue glit
tering bay.

PORTICI. 303
The walls of this shady inclosure are lined
with Peruvian aloes, whose white blossoms,
scented like those of the magnolia, form the
most magnificent clusters. They are plants to
salute respectfully as one passes by; such is
their size and dignity. In the midst of the
thickets stands the King's Pagliaro, in a small
garden, with hedges of luxuriant jasmine, whose
branches are suffered to flaunt as much as nature
pleases. The morning sun darted his first rays on their
flowers just as I entered this pleasant spot. The
hut looks as if erected in the days of fairy pas
toral life ; its neatness is quite delightful. Bright
tiles compose the floor ; straw, nicely platted,
covers the walls. In the middle of the room
you see a table spread with a beautiful Persian
carpet ; at one end, four niches with mattresses
of silk, where the King and his favourites repose
after dinner ; at the other, a white marble basin.
Mount a little staircase, and you find yourself in
another apartment, formed by the roof, which
being entirely composed of glistening straw,
casts that comfortable yellow glow I admire.
From the windows you look into the garden, not
flourished over with parterres, but divided into

304 PORTICI.
plats of fragrant herbs and flowers, with here and
there a little marble table, or basin of the purest
water. These sequestered inclosures are cultivated
with the greatest care, and so frequently wa
tered, that I observed lettuces, and a variety of
other vegetables, as fresh as in our green Eng
land.

GRANDE CHARTREUSE.

VOL. I.

GRANDE CHARTREUSE.

LETTER I.
Determination to visit the Grande Chartreuse. — Reach the
Village of Les Echelles. — Gloomy region  The Torrent.
— Entrance of the Desert  Portal of the consecrated
Enclosure. — Dark Woods and Caverns. — Crosses. —
Inscriptions. Gray's sublime Ode on the Grande Chartreuse
had sunk so deeply into my spirit that I could
not rest in peace on the banks of the Leman
Lake till I had visited the scene from whence he
caught inspiration. I longed to penetrate these
sacred precincts, to hear the language of their
falling waters, and throw myself into the gloom
of their forests : no object of a worldly nature did
I allow to divert my thoughts, neither the baths
of Aix, nor the habitation of the too indulgent
Madame de Warens (held so holy by Rousseau's
worshippers), nor the magnificent road cut by
x 2

308 GRANDE CHARTREUSE.
Charles Emanuel of Savoy through the heart of
a rocky mountain. All these points of attraction,
so interesting to general travellers, were lost
upon me, so totally was I absorbed in the antici
pation of the pilgrimage I had undertaken.
Mr. Lettice, who shared all my sentiments
of admiration for Gray, and eagerness to ex
plore the region he had described in his short and
masterly letters with such energy, felt the same
indifference as myself to commonplace scenery.
The twilight was beginning to prevail when
we reached Les Echelles, a miserable village,
with but few of its chimneys smoking, situated at
the base of a mountain, round which had gathered
a concourse of red and greyish clouds. I was
heartily glad to leave these forlorn and wretched
quarters at the first dawn of the next day. We
were now obliged to abandon our coach ; and
taking horse, proceeded towards the mountains,
which, with the valleys between them, form what
is called the Desert of the Carthusians.
In an hour's time we were drawing near, and
could discern the opening of a narrow valley
overhung by shaggy precipices, above which
rose lofty peaks, covered to their very summits
with wood. We could now distinguish the roar

GRANDE CHARTREUSE. 309
of torrents, and a confusion of strange sounds,
issuing from dark forests of pine. I confess at
this moment I was somewhat startled. I ex
perienced some disagreeable sensations, and it
was not without a degree of unwillingness that I
left the gay pastures and enlivening sunshine, to
throw myself into this gloomy and disturbed
region. How dreadful, thought I, must be the
despair of those, who enter it, never to return !
But after the first impression was worn away
all my curiosity redoubled ; and desiring our
guide to put forward with greater speed, we
made such good haste, that the meadows and
cottages of the plain were soon left far behind,
and we found ourselves on the banks of the
torrent, whose agitation answered the ideas
which its sounds had inspired. Into the midst of
these troubled waters we were obliged to plunge
with our horses, and, when landed on the op
posite shore, were by no means displeased to have
passed them.
We had now closed with the forests, over
which the impending rocks diffused an additional
gloom. The day grew obscured by clouds, and
the sun no longer enlightened the distant plains,
when we began to ascend towards the entrance

310 GRANDE CHARTREUSE.
of the desert, marked by two pinnacles of rock
far above us, beyond which a melancholy twi
light prevailed. Every moment we approached
nearer and nearer to the sounds which had
alarmed us ; and, suddenly emerging from the
woods, we discovered several mills and forges,
with many complicated machines of iron, hang
ing over the torrent, that threw itself headlong
from a cleft in the precipices ; on one side of
which I perceived our road winding along, till it
was stopped by a venerable gateway. A rock
above one of the forges was hollowed into the
shape of a round tower, of no great size, but
resembling very much an altar in figure ; and,
what added greatly to the grandeur of the
object, was a livid flame continually palpitating
upon it, which the gloom of the valley rendered
perfectly discernible.
The road, at a small distance from this re
markable scene, was become so narrow, that, had
my horse started, I should have been but too
well acquainted with the torrent that raged be
neath ; dismounting, therefore, I walked towards
the edge of the great fall, and there, leaning on
a fragment of cliff, looked down into the foaming
gulph, where the waters were hurled along over

GRANDE CHARTREUSE. 311
broken pines, pointed rocks, and stakes of iron.
Then, lifting up my eyes, I took in the vast
extent of the forests, frowning on the brows
of the mountains.
It was here first I felt myself seized by the
genius of the place, and penetrated with venera
tion of its religious gloom ; and, I believe, ut
tered many extravagant exclamations ; but, such
was the dashing of the wheels, and the rushing of
the waters at the bottom of the forges, that what
I said was luckily undistinguishable.
I was not yet, however, within the consecrated
enclosure, and therefore not perfectly contented ;
so, leaving my fragment, I paced in silence up
the path, which led to the great portal. When
we arrived before it, I rested a moment, and
looking against the stout oaken gate, which
closed up the entrance to this unknown region,
felt at my heart a certain awe, that brought to
my mind the sacred terror of those, in ancient
days going to be admitted into the Eleusinian
mysteries. My guide gave two knocks ; after a solemn
pause, the gate was slowly opened, and all our
horses having passed through it, was again care
fully closed.

312 GRANDE CHARTREUSE.
I now found myself in a narrow dell, sur
rounded on every side by peaks of the moun
tains, rising almost beyond my sight, and shelving
downwards till their bases were hidden by the
foam and spray of the water, over which hung
a thousand withered and distorted trees. The
rocks seemed crowding upon me, and, by their
particular situation, threatened to obstruct every
ray of light ; but, notwithstanding the menacing
appearance of the prospect, I still kept follow
ing my guide, up a craggy ascent, partly hewn
through a rock, and bordered by the trunks of
ancient fir-trees, which formed a fantastic bar
rier, till we came to a dreary and exposed pro
montory, impending directly over the dell.
The woods are here clouded with darkness,
and the torrents rushing with additional vio
lence are lost in the gloom of the caverns be
low ; every object, as I looked downwards from
my path, that hung midway between the base
and the summit of the cliff, was horrid and
woeful. The channel of the torrent sunk deep
amidst frightful crags, and the pale willows and
wreathed roots spreading over it, answered my
ideas of those dismal abodes, where, according to
the druidical mythology, the ghosts of conquered

GRANDE CHARTREUSE. 313
warriors were bound. I shivered whilst I was
regarding these regions of desolation, and,
quickly lifting up my eyes to vary the scene,
I perceived a range of whitish cliffs glistening
with the light of the sun, to emerge from these
melancholy forests.
On a fragment that projected over the chasm,
and concealed for a moment its terrors, I saw
a cross, on which was written via coeli. The
cliffs being the heaven to which I now aspired,
we deserted the edge of the precipice, and as
cending, came to a retired nook of the rocks,
in which several copious rills had worn irregular
grottoes. Here we reposed an instant, and were
enlivened with a few sunbeams, piercing the
thickets and gilding the waters that bubbled
from the rock, over which hung another cross,
inscribed with this short sentence, which the
situation rendered wonderfully pathetic, o spes
unica ! the fervent exclamation of some wretch
disgusted with the world whose only consolation
was found in this retirement.

314 GRANDE CHARTREUSE.

LETTER II.
Thick forest of beech trees. — Fearful glimpses of the
torrent. — Throne of Moses. — Lofty bridge. — Distant
view of the Convent. — Profound calm. — Enter the con
vent gate. — Arched aisle  Welcomed by the father
Coadjutor. — The Secretary and Procurator. — Conversation
with them. — A walk amongst the cloisters and galleries.
— Pictures of different [Convents of the order — Grand
Hall adorned with historical paintings of St. Bruno's life.
We quitted this solitary cross to enter a
thick forest of beech trees, that screened in
some measure the precipices on which they
grew, catching however every instant terrifying
glimpses of the torrent below. Streams gushed
from every crevice in the cliffs, and falling over
the mossy roots and branches of the beech,
hastened to join the great torrent, athwart
which I every now and then remarked certain
tottering bridges, and sometimes could dis
tinguish a. Carthusian crossing over to his her-

GRANDE CHARTREUSE. 315
mitage, that just peeped above the woody
labyrinths on the opposite shore.
Whilst I was proceeding amongst the innu
merable trunks of the beech trees, my guide
pointed out to me a peak, rising above the
others, which he called the Throne of Moses.
If that prophet had received his revelations in
this desert, no voice need have declared it holy
ground, for every part of it is stamped with
such a sublimity of character as would alone
be sufficient to impress the idea.
Having left these woods behind, and crossing
a bridge of many lofty arches, I shuddered once
more at the impetuosity of the torrent ; and,
mounting still higher, came at length to a kind
of platform before two cliffs, joined by an arch
of rock, under which we were to pursue our
road. Below we beheld again innumerable
streams, turbulently precipitating themselves
from the woods and lashing the base of the
mountains, mossed over with a dark sea green.
In this deep hollow such mists and vapours
prevailed as hindered my prying into its re
cesses; besides, such was the dampness of the
air, that I hastened gladly from its neighbour
hood, and passing under the second portal be-

316 GRANDE CHARTREUSE.
held with pleasure the sunbeams gilding the
throne of Moses.
It was now about ten o'clock, and my guide
assured me I should soon discover the convent.
Upon this information I took new courage, and
continued my route on the edge of the rocks,
till we struck into another gloomy grove. After
turning about it for some time, we entered again
into the glare of daylight, and saw a green
valley skirted by ridges of cliffs and sweeps of
wood before us. Towards the farther end of
this inclosure, on a gentle acclivity, rose the
revered turrets of the Carthusians, which ex
tend in a long line on the brow of the hill ;
beyond them a woody amphitheatre majestically
presents itself, terminated by spires of rock and
promontories lost amongst the clouds.
The roar of the torrent was now but faintly
distinguishable, and all the scenes of horror
and confusion I had passed were succeeded by
a sacred and profound calm. I traversed the
valley with a thousand sensations I despair of
describing, and stood before the gate of the
convent with as much awe as some novice or
candidate newly arrived to solicit the holy re
tirement of the order.

GRANDE CHARTREUSE. 317
As admittance is more readily granted to the
English than to almost any other nation, it was
not long before the gates opened, and whilst
the porter ordered our horses to the stable, we
entered a court watered by two fountains and
built round with lofty edifices, characterized by
a noble simplicity.
The interior portal opening discovered an
arched aisle, extending till the perspective
nearly met, along which windows, but scantily
distributed between the pilasters, admitted a
pale solemn light, just sufficient to distinguish
the objects with a picturesque uncertainty. We
had scarcely set our feet on the pavement when
the monks began to issue from an arch, about
half way down, and passing in a long succession
from their chapel, bowed reverently with much
humility and meekness, and dispersed in silence,
leaving one of their body alone in the aisle.
The father Coadjutor (for he only remained)
advanced towards us with great courtesy, and
welcomed us in a manner which gave me far
more pleasure than all the frivolous salutations
and affected greetings so common in the world
beneath. After asking us a few indifferent
questions, he called one of the lay brothers,

318 GRANDE CHARTREUSE.
who live in the convent under less severe re
strictions than the fathers, whom they serve,
and ordering him to prepare our apartment,
conducted us to a large square hall with case
ment windows, and, what was more comfortable,
an enormous chimney, whose hospitable hearth
blazed with a fire of dry aromatic fir, on each
side of which were two doors that communicated
with the neat little cells destined for our bed
chambers. Whilst he was placing us round the fire, a
ceremony by no means unimportant in the cold
climate of these upper regions, a bell rang
which summoned him to prayers. After charg
ing the lay brother to set before us the best
fare their desert , afforded, he retired, and left
us at full liberty to examine our chambers.
The weather lowered, and the casements per
mitted very little light to enter the apartment :
but on the other side it was amply enlivened by
the gleams of the fire, that spread all over a
certain comfortable air, which even sunshine but
rarely diffuses. Whilst the showers descended
with great violence, the lay brother and another
of his companions were placing an oval table,
very neatly carved and covered with the finest

GRANDE CHARTREUSE. 319
linen, in the middle of the hall ; and, before we
had examined a number of portraits which were
hung in all the panels of the wainscot, they
called us to a dinner widely different from what
might have been expected in so dreary a situa
tion. Our attendant friar was helping us to
some Burgundy, of the happiest growth and
vintage, when the coadjutor returned, accompa
nied by two other fathers, the secretary and
procurator, whom he presented to us. You
would have been both charmed and surprised
with the cheerful resignation that appeared in
their countenances, and with the easy turn of
their conversation.
The coadjutor, though equally kind, was as
yet more reserved : his countenance, however,
spoke for him without the aid of words, and
there was in his manner a mixture of dignity and
humility, which could not fail to interest. There
were moments when the recollection of some
past event seemed to shade his countenance with
a melancholy that rendered it still more affect
ing. I should suspect he formerly possessed a
great share of natural vivacity (something of
it being still, indeed, apparent in his more un
guarded moments) ; but this spirit is almost

320 GRANDE CHARTREUSE.
entirely subdued by the penitence and mortifica
tion of the order.
The secretary displayed a very considerable
share of knowledge in the political state of Eu
rope, furnished probably by the extensive cor
respondence these fathers preserve with the three
hundred and sixty subordinate convents, dis
persed throughout all those countries where the
court of Rome still maintains its influence.
In the course of our conversation they asked
me innumerable questions about England, where
formerly, they said, many monasteries had be
longed to their order; and principally that of
Witham, which they had learnt to be now in my
possession. The secretary, almost with tears in his eyes,
beseeched me to revere these consecrated edi
fices, and to preserve their remains, for the sake
of St. Hugo, their canonized prior. I replied
greatly to his satisfaction, and then declaimed so
much in favour of St. Bruno, and the holy prior
of Witham, that the good fathers grew exceed
ingly delighted with the conversation, and made
me promise to remain some days with them. I
readily complied with their request, and, conti
nuing in the same strain, that had so agreeably

GRANDE CIIARTRKISK. 321
affected their cars, was soon presented with the
works of St. Bruno, whom I so zealously admired.
After we had sat extolling them, and talking
upon much the same sort of subjects for about
an hour, the coadjutor proposed a walk amongst
the cloisters and galleries, as the weather would
not admit of any longer excursion. He leading
the way, we ascended a flight of steps, which
brought us to a gallery, on each side of which
a vast number of pictures, representing the de
pendent convents, were ranged ; for I was now
in the capital of the order, where the general
resides, and from whence he issues forth his com
mands to his numerous subjects; who depute
the superiors of their respective convents, whe
ther situated in the wilds of Calabria, the
forests of Poland, or in the remotest districts of
Portugal and Spain, to assist at the grand chap
ter, held annually under him, a week or two
after Easter.
This reverend father died about ten days be
fore our arrival : a week ago they elected the
prior of the Carthusian convent at Paris in his
room, and two fathers were now on their route
to apprise him of their choice, and to salute him
General of the Carthusians. During this inter-
vol. I. Y

322 GRANDE CHARTREUSE.
regnum the coadjutor holds the first rank in
the temporal, and the grand vicaire in the spi
ritual affairs of the order ; both of which are
very extensive.
If I may judge from the representation of
the different convents, which adorn this gallery,
there are many highly worthy of notice, for the
singularity of their situations, and the wild beau
ties of the landscapes which surround them.
The Venetian Chartreuse, placed in a woody
island ; and that of Rome, rising from amongst
groups of majestic ruins, struck me as peculiarly
pleasing. Views of the English monasteries
hung formerly in such a gallery, but had been
destroyed by fire, together with the old convent.
The list only remains, with but a very few writ
ten particulars concerning them.
Having amused myself for some time with the
pictures, and the descriptions the coadjutor gave
me of them, we quitted the gallery and entered a
kind of chapel, in which were two altars with
lamps burning before them, on each side of a
lofty portal. This opened into a grand coved
hall, adorned with historical paintings of St.
Bruno's life, and the portraits of the generals of
the order, since the year of the great founder's

GRANDE CHARTREUSE. 323
death (1085) to the present time. Under these
portraits are the stalls for the superiors, who
assist at the grand convocation. In front, ap
pears the general's throne ; above, hangs a repre
sentation of the canonized Bruno, crowned with
stars.

Y 2

324 GRANDE CHARTREUSE.

LETTER III.
Cloisters of extraordinary dimensions. — Cells of the Monks.
— Severity of the order. — Death-like calm. — The great
Chapel. — Its interior. — Marvellous events relating to St.
Bruno. — Retire to my cell  Strange writings of St.
Bruno. — Sketch of his Life. — Appalling occurrence 
Vision of the Bishop of Grenoble. — First institution of the
Carthusian order. — Death of St. Bruno. — His translation.
The coadjutor seemed charmed with the re
spect with which I looked round on these holy
objects ; and if the hour of vespers had not been
drawing near, we should have spent more time
in the contemplation of Bruno's miracles, pour-
trayed on the lower panels of the hall. We left
'that room to enter a winding passage (lighted by
windows in the roof) that brought us to a cloister
six hundred feet in length, from which branched
off two others, joining a fourth of the same most
extraordinary dimensions. Vast ranges of slen
der pillars extend round the different courts of

GRANDE CHARTREUSE. 325
the edifice, many of which are thrown into gar
dens belonging to particular cells.
We entered one of them : its inhabitant
received us with much civility, walked be
fore us through a little corridor that looked on
his garden, showed us his narrow dwelling, and,
having obtained leave of the coadjutor to speak,
gave us his benediction, and beheld us depart
with concern. Nature has given this poor
monk very considerable talents for painting.
He has drawn the portrait of the late General,
in a manner that discovers great facility of exe
cution ; but he is not allowed to exercise his
pencil on any other subject, lest he should be
amused ; and amusement in this severe order is
a crime. He had so subdued, so mortified an
appearance, that I was not sorry to hear the bell,
which summoned the coadjutor to prayers, and
-prevented my entering any more of the cells.
We continued straying from cloister to cloister,
and wandering along the winding passages and
intricate galleries of this immense edifice, whilst
the coadjutor was assisting at vespers.
In every part of the structure reigned the
most death-like calm : no sound reached my ears
but the " minute drops from off the eaves." I

326 GRANDE CHARTREUSE.
sat down in a niche of the cloister, and fell into
a profound reverie, from which I was recalled by
the return of our conductor ; who, I believe, was
almost tempted to imagine, from the cast of my
countenance, that I was deliberating whether I
should not remain with them for ever.
But I soon roused myself, and testified some
impatience to see the great chapel, at which we
at length arrived after traversing another laby
rinth of cloisters. The gallery immediately be
fore its entrance appeared quite gay, in compa
rison with the others I had passed, and owes its
cheerfulness to a large window (ornamented with
slabs of polished marble) that admits the view of
a lovely wdod, and allows a full blaze of light to
dart on the chapel door ; which is also adorned
with marble, in a plain but noble style of archi
tecture. The father sacristan stood ready on the steps
of the portal to grant us admittance ; and, throw
ing open the valves, we entered the chapel and
were struck by the justness of its proportions,
the simple majesty of the arched roof, and the
mild solemn light equally diffused over every
part of the edifice. No tawdry ornaments, no
glaring pictures disgraced the sanctity of the

GRANDE CHARTREUSE. 327
place. The high altar, standing distinct from
the walls, which were hung with a rich velvet,
was the only object on which many ornaments
were lavished ; and, it being a high festival, was
clustered with statues of gold, shrines, and can
delabra of the stateliest shape and most deli
cate execution. Four of the latter, of a gigantic
size, were placed on the steps ; which, together
with part of the inlaid floor within the choir,
were spread with beautiful carpets.
The illumination of so many tapers striking
on the shrines, censers, and pillars of polished
jasper, sustaining the canopy of the altar, pro
duced a wonderful effect ; and, as the rest of the
chapel was visible only by the faint external
light admitted from above, the splendour and
dignity of the altar was enhanced by contrast. I
retired a moment from it, and seating myself in
one of the furthermost stalls of the choir, looked
towards it, and fancied the whole structure had
risen by " subtle magic," like an exhalation.
Here I remained several minutes breathing
nothing but incense, and should not have quit
ted my station soon, had I not been apprehensive
of disturbing the devotions of two aged fathers
who had just entered, and were prostrating them-

328 GRANDE CHARTREUSE.
selves before the steps of the altar. These vener
able figures added greatly to the solemnity of
the scene ; which as the day declined increased
every moment in splendour ; for the sparkling
of several lamps of chased silver that hung from
the roofs, and the gleaming of nine huge tapers
which I had not before noticed, began to be
visible just as I left the chapel.
Passing through the sacristy, where lay several
piles of rich embroidered vestments, purposely
displayed for our inspection, we regained the
cloister which led to our apartment, where the
supper was ready prepared. We had scarcely
finished it, when the coadjutor, and the fathers
who had accompanied us before, returned, and
ranging themselves round the fire, resumed the
conversation about St. Bruno.
Finding me disposed by the wonders I had
seen in the day to listen to things of a mira
culous nature, they began to relate the inspira
tions they had received from him, and his mys
terious apparitions. I was all attention, respect,
and credulity. The old secretary worked him
self up to such a pitch of enthusiasm, that I am
very much inclined to imagine he believed in
these moments all the marvellous events he re-

GRANDE CHARTREUSE. 329
lated. The coadjutor being less violent in his
pretensions to St. Bruno's modern miracles, con
tented himself with enumerating the noble works
he had done in the days of his fathers, and in the
old time before them.
It grew rather late before my kind hosts
had finished their narrations, and I was not
sorry, after all the exercise I had taken, to re
turn to my cell, where everything invited to
repose. I was charmed with the neatness and
oddity of my little apartment ; its cabin-like
bed, oratory, and ebony crucifix; in short, every
thing it contained; not forgetting the aromatic
odour of the pine, with which it was roofed,
floored, and wainscoted. The night was luckily
dark. Had the moon appeared, I could not
have prevailed upon myself to have quitted her
till very late ; but, as it happened, I crept into
my cabin, and was by " whispering winds soon
lulled asleep."
Eight o'clock struck next morning before I
awoke ; when, to my great sorrow, I found the
peaks, which rose above the convent, veiled in
vapours, and the rain descending with violence.
After we had breakfasted by the light of our
fire (for the casements admitted but a very feeble

330 GRANDE CHARTREUSE.
gleam), I sat down to the works of St. Bruno ;
of all medleys one of the strangest. Allegories
without end ; a theologico-natural history of
birds, beasts, and fishes ; several chapters on
paradise ; the delights of solitude ; the glory of
Solomon's temple ; the new Jerusalem ; and num
berless other wonderful subjects, full of the lof
tiest enthusiasm. The revered author of this
strangely abstruse and mystic volume was cer
tainly a being of no common order, nor do we
find in the wide circle of legendary traditions
an event recorded, better calculated to inspire
the utmost degree of religious terror than that
which determined him to the monastic state.
St. Bruno was of noble descent, and possessed
considerable wealth. Not less remarkable for the
qualities of his mind, their assiduous cultivation
obtained for him the chair of master of the great
sciences in the University of Rheims, where he
contracted an intimate friendship with Odo, after
wards Pope Urban II. Though it appears that
a very cheering degree of public approbation, and
all the blandishments of a society highly polished
for the period, contributed, not unprofitably one
should think, to fill up his time, always singular,

GRANDE CHARTREUSE. 331
always visionary, he began early in life to loathe
the world, and sigh after retirement.
But a most appalling occurrence converted
these sighs into the deepest groans. A man, who
had borne the highest character for the exercise
of every virtue, died, and was being carried to
the grave. The procession, of which Bruno
formed a part, was moving slowly on, when a
low, mournful sound issued from the bier. The
corpse was distinctly seen to lift up its ghastly
countenance, and as distinctly heard to articulate
these words — " J am summoned to trial." After
an agonizing pause, the same terrific voice de
clared — "I stand before the tribunal." Some
further moments of amazement and horror having
elapsed, the dead body lifted itself up a third
time, and moving its livid lips uttered forth this
dreadful sentence — " / am condemned by the just
judgment of God." " Alas ! alas !" exclaimed
Bruno — "of how little avail are apparent good
works, or the favourable opinion of mankind !
Ubi fugiam nisi ad te ? —
Thy mercies alone can save, and it is not in the
frivolous and seductive intercourse of a worldly
life those mercies can be obtained."

332 GRANDE CHARTREUSE.
Stricken to the heart by these reflections, he
hurried in a fever of terror and alarm (the sepul
chral voice still ringing in his ears) to Grenoble,
of which see. one of his dearest friends, the
venerable Hugo, had lately been appointed
bishop. This saintly prelate soothed the dreadful agi
tation of his spirits by relating to him a reve
lation he had just received in a dream.
" As I slept," said Hugo, " methought the
desert mountains beyond Grenoble became sud
denly visible in the dead of night by the stream
ing of seven lucid stars which hung directly over
them. Whilst I remained absorbed in the con
templation of this wonder, an awful voice seemed
to break the nocturnal silence, declaring their
dreary solitudes thy future abode, O Bruno! —
by thee to be consecrated as a retirement for holy
men desirous of holding converse With their God.
No shepherd's pipe shall be heard within these
precincts ; no huntsman's profane feet ever in
vade their fastnesses ; nor shall woman ascend
this mountain, or violate by her allurements the
sacred repose of its inhabitants."
Such were the first institutions of the order as
the inspired Bishop of Grenoble delivered them

GRANDE CHARTREUSE. 333
to Bruno, who selecting a few persons that, like
himself, contemned the splendours of the world
and- the charms of society, repaired with them to
this spot ; and, in the darkest parts of the forests
which shade the most gloomy recesses of the
mountains, founded the first convent of Carthu
sians, long since destroyed.
Several years passed away, whilst Bruno was
employed in actions of the most exalted piety;
and, the fame of his exemplary conduct reach
ing Rome, (where his friend had been lately
invested with the papal tiara,) the whole conclave
was desirous of seeing him, and entreated Urban
to invite him to Rome. The request of Christ's
vicegerent was not to be refused ; and Bruno
quitted his beloved solitude, leaving some of his
disciples behind, who propagated his doctrines,
and tended zealously the infant order.
The pomp of the Roman court soon disgusted
the rigid Bruno, who had weaned himself en
tirely from worldly affections.
Being wholly intent on futurity, the bustle
and tumults of a busy metropolis became so
irksome that he supplicated Urban for leave
to retire ; and, having obtained it, left Rome,
and immediately seeking the wilds of Calabria,

334 GRANDE CHARTREUSE.
there sequestered himself in a lonely hermitage,
calmly expecting his last moments.
In his death there was no bitterness. A
celestial radiance shone around him even before
he closed his eyes upon this frail existence, and
many a venerable witness has testified that the
voices of angelic beings were heard calling him
to come and receive his reward ; but as the
different accounts of his translation are not
essentially varied, it would be tedious to re
cite them.

GRANDE CHARTREUSE. 335

LETTER IV.
Mystic discourse. — A mountain ramble. — A benevolent
Hermit. — Red light in the northern sky. — Lose my way
in the solitary hills. — Approach of night.
I had scarcely finished taking extracts from
the writings of this holy and highly-gifted per
sonage when the dinner appeared, consisting
of everything most delicate which a strict ad
herence to the rules of meagre could allow.
The good fathers returned as usual before our
repast was half over, and resumed as usual their
mystic discourse, looking all the time rather
earnestly into my countenance to observe the
sort of effect their most marvellous narrations
produced upon it.
Our conversation, which was beginning to
take a gloomy and serious turn, was interrupted,
I thought very agreeably, by the sudden intrusion
of the sun, which, escaping from the clouds, shone
in full splendour above the highest peak of the

336 GRANDE CHARTREUSE.
mountains, and the vapours fleeting by degrees
discovered the woods in all the freshness of
their verdure. The pleasure I received from
seeing this new creation rising to view was very
lively, and, as the fathers assured me the humi
dity of their walks did not often continue longer
than the showers, I left my hall.
Crossing the court, I hastened out of the
gates, and running swiftly along a winding path
on the side of the meadow, bordered' by the
forests, enjoyed the charms of the prospect
inhaled the perfume of the woodlands, and
now turning towards the summits of the pre
cipices that encircled this sacred inclosure, ad
mired the glowing colours they borrowed from
the sun, contrasted by the dark hues of the
forest. Now, casting my eyes below, I suffered
them to roam from valley to valley, and from
one stream (beset with tall pines and tufted
beech trees) to another, The purity of the air
in these exalted regions, and the lightness of my
own spirits, almost seized me with the idea of
treading in that element.
Not content with the distant beauties of the
hanging rocks and falling waters, I still kept
running wildly along, with an eagerness and

GRANDE CHARTREUSE. 337
rapidity that, to a sober spectator, would have
given me the appearance of one possessed, and
with reason, for I was affected with the scene
to a degree I despair of expressing.
Whilst I was continuing my course, pursued
by a thousand strange ideas, a father, who was
returning from some distant hermitage, stopped
my career, and made signs for me to repose
myself on a bench erected under a neighbour
ing shed ; and, perceiving my agitation and
disordered looks, fancied, I believe, that one
of the bears that lurk near the snows of the
mountains had alarmed me by his sudden ap
pearance. The good old man, expressing by his gestures
that he wished me to recover myself in quiet
on the bench, hastened, with as much alacrity
as his age permitted, to a cottage adjoining
the shed, and returning in a few moments, pre
sented me some water in a wooden bowl, into
which he let fall several drops of an elixir
composed of innumerable herbs, and having
performed this deed of charity, signified to me
by a look, in which benevolence, compassion,
and perhaps some little remains of curiosity
were strongly painted, how sorry he was to
vol. i. z

338 GRANDE CHARTREUSE.
be restrained by his vow of silence from en
quiring into the cause of my agitation, and
giving me farther assistance. I answered also
by signs, on purpose to carry on the adven
ture, and suffered him to depart with all his
conjectures unsatisfied.
No sooner had I lost sight of the benevolent
hermit than I started up, and pursued my path
with my former agility, till I came to the edge
of a woody dell, that divided the meadow on
which I was running from the opposite pro
montory. Here I paused, and looking up at
the cliffs, now but faintly illumined by the sun,
which had been some time sinking on our
narrow horizon, reflected that it would be mad
ness to bewilder myself, at so late an hour, in
the mazes of the forest. Being thus deter
mined, I abandoned with regret the idea of
penetrating into the lovely region before me,
and contented myself for some moments with
marking the pale tints of the evening gradually
overspreading the cliffs, so lately flushed with
the gleams of the setting sun.
But my eyes were soon diverted from con
templating these objects by a red light stream
ing over the northern sky, which attracted my

GRANDE CHARTREUSE. 339
notice as I sat on the brow of a sloping hill,
looking down what appeared to be a fathomless
ravine blackened by the shade of impervious fo
rests, above which rose majestically the varied
peaks and promontories of the mountains.
The upland lawns, which hang at immense
heights above the vale, next caught my atten
tion. I was gazing alternately at them and the
valley, when a long succession of light misty
clouds, of strange fantastic shapes, issuing from
a narrow gully between the rocks, passed on,
like a solemn procession, over the hollow dale,
midway between the stream that watered it be
low, and the summits of the cliffs on high.
The tranquillity of the region, the verdure
of the lawn, environed by girdles of flourishing
wood, and the lowing of the distant herds, filled
me with the most pleasing sensations. But when
I lifted up my eyes to the towering cliffs, and be
held the northern sky streaming with ruddy light,
and the long succession of misty forms hovering
over the space beneath, they became sublime
and awful. The dews which began to descend,
and the vapours which were rising from every
dell, reminded me of the lateness of the hour ;
and it was with great reluctance that I turned
z 2

340 GRANDE CHARTREUSE.
from the scene which had so long engaged my
contemplation, and traversed slowly and silently
the solitary meadows, over which I had hurried
with such eagerness an hour ago.
Hill appeared after hill, and hillock succeeded
hillock, which I had passed unnoticed before.
Sometimes I imagined myself following a dif
ferent path from that which had brought me to
the edge of the deep valley. Another moment,
descending into the hollows between the hillocks
that concealed the distant prospects from my
sight, I fancied I had entirely mistaken my
route, and expected every moment to be lost
amongst the rude brakes and tangled thickets
that skirted the eminences around.
As the darkness increased, my situation be
came still more and more forlorn. I had almost
abandoned the idea of reaching the convent ;
and whenever I gained any swelling ground,
looked above, below, and on every side of me,
in hopes of discovering some glimmering lamp
which might indicate a hermitage, whose cha
ritable possessor, I flattered myself, would direct
me to the monastery.
At length, after a tedious wandering along
the hills, I found myself, unexpectedly, under

GRANDE CHARTREUSE. 341
the convent walls ; and, as I was looking for
the gate, the attendant lay-brothers came out
with lights, in order to search for me ; scarcely
had I joined them, when the Coadjutor and the
Secretary came forward, with the kindest anxiety
expressed their uneasiness at my long absence,
and conducted me to my apartment, where Mr.
Lettice was waiting, with no small degree of
impatience ; but I found not a word had been
mentioned of my adventure with the hermit;
so that, I believe, he strictly kept his vow till
the day when the Carthusians are allowed to
speak, and which happened after my departure.

342 GRANDE CHARTREUSE.

LETTER V.
Pastoral Scenery of Valombr6. — Ascent of the highest Peak
in the Desert. — Grand amphitheatre of Mountains. —
Farewell benediction of the Fathers.
We had hardly supped before the gates of the
convent were shut, a circumstance which discon
certed me not a little, as the full moon gleamed
through the casements, and the stars sparkling
above the forests of pines, invited me to leave
my apartment again, and to give myself up
entirely to the spectacle they offered.
The coadjutor, perceiving that I was often
looking earnestly through the windows, guessed
my wishes, and calling a lay-brother, ordered him
to open the gates, and wait at them till my
return. It was not long before I took advan
tage of this permission, and escaping from the
courts and cloisters of the monastery, all hushed
in death-like stillness, ascended a green knoll,

GRANDE CHARTREUSE. 343
which several ancient pines strongly marked
with their shadows : there, leaning against one
of their trunks, I lifted up my eyes to the awful
barrier of surrounding mountains, discovered by
the trembling silver light of the moon shooting
directly on the woods which fringed their accli
vities. The lawns, the vast woods, the steep descents,
the precipices, the torrents, lay all extended
beneath, softened by a pale blueish haze, that
alleviated, in some measure, the stern prospect
of the rocky promontories above, wrapped in
dark shadows. The sky was of the deepest
azure, innumerable stars were distinguished with
unusual clearness from this elevation, many of
which twinkled behind the fir-trees edging the
promontories. White, grey, and darkish clouds
came marching towards the moon, that shone
full against a range of cliffs, which lift them
selves far above the others. The hoarse mur
mur of the torrent, throwing itself from the
distant wildernesses into the gloomy vales,
was mingled with the blast that blew from the
mountains. It increased. The forests began to wave,
black clouds rose from the north, and, as they

344 GRANDE CHARTREUSE.
fleeted along, approached the moon, whose light
they shortly extinguished. A moment of dark
ness succeeded; the gust was chill and melan
choly ; it swept along the desert, and then sub
siding, the vapours began to pass away, and the
moon returned ; the grandeur of the scene was
renewed, and its imposing solemnity was in
creased by her presence. Inspiration was in
every wind.
I followed some impulse which drove me to
the summit of the mountains before me ; and
there, casting a look on the whole extent of wild
woods and romantic precipices, thought of the
days of St. Bruno. I eagerly contemplated every
rock that formerly might have met his eyes ;
drank of the spring which tradition says he was
wont to drink of; and ran to every pine, whose
withered appearance bespoke the most remote
antiquity, and beneath which, perhaps, the saint
had reposed himself, when worn with vigils, or
possessed with the sacred spirit of his institu
tions. It was midnight before I returned to the
convent and retired to my quiet chamber, but
my imagination was too much disturbed, and my
spirits far too active, to allow me any rest for
some time.

GRANDE CHARTREUSE. 345
I had scarcely fallen asleep, when I was sud
denly awakened by a furious blast, which drove
open my casement, for it was a troubled and tem
pestuous night, and let in the roar of the tempest.
In the intervals of the storm, in those moments
when the winds seemed to pause, the faint sounds
of the choir stole upon my ear ; but were swal
lowed up the next instant by the redoubled fury
of the gust, which was still increased by the roar
of the waters.
I started from my bed, closed the casement,
and composed myself as well as I was able ;
but no sooner had the sunbeams entered my
window, than I arose, and gladly leaving my
cell, hastened to the same knoll, where I had
stood the night before. The storm was dissi
pated, and the pure morning air delightfully
refreshing : every tree, every shrub, glistened
with dew. A gentle wind breathed upon the
woods, and waved the fir-trees on the cliffs,
which, free from clouds, rose distinctly into the
clear blue sky. I strayed from the knoll into
the valley between the steeps of wood and the
turrets of the convent, and passed the different
buildings, destined for the manufacture of the
articles necessary to the fathers ; for nothing is

346 GRANDE CHARTREUSE.
worn or used within this inclosure, which comes
from the profane world.
Traversing the meadows and a succession of
little dells, where I was so lately bewildered,
I came to a bridge thrown over the torrent,
which I crossed ; and here followed a slight path
that brought me to an eminence, covered with a
hanging wood of beech-trees feathered to the
ground, from whence I looked down the narrow
pass towards Grenoble. Perceiving a smoke to
arise from the groves which nodded over the emi
nence, I climbed up a rocky steep, and, after
struggling through a thicket of shrubs, entered a
smooth, sloping lawn, framed in by woody pre
cipices ; at one extremity of which I discovered
the cottage, whose smoke had directed me to
this sequestered spot ; and, at the other, a nume
rous group of cattle, lying under the shade of
some beech-trees, whilst several friars, with long
beards and russet garments, were employed in
milking them.
The luxuriant foliage of the woods, clinging
round the steeps that skirted the lawn ; its gay,
sunny exposition ; the groups of sleek, dappled
cows, and the odd employment of the friars,
so little consonant with their venerable beards,

GRANDE CHARTREUSE. 347
formed a picturesque and certainly very singular
spectacle. I, who had been accustomed to behold
" milk-maids singing blithe," and tripping lightly
along with their pails, was not a little surprised
at the silent gravity with which these figures
shifted their trivets from cow to cow ; and it
was curious to see with what adroitness they
performed their functions, managing their long
beards with a facility and cleanliness equally
admirable. I watched all their movements for some time,
concealed by the trees, before I made myself
visible ; but no sooner did I appear on the lawn,
than one of the friars quitted his trivet, very me
thodically set down his pail, and coming towards
me with an open, smiling countenance, desired
me to refresh myself with some bread and milk.
A second, observing what was going forward, was
resolved not to be exceeded in an hospitable
act, and, quitting his pail too, hastened into the
woods, from whence he returned in a few minutes
with some strawberries, very neatly enveloped in
fresh leaves. These hospitable, milking fathers,
next invited me to the cottage, whither I de
clined going, as I preferred the shade of the
beeches ; so, throwing myself on the dry aro-

348 GRANDE CHARTREUSE.
matic herbage, I enjoyed the pastoral character
of the scene with all possible glee.
Not a cloud darkened the heavens ; every
object smiled ; innumerable gaudy flies glanced
in the sunbeams that played in a clear spring
by the cottage ; I saw with pleasure the sultry
glow of the distant cliffs and forests, whilst in
dolently reclined in the shade, listening to the
summer hum ; one hour passed after another
neglected away, during my repose in this most
delightful of valleys.
When I returned unwillingly to the convent,
the only topic on which I could converse was the
charms of Valombre, for so is this beautifully
wooded region most appropriately called. Not
withstanding the indifference with which I now
regarded the prospects that surrounded the mo
nastery, I could not disdain an offer made by one
of the friars, of conducting me to the summit of
the highest peak in the desert.
Pretty late in the afternoon I set out with
my guide, and, following his steps through
many forests of pine, and wild apertures among
them, strewed with fragments, arrived at a
chapel, built on a mossy rock, and dedicated
to St. Bruno.

GRANDE CHARTREUSE. 349
Having once more drunk of the spring that
issues from the rock on which this edifice is
raised, I moved forward, keeping my eyes fixed
on a lofty green mountain, from whence rises a
vast cliff, spiring up to a surprising elevation ;
and which (owing to the sun's reflection on a
transparent mist hovering around it) was tinged
with a pale visionary light. This object was
the goal to which I aspired ; and redoubling my
activity, I made the best of my way over rude
ledges of rocks, and crumbled fragments of the
mountain interspersed with firs, till I came to
the green steeps I had surveyed at a distance.
These I ascended with some difficulty, and,
leaving a few scattered beech-trees behind, in
full leaf, shortly bade adieu to summer, and en
tered the regions of spring ; for, as I approached
that part of the mountain next the summit, the
trees, which I found there rooted in the crevices,
were but just beginning to unfold their leaves,
and every spot of the greensward was covered
with cowslips and violets.
After taking a few moments' repose, my guide
prepared to clamber amongst the rocks, and I
followed him with as much alertness as I was
able, till laying hold of the trunk of a withered

350 GRANDE CHARTREUSE.
pine, we sprang upon a small level space, where
I seated myself, and beheld far beneath me the
vast desert and dreary solitudes, amongst which
appeared, thinly scattered, the green meadows
and hanging lawns. The eye next overlooking
the barrier of mountains, ranged through im
mense tracts of distant countries ; the plains
where Lyons is situated ; the woodlands and
lakes of Savoy ; amongst which that of Bourget
was near enough to discover its beauties, all
glowing with the warm haze of the setting sun.
My situation was too dizzy to allow a long
survey, so turning my eyes from the terrific pre
cipice, I gladly beheld an opening in the rocks,
through which we passed into a little irregular
glen of the : smoothest greensward, closed in on
one side by the great peak, and on the others
by a ridge of sharp pinnacles, which crown the
range of white cliffs I had so much admired the
night before, when brightened by the moon.
The singular situation of this romantic spot
invited me to remain in it till the sun was about
to sink on the horizon : during which time I
visited every little cave delved in the ridges of
rock, and gathered large sprigs of the mezereon
and rhododendron in full bloom, which with a

GRANDE CHARTREUSE. 351
suprising variety of other plants carpeted this
lovely glen. A luxuriant vegetation,
That on the green turf suck'd the honey'd showers,
And purpled all the ground with vernal flowers.
My guide, perceiving I was ready to mount
still higher, told me it would be in vain, as the
beds of snow that lie eternally in some fissures of
the mountain, must necessarily impede my pro
gress; but, finding I was very unwilling to
abandon the enterprise, he showed me a few
notches in the peak, by which we might ascend,
though not without danger. This prospect rather
abated my courage, and the wind rising, drove
several thick clouds round the bottom of the
peak, which increasing every minute, shortly
skreened the green mountain and all the forest
from our sight. A sea of vapours soon undu
lated beneath my feet, and lightning began to
flash from a dark angry cloud that hung over the
valleys and deluged them with storms, whilst I
was securely standing under the clear expanse of
asther. But the hour did not admit of my remaining
long in this proud station ; so descending, I was
soon obliged to pass through the vapours, and,
carefully following my guide (for a false step

352 GRANDE CHARTREUSE.
might have caused my destruction) wound
amongst the declivities, till we left the peak
behind, and just as we reached the green moun
tain which was moistened with the late storm,
the clouds fleeted and the evening recovered its
serenity. Leaving the chapel of St. Bruno on the right,
we entered the woods, and soon emerged from
them into a large pasture, under the grand
amphitheatre of mountains, having a gentle
ascent before us, beyond which appeared the neat
blue roofs and glittering spires of the convent,
where we arrived as the moon was beginning to
assume her empire.
I need not say I rested well after the interesting
fatigues of the day. The next morning early, I
quitted my kind hosts with great reluctance.
The coadjutor and two other fathers accompa
nied me to the outward gate, and there within
the solemn circle of the desert bestowed on me
their benediction.
It seemed indeed to come from their hearts,
nor would they leave me till I was an hundred
paces from the convent ; and then, laying their
hands on their breasts, declared that if ever I was
disgusted with the world, here was an asylum.

GRANDE CHARTREUSE. 353
I was in a melancholy mood when I traced
back all the windings of my road, and when I
found myself beyond the last gate in the midst
of the wide world again, it increased.
We returned to Les Echelles ; from thence to
Chambery, and, instead of going through Aix,
passed by Annecy ; but nothing in all the route
engaged my attention, nor had I any pleasing
sensations till I beheld the glassy lake of Geneva,
and its lovely environs.
I rejoiced then because I knew of a retire
ment on its banks where I could sit and think of
Valombre.

vol. i. 2 a

SALEVE.

2 A 2

SALEVE.

LETTER I.
Revisit the trees on the summit of Saleve  Pas d'Echelle.
— Moneti. — Bird's-eye prospects. — Alpine flowers. — Ex
tensive view from the summit of Saleve. — Youthful en
thusiasm. — Sad realities.
I had long wished to revisit the holt of trees
so conspicuous on the summit of Saleve, and
set forth this morning to accomplish that pur
pose. Brandoin an artist, once the delight of
our travelling lords and ladies, accompanied
me. We rode pleasantly and sketchingly along
through Carouge to the base of the mountain,
taking views every now and then of picturesque
stumps and cottages.
At length, after a good deal of lackadaisical
loitering on the banks of the Arve, we reached
a sort of goats' path, leading to some steps cut

358 SALEVE.
in the rock, and justly called the Pas d'Echelle.
I need not say we were obliged to dismount
and toil up this ladder, beyond which rise steeps
of verdure shaded by walnuts.
These brought us to Moneti, a rude strag
gling village, with its church tower embosomed
in gigantic limes. We availed ourselves of
their deep cool shade to dine as comfortably as
a whole posse of withered hags, who seemed
to have been just alighted from their broom
sticks, would allow us.
About half past three, a sledge drawn by four
oxen was got ready to drag us up to the holt
of trees, the goal to which we were tending:
stretching ourselves on the straw spread over
our vehicle, we set off along a rugged path,
conducted aslant the steep slope of the moun
tain, vast prospects opening as we ascended ;
to our right the crags of the little Saleve — the
variegated plains of Gex and Chablais, sepa
rated by the lake ; below, Moneti, almost con
cealed in wood; behind, the mole, lifting up
its pyramidical summit amidst the wild amphi
theatre of glaciers, wliich lay this evening in
dismal shadow, the sun being overcast, the Jura

SALEVE. 359
half lost in rainy mists, and a heavy storm
darkening the Fort de I'Ecluse. Except a
sickly gleam cast on the snows of the Buet,
not a ray of sunshine enlivened our land
scape. This sorrowful colouring agreed but too well
with the dejection of my spirits. I suffered
melancholy recollections to take full possession
of me, and glancing my eyes over the vast map
below, sought out those spots where I had lived
so happy with my lovely Margaret. On them
did I eagerly gaze — absorbed in the conscious
ness of a fatal, irreparable loss, I little noticed
the transports expressed by my companion at
the grand effects of light and shade, which
obeyed the movements of the clouds ; nor was
I more attentive to the route of our oxen, which,
perfectly familiarized with precipices, preferred
their edge to the bank on the other side, and
by this choice gave us an opportunity of look
ing down more than a thousand feet perpendi
cularly on the wild shrubberies and shattered
rocks deep below, at the base of the mountain.
In general I shrink back from such bird's-eye
prospects with my head in a whirl, and yet, by

360 SALEVE.
a most unaccountable fascination, feel a feverish
impulse to throw myself into the very gulph I
abhor ; but to-day I lay in passive indifference,
listlessly extended on our moving bed.
Its progress being extremely deliberate, we
had leisure to observe, as we crept along, a
profusion of Alpine flowers; but none of those
gorgeous insects mentioned by Saussure as
abounding on Saleve were fluttering about them.
This was no favourable day for butterfly ex
cursions ; the flowers laden with heavy drops,
the forerunners of still heavier rain, hung down
their heads. We passed several chalets, formed of
mud and stone, instead of the neat timber, with
which those on the Swiss mountains are con
structed. Meagre peasants, whose sallow coun
tenances looked quite of a piece with the sandy
hue of their habitations, kept staring at us from
crevices and hollow places : the fresh roses of
a garden are not more different from the rank
weeds of an unhealthy swamp, than these wretch
ed objects from the ruddy inhabitants of Swit
zerland. My heart sank as we were driven alongside
of one of these squalid groups, huddled together

SALEVE. 361
under a blasted beech in expectation of a storm.
The wind drove the smoke and sparks of a fire
just kindled at the root of the tree, full in the
face of an infant, whose mother had abandoned
it to implore our charity with outstretched
withered hands. The poor helpless being filled
the air with wailings, and being tightly swad
dled up in yellow rags, according to Savoyarde
custom, exhibited an appearance in form and
colour not unlike that of an overgrown pumpkin
thrown on the ground out of the way. How
should I have enjoyed setting its limbs at
liberty, and transporting it to the swelling
bosom of a Bernese peasant ! such as I have
seen in untaxed garments, red, blue and green,
with hair falling in braids mixed with flowers
and silver trinkets, hurrying along to some
wake or wedding, with that firm step and
smiling hilarity which the consciousness of free
dom inspires.
A few minutes dragging beyond the tree just
mentioned, we reached the bold verdant slopes
of delicate short herbage which crown the crags
of the mountain. We now moved smoothly
along the turf, brushing it with our hands to

362 SALEVE.
extract its aromatic fragrance, and having no
longer rough stones to encounter, our convey
ance became so agreeable that we regretted
our arrival before a chalet, under a clump of
weather-beaten beach. These are the identical
trees, so far and widely discovered, on the sum
mit of Saleve, and the point to which we had
been tending.
Seating ourselves on the very edge of a rocky
cornice, we surveyed the busy crowded territory
of Geneva, the vast reach of the lake, its coast,
thickset with castles, towns, and villages, and the
long line of the Jura protecting these richly cul
tivated possessions. Turning round, we traced
the course of the Arve up to its awful sanctuary,
the Alps of Savoy, above which rose the Mont-
Blanc in deadly paleness, backed by a gloomy
sky ; nothing could form a stronger contrast to
the populous and fertile plains in front of the
mountain than this chaos of snowy peaks and
melancholy deserts, the loftiest in the old world,
held up in the air, and beaten, in spite of summer,
with wintry storms.
I know not how long we should have remained
examining the prospect had the weather been

SALEVE. 363
favourable, and had we enjoyed one of those
serene evenings to be expected in the month of
July. Many such have I passed in my careless
childish days, stretched out on the brow of this
very mountain, contemplating the heavenly azure
of the lake, the innumerable windows of the
villas below blazing in the setting sun, and the
glaciers suffused by its last ray with a blushing
pink. How often, giving way to youthful en
thusiasm, have I peopled these singularly varied
peaks with gnomes and fairies, the distributors
of gold and crystal to those who adventurously
scaled their lofty abode.
This evening my fancy was led to no such gay
aerial excursions ; sad realities chained it to the
earth, and to the scene before my eyes, which,
in lowering, sombre hue, corresponded with my
interior gloom. A rude blast driving us off the
margin of the precipices, we returned to the
shelter of the beech. There we found some dis
appointed butterfly catchers, probably of the
watch-making tribe, and a silly boy gaping after
them with a lank net and empty boxes. This
being Monday, I thought the Saleve had been
delivered from such intruders ; but it seems that

364 SALEVE.
the rage for natural history has so victoriously
pervaded all ranks of people in the republic, that
almost every day in the week sends forth some
of its journeymen to ransack the neighbouring
cliffs, and transfix unhappy butterflies.
Silversmiths and toymen, possessed by the spirit
of De Luc and De Saussure's lucubrations, throw
away the light implements of their trade, and
sally forth with hammer and pickaxe to pound
pebbles and knock at the door of every mountain
for information. Instead of furbishing up tea
spoons and sorting watch-chains, they talk of no
thing but quartz and feldspath. One flourishes
away on the durability of granite, whilst another
treats calcareous rocks with contempt ; but as
human pleasures are seldom perfect and per
manent, acrimonious disputes too frequently in
terrupt the calm of the philosophic* excursion.
Squabbles arise about the genus of a coralite, or
concerning that element which has borne the
greatest part in the convulsion of nature. The
advocate of water too often sneaks home to his
wife with a tattered collar, whilst the partisan of
fire and volcanoes lies vanquished in a puddle, or
winding up the clue of his argument in a solitary

SALEVE. 365
ditch. I cannot help thinking so diffused a taste
for fossils and petrifactions of no very particular
benefit to the artisans of Geneva, and that
watches would go as well, though their makers
were less enlightened.

366 SALEVE.

LETTER II.
Chalet under the Beech-trees. — A mountain Bridge. —
Solemnity of the Night. — The Comedie. — -Relaxation
of Genevese Morality.
It began to rain just as we entered the chalet
under the beech-trees, and one of the dirtiest I
ever crept into — it would have been uncharitable
not to have regretted the absence of swine, for
here was mud and filth enough to have insured
their felicity. A woman, whose teeth of a
shining whiteness were the only clean objects I
could discover, brought us foaming bowls of
cream and milk, with which we regaled our
selves, and then got into our vehicle. We but
too soon left the smooth herbage behind, and
passed about an hour in rambling down the
mountain pelted by the showers, from which we
took shelter under the limes at Moneti.
Here we should have drunk our tea in peace

SALEVE. 367
and quietness, had it not been for the incursion
of a gang of bandylegged watchmakers, smoking
their pipes, and scraping their fiddles, and snap
ping their fingers, with all that insolent vul
garity so characteristic of the Rue-basse portion
of the Genevese community. We got out of
their way, you may easily imagine, as fast as we
were able, and descending a rough road, most
abominably strewn with rolling pebbles, arrived
at the bridge d'Etrombieres just as it fell dark.
The mouldering planks with which the bridge is
awkwardly put together, sounded suspiciously
hollow under the feet of our horses, and had it
not been for the friendly light of a pine torch
which a peasant brought forth, we might have
been tumbled into the Arve.
It was a mild summer night, the rainy clouds
were dissolving away with a murmur of distant
thunder so faint as to be scarcely heard. From
time to time a flash of summer lightning disco
vered the lonely tower of Moneti on the edge of
the lesser Saleve. The ghostly tales, which the
old cure of the mountains had told me at a
period when I hungered and thirsted after super
natural narrations, recurred to my memory, in all

368 SALEVE.
their variety of horrors, and kept it fully employ
ed till I found myself under the walls of Geneva.
The gates were shut, but I knew they were to be
opened again at ten o'clock for the convenience
of those returning from the Comedie.
The Comedie is become of wonderful import
ance ; but a few years ago the very name of a
play was held in such abhorrence by the spiritual
consistory of Geneva and its obsequious servants,
which then included the best part of the repub
lic, that the partakers and abettors of such
diversions were esteemed on the high road to
eternal perdition. Though, God knows, I am
unconscious of any extreme partiality for Cal
vin, I cannot help thinking his severe discipline
wisely adapted to the moral constitution of this
starch bit of a republic which he took to his grim
embraces. But these days of rigidity and plain
ness are completely gone by ; the soft spirit of
toleration, so eloquently insinuated by Voltaire,
has removed all thorny fences, familiarized his
numerous admirers with every innovation, and
laughed scruples of every nature to scorn. Vol
taire, indeed, may justly be styled the architect
of that gay well-ornamented bridge, by which

SALEVE. 369
freethinking and immorality have been smuggled
into the republic under the mask of philosophy
and liberality and sentiment. These monsters,
like the Sin and Death of Milton, have made
speedy and irreparable havoc. To facilitate their
operations, rose the genius of "Rentes Viageres"
at his bidding, tawdry villas with their little pert
groves of poplar and horse-chesnut start up — his
power enables Madame C. D. the bookseller'
lady to amuse the D. of G. with assemblies, sets
Parisian cabriolets and English phaetons rolling
from one faro table to another, and launches
innumerable pleasure parties with banners and
popguns on the lake, drumming and trumpeting
away their time from morn till evening. I re
collect, not many years past, how seldom the
echoes of the mountains were profaned by such
noises, and how rarely the drones of Geneva, if
any there were in that once industrious city,
had opportunities of displaying their idleness ;
but now Dissipation reigns triumphant, and to
pay the tribute she exacts, every fool runs head
long to throw his scrapings into the voracious
whirlpool of annuities ; little caring, provided he
feeds high and lolls in his carriage, what be-
vol. i. 2 b

370 SALEVE.
comes of his posterity. I had ample time to
make these reflections, as the Comedie lasted
longer than usual.
Luckily the night improved, the storms had
rolled away, and the moon rising from behind
the crags of the lesser Saleve cast a pleasant
gleam on the smooth turf of plain-palais, where
we walked to and fro above half an hour. We
had this extensive level almost entirely to our
selves, no light glimmered in any window, no
sound broke the general stillness, except a low
murmur proceeding from a group of chesnut
trees. There, snug under a garden wall on a
sequestered bench, sat two or three Genevois
of the old stamp, chewing the cud of sober ser
mons — men who receive not more than seven
or eight per cent, for their money ; there sat they
waiting for their young ones, who had been
seduced to the theatre.
A loud hubbub and glare of flambeaus pro
claiming the end of the play, we left these good
folks to their rumination, and regaining our
carriage rattled furiously through the streets of
„Qe.neva, once so quiet, so silent at these hours,
to* the no small terror and annoyance of those
whom Rentes Viageres had not yet provided

SALEVE. 371
with a speedier conveyance than their own legs,
or a brighter satellite than an old cook-maid
with a candle and lantern.
It was eleven o'clock before we reached home,
and near two before I retired to rest, having sat
down immediately to write this letter whilst the
impressions of the day were fresh in my memory.

END OF THE FIRST VOLUME.

LONDON :
FR1KTE.I) BY SAMUEL BENTLEV,
Dorset Street, Fleet Street.^-

YALE UNIVERSITY 1